TBT…

Posted on by October 28, 2026
11

Back in the day, at least in aviation, we always relieved the watch a half hour early, but yes, even today, I’m early for any meeting unless something happens…

And this pic is pretty old, since the PO1 is in dungarees!

But the real fun was when we got to yank and bank down low…

180 knots, 45 degree angle of bank, 200ish feet doing MAD trapping!!!

Funny how when we did that with USAF pilots on board, they went aft and sat in the galley… Something about what was the wingspan and how high were we??? 🙂

Sometimes we even got to do cloverleaf patterns, which meant you did this five times to hit your weapon fly to point!

And this was one time the pilots actually paid attention to their flying! LOL

Stuff like this made up for the HOURS of rigging ships on the Maritime Patrol Tracks and especially the Rust Maru’s on the 209 track to Vietnam!

Yes, there are times I miss this, and the P-8 doesn’t have MAD, so they don’t get to have fun doing this… sigh…

A contest you might like…

Posted on by October 27, 2026
2

If you write MilSF…

Baen has put up a new contest, the David A. Drake Memorial Award!

The requirements are HERE.

And the judges are pretty knowledgeable too… From the Baen website, HERE.

Guest Judges for Inaugural David A. Drake Memorial Award

Riverdale, New York, September 2026 — Baen Books is pleased to announce that two science fiction luminaries who were close friends with David Drake will serve as guest judges for the inaugural round of its newest short story award, the David A. Drake Memorial Award.

New York Times best-selling author David Weber and editor, author, and anthologist Bill Fawcett will serve as the first guest judges for the award. Weber, best known for the Honor Harrington series, together with David Drake and Jerry Pournelle, helped establish the entire field of military science fiction. Fawcett, a longtime game designer, book packager, and author of military SF and nonfiction, edited the six-volume The Fleet anthology series and its follow-on Battlestation anthology with Drake. Baen is confident Weber and Fawcett will help Baen’s editors select stories that reflect the legacy of David Drake’s groundbreaking fiction.

Award submissions of original, unpublished short stories of up to 8,000 words will be accepted starting 24 September 2026. The contest is open to all forms of science fiction and fantasy, and Baen will be looking for works of great science fiction or fantasy with strong military themes central to the characters and plot. Authors do not have to be veterans or active military members to participate, but veterans and those in the military are encouraged to submit. Details of the submission process may be found on the Baen Books website

Submissions will remain open through 10 December 2026, and will be judged blindly by a panel consisting of Baen Books editors as well as guest judges Weber and Fawcett. Baen Books plans to announce the finalists in February 2027 and present the award in June at Baen Books’ Traveling Roadshow at the LibertyCon science fiction and fantasy convention in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

This is your chance to get your writing mojo on, and you’ve got plenty of time to put a story together!

Now get out there and WRITE!!!

Book promo…

Posted on by October 26, 2026
1

These two ladies are amazing with their output and quality!!!

First up is Alma Boykin with book two in her Bard’s Song series- The Bard’s King

As always, click on the cover for the Amazon link!

The blurb-

What price honor?

Tuathal mab Bria map Aiden gave much to break the curse he brought to the land. Echos of that curse send him across the sea, to the Western Isle from which came his father’s people, the Dunalaid. Only the High King can settle a question of inheritance, one that has already seen blood shed. Half of that conflict, Fyon the Black, demands land and lordship, blood price for his son, and perhaps even Tuathal’s life.

Tuathal travels as law seeker and speaker for his half-brother, Low King Fiachta. He seeks nothing but a decision in his king’s favor. Trouble lurks, what sort he does not know, but the sense he knows too well. The same darkness that led to the curse, and his naming as “Twice Given” waits inside the High King’s court at Tara.

A third king also has a claim to Tuathal, a shadowy majesty of the mounds and hollow hills. Only a master bard and law speaker, an allav, Tuathal struggles to do his duty.

When duty brings danger and the High King’s life hangs by a thread of song, what can a bard do, even a bard of three kings?

