This post will be updated throughout the day and evening, if I’m lucky and manage to stay away before exhaustion whacks me upside the head while at my desk.
So far, we have a new class!
Note: It may be posted, but *grimace*, it didn’t upload all the cleanliness the original writing had. I’ll have to go back and fix that.
Stay safe, readers!
-JB Swift
With the end of Labor Day, it’s back to the routine of slinging letters and attempting to write in the wee hours of the night for me. None of us were particularly happy about the routine coming back (I wasn’t the only one groggy this morning; poor kids aren’t ready for coffee yet) but we’ll soon be comfortable with it again. Han forgot to keep a look out for her weather photo-request, so she asked me at the drop-off to spot a good one for posting.
I did get some progress done with writing before I passed out at the desk. Not as much as I prefer, but I did get the new class finished. It’s still a draft and needs to be gone over and play-tested, but I’ll post it today for perusal (criticism is welcome, so let me know what needs fixing)!
Most of yesterday was spent in hyperfocused house-spouse mode, which meant that the areas I was cleaning were taken down to almost bedrock and scoured. Doing so helped me find an old, old treasure: a medallion I haven’t worn in well over 10 years.
As I have a little extra time before the letter slinging begins, I’ll see about getting some more notes in. Namely, I want to get a Prestige Class a little more filled out.
Today will also be an early day, as I have to pick up my son from his school and help him in his afternoon routine (again, he’s not happy about it, but he’s getting there), so I might, just might, get that chapter posted. My parents did say I was ambitious.
Stay safe out there, readers.
-JB Swift
If you’re a reader in the United States, you’re reading this on our National Holiday: Labor Day. That means that you’re most likely enjoying a day off from work. If that is true, you should thank a Union.
To provide some history, we’re celebrating a tradition that became national within the U.S. in 1894 and was spearheaded by the trade unions and labor movements of that time, namely the Central Labor Union and the Knights of Labor.
(Yes, I’m paraphrasing from the Wikipedia article. It’s my day off; I’m allowed to be lazy)
In the modern day, at least here in the United States, unions are given a dichotomous and ironic standing with the citizenry. Growing up in a conservative state, you’d think I’d have been told to join and support unions. After all, the union is the organization of the working class to combat the predatory aims of the (stereotyping here) more educated management and company leaders.
Sadly, this is not the case. I’m considered by many of my fellow citizens to be a crazed liberal and I’m one of the few pro-union folks around in my area. This is because the last 20-30 years of workers have not been in unionized jobs, nor were they given education on why unions are important. They’ve also seen moments when a union can be turned against those people outside of the specific union, resulting in corrupt people who need to be fired being protected by the very rules and contracts meant to keep them from being fired for frivolous reasons.
It’s imperfect and frustrating.
For today, however, we thank the unions of the nation for providing us a day when the working class should be able to relax, enjoy their time with their families, and not be expected to break their backs for their bread.
For this union man, that means a ton of chores, playing with the kids, and eventually plunking away at the keyboard during the evening.
Happy Labor Day, readers. Stay safe out there.
-JB Swift
She’s a beautiful woman and I like to brag about that. Now, getting a picture of her? That’s the challenge.
It’s morning in Louisiana and I’m still riding the high of a good RPG Arc Finale.
The story turned out as good as I could hope for, and the players were excellent in their choices and acting. Having a good team of people who actively want to help the GameMaster give them a good story is just an awesome mindset to be in. I’m going to be taking time off from the day-job soon, so I’ll be in a unofficial writing retreat to get the stories written.
But as it’s Sunday, it’s a day dedicated to house maintenance and preparing for the week ahead. If the weather holds, that also means yard work.
I’m trying to convince myself that I can’t avoid mowing the yard if it’s possible today, but I have to admit that I just don’t want to be out there. I’ve been in the weather all week; I can focus on my indoor chores first, right?
