Some of your may not be aware that I'm disabled. I'm also writing a thesis, an autoethnography about my story. I've had to take much needed time away from my thesis because there is an apartment complex being built across the street from my home. I've tried to get some cooperation from my local Councillor on the matter, however he doesn't seem inclined to do much more than the status quo, even though, I told him I'm disabled. It was disappointing to be told that construction is an inconvenience to those in the area.
I was hurt and somewhat angered, he knew I had a disability, he was told I had to wear ear plugs at night to keep out the noise from equipment being delivered in the early hours of the morning. The incessant beeping, banging, and pounding during the day sent my symptoms through the roof. I was debilitated and in pain for days on end, all from the careless use of construction equipment. Another solution could have been found, but wasn't.
With all that said, I hardly had the cognitive ability to take on a thesis methodology I had started writing over six months ago. The deadline is looming and the university's registrar's office is less than sympathetic to my cause.
During the last couple of weeks I've also contracted another sinus infection. Uncertain of the exact cause, it was most likely a combination of stopping allergy medication so that I could go see an allergist for more tests (I only stopped for 2 days of the scheduled 5 since, I knew I was becoming more ill. I've since had to reschedule the appointment for another time that isn't during pollen season), which, could have been compounded by contact with the ubiquitous plethora of scented products people wear everyday. I'm only outside my home one or two times a week, but I encounters these products so readily that I usually have several sinus infections a year. It's all very disturbing.
So, I finally got a respite from the noise across the street; they're at the landscaping phase and with the torrential rains this week, they've been off. So I got some much needed quiet time. I was in conference with my thesis supervisor on Wednesday and with the quiet across the street and the medication doing its work on my infection (hopefully it will cure me of my symptoms, but first line meds rarely do the trick for me), I was able to work on my thesis, think coherently, and get some work done. It was a perfect storm that got me a draft of my methodology. I sent it off to my supervisor yesterday, what a relief. I really enjoy my thesis work, however, I need the kind of cognitive function I just can't access when I'm ill. It's all very discouraging.
On the writing front I was able to fix a problem that's plagued me about Gone Home since it went up last Friday. I formatted the book myself this time, since I wanted control over how it looked and didn't want to pay someone for every little change. For this book I wanted a clean table of contents. When I uploaded Gone Home last week I was exhausted. I wanted to meet my Friday deadline and did at 11 pm my time, however, I couldn't figure out the TOC. I dug deep yesterday after finishing the draft of my method paper at 4 pm and sorted out the TOC, no awkwardly formatted page numbers and no strange lines. Hope you have time to take a look.
All of this is to say that Book 3 is on the back burner for now, but I do have cover art to share next week and should have it out to my editor soon. We shall see....
You can find me through the week at kimwelsman.ca or on twitter @kimwelsman. I have a cool new trailer on my website and hope you have time to check it out.
