Lifes a Train wreck

The winners of Accentuate Services “Reality” Theme contest were announced Friday afternoon.

First place was filled by Lindsay Maddox.

Second place went to Terrie Schultz.

There were three thirds awarded

Chris Williamson, Robert Arend, and Gillian. I am unable to find Gillian’s last name to announce it, my apologies for that.

Congratulations to all these fine authors! I am looking forward to reading their stories when the book is in hand, and anticipate many more from each of them.

Thomas H. Forthe

Today took forever to get over with at work, eight hours seemed to last twenty… but in the end it was all worth it!

Not only are my bosses very happy with me and liking my work, but I came home to a very pleasant surprise as well.

Accentuate Services has an on-going short story contest that is a blessing for beginning writers, with cash prizes, contracts and royalties that end up in a printed book.

I had entered the “”reality” themed contest, and after much refreshing of the page as, Michy tortures us playfully with the results, I was chosen for the editor’s choice!

I have joined the ranks of other member authors in being published in an anthology of short stories! I will give the full results tomorrow on the blog, listing all of the winners for this contest. I am stunned by being chosen, the caliber of writing in the anthologies is amazing as are the authors.

Congratulations to all the winners!

Tom

Well I have managed to survive into the third week of the new job… They suddenly found out I am a sheet metal worker by trade and transferred my butt into the shop to work! Pretty sad that it took them that long to read an application, after I had the job.

It was a hundred degrees all week, so moving out of the field and into the shop was a blessing. I have only spent two days in the shop so far, but I am hoping it works out.

Every shop is different, with different equipment to learn to use. This is the first time I have ever seen a computer controlled metal brake, so that ought to be interesting.

Mystery (our cat) got his little butt evicted to the great outdoors, he decided that the litter box was too far to walk and started using our bed….

That is about it for now,

Tom

I haven’t posted in quite a while now, but I do hope to get to the point where I am posting far more often. I am up at 4:00am on workdays and seldom make it home before 6:00pm… not a great recipe for writing.

Add in the tired and sore factor and little gets done with the blogs.

I worked on the lawn tractor today, it is still flooding though I did manage to get it to run a while. I think I will need to order a carburetor for it to get it running again.

We started watching “So You Think You Can Dance” and I like it, there are some amazing dancers on there. One young man seems to be boneless when popping and locking. The grace that these people exhibit is worth a look and makes me wish I had tried dancing when younger….

It’s back to work tomorrow, so it is early to bed tonight. At least this old body is starting to get it together and I am not hurting nearly as much as I did the first week nor am I as tired by the time I drag myself home.

Take care and I will post again.

Tom

I hate when things go amok, and today if they had only picked a single direction….

My new boss was trying to teach me to install metal roofing, and just like the old adage, the third time was a charm. Not that it took me three tries to get it right, but it took him two before he allowed me to fix it right once….

Nothing went like it should have and at this point I think it will only be a matter of time before I go back to what I know best. But it is a job that will help pay the bills.

They also want me to invest in a large number of tools, which would be fine if I was looking at staying a roofer, but that is not very likely to happen.

I got the lawn tractor running on Sunday, but it is still flooding the cylinder with raw gas so I will be replacing the carb as soon as I can. It will be very nice to mow down the weeds and pretend I have a lawn again….

Time to get in the shower and hit the bed…

Tom

Well here it is, my day off, the pain and cramping have eased, but the sunburn is still pretty lively! We worked a half day on Saturday to get the job caught up and were allowed to go home early because we did it quickly….

Nothing says ‘fun’ like: working until you want to drop in high heat and humidity, while untangling safety ropes and electric cords, and trying to stay out of each others way with eight men performing several different processes at once.

Even though I do hurt it feels good to be able to say I have a job again even if it is not in my field of expertise. That will come again in time and I will be ready for it when it gets here, or at least my body will….

Adam called last week, and my granddaughter is arriving around September 22 or so… I haven’t heard him that excited in a long time. Maybe now that I am working I at least have a chance of seeing her, though it probably will not be on the day she is born. Sometimes life is terribly unfair you know.

Hopefully I will get the cell phones turned back on in the near future, strange how much a part of my life they had become in so few years of having them. It is funny how being able to call Jo anytime of day or from nearly anywhere is comforting beyond description.

Until next time,

Tom

Ouch! Yes that is right, I need my head examined… I became a roofer today. Well maybe not became one… more like became a learnee, or a trainee of sorts.

Mostly what I learned was that I really got out of shape since I have been unemployed! Right now I’m hoping the adage that what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger is true, but I might consider cremation….

I had forgotten about certain body parts being attached. Don’t worry though, they reminded me that they are still attached today, and I am sure they will continue to do so for the foreseeable future.

I have to get up at 3:30 am to make it to the job site by 5:30 am, so I may be posting late if at all until I acclimatize myself to this torture. Did I say torture? I thunk that compared to what I did today the detainees at Guantanamo should all face the rising sun and be very thankful that they aren’t eligible for training….

Tom