We are at the end of a quiet week and David and I are going to kick back, well, not really, barstools don’t allow for much of that, and relax. Before we move too far into our rest, let’s give a round of applause to Linda G. Hill for hitting the 50,000 word mark in her 2023 NaNoWriMo effort. According to Linda, a new series has begun. She also gave us a new Stream of Consciousness Saturday prompt.
“Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is: ‘confidence.’ Use it any way you’d like. Have fun!”
If we were having a beer, you’d have an odd question, at least Cheryl thinks so.
“Dan, what happened to the caution tape?”
“Hey guys, David, what on earth are you talking about? Did you guys drive through a construction site on your way here?”
“No, Cheryl, for the past several weeks…”
“Whoa, hold up. If this story is spread over several weeks, I have to pass. Are you going to have your usual beverages?”
“Yes. Well, that is, I’ll have a John Howell’s Special. Dan?”
“I’ll have a Modelo.”
“OK, I’ll be right back.”
“So, Dan, what did happen to the caution tape?”
“I’m not sure I understand, David.”
“Your ramp. There used to be caution tape down one side.”
“Oh, the railing. We removed the railing ‘system’ section that was on the ramp and replaced it with a handrail—matching the one on the other side.”
“Here you go boys. Bourbon, a snifter of seltzer and a glass of ice. Dan, here’s your beer.”
“Don’t sound so disappointed, Cheryl. Not everyone can match David’s sense of the absurd.”
“Absurd? Dan, if I understand what you just said, you took down a railing in order to put up a railing.”
“You’re not listening, David. I took down a decorative railing system and replaced it with a functional handrail.”
“Couldn’t you have added the handrail to the railing system?”
“That was the original plan. But we grew less and less happy with that railing the longer it was there.”
“Why? I mean it looked pretty good.”
“First off, the support posts were loose. I tightened them several times, but they kept loosening.”
“I’m beginning to think I should have paid attention to ‘Caution’ and not started this conversation. I assume there’s a second thing.”
“Yes. Being on the north side, it was a veritable petri dish for algae. I had to power wash thirty balusters on all four sides, twice a year.”
“Are you done?”
“Almost, David. It also made it hard to shovel snow off the ramp.”
“But you have a snowblower.”
“The ramp is Trex, snowblowers not allowed, and…”
“OK, OK, Dan, I get it. But, if the support posts were too loose for the railing, what makes you think they’ll hold a handrail?”
“I secured them much better. Once…”
“Stop. I’m sure the handrail is secure. I don’t need to know how it got that way. I’m one of those people who gets out of bed depending on gravity to hold me to the floor without knowing why it wants to.”
“That’s everyone.”
“What?”
“We know how gravity works, but we don’t know why it works.”
“And, for the umpteenth time, we, at least I don’t care. It was a figure of speech.”
“You guys want another round, or would you like to push your blood pressure a little higher first?”
“Another round, Cheryl, and two orders of Teagan’s mushrooms.”
“I’ll put those right in.”
“Dan, since you’re retired, why didn’t you participate in NaNoWriMo?”
“Fifty-thousand words in one month? David, I’ve been working on my next novel since the end of September, and I’ve only written twelve-thousand words.”
“Twelve thousand words?”
“Well, I did write the first four thousand three times, but yeah.”
“I’d think you should be able to draw some confidence from projects like your railing/handrail conversion and apply it to writing.”
“They’re not interchangeable skill sets, David.”
“Confidence is a state of mind, my young friend, not an accounting of skills in inventory.”
“That’s quite profound, David.” .
“Actually, it’s the bourbon.”
I tried to include a slideshow of the D-I-Y work but WordPress would not cooperate.
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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