Bye Bye Bobby

It was a trying afternoon yesterday when our beloved cockatiel, Bobby left us and went to Bird Heaven. I took it very hard because for twelve years I fed and watered him, made him comfortable and relatively happy.

My wife said was a very old bird having live over 20 years, which I guess in bird life is very old indeed. He suffered through a bunch of moves, always having to readjust and readapt his life for us humans whom I’m sure he detested but tolerated.

For the longest time he was the one and only, until my wife brought Cujo, later Cisco, who we eventually gave away, Harley, Spike, Elsa and Avatar. He took it all in and made acquaintance with them, though he probably didn’t like them either.

Friday morning was especially cold and when I found him shivering on his perch. I immediately turned on the heater for him, but I knew his time was near. He lived a long and happy life. Then around supper time I found him lying on the bottom of his cage.

I know I shouldn’t get so emotionally attached to animals, but I do. I always have. I’m sure I got it from my parents who treated any death of an animal like a death in the family. I remembered how Mom reacted the morning we found our German Short Hair, Herman after he was poisoned from someone up in our East Wenatchee neighborhood. I was six and only had vague understanding of death, until that day when I realized he would no longer be around to play with. It left an emptiness inside, as it did today when I went to clean the other birds’ cages and his was empty; scrubbed clean and sanitized so my wife could sell it.

So, bye bye Bobby. One day we will see each other again.

The Truth of the Matter

The local newspaper in Twin Falls has an editor who put out an op-ed piece that dealt with how certain people treat their political affiliation like it was their religion. She was absolutely spot-on in her assessment that many see that their opinions are truth, when in fact they are merely opinions.

There are absolute truths which can not be changed, altered or omitted from our common experience. We are conceived by a man and a woman, we are born and grow to sexual maturity, meet a mate, procreate offspring, then some time down the line we must die. That is absolute truth.

There are certain facts that everyone is exposed to that could become moral imperatives where we perceive as something of truth, such as stealing, killing, or being ill-mannered is wrong and shouldn’t be tolerated.

Then, there are opinions that bear a philosophical belief that is considered by some to be truth, such as a belief in a spiritual omnipotence, which I believe in and I’m sure most everyone else does as well. Books were written that we now view as the Holy Bible, the Jewish Torah or the Islamic Koran. The Eastern religions have books of that note too, such as “Tao Te Ching” of Taoism, “The Analects” of Confucius, “The I Ching,” “The Bhagavad Gita” of Hindu faith, and Alan Watts, “The Way of Zen” which focuses on the teachings of Buddha. They all tried to explain through parody, myth and morality questions of why we exist or are in the vastness of space and time.

Obviously nowhere in any of those books does it mention political truth because it does not exist, period. There is no political truth, only opinions that are espoused and held on to by whomever holds that belief. Long ago it was believed that God gave birthright to a family to become the hieratical mandate to rule a nation, until Thomas Jefferson wrote, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

Now we have two points of view who read this and believe that life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness means two vastly different things, rather than a common pursuit. The truth of the matter is that there can be but one absolute truth, that we are conceived, live and hopefully find our mate, have children who grow up and children of their own and then when all is said and done, we all must breathe out last breath. After that is up to our personal belief. Our opinions after death don’t matter.

Rolling Along with a New Book

Yes, my loyal readers, you saw right. Austin Macauley my publisher from my first two books, A Man’s Passion, and I Albert Peabody, has agreed to republish Edge of Darkness. As you recall I had my good friend Tyson edit and format the first edition back in 2018 and got it published through Amazon in 2019.

It is the beginning of the Four Seasons series that introduces you to Mark Marteau, Dave, Nicole and Dylan Baker, and Hector Gonzales, along with others who will come in later books. I signed the contract Saturday and will probably have to look for ways to start paying on this investment too.

I agreed to format it as eBook, audio, and soft cover print. I have found that hard cover doesn’t sell that well, unless you are buying it as a gift for someone.

If you hadn’t read the first edition, Mark is a retired FBI agent fishing on his private lake near Glacier, Montana, when his partner and friend Hector Gonzales arrives in new Dodge Challenger that’s supposed to replace the Plymouth Barracuda, he wrecked back in 1987.

Hector informs Mark that his godson Dylan Baker might need their help to rescue him from Che Lopez and his drug cartel. The story flashes back to a day back in 1977 when he and his first best friend Dave Baker solve a murder of Old Joe Murphy at a salvage yard in Pasco, Washington. He leaves Montana to help out Dylan, but his wife Charlotte gives him an ultimatum to return in 48 hours or she’ll leave him.

Now, the whole point of this series is how Mark has managed to make the Lopez Cartel and Che Lopez his numero uno antagonist, and how events, not necessarily of Mark’s doing has caused certain incidents in Mark’s life to come about.

