#241 - Testaments and Feedback

I slept pretty good last night. I woke at 5 AM thinking it was 7 and thinking I felt really good.

Naturally, I went back to bed to get the extra two hours I didn’t really need. I still enjoyed having the extra time. Robyn was up early to get her blood test taken and said she didn’t notice any difference in her sleep quality after taking the magnesium. She reads from her phone at night, and I wonder if the blue light is messing with her sleep rhythms.

Because I had tow hours to lie in bed before getting up for work, my morning felt more relaxed than usual. I wasn’t rushing about, scurrying from bathroom to kitchen to car. I’m sorry the sleep protocols aren’t working for Robyn, but I sure am benefiting from the effects.

I told her last night that I feel like a younger man. And it’s true. I feel like I’m in my forties instead of my fifties. And I was starting to feel old. I just thought that was how things went. You get old and tired, then things start to hurt. But I guess it doesn’t have to be that way if you are getting enough sleep and good food. A little exercise on top of that and you are on your way. Not everyone has that luxury due to illnesses and physical issues, so I have that to be thankful for.

The drive to the train was mostly painless. It didn’t get bad until I had to turn onto the street the Go Station is on. But it’s almost always backed up there.

A train was just leaving the station as I arrived, but I was in no hurry to get to the studio. Another train was due in a few minutes and as it happened, it was an all-stops train. More writing for me and a choice of seating.

As I got on the train a fellow pulled out his laptop and applied a privacy screen. I immediately thought that this was something I needed too. I can get self conscious on the train when people are all crowded around me. They probably couldn’t care about what I was writing, but I have caught some people reading over my shoulder. So, it does happen. And how many times could I have written something but didn’t because…. People. Ew!

It was a sunny day and the privacy screen doubles as a screen diffuser making it easier to see your work in sunny conditions, so that is a bonus as well for me. Just another small investment in my writing career.

And that empty train I boarded is now filled with people standing in the ailses. Lerring over my shoulders. Well, not really, but they could be.

I need all the writing time I can get today, Heck, I need it every day for the next five days. My new quota for the the week is 3500 words per day. An improvement over last months 6500 per day. I really need to knuckle down when June 1^st rolls around. No more two day vacations from meeting the full word count!

I should be hearing back from my mentor today. I think I missed somethings in that story and can guess what items she may flag as needing work. There are some scant character descriptions, and I didn’t really go through and check to see if I was using all five senses as much as I should have.

I handed the assignment in a bit late, so I won’t be surprised if she gets to it a bit later than usual. I really need to get this next assignment done ahead of the deadline. If I have a goal for the next two weeks it has to be that.

This train is getting increaslinly more packed with people and there are more stops yet to be made. Even the all-stops is getting busy these days.

I’m hoping to get some writing done at lunch today, but it will depend on whether there are people having their last week at the studio. Since tomorrow is a workl lunch, some people might want to go out today instead.

I brought some lovely Chicken Ruby and therefore am hoping I’ll get to have that for my lunch. I brought in a sample for my production manager to try. I gave her a coopy of the recipe last week. Better to taste it before you decide to put all that effort into making it.

A grilled veggie breakfast sandwich is still calling my name though! And maybe a chai latte from Starbucks. Got to enjoy life while you can!

I managed to get both a grilled vegetable sandwich at Pain au Dore and a chai latte at Starbucks on the way in to work. And I enjoyed the hell out of both.

The first thing I noticed upon entering the studio was that one of me colleagues seemed to be sick. Turned out they were crying because they found out certain people were being kept on and she wasn’t. She knew her time was coming to an end at the company, but I think it was who they chose to keep that made her ill. She regained her composure in short time and was in better spirits the rest of the day. I expressed my disappointment in the company for not choosing her and let her know it was right to be pissed.

I received my feedback from my mentor while waiting for my sandwich. I opened the email with a great sense of trepidation, knowing there were things I rushed and didn’t do correctly.

And sure enough, she called me out on them. But the fixes would be simple to execute. It was the praise I received from her about the story keeping her on the edge of her seat and that I had managed a lot of characters and kept the action clear. It was believable and the dialogue was strong. All high praise from a woman who pulls no punches and doesn’t tolerate fools.

As a bonus, since I have been doing well with my contemporary fiction, I am now allowed to write another science fiction story, although it must be a spy thriller again. An interesting challenge for sure. Doing science fiction requires great control of setting and this is what we have been working towards for the last six months.

