Welcome to the last Saturday of 2023. David and I are at the bar, getting our fill of bourbon, beer, mushrooms and football. Linda G. Hill has given us her last Stream of Consciousness Saturday prompt and we’re going to try to work that in. I had hoped to have a minimal-length post for you, but — well, you’ll see. Anyway, the prompt:
“Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is: starts with or contains ‘ph.’ Find a word with the letters ‘ph’ in it and use it as your prompt. Have fun!”
Linda G. Hill
If we were having a beer, you’d have some questions about my blog.
“Happy New Year, Dan.”
“Happy New Year to you, too, David.”
“I’m surprised you tore yourself away from the Twilight Zone Marathon to stop for a beer. It did start today, didn’t it?”
“The one on SyFy did, and I haven’t really torn myself away. It’s playing on my phone.”
“You’re watching TV during our conversation?”
“Just for a few more minutes. ‘The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street’ is on, and I love that episode.”
“Oooh, so do I, let’s see.”
“You two are pathetic. You want me to put SyFy on one of the TVs?”
“That would be nice, Cheryl.”
“Okay, but there’s no sound, David.”
“Dan knows all the dialogue by heart.”
“Well, here’s your last John Howell’s Special of twenty-twenty-three. Dan, here’s your Modelo and I’ll put in an order of Teagan’s Mushrooms.”
“Cheers, David.”
“Cheers. In addition to being glued to the TV, I thought you might still be working on your blog theme. It seems every time I visit your site, it’s different.”
“It has been an ongoing process. People seem to like the new look, and I think I’ll be able to have it fully in place by the time Thursday Doors returns.”
“When is that again?”
“January eleventh.”
“Let’s see, you started on December twenty-sixth, and you hope to be done by January eleventh. Now I know why so many bloggers are Themeaphobic.”
“Maybe just Blockaphobic, but I get your point.”
“So, the header is completely new. Are you going to try to get back to your ‘Curious Stairs’ photo — speaking of phobias.”
“What do you mean, David?”
“Those stairs go from the side of the railroad tracks to the edge of the Windsor Lock Canal. Who would ever use those, other than some ghoulish character carting his unsuspecting victims into the tunnel?”
“I guess I never thought of that.”
“Maybe it’s the Twilight Zone effect.”
“Well, the short answer is yes and no.”
“I hate that, Dan.”
“I know you do. I can still put that photo up there, but it won’t be there for every post. Posts have a ‘Featured Image’ which doesn’t have to be in the photo gallery. So, I can use whatever I like.”
“Speaking of galleries, have you found one you like?”
“Not really. But I can’t easily use the Classic Gallery. I mean, I can use it, but I can’t edit it very easily.”
“Otherwise, it looks like things are going well, Dan. What’s left to do?”
“I have to finish the Sidebar. It doesn’t support a feature I was using.”
“Which feature. As I recall, you had a lot of crap on that thing.”
“Thanks, David. Good to know you noticed. One of the bits of crap I put there was the badge for the challenge being addressed.”
“Like Linda’s SoSC thing?”
“Exactly.”
“That seemed like a lot of work anyway, Dan. I mean changing the sidebar for each post.”
“See, that’s the thing, David, I didn’t have to. That was all automatic. If the post was in the right category, the badge appeared.”
“Oh. And what, you can’t do that now?”
“Not the way I was doing it. But one of the Happiness Engineers gave me a workaround, and…”
“And you geeks love your workarounds.”
“I’m not sure it’s confined to us geeks.”
“Oh, it is, Dan. It surely is. Normal people hate workarounds. Normal people have workaroundaphobia.”
“You really think so?”
“Dan, using a workaround on your computer is like driving on the highway with that stupid donut spare tire.”
“I’m okay with the workaround, especially if it works.”
“That’s good. And when someone else tries to do it (or is forced to do it by the progress Bots), you’ll be there to help.”
“Progress Bots?”
“Yeah, the others of your ilk who seem to think that ‘good enough’ is never good enough.”
“My ilk?”
“No offense, Dan. I’d say ‘cohort’ but that was on someone’s list of words they wish people would stop using in the new year.”
“I rarely use that word, David, but I don’t use ‘ilk,’ either.”
“Look you two. Let’s not end the year with an argument. I have your next round, and these mushrooms.”
“You’re right, Cheryl. Here’s to the new year!”
David, Dan, Cheryl and Skippy all wish you a happy and healthy new year!
Note: I’m sorry, but this gallery style only shows the captions if you click on a photo and enter the slide show. I’m trying to figure out what gallery looks better. Your thoughts are welcome.
For those who can’t see the captions or enter the slideshow, Here they are:
- 1) Sign – Do we really need this sign? Apparently, we do
- 2) Train – On it’s way to the trestle over the CT River
- 3) Food – We finally have a Mexican restaurant in our town
- 4) Leaf shadow – I’m going with brontosaurus
- 5) Smokey – You’re welcome, Smokey
- 6) Single leaf – This guy might be here all winter
- 7) Two leaves – Trapped in the hedge
- 8) Pizza – The best part of grocery shopping around lunchtime is our store’s pizza
- 9) Cards – I was not ready for this
- 10 Cat – Farm store greeter
- 11) Trestle – Trestle standing over high water
- 12) 2 Drops – Fog and rain for the past five days
- 13) Car – The sticker says “Frequent stops” Someone didn’t read it
- 14) Bourbon – Willett Pot Still Reserve. A.K.A. John Howell’s Bourbon
- 15) Multi-Drops – I love seeing this tree in the fog or after/during a light rain
- 16) Flag – The flag at our grocer from a sunny day last week
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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