Things that work, or don't.

Photo copyright Aji, 2020; all rights reserved.

Twenty masks. The front five (center, first left, first two right) don't have elastic yet, because I ran out last night. The wider stuff was too wide. So I'll add one more in that size, finish them off when the elastic gets here Tuesday, and set those aside for Wings's niece. They were originally part of the group I was taking to our doctor's office today, since we both had appointments. That photo shows the remaining fifteen finished off, down to the inserted charcoal filters. I handed them over when we got there, and a couple of the staffers chose theirs immediately and put them on, so I guess that means they work.

Speaking of things that work, or don't, as the case may be, normally, it would have been a telemedicine appointment today, but Wings needed to have a form signed and I needed trigger point injections (which I hope will help both with today's migraine and with my sleep problems, at least for a few days). So this was our first real foray into the healthcare world since we began self-isolating in March, and it was kind of nice to see everyone again, from the proper social distance, of course. And everyone there is doing it right, practicing full masking, maintaining that distance except as necessary for screening, vitals, treatment, etc. And our doc confirmed what we've been expecting, which is that, foolish reopening practices notwithstanding, this is going to be our new normal until there's a vaccine, which means at least well into next year.

Not much else is working, either. Of course, locally, our economy is already in tatters. A new wave on the heels of this reopening nonsense, and/or a second epidemic of West Nile (since we have our first confirmed human case of the year in the state, announced yesterday), will leave it  just smoking ruins and rubble. Obviously, we'll have no in-person clients and customers this year, none of those who make a practice of visiting annually and buying while they're here. And with so many people out of work, our online sales are way, way down, too.

And yet . . . another almost $200 out the door today, because the medical stuff has to be paid. But I have GOT to bring in enough to cover all these costs piling up. I'm sick with the stress of it. It's endless, and new things keep piling on daily.

After three years of no crops due to drought, and now the pandemic, we HAVE to be able to go back to growing our own food and medicine this year. It's not optional. And to do that, we're going to have to drill a well in the north field. And no, I don't know how we're going to pay for it, but I have to bring in enough sales somehow.

That's just the BIG one. Over the next few weeks, I have to pay our first two rounds of quarterly taxes, about $3,300. One or two big sales would take care of that one. But that's not optional, either, and I need to get this off my plate so I can focus my worry on things less immediately dangerous to our well-being.

We'll have to pay the guys for their help with regard to the water, even if it doesn't work. We've had to hire River back, because I cannot do the work anymore and there's too much of it for Wings to do alone. He's struggling to make rent; worse, his truck now has a cracked head. All of that's going to cost a lot, and he doesn't have it. We can front him some advances intermittently, but we can't pay for the whole shot right now, which leaves him potentially without transportation to come to work. And I can't transfer my ancient Hyundai to him until he can get the paperwork done, and the MVD offices are all closed at least until June. 

Also, the lawn mower that we paid $500 to fix? They didn't fix it. Wings started mowing Sunday, and the same damn hose came out and started spraying oil everywhere. The guy came out yesterday to look at it; there's no way we can haul it in because, one, you can't even get it into gear to load it, and two, there's that problem of oil spraying everywhere. He's got to reorder the hose and bring it out to install it. Plus there's my laptop, blowing up routinely (again last night, and so my e-mail's borked until I can fix it again), and my camera, dying slowly, and they are our livelihood, too.

It falls on my shoulders to figure out how to make all this work. And right now, my shoulders are bowed pretty far over, hence the injections today; I can't take on anything more until I can get some of these burdens off them. I also can't conjure the cash out of thin air. So please, share our links; send me testimonials to post on the site; and if you've had your eye on something, for yourself, for Father's Day/graduation/wedding/other gifts, now would be a really, REALLY good time.

The links are here:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here;
• Patreon here;
• Ko-fi here.

Note: For now, please don't buy anything off the Amazon wishlist; to do so would be crossing a picket line, and some of their workers have struck this morning to fight for safer working conditions because their lives are being put at even greater risk during this pandemic. If you find one of the items elsewhere, wonderful (there's even a wishlist function where you can note that it's been purchased somewhere else).

Other than that, please share everything. Thanks.

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Aji, 2020; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.