In A Nutshell

The fourth time's the charm, right?

It's time for me to add more thoughts to this blog. The big events since last time? I'm over 50 now (I didn't take that year well, but I survived). I got a Masters Degree in Elementary Education from the University of the Cumberlands. 4.0 GPA! All that time substitute teaching, plus a few more years subbing while looking to get hired for my own classroom, is time and experience I wouldn't trade for anything. I was eventually hired... at a challenging school... and lasted a week before I almost had a nervous breakdown. I'll write about that sometime, but not right now. I'll just own up to the fact that I am not made of the same stuff career teachers are made of. Anyone who can make a full career as a classroom teacher has my utmost respect. So I got a state government job in accounting where I can work in a nice, quiet office all day. I'm coming up on being there four years soon. It's brought me the career stability I've been needing for a long time now. I plan to retire from there if I ever do retire.

One year into the new job, my wife survived a car accident in which she was severely injured and I had to become her physical caretaker for the next two years. I'm still helping, but she has a lot of mobility issues because of the incident. For the three years post-accident, we were instructed to not post anything online about it in case it would affect the insurance claim. That is all settled now, so I am no longer legally restricted about talking or posting about it anymore.  We did get a settlement, but it was not life-changing money, just "this-should-be-what-you-need-to-maintain-the-life-you-had-before-the-accident" money.  We're OK with that.

The kids grew up and moved out. We keep in touch, but overall, we aren't super close anymore. Aside from taking care of my wife, I now have the time to pursue my own interests with enthusiasm. So what are those interests? The same as before: Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Video Games, Writing, Acting, Teaching, and trying to be a Good Person. This blog is my attempt to satiate the Writing itch. My intended topics will include Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Gaming (Video, RPG, and Tabletop), my philosophical musings, and other creative efforts in general. 

My latest wild idea is to lean into the "old-man" persona and become a mentor to the next generation of gamers, misfits, and socially awkward people. I frequently see stories of frustrated players and GM's of Role Playing Games vented on social media. Having been a participant of that culture for most of my life, I have the experience these "young'uns" lack in how to process and deal with their problematic situations. Coupled with my education in Education, I hope to give sound advice to those who will hear it, so that their lives may continue with peaceful resolutions. To that end, I am ending my personal embargo of Social Media, not to become a consumer of it, but to use it to further my ideals. After all, marketing is how anything gets and keeps a following anymore.

So there it is: My fourth preface to another run at having a blog, but this time with a distinct intent! I'm aging and feeling the urge to record and pass along my experiences and knowledge before it becomes irrelevant. (Though I realize that I may already be irrelevant. Time will tell.) At least I'm trying. I have to try.

-10/12/25-