Blog Archives

Job Changes

1/29/2015

Well, it's been nearly 5 years since my job moved to a new department. It must be time for more changes.

I'm being silly. It seems that since I've been working full time, I go through a reorganization or some sort of move about every 5 years. Twice it's been a move to a new building, and the last time was to a whole new department. Every other time, it's been a bit less intensive - moving your office from here in this work group to there in that work group up the hall. And that's what it is this time. I'm still with the same department, but my two main boards of landscape architecture and soil classifying are moving to another work group with two different, smaller boards. So I'm moving from the design group with architects and engineers to a more science-type group with Environmental Certification and Forestry. It's actually part of a major agency-wide reorganization. I signed the paperwork yesterday, and this move could happen as soon as next week. I've actually known about it for a while, but didn't want to tell it until I was more certain. Well, it's certain! So here I go again.

You know, last Sunday the pastor gave a sermon about how the only unchanging thing is change, and it was very timely. It's the only constant in the universe, and in life things are always on the move, whether it's the slow, imperceptible passage of days, or shake ups, break ups, and putting it back together again seeming chaos. I believe that's why we're taught to build our foundation on Christ - because He is the only thing that doesn't change, and can hold us steady during the waves and wonders of life on this earth. I learned long ago not to fear change. It's not that I don't care, it's just that: 1. I have faith that if the Lord brings me to it, He'll bring me through it, and this is nothing compared to the last move I made, 2. I do understand the nature of the 21st century workforce, and that things are always changing and will keep on changing until I retire, and probably beyond even that, and 3. This reinforces my belief in the importance of a well balanced life - because I have other things in my life that are more under my discretion and are in a fairly good place, this transition really doesn't bother me much. In other words, it's going to take a lot more than this to scare me, especially considering how often I've been in this place.

The truth is that I am kind of excited about this move. It's not major like the last one, and seeing as I'm a total science and technology nerd, being in a group of more earth and science based programs is right up my ally. I learned a lot being with the architects and engineers, and I appreciate the experience I gained and all that I learned there, but there's something exciting about starting with a clean slate and learning something new. Growing is good. Learning is good. Expanding your horizons is good. Yes, my office space is shrinking, but heck, I won't need all that space for file storage any more anyway since these boards are mostly digital (which I love, because I so hate paper). Things have a way of working out, and I already trust that they will and in fact are in the process of doing just that. Sure, moving is a pain, but it will pass. It always does. And I've gotten pretty efficient at it.

So change is in the air, but it's all good. I'm excited. And of course, my writing will continue, as it has through each and every one of the other changes that have happened over the past nearly 15 years since I started on that adventure. Funny thing is, each change seems to stretch my muse to new creative frontiers as well, so this is looking like a win-win situation for me. Hmm, maybe being more in earth and science stuff will really get the sci-fi writing thing going for me even more than it is now. I'd really like that! Wow, talking about all things working together for good. Here's hoping I'm right on that one!

That's all today. Have a Happy Friday tomorrow and a wonderful weekend.

Bye!

Evolution

1/25/2015

Rick and I were talking about movies and television shows the other night, and made an interesting discovery. It seems that we've gone through quite an evolution in our entertainment, even since our childhood. Remember the days when the Dukes of Hazzard tried to stop robberies and Boss Hogg from embezzling money in Hazzard County? Now the League of Assasians threaten to kill innocent people and terrorize a city if a killer of one of their own isn't handed over, and it takes a vigilante hero a fight to the death to neutralize the threat. Cars jumping over ravines doesn't have anything on the archery and hand to hand combat of twenty first century drama, does it?

No doubt, the world has changed, and our entertainment has changed with it. It's darker, more sinister, and more real and in your face than it was once upon a time. Blame it on the degrade of society. Blame it on Generation X pushing the envelope further and further as we brought the cartoon heroes of our childhood to television and the big screen in live action roles. Blame it on the media showing real life war carnage on our computer screens and televisions for the sake of "keeping us informed." Blame it on shorter attention spans, or needing bigger and better to get our attention, on our fast paced world or becoming desensitized to the horrors of reality. Blame it on what you will.

