On All My Motions

A couple of weeks ago, I said I’d touch on some of the things that had been happening in my long cycle of LJ inactivity. Here goes, then.

I had surgeries for cataracts, starting six weeks ago. Results are mixed. My vision with glasses is better now (the cataracts had been having a cumulative effect before I even knew they were there); however, my vision without glasses used to be just right for reading, and no longer is. Improvement overall, but I’m aware that my body is gradually losing its former capabilities.

Along with which, I got some pain (in my back) which became so severe that my wife Susan called an ambulance for me (and I didn’t argue). Turned out, even with no chest pain component whatsoever, it was a heart attack, and I had a couple of stents placed the following day. Back to normal almost immediately, and I can actually exercise now whereas it wasn’t really feasible before. On the other hand, my daily meds have doubled (and I’ll probably be on blood thinners and blood pressure reducers for the rest of my life).

Because of those things and other considerations, I’m considering retirement a couple of years ahead of the original plan. Part of that is that I thought my max-max for Social Security (deferring retirement till a later point) would be substantially larger than the standard max, but the difference isn’t actually that great. Part of it is that my work — which is the easiest job I’ve ever had in my life, and the best-paying outside a combat zone — is increasingly un-pleasing to me. And part is just that I don’t feel like waiting any longer. I’m ready to start trying out relaxation and travel as a lifestyle, and my wife, too, would like to get started before she’s too old to be able to really enjoy these things. Haven’t actually started the process yet, but getting ready to.

Today Susan and I set up an investment account using the proceeds from the sale of our home. With that and other things, retirement shouldn’t be much of a problem; I’m very cautious about such matters, however, so I’ll try to shore it up with some other arrangements before we commit completely. A further step, all the same.

As I had previously indicated would probably be the case, last year’s round of the Circle of Friends Remix (cof_remix) was, in fact, the last. From the very beginning, three of us — me, sroni, and eilandesq — participated in every round; last year, I was the only one remaining. Nothing lasts forever, and this one lasted ten years, but it had reached the point where the satisfaction wasn’t commensurate with the effort required.

(As an aside to that, does anybody know if eilandesq — M. Scott Eiland — is doing okay? As far as I can tell, he’s gone radio silent.)

Finally, my granddaughter — in China — is now a member of the Young Pioneers. Think a combination of Boy/Girl Scouts and a very toned-down version of the Red Guards. It’s apparently a routine thing, in that every member of her class went in at the same time; and, as a Catholic and an official American citizen, she’s already ineligible for the Communist Party (for which having been a Young Pioneer is a prerequisite). Still, that’s a step further into something that makes me uneasy as an American. I approve of patriotism; I approve of self-discipline and learning to work with others; I do NOT approve of the Chinese Communist Party, and would prefer to see my blood kin more distant from it. So, yeah, not all of life is completely to my satisfaction.

I’ll get to work on that.

The tenth anniversary Circle of Friends Remix (cof_remix) is now finished. This year’s listing:
    •  lindagable: remix of jedibuttercup, with “Window of Opportunity”
    •  jedibuttercup: remix of frogfarm, with “Hell of an Epilogue”
    •  frogfarm: remix of aadler, with “Never Known”
    •  aadler: remix of lindagable, with “Reality Check”

All are encouraged to read these submissions, and leave feedback for the authors. I hope it’s as much fun for you as it’s been for us.

( Info under the cut )

Sign-ups are now open here (for LiveJournal) or here (for DreamWidth). All previous participants are welcome. Anyone who is interested — and has enough Buffy or Angel stories to qualify — is invited to check us out and make inquiries. cof_remix is deliberately kept small, but we’ve never turned anyone away and never hit our maximum number.

There used to be more remix events, with RemixRedux the great-granddaddy that kicked it all off (at least for Buffyfic). Let’s see if we can keep the tradition going for a little longer.

Round 9 of the Circle of Friends Remix is now open for reading at cof_remix.

( “the Tyranny of Numbers” )

Sign-ups are now open here (for LiveJournal) or here (for DreamWidth). All previous participants are welcome. Anyone who is interested — and has enough Buffy or Angel stories to qualify — is invited to check us out and make inquiries. cof_remix is deliberately kept small, but we’ve never turned anyone away and never hit our maximum number.

There used to be more remix events, with RemixRedux the great-granddaddy that kicked it all off (at least for Buffyfic). Let’s see if we can keep the tradition going for a little longer.

