January Ending

So, only a couple of days left in January, and my 200k Challenge for 2018 is already very far behind.  The cumulative word count for today is 12,374 and I have a paltry 7,024. Granted, there is a lot going on in my life right now. Since I proposed on Jan 1, there is wedding planning,  and I returned to work this month after an absence due to medical issues.  Getting back up to speed at a job that is constantly changing is no picnic, let me tell you.

My lacking word count disappoints me even more as I am the one that started this challenge and roped others into it as well. I should be at least keeping pace, and I plan to give my best effort to hit goal by Jan 31. This is not a good start, and I will overcome that and hit my goal for the year, as I'm sure others that have taken up this challenge will as well. I'm sitting here in Panera, working away at word count. I found an old novel I'd been working on stashed away on Google Docs. That bonus is that I'm rewriting it, which is going faster than writing from scratch. So, that may help me hit goal for the month. It's a novel I was sure I had lost all copies of, so finding it was an unexpected surprise of the first order. Maybe I can actually finish the damn thing now. It was a great idea, and I believe it still is. One of my better ideas, actually. And to find it when you believed it was gone forever and that you could never start over and have it be as good as it was is a good thing.

I have to tout a few of my favorite writing things here. Scrivener is the software for noveling that I wish I had been able to get my hands on years ago. It simplifies the process so much!  Yes, the learning curve is a bit daunting, but there is a book, Scrivener for Dummies, that really simplifies it to the point it's much easier to use without watching hours of tutorials on YouTube. A caution, be careful what flash drives you pick up online. I found an all metal flash drive (256MB) that was just too cool looking to pass up.  On the third use, my files disappeared. Looking at reviews online, that was not uncommon. It appears some foriegn companies are making these drives in 16 or 32GB format and using firmware that makes them read as much larger. They will eventually (apparently very quickly) fail, and you are in danger of losing your work. So, beware!  Finally, I got a rechargable Bluetooth keyboard to use with my tablet, and found it works well with my phone. Makes for a lot more portable if you want to write at the park or somewhere you don't want to lug the laptop to. I got an Anker from Amazon.  My fiancee liked it as well, but found one at WalMart she liked the layout and feel of a bit better. That one runs on AA batteries and was under $20, but she's been using it for a while now and loves it.

Meh

Obviously not feeling it this week. For the 200K Challenge, I should be at 7,955 words today, and as you can see I'm just shy of 5,000. This week has been occupied by my return to work after almost 3 months of medical leave, so my focus has been getting back up to speed there. I know I can make up wordcount on my days off, and I fully intend to. 

The return to work has been, well, blah. I spent last week sitting with people, watching them do the job I was doing when I went out. It gets boring, you want to DO something, not just sit and listen to others do the job. A lot had changed, policies and minor processes. Yesterday, I spent the second half of the day doing the job, and it actually wasn't as difficult to jump back in as I had feared it would be. Today was my first full day back and was not bad, either. It's actually nice to be back and not trapped in an endless cycle of home and doctor visits. The foot is almost healed, and soon I should be able to ditch this stylish therapeutic footwear they have me in. My stamina is obviously not where I would like it to be, but once I'm cleared to return to the gym that should get better. Still looking to replace the car that was stolen in the carjacking in October. Wanted to wait until I had more $$$ for a down payment and felt better so I could enjoy the test drives. I need one now, as I feel like I'm imposing having my fiancee drive me to work. It feels like I'm intruding on her life.

So, I need to bear down on my writing and find a car. Those are the two driving forces in my life right now. Well, those and being asked about my opinion on various matters for the wedding. I keep saying I have no style or fashion sense so asking me is probably not the best course of action. Still, the questions continue. Having done this once, I would be happy with the courthouse or running off to Vegas. This is her first (and hopefully only) wedding, so it's cool that she does it the way that she wants. I want her to have awesome memories of that day, so it takes what it takes.

Lost Words

Okay, so having avoided the dreaded words lost failures I see so often in the NaNo forums, that streak is sadly at an end. And so begins my worst flash drive experience ever.

I found an all metal 256GB flash drive for a really good price on Amazon. I collect flash drives the way some people collect stamps, coins, etc. I ordered it, and could not wait to use it for the 200K Word Challenge I am participating in this year. Everything was going fine, until about the third time I was using it. My files completely disappeared. WTF??!!??  All the work done towards this challenge, I was ahead on wordcount and building myself a nice cushion for not as productive days down the road. Now, it was all GONE!! Panic mode set in...then I remembered, my files were backing up to One Drive. Unfortuanately, One Drive's copy was approximately 1,100 words shy of where I had been. I am now woefully behind, made even worse by the fact that I had been so far ahead. Makes me want to cry, but instead I will slog on and work to catch up. I'm back at work now, so that will be a bit more difficult. I was making good progress while I was out on medical leave.

I am not giving up, just needed to rant a bit. I will catch up, and I will make goal for the year. This is just more of a challenge at this point, not defeat. Failure is not falling down, it is failing to rise again.

A New Challenge

First, a little background. 2017 was the Year of Shit. I wasn't posting here, because I spent a majority of the year in and out of the hospital  In June, I almost died, according to the doctors. Blood clots in the lungs, a collapsed lung, pneumonia, fluid buildup, and numerous infections. That resulted in a 37 day hospital stay, 8 of those in ICU. 

My primary care physician had missed all this, telling me my lungs were fine and this was just a lasting effect from a bout of bronchitis. Needless to say, I changed doctors as soon as I got out of the hospital. The fluid buildup was bad. Thanks to a catheter and IV diuretics, I dropped 115 lbs. in 14 days. Not a weight loss program I would recommend.  According to the ER docs, if we had not called the ambulance, I would not have made it to morning. 

Then in October, I needed surgery on my foot. I was carjacked in our parking lot at 3am that morning. Lost my laptop, phone, kindle, and other things that were in the car. Luckily a friend was available to get us to the hospital. My girlfriend had totaled her car two weeks earlier, so no we had no vehicle.  At the hosptial, we found out the infection in my foot (related to the fluid problem) had gone into the bone. It looked as if they might have to take part of my foot. As luck would have it, they managed to get it all without having to take any part of my foot.  

So, this year has to be better, right?  On the positive side, I proposed to my long time girlfriend on January 1, and she accepted!  Also, I took on a challenge to give me more writing discipline. I am doing a 200,000 word challenge for 2018. Since I plan on doing NaNo as usual, that only leaves about 550 words/day for the rest of the year. I invite anyone interested to join me. We have a page on Facebook, 200k Year (200k Word Challenge for 2018)

I will be posting to this regularly now that things are somewhat back to normal. I encourage y'all to write more, and enjoy life. I almost lost it twice last year, and it definitely changes your outlook on what is important.