We say the world has changed, but I wonder if that's so, or if we've become more used to the darkness of reality. No doubt, the world has seen plenty of darkness through the many wars we've experienced over time, and we've always been able to cause horror with our flawed human nature. The ugliness of humanity and reality aren't new. Just read The Bible and you'll see that. So why does it seem like the world is darker now? Is it really darker, or have we lost our fear and now we choose to deal with this horror head on, even in our fiction and entertainment? Once upon a time, comedy was an escape and a big hit on prime time. Now I'm hearing that comedy is losing ratings, and the dramas are turning up the numbers these days.

Reality may not have really changed that much, but fiction has. It seems we've seen an evolution as how we portray the world through it. Perhaps the mirror more accurately reflects what is now more than ever. All I know is that it makes writing both easier and harder than ever before. On the one hand, you have to be able to punch them in the gut hard and quick to grab their attention. But on the other, you don't need to look too far or dig too deep to figure it out.

That's all today. In closing, I'd like to leave you with the excerpt I promised in my last entry. Behold, I have set the debate in motion, and it's (literally) going to blow up the world. Enjoy, and have a great week!

Chapter 11

“Protect our tech!” the people on the screen chanted on the midday news cast, shaking fists in the camera and bobbing signs through the streets.

“You can’t deactivate our nanotech! That’s a death sentence to millions of people!”

“Shutting down our technology isn’t the answer! How can we fight an interstellar threat by reverting society back a century?”

“This is paranoia! Safety isn’t worth undoing a century’s worth of progress!”

“Our technological advances since the late twentieth century have been humanity’s greatest achievement. How can we even consider throwing that away just because there are aliens out there?”

“Are there aliens out there? How do we know this whole thing isn’t a hoax by the Eastern Factions to scare us into hiding in caves?”

A pretty red-headed anchor replaced the image of angry protestors on the screen, peering in the camera with striking green eyes. “That’s just a sample of the protests taking place on streets throughout America today after The President suggested a ban on non-essential technology in his speech to the nation last night. The revelation of an alien presence on Earth followed by a worldwide failure of nanotech has Congress, the medical professions, and the Space Authority alarmed and on high alert. Although there have been on further instances, a team of medical professionals headed by Annaliese Kerner-Boyce, psychiatrist and wife of Kerner Boyce, who chairs the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, is working with the United States Space Authority to research the nanotech failure and the recovery process in the patients most affected. Until that research is complete, the President has suggested a ban on non-essential technology to ensure there are no further instances of failure or compromise of our technology. The proposed ban would include nanotech treating non-life threatening illnesses and injuries and would place strict limits on the use of computers, phones, and operational machinery and systems. The only systems exempt from this ban would be life-sustaining nanotech, emergency personnel communication and data devices, and regulation of basic functions such as electricity, water, food distribution, local transportation systems, and health care services.”

“The ban has plenty of opposition in Congress, as well as on the streets. Senator Boyce has publically opposed the ban, siting that it’s impossible to obtain the research needed by the team his committee formed if limitations are places on the use of technology. Other Senators and House Representatives have been on the national news networks this morning calling the President’s proposal ‘paranoia,’ and ‘a knee jerk reaction to something that we don’t even know is a threat.’ So far, the resistance in the Capitol is holding, even though the President stopped short of threatening to sign an Executive Order on the ban. The riots recently quelled in the wake of the revelation of an alien presence are springing up again, this time over threats to ‘pull the plug,’ as some have come to call the initiative. Protests have also been mounted online, with a petition urging the President to drop the ‘Pull the Plug’ ban already registering nearly a billion signatures. There’s no word from The White House on reaction to the speech yet.”

“Stay tuned to KRTB in Phoenix, Arizona, for the latest on this developing situation.”

“Very interesting,” Hailey mumbled, as she tapped the window closed on her computer and laid it on the table in the kitchen of her lavish condominium. She carried her coffee mug to the bay window in her den, staring at the desert sunshine and smiling. They didn’t call it the Valley of the Sun for nothing. The summers might be brutal, but the desert has a beauty of it’s own that can’t be denied. It was a shame she would have to leave it, for a little while at least. Oh well, it was a necessary sacrifice. You can’t take over the world if you won’t leave your home.

