Today's Horse Fueled by Recall and Wear Bars

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Another day "off" filled with appointments and meetings and. Did I say "off"? What I mean is that I'm not interpreting anywhere today.

Right now I'm having one of those there-has-to-be-a-horse-in-here moments. The "shit" is that my car had a recall, which was announced with a fluorescent yellow postcard, so I scheduled the appointment to fix it for today, which had to be done at the dealer. Then with the car's oil change and checkup last week at our regular mechanic, they confirmed that, yes, the tread on the tires is very near the wear bars and they need to be replaced. So I checked prices and was surprised that the dealer would actually give me a better price on new tires than other places, including our trusted and beloved mechanic, so I called the dealer and added it to the list of tasks to be addressed today.

So, right now I'm sitting at a restaurant, on my 3rd cup of decaf, my breakfast plate cleared. Still waiting for my car. With the recall work and the tires, the time estimate was two and a half to three hours. The recall is a software update, so part of the completion time is dependent on the speed and reliability of the internet.

The horse is that I planned for that. I didn't expect three hours, but I'm prepared for it. The horse is that I have my laptop and the nearby restaurant where I'm sitting has wifi and I'm writing.

I completed the first draft of today's NaPoWriMo poem and it's posted over at The Writing Vein Playground. I edited a short essay I wrote last week and have been searching for a home for that (I'm considering submitting it to Readers Write at The Sun; although it's a little long for that and I think I'd rather find another location where it can be published in its entirety). And right now - well, as soon as I complete this post - I'm working on another story.

I am noticing the absence of working on the M-book. It is not forgotten. I see that it is not on my list. I'm anticipating having a block of time to work on it in May. After Othello.
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Let The Countdown Begin

No, it's not too early to start talking about NaNoWriMo.

Two months from today, at this time, I will have already written at least 2,000 words of my 2011 NaNoWriMo novel.

Yes, I am that confident.

No, I don't have a plot. Nor a title. Nor even a setting or a character. Will I? I don't know.

What I do know is that I will have my laptop open and a new word document open, waiting for our lovely ML (Municipal Liason, in NaNoWriMo world) to count us down from Halloween to ...5, 4, 3, 2, 1 - GO! And my fingers will begin typing, whether or not I have even a glimmer of an idea. I will type and something will appear.

And for the next 30 days I will follow my characters where they lead me, to that magical 50,000 words in 30 days, signalling that I am, again, a Winner. See, I've learned to not force my characters to take me somewhere in particular during NaNoWriMo. That is the duty of my inner editor, of revision. But NaNoWriMo is to get it out and see what they have to say. I can't control them - really I can't. It failed dismally the one year I tried. Yes, I still passed the finish line with about 51k words. But I never did finish that novel and I didn't like it.

So. Why now?

Because I have been officially accepted as one of the 250 writers who will be participating in the 2011 Night of Writing Dangerously in San Francisco on November 20th. I will be heading down with my writing buddy to be there in time for the Saturday night special activity, too - the founder, Chris Baty, announced that he will be leaving after this NaNoWriMo to become a full-time writer, so there is something special planned for the night before NOWD, as we in the know call it.

NOWD is fun and crazy and a seven-hour writing marathon. It is also a significant fundrasier for the Office of Letters and Light (OLL), the organization which runs NaNoWriMo, Script Frenzy, and the Young Writers Program. Second only to Write Around Portland, OLL is one of my favorite non-profits to support.

So - I'm asking you to help me meet my fundraising goal of $350 for NOWD - OLL. Again, I am already a confirmed participant. And I want to raise more funds for OLL. This year I have a trusty Toyota, which I will adorn with inclement weather apparel just in case, which will carry me and my friend to San Francisco.

Consider donating even just $5. Every bit counts and every bit helps them provides lessons and incentives and programs for writers of all ages.

Finally

Thirty minutes later I got my car back. The rear brakes replaced, the oil changed, the tensioner repaired.

