The word of the week is fortitude.
July 8 - How Busy Am I ?
Right now it's a very busy time for me. I am working almost full-time,
getting up to speed on my novels 3rd draft, getting started on my new Secret
Project and continuing my IT training for my CompTIA+ certification online.
In addition, I am working my way through Copy Training
through my works online training center that I access through my home PC. For
every course that I complete I get a quarter hour's pay, so it's definitely
worth going through everything I can in order to supplement my wages for the
next month or so.
The hardest thing for me right now is to stay focused and
energetic at work. I still have a lot to learn, as half the job – at least – is
experiential;: there are dozens if not hundreds of small details that I have to
learn in order to improve my performance. Right now I'm simply
focusing on Copy itself during my shifts and leaving the specifics of any upcoming
management training for when I'm at home. Which I also have to make time for.
Keeping busy is something good, I think, as it keeps my mind
off the negative loop of being the only one working full-time at the end of the
month. My sister has been wonderful in going searching for additional income and
she's found quite a bit already in only the last few weeks. I have nothing but
admiration for her as she continues to search for her niche while following her
passions, trying to turn them into not only income but a career and even a
way of life.
I can only strive to do the same.
July 9 - Cook?
I'm not the world's greatest cook - I'm the first to admit
that.
Since moving to the new apartment, I've not had a microwave
for the first time in my life. I have to say it's been a great experience, as
it's meant that I've had to give more forethought to creating meals. With my
limited cooking repertoire, that's meant that I've stuck to simple things for
the most part, but I'm learning bit by bit with the assistance of my sister.
Lots and lots of assistance.
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| ( click to enlarge your knowledge ) |
The good news is that I've been eating a lot healthier since
I moved here back in May of 2012. I've cut sugar in my diet way down, to the
point where I have it only in the occasional treat or in my tea each day and
even then it's only half a packet or so, down from my usual three of the last
few decades.
Fresh raw vegetables are much more prevalent now,
which have been helping to give me the daily energy I need. I've cut way back on
meat - which also tends to be expensive - and put in more seafood for the protein
that I need. Wheat has almost disappeared from my diet as well: I used to have
at least one bagel a day plus bread for sandwiches, whereas now I only have the
occasional slice of sprouted bread, using coconut butter instead of a
plasticized margarine. Due to my lactose intolerance, I can't have straight up
butter, which is no great loss overall in my mind given this delicious and inexpensive alternative.
The results of these dietary changes have been that I don't
feel as tired as often as I was before and the sugar crashes I used to get have
instead change to lulls when I know I haven't eaten something when I should
have - that's not feeling I enjoy so I make sure that I have snacks at hand
when I'm working hard of a day. Combined with the average of 8 km I cycle a
day, I've lost weight and feel much better for it.
Now all I have to do is learn to cook a meal more complex
than a stir-fry and I'll be happy… and healthy.
July 10 - Blurb.ca
Earlier this week, I made a big discovery!
For over a year, I have been searching for an inexpensive
way to self publish my novel. Unfortunately, most every place I found had costs
ranging from the high hundreds the many thousands in order to prepare a book
for publication. The costs usually involved editing, layout and the many other
factors that go into creating a book, but I've already done much of that work
myself, at least a basic level. Thus, what I've been looking for is a company
that will print my book from a file I've prepared myself, just so I can have
some copies to distribute of my work to date while I continue refining the
third draft of the novel. As the picture below shows, the costs have so far
been daunting and out of reach of my budget:
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| Click to enlarge those PRICEY publishing costs! |
Amazingly, this week I've found a place that can print
quality books for a mere four dollars per copy!
Blurb.ca will print any book from a prepared file that
authors can submit via free Book Smart software, which I've already downloaded.
I've been working on it for several days now and hope to have a file prepared
by the end of next week that I can submit in order to get the books printed. If
I time it right, I can have them within a few weeks, just in time for me to get
back in Ontario. It would mean I can get copies to people who have been asking
me for one in a format that's easy to handle, as well as mail. The copies would
also be affordable, as I would provide them at cost – since they are set at
the second draft stage, I don't feel I should make a penny from them. Instead,
I'll simply release them into the world to help spread the initial word
about my novel to those people who are interested.
It's very, very exciting!
July 11 - TRIP TICKET!
After months of wondering, I finally bought my plane ticket
to Ontario today!
It wasn't easy to do, especially as I don't live within a
short hop but instead am on the far side of the country. However, my sister
just recently had a fortuitous credit of several hundred dollars applied to her
West jet account - it was due to a cancellation of a job at the Calgary
stampede due to the flooding this summer. With the money I had saved to date, I
was able to purchase the last affordable ticket available to Hamilton via West
jet this morning, which was a fantastic feeling.
