Silver Linings

I can now see the silver linings in the ominous clouds that have been hanging over me lately.

My left hand (victim of my freak housework accident) is better. I can close it. I can type with the little finger and not make errors. It only hurts if I band it against something.

The replaced fuel pump in Ol’ Blue, my elderly pick-up truck works fine. And gas prices are dropping enough so that I don’t cringe so much when I top off his tank.

The Chrysler folks, after weeks of negotiations about the 8/80,000 warranty that they claim was never entered into the computer at headquarters, have agree to give Li’l PTie the transmission transplant he desperately needs. His vital organ is currently en route from Michigan. My hubbie is to be commended for his stick-to-it attitude as he explained the same information ad infinitem to a plethora of people from local dealerships all the way to Chrysler headquarters. I’m sure he has, by now, memorized Li’l PTie’s VIN number. He’s a retired engineer, so he’s used to set-backs, minutiae, vendors not coming through, etc. Plus he’s an ace at troubleshooting.

And I’m not going to bail from the writers group. Our fearless leader talked with the individual in question, who promised to mend his ways. Indeed, at today’s meeting, the individual was quite the gentleman. We had a productive—well-attended—meeting with nary a single raised voice. Today, I got some really good feedback on two chapters I read of my middle-grade paranormal novel, Stuck. These were the two stickiest chapters and I welcomed the input. I handed out a few CDs with what I’ve written so far, so my eagle-eyed buddies can catch any obvious things I might have missed.

My work-in-progress is now at 37,515 words, with a goal of 40,000 words. I’m only a couple chapters—three, at most—from the end. While I’ve already written the last chapter (so I know where I’m going), I need to write the chapters right before the end. I’ve gotten most of my characters unstuck and wrapped up most of the loose ends. I should have this draft done within a week. Then the rewriting begins.

There’s always room for improvement.

~