I have been gone for a while. Just over a month I think. A couple Reasons for this.

First, I was hit with a sudden and escapable obsession with sci-fi. I tried to continue writing, but it was difficult to write about homesteading in an Asian-ish Fantasy world when all I could think about was “spaceship.” I'm mostly over it now, Ate through an 8 book series. 5 from A Merchant's tale and 3 from A seekers Tale from the golden age of the solar clipper. Did not buy a Smuggler's tale.

Second. And this is a rather Problematic change. Almost everything written over the last 3 years has been done in five minute intervals on my breaks. I've moved shifts and buildings. I only have one friend in this State and I can now sit and talk with him on breaks. Obviously that's bad for writing.

My goal is to sleep faster. my new shift allows me nearly 8 hours of sleep now, so cutting 30 minutes off and using that for writing should be fine. The problem with writing at home is my wife and child. Yelling, pinching, kicking, biting, and telling me to do things is also not great for writing. And the kid Is just as bad.

There's another thing going on. For a long time I've been trying to figure out dictation and transcription. I fucking hate typing. Almost everything these days is done with thumbs on a smartphone because it's less painful. My original experiment with dictation started 10 years ago with dragon naturally speaking Software. It was a pain. More time spent editing than dictating. I Can now do the same thing for free with chrome and Google docs and it works better, but that requires my Computer and quiet. Two things I almost never have at the same time.

There are two methods to transcribing an audio file. First is to pay a human to do the work. I've done this once. It is expensive and I've never made a dime on anything I've written. The second option is machine transcription. Programs that work for actual dictation are prohibitively expensive, but we now have plenty of programs that do the work for a fraction of the cost. Too good to be true right? It is. These programs are geared more toward making transcripts of phone calls or checking videos for “offensive content”. They spit out a giant blob of text that makes the brain hurt just looking at it, but they are words instead of audio. We now also have a few cheap to free to use language learning models, we call them AIs for some reason. ChatGPT Is the most well known. It only accepts chunks of text under 1000 words, but will take those Blobs and turn it into something workable. Then comes the editing. I'm not entirely sure how bad the editing Is going to be, but it will likely be considerable.

Expect a sci-fi short story in the upcoming future. This isn't taking time away from writing Kuya Tio’s Guide as it uses a completely unused block of time that has been unlocked for me when I switched shifts at work, the drive into and home from work. Of course I can't write during this time, but I can talk into a recorder.

A couple other hopes for this winter, I have a couple completed books I'd like to rewrite. One of which hasn't been seen on this platform. These are low priority things however, I have a full time job, a growing side business, and a family that requires my every waking moment. I woke up early to write this this morning, but getting up ment that other people followed me and I am currently being used as a pillow. I just don't have free time and I'm being told that I must stop now.

Below are my notes for this Story Thus Far

82 kg of Rice per year per person

1,000 kg per rai.

Rai = 1,600 sqm / 0.4 acre

Figure Homestead Rice paddies are 1/10 acre (.25 Rai) and feed 2.5 people. Average homestead has 3 paddies, and can support 7.5 people. 1/10 acre is 66x66 feet.

Li - 500 meters. Half a KM, .31 miles

Stolen novel; please report.

League - 3 miles

Xiao

Saito Xiao - Male Oni-Kai. Wei Lin’s Father

Description: He was of average height and build. His chest and gut were a bit rounded and streaks of gray in his hair and short beard gave away his age. Small white Oni-Kai horns protruded from his forehead above dark glaring eyes.

Hon Ri Xiao

Yoko Xiao - Female Oni-Kai. Wei Lin’s sister has two small children. Modest is a male. Baby is female. Is pregnant.

Wei Lin Xiao - Female Oni-Kai. Wei Lin was short and petite, supposedly just like her mother. She had shiny dark hair, a rounded face with a wide nose, and a well proportioned body. In short she was a relatively attractive young woman of marriageable age and I still viewed her as a kid.

Shinichi - Married to Yoko

MC - Yuji Han - Human Male

Lo Bao Han - Human Male. Yuji’s Deceased Uncle

Lia Nakamura - Female Akumaji, Carpenter with strong Physique

Kiyoko Yin - Female Kitsune, Yuji’s Neighbor with white Hair, lives with twin Brother, whore.

Kenta Yin - Male Kitsune, Yuji’s Neighbor with white Hair, lives with twin Sister, whore.

Descriptions - The two were extremely similar, both on the taller end for Kitsune, about my height, not including the ears. Both had white hair, golden eyes, and similar facial features. Neither of them had the physique of farmers, instead having the strong, but more lithe forms of dancers.

Kaori Shao - Kitsune, brown hair, brown eyes, cousin to Yin. shorter with dark brown hair and a darker skin tone than the Yin twins, Her face was cute, but plain. Wide nose.

Mr. DJ Sharon Cuneta. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ok2z_zGDsQY

Meng Su - village Patriarch, a tall man with a gray beard, bright eyes and absolutely nothing else of note. He seemed the contemplative sort with a lot of beard stroking and staring off into the distances. Reasonably for a village elder, not sure about for a Patriarch.

Sharinzhen - Literally Wheel Town or Wheel City. Has 8 spoke villages 1-8 and a few half villages.

Sharinzhen 4 - The Village where Yuji Lives.

Sake/mijiu - rice wine, there is a difference, Yuji isn’t sure what it is.

Giniling - carrots, potatoes, onions, garlic, and pork served with rice

Carabao - A water Buffalo common in southeast Asia, or in this Fantasy Novel.

Horigotatsu - a sunken area with a table over it.

[Words with no Direct Translation]

Tchie; (Slang) Word used as intimidation or gloating. Actual meaning often depends on inflection and context. Equivalents: Boo! Checkmate! I win! You lose! Die!

Bruha; (Slang) Bitch. Word used as an insult, not in reference to a female dog. Is NOT gender specific.

Kuso; (Slang) Fuck. Short for kusotsu(orgasm)

Chikusho; (Slang) Damn, Shit.

Kuso Anata; (Slang) Fuck you.

Kuso Tchuni; (Slang) Fuck off.

Tchuni; (Slang) Damn you.

Kuso Ako; (Slang) Fuck me, Holy shit.

Baka; (Slang) Idiot.

Tsep; (Slang) Whelp, well, well shit(Polite/family friendly)

E; (Slang) Huh? Really? What? Umm. Ahh.

[Honorifics]

Kuya; (Honorific) Big Brother (No relation Requited). Used in front of, or in place of, a person’s name to show respect toward that person as if they were an older Brother.

Ate; (Honorific) Big Sister (No relation Requited). Used in front of, or in place of, a person’s name to show respect toward that person as if they were an older Sister.

Po; (Honorific) Elder (No relation Requited). Used in front of, or in place of, a person’s name to show respect toward that person as if they were a respected elder.

Amo; (Honorific) Boss or Master. Used in front of, or in place of, a person’s name to show respect toward that person as if they were an employer, teacher, master, or respected supervisor.

Puno; (Honorific) Chief. Used in front of, or in place of, a person’s name (in a military scenario) to show respect toward that person as if they were a commanding officer or higher ranking member of a military or military like organization.

Omo; (Honorific) Lord. As in a higher ranking bureaucrat, such as a Samurai, Daimyo, or king. Used in front of, or in place of, a person’s name to show respect toward that person. Emphasis must be placed on the O, so that the word can not be confused with Amo.