It's been a stupid week, and today (so far - it's only 7:23 a.m.) looks to be continuing the theme. I cannot wait to get home, take off my shoes and put my feet up.
But wait, I can't actually do that. At least not right away. I need to make another trip to the car dealership. Seems they had a computer update shortly before I went in to buy the car, and the update messed something up with the contracts (double charged a small fee). I have to go back to sign three pages. She insisted I did not need to make an appointment, but I'm willing to bet I'll have to wait when I get there. That's just the way this week has gone.
I've a grocery order to pick up on the way home. Groceries make me happy, except perhaps for bananas. I like bananas well enough to buy a few when they are on sale. But I only like them when they are green. The online order form lets you specify degree of ripeness. Even with "green" checked and a note specifying that if they are not GREEN, not to bother, I sometimes end up with mostly-yellow 'naners. I don't make banana bread, so they will go to waste if not eaten immediately.
It's a texture thing; I can't stand mushy anything.
It's obvious I'm tired; the overuse of italics, caps and bold is a sure giveaway. For the past several nights I've slept fairly well, but had extremely vivid, odd dreams (which I don't remember on awakening, naturally). Those dreams only show up when I'm sick or stressed. Bah. No time for either.
The plan for the weekend is to ... not sure yet. The house needs a very thorough cleaning, several small house projects need done, food needs cooking and freezing for the week ahead and I just need a break.
So - what are you up to for the weekend?
Showing posts with label Where I am (sometimes) an idiot. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Where I am (sometimes) an idiot. Show all posts
Friday, February 22, 2019
Friday, October 26, 2018
Friday....stuff
There are at least three separate posts wandering around in my brain, but none of them are coherent enough to put to pixels. So here is a bit of a Friday brain dump for your enjoyment.
Preachiness - In the last week or so I've watched several television shows and movies that have a very, very preachy tone related to race. The most egregious of the bunch was the most recent episode of the new series of Dr. Who, where the bunch traveled back in time to keep a far-future racist from doing something to stop Rosa Parks from being arrested for staying seated on the bus. Not only is it very pessimistic (the idea that racists would still exist anywhere in the galaxy centuries in the future), we find that the (white and Asian) Dr. Who crew are all proud of themselves because they actually end up on the bus at the right time, and are being part of history by not going to Mrs. Parks' aid when the cops arrest her. I'm watching to be entertained, not preached at.
Mob mentality - How can anyone think that letting this approaching Central American mob into the U.S. would be a good thing? You give in to bullies once, they will keep coming at you. We admit just over a million legal immigrants annually - more than any other nation on the planet. The system we have for doing it may not be perfect, but that doesn't mean you are free to muscle your way in any way you want. And Mexico - what the heck is up with you? Why are you not turning these people away at your border? Why are you letting them traipse through the length of your country - is it that they've promised not to stay, but invade the U.S. instead?
Plant murder - The landscaping company took it upon themselves to cut back my lilac bush, in spite of the fact the HOA was notified last spring that they were to keep their hands off. This is just the latest of the stupid crap the HOA has allowed. In the spring, they will get a strongly worded letter listing what is not allowed (keep your damn hands off my plantings) and reminding them that I will bill them for the damage if they don't abide by it. I have a sneaky suspicion there is a nosy, bossy, nasty neighbor at the root of this - she seems to think she runs our corner of the complex. Honestly, when I retire, I 'm moving out in the woods where the only people I see on a regular basis are the Amazon and grocery delivery people.
If you don't hear from me - Tomorrow I'm driving to Madison to meet with with a few people I only know in pixels. We are all part of a Facebook group dedicated to fountain pens - the acquisition, use and general love thereof. I used them for a while after college, but recently rediscovered the joy of good writing pens. We are meeting to show off our pens, try out the ones others may have that we don't, trade ink samples and generally have fun. But just in case one of them is an ax murderer, at least you know where I was going.
Pens - I think (well, ok, I know, because I keep an inventory) I have nineteen right now, though I'm planning to sell five of them. There is an incredible variety available in materials, types/metals of nibs and writing style, and it takes a bit to find what suits you best. I've pens made in the U.S. that have steel nibs that perform as well as the sleek Italian import with the gold nib. I've always done more writing than most people, and this makes it even more fun. There are even "capless" pens - retractable fountain pens. Even if you stick to one pen, the variety of inks is staggering. Colors, shading, sheen, shimmer...waterproof, water resistant, made to endure freezing temps, even invisible (black light). So much fun.
Kindles - There are three kindles on my shelf waiting for better homes. All three are Fires, so basically mini tablets. All three have nice cases. All are perfectly functional.Contact me here or email me if interested (7" is the oldest, then an 8.9". lastly an 8").
How the heck is it almost November? I feel like October has both gone on forever and flown by. I need to get my Christmas card order in.
Preachiness - In the last week or so I've watched several television shows and movies that have a very, very preachy tone related to race. The most egregious of the bunch was the most recent episode of the new series of Dr. Who, where the bunch traveled back in time to keep a far-future racist from doing something to stop Rosa Parks from being arrested for staying seated on the bus. Not only is it very pessimistic (the idea that racists would still exist anywhere in the galaxy centuries in the future), we find that the (white and Asian) Dr. Who crew are all proud of themselves because they actually end up on the bus at the right time, and are being part of history by not going to Mrs. Parks' aid when the cops arrest her. I'm watching to be entertained, not preached at.
Mob mentality - How can anyone think that letting this approaching Central American mob into the U.S. would be a good thing? You give in to bullies once, they will keep coming at you. We admit just over a million legal immigrants annually - more than any other nation on the planet. The system we have for doing it may not be perfect, but that doesn't mean you are free to muscle your way in any way you want. And Mexico - what the heck is up with you? Why are you not turning these people away at your border? Why are you letting them traipse through the length of your country - is it that they've promised not to stay, but invade the U.S. instead?
Plant murder - The landscaping company took it upon themselves to cut back my lilac bush, in spite of the fact the HOA was notified last spring that they were to keep their hands off. This is just the latest of the stupid crap the HOA has allowed. In the spring, they will get a strongly worded letter listing what is not allowed (keep your damn hands off my plantings) and reminding them that I will bill them for the damage if they don't abide by it. I have a sneaky suspicion there is a nosy, bossy, nasty neighbor at the root of this - she seems to think she runs our corner of the complex. Honestly, when I retire, I 'm moving out in the woods where the only people I see on a regular basis are the Amazon and grocery delivery people.
If you don't hear from me - Tomorrow I'm driving to Madison to meet with with a few people I only know in pixels. We are all part of a Facebook group dedicated to fountain pens - the acquisition, use and general love thereof. I used them for a while after college, but recently rediscovered the joy of good writing pens. We are meeting to show off our pens, try out the ones others may have that we don't, trade ink samples and generally have fun. But just in case one of them is an ax murderer, at least you know where I was going.
Pens - I think (well, ok, I know, because I keep an inventory) I have nineteen right now, though I'm planning to sell five of them. There is an incredible variety available in materials, types/metals of nibs and writing style, and it takes a bit to find what suits you best. I've pens made in the U.S. that have steel nibs that perform as well as the sleek Italian import with the gold nib. I've always done more writing than most people, and this makes it even more fun. There are even "capless" pens - retractable fountain pens. Even if you stick to one pen, the variety of inks is staggering. Colors, shading, sheen, shimmer...waterproof, water resistant, made to endure freezing temps, even invisible (black light). So much fun.
Kindles - There are three kindles on my shelf waiting for better homes. All three are Fires, so basically mini tablets. All three have nice cases. All are perfectly functional.Contact me here or email me if interested (7" is the oldest, then an 8.9". lastly an 8").
How the heck is it almost November? I feel like October has both gone on forever and flown by. I need to get my Christmas card order in.
Friday, October 05, 2018
Just checking in
Figured I'd come by and give the tires a kick, maybe check to see if this thing still starts, in spite of the low battery indicator.
So how have you all been? I've been...meh. Maybe even less than meh. As yet unresolved medication issue is adding to the general fatigue, crankiness, depression and to-hell-with-it attitude. Yeah, it's been a barrel of fun around here.
Almost no "making" (Gosh, I kind of hate that term. I understand the idea behind it, but it really does sound kind of...twee). My poor sewing studio is languishing under a thick layer of dust. Every so often I pick up a fountain pen and do a few drawings, but those mostly consist of random leaves and flowers.
Adding to the general sense of "eh, why bother" is the state of the house. When I had the closet doors installed upstairs, I had to move my desk and computer (temporarily) to a different spot in the room. I've a shelf to put up for the router, a new file cabinet to put together and the desk move/rearrange to finish. Yeah, the closet doors were put in the week of Memorial Day.
When I had the living room carpet cleaned, I moved both end tables and the television and stand into the dining room, so the cleaners could just go for it. I also moved the couch and my favorite chair around in the room - ditto. I did put the chair, couch, television and one end table back, but the other end table (and the lamp that goes on it, as well as the quilting magazines that live on its lower shelf) are, you guessed it, still in the dining room. The carpet was cleaned...Labor Day week.
Meh. The only person these things would bother is me - and obviously, they don't.
A couple of years ago, after a thirty year gap, I went back to using fountain pens for my personal writing. I've a bit of a "collection", though I don't think of it in that terms, as I do use them all regularly. The herd does need to be culled a bit, as I've big birthday coming up and a rather large pen purchase planned.
At work, I'm mostly on the computer or messing around in pencil. But I do use a pen fairly regularly, and decided to bring something fun to work (heaven knows, I need some fun). The Pilot Vanishing Point and Decimo pens are retractable fountain pens. The Japanese cleverly figured out how to cover the nib when it is retracted so the ink does not dry out.
The clip is at the business end of the pen, so that when it is clipped to a pocket, the nib is up (for obvious reasons - they rarely leak, but why tempt fate?). The clip, therefore, is between your fingers when you write. After the first few words, you don't notice it; it serves the added purpose of keeping the nib in a decent writing position.
My phone won't do macro pictures, but you can see how small the nib is. Beautiful lines, though.
In the interest of keeping things simple, I use ink cartridges in this pen, rather than keeping a bottle of ink at work. Three seconds to change one out when it is empty. It's really not too much longer to refill from a bottle - just more potential for inky fingers.
I'd better hop to it. At least it is Friday, even though it tends to be the longest day of the week.
So how have you all been? I've been...meh. Maybe even less than meh. As yet unresolved medication issue is adding to the general fatigue, crankiness, depression and to-hell-with-it attitude. Yeah, it's been a barrel of fun around here.
Almost no "making" (Gosh, I kind of hate that term. I understand the idea behind it, but it really does sound kind of...twee). My poor sewing studio is languishing under a thick layer of dust. Every so often I pick up a fountain pen and do a few drawings, but those mostly consist of random leaves and flowers.
Adding to the general sense of "eh, why bother" is the state of the house. When I had the closet doors installed upstairs, I had to move my desk and computer (temporarily) to a different spot in the room. I've a shelf to put up for the router, a new file cabinet to put together and the desk move/rearrange to finish. Yeah, the closet doors were put in the week of Memorial Day.
When I had the living room carpet cleaned, I moved both end tables and the television and stand into the dining room, so the cleaners could just go for it. I also moved the couch and my favorite chair around in the room - ditto. I did put the chair, couch, television and one end table back, but the other end table (and the lamp that goes on it, as well as the quilting magazines that live on its lower shelf) are, you guessed it, still in the dining room. The carpet was cleaned...Labor Day week.
