Out of order again, and out of time, too — never enough hours in the day. Sales very badly needed; subscribers and shares help, too.

Photo copyright Aji, 2018; all rights reserved.

Out of order again today. Wings has two big pieces near completion (and several smaller holiday-themed ones), and I'll be featuring one of them today and one tomorrow. Look for the first, oh, likely midday today. By tomorrow, we'll probably be back on our more usual posting schedule.

There are just never enough hours in the day. I spent the entire day, full-tilt, at heavy stuff around here, and I still got to no more than a third of what was on my immediate to-do list. So for today, it's back at it. I did manage to get the living room rearranged to accommodate the tree, which we went and got two days ago after all our errands were run.  It's a beautiful little pine, perfectly straight. I found the tree stand yesterday, at long last, so today we can get it set up and let it rest before we decorate it.

Stupidly, though, I lifted something that once would've been no big deal for me but now is apparently more than my body is willing to take, and it did something unfortunate to my upper back. I've already put together some of the pieces of all of this, and my back, so badly damaged from that accident decades ago, is clearly aggravating whatever it is that tried to kill me last year — not that it's in any way the actual problem, but a matter of injury location and effects aggravating this other thing. I'm still waiting on certain testing to be scheduled, without which there's no chance of a diagnosis in any kind of timely fashion (okay, well, so a year on isn't timely at all, but with the way so-called health care is here, it'll be a lot longer if I don't get this done now), and thus, no hope of actual treatment (and potentially, survival). Yes, I live with this fear every moment of every day, and have for more than a year. It is what it is. And it's all going to cost in more ways than one, but the monetary cost is the one that's adding to the killing levels of stress I carry every day. So as I keep saying, I also have to spend today (EVERY day) on work that brings in actual scratch, sales or subscribers or otherwise. We're nearly at the end of the year, winter is fully here already, and I have to worry about how we're going to make it. We've got to make more sales, and soon.

On top of that, we got hit with a $700 bill last Friday that I wasn't expecting and can't put off, so I have to make enough sales this weekend to make up for it coming out of my Patreon, because it means that certain medical bills did not get paid with those funds. Ordinarily, the sales and commissions we get this time of year are what see us through six long hard months of winter (but that has not the been the case the last couple of years); on top of ordinary winter cost of living and now this construction mess, I have more tests upcoming soon on top of the tens of thousands of dollars' worth of medical debt already trying to drive me into an early grave. Time is short for the holidays, so if you have special orders, get them in to me now so he has time to create them for you. I posted three brand-new pieces by Wings on Wednesday, two of which are major showpieces; you can share them here, here, here, and here. Another will be posted later today, and yet one more tomorrow. For now, though, I'm so far behind on this day (and on the week as a whole) that I'll never catch up, so most of the rest is cut-and-paste.

There's also a change to the links in the list: I've moved the gift cards for Lowe's and Amazon back up to the top of our Amazon wishlist, because we're at the point where more things that need finishing on the house require purchases we can't afford. Finally, if you're contemplating commissions for holiday gifts, now is the time to get hold of me, because the creative process takes time. Wings can create something spectacular for you, unique to you or to the recipient of it. Also, briefly, a note on the site itself: In an effort to get current inventory up front, I've reordered the first pages of several of the galleries, so you will see a mix of high-end pieces, some of which have already sold, plus inventory currently on offer, both new pieces and less so.

Most of my attention has to be focused on bringing in money, through sales or subscribers or any other means, because the bills don't pay themselves, either, and the heavy burden I'm carrying on that score is inhibiting my ability to heal in a not-insignificant way. Please share these routinely:

• My new Patreon, The Interstices (Writing Between Worlds) (and if you subscribe today you won't be billed until January 1st for December);
• Wings's site, for sales, with new items posted;
• Wings's direct PayPal link;
• A way to buy me coffee (which actually goes to all of our medical bills, which continue to mount);
• Amazon wishlist, which mostly consists of animal and household stuff;
• Partial registry #1, from Bed, Bath and Beyond. There are new kitchen-y things on it now, stuff that I didn't realize we'd need to replace (either because the RV ruined it or because we gave it away when we had to downsize).

Please share the links. We're now officially into holiday order season, because commissions take time, so if you're planning on holiday gifts, please keep Wings's work in mind. And given what we're up against, we won't turn away donations, either, because we simply can't afford it.

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Aji, 2018; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.