I've finally figured out how I want the next chapter to go. However, to make it work properly, I've got to edit the previous chapter so make it work the way I want it to. To edit the previous chapter, I'm going to be taking the first 2 or 3 pages of the current chapter and add them to the previous one. I won't do this until the upcoming weekend. When I make the change, I'll post another journal letting everyone know that they can re-read the previous chapter to know what's going on. Thanks for your patience with me on my writer's block and making the necessary update.

Could someone please tell me what in the world "Meta Keywords" are and why are they attached to my recent upload? If this is some kind of AI stuff, I don't like it and I don't want it. I know what keywords I want on my upload. I don't need some machine telling me what keywords it wants on my upload.

For those of you who've thought that I had fallen off the face of the Earth, I'm still here. I know it's been a while since I posted an update to my story but that will change next Sunday (8-18). I've finally managed to finish my newest chapter so I should be able to post it then. I will have to say that it's got a sex scene but, I'm no expert in writing anything like that, so I may be a bit technical on some things that others have no problem saying. Therefore, please don't throw too many stones if you don't see a lot of slang about certain actions and body parts. LOL. I tried to describe their passion for one another as a replacement for my lack of knowledge/experience in writing overtly sexual stories.

I just wanted to let everyone know that my hand/finger surgery went well. they put a nerve blocker in my arm to prevent any pain. I didn't know that it would completely block my usage of my left hand for over 12 hours. My arm and hand were totally useless to me until around 1:00 am the next morning. I went to see the orthopaedist the next day and he removed the splint and bandage and I got to see a bit of my hand and the sutures. Right now, I've got a ridge of skin from just below the finger up the finger for about 2 or 3 inches. The doctor told me to flex my hand as often as possible to make sure my finger works properly. It hurts a bit when I do that but I know it's for the best. I have to wear a splint at night and I will for a while but, hopefully, in a couple of weeks, I'll be able to type properly again. I got a pain medication prescription and was told to take it every 4-6 hours for pain but, so far, I've only needed it at night so I can sleep. In fact, last night, I took one at around 6:00 and didn't need to take another until about 6:00 tonight. I'm looking forward to having the sutures removed (although I'm afraid it will hurt because they're in my hand) so I can get back to normal. Well, as normal as is normal for me. Thanks for all of your prayers and well wishes.

I had told everyone that I had two surgeries scheduled for this month. Well, today I had my first. It was a very simple surgery. A Basal Squamous Cell Cancer was removed from my cheek. I can't believe how many injections of Xylocaine I had to endure. It felt like a dozen but, that was the worst part of it. The removal was simple and I had to wait about 30 minutes before I heard that they had gotten all of it. Then, I had to have the opening sutured shut. I don't know how many sutures they used but it felt like at least 6. The good thing is that Basal Squamous Cell Cancer is non-malignant so it was more of an unsightly thing that needed to be removed. Everything went well so I'll be all right from this surgery as soon as they remove the sutures in a couple of weeks.



My next journal entry should be on Wednesday after the surgery to correct the Dupuytrin's Contracture in my left hand. I'll let y'all know how it goes as soon as I feel up to writing about it. (That's assuming I can type after my left ring finger gets cut open. LOL.)

As most of you already know, I don't make journals very often, and when I do, I do it to let you know what's going on in my life. Well, it's time for another "What's Going On In My Life" journal. A couple of weeks ago, I had to have another crown put on one of my teeth. Last Saturday morning, I was eating breakfast and, lo and behold, the crown decided it didn't like my tooth any more and filed for divorce. So, this afternoon, I had to return to the dentist to see if he could make the crown reconcile with my tooth. I guess I'll know in a few weeks. Back in 2011, I went to our local orthopaedist about a problem in my left hand. He said I had Dupuytren's Contracture (https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases.....s/syc-20371943) but, it wasn't bad enough to do anything about at that time. Today, I returned and he said, "Yep. It's time to correct it. I can either have injections (which have about a 35% failure rate) or I can opt for surgery (which has about a 1-5% failure rate). You can guess which one I opted for. They've got to figure out when they can do the surgery and let me know. After the surgery, I'll be in a splint to keep my finger straight for 48 hours and 6 - 8 weeks later, I should be able to use my hand normally. A few days after I originally got my new crown, I had an appointment with my dermatologist. After burning a few things off my arms and face, she saw something on my face that worried her. She removed it, sent it off to be biopsied, and it came back as Basal Squamous Cell cancer. I have an appointment on 11 April to have it removed. I ain't no good-looking guy but that scare might scare anybody. LOL.

As you can see, the next couple of months are going to be nothing but fun, fun, fun for yours truly. Y'all take care of yourselves and I'll see y'all later.

A few days after I posted Chapter 63, I realized I hadn't addressed a couple of things I alluded to in Chapter 62. I made the necessary corrections and, if you've already read this chapter, you might want to re-read it. The changes weren't earth-shattering and the chapter could have been left as is but, I hated to think I had implied something(s) would happen and then not have them happen.

