Fantasy/Magic & Sci-Fi → Acts/ Dictates/ Mandates/ Mantle - Amy's Thread
I picked a bad time to break my laptop screen. If EBay hadn't been so ill-mannered in its messaging I might have had a replacement screen tomorrow. Now, Tuesday or Wednesday, or worse if I have to hunt another supplier.
Doing a review on this "smart" phone would take hours and add 15lbs to my BP.
I've started the first of the two reviews I owe you. I'll pick it up later today.
Tazar speaking moreut around Airen? I was wondering about that.
take your time. It's not like I'm ripping out the reviews lately. I'm mulling the next chapter of the ending, though.
Merry Xmas everybody.
And a (hic) happy new year.
Happy 2018 everyone!!!! 
For the connoisseur of calamities: A car driven into the second story of an office building: https://pjmedia.com/instapundit/285946/
Fishing in the Catacombs:
Thought one: Using Tazar's PoV doesn't have to mean seeing through his eyes and hearing all his thoughts. It can mean looking over his shoulder. Your first version comes close to that already.
Thought two: If Alda explains here (absently?) to Tazar why the only flesh they eat is fish, it will show Tazar that she knows more than she allows herself to know.
For the connoisseur of calamities: A car driven into the second story of an office building: https://pjmedia.com/instapundit/285946/
From the Darwin Awards website:
The Arizona Highway Patrol were mystified when they came upon a pile of smoldering wreckage embedded in the side of a cliff rising above the road at the apex of a curve. The metal debris resembled the site of an airplane crash, but it turned out to be the vaporized remains of an automobile. The make of the vehicle was unidentifiable at the scene.
The folks in the lab finally figured out what it was, and pieced together the events that led up to its demise.
It seems that a former Air Force sergeant had somehow got hold of a JATO (Jet Assisted Take-Off) unit. JATO units are solid fuel rockets used to give heavy military transport airplanes an extra push for take-off from short airfields.
Dried desert lakebeds are the location of choice for breaking the world ground vehicle speed record. The sergeant took the JATO unit into the Arizona desert and found a long, straight stretch of road. He attached the JATO unit to his car, jumped in, accelerated to a high speed, and fired off the rocket.
The facts, as best as could be determined, are as follows:
The operator was driving a 1967 Chevy Impala. He ignited the JATO unit approximately 3.9 miles from the crash site. This was established by the location of a prominently scorched and melted strip of asphalt. The vehicle quickly reached a speed of between 250 and 300 mph and continued at that speed, under full power, for an additional 20-25 seconds. The soon-to-be pilot experienced G-forces usually reserved for dog-fighting F-14 jocks under full afterburners.
The Chevy remained on the straight highway for approximately 2.6 miles (15-20 seconds) before the driver applied the brakes, completely melting them, blowing the tires, and leaving thick rubber marks on the road surface. The vehicle then became airborne for an additional 1.3 miles, impacted the cliff face at a height of 125 feet, and left a blackened crater 3 feet deep in the rock.
Most of the driver's remains were not recovered; however, small fragments of bone, teeth, and hair were extracted from the crater, and fingernail and bone shards were removed from a piece of debris believed to be a portion of the steering wheel.
Ironically a still-legible bumper sticker was found, reading
"How do you like my driving? Dial 1-800-EAT-SHIT."
Fortunately for the sergeant, this story is listed as an urban legend, although it lives on among conspiracy theorists.
I heard about this one about fifteen years ago, but I can still see it happening. Whether or not it is true, the amusement value cannot be denied.
I'm back. Believe it or not, there is a chapter up that is new and awaiting the beady eyes of 'whoever' has the time.
How is everyone doing? Give a single paragraph on your timeline or here, for that matter. I'm so out of the loop that I'm not sure about NJC and Janet (and I just met up with them three weeks ago).
Here is the update on me.
Chemo continues, but each time I do maintenance chemo, it seems that my energy is better and I have more living to do. I got a lot done over the weekend. There was a medieval feast, so I parked my tookas in the kitchen, dressed in norse garb and wearing a borrowed apron so I didn't spill grease on the linen outfit. It was a solid 10 hours cooking chicken, slicing oranges, etc, and then plating the food for the hungry heifers (my term of endearment for anybody with a crown). My biggest contribution was saving the chicken from being overcooked. Like, I saved ALL the chicken for 100+ people. Go me. Also, I got to see people that I normally only see once a year.
Sunday, I sang in choir and saved the altos from alto-maggedon. I learned the part in a day and then got thrown into the performance with three other women who struggle to carry a tune. It was fun being able to blast-sing and pray that I was on the right note. FYI, I have pipes when I want them. I had enough fun that I might just go this Thursday and practice with them again. They liked me enough that they offered me my own robe and my own folder for the music. It was cute. In return, I get to learn the alto part for Handel. Pray for me.
Monday I slept a LOT. Today was my doc apt (and I finished the Saundon chapter,) and tomorrow is chemo again. wash, rinse, repeat.
Oh, and last Thursday, I did my taxes and found out that there is a refund and I don't owe crazy amounts of money.
How about everybody else?
I'm glad you have so much energy. I'm still making notes for my Antichrist series. 60 pages and counting.
Forget the energy, I'm just glad I don't owe thousands of dollars that I have to come up with out of the blue.
