Book promo…

First up is Cedar with her second PTSD anthology- But Not Broken

As always, click on the cover for the Amazon link!

The blurb-

cPTSD is Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
From John Van Stry, under his John Stryvant persona, his 7th novel in the Valens Heritage series- Beware of Darkness
The blurb-
Back home in Bartertown once more, Mihalis is working on advancing his plans to turn Bartertown into the kind of place where the rich and powerful come to make those special deals that they prefer to do out of sight of both the public and certain governments. He’s also spending a fair deal of his time over at HoJo’s, where Talin and Caitin’s sisters are still very interested in him. Now if only he would stop being ambushed by assassins afterwards — it’s definitely becoming quite annoying.
And this one is a twofer- Sabrina Chase just put out another novella of Red Wolf: Exile Part 2 I’m linking both parts below-
The blurbs-
Part 1-
Same map, different world.
Nic Duncan must prove she has what it takes to follow her uncle into the Special Forces. To get his backing she infiltrates a lawless area of postwar Asia posing as an adrenaline-junkie hiker. Checking out a newly discovered cave follows naturally as part of her cover.
But in that cave she encounters a strange artifact—and when she emerges, the world she knows no longer exists. While the terrain remains the same, every sign of civilization has disappeared. No road, no power lines, no GPS, nothing.
Starving and desperately searching for a way back, Nic discovers the relics of the past have vanished too – and the pre-technology people she encounters either terrified of outsiders or ruthless killers.

Can Nic find any safety in this strange yet familiar world … and what must she sacrifice to get it?

Part 2-
Next up is D Jason Fleming’s reissue of a classing western with his ‘treatment’ and additional information from Max Brand- Train’s Trust
The blurb-
Steve Train, gambler, adventurer, clever rogue, didn’t care much for work. But then he was offered a job with no work, but plenty of danger. The job: track down outlaw Jim Nair — and hand him a pile of money!

  • This iktaPOP Media edition includes a new introduction by indie author D. Jason Fleming giving historical and genre context to the novel.
Last, but certainly not least, a first for me Scott Bell’s Kindle Vella serial Judge Shivers
The blurb-
As a Judge for the administrators of the Codex Magica, Calico Shivers makes life-and-death decisions about wizards gone bad and then carries out the sentence. Nothing in his career has prepared him for his next assignment: termination of a rogue wizard who time travels, creates monsters for fun, and skateboards to his evil wizard lair. Cast back into the 19th century American Old West, Shivers is dropped into a melange of magic, murder, and mayhem. And that’s only on Monday.
He has four episodes/chapters up.

Coming home to roost???

Clapper (spit) is now trying to change his tune…

James Clapper, Obama’s former director of national intelligence, was one of 51 intelligence agents who signed a letter in 2020 erroneously stating that the Hunter Biden laptop was Russian disinformation. But now, over two years later, Clapper, who was directly linked to the Russiagate scandal, claims that he never called the laptop Russian disinformation and blames Politico for distorting the contents of the letter by presenting it as definitive, not merely a suggestion. 

Full article, HERE.

I seem to remember that there were a lot of folks pounding on desks that this was ‘obviously’ fake news, and the media was running with it. And Twitter, Farcebook, Google et al were pulling posts that didn’t agree with it. And nobody, much less Clapper et al were backing off on what they said…

The full public statement is below the fold if you want to read it and look at the signatories.

Continue reading →

PSA…

For you veterans…Veterans of the Vietnam, Gulf War, and post-9/11 eras!

If you get the Agent Orange paperwork (and I’ll bet it’s similar for burn pits, etc.), before you start, dig out your military records and your medical records, you’re going to need them!

Where you were overseas, when, with what commands, plus diagnosis of any existing/emergent conditions including dates and locations.

Thankfully, I had my logbooks and my records handy, along with all my flight physicals. And it still took about two hours to pull everything together AND fill out the forms.

If you haven’t reviewed the PACT Act to check eligibility, go HERE. This can make a significant difference in your disability rating, your treatment by the VA, and if you were previously denied for disability before the PACT Act, you can now file a supplemental claim. Go HERE for the instructions/requirements.

If you know veterans that are suffering from these conditions, PLEASE let them know there is help available now.

Well, it was a game!!!

The Stuperbowl turned out to be a good game this year!

Some interesting clock management at the end by Andy Reid, and a LOT of trust in his field goal kicker basically gave the Eagles one play at the end. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything like that played out before!

However, the commercials…left a LOT to be desired as far as I’m concerned. Disconnected, just plain stupid, or so out there one had no idea what was being advertised.

One that we got to talking about was the Coors/Miller/Blue Moon beer commercial. At $7 million for 30 seconds, we couldn’t help but wonder if the three companies decided to ‘pool’ expenses and show all three beers in what was a pretty funny commercial with some interesting special effects.

I know I’m old, but I miss the ‘fun’ commercials…

And one of my all time favorites that didn’t feature the Clydesdales…

Commercials like those just let you enjoy/laugh at the commercial, NOT spend half of it trying to figure out what the hell they were selling…

And this one from Bud in 2011 STILL brings tears to my eyes…

What do y’all think?

Oops…

Companies, overwhelmingly located in the United States but including some in Canada and Mexico, ordered just over 44,100 robots in 2022, an 11% increase over the previous year and a new record, according to data compiled by the Association for Advancing Automation, an industry group also known as A3. The value of those machines totaled $2.38 billion, an 18% increase over the prior year, according to the data.

Full article, HERE.

I remember a couple of years ago a discussion over the ‘breakpoint’ where robots were actually cheaper than human operators due to not having to pay salary, taxes, SSI, etc… Apparently $15 has decided a number of operators to go that way!

No time off, no reporting late for work, no spitting in the food, no whining about repetitive tasks, no backtalking to customers, none of that.

And now 44,100 ‘$15/hr’ entry level jobs are GONE…

Gee… what will the operators do next, I wonder?

BBQ!!!

By the time you read this, we’ll already be fixing 80 breakfast burritos to feed ??? Cooks and hangers on…

And we have over 20 cookers entered in the contest, from the one guy with his kids and wife. And a cooker pulled on his trailer behind their SUV…

To the ‘pros from Dover’… so to speak… With their $250,000 toy hauler, 3500 series truck, and pro cookers.

The funny thing is, EITHER could win… The pros will cook chicken, ribs, and brisket. The family will probably do one thing.

And we did pork butts yesterday and last night for the lunch special today.

TBT…

Some things us old farts remember…

And you want to talk abou COLD, try using this in the winter…

And how many rolls of these did you go through playing Cowboys and Indians?

Back in the day, you had NO idea who was actually calling! And you had to answer EVERY phone call, because your parents told you to.

Anybody remember the old butcher shops? And getting your meat wrapped in this?

Posted in TBT

PSA!!!

This is some VERY useful info for my Veteran Friends! Active duty listen up as well.
VA ER authorization phone number 1-844-724-7842
Call that number within 72 hours of your visit.
VA Urgent Care 1-800-698-2411
Call that number before you go and ensure the urgent care facility knows you are using the mission act.
This is a 4 minute video on Urgent Care and the requirements.

And the link to the VA Community Care page is HERE.

I’ve used it twice in the last two years, once for the WuFlu, and once for a cyst after the VA couldn’t get me in for over a month. It works, as long as you follow the procedures.

As many bases no longer have ERs on base, there is a similar procedure for them to use the same care.