I’m Not An Otome Game Protagonist!: Volume 1, Chapter 9

HOW I’M FEELING PHYSICALLY

It’s Saturday night, so I’m three days out from getting the second Shingrix shot. I’ve suffered bouts of lethargy since then and I had quite an adverse reaction on Friday afternoon that alarmed my siblings enough for them to plead for me to consult an online nurse. 

Thankfully the situation passed on its own a few hours later, no pun intended. I have no idea if it was something I ate that morning or the fact I rode the recumbent bike hours earlier, but I’ve made the decision to take it easy until at least Monday morning.

I should have been warned not to exercise after getting that second shot, but oh well.

THE BLOOD GLUCOSE METER SAYS…

Fasting (average): 95 mg/dL

2 hours after a meal (average): 116 mg/dL

My numbers are slightly higher due to I’ve allowed myself to have a few things that I denied myself since September, but they’re still well within my target range. My medications will run out in over a week, which was part of the plan all along, and that will begin the true test for my diet and exercise changes.

THE FITBIT ARIA SAYS…

This week: -3.2 lbs.

Cumulative: -27.4 lbs.

I have no explanation for how this happened, but I’m thrilled with the end result. Moving on...

THE WEEKLY RETAIL THERAPY REPORT

I cleared out my diminutive chest of drawers the other day and found a box for a Ridge wallet I hadn’t used in years. When I opened it, I discovered why. It did not survive the move from my old apartment. I assume I threw it away, and unfortunately stupidity is not covered under its lifetime warranty. 

I rectified that mistake and bought an olive tinted titanium model that was delivered to my porch the following day. I love Ridge wallets for their simplicity, and how they train me to only carry what is necessary when I leave the house.

WHAT MADE ME EXCLAIM “ARA, ARA!”

Believe it or not We Started A Threesome, which is the story of childhood friends becoming a throuple, wasn’t the most controversial thing I read this week. 

Two weeks ago, I overlooked The Children Of The Shiunji Family but then I discovered via an online review it was written by Reiji Miyajima, the manga artist that created Rent-A-Girlfriend. I picked up the first volume and ara, ara! The seven children discovered that only two of them are blood related. 

The one thing I loved about RAG was the fact Miyajima was not afraid to stand in front of a dumpster fire with a bottle of Kingsford charcoal lighter fluid and give it a firm squeeze. I’m sure he’ll do more of the same with this new title and I’m on board with it.

WHO DESERVES TO HAVE THEIR HOOPTIE JUNKED, BUT ECOLOGY AUTO WRECKING WILL MAKE HIM PAY FOR THE TOW

There’s a guy who lives a few houses away. I’ll call him Richard to protect his identity, and also because he is one.

Richard lives with his elderly mother, owns several vehicles in various degrees of dilapidation and doesn’t have a driveway or a garage to park them. He has a nasty habit of abandoning a few of them in front of my place for weeks at a time. One of them in particular is the best argument in favor of establishing an HOA, a flatbed pickup that probably was metallic silver with multicolored stripes when it was brand new. The stripes have faded to a singular cream color, and its current paint job is best described as patina battle gray. It requires a wood chock to prevent it from rolling away, and the rust is so prevalent on its body and chrome that when you go near it, you ask yourself whether or not you’re up to date on your tetanus shot.

I reported Richard to Parking Enforcement once again for leaving his hooptie truck in front of my place for the past week. I’m assuming they gave him yet another warning on Friday that he’ll eventually ignore. After four attempts to start the motor, he managed to drive it fifty feet or so to park it in front of his own place where it belongs.

I’m sure it will be back to annoy the fuck out of me by February, but for now let’s celebrate this turn of events by playing this little NSFW reggae song Adam Sandler performed during his concerts roughly three decades ago.

WHO DESERVES A FIST BUMP

I think I deserve this one. See below for the big writing update.

WHAT MADE ME SMILE

The Las Vegas Raiders host the Los Angeles “AirBnB” Chargers on Thursday Night Football. For once in a full moon, anyone that has access to Amazon Prime Video can watch something other than the NFL’s Shittiest Game Of The Week.

WHAT’S THE LATEST ON MY WRITING?

55 chapters and 72,191 words later, I finished my first draft about an hour ago! 

I know y’all want to know how many pages that is, and the answer is I really don’t know. What I can share with you is I made a PDF of the manuscript so I can read it at some point in the near future. That document is 238 pages filled with 1.5x spaced text, so that should give you a general idea of how much work went into that story. 

Now I get to relax and find something else to do with my free time for the rest of the month before I begin the first round of edits on New Year’s Day. If that were a Jeopardy question, I’d say “I’ll take Union Depository Robberies for $300,000, Alex!” before grabbing my PS5 controller to enrich my GTA Online character.