For you ‘sciency’ types…
Ya know, I really DO wonder about folks sometimes…
Not saying I’m disagreeing, but somebody had way too much time on their hands. And I’m not sure I want to know ‘how’ they determined which was which.
Just sayin…
Welp, I survived it…
But ##!@$@ am I out of shape!!! 1.8 miles through TWO airports (DFW and SLC) after 7 months of not walking any distance put me on my ass! And being at 4200 feet didn’t help… sigh
Coming back wasn’t quite as bad, but it still sucked… and I gotta do laundry tomorrow!
Anyhoo, it’s a great little con! HERE is the attendee/presenter list. Utah is a hot bed for fiction writers, and the list of those presenting was outstanding! Great panels, presentations, etc. I’m not going to name names, because I’d miss somebody, but it was great to see old friends, and make a few new ones!
Raconteur Press represented well, and as usual, Larry and Steve did a live Writer’s Dojo on Saturday. Lots of networking got done, with folks getting marketing, editing, and other help, along with some interesting sidebar discussions.
The thrust, if you will, of the entire conference is professionalism and how to get ‘better’ as a writer, through any number of ways. But the ‘nice’ thing is all of the presenters were cautious to point out that there is no ‘one’ way to do things. Each person has to determine what works for them as individual writers.
One thing I need to remember is that not everyone has the same depth of background I do in certain things… like terms… and what they mean. Thanks Nancy for bailing us out!
I got a couple of good meals, and Saturday night was the usual ‘Saturday supper’, albeit in a slightly different location! Thanks Jonna, Nancy, et al!!!
If you’re serious about writing as a ‘business’, I’d highly recommend it!
Off to Writer’s Cantina in SLC for a few days…
It will be interesting, since this is the first real ‘travel’ I’ve tried to do since my back surgery, and it will be a test for the repairs, especially with the conference chairs (which I lothe)…
So, bottom line, no blogging or commenting until probably Monday.
Go read the other folks, they rite gud!!! 🙂
And another oopsie for Commiefornia, as if they didn’t believe what happened in Seattle…
California’s new $20-per-hour minimum wage for fast food workers has resulted in a significant decline in employment in that sector, leading to 18,000 fewer jobs than would have been the case otherwise.
Full article, HERE from Breitbart.
Granted that is a drop in the bucket for them, but a LOT of those are/were entry level jobs for teenagers and those just starting in the workforce.
Where do they go now?
Or do they just stay home and live in their parent’s basements???
And did they NOT learn anything from what happened in Seattle with the loss of jobs/closures of small restaurants/fast food franchises??? Link HERE, and what I find interesting is that apparently Kings Co. doesn’t ‘track’ employment… strange…
The other thing lots of folks, not just on the left coast, but across the country are seeing is more kiosks in place of live workers…
For or against??? Personally, I don’t care for them, as I like to pay cash rather than use a credit card in those places…
Is NOT right, and seems to be ‘typical’ of Commiefornia…
When dreamy, beach-adjacent Pacific Palisades became a moonscape after the conflagration that started on Jan. 7, 2025, homes worth billions of dollars, lifetime bodies of work by musicians and artists, and prized real estate in one of the best areas of L.A. became dust. Many fire victims want to rebuild and reclaim their old community. However, it didn’t take long before the state and local leaders who had promised to move mountains to streamline the rebuilding process began to have other ideas. Instead of receiving help from Mayor Karen Bass and Governor Gavin Newsom, they and state Democrats dragged out the permitting. And now it appears we know why.Â
The Palisades and Altadena fires left 15,000 structures in cinders and thousands of people without homes.Â
Now, using lack of housing in the state as an excuse, Gov. Gavin Newsom and LA planners are considering instituting planning changes that would play the Palisades like a game of Tetris, placing hundreds of units of low-income housing in areas where previously there had been two.
Full article, HERE from PJ Media.
Why does this NOT surprise me? Just like their ‘two week’ approvals to rebuild are apparently taking up to two months!!!
And I’m betting they will not pay what the people want for the land. Any bets on them doing eminent domain when they don’t get what they want? And prime properties with ‘views’ for ‘selected’ contractors…
Not that this is anything new…
Grrr…
To start the week… especially if you’re in or were law enforcement…
You know you are an LEO if:
1) You have the bladder capacity of five people.
2) You have ever restrained someone & it was not a sexual experience.
3) You believe that 50% of people are a waste of good air.
4) Your idea of a good time is a “man with a gun” call.
5) You conduct a criminal record check on anyone who seems friendly towards you.
6) You believe in the aerial spraying of Prozac & birth control pills.
7) You disbelieve 90% of what you hear & 75% of what you see.
8) You have your weekends off planned for a year.
9) You believe the government should require a permit to reproduce.
10) You refer to your favorite restaurant by the intersection at which it’s located.
11) You have ever wanted to hold a seminar entitled: “Suicide…getting it right the first time.”
12) You ever had to put the phone on hold before you begin laughing uncontrollably.
13) You think caffeine should be available in IV form..
14) You believe anyone who says, “I only had two beers” is going to blow more than a .15
15) You find out a lot about paranoia just by following people around.
16) Anyone has ever said to you, “There are people killing other people out there and you are here messing with me.”
