The Week to Come

 It is going to be a busy week. Monday (today), I am picking up a new Buick Envista. It is identical to the one I have now, except white this time. What happened to the old one? I'm selling it to Max's girlfriend (way under market value). She has been driving it for two weeks anyway. 

Max's mother is handling the financing. I told them I would sell them the car for $18,000, but I am not floating the loan. It is a good deal for them. Now, they will both have cars that should last them way past the point when they pay them off.

Tuesday, Al is coming over. Yes, this is a surprise to me too. She reached out to me last week out of the blue and wanted to get together. I'd seen Al at the club a few times when I was hanging out with Violet, but we hadn't done much but exchange a few pleasant words.

I'm not sure if this will be a one-time thing or something consistent. Given Al's track record I don't expect it to last very long. Still, you don't turn down an opportunity that is handed to you. Besides, I need this. I haven't been with anyone since Gia left.

Wednesday, I meet up with Ariel for a writing discussion on Zoom.

Thursday, I have a writers' workshop online. We will be discussing my short story called Just for the Summer.

Friday, is free so far. 

Saturday, I am going to a writers' conference at Oakland University with Ariel. My first in-person conference.

I have been writing. I'm working on expanding my story, The Eiffel Tower is in Cincinnati, to the length of a novel. It has not been easy. I never conceived of the story as a full-length novel. I've been writing additional scenes and working on a second timeline story to weave together. The work is very piecemeal. I am still not sure which scenes to keep and how it will all weave together. Nor am I sure if I can make it into the length I will need. 

Everyone says just keep writing. I don't want to lose what made the story work in the process though. I can't wait for the end of the year. I have twenty-one days of vacation coming up in December. I'm looking forward to the extended break.

 

Fall Updates

I resigned from the condo association board this month. The president was pushing for more involvement. I didn’t enjoy the amount of involvement I already had. That hasn’t stopped him from calling and asking for financial advice for the association. I don’t mind that so much.

I haven’t been getting out much. I’m busy with work and writing. Plus, to be honest, I don’t feel like getting out and socializing with friends. It’s not a depressive funk. I just don’t really enjoy people. I get enough social interaction at work.

Sometimes I let those statistics about men who live alone dying sooner than men who live with someone else get into my head. But I don’t recognize my life in the picture people draw of living alone. They usually assume it must be lonely or less joyful. I don’t experience it that way. Frankly, I would find my own life odd and meaningless without focused goals outside of work.

Max's Ford Fusion needs a new transmission. The cost is more than the car is worth. He borrowed the truck for two weeks, but I suggest he use the Buick because the truck was probably costing him too much in gas (he drives two hours a day). I told him to let his girlfriend drive the Buick. He is too hard on vehicles, and I don't want to have the Buick trashed.

I told him they should buy a used Envista. They both put too many miles on a car to lease. Hopefully, he figures something out. I'd like my car back.

The Eiffel Tower is in Cincinnati

I started this story, I woke up with the opening line-- "There ain't no such thing as cane sugar," and a question: Who says that?  When I was finished, I had my answer and another question: Who is going to publish a story this long?

Luckily, I found my answer to both.

The Eiffel Tower is in Cincinnati has been published on The Write Launch. 

If you get the chance, please check it out.

Bland Update

 Two weeks ago, when I was writing about September plans, I was communicating regularly with Violet. Things were playful, and we were both looking forward to seeing each other. About a week ago, she went silent.

It seems out of character. I have several working theories as to why she hasn't replied to either of my last two texts, because I can't allow events to just happen without analyzing them.

At the top of my theories is that she couldn't pay her phone bill and it got cut off. This happened before. It was actually the case the day I rescued her at the muffler shop. That happened a month ago, so it lines up.

Add to that, her month doesn't have internet or a car, and Violet just started work, so money is tight.

I am aware that there are other possibilities. I've thought about them all, and though I am biased, I still think this one fits the best.

I'll be perfectly fine regardless of how things develop or don't develop. I have a five-day vacation coming up and a story being published online tomorrow. It would have been fun to see her, but I won't be devastated if I don't. Thursday is her payday. We'll see if she resurfaces.

The Weekend

I am all switched over to Xfinity. It took a lot more work than it should have.

