It has been five years since we launched this site to provide the book titled, “An Insider’s View of Rocky Flats:  Urban Myths Debunked.” Many have elected to buy the book despite the fact it was available to be downloaded free. My opinion is that pictures in the Kindle version, including pictures of two types of plutonium ingots, make that version worthwhile. The controversies about the Plant are reflected in the 24 reviews of the book, which range from a one star review titled, “Political Parlance!,” to a five star review beginning “Great book.” (The average is listed at 3.9 stars, but of course I think the five star reviews are the most accurate!)

Getting some statistics about the web site out of the way, the current counter indicates there have been just under 1.5 million visitors, with the average being about 500 visitors a day. There will have been 806 postings when this one is added. Those postings have been just about equally divided between commentaries, book reviews, and expressions. Frequent readers know that there is no way to predict the subjects, since we write about whatever attracts our interest on a given day. RF Alum continues to read and post reviews of books that provide information for the quest to write a book about nuclear deterrence during the Cold War and the Rocky Flats Nuclear Weapons Plant. Ponderer adds diversity to the reviews and commentary with a wide-ranging mix of subjects. We continue to marvel at the wealth of new expressions despite the fact we’ve posted descriptions of the origins for almost 270. The first one posted five years ago was “Hog on Ice & Other Curious Expressions” from Charles Earle Funk’s book with that title. That expression came from Funk’s mother. She had a thing about “cockily independent, supremely confident” people who were actually just as helpless as a hapless hog sprawled on ice and unable to stand.

The two frequent contributors also have been busy writing and publishing books. Ponderer (Kate Rauner) has published two new books. The first is “Glory on Mars: Colonization Book 1” The second book is titled “Born on Mars: Colonization Book 2.” Check out all four of her books on Amazon.  RF Alum published a sequel to “Angry Pigs Organized Against Gerbils:  The Farmer Island War,” titled “Farmer Island Magic.” The four grandchildren once again served as “Creative Staff and Illustrators.” You can check the Amazon page listing my three books and, strangely, a science report written when I was attempting to be a science researcher. Even stranger is that there are six used copies of “Insider’s View” beginning at $30.12 and six new offered beginning at $36.89. You might want to check the $9.95 paperback or $3.99 Kindle instead. I’m hoping to have the nonfiction book about the early history of Rocky Flats published before our sixth anniversary. As the expression goes, time will tell.