Meh. The only person these things would bother is me - and obviously, they don't.
A couple of years ago, after a thirty year gap, I went back to using fountain pens for my personal writing. I've a bit of a "collection", though I don't think of it in that terms, as I do use them all regularly. The herd does need to be culled a bit, as I've big birthday coming up and a rather large pen purchase planned.
At work, I'm mostly on the computer or messing around in pencil. But I do use a pen fairly regularly, and decided to bring something fun to work (heaven knows, I need some fun). The Pilot Vanishing Point and Decimo pens are retractable fountain pens. The Japanese cleverly figured out how to cover the nib when it is retracted so the ink does not dry out.
My phone won't do macro pictures, but you can see how small the nib is. Beautiful lines, though.
In the interest of keeping things simple, I use ink cartridges in this pen, rather than keeping a bottle of ink at work. Three seconds to change one out when it is empty. It's really not too much longer to refill from a bottle - just more potential for inky fingers.
I'd better hop to it. At least it is Friday, even though it tends to be the longest day of the week.
Saturday, June 30, 2018
Tossing the pasta
Back on June 9th, I took a header in my own dining room. Well, not a header, more a flailing, twisting, rolling, good-grief-don't-fall-on-the-pasta-bowl kind of a fall.
I had a full bowl of pasta with butter and Parmesan in my hands, and as I started to go down, I knew I could not 1) land on the ceramic bowl and have either of us survive, or 2) drop the bowl - and the pasta - and have it fly all over the dining and living rooms.
So yeah, only about a quarter of the pasta left the bowl, which finished right side up and still in my right hand. As for the rest of me...I think I landed mostly on my butt, which has enough healthy padding that it could handle the blow. But on the way to that landing, I managed to smack my left hand on the wall and my left knee on...something. I think it was the dining room chair that ended up overturned.
After something like this, you lay there doing the damage assessment. Is anything broken? No. Is anything bleeding? No. Did anyone see me make a complete fool of myself? Thankfully no. I got myself up, cleaned up the spilled pasta and went on to eat dinner (the remaining pasta) with an icepack on my knee.
Aside from a bit of residual soreness, I felt mostly fine the next day. Unless I happened to rub that knee. More precisely, the spot just below the kneecap. With the kind of hit I took, I expected quite a bit of bruising.
But noooo...all I got was some vague, deep-seated itchiness. The itching I took as a sign of healing, which is a good thing. I tend to heal rather slowly. Anyway, now that we are three weeks out from the actual event, I'm finally seeing signs of a bruise in that spot. A big, dark red and purple, blotchy bruise. And more intense itching. Ack.
Why am I mentioning this? I just happened to have pasta - in that same bowl - for dinner tonight. Only this time, with red sauce. You can bet I walked very slowly and carefully with that thing in my hands.
I had a full bowl of pasta with butter and Parmesan in my hands, and as I started to go down, I knew I could not 1) land on the ceramic bowl and have either of us survive, or 2) drop the bowl - and the pasta - and have it fly all over the dining and living rooms.
So yeah, only about a quarter of the pasta left the bowl, which finished right side up and still in my right hand. As for the rest of me...I think I landed mostly on my butt, which has enough healthy padding that it could handle the blow. But on the way to that landing, I managed to smack my left hand on the wall and my left knee on...something. I think it was the dining room chair that ended up overturned.
After something like this, you lay there doing the damage assessment. Is anything broken? No. Is anything bleeding? No. Did anyone see me make a complete fool of myself? Thankfully no. I got myself up, cleaned up the spilled pasta and went on to eat dinner (the remaining pasta) with an icepack on my knee.
Aside from a bit of residual soreness, I felt mostly fine the next day. Unless I happened to rub that knee. More precisely, the spot just below the kneecap. With the kind of hit I took, I expected quite a bit of bruising.
But noooo...all I got was some vague, deep-seated itchiness. The itching I took as a sign of healing, which is a good thing. I tend to heal rather slowly. Anyway, now that we are three weeks out from the actual event, I'm finally seeing signs of a bruise in that spot. A big, dark red and purple, blotchy bruise. And more intense itching. Ack.
Why am I mentioning this? I just happened to have pasta - in that same bowl - for dinner tonight. Only this time, with red sauce. You can bet I walked very slowly and carefully with that thing in my hands.
Wednesday, May 23, 2018
Various and sundry, May edition
Yeah, yeah...I haven't neglected this place on purpose. Busy time of year.
The final (sort of) corporate taxes for my workplace were mailed May 12th. You get an idea of what fun the last month has been when I tell you it took the clerk half an hour just to stamp the envelopes (I had all the certified slips completed and attached already), and it was $182 in postage. There are still a few weird things to finish up with a state or two, but I can't seem to get to it...
...because people far above me in the food chain seem to have no grasp of the fact that taxes are a part of life, even for a so-called tax exempt institution. The fact that we are facing a rear-guard action on a partially executed agreement makes things ever so much more fun.
Meanwhile, as of 10 a.m. on Friday I will be on vacation for a week.
Not that much actual "vacating" will be done. I'm hanging around home. Not even resting, when it come to that...
On Saturday (yes, a holiday weekend - there is a story behind that which I won't bore you with, but the bottom line is Diane stuck to her guns and got what she wanted), my air conditioning unit is being replaced. Four years of severely evaporating coolant, an unsuccessful leak test and a total lack on my part of willingness to dink around with it any longer brought us to this place. The new unit is a bit more energy efficient. It's also a two-stage thing: it first sucks the humidity out of the air before cooling it and sending it into the house. The theory is that I'll be able to set the temp higher and still have the same comfort level, as the air will be considerably drier.
On Tuesday, the crew comes to do some minor renovations. The bigger project is installation of closet doors to turn a nook in the loft into an actual closet, as it is in other units in my building. Ordinarily, hanging a sliding door like this is something I could do (with added muscle from a friend to lift them in place), but the opening is 90" wide, and I'm having the contractors extend the wall so the opening is only 72". It will still be 90" on the inside, so lots of storage, now out of sight!
I need to paint what will be the interior of the closet before they arrive. It's currently the same color as the walls - think the color of those reddish-brown accordian folders you see in offices. A bit too dark for the interior of a closet that has no light of its own (I'm not crazy enough to have electric run to this closet - it's only 30 inches deep, and I have motion sensor, battery operated lights to put inside).
In addition, they are putting up a new light fixture and staining/hanging a new door in the downstairs bath. While this is a piece of cake for the contractors, it's the larger of the two projects for me personally. I need to paint the room, which, unfortunately, includes the ceiling. The ceilings are rather low in there, due to the need for space to run the plumbing stuff for the kitchen, which backs up to this bath, and the bathroom immediately overhead on the second floor. So the previous owners painted the bath a nice, lighter grey...including the ceiling. It does in fact make the ceiling appear higher, though friends over six feet are still eye level with the light on the wall...near the ceiling.
So, it needs a base coat, then a white ceiling, and at least one, maybe two, coats of a wonderful medium lavender on the walls. There is no medicine cabinet, just a large mirror that I am replacing. There re a couple of nice shelves I need to take down and relocate. The toilet seat needs replacing, as does the flush lever.
If I'm realistic, if I get the closet interior painted and the base coat in the bath, along with some of the smaller stuff (toilet stuff above, a railing support replacements, curtain rods up and a replacement for the shower head upstairs) I'll call it good. I also have 4th of July week off, and if I do a little bit a weekend, I should be done by then.
Oh yeah - the new wall upstairs? Means I need to completely move my desk and two file cabinets, as well as unhook the computer. I should still be able to get online, at least in the evening - my internet cord is 25 feet long. But it's going to be a long three days, as I just realized I can't exactly stream movies to watch while I sew if everything has to be unplugged.
Ay. I'm going to need a vacation from my vacation.
The final (sort of) corporate taxes for my workplace were mailed May 12th. You get an idea of what fun the last month has been when I tell you it took the clerk half an hour just to stamp the envelopes (I had all the certified slips completed and attached already), and it was $182 in postage. There are still a few weird things to finish up with a state or two, but I can't seem to get to it...
...because people far above me in the food chain seem to have no grasp of the fact that taxes are a part of life, even for a so-called tax exempt institution. The fact that we are facing a rear-guard action on a partially executed agreement makes things ever so much more fun.
Meanwhile, as of 10 a.m. on Friday I will be on vacation for a week.
Not that much actual "vacating" will be done. I'm hanging around home. Not even resting, when it come to that...
On Saturday (yes, a holiday weekend - there is a story behind that which I won't bore you with, but the bottom line is Diane stuck to her guns and got what she wanted), my air conditioning unit is being replaced. Four years of severely evaporating coolant, an unsuccessful leak test and a total lack on my part of willingness to dink around with it any longer brought us to this place. The new unit is a bit more energy efficient. It's also a two-stage thing: it first sucks the humidity out of the air before cooling it and sending it into the house. The theory is that I'll be able to set the temp higher and still have the same comfort level, as the air will be considerably drier.
On Tuesday, the crew comes to do some minor renovations. The bigger project is installation of closet doors to turn a nook in the loft into an actual closet, as it is in other units in my building. Ordinarily, hanging a sliding door like this is something I could do (with added muscle from a friend to lift them in place), but the opening is 90" wide, and I'm having the contractors extend the wall so the opening is only 72". It will still be 90" on the inside, so lots of storage, now out of sight!
I need to paint what will be the interior of the closet before they arrive. It's currently the same color as the walls - think the color of those reddish-brown accordian folders you see in offices. A bit too dark for the interior of a closet that has no light of its own (I'm not crazy enough to have electric run to this closet - it's only 30 inches deep, and I have motion sensor, battery operated lights to put inside).
In addition, they are putting up a new light fixture and staining/hanging a new door in the downstairs bath. While this is a piece of cake for the contractors, it's the larger of the two projects for me personally. I need to paint the room, which, unfortunately, includes the ceiling. The ceilings are rather low in there, due to the need for space to run the plumbing stuff for the kitchen, which backs up to this bath, and the bathroom immediately overhead on the second floor. So the previous owners painted the bath a nice, lighter grey...including the ceiling. It does in fact make the ceiling appear higher, though friends over six feet are still eye level with the light on the wall...near the ceiling.
So, it needs a base coat, then a white ceiling, and at least one, maybe two, coats of a wonderful medium lavender on the walls. There is no medicine cabinet, just a large mirror that I am replacing. There re a couple of nice shelves I need to take down and relocate. The toilet seat needs replacing, as does the flush lever.
If I'm realistic, if I get the closet interior painted and the base coat in the bath, along with some of the smaller stuff (toilet stuff above, a railing support replacements, curtain rods up and a replacement for the shower head upstairs) I'll call it good. I also have 4th of July week off, and if I do a little bit a weekend, I should be done by then.
Oh yeah - the new wall upstairs? Means I need to completely move my desk and two file cabinets, as well as unhook the computer. I should still be able to get online, at least in the evening - my internet cord is 25 feet long. But it's going to be a long three days, as I just realized I can't exactly stream movies to watch while I sew if everything has to be unplugged.
Ay. I'm going to need a vacation from my vacation.
Thursday, January 25, 2018
Unintended leave of absence
::tap, tap:: Is this thing still on?
I'd not intended to be gone so long, but, well, life happens.
