Tag Archives: black cats

Skook WiP #104

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Merry Merry!

Christmas Eve is tomorrow. I’ll be out in the cold and rain (we got snow earlier in the week but none is predicted for this weekend) delivering mail. And presents! Even if the boxes in my truck clearly cat litter and dog food I’m going to assume that they are gifts for someone.

Postal carriers get Christmas Day off. We’ll open presents in the morning and then I’ll be helping Sarah cook and clean in preparation for guests.

Monday I’ll be back at work. I’m expecting the 26th to be as busy as any day before Christmas. I expect we’ll be continuing to start at 6 am until the New Year.

I’ve been getting up at my usual time to write. It’s a habit I want to maintain. I’ve gotten less actual writing done than I’d like but something is better than nothing.

I’ve gotten even less artwork done. The cat has decided that I need to play with him after work and he’s happy to walk on my drawing table until I do so. It’s hard to ink and shoo away a demanding feline at the same time.

I’m making plans for 2023. I’ll write about those next week. If my brain lets me.

Mugshots

This week’s process GIF harkens back to a simpler holiday – Halloween. Or perhaps just the general fall season. Whatever the case, these ladies know how to get around.

This design is available on:
A mug in my Zazzle store.
All sorts of schtuff in my Redbubble store.

That’s it for this week. If you celebrate Christmas, I hope yours is as merry and joyous as you need it to be. If you just have the day off, celebrate something!

Thank you for reading. See you in seven!

Skook WiP #55

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Two weeks into 2022.

Welcome to the latest Skook Works-in-Progress newwletter. I hope life is going well for you. If it’s not, have you asked for a redo?

These Days …

On Tuesday I filled out an application for a Managing Editor position at the major bookseller down in Portland. Sarah had been sent notice of the job via LinkedIn. The application period was ending on Wednesday and my initial thought was that that was not enough time for me to put together a resume and fill out an application. The job description emphasized a need to be able to make deadlines. So I thought, what the hell, let’s see if I can make this deadline. I had to work up a resume for the occasion. I thought I had one saved on my computer but, if so I labeled it in such a way that I can’t find it.

The pay is equivalent to the Post Office without requiring as much exercise. That’s a plus. The job is expected to be done remotely most of the time. That’s another plus. The job holder is expected to live in the Portland area. We live in the Seattle area. So we’d need to move. The likelihood that I’ll even get a rejection notice is pretty slim. I applied mostly for the practice of doing it. I’d be happy to keep delivering mail.

My body has other opinions.

I’ve been back at the USPS working what are supposed to be four hour (half day) shifts. I spend a couple of hours sorting and organizing mail and parcels for delivery on my route. Depending on the day and the carriers available I divide the route into three or four parts and I deliver one of those parts. My knee is still complaining about being used so I reserve the parts of the route that require the least amount of walking for myself. Some days I’m able to deliver my part in less than 2 hours. Most days I’ve gone slightly over.

As of this writing, I’m still waiting for Workman’s Comp to approve me getting an MRI. They want a diagnosis. They want to know why I’m not working all that annoying mandatory overtime. I’d like to know why my knee is on strike and what I can do to encourage it to be willing to put up with my abuse again. Workman’s comp wants to stop paying me to not work. I want to deliver my full route. (My customers want me to deliver my full route. They tell me. Some tell me in very colorful language.) You’d think that would be incentive for them to quickly approve the process. You’d think.

Mugshots

This week’s mug design is an example of thinking ahead. Perhaps too far ahead. I was thinking of Halloween when I drew this. Can you tell?

I do know quite a few people for whom Halloween isn’t simply a date on the calendar. It’s a state of mind. They’d be happy to see it celebrated all year. I’m guessing I made this design for them.

The mugs are available in my Zazzle store. The design is available on other schtuff in my Redbubble store.

Meow.

See you next week. Thank you for dropping by!