This Is Not A Post

Posted on by Sarah A. Hoyt

Holly might post later if she chooses. This is my not a post post:

I am still mired in fixing Witch’s Daughter, mostly because apparently when I write a book over 10 years lots of false clues and contradictory bits drop in to the point I suspect I might be an LLM. (Well, I am large. Attempting to work on that. I’m not sure I’m a model, though.)

This work is being rendered snail-slow due to the fact I have a massive head cold. I’m mostly okay, except for lingering cough. Which, of course, interrupts sleep, which makes me slow and blah. Thank heavens for caffeine, though as a curative measure I’m imitating a Jane Austen heroine and, if not staying in bed all day — someone would die. Probably me. Of boredom — taking frequent naps. Unfortunately the seriously slow and concentrated effort of cleaning up the novel is exhausting anyway and worse at this point.

Anyway, people don’t die of trifling little colds (snork) and I’m fine, just impatient and upset at myself and how slow I am. Indy is doing his best to cheer me up which alas includes back-engineering the feeder which rendered it inoperable (of course) because he doesn’t understand electricity. Okay “cheer up” should be understood as gritting my teeth AND laughing at the same time, which let me tell you is a doozy.

Havey continues his slow march to the end. Now that I’m not there but can see from here the extreme old age he has achieved in human terms as it were, and the possibility I might get there, it is both depressing and cheering. Depressing because seeing pictures of him even three years ago as a fluffy full-of-himself brat, and contrasting it the little fuzzy skeleton now running around the house is sobering. Time and all that can’t be denied. Cheering because the little so and so, on hospice-level pain killers for arthritis, and with his kidneys slowly failing, still finds it in him to call me out for my mistreatment of elderly cats (not making my lap available 24/7, you see?) and to occupy my lap the minute it becomes available. So other than the fact he now doesn’t eat much, he’s still himself to the end. An example to us all.

Anyway, politics is… well… if you’re the praying sort, pray for the SAVE act. It will take a miracle, and after the elections in 24 we might be pushing our count.

And now I’m going to return to editing, then nap. Post — I’ll try at least — tomorrow.

130 thoughts on “This Is Not A Post”

  1. “people don’t die of trifling little colds”

    I’m reminded a story about a sea-sick man.

    He was told that nobody died of sea-sickness.

    His reply was “You just removed my only hope”. (IE he wanted to die because of his sea-sickness.” [Twisted Grin]

    Take care Sarah.

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    1. A decade or so ago on our way back from Pennsic, my beloved had an attack that pushed his pain tolerance right up to the limit. I still recall, not fondly, the ER doctor that told us, “Nobody ever died of gall bladder,” and sent us off with a prescription for super-duper pain pills.

      Two days later, at a different hospital, they pulled out his gangrenous gall bladder.

      TBF, we had wanted to get on the road. But we wouldn’t have if he hadn’t more or less brushed us off.

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      1. I still recall, not fondly, the ER doctor that told us, “Nobody ever died of gall bladder,”

        Dr. Jackass. I had mine removed in 2008. The “gangrenous” came 10 weeks later, when the gallstone that escaped blocked my pancreatic duct and my pancreas digested about 25% of itself.

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      2. “Nobody ever died of gall bladder,” my foot. I had a friend who came within 24 hours of septic shock due to a secretary who didn’t feel like her case was serious. The doctor took the ONE INCH gallstone with him when he said he was going to have a stern talk with said secretary. (Along the lines of You Are Not A Doctor And Do Not Get To Make Those Calls. Unless it was And This Is Why You’re Being Fired.)

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          1. “Mister Chekhov, is this your gun?”
            “Nyet, Kyeptin, it is not.”
            “All…right. Bones, we’re safe.”
            “Safe? Jim, we’re locked up in this mansion, and those aliens said they were going to cook and eat us.”
            “No, that female guard is eyeing me, and I’m sure I’ll be able to work something out with her and get us out of here. But if we’d been locked in a room with Chekov’s gun, in about thirty minutes one of us would be in real trouble…”

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              1. Little does Captain Kirk know that there is Praying Mantis in that guard’s ancestry. Thus death by (well technically after) Snu Snu.

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  4. No need to remove all the false clues, just the ones that outright are impossible/contradict the big reveal :) Life is messy, clues can take us down the wrong path as readers as long as they’re not overwhelming.

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  5. 2019 and 2021, I would have disagreed with no one dies of a cold. TPB would have called it COVID. Since I didn’t die. Truth holds that one doesn’t die of a cold, no matter how bad. Sure felt like I was going to at the time.

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      1. I’ve had a cough lingering for near a month now.