Not that it's been particularly exciting, or I would have had things to write about. A bit of what little has happened over the last month:
1. I finished the month of Whole30, which was an overwhelming success, from many points of view. I kept up with the program, mostly, for the two weeks after. Since then, well, let's just say I need to get back to it. Not even "need", but want to get back to it. I felt so much better on it.
2. Confirmation that the program really is a good thing for me came in the lab results at my doctor appointment yesterday. My A1C - the biggest indicator of the control of diabetes - went down by .4. This is a great thing. It had been on a very slow downward trend; this decrease is twice what I saw at the appointment four months ago. And that was with only one of those four months on the program - can't wait to see what happens when I'm consistently on it.
3. Earlier this week, I signed the home equity line of credit papers. Yay! I'm now free to go further into debt! Truthfully, I'm both excited and terrified at finally being able to bring the condo into this century. The key is discerning where to put the money in, and where to say "Eh, a basic update is ok". The kitchen, for example, does not need to be a showroom. The condo is not an open floor plan; the kitchen is only really visible when you are in it. Since it's a galley, only two people fit in it (unless you are really, really good friends with no personal boundary issues). There is no need for granite or quartz countertops (and good arguments against - there is very little counter room, and inevitably, hot pans will be set down directly on the counters), fancy cabinets (eh, they store stuff) or high end appliances.
Except the stove. The only non negotiable is the stove. Gas. Powerful burners (yay, no more taking half an hour for a pot of pasta water to come to a boil!). Convection oven. And it will not be included in the sale, if I ever move. (I'm just crazy enough to pick a new home based on whether or not my beloved stove will fit).
4. Thus far, I've avoided the flu. My boss, however, brought a nasty cold virus into the office. I've been sniffly and congested, but not even enough that the doc noticed. Just enough, however, to want to sleep every moment I can.
5. At long last, I may finally get the new curtains put up in my bedroom this weekend. While there are still some things to do (paint the armoire...which I bought unfinished over a decade ago, finish some wallhangings), the room is essentially done. Up next is the loft, which mostly needs a bit of rearranging and decluttering.
6. Actually, there is one thing in the loft that is a bigger project. There is an alcove on one wall (90" wide, 80" high, 3 feet deep) that is a closet in other units. Not sure why doors were never put on in mine. At any rate, it gives me a chance to try out a friend who has a very small contracting business. I'm pretty easy on exactly what type of doors (proved there are absolutely NO mirrored doors (yeah, have those on the front hall closet and the 13 FOOT closet in the first floor bedroom), and NO louvered doors (kitchen pantry and utility closet, kitchen sliding door and upstairs linen closet-yeah, hate them). There are a couple of challenges, like the fact that the internet port is IN the closet space, but we'll figure it out.
7. The first Saturday in February I'm off to a quilt shop to see a demo of the APQS longarm quilting machines. This same shop offers the machines for rent (at the shop, obviously) to quilt your own stuff. I'm still toying with the idea of setting up a machine quilting business after I retire. APQS machines have a great reputation.
I am not, however, a fool. If I do decide to go ahead with this, I'll figure out what model I want and wait patiently for their demonstrator and used machine sales. The prices make me swoon a bit. If I decide I want a longarm, but don't intend to make it a business. there are other companies that offer similar machines for a lower cost (though with out the excellent education and spectacular warranty). At this point, I'm not sure I really want a business...
8. Work is, well, work. There was a flurry of insanity before the tax law was signed, trying to predict the impact of the various versions of the bill on the university. This next few years will be difficult, as the new president has a bunch of initiatives he is pushing that will need quite a bit of our generally thin resources. Yet in his "state of the university" address last week, he also announced another "gift of time" (we are given the "gift of time" for the work days between the Christmas and New Year's holidays as additional, paid vacation time) for the week of July 4th. Nice, but the first thought I had was "does that mean no raises this year?". Cynical me.
9. Reading...while I've been rereading some fiction, my new reads this year so far have been nonfiction. I've finished Washington: A Legacy of Leadership from The Generals series, and am mostly through the book on Robert E. Lee from the same series. Pershing, Sherman and Patton are also available. While the books are biographies, they focus primarily on each man's military service. They are well written (different authors, though same editorial team) and accessible for those of us whose knowledge of military history is sketchy at best (as a side note, it was kind of fun to read the account of Washington and the battle at Monmouth, as I've actually visited that battlefield).
10. Sewing...I've not touched the machine yet this year. I hope to remedy that in February, as I'm in a "twenty minute a day" sewing challenge. That should help me knock out some long over due projects.
That's about it here.
I'd not intended to be gone so long, but, well, life happens.
Not that it's been particularly exciting, or I would have had things to write about. A bit of what little has happened over the last month:
1. I finished the month of Whole30, which was an overwhelming success, from many points of view. I kept up with the program, mostly, for the two weeks after. Since then, well, let's just say I need to get back to it. Not even "need", but want to get back to it. I felt so much better on it.
2. Confirmation that the program really is a good thing for me came in the lab results at my doctor appointment yesterday. My A1C - the biggest indicator of the control of diabetes - went down by .4. This is a great thing. It had been on a very slow downward trend; this decrease is twice what I saw at the appointment four months ago. And that was with only one of those four months on the program - can't wait to see what happens when I'm consistently on it.
3. Earlier this week, I signed the home equity line of credit papers. Yay! I'm now free to go further into debt! Truthfully, I'm both excited and terrified at finally being able to bring the condo into this century. The key is discerning where to put the money in, and where to say "Eh, a basic update is ok". The kitchen, for example, does not need to be a showroom. The condo is not an open floor plan; the kitchen is only really visible when you are in it. Since it's a galley, only two people fit in it (unless you are really, really good friends with no personal boundary issues). There is no need for granite or quartz countertops (and good arguments against - there is very little counter room, and inevitably, hot pans will be set down directly on the counters), fancy cabinets (eh, they store stuff) or high end appliances.
Except the stove. The only non negotiable is the stove. Gas. Powerful burners (yay, no more taking half an hour for a pot of pasta water to come to a boil!). Convection oven. And it will not be included in the sale, if I ever move. (I'm just crazy enough to pick a new home based on whether or not my beloved stove will fit).
4. Thus far, I've avoided the flu. My boss, however, brought a nasty cold virus into the office. I've been sniffly and congested, but not even enough that the doc noticed. Just enough, however, to want to sleep every moment I can.
5. At long last, I may finally get the new curtains put up in my bedroom this weekend. While there are still some things to do (paint the armoire...which I bought unfinished over a decade ago, finish some wallhangings), the room is essentially done. Up next is the loft, which mostly needs a bit of rearranging and decluttering.
6. Actually, there is one thing in the loft that is a bigger project. There is an alcove on one wall (90" wide, 80" high, 3 feet deep) that is a closet in other units. Not sure why doors were never put on in mine. At any rate, it gives me a chance to try out a friend who has a very small contracting business. I'm pretty easy on exactly what type of doors (proved there are absolutely NO mirrored doors (yeah, have those on the front hall closet and the 13 FOOT closet in the first floor bedroom), and NO louvered doors (kitchen pantry and utility closet, kitchen sliding door and upstairs linen closet-yeah, hate them). There are a couple of challenges, like the fact that the internet port is IN the closet space, but we'll figure it out.
7. The first Saturday in February I'm off to a quilt shop to see a demo of the APQS longarm quilting machines. This same shop offers the machines for rent (at the shop, obviously) to quilt your own stuff. I'm still toying with the idea of setting up a machine quilting business after I retire. APQS machines have a great reputation.
I am not, however, a fool. If I do decide to go ahead with this, I'll figure out what model I want and wait patiently for their demonstrator and used machine sales. The prices make me swoon a bit. If I decide I want a longarm, but don't intend to make it a business. there are other companies that offer similar machines for a lower cost (though with out the excellent education and spectacular warranty). At this point, I'm not sure I really want a business...
8. Work is, well, work. There was a flurry of insanity before the tax law was signed, trying to predict the impact of the various versions of the bill on the university. This next few years will be difficult, as the new president has a bunch of initiatives he is pushing that will need quite a bit of our generally thin resources. Yet in his "state of the university" address last week, he also announced another "gift of time" (we are given the "gift of time" for the work days between the Christmas and New Year's holidays as additional, paid vacation time) for the week of July 4th. Nice, but the first thought I had was "does that mean no raises this year?". Cynical me.
9. Reading...while I've been rereading some fiction, my new reads this year so far have been nonfiction. I've finished Washington: A Legacy of Leadership from The Generals series, and am mostly through the book on Robert E. Lee from the same series. Pershing, Sherman and Patton are also available. While the books are biographies, they focus primarily on each man's military service. They are well written (different authors, though same editorial team) and accessible for those of us whose knowledge of military history is sketchy at best (as a side note, it was kind of fun to read the account of Washington and the battle at Monmouth, as I've actually visited that battlefield).
10. Sewing...I've not touched the machine yet this year. I hope to remedy that in February, as I'm in a "twenty minute a day" sewing challenge. That should help me knock out some long over due projects.
That's about it here.
Wednesday, August 02, 2017
This and that and the other thing
- #24in48 - All told, I probably spent more than ten hours reading over the weekend. I did make some progress on the nonfiction, most time was truly spent in fiction. I'm a sucker for a good story.
- Speaking of good stories...the sixth book in the Monster Hunters series dropped yesterday. I may or may not be 37% done with it, having started reading during my lunch break yesterday. By the way, the first book in the series, via the link here, is currently FREE for kindle.
- Good for business - if the environmentalists don't ruin it. Governor Walker announced several days ago that Foxconn was planning to build an enormous facility in SE Wisconsin. Foxconn makes parts for Apple. It would bring thousands of jobs to the state. Since the announcement, the local liberal rag has done nothing but run stories on 1. Whether or not Wisconsin has enough qualified workers to fill the spots, 2. Whether the environment will be totally!!!trashed!!! due to the concessions on a couple of environmental regulations the state is offering to Foxconn, 3. Whether the taxpayers will be able to bear the brunt of the horrible!!!unreasonable!!!unheard of!!! incentives being offered to cement the deal. This tongue-in-check piece captures a bit of the hysteria the announcement has generated.
- How did it get to be August? Seriously, I feel as if July just poked her head in the door to say hello, then disappeared. I realized this morning that in another week, maybe two, I'll be driving to work in the dark again. Oy.
- Something is up at my elderly neighbor's. When I came home Monday, they had a trailer backed in to their parking bay, and a van pulled up in the center. One of their sons and his wife were loading things up, and I overheard bits of "Goodwill or toss?" conversations. As of today, the parking bay, which had been a sort of extra storage spot for the couple, is pretty much bare. Not sure if this is just a huge purge, a purge because they plan to move, or something else. Have never met the son and wife, so didn't want to pry.
- I've been looking at prices on new appliances, in preparation for remodeling the kitchen. Holy mackerel. Gone is any thought of a higher end stove. Because of space issues, I'd like to get a "counter depth" refrigerator, preferably with french doors. Yikes. And I don't need the in door ice/water thing, so the prices I'm seeing are comparatively low. Since I mostly cook for one, a dual oven range makes sense (and I can ditch the toaster oven), but that ups the price a bit. Also forgot I'd need a new garbage disposal.
There are limited things I can do to keep the cost down. I can certainly do the painting. I can mount cabinet hardware. Everything else? Most likely beyond the limits of my ability (or patience).
