Kareila's Journal

The upstairs loft (future library / media room) is mostly being used as a holding space, and the boys' bedrooms still need significant attention, but the downstairs is shaping up nicely. Yesterday I was able to get all of the craft supplies that weren't in storage (and a few that were) put away in the main bedroom, and celebrated by starting a new knitting project.

I believe that we are on track to have the main area of the old house cleared out by the beginning of next week so that repairs can start. Getting the stuff in the garage moved is going to take another round of outside help, though.

Robby finally made it back to the office yesterday and reported that his travel time was about 20 minutes shorter than it had been when leaving from the other house.

Robby and I did some offline shopping today. Our dish drying rack had become a bucket of rust and sadness, and I found a replacement I liked at the local Target earlier this week, but it turned out to be too large for the old tray, and Target didn't sell equivalent replacement trays. Our local Bed Bath & Beyond went out of business at some point during the pandemic, so we drove to the one across the street from the Galleria shopping mall some 20 minutes away, and Robby used that as an opportunity to get a new non-stick skillet as well. While we were out that way, we tried to get Krispy Kreme donuts for the kids, but they were closed for what appeared to be some sort of building maintenance issue. We stopped by Walmart for replacement donuts and also got some door key disambiguation markers for my house keys, so that I wouldn't be struggling with three identical keys the next time I needed to get into my mom's house in a hurry. Robby knew that they were sold at the automotive center service counter in the very back of the store, the existence of which I had never even noticed before. At any rate, I don't think we were in any one store for longer than 15 minutes, and people seemed to generally still be wearing masks indoors.

I also did some online shopping last night and ordered a new mattress protector and new sheets from the Purple mattress website. We jammed the old mattress cover onto the Purple mattress when it first arrived, but the zipper tore away from the fabric and we ended up duct taping it closed. And the existing sheets are now constantly coming loose at the corners and have to be wrestled back into place every morning. So hopefully replacing those will improve our quality of sleep.

Speaking of the color purple, Apple announced yesterday that their current iPhone would be available in purple starting next month. My iPhone 7 will be four years old this summer, and although it still is able to run the most current OS version, I'm going to need to either replace it or pay to have the battery serviced. These days a full charge only lasts about 5-6 hours. I like the look of the new phones, but losing the home button will be a big adjustment.

On the subject of dying batteries, did I mention I got my AirPods replaced? They were down to less than two hours per charge, but a few weeks ago I found a site, thepodswap.com, that will send you refurbished AirPods (minus the charging case) for less than half the cost of a new pair, in exchange for you then shipping them your old AirPods for them to refurbish for another customer. Yay for keeping electronics out of landfills.

Robby got a notice from his employer this week that they will be ending their campus-wide temporary COVID accommodations, including the staggered on-campus work schedules, on May 15th, although he says individual departments will have the ability to set their own schedule requirements, and he foresees still being able to work from home on days when he doesn't have a particular reason to make the long drive to be on campus.

Connor finally lost his last baby tooth on Monday. It took a ridiculously long time to come out, and when it did it came out in pieces. So that's the end of an era. I should feel some kind of way about that, but I think my feelings quota has been exceeded lately.

Our most recent board game from the library was Scoville, which was a colorful game about genetic combinations in the context of crossbreeding and harvesting several different kinds of peppers in order to complete various chili recipes with funny names like "Chili Chili Bang Bang", "Jal Ap Eño Business", and "Dude, Where's My Tongue?" - don't feel compelled to own a copy, but enjoyed and would play it again. The only other board game we've played recently is our long-delayed Kickstarter copy of Steampunk Rally Fusion, which had some interesting new gameplay elements, but I think I still prefer the original Steampunk Rally.

As for video games, I'm really enjoying Cozy Grove, a laid-back found-object quest game from the same people who created Road Not Taken. It's thematically similar to Spiritfarer, albeit more limited in scope - instead of traveling the seas, you're marooned on a haunted island which gradually expands over time. I'm particularly enjoying the fact that it only gives you a few new quests to complete each day, which prevents me from spending too much time on it. I also recently bought a copy of Hades for the Switch, which Connor has been playing.

I really need to get back to my reading pile, which has languished lately as I've spent more time playing games and watching baseball. I don't think I've even turned on my Kindle in something like two weeks.

Robby's employer decided that everyone who came in to work "occasionally" was included in the list of employees who had to go in and get tested for COVID today, which is pretty dumb but whatever.

If I can wake up the kids before lunch time, I might see if I can convince them to go on a picnic with me. I'm getting a bit stir crazy. This is the time of year I want to be traveling, before school starts back and we get trapped in the grind again.

