Distressingly Brief
The PLAN was to mow the side yard and possibly the back yard so they'd match the neatened front yard. Apparently, the battery didn't recharge, so I managed to give the side yard a 8-foot wide mowed border with savannah in the middle before the battery gave out. I am MOST displeased.
However, progress was still made. ealdthryth excavated several boxes of old college (and high school!) texts that we had moved from the old house but never unpacked. I feel comfortable enough in my knowledge and experience that a lot of those (now-obsolete) computer science books can go away with only the slightest qualm that several hundred dollars' worth of textbooks are going to the recycling bin. Giving them to a charity wouldn't be a useful exercise because of their obsolescence. We kept about a shelf-and-a-half's worth of textbooks out of sentiment (and because I actually did use some of them as reference at my previous job at the research facility). ealdthryth's Librarian Fu has given her a lot more fortitude in weeding out books.
Surprisingly, the fact a decision has been made and the books aren't in the limbo of storage anymore is refreshing. We are giving some of the basic electrical engineering books to one of ealdthryth's coworker's kid. He is in the midst of building a maker-bot and wiring up an Arduino board, so we thought he might find them useful. If not, he can dispose of them as he pleases.
ealdthryth is extremely excited about this progress--mainly because she can see the floor of the craft room again instead of it being a storage jumble. To be honest, I am excited about it, too.
Anything is a Pillow Fu
For some cats, anything not nailed down that is easily movable is a toy. For Ignatius, this is somewhat true, but there is a corollary that anything he can prop his chin on is a pillow. Recently, he's been lounging in front of the television set using the speaker in front of it as a pillow. Prior to that, it was ealdthryth's felted slippers on the floor.
Silly boy!
Slow Book Purge
I've come to the conclusion that there are some books (and/or series) I simply am not going to read ever again. ealdthryth's recent textbook weeding of the collection has given me a little more of a push to think about another purge. However, I've also given some thought to re-reading some series that I am ambivalent about. It has been so long since I read Tad William's Dragonbone Chair series that I only vaguely remember being dissatisfied with the conclusion. That's a lot of real estate on the shelves that could be freed up if I read it and decide to make it go away. Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time is a prime candidate for the purge since the series is not likely to ever be concluded, and I must have closure after investing that much time in it. Am I likely to read the Narina books again? No, but I know a couple of kids who I can give the series to...when they are a little older.
One of the toughest things we'll have to think about are the paperback books. The "replacement" bookcases we have are a little too tall to look good if we pack the books in the way we did with the old cases. Plus, with the open backs of bookcases, it is likely the paperbacks will simply get pushed off the back of the shelves, and that would simply be inconvenient. But that is a worry for another day.
However, progress was still made. ealdthryth excavated several boxes of old college (and high school!) texts that we had moved from the old house but never unpacked. I feel comfortable enough in my knowledge and experience that a lot of those (now-obsolete) computer science books can go away with only the slightest qualm that several hundred dollars' worth of textbooks are going to the recycling bin. Giving them to a charity wouldn't be a useful exercise because of their obsolescence. We kept about a shelf-and-a-half's worth of textbooks out of sentiment (and because I actually did use some of them as reference at my previous job at the research facility). ealdthryth's Librarian Fu has given her a lot more fortitude in weeding out books.
Surprisingly, the fact a decision has been made and the books aren't in the limbo of storage anymore is refreshing. We are giving some of the basic electrical engineering books to one of ealdthryth's coworker's kid. He is in the midst of building a maker-bot and wiring up an Arduino board, so we thought he might find them useful. If not, he can dispose of them as he pleases.
ealdthryth is extremely excited about this progress--mainly because she can see the floor of the craft room again instead of it being a storage jumble. To be honest, I am excited about it, too.
Anything is a Pillow Fu
For some cats, anything not nailed down that is easily movable is a toy. For Ignatius, this is somewhat true, but there is a corollary that anything he can prop his chin on is a pillow. Recently, he's been lounging in front of the television set using the speaker in front of it as a pillow. Prior to that, it was ealdthryth's felted slippers on the floor.
Silly boy!
Slow Book Purge
I've come to the conclusion that there are some books (and/or series) I simply am not going to read ever again. ealdthryth's recent textbook weeding of the collection has given me a little more of a push to think about another purge. However, I've also given some thought to re-reading some series that I am ambivalent about. It has been so long since I read Tad William's Dragonbone Chair series that I only vaguely remember being dissatisfied with the conclusion. That's a lot of real estate on the shelves that could be freed up if I read it and decide to make it go away. Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time is a prime candidate for the purge since the series is not likely to ever be concluded, and I must have closure after investing that much time in it. Am I likely to read the Narina books again? No, but I know a couple of kids who I can give the series to...when they are a little older.
One of the toughest things we'll have to think about are the paperback books. The "replacement" bookcases we have are a little too tall to look good if we pack the books in the way we did with the old cases. Plus, with the open backs of bookcases, it is likely the paperbacks will simply get pushed off the back of the shelves, and that would simply be inconvenient. But that is a worry for another day.