The steroids are making sleep difficult. I find myself resting in the afternoon between doses. With much-disturbed sleep, I still managed to rise before 8 and make coffee. I roasted some breakfast sausages and tried a new way to make baked eggs, but it was unsuccessful. I did my usual blog and Quicken morning tasks. I download all of the transactions with a click and then read them and assign them to categories with the software, trying to guess first. This means I know everything about my finances (except some of the investments I update by hand monthly) and prevent hackers and bank issues from being missed. So far, I have avoided hackers with two-step authorizations and connections approved for specific devices only. I could be vulnerable to a man-in-the-middle attack if some hacker suborns a WiFi location and traces my usage, but I generally use my own hot spot from my iPhone to avoid that risk. At the Volvo Cave, I have a safe WiFi that is very stable (fiber to the house wall) and fast.
I soaked beans overnight from The Women’s Bean Project to make chili. I found this group during the pandemic, and I usually keep a few boxes on a shelf to make some from scratch once in a while. After finishing the blog, doing some dishes, and, yes, starting another load of laundry in The Machine (LG one-door washer and ventless dryer), I started cooking for lunch. I chopped up an onion, green pepper, and four cloves of garlic. This I cooked in a non-stick pan (thanks, Steve) with a lid to get it hot through. I took 28 oz (the big ones) of peeled tomatoes and carefully crushed them with a masher (they will squirt all over if you are careless). I had some aging tomatoes that Linda, my sister, acquired when I was here, and I cut up the remaining good bits and added them. While all this was happening, the beans were boiled and then set on low in chicken stock (what I had in the pantry). I added lean ground beef to the veggies and cooked that until the veggies were almost transparent. As it was lean ground beef, it did not brown that much. The final pack of seasoning from the box was added along with the tomatoes, veggies, and beef. All this was then cooked for another hour. I also added some fire-roasted frozen corn as I like the yellow color added to the chili.
I then made the Bean Project cornbread, which was just terrible. It is too old-school and plain for me. I will cut up the cornbread later and put it in a custard-like dessert. It is just too dry and plain as it is.
I had two smaller bowls. The steroids make me hungry all the time and a bit shaky. I am trying to keep myself level, but I cannot focus very well. My mind just flutters like a butterfly searching for a flower and then fluttering off to the next one. I never liked waiting, and now I feel time moves, so I am trying to smile and wait—it is not easy.
Another set of NYC bagels arrived today. Thanks, Joyce. There is nothing like real bagels.
I finally dressed in the afternoon after the chili. PT did not call, so I decided to do something. I took Air Volvo (I forgot in yesterday’s blog to mention I took Air Volvo to the carwash) to Guardian Games (formerly Rainy Day Games) and talked to the folks there. I am a long-term customer and a known gamer and DM for Dungeons and Dragons. There, I told them I had survived the surgery and talked to Mike about hosting a game there (he loved the idea). I also found that some Army Painter Paint was 25% off, and I picked up bottles of the colors I use most. A new set of maps for my favorite game, Concordia. The maps are Roma and Sicilia, using considerable rule changes for a city experience in Rome and an erupting volcano in Sicilia, Mt. Etna. I could not resist the new addition. Excellent!
I next headed to Barnes and Noble, looking for my favorite magazines, which I am unlikely behind. I found the UK-based electronics magazine and Maker. The UK zine is for the daring and fearless DIY electronic. Maker is more “here is what you can do with kids on a weekend” or advice on doing some advanced stuff by watching these videos. Both are good. The Maker magazine has an article on how to turn a Hot Wheel car into a remote-controlled car with a video feed for your iPhone turned into a headset. That got my attention–I want to build a tiny submarine for an aquarium and drive it with a video feed. Water attenuates signals, so this tiny sub cannot be used in a larger body of water (I believe I read that regular RC penetrates about four feet of water). So, another project has surfaced (sorry, that was unintentional but funny).
I risked a cookie and an iced coffee while I read. I was getting tired, which was good with all the steroids bubbling in me–ugh. I took Air Volvo back to the Volvo Cave. I rested for a bit and then took Corwin to Mexican food. Mine was not that good, so I won’t name the place. Corwin had a large plate and tried a shrimp salad that I had a bite of, which was exceptional. Next time!
Of course, the steroids are three times a day, so I am refueled at dinner time and bouncing again. It is hard to focus, but I manage to put away the suitcase, now empty, and move my travel bag back to the bedroom, ready for any moment to fly away again. That way, I like it. I managed to clear most of the stuff out of the other suitcase I used for my last trip. I filled the recycle bin. It was now an hour later; ugh, I hate steroids.
I started doing research online about publishing one of my SciFi Howard stories. Matt V strongly suggested DriveThruRPG fiction as a starting point. I was thinking of LuLu, which I used before, as it connects to Amazon and the other big sellers, supplies ISBN numbers, and provides a structure to your books. Matt thought my audience would be more receptive to DriveThruRPG and that, too, would be a good place for publishing my adventures there. I looked into it and can create an account. I have to decide if I want to make them my exclusive seller or just one of many (with a 10% difference in pay). With my bloodstream boiling with steroids, I will not decide and will think about how I want this.
Next, I searched for an AI-generated art website; Matt V and I talked during our trip last weekend about how this has made gaming easier by having the DM just cook up a cheap image for play. I found and liked Davinci AI Art and made a mummy rising out of sand in a lost tomb image that fit one of my adventures. It often takes three tries to get something good, and some lines are incomplete on the images. But for a few seconds wait time and five cents a try, it’s not bad. I did not buy the advanced usage for about $60 as I was unsure what I needed. I did spend $13 dollars for more images. I managed to get an Aleister Crowley making tacos image and HP Lovecraft with a laptop that is acceptable to add to the first Howard story I want to publish.
I have decided to offer artists a chance to replace the images for a reasonable fee and credit, with the AI images being placeholders until I get something that I can use at a reasonable cost and expectation. Publishing is more important than perfection.
The cough returns in the evening, showing it is a reaction to exhaustion and not something to fear. I stop, shower, and then read. I am back at H.P. Lovecraft’s The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath, which was in the luggage I put away earlier–I found it at Curious Books in Lansing, Michigan. My copy is a rare paperback and is in perfect condition, so it was not the usual cheap paperback price. I am reading it with care and respect. I am thinking of echoing a story like this for the H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival‘s micro-fiction contest with only 500 words for a complete tale. Nothing like one of my Howard or cosmic horror stories but more of a dreaming story. I managed to turn a few pages. I can’t read, and I can’t sleep as more steroids, the third dose, ruin my sleep and concentration. I rest some. I finally drift into darkness, not comfort.
Thanks for reading.
Alohawild (Michael Wild's) Website 