Re: Story

[ABLE1 <somebody@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

On 11/7/2022 7:41 AM, ABLE1 wrote:
> On 11/6/2022 10:09 PM, Jim Davis wrote:
>> On Sunday, November 6, 2022 at 12:22:16 AM UTC-4, ABLE1 wrote:
>>> On 11/5/2022 7:23 PM, Bob La Londe wrote:
>>>> On 11/5/2022 3:18 PM, ABLE1 wrote:
>>>>> On 11/5/2022 3:47 PM, Bob La Londe wrote:
>>>>>> On 11/5/2022 12:13 PM, ABLE1 wrote:
>>>>>>> On 11/5/2022 2:17 PM, Bob La Londe wrote:
>>>>>>>> On 11/5/2022 10:46 AM, Bob La Londe wrote:
>>>>>>>>> On 11/4/2022 7:53 PM, ABLE1 wrote:
>>>>>>>>>> On 11/4/2022 8:44 PM, Bob La Londe wrote:
>>>>>>>>>>> On 11/4/2022 4:38 PM, ABLE1 wrote:
>>>>>>>>>>>> On 11/4/2022 6:19 PM, Bob La Londe wrote:
>>>>>>>>>>>>> On 10/31/2022 5:57 PM, Bob La Londe wrote:
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> On 10/31/2022 4:34 PM, ABLE1 wrote:
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> On 10/24/2022 2:40 PM, Bob La Londe wrote:
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> On 10/22/2022 10:18 AM, Bob La Londe wrote:
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> On 10/21/2022 7:47 PM, Jim Davis wrote:
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> On Friday, October 21, 2022 at 4:37:12 PM UTC-4, Bob La
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Londe wrote:
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> On 10/18/2022 8:20 AM, Bob La Londe wrote:
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Get creative.  Stop rehashing old themes or...
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> It was either that or ransoming the planet with a giant
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> space laser.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> --
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Bob La Londe
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> CNC Molds N Stuff
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> --
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> WELL ! ....... YOU'RE the one who said to be
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> creative    ;-)
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> I guess my idea of creative is different than other folks.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Maybe I should have said creative and ORIGINAL.  LOL.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Now you have a whole new premise to try and do something
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> with/to.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Flash Point was stolen from _________, where as ransoming
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> the earth with a space laser was stolen from ____________.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> A totally different universe or franchise depending on your
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> level of suspension of disbelief.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> My other premise was NOT stolen from ___ _____ ______
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> _________, but I can see where you might think that.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> LOL It would seem that the Story is getting deeper by
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> many many
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> fathoms!!   I hope nobody drowns!!!
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> I'm not sure which way I want to go next.  I guess that
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> depends on what I find next time I log on.  Whether I want to
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> do damage control or just go with the flow in whatever new
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> direction its gone.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> I've already over used the Achilles Segue.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> (I think I just coined that phrase.)
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Remember our new demi-hero Agent Bean may not yet have seen
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> John's video clip at the end of the recording.  Certainly
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Bennie Bean hasn't seen it.   I suspect if Agent Bean had
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> seen John defame the Secret Service his suspicion level about
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> the whole thing might be a bit higher, well, and he wouldn't
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> have needed his ten year old son to tell him what he was
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> listening to.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>> When I started down this path I was originally thinking very
>>>>>>>>>>>>> fast paced hacker-centric action adventure.  Motor cycle
>>>>>>>>>>>>> chases. Brutal police tactics.  Fleeing for you life in the
>>>>>>>>>>>>> face of overwhelming odds, and seeking a way to turn the
>>>>>>>>>>>>> tables in a grand unstoppable manner.  It has slowed down.
