Carol's random babble

Back to Flash Fiction Friday - I clicked on Home to see what else Laurie's got going on in her life. And she has a blog entry about an author she likes. So I go check out the author's site and I'm signing up to promote an author whose book I haven't even read yet. (But I'm planning to!) So, here goes: I joined Hal Spacejock's Support Crew I didn't pay anything, I didn't sign anything, and I didn't read the fine print. Just like Hal! No space pilot can exist in a vacuum (hah!), and behind every successful pilot there's a talented and dedicated support crew. Hal Spacejock is one of the least successful space pilots in the history of the galaxy, and a worldwide support crew is needed just to get him off the ground. Join now for free Hal Spacejock goodies! | Join the team | - - - - - - - - - | Hal who? | Hal Spacejock ... Après moi le wreckage Just from the little I read on the author's site, I am thinking of the Retief books by Keith Laum...

I started a new blog for creative stuff. Yeah, I'm still planning to sign up for National Novel Writing Month despite two years of not finishing. Last year, I don't think I even got started. But, I had a lot on my plate, so to speak, since I had just started writing a series of articles at The Messenger . This year I've got those 43 articles under my belt and in my past, so I can do some "fun" stuff for myself. In aid of that, I am participating in Flash Fiction Friday . My first entry. It's a bit over the 250-word limit (by about 275 words!) but, hey, it's the first time I've done this. ;-)

I'm sitting outside on a swinging bench with my feet on a folding chair, in the shade. My laptop has a wireless connection, and I can be outside and online at the same time. Since the storm a few days ago, we haven't had the air conditioner in the window. I finally tried putting it back in today, but it's not working. :-( So it's actually cooler outside than inside now. Of course, I'm on battery power, which doesn't last that long. But I'm cooler than I would be inside. Yay!

I suggest reading the previous post before this one. ;-) One more photo and a few observations: When the power is out, every sound is significant. There is no "white noise." It really helps to have the flashlight at hand when the power goes out. It also helps to know where the matches and candle are (I did!). Amanda tried to reassure Cayla when she was freaking out by saying that Heavenly Father protected us. Cayla and I said a prayer of thanks later (after Amanda was asleep). The tree trimming guys and MidAmerican crews worked through the night and into the day. People from town worked all day getting trees and debris out of the way. This shows the wind direction in a cornfield south of town.

Last night, as I was leaving work, I chatted with the two Messenger drivers for a couple of minutes. One of the men said he was hoping this area would get more rain. Now, this follows a couple of weeks of really hot weather, especially the past few days, with heat indices around 100 or so. But, you should still be careful what you wish for. We got hit. Bad. Not a tornado, but really intense winds. We lost one tree and part of another tree. First tree - this one won't make it. I'm guesstimating that it has a trunk diameter of about 12 inches. The second tree should survive, but it will take some time to recover. The branch is probably 20 feet away from our home. We heard a sudden whooshing sound and the rain hit. I went to close windows. I had been playing on Kingdom of Loathing . I went back to the computer and soon, the lights flickered and went out. I had the flashlight already. It was around 12:30 a.m. I asked Kent to help me get the air conditioner out of the window, becaus...