48 thoughts on “Working Wednesday, July 1, 2020”

  1. Still battling the hoard. My executive functioning difficulties make cleaning up difficult.
    So many steps. And KonMari is hard at work where the things bring no joy unless I really used my creativity to make it.

    https://www.instagram.com/p/CCGjwfbAcuy/?igshid=xmoug1dj8yd

    Food as usual. The recipe creator responded to me tagging her! It’s Shivi Ramoutar’s coconut milk curry sauce. Because you can choose your spice level it’s a recipe accessible to anyone who uses more than salt and pepper in their cooking.

    Previously I’ve posted about making my reduced tomato sauce using tinned Italian tomatoes. It cuts the acidity and raises that umami-ish flavour.

  2. Last week we hosted a wedding in our big yard in a beautiful place. This week I’m taking a while to get over that. I’m mostly putting my energy in to the garden, which looks gorgeous. We had buckets and buckets of rain in the last 3 days, which we really needed. Fortunately it held off for the (small) wedding. I’m not super good at summer, I don’t deal well with heat, and I’m not a biker, runner, surfer type. I’m a walker/gardener/ sit in the shade and read a book type.
    So this week is dedicated to learning about DITA, something very useful for a technical writer to know. Aside from that, I’m vocalizing and singing with a fab pianist (25 feet apart) for the time when we can perform for people.

  3. Mostly I’m working… but in a delayed happiness moment, my niece who moved to town for her new job is staying with me for a couple of days until her lease starts. We’ve both been physically distancing separately, so we are our own little bubble for a bit.

  4. I hadn’t completely transitioned to Wednesday myself. I’ve had to stay in yesterday and most of today, waiting for my next lot of proofs to arrive. Which they finally did at 3 o’clock, but I was deep into updating my 50,000-word file on ‘How to Write a Novel’, so not going to start on them before tomorrow. I’m now pulling out the bits I think will be most helpful for writing my first draft into a separate file. I’m making myself a basic plan of action – enough of a map to get me going, but vague enough not to get in the way of the magic.

    I also want to get my accounts for the last year done, and my tax return. But the fiction project has taken over. Although I must do the day job from tomorrow, so I’ll only be able to do a couple of hours on the important stuff.

  5. I lost a day to surgery. But the doc says he got everything. So I’m working on recovery which basically involves naps.

    2. Hurray for good docs who get everything. Been there, had such a doc. Rest—and eat—well as you heal.

  6. I collected no-longer-needed stuff and made plans to take said stuff out to my parents’ house tomorrow, where my brother and nephew are hosting a garage sale this Friday. This is our last attempt to sell off the stuff that did NOT sell at the Estate Sale two weeks ago. Next week the company comes in to cart off (at our expense, darn it) anything that is left, then the professional cleaners come in.

    The problem / challenge with staying home due to Covid is that it gives me time to look around and become dissatisfied with my condo. So decluttering, get rid of some furniture, making plans to paint, etc.

    Oh, and after FIVE (count them, 5) different phone calls, the Census Bureau and I agreed on my training time (thank goodness the afternoon slot won, I am NOT a morning person, but they kept changing me), and I head out in 10 minutes.

  7. I’m working on music. Lots of music. I’m chording and writing harmony for some old Irish ballads; old music, but new to me. And I am working at cleaning and organizing the office and master bedroom closet. (I’m trying VERY hard to avoid just piling the stuff in the garage. The garage is overloaded with stuff to be donated [donation centers are still closed here] and taken to the landfill).

  8. Back in mid-April, I potted up all the Elephant Ear bulbs I’d overwintered, and set them into the big compost area to develop roots and start sprouting. By mid-May, nothing. By early June, nothing. “They’re defunct,” I told myself. “Those grapes were somehow sour.” However, being lazy, I didn’t get round to doing anything with the pots and wasted dirts, plus plants were sprouting up around the compost area so I couldn’t see well.

    It’s July, and lo and behold, every darn ONE of them has rooted, and sprouted, and suddenly they are two feet tall and I’ve started frenziedly lifting them, putting them into much larger pots, and finding sun for them all. It’s going to look like a jungle here in a few weeks, which (cf Sundays) will make me Happy!

