BRRRR . . . It’s Cold Out There

Happy February everyone. Not sure what the weather is like where you live, but it is freezing here. I got up this morning and the temperature outside was a whopping one degree. Later this week the low is supposed to be below zero. Once you get down into that category, no matter how you slice it, it’s cold. I don’t mind wearing my mask all the time with temperatures like that. At least it helps keep my nose warm. In case anyone is interested, today’s picture is of the Japanese maple outside my front window. I woke up the other morning to this view and thought it was pretty.

As far as the writing front is concerned, I got book #2 of the Reaping Covetous series back from the editor last weekend. It went for content review and she seems pleased with it. Enough so that the editor doesn’t think I need to change anything major in book #1 so that makes me super happy. Amazingly I finished writing book #3 yesterday. It still needs a lot of tweaking and I need to write the epilogue for it but the basic format is done. Right now it’s around 90,000 words and I finished it in a little less than two months. I worked really hard to do that and have given myself more than a few pats on the back. Normally it would take me over four months to write something of that length and that’s what I figured when I told the editor when to pencil book #3 in for content editing so it won’t go until late April. That’s okay because I still have so much to figure out to actually get it published and out there for people to hopefully read. If the schedule holds, the books should start going back to the editor starting in mid May for line editing and polishing up. Right now it’s my hope to get book #1 out in late summer/early fall. I was reading some statistics about book publishing the other day (BTW, don’t do that if you’re looking for something uplifting). On average over a thousand books are published each day on Amazon. That’s a lot of books! Right now I figure this is sort of like my hobby and I doubt I’ll make much money on the endeavor. Most likely I’ll be lucky to break even but I’m still doing it. It’s interesting. More than the money, I just really want people to read what I’ve written, to fall in love with my characters the same way I have. To do that you have to sell books so I suppose the two go hand in hand.

Veterinary work is going all right. Currently we are in our “slower” part of the year. And in some ways it is although not as slow as years past. A lot of it will depend on the upcoming weather and more to the point, road conditions. People don’t like getting out unless they have to when the roads are slick. I have CE conference in a couple of weeks and like so many conferences, this one will be virtual and I’ll be staying at home, glued to my computer. In a way I like this set up as I don’t have to try and find housing and care for my pets. On the other hand I’m really afraid I’m going to fall asleep at the computer screen, especially in the afternoon after lunch. I think the conference is 4-5 days long so we’ll see how I do. Hopefully I learn some new things that I can put into practice.

As an aside on the veterinary front, Friday I read the latest statistics on indebtedness for graduating veterinary students and the numbers are abysmal. Currently the median indebtedness is over $170,000 with a debt to income ratio over 2:1 (average starting salary for baby vets is about $80,000). That is an unsustainable trend. Some of these students are graduating with as high as over $300,000 in debt. That’s having a huge house mortgage with no roof over your head. I feel for these kiddos. For comparison (in case anyone is interested), I graduated in 2002 and was pretty average for indebtedness at the time with around $60,000. That was a lot then and I can’t believe what it has ballooned to now. It’s a huge problem and one that’s going to bite the collective veterinary profession in its ass pretty soon.

For now that’s all. I’m going to try and update at least monthly, hopefully with news about my upcoming series, Reaping Covetous. I’m so excited to finally be doing something with my writing. Besides my pets, it’s my joy in life. And at least my written characters don’t puke on the carpet (Newton and Copernicus) or try and eat my carpet (Fennik).

Until next time, stay safe, warm (if you’re in the northern hemisphere), well and sane.

