Back in the Saddle

I’m back at work today! Normally, this wouldn’t be anything approaching noteworthy, but it’s been a good week and a half since I could write that sentence, so we’re taking it as a win. What’s on the agenda today? Well, I made a slew of t-shirts in the Makerspace, something that we had thought would be pretty straightforward, but which ended up being anything but. These are some “Class of 2022” shirts designed by a student, and they’re going to be sold in the bookstore. That was the plan, at least. But graduation is Saturday. Once that day comes and goes, the class of 2022 isn’t really going to be here much anymore, which means there probably won’t be that much call for t-shirts with that year on them.

Naturally, the vinyl printer we use to print the shirts decided now was the time to start randomly spurting out ink left and right. And the graphic we were going to use somehow got it into its head that it would be really cool if it had some invisible shapes in it that made cutting the patterns out more difficult than anticipated . . .

The good news is I got it done, and the t-shirts are over at the bookstore even as we speak.

Other than that, today’s a bunch of catching up and catching my breath. I’m feeling generally okay now. Still a bit more easily tired, though I tend to think that’s from me just sitting around in my bedroom for a week straight, as opposed to any real COVID symptoms lingering around. Either which way, it’s lovely to be out of the house again and back at it.

And that’s all I have time for today when it comes to posting. Happy Thursday, all!

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Like what you’ve read? Please consider supporting me on Patreon. Thanks to all my Patrons who support me! It only takes a minute or two, and then it’s automatic from there on out. I’ve posted the entirety of my book ICHABOD in installments, and I’m now putting up chapters from PAWN OF THE DEAD, another of my unreleased books. Where else are you going to get the undead and muppets all in the same YA package? Check it out.

If you’d rather not sign up for Patreon, you can also support the site by clicking this PERFECT PLACE TO DIE Amazon link. It will take you to Amazon, where you can buy my books or anything else. During that visit, a portion of your purchase will go to me. It won’t cost you anything extra.

A Message from Quarantine

If you were following along on Facebook at all, you’ll know that I tested for COVID the second I got home from Texas, because safety. You’ll also know that I tested positive. Since that test (on Thursday at 6pm), I have been in my bedroom practically the whole time. I go outside now and then to get some sunlight and to walk around some in an effort to keep my legs from just completely wasting away, but when it comes to being inside, it’s one room, that’s it.

Since this is our family’s first bout with COVID, we didn’t know a whole lot about how long to isolate. Ironically, two other friends of mine caught it at practically the same time (none of us in the same state). So I knew from conversations with them and others that I was to isolate until 5 days after the first day of symptoms, and then wear a mask when I was out in public if I was symptom free. (If you’re not symptom free, no ending isolation for you!)

And . . . I’m still not symptom free. I’m also not completely sure when symptoms started, since I was on the road and had slept poorly at the hotel. So I’m just being cautious all around. That said, I will say that being stuck here by myself for what’s now my fifth day is . . . less than fun. I hadn’t seen my family since last Monday when I left, and now here I am more than a week later with no real contact with them other than when I’m feeling up for a chat outside. (We have been zooming during dinner and at other times, but it’s not really the same thing.) That said, I really don’t want to be the reason anyone in my family gets this. So they’re all staying in a different wing of the house, and we’re keeping a few empty rooms between us as a buffer zone.

The good news is that my symptoms are now down to minor. I’ve got a stuffy nose, a headache, a sore throat when I swallow, and I’m tired. For a while, I had a sore throat bad enough to wake me up multiple times a night, but a non-stop running nose and muscle aches. I’ve been taking Paxlovid since Friday, and I’m glad I did, since it’s taken a long time to recover as-is. (Noting that I realize some people take even longer, or don’t recover at all. I’m grateful this isn’t worse.)

I imagine I’ll still be stuck here tomorrow, but if the symptoms are mostly gone, I might begin venturing outside more, and then head back to work . . . Thursday? Here’s hoping. In the meantime, I’ve watched a slew of movies and an entire television series. I’ve played many digital games, and today and yesterday I’m finally getting back into work items. I think I’ll be able to start writing again today as well. For a while there, I just wasn’t up to complex thought.

Anyway. Thanks for all your well wishes and concern. I’m hanging in there, and looking forward to being back in the full swing of things soon.