- 'Tis the season - I've a family wedding shower midmonth, and a baby shower at work the following week. Urgh. Not much of a fan. Happy for people, but sitting around watching someone open gifts is less exciting than watching paint dry.
- Not much of excitement going on, or anticipated. That's fine with me.
- Speaking of good stories...the sixth book in the Monster Hunters series dropped yesterday. I may or may not be 37% done with it, having started reading during my lunch break yesterday. By the way, the first book in the series, via the link here, is currently FREE for kindle.
- Good for business - if the environmentalists don't ruin it. Governor Walker announced several days ago that Foxconn was planning to build an enormous facility in SE Wisconsin. Foxconn makes parts for Apple. It would bring thousands of jobs to the state. Since the announcement, the local liberal rag has done nothing but run stories on 1. Whether or not Wisconsin has enough qualified workers to fill the spots, 2. Whether the environment will be totally!!!trashed!!! due to the concessions on a couple of environmental regulations the state is offering to Foxconn, 3. Whether the taxpayers will be able to bear the brunt of the horrible!!!unreasonable!!!unheard of!!! incentives being offered to cement the deal. This tongue-in-check piece captures a bit of the hysteria the announcement has generated.
- How did it get to be August? Seriously, I feel as if July just poked her head in the door to say hello, then disappeared. I realized this morning that in another week, maybe two, I'll be driving to work in the dark again. Oy.
- Something is up at my elderly neighbor's. When I came home Monday, they had a trailer backed in to their parking bay, and a van pulled up in the center. One of their sons and his wife were loading things up, and I overheard bits of "Goodwill or toss?" conversations. As of today, the parking bay, which had been a sort of extra storage spot for the couple, is pretty much bare. Not sure if this is just a huge purge, a purge because they plan to move, or something else. Have never met the son and wife, so didn't want to pry.
- I've been looking at prices on new appliances, in preparation for remodeling the kitchen. Holy mackerel. Gone is any thought of a higher end stove. Because of space issues, I'd like to get a "counter depth" refrigerator, preferably with french doors. Yikes. And I don't need the in door ice/water thing, so the prices I'm seeing are comparatively low. Since I mostly cook for one, a dual oven range makes sense (and I can ditch the toaster oven), but that ups the price a bit. Also forgot I'd need a new garbage disposal.
There are limited things I can do to keep the cost down. I can certainly do the painting. I can mount cabinet hardware. Everything else? Most likely beyond the limits of my ability (or patience).
- 'Tis the season - I've a family wedding shower midmonth, and a baby shower at work the following week. Urgh. Not much of a fan. Happy for people, but sitting around watching someone open gifts is less exciting than watching paint dry.
- Not much of excitement going on, or anticipated. That's fine with me.
Wednesday, May 03, 2017
It's not Friday
Yet here I am. Sort of.
Every so often I feel like shuttering this place, but I live in hopes that I'll come out of this slump and get back to making sense and decent posts...still hoping.
I realized this past weekend that it's really been a difficult 2017 so far. So many people were anxious for 2016 to end, mostly because of the slew of celebrity deaths in that year (news flash: everyone dies eventually). This year, though, at least for me, has stunk on a more personal level.
Much of the stink doesn't actually emanate from me, so to speak, but is clouding the lives of people I hold dear. Serious health issues. Parents passing away. Long term unemployment and the associated financial troubles. Serious relationship difficulties. Much, if not most, of it beyond anything I can do other than pray.
Add to this generalized anxiety about society. Since the election, already acrimonious public discourse has taken a turn for the worse. Any position but your own is not only unsound, but by default makes you a racist, homophobe, uncompassionate ass who doesn't deserve to breathe. Our college campuses, especially, have in large part begun indoctrinating students in a particular world view rather than teaching anything like free thought and free speech.
That last bit makes life at work a bit...interesting. It's hard to listen to our student workers parrot back what has been force fed them in class, knowing that for the most part, they've not thought through the actual issue, much less what defenses there are for their position. Isn't the job of the university to teach young people to think for themselves, not hand them conclusions on a silver (or platinum, given today's tuition rates) platter?
Eh.
Personally, it's been a season of discontent. I'm not entirely sure I've felt well since before Christmas. Head colds, the knee issue, headaches, another cold, stomach issues. There is a fair chance some of this is stress-related.
Not feeling well makes me cranky (ok, crankier) and makes small inconveniences and idiocies loom much larger than usual. In short, the craziness gets to me more than it should. That, in turn, makes me wonder why I'm doing what I'm doing, not only professionally, but in all areas of my life. I want to make some changes, but a combination of inertia and not-sure-I-give-a-darn keeps me from actually starting anything.
Over the top of this is a layer of grieving. Stay with me on this - a lot of people just don't or won't understand. When I reached forty, I started a year or two of grieving over the biological kids I'd never have. It didn't matter that I know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that I would be a lousy mother (I love kids, and am great with them, as long as I can give them back within about four hours, and no, I would not feel any different if they were my own - deal with it), and God is absolutely right in not putting that in my life; still, I grieved.
And that's ok. It really is ok to need to work through the fact you will never have something you never really wanted in the first place. (it's my life, it only has to make sense to me).
Anyway, here we are almost twenty years later, and all sorts of "grandkid" posts start popping into my Facebook feed. I'm genuinely happy for my friends, but...it's started a new season of mourning. This round, for the lack of continuation that kids and grandkids bring.
Again, it's ok to mourn. And again, I am perfectly content with the lot God's given me in this regard. But it's still difficult in some ways.
So there's that.
The sun is finally out today, after what seems to be weeks of grey and rain. Hoping that the extra light helps to brighten my mood as well. At five this morning, as I walked from the desk in the loft to the bathroom, I could see plenty of light through the giant, east-facing windows. Spring, in spite of the thirty degree temperature, is well on its way.
Every so often I feel like shuttering this place, but I live in hopes that I'll come out of this slump and get back to making sense and decent posts...still hoping.
I realized this past weekend that it's really been a difficult 2017 so far. So many people were anxious for 2016 to end, mostly because of the slew of celebrity deaths in that year (news flash: everyone dies eventually). This year, though, at least for me, has stunk on a more personal level.
Much of the stink doesn't actually emanate from me, so to speak, but is clouding the lives of people I hold dear. Serious health issues. Parents passing away. Long term unemployment and the associated financial troubles. Serious relationship difficulties. Much, if not most, of it beyond anything I can do other than pray.
Add to this generalized anxiety about society. Since the election, already acrimonious public discourse has taken a turn for the worse. Any position but your own is not only unsound, but by default makes you a racist, homophobe, uncompassionate ass who doesn't deserve to breathe. Our college campuses, especially, have in large part begun indoctrinating students in a particular world view rather than teaching anything like free thought and free speech.
That last bit makes life at work a bit...interesting. It's hard to listen to our student workers parrot back what has been force fed them in class, knowing that for the most part, they've not thought through the actual issue, much less what defenses there are for their position. Isn't the job of the university to teach young people to think for themselves, not hand them conclusions on a silver (or platinum, given today's tuition rates) platter?
Eh.
Personally, it's been a season of discontent. I'm not entirely sure I've felt well since before Christmas. Head colds, the knee issue, headaches, another cold, stomach issues. There is a fair chance some of this is stress-related.
Not feeling well makes me cranky (ok, crankier) and makes small inconveniences and idiocies loom much larger than usual. In short, the craziness gets to me more than it should. That, in turn, makes me wonder why I'm doing what I'm doing, not only professionally, but in all areas of my life. I want to make some changes, but a combination of inertia and not-sure-I-give-a-darn keeps me from actually starting anything.
Over the top of this is a layer of grieving. Stay with me on this - a lot of people just don't or won't understand. When I reached forty, I started a year or two of grieving over the biological kids I'd never have. It didn't matter that I know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that I would be a lousy mother (I love kids, and am great with them, as long as I can give them back within about four hours, and no, I would not feel any different if they were my own - deal with it), and God is absolutely right in not putting that in my life; still, I grieved.
And that's ok. It really is ok to need to work through the fact you will never have something you never really wanted in the first place. (it's my life, it only has to make sense to me).
Anyway, here we are almost twenty years later, and all sorts of "grandkid" posts start popping into my Facebook feed. I'm genuinely happy for my friends, but...it's started a new season of mourning. This round, for the lack of continuation that kids and grandkids bring.
Again, it's ok to mourn. And again, I am perfectly content with the lot God's given me in this regard. But it's still difficult in some ways.
So there's that.
The sun is finally out today, after what seems to be weeks of grey and rain. Hoping that the extra light helps to brighten my mood as well. At five this morning, as I walked from the desk in the loft to the bathroom, I could see plenty of light through the giant, east-facing windows. Spring, in spite of the thirty degree temperature, is well on its way.
Saturday, April 08, 2017
Spring Saturday
After weeks of clouds and rain (and a little snow, too), today is sunny and high sixties. So how do I celebrate?
I went in to work at 6:30 this morning (more on that later).
Came home, read for a while, then took an hour and a half nap. Did a bit of multi-player online gaming, and now about to go back downstairs and...
...either clean or sew. Maybe read again.
No ambition to open the drapes (I'll just see more dust) or go outside. Tomorrow is supposed to be warmer, and maybe then I'll putter outside a bit. The lilac should be trimmed. I can connect the hose, maybe pull out the shepherd's hook.
Actually, I did do a bit of design work for a baby quilt. A coworker is pregnant with her first, due in September. A while back there was a special on a charm pack (42, 5" squares) of the cutest Winnie the Pooh fabrics...I bought a pack, thinking I'd pick up some of the coordinating fabrics later. I forgot that when this shop puts these things on special, it's because they are almost out of them. I managed to get one yard of a coordinate to use for a border, and another charm pack that is just a solid color.
Figuring out what to do with it, to get a decent sized baby quilt, has been a bit interesting. I put the question to the Facebook quilting group, and got a variety of responses. It's pretty apparent not everyone read the portion of the post that explained I only had ONE charm pack of the pretty prints; if I'd had two, I would not have had this problem. In the end, someone had a simple but cute pattern, one that will show off the cute prints in spite of the small size.
The plan early this morning was to go to work to accomplish a couple of very specific things. I'd get there like I always do, just before 6:30, and stay no later than 9:30. Well...the little gas pump icon lit up as I pulled into the garage last night. So I left a few minutes earlier than usual to stop and fill up. Cruised through the McDonald's drive through for coffee and breakfast...
...well, not cruised, exactly. The car in front of me apparently had ordered a frou-frou iced coffee drink (go to Starbucks for that, darn it). When the clerk went to hand it to her, she must have changed her mind, because he disappeared with the drink. Eventually, he reappeared with a shake (I think). There were only the two cars, hers and mine, and I sat there for five minutes, even though she was already at the pick up window when I pulled into the lot. The whole time, I could see my bag of food sitting on the counter, getting cold. When I finally did get up there, he rang me up, gave me my coffee, then said "your food will be right up", and turned to take another drive through order while my food continued to sit there, congealing. I've had issues with this clerk before.
Got to work. I haven't been in on a Saturday in over a year. Get to the building door, and find it locked. No sweat, I can swipe my ID in the reader and it will open.
Only it didn't.
The reader may have been upgraded to a proximity reader, where you just tap your ID on it to activate it. But my ID is twenty years old and doesn't have that tech. The reader still has the swipe slot. Was not at all happy - it was 6:30 a.m., and the building does not unlock until 9:30.