MJ May

Fennik All Dressed Up and Nowhere to Go

Happy New Year everyone! I know we are all hoping it’s a better one than 2020. I’m not holding my breath on that one, but hey, I’ll be more than happy if it is better. Today’s post picture is of Fennik (Fen Fen). I have no idea why I decided to buy this costume for him, other than it was a total whim. This picture wasn’t even taken around Halloween. I found the costume about a month ago when I was grocery shopping. I had to jet down the pet aisle for cat litter and there it was – a sombrero and poncho. It said for medium to large breed dogs. Let’s just say it barely fit Fen Fen. Anyways, he looked super cute. The sombrero kind of scrunched his eyes but he was a trooper and put up with the ten minutes or so of dress up. BTW, that’s me holding him. I’m in my work get up, which is far less than the work get up my sister has to wear (she’s a critical care nurse and takes care of COVID patients, amongst other medical conditions).

Veterinary work is still going strong, although it has let up a little. Winter is normally our slower time. We’ll see how this year goes considering how busy we were for most of this past year. I expect tomorrow will be packed, especially after all of the holiday breaks over the past couple of weeks. Last week I did have an interesting case, or maybe I should say finding. It was something I haven’t seen in the 18+ years I’ve been a practicing vet. I had a client bring in his little dog, a person and pet I’ve seen multiple times in the past. He had several issues he wanted me to look at, one of them being that her breath smelled worse than usual. Given that she’s a smaller breed, periodontal disease seemed most likely, especially given the fact she seemed to be feeling relatively well otherwise. I did my normal look inside the mouth and thought, “WTF is that?” Stuck between her upper right premolar 4 and molar one, kind of like a strange type of dental floss, were a couple of those plastic “I” shaped tag holders, the ones you have to cut off when you get them a new, stuffed (cloth) toy. I pulled them out, some foul smelling hair and a little blood coming along for the ride. I couldn’t believe she hadn’t been acting bothered by it. It looked to me like part of it was poking her inner cheek. I think it all came out all right. She was a good girl and let me do all of that without sedation or much of a flinch. Something like that stuck between my teeth would have driven me nutty bunnies. Lesson learned: make sure to get all the tags off plus their plastic bits and pieces!

As far as my other, hopefully burgeoning profession (writing), I got the first edit (content edit) back on book one of the Reaping Covetous series. So far I really like this editor. I appreciated her comments. She brought up things I never in a million years would have thought of. The editor I’ve hired thinks I need to have the first 3 books in the series written and ready to publish within a couple months of each other before putting the first one out there. I think she has a good point. The second book is done and should go out for its content editing in a week or two. I just started the third book. This is the first time writing has actually seemed like a job. I’m determined to get book 3 done by the first of April. That may seem like a lot of time, but for me it isn’t. I’m not the fastest writer. Working full time makes it tough to get days where I can sit down and write. I also have a big issue with my hands/fingers holding up with that much typing. I didn’t win out in the joint genetic lotto. This past week I’ve been on a mission, trying to prove to myself that I can do this. I’ve got about 25,000 words written for book 3 in one week. Normally, on a good week, I’d write about half that. My hands and wrists aren’t especially happy about the process. Frankly, it pisses me off. The mind is willing, the body not so much. I’d hoped to get book one published by the end of winter/first of spring. Now it looks like maybe summer at the earliest.

Not much else for now. I titled Fen Fen’s picture as all dressed up with nowhere to go because I bet that’s how a lot of us felt over the holidays. Fingers crossed that next year will be better and that we’ll get to mingle with our friends and family from closer than six feet and without the lovely addition of a mask. We’ll get there. I’m not exactly sure when, but we will. I’ll keep repeating that to myself until I believe it.

As always, take care and stay sane. For those of you visiting from the fanfiction world, I’ve almost got all of “Intervention, Thy Name is Bakusen’O” up on AO3. When it’s done, I’ll start work on transferring another Inuyasha/Sesshomaru story over.

MJ May

Handsome Newton

Hello everyone – long time, no post. With Facilitate Your User completely posted, I haven’t been updating anything weekly. I wish I had a new story to post, but sadly that is not the case. Today’s picture is of Newton. I put this picture as the wallpaper on my phone recently and it cropped it nicely. Newton really loves sitting in this window. The red in the background is the japanese maple outside. All the leaves were gone less than two days later. This was sort of that “last hoorah” for foliage and flowers.

