Timothy   Trimble

Image by WikimediaImages from Pixabay

One of my readers reached out to me about the Spotify Song List for Air Born, that is mentioned in the back of the book. Unfortunately, I had to remove it due to some discussions about the potential for lawsuits by some of the artists. So, in the next edition of Air Born, that page will no longer be there. However, I can post this list as my personally selected song list for each chapter of Air Born. Music can drive emotional response and I put a lot of thought into this list. You might think of your own list as well. Enjoy.

(All links are to the YouTube videos. Please let me know if any of the links are no longer valid.)

Yes, it has been fifteen months since I posted anything here. You would think that being out of work for this entire time would allow me to find some time to write a blog post. During this whole time, my primary focus has been on surviving. Surviving a lack of income, job searching, surviving three semesters of college, Covid-19, and then civil unrest. Whew! 

 

(Image by Joshua Woroniecki from Pixabay)

 

The keyword here is "Surviving!" I never would have thought we would have been able to get through the past fifteen months. Fortunately, something has always fallen into place at just the right time to keep us going. Book royalties, unemployment, selling of computer equipment, writing product reviews, loving support from friends and family, State funds for college, government stimulus check, and the extension of the State training benefits plus the government $600 kicker has kept food on the table and the power on. Through it all, I have managed to keep my head and not run around in circles in the front yard while waving my hands in the air. 

 

I'm in my last week of finals for school. The State has graciously agreed to pay my tuition and pay me to go back to school to get my Web Application Developer Certificate. And the folks at Edmonds College have been great! The only drawback has been my lack of time to write on Air Storm. So, with only another week to go, I'm looking forward to diving back into Air Storm while looking for some remote work as a web developer or technical writer. 

 

It has been a very challenging time for everyone. There have been friends lost to Covid, and there is a lot of contention among people and among governments. While I don't use this platform to promote my spiritual views as a Jehovah's Witness, I do look up to a higher authority, which drives my moral compass. (Which includes equality for all races, by the way.)

 

My best recommendation during these difficult times is to find your compass. Stay focused on your goals and your future. Don't let the predominant attitudes of others cloud your own focus. Remember the things that bring you joy and keep track of all the good that has happened to you and for you.

 

And very importantly - read some books! ;)

 

Life is what happens when you're making other plans.

That has been a moto of mine for many years. When I saw the movie Kuffs with Christian Slater and Milla Jovovich, and saw the phrase painted on a wall, I nodded my head and sunk it into my thinking. Adaptability! A major proponent to success is the ability to adapt to change. This is especially evident when loosing a major source of income. 

Yes, I was laid off from my major employeer last week. It was a major blow to my ego! After being with Averetek for almost eight years, thinking I was invaluable, and I would eventually retire from there - boom! Life is what happens...

(I'm going to miss this daily view.)

So, what am I going to do?

Adapt! This is not the first time I've been in this situation. A significant facit of adaptability is the ability to look at the positive site of the situation. I loved working for Averetek! I managed to establish a good reputation of loyalty, tenacity, down in the ditches troubleshooting skills, providing creative solutions, and good customer skills. Does that all end when the door closes behind me? Nope! I saw the opportunity to put on my freelancing hat. I would take those skills and relationships I've spent many years building, and I would continue to make myself available. Thank you Fiverr.com!

I bundled up my experience and skills into gigs on Fiverr.com and made those available to Averetek, it's clients, and to the client's customers. The gigs are there, waiting, sitting, being looked at.... (Tumbleweeds.)

Okay, yes, that looks a little slim. No purchased gigs yet. But, I'm not loosing hope. Instead of wasting time staring at the dashboard, I'm diving into my other opportunities. And those are? 

Writing!

Of course! Instead of placing all my expectations into a few gigs on Fiverr, I have a great opportunity for doing more of what I really love - writing. Not just creative writing, but technical writing, blog writing, product reviews, marketing campaigns, emails, adverts, social marketing, and articles. I AM A WRITER! HEAR ME ROAR! (Looks for "Roar", by Katy Perry.) I'm doing this via jobbing sites: 

• Writers Work : https://writers.work
• Pro Blogger : https://problogger.com/jobs
• Home Working Club : https://www.homeworkingclub.com

And the point is?

Stay positive! Roll with the changes! (Looks for "Roll With the Changes", by REO Speedwagon.) And you will be seeing more of me here, on various sites (Medium, Vocal Media, etc.) and more stories as well. 

And our final song for the day? "I'm Alright", by Kenny Loggins. 

 

 

I've always been a big proponent of efficiency, time management, goal setting, and striving for those goals. If it wasn't for this, I would not have been able to accomplish as much as I have. And I always enjoy sharing what I have learned with other writers who are trying to work full-time, raise a family, and find time to do their writing.

So, I'm very pleased to announce that my first article in a series has been published by Journal.Media. The article is called "Juggling Writing - How to Juggle Your Writing With a Real Life." Eventually this series of articles will become a future book. 

Please give it a read and feel free to let me know what you think.

 

 Undiscovered available for all eBook platforms!

 Thanks to the wonders of bookfunnel.com Undiscovered is now available for Kindle, iBooks, PDF, mobi, and epub formats. Which basically means just about any type of ereader can be used for reading it. Bookfunnel is a great service for providing the ability to download a book in multiple formats without me trying to play tech support for everyone who wants a copy of the book on their device. At $20 per year, it's pretty hard to beat. So, now I'm just waiting to hear which stories are liked by the readers. (Hint, hint.)

Subscription to Inside pi

I've set up a new signup page for subscribing to my regular newsletter, which is now called Inside pi. If you want to know why it's called this, you'll have to go to the sign up page and read about it. ;) Inside pi will provide me with a way to notify my fans and readers with new announcements, special discounts, news about events, and just stay in touch with them without having to blurt out everything to the entire world. So, if you want to stay in touch with what is going on in my writer world, please sign up. If you have entered your information for downloading Undiscovered, well, you're already on the list. 

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That's it for now. Short, brief, and to the point. Enjoy reading and keep those words flowing.