Last Thursday (25 January), I arrived in St. Augustine, FL, for my annual Air Force reunion. Tonight I decided to enjoy the last night of the "Nights of Lights" and took a tour. I just got back and believe me, I enjoyed every second of it. If any of you can afford the trip to St. Augustine between late November and late January, I would heartily recommend taking that tour.

I haven't done this in a while (probably over 100 watchers ago) so I want to do it now. Thanks for adding me to your watch list(s). I hope you enjoy what you see and read here. All art you see is one of the following: commissions, adopts, gifts, or something other than what I, personally, have drawn. The only way I can create art is through describing things thoroughly so you can see them in your mind. Thanks again for adding me to your watch list.

I wanted to wish each and every one of you a very Merry Christmas and an equally Happy New Year. If you don't celebrate Christmas then I wish you a happy whatever holiday you celebrate. May you have plenty of friends and family to celebrate this wonderful day with.

Happy Birthday to my late mother. Today would have been her 88th birthday. She passed away 8 months ago. I know the pain of her passing will never go away but I do still miss her.

Well, after living in my current residence for 4 months, I'm finally going to use my stove/oven for something other than a catchall. Tomorrow, I'm actually going to cook my Thanksgiving meal, mostly in the oven but I'll be cooking it nonetheless. Wish me luck everyone, you're looking at someone who can burn water. LOL.

For those who have been waiting patiently for the next chapter of "There's No Way", take heart. I will be posting the next chapter two weeks from today, 11-26. I was planning on having the chapter ready last Sunday but my new external hard-drive decided it wanted to act up and I had to take it to my IT to see if they could figure out what was wrong. It worked on their computer so I brought mine in. Lo, and behold, my external decided to start working. (Bloody technology) So, I've got to do a little editing of the new chapter and it will be ready. So, if you've been waiting with bated breath to see what happens next, you'll get your wish in two weeks.

Well, for those who have been waiting with bated breath for my next chapter (and even those who just look forward to a new diversion in their lives), after a couple of months, I finally got the money together to purchase a replacement external hard drive. I took it to my IT Friday and, hopefully, early next week I can start working on my story again. I should have the next chapter ready by the first Sunday in December. The biggest reason it'll take that long is because I'm trying to create a wedding ceremony that will make sense to people who read it.

Yesterday was my 68th birthday. Shortly after I got home from work and grocery shopping, my mother fell, hit her head, and had to be taken to the ER. I went down there for a while until she told me to go home and she'd have the hospital call me to come and get her. I got the call around 12:30, picked her up, and brought her home. However, she said she couldn't move her feet to walk. As I tried to help her get up and walk, she started leaning further and further forward. When I checked for a pulse, there was none. I finally eased her out of my car, placed her on the ground, and called the EMTs again. They called the coroner because she was unresponsive. My mother passed away at around 1:30 am this morning.

Congratulations to the UGa Bulldogs, 65-7 over TCU for the National Championship.  According to ESPN, this was the biggest margin of victory in a Championship game in the CFP era.  They're the first time in the CFP era to win back-to-back championships.  I'm looking forward to next season to see if they can be the first team to win three in a row.

Well, I was wrong about the repairs to my car costing $3500.00. I got a call from my mechanic and they said it wasn't the timing belt that had been my problem. They took the engine apart to replace the belt and found the old belt was fine. However, they have no idea as to what is wrong with the engine other than something in the bottom of the engine was trying to lock up. The only repair is to replace the engine. Total cost now is around $5500.00. Well, I'm glad that I haven't touched the bonus check I received last week. It's going to be two more weeks before I can get my car back but, it'll be worth the wait.

Everyone who's followed me since I first joined FA knows that I don't post many journals but, when I do, it's usually because of something happening to me that I believe that everyone should know about. Well, here we go again.

As the title says, last week was quite a week for me. Monday and Tuesday weren't too bad. Nothing negative happened; however, starting Wednesday, my week went on a MAJOR downhill slide. Wednesday morning, I got ready to go to work, went outside, got in my car, turned the key, and the engine cranked and ran for all of 5 seconds. I couldn't get the car to crank afterward. I called a taxi to take me to work at about 5:15 am and it finally arrived at 7:45. I called my mechanic and asked to have my car picked up and checked out. When I got off from work, I was lucky enough to have a co-worker who could take me home.

The next morning, my co-worker picked me up and took me to work. At around 8:15, I received a call from Life Alert telling me that my 87 y.o. mother had fallen and the EMTs had decided to take her to the hospital. At around 9:45, my mechanic called me and said that the reason my car wouldn't crank was because the timing belt had broken and, because of that, the valves and pistons had been damaged. Total estimated cost? $3,500 and a two-week wait for the car to be repaired. When I got home, I noticed that the back door looked funny. It seems that the EMTs couldn't find the spare key to the house and had to bust the door in.

