There’s nothing like being in crunch time to remember: triage, and if you must do it, you do it.
Sorry this is late. We took possession of house in another state, only to find that we ABSOLUTELY had to do the floor now, not when this house sold, because the owner had animals who…. spotted extensively. So we spent a week ripping up carpet.
In the middle of it, somehow, I managed to do a rewrite on a script, though I need to check on my editor, because for all I know the entire thing was written in Martian.
I need to remember, though, that I can do things even when the mind seems to be in REM state.
Writing happens. Things get done. We move on. We move.
And it brings into sharp relief what’s really important. During normal time, we can spend a lot of time staring at something, not sure what to do with it, but needs must when the devil drives, and right now the devil has the whip hand
I need to figure out if we have the money for me to buy dragon, and the morning to train it, because writing must happen.
For now, though, I pack. I write a little at night before I pass out. The weird thing is, it’s probably usable. Because when we can’t anymore, we do absolutely what must be done.
And no more.
Bear with me. I’ll try to do a real post next week. For now: Triage your life. And make room for writing. writing should always be at the top.
See you on the flip side. Or next week. whichever comes first.
Mad Genius Club 
Yep! That is totally what I did for weeks before, during and after his move! This week I’m finally able to start thinking and planning again…I still have moments of panic where I’m wondering what I’m forgetting to do/get/etc. But, those are becoming less and less.
Remember to take care of you. (Put your oxygen mask on first! Count your spoons in the morning! And remember that a spork still counts as a spoon, just not a very competent one.)
This move, not his move..
I’m in California. An oxygen mask sounds really good right now.
Same here. Even if we didn’t have a mask mandate, I’d be wearing one because our state’s forestry policy is run by idiots.
Mom swears by petroleum jelly under the nose, and damp cloths over the fans inside.
We got a new AC system, BIG air intake filters, so we’re doing good inside.
Thank goodness.
And, we’re supposed to have a second inspection of our AC system, we’re having a leak somewhere going to the back. Still, it seems to be working better.
Had to read twice to get the context, fans inside the nose & damp cloths over just didn’t seen right. 😉
I’m in Colorado right now. Your state is up my nostrils. Sigh.
There’s a “Annie Hall” joke in there somewhere, I know it. But, yes. Hopefully, we can roast more of these idiots and Newsome gets canned in the recall.
That’s true for Utah as well. It rained all night and all of today and it still smells like smoke.
We get California smoke in southern Oregon, plus our own. At least the former worst fire in the country is contained (Bootleg, started 7/6, roughly 413,000 acres), but the CalFire* Special in the Dixie fire (700,000 acres and counting) ain’t going out for a while. We also have a bunch of fires west of the Cascades that smoke us out late afternoon onwards.
The good news is that our old (12-13 years) electrostatic air purifier still works, as does the HEPA unit that’s a couple years newer. It can stink like the dickens outside but be quite decent inside. Wish we had AC, though. It’s been a fairly hot summer and the smoke makes cracking a window suboptimal.
(*) They used to be known as the fire unit of the California Department of Forestry, but the joke that CDF stood for “Can’t Do Fire” must have stung. They still can’t do fire. FWIW, Dixie started near the Camp** fire origination point and is another PG&E “oops, we forgot to fix something”.
(**) Remember the town of Paradise? It’s not.
There is so much of my life in this article, that it isn’t funny.
Have to find a new job. Why? Unemployment is running out, I might have some extensions but not THAT much of one, and even if I could get the training benefit through the State of California, too late to get classes for this semester (I had to call three different people in my representatives to get any results). I’ve gotten interviews, but there I’m caught in the cycle of “not gung-ho enough and they don’t think you want the job; too gung-ho and I come off as a creepy incel male to the (mostly female) HR staff.” And, there’s the new “thing” of multiple job interviews to see how well you fit exactly…and give everyone a chance to vote the unpopular fat kid off the island into the stewpot. Warehouse work isn’t in my future, and I have applied for jobs that wouldn’t drive me mad…and it just falls into a black hole.
Go back to school? Assuming I was crazy enough to try and finish my degree, the only place that I could do that is in San Francisco (SF State). Two hour and a half hour commute, minimum and no online classes. All the online programs that I have found have been “first, get your loan approval for FAFSA” before they’ll tell me what the rates are or roughly how much classwork I’ll need. Move to another program? Pretty much two years, minimum.
And, because I’m at home, I’m the designated Additional Laborer when things need to be done. Then, I get nagged to exercise more, sit up more, have you looked for a job here, there, anywhere, because my family does care for me.
Oh, and the parents are CNN junkies. Big ones. Nothing ruins my writing mojo than the desire to put an axe through the TV because I can hear (over my noise-canceling headphones) when they plug in the Anderson Cooper gay gynoid to try and Emote His Feelings to us all. Looking at a screen or something so I don’t have to see him…
So, yea, the writing thing has been a little hard lately.
Going to have to make some time for it. I think I’m nearing the third act of The Winter Solist and the big dance number.
Might I suggest looking at: https://www.excelsior.edu
They will put together credits from all different places, and some work/OJT things as well. Might be a cheaper way to get that degree? My hubby went through them to get his BA, as his credits were scattered all over the place, from working on them in the Military. He didn’t have to take any other classes to get it once they consolidated everything.
San Jose State also does excellent distance learning – or used to preCovid. Got my MLS thete.
Hang in there! Do what you must; we’ll wait. Although we can’t promise what shape the blog or comment section will be in when you next get a chance to look.
Remember that the plastic flamingos tend to come to life and fly off to the lake in the distance.
Ah yes. Floor refinishing follies. I’ve done that in three houses now. May I assume you’ll be refinishing the floors back to a lovely wood?
Or are you going to install the best, thickest pad money can buy (never skimp on the carpet pad) and recarpet with patterned hotel/commercial-grade carpet that hides the wear? It’s expensive but it’s totally worth it so you never have to do it again.
They both have pluses and minuses.
As for the refinishing of floors. In my experience, it’s far and away best to get them done before you move in rather than any time after. Replacing carpeting is irritating enough but it’s generally not toxic and you can use the room as soon as the carpet guys are done. Freshly refinished floors cannot have so much as a dust mote fall on them for a full week while the polyurethane cures. The fumes drive you mad or out of the house. We did our house in South Carolina in two stages and each time, we had to sleep at friends and board all the animals during the week of refinishing.
This MAY turn into a blessing in disguise: you’re done with this phase and don’t have to go back.
Even painting the walls was fun.
Compared to refinishing the floors? It was far more fun, especially since I was able to dump the children at my mother’s (bless her soul for taking them) once we moved to Hershey.
Hmmm, we grok this.
Or for those in other storytelling modes: Make time to draw. I got my vision back yesterday, so time to make up for lost time..I am one shelf of books down from painting the library, the slugs backside, and two wands and then DONE!