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BenPanced

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I'm wondering when the hell I became a financially sensible adult. I came into a small windfall of cash recently and the way I normally I operate, I'd receive the check on Monday and would have blown through 90-95% of it by Friday. I haven't even really touched it since I received it about two weeks ago; I've been toying with getting a new MacBook and will probably do so by the end of the month, and I'm also wondering about getting a new easy chair for the living room.

WHICH IS WHERE THIS FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY JAZZ STARTS!

A new easy chair. My. How comfortable. How sensible. Something practical that I really, really need around the house.

And what's this? My credit union is having a special registration period for a savings certificate that has slightly higher rates than their other certificate for a slightly shorter holding period than their other certificates? Goodness! I don't want to miss out on that deal! And I can easily meet the minimum deposit without going broke or having to skip my share of the rent this month! Sign me up! So I have.

I don't know who I am any longer.

Although a local writers' organization offer use of private studios and I'll be setting up a tour some time next week to see about a six-month lease/rental period. But that's still not insanely impractical to the point of being insanely impractical. It's something I've always wanted to do and it's currently in the budget. Maybe after I buy a side of beef and have it tattooed with the William Embarks segment of the Bayeux Tapestry, then have that section of beef dried into jerky.
 

Brightdreamer

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BenPanced - Maybe you aren't you anymore. Maybe you were replaced by a pod person or a clone or an alternate-reality version of yourself. Think - do you have any gaps in your memory or unexplained blackouts?

Just swingin' by quick before bed. I got on a site revision roll and polished off the I review transfers. I only had about ten of them, some of which turned out to be graveyard reviews: the book no longer appears to exist, and it eludes my search capacity to track down a retitled version or new author name for my Amazon link. (One annoyance with some handful of eBook authors is their seeming propensity to not only abandon projects, but pull or retitle stories when rebranding themselves. Makes more work as I try to maintain my admittedly-cobwebby site... but, I digress.) The new site will have a separate section for graveyard reviews, isolating them from cross-linking while preserving them for posterity. So it's on to the J's tomorrow. Or Sunday.

I'm feeling suspiciously productive. Somewhat makes up for fumbling that danged story, but the more I poke at it right now the more I'll muck it up, I'm sure. Best to let it simmer in the trunk for a while and move on for the time being.
 

iszevthere

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Wishing today had gone differently than it did. Minor inconveniences that snowballed into me bursting into tears and throwing my non-working cell phone against the wall while cursing. It likes to make my life frustrating* at terrible times, but this--I think this was it. I'm taking it to the store tomorrow. My dad can't feel empathy, but he can feel fury when I so much as blink without asking him, and I fully expect to be kicked off the family plan. I am unhappy. Positive vibes would be appreciated, as would living in a fucking apartment that's not a dead zone for my cell phone anyway, and I want a phone that works. Hopefully tomorrow's more cheerful. EDIT: How nice--five minutes after this confession, my phone started working again.

*I shouldn't anthromorphize things. Sorry.
 
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BenPanced

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BenPanced - Maybe you aren't you anymore. Maybe you were replaced by a pod person or a clone or an alternate-reality version of yourself. Think - do you have any gaps in your memory or unexplained blackouts?

When I was having some hip pain recently, I heard something beeping and thought the Skynet satellite was finally contacting me to engage for a scan and repair link-up.

Turns out it was my cell phone ringing.
 

Will Collins

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Wondering whether I should publish some short stories on Amazon as a box set.
 

Enlightened

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Working hard today, so I can have time off to watch the Superbowl tomorrow. Organizing all chapters and basic outlining for a book of a series.
 

Kjbartolotta

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Trying to get back onto Pinterest after my password got erased. I didn't think there was a social media site that would make me feel more lame and dumb about myself than Twitter. Next stop, Snapchat!
 

