Welcome

Welcome to Desolation Row, a window seat at world’s end. To maximize your reading experience, there are a few things to know about your humble servant, the author.

First, my name isn’t John Patmos, but you’ve probably already figured that one out. The first reader to recognize the significance of my nom-de-plume could win great prizes. Or at least recognition in an upcoming post.

I’m not really a baby boomer, but not quite a Gen-X’er either. My generation was raised on cynicism and apathy, and I’ve been possessed (for too long, some would say) with healthy doses of both.

I started this blog as a place to report on things that just didn’t seem quite right. Like that hang-up phone call in the middle of the night, with no caller ID. Or that sound on the roof (it’s pine cones falling, really). You want to believe that everything is OK, but deep down inside you know it’s not.

For the first time since 1984, I find myself unemployed in a market that offers virtually no chance of employment. Sooner or later, savings will run out, unemployment will end, the house will get sold or foreclosed upon and I will move on, perhaps kicking and screaming, to the next phase of my life. And so it goes.

I’m in better circumstances that some, as I have family to turn to. Failing that, I have a well-developed network of friends across the country, most of whom would give me a couch to crash upon for a day or a week or a month. Still, I can’t help but think of the poor bastards that lack even a threadbare safety net. The individuals and families that are living in the ever-growing tent cities and homeless shelters that exist in big cities coast to coast. The flotsam and jetsam from the sinking of the SS World Economy.

I’ll try not to dwell on my employment situation, since no one wants to read about someone’s struggle to find work. Chances are if you’ve stumbled on this blog accidentally, you may be in the same condition – too much time on your hands and access to high speed internet.

Desolation Row will be a place to post articles that just don’t seem right. Stories where, if we’re not being lied to, we’re not being told the absolute truth either. I’ll try to add some helpful hints as we continue the journey, because the world isn’t a safe place and it’s my job to make it just a little bit better.

So again, welcome to my corner of the internet. You may want to fasten your seatbelt and keep your hands inside the ride at all times, because there’s no telling when the journey may get a bit rough