The Blog Pages of Kellan Meig'h

Chapter 15 of "Redemption"

Happy New Year to One and All!

Just a short note to inform all of my readers that a new chapter of "Redemption" has been posted for your reading pleasure.

Enjoy!

Kellan, the old warhorse

Merry Christmas One And All!

Hello from somewhere South of Casa Del Meig'h-

Just taking a moment, since I have very limited internet access and laptop battery power, to wish all of my family and friends a Very Happy Yuletide Season.

A special wish goes out to Aslaug, The Silver Coyote, Tigermark, Aramis, Styx, The BioCobra, Teric, Sigurd & Patty, Mike and Chris. May all of you have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Cheers,

Kellan, the old warhorse.

Civilian versus Military

Just thought I would share this with my online family and friends.

Civilian versus Military

CIVILIAN FRIENDS: Tell you not to do something stupid when drunk.
MILITARY FRIENDS: Will post 360 security so you don't get caught.

CIVILIAN FRIENDS: Call your parents Mr. and Mrs. So-and-so.
MILITARY FRIENDS: Call your parents mom and dad.

CIVILIAN FRIENDS: Hope the night out drinking goes smoothly and hope that no one is late for the ride home.
MILITARY FRIENDS: Know some wild stuff will happen, set up rally points and an E & E route.

CIVILIAN FRIENDS: Bail you out of jail and tell you what you did was wrong.
MILITARY FRIENDS: Will be sitting next to you saying, Damn, we f**ked up but, hey, that was fun!"

CIVILIAN FRIENDS: Borrow your stuff for a few days then give it back.
MILITARY FRIENDS: Steal each other's stuff so often nobody remembers who bought it in the first place.

CIVILIAN FRIENDS: Will listen to your relationship problems and hope it works out for you.
MILITARY FRIENDS: Will listen to you over a long hard road march, and will help you straighten it out better than Dr. Phil.

CIVILIAN FRIENDS: Know a few things about you.
MILITARY FRIENDS: Could write a book with direct quotes from you.

CIVILIAN FRIENDS: Might try to hit on your girl behind your back.
MILITARY FRIENDS: Have spooned with you in the field more than your girl has, and would never even think about doing that.

CIVILIAN FRIENDS: Would knock on your door.
MILITARY FRIENDS: Walk right in and say, "I'm home!"

CIVILIAN FRIENDS: Will wish you had enough money to go out that night, and are sorry you couldn't come.
MILITARY FRIENDS: Will share their last dollar with you, drag you along, and try to work free drinks all night.

CIVILIAN FRIENDS: Want the money they loaned you back next week.
MILITARY FRIENDS: Can't begin to remember who owes who money after taking care of each other for so long.

CIVILIAN FRIENDS: Will tell you "They'd take a bullet for you."
MILITARY FRIENDS: Will actually take a bullet for you.

CIVILIAN FRIENDS: Will ignore this
MILITARY FRIENDS: Will re-post this.

Kellan, the old warhorse

Sorry For The Rant, But . . .

Okay, I'll start by saying "If you continue to read this post, it is a rant." There.

Yesterday, August 20th, the San Francisco 49'ers handed the Oakland Raiders their collective asses on a silver platter. Score? 17 to 3.

It's not so much that the Raiders were steamrolled, which by the way, I predicted to my niece, but it's the fact that there was violence afterwards.

After the game, some dumb-ass or dumb-asses decided he/they didn't like his black and silver being defeated so he/they shot two persons for wearing Niners clothing.

It's not bad enough that we have to spend money to get to the game, pay an outrageous price for tickets, endure warm beer and cold hot dogs (it balances out, right?), but do we need to wear ballistic vests to protect ourselves from post-game violence?

I'll put this forth; I do believe in the Second Amendment. Those few words are what keeps our land free. What I don't believe in is our judicial system. Illegal gun possession is treated very lightly by our mollycoddling judges. Collectively they are afraid to send someone to jail for illegally possessing a firearm of any kind. All they seem happy with is to enact further gun restrictions to make it harder on the legitimate firearms owners to continue to possess weapons of any sort. But I digress.

It's a sad statement that violence has to occur after (or during) sporting events. First the fan being beat up and hospitalized after a baseball game, and now this.

I am losing faith in my fellow man.

A very disgusted Kellan

The Computer Is Dead; Long Live The Computer . . .

