Sometimes there's light. Sometimes there's not.

Photo copyright Aji, 2019;; all rights reserved.

Sometimes there's light. Sometimes there's not. Right now, circumstances are leaning toward the "not" end of that spectrum. 

It's the day before the solstice, or as Wings and I refer to it, the end of the old year/birth of the new year. Five days to Christmas, with a weekend in the way. I'm never going to get everything done, and we've had no time whatsoever to do anything remotely approaching "enjoying the season." Sixteen-hour days, seven days a week, and this year? Precious few sales to show for it. I don't know how we're going to make it through the winter without sales now, but I don't have a choice I'm going to have to make it work. it does mean no more follow-up testing for me, and there's a part of me that's relieved, because I do not have the strength or energy for those endless out-of-town trips for it.

I had also said that if all went well, I'd have Wings's newest to show you. That was . . . what? Four days ago? And nope, because he keeps getting derailed by circumstances just like I am. It's endless. I got to every single thing on my list yesterday, but today's is already completely hosed, morning shot and an hour into the afternoon with exactly nothing to show for it. Winter's already early and hard, and we've got about 7 months of it left. The rest is all cut-and-paste, but please read it anyway. It matters, because while sales are literally all that matters at the moment, what else the wind leaves behind is all the rest of the work, and ALL of the bills. But really, it's SALES. [Also, the wishlist, which has some new items on it. Mostly coffee-related. The seals on our ancient Thermos mugs finally bit the dust.]

SALES SALES SALES. That's all it's about now. A lot of y'all don't realize this, but the Pueblo closes for much of the winter, starting usually a month to six weeks after the new year. Even before Christmas, the whole month of December locks vehicles out of the village, and that reduces tourist traffic a lot. Even though we're not physically there anymore, the drop in tourism affects us, too — and the numbers are down all over town and seemingly getting worse every single year.

What folks also don't realize is that this means that holiday sales are what keep us alive, through not just the end of the year but essentially the first six months of the year to come. If we could sell the belt featured below, it would keep us going well into the new year. This is it; this is what the whole year leads up to, and even in off years, Wings would still be filling commissions beginning around the first of October. 

Pain levels are terrible this week; nearly debilitating completely. As miserable as my chronic pain is, it's nice finally to have a name to put on this thing that has caused me incessant pain literally my whole life, the thing everyone else dismissed. It happens to me virtually daily, at least in some small way (and very often in very large and debilitating ways), and at least now I have labels and language for what's happening to me and causing me so much constant pain. For those wondering about those and my other health issues, see here, although now there's a new wrinkle I'm not even going to bother to try to explain (triggered by this year's flu shot and confirmed by my doctor, and suffice to say there's no affording treatment); with regard to the work done and not done on the house, some of the details are here. Folks can help in several ways (I've added some new practical items to the wishlist, including organizers for electrical cords and replacement Thermos mugs; after . . . I don't even know how many years we've had them, the seals on our old ones have quit working), and we really need it now:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Wishlist here;
• Patreon here;
• Ko-fi here.

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.