StarFleet Carl: Blog

I'm also going to put this here. The word is 'dripstick', because the Boeing 727 did not have the more modern floatsticks. So, don't be a dipstick and tell me that dripstick is wrong. (It's a way to actually check the fuel levels inside the wing tanks.)

Just something amusing, since I didn't get hurt. We're having a new driveway put in, which also means they're replacing our walkway and our front steps. Not an issue, except that the city inspector has to approve the forms and the rebar once those are in before they can pour. We've been ready for nearly a week, but it took the inspector until Monday morning to finally give the go-ahead.

About half an hour the thunderstorms hit, which meant not only no driveway pouring Monday, we also got two inches of rain. This is Oklahoma, it's spring time, it happens. But that means no pouring today, either.

So, I'm heading in to my office this morning. The forms for the steps are fine, they're sideways 2x4, I'm used to walking on those. I step down, step onto a paver we put down for a bottom step, put my left foot out to the grass, and miss, hitting a very nice pile of mud. Left foot sinks, I'm already trying to step forward, and at least no one yelled, 'TIMBER!'

My knees, chest, elbows, and hands all got very, very intimate contact with the muddy yard. Got up, climbed back onto the porch, kicked my shoes off, picked them up, walked into the laundry room and stripped. Everything into the washer, and then I went back and took ANOTHER shower.

Two redeeming features. The only thing injured was my pride, unlike the last time I fell on my face. (Got a new heart valve out of that one.) And my 93 year old neighbor wasn't out front, or he would have run over to try to help me get up. I hope to hell when I'm 93, I'm as physically tough and smart as he is, that's for sure.

Oh, and if you read this far, I'll put the next chapter into the queue tomorrow, and it's entirely possible I'll switch to posting weekly after this, because I'm almost done with Chapter 20, which is enough of a buffer to do that.

Don't tweak - it's not an early chapter. Just the cast of characters.

I actually have been fighting a little bit of a mental block, trying to advance things more than one day at a time in the story. At the same time, I figure if I find it interesting to write about, you'll probably find it interesting to read about. I finally got past it last night, so I'm hoping (depending upon business) to just blow through the next three or four chapters.

Just as a disclaimer, especially with Chapters 3 & 4. I am NOT a nuclear physicist. This is still a science fiction story. What I'm writing is about as close to accurate as I can make it, but probably has no connection to actual reality. Keep in mind that Cal comes from a culture that was technologically advanced in many way more than ours is now.

Oh, and don't bother looking up the legal stuff in Chapter 3. It IS accurate. (Even though I don't use it, I do have a Master's in Criminology, which means one of the things I studied was actual law, both Constitutional and Criminal.) Or sending me nastygrams. There's a lot about Cal's Earth that parallels ours. There's still stuff that doesn't. And this is STILL being written based upon the culture of 1985 - which means if you're offended today by the language and/or attitudes that existed in 1985 ... I really don't care. You're free to not read my story.

This is a blog entry, so I can't post the link from where I read this in the news this week. Do an internet search for the words: Bryson Chambeau Insane Shot

That was at the Arnold Palmer Bay Hill golf course. Anyone remember Chapter 19 of Book Two? Same course, same hole.

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When we got to the sixth tee, I waited until the others had shot, then I asked, "Is over the lake out of bounds?"

"Technically, no, but it's 400 yards in the air," Arnold said. "If you can carry it, it's liable to bounce not just into a bunker, but onto the next hole, which is out of bounds."

"Just wondering. Ever seen someone put backspin on with a fairway wood?" I teed up a ball, aimed just to the left of the pin, due to the way the wind was blowing, then swung through. The ball cleared the lake, hitting the rough on the far side of the back bunker. The backspin made it bounce back towards the green, clearing the bunker and hitting the rough again. It made two more small bounces, then rolled a little, coming to a stop about four feet from the flag.