stuff inside my little mind

That’s not a Thanksgiving saying just early (or late!), but something I do daily.  As a Christian, it’s one of the things the Bible says we should do.  Any why, you ask, am I posting this now?

Some people don’t believe in God, nor believe that He takes any action in today’s world.  I am convinced He does.  No, I haven’t had any words spoken to me from someone unseen, nor had any weird and crazy dreams that I think are real.  Simply, the actions of my life, and IN my life, are not something I would have chosen 30 years ago.  During the last few years, I’ve undergone several job changes.  I’ll be honest here – that scares me.  CHANGE scares me.  So, here, when I’ve got a real job offer to a real and legit company in Tulsa, I turned it down.  Let me give some background on where I am, job-wise.

Back in ’82, I took a job with Mapco ultrasonics.  I ended up in field service.  During this employment, I met my wonderful wife Brenda, and our first son was born.  With the financial difficulties we had, I was amazed to get a job offer in Texas for double my pay.  This was a field service call that needed me there to work on their flowmeters.  To Texas we went!  I ended up moving to the New Orleans office after about a year.  While I was there, I did “maintenance”.  One day, out of the clear blue, all of us were told that the group was disbanded, and I would be working in Engineering, learning how to program PLCs.  (That’s Programmable Logic Controllers)  So I did.  I stayed at that temporary job for 20 years, total.  All the while gaining experience in PLC and graphics programming. I never touched a flowmeter.

Laid off for 2 1/2 months.  Then, a job was presented to me working on a new PLC.  No interviews, just “show up”.  I did that for 6 months, before another layoff.  So, six weeks later, I get a call from someone I had applied with earlier, wanting to know if I was still available.  I took the job, and began working offshore.  Basically as an instrument tech, hands-on with nearly everything.  Later I did much of the PLC programming they needed, and expanded my knowledge and abilities with some of the newer and older equipment there.  Again, a layoff after 5 years.

My current employer needed me as an IE tech, but amazingly, I am able to mix that with the PLC and graphics programming knowledge I have as well.  See?  One thing leads to another, some would call that a career move, and it would be.  I’m doing what I love to do; something that I never dreamed existed 30 years ago.  God knew.  And, I believe, He planned it long ago to be as it is now.

So, why did I turn down the job in Tulsa?  Several reasons, and then it became clear to me I had made the right decision.  One thing, the money.  We could have worked around that I suppose.  However, with my youngest daughter’s car situation, we decided to take that over and trade vehicles (my truck!  ::sob::). This was done while I was at work.  That adds debt to my lifestyle.  I felt it was the right decision to make, having to suck it up and go back to eating beans or something.  That same day, after I had made the decision to turn down the job, and accepted a car payment, I was called to “the office”.  They gave me a raise.  It had been in the works, unknown to me of course, but this particular day, after making some hard decisions, was the day they gave it to me.  Coincidence?  Could be, but I think not. Sometimes the hard thing is the right thing. I sure didn’t see that coming.

One thing in my life leads to another;  I sure didn’t plan it that way.  For now, I’m not planning on any job changes, but who knows?  I’m not overly “spiritual”, but sometimes things make a lot of sense to me.  I am trusting that God has a plan, and as long as He knows what it is, I will give thanks.

Or, 100 lessons for writing fiction. This week I ran across an article in the Guardian, titled “Ten rules for writing fiction”. This is entries from several writers, apparently British authors, but the ideas they put down are very good. It’s interesting to see how each author has differences from the others. I’m re-reading this, and will get some good, consistent ideas out of it. Very good stuff.

I sort of finished a story last month. After much thinking, I realize I’m not happy with the ending. It’s really, really hard not to steal someone else’s ideas storywise. This story is posted on Wattpad, titled “Darker Matter”. It’s a followup story to an idea I have, which, in truth, IS a different scifi subject. There aren’t many details in this story. Per some great advice by an author friend, I scratched out the background I had in there. I am in the process of getting the main story together.

OK, here’s my helping of a whineyburger and suckyfries: “WRITING IS SO HAAAAARD!!! WAAAAhaaaaa!” It really is. I have read tons of books. I was reading novels when I was 6 or 7 I think. So, in reality, I should know how to write? Right? I mean, I had straight “A’s” in english class. Seriously, the discipline to write something is hard. So far, on the main story, I have an outline and the beginning I wrote, which was crappy. Maybe it’s better to just get the ideas out and edit whack it later.

I’m thinking about changing the ending to the story I published. I really think I’ll do it after (whenever) the other story is done. Maybe I’ll flesh out something better. It’s a strong story, weak ending. To me, anyway, it just doesn’t quite meet the grade. I lean toward a comedic bent with my characters, too. So the “you need to be more serious” idea just doesn’t float too well with me.

A second story I have going is based in the same universe, but many years later; a “what if” that has gone horribly, horribly bad. I thought it would be quick, but it’s taking way too long to finish. It gets deep. And, sigh, I have to changeout one of the main characters in it, I think.

As my friend said, “editing is never finished”. Read my stuff, comment, laugh at my amateur efforts or whatever. I published two stories on Wattpad. The other was some random idea I had, but it ain’t finished. I don’t think I’ll pursue it, though. Needs some fill-in.

I won’t give up. I know I can write this. Maybe when I’m 80 or so, you’ll see my new novel.

Yes indeed. I have progressed two years since my stroke on Dec 31, 2007. I can’t believe I am even posting about it, but here’s a few things to ponder.

I had no obvious damage from that stroke, other than some word confusion for a few months. That got better, took about 6 months or so. No other real effects. However, I think my attitude has changed. I do not really get angry. Maybe it’s age, too. And also, why do I think about it? It’s a past event, right? Something, somewhere in my mind there is the thought, “well, it happened ONCE.” That’s a fear. It’s not a false fear, it’s a real fear. I want control of that, I want to release it. But so far I can’t.

The mental stigma of having a stroke is very real. I am going ahead, full strength, and enjoying life! (Sorry doc, the weight loss isn’t happening. Working on it…) Maybe next year I won’t post about it.

Well so much for my lack of work! Looks like I will work all of October except for 8 days. That’s like, the entire month, no weekends! I filled in for two weeks offshore, at a platform with no internet, at least not for me… no problem, got some work done, it really wasn’t bad at all. This coming week, I’m going out to a new platform, working 7/7, hopefully this will be my new spot.

Interesting times ahead – my company got bought out, so we are going to be under new ownership. We’ll see how that works, but hey, any job is better than no job!

Kids are all working, Jacob is in Ga. interviewing, so should hear about that today, maybe! Paul is working at the movies, likes it a lot. Looks like we will have to take advantage of the “discount program” and go see some flicks. Sarah is working, I guess, don’t hear from her much. Where the heck is Mary? I get baby pics every so often, so things must be good! Everybody shows up on Facebook, lol. I need to invent the next best thing for the internet, but hard to beat that one.