Brightdreamer

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A soggy Saturday afternoon. Not much to report, save a shopping trip. Got some Camp Fire candy; first group I've seen locally in a few years. (Mom commented that if she'd said "Wo-He-Lo" to them, they probably wouldn't know what she was talking about anymore... not the same program at all.)

Got about an hour before I need to start dinner. Leftover stew night, because we're running out of leftover containers and I'm lazy. Deciding whether to do something productive (site work) or do something not-productive (read.) Will probably inefficiently attempt both. Slack-Off Saturday - means I don't even have to try today.

Away I plod.

--

Sunday morning, breezy and dismal.

Overslept due to sleeping cruddy, plus my sinuses are sinusating in a way that makes me suspect I'm fighting off a bug, not just general allergies. Dang it - would suck if I got sick just in time for work on Wednesday, especially since this may or may not be the last week with one of my better co-workers before she departs for greener pastures and bigger paychecks. Ergh.

At least I have plenty of leftover leftover stew. (Plus the meat I originally got to put in the stew, because I didn't have room with all the leftovers - gives me an extra meal before having to shop, which always feels a bit like a victory. Any time I can avoid shopping feels like a bit of a victory...)

And I started reading the fourth book in the Expanse series, Cibola Burn. (Amazon Prime claims they're getting the second season of the TV show, so I want to re-immerse in the universe.) So far, it's looking good - not so much of the spiritual/God stuff yet that was creeping into, and bogging down, the previous volume, and it's bringing back some of the characters from previous volumes whom I enjoyed.

Away I drift. Will probably try to do site work; sinusy heads aren't much good at stories. The J reviews look quick, not much longer than the I reviews.
 
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Brightdreamer

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Stressing. I think my partner is quite seriously ill and might find out definitely tomorrow.

Silver lining--51k on current wip. Been doing 1.2k day average. More stress = productivity for me.

Oh, no... I've done The Wait before. Never fun. Fingers crossed they can tell you something soon... and it's something not terrible. (Nice word count average, though I expect you'd rather not have the stress.)

Later the same Sunday. May resort to an Excedrin for the head... hate doing that, because it means admitting my sinuses are winning. Dang it, I don't want to give them the satisfaction, but it's been a few hours since I popped an Allegra and it hasn't done much, if anything.

And I'm still mired in the J's. Forgot that I had multiple Joneses to go through, so that slowed me down. Eh, well... down to the Terry Jones reviews. Hopeful I can clear the J's today and start the K's Monday (or Tuesday - Mom's mumbling about maybe wanting to go to a movie this week.)
 

thereeness

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I've been slacking on visiting the forums, mostly because I've been so busy cooking. Who knew that cooking could take up so much time?

Still on my healthier eating habit though, which is good. I did cheat last night, but for a darn good reason. The heat at work was only blowing out cold air and that call center floor is cold enough already due to the giant ass windows on either side. It got so cold, people were wearing their jackets and gloves and one dude even wore one of those full-body snow suits to try and keep warm. Maintenance was called, but since we're third shift, of course no one cared enough to come fix the problem. Now, as the daughter and granddaughter of chain smokers, I have poor circulation in my hands and feet (thanks, family) from breathing in all that smoke. So, I ended up buying one of those overpriced, processed sandwiches at work that I could stick in the microwave just so I could have something warm in my hands. For five minutes, I could uncramp my fingers and it was beautiful. Then I ate the sandwich and it wasn't so beautiful anymore.

I'm upset too because I didn't get nearly enough outlining done that I wanted to. I wanted to finish Act 2, Part 1, because I'm so. Fricking. CLOSE. To being done. I just have the Midpoint to break down in scene pieces and then that's it. I can move on to thought dumping for part 2. Ugh. Thank gods it's my weekend, hopefully I can get something done.

Oh yeah, and I've been saying how, "I'd take 6 feet of snow rather than this butt ass cold" and I sorta got my wish. We got 6 inches of snow....but we still got negative degree wind chills. Is winter over yet?
 