>>>>>>>>>>>>> Become more procedural. With one of our protagonists now being
>>>>>>>>>>>>> a ten year old I'm not sure the brutality of a modern high
>>>>>>>>>>>>> impact action thriller tells well. Its not like I can retell
>>>>>>>>>>>>> Treasure Island after all.  Maybe Bennie Bean needs to become
>>>>>>>>>>>>> superfluous soon. Identify some key points, and leave it to
>>>>>>>>>>>>> his dad and the hackers. Obviously Agent Bean needs to learn
>>>>>>>>>>>>> more before kicking it upstairs since his own agency has now
>>>>>>>>>>>>> been implicated in who knows what.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>> Hi Bob,
>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>> It is my humble opinion that you should consider writing a
>>>>>>>>>>>> book, get it published, and sell a boat load.  Like Donald
>>>>>>>>>>>> Hamilton's Matt Helm
>>>>>>>>>>>> books, or Ian Fleming's James Bond.
>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>> They did it, why not Bob La Londe's Agent Bean??
>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>> You will never know if it will work, until you try.
>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>> Honestly with all typing you do in the newsgroups your typing
>>>>>>>>>>>> skill
>>>>>>>>>>>> could are certainly good enough.  You can't be a "Hunt n'
>>>>>>>>>>>> Pecker"!!
>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>> What is the worst that could happen??
>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>> You got my VOTE!!!
>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>> Les
>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>> I am published for article length work in motorcycling and
>>>>>>>>>>> fishing in newspaper and magazines.  (Maybe half a dozen pieces
>>>>>>>>>>> or so.) Years ago I had a web page dedicated to motorcycle
>>>>>>>>>>> games, and White Horse Press contacted me to say, "Let us know
>>>>>>>>>>> when you are ready to publish your book."Â  I also chat with
>>>>>>>>>>> George Burliss from time to time (publisher editor?) with Home
>>>>>>>>>>> Shop Machinist Magazine.  My latest bigger project is a video
>>>>>>>>>>> series on manual machining with a piece of shit desktop manual
>>>>>>>>>>> mini mill.  I was hoping to sell George on a pairing it with a
>>>>>>>>>>> monthly article, but he seemed to want to dumb it down to much
>>>>>>>>>>> for my taste. That might just be my perception.
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>> I actually am a hunt and peck typist.  I took typing in high
>>>>>>>>>>> school (somehow I passed), and lots of computer programming in
>>>>>>>>>>> college, but I never felt comfortable with classical home row
>>>>>>>>>>> typing.  I developed my own system that uses some classic
>>>>>>>>>>> typing, and about seven fingers most of the rest of the time.
>>>>>>>>>>> In high school at one point we were told we could type anything
>>>>>>>>>>> we wanted as long as we were typing. When I realized the
>>>>>>>>>>> instructor wasn't even collecting it I started writing porn.  I
>>>>>>>>>>> left a few copies on the bus, and pretty soon I had guys bidding
>>>>>>>>>>> to be the first to get my next fantasy adventure.  I burned out
>>>>>>>>>>> on that quick. There are only so many ways to say Joe got the
>>>>>>>>>>> girl, and I was never into the weird stuff.
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>> In college I wrote a story about show of force vs outbreak of
>>>>>>>>>>> violence. It was a western short fiction piece.  The college
>>>>>>>>>>> magazine editor loved it as did several of the other magazine
>>>>>>>>>>> staff, but their academic advisor refused to let them publish
>>>>>>>>>>> it. He was the classic left wing liberal academic before we
>>>>>>>>>>> called them left wing liberal academics. Considering some the
>>>>>>>>>>> really creepy stuff they did publish I was still surprised.
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>> I always wanted to write science fiction, but everything I wrote
>>>>>>>>>>> in that genre was basically juvenile wish fulfillment.  Joe
>>>>>>>>>>> space hero gets the girl, and the whole universe gives him
>>>>>>>>>>> ultimate power over everything. I never understood the social
>>>>>>>>>>> commentary of science fiction well enough to write truly good
>>>>>>>>>>> work like Heinlein (he also wrote some juvenile wish
>>>>>>>>>>> fulfillment) or Asimov.  I could read and understand it.  I just
>>>>>>>>>>> didn't understand that often that is more important than the
>>>>>>>>>>> science fiction adventure.  Of course there is the fantasy
>>>>>>>>>>> science meets real science like Larry Niven with Ring World or
>>>>>>>>>>> Neutron star, but I never had a good enough grasp of the science
>>>>>>>>>>> for that.
