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The Really Swell News Thread


OSJ

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While we wait for the powers that be to close the "Good News Thread" in honor of Newb finally getting out of the hospital, I figured that as the champion of fair play and all thing sweetness and light, I'd start the new one...

 

A perfect day for this: My short story collection has bounced around with three publishers over a ten-year period. The first publisher went out of business and started burning people on eBay and then vanished. The second were dear friends who after publishing over a hundred books went to e-books of their existing list. The third even gave me an advance, paid for the introduction (by Ramsey Campbell) and then went silent. Dead silent. No one in the field has been able to reach him in two years, though his email account still seems to work. Go figure. Finally, Fedogan & Bremer, the most prestigious publisher of weird fiction has picked up the book, given me full creative control as artist, layout, etc. and all they asked is that I write a new story to be included in the signed, limited version... My best friend, who lives in the Twin Cities is a part-time editor, helper with F & B and he's coming down here in two weeks to go over the plans for the book. It will FINALLY be out next year!

 

I am ecstatic, and if you like good horror fiction, you should be too. I won't say I'm the best, (cause I'm not) but I am pretty damn good if I do say so myself.

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I normally have a whole lot of nothing to do on Halloween night, but instead I'm hosting at the Fairview Heights comedy club for both shows this evening.  Should be a good time, regardless of the audience we draw on a holiday evening...they said that people in Halloween costume get in for free, so that's something.

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We do this thing in my shop where people who've ordered stuff off the internet can get it delivered to us (because we'll definitely be there, like) and then pick it up from the shop rather than have the postman put one them "While you were out" slips through the door*. The delivery driver, we're just one regular job on his rounds, and most of his day is delivering to people's houses. He told me a tale...

 

He was delivering a package to Mrs Somebody in her house, but the packaging was slightly damaged in transit. He says to her, you might want to open this right away, the box is torn but the contents should be fine, but I can return it as 'damaged' with a lot less hassle than if you accept delivery and then try and return it. She responds by saying that she doesn't know what it is and doesn't remember ordering anything recently, reaches up into the torn package, and pulls out a massive pink dildo. She goes ultra redfaced, he grins, winks, says enjoy and gets back in the van.

 

The moral of the story is: Don't drink and internet shop, I guess.

 

* We get post through our front doors in Britain. None of that mailbox at the bottom of the garden stuff.

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Got to see two long-time friends of mine tie the knot last night, and also reconnected with many old friends from my college days.  And I've made it a point to actually keep in touch now, since I mostly spend time in my wife's circle of friends.

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Good couple of days progress.

 

Managed to complete two DIY jobs that would take less than an hour in *GASP* less than an hour.

 

Managed to convince Mrs Red to box up baby c's old clothes and toys and store them in the loft. Then managed to rake up the garden shite so its ready for winter. Now to get a new lawnmower.

 

Productive weekend and heading into christmas, that's all I need.

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My wife and I have been in a bocce ball league the past few years. It's a total blast. It's run by a good friend of ours and has expanded our social scene by a ton. We've made so many good friends through the league that we wouldn't have met otherwise. There are a lot of really interesting, awesome and weird people in it. It's competitive during the games but once it's over, everyone heads to the bar and goofs off.

The team my wife and I are on traditionally stinks. This year was no different: The Rolling Hoagies finished in last place with two regular season wins. However, we lost almost all of our games by one or two points (first to 15), which equates to just one lucky roll per game. (We play on a grass field with various patches of grass and curves and the like.)

We won our first round game in truly miraculous fashion, with some clutch last-second shots. We then blew a huge 7-1 lead in the second game, before staging another last-second miracle escape. We were the Cinderella Story headed into the Championship game. In the Championship, the traditional bocce balls are replaced with a light-up set. In that round, we lost to the team that on the regular season, but it capped off a truly fun day.

Here is me in the final round. I look like I'm in the movie Solarbabies. (You have to dress semi-formal during the Playoffs.)

1456746_10100190584763827_85757965622215

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So I got a job offer today, and it's a decent increase in pay over my current job.  That's the good news.  But it'd also be a longer commute, and I'd get virtually no vacation time for the rest of 2014, which means I wouldn't be able to see my parents for Christmas.

 

I'm thinking I'll give my current employers the opportunity to match the salary increase if they want to keep me.  That'd be the best of both worlds.  Hoping they say yes, but fully prepared to walk away if they don't.

 

The last time I left a job, it was because I was being laid off, and I was unemployed for the next 6 months.  This "being proactive about my career" gimmick is a lot better.

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My wife and I have been in a bocce ball league the past few years. It's a total blast. It's run by a good friend of ours and has expanded our social scene by a ton. We've made so many good friends through the league that we wouldn't have met otherwise. There are a lot of really interesting, awesome and weird people in it. It's competitive during the games but once it's over, everyone heads to the bar and goofs off.

The team my wife and I are on traditionally stinks. This year was no different: The Rolling Hoagies finished in last place with two regular season wins. However, we lost almost all of our games by one or two points (first to 15), which equates to just one lucky roll per game. (We play on a grass field with various patches of grass and curves and the like.)

We won our first round game in truly miraculous fashion, with some clutch last-second shots. We then blew a huge 7-1 lead in the second game, before staging another last-second miracle escape. We were the Cinderella Story headed into the Championship game. In the Championship, the traditional bocce balls are replaced with a light-up set. In that round, we lost to the team that on the regular season, but it capped off a truly fun day.

Here is me in the final round. I look like I'm in the movie Solarbabies. (You have to dress semi-formal during the Playoffs.)

1456746_10100190584763827_85757965622215

 

Jeff caps: truly a manly cap for manly men.

 

You wouldn't be talking about Major League Bocce, would you?  I keep forgetting you're around the City of Brotherly Shove as well.  We need a DVDVR Philly meetup.

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My sister had some serious complictions while in labor with her first son. We were very worried for a few hours, but thankfully she and baby pulled through with flying colors. She is resting comfortably as is her 7lb 9 oz baby boy. Happy, happy day for our family.

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This is my last day at work before I have a week off, and in a little over 48 hours I'll be on a plane to the Bahamas to sit on the beach and watch college basketball.  Not everything in my life is going well right now, but at this moment I'm feeling pretty damn good.

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Another DWI dismissed this week.  I'm on fire.

 

Man. reading your posts is kind of bizarre for me.  My dad was an assistant DA (and, coincidentally, also a UT law grad) so my instinct is "No, that's not good news.  It's a good day when you put the guy in jail."  But it's good to hear that your clients have you up there grinding for them.

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Another DWI dismissed this week. I'm on fire.

Man. reading your posts is kind of bizarre for me. My dad was an assistant DA (and, coincidentally, also a UT law grad) so my instinct is "No, that's not good news. It's a good day when you put the guy in jail." But it's good to hear that your clients have you up there grinding for them.

I was an ADA for three years. Used to be all about putting away the bad guys. Fortunately, there's not many capital B Bad guys. Most are just normal people who made a mistake. As for most DWIs, those are usually just overzealous cops arresting people for no good reason.

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Guest The Magnificent 7

This is my last day at work before I have a week off, and in a little over 48 hours I'll be on a plane to the Bahamas to sit on the beach and watch college basketball.  Not everything in my life is going well right now, but at this moment I'm feeling pretty damn good.

 

Hell yeah.  It'll be especially awesome considering the weather you'll be leaving behind.  Enjoy yourself. 

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