Being A Failed Creative Is Much Less Expensive, Nowadays

My social world is widening, nowadays, and with it, an awareness that I could get back into writing slush-pile work by PDF publishing. My gaming group is now playing a sci-fi campaign, after a very long run of medieval fantasy. As the unofficial space/aviation lead geek, I've been tasked with making starship, vehicle, and construction designs. It's worked out better than expected. I've been learning a great deal about Roman history, for example, because one adventure required getting a road built. So, some low-quality, generic game aids could be written, and sold for $0.99 each. If it flops, no great loss. No longer do you have to spend your inheritance to get one bad game published (two kids in New Jersey did just that, with Gareth Micheal Skarka running the project). The bar can be raised for John Wick (remember that enfant terrible?) at an incredibly low cost, essentially just time spent. You'll love how I intend to do illustrations, artwork being what it is...

Not Getting Back In The Airplane...

One of the things that is most painful in life, is realizing new limitations. Tripped out as I am over my bicycle, I must reluctantly admit that I have no business getting back into a cockpit. I'm too old. The baseball statisticians, called sabermetricians, track player stats, and note when a player is past his prime. Albert Pujols is beginning his descent. I used to be a pretty good stick-and-rudder guy, but my reflexes and eyesight just won't cut it anymore. Additionally, with all the new restrictions, I can't go buzzing around VFR anymore without interrupting someones fundraiser. It is very hard to pull over at the next convenience store, to hit the latrine, in a small piston single. Arthur C. Clarke famously said that he would wait for the passenger space service to start, and I wholeheartedly agree with him. :)

7.8 MPH!

My average speed. That's 3.48 meters per second, a little over 0.01 Mach. Not the number I used to read, but it feels like Warp 7.8, all the same. The bike shop wizard fixed EVERYTHING. It rides magnificently. GREAT brakes. SMOOTH shifting. My action radius is now over 3 km. Hard to stop saying combat radius. The feeling of liberation on the bicycle is amazing. Additionally, I am now averaging 16 days between filling my gas tank. Problem: My reflexes are not what they used to be. I now have a Vne, Vs, and other limiting airspeeds. There is definitely a yellow range arc on the ASI. Anything above 20 statute, IAS, is redline on the ASI. Fortunately, this is a very forgiving bicycle, and my Vs is quite slow. That makes for a huge white arc on the ASI. Saddlebags are next.