Working Wednesday, June 22, 2022

~ Jenny

I have a guest coming on Saturday, so I’m cleaning. I’m also writing a novel that is moving at breakneck speed which is lovely but a little daunting. But still, working here.

What did you work on this week?

66 thoughts on “Working Wednesday, June 22, 2022”

  1. Yay for guests and yay for writing. Yay for cleaning too. It’s not fun, but I always feel better when it is done. Pre-pandemic we invited people over for the express purpose of making us clean.

    I had an extra day this weekend thanks to Juneteenth and used it to put more effort into my product photography. It’s amazing how much more finished a few props make something look. And I got everything listed last night, kinda sorta on time for the solstice.

    https://www.instagram.com/p/CfE1IlROOEF/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

  2. I’ve been working on quilting a top that has been waiting at least 10 years to be finished. It’s funny, but being that close to it reveals all of the flaws! But I know that I’m a better quilter now than I was, and I still like the intricate knotwork I was attempting (without an official pattern). So, it’s all good.

    I’ve also been packing for my trip with all that entails. I had originally thought about bringing some quilts with me to give to my cousins, but I’d need a second suitcase for that. I’ll have to gauge interest and then mail them – to arrive hopefully when the temperature is not 100 degrees!

  3. I’m working on figuring out how to pack the maximum number of shoes into the minimum sized suitcase for vacation.

    1. Gasp. Tammy, do you have a shoe fascination too?

      I have so many. I was looking at all the heels and pretty shoes and thinking that I am getting farther and farther away from the person who would have worn them… I should just sell some off but I guess I am not ready to do that yet either. In the meantime, I will keep wearing the same two pairs of sensible shoes to work, day after day.

      1. Why have we never talked about this?? I have a special closet for all my shoes, which are in colour coordinated rows. And they spill over into my hall closet downstairs. It has hurt my heart over the past two years that I have not been able to wear any of them, and yes, it’s been Sketchers all the way. I am very excited that I can even wear something with a kitten heel on vacation.

        1. OMG. Your closet sounds magical. I want it.

          And yes, when I worked at the library I could play with my clothes and my footwear a lot more. Then I went to make body parts in a factory setting and it was work boots. And now I am on my feet all day. Sadness.

          I did however wear fuchsia velvet heels for my wedding.

          3. Oh, those are very fun. I could almost get away with something like that at the bank…

            Here are the wedding shoes, except not peep toe.
            https://www.google.com/search?q=miss+l+fire+fuchsia&tbm=isch&ved=2ahUKEwjjsLTw5sH4AhWDA80KHbGCBykQ2-cCegQIABAC&oq=miss+l+fire+fushia&gs_lcp=ChJtb2JpbGUtZ3dzLXdpei1pbWcQARgAMgQIHhAKOgQIIxAnOgUIABCABDoECAAQGDoFCCEQqwI6BAghEApQiQ1Y2URg8lFoBHAAeACAAa4CiAGfC5IBBzAuNS4yLjGYAQCgAQHAAQE&sclient=mobile-gws-wiz-img&ei=126zYqPpE4OHtAaxhZ7IAg&bih=730&biw=393&client=ms-android-google&prmd=sniv#imgrc=X_80sy0S-Va-CM

  4. I have to memorize stuff for my first murder mystery gig on Saturday. It’s not going too well or at least it’s not sticking in my head very well :/
    I also need to work on an audition song for Beauty and the Beast on Sunday.

    1. This is completely different as it’s not a professional gig but… this reminds me of when my husband and I did a murder mystery party (our first and only so far) at a friend’s house. He was supposed to play a millionaire tycoon and went all out studying up on 1920s culture and sayings and investments and types of cars etc. to play his part well. He was the most prepared person at the party. About 15-20 minutes into the party, he was the first one killed. He was so disappointed. LOL Good luck with your preparation. 🙂

      1. He should have come back as a ghost and stood in the corner sipping cocktails, making cryptic remarks

      2. Sounds like this company! They have a 1920’s gangster show and a millionaire tycoon show, though not combined into the same thing.

  5. Gosh, what am I actually doing? Working on my editing project, trying to get in four hours a day. Easier in the winter than the summer. Continuing to clear out the garage and the storage unit. Practicing. I’ve bought a new bike seat, and I’m going to attach it to the old bike, and bike along the flat part of my road for five laps.

