Do you know how many times a day you have to change your clothes, or rather layers of clothing, to properly moderate your body temperature while outside all day long on a nice March day in New Mexico? three? four? I’m not sure, I’m still figuring it out. In the morning and late evening, jeans and hoodie, with long sleeve shirt and t-shirt underneath, and still a blanket over my lap as I sit and write. Mid afternoon shorts and skin – for as long as my skin can handle the sun at least, then a t-shirt, or the long sleeve one if my arms are getting pink. And always this hat, I really like it- better than sunglasses with the brim all the way around to block the sun at all angles and no more raccoon eyes from the constant use of my googles.
I was eager to go on my walk this morning, kind of rushing towards it. I didn’t feel like I ‘had to go walk’, rather I wanted to go for walk! It was a cool morning in the tent and by nine am it was over forty outside and clear sunny sky. Yes, I tracked the walk on my phone and via APRS if you want to look up my track, yet I turned the normal point six eight mile loop into point eight. Off-road. Ha, after I followed one path to the waters edge, I wanted to see how close I could follow the shoreline around the lake.
Yesterday, I tried something new with my stretches and walk in the morning, nothing too special, just did my normal stuff with a wider stance. Maybe an extra six inches. I’ve always done one set of my mini squats (regular squats, I just can’t go all the way down) with a wider stance, yet yesterday I did everything that way. Then, I my walk, I kept going and did the whole lap almost lunging side to side as if I was walking lengthwise over a low stone wall, one foot on either side.
This force my center of balance to the center, which was good and it stretched the wholly heck out of my inner thighs, that was good also, I suppose, though it didn’t quite feel that way at the time, it wasn’t so bad, yet it felt like I’d climbed a mountain side ways. I would have fallen down a hundred times- or gone a hundred times slower if I hadn’t had my trek poles- those I’m starting to really like them as well.
Walking through the brush with them was great, feeling steady I could take long knee raising steps with my left leg. It wasn’t far along the loop when I found the stepping stone this morning and took a ten minute stepping break, rehearsing the routines from Jal. Usually the walk takes twenty to twenty five minute, this morning I wandered around for an hour. Stopping to take pictures, bending an looking a rocks, always wonders which critters make all these holes in the ground.
Relaxed for while, had lunch and did some work on this website – the opportunity to sponsor a post is now officially here. I haven’t even tested it yet, though I’m pretty confident I copy and pasted the API Key’s and etc, correctly. (And as to keep this new stream of writing income separate, I even setup a fresh Stripe and Chime account to host the activity.) Now the big question.. will someone push the button, pay a dollar (or more, up to them) to be able to suggest a topic for a me to write about?
I will write a post mostly likely based on your topic request on this website at jeromyalexander.com within two weeks of your donation, that is at least one word per dollar donated (and likely way more, you know me) up to the first five thousand.
The same topic for two different donation amounts may certainly bring about different levels of writing. Repeat donations on the same topic could bring a new piece, a revision or at least a re-visiting of the previous topic. You, the reader, may now influence some of the pages that will be published in the twenty twenty three book.
At this time there are one hundred sponsorship opportunities listed. Once sold, these opportunities may not be made available again (certainly not for this price!) This, my first paid writing venture could earn one hundred dollars (if the minimum donation for each opportunity) or maybe much more.
Your request may certainly come with a request for photo's or videos too (remember, it's going to be publicly posted, with you as the content sponsor.) Want a photo of sunset over a lake.. in Hawaii?? Maybe you want to sponsor a destination trip for me? Please be sure to keep your donation in line with travel expenses and we'll see what I can do.
Presuming you're a regular reader, you may even ear mark your funds if you would like. "Here's twenty to go buy a beer and shoot pool" and who knows what story I might come home and type. Lets see where this goes.
Well, I used to for everyone, yet by the end, I started with a quick reply per my hourly rates. I had to do the same thing with phone calls too. I found it odd how many people would value my opinion so much that they would call me and try to take it from me.
Take. Because when I offered a fee in exchange the reply was usually, “for what, I just have a couple questions”. And that was business. Of course, over the years I had some very good clients and over time I properly developed my billing habits. What a habit, to always glance at a clock while talking, four minutes, five minutes, six minutes and okay, let’s wrap this call up. Two tenths. If you want to talk for ten minutes, I could make sure we went thirteen before we hung up- that’s three tenths.
That seemed to work for a while, yet the people that are willing to pay any price for what they want, well.. I’ll leave stories about clients out for now (though, I have a few the will be brought into other stories that I do need to tell..) In any case, once I got in the politics, the idea of gaining paid consulting clients was a fart in the wind. Not while working within my ethical, legal, and moral grounds. And God knows I had opportunities to step over those lines yet by His Grace, I do believe I managed to slide out of that sewer pipe no worse for the wear.
