I've posted Chapter 16 of On Location to my website. It is also available from The Raccoon's Bookshelf.

There is only one more chapter remaining to be posted, plus an epilogue. I hope to get it out in two weeks but I'm struggling a bit with a couple of scenes from the final chapter, and if it takes me a little longer to get it right then so be it.

I've just posted another chapter of On Location to my website. Actually I posted a chapter two weeks ago and didn't announce it here. The second most recent chapter has been on The Raccoon's Bookshelf for two weeks, and the latest one just went up this evening.

After this, only two more chapters and an epilogue to go, and the story will be finished!

For the last two and a half weeks I've put some of my spare time activities on hold while I buckle down on a writing project.

It's a SabrinaVerse story entitled On Location. I started it in 2003 with great enthusiasm, and got three or four chapters out in the first three months or so. But after that, work on the story slowed to a crawl as it got crowded out by other concerns in my life. I got separated and divorced during that time and you'd think that would mean more time to work on the story, but somehow it didn't happen. I never lost interest in the story, and I had scene ideas for later chapters I was really looking forward to getting out. But for long stretches it was difficult to get my mind back into writing, and there were parts I had to wrestle with to get to come out well. I was only getting a chapter out every few months, in one case over a year, but I was determined not to let it become one of those stories that gets abandoned partway through.

I was very unhappy with the pace, so a couple of months ago I made a decision to set a time when I would devote as much of my spare time as I reasonably could to working on it until it was finished, and that time started earlier this month. It was afraid it would be drudgery, but once I forced myself to make it my main focus, the story and the characters came alive for me, and it's been a pleasure to get immersed in them. I'm making great progress, and have completed the first draft of about two-thirds of the remaining story. Some of the scenes have been in my head and my summary outline practically since I started on the story eight years ago and it feels great to have them committed to words at last.

The most recent chapter (which was mostly written but needed editing at the time I started this exercise) was posted to The Raccoon's Bookshelf website last Friday and to my personal webpage yesterday. There are four chapters to go in the story, and I expect to get them up at a pace of one every two weeks.

I plan to convert them to .rtf and post them here on FurAffinity, but probably not before it's completed.

It looks like MFM is going to stay on my list of must attend conventions for the time being. I'm now on registration staff, effective for the coming year.

A follow-up to my last post - we were back on the road a couple of hours later, and got in at Chester, PA a little after midnight. It took a bit to do some paperwork and find the place, and at 2am we were busy unloading. We slept...

Met one of his roommates the next morning. I left just after noon, having no idea how far I would drive or where I would stop overnight. I ended up making it all the way home by napping in rest areas twice - once for a few minutes and the other time for about 3 hours - and got in here about 3am, sixteen hours after I left.

Initially for the return trip I was playing music on the .mp3 player, but after my second album, decided to shift gears and listen to an audiobook that I still had on my player in a different directory. It lasted me from about a hour and a half into the trip almost the whole rest of the way home, and it really helped the miles go by a lot easier. The story was Rat's Reputation by Michael H. Payne (aka  augiedog) (*), which as far as I know has never (yet) appeared in a print edition and is only available as an audiobook. I had listened to it last year one part at a time as it was being posted, but it was quite enjoyable this time around to listen to the whole thing straight through.

(*) - Some of you may be familiar with a short story by the same title and author. That story, (slightly reworked but essentially the same) is one part (out of twenty) of this one. A second previously published short story entitled Rat's Reckoning accounts for another part and a half. All three of the main trio from Payne's only published novel to date, The Blood Jaguar, are supporting characters in Rat's Reputation.

...is all it takes to screw up the best laid plans.

My son and I left yesterday morning, intending to drive about 700 miles to Carlisle, PA (and continuing on to Chester this morning). We were barely halfway through the day's journey, passing Hebron, OH just east of Columbus, when in heavy traffic we saw a large piece of tire retread that had likely come loose only moments earlier. The vehicle ahead of us had to swerve to avoid it. We ended up hitting it, and it ruptured our fuel tank as it passed beneath our vehicle. All the fuel spilled out, and we ended up at the side of the road.

