Scattered this month.

Greetings: The month of August passed by like a whirlwind. It was a big adjustment, but I think I have it down now. One of my biggest battles right now is fighting with the computer. These three images took hours to compile because of my processor. And I will be well into the new year before I get a resolution. But this will show you what patience will do. This month has no underlying theme; it was only a test to see what I could get the computer to do, so everything is very random.

AC and things.

I cut my work day short to come home, deal with the air conditioning, and talk to the technician. We just had the air conditioner serviced last week, and it broke down over the weekend. The problem was the drainage system's float, which meant the drainage system was clogged. You would think this would be checked during the standard maintenance cycle, but apparently, it is not. Additionally, we paid to have this system cleared in May. After talking to the technician, we discovered that monthly maintenance should be done on this. It is a simple fix that stops this from happening, but since the system was installed and maintained multiple times between then and now, no one has brought this to our attention. This is one of those times when I have to choose my battles. I could rant and rave, but I do not think it will get me anywhere. I believe it is a sales technique. I know how to take care of the system in the future and I shall do so. The rest of the day was relaxing, and I had almost nothing done for the weekend. I am not feeling great about that.

Uphill.

I knew that it was going to happen, but I did not know when it was going to happen. It is the month of September which means that my birthday is right around the corner, and I always face a negative mental slide as my birthday approaches. It is not nearly as bad as it used to be, but it still makes me very Moody for anywhere from two weeks to a month. It held off until the 1st of the month this time, but I get to look forward to the next three weeks of fighting the grumpies. I am not looking forward to that at all.

What's that in the road, A head?.

The title of this paragraph is a bit of a joke, but it is an oldie and a goodie. The point is that I am already looking forward to the weekend, and it is only Tuesday. My weekdays right now are pretty much getting up, going to work, coming home, and sleeping. It will improve as time progresses, but I have to face an adjustment curve here. I anticipate that by the weekend, there will be more than 20 items on my master to-do list. And I am looking forward to tackling that list.

Carry on my wayward son.

I am pushing onward for the weekend, and I have started some essential prep work for the things I want to get done before Monday, including some of my writing, which I have been putting off. But I want to make sure that the physical and mental things get done as well. I do not want to get stuck in a rut because that would be very bad, especially at this time of year. I have written off the haunted houses for the year because everything has become commercialized. Nobody is in it for the scare anymore; only about the rules and how they can make money. I would have more to say about that, but I'm just going to let it go because this is a sign of the times.

The Grumpies.

I wish I could blame my negative mood on the work situation, but I know that is not true. I've known myself for 59 years, and this is the September grumpy. But at least I know that in two weeks it will go away. And it just makes me stumble around, grumbling like an old man. Now, all I need is a rocking chair and a cane to sit out front and yell at kids to get off my front lawn. I don't know why that gives me a giggle, but it does.

Witches!

Having figured out the problem with work and knowing how long it would take to correct the error, I called it an early day. But not before I took my final run into Bartlett and found something interesting. I found a metaphysical store right down the street from me that I was unaware of. It is called Memphis Conjure, and it is quite Spartan but has a perfect vibe. I met the owner and while we do not follow the same path, we both follow paths that can respect the other. I can see that I will spend some time there shortly. Their prices are not too bad, but their inventory is meager. There's a lot of empty space, making me miss Harry's occult in Philadelphia.

I got back to the house and talked to Laura on the phone for a while, something we have not been able to do in a very long time. I spent the evening prepping for the weekend, and I have a big list that includes more than two dozen items on my master to-Do List. I am hoping that it's going to make for an interesting weekend. I am still riding the grumpy train, but I'm doing my best to ignore it.

The mood boss, the mood.

Today was a complete day off and I wasted it for the most part. I did a little running around but that was about it because the rest of the day I was Moody and sitting on my bum. I expect this at this time of year, but that does not mean that I fully accept it. It will go away in a couple of weeks and I will be back to my normal, grumpy self.

Push through dammit!