On the writing front, I sent my Reaping Covetous manuscript to the editor yesterday for its first round. I believe this one is a content editing. This is my first time through all of this so I’m not entirely certain what all that entails but think it is probably self explanatory. The editor has 3 weeks to return it and then I look over her suggestions, change what I want and send it back for a line editing. Again, the editor has 3 weeks to return it to me and same process again. It goes for a third and final time. After that I need to get a different person to proofread it. I still need to look into getting a book cover, downloading the formatting software and how to get it uploaded to book selling sites. Sigh . . . still lots to do and I’m assuming a big learning curve as well. My hope (fingers silently crossed) is that I can get the first book out at the end of winter or early spring of 2021. The second book is already basically written and I have a January date for it to go out for its first editing process. So much to do . . . well, you know the rest of the saying.

On the veterinary front, we have still been very busy. Last week I euthanized the second police dog of my eighteen year career. This time around, I knew a little more what to expect, but they are still emotionally draining. For those of you whom don’t know, police dogs are considered officers and when one of them is euthanized, it’s a very big deal. The dog’s arrive with a police escort – lights flashing and usually at least 10 cars long. Our parking lot is packed with policeman in their dress blues. When the dog has passed, they gather in the room, drape an American flag over the dog and carry them out. Then they leave in the same caravan, lights flashing on their way to the funeral home for cremation of their fallen canine officer. I’ve seen a lot of men cry in my career. I don’t know why, and I don’t want for this to sound sexist, but it is almost always more difficult, seeing men verses women cry. I always tell them it’s okay. That if there is anyone they can cry around regarding the loss of their pet, it’s me. Seeing normally rock steady police officers with tears running down their faces is difficult. I cried right along with them and when they left, the clinic was silent as a tomb, all of us standing by the windows as the caravan passed us by.

Sometimes, life is hard. Right now it’s harder than ever. Even the things that are supposed to bring us joy. The holidays that are supposed to be events we look forward too, are more stressful than usual. Should you gather or shouldn’t you. And if you do, how can you keep everyone as safe as possible. This year, I had Thanksgiving at my house. My older Aunt and Uncle decided not to come and I totally understood. My sister, her husband, their two kids and my mom and dad came over. My parents see my sister, brother-in-law and my niece and nephew almost daily so I kind of think of the six of them as “one unit”. Everyone wore masks when we couldn’t be separated. I ate at a different end of the kitchen than them and then we played a rousing game of Trivial Pursuit. It’s a good game for social distancing as I stayed on one end of the living room and they all stayed on the other. After they left, I went through the house spraying everything down with Lysol. We tried to be as safe as possible while still trying to enjoy each others company. Not sure if we were right or wrong, but that was our compromise this Thanksgiving. I’m guessing we’ll do something similar for Christmas but I suppose time will tell.

On that note, I’ll sign off. As always, I’m wishing you all well. Stay healthy – both physically and mentally. Hopefully a vaccine is on the way. We all have to dig in and hold on for the next few months. It’ll be a long winter, but we can do it!

MJ May

Epilogue of Facilitate Your User Posted

Happy post election everyone! Do all of you feel as hung over as me, without the benefit of the alcoholic high? I finally slept well for the first time in about six days. It’s been a rough ride and I have no illusions the next couple of months aren’t going to be a complete and total shit show, but for now at least, I’m trying to take a deep breath while I can.

I posted the epilogue of Facilitate Your User. It wraps things up and also hints at a future series. I have a difficult time writing a single story without looking further into the characters’ lives and wanting to continue them. When I write, I think in series. With that said, I do think this one wraps up well enough to end here. I have not started a second book and am not sure if I will or not. I suppose it depends on how my future as a writer does, or does not go. Right now I am concentrated on getting my Reaping Covetous series off the ground. The first book goes to the editor at the end of November and I am really hoping to get it out there late winter/early spring. More to come on that front (hopefully).

