OK, Where is He THIS Time?

Or, This Year is Off to a Bang-Up Start

You'd be more than justified in wondering what's going on around here, since it's been a couple of weeks now since you've heard from us. In point of fact, you haven't seen a new issue of the blog since we reported that a couple of folks were stealing our photography and claiming it (by default, if nothing else) as their own; that sort of thing could easily lead you to believe that we've folded the tent in disgust, but that's not the way we are or will ever be. Nope; there are other circumstances causing this temporary lapse in publication. We're blessed with an extremely loyal readership, so an explanation is in order. Here's what's going on:

First, there's the software issue with those photos. We've found a pip of a system that will allow us to deal with the whole piracy thing in a highly-efficient manner but it's not installed just yet, for reasons that will become clear in a moment. We're loath to run more photos from anybody's collection (not counting public domain) until that problem is resolved but still, we've got resolution pending. All we have to do is do it.

That takes us to The Second Thing You Need to Know. Jenny and I are off on an adventure to improve our home situation, and it's one of those time-consuming things. It's a lame excuse at best, but the simple fact of the matter is that we (I) just haven't had the time to do a blog. (Just so you know, it normally takes six to eight hours out of any given week for us to crank out an issue, which makes that whole photography-theft thing even more galling---Yes; we're annoyed about that!)

The Third Thing You Need to Know is that our computer (an almost new device) decided to go Tango Uniform three days ago, and we just haven't had the time to replace the card that's failed because of that Second Thing You Needed to Know (in conjunction with The Fourth Thing You Need to Know, which we haven't gotten to yet). It's our intention to get up and running again next week. In the meantime, we're doing this installment on a borrowed laptop. Please be patient. (And in that same vein, we haven't been able to check our e-mails either. If you've written to us, please rest assured that you're not being ignored. It's a technical issue and nothing more!)

And speaking of "patients", we're now ready to discuss The Fourth Thing You Need to Know. Your humble editor experienced what some folks might call "a minor medical event" on Christmas Night, the end result of which was a visit to a not-so-local emergency room and overnight incarceration in that facility. We're going back in for Final Repair early next week. It's not a major thing, but it's a Thing nontheless and has to be dealt with.

So let's get back to the reason you haven't seen an issue of our publication lately. To sum up, we've been sick, we've been busy, our computer's been broken, and we're still dealing with The Picture Pirates. All of those things should be resolved shortly, at which time we'll be back in the saddle with a vengeance. In the meanwhile, please accept our apologies for the temporary lack of new material. We'll be back Good As New before you know it!

May you all have the happiest of New Years, and we WILL meet again soon! In the meanwhile, be good to your neighbor.
phil