life after the apocalypse – Page 36

Saturday Night

The foil almost makes it look like I know what I’m doing.

SPOILER: I do not know what I’m doing.

That’s about an hour and a half and I’m all foiled out. Time for a cup of hot chocolate in a comfy chair.
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Put the laundry away; washed the pots ‘n pans; locked Rookie in a closet; let him out again.

I think I’m done on the day. My back is grumbling, so I’ll be taking the hint and retiring to the couch with a book and the heating pad until its time to serve Coon Cat Happy Hour, which is coming right up.

Tomorrow, I plan to write, foil, curse the time change — and that should be enough for the first Sunday in November. Monday, I have errands which I guess I should get done early.

I should also sometime tomorrow or Monday make an order at Harney’s as I’m almost out of the oil that greases the wheels around here — Irish Breakfast Tea. I got sidetracked today into wondering if I might not like Scottish Morn, instead, which is said to be darker, given that I drink tea as a replacement for coffee… Well. Decisions for later.

Oh. The Sekrit Project is a Sekrit because the contract hasn’t been signed.

And! I do believe the mail has just been delivered.

Everybody have a good evening. Stay safe. I’ll check in tomorrow.

The Saturday cat census and editorial chastisement committee photos may be found here

Sorry ’bout that

I didn’t mean to drop off the face of the earth quite so suddenly, and I thank everyone who wrote to check if I was OK, while I was locked out of the blog here.

For the record: I am OK. For values of which include an almost functioning back, but completely non-functional connectivity. The problem is apparently mine own, and is somewhere between my router and the street, which requires The Fidium Guy. Who has a V. Busy Schedule and will not be able to get to me until Tuesday. Yes, even though I work at home. Sigh.

In the meantime, I’ve been flailing around with my phone, trying to mobile-hotspot-it, and — yeah. An adventure.

Yes, I’ll have to figure out an Emergency Protocol, for if this happens again. But not today.

Saturday. November 1. Cloudy, cool, and breezy.

So! The Closers held. It was a near thing, though.

Last night I poured a glass of real wine, and lit the electric candle, since I seem to no longer have any wax candles. Digression: I could have sworn that I had a pack of beeswax tapers, but — the old woman who lives with me may have put them Someplace Else. Or I may have given them away when I was clearing the house in preparation for joining Steve at the New Place.

In any case — glass of nice red, candle. Firefly came up on my lap, which she hardly ever does, and we told the kids stories of those who had gone ahead: of Steve, and Sprite, and Belle, and Trooper; Scrabble — yes, even Archie. It was a peaceful evening, and I slept well, after.

This morning, I found something on my phone called “Extended” and toggled that on. It seems to be helping with connectivity — I’m typing this on my office computer, using the phone as a hotspot, and things are moving along right sprightly. So — fingers crossed that this just isn’t an artifact of nobody else is awake and on their computers yet.

Breakfast was scrambled eggs and toast. Drinking my first cup of tea.

As soon as I’m finished here, I’ll be brewing another cup of tea and putting my attention on the contract that arrived yesterday, hoping to get it back in the snail today.

I also hope to get at least some foiling done. I forgot that this week’s class will be on Wednesday, not Thursday, so there’s no way I’m going to be able to foil all those itsy pieces before class. Last week I missed soldering, so — yeah, I’m really behind.

I ALSO need to go through the desk in this office, create some order and Deal with . . . whatever’s under — waves — All Of This.

I remember back when I was a kid and Catholic — today, November 1, we went to church for All Soul’s Day. And — weird kid, remember — I always thought it was because we were praying a lighted path to guide those who had come out for Halloween back home again. Which, actually, is a lot more gracious than the Catholic Church had ever likely been, but — weird kid, remember.

What did you do, last night?

Tuesday not dictated

Tuesday. Sunny and cool.

Woke up without pain! Two hours later, I do have a tiny ache, which is entirely livable, and I’m shaking bad, but shaking doesn’t hurt. Onward.

Scrambled an egg with onion, garlic, and sweet pepper, and toasted the last bits of homemade bread to top with sour cherry jam for breakfast. Which is the first thing I’ve been able to make and eat in, um, four days. Yes, I do know how to lose five pounds in four days. Not recommended.

Someone had asked if there wasn’t anyone who could help with the food, and, err no. The issue this weekend wasn’t my usual antipathy to actually making food (I could have ordered in, if that had been the case), but that the pain was so bad, I couldn’t eat. I won’t bore you with how difficult it is to convince yourself to eat two spoonfuls of cottage cheese so you can take the Tylenol, but trust me — No Fun.

I’m still doing Tylenol, and may hit the ache with some CBD lotion on my way back to Steve’s office after I finish this note, which is not dictated, but I’m feeling so much better — I can’t tell you.