After or was it during the time I was working on the site, I got up for my afternoon walk. I only made it down my driveway (ha, this site I found is at the end of a hundred foot drive) and released I’d left my radio and turned to walk back for it. Even a week or two ago, I just would have skipped it, yet now I wasn’t bothered by the return. Of course, I was distracted by it. By time I made it back to the site I remembered the jump rope. This was the perfect time of day as I was only wearing my shorts and t-shirts (I usually have to wear two, as open carry is illegal in New Mexico State Parks, hence I have to conceal.)
I can’t say that I did very well jumping rope. I tried for about five minutes, maybe ten (I should set a timer for ten minutes tomorrow.) Mostly I I just whipped it over head and tried to jump. The rope usually clears my left leg as my spasticity triggers the knee raise with a jumping motion, yet my right leg does all the work of the jump and only gets an inch or so off the ground and catches the rope. And restart, twirl it behind myself and I would try again and again.
Sooner or later the rope got twisted from the twirling so I stopped reseting it and would whip it overhead and let it hit the ground, then jump over it. I did get one twofer today, it shocked me so much I just let the rope hit me on the third time around without even trying to jump. LOL, I didn’t have a plan for if I got the twofer (ahh, that would be two ‘jumps’ over the rope, while the rope in continuous motion,) now I know: go for three.
Water, another trip to the established campground to fill my water jug. I got it closer to full this time, yet seven gallons is a lot of water to carry. That should hold for two or three days, maybe four, kinda depends on how wasteful I am with the water while washing dishes. As for washing dishes (and I hope my younger son is reading,) I have finally found the secret to making myself wash my dishes every day: less dishes. One plate, one bowl, one fork, one spoon, one cup. I don’t always wash them after each meal, yet I can’t skip them for two meals without needing them to eat again.
I had an idea for water, to make it a workout. I have two one gallon water jugs as well. I was thinking I could try and see if I can hold a jug and a trek pole in each hand, to walk up the the established campground, fill the jugs (as much as I dare, each would be eight and half pounds full,) and carry them back to my site. Carrying a gallon or two a day would keep my big jug (then just my local resevior) full without needing to drive the car to go fill it.
Now, I’d like to say this was a new idea, yet it’s occurred before over the last week or two, lets see if I can through that one in motion over the next day or two (Sponsorship topic idea “write about how it feels to hike two miles while carrying a gallon of water in each hand”, maybe some reader would like to spur a few good ideas into this adventure?)
Otherwise, I think tomorrow is the day for waterfalls. Up early drive there, eat lunch there, explore. Waterfalls in New Mexico, the idea still seems asinine to me, as if I’m going to get there and see dusty rocks with a sign to return in the rainy season (does this place have a rainy season?)
Okay, it’s late, well, nine thirty seven, not so late. Sitting up feels so good after the last two weeks. To sit up and drink tea and type. I really like my tent inside of a tarp tent setup and I’ve been a thinking of a few ways to make it better too. It’s nice to be able to stand up straight, yet a proper canvas walled tent of this size is well over a thousand dollars, or two for a real good one. Yet for less than two hundred so far for two tarps and four sticks (best and most solid tentpoles I’ve ever used) I’ve constructed a pretty nice tent I think.
In fact, I’ve been thinking of ways to make this design more permanent and with a door to contain more heat and keep out more bugs. We’ll see how time goes in the next two weeks, yet I do have some proper thread with me, no machine, yet plenty of needle to hand stitch it if I need too. Grommets all around the ground nailing it down with ten inch spikes, four solid posts, and two lengths of eleven hundred pound parachord (sixteen internal strands, more than double five fifty) and this thing has so far been solid in the wind.
With the sun out here, I couldn’t imagine not having a shaded place to relax in between doing things outside. And this is only March!
Okay, I could write more about today, I met some neighbors, a brief conversation, yet they were in out in a day- three women and baby (two sisters I think, one with child and grandchild.) And well, gosh, a dozen topics, I can really let myself go until I fall asleep or until something stops me, of which nothing out here can.
I’m excited, I have officially opened a pathway to getting paid to write. Next I want to publish my first book, maybe this week. “Twenty Twenty Two.” It would be nice to get that officially listed for sale this year, while I write next years book “Twenty Twenty Three” with a little bit of sponsored content even.. has anyone every tried to write a book like this before, or have I come up with a new idea?
Click the link, send money, see what I write.
Time to rest.