I Am Still Alive

I hope you all had a happy Labor Day; Good food and family.

An overbearing authoritarian local government has caused me to absolutely forget my August post deadline.

Actually, I did remember but for those last three days of the month, and then I experienced sudden recall after the fact.

Devastation!

Sorry for my tardiness. But I am still alive. Please stop worrying.

This post is for August.

I will be changing my West Allis Farmer’s Market schedule. Rather than Tuesdays I will be doing Thursdays. It appears Thursday are becoming the day vendors who do only one weekday favor. Not sure if they were directed that direction… but it sure makes me feel special. Me doing just Tuesdays.

One Family Urban Gardens: find us on Facebook.

At the Oak Creek Farmer’s Market, just on a whim, I decided to look for a free WiFi network; I do not have a data plan for my phone.

So I see a network among the many. It begins with a universally recognized acronym followed by: “_surveillance_van_89”.

That was good for some laughs and giggles. It was seeing the “van_89” after I clicked on the network; a network that seemed to appear and disappear randomly in the list, that furrowed my brow.

So I had been trying to get some legal help for my troubles. The Wisconsin Bar Association was a disappointment. You never know when someone else is listening.

This is our garage. In the words of a supervisor from Neighborhood Services; “I don’t care about your garage.”

So I paint and stain surfaces and bought some new windows rather than doing the work that really needs to be done; on my garage. Is it any wonder I called the city “incompetent, malicious and depraved”.

I had all the materials for repairing the garage, after closing a raze permit for the adjoining structure, was working on the drawings for a new permit when the city demanded I do what they say or else.

That was over two years ago. My plan was to rebuild the garage (materials already purchased), landscape the yard, raising the central walkway, because when the ground freezes our backyard is a lake for several weeks in the spring, and then remodel the whole house.

Something I told the city from the beginning… do what we say or else was their response. All instigated by our Alderman.

The purpose of this drive to refurbish and modernize our entire home is that we still hope to adopt, and I would like a really really nice home to raise a child in. And if left to my own devices the plan was to be into the remodeling this year.

We haven’t been blessed with children ourselves.

But the city is not the only problem in regard to modernization. There is a growing list of contractors who will not work for us, who will even make appointments to come to create an estimate and just not show, not just once but even up to three times.

This goes back long before our Alderman set his forces against us. I have been thinking lately that this may go back all the way to my days working in Architecture, professionally for some ten years.

“If the Lord is with me, who can stand against me?” so the Bible goes.

Apparently… everyone.

It is what happens next that is the exciting part, and if our mind is right, all for the glory of God.

And hopefully for the betterment of all.

But why do I burden you with my personal troubles? So sorry.

This blog is about writing, writing fiction to be more specific

But we can always draw from fact, stranger than fiction they say, to gain some inspiration for storylines and character building.

Add a bit of imagination and…

So let us take a hypothetical that a professional Architect is blacklisted from his profession, for reasons nefarious but not unheard of in modern society. Always treated well by their employers and the educational institution they exceeded in, the professional finds themself wrapped in a mystery.

As this professional works upon advancing their personal design dreams they find themselves closed off from the services of local contractors, leaving them to do the work themselves; a slow meticulous task as they are very knowledgeable but unpracticed in the various building arts.

This could be extremely challenging if your character is a woman.

The protagonists church could also be a back drop for intrigue.

Drawing again from reality we see that some of the richest families in Wisconsin reign over material supply empires.

We can extrapolate new angles.

How deep does the conspiracy go?

Follow the money, or in other words, the politics.

Seeking legal council our character runs into a he said she said issue with the local Bar Association and within a week of the controversy our hero starts receiving mail from let us say an organization like; SAMHSA (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration).

You can see that with a bit of imagination you can make quite an intricate and compelling storyline. Mix in a bit of Bigfoot or extraterrestrials and you have a guaranteed movie contract.

Hmmm. Extraterrestrial Bigfeet.

Kapow!

It is all about what happens next.

An extraordinary life we all dream of living, at least through a good book.

Thank you for reading.

I missed my deadline… Sorry again.

I Had A Dream

 I had a couple of dreams.

I have had several dreams; many a nightmare in times gone by.

And I have dreams. A lot of dreams.

“What!? At your age?” I hear you marvel. “Shouldn’t you be getting ready to die?”

But I had a dream. The gang at the Farmer’s Market were shoot’n the breeze and one guy says, “I am going to see a psychiatrist.”

Not to be confused with a ventriloquist, an obvious misconception in regards to psychiatrists, I answered, “Just talk to me man. That would be more useful than talking to some idiot doctor.”

Maybe not my exact words but it captures the flavor.

Psychiatry is big, like fake Christianity; a whole bunch of feel goodism.

And don’t be think’n I am some kind of Scientologist; no I’m not one of those.

People call me lots of things but that is not one of them.

So many problems need a comforting ear.

We all have parent’s, grand parents, siblings and friends who know us maybe better than ourselves and when all else fails there is always the ever present ever loving God.

All intimately related to our origins, our life’s journey, and where we will all find ourselves in the end. Where the problems begin and where the problems need to be solved.

So who among all those loved ones, our only support structure since the beginning of time, does the psychiatrist replace? That clinical mind upon which their business is based draws only from some institutionalized self perpetuating system.

Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and I can guarantee they fear not the Lord, maybe.

Then again some religious, like certain Catholic priests, need some replacement.