I've been spending most of my time lately working on getting the DW profile page converted away from BML. It's slow going but I'm about 50% done.

Yesterday was a good music day. The Virtual Choir 6 video premiered on YouTube, and I also watched part of a livestreamed Chris Thile concert. (Technical difficulties prevented me from watching all of it, alas.)

I also rewatched the broadcast of the Sox-Dodgers game we attended in Boston last year. We had to leave the game before it was over because it went into extra innings and the trains stopped running after midnight, so I finally saw what I missed. (It wasn't pretty for the Sox, unfortunately.)

Actual 2020 baseball is starting this coming Thursday, although it's going to be weird without fans in the stands and with the Blue Jays not allowed to play in Canada. If the virus numbers are down by the end of September, I could conceivably go watch the Sox in Atlanta, but the governor of Georgia's recent actions make me think that's increasingly unlikely.

I'm still bitter about my trip to Chicago being cancelled. It will be three years before the Sox have the opportunity to play at Wrigley again, barring a World Series matchup.

Sunday: conduct choir for church anthem because Fearless Leader is on forced bed rest for sciatic nerve pain

Also Sunday: drive to uncle's lake house! No one was in the mood to swim, but we took Connor on his first boat ride. He hated it for the first 10 minutes and then LOVED it after that. Invited to stay overnight, but had to return home so that Robby could do a Scheduled Work Thing.

Monday: Mom asks to come over for lunch and share leftovers from lake gathering. Then she takes the kids so Robby and I can go choose the new dishwasher his parents have been wanting to buy for us. Dishwasher is chosen, but will not be available for pickup for another 2.5 weeks. While at the mall, I check the LEGO Store and buy their last Apollo Saturn V Rocket set, because it is my destiny birthright lucky day

Also Monday: Red Sox play a 19 inning game against Toronto. I conk out on the couch after about 13 innings.

Tuesday: kids back in school, Robby back at work. My morning walk is up to 2 miles, about 2/3 of what I need for a 5K. I have a much needed chiropractor appointment and spend the afternoon finishing a book, then cleaning the living room (so that I can assemble the aforementioned LEGO set), then conking out on the couch again. After Robby gets home from work, I have to go to an overdue parent meeting at Connor's school, which is less informative than usual. Most of the other parents are focused on planning for the DC trip in the spring, which I've already decided to skip.

Wednesday: Robby takes the day off work to go car shopping. I have to take Will to school early to audition for the Scholar's Bowl team before classes start. Instead of returning home, I go to Panera for breakfast (free bagel!) and buy the kids some new shirts at Target, then check in with Robby, who took a test drive of a Subaru he saw advertised on Craigslist the night before. That car didn't work out, but he has another lead to check out at a dealership downtown. I have a 9:00 dental cleaning followed by a Genius Bar appointment at the Apple Store to see why Connor's iPad is having trouble charging. (Answer: inconclusive. Hardware checked out fine, told to upgrade to iOS 10, which does seem to have helped at least somewhat.) After that, I meet my mom for our usual Wednesday lunch date, interrupted by texts from Robby telling me how much he loves the second Subaru (a 2011 Outback) and asking for advice about financing. We realize he doesn't have the checkbook since he wasn't expecting to buy it on the spot, so I say goodbye to Mom and drive downtown to bring him a check for the down payment. YAY CAR.

Also Wednesday: we have church choir rehearsal in the evening and Will has a writing assignment that keeps him up past his bedtime. I'm not a fan of middle school teachers using Google Classroom to assign homework that is due at midnight on a school night. Thankfully, Will was able to finish by 10pm. I also somehow managed to do three loads of laundry before dinner time.

Thursday: After putting the kids on the school bus, I immediately drive to my in-laws' house so Robby can return the borrowed car he's been driving for the past month, then drive him downtown in rush hour traffic to retrieve the new Subaru, then drive to the Toyota dealership for the 25k maintenance on my car, which thankfully doesn't take long, so I'm done by 10:00. Then I run a bunch of other quick errands, returning home around lunch time. While Robby is waiting on our insurance agent to send him a proof of insurance, I get a phone call saying I have books waiting to be picked up at the library, which is near the registration office, so we decide to combine errands, leaving together around 1:45. Unfortunately there is a long wait and by the time Robby is finally finished an hour later, we have to rush home to meet Connor's 3:00 bus. Once the kids are settled, I decide I'm toast and am going to lie down the rest of the day. I do turn on the TV to watch the Pats game, more out of idle curiosity than any sort of enthusiasm, and fall asleep sometime during the fourth quarter, on the couch, again. I don't think I've slept in my bed since Sunday. The one night I tried, Robby got paged at some ungodly hour and I couldn't get back to sleep.