I'm working with an editor on publishing a longer short story. She encouraged me to expand the middle with material I had left out due to length. It will be released online next week. She also felt I could expand it to a full novel. I don't think I will. I am thinking about expanding it to novella length, though.

Her comments were:

Although I read The Eiffel Tower...when I was considering stories for publication, this close read broke through the "deeper layer" of story and shifted into a verisimilitude that showed the depth of the relationship between and the development of the characters—who are no longer just characters but the reality of their lives in motion.

Personally, I think there is even more to this story as it is geared for novel action.

This is the best feedback I've gotten from an editor. 

I am really proud of this piece. 

I will drop the link to the story here on September 15th.

Lucy asked about Max in a comment. He is working on a framing crew working on custom homes. He seems to like his job. He came over on the weekend. Apparently, he hit a garbage can on a dirt road on the way home from work last week.

The can broke his passenger rear-view mirror. He was going to borrow the truck until I told him a passenger mirror was not required in Michigan. We took off the broken mirror. I suggested that he could find a same-color replacement online. I'll help him put it on if he does. I'm not sure if he wants to invest money in the car.

September Plans

 Violet is still in Indiana. I think she is still adjusting and trying to figure out what she wants. We text. I haven't offered up any suggestions. She'll figure out what she wants to do. 

She starts a cashier job this week at Kroger's. It's close to her mom's house. That's good. 

I'm taking some vacation time between our birthdays. Hers is the 27th; mine is the 18th. We are making plans for me to drive back down to see her.

Mammoth Caves is only two hours away from her. It would be nice to go there again. We are still working on the details.

Still, it gives me something to look forward to for my birthday. A day that just gets more depressing each year :).

AT&T Sucks

I switched my internet and wireless service from AT&T to Xfinity. I should save $960 the first year and about $600 a year for the remaining four years. Sounds worth the hassle, right?

Not so fast.

I tried to unlock my phone so I could move it to Xfinity.

“This account has a past-due balance.”

It doesn’t. I bought my phone outright in 2024 specifically so I could move it whenever I felt like it.

So far, I have gone to the AT&T store where I bought it—twice—and spoken with numerous AT&T agents by phone and online. At least two assured me the problem was fixed.

It wasn’t.

And don’t get me started on AT&T’s automated AI. It understands only basic commands and won’t let you speak to a human unless you lie to it or become more stubborn than the machine. The agents who can’t fix the problem either make another promise or send you back to a phone number answered by the same useless AI.

This has gone on for four days. I finally filed complaints with the FCC and AT&T Legal. To say I’m frustrated would be an understatement.

Now I’m left waiting for someone to fix it.

I’ve cooled off for the moment—enough to write this post and remember the good old days of customer support.

The following conversation probably wouldn’t happen today. But there was at least a human being on the other end of the phone.

Talk

Originally posted October 28, 2005 (excerpt)

By the time we got back to Jay’s house, it was already after 9:30 p.m. I called customer support to get the modem registered to his account. I got Alison, a friendly support person from Ottawa. I think she was new. She couldn’t get whatever she needed to do to work. She needed to call her manager over.

While we waited, I started reading her the Maxim magazine article I was flipping through, “100 Things You Need to Know About Women.”

Me: “Okay, here’s one. #34: The average woman owns eight bras and wears each one five times before washing.”

Alison: “That sounds about right, but I don’t know about the five times.”

Me: “#19: The more piercings she has, the more places she’ll let you put it.”

Alison: “I only have one piercing. What’s the next one?”

Me: “Okayyyy. #23: Every woman is self-conscious about her ass.”

Alison: “No comment.”

Me: “Oops, I think I hit a sensitive spot.”

Alison: “I didn’t say that.”

Me: “#16: Chicks aren’t afraid to get kinky; you just have to have the nerve to ask.”

Alison: “I can’t talk about that one—these conversations are recorded.”

Unfortunately, Jay’s cheap cell phone disconnected at that point. When I got customer service back on my phone, a guy took the call and hooked up internet access in minutes, but it wasn’t as fun.

Alison couldn’t fix the problem, but she was allowed to be a person. The next representative fixed it in minutes. Twenty-one years later, AT&T’s artificial intelligence has managed to eliminate both the conversation and the solution.