Walking in the Dark

Kitten Update

My house has no kittens, but Nightingale and Peter are no longer on the shelter's adoption page, so they found a home! That makes me happy.

BookBub Ad Update

Exciting news today! $2.63 spent, 1,092 impressions, and... ONE LINK CLICK! Thank you to the Kobo user in Canada. I hope you enjoy the book.

Walking in the Dark

Between the rain and the darkness, it's been harder to get up in the morning lately. It's 4:45 PM now, and my dog has already gone to bed. But the solstice is... tomorrow? Something like that. So things will get better soon.

In the meantime, if you, like me, enjoy walking outside even when it's not the middle of the day, make yourself visible. Really. Pedestrian fatality rates have been increasing in the US — this is quantifiable and is directly related to the insanity of increasing car and truck size — so the only chance you have is to make yourself so bright that all those jerks in gigantic trucks see you and drive off the road into a ditch because they think aliens have landed. Or at least, they don't accidentally run you over.

This is my latest purchase:

(Picture stolen from Noxgear website)

I have the Noxgear Tracer2. It's super bright and lightweight enough that you could jog without noticing you have it on.

In the past, I've had the Lighthound harness for my dogs (and I still would if Georgie wanted to go walking at night). They're rechargeable and last a long time between charges. I automatically plug mine in when I return home, so I don't know. The dog versions lasted about a month between charges, so maybe 20-30 hours of use? I don't remember for sure.

(Noxgear also has great customer support — I emailed them once to see if I could buy a new charging cable because Effing Scooter (RIP) peed on the one I had, and they sent me a new one free. The support person also asked if that was really my cat's name, or just what I called him.)

It's probably too late to get one for whatever December holiday you celebrate, but if you or a loved one walk or run or bike, consider getting this or something like it. They aren't that expensive. Definitely cheaper than an ambulance ride.

You might get a discount if you use coupon code "ShareThis". I have no idea. It's worth the full price.

Pet Picture of the Day

This is the late, lamented Effing Scooter, the cat who peed on everything, including anything paper or plastic. But not limited to those, since he also destroyed a WiFi router and my down comforter. And the USB cable that charged the LightHound. He was a little jerk, but I loved him.

Accomplishments of the Day

It's one of the darkest days of the year. It's a wonder I did anything at all.

• Went to a write-in at Crepeville in Davis to hang out with friends.
• Added 637 words to the urban fantasy and figured out how to fix the scene that was just dragging.
• Braved Michael's, which is right next to Target, despite it being December 20th and got some supplies I needed.
• Yesterday's total step count: 21,062. Today's will be much less.