Writing date canceled - well, truthfully, long past being possible.

7:45 PM I arrived back home. Blog posts done. Tomorrow's Razor's Edge ready to go out for the last day of the 2010.

The original memoir file safely uploaded.

A glass of wine, a couple more episodes of Better Off Ted, and another couple inches knitted on the hat.

Soon - a good night's sleep. Tomorrow is another day.
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Still Waiting

And some days you just say "Thank you Universe, for all that you offer and your silent protections, even when I didn't know I needed it."

See - it is now 3 1/2 hours after my last post. The one where I thought I was about to pick up my car, that I would now be sitting at my friend, Jenny's, dining table and we'd be typing away with dinner and a glass of wine sitting beside us and Ron in the other room or joining us for a snack and then going cycling or watching a movie.

But, no.

It is now 3 1/2 hours later and I'm again waiting on my car. They took care of the brakes and the oil change. Then came the test drive. A noise. An unfamiliar knocking sound. Back into the shop, dismantle, start looking for it. Testing. Listening.

No more details here - except to say that it was a part - the tensioner - that was replaced on my car mid-June. Something that shouldn't have been broken. The type of a part that would go unnoticed by me, with the studded tires and the radio on - I wouldn't hear it. But the mechanic heard it. And I wouldn't hear if it became worse. And when it became worse the belt would slide off and then I'd have a major automotive breakdown.

Thankfully - and here is one perfect example of why I love my mechanics - the mechanic working on my car was willing to stay past closing to repair it if they could locate a part. Which they did. And the place who didn't have it didn't have a delivery driver so someone drove over to get it.

Yes, I'm still waiting for my car.

But it will be safe, won't break down, and will stop when needed. (The mechanic said that my brakes were low enough to need replacement - but they weren't in any danger - they are just Saturn brakes; which are different than the new Chrysler brakes I've been driving for three weeks... which I suspected might be the case, but I also knew the rear brakes (I replaced the front brakes in September) needed replacing.)

So I've canceled the plans to go to Jenny's house to write. The day long writing marathon has disintegrated to hours spent at Les Schwab and the coffee shop. Writing, yes, here, in my blog.

I will be okay with that. I have to be. "Better safe than sorry" feels especially true right now.
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Special Days

Then there are those special days, when I have set aside the entire day for writing, and life hands me something else.

Today is one of those days.

I'm not complaining, really. I will still be able to make it over to Jenny's house for the evening portion of our day of writing.

I tried to take care of the flat studded tire yesterday afternoon. But the Les Schwab in the neighborhood where I was, said the tire couldn't be repaired (I wasn't surprised; one by one the tires are giving out; which they do over time - and I've had them a while) - and they didn't have the replacement tire for my car. The mechanic checked and the Les Schwab I usually go to and they had three of the tires. The problem was that I was 25 minutes from that store and only 5 minutes from where I needed to be in an hour. So my new plan was to go this morning to get the new tire. Quick. Easy. Right?

Problem number one was my own fault. My partner and I stayed up until two o'clock in the morning watching several episodes of "Better Off Ted." It was great fun. A new series we've gotten attached to, thanks to Jenny and her husband. But that meant sleeping later this morning (wah, I know! I didn't work today - which is why I set it aside for writing). Which means my whole day started later than originally planned, since I got up at the time I thought I'd be meeting Jenny to write.

I was hoping to take my car in tomorrow to get the rear brakes done. It was time, they needed to be done (had the front ones done in September), and felt a little "sloppy" - which I realized could be partly due to driving a new rental car for three weeks. But, alas, the reliable, friendly, most excellent place we take our cars (Hawthorne Auto Clinic - awesome people; great service; never a ripoff - always excellent work) is closed tomorrow. So, okay, problem number two surfaced: I needed to take my car in today because the shop could get it done. Yay - it could be taken care of in one day.