I almost went home. But no, I called our Police Department, and eventually, someone came to let me in. Sheesh.
At least I got the things done I had planned on, plus a bit, and was on my way out at 9:15.
Obviously, I'm a grumpypants. It's more than just physical weariness, though a sizeable amount of the grumpy comes from that. Lots of unfocused stress at work, as the hunt for a new CFO continues. Not much getting done at home, cleaning, cooking, putting together the exercise bike I bought at Christmas... On top of all of this, the knee that was so very much improved decided to have a major hissy fit last night. My entire leg felt like one big cramp, and the sharp pains in the knee have returned. I haven't been to PT for a week, thanks to the work schedule, which may account for some of it. It certainly doesn't put me in the mood to try to limp around to clean.
Eh. I'm going to go read, I think. And eat goldfish crackers. I needed to fill up the Amazon Pantry box (monthly order of various paper products), and the giant box of goldfish fit the bill. Goldfish crackes always make me smile.
I went in to work at 6:30 this morning (more on that later).
Came home, read for a while, then took an hour and a half nap. Did a bit of multi-player online gaming, and now about to go back downstairs and...
...either clean or sew. Maybe read again.
No ambition to open the drapes (I'll just see more dust) or go outside. Tomorrow is supposed to be warmer, and maybe then I'll putter outside a bit. The lilac should be trimmed. I can connect the hose, maybe pull out the shepherd's hook.
Actually, I did do a bit of design work for a baby quilt. A coworker is pregnant with her first, due in September. A while back there was a special on a charm pack (42, 5" squares) of the cutest Winnie the Pooh fabrics...I bought a pack, thinking I'd pick up some of the coordinating fabrics later. I forgot that when this shop puts these things on special, it's because they are almost out of them. I managed to get one yard of a coordinate to use for a border, and another charm pack that is just a solid color.
Figuring out what to do with it, to get a decent sized baby quilt, has been a bit interesting. I put the question to the Facebook quilting group, and got a variety of responses. It's pretty apparent not everyone read the portion of the post that explained I only had ONE charm pack of the pretty prints; if I'd had two, I would not have had this problem. In the end, someone had a simple but cute pattern, one that will show off the cute prints in spite of the small size.
The plan early this morning was to go to work to accomplish a couple of very specific things. I'd get there like I always do, just before 6:30, and stay no later than 9:30. Well...the little gas pump icon lit up as I pulled into the garage last night. So I left a few minutes earlier than usual to stop and fill up. Cruised through the McDonald's drive through for coffee and breakfast...
...well, not cruised, exactly. The car in front of me apparently had ordered a frou-frou iced coffee drink (go to Starbucks for that, darn it). When the clerk went to hand it to her, she must have changed her mind, because he disappeared with the drink. Eventually, he reappeared with a shake (I think). There were only the two cars, hers and mine, and I sat there for five minutes, even though she was already at the pick up window when I pulled into the lot. The whole time, I could see my bag of food sitting on the counter, getting cold. When I finally did get up there, he rang me up, gave me my coffee, then said "your food will be right up", and turned to take another drive through order while my food continued to sit there, congealing. I've had issues with this clerk before.
Got to work. I haven't been in on a Saturday in over a year. Get to the building door, and find it locked. No sweat, I can swipe my ID in the reader and it will open.
Only it didn't.
The reader may have been upgraded to a proximity reader, where you just tap your ID on it to activate it. But my ID is twenty years old and doesn't have that tech. The reader still has the swipe slot. Was not at all happy - it was 6:30 a.m., and the building does not unlock until 9:30.
I almost went home. But no, I called our Police Department, and eventually, someone came to let me in. Sheesh.
At least I got the things done I had planned on, plus a bit, and was on my way out at 9:15.
Obviously, I'm a grumpypants. It's more than just physical weariness, though a sizeable amount of the grumpy comes from that. Lots of unfocused stress at work, as the hunt for a new CFO continues. Not much getting done at home, cleaning, cooking, putting together the exercise bike I bought at Christmas... On top of all of this, the knee that was so very much improved decided to have a major hissy fit last night. My entire leg felt like one big cramp, and the sharp pains in the knee have returned. I haven't been to PT for a week, thanks to the work schedule, which may account for some of it. It certainly doesn't put me in the mood to try to limp around to clean.
Eh. I'm going to go read, I think. And eat goldfish crackers. I needed to fill up the Amazon Pantry box (monthly order of various paper products), and the giant box of goldfish fit the bill. Goldfish crackes always make me smile.
Tuesday, March 28, 2017
A whole lot of nothing
I see it's been more than a week since I last wandered in there. I'm surprised I could locate the keys.
Why have I been missing?
Honestly, I crave lots and lots of time asleep. Much more than usual. It may be that it's stress related: lots of unknowns at work, lots of good people I know who are facing really, really scary and potentially life-altering things that are weighing on my heart.
Or maybe it's just a B12 deficiency.
No matter, I just want to sleep. And sleep some more.
When I am awake, I've managed to do some sewing. Still trying to finish up the top of a twin-sized quilt. It's the largest quilt I've made in several years, and coincidentally, at 6" square, has some of the smallest blocks I've ever made for a quilt. Eighty blocks of four different configurations (corner, 2 different side blocks and center blocks), plus two borders. I've two sides of the first border sewn on, but realized I didn't cut enough strips to make the other two sides.
Oops. So much for my superior math skills.
Still doing physical therapy for the arthritis in the right knee. Right after PT I feel great; the next morning, I can barely move. Overall, there is improvement. One thing I've realized is that my desk set up at work is not optimal. Unfortunately, the desk chair is being stubborn about being raised. Need to turn it over and figure out what the issue is.
My original plan of having contractors come and look at the kitchen in May to bid on remodeling it may need to be put on hold. Due to some unforeseen expenses this spring, my savings are lower than I've seen them in years. I'd like to do some catch up before I commit to spending a large chunk of my home equity. It's entirely possible I'll delay the project for a year. It's not as if I have any immediate plans to put the condo on the market, or that the kitchen is unusable.
Close your eyes and you don't see the harvest gold countertops at all.
If I do wait, I can do some of the smaller things first - things I don't need permits or contractors to complete. New vanity lights and medicine cabinets in both bathrooms, along with a fresh coat of paint. Change out the porch and patio lights. Paint the walk in closet in my bedroom.
All of this depends, of course, on whether or not I can conquer this infernal sleepiness.
Why have I been missing?
Honestly, I crave lots and lots of time asleep. Much more than usual. It may be that it's stress related: lots of unknowns at work, lots of good people I know who are facing really, really scary and potentially life-altering things that are weighing on my heart.
Or maybe it's just a B12 deficiency.
No matter, I just want to sleep. And sleep some more.
When I am awake, I've managed to do some sewing. Still trying to finish up the top of a twin-sized quilt. It's the largest quilt I've made in several years, and coincidentally, at 6" square, has some of the smallest blocks I've ever made for a quilt. Eighty blocks of four different configurations (corner, 2 different side blocks and center blocks), plus two borders. I've two sides of the first border sewn on, but realized I didn't cut enough strips to make the other two sides.
Oops. So much for my superior math skills.
Still doing physical therapy for the arthritis in the right knee. Right after PT I feel great; the next morning, I can barely move. Overall, there is improvement. One thing I've realized is that my desk set up at work is not optimal. Unfortunately, the desk chair is being stubborn about being raised. Need to turn it over and figure out what the issue is.
My original plan of having contractors come and look at the kitchen in May to bid on remodeling it may need to be put on hold. Due to some unforeseen expenses this spring, my savings are lower than I've seen them in years. I'd like to do some catch up before I commit to spending a large chunk of my home equity. It's entirely possible I'll delay the project for a year. It's not as if I have any immediate plans to put the condo on the market, or that the kitchen is unusable.
Close your eyes and you don't see the harvest gold countertops at all.
If I do wait, I can do some of the smaller things first - things I don't need permits or contractors to complete. New vanity lights and medicine cabinets in both bathrooms, along with a fresh coat of paint. Change out the porch and patio lights. Paint the walk in closet in my bedroom.
All of this depends, of course, on whether or not I can conquer this infernal sleepiness.
Friday, March 10, 2017
Quick (yeah, right) update
Nothing is torn, out of place or in danger of falling out of my knee. According to the ortho, it's worn (oddly, the left is nowhere nearly as decrepit; I attribute this to my long habit of twisting my right leg under me to sit on it) and unhappy.
The solution? Move the heck out of it. Physical therapy, in other words. The downside? Their PT department does not have any openings until April 10th. Why yes, this injury happened March 3rd.
As soon as they open (half an hour from now) I'll call the campus Physical Therapy Clinic. I didn't think of it until I got home last night, but if I can get in there more quickly, the service is not only covered by our insurance plan, but co-pay and deductible free. Yay for that.
The doc said I could have a corti-whatever shot "depending on my frustration level" (??He just met me, obviously he doesn't know me), but it would mess up my blood sugar for a few days. No, thank you, I do a great job messing up my blood sugars myself. Though if I'm still in this kind of pain by this time next week, I'll jab the needle in myself and sugar be darned.
I'm really a whiner about pain; most of the time, what I have is an ache. Turn it wrong, or put weight on it unevenly, however, and not only does the leg buckle under me as someone sticks flaming hot swords into my knee, but bad words come out of my mouth. Sometimes, just moving my leg under my desk sets off the pain.
Note that compared to when it first happened, this level of pain is nothing, and passes quickly once I correct my behavior. But I am, like most reasonable people, pain-phobic. Perhaps more than others, I am very Pavlov's dog about behavior and reward. Consequently, I'm moving very slowly and carefully.
Eh. This too, will pass? That's the theory, anyway.
As I may have said in the prior post, driving does not hurt at all, as this is my right knee. Neither does using the presser foot on the sewing machine (which, actually, would not be an issue if I used the other machine, which has a start/stop button that can be used in place of using the presser foot). So I can go out for coffee (at places that do not require you to stand in line) or stay in and sew. Life's little pleasures.
The solution? Move the heck out of it. Physical therapy, in other words. The downside? Their PT department does not have any openings until April 10th. Why yes, this injury happened March 3rd.
As soon as they open (half an hour from now) I'll call the campus Physical Therapy Clinic. I didn't think of it until I got home last night, but if I can get in there more quickly, the service is not only covered by our insurance plan, but co-pay and deductible free. Yay for that.
The doc said I could have a corti-whatever shot "depending on my frustration level" (??He just met me, obviously he doesn't know me), but it would mess up my blood sugar for a few days. No, thank you, I do a great job messing up my blood sugars myself. Though if I'm still in this kind of pain by this time next week, I'll jab the needle in myself and sugar be darned.
I'm really a whiner about pain; most of the time, what I have is an ache. Turn it wrong, or put weight on it unevenly, however, and not only does the leg buckle under me as someone sticks flaming hot swords into my knee, but bad words come out of my mouth. Sometimes, just moving my leg under my desk sets off the pain.
Note that compared to when it first happened, this level of pain is nothing, and passes quickly once I correct my behavior. But I am, like most reasonable people, pain-phobic. Perhaps more than others, I am very Pavlov's dog about behavior and reward. Consequently, I'm moving very slowly and carefully.
Eh. This too, will pass? That's the theory, anyway.
