Hey, all. Been a while since I last posted an update (other than a Jack’s Blacks announcement).

First off, some sad news: I had to put Cloudy (one of the horses) down a couple of weeks ago. It’s a long story, but the short version is that the vet I contacted was unresponsive, and I had been taking the attitude of “no news is good news”. It’s the last time I’ll do that. She’s buried out back. The rest of the herd seems to be taking it okay.

In other herd-related news, Casper (the boy donkey) has been twitching for a couple of months and losing a lot of weight. Once I found a new vet (one who’s actually responsive, seven vets later), I asked him the same thing I asked the last vet: what’s going on. He came out and looked, and it looks like it might be an electrolyte imbalance. Since we don’t know for sure, the poor guy is now on an antibiotic, an anti-inflammatory, electrolyte supplements, and a vitamin E supplement. I’ve been watching him closely the last few days and am hoping and praying that he’ll make a recovery. I was sad about Cloudy’s passing, but Casper’s one of my favorites, and I am really not going to handle it well if we can’t get him recovered.

In work-related news, I’m so stressed out that I’ve finally hit that point of “too tired to care”. The good news is that we’re meeting our milestones, and as long as we can keep our current momentum, we should hit our September 29th delivery date. It’s been grueling, to say the least, and I have let my boss know that once this project is over, I’m looking to get out of management. I swear, I am cursed at being good at things I don’t like doing.

I’m also back in therapy, which is much-needed given all the stress right now. We’re making progress, but recent adverse events have decidedly set us back a bit.

In happier news, I’m looking forward to taking a long vacation after the 29th. My friend from England is coming to visit, and we’re probably going to spend a week or two eating way too much dessert, lounging about, and saying horrible things to each other for the fun of it. Very much looking forward to that.

In writing-related news, I am beginning to think that I ought to get back into doing writing commissions. I took the time off so I could focus on Jack’s Blacks, but as I might or might not have mentioned previously, I don’t actually make much in royalties from those. I had started taking the money I made off of commissions and investing it into dividend-paying stocks, and I realized that as of this month, the dividends I’ve made already exceed the amount I’m likely to make the whole year in royalties, and that’s not including the upfront income of the commission itself. So, I’m beginning to toy with the idea of opening up again. It’s no great secret, but I’m pretty motivated by money. I saw a guy advertising on FA the other day for $0.15 / word. I was like, “This is how I make a dollar” is literally enough words to make a dollar at that rate. I’m not planning on raising my rates that high, but I am considering going up to $0.05 / word. The last time I raised rates, though, it limited my commissioner base. I’ve also considered having a variable rate depending on how interested I am in doing the commission. Maybe $0.10 for ones I don’t really want to do and $0.02 or less for ones I really do. I dunno. Just thinking out loud. So, for those wanting me to get back into commissions, it might happen!

That’s about all for now. Probably gonna go play some more Factorio.