I’m Sorry

Posted on by Sarah A. Hoyt

So, I had planned to do a post today, and plant grapevines (yes, more) and finish a book, and edit a chapter and read a friend’s book.

My family didn’t precisely sit on me. They were either more or less polite than that — I’m not ACTUALLY sure which — but I was told I was taking the day off.

I negotiated — see how good I am? — and got them to allow me to do covers. It’s a compromise, because covers DO need to be redone for a bunch of books. And this way I don’t feel so guilty “taking it easy.” And I do enjoy playing around with art/ideas.

But apparently (!) I’m not allowed to write today, so no new post. And I’m encouraged to take…. er…. naps (they’re so weird.) Because I was working hard all weekend (!!!!) or something.

Speaking of which, I’m about to go take a nap. See you later.

(Oh, yeah, and the congestion, coughing,infernal headache is gone, so it was definitely SOMETHING in the hotel. I’m having episodic bouts of cough, because phlegm* doesn’t vanish overnight, but not getting worse, and no other symptoms. Will push A LOT of lemon tea.)

(*I used phlegm in a post and not as an insult. Achievement unlocked.)

79 thoughts on “I’m Sorry”

  1. Enjoy your “day off”
    Starting a new scedule myself and today is my “Do laundry and cook for the week” day. I shall be doing the 4-10s at work instead of 5-8s

  2. Hey! Take a day off. We’ll survive… but will the Diner survive? 😈

    2. Any Hun who seriously raises this question should remember that Fluffy’s going to want an explanation why.

  5. Blessings and small furry animals to cuddle all day long, Sarah. Try to boost your immune system, those people filled venues are guaranteed cold vectors.

  6. I’m taking the day off, too. My Calmer Half “strongly encouraged” me to do so.

    Yes, I am pulling vines out of half of a flower bed and covering the disturbed dirt with fresh mulch, and weed-checking the backyard. But I’m also a little bit younger than you, and in a little bit better health… and I’m taking the day off work, because I wasn’t up to actually dealing with strangers today.

    Here’s to a day of ditching sources of stress, and resting the brain and possibly the body!

  7. If you do not build in rest periods for your body or brain, rest periods will be forced upon you.

    IOW, have fun with your covers.

  8. Had a mild medical procedure last Thursday that required taking the day off. Upon returning home, I had a nap. After lunch, my wife suggested I have another nap.

    It felt weird. Glorious, but weird.

  9. Cuddle up with the 4-legged fur kids and take a nap. We will survive (with withdrawals, but we will survive). 🙂

  10. Done removing boulders from the driveway. Removing the brush and cutting up the logs from the trees we removed to widen it. Gloves and long-sleeved shirts a necessity!

    1. So, the Hoyt household has finally acquired something I’ve wanted for 38 years. A woodchipper. And now I don’t get to try it out today. 😦

      2. Step 1: Find a commie.
        Step 2: Turn on woodchipper.
        Step 3: Produce mulch.

        🙂

        2. Channeling Fargo (the movie)? 🙂

          The problem is what to do with the “mulch”. Given the sourse, I sure wouldn’t use it on edibles, and it would probably kill the plants anyway. Got a poison ivy patch you need removed? 😉

      4. We had a woodchipper; in fact we still have the remnants. Be sure to empty the shred-collector bag before it fills because if that stuff starts getting backed-up into the blade chassis it can be a royal [rhymes with witch] to clear and potentially damage the machine. It is better to dump the collector bag more often than to hand-clean the ejection spout.

        Also: feed it only manufacturer-approved material in recommended diameters.

        Do not ask how I know this.
        ~

    2. Yep. Just got back from the farm & fleet store: bought two 50-gal water barrels that were clearly olive oil transport containers that have been tapped and fitted with a spigot near the bottom to be resold as “rain barrel”… and saddle soap, for cleaning my leather gloves after all the yard work.

  11. I had grand plans for this past weekend. I got about half of them done. The rest of me said, “Nope! You are between big pushes at Day Job/chorus/other thing. Rest Or Else!” I don’t have time to deal with Or Else.

