Bryce Moore's Blog, page 103
September 10, 2019
What Pop Culture Did You Grow Up With?
The other day I was talking to some friends who are a few years younger than me, and I realized it’s getting harder for me to gauge just how old people are. Or rather, to understand it in terms that really make sense to me. I mean, a while ago I found out some friends had gotten married and graduated college when I was still in middle school. That made my mind do a double take, because what were cool college kids doing hanging out with a middle schooler now?
(It’s nice that age barriers matter less and less the older you get, but it also helps to understand where a person is now if you understand where they came from a while ago.)
So to have it all “make sense” to me more, I switched over to talking about pop culture things people grew up with. For Saturday’s chat, we talked about kids cartoon shows.
For me, I grew up with Darkwing Duck, Ducktales, Rescue Rangers, Talespin, Tiny Toons, and Animaniacs. Go back a bit further, and it was all about Transformers and GI Joe. Really early on, I can remember watching Popeye and Woody Woodpecker. I watched the Muppet Show, but it was mostly in reruns. For edutainment, Sesame Street and Mr. Rogers were king, but in my days Mr. Snuffleupagus was an invisible friend for Big Bird, and no one thought he existed.
When it comes to movies, I don’t remember seeing Empire Strikes Back in the theaters, but I saw Return of the Jedi and thought it was awesome. I have nothing whatsoever against Ewoks. I remember watching Raiders of the Lost Ark on VHS and thinking it was way cool, though the face melting scene was a bit much. I saw ET and Back to the Future and The Goonies when I was young. I remember going to Jurassic Park with my friends and watching my best friend chew the heads off gummy bears one by one. The Tim Curry miniseries of IT gave me nightmares. And of course I first watched Groundhog Day when I was still in high school.
“Old” movies for me meant classics like The Sting or Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, or all the standard Disney movies. I was in high school when the new wave of Disney classics came out. Little Mermaid. Lion King. Beauty and the Beast. Rock IV remains the best Rocky in my head. Batman was either the TV show or the Tim Burton version. Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit were both Rankin/Bass animated productions.
I lived for TV holiday specials. Garfield. Charlie Brown. “Grown up” shows I watched included Perry Mason (the new one, with fat Perry) and Murder, She Wrote.
I could keep going with this stream of consciousness sharing, but I think I’ll leave it at that. I’d be curious to hear your run down of your childhood (K-12) movie and media memories. Please share!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Like what you’ve read? Please consider supporting me on Patreon. Thanks to all my Patrons who support me! It only takes a minute or two, and then it’s automatic from there on out. I’ve posted the entirety of my book ICHABOD in installments, and I’m now putting up chapters from PAWN OF THE DEAD, another of my unreleased books. Where else are you going to get the undead and muppets all in the same YA package? Check it out.
If you’d rather not sign up for Patreon, you can also support the site by clicking the MEMORY THIEF Amazon link on the right of the page. That will take you to Amazon, where you can buy my books or anything else. During that visit, a portion of your purchase will go to me. It won’t cost you anything extra.
September 9, 2019
Current Thoughts on Sugar
I’ve been (more or less) off sugar now for four (count ’em four) years. I say “more or less” because there have definitely been spaces in that time when I most definitely was NOT sugar free, so if you’ve seen me at conferences or parties or most of December, you’d think I was anything but off sugar. However, the baseline I keep returning to is one that has almost no refined sugar in it.
Most days, I have a handful of chocolate chips each day, and that’s it. (Some in my oatmeal in the morning, and some in my oatmeal for dinner. I live a glamorous life, what can I say?) Other than that, I have some fruit each day, and nothing else sweet. It was shocking to realize it’s been more than four years since I first experimented with totally giving up sugar.
At the time, I did it more on a whim than anything else. The thought popped into my head that if I gave up sugar, I’d feel better. Feel more alert. I considered it personal revelation at the time, and in hindsight, I still feel that way.
These days, I can very easily tell the days when I’ve had a lot of sugar. In fact, I can feel what it does to me as soon as I’m eating more than a little of it. It comes with a rush of energy, but it always leaves me feeling . . . sick. Not to my stomach, surprisingly. Rather, I feel like I’m having an allergic attack of some kind. My throat feels sore. My eyes puffy. It feels like I’m getting sick to the point that I finally searched online for whether eating sugar could make you feel like that. (Initial results indicate it can, but I didn’t dig very deep.)
