Newsletter Week of 17 July 2020
A Voice in Every Wind (new trade paperback edition)
We have a new hamster here at Meerkat Meade. He's a five-week-old mostly-white Syrian hamster with very subtle tawny shading around hsi head and hindquarters. Technically he's a variety called "recessive dapple," which describes his coloring.
We found him through a Craiglist ad that Thomas answered. His people breed hamsters for specific color and fur varieties; usually the pups they aren't going to breed go to pet stores. With pet stores severely reducedndue to the pandmic, they're offering these culls to the public. The ad Thomas answered, about a month ago, announced that a new litter had been born and would be available for adoption. Late last week the folks said the pups were five weeks old and ready to go.
They sent us pictures of one, then asked if we'd be interested in him—Thomas's answer was essentially, "Well, you sent us the pictures, and we fell oin love with him, so duh!"
Early Sunday morning we met in a mall parking lot. We brought the big habitat we call the Great Hall; the owner lady had the pup in a smaller container, and she just picked him up and plopped him down in the Great Hall. She also brought some bedding material so he'd have familiar smells. We chatted a bit; we were left with the impression of someone who knew hamsters well and truly cared about their well-being.
We brought the little guy home and he's been settling in well. There remained the question of a name. In a quarter-century of having pet hamsters, we've sometimes come prepared with a name—but the final decision has always come once we get to know the new hamster. This time, we had three major name possibilities: our prepared name "Covid"; "Recessive Dapple" from his coloring; and "Dave & Busters" from the name of the store outside of which me met the pup's people. Thoiugh tempted by "Recessive Dapple," we settled on "Covid."
It's been a somewhat controversial choice among our friends—some folks raised serious objections. (The vast majority of our freinds, I hasten to add, were totally supportive.) Of course, every objection just strengthend our resolve.
So here we are, and here's our cute, precious little Covid ("Cove" for short).
- Scanned 10 more books
- Ripped 3 more DVDs to mp4
- Legion of Super-Heroes website: ataloging March1998 comics
- Added 300 words to my memoir
- More work on the next gay erotic short story
- Wrote 700 words on Hunt for the Dymalon Cygnet
- Started Nov/Dec 2020 Analog column
Our new hamster with the controversial name
The Wizard of Speed and Time (feature film)
I'm puttng this newsletter together on Thursday, because we're going on a road trip this weekend. We're driving out to Wiliamsport, IN to pick up one of ther Holy Grails of Star Wars collectibles, the 1984 Return of the Jedi swing set. A collector there offered it for sale for an attractive price—to avoid enormous shipping costs we're going to pick it up ourselves.
It's about a ten-hour drive form home; we're planning on breaking it into two chiunks. We'll start out this evening and drive about 4 hours, then stop of the night. Friday we'll finish the drive and find a place to light near our destination. Saturday morning we pick up the goods, then we'll mosey back to home.
The COVID-9 pandemic makes a road trip more complicated than usual. We're going to make as few stops as possible, eat takeout or convenience store food rather than dining at restaurants. Earlier today I looked along our route for hotspots. Two in particular are of concern: Morgantown, WV and Columbus, OH. We're definitely not stopping in either of those areas...not for food, not for gas, definitely not for the night.
We're also going to break one of our prime directives for road trips. Usually, we do our best to avoid chain restaurants and hotels, looking for local places. We've had some great successes (Heidi's Inn and the Eveready Diner in Brewster, NY, for example) and a few misses (which make ffor great stories). Nevertheless., this time we're going to stick with well-known national chains. This hurts, but with both of us in more than one high-risk group, we want to nerr on the side of safety.
I'll have more to say about our trip next week.