As you may have seen in the news (or not), Safeway has come to a tentative agreement with my union and there will be no strike! We kind of expected them to blink first, we just didn't expect them to take so dang long! Anyway, I don't know the full details yet of what we'll now be getting but hopefully it will be positive.

Semi-related, it looks like the Day Job has been able to follow through with my request to not assign me Sundays, and I hope it stays that way. Head bookeeper is currently on vacation but we managed to get a third-stringer to fill in so I don't need to worry about it. I am kind of surprised that I'm not filling in for him elsewhere in the week, but I'm not too concerned at the moment. 

In the meantime, I've got a few days off in which I'm hoping to both get a lot done and also chill out. I have no major plans as I've already taken care of most of our weekend errands -- wash is running, home is vacuumed (and cats temporarily traumatized by it), things put away and other things cleaned. It's been extremely damp and misty these last several days so we're not too worried about our garden plot drying out, though we might head over there at some point later in the week.

I'll also be honest, I've been feeling my age the last couple of weeks, partly because of the stress of moving and partly the weird work schedule (and also doing the job of at least two people due to budget constraints), so I'm thinking it's high time I start doing something about that. I was doing really good for a while doing my stretches and whatnot, but that fell by the wayside and now my joints are aching. Perhaps it's also time to go see the doc for a checkup just to make sure I'm not actually falling apart, but I'd like to think that right now I'm just at the 'wear and tear' part of my life and just need to be better at taking care of it, heh.

Not me, actually, but work. The big Valentine's Day holiday rush is now over, and there really isn't another big one coming until Easter in April, so it's going to be a slower couple of months at the day job. This also means I'll be working more like 32-36 hours instead of a full forty, which on the one hand kind of sucks pay-wise but gives me a bit of a respite and refocus on what I need focusing on.

And speaking of which, I've finally started playing daily rounds of Squaredle on my phone. I've been meaning to do that for a while, but this seemed like a perfect time to follow through with the plan. It keeps me from passively doomscrolling on social media for one, which is a big plus. But I've always loved a good word search game (I've also got a few Penny's Finest word seek magazines on my desk for funsies) and this is a phone game that's not timed or ridiculously hard to the point of frustration. The games at the beginning of the week are relatively easy but get harder as the week goes on, but I'm enjoying it.

In the process this is keeping my head clearer when it's time to sit down and start my writing sessions. It's good to be focusing on the Trilogy remaster of course, but I seem to have finally realigned myself to the point where it's a lot easier to focus because of my Squaredle games. I suppose in a way this is the same thing as my pre-writing FreeCell games back in the Belfry days, but I'm not going to complain. Whatever works and gets me moving, right?

Now if I can only get myself to start exercising more again...

Okay, so it's only thirteen days into the new month, am I starting the 'fresh month, fresh start' thing this early?? No, not really. Merely that I've finally finished off a few long-term creative things I'd been doing and given myself a few days' rest before starting up with something else. Nothing out of the norm here, really. Even though I'd had a crazy week at the Day Job, it didn't really put me off schedule at all.

So! After a walk around the neighborhood (and to our garden plot to water) and a much-overdue vacuuming of the house (sorry, cats, I know you're terrified of that Noisy Evil Machine Wot Lurks In the Hall Closet), I am ready to do a bit of PC cleaning, houseplant watering, and working on stuff I'd been putting aside. No time like the present! [It does help that I also have tomorrow off, which gives me an extra day to get more writing work done!]

And speaking of restarting fresh, I've been meaning to take the bus and/or walk to and from work lately but the odd schedules and needing the car for shopping purposes have kept me from doing so. I really must do better there. Not just for the exercise but also because I'm just wasting gas at this point. And I keep meaning to restart the stretches/exercises again but I keep getting distracted and forgetting! Not going to beat myself up over it, just going to try to do better is all. Semi-related, I have a word search in my satchel that has not been touched at all that I really should break into during my breaks. All it takes is that next step, yeah? What's keeping me other than passive distraction?

Anyhoo. All this cleaning and moving around has tuckered me out, so time to sit and relax for a bit, and listen to the Blue Angels VOOOOOOOSH over our apartment. 

Hope everyone has a good week!

This hasn't been a stressful week at work, so why am I feeling so tired?? It could be that I've been doing a LOT of lifting work lately (yesterday was my turn to work on day stock for the entire shift, and some of those boxes are darn heavy!). Or it could be that the weather's been overcast and extremely humid, which added to the occasional allergies floating about, it's all draining me far too quickly. Thankfully I have tomorrow off and I have nothing big planned other than bringing the car in for an oil change and its yearly servicing.

I've been kind of lazy these last couple of weeks as well, to be honest, and that also might have something to do with it. Not lazy *because* I'm tired, but tired because I haven't really been moving around all that much other than at work. And I can tell that might be a valid point...I really need to return to doing stretches again, before or after work (I do some during slow points *at* work out of habit). I have to remember that's the way to get me through these gloomy overcast days.

