There is a lady here in Atlanta who I haven’t talked about in awhile. Those of you who have followed my Pulp Fiction Game know her affectionately as “Computer Babe.”

Her name is Mel (Melanie) and she is Bob Burden’s long-suffering IT person…and the genius who set up the Information Services Department for Georgia Tech. I say “long-suffering” because, for years, Burden had been using her talents to learn about various computer solutions that he THOUGHT he was in need of, but never really clearly knew WHY he needed them.

Bob is one of those “Right Brain” lefties who has always been a dozen steps ahead of himself as far as his creativity goes. So much so, that the minutia of actually getting things done always seemed to allude him. And then along came Tony Dumont and the rest (to be painfully trite) is history.

Well, now that Dumont has been aggressively in the process of coming up with an actual business plan for Bob, it is time to bring Mel into the BOBBURDENCOMICS.COM fold. This is because she has access to an almost unlimited supply of something that Tony and Bob desperately need…HARDWARE!

Mel and Tony first met last year at DragonCon and compared a few notes (so it speak). However, that was before Burden truly got with the program and willingly put his career in Tony’s hands.

Sooooooooooo…this is the time for the next leg of the journey to begin!...with both Tony and Mel at the helm the ship!!!

Sigh...I spent an exciting afternoon with Tony yesterday watching this...

@Roxanne Starr: Happy Tony has more help

@Silkcuts:

Contrary to Bob's thoughts on the matter, Tony can't do EVERYTHING...at least in the time at Bob allots him.

We also have a buddy of Tony's up in Connecticut building Bob's database. I think I already told you about him.

@Roxanne Starr: Not sure if I remember that guy... maybe?

Poor Tony. Well I am just happy for him he is pro and like a pro he has to suffer....lol

@Silkcuts said:

@Roxanne Starr: Not sure if I remember that guy... maybe?

Poor Tony. Well I am just happy for him he is pro and like a pro he has to suffer....lol

And no one can make an artist suffer like Bob does. LOL!!!

@M.S. Feather said:

It sounds like Bob is building an A-Team! I always thought Tony would be a great "Faceman". :P

LOL! Tony isn't a Faceman...not even close. Bob is the Faceman and all the rest of us just operate behind the curtain.

At least Mel and I get around a bit...but Tony?...Tony sometimes goes a week without ever even leaving Bob's house. XD

@M.S. Feather:

Thanks for swinging by the store last night, Feather!!! (And doing that sketch in my sketch book!) Meeting you and your sister was a delight!

Also, thanks for being brave enough to meet up with the "Faceman," Kevin and Bob at DragonCon. Now you know that all the stories Tony has been telling you about Bob are TRUE! XD

Sorry you didn't get a chance to come over to the condo and meet Velcro on this trip. :(

...but when we closed up the store I was ending a shift that I had started at noon and I was beat and ready to go to sleep. Maybe next year you'll have the opportunity to meet the Hell Hound.

@M.S. Feather said:

Tonis said he'll be down there a lot the next few months though so I might drop by again sometime this year (I'd prefer it when things aren't quite so hectic in the city anyway!). So hopefully next time we can actually hang out a bit.

Thanks a billion for allowing me to sketch in, let alone view, one of your sketch books. It was truly an honor.

@Roxanne Starr said:

Maybe next year you'll have the opportunity to meet the Hell Hound.

I just hope he doesn't assume the M.S. in my name stands for Mighty Scrumptious...

LOL! Right now the question isn't when tonis will be BACK in Atlanta...but when he's going home. Right now, he is editing all the Bob video footage from the convention and Lord Knows how long THAT is going to take. Originally all that footage was supposed to be on Livestream, but there were technical difficulties that couldn't be overcome at the various DragonCon venues.

Also...the Kickstarter ends next weekend, so we have to get to work satisfying all the pledges before we can even THINK about the NEXT Kickstarter.

And yes...you are in great company now that you are represented in one of my sketchbooks...AND YOU DESERVE IT!!!

You aren't fooling me, Feather, that dog is NOT Velcro. I can tell because he isn't growling.

@Silkcuts:

Computer Babe is here right now talking all that computer-ese (that is incomprehensible to me) to Tony.

There was a yellow slip in the P.O. box today! I'm hoping it's the comic that you sent, Silk! YAAAAAAAAAY!

I couldn't find out because it's Sunday and there were no P.O. workers there. I'll find out tomorrow.

@Roxanne Starr said:

Sigh...I spent an exciting afternoon with Tony yesterday watching this...

Ha Ha Tonis is the Man!

@turoksonofstone:

OMG!

Tony and Computer Babe are at each other's throats now!

They stopped talking computer and are talking about Health Care!!!

Computer Babe is a liberal who in on the side of universal health care!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

They're screaming at each other now! I think those two are done. LOL!

LMAO.

ah, Politics.

@turoksonofstone said:

LMAO.

ah, Politics.

I have never even had a conversation with Computer Babe. She has never even asked me a question. She sees me as a doddering old fool whose only interest in computers is sitting around and doing page layouts...which is true, for the most part.

She does try to engage Bob in political discussions though, spouting her Left-Wing extremism. Bob's reaction to her tirades is to start looking at porn on the computer and tell her about how much money people are getting for Flaming Carrot #1 on ebay. LOL!

Tony, however, does not shy away from defending the facts (when he has them). A large number of his relatives are Canadian senior citizens...and are victims of the Canadian health care system.

@Roxanne Starr:

lol, you must be kidding you exude more "life energy" than most folks I come across.