17) People flag you down on the street & ask you directions to strange places…and you know where they’re located.
18) You can discuss where you are going to eat with your partner while standing over a dead body.
19) You are the only person introduced at social gatherings by profession. (ISN’T THIS THE TRUTH)
20) You walk into places & people think it’s high comedy to grab their buddy & shout, “They’ve come to get you, Bill.”
21) You do not see daylight from November until May.
22) People shout, “I didn’t do it!” when you walk into a room & think they’re being hugely funny & original.
23) A week’s worth of laundry consists of 5 T-shirts, 5 pairs of socks, & 5 pairs of underwear.
24) You’ve ever referred to Tuesday as “my weekend”, or “this is my Friday”.
25) You’ve ever written off guns & ammunition as a business deduction..
26) You believe that unspeakable evils will befall you if anyone says, “Boy, it sure is quiet tonight.”
27) Discussing dismemberment over a meal seems perfectly normal to you.
28) You find humor in other people’s stupidity.
29) You have left more meals on the restaurant table than you’ve eaten.
30) You feel good when you hear, “these handcuffs are too tight”.
Go read the folks on the sidebar. Hopefully will have connectivity tomorrow.
Posted from my iPhone.
FINALLY got here…
Second day in a row over 100 degrees yesterday.
Usually, we get that about mid-June, so I’m not complaining. At least the humidity has been fairly low, so the ‘feels like’ was only 105 and 103.
Now the question will be will the power company be able to keep up with the demand for AC? I truly hope so… But I’m bumping my thermostat up to 76, to keep the ‘shock’ down from going in/out.
If the yard will finish dying for the summer, I’ll be good… Since I have a black thumb for anything other that weeds, I don’t try to grow flowers or shrubbery, so I don’t have to worry about that stuff.
Not saying some folks ‘know’ me, but they send me stuffed cacti for Christmas… sigh…
While the hill country and points southwest of us have gotten and are still getting rain, we haven’t seen any in over a week, but if there is a ‘good’ side to all the rain, it’s putting water into reservoirs down in that part of the country that were below 40% full.
The Panhandle and points north of us have gotten some rain, since the Red River still has water flowing, which is unusual this time of year. But I could sure do without the !@$$(_# mosquitoes!!! Especially since the state is now reporting they are carrying West Nile Virus… Grrr…
And going to the outdoor gun range is right out… There is no shade, so it’s back to the indoor air conditioned expensive one… sigh
One thing I have noticed this week is the significant ‘lack’ of day workers gathered around both the Home Despot, and Lowes… I wonder why??? 🙂
And a second day in a row of PT kicked my butt yesterday, so NOT doing that again. I need at least a day off between those workouts!
Y’all have a great weekend, stay safe, and stay cool!!!
Late night TV will soon be down to The Tonight Show for late TV…
CBS will cancel “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” in 2026, the network announced Thursday, insisting it’s a “financial decision” and has nothing to do with a looming ownership change.
“‘THE LATE SHOW with STEPHEN COLBERT’ will end its historic run in May 2026 at the end of the broadcast season,” CBS said in a statement. “We consider Stephen Colbert irreplaceable and will retire ‘THE LATE SHOW’ franchise at that time. We are proud that Stephen called CBS home. He and the broadcast will be remembered in the pantheon of greats that graced late night television.”
CBS said it was “purely a financial decision against a challenging backdrop in late night,” adding, “It is not related in any way to the show’s performance, content or other matters happening at Paramount.”
Full article, HERE from Fox News.
Snort…if you believe that, I’ve got a bridge…
The Tonight show is 71 years old, having premiered in 1954 with Steve Allen. Jack Parr, then Johnny Carson, followed by Jay Leno for 60 years of ‘quality’ late night humor.
The Late show was a sop to Letterman when he didn’t get the Tonight Show when Carson retired in 1992, and his ‘move’ from NBC to CBS. Letterman did a poor copy of the Tonight Show (IMHO), and got stranger and stranger as the years went by.
When Colbert took over, it took an even bigger swing to the left, and became virulently anti-Trump in 2015.
Personally, I think Paramount is throwing the rats off the ship before CBS gets sold/merged/or???
But since I don’t watch any of the late night stuff, I don’t care anymore…
YMMV, IANAL, and I didn’t stay in a Holiday Inn, so there…
Met with the back surgeon yesterday for my 5 week post op exam. After poking and prodding me, he said, “You’re cleared to resume normal activities.”
Yay!!!
But he wants me to continue PT for at least another month, and limit the amount of weight I lift.
That won’t be hard, considering how out of shape I am! Geez… PT yesterday afternoon kicked my butt, and I never got over 40 lbs on an exercise! The amount of muscle I lost both in my back and arms, along with the lack of flexibility is almost scary after just 6 months of not being able to do anything. And that is probably why I keep popping a rib head out of place…sigh
One of the hardest things is to try to get flexibility back! Those twisting exercises SUCK!!!
Anyhoo, off all drugs, so I’m actually able to write a little bit again, and I’m okay to travel now. But his last words as I walked out were, “And don’t do anything stupid.”
Moi, do stupid? Sigh… Shaddap out there… 🙂