Happy Saturday. Before I join David at the bar, I have to explain how I chose today’s subject. Let’s begin with Linda’s Stream of Consciousness Saturday prompt:
“Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is: ‘last thing that broke/you had to fix.‘ Think about the word that best describes the last thing that stopped working for you and use that word any way you’d like. Enjoy!“
I was thrilled when I read that. The lights on the left side of my utility trailer stopped working and, since I needed to use the trailer today, I had to fix it. The word could be trailer or light. After completing the repair, I was gathering my tools. I realized that I had left one screw out of the taillight lens, I was wedged in between the back of the trailer and the front wall of the garage. While helping myself up, my right hand slipped and bent backward. The pain was intense. Given my awkward position, I couldn’t get up. I was able to reach my cell phone. I called my wife. She ran out, helped me up, helped me inside, packed my hand in ice and put away all my tools. When I told her about Linda’s prompt, she pointed out that the last thing that had to be fixed, was me.
If we were having a beer, you’d have nothing but questions.
“Yikes, Dan. what’s with that brace on your wrist?”
“It’s preventative. I injured my wrist yesterday and, while it feels much better, I’m trying not to re-injure it.”
“Can you hold a beer?”
“David, I wouldn’t beer here if I couldn’t hold a beer.”
“Cheryl, please bring Dan a beer and I would like a John Howell’s Special.”
“Coming right up.”
“You hurt your wrist fixing your trailer. Were you able to fix it?”
“I was. The lights are all working now. Here, look at the pictures.”
Diagnosing was easier with the taillight removed’ 
I found where the wires were broken and ran new wires down to that poin 
I started by changing the bulbs, no improvement 
These are the wires to the left taillight 
Checking continuity (which is lacking) between the jack and the taillight 
Back in business. All lights working
“Why is that white wire sticking out like that?”
“That’s the ground wire. It needs to be secured to the trailer’s frame. It was broken at the same place as the other wires, so I reattached it at the front.”
“Where was it attached before?”
“About halfway back, where the other wires split to the left and right sides.”
“Why didn’t you replace it at the same point?”
“I bought yellow and brown wire. Thirteen dollars a spool. I couldn’t justify a spool of white.”
“It will work from where you attached it?”
“Unless the electrons object to traveling an extra eight feet, it should work fine. In fact, it does.”
“Well then. I guess I should give you a hand. No pun intended. Do you know why the wires broke?”
“The trailer is hinged in the center, so you can dump stuff out. I use that feature to load my snow blower in the back. I think the wires got caught on something when it was going up or down.”
“So, they broke at the hinge point?”
“Yep.”
“Well, I was serious about giving you a hand. Your beers are on me. You can buy next week.”
“And the week after and the week after that.”
“Dan, what are you talking about. Not that I mind your buying three weeks in a row. But why?”
“We have visitors coming.”
“Three weeks in a row?”
“Yes. Three of my favorite authors, friends and mentors. They all have new books, and I’m not going to make any of them wait a month or two.”
“And the three are…?”
“Cheryl…”
“Cheryl Pennington? Our Cheryl?”
“Yes, our Cheryl. She’ll be here next week.”
“She’s here every week, Dan.”
“She’ll be here next week as a guest. Skippy will fill in for her behind the bar.”
“And after Cheryl?”
“Damyanti will be here on the twenty-eighth, and Teagan will be here on November fourth.”
“That is so cool. We’ve never done anything like this before. I can’t think of three better people to start with.”
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.
No Facilities 
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