The tow operator that AAA connected us with is also a repair facility who is doing their best to get a replacement fuel tank and get it in as soon as possible. Nevertheless we were stuck overnight here, and my son ended up missing an orientation he had expected to attend this afternoon. The repair cost, including the tow and the cost of the lost fuel, are covered by insurance (minus the deductible). Unfortunately the vehicle didn't have the coverage needed to give us a rental car which would also have paid for the unplanned hotel night here.

At this writing we don't yet have positive confirmation that the replacement fuel tank the repair facility found will work. If it does, we should be back on the road in a couple of hours. If not we could be stuck here another night. I'm already likely to be a day later than originally planned getting back to work.

I have a 2/3 full box of fanfold paper. Does anyone have any suggestions what I could do with it other than recycle it?

...is my son's car that he paid more than $2K for just a month ago, the first car he's owned. It looks for all the world like a decent, solid, vehicle, one that you'd think would serve him well for a couple of years. But all is not as it seems. The transmission is shot, and for a 14-year-old vehicle with over 200K miles on it, it's not worth repairing. No insurance. No warranty. No response from the people who sold it to him (so far at least). And I don't know whether to feel sad, angry, or just frustrated for him.

My son R, who is living with me for the summer, has been trying to figure out how much he needs to pay for a year in college at the school he's attending in the fall. His opportunities for earning money while he's living here for the summer were limited until he got his own car. He spent most of his savings and borrowed some from me to buy a car last month. Our mechanic even gave it a thumbs up.

Only now it's developed transmission problems. The transmission repair place says it needs a new transmission, which will cost at least two grand. The car is only worth a little over $2000. So basically we (mostly he) may be out what he paid for the car and paid to get it licensed and titled. We're going to talk to the transmission place some more and ask what are the chances they can do a lesser repair for a fraction of the cost to keep it running for a little longer.

If he doesn't have a car it's going to impair his ability to work and earn money here during the rest of the summer, meaning my ex and I will have to haul him around and/or he'll have to borrow the van primarily used by our daughter. He says he can get by without a car once he's at grad school, but here again if he needs to work to earn extra money, not having a car is going to limit his options.

As the end of gay pride month approaches, I thought I'd post a few reflections of my own.

Just to be clear, I'm straight.

As a male, it doesn't bother me in the least that I work, socialize, and interact with females. As a Caucasian, it doesn't bother me in the least that I work, socialize, and interact with African Americans, Asians, Hispanics, Indians, native Americans, and others. I'm also a Christian. I can't always tell what faiths the people I work, socialize, and interact with practice, but many are proud of it, and few consider it anything to hide. As such I've interacted with people of other Christian faiths, as well as Jews and some practicing alternate spiritualities. I regret that I've had little experience to date with people of Islam or other eastern faiths, and I think it would enrich my life to be exposed to more people who practice them.

But what about gays and lesbians? Research indicates that about 10% of people, give or take, are more attracted to the same sex than to the opposite sex. It stands to reason that about 10% of the people I work with, 10% of the people in my community, are homosexual. The problem is, I can't tell and have no idea which 10% they are. There may be those with good enough "gaydar" to pick them out of the crowd, but I'm not one of them. And unless I know otherwise I tend to assume by default that any particular person is straight. I could also say that it doesn't bother me that I work, socialize, and interact with gays and lesbians, but however true it may be, when I have no idea who they are, it feels like I'm making a pretty shallow statement.

You can't hide your gender or your race. Most people do not consider their nationality or their religion something to hide. Yet the way our culture treats gays and lesbians, it is still by and large something they keep at least low key, and in some cases hidden at all costs. I wish I knew which of my co-workers were homosexual, but I can hardly blame them knowing there are likely other co-workers who would be less than cordial about it.

But then there's furry fandom. There is a widespread perception that most furries are gay. I don't think that's quite true - the rather anecdotal, unscientific evidence I've seen suggests that the rate of homosexuals among furry fans is approximately three times the general population, or about 30%, which is still a minority. So why does it seem so much higher? I think one big reason is that furry fandom has become very accepting of people of all sexual orientations, and as a result, most gays and lesbians are open about their sexual orientation where they are largely interacting with other furry fans. Essentially, furry fandom has become a safe haven, a community where those who aren't straight can be open about it.

