The Patent Dragon's Zone of Soul Retraction

And. We. Are. FREE.

79 - Protest against CLAN

SCORE.

And it's back to Day 1... *growls*


The cafe tent needs ANOTHER section bolted on, so... it must be time for the industrial-strength steel securing bolts.



Also In The News Today... Yes, we have several positive responses to the "call to arms", and I now have my OFFICIAL red flag. All I need now is the opportunity to finish the banner, and start setting up the "Peace And Quiet" camp - which is getting just that little bit more expensive almost every day. Such is the price of fighting for what's right, I guess.

The Mission 101 "skinny" is that if the banner is still up when I emerge from my tent on Saturday morning, then two tasks

23 - Camp outside at least once
79 - Protest against CLAN

will officially be "in the bag."

Development News... More progress has been made with TDD-607 The Endless Dance of Light and Shadow IV, Chapter 3 - it could be finished by Blast-Off Day (that's Saturday). As I was working, I found I had to refer back to pre-Darkhawk Diaries material... and I think I might have found something to occupy myself with during i.Resist 2010; and that's The Archive Project, as in

46 - Continue and complete "The Archive Project"

It's quite a challenge, given that I have about THIRTEEN book-length stories to "archive", but it is all written - it all needs formatting, and someplace to put it. Time for another dose of Wordpress...?

Talking of which, I'm thinking i.Resist is starting to look like it could use a blog format, too.

Tomorrow... The Meeting!

Got my "Peace And Quiet Camp" bedding, but that's about all I have to report on the Task 79 front

79 - Protest against CLAN

Remember that letter, and accompanying article last week? This week's response...?

Zero.

Maybe I should've used the religious angle. People would have at least tried to confront the "hate-filled atheist". My letter this time last year was a bit more geared in that direction, and someone criticised me for "wanting to limit the ways people expressed their faith" - my answer to which was along the lines of "not at all - I don't mind what CLAN do if they're too far away to bother me".

No-one can say I haven't tried. I have received an e-mail or two from another concerned resident, confirming my feelings that the Council have had a very snooty attitude about this whole business...

Listen up, neighbourhood: you better get the most out of me while you can, 'cause this time next year, it'll be YOUR problem, not mine. As long as I'm here, I'll fight. Next time, I'll be in my office with headphones. You have been warned.

At least I'll nail another Mission 101 Task, at the very least, maybe even THREE - Task 79 (see above), Task 52 (craft projects - I'm getting to that), and

23 - Camp outside at least once

Better throw together a pre-campaign timetable - but for now, it's back to the craft projects - one of which may be my "NOBODY ASKED US" banner, if the weather holds...

After last night's weighter downer, a sail on the horizon - seems like there are several ways to (quite literally) work around the New Work Light situation which mean I shouldn't lose out. Of course, the ideal situation is to get some other work to fill in the gaps, and that's where my making myself indispensible will, I'm hoping, pay off. Again, literally...

Meanwhile... I have my flag-pole for my CLAN protest - and a potential red flag to fly from it - plus the local paper is not only printing my latest letter on the subject, there's also an article about the whole business. Now, let's see who reads it, and how they respond.

Won't be long until I can count another Mission 101 Task, namely

79 - Protest against CLAN

completed. Get ready - here comes The Neighbourhood...

Damn! Missed the posting of my 1500th entry - that was "The Adamantium Bear-Trap Of Logic, or Hey, Vatican, Stop Talking Sh8!" Not much to celebrate, but still, there it is...

AND I'm maintaining a minimum of one post per day, every day this year. Just like this...

Meanwhile... Our CLAN letter has now received responses from four of the officials we contacted - one actually turned out to be the wrong person, but he was kind enough to pass on our letter to the official whose superior we thought the guy was! So far, our "inaccuracy" hasn't become an issue - our personal situation appears to be the main issue, and that's just the way I'd like it to proceed. There's still no indication of a "public meeting" with CLAN, so the next step HAS to be a targeted leaflet campaign in the neighbourhood - people need to know about this, and have their feelings noted.

...NOW HOLD EVERYTHING! The school suffered some roof damage in the recent stormy weather - it had to close just before Easter, and whilst the pupils are back, the repairs are "temporary" at best. The sports block roof has been "made safe", but is it safe enough to have CLAN inflicted upon it...?

Oh dear - do I smell a cancellation? It wouldn't be the total victory I'd been seeking, and that would mean The i-Resist Peace Camp would be cancelled as well - yet it would mean I could cross

79 - Protest against CLAN

off my list...

I still want to kick up a stink. It may be my last chance...

"How So...?" As we approach the summer, another spectre looms - the upheaval of moving from the place of my birth to what was my great aunt's house. The move makes sense, from a "family logistics" point of view, but still it's scary, despite the increase in space, the closeness of the rest of the family, and the prospect of gaining an "office", on account of the extra bedroom. As something of a coping mechanism, I've been trying to piece together a "needs" list of equipment and materials this relocation will require - a new desk, for a start, which brings me back to my Mission:

87 - Get a decent computer desk that DOESN'T have a metal frame!

Despite all the plusses, and there are quite a few, the very thought of uprooting myself still rather freaks me out.

That's a matter for another time, however. And so...

...Back To Mission 101! Another impending task is

65 - Celebrate each and every Spiritwalk (May 22) and Patent Saturday (December 1) like they really mean something (which they do!)

with less than a month to go to Spiritwalk 2010. I have been considering booking a night or weekend at one of the more high-class hotels in town for a variety of occasions, but my finances are highly unlikely to stretch to that kind of expense immediately - I still have a debt to pay following the "Pay Malfunction" this month. Patent Saturday 2010 is a far better fit for such an indulgence - and by then, there's a definite chance I will be thoroughly deserving of it.

Disaster Report! Things are actually getting better - the next few weeks might not be so bad after all. In fact, it's already been good for the Mission:

7 - Learn to cook 12 dishes (1/12)
- sweet and sour stir-fry chicken with noodles

A definite success!

Work Report! Oooops! Just found out at lunchtime that I should've been working today. Boss was understanding about family matters, and I start on Monday - heh, up yours New Deal!

Meanwhile... Tonight saw the first of a series of local community policing meetings, during which I managed to bring up the whole CLAN business - and whilst the audience was smaller than the police representatives had hoped for (probably 'cause of the weather), there was a decent response from the public, and support from the local council rep, who brought some interesting information to the meeting: CLAN appear to have been warned about neighbourhood disruption, aaaaand there is apparently going to be a CLAN/neighbourhood meeting at some point in the near future! Stay tuned for further developments! as Task 79 gets another boost!

Other Mission Tasks... I'm counting

43 - Stop watching so much repeat crap on Dave

as completed. I've definitely broken the cycle of repeat dependence. Another channel is showing South Park from the very beginning - now THAT is a joy to behold!

Development News... Got some important writing down on paper, taking me closer to the end of TDD-605 "She Returns". Printer juggling - trying to print atuff off the laptop for the meeting - took a LOT longer than I'd expected, and rather messed up the early part of the day. Tomorrow is a bit screwed around too, due to shopping requirements - I'd love a quiet, productive weekend...

79 - Protest against CLAN...

And there's the kick-off...

*Dusts off the i-Resist Twitter account.*

More coming up later...