I definitely sleep worse when I’ve had sugar. I wake up at night, for one thing. It takes me longer to get to sleep as well. The simple fact is that I feel much better, overall, when I’m not eating sugar than when I am. Is it a placebo effect? Who knows. I don’t really care, honestly. If it makes me feel better, why don’t I just do it?
Which is the question. Because I still love sugar, and I still find myself cutting loose whenever I decide to have some. I start eating it, and I can’t stop. No wonder I always feel sick after I have some, because I have too much. I’d love to get to a spot in my life where I do a better job with that, but I’m not there yet. Baby steps, I suppose.
In the meantime, I just wanted to write a quick post to say that, after looking back on the decision 4+ years ago and how I feel today versus back then, I’d say the experiment was a resounding success. If you’re looking for a way to feel more alert and healthy, and you’ve got a bad sweet tooth, I definitely recommend going sugar free for a while to see what it does for you.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Like what you’ve read? Please consider supporting me on Patreon. Thanks to all my Patrons who support me! It only takes a minute or two, and then it’s automatic from there on out. I’ve posted the entirety of my book ICHABOD in installments, and I’m now putting up chapters from PAWN OF THE DEAD, another of my unreleased books. Where else are you going to get the undead and muppets all in the same YA package? Check it out.
If you’d rather not sign up for Patreon, you can also support the site by clicking the MEMORY THIEF Amazon link on the right of the page. That will take you to Amazon, where you can buy my books or anything else. During that visit, a portion of your purchase will go to me. It won’t cost you anything extra.
September 6, 2019
Introducing the Classics to Your Kids: Rocky
Back when we went to Philadelphia, I took my kids to the Museum of Art steps. (Not the museum, mind you. Just the steps.) As anyone who’s anyone can tell you, that’s where Rocky runs up during his training montage. There’s even a statue of Rocky at the bottom of the steps, where you can stand in a fairly persistent, long line to take your picture in the Rocky pose.
“Who was Rocky again?” Denisa asked me back then. I explained he was a boxer. Sylvester Stallone.
“You mean he wasn’t even a real person? Why are we waiting in line to take this picture again?”
Denisa is nothing if not a good sport. (Though she declined to be in the picture, choosing to take it, instead.) However, I realized then and there that I had not fulfilled my role of husband and father, as someone from the Greater Philadelphia Area, of introducing my family to the Rocky franchise.
To overcome this shame, I gathered them all together the other night, and we watched Rocky I. It had been a long time since I’d seen it, but I’m pleased to say it’s stood up nicely, though I will admit it’s definitely slow in parts. However, the family all enjoyed it for the most part, though they declined my offer to start Rocky II as soon as Rocky I was finished . . .
They were also intrigued by the constant use of the word “yo,” and they wondered why I don’t use it all the time when I speak. For the record, I do use “yo,” but for some reason I use it to mean “yes,” which confuses people sometime. I have no idea why “yo” means “yes” for me, but it does. I tried to see if that’s a Philly thing, but I didn’t find anything about it online. (I also have been known to slip and say “youse” from time to time, but that’s getting increasingly rare.)
In the end, I think it was a success. I’m just ashamed it took so long for me to get around to it. They were surprised by the ending, but even Denisa enjoyed the film, so we’ll call that a success. Who knows–next time we’re in Philly, she might even get in the picture . . .
[image error]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Like what you’ve read? Please consider supporting me on Patreon. Thanks to all my Patrons who support me! It only takes a minute or two, and then it’s automatic from there on out. I’ve posted the entirety of my book ICHABOD in installments, and I’m now putting up chapters from PAWN OF THE DEAD, another of my unreleased books. Where else are you going to get the undead and muppets all in the same YA package? Check it out.
If you’d rather not sign up for Patreon, you can also support the site by clicking the MEMORY THIEF Amazon link on the right of the page. That will take you to Amazon, where you can buy my books or anything else. During that visit, a portion of your purchase will go to me. It won’t cost you anything extra.
