Rae Roy's Blog, page 26

Electrical Woes – ROW80 2019 R4-12

I’m looking forward to having tomorrow off. I don’t know that it will be all that spectacular though. Lately, it feels like I’m not making progress anywhere. Maybe some little things here and there. I dug out my old ereader and charged it, for example.

And I installed a programmable thermostat, but that has largely been a bad experience. Apparently, there was a problem with the ground wire that I didn’t see. This resulted in a popping noise and some black smoke. I guess it could be worse as it could’ve happened when I wasn’t home and caused a fire, so at least I caught it. The programmable thermostat may not be reusable. Actually, despite the manual saying it can be used with aluminum wiring, I’m doubting it at this point. Why? Because even before the short happened, it didn’t work right. It couldn’t tell the room was already way above the requested temperature and just kept heating!

This is all pretty bad timing wise as I don’t have my winter tires on yet and xmas is coming up quick.

Oh, and it’s on the same breaker as my stove because it’s electric baseboard heat. I taped the wires individually as my former electrician friend recommended, but I’ve still left the breaker off as I just feel better with it that way.

This is supposed to be one of the easy things to DIY, but I have all the wrong things going on to make it easy. It’s perhaps needless to say, but I’m pretty damned disheartened about it. I was looking forward to having one less thing to do in the mornings. With a programmable thermostat, one is supposed to be able to trust it to turn itself off.

No such luck.

HEALTH & FITNESS

Status quo for now.

Glider: 0 stepsOYO 10 Week Challenge: /70Martial Arts:

ROW80 2019 R4-11

I had planned on doing more writing today, but as I was traveling home I stumbled onto a scandal. A scandal involving other writers I care about or whose work I admire and friends who have worked with ChiZine Publications who is at the centre of said scandal. It involves things like delayed or non-payments for one. Now, that isn’t normal, but also isn’t as bad as the rest. The rest being allegations of abuse, sexual harassment (including reviews referring to an author’s genitalia), and other extremely disturbing behaviours like trying to break apart marriages. At this moment there is a lot of WTAF in how I’m feeling about it all. These are people I’ve been around many times over the years. I have eleven books from their authors on my shelves and I would have bought more. Not now. I will read what I already own as many of the authors are leaving after having their rights revert to them. I’ll be keeping an eye on which ones are leaving as I don’t want to support the others.

For me, I feel fortunate to dodge the bullet as they were on my list of places to query. Not anymore.

More on this situation:
http://file770.com/authors-break-silence-with-complaints-about-chizine-publications/
https://www.highfeverbooks.com/reviews/controversy-erupts-around-chizine-publications
https://www.facebook.com/beverly.bambury/posts/10162313518730062

HEALTH & FITNESS

The new doctor was really nice. All my test results were in, so it’s not my B12 levels making me tired. I think it’s partly that I forgot it was the time change and lost sleep. He’s sending for my other records as I should be seeing a specialist at some point. I’m to follow up in two weeks. The specialist I had a couple of years ago moved to Toronto and didn’t bother to call the patients. Since I was without benefits and a job for awhile, I wasn’t in a rush to do anything about it. I’m tired of having joint pain and really just want to get back to being active.

Glider: 0 stepsOYO 10 Week Challenge: 0/70Martial Arts: 0

HOME

I got a new mop. My curtains are up in my bedroom and living room. The set for my dining room need to be washed before they can go up.

Declutter: 355/1,050 minutes (Goal 15 mins/day)Paper: 150 pieces (1/day)Bathroom: Nothing.

NANOWRIMO

I’m not where I want to be at all for this, but I have Monday off as a floater holiday, so I hope to catch up.

7,450/50,000

PIANO

I’m going to go with Let It Be.

Let It BeDowntown AbbeyLean on Me

READING

As far as David Christian’s Origin Story goes, I’m in the last chapter.

1/3

THE SPARK

I have not worked on this as I’ve been doing NaNo when I do have writing time.

73,244/80,000

R~

ROW80 2019 R4-10

Never ever bother with paper blinds. They lasted three days. It’s a good thing that my finances are in better shape than last year. I should’ve known better than to try them at all, but I thought they might last a couple of months at least. Nope. Ah well, I needed a hook to move my living room light to stop the glare from hitting my screens. I also got the shrink wrap for winterizing my windows since we had our first few snowflakes yesterday in Ottawa. Thankfully, they didn’t stick around, but it’s sooner than I hoped to see any.