Which brings us to today! And now that I am finished chronicling the week's adventures, I am going to find lunch and read a book and when the kids get home it will be LEGO TIME.

The boys went back to school this morning, which means I get back my 40 quiet daytime hours per week, at the expense of having to wake up by 6:30am. I've never been a morning person by choice, but it's a fair tradeoff.

It's been a relatively uneventful summer for them - I never did sign them up for any camps or swim lessons, although I intend to investigate the possibility of doing some of the latter during the school year. Except for the week that I took them to visit their cousin in Texas, they pretty much sat around the house all summer long. We did get through a good chunk of Harry Potter, though - currently halfway done with the fifth book.

Robby's had a lot on his plate recently. He got stung by a wasp the first week of July while mowing at the church, then again this past weekend doing the same thing, and in the interim he got some sort of plant-induced rash - all on the same part of his leg. He had to do a course of antibiotics last month and is currently on heavy antihistamines. While all that was going on, we had a dead tree in our backyard fall and had a plumbing failure in front of our house, both of which required the assistance of professionals to fix. The dead tree took down a ten yard long chunk of our wooden backyard fence, but a large section of it remained intact, and he was able to rebuild that himself without too much trouble.

I'm still in the honeymoon phase of my new job, updating documentation and reviewing other people's code and brainstorming ways to engage the developer community. Hopefully dealing with the kids' school-related busywork won't distract me too much.

The username button images have been printed out and the button blanks have been purchased. I'm just waiting on alierak to assemble them and glue them together for me.

I have purchased and tested the necessary adapter for connecting my Mac laptop to a VGA cable.

I have downloaded an app to my Android phone that will let it act as a presentation remote for my laptop, as long as both are on the same WiFi network and able to communicate normally. I can run a hotspot on my iPad, so that shouldn't be a problem.

I haven't typed up my slides yet, but I have an outline and a pretty good idea what I want to say, up to the point where the talk goes into the details of the API, which is where I plan to hand off to fu.

One logistical question I have, for when my slides are ready to upload: do I need a password for the dreamwidth slideshare account, or can my personal account (karzilla) be given access to add the slides there? I'd like to get that sorted out before everyone starts traveling, since my talk is scheduled for the first day of the conference.

Robby worked from home this week, so even though we didn't go anywhere, I was able to get some stuff done around the house and take care of a few things that came up. Will entertained himself with library books and DS games. I took Connor to the park on Tuesday, but then he had puffy face again. We got a lot of rain in the past 36 hours or so, which will hopefully mean less pollen in the air this weekend.

I designed and coded a web application from scratch using PHP and SQLite, with a little JavaScript thrown in to improve the UI. It's just a simple database interface, but I think it will prove useful for my church friends.

My mom invited me to go see the Hunger Games movie with her on Sunday afternoon. She's only just read the first book; I don't think she expected to like it when I first described it to her. I already love the film's soundtrack, but that was a given considering which artists contributed.

I haven't done anything this week that isn't DW dev. Even when I took the kids to the clubhouse yesterday, I brought my laptop and coded.

I seem to recall I bought groceries on Wednesday, but I was in a fog the whole time.

I am trying to snap out of it today. I got online and bought my sister's wedding gifts (two weeks omg), and I dealt with updates to my church's website, and I have places to go this afternoon. Next Wednesday I need to get the oil changed in my car and drop off Connor's preschool medical release form at his doctor's office.

I've had an open tab for Google Docs open all week, to remind me to draft my hobby spreadsheet. Still haven't done it. DW is my only active hobby right now.

My Advanced Perl Programming book arrived. I'm reading a few pages every night and it is consistently putting me to sleep. It is full of stuff that is good to know about Perl, but most of it is pretty esoteric.

I really needed to read this right now. It's been hard for me not to feel guilty for not building up college funds for my kids; if I were to go back to work full-time, paying for their future education would be the primary motivation.

I know I have smart, talented kids. I can't give them the private school upbringing that I had, but we do have a decent public system in our current community, and if I'm an active and involved parent, I'm sure everything will be fine. Also, our state's 529 plan is flirting with insolvency, so I'm really glad I didn't buy into it right after Will was born, like my mom advised.

If nothing else, I can focus on nurturing my talents and interests until both boys are in school full-time, and then reconsider a new career at that point. In the meantime, 10% of Robby's salary goes into retirement accounts.