September 5, 2019
Seminary Teacher
The time has come for another year of early morning seminary. Those who were with me last year will remember I was running the seminary car pool some of the time, bringing teens to seminary at 6 in the morning, using that captive time to enlighten their musical tastes with all manner of wonderful song selections.
Well . . . I’ve got bad news for those of you who were fans of the morning reviews each day. I’ve been forced to discontinue the practice. Not because of any protest, but rather because there’s no longer a logical way for me to keep the car pool going.
Denisa’s been called as the seminary teacher, and so that means seminary is now at my house each morning at 6:15. And while I loved the car pool, I didn’t love it to the point that I’m going to drive around and start picking kids up so I can bring them back to my house. There’s a limit to what I’ll do for good music, it appears.
What does having seminary at our house mean? For Denisa, it means in addition to the 3.5 college courses she’s teaching this semester, she’ll also be teaching a 50 minute class Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday to seven 14-18 year olds. This year the focus starts out on the Old Testament for a bit, shifts to some of the New Testament, and then in January moves over to the Book of Mormon. In Utah and other places with a large Latter-day Saint population, Seminary is often an actual class students take during their school day. Teachers are paid. Out here in Maine, it’s a volunteer assignment. (Ponder that oxymoron for a while, but not too long.)
I’ll be leaving home a bit later than I usually do for work, so that I can be there while Seminary is going. This morning, that meant I woke up earlier, had breakfast, and then worked on my writing first thing in the morning. Actually it was quite lovely to be all done with writing so soon. If I can stick to that schedule, that could be great. On the other hand, it also means that my lovely “caught up on sleep” feeling from a few days ago last all of . . . one morning. Such is life. We’ll be trying to alter our schedules to accommodate the early mornings.
In any case, if you notice Denisa, me, or Tomas looking a little bleary eyed over the next while, now you know why. Wish all of us (and especially Denisa) luck!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Like what you’ve read? Please consider supporting me on Patreon. Thanks to all my Patrons who support me! It only takes a minute or two, and then it’s automatic from there on out. I’ve posted the entirety of my book ICHABOD in installments, and I’m now putting up chapters from PAWN OF THE DEAD, another of my unreleased books. Where else are you going to get the undead and muppets all in the same YA package? Check it out.
If you’d rather not sign up for Patreon, you can also support the site by clicking the MEMORY THIEF Amazon link on the right of the page. That will take you to Amazon, where you can buy my books or anything else. During that visit, a portion of your purchase will go to me. It won’t cost you anything extra.
September 4, 2019
Book Review: Les Miserables
Back in August, I found myself in the wonderful position of being ahead on my reading schedule. I shoot to read a book a week, and I was about 2.5 weeks ahead of where I needed to be to get 52 books read in the year. It was still before the semester started, and so I decided I’d like to try tackling something more difficult. Really push myself. Sure, the stereotypical response to that would have been “Time to read War & Peace,” but I’ve never really had the hankering to tackle that novel. There’s been one I’ve long wanted to read, however, and I thought I’d be able to get it done on time. I’ve always loved the musical adaptation of Les Miserables, and I’d wondered just what they’d done in the adaptation process. Taking the time to read a 1,500 page translation doesn’t just come up every day, though, and I’d never got around to it.
I decided to try it this time.
When reading a translation, I firmly believe the first step is to find the best translation you can get. (Assuming you’re unable to read it in the original language.) So I asked around and did some searching online. There are quite a few translations of Les Mis, and there are advocates for each of them online. In the absence of any real way of gauging which of those conflicting viewpoints I should pay attention to, I did what I typically do in those situations: I turned to a knowledgable friend.
In this case, that friend was Dan Wells, who’s long been a proponent of Les Mis. He’d had such a good experience with the book, I asked him which translation he’d read. He recommended the Fahnestock unabridged version, and so that’s what I went with.