  12. I’m taking five different medications for various medical conditions. All five for them have drowsiness listed as a possible side effect. What is this, a chemically enforced regimen of “you WILL take naps,whether you wan to or not?”. It doesn’t help matters that insomnia seems to be a side effect of the drowsiness….

  14. We’re trying to pack the RV for our summer of work/play, while my beloved tries to escape the office and just finished emptying the company storage unit. (Yes, that’s why we have multiple file cabinets on the back porch).
    Am SO looking forward to hitting the road and actually taking a day off to crash before we get to our first project.
    Also fighting off fear of not packing something important.

    1. RV packing.

      1 – Medications, medical devices
      2 – Correct size shoes/sandals/boots (depending on what you are doing). Even shoes/sandals can be purchased, but (at least for me) harder.
      3 – Everything else can be purchased if needed (probably not cheaply, but doable). Or “How did we end up with X of these?” (Or “How did the inlaws in up with 5 cat leashes for one cat?” Yes. Their cat went with them in the RV.)

      My sister and BIL learned the above lesson for their Italy tour … their luggage didn’t meet up with them until two days before they were headed back to the US. In contrast their trek from Eugene to Yellowstone to New Orleans was easy. Not that they didn’t forget anything on the latter car trip, but they found it easier to purchase what they were missing. In Europe they discovered this was not true. (You’d think at least underwear they’d be able to pickup packages of sizes needed … Apparently not.)

      1. This is why when if I check luggage when I fly, my carry-on or laptop bag has a gallon ziplock bag with at a clean pair or two of underwear and a T-shirt. Whether my luggage is delayed, lost, or I get stuck overnight at an airport while my luggage gets to destination on time, at least I can face the day reasonably fresh clothing until the airline comes through or I can make a quick shopping trip.

        1. That was their lesson. BIL despises carrying anything onto an airline. But lesson learned. They each do a carry on, with essentials (i.e. medications, he is a T2 diabetic, and enough changes they can each hand rinse/wash), then check one larger one between them (that is part empty because souvenirs). Doesn’t help that, like me, sis inherited the “Pioneer” “oh, don’t worry about starving dear, I’ll make sure you have ‘extra'” genes. Which they found that, as hard as it was to find stuff for him, it was extra hard to find stuff for her.

          Not that we fly, ever. But, we get 3 carry on bags for the two of us. One for each of us, plus Pepper’s bag counts as accommodation for medical equipment. (Pepper is my Service Dog). We would still have to have a check bag because my carry on would have to be half mine and half his. His carry on bag is his camera equipment backpack. One of the checked items in the bag would be Pepper broken down kennel (although it is airline certified so they might allow that too, not required, but useful).

    2. Warm sleeping clothes and sleeping bags were what my wife and I forgot last year, . Between camping in the shoulder season, the remoteness, and supply chain issues, picking some of that up once we were in Northwest Wyoming proved problematic. Sweat shirts and one more thick blanket, not too much of a problem. Sweat pants, big problem. I can’t remember exactly how many shops we had to stop in to find ones that carried sweat pants, but I think we had to stop at three shops that did have sweat pants for each of us to find a pair that fit. Won’t make that mistake again.

      1. Point. Probably should have add “Usually”.

        OTOH, since we are based in the PNW, our RV is permanently stocked with warmer options. Now tenting/backpacking is a whole different packing routine. Layers do double duty, with an outer layer that counts as both water proof and wind breaker. Now that we are using hotels and not tents or RV, we still put JIC we have to rough it in the vehicle. Also why we bought a Santa Fe. We actually too measuring tape to insure hubby’s 6’2″ could lay length wise in the back with the back seats down. I was not playing the “squeeze into the corner curled up, crawl over hubby to get out and back in” game. Been there, done that, No. Nope. Not happening. If we had to go to the Santa Fe XL, Explorer, Expedition, types, might as well pay for a new pickup.

        Note. We each make a list. Then we check each other’s list.