An update on the situation;

Further attempts to recue the ailing computer were made this evening to no avail. I hit it with a bunch of things that could not eradicate the problem rootkit and redirect trojan.

In the end, I could not get it to start up, despite using the recovery console. Looks like I'll be purchasing a new hdd and doing a rebuild. Oh joy . . .

Looks like my evenings will be full now . . .

Kellan, the very irked old warhorse

Not The Way To Start The Year

Okay, this is no way to start the New Year.

Yesterday evening, my Tigress brought home Friday Dinner, a 6" Subway BMT. Tasty, enjoyable as always except when I had finished it, I had a sharp stomach ache start. This one was different, however. Besides the stomach ache, I was hurting in the vicinity of my left kidney.

The pain worsened, eventually leading to losing my dinner. You know, 'Driving the porcelain bus'. The pain continued to increase in intensity, leading to a trip to the Emergency Room.

The staff had a tough time getting me comfortable, eventually resorting to something much stronger than morphine. A cat scan revealed an eight millimeter(!) kidney stone. Yeah, not good.

They sent me home in hopes that I will pass the stone but I'm sure that's not likely. That means early next week, I'll have to have the stone broken up.

The pain pills have left me in a huge, San Francisco type of fog, so I had to wait until I was somewhat straight to type this. In a little bit, I'll be taking another pain pill and go back into the heavy fog again.

And how was your weekend?

Kellan, the old (hurting) warhorse

New Chapter Up!

Aaaand here it is!

Chapter 04 of "Redemption" 

Slainte!

Kellan, the old warhorse

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to all from the Old Warhorse and his family.

Slainte!

Kel

Wednesday Morning

Well, I'm taking a moment to blog this morning.

Worked on that HP Pavilion a847c computer last evening, first putting a new plastic piece on the damaged SATA connector, then reloading Win XP Pro again to get rid of the hhd being recognized as the I:\ drive.

All is better now and it actually works as advertised (somewhat). Still need to get the sound working (driver issues) and install a suite of some sort for productivity. Maybe Saturday's project.

One interesting thing; I am having to set up one account as a regular user for the owner and a second account for a roomie that has no safe surfing clues at all. Well, to the point that I installed WOT add on for Firefox and put it in "Parental Guidance" mode. The 'puter owner and I were talking about how unsafe a certain site was and the roomie was stating how he wanted to go there! Yikes!

Anyway, I have to get ready to go to work.

Slainte M'hath!

Kellan, the old warhorse

Sunday's Musings

Chapter 16 of "End Game" has been sent to my proofers so hopefully they will send back enough to be posted. Chapters 16 and 17 will tie "End Game" and "Defiance" together solidly, leaving no doubt as to where the two stories began and ended.

"End Game" will not stop there, however. There is still one more romp before it's over. I.E., the tigress has not sung yet.

On another note, I've been working on a HP pavilion a847c desktop computer that was given to a friend. It had the drive wiped on it so it was bare (no OS) when he received it.

I started to load Win XP pro on it and I started to run into problems. First was the problem that the installer couldn't write to the hdd. Took the drive (Maxtor 160Gb SATA), diagnosed it as bad and replaced it with a WD 320Gb SATA.

Another attempt at installation found a stick of RAM bad. Funny layout, too. 256 meg stick in Dimm 0, 1 gb in Dimm 1, 256 meg in Dimm 3. That 1 gb stick was bad, so we used the remaining two sticks to get it up and running.

Initial install went smoothly, then we attempted to install drivers. Now the fun began. It seems the hdd was set as I:\ not C:\. The HP drivers would try to unpack to a non-existant C drive, then fail and abort. Numerous attempts to correct the drive letter issue failed so I dug into the system further. I subsequently found where some joker, not knowing to press the clip in to unplug a SATA drive, had pulled the plastic guide away from the pins on the MOBO for the SATA 1 position! FARK!!

Now I'm researching just how to fix this, since the friend in question is on disability and he has no money for buy a new computer. Maybe I can scavenge the connector from somewhere and cobble it onto the board. Oh Well . . .

Anyway, look for Chapter 16 of "End Game" soon.

Take care,

Kellan, the old warhorse

Missing Daughter Found!

My missing daughter is no longer missing! (but boy, is she gonna be grounded!)

She was in a women's shelter and she thought she should call one of us after she found her picture on a poster at the bus station!