Brightdreamer

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thereeness - Congrats on sticking with the diet shift! And best wishes on hitting your writing goals!

Monday, almost 5 so I'm calling it evening, though it's lighter a little longer every day. Sinuses still sinusating, throat's just a touch scungy, but so far it's holding at that. Knock on plywood, that's where it stays...

We went to see The Greatest Showman today. Just a great feel-good musical, sort of a Broadway/Hollywood hybrid: lots of stage-like choreography with the extra "room" and budget and CGI and camerawork of a movie, with catchy tunes and enough of a story to keep things rolling to the spectacular finale. So now I'm in that post-movie mode where writing's a bad idea, 'cause my head's still in the theater toe-tappin' along. Definitely would see again in the theaters - won't be quite the same on a smaller screen.

I did start in on the K reviews the other day - only a couple, so it was more of a psychological thing. Will probably get back to that after dinner. I also need to pick another short idea to work on when I get my creative brain back in the game. Giving myself this week to do it.

And I probably need to get dinner started. Turkey burger and fry night. (Picked up curly fries, for the fun of it. Whee...)

--

Tuesday, and an hour left of morning. A lighter shade of gray today, so that's something.

Meant to wake up earlier today to prepare for returning to work tomorrow. Didn't happen... so not gonna be fun crawling out of bed at 7 when the inner clock's set to 9ish. So now I need to do something Useful with the day. Also trying to ignore sinuses; I'm waiting until afternoon or early evening to take my allergy pill so I don't have to try to squeeze it in around work. Stupid 24-hour pills... (It's not one I can just swallow; have to cut it up to get it down, so it's not convenient to take pill pieces at work.)

Away I drift. Should probably get back to site work. Or I could give up and return to reading. Stupid CYOA life...

--

Wednesday morning, heading out to work soon. Slept cruddily, as I've come to expect. And sinuses still are sinusating. Plus I'll have to shop my way home. Ergh...

Need to pick a story to work on, dang it, but just not focusing. Maybe I can mull it over at work.

I so need a job more compatible with my internal clock... and less physically intense. A week off and I'm still sore.

Away I trudge.
 
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thereeness

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Guys, I went totally batshit at the bookstore yesterday XD SO MANY awesome books came out, all on the same day. It's not fair, not fair I tell you.

I started off with a stack of 7, but then I put 2 back because I was like, "You still have Susan Dennard's book coming out next week, you can always come back for them" but I'm telling you, it was terrible. But I still ended up with a load of new books to read, including: She Regrets Nothing by Andrea Dunlop, Tempests and Slaughter by Tamora Pierce, Shadowsong by S. Jae-Jones, The Belles by Dhonielle Clayton, and the newest Shokugeki no Souma/Food Wars! manga written by Yūto Tsukuda and illustrated by Shun Saeki. I already ate the manga, since that's pretty easy for me to read anyway, but I am so excited to delve into all of these amazing books you guys. After going through the entire month of January without buying a single new thing, I was feeling so deprived. Now, I'll have plenty to read/reward myself with while I work on my outline at work :D

Other than that, things are per the norm. Didn't get any work done on my outline over my weekend, I was too busy cooking >.< Soooo much cooking.
 

Taylor Harbin

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Geeze, where do I even begin? The constant up/down weather has messed with my head. Put my novel on hold to write a short story for a contest that opens March 1 (draft still in progress), and tomorrow I travel out of state for a job interview that might change my life in all the right ways. I'm a healthy dose of nervous/excited/exhausted.
 

Brightdreamer

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thereeness - Ah, the book binge. Been there, done that... need to do that again some time soon. (Though I did order myself another Amazon the other day. And grabbed some freebie Kindle reads via Prime Reading, for whenever I get my current Kindle title licked.) And, oddly enough, I saw one of those - The Belles - go through at work today. Enjoy!