Embroidery is still off the table for tonight. Ellen has courageously agreed to drive me to the cancer center (and back!) at stupid o’clock tomorrow, which is one less thing to worry about, and a load off my … back. Am I going to stained glass on Thursday? Let’s get through today and tomorrow first.

I did snatch a moment out of a relatively pain-free half-hour yesterday to painter-tape cardboard to the inside of the Problematic Table. Do I think Rookie will try to go through the no-longer-big-enough space between the table bars, and get stuck again? How do I know? He’s a cat. The best I, a mere human, can do is Plan for the Worst.

I think that’s all the news. I have three more Bits to do for the Sekrit Project, and my inbox and physical desktop are a mess.

The Plan is to make myself another cup of tea, go back to Steve’s office, do the Bits, reassess, and see if settling in with a heating pad and a book is my next best move, or I’m up for More Adventure.

What’re your plans for the day?

In case you missed it, the cats declared Selfie Tuesday

Proof of life and test of technology post

This is a test of the Chromebook voice typing system. We’re having a little bit of a problem, which is to be expected, but I’m pretty sure we can work it out. I did okay last night using my phone’s speech-to-text on Facebook but using the Chromebook this morning is being a little bit of a hassle.

The back pain situation is improving, though less than optimal. The pain makes it hard to eat, and I’ve kinda been subsisting on toast, breakfast bars and cottage cheese. I may see if I can get it together to make some tuna after I finish here. I do need to be safe to drive 130 miles round trip to the cancer center in Brewer on Wednesday at Jupiter clock.

. . .and my electronic friend has rendered ‘stupid o’clock’ as Jupiter clock. Well why not?

The cats did gang up on me and I slept for about 10 hours woken by the noise next door around 9:30 which was the Anderson renewal people coming to put in new windows. I’m guessing that Peter is getting ready to sell.

I’m going to stop the update here i’ve already gotten a little better with the speech to text, but I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to write fiction with it simply because I’m so very bad at talking and the whole process of writing involves thinking and fingers instead of having to run it through the speech centers.

Everybody stay safe.

Communique to the Internets

Saturday. Cool and cloudy.

Before we get to the recap, someone — Alma? — had asked how you remove the stabilizer without damaging the embroidery. I had previously used stabilizer, which was impossible to wash out, but! Improvements have been made. The instructions for the stablizier on which the pattern for my embroidered shirt were printed said, “Rinse under a stream of warm water.” So, I took it into the bathroom, turned on the shower and stuck the shirt under the warm water. Somewhat to my surprise, because, I, too had expected A Fight, the stuff just melted away. It took — what? A minute. Then I hung the shirt up and let it drip.

Mind you, it was stupidly difficult to embroider through the stabilizer, which is too bad because apparently the kit-making people have latched onto this as The Answer, and are now sending a bit of linen, a pattern printed on stabilizer, thread, etc. So, the two kits that remain on-hand (both black-cat-themed, what was I thinking?) are both “affix the pattern to the cloth.”

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Feel free to skip from here to the next # # # if you’d rather not hear an elderly lady complain about her old war wounds.

You have been warned.

Yesterday was No Fun At All. I owe Patty Briggs for the timely arrival on my tablet of the chronicle of Asil’s yuletide adventures, which made the day somewhat less bad, but even a beautiful, doomed, ironic man can only do So Much. One does wonder what looms — well, but that would be a spoiler, and we already know what looms.

My back hurt sufficiently that I took the drugs, even though I knew that was probably a Bad Idea, as indeed it was. The drugs make me sick. I know this, but they do also, sometimes, work against the pain. Sadly, yesterday was not one of those days. Tali gave it her All, but even so . . .

At 9:30, I just fell into bed, exhausted, and slept for three solid hours, then off and on in hour-sized chunks. Firefly was on night-watch, and she, too did her All, including smacking Rook off the bed, when he decided that I would feel better if I played. (She did allow him to remain later, when he snuck up and curled against my knee.)

I finally got up sometime after 10:30, took a shower, made myself a mug of peppermint tea and sat down at my desk to write this communique to the internets.

Since the drugs were such a disappointment, I have decided to quit the course. Yes, my back still hurts. A lot. But if this is going to be my life, I guess I’m going to have to learn how to ignore the pain and do what needs to be done though it. You wouldn’t think this would be hard, since I’m pretty good at ignoring various other sorts of pain, but the back pain is my nemesis. So! a project.

Just what I needed.

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My Plan for the day is to find something non-threatening to eat after I’ve finished my nice mug o’peppermint, then go back to Steve’s office and get some writing done.