Her revere was broken by the chime of an incoming message. She walked back to the kitchen, sat her mug on the table, and picked up her computer, smiling at the incoming message. It was a good thing she checked the news when she did. Otherwise, she might have been completely surprised by this incoming message, requesting her participating in a study headed by none other than Annaliese Kerner-Boyce. She scanned the message, tapped “accept,” laid down the computer, and picked up her mug for another sip of coffee.

“Oh yes, it’s been far too long. I’m coming back, and this time I’m the one with a surprise for the Kerners.”

An Interesting Turn

1/21/2015

Folks, I've been writing now for nearly 14 years, and I had a first today as I was writing 2 chapters of Schism (the second book in The Earthside Trilogy). It's pretty common for your story to surprise you, and your characters to take things in places and directions you don't expect. Heck, most of us writer's love those times, because that's when it really takes on a life of it's own. But today, I had my writing take an altogether different turn from what I've ever expected: the ethical dilemma.

Here's the situation: In one of the chapters I wrote today, I set up the antagonist for the story: a woman named Hailey in her mid-40's that depends on nanotech in my near future to ward off early onset Parkinson's disease. The problem: A race of cybernetic aliens has figured out how to hack into the very tech keeping millions of people alive and potentially control them. So what do you do? Shutting down the nanotech would block out the alien threat - at the potential cost of millions of lives. Which do we want more: to preserve the life and well being of our fellow human beings, or to shut down the nanotech to preserve our safety from a potentially devastating alien threat?

It seems I've created quite a doozy here, and I'm actually happy about it. While I already know how I intend to work out the situation in the end (or rather, a little over halfway through the novel), I hadn't given much thought to the health versus safety aspect of this novel. I believe this is going to lend a lot to the plot, and in fact make it much richer than I planned. Plus, it makes it somewhat timely, given the many debates and ponderings over what we would be willing to sacrifice for our safety. Yes, my novel takes place close to a century in the future, but threats are always present, and it's likely an issue that will continue to turn and evolve through time.

Indeed, this is an interesting turn in the writing of this novel, and I'm excited about it. Now to get this debate raging - and, of course, I'll share a sample chapter here once I get it written.

That's all today. Take care, and have a great rest of the week.

Bye!

New Realizations

1/19/2015

I’m back! From outer space!

Just kidding. Actually, I went back to Reston, Virginia, for a work related meeting. Sorry to drop off the grid like I did, but I actually traveled alone for this trip and didn’t want to advertise that I was “out there” all by myself on social media. Safety issues and all, you know. Plus, it’s the first time I ever traveled alone, and I didn’t think you’d be very interested in my pre-trip anxiety/musings anyway. I wasn’t. And if my own thoughts aren’t interesting to me, I’m pretty sure they aren’t to you, either!

Overall, the trip was good. I’m glad it went well. I think it’s good for me to be in a leadership role with this committee, and traveling alone also helped me to grow, reminded me of why I value my closest relationships as much as I do, and drove home how truly unique I am and the contribution I make to the world in my own way. I’ve always known that I am different from other people, especially other women, but this trip showed me that it isn’t bad. I saw, maybe clearly for the first time, how my perspective can be a helpful and valuable contribution to larger causes. I always knew I was a square peg, but for the first time, I saw how being different can actually fit in its own way. I wasn’t “outside” because of being different. In fact, I was asked to be on the “inside” because of it. That’s given me a new perspective on the value of being a unique individual, and that it really can help others. I believe this is a good point of prayerful meditation for me.

It’s good food for thought, and I think it’s a major realization that’s growing on me and making me feel more positive about, well, everything! This is something that really applies to all areas of life. I said I was looking for more positive energy in my life, and in a strange way, I feel this meeting and this trip was a wellspring of just what I needed in that area. Let’s see where this goes!

But still, it is good to be home. Traveling is good to expose you to the bigger world, and it also makes you appreciate home more. I did miss Rick and the birds a lot! I’m glad for Facetime so we could keep in touch to see and talk to one another, but it’s best to be home with them in person. Yay!

That’s all this time. Take care, and have a great week.