It may be true that 10% of the people I work with and interact with elsewhere are homosexual, but I seldom know who they are, so it seems like barely any are homosexual. Even if the proportion of homosexuals among furries is only 3 times the general population, the proportion of those openly homosexual is much higher than 3 times what it is in the general population.

As a result, because of my involvement in furry fandom, I can also say that I've worked, socialized, and interacted with gays and lesbians, and it doesn't bother me in the least. And in the process discovered that they are a very diverse group many of whom aren't close to the stereotypes but who cross the spectrum of lifestyles, political beliefs, and so forth. I would say without hesitation that knowing people, and having friends, of other sexual orientations, has enriched my life. But it took furry fandom for me to be able to say that.

And we should work toward the day when gays and lesbians can be as open in other areas of their lives as they currently are in safe havens like furry fandom. That is what gay pride means to this straight guy.

The last of the boxes have been moved. I am now virtually 100% moved out of the apartment - all that's left are cleaning supplies, unneeded boxes and packaging, trash, and a couple of small items that I decided would be the last things out.

Still have a fair bit of cleaning to do there, and then there's the task of unpacking, organizing, sorting through everything I now have here.

Noticing a few little things I need to fix here in the house, and one item I already fixed broke again. The door opener (the piston-like thing on screen doors) had a bent shaft so I replaced it last weekend. Today apparently the wind caught it because the one I replaced it with is now ruined in the same manner. *sigh* I was going to install a chain too at the top of the door, but now it looks like I'll have to do both at the same time.

I'm sitting in my living room, surrounded by boxes. I still have about three carloads of stuff to move from the apartment to here (which I should have done by about Thursday). It feels like it will be months before this place has some semblance of organization. The cable connector in the office was dead (as were the wall outlets in most other rooms) so the computer is out here for now. I'll have a guy from the cable company look at it tomorrow to see if he can get those outlets online.

All of the larger furniture was moved by Friday evening (thanks to my brother and my nephews who loaned pickup trucks and supplied muscle). My Mom did most of the packing in my kitchen and is doing a lot of the unpacking at this end. My son has been a big help too, and is much happier here than the very overcrowded room he was in at the apartment, despite some evidence of the previous owners having had cats (which he is allergic to).

A couple of minor problems to deal with. There are some household and lawn/garden items I don't have and need to purchase. I have until the end of the month to finish up cleaning.

I felt tired at work today. Fortunately all this work and lifting hasn't killed my back like I was afraid it would. The house is nice. The neighborhood is nice. I have my own washer and dryer! I mowed my own grass for the first time in 6 years.

Ask me in a few months how my finances are holding up - the house payment will be about $450 higher than my rent was, and I have to pay more utilities, but I think I'm in reasonably good shape. I only have a year of child support left; after that I can think more about paying additional principal and increasing my 401(k) contribution.

I'm a homeowner!

I found out a short time ago from one of my sons that one of the family dogs passed away yesterday. She was almost 16 years old so it was not unexpected. She stayed with my wife and kids after we separated more than 5 years ago and I haven't seen her much since then, but I still thought of her a lot.

One day in October 1995, only a couple of weeks after our previous dog had gotten loose and was hit and killed by a car, we went looking for another dog. One owner had a litter she was selling for not much, and there were two we couldn't resist. We ended up getting both. Dutchess and Tricksie, sisters and littermates, were our family dogs through three moves.

Tricksie became ill and passed away unexpectedly when she was nine years old.

Now Dutchess has gone to rejoin her sister. Another pet who was a part of my life has passed on. Dutch, you were loved by me until the end, even though I got to see very little of you for the last few years of your life.

For years I've been grumbling about getting out of my apartment into a house. The biggest obstacle I've run into is qualifying for a loan, particularly how my marital support (i.e. alimony) was being factored into the debt-to-income ratio. A couple of weeks ago I spoke with a loan officer found out the guidelines have been relaxed, but it's only temporary and at the end of June it reverts to the old guidelines. In effect, I have a window of opportunity that won't be open for long.

