William Altmann
Bio
I've been an engineer. It's provided me with travel to many places and stories of people. That, with my passion for history, have given me many stories to write. And I do love to tell stories! I have written 17 books since early 2020.
Stories (20/0)
Philatelic Philter
John had worked at the Federal Mint for twenty years. He’d started sweeping floors as a teenager, then moved up to helping the electricians, mechanics and carpenters repair the machines. Those latter years brought him all over the printing plant, to every machine and every trade. The old timers were uniformly pleasant, greeting him as he lugged two heavy toolboxes, walking behind whoever he was assisting that day. They enjoyed seeing a young man with energy and ambition – a hard worker.
By William Altmann3 years ago in Criminal
The Worst Campouts
Even though I’m thinking back 30 years or more, the ones that come to mind the quickest are always the worst ones. It’s a lot harder to dredge up the sunny-day-swim-in-the-pond campouts than it is to fend off the memories of rain and bugs and cold and heat. Maybe that’s because we catalog the victories in a bigger drawer than the ordinary times.
By William Altmann3 years ago in Families
A Boy, a Dog and a Forest
What is it about a boy, a dog and a forest? When you put them all together, it makes the world go away. I must have been at least 10. It couldn’t have been earlier than that, because we were gone together all day – that black and white mutt of a dog and I. We tramped through those woods from morning to night – well, to dinnertime anyway. It never really occurred to us – to me – that I hadn’t told anyone where we were going. That was mostly because when we left I didn’t know either. We just went.
By William Altmann3 years ago in Wander
Canned Stew and Empires
Laying out a sequence of cause and effect in history is sometimes a dangerous pastime. But let’s give it a try. Napoleon Bonaparte was arguably the most capable commander and emperor in modern times. There were other powerful emperors, even if they did not take on that title, but they generally failed as commanders. As a part of his role as commander of the French army around 1800, Napoleon sought a solution to the problem of inadequate food for his troops. It seemed, oddly enough, that the people who he was invading took to destroying their crops and stored food as they retreated from his advancing forces. This meant that the only way to feed his legions was to cart in food from behind the lines using wagons and horses. It was not efficient and as those supply lines became longer and longer with the successes he had in battle, the lines themselves became an exposed liability.
By William Altmann3 years ago in Feast
Burning
He’d been on the run for three days. At first there had been the actual running. It was tough, though, carrying the satchel. Cash was heavy, even paper money, when added to the weight of the tools he’d used. There hadn’t been as much in the safe as he’d hoped, but by the time he broke through the lock and cranked open the door, it was too late to back out. Then there’d been the problem of the alarm system. That damned thing had a battery in it! Who knew? After he’d cut the power wire he’d been a little too ambitious. Crap! So the time was short and he loaded only twenty thousand dollars into the bag, then he had to get back out of the building and over the back fence.
By William Altmann3 years ago in Criminal
The Parable of the Snow Shovel
The Parable of the Snow Shovel Which would you choose? For me it was always between the deep or the wet. It happened at least three times a week, for months on end. No matter how I schemed it seemed that I got the short end of the stick. Or maybe all three ends were short ends. And my two brothers? Well, their choices were short sticks, too.
By William Altmann3 years ago in Families
