I Have a Bad Feeling About This...

I should be happy. I not only have a job, but I got a promotion of sorts that will send me to Boston at the end of January, for more money than I've made my entire life.

I should be happy because I got a little bit of a bonus that will help me move and get a few necessities, like a better computer. Believe me, that's a necessity!

I should be happy because I'll be living close enough to my daughter to see her on some weekends and will be close to baseball, football, basketball and hockey teams that can actually win sometimes.

I should be happy because I'm leaving Raleigh, where I've lived for almost 10 years, and, frankly, I'm sick of it.

But I'm not entirely happy. For the last few weeks a feeling of doom has been hanging over me that has nothing to do with me directly or my change in jobs and location. Some might call it precognition, but I can't specify what it is exactly that I dread, just that SOMETHING is going to happen. I'm waiting for the shoe to drop and it makes me lose sleep at night trying to figure it out.

I've had bad feelings before. The day of 9/11, I woke before the planes hit with that same bad feeling, turned on the news to find nothing happening, then went back to bed. I woke a few hours later to the horror, somewhat grateful I didn't have to see it live.

The morning my mother died I heard her voice calling my name and another bad feeling. I didn't hear that she'd died for another 3 days.

I've created characters that have similar traits. I'd consider them to be somewhat autobiographical. I even created a character that knows what's coming in the future and works to prevent it. In an unpublished part of that series, the hero tries to prevent 9/11. He only makes more trouble.

And that's just it. Maybe it's my imagination runneth over. I've tried to imagine my life better than it is, and while things start out great, something always happens to ruin the happiness. Mind you, I never imagined myself homeless before I actually was. But I did imagine myself being hit by a car, with worse results that actually occurred.

So maybe this is just my imagination in need of being emptied, by writing that story down. I don't know.

But I care. I don't want a world war to break out. I don't want a city destroyed by terrorism. I don't want tens of thousands to die. I doubt anyone with real power over events reads my blog, but if by some coincidence you do, please do everything in your power to avoid my imagined catastrophe.

Please make it all in my head and not a reality.

'Hypersensitive'

Hypersensitive

By Michael Harrison Fox

I went to a party just the other day

Went straight to a corner where I could stay

Away from the people and the booming sound

Don’t think of me as strange, I’m just (beat) hypersensitive

Keep away the flashing lights and roaring crowd

They make my body shiver when it gets really loud

I want to cover ears and eyes and slink away

I’m not an animal, I’m just (beat) hypersensitive

(rapid rap)

Now listen to my story and you will see

That a person like me isn’t easy

To get to know because I shun the crowd

And listening to smalltalk makes me shout out loud

‘Get outta my face and please shut up’

But it seems that I am out of luck

‘Cause the voice I make is never heard

Over voices and sirens and I get nerved

By the lights and sounds of everyday life

And what’s normal to you, to me is strife

And makes me want to shut it all out

Crawl back into bed and let out a shout

‘Leave me alone!’

(normal)

I’m not a bad person but it’s hard to see

If the slightest sound and light make me act crazy

Don’t take it as an insult,  just me being me

Just move away slowly ‘cause I’m (beat) hypersensitive

Politics: Same Dance, Different Tune

The votes have been counted and Republicans have taken over the Senate AND the House. Here are my predictions for the next 2 years:

1. Republicans will attempt to repeal 'Obamacare', and I hope against hope that Obama will veto it. I suppose that's more of a wish than a prediction but the alternative would be really strange. Why would Obama let his signature piece of legislation be overturned? Sadly, there are signs he's willing to compromise, and his Health Care Act might suffer. What was the point of the last 6 years again? SMH.

2. The homeless and poor will be ignored or treated badly. It's been a part of being a Republican that if you are not rich, your needs will not be addressed, because it's your own fault. I wonder what Lincoln would make of his party now?

3. The environment will take a hit. Because giving businesses free reign to misuse land, air and sea will create a few jobs. I really fear Fracking will cause more problems that cure them. Better move away from the ocean unless you like living under water.