My Realtor sent me a few lists of possible properties, probably between 50 and 100 total, and last week and earlier this week I went with a Realtor to visit a total of seven houses. By Tuesday evening we had narrowed it down to two. On Wednesday I got word that someone had made an offer on one of the two; fortunately the other was the one I was leaning more towards anyhow. It comes with a refrigerator, washer, dryer, and curtains, saving me the expense of buying those. The garage is detached - I would have preferred attached - but every other house we looked at that had an attached one had offsetting disadvantages. Yesterday my Mom, my brother and his wife met me and my Realtor at the house to give it a walk through to see if they noticed anything and generally offer opinions. They found a few minor things but generally gave it a very positive review. The Realtor and I headed back to his office to write an offer, and asked to include the lawn mower that was sitting in the garage.

As of this afternoon the lender has pre-approved the loan and the seller and I have agreed upon a price, so at this point all indications are that it's going to happen. The planned closing date is June 15. Still a lot to do before then. And then there's the moving.

Assuming all goes well, at some point I'll have to have a house-warming party. Or two of them - one for family and mundane friends, and one for furries.

6 weeks from today is my travel day to Furry Connection North, so here's an update on that list of things to do I posted a couple of weeks ago.

1. Need to find roommates. Put out a couple of feelers but haven't really gotten any nibbles yet. Still a little soon to be hitting the room share board. If you're reading this and need a room (or have a room and need another roommate) please give me a shout.

2. Buy a laptop. I ordered one yesterday, might get here as early as tomorrow. This will give me over a month to get used to it and get it in shape to bring with me.

3. Have an eye exam and probably get new glasses. I called last week to make an appointment and the soonest they could fit me in was March 16th, later than I expected and only about 3 weeks before the con. I hope that gives me enough time for new glasses and to wear them for several days so I can get used to them. I attended one con a couple of years ago and had just gotten new glasses that morning. I was having a lot of trouble with headaches and such, and decided to switch back to my old glasses. (The following week when I was back to my usual routine I was able to wear the glasses and was doing fine with them within a few days.)

4. Get the check engine light on my car fixed. Haven't done much on this yet, and in fact decided this might be good to postpone until the con gets closer and the weather is a little warmer (the dealership where I need to get it looked at is within walking distance to my workplace but it is a little bit of a hike).

5. Income taxes. Planned for this weekend.

FCN is 8 weeks from this weekend, and I still have several things I'm trying to accomplish before then.

1. Need to find roommates. I have a couple of prospects here but nothing definite. At this point I'm still working avenues that are more likely to get me with people I already know; I'm still a couple of weeks away from resorting to the public room share board. Alternatively, if someone I know is looking for roommates I can still cancel the room reservation.

2. Buy a laptop. I decided about a year ago I should get a computer I can take with me on trips, but decided against buying one last summer. I'm looking for the following or better: 2.3 GHz dual core, 3G RAM, 320G HD, 15" or better display, for graphics nothing fancy but nothing too cheap (should at least be WoW-capable). This should be doable for under $600, maybe under $500. Is there an advantage of Win 7 Pro vs. Win 7 Home Premium (e.g. can I dual-boot Ubuntu with either)? Any brands to avoid?

3. Have an eye exam and probably get new glasses.

4. Get the check engine light on my car fixed. It's been throwing up an oxygen sensor code for several months and my primary mechanic already tried replacing the sensor, so he's referred me to the dealership where they have much better info on the electrical system. The car also has a couple of other little things I should have checked before I try to drive it to Detroit area (about 6 hrs. from where I live). Alternatively, there's a possibility I'll be getting a ride with someone.

5. Income taxes.

Is anyone else here planning to attend Furry Connection North this year? It's in Novi, MI (suburban Detroit) April 8-10, 2011.

I have a room and am looking for roommates.

I'm supposed to be enjoying some relaxing time while I'm home from work for most of this week, yet all of a sudden, starting sometime Wednesday I've been battling the worst bout of depression to hit me in I don't know how long - probably at least a year. I got up before 6am yesterday because I couldn't get back to sleep, and now it's 22 hours later and I can't get to sleep. So let's see, what all have I got bugging me?

A couple of weeks ago I weighed myself, and was at an all-time high by a couple of pounds. Since then I've been redoubling my efforts to exercise more and moderate my caloric intake. There were a couple of holiday celebrations where I indulged more but for the most part I've stuck with it. I took up DDR as a means of fitness while the weather is prohibitive for biking or jogging, but feel like I have to force myself to do it, and on top of that now it seems to be aggravating a foot and ankle problem that may limit how much I can do it.

