Coldest day

Today is supposed to be the coldest day in a year here in flyover country. Actually, the high temperature is projected to be twenty-two degrees. In my opinion that's not really all that cold as we haven't had a hard winter in the last few years. Heck, this winter we haven't even had double digits in snow and it's half way through February.

You know what us old guys say...back in my day...

The one thing that gets me every winter whether it's a real winter or just a false winter like these last couple have been is the number of people I run into that are always complaining they are cold. Well yeah, it's winter. You're going to be cold.

Hey, here's an idea; dress for the winter season with winter clothing. But Robert, we just want to be comfortable (or fashionable). Well let this old guy tell you, being cold isn't comfortable. Even in the dead of winter I see too many people walking around in the same clothes they wore during the warmer months of the year and simply toss on a coat.

That's not how it works folks. If you want to be warm in the winter you need to dress in winter appropriate clothes. That means heavier jeans, not stretchy fabrics that have no insulation to them, heavier tops, thicker socks (as I constantly see others without socks on) and, God forbid, long underwear.

I personally know no woman (that I am aware of) who wears thermal underwear beneath their clothing. I know a few men who do but even that is a rarity. For me, once it gets cold I wear thermals all winter long, indoors and out. Guess what? I'm comfortable...inside and out. On really really cold days, like back in the olden days of my youth, I may perhaps put on a sweater if I'm sitting still in a chair writing on the computer...or something like that.

So, if you're generally someone who complains they're cold and you are dressing like it is June and you have flip flops on, I don't want to hear it. At that point you simply chose to be cold.

Oh, and Happy Valentine's Day...we still have four and a half weeks left of winter. Damned groundhog.

Unintended consequences

Sometimes things happen, unexpected things. Sometimes these are small, inconsequential steps that simply add up when you're not expecting it.

Several months ago, My Beloved and I along with Ragin' Cage and his dad went to the nearby (sort of) Pumpkin Festival. Actually, this festival is during the fall months here in fly-over country. So, you see it's been several months since then. Yeah, so?

Well, during the festival filled with rides and fair food there was this game...land a ping pong ball in the bowl of water and win a goldfish. Those games are very hard to win, not that I'm saying they're rigged against you, but well, you know. The problem is, his ping pong ball landed in one of the bowls and he was the happy winner and now owner of a fabulous goldfish.

So again, what's the problem?

Well, we took the goldfish home, now named Mr. Waffles and put him in a large glass bowl. And there he sat, and sat, and sat. We kept changing the water every few days but Mr. Waffles lived on. We figured what the heck, goldfish don't live too long. But he kept on going, and going, and going until finally, we had to do something.

And so it began. We finally had to break down and spend money on a small tank for him to live in. I got tired of seeing a bowl of water on the kitchen counter. So, twenty-five dollars later for a small filtered tank and Mr. Waffles had a new home. But Mr. Waffles looked lonely. He swam around and hid behind the plastic plants for a couple weeks before we broke down and bought a companion fish, Oreo, another goldfish.

So they have been swimming around now for another month living happily together. Today however the tank had to be cleaned. We realized Mr. Waffles was getting black spots and likely an ammonia buildup was the cause, so, another ten dollars for a siphon to clean the bottom of the tank.

This little fifty-cent gold fish has now cost us about $44 in equipment and supplies, not to mention a companion. I guess that's the price you pay for raising a little boy. Oh, we also have a tree frog, but that's another story altogether.

A writing challenge

It is the new year, welcome to 2020.

Often it is time for many of us/you to set new goals for the year to hopefully improve ourselves for the coming year. Many times we succeed, many times we fail. I'm not one that usually makes new years resolutions either professionally or personally. I have a general idea where I'm trying to go in life and carry on.

Now, in my writing career I've sold a few books; not as many as I would have hoped over the years but just enough to pat myself on the back. Making a career as a writer isn't for the feint of heart especially when there are bills to pay, a family to keep and life to face in the everyday world. I may never be able to retire from the day job and become strictly an author but hey, you have to keep the dream alive.

So where is this going Robert? Glad you asked.

For the year I have given myself a writing challenge, a type I've never done before. I have two novels to work on this year, finishing Serrian Sector, the fourth book of my sci-fi series and picking up work again on the third book of my fantasy series which I have let languish due to the former series. But the other challenge I've set for myself is a 365 challenge. I will write one paragraph per day for 365 days and post it to my facebook author page and on Twitter.

The story is a continuation of two first person fantasy short stories that I had no intention of continuing but, inspiration happens. If you would like to follow along and see how far I go with this challenge feel free to follow along on either Robert Thomas / Black Cover Books or @42rthomas

My challenge began on December 26th, the birthday of my beloved brother 'The Stache'. Perhaps he will follow along as well, but I won't count on it. He's very busy in retirement these days.

And that's what little girls are made of

It's the Christmas season and that means toys...lots and lots of toys being sold. We've got cars and trucks and dolls and blocks and a whole bunch of stuff I've never heard of. I haven't been in the toy business for a long time and, well I'm old.

Most of these toys weren't around or even a conception when I was a lad eagerly awaiting the ripping frenzy of Christmas morning. Even in my toy retail days when I worked for the defunct Children's Palace stores, many of those toys were new to me. My first big 'toy craze' I worked through was the introduction of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Fortunately for me I had just missed the Cabbage Patch phenomenon.