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>> Several years back I wrote an article for an outdoor magazine
>>>>>>>>>>> (that has since gone bankrupt), and it was a fiasco of brutal
>>>>>>>>>>> rewrites even after I cut out half the real content to meet
>>>>>>>>>>> their maximum word count.  Then they stiffed me.  They didn't
>>>>>>>>>>> even want to give me a copy of the issue with my article.  They
>>>>>>>>>>> said I could buy a subscription. That took all the wind out of
>>>>>>>>>>> my sails for a while.
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>> Writing is like a lot of things.  Its a lot of fun when you
>>>>>>>>>>> don't have to meet a deadline and pay the bills with it, or
>>>>>>>>>>> butcher it to fit somebody else's preconceived format.
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>> ... and I have to remind myself.  Just because I have published
>>>>>>>>>>> a few small things that doesn't make me a writer.  What skills I
>>>>>>>>>>> do have I have to credit to Sarah Sneed.  I had to take two
>>>>>>>>>>> semesters of English Composition in college.  I had dropped my
>>>>>>>>>>> second semester twice because I got instructors that hit you
>>>>>>>>>>> with a ton of writing assignments, but didn't teach anything.  I
>>>>>>>>>>> had steeled myself to slogging through it when I signed up for
>>>>>>>>>>> Ms Sneed's class.  She taught.  She taught about research,
>>>>>>>>>>> style, and readability.  I don't always use what she taught, but
>>>>>>>>>>> I when I don't its a conscious choice.  She taught about that
>>>>>>>>>>> too. When to break the rules. (anecdote below)Â  She is probably
>>>>>>>>>>> the primary reason I have any writing skills at all.
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>> For the final assignment of the semester I had to write a
>>>>>>>>>>> research paper on a classic novel.  (not a survey piece)  I took
>>>>>>>>>>> it seriously and did it right.  We were told if we turned it in
>>>>>>>>>>> before the end of class during final exams it was on time.  I
>>>>>>>>>>> was working on it until the last minute doing rewrites, editing,
>>>>>>>>>>> and proof reading.  When I printed the final copy I knew I could
>>>>>>>>>>> make it to class before the end of the exam period if I
>>>>>>>>>>> hurried.  When I arrived I didn't even bother to park.  I just
>>>>>>>>>>> rode my motorcycle right up to the door of the classroom,
>>>>>>>>>>> grabbed my saddlebags and headed in to be stopped up short when
>>>>>>>>>>> the door wouldn't open.  I turned and saw her walking down the
>>>>>>>>>>> sidewalk next to the parking lot.  Afraid she might get away I
>>>>>>>>>>> chased her down the sidewalk on my motorcycle, and pulled up
>>>>>>>>>>> short in front of her. Probably a little stress leaked out in my
>>>>>>>>>>> tone when I complained she had said we had until the END of the
>>>>>>>>>>> period to turn in our paper.  I got an A.
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> V-E-R-Y IMPRESSIVE Bob!!
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> Good read and Thanks for the history!!!
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> Les
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> I hesitate to write things like this that could be interpreted as
>>>>>>>>> a brag.  To often in recent years I've shared anecdotes from my
>>>>>>>>> life and been told I was a full of shit bullshit piece of shit
>>>>>>>>> lying sack of shit.  **
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> Honestly though I don't consider this to be all that impressive.
>>>>>>>>> I can't ten finger type.  I never published a book, and I never
>>>>>>>>> really got paid to be a writer.  Its just a hap hazard group of
>>>>>>>>> secondary fumblings throughout my life over the course of 40ish
>>>>>>>>> years that paired with a little imagination allow me to
>>>>>>>>> occasionally crank out three consecutive sentences that are
>>>>>>>>> readable.
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> However, thank you.  I appreciate the recognition for them.