When I got home from driving, instead of jumping into a rut and taking a nap, I went full force on getting done with my lists. I have a hell of a lot to do, and not a lot of time to do it, so I push through. The big thing was cleaning the upstairs shower and vanities. They have been suffering from neglect, and I took care of that. Since I was at it, I cleaned the white railings, which are sparkling again. It makes me feel good, and I need to put stuff like that on my list regularly and take care of it. Then, it was tackling the garage. I am working on setting up my personal space, but it is an uphill battle. I can picture it, but I must take care of things like the shed to complete the project. And that takes time. I will get there, and of that, I have no doubt.

Planning.

I still have the birthday month Moody going on. However, I have a bit more control of it right now. I am enjoying my job, but it has me a bit down because of my income. We can survive on it, but I want to double-check that. I have a potential lead on a new publisher that deals directly with Simon and Schuster and may be interested in my novel. That would be a significant change, but only if it sells. I have some serious editing to do and I don't have any backup. I'm not sure who I can trust with it, but that is something I will deal with at a later date. I was out the door early and exhausted when I got home, so everything was mental today.

Birthday Blues.

Since I was very young, I have gotten the birthday Blues at the beginning of September. I slip into a deep, dark place and do not escape until my birthday comes and goes. It has gotten much better in the past few years, but this year, it is reminding me exactly how bad it can be. I don't need a psychiatrist to tell me the root cause of the issue. This goes back to childhood because my birthday would come and go without a word for five years in a row. From the age of five to the age of 10, it passed like any other day. When I turned 11, I mentioned that different people celebrated their birthdays, and I brought down the wrath of dear old dad. I should mention that both Marge and Dad celebrated their birthdays quite well. Marge usually got into a drunken stupor, and dear old dad usually got to play with some cute young thing - or maybe 2. But my suggestion of a party, or even a present, was met with vile wrath, a beating that I still remember, and a reminder that little children should be neither seen nor heard. It is impressive that almost 50 years later, the memories are still so vivid, but only at this time of year.

Little time for anything.

I had a little bit of trouble getting into motion, so I didn't get anything done before work, and I was exhausted when I got off, so I got nothing done after work. I have some plans for the weekend, including cleaning a significant part of the garage and getting set up for my new working space. I still have to figure out how to section off my work area.

Big Owie.

The end of the week is almost here, and I am dragging my wagon. I am exhausted, and the severe rainfall and wind really took a toll on my driving. I did not have any time in the morning, and I was running late. By the time I got home, I was beyond exhaustion and went right to bed. I even forgot to eat my dinner.

Friday the 13th.

In the morning, things ran much like they had all week. I was running late because I did not feel like getting out of bed. I lost 2 rolls, so I went to work without lunch. But I pushed through the day, and Friday the 13th had not touched me when I got home. I cut off early because I was exhausted and still riding the Moody train. Just about five more days, and that should pass. I did not sit on my asses when I got home, and I started working on the garage. If the start is any indication, it will take much longer than the single day I had planned for it. I am still working on a way to close my work area, and I am bouncing some options up and down. Building the room I wanted would be too expensive, especially with the soundproofing. So now I am looking into building some partition or curtain setup. I managed to stay up until after 7:00, and then I went to bed because tomorrow is another day.

What? Me rest?

I am still rolling with my birthday mood, which is not making me happy. But I pulled myself up by my bootstraps and was out the door first thing in the morning. I went in search of pastry shells, and I found them at SuperLow. I have never been in one of those, and they are pretty cool. They have a lot of good deals, and I might have to shop there now and then, especially when I need pastry shells because they have them. The rest of the day was spent working on the garage. It took the entire day to clear off all four shelves and start packing things. While doing that, I was rolling Stargate in the background and trying to shake the bad mood. Stargate was good, but the mood remained terrible.

Even with my failing processor, I find that doing digital art helps with my mood. I always get depressed around my birthday, and this is a deep-rooted situation from my youth. Today, I tried to express it in digital art. It took a significant amount of time, but I like the outcome.

Keep on keeping on.

