Wanderings

Anything you dream is fiction,
and anything you accomplish is science,
the whole history of mankind is nothing but science fiction.
- Ray Bradbury
September 25th, 2013

Super 88

The 1959 Oldsmobile Super 88 was a great car.

Erica and I were wandering around Dutchess County last Sunday and I stopped to take pictures of this one. It was in rough shape and going cheap, but I want it.






September 25th, 2013

Haverstraw Homestead

Erica and I were coming back from a trip to Apple Country and had to get off the thruway because of traffic. We wound up passing through Haverstraw where her family lived for many years.

Here is the old house built by Erica’s great-grandfather. I used to go here with Erica to visit her great cousin’s Rose and Marie Clark.

It is a fine house, probably the nicest on the block.






September 25th, 2013

Work

I have not been very good at keeping up with posts. It seems that I have been very busy and when I get home, I crash in front of the TV.

I have been working since the beginning of August. I make more money than I did on the last job and my commute is shorter. I am doing some interesting stuff trying to bring big companies out of the Dinosaur era of COBOL and big iron computers into server oriented JAVA code. It is not as easy at it sounds. If you know someone, especially in banking, who is still maintaining COBOL code, this company has the solution.

Here is a picture of my desk. I am out in the open and don’t get to “self actualize” much as everybody who passes by can see my screen.

This is the outside of the building. It is off rte. 119 in the same complex as a TGIF Fridays if anyone wants to buy lunch.






September 2nd, 2013

Fred Pohl 1919-2013

Fred Pohl updated his blog earlier today and then passed away. I have been reading his blog for a few years and have contributed to the discussions there. Fred has commented about things on my web sites twice. I got the feeling that I really knew him and I thought that some day I would meet him.

I like his books. Some are good, some are very good. He was a major influence in Science Fiction. As an Editor he brought a new humanism to Science Fiction. He moved away from the Engineering/Science aspects of Science Fiction towards a more psychological treatment of characters and their problems. What he published was not exactly “soft” SF, but he made it more real and more human.

I will miss his blog. I will miss the man. I have a signed manuscript that of his that I bought on eBay and I will always treasure it.