Who Are They And Where Do They Go?

            I never really notice just how many people there are in the world until I take the time to pay attention to how many cars are on the road at any given time of the day. How does it tell me more than seeing a group of people? Because it points out how many people there are who don’t fit into an “ordinary” routine.

            To clarify, by “ordinary” I mean the typical 9-5 job that most people are assumed to have, although I've realized that assumption is very flawed. Being self-employed, I am often running my errands at the oddest of times. And no matter when I'm driving, the road is always filled with cars.

            It got me wondering – who are all these people? Where are they going and where are they coming from? Why aren't they at their 9-5 job at 2 in the afternoon?

            Naturally, it makes sense for some of the people to be there. Some are running errands for work, some (such as delivery and taxi drivers) are working, some are unemployed or self-employed with less strict schedules. Some work night shifts, others work evening shifts, so that time of day is the right time for them to be out and about.

            But there are so many! It is mind-boggling, at least to me, that the roads can be filled all day long. How can there possibly be so many people with so many places to go that there is always so much traffic?

            Sadly, it is one of the things I doubt I’ll ever know.

Click here to find the charity anthology containing a couple of my short stories.

If there's any subject you'd like to see me ramble on about, feel free to leave a comment asking me to do so.

Heat Wave

            I don’t know about the rest of you, but we just had a terrible heat wave over the last week. Luckily I didn't have to deal with the heat itself all that much, but it did get in the way of the usual running of life.

            Colleen and I had just started getting into our new routine – we actually had a work schedule set up for ourselves and it was already improving our productivity – when this smouldering heat comes along, intent on hanging about all week. It came along and spoiled everything.

            See, our home is set up like this: we have one room downstairs which serves as dining room, living room and kitchen, while upstairs we have our bedroom, workroom and bathroom. Only the downstairs is air-conditioned.

            To further this, our workroom contains a lot of electronics which produce heat, particularly when they’re being use. While we make chainmaille, we always have a movie or show playing because – let’s face it – no matter how much patience you have, if you’re making as much chainmaille as we do, you need something else going on to keep your brain from melting.

            So, we had two choices: work upstairs in the sweltering heat, adding more heat to the point where it would be impossible to sleep at night, or move downstairs while lowering productivity. Unsurprisingly, we chose the latter.

            But we’re nothing if not adaptable. I often read to Colleen while she’s doing various chores or tasks, so that’s what much of the days went to for me. We finished Take a Thief (Mercedes Lackey), went through the whole of Homeland and most of Exile (R.A. Salvatore). Meanwhile, extra housework got done, a little chainmaille was completed and, while I wasn't reading, a lot more writing work got done than usual.

            Finally a thunderstorm came along and broke the heat. Usually “it never rains but it pours” is a negative saying, but in this case it was delightful. Now we can get back to work as usual. Although, I must admit – as sore as my throat has gotten at times, I'm going to miss reading so much.

Click here to find the charity anthology containing a couple of my short stories.

If there's any subject you'd like to see me ramble on about, feel free to leave a comment asking me to do so.