More than Tuathal believes possible.

Next up is Pam Uphoff with her 27th book in her Chronicles of the Fall series, Vyatkin

The blurb-

Seventeen-year-old Afanasiy Vyatkin, orphaned when the Japanese attacked his world, has nowhere to go but the Vyatkin Family House in the capital city of the Alliance.

He finds the Great House overwhelmed by refugees.
A few nice refugees, an ambitious servant, some retired old men.
Outnumbered by the rude, aggressive, bullying refugees, fighting to maintain their status after the disastrous war. Penniless, powerful . . .and dangerous in their desperation to scramble to the top of the ruble heap of their lives.

A family has no trouble separating friends from enemies. And the enemies have underestimated him . . .

And last but not least, the cover of our Tom Burnett Library benefit anthology! It should be live in the next week or so, so no link to it…

And a word from our librarian.

The building that is home to the Tom Burnett Memorial Library was built in 1924 for Thomas Lloyd Burnett. He was a cattleman, oilman, and rodeo producer. He was known for his kindness and generosity, especially toward children and “down on their luck” cowboys.

The theme for this, our sixth library anthology, is the roaring twenties in Texas. I hope you enjoy the stories included as much as I did. The authors have donated their stories to this anthology to support our rural library. We appreciate their generosity and kindness toward us. To you, the reader, thank you for continuing to read and support our library anthologies.

 

A little humor…

Posted on by October 25, 2026
14

To start the week…

Stuff that only makes sense if you live in Jacksonville (Florida)

  1. You are either a Gator or a Seminole. You have no choice. If you abstain, you will be assigned a team. There are no other schools. It’s better to learn that sooner rather than later.
  2. Forget the traffic rules you learned elsewhere. No one pays attention to them here. Merging, yielding, and right-of-way are completely foreign terms.
  3. To find anything in Jax you are required to know where Regency Square is. It is the Alpha and the Omega: the beginning and the end.
  4. Directions to anywhere may, and usually do, make a reference to ‘the old Pic and Save’.
  5. The morning rush hour is from 6am to 10am. The evening rush hour is from 3pm to 7pm. Friday’s rush hour starts Thursday morning.
  6. If you actually stop at a yellow light, you will be rear-ended, cussed out, and possibly shot.
  7. East Rd. meets West Rd. on Beach Blvd , but they both run North and South.
  8. Normandy Boulevard, State Road 228, Cecil Field Road, Maxville Road, and Post Street are all the same road.
  9. On the southeast side of town, Hartley Road, Shad Road, and Hood Road are all the same road. Hartley Road is the western part of the road, and Shad Road is the eastern part of the road.

Now don’t be confused about this Hood Road .

This is the West-East part that is in between Hartley and Shad, not the North-South part that starts out as Old Kings Road South , changes into Hood Road South , and ends at Losco Road .

Got it?