Bye!

Introducing Dissension!

1/9/2015

New year, new novel! I started working on the second book of The Earthside Trilogy. Busy and consuming work, but good. It's coming along well and already surprising me. Tonight, I'd like to treat you to a sample chapter from the draft. And so, without further ado, here is Chapter 3 of Dissension:

Chapter 3

“It’s the strangest thing I’ve ever seen,” Brandon said , leaning his tall, lanky frame against the plush couch in the den of the cabin. “But then again, strange is becoming normal these days.”

“Thanks a lot,” Kalea said, sitting in the matching beige recliner next to the couch with a cup of steaming apple cider in her hands.

Brandon laughed. “I meant no offence, big cousin.”

“None taken, I’m sure,” Annaliese said, sitting between him and Kieran on the couch. “So, what kind of weird so we have now?”

Brandon leaned forward, pulling the images of Earth from space from his tablet on the coffee table in front of them. “The simplest explanation is that the nanotech was blown by a computer virus.”

“What kind of virus?” Senator Vickers said from the video feed on Kieran’s tablet, which was sitting next to Brandon’s.

Brandon shrugged. “One like nobody has ever seen. Obviously, it slipped through a loophole in the satellite system, but we can’t find what. It was on a rotating frequency. But here’s where it gets weird. The signal didn’t come from outside of our system. It came from orbit.” He zoomed the image to show the area of space where Earth’s satellite systems orbited the planet. “If you look carefully, you can see fragments of metal debris just above the satellite orbits.”

Everybody leaned forward and squinted to study the image. Sure enough, jagged fragments of metal glittered in the light from the sun. “What kind of metal is that?” Kieran asked.

“We don’t know. It doesn’t match any element on the periodic table,” Brandon said, running his hands through his short, brown hair. “We pulled up images of space to see if we could find something to tell us what it was or where it came from, and we got lucky.” He swept his hands to bring up another image of Earth from space and swung it around to show the space under Antartica. “This image is from ten days ago, just before the congressional hearing and the nanotech attack.” He zoomed in the image on a small dark sphere. “Of course, we have no way of knowing if this is what blew up in orbit. All we know is that it was there ten days ago, and now it’s gone and these fragments are floating around. And we’re lucky we even spotted it at all. If it hasn’t been for Bruce’s good eye, we would have missed it.”

“It stood out like a beacon to me,” Bruce said from the recliner on the opposite side of the couch, next to Kieran. “It was radiating their energy.”

“Their energy?” Senator Vickers. “What do you mean?”

Brandon zoomed the image back out and started a time-lapse image. “We were able to reconstruct the reverse trajectory of the object based on time lapse images going back in time. Not surprisingly, it came from Alpha Centauri. But here’s what is surprising,” he said, zooming in on the time stamp. “Look at the date of origin from Alpha Centauri.”

“Two weeks ago,” Annaliese said. “That probe traveled from Alpha Centauri to Earth in five days.”

The room was silent. Finally, Kieran asked the question that was on every mind. “How did that probe travel nearly five light years in five days?”

“They’ve mastered light speed travel,” Kalea said softly.

Everybody turned to stare at her. “How?” Senator Vickers asked.

“Because that’s what they do,” Bruce said. “They adapt. They evolve. They do it quickly. And that’s how they will defeat us.”

The Bright Side of Winter

1/7/2015

There's no denying it: January can be depressing. The holidays are over and it's back to work - a schedule that can be tough to adjust to if you've had time off. You've visited family and friends, and they've returned to their routines. Gifts are exchanged, the parties are over, and the calender is filled with nothing but routine and obligations. The holiday decorations are packed away, leaving short winter days that are dark and empty. Fun time is over. It makes you believe that animals that hibernate have it right - the world is dormant and it's tempting to sleep right through it.

A season of rest can be quite beneficial not only to the earth, but to us as well. In fact, the change that winter brings to our routines can give us just the charge we need to produce more abundant fruit in life. And it can be nice, really, if you open your mind to it. It might be hard to see how there can be any benefit to winter, but there are some, like:

1. More time for hobbies. Winter is great for writing, reading, arts and crafts, indoor sports, and civic functions. The dormancy of the outdoors can open new opportunities to connect with new people and interests.

