Wednesday, October 23, 2013

Killbot Q&A, Being Poor Sucks But it Looks Like I'm Not Alone, Plus More!!

HELLO WORLD! I have been somewhat absent of late. Anyone who's been around my blog for very long knows I tend to drop off the map from time to time, and that can be for a few days, weeks, or in some cases, several months. I think I've mentioned before that I'm in a constant state of juggling my free time, which grows smaller daily, with my multitude of interests that keep me sane. As I spend more time doing one thing, something else has to disappear for a while. Sometimes that thing that gets left behind is blogging.

So, please, accept my apologies for rudely disappearing lately.

A FEW THINGS I wanted to mention. One, I appreciate all the mentions and/or reviews of My Killbot Buddy I've seen. It means a lot. There is a question that has come up more than once regarding this story, so I figured I should answer.

Question: Are there more stories planned within the Killbot universe?

Answer: No. That said, I tend to write (or try to) all my stories with the possibility of more to follow. But I write slow. If by some miracle something I'd written managed to gain some sort of traction with the larger reading world then I'd certainly revisit the Killbot universe. I've got more ideas for stories now than I could possibly tell. But assuming Killbot doesn't gain 50 Shades levels of fandom, I've got several projects in various stages of development (some almost complete, one or two just beginning). I really have to focus on getting those finished first. That will probably keep me busy for the next two years, minimum. However, all of those are bigger projects. I reserve the right to produce shorter works whenever it strikes my fancy.

Wow, I almost felt special writing that. Anyway...

I WENT TO DISNEY WORLD* last week. That's the one in Florida. While there, I discovered that taking the whole family there is expensive. Like, way expensive. We stayed at a Disney resort (which was provided for us), but after getting tickets for us and the boys, then doing things like eating, well, we were up in the thousands of dollars pretty quick. 

Totally worth it, but it got me thinking about how exclusionary those sorts of prices are. I mean, there were thousands and thousands of people there, so it really seems like no one has a problem with it, but, well, let me show you a video about wealth distribution in the U.S., it explains things way better than I can.

The draw dropping point of the video is where they finally explain that the top 20% of wage earners have 93% of the wealth in the U.S. Or to reverse those numbers, the bottom 80% of wage earners add up to having 7% of the wealth in the U.S.

That is stunning.

In the breakdown later in the video, it shows that more and more of our wealth is being taken up by the top 1%  - so even that top 20% wage earner is doing relatively worse than they were a few decades ago.**

Anyway, I'm in danger of getting political here, and that isn't my intent. I just wanted to point out that I am firmly in the middle class, and it was tough to afford a week at Disney. In fact, I think we'll have a very lean 6 months or so coming up as a result.

* I actually have a fun story or two regarding Disney that I hope to share soon. This, however, is not one of those.

**I didn't fact check this vid, but I did do some research a few years ago regarding taxable income and wealth distribution for an economics course I was taking at the time, and using govt provided stats, I came up with some similar numbers. So, I buy this as being legit enough to post without worrying too much about it being filled with misinformation. 

9 comments:

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

We have a Rusty sighting!
You have other ideas, write them. Everyone's bummed I'm done with the Cassa universe, but really, I am done. If I keep writing, I have other ideas. You write such a diversity and it's cool to read.
What's scary about most people who visit Disney is they have saved for years for that trip. I really don't know how people with kids can afford it. I'm glad it's just my wife and I and that (NOT bragging) going there for a week wouldn't put us in debt. But as you pointed out with that video, that's not the case with most people...

PT Dilloway said...

That makes me glad I never want to go to Disney but it'll be really hard for my nieces to ever go there.

I think you just did this post so people won't put you on that Missing You blogfest of Andrew Leon's.

Jo said...

That video is horrifying. I know just how expensive the Disney attractions are. We managed to do a lot of them a few years ago but just us two. You may well find a large proportion of the visitors are from Europe - they don't find Disney prices nearly as bad by comparison to costs at home.

Andrew Leon said...

I'm down in that 7%. We would never have gone to Disneyland if we'd have had to pay for it. Heck, I haven't even visited my parents in more then 10 years. They've never met their granddaughter.

If you ever do another Killbot story, I think one about Sumner becoming a real super-villain would be in order.

S. L. Hennessy said...

That seriously bothers me about Disney too. Sooooo expensive. And exclusive.

dolorah said...

Nope, no money here for this much fun. My son is very disappointed in me. He feel deprived in all his electronic luxury.

Its a good thing to have writing projects in the works, and more than you might could finish. At least you know you won't run out of ideas :)

Good luck with the Killbot publication.

.....dhole

Brinda said...

I've had a hard time being active on my blog as well. I understand. AND I freakin' love Disney. A LOT. And it is expensive every time. Yeah.

Michael Offutt, Phantom Reader said...

It's not just Disney World but "any world" where you have to pay for an entire group of people and not just yourself. Dinner's the same way and so are movies.

Briane said...

I had a whole comment that was thoughtful and all, and then something happened to it when I tried to save it.

So you are deprived of my wisdom. I'll just say "I agree with you" and hope that this comment makes it through the ether.

I'm still putting you down for Andrew's Miss Thing.