Back to hobbling.

Photo copyright Aji, 2024; all rights reserved.

Another clear hot day. Most of the last week has exceeded the forecast highs by double digits. Today, they said 83 and it was 89 before noon; we'll likely hit 95 again today.

It's brutal.

I'm doing my best to stay indoors as much as possible. I'm also doing my best not to strain my lower back any further after yesterday's massive multi-joint sublux. That was due entirely to the contortions that the ultrasound required of me on Thursday; since I've been on the low-dose chemo, I've actually had relatively few dislocations anymore. This is probably the worst in that period. But it has crippled me for now, and until things go back into their proper place, which, as hard experience tells me, could be days, weeks, or even months on end. So I'm back to hobbling, which means I've very slow, which means I'm further behind than ever.

And the expenses won't wait.

So now I've got this on top of all the other work and bureaucratic and other tasks ahead of me this week and next, and I'm trying to fit everything around the pain [yes, that hasn't improved any, and likely won't] and fatigue and around the desperate need to bring in immediate high-volume sales now. We have come to the point where the IRS is openly hassling us, threatening us, demanding money we don't have on a timetable we can't meet. That leachfield/septic failure early in the year, coupled with the complete lack of sales for months on end, set the stage for this mess, and our expenses have only gone up since then. I have to hold out at least a grand for my imaging later this month [because if something truly is wrong, catching it now could be the difference between living or dying, and I'm not cavalier enough to ignore that], and at least another grand on the truck, when ever that stupid part comes in. But I was only able to send them a token payment in April [see $10K leachfield failure], and now I have to give them a much bigger chunk. And then there's the additional $550 cash out the door on Friday, because the pressure switch on the well failed. It's endless.

I'm going to need to bring in at least $4K-$5K a lot more than that in sales this week alone, and that feels like such an impossibility that I don't even know where to begin. I mean, other than cry, which I did a few days ago, but now it's time to get to work. One thing I do know is that, barring a miracle, the roof repair is out of the question. And that's horrible, but here we are.

I HAVE GOT TO BRING IN SALES NOW, NO MATTER WHAT.

There is a ton of new work on the site from just the last couple of weeks [with two or three new cuffs in the works currently, and at least one belt buckle plus some collectible items coming soon]: 

• Three new cuffs, two set with incredible turquoise focals, one solid silver; go here, here, and here.
• Six pairs of new concha floral earrings in the Earrings Gallery here [larger are garnet, golden rutilated quartz, and malachite; smaller are amber, carnelian, and iolite];
• Art Deco Labradorite cuff here;  
• triangle wire youth bangle here; 
• Art Nouveau vine pattern-wire youth bangle here; 
• small Art Nouveau pattern-wire bangle pair here; 
• malachite butterfly/leaf-wing earrings here; 
• a big solid silver classic cuff here; 
• ten new pairs of the gemstone-bead earrings are also up in the Earrings Gallery;
• and another new cuff is also here. 

There's more on the way very soon. And I need to sell them all, because I still need to make sales at a rate of at least two per week for the rest of the year for us to catch up [and that's just breaking even; I'm already behind on that, which means I need to make FOUR sales this week just to catch up]. So: GO BUY! PLEASE! Links are here:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here (Amazon cards are probably most useful at this point); 
• Patreon here;
• Ko-fi here.

After such a grim year, this one already far worse than the last, we really need to get 2024 onto a better footing, so please share all of the links. 

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2024; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.