Goings On
I feel like I've hit a productive streak. Taking a day off work to focus on catching up on things that I want to do outside of work probably helped a lot. The only down side is that I expect that I'll be spending a bit of my spare change. I'm trying to convince myself that it is all right because I've budgeted and saved for things, but I'm surprised at how difficult it still is.
It turns out that I'm not as well read as I'd have hoped. At some point after college, my reading rate plummeted. Tonight, I decided to treat myself to a night out for sushi. What better way to pass the time in a restaurant alone than with a book?
I stopped off at a Borders near the restaurant where I was headed, and had the pleasant surprise of the assistance of a store clerk who not only had heard of the authors I had in mind tonight (Robin McKinley, Terry Pratchett) but was able to make recommendations as to which of their books would be good to start with. He also described to me another book, Gods Behaving Badly, which he thought I might also like. So far, quite an amusing read.
On Sunday, I worked on cleaning the gutters. B. was kind enough to hold the ladder to give me some confidence that I'm not in imminent danger of plummeting to my death, so long as I don't look down. This was after I'd already banged the ladder into my head just above my right eye. (The cut there has healed and the soreness is nearly gone.) Unfortunately, I was just not comfortable enough on the ladder to be able to reach all the places I need to reach, so I've concluded that I just need to hire someone to take care of this.
Yesterday, I did make headway on disassembling the deck. I hope to make some more progress tomorrow, but it will have to wait until after the appointment I've made to have someone take a look at a couple of windows I need replaced (broken seal).
I've also managed to get time set up with an electrician to take care of the various electrical projects I'm not comfortable enough to tackle. Replacing a switch is one thing, but I'm not adept enough at wiring to make all the wires stay in place in the circuit box, replace exterior light fixtures, or run new power out to the garage.
Once I get the deck removed, I can get a proper look at the condition of the siding behind it. I've decided I need to deal with that before I can replace the deck with either a new deck, or a patio of some sort, and both of these should precede any landscape improvements I make.
In two weeks, I'll be again taking a long weekend to meet up with my three younger sisters in Chicago. It looks like we'll be going to see the Blue Man Group. *happy dance* I've gone to see the show before (once in Chicago, once in New York). I can't wait to go again!
I've decided to go to a work-related conference the first week of August. The big draw? It's in Toronto, and I've never been there. I think I'll either go up the weekend before or the weekend after so as to make up for the fact that this means that I'll be "working" on my birthday. I'm also going to do my best to politely ditch my co-workers in the evening hours so that I can go exploring. Any ideas for things to see/do in Toronto are most welcome.
Originally, we were all supposed to take the train. Unfortunately, it has somehow changed to car pooling. I'd been looking forward to playing games on my laptop for the entire train ride, but that wouldn't be so easily done in a car, due to the lack of power outlets. Therefore, I think I'll arrange to take the train from Windsor on my own, since I'll be going up early / staying late.
We're supposed to meet together to decide who will attend each of the panels. I'm thinking about going to all the ones that are presented in French, or are presented by Japanese people. I'm pretty sure that no one else will want to go to the former.
I've also decided to take the plunge and get the two pieces of equipment I need to be able to make pottery at home - a wheel and a kiln. I plan to put them both in the garage, though I'll be moving the wheel into the basement during the winter, since the garage isn't heated.
I was disappointed to find that my one inquiry about a used pottery wheel was unsuccessful, since they had already been sold. That said, my Wednesday instructor did give me a recommendation for where to buy one for less than the prices I've seen at the local shops. (Thank you, internet.)
Setting up a studio space seems like the next logical step in being able to both develop my skills further and to determine if this is truly what I want to do full time, some day. In the worst case, I'll make someone supremely happy when I offer up a used pottery wheel for sale.
In spite of all these positive developments, I notice that I'm feeling a bit disconnected. Perhaps isolated is a better word? I think this is a sign that I need to make more of an effort to keep in touch with my loved ones, as well as to follow up on developing some new potential relationships.
