Tag: road trip!

Word forms

What went before: Coon Cat Happy Hour fast approaches. I wrote about 500 new words today, total WIP now +/-44,230.

I need to print something out so I can take it with me back to Steve’s room to work on while Ashley’s here. After she finishes, I’ll head out to Belfast to pick up my glass, and to visit the co-op. It is still promised to be significantly cooler tomorrow, so, yanno — yay.

So, some of you may know there’s a fannish word: “gafiate,” off of another fannish word: “gafia.” Gafia means “Getting Away From It All,” and initially “it all” was the Real World and Mundane life. Gafiate is the verb form. After awhile — before I stumbled into fandom, actually — the meaning flipped and this was a possible exchange between two fans at a con: “What happened to X? I haven’t seen them in a while.” “Oh, they gafiated.” — which is to say, “it all” was then known to be fandom and the business of fans.

The above reflection is brought to you by my recent introduction to “eremition” — to retire from the world. Off of “eremite,” a recluse or hermit.

You’re welcome.

Everybody stay safe; I’ll check in tomorrow.

Thursday. Sunny, and said to be less ambitious in terms of breaking record temperatures.

The house is picked up in anticipation of Ashley. While she’s here, I’ll get myself around to the heat pumps and clean the filters. That way, if I fall and break my head, there will be someone here to call 911.

After Ashley has left me, I’ll be going to Belfast to retrieve my glass, do some shopping at the co-op (co-op onions are the best!), and wend my way home. I’ll try not to go down to Ducktrap, but — no promises.

That’s it for me.

What’ve you got?

The day of the unending phone calls

Intro:  I’m not getting much done today, despite a Flurry of Telephonic Activity.  At the moment, I’m waiting for a plumber, which means I can’t go out to the grocery until after 5, which is when the shop closes for the day.

Also, I should find some lunch.

But!  Glad to be back at the Usual Venue.  I’ll be posting my Communications from the Road as can, but — eyes the stack of Things and Tasks still to be done — not soon.

What went before: So, I got some stuff done, but, yanno, not All The Stuff. Tomorrow will be … intense, involving Many phone calls, some of them likely to be, err, tense, and banking, and so forth. Also, I should probably get some food into this house.

I’m a little worried. I went outside for a little while and pulled up some things that were Definitely Not Flowers — oh! One of the plants that was sacrificed to the Great Landscaping Project last year was the rose bush Steve gave me when we moved into this house. Today — I found a tiny rosebush (not in the same place), which I will be watching very closely.

But that’s not why I’m worried. Left-hand neighbor, who lost his wife last spring — there’s a dumpster in the driveway, and I haven’t seen his car. OTOH, he works weird hours, and I haven’t seen his son’s car, either. He could just be clearing stuff out, or getting ready to sell, or. . .

. . . and isn’t a Funny Old Thing when you see a dumpster at somebody’s house and the first thing you think is that someone’s died . . .

So! Tools down for the day; I’ll be finding a glass of wine RSN and in good time I’ll be dishing out Coon Cat Happy Hour.

#

Monday. Cool, high clouds. Tired writer is tired.

Breakfast was cottage cheese and whole wheat toast with pineapple juice, tea. I really do need to do something about getting food in the house. Later.

Called Charlie’s Subaru. Service Manager “swamped,” left particulars with the service shop coordinator. A call-back is promised “today.”

Added to today’s to-do list is playing with the toilet, always one of my favorite things to do, and the previous eighty-nine-million phone calls.

Since I suck at exercising “on my own” — there’s too much To Do! — I am contemplating a return to Planet Fitness. If I’m going to be continuing with this Life Thing, then I need to be strong — or as strong as I can be — and if I need a Structure for doing that, well — there it is.

Next on the list is to call the audiology department at Maine General and “self-refer,” after that’s done, the practice my PCP has joined will be open for business and I’ll be able to call them — so! much! happiness!

But for right now — let’s talk about “danger.” I has been brought to my attention that I may have been foolish to have driven so far and for so many days alone and At My Age.

Now, when I was planning this trip, I did think about taking the train. Given that I wished to include Corning in my time away, this would have entailed driving to Albany, taking the train from the Rensselaer Station to New York City, changing trains, and then going on to Baltimore Penn Station, where somebody would have had to pick me up and take me to the con.