  1. Construction is a permanent fixture in JAX. Which makes sense, because the traffic cone is the State Flower of Florida. The barrels are moved around in the middle of the night to make the next day’s driving a bit more exciting.
  2. Watch very carefully for road hazards such as deer, skunks, dogs, barrels, cones, cows, horses, pot holes, cats, pieces of other cars, single shoes, opossums, truck tires, raccoons, squirrels, rabbits, crows o r vultures feeding on any of these items.
  3. The minimum acceptable speed on J Turner Butler Blvd is 75 mph. Anything less is considered downright sissy. This is Jacksonville’s version of NASCAR.
  4. Never honk at anyone. Ever. Seriously.
  5. If you are in the left lane, and going only 70 in a 55 zone, you are considered a road hazard and will be ‘flipped off’ accordingly.
  6. Ground clearance of at least 24 inches is recommended for city driving.
  7. If it’s 100 degrees, Thanksgiving must be next weekend.
  8. There are really only two seasons here: Summer and January.
  9. There is actually a Westside high school that has a confederate battle flag as its school flag, an image of a slave plantation owner as its mascot, and Dixie as its school song. Just accept it. Please don’t make a fuss about it, for your own safety.
  10. Ponte Vedra is to Middleburg as oceanfront is to double-wide.
  11. If you choose to live in Orange Park, or, God forbid, Middleburg, plan to leave for work at 4am and return home around 11pm. Otherwise you may get caught in what can only be described as ‘the world’s longest turn lane’.
  12. Don’t get here late and expect something to eat. After 9pm, your choices are Famous Amos, Village Inn, and Krystal.
  13. You can buy a million-dollar condo downtown on the river, but you have to drive 10 miles for a loaf of bread, and never after dark.
  14. The Landing is an interesting place. Every time you visit, there will be a whole new set of restaurants, fewer stores, and less parking. Hooters, however, is a permanent fixture.
  15. All city council decisions must be signed off on by First Baptist Church .
  16. North Phillips highway. Don’t go there. Ever. Unless, of course, you are looking for motels that charge by the hour.
  17. Learn all of the lyrics to every Lynyrd Skynyrd song. Trust me on this one.
  18. If you like southern-style barbecue, you’ve come to the right place. There’s a restaurant on every corner, but they all close at 9pm.
  19. Convenience stores are literally EVERYWHERE, unless you live in a million-dollar condo downtown.
  20. You can leave Jacksonville, but the blinking light of Five Points will always call you back.
  21. No matter where you want to go, you can’t get there from where you are…in other words, you can’t get there from here

Having lived there for 10 years (in Orange Park), ALL of these are true… sigh

Rimworld snippet…

Posted on by October 24, 2026
11

Yes, I’m working on it!!!

Hot off the computer, any comments and recommendations appreciated as always!

General Randall looked up as the COS knocked and stepped into her office. “What have you got, Mark?”

“I’ve got the Marine commander, Major Ifshan, and the CO, Captain Ericson to see you, ma’am.”

She cocked her head. “And what brings those two luminaries to my hatch? Is there something I need to be aware of?” She sat up suddenly. “Is it a security issue?”

“It appears to be a personnel issue, ma’am,” The COS said with a wince.

Blowing out a breath, she said wearily, “Bring them in. If it’s at my level, this isn’t good.”

The major and the carrier CO came to attention in front of her and she said, “At ease, gentlemen, seats. Now what is the problem?” The CO and the major looked at each other and she snapped, “Dammit, just tell me what is going on!” She glared at the major. “Major Ifshan, is there a security issue?”

“No, ma’am. It’s…well, I have a personnel issue that I can’t solve. It’s Sergeant Diederik and Corporal Alesander.”

“What kind of personnel issue? I found them to be exemplary when they were detached with me.”

The major looked up. “Uh, ma’am, it’s their top sergeant, Top London. He wants them back on the mid-shift. He doesn’t want them escorting you, says they are not reliable, and are poseurs, according to what he told my Gunny.” He bit his lip then added, “I think he has a hard on for those two for some reason.”

She looked sharply at him. “Major Ifshan, do you or you Marines have a problem with that?”

“No, ma’am. We…ah…heard about what went on, and we don’t have any problem with either their appearance or conduct.”

“From them?”

Captain Ericson interrupted, “No, ma’am. Apparently, one of the intel geeks was…talking in the mess. He…was laughing about the bugs Diederik and Alesander turned in, and how they’d collected them. And he might have alluded to a lapel video that he shouldn’t have seen.”

General Randall shook her head and sighed. “Intel…why am I not surprised. This is not the first…never mind. I take it he has been…counseled?”

“Counseled, reduced in rank, and his security clearance pulled. He’s now a bosun’s mate striker. And the lieutenant commander who showed him the video has also had his clearance pulled, along with a letter of reprimand in his file.”