She even urged me to send it out to magazines or to self-publish it.

It put a little pep in my step as I walked towards the Starbucks.

I was the only painter in the studio today, which was fine by me. I was able to get plenty of approvals done, wrangle some missing backgrounds and painted one and a half images. I’ll finish it tomorrow. There was a fair bit of banter in the studio today and the volume got turned up a bit when some of Ottawa crew members arrived. We have a studio luncheon tomorrow, presumably to be meet the new heads of this and that. It was great to see the Ottawa folks for a bit.

At lunch I ate with my production manager and an animator, (the crying one), and we had a good laugh chatting at the table. I’d brought in a small sample of the Chicken Ruby for her to try before committing to making it herself.

They both had a little taste and agreed it was very delicious. I had a full portion with some basmati rice and naan bread for my lunch.

Afterwards it was back to work. It was more of the same until about three, when I took a break to make a studio cortado. I say studio cortado to separate it from the better home cortado.

I sat on the couches and played a terrible game of chess. And then saw my mother had posted more photos from Tenerife. One of them featured my father, so I had my proof of life.

Returning to my desk I continued to work while my colleagues got into a discussion of what other jobs paid well and were something they could do. We had general contractors, bus drivers, Go Train personnel, nursing, blacksmithing and a few others. I thought how weird it was that we were all on the same page, each of us planning our exit strategy from the animation industry. That’s where our level of confidence is right now.

The jobs all had similar qualities. Each job would require three or less years of school or training and they paid well enough to be worth it.

But that brought me to the end of my day. I logged out an collected my things. The sun was shining and the temperature outside was great. I walked happily down the streets and even remembered to check the St. Lawerence Market for some pomegranate seeds. And I was in luck. It think I know where all the seeds ended up, they had more than enough.

I grabbed four kiwis as well, because hey, why not. I love having a good night’s sleep.

I sauntered towards the train station in no hurry to be there. No one will be home by the time I get there anyway, so there is no reason to rush. A train was boarding just as I crested the stairs to the platform and I got a seat that was perfect for writing.

It turned out this train was an all-stops yet again. I’m not even trying to get on the all-stops, but I guess things are just going my way today. I even managed to write about 1600 words and that was without writing at lunch. These all-stops trains are good for my productivity.

This train wasn’t crowed at all, and the AC is working just fine.

And Robyn just texted me to let me know she snagged the last two cases of Dr. Pepper Zero from the grocery store. It has been hard to find in our area for the last couple of weeks. Who’s a lucky husband? I am!

I’m looking forward to doing my daily tour of our modest gardens when I get home. The last few days have been like summer, and I think things are about to burst with blooms and growth. Exciting times to be a steward of plants.

Back at home the plants were looking good. Everything is doing well and coming along nicely. Robyn left a pan of roasted vegetables on the stove for me, but who wants vegetables when there is left over Chicken Ruby to eat. She went out to have dinner with a friend, so I felt completely justified to eat the Indian food. And it was amazing.

I took a short walk to the mailbox and took the advertisements out of my slot. One of our neighbours has left a recycling bin beside the mailbox, so I dumbed everything into there. I wonder if anyone ever reads these. I know I don’t. There must be better ways to generate business leads.

Back inside, I made myself some chicken Ruby with basmati and half a naan. I watched and episode of Criminal Record while I ate. I stopped mid forkful and remembered that I had bought some pomegranate seeds on the way home. I grabbed a handful and sprinkled them on my chicken.

And yes, it does make the meal better!

I took a cookie that I baked yesterday with me because I like something sweet after some Indian cuisine.

Then it was time to get the laptop back out to achieve my word quota for the day. Getting some words in during the day sure does take the pressure off me in the evenings.

I’ve been watching more episodes of Snack Wars by Lad Bible. It’s becoming my dirty little secret.

I see in the news Canada is moving towards buying Swedish built military planes in place of US built planes. Having another country’s president allude to a military takeover of your country will do that. Seeing as the Swiss have never threatened to take over Canada they definitely seem like the more reliable option in these dire times. It’s just another effect of the US’s stance of moving towards nationalism. If you want to stand alone, eventually you will. I like that my country is continuing to forge new alliances in the face of this new unhinged world.

