Kyle Pratt's Blog: Musings & Rantings, page 2

Christmas Special

I think you’d enjoy Christmas in Time.

Christmas in Time by authors from the Inklings. Available on Kindle. Click on the graphic.

Christmas in Time takes a new look at the holiday through the imaginations of seven authors. From Judea on that very first Christmas to England, Japan, and the United States, Christmas in Time explores love, faith, and hope through the eyes and hearts of ordinary people.

 The anthology started as a summer conversation among my author friends. Did we want to write a book of Christmas short stories? Could we write Christmas stories during the heat of summer? Would we make any money on the endeavor? The conclusion was yes, maybe, and probably not. In the end, six authors joined with me in creating Christmas in Time—a literary labor of love for the season.

The ebook version of Christmas in Time is on special now for only 99 cents.

Click on the following links to read my author bio, or to read more about my faith.

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Follow me on Parler

I’ve been hearing reports of people being censored, taken down, and “fact-checked” on Twitter. For the record, none of those things have ever happened to me. However, in the past, most of my tweets have been business-related, and I probably have too small of an audience for them to care.

These last few years, I’ve spoken more freely about my political views. While I’m probably still too small for Twitter to care about, I plan on growing—and I don’t like bullies or people who look down on me or my beliefs. That seems to be what Twitter has become. So, I’m moving all of my political content and some of my business content to Parler.

If you like conservative, Judeo-Christian, and pro-American content, that the people at Twitter probably hate, please follow me on Parler by clicking on one of the links or the graphic.

Does anyone know a good alternative to Facebook?

Click on the following links to read my author bio, or read more about my political views.

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Trump and the Military

(A friend of mine, Julie McDonald, writes a column for my local paper, The Chronicle. On September 6th her column criticized President Trump for calling members of the military losers. The President has vehemently denied making the comment and I believe him. After talking with Julie, I wrote this as a rebuttal to her column. The Chronicle chose not to print it.)

Military veterans and those who died deserve respect. That was the headline of Julie McDonald’s column on September 6th. I believe and support those words and expected to agree with Julie as I read her column. My expectations changed quickly.

President Donald Trump at Arlington

Julie writes that according to an article in The Atlantic magazine President Trump referred to Marines who perished during the battle of Belleau Wood as losers. What she fails to include in her column is that the article was anonymous and that the owner of the magazine, Laurene Powell Jobs, has donated over $600,000 to the Biden campaign.

There is more reason to doubt the truthfulness of the magazine article. John Bolton was in the room at the time the president allegedly uttered the comment. Since that day, Bolton has lost his position with the Trump administration and written a tell-all book of his time working with the president. However, he states, “According to what that article said, the president made disparaging remarks about soldiers and people buried in the cemetery … that was simply false.” John Roberts of Fox News states that Bolton has said, “If he had heard the president make the remarks, he would have devoted an entire chapter of his book to them.”

Julie McDonald states the Associated Press corroborated the account. Here is the significant paragraph in their report. “The allegations were first reported in The Atlantic. A senior Defense Department official with firsthand knowledge of events and a senior U.S. Marine Corps officer who was told about Trump’s comments confirmed some of the remarks to the Associated Press, including the 2018 cemetery comments.” Notice that the AP corroboration refers back to the anonymous Atlantic article. Furthermore, no source is named in the AP article. What we have here is an anonymous corroboration of the anonymous Atlantic article.

Julie McDonald cites President Trump calling John McCain a loser in 2015 and this is true. The two certainly didn’t like each other, but this “loser” comment was in reference to his loss of the presidential election. Here is the Trump quote, “And I supported him for president! I raised a million dollars for him. That's a lot of money! I supported him. He lost. He let us down. But he lost. So I never liked him much after that, because I don't like losers.”

President Trump has shown his support of the military by signing legislation such as the Veteran Treatment Court Coordination Act of 2019, and the Ryan Kules and Paul Benne Specially Adaptive Housing Act of 2019, and has expanded veteran rights and options by signing the Mission Act of 2018, giving the Veterans Administration an additional 5.2 billion dollars to, “ensure every veteran has the choice to seek care at the VA or at a private service provider of their own choice.”

