Update: Recovery, California power outage, and art

 Oooh man! What a month it's been!   

I know it's been a few weeks since I posted anything, but I wanted to wait until I had some more art before I updated everyone.   

Recovery
Concerning my back injury, well... it's been up and down. I do think I am trending upwards in terms of healing, but the issue I have been running into is that I start to feel better, then I spend a full day at the work station, which ends up making me stiff again. This means I end up being forced to take the next few days easy.   

Art Challenges
I've been working full time as an artist for the last (nearly) 7 years, and in that time I have built a habit around drawing for many hours a day without stopping. Now, while I recover, It's difficult to reprogram myself to stop and take a break. I know i need to, but I see it effecting my productivity. 

Essentially, I feel like every time I get into the zone for drawing, that's when it's time to take a break. I have to stop, stretch, walk around, and then when I return, I have to re-orient myself back into my creative brain space. It's a huge annoyance and disrupts my artistic flow in a big way. It often feels like my art takes much longer to make, now, because of this.  I will adapt, it's just breaking through the (unhealthy) habits I have formed that is taking me longer. 

Northern California Power Outage
I live in northern California, US, and just a couple of days ago, our local power company (PG&E) decided to shut off power to a major section of the north end of the state, due to the potential risk of high winds damaging their above ground lines. This wasn't a small event, either. I am talking about a massive shut off of over 800,000 customers. Each customer is potentially a single building, which means each customer, again, potentially, represents an entire family or business. Anyways, there have been several fires in the neighboring counties over the last few years, and PG&E has been sued many times for neglecting to maintain their lines, thus causing fires that have destroyed entire communities. So, rather than risk another fire (or lawsuit?), they decided it was best to shut off the lines during a potential high wind event. 

Yes, Northern California, the 5th largest economy in the world, was shut down due to high winds. 

12 hours before the potential black-out at midnight, they sent out notice to my county (Humboldt County) that we "might" be turned off, over night. Then, a few hours before midnight, they said that we would absolutely be turned off, and that it may last a week, or longer. My county was forgotten in the original notice, because PG&E wasn't even sure if we would be effected. They didn't have any idea who would or wouldn't be shut off when they flipped the switch. Talk about a clusterfuck.

Anyways, with only a few hours to prepare, people panicked. Gas pumps were crowded with vehicles lined up down the streets. every generator in the county was purchased, and mobs were clogging stores, looking for more. Water bottles and canned food was all purchased, as people prepared for a week without refrigeration, and no notice on if water would even work. For some people, it didn't, as some homes require pumps for sewage movement and water (mountainous region). People with a medical need for electricity had to find fast solutions to keep whatever equipment they needed running.

Fortunately, I keep food and water on hand, in case of a big earthquake, and I wasn't worried about losing power. I lived on raw land without power in my early 20s, and a week without power was no big deal. Still, I spent much of the first day preparing my family and getting ready for lights out. 

In the end, the power outage lasted only a single day. 

Still, local small businesses lost a fortune in missed work days, ruined merchandise (perishable foods), and looting (yes, there was even some looting, though not a lot). 

One good thing, much of the community ended up doing potluck barbecues and provided aid to those who needed it. Even some of the grocery stores gave away perishables or hosted a barbecue event to cook meat before it went bad. Though people were panicking about this unprecedented and sudden decision from the privately owned power company, it was good to see that people at ground level were willing to help each other out. 

Personally, I lost about 3 days of work, due to this debacle. One day to prep, one day to the outage, and one day to exhaustion (I hardly slept due to my sleep schedule being thrown off). 

As a side note, I'd like to say that any frustration I have is towards the head of the company, that made this decision necessary. I appreciate the workers at ground level (and helicopters) who worked hard to get the power back on, sooner than expected. They were the real heroes! 

What's Next on Patreon
Sorry for the long post, but I wanted to get everyone up to date on what's been going on with me, and why I have lost some traction with keeping a regular posting schedule. I am going to take some time to work on October's work, and catch up on September's remaining work, after. For October, I plan on drawing the pale, white haired elf from earlier this year, in April. People seemed to like her, and she's proper gothic for October, I think. I'll think of an appropriate setting for her to show off in. :D

Alright, I think that covers it! I'll be posting some more of September's artwork in a minute, so stay tuned!
~Ray