Another reason I like characters with bird wings is one of my favorite childhood books: The juvenile novel Black and Blue Magic by Zilpha Keatley Snyder. Wikipedia says it came out in 1967 and I must have first read it within a couple of years at most. I now have an ex-school library hardback book of the 1972 edition.
About forty minutes after I went to bed last night, the power went off again. This time just the once. I wasn't sound asleep, and the emergency light in the hall coming on woke me. I checked everything, then went back to bed. My calico was a bit upset, presumably due to the UPSes beeping, but was easily calmed. I managed to doze some, but didn't get soundly to sleep. About three hours later the power came back on. This time it was off long enough that the UPS keeping the video recorder alive ran down. I was wide awake, so I set the clock and reprogrammed it.
So much for sleeping in this morning. I was awakened about a quarter after 7 (yes, AM) by a series of muffled bangs, and the Shark AI repeatedly telling me it was charging (there's a distinctive set of chimes). I looked at the alarm clock, and it was dead. Power was off, and after several attempts to come back on was staying off. For a large part of Frankfort. After waiting a while with no restoration, I walked to the end of my street and could see that the traffic signal at the intersection of US 60/US 421 was not only out, there was a city police van parked there with its blue lights on.
I upgraded my iMac to Sonora about two weeks ago. I immediately had several problems, some of which turned out to not be fixable. I had to wipe the hard drive and reinstall the previous OS (Ventura) then restore my Apps and data from backup. First thing the iMac does after successfully booting is tell me I need to upgrade to Sonoma. Yeah, not gonna happen for a while.
The story is over halfway completed, now, but still coming along slowly. It covers one of the adventures of Aaron/Malak during WWII. Yes, there are extradimensional monsters. :-) They are a relatively minor problem, though.
Life is currently proceeding slowly here. Silly me, I forgot to wear a mask when mowing my back yard last week. The dust and pollen I stirred up gave me a persistent case of bronchitis. The Canadian smoke isn't bad in this area, but is adding to the ozone and continuing pollen attack. I feel for the two crews putting on roofs in my neighborhood.
Fortunately, the lack of rain means the grass isn't very high yet, except in a couple of places. Hopefully, I won't have to mow again for a while.
I'm a few thousand words into this story, which is about an adventure Aaron (Malak) LaBelle had in northern Germany in WWII. I know the plot; it's just a matter of filling things in.
I left a bunch of flyers for Masks 18 (the latest one out through Doppler) at the Frankfort AnimeCon yesterday. There may or may not be an increase in sales following this. We'll see. The con was literally just on the other side of the river from my home.
Posting the first chapter of the new Masks book has driven home that I have not done this in a while. I'm having to re-learn stuff I should already know. I hope folks - including those who manage this site - bear with me.
Yes, it's amazing so many supers (both heroes and villains) make it to retirement age at all, much less remain legally competent in their senior years. Remember that Energia has already had one (fortunately mild) concussion.
I've been under the weather the past two or three days. I thought the cough I had was due to the damp weather combined with the dust raised by the work I'm having done in the basement. Said coughing was bad enough that I had to use my inhaler a few times.
As usual with home improvement projects, installing a new shower, and adding a sink and commode in the basement is taking longer and costing more than anticipated. The contractor is currently in the basement with a concrete saw, cutting out the floor.
Clay pipe under the floor is a good choice (in this case made in 1940) if you assume never having to excavate. It doesn't corrode. However, it is fragile. Argh. Tying modern plumbing drains into it is also a problem. Oh, and none of this is vented, so they have to add that.
One thing masking for COVID has taught me is that a half mask - at least of the lower face - alone is not enough to conceal a person's identity, at least from from someone who knows them.
Or maybe I just have a very distinctive upper head. :-)
From the next (currently being written) Masks story:
"We occasionally tell people that this island was used as a base by the Dread Pirate Roberts, centuries ago," said the Commander, straight-faced. "That the place was built-up and maintained by the descendants of those left behind to guard the treasure. It's amazing how many believe that."
So far I have resisted trying to give the specific words which lead to the acronym T.O.W.E.R. but the organization features strongly in the next Masks story. So far I have: Theater Overwatch World Enforcement Regulator. That doesn't really... work, so I am looking for suggestions.
This is not a contest. The only reward will be the use of the name in the story.
Checks can be made out & sent to:
Joyce Melton
1001 Third St.
Space 80
Calimesa, CA 92320
USA
Note: $6000 is the operating, maintenance and upgrade budget. Amounts received in excess of the $6000 will be applied to long term debt accrued over the last 19 years.