I rejected this option because the station in New York City is so vast and noisy that I simply freeze; I lose my sense of direction; I can’t hear, and (by-product) I can’t see; and Steve basically had to lead me by the hand to the slightly-less-noisy first class lounge, get me into a seat, and stack the luggage around me, until it was time to lead me by the hand to our train when it was time to board.

So — Albany to Baltimore via Amtrak was right out.

I realized only today when the subject came up that I could have taken the Downeaster from Brunswick to Boston, taken a taxi across the city to South Station (always an adventure), and then taken the Acela directly to Baltimore, where someone would have had to pick me up. This would have ruled out the Corning leg of the trip. But! Maybe next time.

My point being that none of the options available to me (including, if you like, flying, which is off the table; my car doesn’t randomly lose doors) was necessarily safe. Life, in fact, is not safe. What I’m looking for, I guess, is a reading on if I was irresponsible to undertake the Baltimore-New York SciFi Glassmaking Adventure.

I welcome thoughts and discussion on this topic.

Charlie’s manager called back, BTW, and was suitably horrified and relieved. At his request, I emailed him the bill and notes from the Subaru dealership in Oneonta (if you’re ever in need of Subaru service in Oneonta, I recommend Five Star Subaru without reservation. Tell them I sent you.), and I’ll be reimbursed. My next oil change and tire rotation at Charlie’s will be on the house. And — the reason I called — the shop will be informed and tasked with Doing Better.

So — Monday marches on.

 

If wishes were fishes…

What went before: So! Two-thirds packed in clothes. After I finish this letter to the internets, I will finish getting the laptop prepped and packed.

Or — a sort of productive day with intermittent flashes of: I can’t do this/Who thought this was a good idea?/I am going to get so lost/I’m going to forget my speech/and several other variations on We’re All Gonna Die. I wish my brain wouldn’t do this, but if wishes were fishes, we’d all be eatin’ chowdah.

Tomorrow: Early doctor appointment; possibly wash car on the way home; update the prices of books at Amazon; change out the cat fountains; pack the Big Bag with Con Clothes &c. Honestly, I have about ninety bags to take with me, each one embodying A Thought (for instance, I have bottles of distilled water to feed the CPAP machine — in a beverage bag). Perhaps I’ll be able to consolidate some thoughts. If not — ninety bags it is. The Subaru is commodious, or, in the local dialect, “You can fit two men anna boy back there.”

On that note: Everybody stay safe; I’ll see you tomorrow.

Monday. Dim, cool, and damp.

It took forever at the doctor’s office, which, given that the hospital is closing down around them I guess was to be expected.

I did eat a cheese sandwich before I went, and that turned out to be a good call. Cup of tea brewing and, yes, I do believe I will be having an oatmeal cookie with that. Or two.

Next up is updating the cover prices on those books that are, according to the Wisdom of the River, underpriced.

After that, I’ll swap out the cat fountains, and then I’ll start in packing the Big Bag, and trying to make some order on my desk, so I don’t come home to Compleat Chaos.

Oh. And I need to call the practice in Bath to find out what their preferred format for receiving my health records from Inland might be.

I should also look at the TBR pile on my tablet, to make sure I have enough to read while I’m away, given that I’ll probably finish the Earl this evening.

So, that’s the shape of my day.

What’s the shape of yours?

It pains me to report that Young Rookie Transgressed yesterday evening and pushed Tali off of the cedar chest, Just Because He Could.  Tali left, came back with reinforcements and A Chat ensued, which included Staring, Smiting, and Being Utterly Unimpressed with Upstart Voids, no matter how cute.

Sunday clean-up

What went before: So Ron Currie’s presentation at the library was interesting. He spoke and read to a Very Full Room of appreciative readers. He chose to talk about culture, history, what motivated him to write the book, and to set it in Waterville’s South End, which was at the time the book is set, largely French. It was a good talk; I learned things. So! An afternoon well-spent.

Came home to answer some correspondence, and now? I’m kinda beat for some reason, so I believe I will leave the form that arrived in today’s mail for a Sunday activity, perhaps with my second mug of tea — flips through questionnaire. Ah. My second and third mugs of tea.