So today we headed down to Half Moon Bay partly to get out of the house and the neighborhood for a few hours, but also to watch the town's Pride parade! One of the last times we were there, we'd stumbled upon it with perfect timing, getting there just an hour or so before they shut down the main strip for their small but fun parade. It only lasts for about five or six blocks but it was really fun -- just a lot of people and local community groups celebrating. Just a nice and happy vibe all around!

We just chilled out the rest of the day, so nothing too much to report there!

I've got tomorrow off, so I'm probably going to be doing a bit of writing work and a few house errands like laundry, but that's about it. This week's schedule is the most normal and stress-free one I've had in a while -- one midshift on Tuesday and opens the rest of the week -- so I can't complain.

Meanwhile, I've realized that I REALLY need to get back into the habit of doing my daily stretches and exercises, because I've been so lazy about it for too long. I'm feeling a bit out of shape and achy again so I think I need to work a bit on that. [Yeah, I know. I'm getting older so some of those aches are age-related. But I digress.] I've never done anything major with them, no half-hour sweaty workouts. I'm talking simple things like leg and back stretches and stuff like that. I'm thinking I should start that tomorrow as well! 

The new year is here! 

A few resolutions I have in mind:

--Make a concerted effort to minimize my social media habits. More to the point, to do a Twitter deep clean. I've been decent enough about minimizing my use of it, but I can do better...unfollow users I don't pay attention to, immediate-block trolls and rude users I don't know, and try to avoid the Trending tab as often as possible. And most importantly, to stop using it so much during my breaks at work!

--Related to the last point above: better utilize my downtime at work with creative things -- read an ebook on my phone, write notes for the MU4 project, write poetry and lyrics, that sort of thing. This is mainly for MU4, however...I want to dedicate as much time as I can to it.

--Related to work: considering the shop is eight blocks from our apartment, there's really no reason for me not to walk to work. Okay, there are a few: bad weather, super early or super late hours, and the fact that it's at the top of a hill...but I've been a bit lazy about it. I'll either take the bus (which drops me right out front but costs me $2.50) or drive up (which is really just a waste unless I'm doing some major shopping after shift. Working retail has definitely gotten me in much better shape, so why not continue that with a walk to and from work? It only takes ten minutes, so I see no reason why not.

--I'd said over at Welcome to Bridgetown the other day: on a personal note, I want 2023 to be a time for exploration and expansion. I spent the last two years cleaning out the emotional and personal detritus and building a better foundation, so it's time for me to figure out what's to go in its place. I have a few ideas, of course...more on that at a later time.

I don't have many resolutions to work on this time out, but they're all major ones, and I'm looking forward to making them a reality!


Hope you all have a wonderful and positive 2023!

It's Friday and I'm enjoying the second of two days off from work. That was a LONG slog...seven straight days, six of which were opening shifts (5:45am to 2ish) and one midday shift (2-8pm). I spend most of yesterday just being lazy and conserving energy, doing not much except laundry and a walk to the bank to get more quarters. My boss posts the schedule on Thursday evenings but I think I'll be lazy and check tomorrow when I go in again. I still adhere to the strict 'out of sight, out of mind' rule when it comes to the Day Job, heh.

In writing news, I finally managed to finish that one passage that had been bothering me for a week and a half. I wanted to give this character some closure that had been bothering him earlier in the novel, but I didn't want to spend too much time rehashing everything that had already gone on. So how to do that? Well, economically, it turns out: the scene ends up being more about putting him at ease than giving him more conflict or drama, which made more sense. And it also balances out the latter half of that chapter where he finds himself in new and infinitely more annoying drama! Go me! Heh.

In personal news...I've realized that maybe I should revive the daily stretches and exercises, either before or after work and definitely on my days off. I think I'm in better shape now that I'm more active (thanks, Day Job), but I still feel a bit achey here and there. I know, I know...it's partly age, but I don't think it's tissue or bone degradation just yet....it's more like bad posture and habits. I still need to work on back stretches and knee bends. If after a while I realize that maybe it is age, I'll go see the doc about it. Either way, I can get in better shape.

On that note...hope everyone has a lovely weekend! 

It's been a relaxing week here, spending the time focusing writing catch-up and driving A up to Corte Madera on Friday for her booster shot, and seeing her parents for a quick lunch and shopping. (We spent yesterday just kicking around as A was tired and sore from the shot and I had a few things I wanted to finish up. And Sunday has pretty much become household errand day around these parts.) 

I have been thinking of what my next writing project (or projects?) may be, but at the moment I'm still keeping that open for now, so I can continue to focus on Queen Ophelia and Theadia. Still, it's always a good thing to let my mind wander a bit for that sort of thing. I do have a few very vague ideas but I'd really need to spend an afternoon or two to work them out into a workable outline to see if they're worth expanding on. I'll most likely do that in the next few weeks or so.

