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I first became interested in Flashfoward by Robert J. Sawyer when I heard that it was going to be made into a TV series on ABC this fall. I heard that it was a good book and wanted to read it before the series came on.

Real life for a minute: Have you heard about the Large Hadron Collider over in Europe? It was supposed to go online last year, but didn’t because of some technical issue. The purpose of the device is to create conditions that existed shortly after the big bang so they can observe some kind of particle. Some people were concerned about this experiment because they feared it could create a black hole that would cause the end of the world. If you haven’t heard about the LHC, you can read about it here.

Back to the book: it was written in 1999, but it’s set in 2009. A group of scientists are firing up the Large Hadron Collider. At the exact second that the experiment starts, everyone blacks out. By everyone I mean the entire planet. The blackout lasts for 2 minutes. During this time everyone gets a 2 minute glimpse into their own future in the year 2030.

There was some chaos caused by the incident. People blacking out behind the wheel, pilots blacking out in the air, etc. Some were upset by the damage caused and the lives lost. For the most part, however, the world was happy to have had the visions. Some saw stuff in the future that they didn’t like and of course wanted to change it. There was a lot of debate about whether everyone saw a possible future or a fixed future. That debate gets resolved later in the book. Eventually, the scientists were able to figure out exactly how it happened.

There were a few times when the book briefly got bogged down in physics, but I just glossed over those sections. I hate physics. Overall, it would a great book and I recommend it to scifi fans. I’m even more excited about the TV series now.

• World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War, Max Brooks
• Serenity Found, Jane Espenson
• On Bullshit, Harry G. Frankfurt
• On Truth, Harry G. Frankfurt
• Memoirs Found in a Bathtub, Stanislaw Lem
• The Stormcaller, Tom Lloyd
• The Day Watch, Sergei Lukyanenko
• The Twilight Watch, Sergei Lukyanenko
• The Final Watch, Sergei Lukyanenko
• Inside Straight, George R.R. Martin
• Busted Flush, George R.R. Martin
• The Final Crusade, Chaite Naasiri
• The Darker Mask, George Phillips
• Unholy Domain, Dan Ronco
• The Tales of Beedle the Bard, J.K. Rowling
• The Final Empire, Brandon Sanderson
• The Well of Ascension, Brandon Sanderson
• The Hero of Ages, Brandon Sanderson
• A Memory of Light: The Gathering Storm, Brandon Sanderson
• Flashfoward, Robert J. Sawyer
• Titus Andronicus, William Shakespeare

It looks like that trip to Austin is probably not going to happen. There’s other stuff that’s going to be going on around then. If Austin City Limits was just a couple of weeks later, everything would be fine. It sucks when family and work get in the way of a good time . It’s okay though. I will go to Texas sooner or later.

I’m about halfway through my off week. I used to think it was a little weird when I heard about people taking vacation and staying at home, but now I can totally see the appeal in doing that. Going on a trip can wear you out as much as working. I wanted to do this back in September and October, but the timing didn’t work out either month. Then the holidays came along and I’ve been extremely busy this year, so it took me this long to do it. Even some of my co-workers noticed that I hardly ever take time off any more.

I’ve been getting up at 8 every morning because I’ll feel like I’ve wasted too much of the day if I sleep until noon. What have I been doing? Reading, playing video games, clearing off my DVR, watching movies, playing with the dog, and taking care of errands that I haven’t been able to because I’m at work. I’ll sleep late on the weekend like I normally do.

I’ve got about 3 months of personal leave time accumulated, so maybe I’ll do this more often. I I’m going on trips in August and October, so there’s no need to go somewhere every time.