A Conversation Between Deceased Antagonists

FCT> Fleet Commander Thikair, of the Shongairi Empire, commander of the colonization ( i.e. invasion ) fleet sent to KU-197-20 (Earth), as authorized by the Hegemony Council in the year 74,065 of the Hegemony.

RAR> Rear Admiral James Robinson, Naval Network and Space Operations Command. Possibly the highest ranking officer in the United States … more → ]]> So I’m re-reading David Weber’s Out of the Dark, and a particular scene sparked this…thing. I can’t honestly call it a story. Perhaps vignette is the best description. It is a snippet of conversation between the highest ranked individuals on both sides.

A Conversation Between Deceased Antagonists

FCT> Fleet Commander Thikair, of the Shongairi Empire, commander of the colonization ( i.e. invasion ) fleet sent to KU-197-20 (Earth), as authorized by the Hegemony Council in the year 74,065 of the Hegemony.

RAR> Rear Admiral James Robinson, Naval Network and Space Operations Command. Possibly the highest ranking officer in the United States Military after the initial Shongairi KEW bombardment.

(fade in, FCT & RAR sitting in their respective chairs, drinks and snacks within reach)

FCT> “One of the many things that we didn’t understand about your cultures was this resistance to using whatever weapons were necessary to achieve your ends. For example, we knew you had chemical, bio-active, and nuclear weapons, but not one of your nations were willing to use them to become supreme.”

RAR> *nods* “We call them weapons of mass destruction, or WMDs and to answer your question, we don’t use them because we have used them.”

FCT> “I don’t understand.”

RAR> “Early in what we call the twentieth century there was a great war on our eastern continent. Both sides deployed chemical weapons. They were crude compared to later efforts, but the cost in lives destroyed and maimed was terrible. In a later conflict, nuclear weapons were used twice. The hope was that seeing the terrible destruction, the other side would surrender to prevent more casualties. Chemical weapons are easy. Bio weapons are almost as easy. Nukes are somewhat harder, but still a dozen nations have the capability. Once one nation starts using any of them, others will retaliate and it will spread until the Earth is uninhabitable. We know this as Mutually Assured Destruction. We have developed treaties to prevent this from happening, for if the WMD conflict spreads, no one will survive.”

FCT> “That doesn’t make sense.”

RAR> “That’s because as a race, your people are hunters. If the concepts follow those on my planet, hunters are either solitary or packs. I believe your culture is based around the pack. When a challenger to the pack leader appears, they fight until one submits, and then the fight is over. Unless one or both are mortally wounded in the combat, both will survive. We see this in the packs of our more primitive species.”

FCT> “Of course, that only makes sense.”

RAR> “As I said, you are hunters, but we are killers. It is not unknown in our internal conflicts for the stronger to continue battering away at the weaker until he dies. Once we developed more complex social structures, outright killing became frowned on. But we still engage in the practice. It has just become converted into organizational, rather than personal conflict.”

FCT> *whispered* “We should have destroyed you as soon as we arrived.”

RAR> “From your point of view, that would have been best. Of course, our point of view differs on that.”

FCT> “Is there no hope for my people, then? Can we not negotiate a treaty that lets us both survive?”

RAR> “I don’t know. There are many of us who would stop short of full destruction. Once the killer instinct arises it takes much effort to suppress it.  But you have to understand that the person leading the retaliation fleet is among the most blood-thirsty individuals in our history. You and I can only sit and watch how events will play out. We can only hope and pray that cooler heads will prevail.

FCT> “Why would you say that? We are enemies.”

RAR> “The destruction of an entire race, no a species, even though an enemy, will leave the universe a poorer place. And in addition, it will leave a stain on our racial soul that may fade, but will never vanish.”

FCT> “I don’t understand you.”

RAR> “Let’s hope that someone on the retaliation fleet thinks like me.”