I suppose I can make use of the paper blinds as a backing for various framed items as needed, so they aren’t a total waste. I plan on washing my window inside before putting the shrink wrap on it. I think I’ll be washing the outside too or I won’t be able to see out of it.

I will have to go back to the store at some point because I didn’t realize that I only got one curtain instead of two for my bedroom. The ones in my bedroom currently will replace the awful stained cotton ones that came with the condo when I bought it. I figured seven years of them is enough.

HEALTH & FITNESS

Well, I’m meeting another new doctor this week as the last one figured she didn’t have enough time to be my doctor since she’s only in the office twice a week. I did get blood tests done and have the bruise to prove it. I’ve put fitness goals on hold for now, but will get back at it really soon. It’s not great to exercise if my B12 levels are indeed low.

Glider: 0 stepsOYO 10 Week Challenge: /70Martial Arts:

ROW80 2019 R4-9

Happy Samhain!

I’m a little frustrated. I haven’t been making much progress lately. I work on things, but they don’t work out. I got paper blackout blinds to go behind my curtains, which are definitely doing a good job of blacking out the world behind. This will be good for movies and writing. Do you think I could cut them straight? Nope. They’re not terrible, but they are slightly overlapping, so hanging slightly wrong. It’s probably not noticeable from the street though. But I also knocked an open juice container, which was fun to clean up.

That’s not all. I finally got my puzzle into its frame. But it won’t stay in place with double-sided tape, so I have to reopen the frame and try with something else.

I also met with a new doctor, but she thinks someone else at the practice should take me on instead because she’s only there twice a week. At least I got her to do some blood tests for things like B12, but I meet a new doctor again next week. The place I’m going to now is neat. There is a lab, a walk-in clinic, and a pharmacy in the building, so it’s kind of a one-stop shop for patients. They also don’t have a pediatrician, so there weren’t any rambunctious kids around.

I did get a nice little rug for under my piano at least. I suppose it’s pretty hard to mess that up, so it has worked out nicely even if everything smells like a mix between Lysol and berry pomegranate in here. It’s a solid neutral grey because I’ll probably get a rug for the main part of my living room later and I didn’t want it to clash. It feels nice under my feet.

Oh, I guess my jars have mostly worked out. I took the labels off of a bunch of jars and now I just need to put them through my dishwasher to clean them before I put them to use for buttons. I’ve been meaning to get to those for a long time, but I got busy with other things. There are nine jars ready and a couple with more stubborn glue that I’m pondering what to do with because neither baby oil nor Goo Gone have worked.

FITNESS

OK, so I’ve been exercising less because I have been feeling off. I think my B12 is low again. That would be one of the many reasons I’m cutting out alcohol for now. Booze is known to deplete it. I’m also restarting the process to figure out what my autoimmune condition is because I don’t like being in pain. I want to be more active, but it hurts. While medicinal cannabis helps, it’s not conducive to driving or being clear-headed while working. So I’ve met with a new doctor and I’m hopeful that this time I’ll actually get help.

Glider: ? stepsOYO 10 Week Challenge: /70Martial Arts:

HOME

Along wih a full bin, I have some old luggage and a smaller box ready to go. I have one new curtain hemmed and hung. I have to hem the other and I’m thankful it didn’t get juiced.

Declutter: 295/1,050 minutes (Goal 15 mins/day)Paper: 145 pieces (1/day)Bathroom: Nothing.

NANOWRIMO

Two. More. Days.

I’m really excited that I’m doing NaNo this year. I was so busy just surviving last year, that I didn’t do much for it. This year it feels like just a natural part of my life.

PIANO

I can’t stop thinking about the idea of the recital. My teacher said I could do Let It Be if I wanted to instead of being stressed out about Downtown Abbey. I think it might be better to go with the safer one?

Let It BeDowntown AbbeyLean on Me

READING

As far as David Christian’s Origin Story goes, I’m still in the second last chapter. I’m almost at the point of what he sees may be in our future on this floating rock. I’d probably be done, but I stopped bringing it with me to work in fear I’d finish and have nothing to read on the way home…

1/3

THE SPARK

I have not worked on this as I’ve been planning for NaNo when I do have writing time.

