going to enjoy my labor day weekend, don't know if it's going to be by dashing tomorrow or not, but in fact i'm already enjoying it though demands have rained down on me from all sides.

the two main demands are one son wants me to go to abingdon, and a daughter wants me to go to hanna city. both trips would require at some point a return trip, so four trips out into the illinois countryside. they could possibly be combined; though they are not directly in each other's path, they are close. abingdon is south and hanna city is southeast, but way more east than south. going to hanna city or back through abingdon could be called "the back way."

i actually went to a party last night, one in which my wife brought marshmallows and the kids were thrilled. they roasted those things on the open flames until they burned and then took them around, running off their youthful energy and my wife became the saint who delivered them from the boredom of adults all talking. it was an interesting party. the problem is that my hearing has gotten so bad that i'm almost useless at parties, since i can't sit around yakking with music in the background - just about all i can do is admire young children who don't seem to mind my getting in their face when i want to say something. these were perfectly normal children and i kind of liked that aspect of it.

took an extended break from dashing when my car broke down sometime around wednesday, and i was forced to just put it down for a while. it might have been thursday. anyway the ignition simply froze and all i could do was just pay them and then be grateful when it was finally returned to me. what can you do? sometimes you stick your key in there and you can't budge it. i knew when i was defeated. and i needed the break, so i took it. now the question is whether to go back to work tomorrow. i'm already off for today, sunday. tomorrow is labor day.

i've become slightly more traditional in some ways. i always take sunday off. i attend church services (my own, granted) every week. i try to get to bed by about eleven or at least by twelve. i sleep all night and usually sleep in. i take a shower every day.

i enjoy my little room and spend more and more time here sitting by the aircon letting it easy my hay fever symptoms, and trying to get some work done on my books. i am finishing a set of stories. i have a book just out and i'm enjoying some traffic from that, it's like the world then remembered that i was there and had written other stuff too. got a few page reads and a sale here and there. i like to get out there and say i'm 100% indie. that means i do everything myself - covers, proofreading, marketing, etc. so what if marketing is weak, and i only have a tiny corner of what i deserve? i have never been in it for the money. so i muddle along - i check my numbers obsessively, but i don't expect much, and i don't get much. it's all ok. i'm down to 28 on the market - took 3 off but put one up there - and i'm working on feeling better about what i have. i may be producing some new covers soon.

on the personal side, having a cochlear implant operation on FRI. getting a little worried about it. preparing to kick back and rest a little, take another break from dashing. one has to take a window, and like they do in korea, enjoy the fall clear cool weather right when it comes in. gather up your soul for a long winter.