Saturday, January 4, 2020

Who's the alpha?

Photo copyright Aji, 2020; all rights reserved.

Who's the alpha? Yeah, she marks turf right along with the boys. She actually is the alpha, too; they both defer to her, and neither one dares to get between her and a bone. She's also a hell of a guard dog now.

A little less than a foot of snow now; a lot of thaw yesterday, and outright melt today. I'm glad; it's been a little too cold for me now; it affects my breathing in ways it never used to, and since I subluxed my right thumb overnight New Year's night, it's aggravating the pain associated with that (no, not back in place yet; too much swelling now). Just nice ordinary winter temps would be fine.

Aside from the bitter cold that usually does show up about now, the first of the year always brings a bunch of new bills (business-related, vehicle insurance, other costs). It was supposed to bring follow-up biopsies for me, but we're not doing that now. I'm deferring all follow-up medical testing for now, despite the fact that I would ordinarily be due for it beginning next month. There is too much else that needs paying. The only work on the house we're scheduling right now is what we hope will be the last of the plumbing fixes (and we won't be doing that just yet, because there's no money for it). And still I feel guilty with every dollar I spend that's not on bills, which is why things that may seem silly to you remain on the wishlist; we children of grinding poverty can rationalize almost anything for almost anyone else, anyone except ourselves. Meanwhile, the bills come due and the money doesn't. We're waiting for payment on our one holiday commission this year (it's in process; just hasn't arrived yet). One of my Patreon subscribers very kindly informed me a few weeks ago of changed circumstances so that I would not be surprised by their unsubscribing. But it's a $100/month decrease I have yet to be able to replace (but thank you so much to the patron who upped their subscription by $10/month! It's so appreciated). And I have no illusions about the fact that we will still need help to make it through this year. Folks can help in several ways (sales are always preferred), and we really need it now:
Please share everything. Thanks.


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