And I restarted my daily stretches and exercises again! Those didn't quite fall by the wayside so much as I was just busy and considered our few-days-a-week neighborhood walk as part of that. I figure now is a perfect time to start them up again, considering a) I'm not currently ailing with some weird back twinge of dubious origin, and b) I have the time and the mindset to do so. (I should probably keep a better watch on my diet as well, to be honest. I've been snacking and drinking too much soda lately.)

Not much planned for the week other than writing, job searches, and doing a double donation drop-off at Goodwill and the SF Public Library. Yay for clearing up Spare Oom floor! We have a goodly amount of things to get rid of and I'll be happy when I'm not climbing over it anymore.

Oh, and I'm on jury duty the week of the 18th. Fun! This will of course depend on whether they'll actually have it or delay it due to Covid reasons, but I don't even know which court house I need to go to! I'm hoping it's the one near City Hall, because the one in SoMa is a HUGE pain in the butt to get to and all its nearby parking lots aren't in the safest of areas. Either way, I'll need to do one of those call-ups the night before to know for sure.


Hope everyone has a lovely week!

WHOOF. A and I are back at home, kicking back and watching an old 2nd Doctor serial ("Fury from the Deep", which they recreated via animation) after walking about five miles today. We hoofed it up to one of our favorite local coffee shops on 8th Ave and then visited the botanical garden in GGP. After a lunch at the Republic, we hoofed it back home and now we are TIRED. Not much else planned for this weekend other than more relaxation and a run to the farmer's market tomorrow.

Meanwhile, it's been a VERY productive week in Spare Oom. I did a little math and confirmed that I'd written a bit over 16,000 words over the three novel projects -- in addition to words for four blog posts, five poem fragments, and my daily morning journal. Quite happy about all of that, really! I also uploaded several pictures to Shutterstock -- more on that in a minute -- for another side project I'm working on. This was kind of an experiment to see how much I could put on my daily work docket and still be able to handle it all without feeling overwhelmed. It was also an exercise in learning better ways to fight off distraction. Either way, I'm very happy that it's working so far, and I'm looking forward to keeping this up.

Anyhoo, about the Shutterstock thing: I recently started up a contributor account so I can upload my shots for stock (y'know, maybe make some extra pocket change if need be). I'd done a trial run with nine pictures earlier and four were accepted, but when I did a much bigger run of 37 pictures, ALL of them were rejected. Which at first pissed me off, as some of the reasons for rejection seemed extremely subjective and arbitrary -- sometimes it said the shot was blurry when it wasn't, or that it had light bleed when it didn't, and in one case stating that it was a copy of a picture I'd already uploaded (which it wasn't). I let my stew with that for a while until I finally did a bit of internet research and found that I was definitely not the only contributor to have that issue recently. In fact, some of those people said when they reuploaded the pictures at a later time they were accepted. So yeah, it was a bit of a punch to the confidence at first but I got over it. Onward and upward, yeah?

One thing I've learned this week while following through with my Ramping Things Up plan is that I'm being a hell of a lot less nitpicky about my rough drafts. Which is actually a GOOD thing, because I have a habit of taking far too long trying to bash out the Perfect Manuscript on the first try. Sure, cutting terrible ideas or fixing a sentence here and there is fine, but I'm no longer spending three hours writing 500 words and expecting poetry. This does NOT mean I'm being super lazy and writing nonsensical crap, of course. It just means I'm not hyperfocusing on something that doesn't need hyperfocusing right that moment. The aim is just to get the story out and ready. In essence, I'm finally letting myself be rough with the rough draft.

So what does it look like so far? Per my full outline on Project A, I think I'm about 2/3rds of the way through, which is Not Bad At All. That one's gonna need some TLC in regards to details and continuity, but I'm happy with where I stand with it at the moment. Project B is finally out of the Rewriting Older Scenes haze and is now heading forward with All New Words. Woo! And Project C is already headlong into Chapter 2. It's definitely rough as they come, but I'm liking what I have so far.

Oh, and hey, I'm even getting my daily drawings and poetry done on a consistent basis! Daily Schedule for the win!

Next up: I now own an earlier version of Sound Forge as well as a free version of ProTools, and I have had sounds, beats and riffs in my head for years that I should probably record and see what I can do with them. I'll need to find a bit of time, maybe end of day, to fiddle around with those programs and figure out how to use them.

As for noncreative stuff...? Hmm. I've been terrible in terms of exercise and snacking lately. Time to adjust on those things as well. We've been going for walks when we can, and I've been reminding myself to get off my duff at least once every hour. I really need to get going on slimming down, though. I'm not terribly overweight, but I can definitely do with erasing some of that extra middle area one way or another.

Oh -- and we've had some banking nonsense to contend with...apparently our landlord had an office break-in and our rent check was stolen and cashed. For now we're not having the account changed as I saw no other shiftiness aside from that one thing (which, alongside the fraudster's absolutely terrible attempt at frauding, makes me think it didn't even occur to them to hack our account). Long story short, our bank is in the midst of fixing it, thankfully our landlord has been very kind and patient about it. Eesh!

Other than that...it's been a busy but extremely productive week and I am extremely happy about that. Whoo!