Derry, Northern Ireland

Derry, Northern Ireland
A book I'm working on is set in this town.

Monday, April 16, 2018

I must be getting old...

Actually, it's probably just being sick, but this was one rough trip. Not the meeting, itself -- that went very nicely and I got everything I needed to pull together a quote -- but the long drive down in rain 75% of the way, and the even longer driver back in rain and sleet and snow 100% of the way, it wore me out. I had to stop at a number of the travel plazas on the 90 toll road to get out and walk around, to keep awake. I even caught a nap at one, which helped. It wasn't till I was in the middle of a snowstorm driving along at 60, between Rochester and Buffalo, that I fell into the beauty it was bringing.

Seriously, there was a mist with the snow that wrapped itself around the road ahead to reveal it and the surrounding countryside only as you drew near -- thickets of tall trees and bushes dusted in white, creeks tumbling over snow-capped rocks at top speed, and rolling fields in yellows and browns partially layered over by snow held in soft focus by the grey atmosphere. It helped me keep awake far better than anything else had, just watching it whisper past. I'd have stopped to take photos but the trucks and other cars were barreling along as if it were the middle of a bright Spring day and not on icy roads. I could see one plowing into the back of my car...

Part of the issue with my general mood was not sleeping well, last night. I kept coughing, so wound up buying a Pepsi (I do not like Pepsi but it was that or Mountain Dew) because carbonated drinks actually help my throat. But that meant I had to get up to pee, every couple of hours, like an old man. Shit. Tedious.

As for cough drops, those work for 10 minutes and build up a nasty taste, after too many of them. Tea just loosens everything and makes the tickling in your throat worse, as does a hot bath or shower. So...I dealt with it and hoped nobody was in the room next to mine. Now I'm home and the worst of the coughing seems to be over. We'll se how it goes, tonight.

On a good note, I got the PDF proof of David Martin and it looks 1000% better than the previous one, so I've okay'd it. I still ordered a hard copy, to see for sure, but I think it will be okay.

And The Alice '65 got another great review on Amazon...albeit from a Beta reader. But I take 'em any way I can get 'em.

On a negative note, the data recovery guys I sent my dead thumb drive to said it would cost $600 to rebuild the connectors and recover the data. I can't afford that, not to get info I may have on another drive or just get back images I'll never do anything with. So I told them to chuck it. From this point forward anything I save is going to be backed up even more. I guess I should also go through all the thumb drives I have and sort through exactly what files I need and how I can remove too many dupes.

I've been too prone to duplicating my duplicates after duplicating them,...

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