Trips to the Round Insane House.

Third trip in two weeks up to Santa Fe while the Educational Retirement Board changes are beforeethe House (bill 64) and Senate (bill 115). They love to play games up there. First trip was a general joint session on both the PERA (governement workers) changes and the ERB (Educational Retirement Board). Second trip was the House Finances and Labor relations committee which is where the Republcan tried to add a poison pill amendment which would keep current retirees from getting a cost of living increase for the next 20 years. It was tabled. Last Wednesday the House Education committee had Bill 64 way down on the docket so most of the stakeholders didn't attend knowing they wouldn't get to it. They moved it to the top of the docket, fortunately with a 5 to 4 vote along party lines the amendment was tabled again.
Today I went up to the Senate Education committee hearing and they didn't get to it. It's hard to know when to go up and when not to go up. The meetings are at 0800 which means leaving Albuquerque by 0630. It's important that retirees be there for these meetings to be heard, but when they play games on when what bill will be discussed when and where it makes it very difficult.

Catch up

• Taking Mom up to Santa Fe to lobby for the two bills making changes to our educational retirement board (ERB). It's going to be a challenge to keep it intact and not messed with by legilators intent on ruining it. One poison pill amendment was tabled in the house last week, but there's still many more committee hearings and floor debate as well as a hostile governor before we can breathe easily. It's going to be a long 60 day session.
• Amazon's Create Space is holding a contest and a novel needed to be submitted by Jan 27. I submitted mine on the 26th. I've been working on it for a couple of years so it didn't take but two weeks to get it ready. The first round is based on the pitch, second round will be on the excerpt and third round will be ont he total novel. If I'm chosen then they will help with the editing and publish it. The ten thousand dollar prize would be nice too. Crossing fingers I get past the first round.
• The weather and my health improved and I got to take a nice walk spoiled by a litte white ball. Didn't do too badly for not making it out to the course in six weeks.
• Good news. Writers2writers the West side writing group I've coordinated for the past three years found it difficult to meet where we've been meeting and I've spent the last two years trying to find a better venue. I gave up after the November meeting where we were meeting refused to turn off the music for our meeting and actually turned it up. I took the hint. We don't meet in December and still not finding a place canceled the January meeting. Other members of the group tried valiantly to find us a place, but they're all on the East side and that defeats the purpose for West side writers who want to meet close to home. If found us a place and the Feb. meeting is back on.
• A fellow writer new to blogging is Jonathan Miller aka the Rattlesnake Lawyer. He told me about Southwest Writers Workshop at one of his book signings and from that I found out about Publish America which led to getting Optimus: Praetorian Guard published in 2006. He's spoken numerous times at Writers2writers. I've read a number of his novels and he has a new one Rattlesnake Wedding coming out on Valentine's day. His blog is about the trauma of waiting for the big day. Check it out, but if you buy and read his books without buying and reading mine I'll be really pissed.