  6. I suppose I worked on the garden and on cooking. The cooking thing is getting carried away. I’m making another 6 pound batch of chili with pounds of peppers and onions and bok choy and leeks and garlic… at this point, do I call it chili or tomato stew? Besides the other veggies, there’s green beans and corn and peas and carrots and diced tomatoes and whole cherry tomatoes. Also tomato sauce and tomato paste.

    Did I say 6 pounds? I meant 6 kilograms, which is over 13 pounds. Moreover, I still have left-over chili from the last batch, which I’ll mix in. Then I’m going to take a break from cooking and just eat leftover chili/stew. The variety will come from the sides (or bottoms.) Chili on toast, chili and mac and cheese, chili on brown rice, chili with cheese and crackers.

    I think I got carried away.

    1. I definitely got carried away. I would have been carried further, but I got tired of chopping red and yellow sweet peppers. I only minced one habanero pepper (so I chopped extra jalapeños). I didn’t even add the three tiny chilis that I harvested. Then I dumped my leftover chili into this chili. The final result? 6.7 kilos of chili-stew. That’s roughly 14.8 pounds. That’s two 3.3 liter Rubbermaid containers.

      Irony. Got some. Because of the procedure I underwent today, all I’ve eaten all day was 3 cans of Healthy Choice soup. I didn’t even taste-test the chili-stew (Stili? Chewly?), other than licking my fingers when I got some on me. One does not taste test habanero peppers, although I have eaten the occasional jalapeño with a slice of bread.

  7. I am NOT working at my job because we had the hardwood floors refinished and we’ve been staying in a hotel for the past two nights but can finally walk on the GORGEOUS floors now. So I’m gonna sleep for a few hours because the hotel beds were horrible. Then this weekend I will have friends come help me place furniture and try to get the house back in order.

    Did I mention the floors are amazing?!

    1. Many years ago we did some of our floors over and the only one not to get the memo to stay off was the dog. There are still paw prints in the hallway.

      1. I really worried about that too… we spent 2 nights in a hotel because of the fumes and the overly curious dog!

  8. I’ve been working on the book-in-progress. Finished Chapter 12, which is the halfway point at just under 35,000 words (started writing this June 10th!! haven’t written so fast since I was unemployed!). The second half might be a smidge longer because now I have to deal with them being separated and then getting back together. On the other hand I might bring it in right at my 70K target.

    Would much prefer to work on that all day instead of signing on to Day Job, but [sigh] paycheck calls.

  10. I have been working towards two major deadlines both coming up in two weeks: the big final project for a really cool class I’m taking on digital storytelling with mapping software and start of a class I’m teaching. I switched from being a full-time ESL teacher to technical writing years ago but have continued teaching content-based courses (with lots of fieldwork) to visiting international students in a summer ESL program. After two summers away, I was looking forward to getting back in the classroom, preferably teaching topics in my wheelhouse. Instead, I’m teaching an asynchronous online course on social media, which I know almost nothing about (I’m on Insta but never been on FB.) Worse part is, about 60% of the students enrolled are NOT visiting international students, but regular matriculated students of a prestigious university who want an easy summer class. It’s frustrating. There are social media courses in the school of journalism; my class is ESL with a social media flavor. So: not my preferred topic, not my preferred interaction style, not my preferred assignment style, and not my preferred population. Just me in front of my laptop figuring out what to teach (and how) and wrestling with course software.

  11. Working on making clues for a treasure hunt in Wilde Treasures. My poems are terrible, but I figured since a pirate was supposed to have written them, it works. LOL

  12. I’m trying to work on my current Llewellyn book, but not making much progress due to four weeks of non-stop brutal headaches. I finally got a new prescription for my glasses yesterday, and I’m hoping that will take care of it, although today is still bad. (I normally take some time to adjust to a change, so I’m praying that’s it, and not that I’ve magically developed a permanent migraine.)

    In the meanwhile, since I can’t write as much as I’d like to, I’m finally tackling the few “clutter attracting” spots in my house and getting rid of a bunch of stuff, reorganizing, and generally making my little organizational neurosis soul very happy. Luckily I can clean with a headache, although it doesn’t make the headache feel any better.

    I’m also working on transitioning “new cat” (I brought her home on New Year’s Eve, but she needs things to go very slowly) Lilibet to becoming part of the rest of the household. It has been rough going, but right this minute she is sleeping on a chair in the living room while I type on the couch with three of the other four cats clustered around me for protection. (Lilibet is only 9.5 lbs but she’s ferocious in her insecurity, and has the other cats completely intimidated.) I’m praying the detente continues to improve and I can have my upstairs guest bedroom back at last.