Today’s picture is regarding the “leaf situation” at my house. A week ago we had a day of wind, wind and more wind. Halloween night, my drive and steps were clear. By the end of the following day, it looked like this. I couldn’t even see the bottom half of the steps leading up to the house and at some points, the leaves were about knee high (and I’m around 5’8”). It was a lot. It also provided a somewhat cathartic physical outlet post election day. I generally have Wednesday’s off from work and this past week was no different. Not wanting to even venture anywhere near the television, I spent a better chunk of the day raking and bagging leaves. My car barely fits in the garage right now, the walls lined with bags of leaves. I’ll put them out on the curb for pick up this week. It was a lot of work, but the weather was nice and it was good to get me out of the house and my mind away from the worry of our country’s future.

As tapped out as my brain is, I don’t think I have much more to say today. I’m also not sure if I will continue to post and update weekly or maybe every 2 weeks or so. Currently I don’t have another story to start posting but I’ll still try and keep up with the blog for those interested. I really hope those of you reading Facilitate Your User have enjoyed it. I like Keylee and Paul and hope to revisit their futures soon (always a relative term). I love sharing my characters with people. Always feel free to drop me a review/comment. I like hearing from you.

As always, please take care – body and soul. Take a deep breath, eat something you love and don’t feel guilty about it, pet your furry friends and take a minute to enjoy the sun on your face.

Thank you for reading.

MJ May

Chapter Twenty-Four of Facilitate Your User Posted

Happy Halloween everyone! I’m posting a little earlier than usual, mostly because I’m trying to get back into the routine of writing and wanted to have ample time tomorrow morning to do that. I just posted the final normal chapter of Facilitate Your User. There is still a small epilogue which I’ll post next week. More sexy times are ahead for Paul and Keylee, so be warned.

Today’s photo is courtesy of my new tile, with a healthy dose of Newton on the side. I had this past week off and it was a sort of working, staycation. I did get all the rooms painted, furniture shifted, moved and put back. The pictures were taken down and rehung. My body came out of the whole thing fairly unscathed. I few new bruises here and there, including one above my left eye where a few inches more ventral and medially would have been a hell of a lot more serious (got to watch our for those pesky table legs when they are turned upside down and laying on top of the bed). All in all things went okay. There were a few glitches but nothing that derailed the whole project. Mostly it was exhausting in the anxiety inducing way. I like the end product and evidently Newton likes the tile, or at least he likes laying on it.

I was off work, but it didn’t feel like it. Monday and Tuesday I took Fennik into the clinic so he would be out of the house. This meant dealing with messages on my desk and trying to triage a couple of things here and there. I also went in Monday night to euthanize a long time patient that had suddenly decompensated. I didn’t have to do it, but I wanted to. That might sound strange to some, but I think most veterinarians would understand. I spent a lot of time with both the dog and her owners and I felt like it was the last kindness I could do for them. It was heartbreaking but very needed.

The city I live in is still having trick or treat tonight. I usually have several and this year I made sure to go on-line to check out the recommended guidelines. I did what they recommended and packaged up my individually wrapped candies in little plastic baggies and set them down on a fold out table at the base of the steps leading up to my house. I left a note for the trick or treaters, placed a pumpkin and candle illuminated cat light on the table as well. It wasn’t an enormous amount of work, but there was some effort put into it. Sadly, at this point I don’t know that there have been any trick or treaters out. Sigh. I understand if they don’t venture out this year, but I was really hoping for some and tried to make things as safe as possible.

On a final note, I’m back to work this week, but more importantly, it’s election week. I did early voting this past week. I waited in line for about an hour and forty five minutes. Not as long as a lot of people, I know. I have huge anxiety for the coming week and the ones after. I really don’t know what to expect. I know who I want to win and who I fear will win. I also know that I fear the result of either outcome. The tinderbox is set and ready to be lit and there is more than one individual ready to flick their Bic.