        In the process, I’ve discovered something that seems to work even better than albuterol for clearing that heavy feeling at the top of the lungs, but I’m not sure how many people would be willing to try the distribution system.

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            1. There was a time in the not so deep past that Cubeb cigarettes were considered a cure for asthma and related lung issues. These, contrary to myth did NOT contain marijuana. but extracts of piper cubeba (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piper_cubeba). Tobacco has nicotene which does cause effects similar to modern asthma drugs and caffeine derivatives used to control/relieve asthma. Given the OTHER side effects of cigar consumption you might look into the over the counter asthma sprays or even see a doctor. The current asthma drugs are pretty innocuous in their side effects so the Medicos are relatively comfortable handing them out. And with albuterol being well past its patent it’s dirt cheap, like $10-15 for a 30 day+ supply.

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    3. I like the little exchange from Ishmael by Barbara Hambly:

      Ishmael (actually Spock, with amnesia): “And talk is more to be dreaded than pneumonia?”

      Biddy: “Oh, yes! You can get over pneumonia!”

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  7. Whatever I had in February, it knocked me flat for almost a month, and I had no singing voice for two of those weeks. I could speak, but I sounded like a multi-pack, multi-year chain smoker. I think the terrible cough I had the first week of the stuff damaged my cords again, or inflamed the older scars, and it took a l-o-n-g time to heal.

    I don’t know what it was, but I don’t recommend it.

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    2. I had COVID over Christmas. The sore throat was hard because I didn’t have any cough drops. The troublesome was the way my heart raced.

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      1. I hear this! Heart racing is not fun. Even more not fun when one learns it is actually afib and what that means. Grouse, grumble, mutter.

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          2. Eek! Hope you find out what is going on.

            Highest mine has gotten, per Fitbit, is 145 HR. Doesn’t sound so bad, does it? Except I was not exercising, or climbing stairs. I was sitting on the couch reading or “watching” TV (it was on anyway). Once I was even sleeping. My normal resting rate sleeping, is 59 – 62. Mine is AFIB. What is triggering it? No clue.

            Getting the original appointment, locally … Not as bad as reported in say Canada. But bad enough. Took 6 months for the original appointment. Second “follow up” appointment, was 7 months (suppose to be 6 months monitoring). When that appointment smashed the “we’ll just watch it” notion, things seemed to move fast. Test for the valve in March, about 5 weeks out. But that was only because by then already in the middle of the cataract surgeries. But, then they called about an Electrical (AFIB) Consult. (Wait what? The tests aren’t for both?) That is out at the end of May!

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    3. I’ve had a dry slight, on/off again, cough since January. But that might be related to the oh, so lovely, heart problems. Next week I’ll be taking tests to find out more.

      This cold from heck? I cannot get it. I just can’t.

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      1. I have had an of-and-off, dry, hacking cough for almost a year now. CT scan 6 months ago showed a lesion on my right lung. Follow up was Monday. “It’ll probably be gone,” says my GP. Wrong. It showed 2 lesions on my left lung and four on my right lung. PET scan on 3/30, is the soonest they can get me in. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t scared.

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        1. Eek!

          Yes. I’d be scared too.

          I’ve been nonchalant about all the heart stuff, outwardly. But … really? Not so much. Nothing I can do about it. Except the tests.

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            1. What is scary is when they call and say “We’ve done everything we can. There are no more treatments available.”

              Unfortunately, not scared for very long.

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              3. As to chronic debilitating conditions:

                “In laymans terms, (Mailclerk)…. you are f(honk)ed.”

                I miss doctor B. Never padded, prevaricated, or bull(squatted).

                Annoying to keep outliving doctors and having to find new and competent ones, but better than the alternative.

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    4. All I need to do is find two scientists who are biddable, and also have wildly inappropriate senses of humor.

      Then it could be ‘scientists say’ that it is a Sino-Bidenic viral chimera.

      Anyway, I expect that scientists who can laugh are also contrarian and pedantic, so the search may be impossible.

      But, seriously folks, it would be a bit boring if the hypothetical warfare went with virii again, bacteria and fungi are feeling underused. and coincidences and naturally occuring can happen so…

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  9. Me writing the book: “Outlining are the vegetables of writing a book. Just get through it the rest will be fun.”

    “The first five chapters are the vegetables. Just introduce everyone and the rest will be fun.”

    “I could spend all day reading about the absorption properties and rates of silk versus wool in different weather and humidities. Give me all the charts and equations!”

    “Writing the pivotal scene of the book are the vegetables. Why is this hard? I crave feedback. Maybe I need to read about water absorption more.”

    “I have to make sure all my clues are well crafted and make sense? Edits are the vegetables of writing a book.:

    My daughter: “I am sure it will be fine mom.”