Oh, the tire, I remembered after setting it up to take my car in for rear brakes. We're in a somewhat wet time - although it may be letting up for a couple days - with cold temperatures, which means ice potential. And with the driving around I do, I really need to have all four tires studded, rather than three out of four. At least that's my opinion. Yesterday the Les Schwab guy said, "Oh, it's safe." But I think he was thinking in general, since I had a regular size tire on it and not the donut-spare. But I couldn't get the car in for the rear brakes until after the parts arrived - which would be by the time the mechanics were back from lunch - so I had 90 minutes.

A quick and thorough shower and I was on the way to Les Schwab in 20 minutes. Where it took all of those 90 minutes plus a few more to mount and put on the new (now three out of four studs are new) studded tire. Whew.

Then off to Hawthorne Auto, and next door to Common Grounds Coffee House for a latte and tuna sandwich (my favorite tuna sandwich in town: tuna with diced apples, capers, and grilled with swiss cheese). And here I still am. Over two hours later. And that's okay. The coffee is good. Hawthorne Auto is also doing an oil change since it's due in a couple weeks - may as well do it while it's up there.

And I will get to Jenny's at some point to write.

Meanwhile, here I am. Writing my blog entry. I've uploaded to my online storage the copy of the whole memoir in process (the file I thought I'd lost - but discovered I had here on the laptop, thankfully, since my desktop is dead).

A day of writing became a day of car care. But that makes me safer on the road and here on earth to write another day and month and for years to come.

Yes, better to miss the planned writing time and be safe on the road.

Yes.

The lesson of acceptance and patience continues.

from NKJ Live

Real Life - one day, one project, one step

This is what it is - projects to do (a play to interpret - tomorrow), papers to grade (final journals, final self-assessments, check hours, calculate percentages, compute the grades), appointments to get to (work, the doctor, more). And then, unexpectedly, a minor car accident, t-boned, on the way to a job. Moments thrown out of whack and everything else still needs to be done.

One moment at a time. One hour at a time. One student's work at a time.

I will get it done.

Tomorrow I ended up with the morning off - but now I have to take my car to a body shop to get it looked at. Minor damage from what I can see, but that's why I'm taking it in. I'm not an expert and I've been warned there could be internal damage that's not visible. It wasn't my fault, but I still have to deal with it.

Then a department meeting for 90 minutes.

Then off to the theater where I will interpret "A Christmas Story" (yes, based on the movie of the same name) about three hours after the meeting. Set lights. Meet up with the interpreter I'm working with and our Sign Coach. Then - do it!

Which is followed by five straight days of work. And that is followed by a week off work. Yay.

After tomorrow - although I will be working for another five days straight - things level out a bit. Especially if the car only needs a new hubcap; easy. And I will also be going to the doctor on Friday - just to make sure. I'm a little sore and stiff today - but I'm hoping that goes away by tomorrow, that it's just from the stress of the accident. It was scary having the other car headed right toward me; it was on the driver's side.

But I'm okay - no major damage to me that I can tell. No major visible damage to the car.

And it's one thing I really didn't need right now.

That's life sometimes. And life goes on.

One moment. One hour. One day.

Then it's a new day.

I guess my experience of Mercury going retrograde just started a little early. (My computer also wigged out three days ago and I have the authentic blue screen of death. Someone is going to help me try to at least retrieve my data this weekend, even if we can't revive the whole thing. I really didn't want to have to replace it - but, that's a part of life these days, too. Thank goodness I have a back-up - unfortunately, some files are only on the currently quiet PC.)

Life!

NaNoWriMo day 19

. . .  35,678  . . .

Yes, that is my current word count! I broke the 35k barrier and the story is coming back together. Realizing that the characters were hijacking the story through time and were not giving it to me in linear pieces was helpful. I sometimes get pulled in different directions as far as which part of the story to tell, so I have to keep good notes or parts may be dropped. But the underlying thread has been revealed, I think. And I have to admit the the main idea is still a little murky, but becoming clearer. I feel we are getting closer to the real point.

