Time certainly does fly, doesn’t it? Seems like it was just Christmas, and here we are, already the first of February. Though I haven’t posted any new stories since the last part of Anything for a Scoop, I haven’t been idle. I’ve been giving some time to trying a rotating writing schedule, switching between settings/projects on a weekly basis. This little experiment has been rather a mixed bag of success this month, but it’s not really been a factor of the rotation, rather, personal health issues. I suffered another retinal bleed a couple weeks back, and generally when that happens, I’m unable to write any significant amount due to the strain it puts on my eye. This isn’t helped by the fact that I’m staring at a screen all day at my job on top of that, so for about a week straight I was walking around with one eye closed a good portion of the day, waiting for the haze to clear up.
Then, this last weekend, I came down with something that had me feeling like crap pretty much through Sunday; by Monday morning I was recovered enough to go back to work, and am feeling pretty good for the most part this morning. Had hoped to get back on the writing horse this morning, but unfortunately I have to go into work early to get ready for a new person to start, which I usually wouldn’t have to do, but I only got notice about them starting at about 2PM yesterday, which is extremely short notice.
On the more fun side, I have been attending a little photography class the last few weeks at one of the local churches. First time I’ve ever attended something like it, and it’s nothing extremely formal or anything, but I’ve already learned a few things, so it’s definitely been worth the time invested. I really want to start focusing on my photography a lot more this year, meaning a lot more hiking and walking around, which will be great for my health too.
I’ve also made the decision to try and find a new job this year; probably not that difficult due to the job market. I’ve been working for the company for about 14 years, and I’m just so tired of the IT field. I would love something that has me being more active and less focused on a screen all day, I just don’t really know for sure what I’d want to do. The big thing, though, is that I try to set a firm date of when I’ll make my exit; I feel like that will be the biggest step in moving forward; I’ve been ready to quit there multiple times over the last eight years or so, but keep finding things to keep me hanging on just a little longer.
First time I started feeling like this, my old truck got the point I couldn’t trust it, so I had to get a new one, so that was at least 5 years I would have to try to stick it out to pay that off; just when I was at the point I was ready to quit then, I got a promotion. I stuck that out for about 3 years, at which point I had grown tired with that position and the attitude of a certain person immediately above me, so once I managed to pay off the truck early, I was ready to quit. Then that person wound up getting transferred to another part of the company and I got promoted to the number two spot in our department. This was right at the start of the madness that has engulfed the world for the last two years (it’s true what they say…the hardest part of the fifteen days to slow the spread is the first two years!), and I’m already feeling so very tired of it.
Not only that, but I’ve had more health issues the last year or so than I’d had previously. It’s a combination of age (I’ll be 39 this year), and some of the issues I’ve developed are directly linked to sitting at my desk all day long. For instance, I’d never had issues with my shoulder until suddenly I could barely move my arm in certain ways, like barely lifting it over my head, and if I moved it too far in certain directions, I would suffer incredible pain. This just happens to be the shoulder that sits propped up on my desk all day holding the mouse. It’s a bunch of little things that have started to stack up, and I’m long overdue for a change, I think.
Thanks for listening to my little ramble; I do have a few shorts that I’ll be posting soon, and am working on other stories as I’m able to, just not getting nearly the keyboard time I really want to devote to writing (outside of work, anyway). I’ll plan on posting something this weekend, so keep a lookout!