2. The excitement of resolutions. Getting started on self improvement is invigorating, and it only takes 21 days to form a new habit. If you stay on that diet, keep on the exercise program, write the novel, clean the house, laying down the bad habit, or taking up a new good one for just 3 weeks, then you have a great chance of making it a part of everyday life. Sometimes, change is good, and just what you need to take those first steps to great life improvement.

3. It's easier to dress professionally (or at least nice) in the winter. You have to admit that it's easier to dress up pants, a sweater, and boots, than pants, a t-shirt, and sandals.

4. It's a blessing to homebodies. What better reason to hole up at home than an artic blast like we're having now? You have to admit that snow days beat sick days anytime. After all, when you're sick, you can't really enjoy the time off - but a snow day is the blessing of an unexpected holiday.

5. If you hate the heat, then here's your relief. Remember those scorching days last summer? That's just it - it's only a memory.

I know it doesn't seem like much, but then again it doesn't take much to brighten your days. So don't lose that post holiday glow just yet. Let it continue to inspire you to find the benefits to this season of rest. Never fear - spring always comes back. Until then, here are a few things to help you get your year off to the right start.

That's all today. Take care and have a great rest of the week.

Bye!

News of the Weird

1/3/2015

Happy New Year everybody, and I hope your 2015 is going well so far. We're kind of celebrated out in our corner of the world, with Christmas, Zack's birdy birthday, and New Year, but it's been great to celebrate the holidays and to see family and friends. We're resting up and settling back down now, but it's been great to have time to see people and do things these past couple of weeks.

One thing I've had a bit more time for lately is checking the news. I usually try to keep up with the main stories, so many of the "lesser stories" get by me. Perhaps that's something I need to rectify this year, because it seems that there's plenty of weird news to go along with the serious stuff of living in this world. For example, over the past few days I've learned that:

1. A fire at a nearby Walmart on New Year's Eve was arson. Somebody intentionally started a fire in the greeting card isle. I know that Walmart isn't anybody's happy place. I went to a Walmart in the nice part of town a couple of months ago and there was a man in the parking lot screaming "OH MY GOD, HE HAS A GUN!!" The worst part is that there was a police officer there, and nobody even went to check it out because (ahem) you're at Walmart, and if they only have 1 gun, then they're underprotected at that place. Walmart is the top reason I got my CWP, because the salt of the earth doesn't frequent the place. And the worst part is that's one of the better Walmart's around town.

2. January 2 is Divorce Day. Because the stress of the holidays is too much, so let's sign up for an entire year of it! Seriously, I was a bit surprised at this, because it seems that the holidays would bring people together but alas, it seems that it has the opposite effect in many cases.

3. Apple is being sued because they supposedly lied about the storage space on the iPhone. Customers in Miami have sued Apple because the IOS operating system takes up 3 GB of storage space, meaning it doesn't really have 16 GB. Um, news flash: they all do that. Operating systems take up some space, and obviously the device won't work without it. If you need that much storage space, get a tablet or a laptop. It's a phone, not a personal computer. Sorry folks - I know we aren't all tech savvy, but that's just being an uninformed consumer. It's like suing a contractor because the square footage of your house doesn't include the garage, crawl space,and attic space, although it's pretty common knowledge that square footage only includes space that's heated and air conditioned. Any tech representative anywhere would have been able to tell them how much space the operating system takes, and what they really have available for their junk. That's why there's cloud storage - to give you extra space by not having to put everything on it. Learn the device you insist on having, for goodness sake!

And in other tidbits from social media, I have also learned:

4. That one yuk on Facebook thinks that you should write something every day, even if it's a suicide note. What? Excuse me, but if writing leads you to that, then you really need to find something else that makes you happy!

5. It rains diamonds on Neptune. That's interesting to know, even if there's absolutely no use for that information. I guess I'll file it in "good to know" in case I ever write a scifi story about alien bandits.

I must say that 2015 has at least gotten off to an interesting start. And if this is the world around me, then it promises to be quite an interesting year at least!

That's all today. Take care, and have a good weekend.

Bye!