Devon Ellington's Blog, page 120

Mon. March 15, 2021: Intent for the Week — Take Flight

image courtesy of Public Domain Pictures via pixabay.com

With a new moon starting in my own sign this past weekend, it’s time for me to take flight. Make decisions, trust my instincts. Let’s hope I land well!

What’s your intent for the week?

Fri. March 12, 2021: Die For Your Employer Day 294/MA Vaccine Distribution Fail Day 44 — Pre-registration as Placebo

Friday, March 12, 2021

Dark Moon

Cloudy and cooler

Many thanks to all of those who sent birthday wishes yesterday. It was much appreciated, and cheered up my day. This was my second birthday during the pandemic.

Emotionally, I was up, down, and all over yesterday. Really struggled on various fronts, then felt guilty for struggling, which made me struggle all the more.

I cut myself a break, work-wise. I sent out a few LOIs and had a good video conference with a potential client. Other than that, I read and puttered around the house.

The landlord had contractors poking around outside.

We had birthday cake and a nice dinner.

Knowledge Unicorns sang me “Happy Birthday” — which was fun.

My mother’s bloodwork came back. Her glucose is high, and now they’re worrying about possible diabetes. Something else to worry about.

I just needed to give myself a day off yesterday, but the stress didn’t abate.

Today, I’m doing follow-up from yesterday’s meeting, getting some client work done, some LOIs done, contest entries done, article work done, and getting back to purging boxes.

I will purge boxes all weekend, and make at least one trip to the dump.

I signed up on the pre-registration site for the vaccine. It’s basically a placebo, so you feel like you’ve done something. None of the sites that will send me the sign-up are close enough for me to be able to actually go there and, you know, get vaccinated.

Baker attacking teachers for wanting to be vaccinated in order to teach onsite and claiming they’re “taking away” vaccines from the elderly is just complete b.s. How about he allocates doses where needed? How about he looks at his own data and uses it to make decisions instead of making stuff up in press conferences?

Watched Biden’s speech last night. What a relief to have someone who isn’t a narcissist, and who actually surrounds himself with smart, competent people. Someone who gives a damn beyond himself.

Have a good weekend, friends. Let’s hope next week is better.

Thurs. March 11, 2021: Die For Your Employer Day 293/MA Vaccine Distribution Fail Day 43 — Giving Myself a Day’s Break, Sort Of

image courtesy of Free Photos via pixabay.com

Thursday, March 11, 2021

Day Before Dark Moon

Sunny and warmer

There’s a post over on Gratitude and Growth about the garden.

It might break records in Boston for warmth. Cooler down here. I might set up a chair on the deck and enjoy it later on.

Today is my birthday, and I’m older than I expected. I’m usually a little blue on my birthday, because I haven’t lived up to my own expectations the previous year, and this year, with so much in flux, is no exception.

However, I appreciate all the good wishes pouring in from all over. They definitely cheer me up. And I plan to make this a day of (mostly) rest and cake and things I want to do.

The exception to that is an hour-long meeting with a potential new client this afternoon. I did some prep for it yesterday, and will do some more this morning, and then we’ll see where it goes. I had some humdingers the past couple of weeks with “potential” clients that just wanted a lot of work done without paying for it.

Got some work done in the morning. We left for my mom’s vaccine appointment early enough so that the road construction on 6 wouldn’t be a problem. It wasn’t as backed up as I feared (although there was a lot of traffic). We made good time to Orleans, and found our way back to the dump.

Everyone was, again, so nice. Spirits were pretty high, since this was 2nd dose day, and people were in a good mood. The nurses were so kind, and I thanked them for everything, and we all got a little teary. My mom got her shot, we went into the observation lot for 15 minutes, and then we headed home.

Getting home was a challenge – Rt. 6 has construction. Rt. 6A has construction and road closures/detours. Rt. 28 has construction and road closures. How poorly planned and how stupid do you have to be to have construction and road closures on all three roads at once? So typical of around here.

But we got home, just the long way round. Picked up my birthday cake and some truffles on the way.

Got my mom settled to rest after the vaccine, got some more work done. Tidied up my office and worked on lighting and webcam angles for today’s interview. I’m going to need A LOT of makeup.

Felt physically and emotionally wiped out.

The trauma and grief I feel from the year of dealing with the virus and the loss of over 500,000 of my fellow country-people is only compounded by all those running around pretending it never happened and panting to open everything too early without following protocols. I already had trouble trusting people; this past year has made it far, far worse. And I want nothing to do with those who behaved badly during the past year. If one can’t trust them for something as simple as wearing a mask, one can’t trust them on any other level, either.

Supposedly, the vaccine sign up is going onto a new platform as of Friday. One can pre-register, and then get notification of openings – and then, it sounds like it’s back to cage-fighting for those openings again. How much do you want to bet that you have to upload all the information to pre-register, and then upload it all AGAIN while cage fighting for appointments? I have no faith in this system, but I will, tomorrow morning, try to fight my way in to ‘pre-register.”

At least the Rescue Plan passed – without any Republican support. Gee, what a surprise. Not. And Merrick Garland is our AG. That makes me both happy AND relieved. He is a man who believes in justice. And other worthy cabinet members were confirmed.

I’m thankful for Cori Bush for stating that she is still fighting for more direct cash relief, $15 minimum wage, and other things.

The Dems need to learn to stop compromising because the Repubs vote against it anyway, after diluting it. And Manchin and Sinema need to be irrelevant, which means Schumer needs to get them in line until we vote in enough additional progressive Democrats so their votes no longer matter.

This morning, I have the online meditation group, which I desperately need. I’ll do a little work, here and there, but I intend to enjoy myself. I even intend to enjoy the hour-long video meeting this afternoon!

My mom’s arm is giving her a lot of pain, so she’s been taking liquid Tylenol. And she’s tired, so she’s trying to sleep, but Willa keeps poking at her, to make sure she’s still breathing.

I’m looking forward to a nice dinner tonight, and birthday cake!

Tomorrow, it’s back into the trenches, but today, I want to give myself a break.

Wed. March 10, 2021: Die For Your Employer Day 292/MA Vaccine Distribution Fail Day 42 — Another Day, Another Stress

image courtesy of Jill Wellington via pixabay.com

Wednesday, March 10, 2021

Waning Moon

Sunny and cold

Yesterday was up, down, and all over the place.

I woke up a little after 2 and couldn’t get back to sleep. Got some writing done in the morning, client work, LOIs out.

Took my mom to the doctor in the afternoon. The doctor is pleased with her progress, and delighted that she’s on the road to vaccination.

It was a lovely day, so people were out and about in force, and NONE of them wore masks. It was enraging. And, of course, the leaf-blowing assholes were out in force, because heaven forbid anyone should be able to actually enjoy the nice weather in peace and quiet.

I did, however, open the windows and doors for a bit, to get in some fresh air. It got cold quickly again in the afternoon, and went back down into the 20’s overnight.

The bubble wrap that I ordered arrived. It’s, um, a much bigger roll than I expected. But I’m sure we will use it all!

Worked on research for my article. Wrote a couple of blog articles. Set up some marketing posts for Fearless Ink, more introductory than anything else.

Heard back from a potential script reading job to which I pitched. I’m supposed to do a free sample – um, no. And then, the per script rate is ¼ of my usual rate. So that’s not going to work out. A disappointment.

Should have purged boxes in the basement, but didn’t. Stressed and fretted about several issues, and didn’t come up with any answers.

Worked on some contest entries.

Was wiped out early, and went to bed early, completely spent.

Knowledge Unicorns was fun, but everyone is stressed and exhausted. Trying to force onsite learning before people are vaccinated causes way too much unnecessary pain. It needs to stop.

Managed to sleep until 3:30 this morning, which I guess is an improvement?

Something woke me, something outside. Not sure what it was. It might have been coyotes calling, but far away? I’m not sure. It was a weird sound. Eerie.

So, the House passed the PRO Act. I’m assuming the ABC test was not stripped out? That was the problem with the bill. The rest of it was pretty good, but the ABC test destroys a lot of lives.

Will do some remote work for a client this morning, and then I’m taking my mother to get her second vaccine dose. I’m almost afraid to say so, afraid that something will go wrong. So, fingers crossed it all works as smoothly as it did three weeks ago. We’re leaving early enough to take into account the road work on Rt. 6. The traffic is already as bad around here as it usually is in late May.

Because yes, we are driving to Orleans, and she’s getting vaccinated at the dump.

The rest of the day will be about taking care of her, post-vaccine. We may be in for a rough couple of days. But if all goes well and she actually gets the shot, it means she is fully vaccinated as of March 24, and I don’t have to worry as much every time I leave the house. I still have to worry about myself and follow protocols, but not worry as much about her. I mean, she’s 96, there’s always an element of worry.

But getting vaccinated is a good step towards the next chapter.

I just wish I knew where the next chapter would happen.

Tues. March 9, 2021: Die For Your Employer Day 291/MA Vaccine Distribution Fail Day 41 — Stress Levels Keep Rising

image courtesy of kmicican via pixabay.com

Tuesday, March 9, 2021

Waning Moon

Cloudy and a little warmer

Up and down weekend, not quite as productive as I intended, but my level of exhaustion was high.

Successful Trader Joe’s run on Friday, although I felt there were too many people in the store, and they weren’t keeping enough distance. All masked, though, so at least there’s a little something. Popped into the store next door to pick up a couple of things.

Home, decontaminated, got some work done. Purged some boxes. Broke down a bunch of boxes to take to the dump.

Up early on Saturday. I hope someday I’ll start sleeping through the night again.

Didn’t feel like going to the dump, so put it off for a day. Did lots of laundry, changed the beds, did the usual Saturday housework. Purged boxes.

Found a couple of drafts of an old screenplay, one that came out of a conversation I had with an actor when we were working on a series pilot in New York back when I lived there.  I really like it. I mean, it needs a lot of work, and to be finished, but I like it. It’s a twisty combination of heist and revenge. It’s suited more to be a mini-series, maybe three two-hour scripts, so, as I go back to it, keep that in mind. The first two hours are written. The difference between the first couple of drafts, where I was writing my way into the story, and the third draft, where I put in structure and pace, is huge. The third draft is light years better than the earlier ones (which were necessary for me to learn about the characters). Talk about the proof of the power of revision! And it wasn’t just tweaking, it was a serious “re-envision” of the piece.

The fourth draft will be even better.

I almost got my box quota purged on Saturday, but the screenplay distracted me, and, once I got into it, I wasn’t about to stop.

I did, however, take a break long enough to load all the broken-down boxes into the car. The entire car was full of them.

Sunday morning, I was up early, after waking up every two hours to worry. I could only fit in two garbage bags and a few bags of recycled paper in with all the boxes, and headed to the dump.

Too many people have stopped wearing masks. I wish Baker had enforced the mandate, instead of just shrugging. People should have been fined, and, if they continued to violate, confined to their properties.

Head to the Marstons Mills Stop & Shop. Made it before it was too crowded, got what I needed.

Home, decontaminated, and was wiped out. Decided to give myself the day off from purging boxes, even though that made me feel guilty. But there was nothing in the tank. Got some reading done. Got some LOIs out. Percolated on the script.

Tried to download the books for review. Got one of them; couldn’t get the other one.

Contacted, in writing, again, all my elected officials to vote no on the PRO Act, until the ABC test is stripped out. It was in the House yesterday, so it was most important to contact (again) my Rep. But I also let my Senators know.

Felt completely wiped out all day.

It was sunny, so the maskless Covidiots romanced the neighborhood in packs on their “walks.”

Woke up a couple of times from Sunday into Monday, and had weird dreams, although they fled before I could figure them out.

So Amazon workers are striking this week and we’re boycotting? I’ve been boycotting Amazon for months, except for the occasional eBook. Last spring, they double charged me. Over the holidays, they lost my order. No, thanks. I don’t like the way they treat their workers, and I don’t like the way they treat their customers. I don’t have Prime, and I don’t use any of their streaming services. Not dealing with them this week is only a problem if I have to order the book for review that I couldn’t download from the link my editor sent me (she reimburses me if I have to do that).

While I am grateful that the Democrats in the Senate got the American Rescue Plan through (and it now goes back to the House, for another excuse not to get checks out to us this week), at the same time, I am angry that the checks aren’t the full $2K and that we aren’t getting MONTHLY support for the next few months (unless one has kids). I can hold both those ideas in my head and heart at once, because I am not an idiot, and capable of more than one thought at a time.

$3200 is not enough to survive on for a year. And that’s what’s been expected of us.

I’m also frustrated about all these businesses and individuals demanding we act like Covid never happened, and that we haven’t spent the past year in deep trauma. It doesn’t work that way.

Monday, I had to go into the client’s office on my own for a few hours. Got a lot done. Was frustrated, because information I needed in order to get even more done had not been left for me.

Got a short scene done for GAMBIT COLONY, an insert I need to put in the first book.

Home, decontaminated, more work from the home office. Client work, LOIs, research for an upcoming article. I hope to get out some interview requests today.

The second shipment of the contest entries arrived. I sorted and processed them. I’ll get started on them today. I’m doing them a little differently this year, to get the categories completed and submitted faster than usual. I need everything in well before deadline this year.

Purged some more boxes. Burned a bunch of papers in the fireplace, both for safety’s sake, and for the emotional release. Releasing the past, making room for the future.

Found some paperwork on something from the days when I was a member of Actors’ Equity (stage managers belong, too), and had to contact that union about it.

Checked the vaccine sign-up site, just for the heck of it. 14 appointments had opened up for today at Cape Cod Community College. I’m not eligible for any of them, but it was nice to see that there were actually some open appointments around here. The rest of the first dose appointments are on pause while they administer second doses to those who need it, which makes sense. But that will create another bottleneck when eligibility expands at the beginning of April. Hopefully, dosage shipments will continue to increase.

Woke up at two, worrying. Dozed on and off, but was out of bed and started by day before 5.

Today, I will do client work from home for a couple of clients, and then my mother has a doctor’s appointment in the afternoon. After we decontaminate, I’ll try to purge some more boxes.

I re-read some of the blog posts from October and November 2010 (they’re in the Archives, if you’re interested), about when we were moving into this place. We were so excited and happy! I want to regain some of that for our next chapter.

Right now, I just feel overwhelmed and stressed.

But I have to keep on keeping on, because what other choice is there?

Mon. March 8: International Women’s Day

image courtesy of Alberto H. Fabragas via pixabay.com

Instead of the usual intent of the week, I’m going to tell you about some of the extraordinary women about whom I’ve written for the 365 Women A Year playwrighting project over the last few years.

Imagine if society didn’t just pretend to value women on one day of the year? Imagine if they actually took action that proves they value women, including equal pay for equal work and non-toxic work environments.

Imagine if a woman’s value wasn’t tied to whether or not she CHOSE to have children, and both choices were given support?

Imagine if all the “administrative assistants” (who are mostly women) were given the recognition for the jobs they actually do and given the titles and pay of the do-nothing, useless executives for whom they work?

For many years, working my way up to Broadway, I worked as a temp in offices all around the country. Well over 200 companies over the decades. In all that time, I only met THREE ‘executives’ who actually did any work and weren’t a total waste of space, money, and time. Two of those individuals worked for the same company (and I worked for the pair of them).

Imagine what we could accomplish if the truly talented and those who did the work were given the money and support to do said work, instead of propping up those who don’t?

Now, to celebrate some of the extraordinary women about whom I’ve written:

Kate Warne. She was the first female Pinkerton. She walked into Allan Pinkerton’s office and told him she wanted to be a detective, and that women could get information that men couldn’t. She proved it, and became one of his top and most trusted operatives. She and her fellow Pinkertons often did large, theatrical, undercover operations. Among the cases were the Adams Express Embezzlement case (the case around which “Confidence Confidant” is based), where Kate posed as the wife of a forger to gain the confidence of the wife of an embezzler, and retrieve the money; a case where Kate posed as a medium to help kill a pair of lovers who’d poisoned the spouse of one of the pair, and was planning the murder of the other (I’m writing about that case this year in “A Rare Medium”). Kate was so popular as a medium that her clients were disconsolate when she solved the case and closed up shop. She helped smuggle Lincoln into Washington for his inauguration and thwart an assassination attempt. She helped bring down the Confederate spy Rose O’Neal Greenhow. She trained an entire division of Pinkerton women.

Jeanne de Clisson. In the 14th century, she became the pirate known as “The Lioness of Brittany.” The King of France wrongly accused (and executed) her husband for treason (I think it was her second husband; it might have been her third). At forty, after giving birth to seven children, she sold her land before it could be seized. She bought three ships, painted black with red sails, and became a pirate, only preying on French ships. She later fell in love with an Englishman, and retired to England. Her son, Olivier, became known at “The Butcher” and built the Château de Clisson in Brittany, which still stands today.

Giulia Tofana. A 17th century herbalist, she developed and perfected Aqua Tofana, a poison used to free women from their abusive husbands by turning them into widows. She had a tight circle of apprentices, and they are thought to have poisoned at least 600 people. The formula has never been recovered. Supposedly, Mozart thought he’d been dosed with it. Stories differ as to whether the fanatical Wilrich von Daun actually killed her while she was in sanctuary, or whether she escaped and retired to a convent.

Lavinia Fontana. She was a painter in Renaissance Bologna, one of the first to negotiate commissions like a man would. She was supported and promoted by a cadre of powerful Bolognese society women, several of whom ran their husbands’ businesses. She married a man who took her name and took care of their many children while she worked.

Canaletto’s Sisters. The Venetian painter Caneletto had three sisters: Fiorenza, who married, and whose son became a court painter in Austria and Germany, his work often confused with Canaletto’s; Francesca, and Viena, who never married. Not much is known about them, other than they were smart, lively, and devoted to their talented brother. Canaletto started his career painting stage sets, part of a family renown for theatre stage design.

Isabella Goodwin. She was the first female NYPD detective, and her work was as much about improving women’s lives as fighting crime. Like Kate Warne, she enjoyed theatrical undercover work. She was widowed young. Her husband was a cop, killed in the line of duty, and she went into police work to provide for their children. By all accounts, she was much better at it than her husband. Later in life, she married a younger man, a singer, and her final case involved medical fraud.

Susanna Centlivre. She was one of the most popular 18th century playwrights of her day. She posed as a boy to attend Cambridge; when she was discovered, she joined touring theatres as an actress, and then became a playwright. Her satires were popular, and she was part of a lively group of writers and artists. She married a “yeoman of the mouth” – one of Queen Anne’s favorite cooks, and the stability of that marriage supported her writing.

Who am I writing about this year? More Kate Warne plays, dramatizing some of her other cases. A play about Dawn Powell and Dorothy Parker, two of my favorite writers (who weren’t particularly fond of each other). Marie Correlli, born Mary McKay, a popular Victorian novelist.

Among my earliest heroines were Louisa May Alcott and Harriet Beecher Stowe. They are two of the reasons I became a writer.

Who are the women who inspire you?

Fri. March 5, 2021: Die For Your Employer Day 287/MA Vaccine Distribution Fail Day 37 — Work Work Work

image courtesy of janeb13 via pixabay.com

Friday, March 5, 2021

Waning Moon

Cloudy and cold

Not much to say today, which is not necessarily a bad thing. Just working along, steady.

Meditation was great yesterday, although Charlotte was a little pill, climbing all over me and fascinated by the Zoom screen. I don’t use my video, so no one could see her and tell her she was pretty. She was quite disappointed. That’s her favorite part of Zoom calls.

Had to swing by the client’s office and download a file I’d left without the previous day. Was in and out quick (no one there) and back home to upload the file and work on it. Spent a couple of hours getting that done.

Worked on the book review. It’s not quite right yet, so I will tweak it today and then send it (deadline is today).

Worked on the article proposal. Did some research for another article. I have to view a few things as research; I will do that this weekend, and then send out interview requests early next week.

Sent out some LOIs.

Freelance Chat was fun. Charlotte doesn’t quite get the difference between a Zoom call and a live Twitter chat. Again, she was disappointed because no one told her she was pretty. Although I did, but that wasn’t the same as having a bunch of strangers tell her how beautiful she is.

My lower back bothered me, so I spent some extra time on the acupressure mat.

Knowledge Unicorns was good. The kids are doing well. We have a rhythm to our work time, and we get everything done while learning stuff beyond their curriculum and laughing a lot. The families are all holding firm to the kids not going back to in-person learning this year, and making sure everyone gets vaccinated as soon as they can.

Cape Cod Community College’s gym is opening as a mass vaccine site here. It’s getting the one-dose J&J vaccine. All the new appointments that opened in the state were booked within 90 minutes.

At this point, since my mom is booked for her second dose (we hope) and I’m not yet eligible, I’m reading the information sent, but I don’t yet have to get into the cage fight for appointments. I’ll do that in a couple of weeks. I’ll just hope that, as our dose shipments increase, we can get people vaccinated and it won’t be as bad of a fight as it’s been.

We had a scare when we got a “Congratulations! You’ve been vaccinated!” email, and I thought, “oh, no, now they’re acting like she had both doses?” But it was the vaccine confirmation from the first dose. The verification process so I could actually access/download the information was as ridiculous as the rest of the sign-up, but we got it done, and I printed off one copy for our records and one copy for my mom’s doctor.

I just want to sleep, for about a week, but no such luck.

Today, I have to finish/send the book review, and then I’ve done 5 and can invoice. I want to finish the article pitch and send it off. I need to drop off some books due at the library (although I don’t have anything to pick up). I’ll work on contest entries, get out some LOIs, purge some more boxes. I have to break down a bunch of boxes in the garage, because tomorrow morning, I need to do a big dump run.

I also have to do a Trader Joe’s run. We are way down on a bunch of stuff, and I need to restock.

You can tell things are opening up. Dumbasses are driving into buildings again. I’ve never lived in a place where people drive into buildings every damn day, but they do it in MA.

I was in touch with my House Rep a few days ago about voting No on the PRO-ACT, at least until they strip out the ABC test. If that passes, I can’t be a freelancer. It means thousands of small businesses, many owned by women, would be destroyed. A test applied to factory workers in the 1930’s is not appropriate for freelance work today, especially in the creative arenas.

And I’m a union person! So if I think the bill is bad, and I WANT people to be able to unionize, you know it’s really bad.

It would be nice if the policy writers actually talked to people in the field of the policies they write before they write them. Just a thought.

But it’s why I’m on the case of my elected officials on just about every piece of legislation every damn week. They can’t represent me if they don’t know where I stand on various bills. So I make sure that they do.

Have a great weekend, and I’ll catch you on the other side.

Thurs. March 4, 2021: Die For Your Employer Day 286/MA Vaccine Distribution Fail Day 36 — Trying to Take A Breath

image courtesy of Renan_Brun via pixabay.com

Thursday, March 4, 2021

Waning Moon

Windy and cold

Yesterday was stressful, on multiple levels.

There’s a short post up over on Gratitude and Growth. Unfortunately, there’s not much to say.

I was up very early, because I needed to do a revision on my article, fitting in the new quote, and get it off to my editor before we had to leave the house at 7 AM. I did it, and I’m pleased with it, so that’s a good thing. The quote really does make the piece stronger.

Drove my mom to Quest Diagnostics over in Osterville for her blood work. They tried to charge her for it. No. She’s never had to pay a co-pay for bloodwork. Tufts raised her premium this year, so she’s damn well not going to start paying for stuff they’ve always covered, when they’re charging more in the first place.

Got her back home, and headed over to my client’s. It was the day where several of us overlap in person, which is stressful enough, but this particular client thrives on chaos, which causes even more stress.

But we got through it.

Got home, and, before I even decontaminated, had to get to the computer to try and book my mother’s second vaccine dose. They’d sent me a “special link.”

Talk about even more unnecessary chaos. I wrote in detail about the steps on a long Twitter thread. The site is a failure in web development AND writing, not to mention execution.

The “special link” sent me back to the main virtual waiting room, with wait times of 30 minutes or so. The wait time kept lengthening, then came up as “over a day, come back later.” I was, again, competing with first dose seekers. As I sat there, shocked, it catapulted me onto the site just for the appointments (at the Orleans dump again, next week). I grabbed the first one I saw.

I got the message that the slot would be “held” for 15 minutes while I finished signing up.

Only I had to re-enter ALL the information, including insurance information, that I had to enter for the first shot. Which takes more than 15 minutes, especially when the screen kept freezing and dropping the information I entered.

I finally got all the pages and pages of information entered, and hit “submit” – only to be sent BACK to the virtual waiting room, competing with first dose seekers. The message was that the wait was over a day, and I should try again later.

I burst into tears.

There is NO REASON for this signup chaos, other than exceptionally poor design on the part of the web developers and writers.

While I was in tears, my Gmail pinged, and I received a confirmation for the appointment.

So why was I getting a message telling me to “try again later”? Which message is correct?

I sat on the site, thinking maybe I’d try to book the caretaker’s shot. I was catapulted back into the search portion of the site – only the Orleans site isn’t even listed. So it’s ONLY for second doses.

Which is great, but why not have a sensible design that simply sends you to the second dose site instead of sending you around in circles giving conflicting information?

We have no idea if we’ll actually get the dose, but we are showing up, with the confirmation printed out, next week. And hope for the best.

By the end of it, I was a complete wreck.

There is so much unnecessary pain and suffering connected to the signups. There is NO reason for any of it. It needs clear information from the Governor’s office, and it needs a clean, sensible design and writing on the part of the web developers.

Neither of which exist.

But, it seems the second dose appointment is booked and confirmed, so we’ll hope for the best.

My mom is worried about me not being able to get vaccinated yet. We are simply going to hold the protocols until one month after I get my second dose. As of April 1, when I am eligible, I’ll start my own daily cage fight.

Decontaminated and grabbed a bite to eat.

Remote Chat was fun. It was great to virtually hang out with everybody. But I needed a long session on the acupressure mat afterwards.

On a happy note, a contract came through for an article, and payment for two articles I wrote for a different publication showed up in my bank account. Someone told me about a company looking for something within my wheelhouse, and I sent them an LOI.

I hadn’t planned to purge any boxes, so I didn’t need to feel guilty when I didn’t.

Finished the book for review. Have to think about it before I write the review today. It worked structurally in some aspects, not in others. I liked the characters, but I was not the book’s audience. However, I want to write a fair review FOR the book’s audience. I read across genres, so I’m the audience for quite a few types of books, but not this one. But it definitely has appeal to a different audience. However, the blurb and initial structure makes the real theme of the book feel like a bait and switch – luring the reader in with the promise of one type of book, and then it becomes a different book. I felt lied to, and I don’t like that. It didn’t feel like a wonderful discovery, as it could have; it felt like a lie.

Working on a magazine pitch to a different publication today. I have to do some client work, and realized I don’t have the file I need, so I have to swing by the client’s office to download it (no one will be in today, so there’s no one to send it to me).

I’m really looking forward to the online meditation group this morning – I missed it last week.

Certain pressures are now eased slightly; although there are still others, I’m hoping, in the next few days, I can regain some equilibrium and make some decisions.

Wed. March 3, 2021: Die For Your Employer Day 285/MA Vaccine Distribution Fail Day 35 — Steady On, Now.

image courtesy of vertvhul via pixabay.com

Wednesday, March 3, 2021

Waning Moon

Windy and Cold

Yesterday was busy, but a steady, good busy. I got some writing done in the morning, and got my article off to my editor.

Had to venture out into the world for a basic grocery shopping, put gas in the car, and a curbside pickup at the library. It was too windy to go to the dump; I’ll do that run at the end of the week.

Home, full decontamination protocols.

Lost the daily cage fight to get my mom’s second vaccine appointment. The message came up that “all appointments next week are full.” So what the hell am I supposed to do? She needs to get her second dose next week.

None of this chaos is necessary. I’m so tired of incompetents running the show.

I had to do some online research, got out some more LOIs. The “additional information” the prospective client wanted was, basically, an unpaid proposal of how to revamp their site. In detail.  No, honey, if I’m revamping your site, you’re paying me.

Next.

Got another request for more information from another LOI that was actually a request for more information, so we could have a good conversation. That went out this morning.

I re-read some of the blog posts of where I was at this time last year, when we were just starting to get the information on how deadly the pandemic was, and everyone was scrambling to figure out what to do, and I was just past the first surgery. The level of stress was pretty high, and it actually made me feel better about the level of stress I’m experiencing right now, in a weird way.

Got my review out. Turns out I’d gotten the deadlines for the two books mixed up. The book I reviewed had a deadline near the end of the month; the other one is due at the end of this week. So I started THAT one, and will get in the review on time. Did a bunch of client work; trying to work ahead on a few projects.

Got a quote back from a source after I’d turned in my article. It’s good, so I asked my editor if I could add it in and tweak the article (I wanted to reach her before she started work on it). She’s cool with it, so I’ll get that turned around to her today.

Started working on an article pitch for a magazine that’s a profile of someone about whom I want to write.

Since I surpassed my box purging quota on Monday, I didn’t have to feel guilty about not purging yesterday, and working instead.

Knowledge Unicorns was fun. Everyone is tired, and there’s huge pressure to go back onsite, but we are all holding steady. Not this year. The kids are doing very well, and, more importantly, it’s safer.

I actually slept through the night last night. This morning, I’m up early, writing and trying to turn around my article.

We have to be out of the house just after 7 AM; I have to take my mom in for bloodwork, then drop her off and head for the client’s office for a few hours.

Remote Chat this afternoon, and then more article work, LOI work, and finishing the book for review.

Hopefully, it will be another “good busy” day.

Wed. March 2, 2021: Die For Your Employer Day 285/MA Vaccine Distribution Fail Day 35 — Steady On, Now.

image courtesy of vertvhul via pixabay.com

Wednesday, March 3, 2021

Waning Moon

Windy and Cold

Yesterday was busy, but a steady, good busy. I got some writing done in the morning, and got my article off to my editor.

Had to venture out into the world for a basic grocery shopping, put gas in the car, and a curbside pickup at the library. It was too windy to go to the dump; I’ll do that run at the end of the week.

Home, full decontamination protocols.

Lost the daily cage fight to get my mom’s second vaccine appointment. The message came up that “all appointments next week are full.” So what the hell am I supposed to do? She needs to get her second dose next week.

None of this chaos is necessary. I’m so tired of incompetents running the show.

I had to do some online research, got out some more LOIs. The “additional information” the prospective client wanted was, basically, an unpaid proposal of how to revamp their site. In detail.  No, honey, if I’m revamping your site, you’re paying me.

Next.

Got another request for more information from another LOI that was actually a request for more information, so we could have a good conversation. That went out this morning.

I re-read some of the blog posts of where I was at this time last year, when we were just starting to get the information on how deadly the pandemic was, and everyone was scrambling to figure out what to do, and I was just past the first surgery. The level of stress was pretty high, and it actually made me feel better about the level of stress I’m experiencing right now, in a weird way.

Got my review out. Turns out I’d gotten the deadlines for the two books mixed up. The book I reviewed had a deadline near the end of the month; the other one is due at the end of this week. So I started THAT one, and will get in the review on time. Did a bunch of client work; trying to work ahead on a few projects.

Got a quote back from a source after I’d turned in my article. It’s good, so I asked my editor if I could add it in and tweak the article (I wanted to reach her before she started work on it). She’s cool with it, so I’ll get that turned around to her today.

Started working on an article pitch for a magazine that’s a profile of someone about whom I want to write.

Since I surpassed my box purging quota on Monday, I didn’t have to feel guilty about not purging yesterday, and working instead.

Knowledge Unicorns was fun. Everyone is tired, and there’s huge pressure to go back onsite, but we are all holding steady. Not this year. The kids are doing very well, and, more importantly, it’s safer.

I actually slept through the night last night. This morning, I’m up early, writing and trying to turn around my article.

We have to be out of the house just after 7 AM; I have to take my mom in for bloodwork, then drop her off and head for the client’s office for a few hours.

Remote Chat this afternoon, and then more article work, LOI work, and finishing the book for review.

Hopefully, it will be another “good busy” day.