When I got home from driving, I immediately went to Walmart and got the weekly groceries, including my lunches and a few other things. I worked on my artwork for a few hours and advanced the project in the garage. I spent a few hours on my novel because I have an appointment on Tuesday with a publisher, and I did some more on the course I've been working on. I also took a few hours to cook, making chili and sweet and sour chicken. With Laura's meals yesterday, we should have about a week's worth of food available to us now. It is still three days until my birthday, and my mood is hovering over me like a dark cloud, but I hope to overcome that for the week and push through.

On a positive note, Laura ordered me a camera after the one I had in the shopping cart fell through. It came today, and I could unpack it; from what I can tell, it is decent. It is a different model than I originally wanted, but it was a secondary choice initially on my list. I think it will do the job, and it is one of the things holding me back from getting the podcast back up and running. So maybe things are turning around. I am still waiting for my new computer tower, which is also supposed to come today. That is not a new computer; it is only the tower, and I still have to get the rest of the inside. Next will be the motherboard and processor. With some luck, I can afford those a week from today.

Aggg, paperwork.

The big personal thing for today was getting the final movement of my retirement fund in motion. I thought that it was going to be easy with just a phone call, but there is paperwork involved, and it is horrendous. I have to get that printed off, and then I will get it filled out this weekend so we can move that over to the new administrator and have a little more control over our money.

Push it.

The morning was too rushed to accomplish anything, but I had a bit of time once I got home and finished with my meeting. I continued to work on the garage and things are coming together, but slowly. It is taking a lot longer than I thought to get the garage set up, but I'm hoping to finish it this weekend. I'm too tired when I get home to do the heavy lifting, physically or mentally, but I still enjoy the job, even if it is rigorous.

It's my birthday.

This is my birthday, and I am now 59 years old. I am starting to feel it. There was no fanfare and no party, no great lights in the sky or masses singing my praises. It was just another day. However, my mood did finally break and I am back to my usual, ornery self. I will take it. This is the middle of the week, and we are on the downward slide toward the weekend, but it is a grind to get there. I am mentally exhausted, but I think that because of carrying a dark mood for almost a week, things will get better.

Time to relax.

The week's end is here and could not come quickly enough. Work, for the most part, was very rough this week, and I could not get any traction. I ran late again this morning, but I made it home and did not have to nap. I also did some serious work on the garage. I also worked on my writing and played catch-up with many of my tasks. I stopped at Aldi's and got this stuff for dinner tomorrow, and I did my best to relax.

The Memphis Journey.

Being a Saturday after my birthday, the ladies and I decided this would be my fake birthday. The only thing on my agenda for the day was to head to a place I had seen while scooting around the city called Mr. Hats. The intention for this journey was to buy a French beret. The experience was both good and bad at the same time. The older salesperson made us feel as if we were interrupting something significant. He had very little communication skills, which made for a very unpleasant experience. I did, however, find a beret that met my needs. After we finished at the hat store, we wandered around the shopping district, and I even got a few compliments. We walked into a few new-age stores, and they were interesting, but nothing called to any of us. I picked up a quill and ink set, which was not even in my wheelhouse.

When we returned to the house, I took a short nap and started putting together dinner while the ladies installed a new router. That was an exciting experience because I thought it would be long and drawn out; however, it went right on. It has been almost a decade since I tried to install a router, and they are more user-friendly now than they were then. The rest of the day was spent working on my new work area in the garage. I'm considering playing hooky tomorrow because I have not been feeling well and would like to clean my area.

A productive down day.

Because I decided to take the day off, I also made the conscious choice to work hard and get things on my list done. Right at the top of the list was setting up my new garage work area. I've been working on this for weeks and barely made a dent in it until today. I have moved my entire workspace into the new area, which is fully set up. When I say fully set up, I mean it is set up for productivity. I still have a few things to tweak, but for the most part, it is ready to roll. I still have to get the curtain divider, but that has to wait until I get the motherboard, processor, and power supply. Those are next on the list. Unfortunately, this project took the entire day. I had to disassemble the furniture and reassemble it downstairs. It was simply too heavy to move without breaking it down. But that is done now, and we will move on to the next adventure. By the end of the day, I was extremely exhausted and went right to bed.

Very tired already.