(fade out>

Now it gets put on the back burner to simmer for a while. After the flavors have mixed and melded and the scents have wafted around a … more → ]]> I just finished the first draft of a 30K-word novella. It’s taken about eight months to finish this draft, even though this was a story near and dear to my heart. I kept getting stuck, mostly on how to get from where I was to the next section that had already written. I had put it aside and worked on other things, going back when the itch got too much for me.

Now it gets put on the back burner to simmer for a while. After the flavors have mixed and melded and the scents have wafted around a bit more, it will be time for the taste test and final seasoning.

Then it gets dished out to the public. This is a fan fiction piece, so there won’t be any shopping around for paid publication.

Rah! Rah! Sis boom bah!
Twist your brain and make it squeak!
Rah! Rah! Sis boom bah!
Pound those keys and make them speak!
Rah! Rah! Sis boom bah!
Mash those words until they beg!
Rah! Rah! Sis boom bah!
December 1 go tap a Keg!

Now with that sound track running through your head, imagine a 57 year old man in a mini-skirt; tight, sleeveless sweater; jumping … more → ]]> I won’t be participating this year, however in the spirit of encouragement and congratulations (hey, you should be congratulated just for trying!), I present the NaNoCheer….

Rah! Rah! Sis boom bah!
Twist your brain and make it squeak!
Rah! Rah! Sis boom bah!
Pound those keys and make them speak!
Rah! Rah! Sis boom bah!
Mash those words until they beg!
Rah! Rah! Sis boom bah!
December 1 go tap a Keg!

Now with that sound track running through your head, imagine a 57 year old man in a mini-skirt; tight, sleeveless sweater; jumping around and shaking pom-poms.

For those of you gullible enough to have actually done that, here’s a coupon for a free gallon of Brain Bleach.

+------------------------------+
|                              |
|          FREE!!!!            |
|   Joe's Brand Brain Bleach   |
|     one (1) gallon size      |
|                              |
+------------------------------+

hey

She died in her sleep 2 August 2015 at 94 years of age. Her death was a surprise, but not unexpected. We had all gotten together with her just two weeks ago. She seemed in good spirits, considering her age. The Alzheimer’s had been progressing recently, but she still knew all of us, and that was a blessing.

She lived a full life and raised seven children. My brother posted a sign on Facebook: “My mother taught me everything, except how to survive without her.” For that, we have to muddle through on our own.

Several of … more → ]]> We buried my mother today.

She died in her sleep 2 August 2015 at 94 years of age. Her death was a surprise, but not unexpected. We had all gotten together with her just two weeks ago. She seemed in good spirits, considering her age. The Alzheimer’s had been progressing recently, but she still knew all of us, and that was a blessing.

She lived a full life and raised seven children. My brother posted a sign on Facebook: “My mother taught me everything, except how to survive without her.” For that, we have to muddle through on our own.

Several of the comments the reverend said at the service struck chords.

“You can get a bigger house. You can get a bigger car. You can get a bigger bank account. But none of that gets you a bigger casket.”

I’m pleased to be able to say my ambitions are rather modest. We don’t need a bigger house, so what would be the use of having one? And a big car? Just guzzles more gas. I will admit to the bigger bank account; not so much for itself as for what we could do with it. We’ve always wanted to travel and see parts of the world outside the United States, or even the remoter (from us) parts of this country. But you know what? we’re doing fine without it.

He also read The Dash, a poem by Linda Ellis. A reflection on the dash between the two dates on a tombstone. It is a thought-provoking look at what is important in your life, not only to you but to the people around you too.

I haven’t really cried yet. If it is anything like the loss of my father, years ago, it will keep coming back to me at odd and unusual times. That’s when I’ll miss her and the tears will fill my eyes.

Power: excellent.

It rides and drives beautifully, so much so that unless we watch carefully, it is easy to exceed the speed limit. The engine is quiet and powerful and the road noise is reduced, so you don’t realize how fast you are going. I’m sure with practice it will be easier to keep under control.

This has the same size engine; 2.4L 4-cyl, as the 2006, so it could be wear and tear on the old one or … more → ]]> We bought a new 2015 Honda CRV-LX yesterday to replace the old one, a 2006 CRV-EX. Here are our first thoughts.

