Yes, it’s been a year. More than a year, actually. And quite a year it has been. For me, things have significantly changed.

Work

The old job ended. A new one began and ran just about a full year before the company was gobbled up by one of my former employers whom I frankly despise. They deserve it. Within a month my hours and payrate were cut and I resigned.

I worked the 2020 Census and had a blast! Even got to travel from the Dallas area to Birmingham, AL to help out there. But that is ‘temp work’ and it came to an expected end.

What to do then? I had no desire to go back to the same industry I had been in and I was (and still am) officially retirement age. Whatever that is. Writing is still not supporting me in the manner to which I have become accustomed. So… what?

After much soul searching, I decided i didn’t really want to go back to school, and began to look at what I already knew what to do—that paid well and didn’t involve an employer I despised. So I borrowed money and began working the stock market. Laptop life style. Rough beginning, but I am almost at the same income level as my old job. Woohoo!

House

So, good old Covid. I hate to even type the word, never mind give it exposure (!) on my blog. But it put me out of work. For two days. By then I was deemed ‘essential as f*ck’ and had to go back to work, almost seven days a week. During the month of May, I got three days off. Then in June came the company sale and the pay cut. I hung on until the middle of July and cut myself loose.

What all that work accomplished to my benefit was swollen feet and a swollen savings account. The feet healed after a month and the savings account became a down payment on a run-down tract house an easy commute from downtown Dallas. If you’ve ever seen the very old movie, The Egg and I, or read the memoir (here or here) the major difference is the lack of chickens here. The kitchen had to go, it was so full of mold. when i say go, i mean tearing out the appliances, the cabinets, the wallboard, the insulation, the wiring, and the flooring. That’s all.

Have you ever lived without a kitchen sink? Without an ice maker in a Dallas summer? Without a dishwasher!? Ok, well that last is one of my personal necessities. Doing greasy dishes on the back patio in a Rubbermaid tub, water heated on the stove, dishes rinsed under the hose…. yeah, a dishwasher! Paper plates are not an option. Oh, and the microwave blew up too. But enough complaining.

To be very honest, I’ve had a LOT of fun fixing this place up. And the blessings? I own a house. I rent part of it out. I buy and sell options for a living. And I don’t have a boss I have to report to.

In one year, things have significantly changed.

Writing

What I haven’t done is much writing. But I have done some! And now that the House has settled down some, I might be ready to get some of it out to you all. There’s one about the little old lady that took pictures of her kids to preserve their memory. And another about another old lady and what secret her “Craft Room” held. And then there’s the one that never got submitted to a contest that begins with “Ravi had just worked a double shift and was having trouble keeping his eyes open. Whoever thought sex work was paradise obviously never had to work it.”

Some interesting stuff.

Future

Enough for now. There will be more writing for you to enjoy, maybe even an actual mailing list and all the things published authors are urged to do. In the meantime, you are mostly caught up on my life. What about yours? I’d like to hear from you all, either on Instagram or by email. I stay just as busy as before, but now I have the freedom to take a break and read your stuff too!

So, since it is that End of the Year, I’ll wish you a Merry Christmas from me, Season’s Greetings if you have a different year end holiday. And I’ll be back here soon!

Later,