The Mold Strikes Back

After I posted about what I thought was the fix for the mold, the smell exploded. I've spent hours and hours through the week trying to get it under control. I had to take the air conditioner out and bleach the window sill. When I did that, I think I found the real problem. The window is equipped with storm windows, which go over regular windows. They're supposed to keep houses warmer in the winter and cooler in the summer and lower energy costs. Once I started cleaning the sill, I noticed a line of sealant at the bottom of the storm window. I also noticed a groove that allows rainwater to drain off the sill. Ah, someone blocked the groove, causing water to pool and create mildew and apparently drain into the cinder blocks below.

Even with the sill leak fixed, I couldn't get rid of the smell. I had to take part of the window frame apart, which led to the discovery that I could see daylight through the wall under the window where it wasn't properly installed. I bought some Great Stuff and sealed up the cinder blocks and the gap under the window. It doesn't cost that much in the store. I think it was $3.75 for the big gap filler.

So, that was a lot of how the week went, experimenting with this and that trying to fix the mildew and mold smell in that room. I discovered yesterday that I'm going to have to paint the sill while being careful not to block the drain groove. I know this isn't exciting, but it's how life's going. At least I didn't explain about the way the AC was throwing water around or how I cracked part of the window sill on the inside or how I had to saw part of it off to open up the wall or call the people who built the house monkeys again.

Nevertheless, I got a little done on Book 2 and Book 3. The Book 3 rough draft is now 25% done. It's crazy how fast it's going compared to Book 2, even with the obstacles. While working on Book 2, I noticed a character raising someone from the dead who in Book 3 can't be a Great Healer for story reasons. I also noticed a character in the beginning of Book 2 who wasn't around at the end. Oops. General Trifon, if you must know. Somewhere I lost him.

The mold smell exploded just as I was about to start the YouTube channels. In a way I find the setback giving me more inspiration to get them going. I've had this non-fiction book on the back burner for a while. It finally occurred to me I could use the Messengers YouTube channel to sell it. The That Don't Work channel would lend itself to selling the YA book. Casually sell. I could put a link in the description box or something not badger people. That would help me out a lot by doing the marketing I find so distasteful. It wouldn't take a lot for me to be able to focus on writing full time. I've been doing a little research on the side. I have a roadmap and some numbers. We'll see what happens.

Have a great weekend.