I'm still nagged by incessant delays with division of assets from my divorce. As far as I can tell, our lawyers, especially hers, aren't working on it at all and it's already taken much longer that it should considering our situation is not particularly complicated or contentious. There are a couple of unrelated disputes between us at the moment which aren't really related but could easily add tension to any communication I might try to have with my ex.

At work I feel like I'm trying to juggle too many things at once and feel like I'm dropping the ball on a couple of them where I have a deadline looming. Another task that I thought I was glad to be done with seems to keep coming back to me with more follow-up tasks.

I'm deriving little or no enjoyment from things that normally give me relaxation and are fun to work with. Listening to music and working on my music library feels too much like a mechanical process that leaves me feeling like I'm too busy with it when I should be just enjoying it.

I've managed to catch up on some of the reading I've fallen behind on, but lately it's not taking as long before my eyes hurt too much for me to keep reading.

I feel like I should be doing more and talking more with my children and spending more time with them, but I don't know how feel connected with them when I do and the time we do spend often just ends up feeling awkward. It's like I can't figure out how to just relax and enjoy the time with them.

On the furry front, I've had trouble keeping up my enthusiasm for a couple of websites I normally enjoy a lot more. I've stayed away from Wikifur more than usual because I haven't felt up to dealing with issues there, and on another long-time favorite website, one particular person who has always been one of the central figures, an anchor if you will, is in the process of leaving the website. LJ participation has been in decline, FA has never been user-friendly for journals and the like (even without its recent problems, which haven't affected me that much), and I don't think I could ever get used to Twitter, which I haven't signed up for.

And there's a couple of other things I'm not sure if I should mention, and probably some I'm forgetting.

I feel like my life's a jumble! What's wrong with me?

On the upside, I've made great progress on the next chapter of my SabrinaVerse story, which I hope to have a draft of finished before I return to work, and have it posted within a couple more weeks.

After nearly a year off, I finally posted another lyric quiz on my LiveJournal:
http://mwalimu.livejournal.com/188485.html

This time all replies are screened (on LJ, at least) until I reveal the answers in a week or so.

Hope everyone who reads this had a happy Thanksgiving (and that includes the Canadians who celebrated several weeks ago).

So it took me a few days to get around to doing this, but here's my report on Midwest FurFest. Okay, not so much a report as some random and rambling musings and observations.

Following my roommate difficulties at Mephit Furmeet this year, which weighed down an otherwise very positive experience at that convention, I was much more appreciative of having no such problems.  hallan,  quinn,  greenreaper, and I all got along fine and had no problems to speak of that I'm aware of. Hallan makes good cookies, and I agree with his suggestion that we should have had a dinner out together.

I got two new conbadges, both of which had been commissioned beforehand on FA. One of them got to me in a roundabout way - apparently the artist or her sister had lost the badge, and someone turned it in. Not knowing anything about this, I wandered into con ops for an unrelated reason and saw the badge behind the table. The artist and I later had a good laugh about it.

The elevators kept changing colors, and there was a tentacle monster in the ceiling just outside the elevators on the main lobby level.

In several cases, events and panels that I wanted to attend were scheduled opposite one another and I had to make difficult choices. For example, I ended up missing Matthew Ebel's performance because it was at the same time as the Unsheathed live podcast.

Though there were lots of fursuits around, I don't recall seeing any jaw-dropping awesome ones, of which there have always been a couple previous years (e.g. the manticore).

For a while the song "Call of the Wild" by Sub-Level 03 kept running through my head, which seemed out of place since that's a song I associate primarily with Mephit Furmeet.

"Too Much Light Makes The Baby Go Blind" was an enjoyable act that followed an unusual format. One of the two-minute sketches, entitled "Mutual", was uncannily similar to some of the conversations I had with my ex-wife when we were attempting to reconcile our marriage (it was the one where one guy says "Come here", the second guy comes over, the first guy says "Why did you come over?", the second guy answers "Because you asked me to", the first guy says, "No, you should come over because you want to, not because I said to", and it goes on from there).