Power: excellent.

It rides and drives beautifully, so much so that unless we watch carefully, it is easy to exceed the speed limit. The engine is quiet and powerful and the road noise is reduced, so you don’t realize how fast you are going. I’m sure with practice it will be easier to keep under control.

This has the same size engine; 2.4L 4-cyl, as the 2006, so it could be wear and tear on the old one or it could be improvements in technology. Or both.

Access: good.

Doors are wide and easy to get in and out. The rear cargo door has been replaced by a hatch. I prefer the hatch myself because it can help keep the rain out while loading and unloading. Makes a good umbrella.

Storage: in a word, bad.
The 2006 had a round (spare tire?) well under the cargo deck: gone. This is now taken up by the spare tire, which used to hang on the rear door. It seems to me, even though the hatch now raises up, it could have still held the spare.

Storage pockets on rear door: gone. This is understandable, since raising the hatch would dump everything out.

Mesh storage pockets on back of front seats: gone. This could be a difference between the LX and EX models, but we will still have to find a replacement.

The 2006 had a sort of foldable flat table between the two front seats with two cup holders and space under to shove things: gone. The new car has a solid console to the floor with a covered compartment. We prefer the old arrangement.

The 2006 had two storage compartments in the center of the dashboard: gone. These were very useful and we’ll miss them.

The 2006 had a third pull-out cup holder between the dash storage compartments: gone.

The 2006 had a half-width shelf on the right side dash above the glove box: gone. We’ll miss this also.

We have a soft, roof-top bag for hauling stuff. I imagine we’ll be using this a lot more in the new car, but first, we’ll need the roof rack. That’s another $600.00

Style:

It’s a pretty vehicle, no doubt about that, but we both deplore the style changes in the CRV over the years. The 2006 was more boxy than the newer ones. We prefer that for the increased interior space. The new ones have a more rounded profile (not just this model year, they’ve been tending that direction for years). This could possibly contribute to the better gas mileage.

Accessories: 

The driver’s seat is adjustable up and down as well as front-back and tilt. That could be a plus, we’ll see.

There is now additional power closer to the rear seats, a good thing. Unfortunately, in a perverse display of form over function, they installed it inside the console storage compartment, necessitating running cords out the front of the compartment (through the thoughtfully provided channels) and then rearward. This is slightly better than running cords from the front power socket all the way back, but not by much. They should have just installed a power socket in the rear of the console. There is also a USB interface inside the console for charging devices.

There are now AC-Heat vents in the rear of the center console, providing direct heat and AC to the rear passengers. THIS IS  A BIG WIN. Our daughter always had trouble keeping warm in the back seat while we were too hot in front. We haven’t discovered this yet, but hopefully the air flow can be turned off at the front while still allowing flow to the rear. We’ll see.

The standard radio-CD includes bluetooth interface. In the old one, we had used the cassette adapter which worked ok. When that broke, we tried the radio adapters for our iPhones, but they picked up regular interference while driving, leaving us to turn off the radio until past those areas or put up with harsh static. We recently tried a bluetooth portable speaker, which was better, but the sound quality wasn’t as good as the built-in system. This set up is much better. ANOTHER BIG WIN.

Controls:

They moved the gear shift from just to the right of the steering wheel to the center console. Ok, we can get used to that, but they moved the indicator from beside the shift lever to the control panel, beside the speedometer. It took us a few minutes to find it. I imagine we’ll get used to it being there with time.

There is a small display inset in the center of the dash. This provides things like entertainment (what radio station or song is playing), and service alerts, to the view from the backup camera. This is our first time in a vehicle with a backup camera, so it will take a while to get used to using it. We’ve been told we can also change the wallpaper of the display by plugging a thumb drive in the USB port and loading image files. The salesman did say they have to be low-res files. Haven’t tried it yet.

