Monday, August 17, 2020

August Sweeps - Day 199

I don't know if you remember me complaining about PayPal charging my savings account last week and that I get penalties if I go over six transactions in one month.  Well, today I checked my account, and I had already racked up fifteen dollars in penalties.  I felt I had no choice but to call up PayPal and demand that they remove the savings account as a form of payment.

It went exactly as you would imagine it would (EXACTLY, he said loud and long): there was much holding, and then the young lady I spoke to said I could remove the bank account myself if I just followed the simple steps on the webs--  But no, I told her, it wouldn't let me remove it.  I had tried over a dozen times* without success.  I explained the late fees and asked if she could please remove it herself.  I got the impression she wasn't sure if she was allowed to do that, but I was in for a penny and in for twelve pounds sterling by this point, so I was willing to ask to speak to someone with that authority . . . but she tried it and sure enough, she had the ability to remove it from there.  She told me that it was no longer the primary or secondary payment source, so it shouldn't get charged under any circumstances, but I asked if she would take it off anyway, just for my peace of mind.

She did so, and that was that.  Would've been nice twenty or thirty dollars ago, but hey, now I can move on to not writing.  Whew.

In other insanity news, I went to the storage unit today, grabbing a dinosaur (which isn't a euphemism, but knowing me, whatever you think that's slang for probably applies), and decided to do a song . . . the first Storage Unit Serenade done at the storage unit since June.  It was a hundred degrees out, so I really could only stand to do one take, but I hope it turned out okay, because the ones I don't have to edit at all are the easiest ones to edit, ironic though that may be.

So, I put off writing all day today, because Mondays tend to be busy, but around 10:30/11:00, I knew it was time to get started.  I decided to work on that new "Dead & Breakfast" story, hoping that it would get me excited about the series again and I could jump right into finishing the novel version once I finished this one . . . and you know, it wasn't a lot of words, but it sure was easy.  Once again, these stories just write themselves, partly because I know the characters and have such affection for them.

And wow, I will really enjoy writing a Natalie Whitmore in love.  I have no idea what that would look like, except probably pretty.  I'm going to go do my run now and continue thinking about it.

Sit-ups Today: 150
Sit-ups In August: 3009

The aftereffects of my hike on Sunday, combined with my insistence on doing sit-ups and running every day, are still with me, especially when I go down stairs or try to stand up from sitting on the ground or floor.  But I now look forward to running, and tonight's was totally enjoyable, just thinking about story possibilities, listening to music, and keeping those stubby legs of mine moving for my little 1.6 mile tradition.  

After which, I did write the opening two scenes of the Natalie W. story, which I had a title for during my run, but no longer remember.  If I were serious about this writing thing, I'd ask my muse about what modeling is like, and I'd ask  

Words Today: 1643
Words In August: 17,488

*Which might have been an exaggeration, if we're being honest.  It might only have been ten or eleven times.

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