For those of you that may have been wondering about my recent absence over this last month . . . Well, lets just say it's not a good thing, sadly enough.

On the one hand, I lost my main hard drive thanks to the recent streaks of "heat waves" that have been plaguing us here in the Willamete Valley area. I was fortunate in that most of my software packages were on CD. Unfortunately, most all of my data files were on the lost hard drive. That means a lot of re-building now that my system is up and running again. This, however, is the least of the problems.

She's lived a good life for 97 some odd years, but, as of a few weeks ago, my grandmother's kidneys have failed and she has gone terminal. Hospice has stepped in to start caring for her and keep her pain at a minimum, but they are giving her less than six more months to live. Needless to say, I've been on the road quite a bit over these last few weeks and will continue to be on the road until the end so that I can spend as much time visiting with her as possible.

As if that wasn't enough, my sister and I lost a dear friend this last week. Initial autopsy reports suggest it was of natural causes and, possibly, related to the heat we've been dealing with over the last few weeks. It's been a struggle to contact her family, but my sister and I have managed to do so.

With all that has happened as of late, I hope you all will forgive me if I'm not around much over the next few months. I'll be trying to poke my head in as much as I can to see what's happening and, as time permits, will be posting a new WIP meant for an upcoming gaming convention/story. I hope everyone is doing well and look forward to a full return to the Guild once things have settled down on the Real World front.

GW