Wednesday, June 16, 2021

A good day

The sun is out of sight now, with just a bit of mostly colorless light in the sky to the northwest.  I have lamps on at the left and the right sides of the fireplace, putting out only enough light to keep the room from being too dark to see.  As it is, I'm touch-typing because it's difficult to make out the portable keyboard in my lap.

So then, before I turn off those lights and climb the stairs to the bedroom, what happened today worth setting down in here?

Besides my job, you mean?  The job doesn't take much of my time in the summer months, not the way it does when clients are getting started, asking questions and asking me to fix their mistakes (and from time to time, I must admit, my own).

I'm using Google Keep to track the daily tasks and longer-term goals that a 64-year-old guy needs to keep his mind from sagging into inactivity.  Boredom is not what I want.

Today's activities included the following:

- to Giant with BB at noon, using a $10 off coupon that let us tell ourselves that this item and/or that item was actually free.  

- Relearning audiovisual software, using GoldWave for the first time in years to record something off YouTube.  Might come in handy to be able to do that down the road.  Likewise Mixcraft; the last version I had was #6, and the one I just bought is #9.  Making sure to look at and listen to their tutorial videos, then trying to put it into action.  This afternoon, I assembled a few clips of drums, bass, guitar and keyboard into something that might pass for music, in the broadest sense of the word.  It isn't good, but it is a first step, and I've saved it somewhere on some rented storage medium.  Keep watching, keep listening, keep learning.

- Looked into what it would take to fix the hole in the drywall in the upstairs hallway, the hole that's been there since BB lost her balance and fell in August 2019.  If I could find someone else to do it, I'd be happy because they'd do it better, but we're coming up on two years and nobody's stepping forward.  Do I own a drywall saw and other tools?  How about drywall screws?  Anything that can serve for furring strips?  And any of that glop that goes over the patched area?  Lots of questions.

- Pulled out the old laptop, the one with Linux Mint Cinnamon on its hard drive, and booted it this afternoon. It came up normally, and after letting it download software updates, it worked as well as it did last August, the previous time I'd used it before ordering the Windows 10 Dell that is now the main unit.  I don't need it, but there might come a time when I will.

After supper, three tasks:  (1) bring up the river rocks that used to keep a fake tree erect in a pot in our family room, and pile them under a drainpipe on the south front side of the house.  Also, hacksaw the drainpipe so it drains onto the stones instead of the lawn.

(2) Helped BB plant a rose bush into a pot next to the Indian Blanket on the north side of the property.  

(3) Assembled one of the garage cabinets we bought last weekend.  Instructions weren't the best and didn't contain the largest print, but in an hour it was put together correctly.  One down, one to go.  

And then after that, installing the hardware that's intended to help hold the cabinets off the ground.  There's the tricky part, measuring and marking the wall, keeping a close eye on the level and the stud finder. If I assemble the other cabinet tomorrow, I have three days off after that to accomplish the rest of it.

While I worked on the 1st cabinet, two rabbits hopped by, just across the line in the next-door neighbor's yard.  And I haven't even started to listen to the latest episode of Cocaine and Rhinestones.  Saving that for just before bed.

Before writing this, I watched a quarter-hour of a 2018 Illinois-Nebraska volleyball match.  Good to see the Devaney Center full of fans in red.  Also, 15 minutes of the Ernie Pyle documentary in the Tivo.  

The day would be complete if only a little cat would climb on my lap and let me love on her awhile.  Doesn't look like it'll happen tonight, though.

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