Good morning, Readers!
This awesome painting is by deviantart.com user ArtofReza. They've got plenty of other really cool pieces. Click the image to see them.
This weekend was a mixed bag.
It was a long weekend, which was nice. Or it might have been if it wasn't so damned hot. Like over 30 degrees in actual temperature... feeling more like 47. Look, I know I'm Australian, but I left the country for a reason. Okay, it was because I was miserable, friendless and without direction, but the other reason was the heat. I hate the heat, and any weather where it feels like 47 is TOO DAMNED HOT.
Yesterday was particularly scary. The central air conditioning in the house just was not working. Not even a little. And poor little fluffy Galahad began to pant. He ran into my room, jumped on my bed, meowed, and panted like crazy. I was panicked. I did everything I could to cool him off, including putting ice in the wok and placing that as close to him as I could without squishing him with ice. I wet his legs to help cool off his paws. And I put out a call to friends for help. I begged for an indoor air conditioning unit to help save my poor kitty.
And boy did everyone really pull through. A special shout out to Evan May and his lovely wife, who immediately set out to get me their old window unit, so there would be at least one room that would be cool enough for the cats to hide in when it gets too hot. It's old and noisy as hell, but it shoots out cold air, and that is heavenly. Galahad did eventually stop panting, and he seems very much himself again. So, panic blissfully over.
It helps that it dipped to 19 or so last night, and the house started to cool down at long last. The central air finally started to spit out cool air (I noticed it this morning as I stepped into the washroom and the floor was not baking hot), so now I'm not stressed about Galahad and feel okay leaving him to go to work.
And so here I am at work, enjoying much better air conditioning than that available at my house. It's supposed to go up to 33 today, and goodness knows what that's supposed to feel like. Hopefully it's going to feel like 33. There was a nice cool breeze as I walked to work this morning, so I'm hopeful it's not going back to feel like almost 50 degrees.
Gods it was awful. I did nothing all weekend 'cause it was too hot to do anything at all. It was too hot to even game. That says a lot.
Saturday morning was lovely. I went out to my consultation for my next tattoo. I really like the artist. She knows her stuff, and is a wonderful person. She specialises in line work and loves it (other artists do not, so I'm worried that I bore them with my line work obsession). It's quite an extensive piece, and I vastly underestimated how long it would take, and so how expensive it would be. So now I have to start saving really, really hard. That means making certain sacrifices.
The first thing to go is my monthly bus pass. It's over a hundred a month for the pass, and I can walk while the weather is good. I walked to work this morning, and I'm pleased to report that it wasn't a struggle, though it did stress my broken foot a little. There was a small, sharp crack, and a little bit of pain towards the end of the walk.
Also done is my once a month delivery pizza. It's great pizza (reminds me a lot of my mum's pizza, and that has strong value), but it's got to go. I'm looking at other places where I can make cuts to my budget and see how it goes.
I really want this tattoo. I've been dreaming of it for so long. Besides, I've paid the deposit, so I'm pretty much locked in now.
There are a few things I'm not willing to give up. My gym membership is one. I need those swims. But there has to be other places I can scrounge some savings.
I'm going for a tattoo 'fitting' (literally a second consultation to have a look at the work and make sure it sits how it's supposed to, and I'm happy with the way it looks) in October. So I have until then to raise as much as I can, and then I'll see how much I have left to raise and book the first marathon session (6 hours, yo) accordingly. I'm excited and also stressed.
Lastly, I've gotten some good feedback about the book cover for Skylark. Those on my newsletter mailing list received an advanced look and they seem to like it. Most of them are my personal friends, though, so there is always the chance that they're just being nice.
As I've finished the beta reading for a friend, it's time to get started on the submissions process for Soldier, and then get to writing the sequel to that same book... or perhaps the sequel to the manuscript that needs a better title, since that is also needing to be written.
And that is everything. Wish Soldier good luck on its submission journey. For now, I'm off to get to work.
Ciao!
It was a long weekend, which was nice. Or it might have been if it wasn't so damned hot. Like over 30 degrees in actual temperature... feeling more like 47. Look, I know I'm Australian, but I left the country for a reason. Okay, it was because I was miserable, friendless and without direction, but the other reason was the heat. I hate the heat, and any weather where it feels like 47 is TOO DAMNED HOT.
Yesterday was particularly scary. The central air conditioning in the house just was not working. Not even a little. And poor little fluffy Galahad began to pant. He ran into my room, jumped on my bed, meowed, and panted like crazy. I was panicked. I did everything I could to cool him off, including putting ice in the wok and placing that as close to him as I could without squishing him with ice. I wet his legs to help cool off his paws. And I put out a call to friends for help. I begged for an indoor air conditioning unit to help save my poor kitty.
And boy did everyone really pull through. A special shout out to Evan May and his lovely wife, who immediately set out to get me their old window unit, so there would be at least one room that would be cool enough for the cats to hide in when it gets too hot. It's old and noisy as hell, but it shoots out cold air, and that is heavenly. Galahad did eventually stop panting, and he seems very much himself again. So, panic blissfully over.
It helps that it dipped to 19 or so last night, and the house started to cool down at long last. The central air finally started to spit out cool air (I noticed it this morning as I stepped into the washroom and the floor was not baking hot), so now I'm not stressed about Galahad and feel okay leaving him to go to work.
And so here I am at work, enjoying much better air conditioning than that available at my house. It's supposed to go up to 33 today, and goodness knows what that's supposed to feel like. Hopefully it's going to feel like 33. There was a nice cool breeze as I walked to work this morning, so I'm hopeful it's not going back to feel like almost 50 degrees.
Gods it was awful. I did nothing all weekend 'cause it was too hot to do anything at all. It was too hot to even game. That says a lot.
Saturday morning was lovely. I went out to my consultation for my next tattoo. I really like the artist. She knows her stuff, and is a wonderful person. She specialises in line work and loves it (other artists do not, so I'm worried that I bore them with my line work obsession). It's quite an extensive piece, and I vastly underestimated how long it would take, and so how expensive it would be. So now I have to start saving really, really hard. That means making certain sacrifices.
The first thing to go is my monthly bus pass. It's over a hundred a month for the pass, and I can walk while the weather is good. I walked to work this morning, and I'm pleased to report that it wasn't a struggle, though it did stress my broken foot a little. There was a small, sharp crack, and a little bit of pain towards the end of the walk.
Also done is my once a month delivery pizza. It's great pizza (reminds me a lot of my mum's pizza, and that has strong value), but it's got to go. I'm looking at other places where I can make cuts to my budget and see how it goes.
I really want this tattoo. I've been dreaming of it for so long. Besides, I've paid the deposit, so I'm pretty much locked in now.
There are a few things I'm not willing to give up. My gym membership is one. I need those swims. But there has to be other places I can scrounge some savings.
I'm going for a tattoo 'fitting' (literally a second consultation to have a look at the work and make sure it sits how it's supposed to, and I'm happy with the way it looks) in October. So I have until then to raise as much as I can, and then I'll see how much I have left to raise and book the first marathon session (6 hours, yo) accordingly. I'm excited and also stressed.
Lastly, I've gotten some good feedback about the book cover for Skylark. Those on my newsletter mailing list received an advanced look and they seem to like it. Most of them are my personal friends, though, so there is always the chance that they're just being nice.
As I've finished the beta reading for a friend, it's time to get started on the submissions process for Soldier, and then get to writing the sequel to that same book... or perhaps the sequel to the manuscript that needs a better title, since that is also needing to be written.
And that is everything. Wish Soldier good luck on its submission journey. For now, I'm off to get to work.
Ciao!
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