Diary #424

So many presents this week!  Nattie Roman sent me this awesome book I first saw at Conner Habib’s a few months ago, plus a snakeskin wallet (my old one was kinda falling apart), a pair of snakeskin-print jeans and a set of Alfred Hitchcock Presents disks.  Thanks so much, Nattie!  On the same day as I got the book, I also received a towel warmer, but there was no card or note of any kind and Nattie says she didn’t send it, so whoever did please let me know so I can thank you properly!  I took the drill set I mentioned last week out to Sunset and presented it to Grace, who immediately slapped a battery into it and used some doohickey to clean my car’s headlamps while uttering phrases like, “Now that’s what I’m talking about!”  She’s almost finished the French drain project, then it’ll be on to the gutters and the footings she’ll need to pour before fixing the floor in the back corner of the house; meanwhile, I took the opportunity to pull as many movies and TV shows as I could find out of boxes and arrange them on temporary shelving.  Slow going, for sure, but it’s steadily becoming more homelike, and that’s all I can ask for.

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Diary #423

A week ago today, Square Peg was inspired by my column about the new developments at Sunset to send one of the power tools Grace asked me to put on my Amazon wishlist!  This is a huge help to me; I need to provide any tool which Grace and Chekhov need to work on the house, buildings, yard, vehicles, etc, which means every tool I don’t need to buy myself is deeply appreciated!  If you want to join the generous patron club, there are several more tools on the list, and if you prefer more fun or sexy things, those are there too.  But no matter what you send (cash is nice too, and in addition to Paypal donations to maggiemcneill@earthlink.net, I now accept Square Cash at $MaggieMcNeill), you get onto my patron list, and I’m working out how to give everyone on there a special coupon code for discounts on my Kindle books.  Speaking of that, keep your eyes open for news about The Essential Maggie McNeill; volume I is done and should be available in the next week or two, and then I’ll be starting on volume II right away (for probable release in September).  The long summer days really increase my anxiety, but at least I’ve figured out a few ways of putting that nervous energy to good use!

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Diary #422

As you may have already guessed from this picture, my chickens have begun to lay!  And not just a few measly pullet eggs, oh no; they all seem to have started laying simultaneously and at full adult rate!  Nor are the eggs all tiny; though some are small, others are normal-sized and one of them is consistently laying big double-yolk eggs!  Those are noticeably larger, which is how I managed to get two of them into my skillet at the same time; for those interested in such things, these went onto a nice piece of sourdough bread, topped with two slices of cheese, two strips of crispy bacon and another slice of bread.  Such are the simple, homely meals I prepare for myself when I’m alone; they make a nice contrast to restaurant meals I share with friends or clients.  I’m learning to enjoy my time alone much more than I did in the past; I’ve even managed to figure out a work schedule that neither overwhelms me nor triggers my inner nun to start shaking a ruler at me and calling me a “lazy creature”.  But anyway, back to Sunset: the new (smaller & more fuel efficient) pickup Grace put together is out of the shop & ready to run, and I bought a new chainsaw & brush cutter so Chekhov can extend the animal fence to take in a dense brush patch on the east side of my property.  By the time you read this Grace should be digging new French drains in preparation for repairing the floor, and soon we’ll be opening up another protected chicken yard.  And this autumn, I’ll have some lovely pictures of fresh apples from my trees.

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Back Issue: July 2015

Every once in a while someone does something so clearly wrong, so obviously rude and so predictably off-putting that one has to wonder if he might not have been under the influence of some potent psychoactive drug at the time.  –  “Too Many Cooks”

It’s strange to think that as of this month, the “back issue” feature has gone on for two years longer than the blog had existed when the feature started; it’s even stranger to realize that before much longer I plan to start a feature looking back ten years!  This one will also need to change before it shrinks out of sight; once the holidays (“My Police State, ‘Tis of Thee” for July 4th, “Fifth Anniversary“, and “Saint Mary Magdalene“); the guest columnist (Hawk Kinkaid); the fictional interlude (“Willpower“); and the Q&A columns (“Mixed Signals“, “New Girl in Town“, “Dating Game“, and “A Friend in Need“) are set aside, the only columns left to describe are “Seizing Power” (a megalomaniacal local US politician interferes with sex workers all over the globe); “Too Many Cooks” (my reaction to “helpful suggestions to improve” my blog); “Fit To Print” (a gossip rag outs a client without reason or solid evidence); “Caution to the Winds” (I start escorting under my famous name); and “If You Want Something Done Right…” (a brave sex worker shoots a serial killer).

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Diary #421

Last week was a relatively quiet one, with a normal amount of work; this allowed me to get caught up on a number of things without stressing about money.  In fact, I actually got my income taxes paid, which is a huge strain of of my mind; that lets me devote most of the rest of my income for this year to the various projects that need to be done at Sunset, such as fixing the floor, correcting the drainage problem which contributed to damaging it in the first place, and expanding the animal pens.  I was there overnight Saturday; Jae wanted to help out with some of the work, and it gave me an excuse to visit.  So Friday night I switched to my new phone; I knew the transfer would take some time, and I figured the best day to do that was one in which I wouldn’t need the phone to work.  There were a few problems, but not too bad, and about 14 hours after I started the process the automated part was done; I uploaded this picture of my blue girl’s first rose of the season from the new phone.  Redoing all my contacts by hand is a huge pain in the arse, but at least everything’s there to update; maybe by the time I am forced to get another phone, they’ll actually have the process streamlined a bit.

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Diary #420

Last week was another lovely one, full of gifts and good clients!  Robin Aguilar sent me a snakeskin-print bodysuit which I’ll be modelling for y’all when it gets a bit cooler; I also got a compact music system for my incall from Siggi Bjarnason; and a new Chromebook (to replace my trusty but now-failing one) from J.A. Sutherland!  I suspect all these generous gents were inspired by either my anniversary, or Friday the 13^th, or both; if you missed those occasions last week but would like to send a gift or donation, I don’t mind when things come in a bit late.  Really I don’t.  Anyhow, I was also on Tina Dupuy‘s show last week, and by the time you read this I should have half of the essays for The Essential Maggie McNeill edited, which means it’s on course to be available in August.  All that and an impromptu selfie, too!  I thought my hair was a bit too messy here, but everybody seemed to like it on Twitter.  And I guess a picture where I look kinda like I just got out of bed (actually, the shower) can’t help but be sexy.

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Diary #419

Any week in which I see four of my favorite clients is a good one.  It was also lovely to take Jae out to Sunset for a couple of nights, and to spend the time mostly relaxing, eating, drinking, watching superhero movies, getting high and planning the next few construction projects (not in that order).  The place is starting to shape up; everything is still in considerable disarray and the list of necessary repairs and renovations is long, plus the dry season that close to the rain forest is very short.  But as long as I have enthusiastic and competent helpers and the money keeps coming in, we should eventually get around to doing everything I want done out there (which is more than I could have ever said for poor, lamented Avalon).  Now, last week wasn’t perfect; I didn’t get any work done on the new book, nor did I make much progress toward getting my overdue taxes paid; my summer anxiety is making it very hard to sleep properly or go for very long without drugs, and trying to get established with a new online pharmacy after my old one shut down has been an immense pain.  But I’ll take “didn’t get everything I wanted done” over “disaster accompanied by deep depression” any day, especially when all the nice things were so very nice.  And here’s to at least a few more months of that.

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