Rambling into the New Year

Some readers... well, the handful who actually read this blog ... might remember that a while back my beloved gave me a very nice refurbished iPod Nano.  When i first connected it to my home PC i must have clicked something that i was not fully aware of and it proceeded to upload all of the music files i had on my PC.  Most of which i did not actually want on the player.  It's not that i don't like the music i have, it's that i only wanted to upload sermons and select songs.  I messed around with it for a while before i ran out of time (having a plethora of other things all 'screaming' for my attention).  So, for the most part my gift lays dormant on my bookshelf in my bedroom.  Well, this Christmas DS1 received a brand new iPod Nano.  Well, when he went to attach his iPod to the home PC the computer absolutely refused to recognize his player.  I messed around off and on for the better part of my vacation to no avail.  Finally, on Sunday, as soon as i got home from church i plopped myself down in front of the PC to get it worked out.  Finally, i had to delete all of the old iTunes and Real Player, and a few other applications (five or six all told), and then re-download the newest iTunes (for the second time).  Once that was installed successfully the iPod and the PC began to play nicely together.  My iPod - which is apparently a 4th generation device while my son's is a 5th - still works.   Now... i still need to figure out a better way to manage the songs and files on my iPod. 

Speaking about my vacation... i got into a mild argument with our guest.  I made a comment about how it irks me that several news agencies are referring to the new decade that we entered on 1-January.  People we have NOT entered a new decade yet.  We are STILL in the first decade of the twenty first century of the third millennium.  We will NOT enter a new decade until 1-January 2011. In my line of work i deal with IP addressing, and various other base counting systems (i.e. binary is base 2, hexadecimal is base 16).  Where computers treat the number 0 (zero) as the first number. The Gregorian calendar does not contain a year '0' (zero), thus the first decade was year 1 AD through year 10 AD, thus the second decade did not begin until 1-January 11.For the most part i bite my tongue... i mean... is it really that big of deal in the scheme of things?  It bugs me because it is inaccurate, but is the world going to fall of it's axis?  No.  When i mention such things to my beloved she mostly nods and just lets me go on.  but apparently our guest took issue with it, so i actually took the time and went on-line to research it and i found out that i was indeed correct.  There is no year 0 in either the Gregorian or the Julian calenders. I felt truly vindicated, but made it a point to not say "i told you so".  Now, in concession, there is an Astronomical year 0.  This is simply inserted just prior to 1 AD.  So we were both right.

Although i was unable to sit down long enough for my ADD clouded brain to focus long enough to get any writing done over my vacation, i was able to lug around my old Section Leader's book (it's a hardbound book with an NSN number and everything) and jot down a lot of notes.  My friend Ram also come over to play some Necromunda.  As i took down notes of my thoughts i have narrowed my 'focus' down to four main characters in three different story lines: Jakob (Ash Wastes Shaman), Elrain (Ash Wastes Ranger), Seiran (Delaque Scummer), and Harley (Escher - Troupe of the Masque).  They are four pretty different types of characters.  I just hope they come across that way.  I've also decided that when i save the files i need to use a shorthand version notation so i can remember who/what when i post them on my short story blog site.  I am so excited about all of the notes i've taken i am pretty sure i could whip out about 10k words before i run out of ideas and notes.  The main problem i have is actually sitting down and putting finger to keyboard.  It's not always just sitting in front of my laptop either.  Sometimes it can take me ten minutes or more to get my mind to focus enough to get what i want down in a way i can understand, let alone share.  Even then i am easily distracted.   Usually what i have to do is just get typing and typing, and then come back to reread and edit.  Another friend, Tulip, has been really helpful in this regard.  Often she is able to tell me where things don't make much sense and i am able to clean it up enough that i feel comfortable posting it on-line.  My beloved, and DS1 for that matter, are really good at the grammar thing... but for some reason i have a hard time working with them.  Maybe someday i can eat enough humble pie to sit down and learn from them so that i can grow even more as a writer.

Of late God has been working on me... as He usually does... i am just glad that He still does. Right now i just do not have very many details on what He is showing me right now.  Perhaps i will actually grasp it soon... i hope.