    1. We have a burn pile where we stack up limbs and branches and then burn them. My husband went out to burn and we have huge beautiful vines running from it. Last fall we put some rotting pumpkins on it and now we have at least 7 beautiful pumpkins! Neglect is sometimes surprising!

  9. Nothing yet. I thought it was Monday. My brain is shot and all I can do is watch YouTube videos, and not even the intelligent kind. I can only read a few pages at a time and cannot read a book in order. And I cannot leave the house. At all. Now I’m trying to get myself to find a mental health practitioner (drugs please!) who will work with me remotely, due to the can’t leave home thing. At least one of my roommates is going to mail in my voter’s registration for me so I’ll be able to vote in November. Plus, I realized that I’m depressed, too, which is probably why I don’t crawl out of bed until after 1pm, even if I wake up earlier. Sigh. Not fun, not fun at all.

    1. Hang in there. And there’s nothing wrong with mindless YouTube videos sometimes.

    2. I’m so sorry to hear that. It sounds really tough. I hope the mental health practitioner comes through very soon. And well done on organising the voter registration!

    4. It is not fun, and you are definitely not alone. I also want to say that it won’t be like this forever. Truly.

    5. My therapist and I meet online (there’s a specific medical chat service).
      I get out of bed at noon, but only because the dogs insist. It’s really frightening how easy it is to just veg.

    6. Thinking of you Skye and sending FGBVs. It’s so unfair that some of us have screwed up brain chemistry while others seem to float through life. No resentment toward the floaters, but come on universe, where are the rewards?

    7. Hoping you are able to find an excellent health practitioner who is working at a distance through something like tele-a-doc. Hang in there!

  10. I am Not Working this Wednesday. The powers that be in my firm have been reminding everybody that vacation time should still be taken, and once I saw a sort-of-a-gap open up in the deluge of deadlines, I requested a couple of days. Added to our Friday Independence Day holiday, it’s five days off in a row, which I haven’t had since I was unemployed last year.

    Have put in some time organizing my digital music files (much overdue), have a pot roast working (our weather is cool enough for such things), and have subscribed to Disney+ so I can watch ‘Hamilton.’ A year of streaming for $70 versus $500+ for live-theater tickets felt like a bargain. Plus we can now binge-watch all the Marvel movies, and I can catch up on all the Disney animation I haven’t seen since, oh, the original Mulan.

    After a bit of self-indulgent tinkering with current WIP I have a guest post to write for All About Romance. 🙂

  11. I’m so sorry and hope you can find some good help soon. This is not an easy time.

  12. My writing partner and I are doing a poem a week, so there’s that. I’m ignoring the mess in here, working on the freelance stuff instead. Attending stuff on Zoom, which is dreadful, but at least it’s by choice. We go back into the building next week, so will be working from home only one day a week. This assumes we’re not delayed again b/c of the virus uptick.

  13. I kicked my butt into gear and got my resume updated. My youngest had a virtual birthday party gaming online and I made cake.

    And I’ve been reading translations of the Classic of Mountains and Seas for research purposes. One creature in it is described as being “adept at angry yelling”. I loved the phrasing of that.

  14. Watched our naked flag pole long enough. Totally missed Memorial Day for flag raising because I didn’t think to replace the tattered flag from last year. Too much going on. So today we grabbed our masks and went to Lowe’s the garden center for a much needed replacement. Just in time for the holiday.

  15. I’m back in the office and one of the good things is that I’m eating healthier. If I take carrots to work instead of chocolate, it means I only scoff chocolate after dinner instead of all day. That’s been a win.

    And a friend and I lead a carbon footprint workshop on Sunday, which went really well. Prepping it took up most of our non-work time last week but it was worth it. Now we need to figure out which other groups we can present it to, and maybe come up with an zoom version.

  16. Things happened. The Power Plant Superintendent’s father tested positive for the Covid-19. They made him (the PPS) and the day shift guy he was sharing the offices with go and get tested, and stay out until the results came back, three to five working days. We had to re-arrange the shift schedules to cover, not for the PPS (who cares if he ever comes in. He’s just management, not anyone important) but for the day shift guy, who normally covers Sunday through Thursday. That meant I worked a rare day shift yesterday. My rhythms are discombobulated.

    It’s the first of the month, so I had to prepare and submit usage reports for fuel oil, natural gas, and water for June, and the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) quarterly report (second quarter). In the military, we called these little odd jobs that are not part of the job description “collateral duties.” I inherited them many years ago because I can read and write and turn on a computer. Who knew literacy imposed such burdens?

