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| Photo copyright Aji, 2019; all rights reserved. |
That photo? That's not out of focus. The blurring is caused by the heat waves rolling off the flames in a wildfire that's been burning for a month now.
Fires, old and new.
I knew something was wrong; there's been a faint haze in the air for two days, and I'vee been coughing, with a non-migraine headache (on top of the migraine until yesterday) and burning eyes. It was so pale and faint that I couldn't be sure until late yesterday. That photo up there is from the Amole Fire to the south, which they insist is controlled but keeps spreading to new slopes, with new points of ignition. But yesterday, when the western sky was hot and pale and white with a low-hanging sun, I noticed that some of that whiteness had some shape to it. By sunset, my assertion was confirmed. On the first, someone apparently set multiple fires along one of the forest roads, and the smoke last night was hellish.
New fires around here, too. Between August and September, our income is reduced by more than $650 thanks to some Patreon subscribers' cards being declined (apparently mostly an issue of expiration, but folks aren't checking their subscriptions, I guess). that has put me in a huge bind right now, because that income? It usually pays medical stuff, utilities, groceries, gas, and this month, it would have gone to a high electric bill and a $300+ annual propane tank rental . . . except that I have to pay our quarterly taxes by next week. And even if I put my entire Patreon earnings for September toward it, it's still $400 short. So folks, please, PLEASE check your cards that are on file with Patreon.
As I said yesterday, selling that day's featured work would pay those quarterly taxes, let us get the plumbing issues mostly taken care of (albeit not the replastering), and take care of the current medical stuff. It would also take care of me going back to the doctor tomorrow, plus our higher-than-normal electric bill from the fan operating constantly to push the mildew out of the utility room; the propane tank rental; and a few other expenses, too, probably. The lack of sales is getting desperate, and my Patreon income, now reduced significantly for two months straight, is starting to become a problem.
As always, I'll bump Ona's post back to the top in a moment. He's at $13,600 right this moment [donors, I see you, and thank you], and I wanted to see him hit $15K before the end of the weekend, but nothing doing, apparently. He's averaging one small donation a day, and that's not going to be nearly enough. I'd like to see it up to $20K for him by the end of this week. We need y'all to keep sharing while the family tries to get transport issues sorted out and keep his recovery going simultaneously. [The transport stuff will require a lot of logistical finessing on a lot of fronts, not the least of which is the medical one, so it's a long process.]
And I have so much yet to do today. The rest is all cut-and-paste. I have my own stubborn insistence on survival, no matter how far behind I get, but I'm way behind now and have to get on it.
For those wondering about my own health issues, see here; with regard to the work being done, some of the details are here. We still have to get the plumber in to finish up, and I regard that as a bigger priority right now in practical terms, so whatever we take in sales-wise will have to go to that.
Anyway. Back to the grind; so I need help to get all this done. Folks can help in several ways, and we really need the help now:
On the wishlist, now the cold is here at night, the flies are getting chased out by the cold, so the top priority is the candles, to deal with the residual mildew odor in the utility room, which I hope the plumber will be here to finish next week now (the utility room work, not the mildew, and yeah, I know I said that last week and the week before and the week before that, too, but there's no money for it). Our electric bill for the summer has been sky-high, in relative terms, because of the need to keep the fan running to push it out the window. And the costs on all of this are killing us right now.
And as I said, sales are ideal, of course; one or two of Wings's bigger pieces would cover the whole shot for this round of work. Patreon subscriptions are good, too. Either way, it's a trade for value. But I'm already feeling panicked at what we thought would be our schedule being so suddenly and thoroughly upended, and we'll take it however it comes at this point.
Please share everything, because I'm suddenly back behind the eight-ball on a whole additional front, and yeah, I'm scared about covering everything and surviving, too. Thanks.
All content, including photos and text, are copyright Aji, 2019; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.
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