Welcome to December. Don’t ask me how it got here so soon, but it’s here and when it goes, it’s going to take the whole 2022 calendar with it. Before it leaves, we’ll have a chance to celebrate some holidays and we get to officially welcome Winter. In the meantime, David and I are going to celebrate the end of a busy week. While we do, we’ll see if we can deal with Linda G. Hill’s Stream of Consciousness Saturday prompt:
“Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is ‘twin/tween.’ Use, ‘twin’ or ‘tween’ any way you’d like. Bonus points if you use both. Enjoy!”
Bonus points? You know we have to try to get them.
If we were having a beer, you’d be thinking ahead.
“Congratulations, Dan.”
“Congratulations? What? Did I win something?”
“He’s probably congratulating you on the release of your book, Dan. Your first beer is on the house.”
“What about my bourbon, Cheryl?”
“Did you write a book, David?”
“No, but I’d like a glass of John Howell’s Bourbon. He wrote some books. I read them. Can I slide in that way?”
“Did you read my books, David?”
“Of course, I did, Dan, and I’ll read your new one as soon as I get a copy.”
“You can buy it on Amazon.”
“I already did, but it’s not here yet. Now can I get a bourbon, or are you going to tell me about the book?”
“I’ll let you read it without spoilers. Cheryl, give David a glass of John Howell’s Bourbon. So, is that what you were congratulating me for, the book?”
“No. I saw that you have all your snow stakes in the ground. I figured that means you’re done with all that winter prep work.”
“I am. I think we’re ready for winter.”
“Here’s your Corona, Dan. David, here’s all the stuff you drink.”
“Corona? What happened to Modelo?”
“The keg kicked, but Modelo, Corona, Dos Equis, there all brewed in the same place. Modelo and Corona are practically twins. Have this now, and I’ll get someone to replace the keg.”
“That sounds like a deal, Cheryl. I do like all those beers.”
“Any plans for the holidays, Dan?”
“Nothing special. You know me David, we do holidays quietly.”
“What about the tween-time?”
“Tween-time?”
“You know, the time between Christmas and New Years. You used to take that week off, didn’t you?”
“I used to use my leftover vacation days. Then they made us use them before November thirtieth.”
“November? Why November?”
“That was the company’s fiscal year-end, and…”
“Unused vacation time is an accrued liability. They wanted it off the books.”
“Something like that. But then, because the thirtieth was year-end, they didn’t want those of us in IT to take any time off.”
“That stinks. Is that why you always took time off in October?”
“Yep.”
“That makes sense. But it still doesn’t answer my question. What about that tween-time?”
“Before I retired, I worked so the young guys could take it off and be with their kids. Now, it’s just another week, David. I might watch some football. I’ll watch the Twilight Zone Marathon if it’s on.”
“No big celebration for New Year’s Eve?”
“No. We let one year slide into the next. Twenty-twenty-three doesn’t need me to escort it past the old man with the scythe.”
“No escort? No fanfare? No Thursday Doors—hey, that brings up a question. Cheryl, can we come here on New Year’s Eve?”
“Sure, David. Why not?”
“Don’t you guys have some big party?”
“Yeah, but it starts at seven. I’ll be home tuning into the Twilight Zone by then.”
“Who tends bar for the party?”
“Skippy and a couple others.”
“Please don’t leave without us that night.”
All five of my current books are now available in audio book form thanks to Amazon KDP’s Virtual Voice process. The voice is AI generated, but I can honestly say, it’s pretty darn good. The audio books are reasonably priced (all below $7 US) and, if you already own the Kindle version and want to add an audio version, you can do that for $1.99. There is a five-minute sample on the book page for each book. If you’re interested, click on any of the Dreamer’s Alliance book links below the image or on the link below for my latest book.
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