10-12 & 10-13

10-12

I awoke just as the sun was cresting the trees in the distance, the cabin cool but not cold (outside, it hovered just above freezing), and found that my laptop had crashed during the night.  Gee, with the time last night (I kept pausing the movie and sitting down to edit a little bit more . . . until my laptop suddenly wouldn't respond anymore) and the time this morning, some sinister force doesn't want me to achieve this goal.

But now, the sun is higher, and I've already finished a (short) chapter, and opened a second one.  At this rate, I'll be done about this time tomorrow . . . except I can't keep up this pace.  I'll have to read a book or hop on that exercise bike or take a nap or something later on.

It's after ten now, and I've eaten breakfast, made another fire, and finished editing a chapter, and brushed my teeth and washed my face.  The sun is shining and it's warming up outside.  I need to stock up as much wood as possible (kindling too) for the days ahead that will be so miserably cold, I'll wear two pairs of socks, and be unwilling to leave the small circle of warmth created by the fire.  I worry, though, that when I come back from Germany, the snow will be high enough I can't come up here again--in which case, I'll have left a bunch of food, clothes, soda, and toys that'll have to wait till next year.  A responsible person would just pack all that stuff up next week, just in case.  But I'm not one of those.

I got the chapter done, opened another one, and then had to do something else (I've only got six left and I'm done!).  I wrote a tiny bit, read a chapter of my library book out on the back deck, the sun warm on my back and neck, and then opened something called a Cherry Vanilla Coke Zero Sugar . . . which tasted like the bubonic plague.  It was so awful, that I was reminded of that kid in CAN'T HARDLY WAIT, who tastes his first beer, and announces to everyone at the party, "Do not drink the beer!  The beer has gone bad!"  The worst thing--even worse than the truly horrible taste of the soda . . . is that I bought an entire case of it.  It was on sale.*

Right before it started getting dark, I opened up my English Ghost Stories book, and read a Roald Dahl story, which I ended up hating (which means I'll never use the recording), and ate up an hour of free daylight with, darn it.  But I guess that's better than reading one at night, in case one turns out to really be scary.  

I went for my run, found out that Angela Lansbury had died (sad), and came back and edited a bit more.  Then I watched WAR FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES, which I ended up liking a lot, enough that it makes me want to go back to the James Franco one and give that one a second chance.  They finally got the ape effects to the point where they're not distracting, and most of the film, they just look like real characters, which helped me immerse myself in the film (I think I only paused it once to go out and finish editing a chapter, and that's something).

Exercise: Yes (12)

10-13

Last night, I went to sleep a bit early, turned on a podcast, turned out the lights, and woke up with a back that almost didn't ache at all.  I hustled yesterday, editing everything I had except for the last chapter (I even did the copyright and author's note).  So today, all I have to do is edit this massive final chapter, and I'll be done.  I mean, I could go home at noon, if I want to.

Well, I got it done, though it took me a while, and then I did record a little bit for an upcoming Outcast, I read a couple of chapters of my book sitting out in the autumn sun, and I did take a twenty minute nap.  Now I'm packing everything up, and it occurred to me that I should've ridden the exercise bike, just to get it in . . . which I could do now, if I wanted to.  The point is, though, that I set a goal and I achieved it, and the next time I come here, I can do whatever I want.

Well, I did it, and you wouldn't think riding a mile on an exercise bike would be that hard, but it was, with plenty of me gasping, having to use my arms to help my legs pump, and I went slightly beyond, so that I could reach this point on the odometer:

Why not?

So, I'm done, and headed home.  It's early enough I can hit the library, if I want to, and get some writing done before I go to my cousin's house at ten.  Cool beans, as he sometimes (oddly) says.

I wrote the above, when it wasn't even dark.  But it certainly was dark by the time I arrived at the house.  You see, as I was driving through the canyon to get home--close enough that my internet and cell signal was back, thank Bossk--traffic ahead of me suddenly stopped.  There was a line of between a dozen and a zillion cars and trucks ahead of me with their lights flashing, not moving.  I stopped, waited . . . and nothing happened.  Guess they were working on the road.

Cars were still coming in the opposite direction, though granted only one every thirty seconds or so, and going very slow.  Traffic in my lane moved a few feet every minute, and I'd pull my car up, only to stop it again.  Eventually, I realized that the movement was due to cars ahead of me U-turning into the opposite lane and leaving the line.  It must've been a bad accident instead of construction, I decided, and put the car in Park, and listen to my audiobook.

The truck behind me had two dudes in it, with their windows down and their legs sticking out the doors, and they told me the traffic website said it would be an hour before the wreck would be cleared.  I asked if there was any other way out of the canyon, and they said, "Sure, go all the way through it to the other side."  That's about forty-five minutes out of my way, which would then put me on the freeway to do the other forty-five minutes.  I figured I wasn't that desperate to get home, get showered, and drink that silly Bang soda.

Eventually I got out my phone and watched YouTube videos for an hour, texted my cousin, played a video game, and wasted time on Facebook.  The sun set.  It got dark.  I knew it was going to be a long haul, so I killed my engine, and turned out my headlights, and most of the vehicles around me did too.  The dudes in the pickup behind also turned around and headed the other way, but at this point, we stopped moving up the line every time someone did that.

Not a good picture, I know.  But I wasn't going anywhere; why not take one to illustrate my point?

An hour passed.  At one point, I really had to pee, but I was a bit wary about walking away from my car in the dark.  But after I could hold it no longer, I did so, walked over to the side of the road, and did my business, as my mom says regarding her dog.  Like I said, it was really dark (and I'd left my phone in the car), and let's just say that I didn't get all of it on the bushes and had to change my pants when I got home.  Fun, huh?

I watched as young people walked past the line of cars, including one girl wearing flip-flops, presumably walking back to civilization, which was near-ish.  Oh, to be young and impatient, huh?*

Another hour passed.  I told my cousin about it, and he said we could postpone our get-together to watch the finale of "She-Hulk" and the "Werewolf By Night" special until later, but I had left the cabin so early, there was still plenty of time.

We were out in the middle of nowhere, so there were a lot of stars above me, and I wanted to enjoy them, but the king cab truck two spaces behind me left his ultra-bright halogen headlights on, causing me to call him plenty of Hell-worthy names.  Finally, I got out of the car, went out in front of it, and positioned myself to where my car blocked his lights, and watched the stars for a few minutes.  There were planes flying overhead, and what I presumed to be satellites, slowly inching their way across the sky.  A couple of meteors would've been fun, but I didn't see any.

And then . . . a couple of police cars drove down the road toward me, followed by a smashed semi truck on a gigantic tow truck platform.  A couple of minutes later, a little white car, also smashed, came by, on a much smaller tow truck, followed by another cop car.  And traffic began moving again, albeit at about five miles an hour (which was better than zero).

I was surprised to find broken glass and skidmarks on the road just around the bend ahead of us, which means the accident had JUST happened when I to the stopped traffic.  Had I left the cabin without exercising, I probably would have missed it.  Ah well.

Exercise: Yes (13)

*It's sort of the opposite of that Bang drink I have waiting for me at the house.  Even more motivation to get this done, get out of here, and wash the terrible taste of bad soda out of my mouth.

**But I guess they were just checking out the carnage up ahead, which didn't occur to me until later.