73,244/80,000

R~

ROW80 2019 R4-8

There are a lot of things I’m enjoying about my life right now. Sure, some things aren’t as far along as I would like. I would love to be done decluttering and only have my student loan to worry about, but I’m not there yet. Things are improving steadily. A lot of these things are better if gradual anyway, I think.

One thing I’ve been doing since Can-Con is cutting out alcohol. I don’t know if that is a permanent change, but aside from being beneficial to my wallet, it is a healthy choice I’ve made. I’ve been wanting to do it for several years. https://theconversation.com/ten-reasons-some-of-us-should-cut-back-on-alcohol-70406

It was budget week last week at work, so I’ve been pretty wiped. Next week will start the cogs for the next fiscal year though we have five months until it arrives. Lots of planning and spreadsheet work are ahead for me, but because it’s less intense I can listen to podcasts or music easily while grinding away at it.

Hopefully, I’ll be less tired after work as November rolls in and National Novel Writing Month is here. Oh, I changed my project. There’s more on that below.

I hope I can find the hair elastics I need for my Halloween costume. I was initially going to be an ewok, but I wasn’t feeling it when it came down to it. You can find out what I chose next weekend

ROW80 2019 R4-6

What has been on my mind lately is community. Community is the reason I tried church in the first place. My community is a mosaic and as adults it is hard to get schedules aligned in order to spend time with each other. So instead of one community, I belong to several. Martial arts is one, writing is another, a movie club, and a political meetup. Most of these meet once per month at the most though and often all the same week, so I have been feeling like I need something for at least one other week in the month. I found another meetup I might try that is in the earlier part of the month. I was going to go last week, but it was too much with travelling. I’ve also joined a gamer group.

Speaking of the writing community, Can-Con was great fun! I got a lot of inspiration on Friday from the panels I attended, which included one on agents and how they’re real people too. Another was a hard sci-fi look on getting outer space right in a story. Then I was off to a horror panel about how horror is becoming more accepted in the wider literary community now that there are so many highly successful horror movies. Instead of going to the official Friday night party, I hit up the hotel bar with an old friend and made two new ones in the process.

Severely hungover on Saturday, I didn’t make it back to Can-Con that day, but I did make it out to a Haunted Walk at Laurier House. There were some startling moments, but I smiled through a lot of it whereas some of the other group that weren’t part of the one I was with were all very jumpy at the slightest strange occurance. At a pub later, we debriefed and chatted. I even got a bit of writing inspiration from that. It was really great seeing my friends.

I made it back to Can-Con on Sunday though tired. After checking out the vendor area and grabbing three books, I left my things behind as I ran to the elevator. A tiny girl was in there crying. She was found by a big man and I thought it best he didn’t go anywhere alone with her for everyone’s safety. Not that I thought he would do anything, but I didn’t want him to be in that position. Thankfully, her mom was at the elevator door on the ground floor when we got there. Also, it was fortunate that she was too small to reach anything other than the first row of buttons.

Sunday’s panels were a mix of The Haunting of Hill House, which I haven’t read or seen and only heard that I should definitely check it out. I got ideas there too. Then there was a talk on Cryptocurrency, which gave me other real life ideas. And finally a panel on religion in world building. It was interesting, but I’m not sure I agree with some of the ideas shared there.

And just like that, the convention is over. I lost a hat, but gained two new writer friends. I call that a win.

Onto the update…

FITNESS

I walked a lot this weekend, so I’m not going to feel bad here. Oh, I saw online that I may be able to get a partial reimbursement on my OYO because I had backed the version that was supposed to connect to an app and they decided not to go forward with the app after shipping them out. Maybe that will offset some of the money I spent on books this weekend…

Glider: 0 stepsOYO 10 Week Challenge: /70Martial Arts: I missed this weekend due to Can-Con 2019, but I’ll be back at it next week.

HOME

I didn’t get much done here between traveling last weekend and Can-Con this weekend, but I’ll be back at it this week.

Declutter: 160/1,050 minutes (Goal 15 mins/day)Paper: 145 pieces (1/day)Bathroom: Nothing.

NANOWRIMO

Tri: I’m in the planning stages and have added my project to the NaNo site.