    Me: “I love writing. I wish I could do this all the time! Now how much will the yardage increase if I use silk patches with a flintlock rifle versus kidskin?”

    So really, writing is my excuse to randomly read things, and that is the dessert of writing.

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  10. I think you’re having the cold I had three weeks ago. It was awful. To the point that I went through my leftover cough meds and mixed and matched recklessly.

    I survived, but I don’t remember much of that week. Hope you feel better soon.

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      1. i hadn’t had full-blown influenza for decades, and I would have been happy to continue my streak. Type A flu apparently went through town like crap through a goose. One week of fever, malaise, no energy. One week of nasty, down in the chest, cough. Now it’s a dry cough, get tired easily, not much appetite. Probably the annual tree pollen allergies piling on top.

        My beloved seems to be feeling better than I do. The night-time oxygen is definitely helping him.

        I keep feeling like a whiny little girl-baby, especially given what people I know are going through.

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      2. Which is why I take it as a pill. It works, but makes me have less balance (shaddup, weisenheimer….). Fortunately, our halls are narrow, so I can just pinball down them.

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    2. I didn’t mix and match. But I did follow the schedule for NyQuil Nighttime liquid, 24/7, for almost 2 weeks. Which for me, is practically guzzling it.

      With the current cold from heck, that everyone is reporting, going around, I’m thinking “EEK!” Haven’t been sick since 2021. Based on history, I’m overdue.

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      1. I read about people and their medications, and it’s usually wide-eyed shock. One Tylenol will knock me out for the night (which I have been told is impossible) and you do not want to see me high on even a little bit of caffeine. Any stimulant, really. I tried nyquil just once, and it dried me out so badly I couldn’t breathe.

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        1. Not quite that bad. But does not take much to knock me out. Normally. Which is why I qualified taking as listed, usually I take less and longer time between. Is why I do not bother with the DayQuil version. But when the sinuses are plugged, I will do almost anything. Being cleared out is the thing. After a few days, to the point of bleeding. But I can breathe.

          One Tylenol and one Aleve, the alternative to prescription pain medications these days, gives me a good buzz, usually, but not always, puts me to sleep. Substitute Tylenol PM instead, and I’m out for 12 hours. But this combo will not clear sinuses.

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    2. I’ve had colds turn into sinus infections. There for a while every single cold did. Not fun. Although did know what was happening. Doctors started talking surgery. Funny thing, the sinus infections stopped cold. Haven’t had a cold go into one since. Probably because I knew the symptoms, I was getting prescriptions to knock them out earlier, and earlier. Finally knocked out the little bit that is asymptomatic until a cold hit.

      Son was like that with ear infections until he outgrew them sometime between age 6 and 7. Doctors stated they couldn’t justify correction because not only were the antibiotics clearing out the infections, but his ears fully drained, between the 6 to 8 weeks before the ear infections reoccurred.

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  13. odds stuff I. The markets. OIl price declined after being up sharply and stocks have reversed most of an early sharp decline. Could be something, probably nothing. Keep in mind that the stock market was more likely to decline than rise before the oil prices reacted to the bombing. The oil prices haven’t helped much, but we were in the bottom quarter of expected outcomes before. It’s a bit lower now.

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    1. I was wondering. And I’m getting really, really tired of formerly “conservative,” commenters on Twitter shrieking, “The JOOOOOOOOOOOS!” and trying to convince follks this is Vietnam, Pt. Two. (Which also describes the media, which I’m also really tired of seeing).

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        2. One exception is Erick Erickson, who says he’s afraid we’ll pull out too soon, before they’re completely destabilized.

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          1. Destabilized? DEAD. I want the US and Israel to keep killing mullahs until they don’t dare to make ’em anymore. (Well, okay, I’ll settle for destabilized and defenestrated if that’s what Iranians generally prefer.)

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          2. Oh, right…mod-binned because I used a word that has *that* troll’s name in it. Anyway, yes. Dead would be better, but completely destabilized is the minimum acceptable condition.

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      2. Market prices don’t lie. They can be manipulated, up to a point, but the manipulation is usually detected by people who have a great interest in exploiting unreality, That’s how Soros made all his money. ONe of the major reasons Communism fails is that there are no market prices, the socialism calculation debate. Tyrannies fail because of the lack of flow of real information.

        The press lies all the time, when they’re not just stupid, lazy, and ignorant. Every large score I’ve made over a long career has been despite the narrative. This market was overextended, very expensive, and there was a great deal of pressure on profit margins because workers wages are increasing. That last is a good thing, but financial repression and repressing wages tends to be good, up to a point, for the owners of capital. Like I said, bottom quarter of expected (by me) outcomes. oil has knocked that back a bit more.