( “Jokers to the Right” )

As with so many others on my friends list, I found my Photobucket account throwing up an ugly “you need to upgrade” graphic in place of all the images — mostly story covers and award graphics — for which I created my PB account in the first place. And, as all those other folks had to do (those who didn’t throw up their hands and write it off as a bad loss), I’m painfully creating a new account to accomplish the same thing, and going back to change the links in various areas. (No fun, folks; counting my own personal website, I have graphics being displayed in four completely different locales, and I can only hope I catch them all. Plus, I used my PB account to hold a couple of markers for sroni, and I’ll have to duplicate that and get the new links to her as well.) I started off on Flickr, but it was really cumbersome, so I tried something I’d seen referenced and signed up at Imgur, and that’s working out with much less hassle. Photobucket actually was better, darn it, but their price hike is simply beyond belief.

Susan has finished her first year in California, and is moaning over whether or not she can last two more, as per the original plan. She loves the climate and the scenery, but the prices are horrendous and the prevailing political attitudes do NOT agree with her … and, when you work for the government (even the federal government) on the Left Coast, you darn well don’t rock the boat. She always talks politics during my weekly phone calls, just to have someone to whom she can vent.

Kevin is currently planning to make a vacation trip, along with Mei-li and Amber, over the next Chinese New Year (February), and he’s said he hopes some of us can join them. I’m probably better able than Susan to manage something like that, simply because my income is lower than Susan’s but I save at least a third of it every month, but a trip to Thailand is not as casual for us as it is for Kevin. The flight cost wouldn’t be that much more than to China — if at all — but other expenses … let’s face it, whenever we visited in Shenzhen, we stayed in Kevin’s apartment and his in-laws provided all our entertainment and most of our meals, which I don’t think we could count on in Thailand. I’ll have time to get ready, but it’s a substantial enterprise.

(It would be really nice if sroni and Conal could also make the trip. Even apart from my son-in-law and daughter-in-law, my own immediate family — me, Susan, Kevin, sroni — have never all been in the same country together outside the US. This would be an event.)

Finally, cof_remix is reaching the end of its sign-up period, and we’ll be starting the remix at the beginning of August. We already have enough participants to go on ahead … but if anyone would like to try something new, it’s not too late to jump in!

Oh, yeah, and my submission for this year’s Summer of Giles is due in four days. Don’t want to forget that.

Hard to believe how time has passed. It keeps on doing it, though.

These are the remixes I’ve written, in the order they were done.

   B = Backstage story   —   I = Independent story   

1  -		B26		-   Walking After Midnight    [remixing bastardsnow]
2  -		I06		-   An’ Foolish Notion    [remixing sroni]
3  -		B27		-   X-Factorial    [remixing kerravonsen]
4  -		I07		-   Jasmine Tears    [remixing Morphea]
5  -		I08		-   Family Skeletons    [remixing eilandesq]
6  -		B30		-   Otherwise a Perfect Sky    [remixing deird1]
7  -		B33		-   Hungry Like the Wolf    [remixing sunnyd_lite]
8  -		I10		-   Best Foot Forward    [remixing lwbush]
9  -		I11		-   Mortal Coil    [remixing soundingsea]
10  -		B35		-   And Your Enemies Closer    [remixing selenak]
11  -		I12		-   Yet They Grind Exceeding Small    [remixing sroni]
12  -		I14		-   In the Air Tonight    [remixing evil_little_dog]
13  -		B38		-   Bitter from the Sweet    [remixing lookingforoctober]
14  -		I15		-   Subject to Change    [remixing nothorse]
15  -		I16		-   Under the Gun    [remixing slashmarks]
16  -		B39		-   Shock to the System    [remixing comlodge]
17  -		I19		-   Man in Motion    [remixing deird1]
18  -		I20		-   Long Time Passing    [remixing velvetwhip]
19  -		B42		-   Rough Trade    [remixing eilandesq]
20  -		I21		-   Phantom 309    [remixing sunnyd_lite]
21  -		B43		-   Just Can’t Kill the Beast    [remixing sevendeadlyfun]
22  -		I22		-   Tea and Oranges    [remixing jedibuttercup]
23  -		I25		-   There Ought to Be Clowns    [remixing eilandesq]
24  -		I27		-   Friends with the Monster    [remixing dragonyphoenix]
25  -		I30		-   Jokers to the Right    [remixing sroni]
26  -		I32		-   That Thing You Do    [remixing eilandesq]
27  -		I35		-   Reality Check    [remixing lindagable]