Hatrack River Writers Workshop: Back From Vacation

This is topic Back From Vacation in forum Grist for the Mill at Hatrack River Writers Workshop.

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Posted by Robert Nowall (Member # 2764) on :

...some of you may be aware I've been away for a week. Or not---since I don't necessarily read every word of every post, I can't condemn anybody who might have missed a reference or two here and there.

Either way, I'm back. Let me hit some highlights.

(1) I did no writing while I was away, or for a couple of weeks leading up to going away.

(2) I was away from Sunday to Sunday.

(3) One of the things I was "away" from was online stuff---I came back, and it took me from Sunday to Tuesday to machete my way through all the accumulated e-mail and backed up websites.

(4) Where did I go, you ask? (Maybe somebody is curious.) Atlanta to Charlotte to Atlanta to back home again. By car all the way

(5) You may have heard talk of a gas shortage in that area of the country---true, but everywhere I stopped had regular, at least, though some of them didn't have the higher (and higher-priced) grades. I generally prefer the middle grade myself, but I take what I can get.

(6) Owing to the stock market fluctuations of the past week, I lost ten thousand dollars while I was gone. But what the hell, I can't cash it in till I retire.

(7) I bought a big pile of books---like I do every other vacation---and even had time to read most of them.

(8) My back is still killing me. Particularly hard was the last day, consisting of a ten-hour car ride with a couple of breaks to eat and get gas.

(9) And I'm still on vacation for about a week, so I may be 'round here a couple of times a day rather than the usual just one.

Posted by snapper (Member # 7299) on :

Who are you again?

Posted by Robert Nowall (Member # 2764) on :

Snoopy: "Now I remember---he's that round-headed kid who used to feed me."

Posted by snapper (Member # 7299) on :

(1) I did no writing while I was away, or for a couple of weeks leading up to going away.

That is no way to win that Hugo. Nebula, maybe but definitely not the Hugo.

(2) I was away from Sunday to Sunday.

Sounds like my Football team. They're not around most Sundays either.

(3) One of the things I was "away" from was online stuff---I came back, and it took me from Sunday to Tuesday to machete my way through all the accumulated e-mail and backed up websites.

What did you do when you got the email we love your story and want to publish it in are anthology but need an answer before sunday?

(4) Where did I go, you ask? (Maybe somebody is curious.) Atlanta to Charlotte to Atlanta to back home again. By car all the way

It took eight days to make that round trip? You need a tune-up.

I didn't know there was a gas shortage and I drive everywhere. Are you sure they're not hoarding it and using the extra in the moonshine?

(6) Owing to the stock market fluctuations of the past week, I lost ten thousand dollars while I was gone. But what the hell, I can't cash it in till I retire.

Just think of all the fun you could have had with that 10 grand on vacation.

(7) I bought a big pile of books---like I do every other vacation---and even had time to read most of them.

Hell, Robert. You didn't have to do that. We would have gave you PLENTY of reading material for free. Of course you would have had to print it.

(8) My back is still killing me. Particularly hard was the last day, consisting of a ten-hour car ride with a couple of breaks to eat and get gas.

Did you leave one of the books on the seat? I drive everywhere and never had a sore back. well once I did but the leafsprings went out and the boss said I had to get that shipment there on time. That sucked.

(9) And I'm still on vacation for about a week, so I may be 'round here a couple of times a day rather than the usual just one.

Great! I have a 17000 word script that needs looked at and all my grammatical errors need fixed. What was that email address again?

[This message has been edited by snapper (edited October 17, 2008).]

Posted by Robert Nowall (Member # 2764) on :

(1) I'm in a nonprolific period of my life right now---I still hope to do something in the five days I've got left to my vacation, but I've still got a few other things to do while I have the time. (I spent two days tidying up my so-called "library," in reality the extra bedroom where I keep some of my books and a lot of "junk".)

(2) Made it easier.

(3) I decided long ago that anything that needs an answer "right now" gets a flat "no." (You should've seen some of the jobs the post office has tried to highpressure me into this way.)

(4) I could'a made it in one day flat---but, hey, how could I visit some of the holy sites of NASCAR if I didn't actually stop at them.

(5) It was widely advertized in the news---I even saw a clip of a prominent politician saying "No gas in Atlanta, no gas in Charlotte," (or some such). Really put me in the mood to leave home, that did...

(6) I made about three thousand of it back in the next three days---haven't checked it since.

(7) I could squint at a screen all day long, but that also plays into Number Eight below...besides, reading a manuscript is never as much fun as reading a book...

(8) Next trip, I buy a lumbar car pillow beforehand and use that. (Also some new luggage as the handles of my big bag unraveled.)

(9) You've got five days and I might have the time...

Posted by snapper (Member # 7299) on :

I was really just kidding on number nine (and 1 through eight as well). I've never written anything over 8000 words and I ain't never saw a problem, with my grammar; ever.

I just wanted to make you feel like we really did miss you. (Of course that would be easier if SOMEONE posted on this thread beside me).

Posted by aspirit (Member # 7974) on :

Oh, uh... Welcome back, Robert! Was Atlanta traffic as bad as usual or are more people using alternative transportation?

Posted by Robert Nowall (Member # 2764) on :

Atlanta traffic was as bad as it usually is, especially around the parts I usually go through---I-75 and that short cutoff to the Beltway, then over to I-85 and out to Buford and the so-called "Mall of Georgia." However, the Beltway, on that first Sunday afternoon through it, did seem a little less crowded than usual.

Posted by philocinemas (Member # 8108) on :

Theme song from Welcome Back Kotter:

Welcome back,
Your dreams were your ticket out.

Welcome back,
To that same old place that you laughed about...

Posted by Robert Nowall (Member # 2764) on :

Ah, well. Tonight ends my vacation. My back is still killing me despite all the rest I've gotten, and I also got better rest sleeping at night rather than during the day like I have to for my night shift job. But those will be things of the past---and tomorrow I'll be really really tired.

Posted by Kathleen Dalton Woodbury (Member # 59) on :

Sorry to hear your back isn't doing any better, Robert. Best wishes for you at work.

Posted by Robert Nowall (Member # 2764) on :

Well, I made it through the night, after sleeping from about 1:30 PM to 4:00 PM---then just trying to sleep till 7:30 PM when I gave it up.

I'm tired, and my back didn't prevent me from moving---in fact, I think it limbered up a little as I moved around---but when I got out of my car after getting home from work, I screamed.

Posted by Robert Nowall (Member # 2764) on :

I should have added, somewhere along the line, that I hope this "not writing" while on vacation isn't a harbinger of things to come, when I retire and have free time on my hands, and want to write---but can't settle down to do it.

On the other hand---I was "off the clock" for about a year a while back. (Don't ask: long story, also involving back problems.) It took a month or so to settle down, but I managed to sit down and finish the final draft of my (last-finished-to-date) novel, work on another one (abandoned), then lurch into Internet Fan Fiction before going back to work.

Posted by Kathleen Dalton Woodbury (Member # 59) on :

Robert, do you have some kind of lumbar pillow (one of those inflatable things that you can adjust the size by the amount of air in it) that you can put at your back while you drive your car? My husband uses something like that when he drives (and I can't use it at all when I'm driving, so I'm glad it's removable).

Posted by Robert Nowall (Member # 2764) on :

I'm definitely in the market for one now. I seem to have most of my problems moving around after not moving around---car rides are first on that list. (Sitting here at the computer is second.) Some sort of support is indicated. I'll have to shop around.

But it's not as bad as when it hit unexpectedly. Since then I've been ready for it---and can stand up and move with only a few groans rather than a scream.