Anyway, she's fine and she's coming home tomorrow. And she's grounded.

Take care,

Kellan, the old warhorse

More Pictures of My Mising Daughter

Here's a few more pics of my daughter. The shirt with the wings/piano keys is the shirt she was last seen wearing, jeans with a black belt and gray flip-flops.

A profile picture of her;

Please contact me at 510-364-9534 if youy see her.

Kellan AKA Ray

Too Much Stress!

Arrrgh!

What's so hard about selling a 1973 International 1/2 ton pickup? Between low-ballers, crack-heads, tweakers and no-shows, I'm ready to scream! Is $2,000 too much for a daily driver? Hmm? Opinions, please

Kellan, the aggravated old warhorse.

Rest In Peace

Rest In Peace

Baby The Cat

1999 - 2010

Baby lost her battle with cancer, taking a turn for the worse yesterday. We all knew it was time and I think she knew too.

You will always be remembered.

Not Good . . .

Something had a foreboding feeling all day today. I couldn't put a finger on it but it was there.

This afternoon, my tigress told me she had been laid off from her job. Yeah. No warning, too.

So this leaves us needing to pull in the old belt a few notches and look at where we can cut corners. I'm glad I hadn't been able to secure lodging for Further Confusion in January. That would have been something we wouldn't have been able to swing right now.

It's also a good thing I didn't buy a brand new truck because we would have been hurting for sure. Gah, we have such bad luck . . .

Kellan

Saturday, why art thou so short?

Today was a decent but short day.

My brother scored me a ladder rack for my truck, a practically new one from Drake Welding, located in Campbell, CA. Estimated value, $1,200 USD. My cost, zilch. Yeah, instead of letting it go to the local Pick And Pull, the yard boss offered it to me through my brother. He knew it would fit, since it was coming off of a similar 2WD drive Ford.

The donor truck wasn't worth what the rack was worth, by the way. They will get $200 USD for that truck, so why let them have a $1,200 rack with it?

Anyway, still have to drill a few more holes and bolt it down but all in all, that was a grand score. A Drake Welding rack is the Rolls-Royce of racks here in the SF Bay Area. It might outlast the truck, too. I'll post pictures when I have a few minutes.

Take care!

Kellan, the old warhorse

Father's Day Blog

Yesterday, my brother and I turned back the clock and became auto repair mechanics again.

As you my well know, my new (to me) pickup needed to have the transmission solenoid pack replaced. That's the part that the computer uses to shift the gears in the transmission. I finally received the pack that I ordered from Makco Transmission Parts and got it installed. As I had surmised, that was the problem. The transmission shifts smoothly and operates as advertised.

A word for you Ford owners. I discovered that my particular transmission, an E4OD, uses and prefers regular Mercon fluid. I was warned that if I wanted to kill it, just use Mercon V fluid. The E4OD/4R100/5R100 transmissions will fail using Mercon V, since it 'too slick' for the friction plates. I used Dexron III/Mercon from Valvoline and it works. If someone says they don't make plain Mercon ATF, they're full of $hit. Use Dexron III/Mercon. Good stuff.

Anyway, I'm planning on watching the Toyota/Save Mart 350 NASCAR race this afternoon from the comfort of my recliner. I would have loved to had been there in person but 1, the tickets were too high and 2, no refrigerator nearby. :D

Y'all take care and Happy Father's Day to all of you,

Kellan, the old warhorse

Busy Day Tomorrow

As a quick note, today is 'Baby' the cat's eleventh birthday. She's still with us but she's a bit weaker than she has been.

Now on to the real intent of this blog.

Tomorrow will be a busy day for me. Getting my eyeglasses (Yay!) in the a.m., then fix the driver's inside doorhandle and adjust the MLPS, or 'Neutral Safety Switch' for all of you non-Ford savvy readers.

The door handle is a common thing with these trucks and it's about an hour job. About five minutes to do the actual fix, the rest spent taking the interior door panel off and replacing it afterwards.

The MLPS, however seems like a thirty minute fix at best, since "The Buffalo" sits so darn high! The switch does more than allow you to only start in Neutral or Park. It also tells the TCM (Transmission Control Module) what gear has been selected so it knows how to control the electric solenoids that operate the gears. If it's out of align, it does some 'weird' things, such as a very late, rough upshift from first to third (direct). It also won't allow you to lock out the Overdrive. If adjustment doesn't help, it will be replaced with a $44.OO USD new switch.

