Rainy Days and Sundays

Yep, it’s another cloudy, gloomy, rainy day. At least, it’s trending warmer again and that will continue for most of the week. We may even see some sun!

And to top it all off, today is also colonoscopy prep day for me. Yay! But that does give me the chance to preach a bit. <soapbox>When your doctor says it is time to get a colonoscopy done, do it! Long story short, but when I had my first one in 2007 (I put it off a couple years. My bad!), they found cancer. I had surgery to remove part of my colon. I was lucky. That surgery got all of it. Nothing had spread outside of the massive polyp that was removed. And there has been nothing recurring since. But- if I had put the screening off even another year, the story probably would have been very, very different. Yes, the prep is a royal pain in the butt (literally). Yes, the diet restrictions are not a lot of fun. The procedure itself is a piece of cake, since you are asleep during it. It does cut into your day since you do end up being at the hospital for a number of hours. But, you know what? All of that is nothing compared to letting it go and finding out you have cancer that has metastasized. Time for yours? Get it done. Then it will be over with for years for most of you. And it could very well save your life.</soapbox>

In other news, we can has a cover for Crossed Wires! Keep an eye on this space for the reveal later this week. I like it. It works on several levels. I also finished up the rewritten story that I needed to do. Turned out to be a completely new one, but at least it’s done. Now, I just have to put it in the e-book document and start the uploading process so I can be sure everything works and will be ready to go in May. There will be preorder period at a discounted price, so watch for that, too.

Another thing that will happen this week is that I will level up to a level 67 human on Thursday. Which also happens to fall within the local restaurant week, so we will be trying someplace new for dinner. We will be hitting the really nice place sometime soon as well, since the BaldMan’s birthday is this month, and our anniversary is in May. We usually just combine the celebrations into one really nice night out.

On the less fun and far more frustrating side of things, I tried for the third time to get an enhanced driver’s license here in NY on Saturday. And, for the third time, I was told that one of my documents wasn’t acceptable. The first time, they wouldn’t accept any of the identifying documents with my name on them because it is different on my birth certificate (duh) and I didn’t bring our marriage certificate with me. Okay, so I dig that out and go back a few weeks later. This time, they can’t take my Social Security card because my name wasn’t typed on it. Nevermind that the card was issued *in New York state* when I changed my name after we were married because we lived in NY then. Okay, so I start the process- and it was a process- to get a replacement SS card. Go back Saturday, and this time, they won’t accept the marriage certificate because it was issued from the church we got married in and not the county offices. Again, nevermind that the certificate has the PA state seal on it, and the legalese that says our pastor was licensed in PA to perform marriages, AND was probably what I used to prove the name change at the NY state SS office when I changed my name there. So, I ended up just getting a standard license and I will start the battle over when it need renewing. I don’t really need the enhanced for anything upcoming, but I figured since I had to get a NY license anyway, I may as well. The most frustrating thing about it, really, is that all of the other documentation has been the same every time I went in. And the clerk at the window took ALL of it and looked through it, but only pointed out one thing that was wrong each time. They couldn’t tell me about all of it so I could fix it all at once? I left on Saturday feeling like I wanted to blow the place up! (And, no, that is not a threat. Just the frustration getting to me. I have never blown anything up, and have no plans to start now.)

I did get some cleaning up done in the front of the house foundation bed, and trimmed off the dead branches on the mini Japanese maple planted there. I deadheaded the hydrangea a week or so ago. I also pulled the containers with the BaldMan’s hops vines in them out into the yard because they are starting to show shoots again. We have a landscaper coming early this week to talk about some work we would like to get done. Then I can start to really plan the gardens and plants I want to put in. It all won’t get done this year. We didn’t win a multimillion dollar lottery! And it is more fun to watch things evolve over time. I would like to put in mostly native perennials and build areas to attract bees, butterflies, and birds. I have started researching plants and plans already. Come on, spring! I want to get some pretty things planted!

With all of that, plus more physical therapy this week, I should be kept busy!

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Coming May 17, 2022

“Crossed Wires and Other Very Short Stories”. Twelve scifi and twelve fantasy short stories that can each be read in minutes

I have written science fiction, fantasy, and urban fantasy stories. There are novels, novellas, and shorter pieces to fit everyone’s reading time. There are even some free stories, both here on the site and in other places. You can go here to find out more about the books I have published. They are available at Amazon, Smashwords, and most ebook retailers. Thank You!