But there are some things that just don't change. There are dinosaurs, action figures, dolls, science toys...wait, did you say science toys? Yes! There are all kinds of toys that let children discover science and the natural world around them. But you know what hasn't changed in my opinion? Parents don't buy these toys for girls.

We hear all the time that parents want more for their girls and they don't want them to just follow the traditional paths laid out for women. But guess what, most don't (in my opinion) begin setting them up for those paths. I've conducted a brief experiment at work asking moms and dads, grandmas and grandpas who they are buying the discovery / science toys for. And guess what? Well over ninety percent of them are buying those toys for boys, not girls.

It's obvious what parents (mostly women and moms buy for their girls because men don't do most of the shopping) buy for girls; dolls, jewelry kits, makeup kits, anything pink and a bunch of cutesy products specifically aimed at girls.

So here's my challenge to the women of this country; if you want your daughters to grow up and become active in the sciences or biology or any of the 'non-traditional' fields we all hear has a glass ceiling it's time to put your money where your mouth is and break the mold. Don't just hope your little girl stumbles into one of these professions, start them on the track at a young age. Even if they don't follow that path, you've set them on a course that offers them insight to a place they may at least have an interest.

Ball's in your court now...

Cowboys and Indians

Yesterday when I was at my day job, you know, that one that actually pays the bills, I was stocking the shelves as it is a common occurrence. This time of year toys are a prime object. Most of the time I don't give much notice to what the toy is. More often than not I have no connection with whatever the toy is to my past. You must remember, most of what is on the shelves these days wasn't around when I was a young lad.

One toy however did give me pause. Like the skillful merchandiser I am, I deftly slipped my regulation safety knife under the cardboard flap and within the blink of an eye had the box open. Of course one has to have a regulation safety knife because everyone who works in the industry these days is too stupid to use a real razor knife without doing themselves some serious harm...but I digress.

Inside the box was a 'replica Black Canyon' western rifle set. It came complete with a rifle just like Chuck Connors had in the old Rifleman television series, however it was orange, not sure Chuck would have approved of that, as well as a pistol and holster for said six shooter. It got me to thinking, do kids these days play cowboys and indians? I'm thinking that's a fantasy that has long since passed into the history books. Even in my day, North of 50 and I never really played that even though we were only a few generations removed from that era. Yeah, I'm a bit old. We were more into playing 'war' being we were fresh off the World War II era.

North of 50 on the left, me on the right

with our trusty rifles

The funny thing about that is we really didn't play good vs bad and make one be the Germans or the Japanese. I guess we didn't think along those lines. Now, the era of cowboys and indians is so far removed from the public mindset that this toy seems like an antique. Not to mention the politically correctness of it being, just not. I suppose unless one lives in the plains states or what would have been considered the 'old west', it isn't something kids gravitate to as that era is well over one-hundred years past.

Even if some kids thought of this these days it would likely be called 'Oppressive White Man vs Native Americans'.

Tales in Time for you

Tis the Christmas season, at least for me. I know for others Christmas is not their holiday of choice so consider this inclusion for the holiday season.

As a thank you to those who have followed along with this blog for either all the years we have written it or, have just jumped on recently, I have a small gift for you. I have written several short stories and put them together in an ebook. It is titled, Tales in Time. It is a collection of short stories that cover a wide range of genres from a gumshoe in the 30's to an old world vampire to a Christmas tale.

If you click on the link provided in the title it will take you to smashwords.com which is a book distributor. At the checkout enter the coupon code LT89M and the book is free. It is my Christmas gift to those who have faithfully followed along. So, if you've ever wanted to see if my writing is up your alley, this is your chance for a freebie.

I wish you all well this holiday season and...Merry Christmas.

9066

These days in America seem to be not only highly politically charged but also socially charged. It is an ongoing battle about whose rights take precedence over other's rights. Social control over issues is no different than government control because the social issues almost always spill over into the government.

If you think that isn't the case, think about what is going on now and is played out in the news nightly. One group of far left liberals tout almost a socialization of America which in my opinion is not sought by much of the middle class. Many of the loudest voices of those policies are attempting to secure their party's presidential nomination. The other side of the political spectrum is fervently fighting against this tide.

As a rule of thumb, the liberal agenda often is absorbed by younger generations as the way to move forward. Now don't get me wrong, there are plenty of prejudices that should never have happened, such a racism and not so overtly, glass ceilings against women and other groups. Change however isn't always led by the liberal left. Societal change doesn't happen like slamming on your car's brakes and heading in the opposite direction. Societal norms evolve, that is the way the human populace works. It has since we crawled out of the primordial soup and looked around. We evolve. I can't think of an abrupt societal change that didn't lead to near chaos; Germany, Russia, China and other countries have all faced abrupt political changes in their history, many times to the detriment of its own citizens and often the rest of the world.

As you read this, who is of the mindset that "those types of changes couldn't happen here"?

If that is what you believe, if you have your head in the sand, look up 'Executive Order 9066'. It happened in this country less than one-hundred years ago. Many who read this blog likely already know what this order was and what it involved. For those who don't, think of this as a homework assignment. I'm not going to tell you, you'll have to look it up.