To keep my life insurance, I have to choke up 13K a year. Health insurance is going from 650 dollars a mo to 1600 per month (starting in April or May) I'm going to be eating mac and cheese all year. This tax refund is going to be a bit of light in a very dark tunnel.
Norm, that wasn't a paragraph. News about the Normster, please.
I'm trying to progress on my side projects, but they keep growing side arms. I just got the parts to do one pf those. I'll try to knock it off tomorrow. I almost know how to do one of the big ones, but I'm waiting on delivery of some multiconductor cable to see if it can allow me to wire everything without an infeasable spider-rat's nest-web. I've got the front panel built. I also realized that if I can put heat sinks on the main output transistors, I can ease the upper voltage limit. (The current bootstrap transistors are already MASSIVELY heat-sinked.)
Oh, and I have to verify that the component values in the circuit are right. The present side-project is meant to help with that. (Have to see how to mount it. I used big switches (20 amp DC interrupting) and they are stiff.)
I've got parts for the main project's meter panel. That's going to require some careful mechanical work. I need to pull myself back into a day schedule so I don't wake the neighbors with the drill and the Dremel. (I'm starting to develop the mechanical skill I should have learned in my early teens. Pity it's probably too late to learn to weld-and I have no place suitable for doing it.)
Believe it or not, I'm still dealing with my move from Jan. 2016. Now it's IRS withholding forms I need to provide to all my US financial institutions (IRAs, NYSE pension, bank checking). Even my Canadian bank wants the forms so they can occasionally invest my money in US investments. These need to be renewed every three years, otherwise the banks have to withhold 30% of all payments to me, instead of the tax treaty-specified 0-15%. Who's supposed to do this sh*t when I'm old and senile? Also, it's almost time for tax returns again. Maybe I'll get lucky and get audited again. Idiots!
I usually get in a few hours most days doing research for the new books. Of course, I have to take copious notes, since I can't remember sh*t. I have a pretty good idea of the overall arc for the first book, but I'm still not sure I should do it the way I want. Catholic Revelation includes two end-time figures, an Antichrist and a false prophet. The mainstream Catholic interpretation of these figures are a worldwide political-military leader (the Antichrist) and an anti-Catholic religious leader (the false prophet) who have yet to appear in history. One alternative interpretation views Emperor Nero as the Antichrist and Caiaphas, the Jewish high priest who orchestrated Jesus's death, as the false prophet. Nero was a nasty piece of work, using many of his enemies as human torches.
I'm considering combining the two figures into a single Antichrist fathered by Satan. According to Revelation, Satan is limited in his powers because he was "bound" by the archangel Michael at the time of Jesus's ministry. Looking back at the murder and mayhem of the 20th century, imagine what Satan could do if he weren't bound. In my story, his son would be just as powerful, but free to act.
Just heard back from one of my US banks. They don't accept scanned copies of the IRS withholding form. Have to mail the original. Why is it that the IRS will ONLY accept some forms electronically, yet Chase needs a physical piece of paper? Dumbasses.
I feel for you, brother. Likely, the rule about hardcopy is required by the IRS, so put the blame where it belongs. The IRS is a bunch of dumbasses. I'm probably jinxing myself, you realize.
Let the good times roll. Le bon temps roulez...
Amy! *hugz*
I am prepping for midterms (I just took one exam this week and I have two next week). The most difficult one is history. It's "World Civilizations", so each week we cover a massive area over the span of several centuries. It's difficult to remember all the little tidbits when everything is so generalized. Luckily, the professor in that class is pretty awesome. The professor in my astronomy class, by contrast, is difficult to understand. Thank goodness astronomy is easy for me, though the physics part of it is a pain in the tuchus.
On top of that, my family is starting a new business as a sort of extension of the one I'm already working for. We're going to serve out internet where I live, which is great 'cause there's basically crap options out here. I spent this past Tuesday testing a bunch of used servers and noting their specs so we can swap things around and build ourselves a nice network. Things are progressing well, but that also means I have a ton of work to do.
Then there's the fact that we've gotten sick basically once a month for goodness knows how long. At the moment, my baby brother is on his way to the doc 'cause he won't stop crying. My house is insanity and it doesn't help that two of us have compromised immune systems (RA).
As far as writing goes, I'm slowly working on it here and there. I have one chapter that's basically done, but I'm missing a small bit in the middle and the conclusion is making me twitch. I'll get there eventually!! Also, I need to do some reviews! When exactly I'll have time for that, I'm not sure. Maybe I'll sacrifice some sleep this evening. 
To remember History, turn it back into Story.
"To write good history is the noblest work of Man." ---John Dickson Carr
To remember History, turn it back into Story.
I can usually get that to work, except for the dates. I have the hardest time remembering the dates (or even the proper century). If we were just focused on one region of the world, it might be easier, but this class skims over everything since it has so much to cover in such a short period.
Yeah. Polyphony is hard, unless you are named Bach.
Amy, nothing of mine needs reviewing. K and Seabrass are nitting some minor cleanup I'm doing before I shelve the book. Spending 90% of my writing time doing research for my next trilogy, tentatively entitled The Unholy Trinity Unleashed. There's a thread for it in this forum if you want to subscribe and watch me rename it two or three times a day.
Elishiva, school comes first, so concentrate on dates if that is what it takes. What is your major?
Norm, ideas for your title are on your thread.
Fantasy/Magic & Sci-Fi → Acts/ Dictates/ Mandates/ Mantle - Amy's Thread