  15. I apologize for not having the guest post (A Writer’s Guide To Muzzle-Loading Arms) written, but I have been quite occupied. Gave a tele-lecture at International Test Pilot School this morning, have been working on two papers and a keynote address for a NATO UAV test symposium being held next week. And trying to get ready for the North-South Skirmish Association’s national matches the week after next. Throw in a case of deep vein thrombosis in one leg and a knee sprain, and it’s been a bit hectic.

  16. It has been my experience that when one takes a nap it is always prudent to return it whence you found it, as you (or perhaps some other family member, especially the cats) will inevitably need to take one at some future time. Keeping your nap stock orderly is a critical element of good household management.
    ~

    2. Same is true for showers and baths and blood pressure and temperature. Once taken, walks seem to be consumed, as does my time. Flying leaps may be discarded once taken. Easy is, well, easily replenished. Once at the limit, it cannot be moved farther nor returned. Things can be taken under advisement, but afterwards I forget to look there. They’re always too far or out of context or lightly dusted with salt.

      “’The question is,’ said Alice, ‘whether you can make words mean so many different things.’

      ’The question is,’ said Humpty Dumpty, ‘which is to be master — that’s all.’”

  18. (“You vill take a nap! Undt you VILL ENCHOY IT!”) 🙂

    Listen to the family, and get back to us after you’re rested; we’re not going anywhere.

  19. We all understand so get some rest and curl up with the fuzzies. That’s something I should get on soon myself especially given recent black dog problems… Good thing His Royal Prettiness C is close by, huh?

  20. Enjoy your enforced rest day!

    On a separate subject… I decided to give Heinlein a try (have never read him), and much to my surprise I found that very few of his works are available at the library. I checked both the City of LA and County of LA systems (and they are big). Practically nothing. Call me paranoid, but I am wondering whether he has fallen out of favor with the librarian Powers that Be…

    1. Yep. He certainly has.
      I recommend you track down, buy and read The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress, puppet masters and Red Planet.
      Then come ask me for the rest of the list 🙂

        1. By the way, all three are available in e-format. 😀

        2. I’m looking over your shoulder and taking notes. (It’s been a hundred years since I’ve read any Heinlein, and I’ve forgotten most of what I loved.)

          1. I have discovered that returning as an adult* to Heinlein read in my adolescence has been a delightful experience. I find many of his books to have greater depth than I recalled, and offering observations of human nature that additional decades experience have proven reliable.

            *For certain values of adult
            ~

            1. That’s the drop of hope and beauty I needed this fine morning. I’m so excited to begin The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress later today, after all my chores are done. Or, maybe in ten minutes….

      2. Hmm….I’m surprised you recommended those three. “Citizen of the Galaxy” made my Ten Quintessentials of Science Fiction” list, as I think it’s the best of the juveniles (and Heinlein made his reputation with those). Can’t quarrel with “The Moon is a Harsh Mistress”.

        The joker in the deck being “Starship Troopers”. Probably his best work, certainly his most influential, but it’s a political epistle disguised as a novel.

        3. Tunnel in the Sky
          Sixth Column
          Time for the Stars

          Agree about Citizen of the Galaxy.

          All also available in eBook format.

            1. All the novels, from Rocket Ship Galileo through to To Sail Beyond the Sunset, and all the shorts. And don’t forget the nonfiction.

            2. Looking forward to the full list as it dribbles out. I haven’t got all, yet.

              1. There are a few Heinlein’s that IMO aren’t worth your time.

                On the other hand, you might enjoy them. 😉

      3. All 3 are now available on Nook (and I presume Amazon, but Nook epub is my go to). If not available in paperback.

        1. Also available through Audible, although the superb Lloyd James reading seems to have been replaced (James gave Baslim just a hint of Sean Connery.) James’ reading of Moon is excellent.