As always, I hope you are all staying well. Be safe out there and try and keep your cool, no matter which way things go. I probably should have purchased some alcohol based products while I was at the grocery this morning. I have a sneaking suspicion I’m going to be in need of some self medicating this week.

MJ May

Chapter Twenty-Three of Facilitate Your User Posted

Chapter twenty-three is sweet, but also a return to sexy times – be warned! Facilitate Your User is wrapping up. There is one more normal chapter to post and then a quick epilogue. I hope you’ve been enjoying the story thus far and continue to read until the end.

Today is another Halloween decor photo of my house. The nighttime photos of the blinking “critter eye lights” didn’t turn out well. I was kind of bummed about that as I think in person, they look great. I took some video of them but am really not sure how to post that on here so for now that will have to remain absent. FYI, the metal pumpkins in this picture do light up. Once again, thanks go to my dad on that one. Yes, Kathy, he is one talented fella.

I’m in painting mode the next couple of days. I posted last week that I’m repainting the 3 bedrooms (one of which is more the computer/cat room). I’ve only got one done. Today I’ll do the second and tomorrow the third. I sincerely hope my body holds up for this painting marathon. Only one way to find out and that’s to get on with it. Thankfully I have this week off work. It feels weird. I hardly ever take time off and rarer still, a whole week. It’s a staycation and a working one at that. Still, it’s good to get some time off. I worked yesterday so you’d think the routine would be normal but my brain is already discombobulated. I’m partially blaming the fact my bedroom is a strange mess with everything scooted to the center of the room.

Painting with pets (that sounds like a PBS show) is difficult. They want to be where the action is, in this case, that action would be me with a paint roller. And it seems they also want to become a part of the action too. I really thought I did a good job yesterday keeping them out of the paint (I primed the walls in my bedroom). Well, in the light of the following day, that certainly is not true. Fen Fen is sporting some rather impressive white patches where he should be a ruddy tan and Newton has a similar patch on what should be a brown tail. So far it looks like Coperinicus is the only paint free critter.

I suppose if that’s the worst that comes of my painting fiasco then I should count my blessings. Fen Fen gets groomed this week so hopefully they can work some magic there. Dog grooming – now there is a physically demanding job. I don’t envy them one iota but am very grateful for all they do.

That’s all for today. I hope you have a safe and candy/trick or treater filled Halloween. In these fun filled COVID times, I’m not sure what all the rules for trick or treating are in different parts of the country. Come to think of it, this year I’m actually not sure what the rules are for where I live. Hmmm . . . that seems like something I should get on. I did buy candy so I’m prepared for whatever eventuality.

Be well, my friends and wish me luck painting!

MJ May

Chapter Twenty-Two of Facilitate Your User Posted

Happy almost Halloween everyone! Ready for Paul’s User exam? I hope so because this chapter is it!

Today’s picture is of my own personal skeleton crew. My dad cut these out, painted them and surprised me with them a few years ago. Bless his heart, he was so proud of them and excited because he painted them with a type of paint that was supposed to glow in the dark. It sort of did, but not enough that you could really tell. Despite his disappointment about the lack of glow, I really like them and they’ve been a Halloween decor staple for the past few years.

I started repainting the bedrooms in my house yesterday. I wrote in an earlier post that I’m getting new carpet for most of the house and new tile in the foyer. I am actually taking a whole week off work the last week of October and this is when the new flooring is supposed to be going in. I’m trying to repaint the bedrooms before that time. I have learned (the very hard, frustrating and making more work for yourself way) that doing test samples of paint on the wall, while irritating, pays off in the end. Because of that, I have all sorts of colorful (and not so colorful) patches of paint going on in now 2/3 rooms. It was 3/3 but I got the computer/cat room painted yesterday. I have to say, right now, I’m pleased with the color. It is a small room and I went pretty dark, but I like it kind of moody in here. It’s where I write and spend a lot of my time.