As I may have said in the prior post, driving does not hurt at all, as this is my right knee. Neither does using the presser foot on the sewing machine (which, actually, would not be an issue if I used the other machine, which has a start/stop button that can be used in place of using the presser foot). So I can go out for coffee (at places that do not require you to stand in line) or stay in and sew. Life's little pleasures.
Saturday, March 04, 2017
On getting older
Friday I took a vacation day, for something being done in the condo. I was up early, tidying up, when a good friend called. We chatted for quite a while, and after I hung up, I went back to tidying.
I'd sat down to do some sorting in the living room. When I got up out of the chair, I felt a sharp, piercing pain in my right knee, almost enough to floor me. Yikes.
This has happened once or twice before over the last several months, and it generally clears up with ten minutes of sitting still and cursing softly under my breath.
Well, the cursing may not actually have a direct impact on the healing, but it makes me feel better emotionally. This time, however, the pain didn't go completely away. Note that through this, driving actually felt fine - no pain at all. Thankfully, it's my right leg, not needed to push in the rather stiff clutch.
As long as I stay still, I'm fine. But putting weight on it is a tricky business. About one step in four feels fine. The rest bring back the shooting pain.
I managed to get through the condo business, which necessitated me vacating the premises for a couple of hours. I went to Panera, which thankfully has order-from and deliver-to table service. By the time I'd finished lunch, I'd resigned myself to going to the urgent care, which is considerably closer to where I live than my doctor's office.
I'd had a horrific experience at this urgent care several years ago (hence taking several hours to decide to finally go), but this time was much, much more pleasant.
At least as pleasant as it can be to find out you have severe arthritis in your knee.
I'm assuming that if one knee is like this, the other is as well. Apparently, it's possible for the pain I'm experiencing now (possibly a ligament hung up on one of the arthritis-induced bone spurs) will resolve on its own. I do need to see an orthopedist, who can assess the current state more thoroughly and recommend lasting treatment. As I understand it, the first line is steroid injections. Eventually, I'm assuming I'll need knee replacements.
Thank heaven for Amazon Prime and same day delivery; I was able to order and receive a cane (!) today. The nurse practitioner suggested it, though I'm not sure I'll use it except outside the house. There was a purple version available, but I'm not quite well adjusted enough yet to have fun with this.
In short, I feel old. Really old. There are so many things I'd wanted to get done this weekend, and I can't do much of any of them. In fact, I spent much of the day in the recliner with my leg up and iced. That wouldn't have bothered me, except for two things. One, just sitting is always chilly, but every single quilt and blanket on the first floor was in the basement, waiting to be washed. Every.single.one. I'd not thought to put socks on before I came downstairs, and did not have the oomph to withstand the pain of coming down the steps (up feels fine) just for socks.
Two, I seriously think the new ISP is choking off my download speed. All three streaming services keep cutting out the show to reload, on both roku players downstairs. The range extender doesn't seem to be getting much of a signal. Even upstairs, right next to the router and connected directly to the primary network, my kindle is taking an hour to download something that should take five minutes. Yes, I'm stuck in a chair with no access to electronic entertainment. There is a stack of real books next to the recliner, but it still sucks not being able to watch a movie.
Yeah, feeling both old and sorry for myself.
I'd sat down to do some sorting in the living room. When I got up out of the chair, I felt a sharp, piercing pain in my right knee, almost enough to floor me. Yikes.
This has happened once or twice before over the last several months, and it generally clears up with ten minutes of sitting still and cursing softly under my breath.
Well, the cursing may not actually have a direct impact on the healing, but it makes me feel better emotionally. This time, however, the pain didn't go completely away. Note that through this, driving actually felt fine - no pain at all. Thankfully, it's my right leg, not needed to push in the rather stiff clutch.
As long as I stay still, I'm fine. But putting weight on it is a tricky business. About one step in four feels fine. The rest bring back the shooting pain.
I managed to get through the condo business, which necessitated me vacating the premises for a couple of hours. I went to Panera, which thankfully has order-from and deliver-to table service. By the time I'd finished lunch, I'd resigned myself to going to the urgent care, which is considerably closer to where I live than my doctor's office.
I'd had a horrific experience at this urgent care several years ago (hence taking several hours to decide to finally go), but this time was much, much more pleasant.
At least as pleasant as it can be to find out you have severe arthritis in your knee.
I'm assuming that if one knee is like this, the other is as well. Apparently, it's possible for the pain I'm experiencing now (possibly a ligament hung up on one of the arthritis-induced bone spurs) will resolve on its own. I do need to see an orthopedist, who can assess the current state more thoroughly and recommend lasting treatment. As I understand it, the first line is steroid injections. Eventually, I'm assuming I'll need knee replacements.
Thank heaven for Amazon Prime and same day delivery; I was able to order and receive a cane (!) today. The nurse practitioner suggested it, though I'm not sure I'll use it except outside the house. There was a purple version available, but I'm not quite well adjusted enough yet to have fun with this.
In short, I feel old. Really old. There are so many things I'd wanted to get done this weekend, and I can't do much of any of them. In fact, I spent much of the day in the recliner with my leg up and iced. That wouldn't have bothered me, except for two things. One, just sitting is always chilly, but every single quilt and blanket on the first floor was in the basement, waiting to be washed. Every.single.one. I'd not thought to put socks on before I came downstairs, and did not have the oomph to withstand the pain of coming down the steps (up feels fine) just for socks.
Two, I seriously think the new ISP is choking off my download speed. All three streaming services keep cutting out the show to reload, on both roku players downstairs. The range extender doesn't seem to be getting much of a signal. Even upstairs, right next to the router and connected directly to the primary network, my kindle is taking an hour to download something that should take five minutes. Yes, I'm stuck in a chair with no access to electronic entertainment. There is a stack of real books next to the recliner, but it still sucks not being able to watch a movie.
Yeah, feeling both old and sorry for myself.
Friday, January 13, 2017
Friday the 13th AND a full moon
Even with those two things coming together, today is a good day - the beginning of a three day weekend. Just in time; this first week back at work has been a bit crazy, not to mention tiring. So, a "quick takes" kind of list:
Not-so-quick-takes, I guess, in spite of not much going on in my world.
- I managed to bang my shin on the bedframe yesterday morning, hard enough to draw blood to the point of needing a big bandage. My own fault (I am (sometimes) an idiot), as when I last rotated the box spring, I simply rotated the entire bed end-to-end. The brackets for the (nonexistent- haven't found one I like) headboard don't normally stick out, but the spring and mattress slid back a bit, exposing enough of the bracket for my shin to find. As of this morning, the gaping hole in my shin is well on the mend.
- Reason #165915 why I'm grateful I love to read: when Hollywood shuts down movie production in a fit of childish pique over the results of the presidential election, I'll still be able to amuse myself. Honestly, they haven't thought this through. If Trump resigns, Pence becomes President. Pence - the evangelical Christian who lives out his beliefs and is therefore anathema to everything Hollywood believes in. Reason #6498131687 why actors are paid to act, not think.
- My Christmas tree is not only still up, I am still letting the timer turn the lights on twice a day. What can I say - I'm a sucker for twinkle lights. It will come down this weekend, but I may try to figure our how to continue having my lights. Maybe a string along the bookshelf in the sewing studio? The lights make me happy, and you can't have too much of that.
- The site I bought my fountain pen from sent me a coupon for my birthday. Now that I've figured out how to refill the pen with ink from a bottle rather than using cartridges, I've started looking at the various inks they carry. All of the colors are gorgeous, but there are some inks that include some sort of sheen, from tiny gold or silver flakes to something that gives them an iridescent shimmer of another color. Before I narrow the selection down, though, I need to learn how to thoroughly flush out the old ink from the pen. I've watched the video, but my own actual experience rarely goes as smoothly as the videos.
- Using a fountain pen is another thing that makes me happy. I've a Pilot Metropolitan that is a great pen for the price. It takes ink cartridges, though it can be converted to bottled ink as well. The cartridge ink is fairly "dry" (dries quickly on most paper) but flows smoothly. My other pen is an older model of the Invincia here (made entirely of the blue color aluminum used on this one only on the cap, not to mention on closeout at half this price with a full size bottle of ink thrown in - I may like fountain pens, but I'm not crazy)(if you like crazy, search the site for the gorgeous Japanese, handmade pens...I think the downpayment on my condo was less). A fountain pen takes much less pressure to write with than a normal ballpoint, a plus for my aging hands.
- The local crime report this week said a rabbit had gotten itself stuck in the engine of one of the squad cars (presumably because it was a warm spot during our 2 degree days). It was successfully extricated and sent on its merry way. Nice to know "protect and serve" extends to all species.
- No major plans for the weekend. Cleaning, cooking for the freezer, quilting, napping, taking down the tree. Puttering, which sounds like heaven.
Not-so-quick-takes, I guess, in spite of not much going on in my world.
Monday, January 02, 2017
Clean all the things
New year, new program to declutter.
I've been off since the 23rd, with an ambitious plan to declutter.
Um, yeah.
But today I managed to take care of something that's been sitting on my to-do list (not to mention next to my desk) for about two years: emptying the Laundry Basket o'Papers (TM).
The LBoP is a green laundry basket with a few ribs broken and a tear in the handle. Used primarily as a receptacle for things I need to take up/downstairs, it was headed for the trash pile when it took on a new purpose: holder of things I did not have a immediate "home" for.
These items ranged from the extra pieces and boxes from a new cell phone, to lab reports and water/sewer bills. At the old place, I used a four drawer file cabinet for the "keep me" paperwork (two drawers only - the other two held office supplies and a few other things). The cabinet came with me to the new place, but I wanted to empty it and simplify my life a bit. I added a two drawer cabinet to the mix - with a single file drawer. The theory is that if I keep on top of culling the paperwork, one drawer should be sufficient.
Theory. Doesn't always mix with real life.
Complicating things, the loft, where my office space lives, does not receive any direct sunlight except between sunrise and about 9:30 a.m. This condo was built without any overhead lighting except in the kitchen and dining rooms (and baths, naturally). The desk lamp and the floor lamp provide some light, but with a 16 foot back wall, the light dissipates and leaves a lot of gloom. Not ideal for sorting paper.
Now that I'm done attempting to justify my slovenly filing habits, I can tell you I finally emptied that basket today. What is left is half a dozen quilting magazines to go downstairs, a small stack of books and journals to be shelved, a three inch thick accordian file of papers to keep and a very lonely, beautifully empty laundry basket.
Time to break for a late lunch. I ate a large breakfast very early this morning at my favorite local dine-in restaurant; it's taken almost seven hours to feel hungry again. After lunch, who knows? Maybe I'll declutter the remaining file drawer.
I've been off since the 23rd, with an ambitious plan to declutter.
Um, yeah.
But today I managed to take care of something that's been sitting on my to-do list (not to mention next to my desk) for about two years: emptying the Laundry Basket o'Papers (TM).
The LBoP is a green laundry basket with a few ribs broken and a tear in the handle. Used primarily as a receptacle for things I need to take up/downstairs, it was headed for the trash pile when it took on a new purpose: holder of things I did not have a immediate "home" for.
 |
| Not the actual LBoP, but you get the idea. |
Theory. Doesn't always mix with real life.
Complicating things, the loft, where my office space lives, does not receive any direct sunlight except between sunrise and about 9:30 a.m. This condo was built without any overhead lighting except in the kitchen and dining rooms (and baths, naturally). The desk lamp and the floor lamp provide some light, but with a 16 foot back wall, the light dissipates and leaves a lot of gloom. Not ideal for sorting paper.
