Hello friends, fans and readers. It’s been quite some time since I last posted an article here. I’d like to at least in part explain why that was and what’s to come for HFFL.

First, let’s go back to summer last year. My previous post from this one is dated 7/15/17. It was right around this time that I got some potentially very bad news. Without going into a ton of detail that you don’t need to know, suffice to say, my wife and I were possibly going to lose our home to the mortgage bank.

Because of this, I didn’t feel it would be prudent for me to post any new Halo toy reviews from toys that had already been purchased just prior. I”m sure most of you understand why. However, social media these days is brutal. No doubt someone would take it as an opportunity to attack me for posting toy reviews when my wife and I were in financial trouble. So I held off until we could get out of that mess. Again, without going into a ton of detail, it took until this December to reach that point, and then only because of the help of two friends in particular. Both of which have a Halo connection to me, but are much more than that.

My wife and I were able to refinance our mortgage to a lower payment, though we had to go through a 3-month probationary period with the bank to make sure we were able to make at least those lower payments. We did it! And in fact, today signed the final papers and sent them back to the bank to solidify this. That puts us back on the good side of finances.

That all said means that I now feel comfortable with posting Halo toy reviews. Now…I know you’re probably wondering, “why didn’t you post anything else Halo related?” That’s a very simple answer. Depression. Due to the money troubles, my depression grew exponentially. It made it hard to function normally, let alone post on my blog. I had to take a break from several things to get my own head in order. Unfortunately, that meant the blog had to be put on the back burner.

***

However, now things are better. As mentioned, finances are in a better place. Still not great as I’m still unemployed. But better. My depression is far below where it’s been the past 7+ months.

I won’t go back and play catch up for what’s happened with Halo during that time. For one, it would be a ton of work. Two, you folks likely have already heard, read, or seen it elsewhere. So, I’m picking up from here and moving forward with Halo news and reviews.

Other plans that were put on hold will soon come to fruition. One of which will be a DAILY Halo podcast. The format will be a short 5-15 minute podcast talking about the previous day’s Halo news, plus any of my own Halo experiences in that day, as well as any HFFL blog news to come. Short, sweet and compact. Easy for your morning commute to work/school. And NOTHING negative as far as I can help it. It will be only me. No fellow hosts. As for the name of this new podcast, I am between the final 2 names right now. Once I settle on the name, I’ll setup a twitter account for it. For now though, I’m keeping those names to myself. If you might gave a clever name for a daily Halo podcast, please feel free to leave a comment or e-mail me at [email protected].

***

I will indeed be having another Halo LAN this year. Which reminds me, I will post an article about last year’s LAN, though it won’t be as extensive as previous year’s LAN wrap-up articles.

Suffice to say…I’m BACK!
-Sal