4. Business deregulation will mean higher bonuses for corporate executives and increased layoffs for front-line workers. It seems odd to me that corporations would pay bonuses with one hand while taking jobs with the other hand, but this is the way corporations act lately. If I were to suggest a piece of corporate legislation, I'd do one where no corporation can give executive bonuses in a year where layoffs occur, and no layoffs are to be done until executive wages are decreased. Just my .02.

5. Jobs will continue to be outsourced, mostly to other countries. It's the thing, now, for corporations to cease hiring front-line workers themselves and instead hire other companies to handle things like customer service and tech support. I fall under the latter of that. In the long run they save money on wages and benefits. It gives them the appearance of having more employees than they do, and of having higher wages, because the staffing company pays the employees, and you know they're paying the least they can. And when things go sour, they can just end the contract and hire a new staffing company. I really think a national strike of all front-line workers is needed to let corporations know just exactly what we do for them. But that's an idea for another blog. ;-)

6. The budget will not be balanced and the deficit will not be reduced. Despite Republican claims of Democrats being 'tax and spend', really, this is how bills get paid. Nothing will change that. Or if they do, the wealthy will be taxed less, and therefore less money will come in, and how can you get a balanced budget if there is no excess?

7. The recovery will falter and everyone will blame Obama, when really, it's corporate America that will be the cause. Because...

8. Obama will cave into all Republican demands, except, hopefully, ObamaCare. It's what he did when he first got elected. It didn't work. It still won't work, but at least Obama can say 'I told you so.' Sadly, America will suffer because Obama's not really an effective leader. There, I said it. His message of hope turned into 'Do whatever you want, I don't care anymore.'

There's a reason so many Republicans went after Democratic incumbents by saying they voted with Obama x% of the time. Yet what do people expect? Have you never heard the term 'along party lines?' It's what both Democrats and Republicans do. I'm amazed that Democratic incumbents let that stand. In an ever increasing hostile political fight they never thought to say, 'everyone does it?'

Because this is how Reps and Senators get their power, by being compliant to their party's leaders, who went through the same dance when they were first elected. Newly elected Senator Thom Tillis from NC is a prime example. he used the 'Kate Hagen voted with Obama 95% (or 96 or 97 depending on the time of day) of the time' schpiel over and over again and says he'll act more independently. BS. The man comes from a powerful position in the NC legislature and he'll want to consolidate whatever power he can and he'll toe the Republican line every time until he's in a position to make the line.

And this is what I hate most about politicians. They are not true representatives of the American people. They are corporate shills, or special interest fodder.

I renew my call for a 'Middle of the Road' party. We are locked into one extreme or another that benefits one side or the other, leaving those in the middle in their philosophies shaking their heads and wondering what can be done.

An Unexpected Eviction

Imagine that you've paid your rent on time, consistently, for the last 9 months. You come home from a hard day's work and you get a call from your landlord saying 'come to the office.' You go there and you're handed a letter saying you need to vacate your room in 7 days. No chance for appeal, no court date, just 'Out!'

This just happened to me at the motel where I've been staying since January. The motel was apparently sold to the City of Raleigh, and I got a note which basically said: 'Git!'

To make me even more pissed off the letter made sure to mention that because I rent by the week they could have given me 2 days notice and gotten away with it. Talk about rubbing salt in my already shocked system.

I've been there since January, paid faithfully, even withstood a flash flood and stayed. No, I'm not loyal, I'm broke. Half my take-home pay goes to this motel, and I haven't been working full-time long enough to save money to move elsewhere.

I'll be looking for another motel to stay, probably will pay more, and most certainly will pay a hefty deposit. The lack of a deposit was a big selling point for the Milner Inn. I have to say, though In was shocked by the notice, I will rise above it. Well, after I talked to the press. I leaked the story to WRAL this morning and had an interview with them this afternoon. I'm not without a little vengeance.