A few other things, such as realigning the front and rear bumpers and replacing some burnt out lamps will occupy the remainder of the day. Two pix of "The Buffalo" below.

Front:

Rear:

Have a nice weekend,

Kellan, the old warhorse

New Family Member (vehicle)

It had to happen at some point . . .

As some of you well know, I have been struggling with my 1973 International Harvester Corporation Model 1010 pickup, pulling my hair out trying to find parts for it. The fun and joy of owning an obsolete truck.

My brother works for a tow company so they get vehicles in from time to time that they lien sale off. One such vehicle is a 1997 Ford F-250 XL Heavy Duty Standard Cab 4X4 pickup. I went today and put my money down ($1,600 USD), making it the newest vehicular member of our family. I don't have a picture of her just yet so her stunt double (twin?) will have to stand in.

"The Great White Buffalo" is about 90% as nice outside as this truck is. Pictures will be coming.

My friend "SC" will be glad to know "The Buffalo" is a kindred spirit to "The Bowtie Beast".

Quick specs: 136K miles, 460 SEFI V8, Auto trans, Manual hubs, 4.10 gears. Runs smooth as silk. No kidding!

Because it's a lien sale vehicle, I have to go to the DMV and jump through a few hoops to register it. Wish me luck.

Take care,

Kellan, the old warhorse

Another Chapter! Yay!!

Just a quick note-

Chapter 9 of "End Game"  has been posted for your reading pleasure.

Kellan, the old warhorse

Saturday's Tidbits

Well, I finally decided to post this. It's official now; our cat has cancer. And it's inoperable. And it's teminal.

The sad part is she's still her old self at this point, albeit a bit slower than before. Her eyes are still bright and sparkly and she still craves attention. I guess we'll just make sure she's comfortable and do the humane thing when it's time.

Now that I got that off my chest, you can see why I'm not very upbeat at the moment. I've been trying to write but I guess my depression over not being able to help the furry member of our family out is geting to me. Maybe I will get myself out of this funk soon, before it consumes me.

As a side note, have you ever received an email telling you that you have an e-card from Hallmark? Well, some person in our school district opened one of those emails, propogating a trojan of sorts. Before IT tried to put the brakes on it, the disaster had spread to 34 schools and hundreds of computers. Not good. They were still in clean-up mode two days later. Oh Well . . .

To SC; I hope the Sharks get their behinds in gear or they will miss another chance at the Stanley Cup.

Anyway, have a nice weekend,

Kellan, the old warhorse

Monday's Blog

Well, Monday morning here at Casa Del Meig'h is an uneasy one.

It seems the little furry feline member of the family, Baby, is soon to go to the vet's office. She's been under the weather lately and a trip Saturday turned up a mass in her abdomen. This morning she will have an ultrasound performed to determine what this mass is and if it is treatable. We really hope it is, both medically and financially.

This comes at a bad time for us, since we had some expenditures that we needed to take care of. Now all of that will have to go on the back burner while we take care of Baby's needs.

On a lighter note, Chapter 9 of "End Game" has went to my able proofers but they must have been busy this weekend. Oh well, I'll get that chapter up soon. I'm about 4+ pages into chapter 10 at the moment.

A few friends here in SoCal are having a get-together at the end of the month and I can't begin to tell you just how bummed out I am that we can't attend. I really wish we could have put the trip together. Maybe next time.

Kellan, the old warhorse

Tomorrow . . .

Well, I'm on edge this morning. Why you ask? Because tomorrow, Tuesday the 27th, is my surgery date for my cataract removal.

I've had it done before and it wasn't such a big deal so don't ask me why I'm nervous this time.

If I seem to fall silent for a few days on the 'net, this is why. I'll need to get some reader glasses so I can see to use the computer. I won't be able to do that until my post-operative eye settles down a few days after surgery.

Wish me luck,

Kellan, the old warhorse.

My Eldest Child . . .

And here is my eldest daughter Jan, the one responsible for Dana's make-over.

Slainte!

Kellan, the old warhorse

An Amazing Transformation

For those of you that know her, this is my youngest daughter after my oldest daughter did a make-over on her;

Just totally amazing!

Slainte!