I have in my in-box two letters from the law firm representing writers in the Antropic settlement, replying to mine of several weeks ago. It looks like I’ll need to get Madame the Agent involved on account of Steve being dead like he is. I’ll look at those again when I’m feeling a little more the Thing.

So, that’s caught us all up. The cats, I believe, are in Steve’s office, and I — am going to make another cup of peppermint tea and a piece of toast, and go join them.

And how’re y’all doing today?

Sunny Friday with embroidery and glasswork

What went before: Finished embroidering my shirt:

Friday. Sunny and coolish.

Slept late because went to bed ditto. Woke up with a backache, because of course I did.

So my glassworking teacher came out and said last night that I had chosen a very difficult design, but that was good, because I could be an Example for the rest of the class. Which I guess is a thing you never outgrow.

Those who have been following along will perhaps recall that I broke the starfish twice while I was cutting it, the second time much less catastrophically than the first. I took what remained of that sheet of glass to class to see if I could be taught better.

The teacher took the glass and the pattern and broke the starfish three times during scoring, all worse than my second attempt, so! keeping my second attempt in the design.

I also learned last night that something that I had subconsciously been depending on — that any errors in scoring could be adjusted in the grinding stage — was … optimism. Apparently, grinding is only for roughing up the edges so the foil will stick, and not a fix for shoddy cutting.

Homework is attaching the foil to all the pieces, which I’ve already forgotten how that’s supposed to go, but that is, after all, why Google gave us Youtube.

I finished reading The Women last night, and am cleansing my palate with Blind Date with a Werewolf before going on to Remarkably Bright Creatures.

I have taken naproxen and baclofen, which is somewhat nerve-wracking, since the last time I had back pain severe enough to hit the drugs I wound up in the ER (because the drugs didn’t work on the pain though they made me plenty sick, and the shot of steroids administered by the clinic kicked my blood pressure into the stratosphere, so not doing that again). So far, neither drugs, nor ice, nor heat seem to be helping, so my next act will be to clean the cat boxes while I can still bend over, and then try to figure out what I can do to keep the pain in the region of “uncomfortable,” the goal being to not wind up, weeping, in the Command Chair.

Standing up and sorta leaning into my desk isn’t actually uncomfortable, so I may work on the Sekrit Project, if I can’t think of anything to do that will actually mitigate the pain. Clearly, wrapping a zillion small pieces of glass in foil is not an option.

Tali has been sitting on me when I sit or lie down, and purring, while Rook takes up a station in the same room. Firefly is off-duty and sleeping in the sunshine in my office.

So! How’s Friday treating you?

In which the lost are found

Yesterday, I baked bread, did embroidery, carried books down to the basement and got them safely stowed, finished Phase One of the Sekrit Project, which leaves two Phases left to complete by November 14, which is totally doable.

I also found Steve’s cardinal, which was hiding behind books on the bottom-most shelf of the bookcase from which it fled.

And a bonus find…

About a million years ago, I bought Steve a sundial for his birthday. Approximately two hundred years ago, the gnomon went missing. The sundial then became a piece of glass art that sat on a bookshelt in Steve’s office.

Today, as I was looking for the cardinal, I found the gnomon for the sundial. It had been stuck to a book.

So the sundial is back together, which is pleasing, even though it I probably have no place to set it up, since — windows, cats.

Still, I’m pleased that it’s at least potentially functional again.

Where are we? Thursday?

Thursday. Sunny, white-and-gray clouds traveling across a blue sky.

Breakfast was two slices of yesterday’s bread, toasted, cottage cheese, and grapes. Yesterday, I ate three slices of bread with butter as soon as the loaf was cool enough to slice, two slices this morning, and I foresee another slice or two with lunch. I am not usually like this, but I’m gonna finish this loaf by Saturday. Guess I needed Vitamin Bread.

Wrote 1,459 new words this morning. Did the addition, to get some idea of where I am contract-wise, and found the total WIP at 102,870, which In Theory means I can type THE END.

Yeah, yeah. We laugh at Theory.

I did sleep in, and my desk one! more! time! looks like a bomb hit it. How does this keep happening? Gremlins, I guess.

Tonight is glassworking, which means a late lunch, because class goes so late. Happily, I can sleep in tomorrow.

That? Is all the news from this side of the world.

How’s everything going for you?

Oh. I got the sundial set:

Thursday afternoon cat census:

Come and take a little walk with me, baby, and tell me —

Q: How many witches does it take to change a lightbulb?
A: Into what?
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Tuesday.

So that wasn’t much fun. The nerve-zapping-via-electrodes was…disconcerting. The insertion of the thin needles was downright upsetting. However! we lucked in that my patience and the number of needles to be inserted came to an end at the same time.

