So, what have I been doing?

FYI, my image uploading widget doesn’t work, so that’s another thing I need to work on. So, no pictures. Now the rest of this section is going to be an extended “feel sorry for myself” screed, so I recommend you just skip this post if you dislike that sort of thing. Really. Essentially, I wasn’t in a good place after my brother passed in 2018, and that lead me into a funk that eventually cost me my job. I really didn’t care anymore, and was very thin-skinned over any perceived disrespect. And while I didn’t deserve everything, I definitely deserved a lot. I wasn’t fired, but I retired at the end of 2020, one step ahead of that ending. The increasing problems with my health didn’t help. Only four days after retirement, I was exposed to Covid, and ended up having long-form for three months, and took another three to recover. So I’d have been canned anyway had I not bailed. Like many other long-form sufferers, I lost my sense of smell. It still has not fully returned.

I’m dealing three general problems: lingering issues with my neck after corrective surgery, poor blood circulation from clogged arteries, and increasing hip joint failure. Short version:

• The first gives me minor to severe pain in my neck and right shoulder; unrelated arthritis has caused weakness and range of motion problems in my right arm.
• The second led to a stroke and circulation problems in my left arm (and partial left eye blindness). I’ve mentally slowed down, and just can’t write the way I could several years ago. Or think as fast, or concentrate for very long.
• The third has become a real problem lately. Upon getting up, I’m severely unstable and often can’t support myself with my right leg, for several minutes; the pain may cause my leg to collapse. This problem got worse after I took a dive down an escalator in February.. I was stupidly trying to chat up a cute cosplayer to get a picture of her, and put my foot on a step that wasn’t there. Women. Nothing but trouble, eh? /sarc

More recently, I took a two-week trip to visit family and friends, get out of the house that I’ve been rotting away in, and break the patterns. I’ve been worriedly watching my savings dip lower and lower, knowing that I can’t even become a greeter at Wal-Mart (LOL) since I can’t stand for extended periods of time. Before that, and at about the time I was getting ready for my trip, I ran across something that I think I can do. And now that I’m back home in front of my own computer instead of an old laptop, maybe I can do it. Not saying just yet, but if I can pull it off, it might simultaneously help with the $$$$ and give me something to do. We’ll see — I have no expectations of getting rich (too much work anyway), but a little extra income never hurt anyone.

Until the IRS comes calling.

So….next up: Anime!!