There was this long hiatus of no writing for me. I made excuses and put it out of my mind for a while. I focused on other things.
But my mind kept coming back to it. Writing is something that won't let it be too far outside of my life.
One of the stalling blocks had been a (perceived) problem with the story I got a rough first draft done. But I have since figured out how to solve it.
So now it starts the rewrite phase, where I find all the parts that really fit and make sure they weave together into a good story without major loose threads.
Then there's the polishing. And the polishing. And the polishing.
Did I mention the polishing part?
Then I can start sending it to publishers and agents for rejection.
I'm excited about it (writing and the story both) again. Now if only I could find more time without giving up all my sleep...
For Fathers' Day I got a ScanGauge trip computer for my car. It tracks gas mileage and other engine-geek variables in more-or-less real time. It also tracks things like average milage per trip, or per day, or per tank. (It'll also read error codes when the Check Engine light comes on, but that's just a bonus...)
The first couple of tanks in my car back in December/January I was getting about 24-25 mpg. Then gas prices climbed more, and I drove a little more conservatively. I gradually slipped past the 30mpg mark. (The EPA lists highway mileage at about 33).
Since getting the scangauge I've been pushing that number higher. I watched the MPG meter during driving, getting a feel for how much difference little things could make. It also took some calibrating. It wasn't reading the fuel flow right at first, and tried to tell me I was getting better than 50mpg. Uh, huh, sure...
But now it's pretty much right on. I've been setting it to track the current trip, giving me the average MPG for the trip. That means I can compare morning and afternoon commutes, for one. Always better in the morning, when traffic flows better.
I've made a game of seeing how high I can get the average morning commute to be by the time I get to the office. The parking garage sucks for that, bringing the average down about a half-percent after a 36-or-so mile commute.
Earlier in the week I hit 37.7 MPG at the end. This morning, however, I parked and turned the car off at 39.0 (Peak was 39.5 before the three stop signs and parking garage at the office). My goal is to break 40, but each progressive gain is harder. Damn law of diminishing returns...
So there's a happy little thing to end the week on. Just never mind the other not-so-happy things.
Well, not quite, but kinda.
Over the weekend I stopped in at Home Depot for some spray paint.
Now, normally I don't use the self checkouts. I don't find them any faster, and they never smile. This time, the self checkouts were the ones without lines--so over I went.
You can't buy spray paint at the self checkout. ID is required. You have to be 18 to buy spray paint. Once it was mentioned, I got why...if somewhat reluctantly.
I joked that I did have an ID if she wanted to see it.
"Don't bother," she said, "I believe you."