Gren 71 Checking in

[Grendal_71]

Hello All,

It's been some time (too long in fact) since I have poked my head in around here....In fact, I daresay most folks probably don't remember me as it has been a little over a year and a half since I've even checked in....My last post stated I expected to (shortly) deploy out to parts far east and for a relatively unknown amount of time.

Well, obviously I made it back in one piece and am in fact working to head back out again in a few more months...Ah, the life of government service!

There have been a number of very positive developments in my life...my better half and I have had another child, this time a needy little man-cub. (we're a happy family of four...five counting the fat useless feline in our house).  The boy was born  half-way thourgh my last deployment, and is days away from crawling all over the house.  At the moment he drools, gabbles, spits up on Mom, and puts everything in his mouth. I'm enjoying coming home at a decent time everyday, and have been busy coaxing a few tomatoes and peas out of our very amateurish vegetable garden.  The aforementioned useless cat has done absolutely nothing towards chasing any rabbits anyway, so I am reduced to chasing stupid little bunnies around the backyard and giving them my best war-cry.  The wife and 4 year old daughter are mortified, so at least I have that added feature to make me laugh.

Writing?....sadly, I have done VERY little (ok, almost none) since I last checked in.  I thought I might have a few minutes while on deployment to write a little bit.....Ha!  hardly.  The life of a communications guy is never slow...even when everything working optimally (which is all too rare), I still find myself explaining why some things are EXTERMELY impossible to senior staff member ("No sir, you can't send a text message from a tactical radio to commercial cell phone...can't be done ).  Working with my Navy brethren was a great time too.  There's nothing like an unexpected 0300 shipboard power loss in the server room to send me and my troops doing the 300meter sprint though darkened passageways in a vain attempt to get to our servers before the UPS's fail, the servers crash, and all network services cease....I've still got the scars from my collisions with the blasted bulkheads.....doing tactical comms ashore is SO much easier!

Anyways, I probably still won't have time to knock around like before, but I do plan on making an effort to at least say "hi" every once in a while.   I hope all is well with the regular folks, and my best wishes to all.  I will send a special thanks out to Uncle Yuan...in addition to being a great guy and soon to be great doctor, he also made a big effort to stay in touch with me during the deployment.  He's a great friend.

Blessings to all

-Gren out

[ow_tiobe_sb]

'Tis good to hear your update and to know yourself is hale and hearty.  The ever-expanding family also sounds promising. :)  I fear you've been writing to one of my dead e-mail accounts, so I apologise for my lack of communication.  :oops:

'Tis grand to have you back, even if it be part-time and merely for a short time. :)

ow_tiobe_sb
Phantom Bunburyist and Fop o' th' Morning

[catwhowalksbyhimself]

Good to hear from you Gren. Missed having you around.  Glad to hear all is going well.

[Alaric]

Welcome back!

[The Phantom Eyebrow]

Welcome back Gren!

Sorry that you're not writing so much now but it's great to hear from you!   :D

[Glitch Girl]

Hey Gren, glad you made it back okay.  Congratulations on the new addition.  :)

[Protomorph]

Good to see you hale and hearty! Don't be a stranger...at least no stranger than the rest of us.
:lol:

[Grendal_71]

Many thanks to all!  It's good to see so many familiar faces....er.....avatars.....eh, whatever.

Still enjoying time at the house, though I am doing more than my fair share of diaper duty!  I guess I can't (by "can't" I actually mean "better not") complain.  One of the good things about being a comms type guy is that I knew within just a few hours about the the birth. 

As a result of the merciless harangue...um....encouragement of my wife and a few other friends, I am starting to sit back down and peck at the keyboard.  Obviously, I want to finish the old "Powerslide" story I started, but I'm also feeling the itch to go back to a short story I did for another fiction challenge some time ago as well.

Thanks again for the well wishes!

-Gren out

[Uncle Yuan]

As a result of the merciless harangue...um....encouragement of my wife and a few other friends, I am starting to sit back down and peck at the keyboard.  Obviously, I want to finish the old "Powerslide" story I started, but I'm also feeling the itch to go back to a short story I did for another fiction challenge some time ago as well.

:smacks baseball bat into palm:

Yeah, sure, "encouragement!"  Dat's all dis is, "encouragement!  Now breakin' fingers don't make no sense, butcha don't need kneecaps ta type!

[BlueBard]

Welcome back!

(And not just because you might favor us with another tale to astonish...)  ;)

Congratulations on the newest member of your clan, too.