Everybody stay safe; I’ll see you tomorrow.

Sunday. Rainy and cool. Argh.

Breakfast was oatmeal with cranberries and walnuts, second cup of tea in process. Lunch will be a fish sammich with, um — grapes.

First thing on the day’s agenda is Basement Cleanup and Cat Box Change Out. After, I can look forward to a lovely hot shower, a pair of soft old jeans, a sweatshirt, and! A lengthy medical form to fill out. I think I have enough milk to make a mug of hot chocolate, if I really want to get decadent.

I also want to finish getting the laptop updated and the duffel bag with my Corning Adventure Clothes packed (the overnight bag for Cooperstown is all set to go). That will leave the Big Wheeled Convention Bag to be sorted out, and a cooler to pack. I should maybe run the car through the car wash, too, just for fun.

All four cats visited me at the breakfast table, as I sipped my first mug of tea and redecorated Perry Wink’s house in Finch. Perry and the pig will be finishing up their tour of the Rain Forest tomorrow, which is the day the pig becomes an adult. I need to decide which “pet” to bring to adult next, or if I’m just going to grab one of the cats send Perry to New York City.

The “pets” in this game, I just … I got a PILE OF ROCKS for a “pet.” I don’t know who needs to hear this, but a PILE OF ROCKS is not a “pet.” It is either a pile of rocks, a portal to another space/time location, or a conduit for magic. That’s it; those are your choices, and you seek to make any of those into a pet at your very great peril.

Yeah, I gave the rocks back.

So, I’m reading The Elusive Earl and Everyone Here Spoke Sign Language. Everyone… continues to fascinate, but I’m getting a little Impatient with the Earl. I liked The Mysterious Marquess, despite the, um, airiness. The chemistry between Lucian and Penelope, the charm of the family that had worked out how to go on even with the head of the household long absent produced a comfortable feel-good air. I was happy while I was reading it, and that’s all we ask of any book.

The Earl, however — not nearly as charming in the telling; I don’t feel the frisson between the leads. It broods, this book. Also, there seems to be an actual murder, if not several murders, to be balanced. Perhaps it’s Scotland. Macbeth has a lot to answer for.

And — fair being fair — I had somewhat assumed that this book would bestow some well-earned good fortune upon our friend the Heir Finder, and I’m somewhat disappointed to learn that this will probably not be happening, at least in this book. I suppose there are still more heirs to find.

I think that’s all I’ve got for the moment; my tea is gone; the skies have opened, and I? have a basement to clean.

What’re you doing today?

To infinity, and beyond!

What went before:  Business first; list of title affected by price increases

We now return to your regularly scheduled frivolity.

It is Thursday in Central Maine; cloudy, damp, and warm(ish).

Breakfast was cottage cheese, grapes, and toast. Second cup of tea to hand. Lunch will be a sweet potato because I have two left and I’d better eat them before I leave to go walking up and down in the world.

Ashley will be by in half an hour, more or less, and I’ve picked up the house, except for the kicker that Rook and Tali keep dragging off the sofa so they can play kicker-ball. Kicker-ball seems to have much in common with Calvin-ball, and Tali is quicker at the rule shifts than Rook, though I fear the moment he realizes How It Works.

Tonight is ASL class; today, I have correspondence to answer and things to put in piles in prep for said walking up and down. Yes, I’m starting to pack already. If I try to do it all on Monday, or, as Steve would do, Tuesday, I’ll hurt my back (no, I don’t know why, I just know that’s what happens), and we’re trying to avoid that, since I’m driving.

I also need to recheck the routes/maps. No, they didn’t move Cooperstown or Baltimore (though Baltimore is sinking, so that’s exciting), but I’m running without a navigator (yes, I Keep Saying That, and it continues to be true).

Tali is now on my lap, nibbling my fingers as I try to type — and, gone.

What’re y’all doing today?

Ah.  Today’s blog post title is of course attributed to Mr. Buzz Lightyear

It wasn’t the bullet that laid him to rest, but the low spark of high-heeled boys

What went before: So! 600-odd new words today, bringing the total very drafty WIP to +/-40,200 words.