        The market has stayed remarkably resilient and the fact that the US is a net oil exporter has done wonders for the oil market, trust me. Europe, Asia, and Australia have been absolutely monkey hammered by it all.

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    2. Gasbuddy has Fred Meyers Division Ave at $4.49, up from $4.39 yesterday, and $3.69, from a week ago (jumped to > $4/gallon quickly).

      Costco, on Chad Drive & Coburg, is at $4.59/gallon. Very rare for Costco to be higher than Fred Meyers, no matter the timing.

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      1. Fred’s in Flyover Falls is $4.59. It was $4.19 last week. A lot of other places are running $4.49. OTOH, I now have 40 cents left on the discount, and might make it to 50. (4X fuel points to compete with the new Winco.)

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        1. Yes. 4x Fuel points coupon covers Friday–Sunday, for a change. Normally only Friday. Only I do not need $250 worth of stuff from Fred’s, this week (or normally). Surprise did have $0.30 off yesterday, which put fuel at $4.099/gallon. Better than paying full freight. Thought we were down to minimal ($0.03/gallon) after we each used $1/gallon from last month. Not often we have $2+ dollars fuel points to share.

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      2. I can beat this.

        Gas down the street from me is $1.62 a liter. Which for y’all Americans is effectively a quart. (1 US gallon, 3.79L. 1 real gallon, meaning Imperial of course, 4.55L.) Making it $1.62 x 3.79 is $6.14 a US gallon.

        But for the truly joyful number, diesel is $2.02 a liter. That is $2.02 x 3.79 is $7.66 a gallon. And people are wondering why a box of 4 Nestle Drumsticks ice cream cones that used to be $4.99 is now $10.99. On sale, by the way.

        Canada is WAY better than the USA at jacking up prices. [struts away, head held high…]

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          1. Ah yes, the automatic, self-propelled, flying manure spreaders. Our most fabulous export. Turing grass into poo and moving it to the sidewalk, efficiently!

            Some of the dumber ones neglected to fly south this year. I bet they freaking fly south next year, tabarnack!

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        2. Oh. I know.

          Or why did we choose the nice windy narrow pass? Okanogan Washington, Nighthawk Port of Entry. When we were 40′ long (pickup towing RV trailer).

          Answer at border? Fuel costs. First port available.

          Also, the time that every single vehicle, in line ahead of us, got pulled over for “further inspection”. Including one for suspected custodial interference. Only time we’ve been asked to open the canopy, and open the trailer up (sure, everything visible both areas, small trailer).

          To be fair on the canopy, we’d given the border agent the dog’s papers. When asked where she was, we said “in the back”, meaning the back seat (XCab). Agent took that as back pickup bed (English Toy Spaniel, I don’t think so). She popped up on the seat for her due. Still opened the canopy back.

          We had to ask that vehicles be moved when we were told to proceed on our way because there was no way to weave the combined rig around them.

          Note, coloring same as my avatar. Not the same dog. Avatar is our current dog, a Pom/Chi mix.

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          1. It is officially less expensive to drive the Santa Fe to Banff/Jasper/Waterton, and get hotels, than it is to drive the (paid off, so sunk costs) truck/RV combo and camp w/o hookups. Not by much, but less (as of 2020, costs were a push). A lot less than if we go the water/power/sewer connection campsites. Not only less, but passengers do not get as beat up and a lot less work.

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              1. Not now.

                We didn’t have to have it for our 2023 May Spring “Bear” trip. 5k loop: Eugene, Idaho Port Entry, Banff, Ice Parkway, Jasper, Ice Parkway, Waterton, Yellowstone, Tetons, Eugene. Even saw the first sow and cub in Waterton (black bear). Except for Waterton and first travel day, we saw at list 2 bears every day, for 14 days. Most days we saw a minimum of 10 bears. A lot more than maybe one or two a trip.

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  14. As an aside, I have kitty pictures and no idea how to share them here. The restaurant Rodent Control Officer (aka the dumpster cat) produced 5 of the little darlin’s.

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  17. My sweet little Miz Kitty has allergies to the local tree stuff. Thus, a mild case of The Snotties.

    “Brrrrowwttrrrrrrrr” (Wake up human! Wake up!)

    (nose to nose nudge)

    (nose to nose nudge)

    “Brrrrrrrt?” kerCHOOsploot!

    ….

    “Gah!……. I’ve been slimed…..”

    “Brrrt!”

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  18. In Harry Turtledove’s short story “Nasty, Brutish, and Short,” an alien race introduced the common cold virus to Earth with the specific intent of exterminating humanity.

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