Do five things still make a post?
1. The summer outside my window is still and green at the moment as well as somewhat damp. It's been many days since I felt the need to water the tomatoes or the herbs in the planters. A nice change from the too-dry summers of the past few years, but I'm beginning to feel it would be nice to look at Environment Canada and not see a severe thunderstorm warning.
2. The house building proceeds, although perhaps more slowly than I would like, in which I am probably like every person who has built a house since the beginning of time. Incorrect and inaccurate quotes have been given, new materials researched and extra fees paid (of course). Surprise discoveries of awkward tree roots, math errors in stair calculations and a sudden passion for taps shaped like pumps have also added to the bill. I find myself surprisingly resigned to all this.
3. Luckily, nepotism and being in the right place at the right time have conspired to give me a new job to assist in paying for all this, for which I am grateful. Like all my jobs, it has absolutely nothing to do with any previous experience I have. This has made for a sharp learning curve. Rote memorization has been enough to carry me through these first few months, and now I'm finally beginning to grasp how things work. Phew. My probation will be up in a few weeks, and hopefully I will have done well enough that they will decide to hang on to me.
4. I have yet to cycle to the workplace, a fact that I'm embarrassed by. Most days I commute by carpooling and occasionally by a combination of a half hour walk and a bus trip. I miss my cycle commute, though, and would like to try it. On the other hand, the bus commute combined with my new Android phone has given me an addiction to 'A History of the World in A Hundred Objects'. I realize that podcasts are old news, but somehow I've never been much in the habit of listening to them until now.
5. In short, life is unnervingly tranquil at the moment, at least compared to many that I see around me, and to what my own has been for the last few years. And I find I'm not sorry at all.
2. The house building proceeds, although perhaps more slowly than I would like, in which I am probably like every person who has built a house since the beginning of time. Incorrect and inaccurate quotes have been given, new materials researched and extra fees paid (of course). Surprise discoveries of awkward tree roots, math errors in stair calculations and a sudden passion for taps shaped like pumps have also added to the bill. I find myself surprisingly resigned to all this.
3. Luckily, nepotism and being in the right place at the right time have conspired to give me a new job to assist in paying for all this, for which I am grateful. Like all my jobs, it has absolutely nothing to do with any previous experience I have. This has made for a sharp learning curve. Rote memorization has been enough to carry me through these first few months, and now I'm finally beginning to grasp how things work. Phew. My probation will be up in a few weeks, and hopefully I will have done well enough that they will decide to hang on to me.
4. I have yet to cycle to the workplace, a fact that I'm embarrassed by. Most days I commute by carpooling and occasionally by a combination of a half hour walk and a bus trip. I miss my cycle commute, though, and would like to try it. On the other hand, the bus commute combined with my new Android phone has given me an addiction to 'A History of the World in A Hundred Objects'. I realize that podcasts are old news, but somehow I've never been much in the habit of listening to them until now.
5. In short, life is unnervingly tranquil at the moment, at least compared to many that I see around me, and to what my own has been for the last few years. And I find I'm not sorry at all.