I was more than a little afraid of how my body would hold up painting (I’ve got bone spurs in both shoulders) but am happy to say that I’m feeling A-okay this am after yesterday’s marathon room painting. I am hoping that is a good sign for the other two rooms.

I am anxiously awaiting the new flooring going in. Like many other areas of the US, we are having a spike in the number of COVID cases in my area. Friday we had 2 clients call and cancel their appointments because they were ill with a fever. A clinic just a few miles from us has been closed for the last week and a half due to a COVID illness. Currently we are still allowing clients into the building – only two per pet and they must be masked, but I have a feeling that is going to change sometime in the near future and we will be back to only curbside. Selfishly, I hope all the flooring folks stay well and can get my job done. I also hope I can stay well and don’t have to cancel on them.

As a somewhat worrisome aside, one of the clients that canceled is a neighbor of mine and she’s also a nurse. I am always wishing our healthcare workers the very best. My sister is a RN and she works on the critical care floor of one of the major hospital’s in our state capitol. I worry about her as she is diabetic and also a smoker. It is an ongoing battle, trying to keep the mind and body healthy. I’m glad I have a socially distant, safe option for trying to keep my mind occupied – writing. Although, I haven’t been getting as much of that done as I’d like given how busy I’ve been. Hopefully I can get back to it soon.

Until next week, stay sane and remember to vote! Currently I’m planning to do early voting during the week I have off. Fingers crossed that plan doesn’t need to change.

MJ May

Chapter Twenty-One of Use Your Facilitator Posted

Good morning everyone (again, morning where I currently am). I just posted the next chapter of Facilitate Your User. It’s interesting how characters change as you get deeper into a story. When I first started writing Maxwell Haines, I wasn’t sure I liked him. By the end, he was one of my favorites. I hope you think so too.

Today’s picture is a throwback. This is Fennik as a puppy. My guess is I’d had him maybe a week when this picture was taken. It’s an interesting picture to me because this was one of the only times he used his dog bed as it was intended. It didn’t take the little fella long before he began dragging it around the house, humping it. He’s neutered now, but he still “enjoys” this activity. Sometimes I feel kind of bad that I neutered him as I think he would have made a great doggie gigolo.

On a little darker note, today’s blog post is about euthanasia. As a veterinarian, this is part of my job. Euthanasia is never something any veterinarian enjoys, but I’d venture to say that most of us truly believe we are relieving pain and suffering. I’ve been asked before how I feel about it and how I can put an animal down. After eighteen years as a vet, my answer has become pretty standard – I don’t feel bad about 90% of them. It’s that other 10% that keep me awake at night. It’s the one’s that have to be euthanized because of behavior problems (aggression, inappropriate urination, or something else that makes them difficult or impossible to re-home).

And then there’s the decision of when to euthanize. Two weeks ago, in the same day, I had two extremes of the situation. One client who I thought waited far too long and another who jumped to euthanasia way too quickly (at least in my opinion). Both of these clients had very different view points on death and quality of life and each would have been horrified by the other’s decision. As I’ve said in an earlier post, if this job has taught me anything, love means something unique and slightly different to every individual. How people view life and death and their role as caretaker of a pet is also very different. Like most things in life, most people fall somewhere in the middle, a position most of us can easily relate to. Other’s are the outliers, the one’s the majority of us look at and sort of shake our heads at.

Seeing the other person’s perspective is difficult, especially when you hold a life in your hands. That day was difficult for me and I felt guilty about both euthanasias for totally opposite reasons. I could have said no to the one I thought was occurring too soon, but in this case, there were extenuating circumstances and I understood her reasons. Would I have made the same choice in her shoes? I’m not sure.