Technology:

This vehicle has a CVT (continuously variable transmission) so there are no distinct gears, just a smooth spectrum of power transmission. This also contributes to the improved gas mileage. It also has a “S” and “L” on the shift (second and low?), which I imagine locks the input and output shafts at specific ratios.

Conclusion:

With the loss of storage space, moving the spare tire inside, style changes and the additional technology, what Honda has basically done is change the CRV from a functional vehicle into a yuppie-car. If they had left the storage untouched they could have still added the useful technology (CVT, display, backup camera, better radio, etc.) and still had both a stylish and functional vehicle.

We tend to keep our vehicles long past the pay-off date, so this will be our go-to car for long trips for quite a few years.

This is only our second brand-new car, all the others have been used, so the excitement of the new will last for quite a while I’m sure.  If anything big comes to our attention, I’ll update.

I finally decided to take the plunge and self-publish, probably as ebook only. The decision was triggered when a tweeter I follow mentioned his editor had some open slots. We talked, and he agreed to take on the manuscript.

Three days ago I received the file back. The editor thought … more → ]]> Well, my first novel is back from the editor. This was a successful NaNoWriMo ’06 effort and ‘finished’ by June of ’07. It was tweaked off and on for the next oh, four or five years and shelved when no agents were interested. Either the idea was *ahem* crap or the proposal was.

I finally decided to take the plunge and self-publish, probably as ebook only. The decision was triggered when a tweeter I follow mentioned his editor had some open slots. We talked, and he agreed to take on the manuscript.

Three days ago I received the file back. The editor thought the book was good and is awaiting the final product. First independent opinion that my writing isn’t total crap.

I’m about to crack open the file and see what needs to be done. I’ll admit to being a little nervous. Well, okay, a lot nervous, but it has to be done.

More to come…

APoS picks up where AToL left off. The returning characters are just as vivid as when we last met them, plus new characters have joined the ensemble and fit in like a hand in glove. There are new dangers, new villains, new allies and, not new, but as yet un-met, family.

We meet Bannon’s two nephews, Semyn and Werfol, a pair … more → ]]> Julie Czerneda’s A Play of Shadows brings us another chapter in the Night’s Edge fantasy series. I reviewed A Turn of Light, the first book in the Night’s Edge, here.

APoS picks up where AToL left off. The returning characters are just as vivid as when we last met them, plus new characters have joined the ensemble and fit in like a hand in glove. There are new dangers, new villains, new allies and, not new, but as yet un-met, family.

We meet Bannon’s two nephews, Semyn and Werfol, a pair of intelligent boys raised by cunning parents in a setting of deadly politics.

We learn some new aspects of Marrowdell’s magic (clever, clever moths!), and more of the Verge and how far it extends, as well as just a little more of the dangers there. There is more Kruar and more to learn of them.

We learn much more of Bannon’s sister, Lila (I don’t ever want to get on that woman’s bad side! and conversely, with her for an ally, I’d confidently stand against the world) and we even get to meet her late in the book. But late or early, she is another memorable person, one who could have a book or two of her own. The tagline on the cover explains both her and Bannan perfectly: “What would you risk for family?” The answer is everything.

Half the book takes place in Channen, one of the chief cities of Mellynne, where Lila’s husband Emon, has gone missing on a diplomatic mission.  Lila sent their sons to Bannan for safe-keeping while she goes to his rescue, but information from a surprising source sends Bannan and Jenn off to Channen to rescue them.

Dragons and kruar and efflet and toads and yling and moths and turtles. Yes, the turtles! Another wondrous addition to the bestiary of Night’s Edge.

Like everything else I’ve read by Julie, the writing  is of the expected superior quality, the characterizations are wonderful, the hints of a wider and fascinating world keep one reading  on and on.

And wishing for more when the ride is done.

Buy this book.

Did you hear that ‘but’ there?

But, I got through the first chapter and was reminded of all the wonderful characters, so I had to stop and re-read A Turn of Light.

I’ve now finished Turn and I’m ready to start Play. The anticipation is building…

Stay tuned for further developments.