Now that I'm done attempting to justify my slovenly filing habits, I can tell you I finally emptied that basket today. What is left is half a dozen quilting magazines to go downstairs, a small stack of books and journals to be shelved, a three inch thick accordian file of papers to keep and a very lonely, beautifully empty laundry basket.
Time to break for a late lunch. I ate a large breakfast very early this morning at my favorite local dine-in restaurant; it's taken almost seven hours to feel hungry again. After lunch, who knows? Maybe I'll declutter the remaining file drawer.
Tuesday, December 06, 2016
*cough-cough* Aaaaa-choo *cough-gag*
This isn't a call for people to feel sorry for me; I'm doing a great job feeling sorry for me all on my own.
The head/chest cold that attacked me over the Thanksgiving weekend enjoys its current accommodations very much. So much so that evicting it is a slow-going process. Liberal application of cold meds and fluids have loosened up the head congestion a bit. Unfortunately, that just made room for a sinus headache (that had been conspicuously lacking for the first week).
I'm well enough to come to work, but sick enough that I need to check my work very carefully at least twice, three times if I can, preferably with a night's sleep in between. The struggle against the fuzziness, it is real.
That I almost broke down in tears on the way home last night, simply because I was on my way to my bed, pretty much tells you all you need to know (well, the stupid drivers on the freeway may have had a little bit to do with that).
Given my snuffly state, plus my tendency to fall asleep whenever I sit still for more than five minutes, I've decided to skip the quilt guild Christmas dinner, which is tonight. It's breaking my heart for several reasons. First, it sounds like a fun time, with door prizes and other festive treats. Second, the venue sounds like fun - one of the larger brew pubs, close to the lake. We had three choices for our entrees...I'm a sucker for a good steak, in this case, fillet mignon. Lastly, I paid a small fortune for this dinner, nonrefundable.
Even picking it up to go sounds like too much effort, especially since my taste buds have surrendered to the cold as well. Even coffee tastes nasty.
On the less dark side, the third of a box of tissue I've used (just at work) since Monday morning tells me things are moving on out. It's pretty clear (in several senses) that this is not a sinus infection, thankfully. I'm less prone to sudden, violent coughing spasms.
I'm absolutely certain this will clear up entirely by next week Tuesday. Why, you ask? Because next Wednesday, I've a long-scheduled doctor appointment. Happens every time.
Need to get back to my pity party now. And triple check those schedules I completed before lunch.
The head/chest cold that attacked me over the Thanksgiving weekend enjoys its current accommodations very much. So much so that evicting it is a slow-going process. Liberal application of cold meds and fluids have loosened up the head congestion a bit. Unfortunately, that just made room for a sinus headache (that had been conspicuously lacking for the first week).
I'm well enough to come to work, but sick enough that I need to check my work very carefully at least twice, three times if I can, preferably with a night's sleep in between. The struggle against the fuzziness, it is real.
That I almost broke down in tears on the way home last night, simply because I was on my way to my bed, pretty much tells you all you need to know (well, the stupid drivers on the freeway may have had a little bit to do with that).
Given my snuffly state, plus my tendency to fall asleep whenever I sit still for more than five minutes, I've decided to skip the quilt guild Christmas dinner, which is tonight. It's breaking my heart for several reasons. First, it sounds like a fun time, with door prizes and other festive treats. Second, the venue sounds like fun - one of the larger brew pubs, close to the lake. We had three choices for our entrees...I'm a sucker for a good steak, in this case, fillet mignon. Lastly, I paid a small fortune for this dinner, nonrefundable.
Even picking it up to go sounds like too much effort, especially since my taste buds have surrendered to the cold as well. Even coffee tastes nasty.
On the less dark side, the third of a box of tissue I've used (just at work) since Monday morning tells me things are moving on out. It's pretty clear (in several senses) that this is not a sinus infection, thankfully. I'm less prone to sudden, violent coughing spasms.
I'm absolutely certain this will clear up entirely by next week Tuesday. Why, you ask? Because next Wednesday, I've a long-scheduled doctor appointment. Happens every time.
Need to get back to my pity party now. And triple check those schedules I completed before lunch.
Thursday, September 29, 2016
And home
...getting home was by no means a guaranteed deal.
Everyone boarded, we pulled away from the gate and...stopped. Five minutes later, the captain comes on the intercom:
"We seem to have a bit of a mechanical issue. We're going to be pulling back to the gate to let the mechanics check things out. We'll update you when we know something."
The "mechanical issue" turned out to be the right side engine refusing to turn over; better to discover that on the ground, than have it quit in mid-air.
Southwest Airlines deserves a lot of praise for their handling of this situation. Within ten minutes of being pushed back to the gate, the mechanics made the decision to pull the plane out of service. We were to deplane, then hang out in the boarding area while they looked for another plane to carry us to Milwaukee.
Within fifteen minutes of our exit, the gate attendant announced that another plane had been located, would arrive in twenty minutes, and as soon as the passengers on that plane disembarked, we would load and go. We had to change gates - to the one next door, which actually shared seating with the gate at which we started.
The longest part of the whole process was waiting for the new plane to empty.
In the end, we got to Milwaukee only an hour and a half after our originally scheduled arrival time. Pretty darn good.
Kudos to the employees of the airline, from the gate crew down to the mechanics and everyone in between. They had protocols to follow for this scenario, made decisions quickly and most importantly, kept the passengers informed at every step.
The only sour point in the whole process came courtesy of my seat mate. As one does, I casually asked him if he was on his way home.
"Hell no - I'd never live there," was the response, delivered forcefully and in a tone that made it very, very clear the mere thought that he would live in Milwaukee was a deadly insult. Yet it's apparently perfectly fine to do business in Wisconsin.
Hmpf. Elitist, rude East Coaster. You live in Baltimore and you are insulting Milwaukee?
So - home. Good conference. Still tired, though. Lots of walking, too much sitting. Grateful it's almost the weekend.
Everyone boarded, we pulled away from the gate and...stopped. Five minutes later, the captain comes on the intercom:
"We seem to have a bit of a mechanical issue. We're going to be pulling back to the gate to let the mechanics check things out. We'll update you when we know something."
The "mechanical issue" turned out to be the right side engine refusing to turn over; better to discover that on the ground, than have it quit in mid-air.
Southwest Airlines deserves a lot of praise for their handling of this situation. Within ten minutes of being pushed back to the gate, the mechanics made the decision to pull the plane out of service. We were to deplane, then hang out in the boarding area while they looked for another plane to carry us to Milwaukee.
Within fifteen minutes of our exit, the gate attendant announced that another plane had been located, would arrive in twenty minutes, and as soon as the passengers on that plane disembarked, we would load and go. We had to change gates - to the one next door, which actually shared seating with the gate at which we started.
The longest part of the whole process was waiting for the new plane to empty.
In the end, we got to Milwaukee only an hour and a half after our originally scheduled arrival time. Pretty darn good.
Kudos to the employees of the airline, from the gate crew down to the mechanics and everyone in between. They had protocols to follow for this scenario, made decisions quickly and most importantly, kept the passengers informed at every step.
The only sour point in the whole process came courtesy of my seat mate. As one does, I casually asked him if he was on his way home.
"Hell no - I'd never live there," was the response, delivered forcefully and in a tone that made it very, very clear the mere thought that he would live in Milwaukee was a deadly insult. Yet it's apparently perfectly fine to do business in Wisconsin.
Hmpf. Elitist, rude East Coaster. You live in Baltimore and you are insulting Milwaukee?
So - home. Good conference. Still tired, though. Lots of walking, too much sitting. Grateful it's almost the weekend.
Wednesday, August 31, 2016
Pass the ::YAWN:: coffee
As a general rule, I'm a sleeping champ. It takes less than ten minutes to fall asleep. The obligatory middle-of-the-night call of nature wakes me enough to do what's needed, but falling back to sleep afterwards is almost never an issue.
Except when it is.
Like last night.
After getting up at about 2:30, I simply could not return to dreamland. My mind wasn't racing, I wasn't particularly uncomfortable, I just could not sleep. Just before 3:30, I gave up and got out of bed.
Now, of course, I could nod off in a heartbeat. Closing my office door and doing so is very tempting. I'm functional, as long as I'm only doing one thing at a time with no distractions. You know, like needing to breathe.
The coffee situation this morning hasn't helped. My wonderful stainless steel travel mug will overflow when the lid is put on if it is filled to the mark the coffee shop people like to use. Therefore, I ask for a little room for cream, to keep coffee out of my lap (they will not - by corporate decree - put the lid on your personal travel mug; you need to do it yourself).
The clerk handed the coffee to me, and I almost asked, "Where's the coffee?" I finally found it, more than three inches below the high water mark, a paltry half a mug of coffee.
That I paid a full mug's price for.
I asked her to fix it, but she still left more than an inch off the top. Methinks I will mark my fill line with Sharpie, to avoid early morning, pre-coffee confusion like this. Granted, I was grumpy from lack of sleep, but this clerk has been waiting on me for the last month...
Grumble, grumble. I need an attitude adjustment, the kind that comes from eight hours of blissful, uninterrupted sleep.
Except when it is.
Like last night.
After getting up at about 2:30, I simply could not return to dreamland. My mind wasn't racing, I wasn't particularly uncomfortable, I just could not sleep. Just before 3:30, I gave up and got out of bed.
Now, of course, I could nod off in a heartbeat. Closing my office door and doing so is very tempting. I'm functional, as long as I'm only doing one thing at a time with no distractions. You know, like needing to breathe.
The coffee situation this morning hasn't helped. My wonderful stainless steel travel mug will overflow when the lid is put on if it is filled to the mark the coffee shop people like to use. Therefore, I ask for a little room for cream, to keep coffee out of my lap (they will not - by corporate decree - put the lid on your personal travel mug; you need to do it yourself).
The clerk handed the coffee to me, and I almost asked, "Where's the coffee?" I finally found it, more than three inches below the high water mark, a paltry half a mug of coffee.
That I paid a full mug's price for.
I asked her to fix it, but she still left more than an inch off the top. Methinks I will mark my fill line with Sharpie, to avoid early morning, pre-coffee confusion like this. Granted, I was grumpy from lack of sleep, but this clerk has been waiting on me for the last month...
Grumble, grumble. I need an attitude adjustment, the kind that comes from eight hours of blissful, uninterrupted sleep.
Friday, August 26, 2016
It's been a while
More than three weeks. Not much new going on.
Although, this morning I found out my best friend may be moving again, this time to Texas.
Her youngest grandson is a bit of a gymnastics prodigy. This last April, at 7 years old, he placed 5th in the regional championships. According to his grandmother, he has a tremendous amount of natural ability, but has yet to hit the point where he really needs to put in a lot of work to improve.
The gym he is currently training with just lost two of its top coaches to a rival gym across town. If they switch gyms, he will be with the same coaches, but with less time available for (of course) more money. The gym he is currently at was working to get either or both of the Hamm brothers (who are more or less local) to coach in place of the guys who left, but that fell through.
Long story short, the family is considering moving to Texas so their son can be coached in one of the elite centers in the country. He would have to try out for a spot; nothing is guaranteed. If he has what it takes to compete at that level, the family is willing to do what is needed to make it happen.