I believe I have their interest at Austin Macauley piqued and they will agree to do the entire series that ends in spectacular fashion. I’m certain you will agree when you finish reading the last page of the concluding chapter in Desperado.

But first, getting these books done and, in your hands, to read and enjoy.

The Coffee’s Hot This Morning

I didn’t sleep to well last night. I think it’s because of my age that I either get woke up from forces beyond my control or someone wakes me up. Mostly it’s leg cramps and the three in the morning bathroom run. Last night it was the stepson who staggered into the bathroom we share at my mother in law’s house that woke me.

I stayed awake, I don’t know an hour or so before I drifted back to sleep again. My mind works, which my wife has told me is the problem. I’m not sure what she means by that but at any rate, I laid in bed, my eyes closed but my mind would not shut down and allow sleep and dreams to take over.

I mostly think about plot development in the latest novella I’m roughing out. Right now, it’s too short with the obvious suspect already pinned for the murder of Margarita, Manuel’s wife from 20 years before. Now I need filler to get more into the story from where it is now. So, I decided to revisit that time from 2000 just before it happened. That’s going to be the name of the book: Margarita: A Nick Roberts Thriller.

As you recall, I had to kill off Mark to create a new detective, Nick Roberts, who has the same foibles as Mark, but he’s slightly more ruthless, as you shall see in the book, Luke Warm. While Mark played by the rules, mostly, Nick doesn’t. And there is more tension between the characters from Tequila Sunrise and Nick’s detective agency, “Blue Diamond.”

So, I’ll make the story fatter, then what? Then the cat wanted outside, but I think she also wanted to eat. I get up and walk over to the bathroom and see it’s open, so I let her outside. Darn old cat anyway. I finally drifted off when one of the birds, I think it’s Avatar is having a bad dream or something because she’s making these weird cucking noises. She finally quiets down, and I fell back to sleep.

I heard my wife talking to the cat. She let her back in. They’re conspiring to kick me out of bed. The old cat drools when she gets excited. Stephanie thinks she’s getting abnormally thin. It’s summer, they’re supposed to be skinny! I say to myself. I made the coffee up before going to bed. All I have to do is flip the switch on the coffee maker. I let her get up and do that feat. I go and relieve my bladder. I go and get dressed. I went to the kitchen and the coffee is still pouring through the filter and hopper full of grounds. I wait.

I decided to write my blog though I don’t have any idea exactly what I want to write about this morning. I pour a cup of coffee in my Yeti mug. The coffee’s hot this morning.

A New Job? Maybe

As you all know I’ve been looking for work to help pay the bills and keep my sanity. I received a call—text message telling me they liked what I offered in my resume and cover letter. She invited me to go on another phone App and contact this individual who was going to interview me.

The job for which I applied for was proofreader for a publishing company through the Indeed job board site. It advertised for proofreaders and editors and copy writers. I applied for the proofreader position figuring it was probably the fastest position to get hired.

I’m old school and not used to using cell phones and texting apps in this fashion. I’m also not comfortably familiar with conducting interviews remotely. I know it’s the new normal currently but adjusting my way of thinking around this concept is frustrating at times

At any rate, I got the app up and was getting ready to call this person via video chat, which I thought was the procedure they wanted. I tried connecting with him and saw it going through. Six seconds later, the person on the other end disconnected the call.

I attempted to retry texting him, but I never received a response. Now I’m waiting for Monday morning to try and do this again. Hopefully my interview will go through this time. There is one thing I am realizing from this adventure, it is more complicated doing this job search this way than the old go to a place, fill out an application or turn in a resume, then greet an HR rep who determined by a handshake and eye to eye contact whether I was qualified to go any further.

As I have stated in many of my blog post, working is the only way I can function in society. I can’t understand people who are so lazy that they are comfortable not doing anything to promote themselves. It’s ironic how people rather not work than go out of their way to hunt for work. Like I said, I’m old school.

Writing For Change

I got my latest issue from Writer’s Digest the other day. Back when I lived in Spokane going on three months ago, I picked up the mail from my PO box once a week. Now, the rural mail delivers my bills, advertisements and periodicals at the mailbox with red flag just up the drive from the road I reside from, and I walk 200 yards to that mailbox each morning without fail. Anyway, in this magazine was the gist of the month’s theme, “Writing for Change.”

In her letter Amy Jones, the editor in chief described how excited she was at this topic the staff discussed at this time last year. “It shouldn’t take courage to write about things that are important to you, but often those are the topics that take the most courage.”