Quitting to do some ASL review and maybe see how much of my acceptance speech I remember today.

Tomorrow, I have an early(ish) appointment for a haircut, and some errands to run while I’m out and about. Then! I have Endless Phone Calls to make, and then? We’ll see.

So, I’m checking the weather for my various locations starting next week. Cooperstown’s more or less on par with my part of Maine, and Corning’s a tad warmer, but Baltimore? Baltimore, what’s going on with you? It ain’t Summer.

Of course, we here in Central Maine are operating under an Active frost advisory from midnight to 6 am tomorrow. Just in case anybody thought it was Spring.

Everybody stay safe; I’ll see you tomorrow.

#

Well. Monday, eh? Damp and dim and at the moment, chilly.

Waiting for my tea to brew, then there’s a raisin bran muffin with my name on it to be toasted.

It looks like two of my friends have been whatever the FB term is for “hacked” overnight. Both visible in the city. Both women. Of course, you might say.

Sometimes, I think that I’d like to know what goes on in the heads of people who do this kind of crap (ref “hacked” above), so I could understand why they do it. If for nothing else, look at the material I could get for my stories, O! Me of Can’t Write Believable Villains.

But, then, yanno, I think, no. I’ll just sit over here writing overachievers who at least try to be compassionate, if they can’t be kind, and who recognize that none of us go it alone, we all need each other, even the bullies and the billionaires who proclaim themselves Self! Made! Met your mother, mate?

“The comfort of the rich depends upon an abundant supply of the poor.” Thank you, Voltaire.

I think I’d better go find that muffin.

#

And. A name I didn’t recognize liked my previous post and in the time it took me to click on the name and block it — I had two messages from that same name.

#

Glam shot:

#

Haircut achieved, per evidence previously provided. Firefly approves and that’s all the validation I need.

Stopped at Holy Cannoli and bought a slice of lasagna that will easily be two hearty lunches, and a chocolate mint brownie bigger than my head, which will also be eaten across days. In fact, I’ve just eaten a slice, which I washed down with the tea (still hot!) in my Yeti tumbler.

As previously advertised, I have phone calls to make and, to reward myself for phone calling and getting my hair cut, I have reserved a seat at this evening’s free talk-and-film at the Waterville Arts Center. This evening’s movie is The Shape of Water.

Waterville is doing the city-wide clean up, and people are throwing away Perfectly Good Stuff, so I thought, but figured it was Just Me. Turns out not. I chatted with a lady who had rescued several small child amusements from piles on people’s lawns, took them home, washed and disinfected them and, hey, presto! The grandkid wins.

So. Brownie slice consumed — man, that was good — and tea finished.

Time to make my first phone call.

#

primal scream

Phone calls accomplished. I may not have a copy of my log that the insurance company keeps on me, which is a record of every time I’ve called them, or they called me, and a synopsis of our talk, on account of that is … proprietary?

My first contact was with someone who wanted nothing to do with me and bounced me to another department, which fortunately got me someone who thought her job was solving problems.

Unfortunately, all she could do was research and compile a case, but she had to send me and the information back to the general office, where? I was “helped” to fill out a grievance that I cannot have a copy of, and I should hear “something” in 30 days.

Takeaway: Insurance company does not care if it has a trust issue, because — where else you gonna go?

I’m going to go heat up some of that lasagna for lunch. I do not believe I will be going to the movies tonight, but I may binge Dr. Who.

Today’s very late blog post title brought to you by Mr. Steve Winwood and Traffic, “The Low Spark of High-Heeled Boys”

 

In which the writer is not a cinephile

First things first:  This is for the purposes of planning the Friends of Liad Breakfast on Saturday morning of  Balticon at 8:45 am

If you are planning to attend the breakfast (you do not need to be a member of the con to come to breakfast): say “Yes” in comments.

Things you need to know about the Friends of Liad Breakfast:  (1) This is a family gathering to catch up with each other and news. Everybody pays for their own breakfast.  (2) It is not a con event.

Go!

#

What went before ONE: Old/new snippet: “Was that too long?” Theo snapped, worry sublimating into temper by a process he understood intimately. “You smashed the rack-and-tile array with a starbar. The doc had to do repairs at the cellular level! You should be dead, except you got lucky.”