At the end of the day, euthanasias are hard, and that is the way they should be. Deciding to euthanize your pet should be one the most difficult decisions you make, otherwise you never should have had them. It’s hard for a reason. It’s hard because pets mean the world to us. It’s hard because we love them. It’s hard because their loss leaves a gaping hole that is almost impossible to fill. It’s the price we pay. Most of the time, I think the price is worth the years of joy they bring us. And that is what I try and remind myself on the days where I have not one, not two, but multiple euthanasias I have to perform. And there are days like that, though thankfully, they are few.

Sorry if this post was sad or made you uncomfortable. In a way, I meant it as comfort for those of you struggling with an ailing pet. Know that you are not alone. I’ve lost three beloved pets. I euthanized all of them myself and I cried like a lost child during each and every one. I cried for days after and in the case of my first Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, Georgia, I still have days when I cry. But then Fennik was born and came to live with me. He’ll never replace Georgia, but he brings a lot of joy, silliness and stupidity to my life. Just like good pets are supposed to.

Until next week, hug, pet, kiss the ones you love (unless they’re human and you suspect them of having COVID!). Stay well and sane. For me, that recipe typically has four legs and a lot of fur 🙂

MJ May

Chapter Twenty of Facilitate Your User Posted

Happy October everyone. I just posted chapter twenty of Facilitate Your User. There are more sexy times ahead in this chapter so be warned. Sorry, but I think this chapter is a little shorter. I had a hard time deciding where to split this one and the next and opted to make this one a tad shorter.

Today’s picture is of Copernicus. This was a little weird because I’ve never seen him lay on the arm of the couch like that before. I snapped a shot and thought it showed him off fairly well and opted to make it today’s picture post. I did take a couple of pictures of the Halloween decoration shenanigans from last Sunday. They didn’t come out the best though. I’m certainly no photographer and not sure how to take better nighttime pictures. I’ll put something up around the 31st, even if it isn’t all that spectacular. I do think the lights came out well. The logistics of all the extension cords wasn’t pleasant, but I had enough (barely) and didn’t have to make a frantic store run.

It’s election year in the good old USA. I would imagine every state in the union is currently being bombarded by political commercials – both good and mostly bad. I have to say, I normally mute them or switch the station when they come on. It’s nauseating and I hate it. But you know what I’d hate more? Not being able to vote. Democracy is a messy beast and right now it is down right vicious. I hate all the hate that seems to permeate not only the US, but the world at large. Most of the time I feel helpless and I know that that’s how a lot of people feel. We feel like we don’t matter, that one vote can’t change much. Or at least that’s how I feel, especially living in a state who’s general population is far more conservative than me. Regardless, I will be at the voting polls come the first Tuesday in November.

I’ve spoken to a lot of family and friends who don’t plan to vote – many of them women, and it makes me sad. Our female ancestors fought long and hard to get us the vote, and I, for one, am very grateful. The other day I did a quick search regarding women suffrage and was shocked. I’m embarrassed to say I didn’t know much (still don’t) but reading some of the reasons why mostly men, but some women too, didn’t believe women should have the right to vote was down right nauseating. If you’ve never looked into it, I encourage you to do so. The reasons are so WTF that all I could do was scratch my head while trying to pick my jaw up off the floor.

More to the point though, it made me think about all the other issues people currently bicker over. All the arguments and reasons given why something is a poor idea, why it will undermine society or poison the minds of our children. Amazingly enough, those same arguments have been used throughout history, including a woman’s right to vote. And you know what, the sun didn’t fall from the sky, the rivers didn’t run red with blood and the seasons still came and went. History has shown that nations whom allow women to participate in government are more stable and prosperous. Imagine what history will show in the future when things that are considered taboo now are the norm in a hundred or so years.

As I said earlier, I would encourage any of you who are interested to look into the history of the fight for women’s suffrage. Both the good and bad. There is a lot to be proud of there, and some things that disappoint, but at the end of the day, the point, my fellow ladies, is that voting is important. Individually, a single vote may not amount to much, but added together, they can make all the difference in the world. Your voice matters, your dreams matter, and most of all, your vote matters.

