
&quot;What I Think About That, with Hal Grumpkins&quot;

Dearest Readers,

I know it's been awhile since last I posted one of these, and for that I'm sorry.

It's been a pleasure writing this blog for the past sixty-three years. Imagine my surprise, all those years ago, to find that you could make your daily bread by just thinking really hard into one of these implant thingiesand that people would pay to read it!

I've been spending a lot of time down in the park, watching the launches. They've been sending more and more of those tin cans into space over the past year or two.

A while back, the boys next door and some of the other locals started a &quot;venture&quot;, as they call it. Turns out it didn't take long for Brian (the tall one) to cave in on the whole colonist thing. Mark (the skinny one) brought me down to a couple of meetings. Everyone seems like nice folks. Maybe a bit idealist for my taste, but then I suppose you have to be a be an idealist to let in a grumpy old man like me.

Rodney's been gone for a couple of months now. The folks at the hardware store said they couldn't fix him. Well you can be sure I made a fuss, and the folks at the hardware store set me up with a specialist, but the man said that Rodney's parts just don't get made by anyone anymore. 

Before he went, Rodney would come down to the park with me and watch the launches. I don't think he really understood what was going on, but he was happy to sit with me.

I did a little research, and it turns out there's someone like Rodney being put on most of these ships nowadays as pilots. I think Rodney would have gotten a kick out of that.

I haven't turned on the screen in a while now. I'm sure Marge and Lewis or Mary and Levi or whoever the hell they are will do just fine without me.

I suppose that's enough beating around the bush. Mark (the skinny one) came by earlier and told me this &quot;venture&quot; business is still on for the launch tomorrow. Mark even said I could take what's left of Rodney, if he doesn't weigh too much. I don't have a whole lot left in me, but I figure Rodney and I can at least get out of this damn gravity for once.

I usually I start these things by talking about something I hate. Been trying to come up with a good one to end on, just for old time's sake. But honestly, I can't think of anything. Maybe I'm just getting too old for this. And if there's nothing new under the sun here, well, I suppose I just need to find another sun.

And that's just what I think about that.

Hal Grumpkins