So now I'll be able to attend my friend's mutual
40th birthday celebrations this summer after all! I'm really stoked about being
able to do this, as I haven't been back to Ontario since the summer of 2011 for
a wedding. This trip, I'll be spending half my time at the cottage by a lake
relaxing the company of my lifelong friends. For all that it cost me to go,
it's worth every penny in my eyes for that alone.
July 12 - Lockitron Update
One thing I've been a little worried about this year is my Lockitron.
In case you don't know what that is, it's a wireless
electronic lock with many interactive features that I ordered back in November
of 2012 as part of their launch. At the time, all I had to do was reserve one,
as they wouldn't charge my credit card until it was ready to ship.
Which it looks like they were going to do as of next week, which
wouldn't have helped my current tight budget any.
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| Wireless, internet-enabled, Android-app controlled door lock! |
Fortunately, I received an e-mail today stating that the
color I had chosen for the Lockitron meant that it would be the last type to
ship. So I won't see one until at least September, at which point my card will
be charged. I don't mind though, as I got a great price for it being one of the
initial backers for the project.
I'll tell you more about the Lockitron once I receive it and
have it set up. As you can guess, this is another thing that I'm very excited
about, as it means that using keys to enter my apartment will soon be a thing
of the past as long as I have my phone with me.
No more locking myself out!
July 13 - Lucky?
You might say I'm a lucky guy.
Today, on the 13th of July, I found myself thinking about
luck and how it applies to one's life.
For me, luck has never been something I've really thought
about. Sure, I've had quite a few moments where I thought "How lucky that
was for me!" and similar things spring to mind for many people, I'm sure.
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| I'm not sure if I should find this book... or not? |
Yesterday was a lucky day in several ways. For one, I was
able to go into work for an extra full shift as they were short and I was the
first person they called; that definitely helps right now. While I was there,
it came up in conversation that I was turning 40 this month and several people
looked at me askance. One of them said "Wow, you don't look anywhere near
40!" which brought a huge smile to my face, as I don't usually get
compliments like that. I also don't tend to talk about aging, as it's something that I tend to take for granted.
Later on, when I thought about it, what spring to mind were
all things that add up to making one look older, if not necessarily aged. For
me in particular, I don't have a receding hairline, a beer belly or even crow's
feet around my eyes - the last being what I take as an unexpected benefit of
working at MMart where I kept my expression neutral for almost every hour of
every working day. So no laugh lines have worked their way into my face, for good or
bad. My hair is starting to go gray now, catching up to my facial hair that if
I let it grow into a beard would be far more salt than pepper. I remember going
to for a haircut in my late 20's and a hairdresser kept exclaiming "There's
no gray, there's no gray!" over and over as she cut my hair, which brought
out quite the grin at the time from me.
Back to luck though. I live in a building whose address is
triply lucky, I enjoy seeing the number 13 and I do my best to appreciate every
stroke of fortune that comes my way in whatever shape, size or form. While some
people say that luck is something you create, I like to think of luck as
something you attract from the universe, that was waiting for you all along.
How's that for taking things as they are?
July 14 - Moody Forty?
This week I've been feeling a lot of strain and this morning
I woke up with my upper back very tense from it.
Having the right mindset is important to deal with
subconscious stress and I went to work with a vengeance on changing things
around today. I relaxed with a few shows on Netflix, including Transformers Prime,
which I've been enjoying both for its excellent CGI and the storyline so far
which has been very solid. Then I headed out for a few hours to sit on the
terrace of the Bay Center downtown, which is gloriously bathed in sunshine
every morning and I used the time to finish editing chapters for my critique group
tomorrow night. Later I went down to Moka House and sat on the patio for
another few hours in the afternoon sunshine, enjoying a hot tea and then some
maple walnut ice cream while watching the world go by in the beautiful sunny
weather.
All that time spent in the sunlight really helped lift my
mood and I worked quite easily on the Blurb.ca version of my novel's second draft
in the evening. Even the upstairs neighbors heavy-footed son didn't distract me
much from the editing, as I knew he was a vast improvement from the noisefest
that the previous neighbors constantly held, so I'm quite grateful now for
whatever I hear now and then.
What really sent me over the moon today was a picture
created by my friend Brian as a cover for the Blurb.ca book. He put together an
image of Niishe for me that was utterly fantastic and beautifully captured the
spirit of the book, taken somehow almost psychically from my mind and transposed
into a visual form. Here's a preview of his work in progress, blurred to add a
little mystery, for now:
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| This will become clearer once I release the second-draft book - soon! |
With that, I'm going to bed early tonight deliriously happy
and ready to start my day tomorrow for an early shift at work. It's going to be
a great week, with my birthday coming up this Tuesday the 16th! I'm looking
forward to seeing some of my friends here in Victoria and then those in Ontario
a week later!
July's halfway done and I have a lot to do in the next few months, so it's early t'bed for me, I think, for the next while. Toodles!