More than talk, these make real improvements in the lives of military veterans. Beyond those actions, Trump has worked to bring the troops home from endless wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, and, Syria. Saving the lives of service people shows true respect. That is why this retired navy veteran will vote to reelect President Trump.

Click on the following links to read my author bio, or read more about my political views.

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In Days Gone By

As I mentioned in the previous blogpost, my Internet service is down. In the past, this would have been annoying and inconvenient, but I could get work done. I’d still need to be on the Internet, but in those pre-COVID times, I’d spend several hours a day at my local Starbucks. As I’d answer reader emails, do research, and drink hot chocolate, my head would start an over-caffeinated buzz, but the needed work would get done. However, most restaurant-style businesses in Washington State remain closed to inside dining. The library is also closed.

Several friends suggested I lean against a Starbucks or library building with my computer on my lap. One even suggested that I place a cap beside me and make some extra money. I rejected those ideas.

Kyle Pratt in Studio Four

Then, I recalled The Station Coffee Bar in Centralia. While it is similar to a Starbucks, the building is spacious. Even before we knew about social distancing, customers could maintain it—and they have great Wi-Fi. I called. They were open.

The next day Jennifer, my co-host on the All Things Indie podcast, called and offered me the keys to Studio Four. The studio is actually a small room next to her husband’s office. In pre-COVID times we used the room to record All Things Indie. Now we do the show from our homes. However, Studio Four offers fine Wi-Fi with no head buzz. Thank you, Jennifer!

So, if I’m slow to answer your email or your question on Facebook it’s probably because I’m still alternating between The Station and Studio Four.

How has the pandemic changed your work life? Let me know in the comment section below.

Click on the following links to read my author bio, or to read more of my thoughts about the pandemic.

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The Internet is down – Again

Actually, I know it’s just me, but these times are aggravating and the annoyance makes me prone to exaggeration.

I’m not exaggerating about this—you may see some strange things from me in the coming days. There never seems to be a good time for things to go wrong, but this might have been the worst.

My Internet connection has been down for five days now. On the day it failed I was in the middle of moving much of my online marketing from one company to another. I have no idea what those half-moved projects will look like.

I live in the country and all offsite services, such as electricity, satellite television, and Internet, go down more often than they do in the cities. Internet outages can happen several times a year. Usually, I just wait for the service to come back online. But this evening I wanted to finish the move to the new marketing service company so I called Dish the satellite television company that handles my Internet service.

The cheerful customer service representative told me that Dish was in the process of leaving the Internet business and that I would need to find a new provider.

“Why didn’t you tell me ahead of time?” I asked.

I expected the Dish representative to say that they had notified customers and that I had somehow missed it, but he didn’t. After a long pause, he simply said, “I’m sorry about that.”

I then called CenturyLink, the only real provider in this rural area. Dish had leased space on CenturyLink’s fiber and copper lines.

After I explained my situation, the CenturyLink employee seemed eager to help. We were soon discussing options. As they wrote down my information, I couldn’t help wondering why someone from CenturyLink didn’t phone and get this process started sooner. I guess they knew I would call eventually. The cheerful customer service representative concluded by telling me my service should be restored in ten days. 

If you have used Dish or CenturyLink let me know how your experience has been in the comment section below.

Click on the following links to read my author bio, or read more about current writing projects.

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Weird 2020

Click to enlarge

Every so often, something happens that reminds me what a strange year 2020 has been. This mental prod has flashed in my brain during Zoom family gatherings, during socially distant critique meetings, and when I’m asked to remove my mask as I walk into the bank. I never thought I’d enter a bank wearing a mask but this is a weird year.

On a recent breezy but warm day, my wife hung the wash on the line. I walked by and couldn’t resist taking this picture of a variety of masks hung out to dry. Just another sign of how weird this year continues to be.

What has been a weird 2020 moment for you? Let me know in the comments section below.

Click on the following links to read my author bio, or to read more of my thoughts about the pandemic.

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Buy Them All

At one low price.

Last month I offered review copies of Through Many Fires for free in exchange for an honest review. If you like that first book of the Strengthen What Remains series but don’t have the other books, now is your chance to resolve that problem.

For the first time ever the entire award-winning and bestselling Strengthen What Remains series is being offered at one very low price. The entire series is normally available as an ebook boxset for $8.99, and that’s less expensive than buying the ebooks individually.

