decompressing again

I’m gonna try and keep this short.

AAAAAAAH today felt like a lot, even if I had the day off.

And I didn’t get a lot of “practical” stuff done. WELL, maybe I did, but not as much as I had hoped.

My phone appointment, that office called an hour early. The caller ID looked very official, so I had a feeling that’s who it was, and answered. SO, we got that done ahead of time, since she was looking to finish sooner, as well.

Which was great, because it freed me up to talk to my daughter as she was driving to the grocery store from work. While we were talking, I got into live chat with a Disney+ representative about merging my Hulu account with Disney+, both no ads. Since they tell you online that you can’t do it on your own, and to contact them for help?

Which is interesting, because according to what the rep said, you actually CAN’T bundle services you already have. Maybe had I added another one? Like ESPN or MAX. But I have no need for ESPN, and I don’t think I need even more stuff to watch. I don’t watch stuff that often, anyway.

But each service has its own unique thing I like. Only Murders in the Building. Wednesday. All the Disney/Star Wars/Marvel stuff. You get the idea. I COULD give up more of them on a longer term basis, but I won’t, just yet. He did say you can still pause your service even after bundling.

And it will be a LOT cheaper than both separately.

I’m planning to re-subscribe next month.

And after I had finished the live chat and he cancelled both my accounts (but reassured me if I sign up again with the same email, I won’t lose anything as far as profiles in the accounts,etc.), I fixed up my current press-ons. A bunch were loose last night, so I took those off. Put new ones on today.

I think I’m tougher on my press-ons than you’re supposed to be. Lugging around my massive bag, grabbing it without a care in the world about whether or not my nails are twisting/bending, etc.

Alas.

After talking to kiddo, I got dressed in a cleaner hoodie and went to my parents’ house. Ate dinner with them, which was nice. Hadn’t intended to crash dinner, but they had a third plate ready, regardless.

Originally planned to get groceries after that, before the manager meeting at work. But then I panicked about the possible time-crunch, worrying that I wouldn’t get to the meeting in time. Valid, because we started earlier than how it was scheduled. And we probably could’ve started even earlier than THAT if I would’ve gotten out of my car sooner. It was an after-close situation. I wasn’t sure how long closing was taking. Yadda yadda.

I did, nonetheless, arrive WAY too early, before we were even closed (so I may in fact have had time to get groceries, but hey)… had just a wee bit of cash, so I stopped at the chocolatier/candy shop nearby. Browsed their Halloween stuff. They had the CUTEST figurine of a ghost in a sheet, going grocery shopping. So fitting.

Got myself a two-pack of ginger thin cookies dipped in white chocolate, and a bag of mini meltaway chocolate bars. With a VW hippie van on the sticker, stuck to the bag. Very on-brand, especially since I am trying to work in a hippie van with the Rock is Undead tale I have JUST begun.

Ate the cookies in my car, then headed in, once the head manager texted to see if I was on my way. She’d said I could’ve come in at any time, and just chatted with her in the office. Alors.

Stopped at the grocery store after the meeting. It was already pretty late by then, for a grocery run. I think they made the closing announcement for the store as I was checking out. But then, stores still aren’t open as late as they used to be, pre-Covid.

I asked the chocolate shop employee, one of them, when they closed, because it emptied out while I was looking around, and I didn’t want to be keeping anyone late. But they still had a ways to go.

I spent rather a lot on groceries, with help, which I intend to repay (partially or completely, we still have to discuss that), once I get paid. There was an outside chance Chime would have gotten my paycheck sometime tonight, but last I looked, they still hadn’t.

Yeah, they didn’t. Just checked again. More than likely then, with my present employer, it will be a one day in advance situation, if anything, not two.

I did save almost $27 just tonight. And I’m really glad I last-minute dug through my purse-within-a-purse just to be ABSOLUTELY sure I had used all the coupons I could apply, because I found one for a dollar off the brand of bacon I’d selected.

SUPER thankful I have so many options for meals now.

Pizza.

Spaghetti and meatballs, with garlic bread, and salad.

And I got some kind of Indian-inspired coconut curry simmer sauce, and more Basmati rice. And chicken, to go with the sauce.