Being an Aspie I don't socialize easily, so I'm proud of myself for having had several good conversations with people didn't know, or knew to varying degrees. I came across  kooky and  nbowa playing a game of fursuit chess. It was the only time I saw KoOkY!, whom I've never met before though I've been a fan of his art for several years, so I still don't know what he looks like out of suit. I also made sure to visit with HaikuJaguar at one of her panels, since I'd managed to miss her the last two years in a row.

Finally, I'll repeat a comment I made elsewhere about the cost of the hotel. The rooms are about $25 per room night higher than we've been used to paying. After giving some thought to the weekend, my feelings on that have tended toward "you get what you pay for". Everyone I encountered on the hotel staff was helpful and friendly. There were no lines for elevators. We had plenty of space to work with. And they didn't charge us for parking. As long as the hotel is as happy with us as we are with them and can work with the convention staff to make a convention go as well as this one did, I don't mind paying a little extra.

I'm dragging my way through the worst cold I remember having, ever. I first felt it Monday morning, last week, and didn't think it anything worth losing time at work over. By that evening I'd decided to take my usual approach to cold and flu like illnesses that are iffy on whether I should go to work or not, and that is to shut off the alarm and sleep until I feel rested. I had a couple of pressing matters at work that I needed to finish up in time for deadlines. Wednesday morning I had to have blood drawn for a previously scheduled every-six-months blood test, so I had to go on 12-hour fast for that Tuesday evening and get myself up early enough for that. I didn't expect to last for a full workday but somehow I did. Thursday and Friday I'm still dogged by this illness and again used the sleep-til-I'm-rested approach, made my deadlines, and by late Friday thought I was over the hump and recovering.

Saturday it's back with a vengeance, but I attribute that in part to having gotten a little carried away with sipping shots Friday evening (I haven't touched any alcohol since then). Sunday I miss going to church, though I do manage a brief shopping outing. My teeth hurt some of the time. Sunday night I e-mail my manager to let her know that at a minimum I'm going to do the sleep-til-I'm-rested thing again today. I have a rough night of headaches and coughing. The left side of my face below the eye feels like I ran into something (probably one of my sinuses). It's something like 6am before I fall into any kind of decent sleep. It's after 1pm by the time I wake up and feel rested enough to get up, and the headache hasn't gone away.

It still hasn't, though it's subsided some. My Mom is going to drop by to bring me some chicken noodle soup in a little bit. I'm going to miss a spaghetti supper at my daughter's high school that I had planned to attend tonight (I've already notified her), and I doubt I'll make it in for a full day of work tomorrow. Wednesday morning I'll see my doctor - the visit was originally scheduled for the blood test but I'll be bringing this up too. I've had colds plenty of times before, but the worst was always over within about 3 days. I don't remember ever having one last a whole week like this, and I'm starting to have visions of missing MFF because of this one.

Through 2009 I attended six furry conventions. In that time I was fortunate to have never encountered any serious roommate issues. My luck ran out at MFM 2010, where I encountered a number of problems which I discussed in earlier journal entries.

Now that I'm trying to solidify plans for MFF five weeks from now, I'm feeling much more daunted, more skittish, at the prospect of making rooming arrangements. Maybe it's just an Asperger's thing, but all of a sudden the thought of trying to figure out things like how much and how many people per night, who gets a bed, and personal space issues with people I've never met before, have me almost shrinking away to the point where it's tempting to just give up my plans to attend, despite the fact that in most other respects I have a great time and get recharged from attending furry cons. I can easily understand why people find others they're comfortable rooming with at conventions and tend to stick with them, so maybe I just need to find a few more "regular roomies".

I'm looking for a room at Midwest Furfest. Yes, I know about the forum on the website but wanted to run it by my friends list first, as it greatly improves the odds of getting with someone I know if they have space available.

I'll be arriving Thursday, staying three nights, leaving Sunday. I'm okay with any age, gender, or sexual orientation. I'm a non-smoker, a responsible drinker (and often don't anyway at furry cons), and I'm not an all-night partyer, just looking for a place to sleep. Bed space preferred due to back problems but I have an air mattress I could use if necessary.

Please reply if you have space or know someone you trust who does.

I'd like to wish all my fellow furry fans a happy St. Francis day. St. Francis of Assisi is the patron saint of the animal kingdom and of the environment, and is whom I regard as the one most deserving of the title patron saint of furry fandom.