[image error]
I loved the book, though let me be clear: it was not a fast or easy read. The book is often abridged because Hugo will go on long drawn out explanations of things that relate to the plot only tangentially. The history of the Paris sewers. The entire Battle of Waterloo. The backstory of almost every character ever mentioned in the novel. Long, complex discussions of philosophy and meaning,
Are those sections necessary? Should you read the abridged version instead? That’s a tough question to answer. I believe many of them added to my experience reading the book, but some of them didn’t do much for me. The thought of turning over the decision of which parts are “unimportant” and which aren’t to someone I don’t even know . . . I don’t like the thought of that approach. In the end, I’m very glad I got the unabridged version. Were there parts I skimmed? Yes. But they were parts of my own choosing, just as with any book I read. I loved getting the context of characters, and I found Waterloo fascinating. The sewers were intriguing as well. The philosophy was something I often found myself zipping through, since Hugo has a tendency to say the same thing multiple different ways.
But the characters and the plot of this book? Incredible. I found them moving and engrossing. Much of what happens is intertwined to a point that strains belief, but then you have Hugo’s description of how much of Waterloo came down to decisions that seem far too contrived to make sense, and it all fits together nicely.
I had to really push myself to finish the book on schedule, despite the fact that I really enjoyed it. It was hard reading often, but just because something’s hard doesn’t mean it isn’t worth doing. I loved seeing the connections between the musical, and I was impressed at how they adapted this huge work into something so consumable.
Should you read Les Mis? That depends. I loved it and appreciate it as the work of art that it is. Do I give it a 10, then? I’m not sure. There were parts I skimmed, after all. In the end, I still gave it the perfect score, acknowledging the fact that almost no book I’ve read has made me get anywhere close to tears. (No book has made me cry. Ever.) But this one really moved me, and so taken as an entirety, it was an incredible book. What parts were unnecessary? I’m not sure. Take away any of it, and does the experience lessen? Possibly.
In any case, I’m glad I’ve read it, and I recommend it to anyone looking for a challenging but rewarding read. 10/10. Just give yourself plenty of time.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Like what you’ve read? Please consider supporting me on Patreon. Thanks to all my Patrons who support me! It only takes a minute or two, and then it’s automatic from there on out. I’ve posted the entirety of my book ICHABOD in installments, and I’m now putting up chapters from PAWN OF THE DEAD, another of my unreleased books. Where else are you going to get the undead and muppets all in the same YA package? Check it out.
If you’d rather not sign up for Patreon, you can also support the site by clicking the MEMORY THIEF Amazon link on the right of the page. That will take you to Amazon, where you can buy my books or anything else. During that visit, a portion of your purchase will go to me. It won’t cost you anything extra.
September 3, 2019
Putting Myself to Bed
I haven’t been sleeping particularly well the last while. Mainly it’s a problem of waking up early and not being able to get back to sleep. I know I struggle with that, but then I’m not sensible enough to actually go to bed at a reasonable time. Add a few of those nights up, and I end up on the sleep deprived side.
This all came to a head yesterday when I woke up at 7am on my day off. I had been hoping to sleep until at least 8:30 or so, just to finally get caught up, but that wasn’t happening. I was still very tired, but just unable to turn my brain off and go back to bed. So I got up and got going.
And I was not in a good mood. I was grouchy about everything, with everyone. I found myself arguing with Denisa over something that I can’t even remember now. Something silly that I didn’t care that much about, but I was treating it like it was something much more important. And suddenly it hit me: I was over tired. If I were a toddler, I’d send me to bed with strict instructions to sleep some more. So I admitted as much to Denisa, apologized, and stopped arguing. Last night, I got in bed at 8:30. Yes, it felt ridiculously early, but I wanted to make sure I could fall asleep as soon as I was tired.
I got a full 8 hours of sleep last night, and I woke up feeling absolutely wonderful. That’s good, since today is the first day of school at the university, and things have been crazy here. But the difference between the two days was stark.
As a parent, it’s often easy to tell when my kids aren’t getting enough sleep. Yesterday was a reminder to me that it isn’t just toddlers who get grumpy and ill-tempered when they’re sleep deprived. It’s just no one can typically tell an adult when they need to go back to bed. For that, we have to recognize it on our own.
So if you’ve been feeling off the last while, might I suggest getting more sleep? Your family and friends will thank you . . .
