Today was Eryn's 14th birthday. It's hard to believe how much she's growing up.. When Rebecca and I first started dating, Eryn was just in Kindergarten, and now she's about to start high school. Tonight she was also inducted into the National Junior Honors Society. She's turning into my overachiever, and I'm very proud of her. She's getting good grades, she was on the A team in volleyball, and she's participating a lot in everything at school.
Happy 14th Eryn!!!
Thursday, March 05, 2015
Wednesday, March 04, 2015
GM's Day Sale
Through the end of the week, DriveThruRPG is running a GM's Day sale to
celebrate those gamers that make gaming possible. We've joined in the
sale, and we're offering all of our Ephemeris products for 30% off.
Now's the time to stock up on all of the titles you haven't had a chance
to pick up, or if you haven't started playing...now's the time!
http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/browse/pub/2805/Nomadic-Delirium-Press
http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/browse/pub/2805/Nomadic-Delirium-Press
Book sale
Alban Lake Publishing has three of my books on sale through March 17th. You can pick each of them up for just $8 each.
You can get A Problem in Translation by going to http://store.albanlake.com/product/a-problem-in-translation
You can get Where the Fleet of Stars is Anchored by going to http://store.albanlake.com/product/where-the-fleet-of-stars-is-anchored
You can get Red Moon Rising by going to http://store.albanlake.com/product/red-moon-rising
You can get A Problem in Translation by going to http://store.albanlake.com/product/a-problem-in-translation
You can get Where the Fleet of Stars is Anchored by going to http://store.albanlake.com/product/where-the-fleet-of-stars-is-anchored
You can get Red Moon Rising by going to http://store.albanlake.com/product/red-moon-rising
Tuesday, March 03, 2015
The disappearing middle class
There has been a lot of talk about the disappearing middle class in America. After doing our taxes last month, I can attest that the middle class is most certainly disappearing. We are middle class, or at least lower middle class, and every year becomes more and more of a struggle for us. When we first moved in together, I left my fast food management job, but Rebecca kept her full time retail supervisor's job. Those first years were difficult for us, but we got by...even if just barely.
Now, almost seven years later, Rebecca is still a full time retail supervisor, I'm now working part time as a retail supervisor, and I'm making more than ever from writing, editing, and game design, and we aren't making ends meet. The simplest explanation is that the cost of everything is rising dramatically, while our incomes are not. When we get our annual raises, we get 2-3%, but the cost of everything is rising much higher than that. Our rent goes up about 5% annually, and everything else follows suit. It's no wonder that people making middle class income, especially lower middle class income are struggling more and more each year. We can't keep up with rising costs, and as long as pay rates stay low and don't increase accordingly, all of us in the middle class will continue to struggle.
That's enough economics for today. Off to do some work...have to make some money somehow...
Now, almost seven years later, Rebecca is still a full time retail supervisor, I'm now working part time as a retail supervisor, and I'm making more than ever from writing, editing, and game design, and we aren't making ends meet. The simplest explanation is that the cost of everything is rising dramatically, while our incomes are not. When we get our annual raises, we get 2-3%, but the cost of everything is rising much higher than that. Our rent goes up about 5% annually, and everything else follows suit. It's no wonder that people making middle class income, especially lower middle class income are struggling more and more each year. We can't keep up with rising costs, and as long as pay rates stay low and don't increase accordingly, all of us in the middle class will continue to struggle.
That's enough economics for today. Off to do some work...have to make some money somehow...
Sunday, March 01, 2015
February recap
Very slow month of blogging. I promise more soon. Life has just been crazy busy of late...
My jury duty experience
Happy birthday, Jul
The Ephemeris Encyclopedia Galactica Sectors 33-35
My jury duty experience
Happy birthday, Jul
The Ephemeris Encyclopedia Galactica Sectors 33-35
Sunday, February 22, 2015
The Ephemeris Encyclopedia Galactica: Sectors 33-35
The exploration of “Unexplored Space” continues with Sectors 33-35.
