I need to. Todd’s working on the cover, and I need to finish this by the 20th of June.

I think I can.

Typically when I get to a near-finished stage I do a ‘rolling rewrite’, in which I go back to the start and fill in all the detail, check continuity, look up the names currently represented by X [literally] and in general curry the winter coat off it.

That’s in progress. I’m always amazed when it seems to be working. But it works.

Meanwhile I’m restoring the pond to the crystal clarity it had during the wedding—-I had to leave it unfiltered while we were at Miscon. And I’m hopeful that will go quickly. And Jane trimmed the wisteria and the nameless shrub she thinks is Oregon Grape or something like, and various other things, so I’m the rake-up squad. The iris are all in bloom.

And I’ve got to get to the optometrist and get my contacts prescription renewed: it’s real annoying. My far vision on the right side is still very good at 50-100 feet, but after that it gets annoyingly less so. I think a 150 lens ought to handle that. But that means getting two pair of prescription reading glasses, one for without the contact, one for with. And I should really get the insurance. Because the difference in astigmatism at varying ranges of vision plus an unusually ‘flat’ face means bifocals, even gradated bifocals, are a no-go for me (I look completely over the top of most glasses when looking up, not just half-glasses)— I have to carry multiple pairs of single-purpose glasses and try not to lose them. The only option would be lenses so large I’d look like an owl. So….I’ll just try not to lose the next pair. The ones I’m wearing are from about 2005…because I lost the ‘real’ ones two years ago. Sigh. I am worse than a six-year-old when it comes to losing or breaking glasses…but less likely to reform.

And I have to ask myself whether to go back to Walmart optometry, which is convenient and where I like the staff, or drive several miles to reach my optometrist, who has set up an independent practice, now. The second doc at Walmart is good, too. I hate Walmart. But having somebody this accident-prone user can access in a hurry and on short- to no-notice is a good thing…