Here's a link to the story: http://www.wral.com/city-of-raleigh-buys-capital-boulevard-property/14019551/

Surviving a Flash Flood

On August 12, 2014, I was sitting at my computer doing my thing (Warcraft) when I heard thunder - a lot of thunder. I didn't think much of it other than to put up a small post on Facebook, then went about my business. I knew the place where I was living (a motel) was prone to flooding, but as of that moment the worst it got was a flooded parking lot. Still the girl at the front desk gave me her obligatory call to make sure my belongings were off the floor. I promptly ignored her.

An hour passed, and then I started seeing water seep under the door. That gave me a turn and I started getting my stuff off the floor, especially my computer charger. I wound up having to jump onto my bed along with my laptop as water began to spread over the floor. I snapped some poor-quality pictures with my phone camera:

As the water began to rise I noticed a few things: First is was the dirtiest-looking water I can remember seeing, second, it wasn't going down. It gurgled through the air conditioning unit.. I shot a poor-quality video of it that doesn't seem to have made it in.

All this time I had been using my computer, on its battery now and posting on Facebook. I didn't actually think about evacuating, though the water showed no signs of abating. I figured I'd be safe on the bed for the night. Then around 9pm I saw a Facebook posting from one of the local news stations that police were evacuating the area, and sure enough the area was crawling with police and rescue people. I packed my computer (my precious) and a few clothes in my backpack, threw on an old pair of sneakers and waded into about 5 inches water just as they knocked on the door. I was led, through about 10 inches of water, into the lobby of the motel and on the other side of the lobby, they had a rubber raft waiting for me:

The raft had water in it, and between my bad knees and shoulder, was not comfortable getting into or out of. But it did save me from wading through more water.

I rolled out of the raft at the end of that short journey and found maybe a dozen more victims of the flood gathered around, along with a couple of dozen law enforcement and rescue people,

And videos:

These are the shoes I wore. They were falling apart before the flood, which is why I wore them, but one shoe just disintegrated in the muddy water.

After we waited for a while, Rescue arranged for a bus to pick us up to take us to the shelter. There was a family of 5, me and one other woman who finally decided to take advantage of the Red Cross' offer of shelter. But before we left, the skies opened up briefly to let us know that the area still wasn't safe.

At the Red Cross building, they had water, snacks and blankets waiting for us.

This was about 10:45pm. It took the Red Cross another 2 hours to figure out what to do with us, process us, and arrange for transportation to a nearby motel, where they agreed to pay for 2 nights. They also provided a debit card with $50 on it to help with food and other necessities.

In talking to the other victims, including my next-door neighbor, I found out that snakes and spiders were not only in the water, but in the rooms as well. I didn't even think to look for them. I was lucky.

And so here I am at another motel, much drier than the previous one. I took the day off work, because I didn't get to bed until after 1am, and I wouldn't have gotten much sleep before slogging in. Also I have to do some follow-ups with both my original motel and with the Red Cross.

I am very grateful to RPD and the Red Cross for the help they provided.

The Future is Coming True - Sorta

Back when I was a kid I'd watch shows such as the Jetsons and 'Lost in Space' and I'd think, 'Wow, this is going to be my future someday.' And so I waited, and saw technology progress - slowly at first. Coming out of high school, I'd've bet that we would have flying cars by then. No such luck. 

But something was just around the corner. Back in 1969 we had just enough computing power 

to get to the moon and back, and knowing the size of computers from back then, that was an amazing feat.

I entered college thinking I'd be a translator for the United Nations someday, but I wasn't completely oblivious to the computers around me, and the geek in me was drawn to them, to the point where I changed my major to Computer Science, and got to program Assembly Language for a processor called an 8080. 

Lord, if I'd known what that would grow into, but at the time, it was more a toy and mainframe computers still ruled. My degree may have fizzled after getting my A.S., but my interest in computers did not. Professionally I stuck to mainframes and minis, but kept an eye on those microcomputers.

