The View from Buzby Beach

  The question about whether to upgrade to Windows 11 is a moot point in my humble opinion. It will become necessary at some point if you use a Windows PC. Tonight, I am downloading and installing the update for my desktop computer. I already did so for my laptop some weeks ago. Why it became available for the laptop first, I do not really understand. Other than a different interface on the desktop screen when I go to shut down, I have not noticed much difference between 11 and 10. Granted, this could be because I am not a power user. Other than writing, updating my author related social media accounts, and shopping I don't actually do much on the computer. Windows 10 was always capable, or so I was told, of doing so much more than I called on it to do. I suspect Windows 11 will be even more so. As of this moment, 7% of the Windows 11 code has downloaded and this computer is asking to restart to continue. I will update this post as the upgrade progresses. Update: Progress was slow ...

  Yes, it's me again. Quick weather update. Last night it rained and at some point turned to freezing rain. There is a paper-thin layer of ice over everything outside. The snow part of this weather doubleheader is due to arrive around noon. The inclement weather, as I mentioned in my previous post, means the school building is closed today. It does not mean there is no school today. I am already in my writer's loft, which will today double as my virtual classroom, with Google Classroom and the Google Meet open. Why, you might ask, am I ready 2 hours ahead of time? That's a good question. When I think of a good answer, I'll let you know. The Google Meet with my students went well this morning. 23 out of 29 logged in over the course of the hour. I gave the daily work briefing every five minutes to ensure that they all heard it at least once. It is also posted on the Google Classroom stream. The students seemed to genuinely enjoy participating in the Meet. Several of them ...

 A week ago we were expecting an ice storm. This week we've been upgraded - sort of. This afternoon it started raining. It is still raining. The temperature has dropped from 50F to 36F and will continue dropping through the night. Eventually, after possibly dumping some freezing rain or sleet on us, this system will move off. Fear not, there is a second system coming. It is supposed to bring snow, freezing rain, sleet, more snow, and who knows what else. One major difference between this week and last week is that this week's foul weather is arriving on Thursday night. Because of the very real possibility of ice covered roads in the morning, my school is closed tomorrow. Let me rephrase the previous sentence. My school building is closed tomorrow. School will be in session - remotely. At 8:30 a.m., I will open my Google Classroom Google Meet and by 9:00 a.m. all my students are supposed to have joined the class for a briefing on what their online assignment are for the day. At ...

 The ice on the branches is from a past year's storm. The photo was taken in my backyard after a short stint of freezing rain moved through the area. We were fortunate in that instance because the buildup was minimal and the ice didn't bring down any power lines. Tonight, around midnight, we are expecting a more severe storm forecast to bring a wintry mix of mostly freezing rain to our area. The type of precipitation predicted has changed over the days leading up to now. Initially, we were told to expect 1 to 3 inches of snow. Then, a mix of snow, sleet, and freezing rain. Yesterday, just freezing rain. Last night, back to a mix of snow and freezing rain. Currently, the call is for freezing rain beginning overnight and lasting through tomorrow morning. It is supposed to change over to rain by noon tomorrow. With any luck, the temp will move up a smidge and all we'll get is rain.  

 The reflection above is of my phone taking a picture of my now defunct tablet.The screen on the tablet has quit working. I'm not sure what other harm may have come to the internal workings of the device in the fall. You see, I went and picked up my dog from the groomer and, upon arriving home, he managed to knock the tablet off the truck seat where I had thought it safe. The tablet fell several feet to the ground - I drive an F-250 - and now, it no longer functions. Tragically, the long-term warranty I purchased for it was for 12 months and I have owned the tablet for 13 months. As luck would have it, I have another tablet exactly like the tablet that no longer functions. They were both gifts two Christmases ago. The second one has been in use as a clock radio in my writing loft for the past 13 months. Now, it will become my go everywhere with me tablet. The conundrum is that I no longer have a clock radio in my loft. Not a real-world problem, no. I can still use the second, now p...

  I was working on revisions for my latest project, My Best Friend and the Princess , and listening to the Air Supply channel on SiriusXM when the song in the video above came on. As I listened to the song, I realized it was the perfect song to describe the moment in my first book, River Dream , when Rhiannon - the main antagonist, realizes she can no longer deny her love for Michael - the main protagonist. The song almost perfectly describes the emotional and mental efforts Rhiannon went through during the years of their friendship to keep herself from admitting the true depths of her feelings for Mike. Considering I wrote River Dream more than ten years ago, and the song had been around for a while at that time, I wonder why it wasn't until this morning did I realize how well the song fit the story. I suppose there is a playlist that could be compiled to accompany most every novel. I know I've made lists of songs I thought went well with this and other stories. The obvious s...

  If you stayed up last night to see in the New Year, you're one up on me. The missus and I were in bed asleep before 10:30 p.m. I was awakened by the multitude of fireworks set off around the neighborhood at what I assume was midnight but did not bother to check the clock. When it comes to New Year's, I am a self-confessed curmudgeon. It has been a good many years since I bothered to stay up to watch the ball/bear/acorn/opossum, or whatever else drop at midnight in New Year's Eve. The event, other than signifying the start of a new tax year, carries very little meaning for me. Perhaps that stems from working as a teacher these last 20 years. My new year begins in August. It could also be that climate change has something to do with it. Being located all my life as I have been in the Northern Hemisphere I expect this time of year to be cold, or at least cool. Temperatures in the mid-70s on New Year's Day, while pleasant, are not seasonal for this area and do nothing to ...