New Artist

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I’ve been busy so I haven’t posted in weeks.

I hired a new artist and will have new art work posted soon. Of course a hurricane got in the way of getting the artwork I was going to post today.

A writer is a communicator. If you want to test your ability to communicate then hire an artist. It all goes back to the newspapers and the challenge to describe a spiral staircase without using your hands (now that’s communication). An artist sees your words but visualizes them as a completely different picture from what you had in mind. I need that visualization but not quite that way.

Employee origination is a lot harder to do as a hirer than you think.

Stay tuned great things are coming Klystronia, the land of mad science, monsters, and mayhem.

Write on, draw on.   Professor Voltage

Dealing with the Government, a Good Experience

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I needed to change some information with the federal government Office of Personnel and Management and I was dreading doing it.

I put it off as long as I could. Then I had to do it.

After a long search I found the letter they sent me with my Unique Identifier Number (UIN) on it. The government web site gave me nothing but trouble. I quickly found out that you cannot bookmark a link to the inside of the web site so you can return to that place quickly. You have to start on the home page and go through all the drop down menus.

After hours of going around in circles with the web site I get a page that says you can’t do what I want to do and it said call this number.

I prepare myself for a long wait (restroom break, coffee, and water) and make the call.

I got a person after a couple of rings. She was cheerful, knowledgeable, and fast. In a couple of minutes I had three problems taken care of.

If only the rest of the government worked like this.

Now I’ve jinked it, people reading this will call instead of trying to use the web site which will cause long telephone wait times.

I should have bought a lottery ticket yesterday.

Write on, draw on.   Professor Voltage.

Conjecture 2014 & ConChord 26 fantasy conventions

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I’m more into science fiction but I enjoy conventions and had never been to this one. Besides it don’t take much to keep me happy. I do miss listening to authors talks since the Mysteries to Die For bookstore closed.

Got to hear many authors talk. Several of the authors I have never heard give a talk before.

It’s a small convention and those are the best. You can talk to the speakers and other attendees unlike the very big cons where the lines are too long and the crowds too big.

The dealers room had a small number of vendors but I bought a couple of items, support your vendors. Could have used more vendors and the competition between vendors is limited with the small number of them.

The last panel of the day was always the funniest.

There was the usual confusion at the beginning of the con, you don’t notice it in the big cons they have enough support people to smooth thing out.

All in all a good con.

 

Write on, draw on.  Professor Voltage.

Worlds greatest pencil

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At the San Diego comic fest (not comic con) a couple of years ago I met an artist and he raved about the Blackwing pencil. The pencil has a big square eraser on top that can be replaced. He felt that the pencil drew smoother and made a better line for drawings. Researching it I found they are the Palomino Blackwing pencils. They sell for $22.95 a box. You want the ones with the white eraser not the Blackwing 602 or the pearls, both of which have a harder lead (graphite). On the other hand Mark Crilley (he does drawing videos on YouTube) uses a plain old Dixon Ticonderoga number two pencil. They sell for $15.02 for a block of 96 pencils.

Don’t use a pencil that has been sharpened down so much that it cramps your hand to draw with it. Get a pencil extender or a new pencil. With a Blackwing you have to saw the eraser off to use a pencil extender, not a big deal.

Me, I use ordinary mechanical pencils. Either 0.7 or 0.5 mm leads.

What is the worlds best pencil? What ever is in your hand and your drawing with it. Whether you found the pencil on the ground or paid big dollars for it, if you’re using it then it’s the best. It took me to long to figure that out.

 

Write on, draw on. Professor Voltage.

Company Merger Less Service

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I just received an email that Time Warner Cable will kill the free web site I have with them at the end of the month. I’ve had this web site for a long time, through three ISPs. Why are they doing this, they didn’t say. I believe they have to eliminate all freebies so Comcast can report good financial numbers next quarter. Comcast is buying Time Warner Cable and Comcast debt will increase, big time. To pay the interest on the new debt’s loan and still report an increase in profit Comcast will have to cuts out everything it can from the cable service while keeping the price the same (less service same price). Does the storage requirements for a web sites cost that much. I don’t think so, Google offers ton of free cloud storage for gmail accounts and other companies offer free storage to. Does it matter? Not so much for the web sites. People don’t use personnel web sites like they have in the past. Now people use FaceBook pages or use a web site hosting service. Even Blogs are declining in popularity. But this could be a warning that new fees are coming for things that use to be free. The end result is some people at Time Warner Cable will get an unreal amount of money while the customer will get less. Is this unique to Comcast? No, Union bank bought out Santa Barbara bank and simple things have been stopped. My mother still complains that they no longer print pictures of checks on the monthly bank statements and if the computer is ever hacked or crashes she will not have a record that bills were paid. How much could it cost to print the pictures of cashed checks on the statement? If Union bank wants to act like a major bank then their customers could end up going to a small bank that will go the extra distance to give them simple things that they want. Time to call up Verizon and see if I can get a good rate on plain internet service. Write on.

What’s the difference between an artist and an engineer?

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At the ConDor convention in San Diego I noticed a number of people complaining about how early the panels started. The panels started at 10:00. They must have been artists. An engineer knows that time and science wait for no man. Even when not working I get up at 6:15 to 6:30 every morning. I know fellow engineers that are up at 5:00 a.m. By 10:00 the days half over with. The difference between an engineer and an artist, about five and a half hours.

Or 80 dollars an hour and over time if your lucky.

Write on, draw on.  Professor Hyram Voltage

Convention weekend San Diego ConDor Con

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On March 21 through 23, 2014 I attended the ConDor con in San Diego. Great little con, I had fun. In the smaller cons you can meet and talk to the authors. The lines to get a book signed are much shorter than at World Con. Very heavy Steampunk influence at the con. Many people were in costume. A large number of vendors selling Steampunk clothing and accessories. A couple of the panels were really fun with lots of laughter.

Write on, draw on.  Professor Hyram Voltage