Today, I found myself with more energy than I have in past months. I still wanted a coffee by three o’clock, but that’s not unusual. I think the human body wants a rest right about then. A siesta if you will. But I wasn’t absolutely dying, I just wanted a break from working and afterwards I went right back to it. Normally, even after a little break and some caffeine I still want to go lie down. Even on the train I was in a better mood and had the energy to write. I think the nighttime routine of the kiwi, tart cherry and magnesium glycinate are really having an effect. Even the sleeping mask has earned its place. The fact that I am using the mask is a good enough endorsement of the other three.

We watched the season finale of Testaments this evening. It’s turned out to be a good show with plenty of great young actresses to fill the roles. Having a family member on the crew adds a bit extra joy to the experience as well. And the fact that it was shot just down the way from where we live, albeit in the very rich part of town. I remember when Chelster Hall, the location used for the girl’s school in the show, was first renovated and put on the market for the whopping price of $62,000,000. Hardly a bargain at that price, but someone eventually bought it and allowed the production company to film there.

It’s a beautiful location to shoot on for sure.

Well done to my brother-in-law who was part of the team that secured the shooting rights to the property as well as many of the others.

One of the other nice things about this show, other than the fact the original book was written by well known Canadian author Margaret Attwood, is that it isn’t on of the big properties like Star Trek, anything Marvel or a revival of an old TV show. It’s great to see other works of fiction being given the light of day than just the old successful shows. We need more of that in our entertainment.

I was heartened to hear that they green lit a second season of Testaments recently. Hopefully, that is good news for my brother-in-law as well.

It’s ten thirty and I just swallowed the horse pills, scooped the guts out of two kiwis, (the fruit not the people), and downed a glass of tart cherry juice as a chaser. I had one red kiwi left and four regular ones I bought today. I have to say I prefer the green ones better than the red ones. Also, the kiwis I purchased are from Greece. I thought all kiwis came from New Zealand, but I guess they are grown all over the world. You learn something new everyday.

I swear I can already start to feel the effects of these items kicking in. I can feel myself getting a bit groggy within the last ten minutes. Unfortunately, I still have 1000 words of writing to get in before I can call it a night. And I swear that last one thousand words is the hardest to write all day.

My extra supply of sleep aids arrived from Amazon today. I should be able to keep things going for the next thirty days without any problems. The kiwis might be the most expensive part of this whole endeavour. I still have to see if I can source some frozen kiwis at a reasonable price point.

It’s easy enough to find kiwi in a mixed bag of fruit but getting kiwi on its own is proving to be a bit more challenging.

 And speaking of challenging.

My writing teacher has given himself the challenge to put out seventy-five major books this year to mark his 75^th birthday. And he already halfway there. So, what does he do? He joins in on his wife’s challenge to also write so many words of fiction per day as well. I find the guy to be an inspiration to what is possible. Granted he is known as a fast writer and a prolific one, but he doesn’t put in eighteen hours a day to accomplish these things. And he is quite candid about the fact on his blog. He often breaks down the amount of work he averages per year, then per month, then per day and finally per hour. The per hour number, and this is seven days a week is under four. That’s half a day’s work to write over a million words per year.

Crazy how doable it looks when you just crunch the numbers.

Robyn has been offered more hours for her support worker job. There’s an addition three hours per weekend that’s become available for her, and she is thinking it over but will likely accept another client. It’s the natural expansion for her new position to add clients over a period. And it shows the company has the need for her services and feels she is a good fit for these placements.

All good news for my love!

This might mean many of our Saturday plans might get bamboozled.

This is the price we pay to ensure our future stability in these unstable times.

Phew!

It’s getting harder to keep going. Those sleep aids are doing there thing. One thing I have definitely noticed is that I am not getting up in the middle of the night to use the facilities. Not that I don’t have judging by the volume the following morning, but I just don’t wake up needing to go. Even if I do wake up, I fall back to sleep rather quickly compared to without the sleep aids. The only other thing that has done that was the antihistamine allergy pills. And since they are habit forming, they are not a good choice for sleep over the long term.

Well, the pull of the sleeps aids is getting too strong to battle against anymore. I am throwing in the towel and surrendering to the Lord of Dreams, Calgon.

Calgon take me away.

If you didn’t get that reference, then you are too young to be reading this blog.

See you all in the dreaming.