    1. Four weeks of headaches does not sound good. I hope you check with your doctor. If they don’t find anything, you might consider checking for food sensitivities. Gluten gave me migraines for months before I figured it out. I hope you feel better soon!

    2. I went through that with Emily. I put her in the back bedroom while the dogs and I were in the front. Eventually she started coming to the door and bitching at us. Then at some point after that, she’d come up to the bed and bitch at us. (At me, really, she loved being combed in the back bedroom, so what was I doing in the wrong room with all these DOGS.). Then finally one night she came in and jumped on the bed, and by that time the dogs looked at her and thought, “Oh, yeah, that thing” and went back to sleep. They’ve been sleeping curled up next to each other since then, although Emily really prefers her cat tree now.

      That cat is spoiled rotten.

  13. I am trying to see the light after processing last week’s data (Only darkness and monsters at the moment)

  14. I trimmed the hedge yesterday, met a friend for lunch today, and am now sitting in a chair on my deck with my tea in hand, watching a catbird take a bath in the bird bath. I had no idea just how often it was actually being used until I retired and had time to pay attention!

  15. All morning and party of this afternoon I’ve been trying to resolve Windows 11 issues on new laptop AWK!

    Among other things, nowhere online does it explain how to stop special characters from replacing question marks, apostrophes and quote marks for Windows 11. No. Where. I’m 33rd in line now, down from 54. I will share the secret once it is revealed. Good grief.

    1. My co-worker had that problem, check the language setting, and keyboard setting, she had Swedish and UK and it kept changing the characters

      1. Thanks Kay. I’ve tried so many fixes, including removing the Canadian English keyboard, hitting ALT 5 times, hitting ALT Ctl * and holding CTL and tapping shift.
        Also gone into the language settings and turning some stuff off.

        The Microsoft online tech person has been working on it for 20 minutes in addition. I want to weep.

        1. Yikes, Kay. You were right but it even took MS Support 45 minutes to figure it out. Yes, I had changed the language but further down the screen (waaaay down) it’s necessary to also change the keyboard and to FIRST ADD US English and then remove the Canadian keyboard. good grief. But all is well on that front. Now on to the wifi-activated printer that won’t work!

          Nothing but good times ahead!

          1. I would not have thought there was a difference between a US English keyboard and a Canadian English keyboard. While there are differences in vocabulary and some spelling, they both use the same characters.

  16. It’s warm and sunny this week, so I’ve been sitting in the garden reading gardening magazines and having ideas for my garden. I’m working on enjoying my retirement: it’s going well.

  17. My insomnia has totally wrecked me. According to my c-pap machine, I got 3-3.5 hours of sleep last night and missed what was supposed to be my last PT appointment today. I can’t blame it on the heat because I live on the “cooler by the lake” side of town, but as a result I’m having trouble telling which pills I’ve taken today and which I haven’t and that is not doing much for my health.I know I took my allergy pills because they come in a blister pack, but I have no idea if I took the stomach or blood pressure pills. And my sinuses are unhappy because I took the allergy pills very late and I can’t tell if I did my inhalers or not. I think that part of the problem is that I went to bed so late last night that I missed the AM inhaler because I did the bedtime one at 6am. I’m now going to leave the house and hope I can get myself to a grocery store in my old neighborhood without losing all sense of time and place. Fortunately, my inhalers should have fully kicked in by the time I get there and I have found the water bottle I couldn’t find at bed time. And since it is the first day of the sale, there should be some decent strawberries left.
    Nothing but good salads ahead.

    1. That is worrying, you should get one of those pill boxes with partitions to put all your meds in and then you’ll know what you have taken. My Dad has 7 day week one, it has turned out quite handy.

      2. I have tried that, but they have a tendency to come open and spill pills all over the bottom of my backpack. They are also absolutely useless for meds you take 3 or 4 times a day. Once you add in 1 bronchial inhaler, a rescue inhaler I don’t use, but have to carry and 2 nasal inhalers, they really aren’t much help. They also make it harder to keep track of which drugs need refills called in to the pharmacy or doctor’s office. My sister insists that it is my closed mind that is making all or these complications, but she manages her allergies differently that I do.

        1. Aunt Snack…my husbands pharmacy gives him his pills in a “pill pack” morning, noon, evening and bedtime across the top and days of the week down the side. He gets a month at a time. They are bulky if you would be traveling, however he doesn’t forget any. Hope this helps.