When the Micro-explosion hit, I turned to sales and building my own PC-compatible machines, keeping just in touch enough to make things work while I tried to eke out a living. I had the old-fashioned telephone modems, accounts at various BBS's and an AOL account where I got the software from a 3.5 inch diskette.

Yet as much of an impression computers made on me in the 80's and 90's, I couldn't help but think...'Where's my flying car?' I was lucky to have a working car at the time, and frequently did not have one at all. My future wasn't coming true. I took to dreaming about my own version of the future and how it would all come about. This was the origin of 'The Timmons Chronicles.'

In that 'future', actually set in the past, my hero had flying cars, hand-held communications and access to a wealth of information at his fingertips and voice command. 

This was a time when the Internet was just catching fire, but I was able to see what it would become.

Today, 18 years after the first draft of 'Theater Boy' was written, (has it been that long?), we are only just seeing a potential flying car hit the market. Yes, the Internet is proving to be a wealth of information and cat videos, and voice commands are common. 

Robots are becoming more lifelike, if you keep them in the lab, but I still don't feel that we're really 'in the future' yet. 

Where's the 'Foodarackacycle'? Where's Rosie the robot maid? Where are the super-high-rise

apartments you can fly into? 

They were in someone's imagination not that long ago, but one of the downsides to having such a vivid imagination of how the future should look is society takes a very long time to catch up to it.

My own imagination was fired by such programs, and slowly society is catching up with my imagination. Well, that's not true, because my imagination can take another look at how things are and imagine them even better. Maybe they're getting there for the predictions of 'Theater Boy', but the 'Soul Survivor' series is going a step further that that. And if society continues to progress and I keep living, my imagination will continue to be way ahead of it. And that, my friends, is good news for the future.​

The Middle of the Road Party: The Proposed Platform

With all the politics going on around me, I want to propose a new party to compete with the extremes we are facing from both the Republican and Democratic parties.

Proposed Platform for the Middle of the Road Party

1. We acknowledge that there is a global problem with poverty, hunger, living conditions and homelessness, but we seek alternative methods of easing these conditions rather than relying on government or taxpayer money to cure the problem.

2. We acknowledge that there is a gun problem in the United States, but rather than exert more control over the existing guns, we will work to educate gun owners on proper use, to increase awareness and find cures for mental illness and to limit the manufacture of automatic weapons and the ammunition they use.

3. We acknowledge that in the United States there are many religions, each with their own set of rules, each with a right to exist, but we will strive for a government that is free of religious influence other than the moral guidelines they set.

4. We recognize that there are times when war is a necessity to maintain global peace, but the act of going to war should be thoroughly discussed and no military action should be engaged unless a valid exit plan is made before action is taken. We declare that we are not the world police and we will not interfere with local conflicts.

5. While we do not condone the use of recreational drugs, we will make no law to criminalize the possession of marajuana.

6. We recognize that businesses in the United States provide jobs and our unique way of life, but there is a need for regulation so that excessive greed does not leave a wake of human, economic and environmental victims.

7. We recognize that the United states has a place in the world's economy and that free trade should be maintained with all countries of the world.

8. We acknowledge that various forms of pollution has had an impact on the environment and world climate. We will work to limit the effects of that pollution.

9. We acknowledge that the world has never truly been safe from those with extremist and dangerous points of view, but we will not hold an entire religion, or an entire race responsible for the words and actions of a few.

10. We acknowledge that every resident of the United States has a right to privacy and no action will be taken by a government agency to usurp that right without due process.

11. We acknowledge that the United States was founded by those whose ancestors were not born here, and the process of immigration that built us into the melting pot we have become shall not be abridged. Instead we will work with the countries where illegal immigrants come from so that the issues that drive their population toward us are resolved. We resolve to embrace the existing immigrant population.

12. We acknowledge that a drug addiction problem exists and will work toward allieving the issue, not punishing those caught up in the practice.

13. We acknowledge that different sexual orientations exist.

14. We acknowledge that a woman has the burden of carrying a child from conception to the end of the pregnancy.