PIANO

I haven’t been practicing and I feel bad about it. I will be catching up this week for sure.

Downtown AbbeyLean on Me

READING

As far as David Christian’s Origin Story goes, I’m in the portion of the book where it’s talking about the 1500s.

1/3

THE SPARK

I got a few ideas for this from of the panels, which I’ve wrote down. Hopefully I remember to check my notes.

73,244/80,000

R~

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ROW80 2019 R4-5

During my brief vacation, I really missed Ottawa. I briefly flirted with the idea of moving back to my hometown oneday, but I don’t think I could really do it. Ottawa became my home somewhere along the way and though I get lonely at times, I know that won’t last. It is hard to make people back there understand that while I enjoy the visits, it’s not where I belong.

I had to turn the heat on today. Maybe I should get one of those programmable thermostats, or two as I only have two thermostats. I suppose I better think about winter-proofing my windows soon as well.

This is one of my favourite months of the year. I love Halloween the most of all the holidays and I think we should get it off. I want a partner who loves it as much or more than me. Scary movies, haunted walks, bonfires, costumes, decorating, candy, and seasonal desserts. Bring it on. Fuck Christmas. Halloween is where it’s at!

This weekend is both Can-Con and a haunted walk with my friends. It’s going to be fantastic and I’m super excited! There are a lot of intriguing panels that I’m looking forward to learning from. And the haunted walk is supposed to be scary. I’m skeptical as it’s hard to scare me. I went to Saunders Farm last year and all I did was laugh the whole time. The drive out to Saunders was scarier than the place to me.

Onto the update…

FITNESS

Glider: 200 stepsOYO 10 Week Challenge: /70Martial Arts: I’m missing this weekend due to Can-Con 2019, but I’ll be back at it next week.

HOME

As more and more space is uncovered, I feel happier. I’ve also noticed it’s warmer with better air flow and my allergies are reducing.

Declutter: 145/1,050 minutes (Goal 15 mins/day)Paper: 145 pieces (1/day)Bathroom: I filled some holes, but haven’t done the demo yet. Once I do, I’ll be emailing the condo about lining up the plumber. It turns out that the past office person was useless and that’s why I couldn’t get it lined up before.

NANOWRIMO

Tri: I’m in the planning stages and have added my project to the NaNo site. If I get this screenplay done, I’ll move onto either another one or actually try to finish The Blood Waitress Club this year.

PIANO

I have been sucking here, but I was away and spent time moving on other things during my vacation.

Downtown AbbeyLean on Me

READING

I haven’t made much progress on David Christian’s Origin Story. I’m still in the portion of the book where humans are living in Agrarian civilizations and things like slavery are becoming a thing. This is about 10,000-12,000 years ago.

1/3

THE SPARK

I have not made any progress as I was on vacation. I needed a break from everything anyway.

73,244/80,000

R~

ROW80 2019 R4-4

As I’m visiting family this Thanksgiving weekend, my update will be a little different.

Before taking off for the weekend, I caught up on laundry. This is partly because I saw a cockroach. And despite all my decluttering progress, I felt pretty fucking defeated. But then I learned things about them. Things like that they don’t like hanging out in filth. They actually prefer clean homes to live in. They are found in many multiple unit dwellings, unfortunately. And they like coming out in warm weather. They love water areas too. On the other side of the wall is the hot water tank room. Time to plug any holes in that wall for sure. I did put bait down in the area.

Someone told me that my decluttering is going well because I disturbed it. It’s a good sign rather than one to feel sad, embarrassed, or ashamed about. I’m not failing at decluttering; I’m making progress. I hope they’re right. I want as few potential hiding places for creepy bugs as possible.

Having lost sleep over it all, the trip to my hometown required a stop for caffeine. But then it took awhile to get back on the highway because there were hunters filling gas cans. I’m not sure why they didn’t fill those the night before, so they wouldn’t hold up all the travelers. I quickly learned they spilled quite a bit of gas as the wet spot was impossible to avoid standing in as I refilled to finish my trip there. So, gas stinking shoes and all, I continued on my trip.

Other than those shitty things, my weekend has been good. I spent time with a close friend on Saturday. There were a lot of laughs had as we shopped for nothing in particular.