The evening will be dedicated to notes and calculating the Field Groups’ rewards, both in experience and inventory. They also came to a consensus and asked for an additional Arc instead of a Time-Skip, so we now have 18 Arcs in the Timeline.
Arc 3 is now from 1 ABY-2 ABY, titled “Wartime Diaries”. The majority of the Group will be handling battles within the Rebellion Era of this time. I’ve planned ahead on that and have inspirational sources for reading. Namely my World War I books and “All is Quiet on the Western Front”.
Ominous? Possibly. But it’ll make for a good story, I promise.
With that, I’m off to house-spouse. Have a good Sunday, readers. Stay safe out there.
-JB Swift
The long-anticipated Main Arc session is today, readers! For a couple hours this evening, I’ll be at my desk and talking to players across the United States, giving them scenery, dialogue, and presenting challenges for them to overcome.
So of course, there were multiple heavy storms throughout the day!
I managed to dodge the majority of the rain during the first part of the day, but with Louisiana, the end of a storm brings hordes of mosquitoes out of the grass. At one point, I had to tell a customer I couldn’t stop to answer her questions because “there is a cloud of mosquitoes following me and you need to get inside before they sense you.”
But then 5PM rolled around and the bottom fell out of the sky.
With it being such a sudden storm, I was caught off-guard and drenched. I ended the shift waterlogged and freezing, which was odd all by itself with the upper-80 degree heat. I made it home, changed, saw to the kids, and am making ready for the session.
With the kids asleep, food eaten, it’s time to get my notes and dice together. The Field Group is assembling and they’ll be anxious to step into the session.
Wish them luck, readers! Stay safe!
-JB Swift
After a 2-hour stint of wakefulness at 1:45AM, I managed to get a little extra sleep before the chaos of the morning took over. After moving the recently spayed cats (man, but they do not take well to other cats after that procedure) to their preferred resting spots and getting the kids ready, we sauntered out to meet the day.
I have a feeling that Labor Day is going to be spent mostly on rest and recovery, as my body is telling me all about the various aches and pains that the past week has inflicted. The Kung Fu training is helping with that and keeping me functioning, but it’s becoming more apparent as time goes by that my 20’s are in the past.
Grumblings about physical ailments aside, it’s the day before the Main Arc session for the Star Wars Field Group. This being the Finale of the Arc, I’ve been excited about giving them a good story and nervous that it won’t be an entertaining challenge. That’s a good kind of worry, as it tells me I have good players at my table. In keeping with the timeline, I’m debating splitting Arc 2 into two half-arcs so there wouldn’t be a large time-skip. I’ll go over my notes and see what can be done.
For now, however, there’re letters to sling and a storm to outrun.
Stay safe, readers!
-JB Swift
With summer over and the school year in full swing, a time period unbeknownst to non-postmen has begun: Heavy Season.
In the United States, there are a great number of National and Religious holidays in the later parts of the year, while the beginning of the following year is dedicated to Tax Season. For the postman, these two time periods are lumped into one.
The mail will double, if not triple, in volume and weight, from September to April.
I’m of two minds for the Heavy Season. In one mind, I take pride that I’m part of the system that keeps communication within the country functioning. I’m happy to be one of the people that my fellow citizens can look to when they need their letters and parcels shipped across the country.
In the other mind, damn but this part of the year is exhausting, especially with the walking route.
I’m way too tired for the evening writing, so it’ll be an early night for me. At least, I say that before I wake up an 2AM and remember to do whatever it is I need for tomorrow’s shift. Frustrating, but it’s a part of the struggling-writer life to have a day that writing just doesn’t happen. But as Friday isn’t a ‘running day’, I can pack the tablet to work and whittle away at the writing during my lunch and 10-minute breaks.
With that, I’m off to bed for a few hours. Before I go, a snapshot of the Old Men napping behind my desk chair.
Good night, readers. Stay safe.
-JB Swift
Swift's Corner 