This weekend is about writing.

And getting the snow tires on my car. Sigh. Every year I have my personal debate: do I or don't I? It's such a waste of wear on the tires and wear on the roads if they're not needed. But the places I'm primarily working are in area that generally have more inclement weather issues than, say, downtown Portland. And the "coldest weather of the year" (I mock that phrase; I would expect the "coldest" weather of the year to be now...) is here - or predicted to be here tomorrow and Sunday and then predicted snow by Monday. "La Nina" is starting off as they said it would, so, if predictions are even partially correct, I will need the tires later.

I will also need an alternate route to get to my regular part-time job. There are a couple miles of the route that are a little curvy and uphill, which become a car skating rink with the tiniest bit of freezing conditions with moisture. Last year I failed to find the alternate route and the one I was told was blocked and didn't look to be much better.

With reluctance and apologies to the environment and the roads, I have already loaded my studded tires into my car and will be getting up way earlier than I planned so that I will be standing at the Les Schwab Tires' doors when they open at 8AM. I imagine I won't be alone - but I hope I will be early enough that my wait will be less than 2 hours. Last year I waited over 6 hours to get my tires on. Boo. Which means I must get to bed now.
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Razor's Edge for 10/29/10

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NaNoWriMo is just around the corner. Yes, it is almost here. Sunday night at midnight or Monday morning at midnight depending on your perspective.

 

nanonanonano Wri Mo

 

So, as I prepare for my sink into the land of other NaNoWriters, this video I found seems to fit perfectly. And a soundtrack from one of my favorite composers: Philip Glass.

 

• Why is the first car there?
• Why is there a second car?
• Who are the people on the steps?
• What happens next?

 

Watch the video.
Set your timer for 8-10 minutes (you choose!).
Write.
Or dance - I could see this as a dance.
Go!

 

 

 

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quick update

...and with a promise of more to come...

CLR Van#2: Esther, me,
Nikki, Gaik, and driver Gwen

My team - the MissFit WiseWalkers - made an awesome showing at this year's Cascade Lakes Relay in Central Oregon. We completed the 132.4 miles walking course in an hour and sixteen minutes less than we did last year. We were last in our division - and that's okay. We were only seven minutes and a few odd seconds behind the next to last team - which is really good. Our average pace was only three-tenths of a second (!!) slower than that team. We all came through it feeling pretty good - some aches, a few blisters, a little stiffness = normal parts of doing a distance relay event in the mountains of the desert in the summer for 32+ hours straight.

And we had fun.

Sophie
11/17/90-8/01/10

There will be pictures.

I arrived home Sunday night to discover my car battery was dead and my cat was dying and then my partner's car wouldn't start in the vet's parking lot. There is more to that story, which will have to wait. Someday the pieces of that string of events will be funny - but I need more time.

Our living room currently houses the storage boxes with the team's supplies and my personal items from being the Team Captain for the relay; with the "welcome home" events last night and then work today I haven't had time to put them away. The dining room has been strewn with art supplies and outfits and my partner's personal items, who is flying out tomorrow morning to teach and take classes an art conference. We are a whirlwind of activity. Thank goodness the writing conference I am attending and volunteering at is local and needs no supplies.

My life is very full right now - of good things. Minus one old part-Siamese tortoise shell tabby, who I miss.

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good news?

I just found out that my car's gas mileage is too good to qualify for the "cash for clunkers" program. And, apparently, my ten-year old car's gas mileage is better than the new "gas saving" cars, because the clunker-replacement cars must get at least four miles per gallon more than the clunker itself. Now adding clunker mileage + 4 mpg = Oh! still less than my TEN-year-old car.

Oh.

Ok.

Not that my car is a clunker. But it ain't no fancy schmancy shiny new Prius or Insight or nothin'.

Drats.

At least I won't have car payments! Hang in there, ol' car, you're doin' good. You can, apparently, still beat those young whipper snappers.