Now here is the biggest gambit a writer embarks on in his journey, and sometimes, though quite by accident, the theme that comes to mind isn’t as apparent until later when I read the prose. I didn’t feel courageous at deciding to write A Man’s Passion, yet I felt compelled to write the one portion of this book that was most worthy of what I felt needed to be addressed, the sport of lynching Black Americans because it was a socially acceptable tradition in the South back in the days of Jim Crow in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

This was following a 60 Minutes segment on the Peace and Justice Museum that opened in 2016. I didn’t consider it a topic of controversy in today’s climate, yet we have Black Lives Matter. Why? Because there are certain individuals who carry in their suitcase of hate and fear the desire to surreptitiously shoot and kill young Black men in the name of justice.

Now, according to Amy, it is also looking upon not just controversial themes that a writer must look at with a critical eye, but also the concept of writing that makes the story come alive for the reader; making necessary revisions, condensing the text, the syntax, even the individual words that can make a story either exciting or not. I have a small novella and there is a reason for that. I wanted to get the book in such a place that there was no ambiguity about what this story was about.

A Man’s Passion is small and short because I wanted the readers, you, not to drown in unnecessary and cluttered prose or be awed by purple prose that does nothing to enhance the story. My book is about a journey from point A to point B, with very few detours along the way.

Quoting from one of the novelists whose work that Amy highlighted, Carlos Luis Zafon, who wrote The Shadow in the Wind, “Few things leave a deeper mark on a reader than the first book that finds its way into his heart.” If nothing else ever gets published, I hope that A Man’s Passion finds its way into your heart the same way I felt it affected me.

This Bird Man

You have all heard of the Bird Man from Albatross, where this prison inmate befriends pigeons while serving a life sentence on the Rock known as Albatross. All week I had no idea what to write out as my subject for my blog for you my loyal readers to enjoy.

Then my wife got a voice message detailing about one subject that had been discussed some time ago and then this “Oh by the way,” came from out of the blue, telling us of an incident that occurred Monday about “Bird Man,” and how sad it was and that this person was going to pray for him.

We all knew who Bird Man was, he ran a pet store that specialized in exotic birds, some of which were rescue. I went online and found the article about how Bird Man had basically lost his mind and ranted about killing an employee.

I told my wife that he went off the deep end and was arrested for threatening the life of an employee, was charged and appeared in court the next day.

“That don’t sound like him,” she stated with disbelief. I agreed. He always appeared an extremely sensitive, abet high strung man in his late 60s, who gently raised parrots, cockatoos, and many smaller birds, plus offered boarding services, nutritious dietary foods and seed for sale and trimming services. It was unlikely we were talking about the same person as was reported in the news.

My wife in the meantime texted a friend and former employee. What I am about to state is hearsay and by no means do I even claim any factual basis in this. After all I’m hearing my wife read a text message from someone with a subjective opinion in this.

The person replied to my wife’s query about Bird Man stated that it all started when he got a little too aggressive toward a cockatoo, which I have seen him do. It’s him throwing his arms wildly in the air and getting the bird to react as if it were being attacked. The reaction is usually the bird’s crown rising straight up in its head and raising its wings as a means of appearing bigger.

The owner of the bird asked him to stop, that it had aggression issues. Bird Man apparently laughed it off then scooped the bird about in the air several times until the bird attacked Bird Man’s hand, biting it so hard it drew blood. According to this person, Bird Man released the bird while still in mid somersault and without the benefit of flight landed hard on the floor where it apparently died.

The bird’s owner took the bird to a vet, who determined it died from extreme trauma and shock. It got a little bit fuzzy as to what happened next but apparently the bird’s owner confronted Bird Man and the girl employee immediately quit. She apparently saw the whole thing and was understandably upset.

Again, according to this girl my wife texted, he went ballistic on the employee and this bird owner. Somehow someone called the police, the street the pet store was located, closed and SWAT was called in.

Bird Man is in a world of trouble. My wife thinks he’ll lose his business. I think he took too many of his medications that are prescribed to him to deal with a variety of ailments he has. It goes back to my own experiences with seniors and being so over medicated they suffer adverse, negative reactions that causes them to act contrary to how a normal person might act.

The person my wife texted wrote her that Bird Man had a darker side to him, a side that only the employees knew about but kept to themselves. She didn’t elaborate and neither will I. Suffice to say, it’s a sad and tragic episode. I hope he gets the help he needs and can live out a quiet existence. That’s all anyone deserves.

What a Week

This last week was remarkable and not necessarily in a good way either. My step daughter got married a second time to a second husband in a small church inside a small town just outside Spokane. My wife and I went, taking our dog Zeus and getting a motel that my stepson raved about, so she reserved a room.

It was a horrendous, stinky, carpet-stained room with cigarette burns on the bathroom sink and carpet. She got her money back and we went to another hotel with better accommodations. I don’t know what happened to my Yeti travel mug, but sometime either during the wedding or when we were doing wedding pictures, it disappeared.