You'll find more new colonies for your group to explore, and lots of places that have not been explored by any of the current eleven species. The remnants of the Glikth-machine wars litter two of these sectors, and there's a new species that has not reached interstellar space. Will they survive, or will someone like the Culthan come along and exploit them?
http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/144976/The-Ephemeris-Encyclopedia-Galactica-Sectors-ThirtyThree--ThirtyFive
You'll find more new colonies for your group to explore, and lots of places that have not been explored by any of the current eleven species. The remnants of the Glikth-machine wars litter two of these sectors, and there's a new species that has not reached interstellar space. Will they survive, or will someone like the Culthan come along and exploit them?
http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/144976/The-Ephemeris-Encyclopedia-Galactica-Sectors-ThirtyThree--ThirtyFive
Saturday, February 07, 2015
Happy birthday, Jul
Today is Juliah's tenth birthday. I now have the three T's in my house...a teen, a tween, and a toddler. No wonder my hair is going gray so fast! When I first met Jul, she was even younger than Lex is now, and here she is a 4th grader and a tween. Today we're going to the zoo for their free day and then having a small party.
I can't wait to see who she becomes as she grows up.
I can't wait to see who she becomes as she grows up.
Monday, February 02, 2015
My jury duty experience
Many of my Facebook followers probably know that I was one of the "lucky" 9,000 to receive a jury summons for the upcoming trial of the Aurora theater shooting, or "Suspect A" as the local news media is calling him because they don't want to glorify his name...which is one of the few rational things I've seen from the news media in a long time.
I've now been dismissed from the trial, so I can actually talk about my experience, which still seems a bit surreal. As always, the first thing we had to do was go through the metal detectors. We were then given our badges with our juror numbers and sent to the second floor of the building. Once there, we again had to empty our pockets, and this time the deputies actually searched through our stuff. We were then sent to a small courtroom where we sat for something like 90 minutes, constantly being told to keep our phones turned off, even though we weren't actually doing anything.
They then escorted all of us (and I'd guess there were 150-200 of us) to a larger courtroom. As we walked in we were pointed to seats. Somehow I had the "good fortune" of being sent to the jurors box. As I approached the box, I could see all of the prosecuting attorneys, all of the defense attorneys, and then I saw HIM. Suspect A was there. This was one of those cliched moments where my flesh crawled and my stomach did somersaults. I've written those words before, but I'd never quite felt that feeling as strongly as I did that day. I've never been that close (10-15 feet) to a mass murderer. My seat in the jury box gave me a perfect view of him, and at one time I'm pretty sure we made eye contact, although he was trying to look detached...obviously trying to play up the insanity defense.
Once we were sworn in, we took a recess, and then we had to fill out a long questionnaire on a wide variety of topics (by this time he'd been removed and hopefully sent back to his hole). The questionnaire, I'm sure is what disqualified me. I have kids to take care of, I can't take 4-6 months off from work, I'm opposed to the death penalty, and I understand the difference between mentally ill and insane, which they seemed to be using interchangeably, even though they shouldn't.
Now I've been dismissed, and I couldn't be happier!
I've now been dismissed from the trial, so I can actually talk about my experience, which still seems a bit surreal. As always, the first thing we had to do was go through the metal detectors. We were then given our badges with our juror numbers and sent to the second floor of the building. Once there, we again had to empty our pockets, and this time the deputies actually searched through our stuff. We were then sent to a small courtroom where we sat for something like 90 minutes, constantly being told to keep our phones turned off, even though we weren't actually doing anything.
They then escorted all of us (and I'd guess there were 150-200 of us) to a larger courtroom. As we walked in we were pointed to seats. Somehow I had the "good fortune" of being sent to the jurors box. As I approached the box, I could see all of the prosecuting attorneys, all of the defense attorneys, and then I saw HIM. Suspect A was there. This was one of those cliched moments where my flesh crawled and my stomach did somersaults. I've written those words before, but I'd never quite felt that feeling as strongly as I did that day. I've never been that close (10-15 feet) to a mass murderer. My seat in the jury box gave me a perfect view of him, and at one time I'm pretty sure we made eye contact, although he was trying to look detached...obviously trying to play up the insanity defense.
Once we were sworn in, we took a recess, and then we had to fill out a long questionnaire on a wide variety of topics (by this time he'd been removed and hopefully sent back to his hole). The questionnaire, I'm sure is what disqualified me. I have kids to take care of, I can't take 4-6 months off from work, I'm opposed to the death penalty, and I understand the difference between mentally ill and insane, which they seemed to be using interchangeably, even though they shouldn't.
Now I've been dismissed, and I couldn't be happier!
Sunday, February 01, 2015
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