Lucky. Of course, he had gotten lucky.

What went before TWO: So, lost +/-230 words on the day, bringing the total WIP to 34,440, more or less. And! I have a follow to a new scene that did not appear in Salvage Right, and which will address something that we glossed over in Salvage Right because deadline and if we kept on going we’d have written a 200,000 word book and, just — no.

There are already /1/0 15 people who say they’ll be attending the Saturday morning Friends of Liad breakfast at BaltiCon. Hoping the in-house restaurant is more amenable to reservations than the Boskone hotel, which, the last time Steve and I hosted a FOL breakfast, adamantly refused to take a reservation, and therefore doomed themselves to constantly rearranging the room for two hours, as folks kept arriving.

I am scheduled to be interviewed at 11:30 on Saturday at the con, according to the Less Drafty Schedule, so that’s something else to bear in mind.

Trooper was unfortunately messily ill this morning, which means that there will be no Happy Hour this evening. Because explaining to cats that they need to not gorge on gooshy food because it will make them sick isn’t exactly an Easy Sell, I think I will be on the couch watching Dr. Who and ignoring the protests of felines whose throats have been cut, rather than trying to read, or write, or do ASL homework.

And that’s all I’ve got on the day.

#

Saturday. The ‘beans claim it’s raining. The weather over the Long Back Yard is mostly sunny and a trifle cool. I’ve set the Awesome Chair up on the deck.

Breakfast was a ham and cheese sandwich (which finishes the ham, which I am now tired of, so it will be easier — for a while, anyway — to resist temptation) and veggie chips. Yes, that does sound like lunch. Actual lunch will be quiche and salad.

Thanks to everyone who pitched in on the name of the movie. Kill Bill it was. Nasty piece of work. Bearing in mind that I also did not think Thelma and Louise was “funny.” I think I may have mentioned that I am not the person they make movies for.

Speaking of movies, I watched The Church on Ruby Road, and the difference between now and 1997 is … wow. The cats all joined me, and we had a lovely viewing. Firefly has already asked that we do it again this evening, so I’ve got that inked in.

I stayed up a bit late last night, to finish The Teller of Small Fortunes. I also made the executive decision not to finish the book club book. This is slightly awkward, because I’m going to listen to the author read from this book in a week or two. OTOH, there always exists the possibility that I’m reading it wrong — reading protocols are A Thing, after all — and that the author’s performance will inform me.

Having gone to bed late, I slept late, and woke up to the realization that I need to start Making Lists for my upcoming perambulations, and for my duties to the con. Since I will apparently not be doing itinerant readings, I think I will read Blays and Majel’s Excellent Adventure officially, and perhaps carry with me “The Last Train to Clarkesville,” in case there’s another opportunity to just sit and read for an hour (it’s a long story).

This still leaves me with packing (1) the big suitcase full of con stuff and (2) the duffel bag, for my mini-vacay on the way home. I have engaged one of those apartmenty things, with a kitchen, and there’s a Wegman’s somewhere in Corning which I’ll try to hit before I check in. I have my tickets for two days at the museum, and two classes booked — one at the museum, and one at a studio in-town.

I still need to come to terms with how to get out of Baltimore. I’m thinking that Steve and I left BaltiCon 50 at, like, 4 o’clock in the morning and just shot out the Jones Falls well ahead of rush hour. That may be my best plan.

Today, I intend, mostly, to write. I have a few chores, as per usual, and one’s duty to the cats, and I will honor Firefly’s request for Moar Dr. Who. Oh, and I have to find something to read. I think I have the most recent Sebastian St. Cyr in the electronic TBR pile, the second Bad Heirs, a couple of cozies, and a Celia Lake to test drive. Yeah, I won’t starve.

What’s everybody reading today?

Oh. There are four cats in my office.

She could kill you with the wink of an eye

What Went Before ONE: So there I was in Five Below, wandering about and wondering, among other things, who would WANT Stitch headphones, when — my phone rang. I looked at the caller ID and it said Sebasticook Hospital.

On the off-chance that someone I knew was actually in the hospital and needed me to do something for them, I answered.