          I swear, one of the worst things about audiobooks is repressing the urge to obtain variant readers. It is almost as bad as when I had to suppress the desire to acquire all of the Tarzan books a second time for those gorgeous Neal Adams (may he rest in peace) covers. Then there were the Nero Wolfe re-issues, each with a different introduction (typically about five pages) by such mystery authors as Lawrence Block, Max Alan Collins, Robert B. Parker, Sue Grafton, Sara Paretsky …
          ~

      4. Is it cruel to cross the streams and ask ‘Whatcha talkin’ ’bout, Willis?’

      5. The Past Through Tomorrow. A collection of his shorter early works plus a couple of short novels, as I recall. Some of the ones I remember:

        Life-Line — his first short story, sold to Astounding in 1939
        The Roads Must Roll
        Let There Be Light
        Blowups Happen
        The Man Who Sold The Moon
        Requiem
        The Long Watch
        Delilah And The Space-Rigger
        The Green Hills Of Earth

  21. Ooh, grape vines! What kind? I had 6 vines in Ithaca before we moved to NH, and I’ve planted 4 here. Could probably use a few more, but had to clear a bunch of trees (and still might not have quite enough sun…)

      1. Oh neat. So you’re going to make wine? Where did you get the plants? I have 1 wine grape (itasca) and three eating grapes. Though I did make some wine/vinegar out of the eating grapes because it’s hard to eat them all when they’re ripe.

  22. Hope you’re recovering well from the con crud — and book promo and vignette challenge can wait until next week if necessary.

    I would’ve loved to be able to join you in Tulsa this past weekend, but we were hard at work in the dealers’ room of Visioncon in Springfield, Missouri, a few hundred miles east on I-44. It looks like we did well enough to go back next year (won’t be absolutely sure until we do the accounting and subtract our consignor’s portion, but right now I’m too tired to even look at numbers), but we may have a conflict with Indiana Comic Con, which is our absolute biggest show of the year.

  23. If you will consider shopping somewhere besides the grocery store a rest day, then I took one today. Had to go across town, so I spent a pleasant 45 minutes in the Big Orange Box store Nursery. Bought a few seed packets, three big bags of raised bed potting soil, two tall tomato cages and two small-but-sturdy-looking Sweet 100-type cherry tomato plants.

    I’m trying no-dig gardening on a very small scale, because it uses up empty boxes from the move, and the big pile of leaves slowly rotting in the corner since December. I filled several boxes with leaves a few weeks ago, and my plan is to put maybe three inches of the potting mix on top. We will see how it goes. I haven’t had a garden of any kind in more than 15 years so I am really looking forward to growing something again.

    Back at the house, we are patiently (yeah. right.) waiting for all the paperwork to be filed from various inspectors and damage appraisers, so that estimates can be processed and the mitigation work (smoke and soot damage mostly) can finally get started. Yes, it has only been a bit over two weeks since the furnace melted down, but dang it, the house gets downright chilly with no heat source but shivering bodies.

    But spring is here, and summer is coming, the trees are leafing out, birds are nesting, white violets are blooming in the side yard grass, and life is pretty decent, all things considered.

    Oh, and naps are good. Enjoy another one!

  24. Sarah, You probably already know all this, but sometimes we need to be reminded.

    MANY drugs need time to build up to full strength. I know my asthma drugs do. So try to be proactive whenever you travel with the anti-histamines. We need you healthy, active, and writing!

  25. Ah, naps. My beloved husband has been complaining about the 2 or 3 nap attacks that have been hitting him daily since we got his atrial flutter re-set. He blames his new medications. I blame our November bout with Covid for both the atrial flutter and the fatigue. I was fortunate to recover with no noticeable issues.

      1. It is far, far better to take naps than to wait for naps to take you – especially if you often drive.

        I have acquired a tendency for naps to take me while I am watching television, so no harm there. Sometimes they’ll take me while I am on the computerrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
        ~

        1. You too? I thought I was the only one to do this. Called it “Using the board in my eye lids.”, “Practicing touch typing with my eyes closed.” Granted snoring probably didn’t help make anyone believe me, but …

  28. Achievement unlocked.

    Careful, Sarah. You’re starting to think like a gamer. 😛

      1. You want to be careful of that — when the ravaging mobs turn up you might fid that literally true.
        ~

      2. Speaking of… Sarah, I’m trying to find that article your #2 son guest wrote here but I’m coming up empty. I can’t remember his name, the article’s name or when it was posted so I don’t have anything to base a search on. Can you help me out?

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