She mumbled softly, “At least nobody died this time.” She sighed again, then said, “For your information, Admiral Octavos has directed that we return directly to homebase as expeditiously as possible.” She held up a hand. “I know you haven’t been told, but we just got the message less than a div ago. This will cut our deployment short, but the admiral wants the actual treaty to be in his hands as soon as possible. Apparently, there is already a schism developing between him and the Gal Council over the treaty’s wording.” She grinned mirthlessly. “I’m guessing Ambassador Cheel has something to do with that.”

Both COS and the CO laughed at that, as the major looked confused. “What should I do, ma’am? I mean with Sergeant Diederik and Corporal Alesander?”

“Tell the top sergeant if he has a problem, he can come talk to me directly. Oh, I forgot, they are reservists, please ask their CO, I believe that is lieutenant colonel, no Colonel McMasters to come see me. This is going to short their deployment also.”

They stood and saluted, and she said, “Dismissed.” After they left, she turned back to the COS. “Mark, I smell a rat with that reserve sergeant major. Something there isn’t right. See what you can find out. Oh, and while you’re at it, find out if we have any senior Ghorka aboard. If we do, I’d like to meet with them.”

“Ghorka, ma’am?” He shook his head, then continued, “I’ll see what I can find on that reserve bunch.”

She smiled sweetly, “Thank you, Captain Harmon.”

He snorted and mumbled, “You worry me when you’re polite.” She just cocked an eyebrow at him as he left the office.

(C) 2026 JL Curtis All Rights Reserved

A new era is coming…

Posted on by October 23, 2026
10

And Musk is driving it…

The world’s tech industry just shit itself.

SpaceX’s (SPCX) quarterly report last night was the most extraordinary earnings call I’ve ever heard. And it signals the beginning of a death march for many of the industry’s existing business models.

Let’s start with communications bandwidth.

SpaceX’s satellite internet service Starlink added 1.6 million subscribers in Q3 – reaching 13.6 million users. That’s still small compared with the big American phone companies – Verizon (VZ) has 147 million wireless connections and AT&T (T) has 110 million. T-Mobile (TMUS) no longer reports its line count, but at the end of June it had 34.7 million postpaid accounts, many of them with several lines each.

As an investor though, you must look at where the “ball” is going.

Starlink had 2.3 million subscribers at the end of 2023. It had 4.4 million at the end of 2024. It had 8.9 million at the end of 2025. It added another 4.7 million in the first nine months of this year.

Full article, HERE from Zero Hedge.

And this is just ONE part of Musk’s ongoing efforts…

When you add in the computing, the power generation, the manufacturing, SpaceX itself, and Tesla, you get the whole ball of wax, so to speak.

And if SpaceX and Tesla combine?

All bets are off, as Musk will have a complete vertical integration in one single company.

Who knows how far he can or will go? Or what will happen with the giga computing that is ramping up, much less the power generation side of the house.

Will the ‘spare’ power be sold to consumers, or the major power companies? Or sold on the open market if there are ‘problems’ with the grid, like California is continuing to have?

And Hawaii is no better off, but they don’t have a connection to the US grid (across an ocean and all that).

Not to mention what happens if SpaceX actually meets it’s goal of a launch a day! What will that do to the price of putting things in space? Could we actually see a $100/kilo price?

All of this beats the hell outta me, but it will be interesting to watch…

Stuff…

Posted on by October 22, 2026
6

Ammo.com did a deep dive on guns in the home…

The anti-gun lobby often claims that guns in the home make the household less safe. We analyzed peer-reviewed studies and government databases to get to the bottom of their claims.

Our updated report shows that guns in the home don’t necessarily make the occupants less safe.  Link HERE.

In other news, Virginia politics is getting ‘spicy’… The democratic senator pro tempore was arrested…

Virginia state Senator Lillie Louise Lucas was indicted Thursday on five charges that include drug trafficking, money laundering, fraud and firearms charges after being accused of running a marijuana distribution enterprise, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. 

Full article, HERE at Fox News.

And over at X, we have THIS from Cynical Publius and datarepublcian…

Definitely worth a read, along with datarepublican’s link to the data she found!

