That and This

I was planning to hit the gym & do a Big Shop this morning. But I had neglected to check the weather forecast.

And when I woke up this morning, Hideous White Stuff was falling from the sky! More is expected. Not a lot of inches, but "heavy banding" (ugh!), which will make driving perilous.

The prestidigitators had augured a break in the snowfall around 7am, so I made an expedition to the Hannaford's of the Living Dead at that early hour to pick up enough provisions to tide me over till Monday. I was a kind of parade marshal for a cavalcade of trucks, all of which wanted to be going 50 mph. The roads were unplowed: I wanted to go 30 mph. The truck drivers were not happy with me. FUCK 'em.

Don't think I'll be going to the transfer station or the gym today! It's snowing again.

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I had a conversation with the Big Remuneration Client. We have no plans to wind down, Big Remuneration Client said, but acknowledged that they are indeed reprioritizing. So my anxiety on that front is not all PTSD. Big Remuneration Client asked me to give him "a little time" to respond to my concerns.

If I had to guess, I'd say I will continue working for the client. In fact, my responsibilities may even increase—I made the bold suggestion that he let me start picking my own topics for analysis.

But I could be entirely wrong about that, so (a) it's a good thing I have another revenue stream till mid-April and (b) I need to start looking at alternative revenue streams after that.

Retirement subsidies cover my basic expenses, but if I want to do anything beyond enjoying a roof over my head, using utilities, and eating, I need other sources of cash flow.

###

Chapter 5 of the WiP has to open with some pontifications on the nature of friendship.

Then I kill off Debbie Reynolds. Debbie Reynolds catches COVID (of course!), and ends up in the ICU, where Grazia is her nurse & so, has to code her. Code is a failure, Debbie Reynolds dies. This precipitates Grazia's full-scale breakdown; Grazia follows the flaxen-haired girl back to the decrepid decaying mansion where the cult shelters, spends a week doing Cult Things & eventually gets rescued by Neal, who nurses her back to health at his Catskills cottage during which they have some sort of Significant Conversation on Neal's porch—which Grazia then remembers as she is standing on the porch again with Flavia & Daria the day after Neal's memorial for that full-circle effect. End Part 1.

This means I have to start with some Grazia/Neal phone conversations during which Grazia describes the cult & Neal senses her developing attraction to it. Or else Neal won't know where to look when Grazia disappears.

I don't much feel like writing today.

I don't much feel like doing anything today.

But I'm gonna write anyway.