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> Example: **
>>>>>>>>> One of my favorite actual brags used to be that I have been in
>>>>>>>>> business literally my entire life since I was four years old.  My
>>>>>>>>> mom explained to me the concept of profit.  She told me that if I
>>>>>>>>> bought candy bars and put them on the shelf in the family store it
>>>>>>>>> wouldn't be to long before I could buy more boxes to replace them,
>>>>>>>>> and have money left over.   I used the money my grandmother sent
>>>>>>>>> me for Christmas to put merchandise on the shelves of our store.
>>>>>>>>> I was in business at age four.   That was a bit of a brag, but it
>>>>>>>>> really wasn't intended to indicate I was a business mogul at such
>>>>>>>>> a young age.  Just that I have spent my entire life learning small
>>>>>>>>> business concepts.  I shared this in a machining group not to long
>>>>>>>>> ago.  I was accused of being a liar, taking credit for my mom's
>>>>>>>>> hard work, and that there was no chance at age four I was anything
>>>>>>>>> more than a pants shitting drooling blob.  That I was totally full
>>>>>>>>> of shit that had to totally be lying through my teeth. (Unless you
>>>>>>>>> were toothless how else would one lie?)Â  I tried to explain, but
>>>>>>>>> soon there were dozens of people piling on.  The shear mass of
>>>>>>>>> derision made it impossible for me to take the time to refute it
>>>>>>>>> all.  I just left the group. The reality is its true.  I did
>>>>>>>>> understand, but how can I prove that.  I can't.  Just that I have
>>>>>>>>> always done better as an entrepreneur than as an employee.  I
>>>>>>>>> never thought of it as exceptional until I was attacked for it.  I
>>>>>>>>> just thought it was a choice based on opportunity and education
>>>>>>>>> from a caring mother.
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> I have other anecdotal memories, no doubt colored by time, that
>>>>>>>>> might be met with similar disbelief.
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> However, I have never flown an airplane of any kind inverted, nor
>>>>>>>> was I ever a passenger in an inverted airplane of any size.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Well Bob, now you went and did it...................
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> I have flown inverted, jumped out of a perfectly good plane at 3000
>>>>>>> feet, flown a glider, flown a helicopter, flown a Cessna 152
>>>>>>> backwards
>>>>>>> on a runway, flown a Cessna 152 in freezing rain until at full
>>>>>>> throttle
>>>>>>> just above stall speed then landed, flown a (part owner) Ultra Lite,
>>>>>>> and many other experiences that would take a long time to read.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Les
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> My father in law was a WW2 bomber pilot.  He claims he was taught to
>>>>>> land those big bombers by stalling them at just above ground level.
>>>>>> He claims getting his civilian pilots license he scared every one of
>>>>>> his civilian instructors because he did the same thing by "feel" with
>>>>>> small commuter planes.  Given the fact that he truly did remarkable
>>>>>> things including bringing back airplanes with gaping holes I tend to
>>>>>> believe him.  He also was the chief engineer in charge of building
>>>>>> the M16 production line at General Motors Hydramatic, and claims a
>>>>>> higher acceptance rate than any other manufacturer at the time
>>>>>> including Colt. There is always the chance you might have carried
>>>>>> one.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> P.S.  Mattel NEVER made M16s or parts for M16s.  That's just a myth
>>>>>> perpetuated by soldiers and marines who had an aversion to the
>>>>>> plastic furniture on M16s.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> Those guys and gals did some rather amazing things in WW2.
>>>>> Makes sense for a plane that size to land them by stalling just
>>>>> above the ground.  First it won't fly below stall speed and second
>>>>> braking at a higher speed will take longer to stop.  I can see doing
>>>>> that with a smaller plane to be a different story.  Especially for an
>>>>> instructor that never flew a bomber!!!
>>>>>
>>>>> I haven't flow for a number of years at this point.  My license is
>>>>> still
>>>>> valid but it is my physical that is needed along with a check ride.