And lastly, this POS ‘should’ just be turned over to the Marines at Quantico and let ‘them’ deal with him…

The man arrested for allegedly using a sledgehammer to behead a Marine figure on an Iwo Jima monument near Quantico, Virginia, is a Mexican illegal alien and former Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipient who lost his status this year, federal sources told Fox News.

Miguel Alonso Maldonado Soriano, 27, was charged with felony destruction of property, trespass with intent to damage property and felony injury to a monument.

Full article, HERE.

TBT…

Posted on by October 21, 2026
25

Getting old is NOT for sissies, I’ll be 75 in December…

You can tell when the weather is going to change, you’re expected to be grumpy (I LIKE that) and you’re not embarrassed to take an old gun to the range…

Sitting here thinking last night I remembered back-

I remember Sputnik- My mother told me years later I begged Daddy to take me outside so I could see it go over… (Not)  Today you can watch the ISS every night, and most people don’t even think about it.

I remember my first gun at age 8- A Savage Sure Shot single shot .22 (still go it)

My first knife- It was a Case Peanut, when I went out to my uncle’s place, he gave me a Sowbelly, said I’d need all the blades on it. And carrying those knives through high school. (Now days that would be expulsion at best)

My first rifle- A model 94 in 30-30 (still got that one too)

Pistols- Colt revolvers and Colt 1911s (being in the South, most officers and veterans had Colts)

B&W TV with 3 channels, and it was only on 12 hours a day

Veterans- WWI, WWII and Korea. Just everyday people, the mailman, the grocer, the little league coach, the deputy sheriff and many others. They all got dressed up and marched in the Veteran’s Day parade, even in a small town, but they never considered themselves special.

My grandfathers- What they taught me, by word and deed. Honesty, responsibility and integrity

President Kennedy being shot.

My first car- $300 for a Corvair Spyder, from mowing yards. (I was 14). Learning how to maintain and work on cars (actually started that at age 10 with Grandpa)

Cars you could actually recognize by sight AND sound (Ford V-8 vs. Chevy V-8 vs. Dodge V-8)

My first ‘paid’ job, shovelling crap for a veterinarian for $1/hr… Made the point that I was going to get an education… (at 14)

Playing sports, hunting, some fishing growing up. Learning about Buck gates, how to blood track, what a flyway was…

Going to school with either a rifle or shotgun in the car/truck and a pistol under the seat (And not even locking the car/truck)

Family reunions, real letters, my grandmother still being on a party line.

Mercury, Gemini, Apollo, everyone glued to the TV for the launches and recoveries. Watching the moon landing in a bar on the Via Veneto in Rome, walking back to the Pensione we were staying in at 0400 in the morning and every place that had a TV had it on and facing the street, with people around all of them. Random people shaking our hands and congratulating us as Americans.

Vietnam, ‘my’ first war. Wondering if I was going to be drafted, going in the Navy.

Learning FORTRAN and programming on an IBM 1190 punchcard machine.

The first space stations, Skylab, Mir, the first shuttle launch. Skipping forward to my Navy days, Challenger and the flight hours searching in vain for the capsule.

Calculators- Buying one for over $200 dollars to make doing my job easier.

My first computer- An IBM XT, single floppy, 640k of memory. Building my first computer- Spent something like $3200 buying hardware in the mid-80s from the suppliers in Silicon Valley (It was an early 386). Kept that monster in to the 90s. AOL (spit), had to cancel a credit card to keep them from continuing to charge me after I cancelled my account…

Two daughters and now three grandkids

So many other things… I’m not rich, never will be, but you know what?

I wouldn’t change a damn thing…

One more snippet…

Posted on by October 20, 2026
6

One more little snippet from my short story for the Roaring 20’s anthology for the library!

Moments later they heard a whoof, closely followed by a much larger boom, and a fireball bloomed down the road. Kurt said, “Alright. Bill, make yourself scarce. Morgan, head back down the line like you were walking the perimeter, and leave the pistol somewhere. Shotgun is fine. I’m going to act like I just woke up, and will only be half dressed.”