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Like what you’ve read? Please consider supporting me on Patreon. Thanks to all my Patrons who support me! It only takes a minute or two, and then it’s automatic from there on out. I’ve posted the entirety of my book ICHABOD in installments, and I’m now putting up chapters from PAWN OF THE DEAD, another of my unreleased books. Where else are you going to get the undead and muppets all in the same YA package? Check it out.

If you’d rather not sign up for Patreon, you can also support the site by clicking this PERFECT PLACE TO DIE Amazon link. It will take you to Amazon, where you can buy my books or anything else. During that visit, a portion of your purchase will go to me. It won’t cost you anything extra.

Mask Free at the Library (Again)

Last Friday, the University of Maine system announced that they were removing the mask mandate that has been on campuses for since last . . . summer? Who can really remember at this point. In any case, that meant that when I came back to work on Monday, I no longer had to wear a mask, though of course people were welcome to wear masks if they chose to.

So far, I’ve really been surprised by how many people are still wearing their masks. With all the public belly-aching there’s been around mask wearing, I somehow had the impression that most people were wearing masks because they were forced to, not because they wanted to. And instead, it’s probably around 50% of people who are still wearing them.

Of course, I imagine the virulent anti-maskers would read about that and bemoan how many sheeple are out there willing to give up their freedom in the name of fake safety. Then again, I still really fail to see how a face covering has somehow turned into this heinous barrier to freedom. Also, I for one am hoping that masking really takes root in our society. I think we’d all be healthier as a whole if more people would wear masks when they’re feeling under the weather, and if no one gave anyone the crusty eye for wearing one. If the flu’s going around in my area, I plan on putting a mask back on until it isn’t, and I’d love to have some sort of metric that’s posted that lets me easily know when the area’s in one of those high spread times.

I mean, I suppose people who want to be free to get sick should be free to do so, but I for one appreciate the freedom that comes with a healthy body. Just saying.

So am I wearing a mask right now?

I wasn’t yesterday. The community spread is low enough that it’s not something I’m really concerned about. However, I found out an hour ago that someone in Daniela’s class just tested positive for COVID, so I think I’ll probably wear one for the next bit, just out of courtesy to those around me. As I said, I expect that’ll be something that becomes more and more normalized for me: wearing or not wearing a mask, depending on the circumstances.

The biggest thing I’m happy about is that with the removal of the mask mandate, library staff no longer have to confront patrons for their masking habits. Those are some interactions I really won’t miss . . .

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Like what you’ve read? Please consider supporting me on Patreon. Thanks to all my Patrons who support me! It only takes a minute or two, and then it’s automatic from there on out. I’ve posted the entirety of my book ICHABOD in installments, and I’m now putting up chapters from PAWN OF THE DEAD, another of my unreleased books. Where else are you going to get the undead and muppets all in the same YA package? Check it out.

If you’d rather not sign up for Patreon, you can also support the site by clicking this PERFECT PLACE TO DIE Amazon link. It will take you to Amazon, where you can buy my books or anything else. During that visit, a portion of your purchase will go to me. It won’t cost you anything extra.

Regular Sick

The other day, it occurred to me how long it had been since I’d just been sick. Regular sick, not COVID sick. I’m sure I’ve had a few off days now and then over the past couple of years, but by and large the number of sick days I’ve had to use are much less than they’ve typically been. (All of that mask wearing doesn’t just help for COVID, ya know?)

In any case, I almost kind of missed being sick. Lying in bed. Watching movies. Reading books. Being sick was a lot of fun, wasn’t it?

Of course, this is just a case study that shows how easy it is to forget bad things and focus on the good. I suppose that’s a nice trait to have for the long term, but for the short term, it’s just helped me to remember why being sick is not, in fact, “fun.”

MC came down with a cold last week. Maybe more than a cold: coughing, sneezing, and generally not feeling well. We tested, and it wasn’t COVID, so there’s that at least. For the first while, it seemed like we’d avoided having anyone else get it. Then I got sick Sunday afternoon, and Daniela got sick yesterday.

Thankfully, it looks like both of our cases are less severe, since MC is still home sick. I stayed home today and yesterday. Pre-COVID, I likely would have gone to work today, even feeling sick. Now? I’m much more cognizant of germs, and I try to do my best not to share them.

And besides: it’s fun to be sick, right?

