Hard at it.

Photo copyright Aji, 2024; all rights reserved.

Excising the surrounding silver from that bolo. You see me talk about a jeweler's saw? That's what it looks like.  A big open frame with a filament of metal locked into the open upper and lower ends on one side. The blade looks a bit like an Eversharp refill, if you're old enough to remember those, but thinner and brighter.  And if you get a finger on your other hand caught while you're cutting, it'll do some damage.

He's been hard at it in the studio, and on a bunch of other tasks, too. No vacation from all the daily chores here, for either of us, and the weather doesn't matter. Today was all trickster winds that shouldn't be here until April, but the mercury's 30 degrees too high and there's no snow, so we have the worst of spring before the previous year's even out. Worst because, aside from the general annoyance factor, sustained high winds are literally the very worst thing for my joints. I can deal with heat, cold, rain, snow, hail, humidity, aridity, whatever . . . but wind kills me. He's finding out what that's like first-hand, too; it's murder on his knees [me, every joint system; I only wish it were confined to my knees]. But the work has to get done, and that includes constantly chasing sales, because we have got to get 2025 off onto a better footing than this year was, and do it immediately, or we're screwed. 

And yes, I know we're lucky. The housing crisis worsens daily here. On that note, go here, buy something, or several somethings, off the outreach group's wishlist, and you will literally be saving a life, probably more than one. It's not really possible to overstate how bad it is out there, nor how great the need is. I've sorted it in their Priority order, but once again there's a new order of priorities, not yet entirely reflected in the list itself. This is from the organizer herself [I've italicized the ones that seem to be the most urgent at this moment]:

• The bulk backpacks - at least six 12 packs
• Whistles
• Pepper spray
• Money/document belts (look like tan fanny packs, worn under the clothing  to hide and keep documents safe and protected.
• Bulk dog leashes
• XXL dog harnesses
• Chapstick
• Packs of wipes

The outreach program is giving gear out as fast as they get them, and being mostly housebound now, it's hard for me to get out to pick up any before they're gone. That's why I put some of those essentials on our own wishlist, with a note that they're for the outreach effort; soon, I'll adjust those priorities accordingly, too. 

For us? SALES. PLEASE. THERE'S SO MUCH NEW WORK ON THE SITE. And I need to sell them all, because I still need to make a ridiculous amount of sales to cover all the stuff still in the pipeline that needs covering [laptop, roof AND now the well pressure pump, more medical, always prepaid taxes, etc.]. So: GO BUY! PLEASE. [Yeah, I know; I don't know why I bother, either. As I said, hope is a stupid, stubborn, fucked-up thing sometimes, even if it's also very thin and half-broken.] Links are here:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here (Priority is the liquid soaps and Amazon cards, probably most useful at this point); 
• Patreon here;
• Ko-fi here.

After such a grim year, this one far worse than the last, we really need to end 2024 on a better footing before 2025 and taxes take every cent, 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.