From The Chief Editor's Desk

November is the time for lots of things in the U.S. And, no, it doesn't mean the start of the Christmas shopping season. Retailers began rolling out Christmas merchandise right around the Labor Day weekend, which is at the end of August and beginning of September.

November is when Daylight Savings Time (DST) ends throughout much of the U.S. This year, DST comes to an end on November 6, at 2 a.m. (as if many of us are up at that hour to change our clocks, anyway). Don't forget the old saying, "Spring forward, Fall back" to remember to turn your clocks back one hour before heading off to bed on November 5. Otherwise, you'll lose that extra hour of sleep that was robbed from you on March 13, when DST began.

November is when Fall really hits, as temperatures drop as much as the leaves from the trees. The hours of daylight become shorter the nearer we get to the Winter solstice (December 21). For my wife and me, it means that it's dark when we go to work, and dark when we come home. Were it not for the windows in the hospital, we'd never see the sun.

November, around my neck of the woods (Missouri), means that the rifle Fall hunting season for deer is close at hand. Deer hunting by archery methods has already been going on since September 15, and goes until January 15, 2017. Rifle hunting season is only a short 10 or 11 days, starting November 12. Bet you can't guess where I'll be that weekend, huh? I've already been out in the woods on four separate occasions already, hunting with archery methods. Due to other commitments, each trip has been only for a few hours at a time.

Towards the end of the month, Americans celebrate Thanksgiving. Originally rooted in lore surrounding the first Fall harvest (or lack thereof, depending on your reference source) of the first permanent English settlement in North America, it's more of a time for Americans to express thanks for the things in their life that they are thankful for.

For me, I'm thankful for the wonderful family we have built. I have a wonderful, supportive and loving wife (Laura), and two healthy, awesome children ... Ryan and Lexi. In a broader sense, I'm thankful for my decent job, having a decent home, and relatively good health. At my job at the hospital, I see so many who are so much less fortunate, on a daily basis.

Closer to the computing world and this magazine, I'm thankful for all that Meemaw and YouCanToo do to help with the magazine every month. I'm thankful for all of the magazine's contributors, regardless if they are one time contributors, semi-regular contributors, or regular monthly contributors. I'm thankful for our packagers and Texstar for creating and maintaining PCLinuxOS, without whom none of this would be possible.

Until next month, I bid you peace, happiness, serenity and prosperity.