Those damn Left-Wing extremists. Looking at porn in the presence of ladies? Most disreputable Mr.T. Er,..how much is the FC #1 going for anyhoo??

Blame Canada indeed.

@turoksonofstone said:

@Roxanne Starr:

lol, you must be kidding you exude more "life energy" than most folks I come across.

Those damn Left-Wing extremists. Looking at porn in the presence of ladies? Most disreputable Mr.T. Er,..how much is the FC #1 going for anyhoo??

Blame Canada indeed.

I just never had any interest in learning how computers do what they do. I just use them to get what I want done...done. Tony keeps trying to get me to learn things, but for the most part, the stuff that he tells me goes in one ear and out the other. :(

Tony doesn't look at porn...Bob does. Tony just WORKS 24/7...and lets Bob continue to be Bob. That's Tony's job.

FC #1 is not going for as much as it used to...but that's about to change! XD

Well, Canada might have a crummy health care system, but it is #5 in the list of countries with the most economic freedom. The US is #18. Hong Kong is #1...of course.

@Roxanne Starr:

Tech savvy folks are often overly technical in their explanations so I hear you on that.

Ah..to be Bob.

Hard copies in general seem to be suffering an overall value depreciation..oh how it galls me.

Well I'm not one to make national comparisons but again I hear you.

@turoksonofstone:

I'm going off-topic here, turok, and going back to The Fulfillment again...SURPRISE! LOL!

Now that I have access to the kickstarter pledge list, I know exactly who pledged what. And of all our pro friends, the one who pledged the most was Peter David!

THANKS SO MUCH, PETER!...You are waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too generous! :D

(The fact that I introduced him to his wife may have had something to do with it. lol.)

@Roxanne Starr said:

@turoksonofstone:

I'm going off-topic here, turok, and going back to The Fulfillment again...SURPRISE! LOL!

Now that I have access to the kickstarter pledge list, I know exactly who pledged what. And of all our pro friends, the one who pledged the most was Peter David!

THANKS SO MUCH, PETER!...You are waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too generous! :D

(The fact that I introduced him to his wife may have had something to do with it. lol.)

Did you?? Peter David the Comic Author is a fave of mine, unlike Peter David the columnist whom I detest.

@turoksonofstone:

PAD is the guy I'm talking about.

I have stuff in my car that needs to get over to The Hacienda. I told Tony I'd bring it over tomorrow, but I think I'll go over there tonight. There is something in that house that I want to see. :-)

@turoksonofstone:

I saw what our online store is going to look like! WOW!!!

http://www.facebook.com/BobBurdenComics

It's Facebook!! looks cool. Network!!

@turoksonofstone said:

It's Facebook!! looks cool. Network!!

Yes, turok...it's FACEBOOK...not the store. I can't show you the store yet because we are still working on it. Sheesh...

@Roxanne Starr said:

@turoksonofstone said:

It's Facebook!! looks cool. Network!!

Yes, turok...it's FACEBOOK...not the store. I can't show you the store yet because we are still working on it. Sheesh...

Yeah, I figured.

@turoksonofstone said:

@Roxanne Starr said:

@turoksonofstone said:

It's Facebook!! looks cool. Network!!

Yes, turok...it's FACEBOOK...not the store. I can't show you the store yet because we are still working on it. Sheesh...

Yeah, I figured.

Sorry I snapped at you, turok. :(

I'm so anxious for that store to go public, I'm besides myself.

I'm just a money-grubbing whore! XD

@Roxanne Starr said:

@turoksonofstone said:

@Roxanne Starr said:

@turoksonofstone said:

It's Facebook!! looks cool. Network!!

Yes, turok...it's FACEBOOK...not the store. I can't show you the store yet because we are still working on it. Sheesh...

Yeah, I figured.

Sorry I snapped at you, turok. :(

I'm so anxious for that store to go public, I'm besides myself.

I'm just a money-grubbing whore! XD

Damn, now you are snapping at yourself. lol. I'm sure the store will be fine. Your A-Team seems to have some one covering every aspect..

@turoksonofstone:

I have a little time this morning for a brief update, turok. :-)

Despite the fact that Tony and Computer Babe have very different opinions on government health care, they both have a common mission...making sure that Bob's internet connection needs are met.

The Hacienda has been rewired in order to handle a connection that moves at the speed of light. Also, Tony has committed to moving in there at least until the next DragonCon.

He'll be going back to Connecticut after NYCC, getting some work done up there with another programmer whose strengths are in areas of programming that Tony doesn't really deal with...and then driving back to Georgia in his Durango.

As of a few days ago, Tony was going to bring his own Uber server down with him, but Computer Babe found Bob one that is newer and even faster here in Atlanta...and it only cost Bob, including all kinds of memory doohickeys, a couple of hundred bucks. :D

Bob's online store should be up and running before Thanksgiving...and there with be some new products for sale there that will knock your socks off!!!!!!!!!!!!

@M.S. Feather:

@M.S. Feather:

LOL! C.B. is just an Uber Genius who lives on a higher plane than us mere mortals. :(

When it comes to respect, Tony has the utmost respect for C.B.'s expertise. After all, she accomplished things when she was barely out of her teens that most programmers don't accomplish in a lifetime.

But one thing that Tony understands that C.B. doesn't even take into consideration is PEOPLE!

That is why Tony was able to revive Bob's career while C.B.'s services to Bob over the last ten years have only been band-aids applied to mistakes run amuck...not SOLUTIONS!