  18. We had an inspection today at work. It went pretty well, I think, but it meant the top brass were in the office most of the day. It made me twitchy.

    In less interesting news I’m having an MRI on Friday. They are looking to see if they can find out why I’m having increasing dizziness etc… So I guess that’s good but I’m a little nervous about what they are going to find. Two days seems forever.

    1. hope the MRI experience is a) not horrible and b) revelatory so your med people can figure out what’s up and fix it. <3

    3. Good luck.
      When I had my vertigo spell awhile back, it was an inner ear problem. Annoying but not fatal.

  19. Our business computer died last week at only 18 months old. It’s the third computer we’ve lost in the last few years and they only get light use! I am so done so I decided to build my own. The parts I ordered arrived today. Tomorrow I build a new computer! Wish me luck.

  20. Bathed a cat. He had stopped cleaning himself. Got very grubby, with mats.
    By the sound of him during the bath, he was planning to kill me and then move on to the rest of the neighbourhood. There was no actual clawing or biting.

    1. You are very lucky that you didn’t suffer any physical damage, especially since it sounds like you will have to repeat the experience regularly.

    2. I remember combing Emily for DAYS when she was a stray I’d lured into the house. She didn’t trust me, but she loved not having mats so she’d hang around while I brushed her. And fed her. After awhile I think it dawned on her that no mats and lots of food was a good thing and now she’s here for good.

      I would never have dared bathe her. She’d never have spoken to me again. You are a brave woman.

  21. My replacement CPAP came from Philips a year after the recall started . So I spent over an hour figuring out how to set the new one up. Fortunately , I guess, I had bought a travel one a few years ago after I picked up the wrong one deplaning after a trip… I needed one until I could connect with the person who took mine (it was pretty miraculous that we even connected) and I figured I traveled for work enough to justify it. Well, a year of it being my primary definitely justified it !
    Apparently in the US and Canada they are only half way done with replacements and have a year to go. Given they tbey are supposed to reduce heart attacks and strokes, and that most people don’t have second machines, that’s really scary .

    The today I spent two hours (the first hour on hold) trying to take care of some financial matters for my mom .

    This is just the first step —it’s gonna take several hours more and until the end of August.

    Meanwhile I now need to catch up on the paid job.

    1. Oh, and I’m also doing all the housework except laundry because DH is in basement Covid exile until the weekend. Fortunately for him there is a bedroom, bathroom, and fridge down there. Fortunately for me the washer and dryer are there so he gets to do the laundry

    2. Since those smaller travel units retailed for 800USD a year ago when I last priced them, I’m not surprised that more people don’t own them. Especially since the mask and hosing are on a different scale than standard machines so that you can’t use the accessories you already own. After 4.5 weeks of using the travel machine with a mask that didn’t fit, I was hugely sleep deprived.

      1. Huh. The hose is different but I could still use the same mask with both machines . And I paid just over half that. But yeah, I didn’t buy it until I had no other machine and wouldn’t for a couple weeks. It definitely was a privilege to be able to afford it which is why it’s so scary that so many people don’t have CPAPs because of the recall ( over 2 mil recalled just in US and Canada) and some will go as long as 2 years .

  22. Did some taxes for a poor woman whose tax service botched her return. I am a VITA volunteer which means I do them for free. (Yes you can get your taxes done for free.)
    https://www.irs.gov/individuals/free-tax-return-preparation-for-qualifying-taxpayers

    I’m working on the Witch’s Garden. I’ve been blocked or unwilling to write for some time.
    I started re-editing at chapter one last week and am currently on ch 26. I’ve managed to get the ms in third person. The first draft was half in first and half in third.
    Problem is I still have to plot the end.
    I believe the next step is figuring out what the Sweet Harbor bad witches were planning to do with blood magic on Samhain. The Bigger problem is why?
    I am so much better at dialogue and characterization than I am at plot. Oh well . . . Onward

    1. Get yourself a Bob.
      I’m a whiz at character and dialogue (well, in my own mind I’m a whiz) but I cannot plot for beans.
      Bob is all plot all the time. Guy’s a book saver.

  23. Most of my work this week has been writing. I am on the second draft of a poem. That poem led to an organizational breakthrough for the chapbook it will go in.
    I have settled on which of my unfinished novels I am going to delve back into and done some work on it.
    I am taking a memoir class. I have been planning my response to our weekly prompt and will start working on it tomorrow.
    Look at me with my butt in my chair and my fingers on the keyboard!

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