I’ll hop off my voting soapbox now. As always, I hope you are all safe and well. Remember to take care of your mind as much as you care for you body. The two are not mutually exclusive.

MJ May

Chapter Nineteen of Facilitate Your User Posted

Good morning everyone. Well, at least it’s morning here. I just posted the next chapter of Facilitate Your User. As a big FYI, this chapter does get into the naughtier bits and earns its eighteen and older warning label. Please, if descriptions of m/m intimacy offends you or makes you uncomfortable, then do not read this chapter, and for that matter, you probably don’t want to read the rest of the story.

Okay, warnings aside, if any of you are wondering what on earth today’s picture is of, then let me explain. Some of you may have seen something called a “cat cave” advertised on Facebook and other social media sites. Well, I sort of “caved” and ordered a cat cave. I got it in a couple of weeks ago. The cat cave is supposed to be a bed of sorts, something cats like to crawl into and sleep within. My cats have crawled in, but I wouldn’t say they’ve really slept in it. As for this photo . . . I do not believe this is exactly how the cat cave is supposed to function. The cats are supposed to get their whole body inside, but Newton either thought that was too much effort or he liked having his butt hanging out. Either way, last weekend, late at night I was sitting on the couch reading. I looked up to find . . . this. Newton had gotten himself half way in and fallen asleep. I couldn’t stop laughing. I’m still not sure if it was truly as funny as I found it or if maybe my brain just needed a good chuckle. Regardless, I found it funny and hope you do too. Personally, I think it looks like he has a big, blue mushroom stuck on his head.

This is a busy-ish weekend for me. I worked this weekend and since rain seems to be a notion only found in fantasies, dreams and genie wishes right now, I had to water the garden again yesterday which took a little less than 3 hours. Today will be spent decorating the outside of the house for Halloween. I’m really not into the gory bits of Halloween, but I love the lights and enjoy decorating for this holiday far more than Christmas. Part of that most likely has to do with the weather. It is supposed to be in the mid 70’s here today and I damn well guarantee you it won’t be even close to that warm come late November/December. Trying to figure out the technical logistics for things (mainly all the extension cords) takes more than a bit of time. This year will be a little worse because I’ve got to figure out a whole bunch of little lights boxes my dad made for me.

You see, my house is built up on a small hill with the driveway cut into the hill, leading into the garage and basement which are at ground level. The point of this is that I have boulders and plantings throughout as the retaining walls (thus why it takes nearly 3 hours to water things). Last year I got the idea that it would look creepy to have blinking “critter” eyes peeking out from in between the rocks. My dad is super crafty and I gave the idea to him to run with. His solution was to make little wooden boxes with the eyes cut out and to put a light inside. In true dad fashion, he’s weather proofed these boxes, added blinking lights, and somehow electrically spliced the them together so several run off the same cord. I’m excited to see how this pans out. If it looks good and I can get a decent photo, I’ll use it as one of my blog posts.

That’s probably all for today. Before I go, I want to say I’m kind of obsessed with a show on the Travel Channel called, “The Osborne’s Want to Believe”. For those of you who liked the Osborne’s when it was on MTV (that was many a year ago and makes me feel old realizing how old I was when the show was on), then you’ll probably like this. Jack shows Ozzy and Sharon video clips of paranormal/unexplained phenomena and asks them to rank it on a scale deemed the, “Woogie Boogie Scale”. As usual, the typical Osborne antics ensue. It’s a strange mix of creepy/disturbing videos and comedy (provided by Ozzy and Sharon’s responses). I think the reason I like it too is that beyond all the bickering and nitpicking, I always get a sense of underlying love. I am also always amazed at how sane Jack Osborne sounds. See all you mom’s and dad’s out there, there is always hope for your kids 🙂

Until next time, stay safe and sane. For those of you celebrating Halloween – happy decorating.

MJ May