>>>>> Did that some time ago after not flying for maybe 15 years and the
>>>>> flight instructor said after being up for 15 minutes and having me do
>>>>> this or that.  "Put me on the ground, you don't need me up here. Go
>>>>> have
>>>>> some fun!!"
>>>>>
>>>>> It was great until I ran short on money and stopped.  Present day I
>>>>> would not pass the physical due to my hearing loss.  I just go to an
>>>>> occasional air show and drool!!!
>>>>>
>>>>> Les
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> I never felt like spending the money to be a real flyer.  I have looked
>>>> at experimental, but its still a bit much for essentially joy riding. A
>>>> buddy of mine (now deceased) bought an ultralight and kept it at a
>>>> private field owned buy a farmer we know.  He would take that bird out
>>>> of the hanger, and do "hot taxis" all day long, but as far as I knew he
>>>> never flew it before he sold it. Seemed so weird to me at the time.  It
>>>> was an interesting place where a handful of guys worked on various
>>>> projects.  Hanging from the ceiling of the hanger/barn was a delta wing
>>>> one of the guys started to build, but never finished.  Another guy I
>>>> knew looked it over with thought to finishing it, but in the end he
>>>> passed saying the frame material was to heavy.  Looked like rusted
>>>> steel
>>>> tube to me.
>>>>
>>> There was a local dealer of Ultra Lites that started a club. The club
>>> members (12 ea.) for a sign up fee of (I think) $375 became a part owner
>>> of a Ultra Lite. The guy then offered some instruction on how to fly
>>> the thing. I was only one in the club that had a Pilot License. Any
>>> damages that would happen were the responsibility of the member that
>>> caused it. The fuel tank held enough to fly for 2 hours. However,
>>> one guy kept giving full throttle to go up and then idle down and
>>> actually ran out of gas after about 90 minutes. He ended up in a
>>> cornfield and did $2000 in damages. There were other crashes.
>>> I never had one. We had one member that was I think 80 years or so
>>> old. He told the story that he was on the ground crew for a Ford
>>> Tri-Motor endurance flight. They filled the plane up with barrels
>>> of gas. There were two pilots and a mechanic. Every 4-6 hours they
>>> shut down one of the engines and the mechanic would climb out and
>>> replace the spark plugs because they would foul out. After he did
>>> one he would come back in and they start that one back up and then
>>> they would shut down another and he would do it again until all three
>>> were done. I don't recall the length of the flight but I am guessing
>>> maybe 48 hours of so. His name was Mr. Tripp. We called him Trippy.
>>>
>>> Anyhow he always wanted to fly. Never had the opportunity. This was
>>> his chance. He took a lot of lessons but for one reason or another he
>>> never got permission or allowed to do a solo. This went on for maybe
>>> 6 to 8 months. The one day the weather was great and he was feeling
>>> good and got to go on his first solo flight. I wasn't there, I only
>>> heard the story after. He taxied up the grass strip runway. Turned
>>> around and did a radio check. All good. Power up and started takeoff
>>> roll. Left the ground and climbed out. Went up to maybe 500' and
>>> started to go around the pattern. He was up for maybe 10 - 15 minutes
>>> and then they lost radio contact. He kept circling the field in a
>>> very slight turn but slowly descending. On the north side of the
>>> runway was sloped hill with wheat growing. Each time he went around
>>> and lost altitude he would get closer to the top of the hill. Still
>>> no radio response. The guys on site could only watch and wait. He ended
>>> up crashing on the hill and totaled the Ultra Lite. They got him
>>> off the hill and to a hospital. Ended up he broke an arm and some
>>> ribs. No one knows for sure but he had passed out during the flight.
>>> Maybe due to his excitement of actually flying or something else.
>>> He ended up buying a new Ultra Lite for the club but never flew again.
