One hell of a lot better than the alternative.

Photo copyright Aji, 2023;
all rights reserved.

Currently 93 degrees in the shade. That will probably jack up another 4 degrees, at least, before we're done today. And in the sun, of course, it's already hotter than this.

I hope, for the sake of all that's holy, that tomorrow's forecast is right.

This morning we had some good news, at least. The vet thinks that Stormy's problem is not in fact ORS, but a basic UTI. Without getting too graphic about it, there's a body part that is always enlarged with ORS, and hers appeared, at least superficially, to be. It's not; it's inverted a little, which makes the surrounding tissue appear enlarged when it's not, and of course, fur only magnifies that impression. Her UA also showed evidence commensurate with a basic bacterial infection. So that means that, unless it proves to be an object lodged internally (or crystals, etc., all of which I think are unlikely because she seems to have zero pain and tons of energy), no imaging, and no surgery. He did prescribe a broad-spectrum compound antibiotic (a week or 10 days' worth, can't remember which right now), and she's had her first dose already. And instead of the $400-800 I was expecting for today for labs and possible imaging, we got out of it for $109. No, we couldn't really afford that right now, either, but it's one hell of a lot better than the alternative.

Now, if I could just get all the rest of the immediate problems knocked down so easily. I realized last night that I was slipping down into a really dark place, one that risks not only my mental health but my physical well-being, and so I'm going to have to jettison a few things for a while. I'm going to have to try to wall off knowledge of the evil going on in the outer world, and also knowledge of our collapsing climate because I literally have no mental space left right now, and a lot of what's happened this year has wounded my spirit deeply in ways I don't talk about, usually to protect the guilty [not Wings; never him]. But I am disabled, a simple fact, and I have to start shutting out other demands on me, because right now, we're facing too much that I have to do, and if I let the rest in, I won't make it.

That includes the possibility of scrapping my Patreon, if they won't fix this issue. It's become one more burden, a daily/nightly one, and even though it's our only steady income with sales as few and far between as they are now . . . well, Wings has already told me that if it's killing my spirit, I should scrap it and never look back. I'm not there yet, but I might be soon.

In the meantime, I have to figure out a way to cover not just regular monthly expenses but next year's quarterly tax prepayments (due this year, obvs), and $25K to fix Wings's multiply-botched dental work. I'm not numb anymore. I'm tired, I'm scared, but I'm not numb. I'm also mad as hell, but that won't accomplish anything, so . . . .

But that means that I have GOT to bring in more sales, NOW. Our Web site hits are down drastically from what they should be in any given month, never mind the middle of the year. This despite the fact that there's a lot of new work on the site already, including Wings's newest trio, one for those who love the blues, just finished yesterday and up here; and his absolutely phenomenal new cuff, which you can see from all angles here (and you want to see it from all angles, believe me). I posted the two new pairs of earrings here the other night, and the new gemstone bead trio featured lasts week, here. Meanwhile, he has more silverwork in rotation, too (two cuffs, more earrings). And . . . $25K. I don't have any way to solve any of this outside sales, so I'm begging folks, please: All the links are listed below, so please share:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here (current priority still the Zero-Odor sprays, because these days we're back to wet dogs again; and the liquid soaps, which we can't get locally); 
• Patreon here;
• Ko-fi here.

There's lots of fabulous work on the site, and things are grim here, so please share all of the links. 

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2023; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.