Click on the graphic for a list of online outlets

But I’ve dropped the price again. All five ebooks (the complete boxset) are available now and through the rest of September for only $4.99. So, if you’ve been thinking about reading the entire series, now is the time act. This is a limited time offer.

Is there a book of mine you’d like to see discounted? Let me know in the comment section below.

Click on the following links to read my author bio, or read more about current writing projects.

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First Fruits

Harvest time is mostly in September.

The first of the apple harvest (Click to enlarge)

At least that has been true for our area of the Pacific Northwest. However, Chehalis Apples, a local variety, produced an abundant amount of fruit and, some of it started to fall to the ground more than a week ago.
We tasted the fruit and it was sweet. So, we started harvesting. This is a picture of me with the first of four tubs of just Chehalis Apples. We also have Honey Crisp, Liberty, Gala, Granny Smith, and Yellow Delicious that are not yet ready for harvest.

My wife has been making apple sauce and apple juice with what we have. We’ve also begun harvesting black and blue berries. It looks like this winter will be a time of many pies.

Click on the following links to read my author bio, or read more about my life on the farm.

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Cynicism in the year 2020

I will never forget the year 2020.

Many years into the future I’ll still recall and talk about this strange year. As I have lived through it my thoughts about politicians and COVID have changed.

Your face mask is a tin foil hat. (Click to enlarge.)

Early this year the little teriyaki restaurant I enjoy had a fire that forced it to shut down for repairs. Just when they were ready to reopen the governor closed them down. They were a non-essential service in the age of COVID. However, the pot shop in town remained open.

This is the year that parks and beaches were closed because, in the age of COVID, they were non-essential. We must maintain social distance, the governor told us, even as people crowded into Walmart and other big box stores.

This is the year that the governor closed the churches because, in the age of COVID, they were non-essential. Any gathering, even those as small as five people were prohibited in order to ensure social distancing. However, the local abortion clinic remained open. According to the governor, that was essential.

The police have ordered the closure of several churches that have dared to open their sanctuaries to groups, even as larger groups riot and loot unhindered in Seattle and other major cities. Now we are told defunding the police is a good idea.

Earlier this year health officials told us masks weren’t helpful and if worn incorrectly, might even be harmful. Now we are told they are essential.

I don’t know if I’m as cynical as the author of the sign pictured here but I’m getting closer every day.

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The Hamilton Sign

When I wrote the previous blogpost mentioning the Hamilton billboard I had no idea my next post would discuss it in even more detail. Those that live in this area are familiar with the billboard next to the freeway. Commonly called the Hamilton Sign, it has been controversial since it was first erected on the Hamilton farm in the 1960s.

Our Cancel Culture

The Hamilton Sign from the south

Liberals have judged it to be hateful, homophobic, and racist. I’ve never seen any of that, only consistently conservative slogans and saying. However, in this age where any speech that does not conform to progressive norms is deemed hateful, such a sign will be attacked.

The court battles to remove the sign ended years ago and the Hamilton family won. So, when I heard that a petition had gathered thousands of signatures to remove the sign I was both skeptical and not worried. Free speech has long been a hallmark of this country.

But this is a time of tearing down, vandalizing, and riot, the rumors of a mass protest did concern me.

National News

Sheriff Rob Snaza

I believe that God hears our prayers so, on Monday, when asked by a group of local citizens to meet and pray for peace in our community, I agreed. Those prayers were offered up at the front door of Napavine City Hall and other places around our small town. We left that evening hopeful our community would not become national news.

Tuesday, the day of the rumored demonstration, no protesters presented their petition and no demonstrators threatened the Hamilton sign. I don’t know why the protested stayed away, but more than a hundred residents came to protect the sign. Our local sheriff, Rob Snaza, spoke to the crowd. “We do allow peaceful assembly. It’s a first amendment right.” Later he added, “I’ve made it very clear that if someone goes onto the property, on the Hamilton property, without permission, they’re going to get arrested.” He stated again that he supported peaceful protests, but would not allow violence.

By the next morning, the sheriff’s remarks had become national news.

What kept the protesters away; perhaps it was the power of prayer or the comments of the sheriff. Perhaps it was both. I don’t know, but thankfully the community has remained peaceful.

Click on the following links to read my author bio, about life in Lewis County, or more about my life on the farm.

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