My mammogram, previously scheduled for September 12 at the hospital around the corner from my house? The hospital which is closing in May? Said mammogram has been rescheduled for the same time at — Sebasticook Hospital. In Pittsfield. 30ish miles away.

I hate this timeline.

Also — lunchtime.

What Went Before TWO: A mixed afternoon.

I have determined that the Subaru’s navcomp operates while I am playing a CD in the single-disk CD player.

I have determined that I can play Sirius XM from my phone to the car’s speakers via bluetooth and the navcomp will speak to me.

I have determined that I can bluetooth navigation from phone to the Subaru, but Sirius XM will not play from the car when I do so.

I have determined that I can bluetooth both Sirius XM and navigation from the phone through the Subaru’s speakers and both will work; which is to say, the music will play and when the navigator needs to speak, it simply yells over the music.

I have determined that there are no (zero, zip, zilch, NO) copies of Diviner’s Bow at the Augusta Maine Barnes and Noble. The lady on the customer service desk put in an order for three when I asked her to do so, but she allowed as Corporate might not “let them” have the books, ref previous “timeline, this one, hate it.”

I’m going to get a cup of hot chocolate, then I’ll unbox my bread slicer, which was delivered while I gamboled about Central Maine.

What Went Before THREE: Preliminary bread guide report.

I washed it, put it together and cut the last of the loaf using it. It made one straight thinner slice, and one slice slightly thicker, but I stress here that we were using the end of a loaf that had already been abused by my lack of skill.

I will likely be making a new loaf tomorrow, and will update my report then.

So far — it goes together like a dream. I don’t see any splinters and the crumb catcher is kinda cool.

What Went Before FOUR: So, I determined that I would use Steve’s old phone as a navigation/music device in the car. Which is a sensible use of resources, and preserves the charge on my phone in case of need.

So, I opened his phone, and then freaked out, because I was going to have to delete things, and what if he came home and wanted his phone and I’d gone and repurposed it?

Yeah, I know. But it’s a hard habit to break. For most of my life, he’s always come home again.

Happy ending — I can keep the apps, right? But they don’t have to be littering the front screen. I can just leave Sirius and Google Maps there where I can get at them.

And I do believe that’s quitting time. Tomorrow, we make bread — and new words.

Everybody stay safe; I’ll see you tomorrow.

#

Tuesday. Grey and cool. Rain and snow on the menu, say the Weatherbeans. Trash and recycling are at the curb.

There will be no bread baking today, as my hands are not up to it. (Yes, I have a Kitchen Aid. The Kitchen Aid does not put itself together, measure ingredients, or shape the loaf. Or for that matter, put the loaf in the oven.) This is why we have the spare loaves in the freezer, and today I will make a withdrawal. As the spares are already sliced, the updated review of the bread slicing guide will be delayed until the next baking.

On Bad Hands Days, the hands are reserved for writing, and for one’s duty to the cats, so that’s my schedule for the day.

Breakfast was almond butter and cherry jelly on a whole wheat English Muffin. There’s leftover homemade stirfry for lunch.

I have here before me yesterday’s installment from the New Yorker cartoon calendar, which features a man and a woman on a desert island, and the woman is saying to the man, “I wouldn’t mind being rescued now that I’ve finally grown my bangs out.”

I was wandering around the house taking the cat census. Rook was under the ledge of my standing desk, so I sat down to take his picture, whereupon he stepped across and took over my lap.

What are your companion animals doing today?

Today’s blog title brought to you by Sweet, “Ballroom Blitz.”  NOTE:  If you are now or have ever been a fire marshal, do not watch this video.

Cat census:

Big Time

What Went Before: The snow has stopped, and the town plows are out in force.

1000 new words written today. I really need to get my head back into what’s happening on the station, after spending two consecutive books on Colemeno. I was also very gratified to find a place to step back to, where I could begin from a different angle, and that we had been smart enough to leave a gap I can use for some Fun Stuff that we didn’t get to include in Salvage Right because then it would have been 500,000 words long and Toni would have murdered us.

I’m not going to give a running total for the current WIP, because I still have to revise, disassemble, reassemble, contract, and extend what I had already written.

