The Status — A Very Long Summer and the WISB Funding Update

Two things:

1.  The Lizards and Financial Mumbo Jumbo
The last couple weeks have contributed tremendously to my long history of garbage-ness.  I had to have one of my lizards (Taj) put down, today marks the day when my other lizard is expected to go into surgery (Noodles), and so on.  Emotionally, I’m in one of those “well, life kinda sucks, but at least I woke up today” moods.  Such events also have other ramifications — namely, financial ones (my vet has been very kind to me and allowed me to defer payments on some things; they’ve also reduced the cost of some of the bills when they didn’t have to — but cremation services and the like have still put a strain on my financials).  I’ve got about $5 until next Friday, which I hope will
be a large paycheck, because I really don’t need any more small ones; the first was pitiful considering that most grad students have nothing to work with over the summer.  I’ve never understood why the University of Florida pushes back the payment process by several weeks so that you don’t get paid properly until a month into your teaching job, followed by a month or so of left over payments that they might as well have made during the semester.  It’s the most bizarre payment scheme imaginable, and it causes a lot of grad students a lot of stress, since their financial situation prior to arriving here didn’t exactly make the transition easy.  We start poor, we stay poor, and re-orienting the bills doesn’t exactly change this cycle…

In any case, that’s sort of where I’m at.  I’m sitting here, in my apartment, hoping that when the phone rings I don’t end up with a “so, he passed away during surgery” call.  And I’m worried about whether what I have in my cupboard can keep me fed, or if some strange charge will throw me in the negative on my bank account, and so on.

This must be what real life feels like.  I don’t like it.  But I’ve learned a life lesson, which is one I won’t forget any time soon.  I’ll be better prepared next year.

2.  The Funding Project (The World in the Satin Bag and “the Status”)
In other news, since I’m rambling a bit here, I’d like to let you all know that I will be making a video of myself doing embarrassing things, as per our public agreement for reaching my funding goal of $1,000.  You can still donate to the project if you’d like; I will honor the original fundraising scheme I set up here, so any donations will still earn you free stuff.  I intend to spend the next week practicing, because I want to be really good at the Truffle Shuffle and Peanut Butter Jelly Time before I record myself doing it.  This means I have to watch The Goonies and stare at every rendition of PBJT available on YouTube over the next few days.

I want to thank everyone who donated, even if you only gave me a few bucks.  You helped me a lot during a difficult time and I appreciate that.  I’ve got all sorts of other things in works, such as stories with characters based on folks who donated, and the editing process is still underway.  Once I finish this next edit (and then one more major pass with a friend), I will get the ebook compiled and sent to everyone who donated $10 or more.  My hope is to have all of these things done before my birthday (Oct. 6th), and at the very least, in the event that I get run over by a bus or aliens abduct me and put me behind, it will be finished before the year is out.  If the project is delayed until the end of the year, I will make up for it by doing something more for you all (free fiction, another embarrassing video, or whatever you’d like).  I don’t want it to be delayed that far out, but life has been giving me whatever the hell it wants at the moment, so it’s always possible.

Anywho!  Have a good one!