Friday, my company had its annual holiday luncheon. Just before the luncheon, I was driving my golf cart into one of the zones and didn't realize that the gate I was about to "enter" was closed and locked. I struck the gate and, as a result, I had to contact our safety man and fill out an accident report, take a drug test, and had to be suspended for the rest of the day.

Needing a car to drive, I went to Enterprise to rent a car only to be told that it would cost me over $600.00 for one week; money I didn't have. My co-worker took me home. Later that night, I got a text from my supervisor telling me that the co-worker I was depending on had contracted CoVID. I went back to Enterprise yesterday and was able to rent a car for a week because I had received my year-end bonus (I had forgotten about it the day before.).

And how was YOUR week?

A short while ago, I was grocery shopping. The cashier was talking to a couple from Germany and I heard them talking about learning languages. I mentioned that I had created a language for a story I'd written. When I got to the cashier, she asked me about my story. I told her the name of it was "Marooned on Tashoo" and she surprised me when she mentioned that it was on her reading list after being suggested by Google. Then, she showed me. Needless to say, I nearly choked from surprise.

On Sunday, I uploaded a new chapter to my "There's No Way" story. After looking at it after the upload something didn't look right. It turns out that the chapter I uploaded isn't supposed to happen for another day in the story. So, unfortunately, I'm going to have to delete the uploaded chapter and, on Sunday, upload the correct chapter. I'm terribly sorry for the inconvenience that I caused.

It's currently 8:40 am on 20 January 2022 where I live. In a few hours, I'll be on my way for vacation. This is the one time a year that I take time off from work to do what I want to do. Normally, I take time off to go to the doctor, take my mother to the doctor, or do other things for someone else. I'll be going once again to my favorite city of all the cities I've ever visited, St. Augustine, FL. This vacation is a combination vacation and Air Force reunion. I'll see people I haven't seen in almost 3 years (Thank you CoVID for your kind assistance in that situation.) Anyway, I'll be seeing the sights and visiting with many Air Force vets many of whom are at least 10 years older than I am. (At 66 years of age, I'm one of, if not THE, youngest person who attends.) I'll take as many photos as I can of my visit and post them here for everyone to enjoy. See y'all on the flip side.

Today is the first day of a hectic and interesting couple of weeks.

Earlier today, I got injected with part 2 of CoVID inoculation. Because of semi-horror stories of getting sick from the second dosage, I'm taking tomorrow off so I won't have to worry about getting a point (or two) for not making it to work.

Monday (a holiday for my company this year), I'll be taking my 2006 Santa Fe into my mechanic for a little bit of semi-necessary work to be done on it. I need to replace my power steering pump, get a realignment, have the headlight adjusted (I've got one that shining for raccoons and one that's making certain I don't run over any snakes or worms), and find out why my washer fluid pump ain't working.

Next Thursday, I'll be heading down to St. Augustine for an Air Force Security Service reunion. I always do enjoy my trips down there. If you've never been to St. Augustine, FL, you should visit for a week. It's a wonderfully beautiful city with a LOT of history. Many of the buildings have been around since the 1800s and a few have been around since the 1600s. Oh, and you can actually visit the real Fountain of Youth and enjoy (ugh) a small cup of water from the fountain. If you do try it, be prepared for the taste. It ain't very good. LOL. I'll try to give updates during my visit so you can make up your mind about visiting.

For anyone who's interested, I'm almost through with the newest chapter of "There's No Way" so, I should have it posted Sunday. I've got to type about 5 more pages and it'll be finished. These next couple of chapters are ones that I inadvertently deleted from my hard drive so, I don't remember exactly what they originally were but, I do know what they were about and I shouldn't have too much trouble writing them rather quickly. That should mean that I'll be finished with the story by my birthday in April (I hope.). I may be sending a couple of my readers a note asking for your opinion about how to complete the story. Just because I ask your opinion doesn't mean I'll do what you suggest it just means that I've got a couple of ideas and I'm curious as to which one you think works better. Thanks for reading and keeping up with the story so far.

Hello everyone. For those of you who've been waiting, I finally finished the next chapter in my "There's No Way" story. I'll be uploading it over the next few days. But, it will definitely be uploaded everywhere by Friday night. I hope you enjoy the new chapter.

Well, after enduring migraine headaches since last Monday, I finally went to our local emergency care facility. After doing a CoVID test, they said I caught it. I can't believe it took me almost 2 years after it was released before I caught it but, I did. I have no appetite, severe headache, and just all around tired and sleepy. I'm supposed to go to have some immersion(?) therapy done tomorrow morning. It's supposed to alleviate the problems and, hopefully, allow me to feel better. I was planning on setting up an appointment to have the vaccine next month but, now I've got to wait until December. Oh, well. I'll get by.