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Like what you’ve read? Please consider supporting me on Patreon. Thanks to all my Patrons who support me! It only takes a minute or two, and then it’s automatic from there on out. I’ve posted the entirety of my book ICHABOD in installments, and I’m now putting up chapters from PAWN OF THE DEAD, another of my unreleased books. Where else are you going to get the undead and muppets all in the same YA package? Check it out.
If you’d rather not sign up for Patreon, you can also support the site by clicking the MEMORY THIEF Amazon link on the right of the page. That will take you to Amazon, where you can buy my books or anything else. During that visit, a portion of your purchase will go to me. It won’t cost you anything extra.
August 30, 2019
On BYU Football Independence
BYU football started up again last night. Well, “started up” is a relative term, as apparently we still haven’t learned that when you play against Utah, the goal is to NOT throw them the ball when we’re on offense. But I have confidence in our team. If at first you don’t succeed, try try try try try try try try try again. We’ll get it down eventually, and in the meantime, we’re doing wonders for the self-esteem of half the state of Utah.
The game started at 10:25 Eastern time last night. There’s a lot in that sentence I don’t like. The late start of the game, and the early date of the BYU/Utah game itself. But for better or worse, that kind of represents this rivalry at this point. The teams feel obligated to play each other still, probably mainly because of the fan base, but the game itself . . . just doesn’t have the same importance it once did. The biggest impact this game could have was if Utah had lost, in which case BYU might have played a spoiler to a great season. But that’s the same situation any time a highly touted team takes the field. And if BYU won, what would it have meant for the team’s season? There would be more games to win next week and the week after.
The biggest drawback to BYU independence is that it feels like much of the reason to root for a team is gone as soon as the first loss comes each season, since BYU’s one real hope for relevance is to sweep the table and hope for a great bowl game. There’s no conference championship to play for. The games after a single loss stop having any real meaning other than personal pride and trying to get the best record we can, because . . . winning? In the days of the Mountain West, there was still jockeying for position within the conference. There was the championship to go for. The longer we’re away from a conference, the more I see how much that meant.
That said, we were also stuck with the Mtn, a TV station I abhorred, and one that was very difficult to watch on the East Coast. These days, almost all of the games are fairly easy for me to see, with the exception of away games with conferences that have bad television rights. Except so many of the games start at terrible times for an Easterner. I end up watching the first half, going to bed, and then watching the second half on DVR the next day. Sure, I get to skip the commercials, but . . . it’s just not the same.
So which would I prefer? Games that are harder to watch and not as challenging week to week, or games that are a beast the first half of the season, and easy to see?
The answer, of course, is “neither.” There’s a pleasant middle ground there somewhere, but I’m not sure BYU is anywhere near getting to it. It would involve joining one of the big conferences, which is what it would take. At this point, I’d say it’s likelier we join a smaller conference. Maybe the Mountain West again. Or we just keep sticking to the independent route.
Fact: none of the hoops would matter as much if we were winning games consistently. You feel just fine losing sleep over a game when you win a tough match. It’s when you keep losing that fans start to check watches and grumble about time starts and game importance.
I’ll always be a BYU fan, regardless of the record, but the longer these sort of sputtering seasons go on, the likelier drastic change is sought for again soon. But I’m not sure switching coaches is going to do much in that department . . .
But maybe I’m just grumpy because we lost and I’m feeling sleep deprived. There’s always next week.
Go Cougars!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Like what you’ve read? Please consider supporting me on Patreon. Thanks to all my Patrons who support me! It only takes a minute or two, and then it’s automatic from there on out. I’ve posted the entirety of my book ICHABOD in installments, and I’m now putting up chapters from PAWN OF THE DEAD, another of my unreleased books. Where else are you going to get the undead and muppets all in the same YA package? Check it out.
If you’d rather not sign up for Patreon, you can also support the site by clicking the MEMORY THIEF Amazon link on the right of the page. That will take you to Amazon, where you can buy my books or anything else. During that visit, a portion of your purchase will go to me. It won’t cost you anything extra.
August 29, 2019
Real ID in Maine: Yes or No?
