Labor day for the laborless
by Richard PerkinsHappy Labor Day one and all, from those of us who are sadly, still laborless.
No interviews last week. One of the leads I was following in geothermal energy wrote back to tell me they wouldn’t be doing any hiring for the next six months at least. Another solar PV lead I’ve been working on has decided to delay any new hire activity for another month, for the second month in a row. Evidently their new president is making some hard decisions about what development efforts to focus on and what they can abandon, given the continuing uncertainty in the investment tax and R&D tax credits for the renewable energy industry.
So in the ongoing effort to find the bright side, that means more free time for me. I’ve replayed most of my library of XBOX games at least twice now. Last week I attended a two day intensive training seminar on solar PV installation, which was fairly interesting. It was held in Oakland, my first trip that far up the East Bay. I’ll probably sign up for the next level training seminar offered at the end of the month by the same company. The level two course focuses on design of roof and ground mounted solar PV installations. The training will provide some useful skills to have, whether I end up working in renewable energy product design or in renewable energy power station construction.
I did manage to spend a little time writing this week as well. I’m buried in Chapter 13 still, trying to write my way through a bit of a turning point with the Prophets and the Doormakers while laying the groundwork for future interaction between these two factions. I’ve also been thinking about doing some sideline world building scenes. I might write a walking tour of Guardian Village or a detailed physical description of a few of my characters as background. I don’t think any of the writing would end up in the book, but it may help me build a more solid picture in my head to draw on as I write other scenes.
Or it could end up being just a distraction from moving the story along. Who knows? I’ll post a few scenes from Chapter 8 in the Writer’s Lair today. These scenes delve into the mysteries of the Tribe of Prophets, among other things. I hope you enjoy reading them.