Meanwhile, I need to start saving for a trip to the 2024 Olympics, just in case. Rome, Paris, Budapest and Los Angeles are the remaining candidate cities; Hamburg dropped out, thank heaven. The host city will be picked next September. I'm not so sure Paris is a good bet, nor Italy, given the migrant issues. Budapest is a long shot. But a lot can happen between now and then, including the future star himself deciding gymnastics is no longer fun when he has to actually work at it.
Nothing much new in my world. Looking forward to fall. We've had exactly one day with a high below 80 degrees this month, and it appears nothing is going to interrupt that streak in the near future. Less humid, at least. Still, the apple orchard store is open and caramel apples are ready.
Although, this morning I found out my best friend may be moving again, this time to Texas.
Her youngest grandson is a bit of a gymnastics prodigy. This last April, at 7 years old, he placed 5th in the regional championships. According to his grandmother, he has a tremendous amount of natural ability, but has yet to hit the point where he really needs to put in a lot of work to improve.
The gym he is currently training with just lost two of its top coaches to a rival gym across town. If they switch gyms, he will be with the same coaches, but with less time available for (of course) more money. The gym he is currently at was working to get either or both of the Hamm brothers (who are more or less local) to coach in place of the guys who left, but that fell through.
Long story short, the family is considering moving to Texas so their son can be coached in one of the elite centers in the country. He would have to try out for a spot; nothing is guaranteed. If he has what it takes to compete at that level, the family is willing to do what is needed to make it happen.
Meanwhile, I need to start saving for a trip to the 2024 Olympics, just in case. Rome, Paris, Budapest and Los Angeles are the remaining candidate cities; Hamburg dropped out, thank heaven. The host city will be picked next September. I'm not so sure Paris is a good bet, nor Italy, given the migrant issues. Budapest is a long shot. But a lot can happen between now and then, including the future star himself deciding gymnastics is no longer fun when he has to actually work at it.
Nothing much new in my world. Looking forward to fall. We've had exactly one day with a high below 80 degrees this month, and it appears nothing is going to interrupt that streak in the near future. Less humid, at least. Still, the apple orchard store is open and caramel apples are ready.
Thursday, July 14, 2016
Don't bother starting the darn merry-go-round
Are you familiar with the feeling of just wanting all the busy-ness to go away? Do you ever feel that way before everything actually starts?
I don't even want to get on the merry-go-round of activity that is my next week. I realize that it is my introversion speaking, and I know I will have fun/accomplish things. Yet it is likely that Saturday will turn into one all-day nap in order to make the following week possible.
Event one: After church Sunday, a baby shower for a lovely young lady I've known since she was eight years old. As a bonus, her mom, a friend of mine who moved to the wilds of "up north" Wisconsin (defined as anyplace more than ten miles north of your current position) twelve years or more ago, will be there. Celebrations of new life are wonderful (in spite of silly shower games). But...people. For hours.
Event two: Tuesday night, quilt guild meeting. Joining the guild was a voluntary action on my part. It's part of my "get more plugged in to the Milwaukee and environs quilting community to build up potential customers for possible retirement long-arm quilting business" plan. But again, that means networking, which means...people.
Event three: Hair appointment after work Thursday. Generally, if I'm not feeling chatty, Peter will let me live inside my head while he works on my hair. The forty minutes waiting for the color to develop, however, is a minefield of possible social interactions. Note to self: take along kindle and bury nose in book. It doesn't always protect me, unfortunately, as there are some people (strange as this sounds) who think when you are reading, you aren't "doing something".
Event four: On my Friday half day, meet my 90 year old aunt and her daughter-in-law for lunch. This is the event I am least conflicted about. The ladies are good company, and as a bonus, we are going to the chicken place for lunch. The extended forecast doesn't reach next Friday yet, but, as has been the pattern for the last several weeks, the weekdays are set to be hot (upper 80s) and humid. Hopefully, as in past weeks, the cool down will come on Friday. If not, we'll just be sure to take a table on the wide porch on the north side of the building, out of the sun.
Event five: A class at church Sunday night. Again, this is something I actually signed up for, in spite of knowing full well that Sunday evenings are my lowest, least people-friendly, willing-to-go-out time of the week.
The irony is that there is nothing on the calendar for three weeks following, other than a TSA interview for TSA Pre. The week after that, though...four events, two on each of two different days. Agh.
If for any reason I don't show up somewhere I'm expected, the odds are my not-so-inner introvert has pulled me into my bedroom, curled me up in a ball and stuffed me under the bed. All electronic devices will be turned off, and the doorbell only works on days when both the full moon and the sun are visible in the sky at the same time while it is raining. I'll crawl out when I'm finally recharged.
I don't even want to get on the merry-go-round of activity that is my next week. I realize that it is my introversion speaking, and I know I will have fun/accomplish things. Yet it is likely that Saturday will turn into one all-day nap in order to make the following week possible.
Event one: After church Sunday, a baby shower for a lovely young lady I've known since she was eight years old. As a bonus, her mom, a friend of mine who moved to the wilds of "up north" Wisconsin (defined as anyplace more than ten miles north of your current position) twelve years or more ago, will be there. Celebrations of new life are wonderful (in spite of silly shower games). But...people. For hours.
Event two: Tuesday night, quilt guild meeting. Joining the guild was a voluntary action on my part. It's part of my "get more plugged in to the Milwaukee and environs quilting community to build up potential customers for possible retirement long-arm quilting business" plan. But again, that means networking, which means...people.
Event three: Hair appointment after work Thursday. Generally, if I'm not feeling chatty, Peter will let me live inside my head while he works on my hair. The forty minutes waiting for the color to develop, however, is a minefield of possible social interactions. Note to self: take along kindle and bury nose in book. It doesn't always protect me, unfortunately, as there are some people (strange as this sounds) who think when you are reading, you aren't "doing something".
Event four: On my Friday half day, meet my 90 year old aunt and her daughter-in-law for lunch. This is the event I am least conflicted about. The ladies are good company, and as a bonus, we are going to the chicken place for lunch. The extended forecast doesn't reach next Friday yet, but, as has been the pattern for the last several weeks, the weekdays are set to be hot (upper 80s) and humid. Hopefully, as in past weeks, the cool down will come on Friday. If not, we'll just be sure to take a table on the wide porch on the north side of the building, out of the sun.
Event five: A class at church Sunday night. Again, this is something I actually signed up for, in spite of knowing full well that Sunday evenings are my lowest, least people-friendly, willing-to-go-out time of the week.
The irony is that there is nothing on the calendar for three weeks following, other than a TSA interview for TSA Pre. The week after that, though...four events, two on each of two different days. Agh.
If for any reason I don't show up somewhere I'm expected, the odds are my not-so-inner introvert has pulled me into my bedroom, curled me up in a ball and stuffed me under the bed. All electronic devices will be turned off, and the doorbell only works on days when both the full moon and the sun are visible in the sky at the same time while it is raining. I'll crawl out when I'm finally recharged.
Tuesday, June 07, 2016
Has it been more than a week already?
Every so often, I wonder if I should shutter this place. I haven't had two decent thoughts to rub together in quite a while.
In spite of today's sixty degree high, summer arrived this week. Half days on Fridays, theoretically slower work days, lazy living. Well, unless you spend over half an hour in the drive through lane at Walgreens (don't ask)one day, and your boss schedules a conference call half an hour after you usually leave on another.
Yeah, back from vacation and already the week is shot.
No pictures yet of the redone flower bed. There are still a few little things to do, which I wanted to do the end of last week, but my body decided it was time for a summer cold instead. Boo. I'm still under the weather, and this week's adventures are kicking my butt.
Adventures? We finally had a summer storm Sunday night, and my power went out three different times, not counting the half dozen "let's go off just barely enough to cause all the electronics to go nuts" warm up acts before the main event. The power company was going crazy all night trying to get things fixed (a side note: if you happen actually report one of the outages, We Energies will call you THREE TIMES the next day to tell you it is fixed - thank heavens I only reported the first outage).
Twenty-four hours since the last outage was fixed, and I still haven't reset all the clocks. One lamp timer is digital and resets itself, saving the programming, so I don't sit in the living room in the dark. Both my clock radio and the a/c thermostat have battery back ups, so the important stuff is covered. The rest? Eh.
So after an interrupted night Sunday (I woke up wide awake at 2:30, when the power went out the second time; the lack of noise woke me up - go figure), I thought I'd get a decent night's sleep last night. No such luck: up at 3:30 for a bit of an upset tummy, and I was up for the day.
Grumpy, tired, sneezy, stuffed up. That's me. On the bright side, yesterday, today and tomorrow are absolutely perfect days, sunny and highs in the low sixties. My kind of weather. Of course, the almost ninety on Friday and Saturday with high humidity kind of balance that out. I guess I'll see if the on/off flickering of the power Sunday messed with the A/C unit, huh? At least my annual maintenance contract jumps me to the front of the repair line if something blows up.
Aren't you glad I checked in? Nothing but complaints and gloom.
I'm finally reading Hugh Howey's Molly Fyde series. Not sure why it took so long to get to it, given how much I liked his Wool books. This may be the summer of science fiction. I've taken to reading at lunch again rather than surfing, though it's harder to break away from a good book than an on line article.
Not much else going on.
In spite of today's sixty degree high, summer arrived this week. Half days on Fridays, theoretically slower work days, lazy living. Well, unless you spend over half an hour in the drive through lane at Walgreens (don't ask)one day, and your boss schedules a conference call half an hour after you usually leave on another.
Yeah, back from vacation and already the week is shot.
No pictures yet of the redone flower bed. There are still a few little things to do, which I wanted to do the end of last week, but my body decided it was time for a summer cold instead. Boo. I'm still under the weather, and this week's adventures are kicking my butt.
Adventures? We finally had a summer storm Sunday night, and my power went out three different times, not counting the half dozen "let's go off just barely enough to cause all the electronics to go nuts" warm up acts before the main event. The power company was going crazy all night trying to get things fixed (a side note: if you happen actually report one of the outages, We Energies will call you THREE TIMES the next day to tell you it is fixed - thank heavens I only reported the first outage).
Twenty-four hours since the last outage was fixed, and I still haven't reset all the clocks. One lamp timer is digital and resets itself, saving the programming, so I don't sit in the living room in the dark. Both my clock radio and the a/c thermostat have battery back ups, so the important stuff is covered. The rest? Eh.
So after an interrupted night Sunday (I woke up wide awake at 2:30, when the power went out the second time; the lack of noise woke me up - go figure), I thought I'd get a decent night's sleep last night. No such luck: up at 3:30 for a bit of an upset tummy, and I was up for the day.
Grumpy, tired, sneezy, stuffed up. That's me. On the bright side, yesterday, today and tomorrow are absolutely perfect days, sunny and highs in the low sixties. My kind of weather. Of course, the almost ninety on Friday and Saturday with high humidity kind of balance that out. I guess I'll see if the on/off flickering of the power Sunday messed with the A/C unit, huh? At least my annual maintenance contract jumps me to the front of the repair line if something blows up.
Aren't you glad I checked in? Nothing but complaints and gloom.
I'm finally reading Hugh Howey's Molly Fyde series. Not sure why it took so long to get to it, given how much I liked his Wool books. This may be the summer of science fiction. I've taken to reading at lunch again rather than surfing, though it's harder to break away from a good book than an on line article.
Not much else going on.
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