Taylor Harbin - Fingers crossed for you on the job thing. If it means anything, seems like lots of people are shifting jobs that I know of, successfully, so hopefully you'll be part of that pattern. (Not me, yet, though I'm really feelin' the burnout, physically and mentally. Just can't figure out what else I could do, or what I could train for that wouldn't be outsourced by the time I had a training certificate in hand. Ergh...)

Work existed. One of our keystone workers must've got that other job she wanted already; thought she'd give two weeks' notice, but sounds like she just gave the one, unless she's burning off her last week in vacation. Doubt it - easy to see she had a twitchy foot on the accelerator, just waiting for the green light to peel out. So we're back to having subs again until the role is filled. Or maybe one of the people I thought was a sub was the replacement. Don't suppose it matters so long as they do the job.

Had to shop after work, but I should be good on dinners for a few nights. (And they had wild sockeye on sale, too, so that's always a treat.)

Still haven't come up with a story to write. Having trouble scrounging energy to dig through my stubs and ramblings for a scrap to build up from, and not getting any sparks off the rocks grinding in my brain; work and shopping and making dinner and washing up (plus, yes, sinuses still being sinusy) kinda combine to drain the ol' battery. And it's not like it was a big battery to begin with; AAA, max.

Guess I'll trudge off. May listen to random music. May try to pick another physical book to read, or try pushing ahead in my Kindle. May try doodling. Or I may stare into space until compelled to prepare for bed.

--

Thursday afternoon, wishing it was Friday already. Gray, if not quite as damp, out there, with a bit of a breeze now and again.

Sinuses are still sinusy, but I got myself some house-brand Flonase, so hopefully that'll help. Probably just another round of the Mobius bug.

Work was light. Got out an hour early, but that was more than offset by having to shop (yes, again - and at the store with the cruddy deli), then having to deal with recycling (got that down the lane already.) So lunch was a little trail mix and some Cheez-its. If I get out early tomorrow I'm getting myself lunch, dang it...

Away I drift. Think I'll do bacon burger and potato salad tonight. That gives me another hour to be unproductive.

ETA - :Headbang: Gah - Kindle Fire tablets are annoying as all get-out... and I don't even own one. Both of Mom's Fires have apparently bogged down terribly. She may have to do the full factory reset/deregister and re-register thing, as her attempts to do the hold-down-the-power-button thing aren't helping. I think something's hoovering the RAM - though it's odd it apparently happened on both at the same time, makes me wonder if an update went haywire - but since it's a Fire and not a Samsung Nook like I use, I have no flippin' clue how to navigate the settings. Or even find the settings. And she's no help; "it's there, on the thing, maybe" isn't exactly useful technical info. If/when she resets, the first thing I wanna do is get some sort of protection on the thing. So it's been a stressful evening... still is, as she's in the other room randomly asking partial questions (alternating with the whole martyr "I should throw them out, I'm sorry" bit that just makes me want to bash my head against the wall until sweet, sweet darkness takes me away.) So, to summarize: :Headbang:

--

Friday afternoon, and just finishing up a Safeway deli lunch after work. Yes, we got out early again, though not quite as early.

We actually have brief bouts of sunshine and blue sky. The birds all think it's spring, and so do several plants.

Nothin' much else to report. I want to get a short story started, but the idea bin's got nothing but useless scraps, nothing properly seeded or sprouted. Dang it.

--

Saturday late morning, and for some reason I woke up convinced it was Friday and I'd overslept my alarm. Stupid miswired brain...

Another springlike day, with a very light mist/frost overnight.

Just got a book review posted (finally finished The Rights of Man), and a laundry's laundrating right now. Need to get my tail in gear and do the Saturday room-tidying. Also need to pick new reading material, both physical and electronic. Tomorrow will be lost to a family Thing (probably just a lunch get-together - hence the need for another electronic read, as 99% of such gatherings are the same flippin' conversation about who lived where in the old neighborhood and relatives I never met and they haven't seen in longer than I've been alive.)
 
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