Season's Greetings

            I could write some deep, philosophical blog, or perhaps some nonsensical banter. Perhaps a short review, or some lengthy discussion on D&D or some other game. I could dig up some anecdote from my past, or ramble on about the future, yet none of that seems apt for today.

            Today, regardless of who you are, or what your beliefs, I would like to wish you a happy holiday season. If you’re spending time with friends and family, I hope you get along and have a great time – and if you’re not, I hope it’s because you’re happier that way, or that you at least engage in some activity that makes you happy.

            It’s a time of year full of celebration, but also one where the weather or old memories cause a great deal of depression or sadness. If you are such a person to be afflicted by such things, I’d like to remind you (because it’s easy to forget) that not all times are bad, and this, too, shall pass. I wish you the most cheery time you can manage and hope that the hard times pass sooner rather than later.

            I hope you all have a wonderful midwinter feast and joyous times, be they from games with friends or some quality time with a good book. Be kind to yourself and to others – that goes for the whole year round, too.

            And greetings to you from Salt, Pepper, Cinnamon, Ginger, Nutmeg, Oregano, Parsley, and all the other seasonings.

Check out my YouTube channel where I tell the stories of my D&D campaigns.

Click here to find the charity anthology containing a couple of my short stories.

Also, make sure you check out my wife's blog and her website.


If there's any subject you'd like to see me ramble on about, feel free to leave a comment asking me to do so.

Economic Insights

            ‘Tis the season of sales, a joyous time when a wide variety of items may be purchased for a fraction of their cost. Of course, most people are too delighted by the sales to stop and think about what the sales actually mean.

            When purchasing that wonderful item with the 50% off tag, it’s hard to think about anything other than how lucky you are. However, if you pause to consider the implications of that discount, you may come to realise that the store you are buying from is still making a profit. Not as much profit as before, but a profit, none the less.

            The fact is that most products in stores have at least a 100% markup from the wholesale price. This means that if you’re buying something for $100, the store paid $50 for it. This might seem unreasonable and horribly unfair, but it’s a necessity for the economy. When you purchase from a store, you aren’t only paying for the item – you’re paying for the space it has in the store, its availability in the store, the other items in the store that never sell, heating and power for the store, employee wages, and, of course, C.E.O. and investor income. That’s on top of the shipping and manufacturing costs.

            However, taking that all into account, sales still happen – and turn a profit. How? Increased sales. If a store buys ten of something and only sells half, at a 100% markup they are only breaking even. On the other hand, if they throw it on sale, people come in droves and all ten sell – perhaps they sell for less, but they sell for enough to turn a profit.

            Yet, what we see are the sales – a chance to save a few dollars. But, we aren’t really saving money, are we? We’re just paying less than we’re used to, when we’re paying for the excessive number of items produced. If we really wanted to save money, we’d refine the system to produce what is needed. We’d cut down on waste, excessive profits, and everyone would save money (making the people earning the excessive profits less desperate to have so much money).

            What I think would help the most, though, is if everything we purchased had a breakdown of where the money is going – like the nutritional information on food. That way we’d see where our money was really going. I bet that would really quickly change what people (who can be bothered) are willing to spend money on.

Click here to find the charity anthology containing a couple of my short stories.

Also, make sure you check out my wife's blog and her life coaching website.


If there's any subject you'd like to see me ramble on about, feel free to leave a comment asking me to do so.

Aren't Allergies Fun?

            Allergy season has come again. Funny, isn't it, how there are multiple allergy seasons? It’s a little unfair, too, to those of us who suffer from them.

            I've had a myriad of minor allergies since I was very young. I remember lying awake some nights, hardly able to breathe because my nose was congested and my throat was closing on me. When I was tested for allergies, the tests showed I had a sensitivity to... well, just about everything. No serious allergies, for which I'm grateful, but a minor sensitivity to just about everything in the natural world – grass, trees, pollen, dust, cats, perfumes, milk, wheat... I don’t even know everything that was on the list, it was so long.

            Luckily for me, spending several years on a rotation diet and growing older have lessened the severity of my allergies, but every now and then they hit me – and hard. In the past week I've been sneasing regularly, with litters of 3-15 sneezes at a time. I've single-handedly gone through three boxes kleenexes in a week.

            I've always felt that the timing of allergy seasons was notoriously unfair as well. I mean, the first one of the year is springtime, and it usually isn't too bad, but it meant that my nose was running and making me feel miserable for the first good weather of the year.

            The second season hits in late June. The end of the school year. Have you ever tried to write exams with your nose dripping onto the paper? Naturally, the third season arrives around now – just about the right time to go back to school. It was many years that I sat through the first couple weeks of classes, trying to discreetly wipe my nose (blowing my nose was out of the question, as I've always made it a point to be as silent as possible when around other people).

            Throw into the mix any colds that could be caught during the winter... well, I needn't say more.

            So, as I sit here blowing my nose and trying not to rub my eyes that are so itchy I want to gouge them out, I can’t help thinking about all the other people out there suffering as I am (or worse). To them, all I can do is tell them the same thing that the doctor told my father-in-law when my sister-in-law swallowed a dime when she was a baby (there was no good way to say that): This, too, shall pass. (Don't look at me; it wasn't my joke.)

Click here to find the charity anthology containing a couple of my short stories.

If there's any subject you'd like to see me ramble on about, feel free to leave a comment asking me to do so.