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Like what you’ve read? Please consider supporting me on Patreon. Thanks to all my Patrons who support me! It only takes a minute or two, and then it’s automatic from there on out. I’ve posted the entirety of my book ICHABOD in installments, and I’m now putting up chapters from PAWN OF THE DEAD, another of my unreleased books. Where else are you going to get the undead and muppets all in the same YA package? Check it out.

If you’d rather not sign up for Patreon, you can also support the site by clicking this PERFECT PLACE TO DIE Amazon link. It will take you to Amazon, where you can buy my books or anything else. During that visit, a portion of your purchase will go to me. It won’t cost you anything extra.

Tracking My Sleep

After I’ve been learning all this stuff about how important sleep is, I decided maybe I should start taking my sleep a little more seriously. I have an Apple Watch, and word on the street was that I could use it to track my sleep. I wasn’t ever doing it, mainly because the battery on that thing needs to be charged every night, so how in the world was I supposed to wear it at night and somehow keep it charged?

Two seconds of Googling showed me it charges in under two hours, so I can wear it at night and during the day, and then charge it for a couple of hours before I go to bed. So much for that excuse.

However, I also discovered that Apple’s native Sleep app only works on Watch series 3 and on. Mine is a series 2. While this does incentivize me to buy a new Apple Watch sooner rather than later, I wasn’t too keep on dropping another $400 just to track my sleep. So were there any free options available?

Yes there were.

Pillow tracks your sleep for nothing, though it has a subscription service that adds on bells and whistles like recording what you sound like when you sleep(?), analyzing your sleep patterns over time, and other stuff I haven’t really paid that much attention to. All I know is that I installed it, paid nothing, and I’ve already gotten an overview of how my sleep has been going for the past few nights.

In a revelation that should surprise no one, but did surprise me, I get significantly less sleep than I told myself I did. In my head, I went to bed around 10:30 and woke up at 6:30. 8 hours a night. See? I was fine. In practice, looking at the numbers, I start trying to go to sleep around 11, and I actually get to sleep around 11:30 or 12. (Though I think there’s a chance the app takes a bit of time to really be sure I’m asleep, I also think it’s probably closer to being right than I’d like it to be.) And while yes, I wake up around 6:20 (before my alarm goes off), I also wake up once or twice in the night. Which all means I usually get more like 6.5 hours of sleep.

(Rule of thumb: if you ever want to really know what you’re doing, track it. Track your calories. Track your exercise. Track your time. If you’re anything like me, it’s way too easy to give yourself the benefit of the doubt. A lot.)

So now that I know that, what do I want to do about it?

I’m going to continue tracking it, of course. In my experience, just by being more aware of how I’m doing in something makes me likelier to do better in it. (I improve in the things I consciously pay attention to. Go figure.) And I’m trying to get to bed at an earlier time each night. I’m not sure how well this is going to go, because I really prefer being up late, but I also prefer being healthy, so . . . yeah. I do think I’m improving already. My sleep totals for each night since I’ve been tracking?

• 7 hours 9 minutes (Friday night)
• 6 hours 50 minutes (Saturday night)
• 7 hours 20 minutes (Sunday night)
• 5 hours 35 minutes (Monday night–this is where I had to admit I might have a problem)
• 6 hours 57 minutes (Last night, when I had convinced myself to go to bed earlier)

So yes, this doesn’t look as bad as I had walked away thinking. (Second lesson: I’m often harder on myself than I ought to be), but that Monday night was the first real normal weekday night, and I’d thought I’d done really well. Whoops.

We’ll see how well I can stick with this, and if I can really improve how I’m doing. We’ll also see what sort of an impact that has on how I feel overall. That’s the ultimate goal, after all. Be healthier, but also feel healthier.

Wish me luck.

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Like what you’ve read? Please consider supporting me on Patreon. Thanks to all my Patrons who support me! It only takes a minute or two, and then it’s automatic from there on out. I’ve posted the entirety of my book ICHABOD in installments, and I’m now putting up chapters from PAWN OF THE DEAD, another of my unreleased books. Where else are you going to get the undead and muppets all in the same YA package? Check it out.

If you’d rather not sign up for Patreon, you can also support the site by clicking this PERFECT PLACE TO DIE Amazon link. It will take you to Amazon, where you can buy my books or anything else. During that visit, a portion of your purchase will go to me. It won’t cost you anything extra.