>>>
>>> It was about that time I decided that there was far to much danger with
>>> the club members not knowing how to fly safely. So, I cancelled my
>>> membership and received a total of $125 refund. About 2 months later
>>> the business owner took on a partner and they just finished building
>>> another Ultra Lite. The partner took it up for a test flight and
>>> decided to do some Chandelle's. At the bottom of the maneuver the wings
>>> folded and he died. A Chandelle is a extreme maneuver that you drop
>>> one wing and dive down and then pull up climb to a stall and then drop
>>> the other wing and do it again. Too much load on the wing spar and the
>>> tips will touch. The whole Ultra Lite business folded very quickly
>>> after that. Don't know what the club did with the Ultra Lite. I guess
>>> they sold it! I didn't care since I was no longer a partner.
>>>
>>> Ok, end of another story!!!
>>>
>>> Later,
>>>
>>> Les
>>
>>
>> Well - - - - - HOLY S%#T !  !  !  !  !  !
>> What a great bunch of posts !
>>
>> First, Just so you all know, The most exciting flying I've ever done
>> is flying in a 747 first class, all the way to France and back again.
>>
>> So - -  next,   Les, funny you should comment on Bob's writing skills.
>> As the story progressed I got more and more impressed by how Bob's
>> writing seemed to get more and more "professional" sounding. Thought
>> maybe we had an Ernest La Lond - ingway snickering  in the background,
>> as the rest of us floundered around with the written word all these
>> years.
>>
>> Bob  - - - I've got to say, I figure myself pretty good at
>> communication and business type of writing but your skill shown here
>> in "The Story", Impressed me as much, apparently, as it did Les.
>> .
>> I'm thinking - - - - Where the hell did THIS come from? I've been
>> "talking" to this guy for years now and there's never been any inkling
>> of this level of writing. Of course, there's never been such an
>> opportunity either   -- - - but  - - - Really! I'm thinking, same as
>> Les, What the hell, man, DO something with the talent.
>> .
>> Many (MANY) years ago, (when I was about 13 years old) I read my first
>> science fiction book. (which I still have down in the basement) That
>> was it, Kept it up till I was at least in my 30's. When " I " was
>> reading Asimov and Heinlein and all the other, of what I think of as
>> the greatest SF story tellers, I thought that after so many years of
>> reading that genre I could write some of it. Well, I got about two
>> paragraphs into it and determined that although I had the imagination
>> for the story line, I didn't have the ability to be descriptive in my
>> writing. I wrote as if I were "telling" someone a story, which I found
>> is a far cry from writing one. I just couldn't inject metaphors,
>> allegory, simile, analogy etc. into my writing. I spent more time
>> thinking of how to inject them and how to write dialog then writing
>> the story. Now I think - - - - If it was easy, everybody would be
>> doing it, Right?
>> .
>> But beyond easy -- or -- hard, there's a talent involved too. Few have
>> it.
>> .
>> So, I went back to reading and just about that time I found Ayn Rand's
>> Atlas Shrugged,  Nathanial Bandon and Objectivism and then Frank
>> Herbert's Dune came out and then I discovered the Hobbit and Lord of
>> the Rings all of which I had to read interspersed with sequels to
>> Dune, over a period of a number of years,
>> (Books all of which i also have down in my basement)
>> .
>> The long time was due to a busy Business time keeping the company
>> running. After that, apparently the habit was broken and there was no
>> more time for reading. Now, all these years later, I don't read for
>> entertainment anymore. Every thing that I have and interest in is
>> available at my convenience, on line, You Tube or TV.  I've tried to
>> read a book or two and I get into it a few chapters and then something
>> (more important ?) comes up that I can't get back to it for a while
>> and then I just have to forget about it. So I don't bother anymore. I
>> do. however,  "nostalgically" miss reading though.
>> .
>> So I figure that someday if/when I decide to stop working I'll be able
>> to read. However, I have a very strong feeling that by that time I'll
>> probably just doze off in my rocking chair.  :-)
>> .
>> In the meantime Bob, I'm sure if you were to  put a little effort
>> (work) into it you'd find your "groove" and a genre that would work
>> for you. I think you certainly have the "talent"
>
>
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hzfsJc7xMJk&t=5s
>
> DITTO!!!!

BTW Nice Read!!