Yesterday I trekked out to brave the unique circle of hell that is the DMV. Actually, the experience was more just an exercise in tedium than anything really unpleasant. In Maine, there are some central offices for the DMV that you can go to anytime, but for the rural areas, there are pop up offices. In my town, that means twice a month, you can go to a place right in town and get your license renewed. The only problem? Everyone prefers to do that instead of driving 45 minutes away, so it’s typically a bit crowded.
It took about an hour and a half for me, all told. Which meant I arrived, signed in, and then read a book while they churned through all the names in front of me. There are definitely worse ways to spend your time, though there are better as well. Thankfully the two people they had staffing the office were both efficient and even tempered. That’s always a plus.
This year, I had a new option. For years Maine has resisted the new drivers license requirements the rest of the nation has adopted, which means that starting in October of next year, Maine licenses won’t be any good to get on airplanes. Not unless you pay for the upgraded “Real ID compliant” option. And judging from yesterday, they really want to be sure you know you don’t need a Real ID compliant license.
To get one, you need to bring some extra identification when you renew, and you have to specifically request a Real ID compliant license. The default is non-compliant. I had my passport, current license, a utility bill, and a w-2 form that had my Social Security Number on it. That was enough to jump through all the hoops. But even then, the guy asked me repeatedly if I was sure I wanted a Real ID license.
“It costs extra,” he said.
“It’s just about $20 more,” I said. “I’m fine with that.”
“You already have a passport. You can just use that to get on planes.”
I stared at him, surprised he was this committed to down-selling me on the Real ID. “I know. But I’d rather have the convenience of having a drivers license that works for airports here.”
“It won’t get you into Canada.”
“Come again?” I asked.
“The Real ID doesn’t replace your passport. You’ll still need it to go to Canada or any other country.”
And water is wet. “Yes,” I said. “I’m aware of that.”
Do you need a Real ID? No. Not if you have a passport and are willing to take it with you whenever you travel by plane. For me, I’d rather spend $20 to not have to worry about where my passport is all the time. A license stays in my wallet, and I’m used to keeping track of that. Passports are bigger and more unwieldy. I fly often enough that I don’t feel like needing to track one more thing when I do.
But that’s just me. Maybe the vast majority of Mainers are just more frugal or better able to keep track of documents than I am. They’re definitely more hellbent on defying government identification laws. The Real ID Act was passed back in 2005, for crying out loud. We’re one of the last five states to finally come around.
Go Maine?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Like what you’ve read? Please consider supporting me on Patreon. Thanks to all my Patrons who support me! It only takes a minute or two, and then it’s automatic from there on out. I’ve posted the entirety of my book ICHABOD in installments, and I’m now putting up chapters from PAWN OF THE DEAD, another of my unreleased books. Where else are you going to get the undead and muppets all in the same YA package? Check it out.
If you’d rather not sign up for Patreon, you can also support the site by clicking the MEMORY THIEF Amazon link on the right of the page. That will take you to Amazon, where you can buy my books or anything else. During that visit, a portion of your purchase will go to me. It won’t cost you anything extra.
August 28, 2019
Back to School: 2019 Edition
In many ways, heading back to school can’t come soon enough. After a summer at home, filled with fun activities, there comes a time when everyone just needs to get back into a routine and have a return to normalcy, if for nothing more than a return to peace and quiet at home. In other ways, of course, it’s shocking that this year we’re sending out a Sophomore, 6th grader, and 1st grader, and you wonder how it is they all keep getting older . . .
It was a fun summer. Since the end of school in mid-June, we have done the following:
Headed to Washington DC for a weekGone to Lancaster, PAVisited New York CityStayed in Pennsylvania for a weekGone to horse campGone to fiddle campHad swim lessonsTaught swim lessons as a first jobStarted up sports for the first time (cross country)Gone camping with the cross country teamGone on pioneer trekRenovated the front of our houseLandscaped the front of our houseRenovated our wood shedStacked 3 cord of woodPrepped for classes for the coming academic yearDecluttered most of the house
When you line it all up like that, it’s no wonder it’s felt like a very busy summer. In an ideal world, we’d all be heading into the school year feeling rested, relaxed, and ready to take on anything. In reality, I think we’re feeling harried enough to the point where we’ve actually convinced ourselves that the school year will be a nice break from the summer. Experience reminds me this isn’t the case, of course. But it takes some time to really have this set in.
