I have three things I wanted to do tonight. This update is one of them; I need to work on a column (this one is challenging!) and I need to study for A+ certification, for which I am woefully behind.

Instead, I'm tracking overcharged from priceline at the hotel, and playing SongPop on facebook while I'm catching up with the AV Club on the Onion.

Not sure where I lost my focus, but it's gone somewhere.

My friend Doug called me from the 72 Film Fest tonight; he's lucky enough to live in the town where it is happening. Even though the rules for the contest said that scripts couldn't be re-written - they've been rewritten. My film is no longer set in the 80s, and the heroine is now a white woman (eh, it was a student team, so they were working with what they had. Still, I'm a little disappointed.) And apparently- they didn't film the real ending to my script; they just stopped at the credits! So, that should be interesting to see. It's possible they ran out of time. Doug played a part in one of the films, as well as writing a script, and he said the director completely re-wrote the script they choose to do - turning it into a zombie film.

However, the good news is that all three films, the one I wrote; the one Doug wrote; and the one he acted in, went on to the final round! They'll all be shown again tomorrow night, and the winners will be announced.

Really though, when it all comes down to it, no matter what changes they made, a short film has been created from a script I wrote. Yeah, it's a small thing (compared to writing a top-20 song in Germany, for instance) but it's very much a cool thing!

I finished the work on the outside of the house last weekend. Fall is definitely here, and I'm glad to be done. This weekend, I'll also be finishing the furniture store job, as they've closed to complete their move to the new location so they can open on Monday. I'll be getting their entire network ready to go in two days. Sounds impressive, but it's only a total of four computers! Still, it is work, and I like doing it. Plus, I'm hoping to trade one of the hours of my time for the use of one of their trucks to haul all the old skirting I replaced on the house to the dump.

Barter is a wonderful thing.

We had a slight scare at the office this week. I was sitting at my desk when I noticed a foul stench in the air; a burning smell. I had recently used the toaster oven, so I got up to check to see if I had accidentally left it on. When I looked behind me in the office, the air was full of smoke. The toaster oven was off, so we called 911, and the firemen came to check things out. Turns out a ballast in one of our fluorescent overhead lights overheated. Luckily, we got it in time before it set anything on fire. It was very hot, and had scorched the ceiling tiles. We all felt a little silly, but i did get to hang out with some adorable firemen, including my favorite.

I tried to hold it in; I really did. Sometimes, I forget that there are people around me who aren't used to my particular style of humor. But when one of the fireman set up a large fan at the office door and yelled down to the chief to ask if he wanted him to suck or blow, and the chief yelled back "I want you to suck!" there was a moment of silence, just waiting to be filled ...

I looked at the fire chief, cocked an eyebrow and said, "We'll keep that ... off the record."

He actually blushed a little, and the other firemen laughed at him. And then I said, "I've seen some movies that started out that way, you know." That one shocked them a little, lol. The chief just shook his head and said, "Oh, tim."

An exciting time. I was useless for the rest of the day. *sigh* Luckily, I'd already gotten most of my work out of the way- I put together an entire 8 page special supplement tab by myself, and made about 20 extra ads for breast cancer awareness. It was a busy week.

Next weekend, Andy and I are making a quick jaunt to Albuquerque for his brother and sister-in-law's halloween party. I know moving there will be discussed; Andy really has is heart set on moving by the end of the year. I still don't know if it will happen. I want it too, but the idea scares me as well. Still, it will be a lot like the move I made 10 years ago that brought me to Wyoming. Maybe I need a little excitement in my life again. But the medical bills have piled up again, a little. I'll pay them off, but it will take the next couple of months to do so. My insurance covered all but $300 of the cost of getting set up with the CPAP, luckily- the sleep study cost $750, the CPAP is being rented for $133 monthly; the humidifier attachment cost $400; the full face mask was $255; the headgear was $50; the tubing was $50; and the filters were $60. The total was $1,493.47, and insurance paid $1,194.79.

Thank you, Obamacare! Still, that leaves me the $300 to pay, plus I have a dental bill of $75 to pay, and this week I'm getting two fillings done, so that will be even more to pay.

I started using the CPAP on September 27th, so it has been nearly a month. No one has contacted me yet about the supplies I need for the CPAP; the mask's cushions are supposed to be changed monthly. I wonder if that's why I've been having so much trouble with the mask lately? It really isn't holding a seal at all, no matter what I try. I'm also very interested to find out what the results are from the collected data for the month. I feel I am sleeping better and getting more rested, but I don't feel as though I'm getting the best sleep I can yet, and I hope that can be achieved.

My vet, Jewel, closed her practice recently. She broke a bone in her wrist, and won't be able to to anything with her hand for at least six months, if not longer. Which makes it hard to care for animals. She said she might open again someday, but for now, she's closing. It makes me a little sad. But she had talked in the past about closing down due to health issues, and I always kind of felt that she was holding on just to care for him.

Yes, sometimes I think the world revolves around me. I'm going to miss drawing eyebrows on Ike for halloween this year.

I've also been heavily promoting the

Amazing Acro-Cats and Rock-Cats Purr-fect Tour Bus

kickstarter. The woman rescues cats, and trains them using clickers and positive reinforcement, then she tours with her act of cats to promote rescue cats and proper training methods. She's helped 98 cats find homes this way, and the whole idea of it just melts my stupid heart.

I'm not sure why I've taken this one to heart so closely. Like I said on Facebook, "I've almost always gotten along better with animals than I have people. I also don't have children of my own, and most likely never will- just as well, I don't get along well with them, either. I guess what I'm saying is that I want so badly to see this project succeed because I would like all pets to have a home. They're very close - but they need to raise an additional $4,000 in 8 days.'

And they are close- she needs $28,000 to make it happen, and the pledges are just shy of $24,000, with eight days to go. I just increased my own pledge by another $20.

I wish there was an easy way to share all of the projects I'm backing. Another one that I'm backing is

Send Grandma to Poland!

She's raising $9,000 to go to Poland wit some art of hers that was chosen for an exhibit there. And she's 80! It's wonderful.

She has 38 days left to make her goal of $9,000, and I think she'll make it- she's at just over $6k now. I made a small pledge, and she sent me the nicest thank you email. I felt like she would have given me cookies, if I had been there. Her quilts are absolutely gorgeous, too.

Plus, if her goal is reached, she's going to do something extra nice:

"If my funding goal is reached, I hope to celebrate with all my backers and Kickstarter staff with a party at my Soho/Greenwich Village apartment (with spectacular views of the New York skyline)....expect an invitation for February if all goes well!"

What a lady!

(My addiction to kickstarter is not helping me save money, lol.)

I think that is it for this week. There may not be an update next week, as I am on vacation, so I'll see you again in two weeks!

ETA: Here you can listen to a NPR report on another project I backed, the Tesla Museum.