Mindless Meanderings of a Non-Productive Nature

US-301 Grasonville, Maryland
(Source)

As you might be able to tell, I'm not in a fiction writing mood today. I'm reading up on certain facets of the campaign before I go any further. That and I'm kinda stuck at "okay, we march up in lines and shoot at each other and a bunch of people die or get horribly injured." Or what I like to call "combat pr0n." Lots of running, shouting, shooting, and the like - but very little plot.

One could argue that the campaign itself is the plot, but if that's the case I should just write a history book. So I'm taking that "pause which refreshes."

Or you could call it, a "writer's block stand down."

Either way, no fiction today, gomen nasai.

That and I'm fixing to go on vacation for all of next week so my ability to focus on other things is a bit low.

I get to meet the newest member of the tribe at that time and catch up with his older brother as well. Haven't seen The Nuke's tribe since the beginning of the year, four months is a long time in the life of a little one. And young Roberto is growing by leaps and bounds, as is his kid brother Finn.

Sí, su nombre es Finn.

I have to admit, when The Nuke told me the name that she and Tuttle had chosen I was taken aback somewhat. I mean it's an Irish name, yeah? Those are good (as a matter of fact, those are awesome). But ...

Don't know if y'all are familiar with the TV series Breaking Bad, but one of the characters  in that show was a high school kid, name of Walter White Jr., the character was really annoying, at least to me. So was the character's mother, it took me two tries of watching the first couple of episodes before I could get past my annoyance with those two characters and actually watch the entire series. (Which I have done twice as of this post. Just finished the final season of Better Call Saul the other day as well, the Breaking Bad spinoff.)

Uh, Sarge, what's this got to do with the name Finn?

Ah, glad you asked. In one episode, Walter White Jr. decided that henceforth and forevermore he wanted to be called "Finn," not Junior, not Walter or Walt or some variant of his actual name. No.

Now Walter White Sr., one morning addresses his son as "Junior," which gets no response from the kid. So Walter's wife says, "He wants to be called Finn."

Now in my day ...

Yeah, yeah, grandpa, get over yourself.

Anyhoo, I just associated the name with that annoying TV character. No doubt a flaw in my character. Or something.

But I grew into the name, dontcha know?

According to this site: 

 

Finn is a boy’s name of Irish origin, meaning “fair.” Coming from the Irish Fionn, Finn was the anglicized name of a mythical Irish warrior and folklore hero. As a child, this little boy was blessed by the salmon of knowledge, giving him the wisdom and bravery to later, along with his followers, protect the king. Both intelligent and courageous, what little boy wouldn’t find inspiration in this mighty name? Literary lovers will also know this as the surname of Mark Twain’s classic character Huckleberry Finn. Oversees (sic), this name also boasts Scandinavian roots, in which it means "from Finland," giving a whole other perspective and roots for baby Finn to latch onto.

I'm not sure about the whole overseas "comes from Finland" thing, I mean in English we refer to someone from Finland as a "Finn." In German you'd say Finnländer, in French they'd say Finlandais, so the "Finn" thing, meaning someone from Finland is rather English. Finns don't refer to each other as Finns either. No, they're from Suomi, they are Suomalainen. But hey, I'm quibbling, as I like to do with languages.

Anyhoo, looking forward to the trip. The Nuke offered to fly us down but I like the drive, more or less. (The less being the western Connecticut, New York portion, which can be annoying on the good days, horrendous on the worst days.)

But being able to make that drive tells me that I'm still young enough to do it. When I dread it, I'll count myself as old.

Hey, three-score-and-ten is right around the corner. It's not just on the horizon, oh no, the tugs are hooked up and bringing that birthday into port as we speak. I can see the line handlers from my position.

But the alternative to getting old is ...

Well, not gonna go there. Found out today that three people I've worked with in the past at my current employer have all died fairly recently. Two of them younger than me!

You never know when your number might be up, all I can say is, "Enjoy the ride!"

Ciao!

This is me, enjoying the ride. 😎