Boy, am I tired.

I’ve had book signings at Coldwater Creek, the AARP 50+ in New Orleans, the Thousand Springs Festival of the Arts on Ritter Island in Hagerman, Idaho, a gorgeous spot harboring a Mosquitosaurus rex whose bite caused one eye to swell shut for two days, and Barnes and Noble. I’ve been interviewed on TV for the second time. All while working at my day job.

I did pretty well at Thousand Springs. I sold both books at a discount, and wore shades to hide my grotesquely swollen face so the children wouldn’t scream and run away, thereby preventing their parents from buying my books. By Monday I was at least recognizable. People just said I looked tired. By Friday I just had a little red bump, which is what most people ever get in the first place. You couldn’t even see it on TV, which was my main concern.

I didn’t do so well at Barnes and Noble, though. They ordered in plenty of books this time because last year I sold out in an hour and fifteen minutes both times, and so there were still some left after four hours. It was really slow. Really really slow.Then I found out that it was Conference weekend. That’s a big Mormon event that takes people out of town or keeps them glued to their TVs for the duration. I should have known. There wasn’t much traffic on the streets either.The upside is that Barnes and Noble will now have to put my books on their shelves, at least until they all get bought.

I wish there were some way to get them to put them there on a regular basis. Guess I’m just not famous enough yet.

I’m blogging from work today because I’m on call and waiting around for frozen sections on a case that starts (starts!) at 4 pm, assuming it’s on time, which at that time of day would be a bloody miracle. By the time I get home tonight there will barely be time to eat and crash, let alone blog, check e-mail, look at Facebook, feed the cat, etc. I wish I could retire now, but I’m scared to let go of the regular paycheck. I’m scared to be one of those people who retire thinking their investments will allow them to live out their golden years in comfort, and then the economy takes a dump and it all goes away. 

Do you suppose that things will settle down after the election?

What if Romney gets elected and then we get a Democratic Congress that doesn’t let him do anything? How is that going to be an improvement over what we have now?

What if Medicare and Social Security go away?

Personally, I feel that dying with one’s boots on is way overrated.