So Wednesday morning, I turned on the kitchen-sink tap to wash my hands, and the water was hot. Really hot. Scalding hot. Hotter than normal. A quick online search revealed that this was bad — either the thermostat on our hot water tank was broken or the valves were busted, forcing steam into the water. I called and made a plumbing appointment for Thursday morning, then shut off the breaker (they recommended it).
Thursday morning, no plumber. Turned out that like the previous plumber we tried, the office hadn’t informed the plumber about the appointment. Unlike the previous plumber, he got out there late afternoon, shut off the water, diagnosed the problem, and replaced the tank (it was 18 years old which for a hot-water tank is old). There was quite a bit of flooding before he shut the water down, but nothing that should be a serious problem (unlike for the Avengers).
I also went down to our dentist Tuesday morning and they were late too. Because they never are, I hadn’t brought a book, and didn’t feel like starting anything I had on my phone. Rather than wait an hour, I headed home. An annoying waste of time, but our dentist is good enough I’ll put up with it.
Despite those distractions, it was a productive week. I did my last Leaf and Veterans Network articles for the month, then plunged into a mix of viewing for Alien Visitors and rewriting Undead Sexist Cliches. I’d planned to do the writing on Alien Visitors but the various distractions made it harder to focus, and going over Undead Sexist Cliches was easier. I’ve now finished editing through Chapter Five.
I tried another new time-management trick this week. I spend the last 90 minutes of the day going through email and blogging, but those tasks often ooze into the writing part of the day. So I set myself a pure writing week of 27.5 hours, specifically excluding any email or blogging. That upped my efficiency some, I think. And I didn’t feel guilty about blogging time.
Oh, and my social life is getting back to normal. Last weekend, my writer’s group (and some associates) had a party at one member’s house. It felt sooooo good to see people in the flesh instead of just over Zoom. We’re still not able to meet in person, but my Shut Up and Write group (Monday nights) will do a mix of live-action and Zoom meetings — first live one’s Monday.
On that note, have a great weekend, y’all.
#SFWApro. Cover by Jack Kirby, rights to image remain with current holder.
Fraser Sherman's Blog 