rlfj: Blog

FYI, Chapter 12 was the last chapter that could be considered in any sense political. Just remember, because a character says something, it doesn't mean I am saying it. It's fiction! That being said, I just can't believe that some people think coronavirus is political! For all of you who think it's faked, please feel free to take some hydroxychloroquine, wash it down with some disinfectant, and get in your tanning bed. Me, I'm going to listen to my doctor. Please don't complain. I'll just hit the Delete key.

Another complaint, of sorts, has been about the lack of action in this story. Where's the 'trigger time'? Sorry about that. Grim's no longer in Iraq at the height of the war or serving on a SWAT team. He's a civilian. As a general rule, civilians are discouraged from running around shooting people. Then again, his name is the Grim Reaper. We'll just have to see how that works out.

I gave a lot of thought to this chapter. I started writing this story over the winter, with some parts going back to 2019. I wrote the section where the spring of 2020 occurred before anybody knew about coronavirus. At that point I went back and added a quickie paragraph, and that was what ended up being published. It wasn't long after that before it became obvious this was something truly disastrous. I seriously considered taking a break for a month before publishing this chapter in order to see what was happening with this mess. Instead, I compromised. I added quite a bit more but left some of the details vague. For all the readers who purchased a copy, first, thank you, and second, when the story is finished you'll be able to download the entire story with all the final edits and fixes.

One thing that has struck me about the current crisis is the plethora of heartwarming ads from various companies telling us all to stay apart so we can all be together later. It reminds me of a section in A Fresh Start during Hurricane Katrina, where Carl Buckman was talking to the head of ExxonMobile about freeing up some helicopter capacity. "I knew that three things were going to happen. After the storm, some of their helicopter capacity would be offered to the government, that some wonderfully heartwarming commercials would be generated about how they were helping, and that before I was out of office Lee Raymond would be knocking on my door for something worth billions of dollars and I would give in." Art imitating life, or life imitating art? Or maybe I'm just a cynic?

Another instance of life imitating art occurred just a few weeks ago, while watching Monty Python and the Holy Grail, with one very eerie scene. "Bring out yer dead." "I'm not dead." "Well, he will be soon, he's very ill." That was a very weird experience and nowhere near as funny as it once was.

For those curious, I took the details on the UGA history doctoral program from the Guide to the Graduate Program in History at the University of Georgia. It took a while to work through the UGA website to find it, but it gave me a lot of information on what Grim would need to do to get his doctorate. It's nineteen pages long; six pages are for the master's program and thirteen pages are for the doctoral program.

Minor issue at the end of Chapter 11, in that a reader pointed out that Oprah is now living in California. I simply added a line stating she had to be in Chicago for some reason and that was where they met. Hey, it's fiction.

One of my readers commented that I should mention some appropriate veteran's organizations. While I invented the West Georgia Veterans Coalition in the first story, there really is an IAVA, the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America. There are also the Wounded Warrior Project, Team Rubicon, and many others. Many of these groups have dedicated programs to help with PTSD and suicide prevention. If you or a friend or a relative need assistance, there are groups out there to help. You just have to ask.

Not much to write about in Chapter 11. Enjoy!

The SOL blog system doesn't allow blog posts with links to show on the home page.

https://cornellpainclinic.com/stellate-ganglion-block-emerging-treatment-for-ptsd/

https://www.va.gov/healthpartnerships/docs/ccisgbfactsheet.pdf

https://www.militarytimes.com/pay-benefits/2019/11/06/new-research-shows-nerve-injections-are-effective-for-treating-ptsd-symptoms/

Many comments on my writing about PTSD, all complimentary. This is a real disease. I have a nephew who did a tour in Iraq in the Marines, in Fallujah, and he has had some major problems since then. It took him and his parents years to get him to admit to the problem and he's been through two marriages and God only knows how many jobs and places to live. They were very worried he would commit suicide. We're hoping he is over the worst, but we might not know for years.

Stellate Ganglion Block, SGB, is a real treatment being studied for treatment for some symptoms of PTSD. I learned about it watching 60 Minutes last year. I didn't make it up. I've posted a few links in a separate blog post that won't show on the home page. Go to my page and then look on the blog there.

I got a very nice email from elfkabezhaltera explaining something that I didn't know and that Grim didn't know. "At some point Grim wonders why the soldier with a light machine gun is called an "Automatic Rifleman". Simple - in the dim past such a soldier was armed with a Browning Automatic Rifle (as the US Military played pretend that the BAR was a squad level machine gun)." That makes a lot of sense. At the time the BAR was used, the primary infantry weapon was the Springfield '03, and then the M1 Garand, neither of which were automatic weapons.

Finally, dnkjd51 pointed out if Grim winds up being an expert witness on police procedure or tactics in any sort of legal proceeding the PhD will look pretty impressive. I never even considered that, but it's quite true. Courts love expert witnesses with doctorates. A teenage Joe Fumblefingers with a PhD will rank a whole lot higher than somebody with forty years' practical experience.