general update

spring 2023

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Spring has sprung.

The deer are eating the tulips for the third year in a row.  So this year, before planting a bunch of new bulbs, Floyd and I put up a 6-foot (2m) fence of plastic bird netting.  I found some long 1x2s in the garage, pulled the nails out, sharpened the ends with Father’s band saw, and hammered them into the ground.  Unfortunately, nightfall had already begun.  (I wonder what passers-by would think.)

I went to Peavey Mart to get some gardening supplies.  While looking around, I was surprised to see a cat just laying about.   Was he protecting the store from mice?  After all, he was sitting on a stack of feed, likely a mouse’s dream come true (except for the cat).

Along with spring comes spring cleaning.  I’ve finally phased out the old computer and brought in the new.  Along with that is also an old sound system I have had for about 15 years, replaced with a very small sound bar.

rental house 1403

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First day of ownership on the new rental house.

It’s a house built in 1906 built on a 65-foot-wide lot.  It has one 3-bedroom suite on the main floor and a 1-bedroom suite on the 2nd.  It is currently empty and in need of renovations.

happy birthday to me

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It’s a dull, wet day outside.  I’m at home alone as FT. is gone to Saskatchewan on a road trip with a friend.  So far, the only person to send me birthday greetings is my cousin, SM. Thanks, cousin.

I’m off to a dollar store to buy some forks for work.  There seems to be a shortage of them.  “What did you do on your birthday?”  “I bought some forks.”

first snow, painting, recycled clothes, COVID-19

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I’m almost done painting the entrance of the house.  It’s turned cold.  The first snow of the 2020-21 winter happened a few days ago.  I was expecting a warm day that never came.  Instead, I put a couple of space heaters in the entrance way and brought it up to 12°C since the paint can said minimum 10°C.  I still have a bit of trim to paint.

The garage is cold, too, of course, which will make working on any projects with the new CNC a bit slower.  It’s so much nicer working in warm weather.  I’ve got a ton of firewood cut up and more to be cut but no wood burning stove in the garage – only propane and electric.  I have a few projects on the go but no new teardrops yet (teardrop trailers, that is).

Mom bought me a new shirt from Mark’s yesterday, but it was 60% polyester.  I hate polyester.  It’s like wearing plastic clothes.  I smell like a race horse at the end of the day.  I took it back and got another.  As it turns out, the second one, which is 100% cotton, is actually 70% recycled cotton.  This is my first time buying recycled textiles.  I wonder how well it will wear.

The COVD-19 count in the city is as high as it’s ever been.  I think this is partly due to the Thanksgiving weekend of October 12, 2020, with people insisting that they’re immune to it.  “Can’t happen to me.”  The latest act of carelessness is at a church in Coaldale, one of seven hot-spots in Alberta.  “Not too pretty good,” as Glenn would say.

some work resumes, some doesn’t

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My work on the teardrop trailer has resumed.  I’ve been working for a few weeks now, and it’s almost finished.  I have yet to finish the galley hatch; trim, refit, seal, & install hardware on the doors, and secure wiring under the chassis.  I’d like to sand everything again and apply a final coat of polyurethane to smooth the texture of the wood.  So that’s my goal in the next little while.

While working on that, I listen to news from NPR, CBC, and other places.  It is an astonishing situation.  I feel so very disturbed by this.  The George Floyd thing going down in the United States is horrific.  Now, in Canada, where RCMP is known for overstepping their boundaries put forth by our laws, they are in the headlines again for treating brutally a First Nations person (a chief, no less).  I have no doubt that police are overstepping their boundaries.  I have supported police services all my life – without them, mayhem would occur.  However, lately, mayhem is occurring because of them.  Police are there to serve and protect.  They are doing neither.

I still have not found work (as in, income).  There really isn’t anything going on in my field.  So, I keep working on my projects.