And even if I’m not much of a morning person, opening tomorrow will free up the rest of my day, for prepping dinner stuffs, and maybe getting other things done at home.

Kiddo said the new user bonus from Chime should drop within 10 days of my first direct deposit coming through. I’ll probably try to slide that into savings, too. Also very, very grateful I have family who can help make up the difference, while I try so, so hard to save so I can splurge with kiddo, when she’s here. At the very least, we HAVE to go back to all you can eat sushi.

Back to today…I was pretty dang hungry by the time I hit the store, so I got myself a discounted deli wrap. BBQ chicken. Not something I would have tried had it not been marked down, but it was REALLY really good!

So I technically had 3 meals today, even if the first one was just a bowl of oatmeal, and tea. Which reminds me, there’s a digestive med I take, which I should take more of, before I hit the hay.

It was a humbling thing to talk to that woman today (the office that called), because I had to go over assets and income, etc., and one of the questions was about secondary income.

I mentioned Amazon. She wanted to know if I would consider that royalties or self-employment. I said, well, on the site, it’s listed as royalties? Apparently, I was her very first applicant that had royalties to report.

The humbling part was looking over my reports on Amazon KDP.

My lifetime profits on Amazon as a writer are under $35.

And no one has picked up either Wishful Sinful or “Hyacinth House.”

I don’t even know that anyone read either of them all the way through on Wattpad.

I had reached out to the woman who’d inquired about Wishful Sinful via Pinterest, I believe, to let her know I had made further edits and published. And there was the Instagram user who wanted to know if I had books. I don’t think anything came of those connections, directly.

Trying to drum up interest.

I got some reblogs and “notes” on tumblr (their equivalent to “likes”). But like Wattpad, it seems tumblr is more about free content. Yeah, there are people advertising things, but most of the stuff I see related to The Lost Boys are either links to free work, or free to read snippets posted directly.

That said, it has been a lot of fun to just talk about the movie and the characters with people who share my enthusiasm, and see what fictive takes everyone else spins.

Like learning that it’s generally headcanon that Paul is the stoner of the group.

There’s also someone who writes David as a former cowboy because they loved Kiefer Sutherland in Young Guns. I feel like Kiefer Sutherland would appreciate that, since his music flirts with country and Americana.

Marko possesses the greatest artistic talents and has a keen interest and love for animals of all kinds, because of his jacket, and the way he gently holds and then releases a pigeon, in the movie.

Dwayne seems to challenge some, since he had very little dialogue and kinda lurked in the background, shirtless. But there’s some fun stuff about how he’s actually just as bloodthirsty as David, and that he initiates or inspires a lot of David’s plots, in private conversations between the two of them, when no one else is paying attention.

It gives me inspiration, even if none of my posts have yet led to book sales.

Trying over and over to remind myself it’s a passion project, that the amount of synchronicity I’ve experienced while writing it in and of itself suggests it’s a great outlet for me, regardless of how or even if it’s perceived. That in some small way, it’s meant to be, even if just for me. And I have had SO much fun with these characters, and their adventures, and sharing plot points and things with friends and coworkers.

OH I did get a DM on tumblr from someone just wanting to tell me they were enjoying the excerpts I’ve posted. That it seemed like a really great story. Did I share bits of more than one? I may have. Yeah, I think I included a bit of Wishful Sinful and an in-progress Mystery Train scene.

But that’s okay. They’re all part of the same series, and interconnected.

Just added a fresh post there, talking about Lenore, and my visions for her family of origin, with a link to a YouTube video of Love and Rockets’ “Haunted While the Minutes Drag.” Because it sounds to me lyrically a lot like her thing with Pierce, at certain points.

Pierce looks a bit like Marko, as far as his hair, and owning a very tricked-out, prized jacket. He’s the Velveteen Slumber drummer.

Well, I would say I am adequately unwound. Had debated taking a shower before bed… I suppose I still could, if I endeavored not to very loudly drop a body wash or hair care product. Kinda thin walls. But it could also wait until morning.

Here’s the song, for the curious. I should dig a bit deeper into Love and Rockets. I only ever owned one album. So much great music out there, and only so many minutes in the day.