I had some time in the morning to get the beginning of the week stuff out of the way, but I am still running behind. When I got off work, I was exhausted from a 13-hour workday and cooked up some fried fish and French fries. I watched Game of Thrones, which is very interesting now that I am halfway through the series, and I tried to relax. I have a new pillow for my rear end of the car, and it seems to be helping. We shall see how that works in the long run. I got a report on the celebration up near Union City, and I am not going to go into details, but I laughed my ass off. Sometimes, you have to laugh. I finally got details on exactly what happened, and I've filed those into memories I no longer need. I refuse to get pulled into anybody else's drama. Perhaps I have grown up a little.

Hat magic.

The overriding theme for today is going to be hat magic. Before leaving the house this morning, I put on and adjusted my new beret. Today, I did about 20 rides, and all but two of them commented on my headgear. I would say that is a pretty good response. There were mixed messages in how each person responded, but it was a conversation starter.

The morning went well, and I was in motion two hours before I had to leave for work. The only problem I had today was forgetting to get food for lunch over the weekend. I took the remaining scraps from last week and put them in a bag as kind of a fake lunch, and with the pistachios and an apple, that worked out. But I have no idea what I'm going to do tomorrow. I faced the same predicament when I got home because we did not have time over the weekend to make meals. I used the last rolls and made some French bread pizza. Again, I have no idea what tomorrow is going to bring. I will cross that bridge when I come to it.

When I finally got home, I was a bit frustrated by work, so I made my French bread pizza and sat down and watched Game of Thrones for an hour before going to bed. I continue to work on my garage setup. I have cleared one area, and the altar is almost ready as well. It will be nice to get back into a routine.

Dichotomy.

When I got home in the evening, I settled in with some sesame chicken and sat and stared off into space. I enjoy this job, but it is really starting to get on my nerves.

Roll on.

At this point, I am just pushing forward to end this weekend. It has been a lot of highs and lows, and it looks like tomorrow there is a storm heading into the area, which is going to make things more difficult. I came home at lunchtime and took an hour's nap. It helped reset my old Gray matter, and I could finish the day strong. I got home a little later than I intended, but everything worked out. I made myself a baked potato for dinner and then headed to bed.

Time comes.

I was feeling decent when I got off for the afternoon, even though I was a little tired. I spent the evening working on cleaning up the rest of the garage, putting me a lot closer to the end of that project, and then putting together a significant list for the weekend. I spent some time on my novel, and I reminded myself that I have a deadline of the 15th of October to get that over to the publisher. That does not give me a lot of time and I have to make sure that I concentrate on the project a lot more.

Let's do this.

My personal time this week was productive but not how I would have liked. The lawn seriously needs a clipping, but the rain has saturated the ground, and I cannot get that done. I spent time on the car end time on my novel. I finished setting up my personal area and cleaned some more of the garage. I still have a few more things to move out of the cubby, but for the most part, I am completely moved at this point, and once I get the partition in place, I think you should be golden. Tomorrow, I will be working for the money for the new computer, and as long as there are no hiccups there, I should be on the system board and processor by the end of the week.

Disheartened.

With the terrible experience of work I did not have the drive to go back. I was also worried about permeation, so I let the car sit with open windows. I pulled the generator out and tested it, and everything is good. I worked more on my area and on my novel. I am a little upset that I did not meet my goal, and that will put the computer back another week, which is incredibly annoying considering I lost another portion of the processor this morning. I am down to about 30% operation at this point. I need to put some time into the machines, but it is hard to prioritize them now. I am dealing with significant negative dreams every night, but I am still carrying a positive attitude so that I will take it.

Out like a toothless lion.

The month of September is exiting like a toothless lion on their last legs. Granted, we are still dealing with the environmental onslaught of the hurricane, and there is a looming dockworker. Something is always going on that puts the world on the brink of destruction. It is getting ancient. When you look at the situation and combine it with everything over the past couple of decades, it is like a poorly written television drama. But it is on a global scale. As soon as one thing comes down, another one pops up. They are almost predictable. Of course, I am in one hell of a mood, which is not good. It has nothing to do with the world stage, and I'm not sure exactly what it has anything to do with at all. I am angry, frustrated, and annoyed at everything around me. And they have no idea what's causing it.