The Story Continues

You won't remember, but I mentioned that I started a story from It was a dark and stormy night. I have no idea how many pages it would be now, but it is adding up.

I've got homeless people, bad cops, crooked managers, sneaky corporate VP, fun revenge, puzzling turn of events, sun sand, --no sex yet-maybe later that can be so trite after awhile. 3rd or first person, I guess is a voyeuristic view in print, but you don't really have to get anymore involved with some details than you would in real life. You can get a little more into their head without losing it. Context is everything.

Maybe I will actually finish this. It does keep evolving and I find myself liking some of the characters. A supporting player has begun to steal the show. That is crazy. Maybe it is as it should be. I try to distance more from the main character so the other one tends to say more what I think at times. I believe I can do this. But like most things, I may quit in the middle. We'll see.

There are people and events inspired by my own experience but not at all laid out in the same context. Who would best be cast in the leading role? Since Gary Cooper is no longer around, I can't think of anyone suitable for this story.

Narration Dreams?

This is a first. I don't think I like it. Dreams which run like a documentary, with a little bit of first person thrown in. Part of the time you are watching listening to yourself narrate and at moments you're the in the action.

Like when the colonial militia, I assume, is having trouble fording a river so they move down the the bank in the shallows before planning to cross where it is mostly shallow rapids.

Trouble is, by that time the British have done the same on the other side. Everyone's on horses.

The Brits showing up was a surprise because the narrator was unaware that we were to the point of conflict yet. Since it was such a surprise and they looked hostile, the other side fired on them, dropping quite a few. Then a bunch more Brits rode up to take their place. The narrator seemed sympathetic to the colonials decision to forget the river and get out of there.

I haven't been reading any more Ben Franklin books or anything like that. This narrator, though, was spouting all sorts of names, facts and figures that I've never heard and don't now remember. It all sounded valid, like he knew his stuff. Could have been propaganda I guess. Or gibberish just to make him sound informed. Except he sounded a lot like me.

If this means I've gone over the edge and am really nuts, I am going to be mad as a hornet. Or a hatter.

Pilot Refuses Full-Body Scan, Says TSA Doesn’t Make Travel Safer « CBS New York – News, Sports, Weather, Traffic and the Best of NY

Pilot Refuses Full-Body Scan, Says TSA Doesn’t Make Travel Safer « CBS New York – News, Sports, Weather, Traffic and the Best of NY

This guy has my support. The practice of subjecting pilots to the mindless harassment which is definitely the M.O. of Memphis TSA is absurd. Any baggage handler can go all day without ever dealing with security of that type. They have special badges which scan and undergo other things. Pilots have similar ID badges and any number IDs with pictures etc. There is little common sense in the system and almost none in the Memphis TSA employee pool.

Of all the places where body scanning is most likely to serve the prurient interests of the security force, Memphis has to rank up toward the top. I know those people. They love to harass pilots, little kids, and old people while missing large knives and all sorts of other things.

I'm not sure if it is political correctness gone awry, or just the work of those who believe in a totalitarian state which uses any excuse to keep citizens under its boot. In either case, this is a poor, ineffective, and unimaginative approach to thwarting the bad guys and ensuring the freedom and welfare of the good people.

It often makes people think they are safer when they can see and be a part of the inconvenience. The old adage of "I've got nothing to hide so I don't mind" is a myopic view to take. Can we search your house to be sure you aren't doing something the state doesn't like? These things lead to abuse and a breach of rights which were initially specified and reserved to the people for good reason. Throwing the 4th amendment out the window in the name of wars on drugs, drunk driving abatement, and terrorism is coming back to bite us. This is the tip of the iceberg and the danger of it will become more clear as time goes on.

This pilot may lose his job. I've seen the routine and can sympathize with him for finally refusing to take it any more.