    On the home front, I was annoyed that I somehow killed the WiFi connection on my tiny new computer, so instead of returning it, I bought another. I have vague plans in the back of my mind. If they ever reach the fore-brain… well, then, we’ll see. The darn things are so darned cute!

    Also, I get to recycle my user name, a variant of Reverend Gary Jordan, because I am an ordained minister in the Universal Life Church and the Universal Life Church Monastery. (Those are separate organizations.) Do what’s right.

    1. Aren’t there any Universal Life words & such you could mumble over the Tiny to persuade the WiFi back? Something with an electronic vibe to it? “Let there Be Gordon Lightfoot” or something? Although maybe the WiFi is kind of an atheist….you’d almost have to be, to get all that internet shooting through the air all over the place.

      1. The Universal Life Church (and ULC Monastery) welcome all beliefs and disbeliefs. Atheists, Satanists, Wicca, Christian, Buddhists, anyone. I’d have to check, but even believers in the Flying Spaghetti Monster might be welcome. I have other plans for Tiny before I resort to prayer. If I thought it was a software problem, believe me when I say I would have mumbled a great many words over it.

          1. That’s the truth. I thought I had let some water drip in my fairly new computer when the built-in mouse was nowhere to be found. Today it turned on and behaved perfectly. WHEW!

          2. That would explain why some things aren’t working on my favorite online game. That darned Mercury. Such a kidder.

  17. Working on getting a new car-Toyota Corolla-I don’t do big vehicles. The dealership sold one out from under me and isn’t getting back to me about when another will be available.

    And I will be dropping off my old ‘tower’ so that stuff can be transferred to a new ‘tower’. Also a camera and, I hope, working speakers. As long as nothing crashes before then.

    I got to pick-up my new glasses after the corrupted lense was replaced. I can see!

    And the Trump organization is suing all the election boards in PA. Oh, joy!

    1. THOSE lawsuits will keep the campaign busy — preferably too busy to concentrate elsewhere.

    2. I’m in the market for a new (to me) car too – I’m going to get a Nissan Leaf. So exciting! Have you considered going fully electric?

  18. It’s Canada Day and I celebrated by not doing anything and enjoying it! I’ve been working at the day job like a mad woman for the last while and I needed a break. Usually when I have a day where I don’t do anything I feel at loose ends and like I’ve wasted the day but today I gave myself the goal of watching a made-for-TV mystery movies and 2 episodes of The Order on Netflix and I accomplished that.

    I’ve also been looking for solar pathway lights. I bought a dozen from Home Depot but I need a dozen more for the backyard but they are out of stock. They were in stock last week but I didn’t order them because I was going to pick some up in Edmonton and the store I was going to sold out! I need more for the front but the ones I have are older and I can’t find any that match, or at least complement, them.

  19. I wrenched my back last week moving the grill and outside table out of the way of the roofers. (Yes, I could have waited and had them move it, but they were starting at 6:30 AM, and that just seemed cruel. Ah, hindsight.)

    So I’m not doing the neatening and reorganizing work I’d had planned for this week. On the bright side, I am finally making some progress on the second cozy, so I suppose there is something to be said for having to sit with my ever-expanding butt in the chair.

  20. I’ve been doing an index card watercolor a day, mostly views of a Frankoma pottery pitcher.

    I keep my beloved Koi watercolor pocket field kit (with water brush) on my desk. It’s perfect for use during those rambling Zoom/Teams/GoToMeeting/Skype calls.

    As long as I remember to turn off the video.

  21. Our oven died and is taking the stove top with it since it smells of burning electronics any time it is used. The oven heats up to temp but doesn’t stop, so 1 batch of buns and some granola was lost to it. I spent this week researching ranges. We went with a double oven. Picked the brand we could get the soonest, since (rightly so) manufacturing has been shut down for months. New one hopefully will be delivered in 2 weeks. The one I wanted a smidge more than the one I got wouldn’t have arrived until Aug. 20th.

    I also took a Scrum master class and on Thursday took the exam. I passed (48 out of 50 right)! I am now a certified Scrum Master.

    I intend on spending much of the weekend quilting so I have something pretty to share next weekend.

Comments are closed.