I could be getting in trouble with some of my family members.

How does society come apart? At what point do we stop engaging the life we were created to live?

We lost our origins and in so many ways created a fake world.

I’ve been getting more writing done yet not much time to develop my thoughts here this month, but…

Thanks for reading.

More FUD

Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt; an acronym that all should know these days, particularly if you are into crypto currencies.

It keeps you from the important things. It manipulates markets.

We would all be better off without it.

So the city has been harassing us via inspections on our home. It can be a source of FUD. Their motivations appear suspect and certain neighbors feel empowered to exhibit their bigotries openly since.

It all can really muddle up everything you are working towards. It is also a window into the human condition.

It has effected the development of our businesses. It has seriously disrupted my writing most of all. I do have a post for one of my other blogs nearly ready, and I thought I would get it out this month.

I thought I would get to a fantastical telling on this blog, even though the month was coming quickly to a close.

Have you ever been in the New Yorker Hotel? A rhetorical question.

Then Monday, I go to our prayer room on the second floor to… pray. A reasonable assumption, as my spirit felt amiss. I needed to rally my powers.

Then I see it. Hanging wires outside the door to our second floor balcony.

My face turns askew. I am bewildered.

I go outside, onto the balcony. My gaze follows the wires, follows where the wires are supposed to run: wires to our security cameras.

The wires have been ripped out of their brackets, now broken.

The wires have been cut.

The police officer asked, “Have you ever thought of getting the Ring camera?”

“I have today!” I proclaimed.

I hadn’t asked for an officer to come out to our home; the dispatcher insisted. I was surprised she arrived after not too long of a wait and this according to her, when I asked, when her board was lit up.

Makes you wonder if your address is on list.

More FUD.

A day lost.

Thanks for reading.

Happy Memorial Day

God Bless all you families who have lost a loved one in defense of our nation.

They gave their lives to protect our freedoms.

The religious bigots will be positioning themselves this week to try to drive us out of the neighborhood. Another business has refused to do work on our home, or garage rather. Perhaps I will name those companies later.

Irony is the appropriate word if you still hold hope for our country.

But I am alive and free, just not allowed to handle our personal property as we see fit. Actually, I wish we could handle our personal property as both we and the city sees fit, but contractors are refusing to work on our home.

And it will only get worse if the city does not relent. Yeah, just pile on. Take me to court. Put your stamp of approval on religious discrimination and hate Milwaukee.

Yes when you spread lies and work to defame that is hate, my neighbors who have never spoken to me in twenty-five years.

“We’re watching you!” I hear screamed out.

Bad on me, I guess they do speak to me. Sorry.

One new guy in the neighborhood actually told me to get off the sidewalk and walk in the street as I was taking my dog for a walk.

Bad on me again, but sometimes I wonder about the neighbors I do talk to.

I am such a bad guy.

This is why we are persecuted.

I am looking forward to hearing back from my Alderman on the book I sent him a while back.

Hope springs eternal.

I was up at our north woods property this month. One of my “No Trespassing” was taken out by a shotgun blast.

Don’t tell my wife she won’t let me go up anymore.

I just stopped by for a quick property check and thought; “Man, I didn’t even bring a knife. What was I thinking.” I guess I have been removed from nature for too long.

So I wish I had more time to write. I came up with a doozy of a telling on a drive throughout our great state.

“And we have to wait another month to read it.” Thou protests?

Sorry again. I guess I am just a really bad guy.

But I am alive, and those better than me gave their lives so we all could live. It is a day to be grateful and say “Praise God!”

God Bless America!

Thank you for reading.

This is some good reading.

The Auction

 There I was, standing amongst a complex of metal clad agricultural style buildings being asked, “What do they do here?”

“I don’t know. Maybe it is a school.” I answered my eyes moving forward, back upon the auctioneer and what was up for bid.

It was not too long afterward that a young Amish man came up and told me exactly what they do there. It was a metal shop, a dry goods store and a hardware store. They were downsizing, the hardware store closing hence the auction.

And what an auction; trailer upon trailer, three auctioneer trucks, and when I left after five they were still going. I was there from 8:30am, the beginning.

Which begs the question, “Can an auctioneer lose their voice?”

But what was this. I was standing amongst people that let no misunderstanding, misconception go without being corrected. A pleasant experience of coming across good character.

Would you expect anything less but to find people of character in communities that live real lives, centered on a faith in God?

Insights into the interior of Wisconsin… I found the billing for this auction not listed on the Internet, nor broadcast over the radio but on a local grocery store’s billboard as I passed through central Wisconsin. Amongst the fliers for fishing competitions and events at the local rod and gun clubs was posted the notice, “FREE COFFEE AND DONUTS, 7:30 TO 8:30”

In terms of a story, as whole boxes of goods were auctioned off, moving goods at a near unimaginable pace, that long used scenario of a whistle blower being chased and desperate to hide their evidence from their pursuers could not be ignored.

The true benefit of attending events new and unfamiliar is of course the personal experience that expands your understanding of the human condition.

Can you find a starker contrast, stepping away from people looking at screens all day seldom leaving their chairs, than spending the day amongst people making a living based off the land and hard work? Is it a surprise that God is unfamiliar to the former but not the latter?

I was happy I went. Not to much time to write today.

“What did I buy?” you ask.

Some very useful goods.

Thank you for reading.

Always a good read here.