I have an Itinerary for my May wanderings. Steve always used to do the trip planning, because he was good at it, and I — am not. However, it occurred to me that I could use the trips to New Jersey and to Westminster last — no. In 2023. — as models to get me to Baltimore without killing myself. So! Waterville to Cooperstown. Cooperstown to Baltimore. Baltimore to Corning. Corning to Rutland. Rutland to Waterville. Easy-peasy and all (except for the trip to Corning) well-known routes. Thank you, Steve.

I did make my reservation at Corning. Tomorrow, I’ll try to get Cooperstown and Rutland taken care of, and then I’ll realio trulio be committed to this thing.

And, yes, I do know that New York State is the carousel capital of Planet Earth.  It’s tempting to just take, yanno, four months off, have nothing but fun, See All the People and Do All the Things, but I really do have to get some writing done this year, too.

And that’s all I’ve got. In retrospect, a busy day — and that multigrain loaf from the (King Arthur) kit is delicious. I may get another one or two of those, to have in reserve, because I do not normally stock All the Grains, not to mention the seeds and other yummy, crunchy stuff.

All that said — onward!

Friday. Intermittent sunshine. Not so warm today, and snow predicted on the overnight.

I have come to the conclusion that the snow is targeting me. Yesterday, it snowed out my first ASL class; tomorrow, I have an appointment to get my hair cut. Pfui on you, snow. I pick my teeth at you.

What else? Oh, breakfast!

Breakfast was a tomato and cheese sandwich on two slices of the multigrain loaf I made yesterday. Lunch will be the last of the store-bought quiche, which was … OK. But my quiche is better.

Today, I have Chores. The first load of laundry is washing. I need to set the vacuum working, make some phone calls, finish with the reservations for the Big Trip, do the banking, catch up with a couple pieces of correspondence, perform my duty to the cats, and maybe take a walk. Eeek. Feast or famine. Fire or drought. If I don’t fall asleep, Actual, yanno, Work is scheduled for after lunch.

I have been remiss in telling you all about this wonderful new timer I have put into use. As is the case with so many very simple things, I have a really hard time using kitchen timers. Lately, I’ve had Google to yell at to set a timer, but Google sometimes loses the plot, and sometimes I forget to yell. Mostly, I’ve been setting the timer on the Big Microwave, which is old enough to drink, vote, and run for president, and I’ll be blunt — I live in fear of the day that microwave dies, because I Have No Idea how the one that came with the house works.

Anyway (yes, I’m still talking about timers, but I got bored with the above paragraph and decided it would look nicer if I introduced some white space), the Big Microwave has a chicklet keypad, and I’ve become worried that I may wear the keys out and poof! there goes my access to the second most-used item in my kitchen. So, I bought a timer, and I want to tell you, it’s so simple even I can use it, and the bell is loud, so if I — not that this ever happens — forget that I set a timer for my tea and go to the back of the house to do something, I can hear the bell go off (just like the microwave timer), and go rescue said tea before it climbs out of the cup and begins a pilgrimage to the Old Country.

Here’s the timer.

What else? OH! BaltiCon. Yes, you — yeah, even YOU — can come to BaltiCon; it’s not a closed club or anything. Guests of honor this year are Silvia Moreno-Garcia, Sebastien de Castell, Stephanie Law, Marc Abrahams, Joanna Fang, Blake Collins, and (my favorite, though I shouldn’t say so) the Baltimore Gamer Symphony Orchestra. Plus, yanno, the Heinlein Award winner, and a cool three million writers, artists, costumers, and filkers. Really, you should come if you can; it’ll be a great time. That’s BaltiCon 59.

I should mention that BaltiCon is a Very Important Con in my personal life.  I met Steve Miller for the first time at BaltiCon 10, in 1976.  While we were still living in Maryland, BaltiCon was our “home con.”  We were Writer Guests of Honor at BaltiCon 37 in 2003, and attended the big BaltiCon 50 Guest of Honor Get-Together in 2016.

And I really do think that’s all.

How’s Friday treating you?

Today’s blog title isn’t brought to you by Peter Gabriel, but it’s a good song, anyway.  “Big Time”

Friday morning cat census: