Setbacks and Successes

After a largely positive post in July, well, things haven't been all that great, so you'll have to forgive me as I've got to whinge about a few things to start off the new journal entry.

About three weeks ago, I began to notice the early signs of kidney stones over the weekend. I've dealt with them three times over the past 7-8 years, so I've got an idea of what it feels like. I immediately began chugging liquids to try and flush it/them out. I only made it halfway through my shift that Monday, as sitting at the desk in my home office was rather excruciating.

The thing with stones is that you can find a comfortable position while lying down and stay that way for a long time pain-free. But if you have to get up (say, to the bathroom, frequently), and move anywhere beyond your bed, the agony can be quite the experience. It's hard to describe.

I had to take the rest of the week off, which is not a good look for me with the new job. Bad! And after all the unnatural hobbling around, making my way through my apartment by grabbing onto doorframes and leaning against walls, I got to experience extreme muscle cramps for more than a week after the stone(s) had passed.

Enough whinging yet? This past Sunday I began to experience significant throat pain. Rough, burning, painful to swallow. I had already missed a lot of work, so I powered through as best I could on Monday, but that probably made things worse since I had to talk a lot. I didn't eat all day, and by the evening the pain was quite intense. I developed a mild fever, and also could not sleep. At 4am I puked my (largely empty) guts out.

Had to miss work again, not really a choice. Just had to rest and hope to get better. I worked today, but I asked that I not have to do any speaking. The end is now in sight - whatever this is, flu, COVID, random summer cold, it's transitioned into more of a congestion/sneezing/fatigue kind of sickness, and my throat feels much better. I'll give a normal shift a go tomorrow, and I think it will be okay.

So that's what's been going on with me. Fun times.

The next bad thing is that after a great July, and overall a solid summer, Old Queen Mittens has not been doing well over the past week or so. Not eating or drinking enough, and it's undeniable from the light use of the litterbox. She's not doing so great and might not have too much longer. But then again, after some short bad stretches, she's bounced back just fine. Really not sure this time. She doesn't seem too comfortable, which is my main concern; there's no reason for her to suffer on account of my not wanting to lose her. I'll be keeping a close eye on things. Here she is snoozing last night:

Well, this has turned into a long and depressing post. I mentioned "successes" in the headline, so I guess I should lighten things up a little - but only briefly. I won't get into the details as I've written enough here tonight as it is.

One very nice thing that happened is that I got an acceptance for a folk horror story I'd only just started shopping around. It will be published in a magazine at some point in October before Halloween, and I'll be sure to post about it when the time comes.

Another cool thing is that I received an email from the editor of AntipodeanSF to let me know that my narration of my flash piece they published will indeed be aired on their radio show and podcast on August 23. The story came out in April, and I thought the narration would come shortly afterwards. I didn't want to bother them about it and just let it go, but now I'll be happy to post the link to the recording in a couple of weeks.

I guess one last positive thing I can talk about right now is that I finally received my Blu-Ray of the Star Trek: Voyager documentary that I backed on Indiegogo something like 5 years ago. There was COVID and a writer's strike, so I get it, but damn. Looong time. I'm looking forward to checking it out this weekend.

My name, and my sweet kitty's, will be included in the end credits (as a couple of the many thousands of producers named for the project).

While life can throw you some negative stuff, and sometimes a whole bunch of it at the same time, well, at least there's still some good to look forward to, and some nice things to think back on. I'll be posting again before the month's out.
Until then.
Hoping I'll only have good things to talk about ​🙏