Just a quick note to let the world know whazzup with our hero: me.
Read the rest of this entry »

I think the thing about writing is you are never, ever going to know if you REALLY have talent. And even if you sell something, well, maybe you used up your stockpile of ability on that one job. So in the end, you write because you HAVE TO, not for validation.

I suppose everyone who writes scripts thinks “Man, wouldn’t it be awesome if INSERT ACTOR played this part?”

Well, I’m no different. I can watch the following ladies and gentlemen in just about anything they do, because they just have that much talent.

So, without further ado:
Read the rest of this entry »

Well, I’m at home for the week due to some possible (but not likely) cardiac issues. As I operate Heavy Machinery, my doctors are a bit overly cautious when I begin to get dizzy and have chest pain. I explained to them that I had been feeling fine till the cocaine/hooker/donkey bender in Tijuana last weekend, but still they want me to take a stress test on Friday. So here I am and there you are reading the outpourings of my bored (but probably not broken), lonely heart.

In no particular order, some thoughts running through my mind like Haitian looters at a Sam’s Club:
Read the rest of this entry »

Since someone asked, a little note all about wonderful, fascinating me, my family, and our State of Affairs.

People joke about how early I go to bed. Usually around six in the evening. I am the ‘early to bed, early to rise’ archetype; still waiting on the wise part to kick in.

I leave the house around 5 am. It’s still dark most of the year. I bundle up in the winter because my Dodge Dakota doesn’t have heat. It does, however, have nearly 200K miles, and it shows. The ‘good’ car, a ’97 Lumina, went to my wife since I’d rather be cold/hot than my kids.

Some days at work I drive a truck. Those are the good days. Other days I work a shovel. Those are most days, at least lately. I work for The County, I am here to help.

Depending on the boss and location, most times we don’t start working till 6:30, and if the weather is real bad we try and wait it out. Sometimes we work in the pouring rain or blistering heat, though, because things simply need to get done.

The roads will not build themselves. The Gods will not save us.
Read the rest of this entry »

The Manifesto of Mike McLarty (If I Was Emperor)

There seems to be a lot of confusion as to my political stances and various viewpoints. In order to clarify my positions, I present you with this document which, hopefully, states in plain language what I would do were I to become Emperor for Life of the United Sates.
Read the rest of this entry »

The road we had been working on had seemed an eternal monster whose appetite for asphalt would never be quenched. The sun, ever a taskmaster, had been particularly cruel that day. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: if you find yourself on a road crew in Alabama during a hot summer day then something in your life has gone wrong.
Read the rest of this entry »

It’s just a bed, a sterile and thin model similar to those you see in hospitals. It’s not quite as imposing. It’s like a tiny version of a bully. “Don’t take me too seriously, pal,” it seems to be saying.

Still, it takes up the room, if not in size then in magnitude. It looks cold.

It was delivered yesterday. I’m glad I wasn’t here when it was.
Read the rest of this entry »