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It has been a busy past seven days. After days of a toothache... the first I've had... I finally made it into the dentist chair. He tells me that part of a back molar below the gum line has sheared off and is causing the pain and some infection. Root canal won't work for this. It's doomed to extraction. Go in on May 2nd for that action. The dentist told me it'll be quick, turns out there isn't much holding that tooth in place.
Presently at work on a number of writing projects: The rewrite of "A Matter of Time"; producing a manuscript of old blog posts entitled, "Meanwhile Back at The Compound"; and a new project that has something of a short timeline on it...writing short biographies of six of Woodward's more famous cemetery residents. Work also continues on rehabbing the house... and is starting to stack up. Need to finish what was originally Bom Bom's sewing and art room. That will clear space in the former living room-cum-dining room so that I can paint the trim that will go in the hallway. It's a game of shuffle around here right now.
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Exciting early morning here. I couldn't sleep last night so I got up and went into the living room. I was sitting in a recliner next to the sliding glass door leading to the patio. At some point I could hear a pounding. I looked up to see a largish pack rat throwing itself at the glass trying to come in. It freaked me out, but what are you going to do. It finally left, running off to the south.
A couple hours later I let the two larger dogs outside for their morning business. When I went back outside to bring them in I found them with their noses inserted in each end of a piece of corrugated plastic hose that you normally find attached to a downspout. I figured they had the rat trapped in between. I got Archie inside, but Luke was having none of that. I managed to get Luke away and lifted one end of the pipe. The rat came out the other end. Luke was on it and clamped down on the rat's back. He threw it into the air, but apparently didn't have the leverage to break its back or neck. The rat hit ground running and was gone. I've since installed a couple of bait stations along the exterior walls on the north and west sides. I've named the pack rat, Rocco. More to follow. Busy day today and I'm facing a tax filing deadline in just over a week. Putting up an interior fence to keep the small dog from escaping the backyard. She's begun taking tours of the property and is prime coyote bait.
Onward and upward, I reckon. I've added a new page to this site, "Totable Quotables"...it contains quotes from some of my favorite writers, poets, and sidewalk philosophers. Willl add more to it as I go.
So, yesterday I was able to solidify the agreement of the final collaborator on the project that will become a follow-on to Louise B. James' book, "Below Devil's Gap"... which was truly a colossal undertaking by a renowned writer, researcher, and historian. Below Devil's Gap describes the history of Woodward County through the very early 1980's.
There are gaps in the timeline of her book which I'm sure she was being pressured to finish prior to the centennial of the founding of Woodward, which for whatever reason was pegged as 1887. Truth be told, that was off by about six years. So the plan will be delve more into the history of this region, fleshing out more detail in a somewhat more logical timeline and then take the timeline beyond the early 1980's. I knew I wouldn't be able to do this on my own so I'm happy to have found co-authors willing to take it on. We'll begin the project in early 2024. More to follow. The compendium of early CCB posts is continuing. I don't expect it to be a huge seller, but I want to make certain those posts are preserved. Also, working to finish up the rewrite of my first novel, "A Matter of Time". I was in a huge hurry to get that uploaded to Amazon back in 2015 and I was shocked at how poorly edited and in some places just bad writing. Once that job is done, I'll move onto the second in the series which has a working title, "A Matter of Trust". Hope everyone is well. Yesterday I went down hard in the early afternoon. Most likely the injection I got on Monday was the cause. Today I seem to have bounced back. I would like to think that's the last of that nonsense, but I doubt it's so. Eh well...onward and upward!
Beautiful morning around here after several back-t0=back days of horrific winds. I'm anxious to continue the work I'm doing inside the house. Have a couple of appointments in town that I have to do first. Things are looking up! Think I'm beginning to feel a few side effects from the injection I received on Monday. Nothing major but I'm not 100%. Eh, I suppose it's better than doing nothing at all.
There's a new old post on the Cosmic City Blog (www.cosmic-city-blog.com). I had hoped to post brand new stuff regarding The Trump (how much free publicity can one man get?) but I just wasn't up to it this morning. I will say that this is likely to lock him into the GOP nomination. It'll interesting to watch that's for sure. He's due back in court in NYC on December 4, but has a date in a Georgia court soon and the court date for his rape charge and there may be a federal court date coming up. No idea how the hell he can run a campaign with all of his time and attention being taken up with court dates. Maybe that's what he's counting on... the attention will certainly keep him in the minds of Trump faithful. Like I said, it'll be interesting to watch and see how it all plays out. I'm continuing work on the collection of CCB original posts. I'm only into 2016 so far and have nearly 100 pages. This may turn out to be nothing more than a digital publication. Or, I may have to break it into two volumes. We'll see. I'm also hard at work fluffing the first book in my serial, the Glenn Matter Novels. I may bolt for the Pacific NW at the end of April, first part of May to get that over with. I need to travel up there to do some research, take some cover photos, and generally spend mindless time in the vehicle working out dialogue, etc. The trip to OKC on Monday was good for that. I spent nearly 5 hours in the Subie and worked out some of the fluff stuff for the first novel. Mindless driving is good for that sort of thing. Okay, on to my day! It is, by no means, a cure. The oncologist started me on a regimen that will have me being injected with a chemical designed to slow, if not halt, my cancer. I'll have an injection every six months with a break after 18 months. There are side effects, but nothing that can't be dealt with... it's not a cure, but I've bought myself some time. He says I should be able to continue this particular regimen for 8-9 years. By that point, there's hope that cure for my particular situation will be found, otherwise there are other treatments that can be done. Assuming I don't die of something else first! (haha)
The way I look at this, it's given me more time to complete the myriad of projects that seem to stack up on a daily basis. I'm grateful for that. Headed down to OKC and Mercy Hospital (have Mercy!) this morning to learn what the oncologist has in store for me now. Made a lot of progress yesterday on the hallway flooring. Think I'll have to tear out at least one row and redo it. Was having trouble getting the tongue in groove to set as it should. A small setback, but I ran out of time. Archie (the doggo - pictured) kept me up last night. He's been very restless at night lately. Not sure why.  After a relatively nice day yesterday, we're back to windy with wildfire warnings. Hate this time of year. We desperately need rain. I supposed I should be careful what I ask for. I'm sure they were saying the same thing out in California 3-4 months ago. Their reservoirs are filled again, but at what cost?
Tomorrow is another trip to OKC for my cancer. No matter how much I have to do around here, not taking care of myself would be unpardonable...perhaps, literally. Am working on the SEO for this site but need to get outside and take care of some business out there. |
AuthorRobin is a writer who lives on his family's farm in Northwest Oklahoma (outside Fargo). Archives
September 2023
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