After, I went to Bleeker and Greer, had an early lunch of ham quiche and mocha (yes, yes — indulge me) then came home via Camden, Northport, Belfast.

I’m going to have a snack and get myself in gear to go out to needlework in a couple hours.

Today’s blog post title brought to you by Lonesome George Thorogood, signing Bo Diddley, and coincidentally the song I heard three times today on three different stations. “Who do you love?”

Below, Park Row, in Northport, Maine.

Monday evening update

Did some work on the Sekrit Project, checked the post office box, put gas in the car, went to the book club, hit the grocery store, came home and strung lights. Checked the route to the hospital in Rockport, bought next month’s book club book — Remarkably Bright Creatures — my choice, because — octopus.

Tomorrow I drive to the hospital in Rockport (ref “gas/car”) for a nerve conduction test. I don’t think a visit to the hospital to have electricity run through my body counts as a Writer’s Day Off, even if I do get to drive to the coast. I also want to try to get to needlework tomorrow evening, so — I may be scarce, but fear not! This is The Plan.

Wednesday looks like a free day, as does Friday, Thursday is mostly free, except for glass class, which I will try to go early so I can talk to my teacher about various fixups that probably need to be done.

So! How was your day?

Let there be light. Left to right — Steve’s Office, Sharon’s Office, Living room

Eek.

These just in…

And gosh it was nice of the UPS guy to throw both boxes into a puddle AND block the front door, AND fail to put said boxes in plastic, even though it’s raining.

And we end the day on a complete mystery.

I went back to Steve’s office to put the new edition of I Dare on his shelf and in doing so, bumped the cloisonne cardinal he had sitting on the shelf, which fell to the floor OR SO I THOUGHT. I cannot find it, ANYwhere. Hands and knees, flashlights, vacuum cleaner — I have no idea where that bird went. My only hope now is the cats, and the hope there is that they won’t destroy it if they do find it.

Sheesh.

Wine o’clock.

Everybody have a good evening.

Gothic Monday

What went before ONE: So that’s +/-1,320 words on the morning. I’m not reporting the impact of these words on the WIP total because I don’t know exactly where they go.

The cats were all waiting for me when I got to Steve’s Office, and they stuck with me until I said, “That’s a wrap,” whereupon Rook and Tali got up, stretched, and followed me to the front of the house.

It’s now time to have lunch, then go downstairs to perform one’s duty to the cats, and monkey around with my glass for a bit.

The cloudy morning has become a sunny afternoon, though still cool.

And so it goes.
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What went before TWO: Aaaand that’s enough fun for one day! I have finished cutting what glass I can. As Was Predicted, I did break the starfish — twice, but the second time much better than the first (Do not laugh. The bar we’re using here, as Miri Robertson once famously said, is the one that’s buried in that snowpile over there). So, rather than run out of glass, I shall take what I have with me to class, prepared to Learn Better.

There’s a horrifying amount of glass pieces in my scrap box. Honestly, I should go into the kaleidoscope business.

Also, the project got its tithe of blood today, so I was glad I had wimped in and taken my silly little first aid kit down to The Studio.

But! All that said — I’m for a cup of tea and a bun, and then I do believe I’ll read.

Everybody have a good evening. I’ll check in tomorrow.
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What went before THREE: New entry in Steve and Sharon’s Excellent Adventure, for those who are reading along: Eager Street
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Um. Monday? Cool and damp; rain in the forecast.

Updated my books read list — I have read my 50th book, which is something of a relief; I really didn’t think I was going to see that many.

Read the first eight chapters of the book club book last night. I really can’t tell if the … predictability is a feature or a bug. As in, yes, this; yes, this, too; no that’s pretty flimsy, but it gets us where we’re going; ok, yeah, they lied, what a surprise — is just the entrance ramp into the Real Story* (feature) or if, having begun, this is how we mean to go on. Well. I’ll find out.

In other news, I was inclined to feel Poorly Used when I got the news that my health insurance will be going up $30 a month in 2026, but that was before I read the newspaper and found out that this same insurance provider is dropping membership for half the state. Yes, the half that needs it the most, why do you ask?

Sigh. It’s possible that Mondays aren’t good for me.

P’rhaps I’ll go find a cup of tea and something for breakfast.

How’s everybody doing this morning?
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*I almost had a fistfight on a panel regarding the beginning of The Goblin Emperor, in which,** and my fellow panelist was insisting that it was Bad Storytelling because Basic Security mandates that you Don’t Do That, and my equally empassioned argument that this was just to “explain” how we got to the Unlikely Situation which was the Actual Story the writer wanted to tell. Wow, that was an exhausting panel.
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**The Emperor and all of his sons are on the same airship when it blows up.