The first day of school changes as a parent over the years. I still remember going with Tomas to see Kindergarten for the first time. How he got to get on a school bus for his first time, and how excited he was to explore it and be so grown up. I always waited with the kids for that first bus that first day. Today was particularly busy, and Tomas needed a ride to the high school early, so it didn’t happen this year. I missed it, and I think I’ll do my best to not miss it in the future.
I’m sure it’ll be a busy year. DC is at the middle school now, and MC is now taking the morning bus on her own. Tomas’s schedule is all over the place. Keeping track of all of it is almost a full time job in and of itself. But for now, it feels good to get them all back into a routine, and I’m looking forward to not having to worry about wildly different schedules from week to week, with kids leaving for days at a time to go on camps and expeditions.
It definitely helps that this means we’re coming into my favorite stretch of the year. September through the beginning of February is pretty much the Best Thing Ever. Yay for being done with summer!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Like what you’ve read? Please consider supporting me on Patreon. Thanks to all my Patrons who support me! It only takes a minute or two, and then it’s automatic from there on out. I’ve posted the entirety of my book ICHABOD in installments, and I’m now putting up chapters from PAWN OF THE DEAD, another of my unreleased books. Where else are you going to get the undead and muppets all in the same YA package? Check it out.
If you’d rather not sign up for Patreon, you can also support the site by clicking the MEMORY THIEF Amazon link on the right of the page. That will take you to Amazon, where you can buy my books or anything else. During that visit, a portion of your purchase will go to me. It won’t cost you anything extra.
August 27, 2019
Removing the Rust from a Wood Stove
The whole time we’ve lived in Maine, we’ve used a wood stove as our primary way of heating the house. The first winter, the stove we had was old and inefficient, and so we replaced it before the next winter with one that is ever so much nicer. (The difference? A tight wood stove will keep air out, which lets you control the burn of the wood inside. You can throw in some wood in the evening before you go to bed, and then you still have a great bed of coals by the morning so that all you need to get it going again is to put more wood in. With our first wood stove, the fire was dead every morning. Completely burned out.)
For the most part, the stoves take care of themselves. Dust them, Clean the glass a bit, but they’re tanks. Year in. Year out. Except every now and then they get some rust. At that point, the thing that never needs attention suddenly needs a fair bit of it.
I took today off, and a good portion of my day has been spent focused on our wood stove, because the rust this year has been much worse than in years past. Usually I’d just have to repaint parts of the stove every three years or so, but I just redid this last year, and here I am again. I’m not sure if it’s because I didn’t get all the rust last year, or if this year has just been particularly humid. Or maybe it’s because we were working on the front of the house some, and so more outside air got in than has in the past.
In any case, it’s been work. I use a steel brush attachment for my drill, and that does a good job at getting most of the rust off. I’ve been trying to do even more this year than before, wondering if that will make it so that it doesn’t come back as quickly next time. (We’ll also be using a different pot to put on top of the stove. Wood stoves dry the air out a ton, so we usually stick something with water in it on top of the stove to add some water back into the air. I’m wondering if ours was leaking . . . )
With the rust off, I just need to spray paint the stove with some heat resistant paint, and we should be good to go. Of course, that means taping off the parts of the stove I don’t want paint on, which all adds to the time investment. All in all, the “day off” isn’t feeling very “day offy.”
Has anyone else out there been having more trouble with rust this year than usual, or is it just me? What have you done to address rust on stoves in the past?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Like what you’ve read? Please consider supporting me on Patreon. Thanks to all my Patrons who support me! It only takes a minute or two, and then it’s automatic from there on out. I’ve posted the entirety of my book ICHABOD in installments, and I’m now putting up chapters from PAWN OF THE DEAD, another of my unreleased books. Where else are you going to get the undead and muppets all in the same YA package? Check it out.
If you’d rather not sign up for Patreon, you can also support the site by clicking the MEMORY THIEF Amazon link on the right of the page. That will take you to Amazon, where you can buy my books or anything else. During that visit, a portion of your purchase will go to me. It won’t cost you anything extra.