I checked my emails and saw I had an editor position available, and they wanted to do some editing quiz and virtual interview. I put that notice in my archive file with the intention of coming back to it on Wednesday just before the deadline. That letter disappeared. POOF! I checked everywhere including my deleted box and it’s nowhere to be found.

Anyway, the wedding was a nice, quiet affair, as I mentioned in a small church inside a small town called Rockford. As I have mentioned in the past my stepdaughter is very religious and wears her faith like a glove for all to see. The vast majority of the groom’s guests, including the husband himself, were former drug addicts and recovering alcoholics who discovered God. He changed his name when he saw the light and accepted Christ into his life. It was Cole, now his name is Nick.

During the reception when everyone present stated their praises to the newly married couple, it was apparent to me that I once knew Cole, though we never met. As I mentioned in my own previous blogs, I too had my demons with regard to substance abuse. So I know Cole. He was a charming man who would do anything it took to get a fix. Cole was smart, he knew how to manipulate people, entrust himself to them while robbing them blind. Cole knew how to work the system to get every possible advantage. And Cole made fast friends whom he took advantage of. We all met Cole at one point in our lives. Now, he is Nick, and he appears happier, more trustworthy and more caring of others in his life.

So I’m home now and have been trying to get hold of someone here in Gooding that can look at and fix my desktop computer. It stopped working before I left to the wedding and have tried without success to get ahold of someone. All I’m getting are voicemail recordings to leave a message and they’ll get back.

Yesterday, out of frustration I called Best Buy and hoped I could talk to a real person at least, but NOOO! I was directed to an automated caller system and then asked if I would like to wait for someone to call me. I finally grew so angry that I unplugged my computer and drove 40 miles to Twin Falls, walked into the store and asked the first person I saw, “Can someone help me?”

He was a Hispanic looking young man in his 30s who asked, “Did you get a reservation?”

“I can’t get hold of anyone,” I screamed back at him. “I am very angry right now and I’m about ready to throw this computer in the trash. Now is there anyone who can help me?”

He directed me to a Geek Squad associate who tested it and happily charged me $200 to enroll in their plan and whatever the cost for repairing my computer will come to once they are finished.

 I’m happy now. Sometime in the foreseeable future I’ll get my other computer back. That week is behind me and am looking forward to next week that I hope goes smoother.

Smelling Like A Rose

I was never this lucky, I reminded myself when I saw the special news alert concerning Bill Cosby’s conviction. It’s most likely why I never even tried because I knew the consequences of ignoring when she said “No.”

Unlike many men who didn’t accept no for an answer, I appreciated and respected women too much to just merely shrug them off or later justify my actions in some way suggesting she “teased me,” or any other number of excuses, or in Bill’s case, just getting her drunk enough or high enough so she wouldn’t or couldn’t say no.

I don’t blame Bill for the outcome that occurred. I blame the district attorney who should have gone after him in the first place and not offer some deal that would negate the matter from going any further. Didn’t he read the Constitution about self incrimination? Didn’t he even care? After all, Cosby is a Black entertainer who could afford to lose a couple million in a civil case. Maybe he just figured Cosby’s lawyers were as ignorant of the fifth amendment as he was.

I don’t have to tell you that I truly believe in Cosby’s guilt. Even he admitted he more than likely crossed a line. He absolutely knows he violated a sacred trust with that woman.

On a lighter note I finished editing a new book that is part of a new series call Nick Roberts Mystery. This one revolves around a Native elder who is part of a sex slavery plot. It started with him abducting Native girls but later he goes after any girl he can get a decent auction price for. At the moment the book is titled Luke Warm: A Nick Roberts Mystery, Book One.

I’m started writing a first draft of book three, book two, is awaiting my blue pencil. Happy Fourth everyone!

Spam?

I’m doing promotions and advertising via Facebook on my last bit of good news that I shared using the page devoted to “A Man’s Passion.”

Well, I got results from various people and four interesting comments which all four implied or downright accused my post of being spam.

I’m of a mind to think that these four people for whatever reason either don’t understand the difference between promoting a product and somehow enticing someone to buy something that isn’t what it appears. In the promotion I put out that the Book, A Man’s Passion, was recently entered into an international book promoting competition through an advertising/marketing company. I commented that I hoped the competition proved fruitful and profitable for me in terms of sales.

I don’t know where in this post was there an implication that I was enticing people to buy a nonexistent product. Are they ignorant of what spam actually means? Or do they believe that promoting any product is spam and should be banned from social media?

If the latter is the case then these same people will probably quit Facebook if they have to pay for the privilege of posting their thoughts on this social network platform, because advertising these pages pays the bills.

Needless to say, I was thunderstruck by their comments, one of which was so foul I won’t repeat it here. It just saddens me to think there are people out there who are so narrow minded in their views that anyone else with a counterview is seen as a threat to their pathetic existence.