Believe it or not, I planned to have this page up about three weeks ago. And from the numbers on the counter, I suspect many of you have been checking in occasionally to find out what's going on . . . or, rather, what hasn't.

The short version: stuff happens. And you never know what's right around the next curve.

The longer version: I started this magazine in August as a monthly, but with a desire to make it semi-monthly. However, the first week of September came, and I discovered that I'd been transferred to a new location. On top of that, my hour-long train ride had been replaced with a car trip of nearly the same length. I'm someone who knows the pros and cons of both methods of commuting to work.

I definitely knew how to use those two hours daily. Damn, I miss 'em. Reading, catching up on work, catching up on sleep and, of course, writing. Maybe I couldn't write complete articles and short stories in that short period, bouncing around like that, but outlines and notes flowed freely. That's gone and I miss it. Say what you will about the freedom and flexibility of driving, you can't take notes. Oh, sure, I could dictate into a tiny cassette recorder, but not if I wanted to live to write it up. Anyone traveling the Belt at "rush" hour knows that your complete attention is needed. Remember what I said about "around the next curve"? That applies to the Belt in spades -- and there are a lot of curves on that road.

Bottom line? A less frequent magazine. Part of the problem is that I haven't had time to write the planned features that I mentioned in the last issue. And chances of a Halloween-themed issue anytime before Halloween are slim to none. So that brings up to this editorial and a Car Wars Collectible Car Game article that I actually wrote over two years ago. (Pyramid turned it down.)

Now, you might ask (Go ahead, ask it. You know you want to.), wasn't this magazine supposed to be dedicated to the new Car Wars? The Version 5 system? Yes, it was. Funny thing, that. For one thing, there's little support for the new system. There isn't anything on the schedule at the moment. The Vehicle Design Guide has been delayed. There's no line editor (that I know of). So there's very little to write about and no one to contact about possibilities for the future.

On the reader/gamer side, my counter has been slowly climbing (and a special "Thank you" to Phil Reed for plugging my page on his!), but the feedback has been minimal. Had this issue gone up on schedule, there wouldn't have been a "Tale Pipes" section. Why? Because I hadn't received any email in nearly a month. The Guest Book, as of this writing, still stands at two entries -- and one of them is mine.

Okay, so many Car Wars players and fans aren't a talkative lot. We're more into playing the game and all that stuff. That's all fine and well, but without any feedback, I can't tell if I'm doing anything useful for anybody. What could I do to make things better? Or should I fold up should and go back to lesson plans?

I hope to be back in November (or sooner!) with another issue. A bigger issue. A more than just me issue. And I hope you're all still there checking in.