Kellan, the old warhorse

Monday's Blog

Well, my family has went home after their whirlwind visit so I thought I would post this.

Chapter 06 of "End Game" has been posted.

Slainte!

Kellan, the old warhorse

Family Visitation

If you have been wondering why I have been quiet, this is why; my family is in town! Yay!

(L to R) My oldest daughter Jan, Her hubby Donnie, his daughter Jessica, (back) the eldest grandson Alex, The little guy in front is my youngest grandson Brayden, my tigress, the old warhorse and my youngest daughter, Dana

Slainte!

Kellan, the old warhorse

The Next Chapter

Hey All!

Chapter 05 of "End Game" has been posted for your reading enjoyment.

Slainte!

Kellan, the old warhorse

Just Checking In

I thought I might check in just to prove I'm still around.

Went to work sick with a serious cold/cough this week so I'm very under the weather. Gah, it seems like I have been sick forever. At least I feel a little better today so maybe I'm on the mend.

I know where my friend SC will be tomorrow; watching the Canucks and the Yanks battle it out on the ice. I'm kind of torn by this, since there are many great American hockey players and a number of great Canadian players. At any rate, the Gold remains in North America regardless. I hope I can watch the game and I'm not nodding off like I have been doing today.

I was really hoping for some better weather this weekend because I really wanted to get some shots of my hometown of Niles. I wanted to capture the railroad station now that it has been moved back to downtown but it's raining off and on right now. Maybe tomorrow.

"End Game" apparently has gone over well with my proofers so I hope to get the next chapter done this weekend. That's if I can stay awake. Isn't if funny how cold medication makes you sleepy? Oh well ... 8)

Take care,

Kellan, the old warhorse

Saturday's Blog

I had made some plans to do some things today but I'm sick with a cold. Yay me.

I decided to try to salvage the day by posting Chapter 1 of "End Game"  for your reading pleasure. Enjoy!

Slainte!

Kellan, the old warhorse.

General News

I want to start by saying I'm rather disappointed ... it seems nobody may have read the last posting.

*looks down at post below this one*

Anyway, I'm having to swap over from Haloscan commenting system to Echo by JS-kit. If the site looks a bit wonky for a day or two, that's me adjusting the new code.

Slainte!

Kellan, the old warhorse

Tuesday's Musings

Well, I thought I would share my thoughts about the last few days. Last Friday, I was putting my truck away for the day when I noticed something in my work boot. It had gotten into a position to irritate my foot so I removed my shoe to find out what it was. Out fell a quarter and a penny! Doh!

Weird stuff part two-

I didn't watch the Superbowl, mainly because I was busy disinfecting a computer. Yeah, not a way to spend Sunday but I was begged, literally, to fix their computer for them. What a mess it was, too.

I had never ran up against a virus that prevented any process except a browser from running! To make matters worse, it managed to block the computer from running in SAFE mode on more than a few occasions, forcing a reboot to try for SAFE mode again. Nine and a half hours of frustration. You can guess where they were surfing ...

On to my favorite intrusion alarm duo. They are Ademco Vista 128B alarms and I have learned they are not user friendly. I spent about 3 hours just putting a few users into the systems. Since I'm not a certified installer, I don't have access to the Vista software that would make programming much simpler. Argh!

So, that leads up to now. My tigress is sitting here, pondering her case of chicken pox. Yup. Now, I really can't remember if I had them as a child so I might be infected. Won't know for a few days until they have had time to incubate in my system. I'm hoping I don't have them. Oh Well ...

Slainte!

Kellan, the old warhorse

Just A Quick Post

Taken with the new Canon SX20-IS camera:

You can tell my Tigress was running down by this panel.

Kellan

Further Confusion 2010 ... Comments on Saturday

So, here I am, 2200 hours at the Fairmont Hotel in San Jose, attending Further Confusion. We arrived on Friday and attended a few panels. I was tired so we gave up early and crashed out.

This morning we had breakfast with Teric and Xaqtly at CoCo's in Sunnyvale. This has been a tradition since FC2008 and we really enjoyed our meal but most importantly, their company.

Attended a few panels, gained a few tips about fur suit construction and made a trip through the Dealer's Den. That was interesting because Rule #34 was in effect. We had to cut off my tigress before she stopped to check out Bad Dragon's table. Just told her, "You don't want to check it out."