Bill replied, “Gimme your spent round from that hand cannon of yours, I’ll take it with me.”

Kurt quickly broke open the Handy-Gun, handed him the spent shell, and put a birdshot round back in the gun. He slid it back in his pack in the bed, and pulled off his boots, setting them on the tailboard. “Good call, Bill. Now, we wait to see who shows up. Remember, we know nothing!”

Morgan grinned. “Gotcha, LT, just like old times.”

Kurt snorted. “At least over there, we knew who the enemy was!”

All three of them laughed, and Bill and Morgan disappeared into the night. Kurt had actually fallen back asleep when he finally heard vehicles grinding up the road to them. He had one boot on when two Model Ts pulled in facing him. A voice beyond the headlights yelled, “Don’t move! Let me see your hands!”

Kurt held his hands up. “What the hell? I was asleep, for God’s sake! What do you want?”

Two deputies came around the trucks, light glinting on their badges and the shotguns they both held. One said, “You’re under arrest! Turn around real slow and put your hands behind your back! Now!”

“Can I at least put my other boot on?”

The deputy’s voice rose, “No! Turn around, asshole or I’ll—”

Morgan’s voice came from behind the headlights, “Boss, I got one over here. What you want me to do with him?”

A quavering voice came from behind the lights, “Deputies, don’t be hasty. Let the man put his boots on.”

Kurt sat back down and quickly pulled his boot on, asking, “What am I supposedly being arrested for?”

The quavering voice said, “Murder! You killed four men down the road.”

“What four men? I was asleep here in my truck until something blew up down the road,” he said, pointing toward Borger. “I have no idea what you’re talking about!” The other deputy turned and Kurt finally recognized him. “What are you trying to cook up now? We ran you off the first time.”

The deputy hissed, “Chief was on his way up here to put an end to your little game. I know you killed him and the others!”

Kurt laughed. “Morgan, did you hear that? This…deputy admitted his boss was on his way up here to end us! If I get arrested, you go fetch Jake Sanchez and get him to telegraph Frank Phillips in Bartlesville!”

“Will do, Boss.”

Another truck pulled in behind the two Model Ts, and McMurtrie drawled, “Got an issue here, Boss?”

“Yeah, I’m supposedly being arrested for killing somebody that was on his way to put an end to our game, which I’m sure likely included killing me and Morgan.”

“Well, ain’t that special. Mebbe we’ll escort you to the jail house just to make sure nothing happens to you. Morgan, who’s that you got there?”

Morgan said, “No idee. But he was the boss until I stuck my shotgun in his ear, but now I see he’s pretty well dressed. Who you be?”

The slick little man, visibly sweating now, said softly, “Joshua Pierce Edwards. I’m a lawyer…”

Morgan poked him in the head. “For who?”

Edwards moaned, then said, “Mr. Borger.”

Mac drawled, “So, what were you here to do, Mister Edwards?”

“I…I…” Edwards stuttered but didn’t answer. Suddenly he straightened and his voice got stronger. “Deputy, we may have made a…mistake here. I think we should go investigate that wreck down the road. It’s obvious nothing occurred here.”

The deputy turned quickly, “What? But we were—”

Edwards cut him off sharply. “Nothing occurred here. Have you seen anything? No, you haven’t. We will…leave now.”

The deputies glared at Kurt, but backed away. They went to their Model T and left, closely followed by Edwards.

Kurt looked around and finally said, “Well, that was interesting. I think somebody didn’t expect to find us upright and in one piece.”

Mac chortled. “Upright and in one piece? Hell, they were coming up here to finish off anybody left. Bill woke me up and I figgered I might as well come up to see what was goin’ on. Looks like my timing was pretty good.”

Morgan laughed. “Yep, Mac, your timing was perfect. It wasn’t till your headlights hit Mister Edwards that I finally saw him clear enough to sneak up behind him.

(C) 2026 JL Curtis All Rights Reserved