I’ve been trying to enjoy watching cable with my parents, but every commercial break is filled with election ads. I’m glad I voted already. I’m thankful for advance polls. There was only one man in line ahead of me. My civic duty was done without pain.

Home

– Declutter: 2 bins & 1 box donated. Laundry and dishes caught up.

NaNoWriMo

– I had an epiphany to rewrite Puppy Chow. Well, sort of. There will be no puppies in it and it’ll no longer be a creature feature horror, but something more dramatic. It will only have the barest of similarities to the original story line and I’ve been writing all kinds of notes this weekend to plan. I’m super excited! I may still do Puppy Chow in the future with different characters though.

Well, that’s all I’ve got for this check-in. Happy Thanksgiving to those celebrating this weekend!

R~

ROW80 2019 R4-3

My neck is quite a bit better.

Work has been quite heavy and is projected to get heavier as the month progresses.

I’m enjoying the incremental changes I’ve been making around my home though I’m not where I want to be yet. Seeing less and less unnecessary stuff everywhere is making me happier and happier

ROW80 2019 R4-2

Sorry for not posting for the first check in. I had to catch up on sleep because my neck has been acting up again.

I’ve only been off for a short while, but in that time I’ve gotten into some things.

I’ve been putting myself out there in the dating sense. Nothing fruitful thus far, but I’m trying.

Aside from my glider that lets me exercise while watching TV, I’ve also started learning how to use my portable gym. I haven’t used the glider extensively yet, but it’s fun and I feel tall while I’m on it.

My neck has been really sore, so though I didn’t want to spend money, I bought a new pillow. The first night was really good, but the neck pain doesn’t seem to be going away. It’s a good thing I’m meeting a new family doctor soon.

I finally joined Spotify and am making up a playlist with all the awesome bands I’ve been discovering lately and some old favourites. For now, I just have a free account. Maybe someday I’ll pay for unlimited songs and/or downloads.

I almost had Jury Duty, but the selection day was cancelled. Thankfully. I wasn’t sure I’d be able to do any of the things I had planned for the month because of it!

Onto the actual goals update…

Fitness

A short amount of time on my glider has engaged my muscles, so I think it’s going to be really helpful. It hasn’t bothered my ankles or my neck thus far.

Glider: 600 stepsOYO 10 Week Challenge: /70Martial Arts: So far, I’m sucking at this. I woke up last Sunday with the kink in my neck that still hasn’t left. I went and swung my sword today though and my neck is feeling OK, though I really shouldn’t do kata that have me rotate my head quickly to the left. I’m looking at you, Morote-Tsuki. The rest were good. Well, not that good. I messed up a lot until I remembered some steps, but I mostly self corrected. And I now make fun mistakes like start Morote-Tsuki as if it’s Ganmen-Ate and somehow fluidly correct it.

Home

I’ve made some headway on the declutter. Lots to go still, but I have a big blue bin ready to leave my place and I’ve started filling a second one. I think my car can fit at least three easily at once, so that’s my short term plan there. I’ve had a ton of these bins around for years and while I’ve been storing things in them, they have also encouraged me to keep things I don’t need or even really want. Many of them are in my bedroom taking up space and though they are not in my main area, they are helping me clear junk from my main area too.

Declutter: 75/1,050 minutes (Goal 15 mins/day)Paper: 124 pieces (1/day)Bathroom: I have a makeup area in my bedroom now to clear the bathroom counter for this. It’ll also likely stay that way as I’ve always wanted a little dressing table. Good news, they fired the girl in the office who couldn’t seem to organize anything. I have renewed hopes for the plumber to come.

NaNoWriMo

TBD

Piano

My new focus for piano is learning to make use of the pedal. It lengthens notes. What I only just learned was that the note will continue even if my hand comes off, so I can have time to prepare for moving my hand(s) as needed to another section of the keyboard. This is monumental! It’s also a lot to process and I’m doubtful I’ll have it down by my next lesson, but who knows?

Downtown AbbeyLean on Me

Reading

I’m currently focusing on David Christian’s Origin Story. It’s a book about the history of everything starting with the Big Bang. I’m in the portion of the book where humans start farming.

1/3

The Spark

I’ve finally broken through to the 73k and up word count. For awhile, I thought it would never happen. Other stories are nagging me to get back to them, but I’ve been pretty good at not letting them tear me away.

73,244/80,000

R~