Had dinner at Johnny Rockets on First street, right by the Fairmont. The food was great but the $33 USD price tag before tip was steep.

We watched the performers show off their new suits for awards and then called it a night. My back is killing me from sitting in the chairs provided for the panels.

Slainte!

Kellan, the old warhorse

Wanted: Proof Reader

As you would guess by the title I am looking for a proof reader for the next tome that I will spit out.

Qualifications:

• Must be very familiar with "The Immortal Warriors" series, the "Transitions" series and the assorted works of Aslaug, The Silver Coyote and Tigermark.
• Having some familiarity with "A Little Nothing", "A Little Something" and "Surt Show" would be a bonus.
• May have read "Zig Zag The Story" and "Identity Crisis" or have some familiarity with them.
• Use OpenOffice. I hate M$ Word! 8P
• Be able to proof and return with comments in one week approx. 10 to 12 pages.
• Be able to deal with 2 to 3 chapters a month.

If you think you are interested, email me at kellan (AT) kellanmeigh (DOT) com. Please include a short (2-3 pages) of your work if I am not familiar with yours or point me to your works on the web.

Slainte M'hath!

Kellan, the old warhorse

First Blog Of 2010

I'll start this first blog of the new year by wishing all of my friends a Happy New Year.

I'm sitting here, being a good hubby by helping to do the laundry. My tigress and I are both sick I have the flu and I hope her's is just a bad cold. I know I've been very ill, actually missing out on a number of get-togethers with family and friends.

My companions have been Sudafed, Mucinex, Afrin nasal spray and an occasional dose of Robitussin DM for my cough. I know my friend The Silver Coyote would possibly suggest I ingest something amber colored, at least 80 proof to go along with the other more traditional medication. It probably would have helped.

I'm still trying to wind up "A Loss Of Rights" and I would guess my illness has made it hard to keep a line of thought going. I start typing and the idea just disappears in my mind. Hopefully I will be able to get back on track with this.

The storyboard for the next "Immortal Warrior" saga is coming along nicely and I hope to start posting the first chapters in March. What I will need is a proofreader for this story. I have noticed that my typing, for some reason, has become very sloppy. A good proofer would be a great help to me. Let me know if you're interested.

Anyway, I have to help put the laundry into the dryer so I better cut this short.

Slainte!

Kellan, the old warhorse

Last Blog Of 2009

This is the last blog for the year 2009 so I thought I would share a few of my musings with all of you.

2009 has been a very challenging year for us here at Casa Del Meig'h. It started with the new year, finding us trying to cope with my being out on workman's compensation due to an injured back. I eventually recovered enough to return to work only to find myself the only tech on duty for several months.

We had made a few plans that were derailed by the need to help family members to get by until they found employment. Oh well, maybe next year.

Anyway, that brings us to today. Here I sit, sick with a nasty head cold. I'm going to cut this off and head out to get something to make me feel just a little better. After that, I'm going to set down and storyboard "End Game", the penultimate saga for Torvald and Victoria Svensen.

Wishing all of my family and friends a joyous New Year,

Kellan, the old warhorse.

December 24th

Everyone wish me luck-the Tigress and I will be going out to find a few more gifts at the last minute. At least I have my personal shopping done!

Kellan, the old warhorse

Winter Solstice

The Winter Solstice is here and I took a moment to celebrate (an impromptu Blöt) this time of the year when the days would begin to get longer. In proper fashion, I opened a drink and gave thanks for the little things in my life that brought me joy and happiness. I'm thankful for my family, my many friends, my health and a steady job.

The drink, strong like a Nordic Mead:

And a pic of our hills (Mission Peak Wiki ) the day after our recent storm:

Take care,

Kellan, the old warhorse.

An Interesting Thought

I was looking up the time for the Winter Solstice so I could celebrate the lengthening of the days. It was during my search for the date/time when I thought of my friend Aslaug. Now why would I do that, you ask? Because Aslaug is a heathen, and the Winter Solstice is a time for her to celebrate. Filly, if you are interested, I'll post verbatim anything you might want to email me about what the Winter Solstice means to you.

Anyway, looks like it's Monday, December 21st at 9:47 PM PST for me. I will open up a container of Steel Reserve, give thanks for the many joyous things I have been given to enrich my life, ask the gods to watch over all of us and make known my wishes for the New Year.