In other news, blogging is ever so much more comfortable now that I've moved my laptop to the basement. Not only is it cooler, but I worry less about going around without clothes and finding someone has posted video of me on the internet with nasty comments. (Please, if anyone has seen it, don't tell me. Thank you!;)
It turns out that I'm not as well read as I'd have hoped. At some point after college, my reading rate plummeted. Tonight, I decided to treat myself to a night out for sushi. What better way to pass the time in a restaurant alone than with a book?
I stopped off at a Borders near the restaurant where I was headed, and had the pleasant surprise of the assistance of a store clerk who not only had heard of the authors I had in mind tonight (Robin McKinley, Terry Pratchett) but was able to make recommendations as to which of their books would be good to start with. He also described to me another book, Gods Behaving Badly, which he thought I might also like. So far, quite an amusing read.
On Sunday, I worked on cleaning the gutters. B. was kind enough to hold the ladder to give me some confidence that I'm not in imminent danger of plummeting to my death, so long as I don't look down. This was after I'd already banged the ladder into my head just above my right eye. (The cut there has healed and the soreness is nearly gone.) Unfortunately, I was just not comfortable enough on the ladder to be able to reach all the places I need to reach, so I've concluded that I just need to hire someone to take care of this.
Yesterday, I did make headway on disassembling the deck. I hope to make some more progress tomorrow, but it will have to wait until after the appointment I've made to have someone take a look at a couple of windows I need replaced (broken seal).
I've also managed to get time set up with an electrician to take care of the various electrical projects I'm not comfortable enough to tackle. Replacing a switch is one thing, but I'm not adept enough at wiring to make all the wires stay in place in the circuit box, replace exterior light fixtures, or run new power out to the garage.
Once I get the deck removed, I can get a proper look at the condition of the siding behind it. I've decided I need to deal with that before I can replace the deck with either a new deck, or a patio of some sort, and both of these should precede any landscape improvements I make.
In two weeks, I'll be again taking a long weekend to meet up with my three younger sisters in Chicago. It looks like we'll be going to see the Blue Man Group. *happy dance* I've gone to see the show before (once in Chicago, once in New York). I can't wait to go again!
I've decided to go to a work-related conference the first week of August. The big draw? It's in Toronto, and I've never been there. I think I'll either go up the weekend before or the weekend after so as to make up for the fact that this means that I'll be "working" on my birthday. I'm also going to do my best to politely ditch my co-workers in the evening hours so that I can go exploring. Any ideas for things to see/do in Toronto are most welcome.
Originally, we were all supposed to take the train. Unfortunately, it has somehow changed to car pooling. I'd been looking forward to playing games on my laptop for the entire train ride, but that wouldn't be so easily done in a car, due to the lack of power outlets. Therefore, I think I'll arrange to take the train from Windsor on my own, since I'll be going up early / staying late.
We're supposed to meet together to decide who will attend each of the panels. I'm thinking about going to all the ones that are presented in French, or are presented by Japanese people. I'm pretty sure that no one else will want to go to the former.
I've also decided to take the plunge and get the two pieces of equipment I need to be able to make pottery at home - a wheel and a kiln. I plan to put them both in the garage, though I'll be moving the wheel into the basement during the winter, since the garage isn't heated.
I was disappointed to find that my one inquiry about a used pottery wheel was unsuccessful, since they had already been sold. That said, my Wednesday instructor did give me a recommendation for where to buy one for less than the prices I've seen at the local shops. (Thank you, internet.)
Setting up a studio space seems like the next logical step in being able to both develop my skills further and to determine if this is truly what I want to do full time, some day. In the worst case, I'll make someone supremely happy when I offer up a used pottery wheel for sale.
In spite of all these positive developments, I notice that I'm feeling a bit disconnected. Perhaps isolated is a better word? I think this is a sign that I need to make more of an effort to keep in touch with my loved ones, as well as to follow up on developing some new potential relationships.
In other news, blogging is ever so much more comfortable now that I've moved my laptop to the basement. Not only is it cooler, but I worry less about going around without clothes and finding someone has posted video of me on the internet with nasty comments. (Please, if anyone has seen it, don't tell me. Thank you!;)