Best Wishes from my family to yours,

Kellan, the old warhorse

Going Silent

Of note to my family and friends-

As you all may know, I have been using my poor, abused Dell Inspiron 1501 for a few years now. When I purchased it, I was offered to have it shipped with Windows XP Pro on it. That particular option was $100 USD more than having it shipped with Vista Home Basic. Well, being the frugal Scotsman that I am, I passed. What a mistake.

Vista has been a thorn in my side from the get-go. Basic was like dealing with Windows ME. It was terrible. I tried to upgrade to Vista Premium but that didn't give me much more than a fancy interface and the "Flip" thing that proved to be a PITA.

Sitting here by me is a copy of Windows XP Pro and the drivers for my laptop. I will be doing the deed soon so if I fall silent, you know that happened. For those who run a flavor of linux, I cannot install this because several of my programs will not run on Wine and I can't afford VMWare to get by.

Getting ready for the deed,

Kellan, the old warhorse

Chapter Up!

Of interest to those that are reading the story, Chapter 35 of "A Loss Of Rights" has been posted for your reading pleasure.

Kellan, the old warhorse

Turkey Day!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Best holiday wishes from Kellan and his family.

Chapter 35 Progress

Not much to post other than I'm still alive and writing.

Chapter 35 of A Loss Of Rights" is still in progress, just trying to smooth it out considering its contents. Hope you all like it once it's posted.

Slainte M'hath,

Kellan, the old warhorse

Veteran's Day

Veteran's Day - November 11th

If you know a veteran, let them know you appreciate their sacrifice to keep this country free. Honor our vets.

Kellan

Sunday Sillyness

Just some sillyness for my family and friends.

Q. How do you fix a Jack-O-Lantern?

A. With a pumpkin patch! *groan*

Take care-

Kellan, the old warhorse

Of Interest To My Gearhead Friends ...

Hot Rod Grilles 

Kel

The Longest Week

Yeah, it was a long week for the Old Warhorse.

Monday, I was still under the weather so I didn't work that day. Kinda wished I didn't work Tuesday, however. That was the storm that brought forth every roof leak that our school district had. I was on the roofs myself, armed with a tube of Henry's roof goop. O joy, O thrill.

I guess I said something at one time or another about the 'Strip Mining' that occurred inside my work van while I was off. My heavy duty rain jacket was one of the items mined from it. I was issued a replacement that was just short of criminal. It stunk like a cheap child's pool toy and it was so thin, a sneeze was all that was required to rip it. At least it kept the Henry's off my clothes. Didn't keep me dry, however.

Thursday brought some heat, around 80 degrees or so. Today (Saturday) was nice.

Doesn't do a thing for my sinus infection or chest cold, though. I hate rain because that means I will be on a roof somewhere, trying in vain to stop it from leaking.

Sorry for the rant but I needed to vent.

Kellan, the sick old warhorse

Sunday's News

I want to start out by offering my friend 'The Silver Coyote' our condolences. I seems Granny Fox, as she was known to us by, had a bad spill at home recently and I'm not privy to the circumstances but it may have contributed to her demise at the tender age of 86. SC, we share your sorrow and we hope that you're able to move on when the time is right.

On to less somber things -

I'm still working to clean up the look of my website. I'm using a template that was put together by Andreas Viklund to give my site a cleaner interface. Look for a change in the next few weeks.

I'm still chugging away at chapter 34 of "A Loss Of Rights" which I hope will be posted in a few days. Chapter 33 might have been the showdown but it's not over. Not by a long shot There have been a few hints as to what will be revealed in the next chapter(s) so stay tuned.

Take care and say a prayer for SC and his family, would you?

Kellan, the old warhorse

Tuesday's Things Via Thingamablog

So, here I sit, trying to recover from this cold-pseudo flu going round. Since I had a little time on my hands, I updated my galleries.

Ardenwood Ren Faire is HERE  and our most recent camping trip is THERE 

I read my friend SC's blog to see he's had a little high point in his life (his daughter's 16th birthday) and some lows, too. He laments his pay cut and I can sympathize with that because I took a cut in pay to keep my job, too. His mate's mother took a spill, which is not good at the age of 86. I'll keep Granny Fox in my thoughts and prayers, SC.

Anyway, progress on chapter 33 of "A Loss Of Rights" is going nicely. My muse decided to help out for a change. Yay me!

Take care all,

Kellan, the old warhorse