12/28/2011:
Clover passed away yesterday morning. This was not unexpected; for the past 6 months or so, she had been living with an ever-expanding tumor, which eventually was larger than her. She still got around pretty well, all considering, and lived happily with Zinnia until the end of her days. She was much loved and is much missed.


12/22/2011:
First day of Winter, and it's in the mid 40's and looks like rain. Ah well. We might get some snow tomorrow, and I'm sure we'll have some in January..but I doubt it'll be a white Christmas. Not terrible..I just prefer a little snow on the ground and some flakes in the air on Christmas. Feels more Christmasy.

I have continued to be productive during my vacation time, though it occurred to me today that doing more relaxing today than work sounded like a good idea. On Tuesday, I built the wood rack out back near the shed, and I am pleased with how it turned out. I put the seasoned wood that was out there on the rack, and there is still plenty of room for more. I was short a few screws, so I got those on Wednesday and added some supports today, attached to the shed. It is now all set, and ready to throw a tarp over should the snow arrive this winter, some time. On Wednesday, before running some errands (including the aforementioned return to Home Depot), I put plastic on both bedroom windows, and added some draft stoppers to the other windows to better prepare for winter. Other than putting plastic on one of the bathroom windows, we should be all set as far as winter insulation, and that definitely feels nice to have done. I will hold off as long as possible on that bathroom window, since it's nice to have the sun adding warmth on that side, on the days when it comes out. I'm hoping to avoid putting plastic up there at all, for that reason, but we will see what happens when it gets colder.

Today, as noted, I've been doing less, though I did get those supports attached to the wood rack. I also just finished wrapping Christmas gifts; another good thing to have done :) I expect I'll spend the rest of the day relaxing, probably with a decent amount of video gaming, and also some work on my D&D campaign, since we are playing tomorrow evening, yay!


12/19/2011:
I have this whole week off from work, and that is really nice. I was supposed to head south to Maryland last weekend to visit Hannah, but I did not end up going. Lex had come up to visit, however, and the guys were all hanging at Chris' place in CT, so I headed there instead on Saturday morning, and had a nice gaming weekend. We played Magic, a D&D boardgame, Arkham Horror, and also some Street Fighter IV and Marvel vs. Capcom 3. It was a good time with good friends, though I was glad to come home yesterday to spend some time with Joanna.

Today, we got a lot of errands done, and were home by 2:30. After lunch, I replaced one of our aging smoke alarms with a new 10-year one, and also covered the office windows with plastic for the winter, to keep it more comfortable. I really dislike the job of putting plastic over the windows every winter, but until we can afford new ones, we will have to. At least I am splitting it up this year and didn't decide to do them all in one day. I am not sure why I dislike doing it so much...just do. Tomorrow, I plan to do some measurements outside, then head to Home Depot to get some lumber and build a wood rack out back, on which to stack some wood up off the ground. I may attach it to the shed. Not sure yet. I'll figure it out!


12/12/2011:
Had a good, productive weekend. Joanna and I took a trip to Whole Foods on Saturday, to pick up some necessities and also, as usual, some wants. We always buy a couple of new cheeses to try while we are there, and this time we also picked up dinner from their extensive selection of hot and cold food bars. I got chicken pot pie (very tasty) and steamed green beans (unfortunately less impressive). Joanna got some sushi, and also a variety of chinese food style offerings. Returning home from that trip, we watched some Dexter (currently rewatching the whole thing), then spent the evening playing our respective games (Perfect World for her, League of Legends for me).

Sunday, I got outside in the morning to do some yard work, which felt nice. I cleaned up 3 more barrels worth of sticks and leaves, brought in a few more armloads of wood for the rack in the garage, and also moved the remaining 10 or so large pieces of wood from their previous location to the "to be split" pile. Now almost everything to be split is in one big collection. I still have a small pile of unseasoned wood that came down in the snowstorm, sitting off by itself, but it can stay there for now. I am hoping for snow soon, for winter...but at the same time I hope it'll hold off another 10 days or so, so I can put together a small pallette in the back to stack the seasoned wood on, which I can cover with a tarp for use during the winter. I may not get that wish, and if so, it won't be terrible. We have quite a bit in the garage already, and can always bring some in to dry out in there during the winter as well.

After outdoor work, I came in for a little break, then did some rat house cleaning and reorganzing. Walnut and Cashew are now living in the upstairs section only of their previous two-level house. We moved Clover and Zinnia into the bottom level, then cleaned their previous living place and put Nilla in there. This freed up the cage Nilla was living in and the space it was taking up in the office. Joanna cleaned that cage and I put it in the storage room. Tonight, we plan to move the stand it was on, probably into the bedroom, and put a bookcase in the office for Joanna to put her language books on, since most of her studying is done in the office, and occasionally living room. I think it's a fine plan and look forward to implementing it. :)

After the work around the house, it was time to pay some bills and organize some receipts, then play some games. Last night, it was UT3 with the clan, for a few hours, and we had a great time.


12/09/2011:
Chestnut passed away last night around 11:30 pm. It was an unexpected passing. I found him wheezy and floppy in a hammock around 7. He crawled out onto my shoulder and I spent the evening sitting with him on the couch, with him alternatively on my arm and by himself next to the pillow; I let him go where he wanted, to be alone when he wanted to be. It was unexpected, but not prolonged. Once the end drew near, it was over quickly. He is missed dearly.


12/05/2011:
Our Thanksgiving weekend was a nice one. Since we had both been feeling ill recently, we did not feel like traveling, and instead stayed home instead of going up to VT. Joanna made us stuffed cornish hens for dinner, and they were delicious. It definitely helped us both feel better to have a few days with no obligations, other than relaxation. I did, of course, do some things over the weekend, including taking a nice hike with Sean, at Mt. Tom.

Last weekend was very nice as well. Friday night, I ran a session of my new main D&D campaign, with Sean, Joanna, Roland, and Kris as players. It was a fun session, and the characters achieved 3rd level. I am looking forward to next session, which will hopefully be this coming Friday. On Saturday, Joanna and I went to the mall for a couple of hours, and finished up our Christmas shopping. It certainly feels nice to get that done so early. I also took her car to Curry for a few things. Unfortunately, one of those things was a valve cover gasket and they had to order one, so I need to take it back in on Thursday morning to get that installed and get the oil changed. I asked them to check out a vibration in the front end, as well, but they checked it over and didn't find anything, so it has been attributed to the fact the car is 22 years old. I can accept that...just wanted to make sure nothing was breaking (or broken). So, after Thursday, that'll be all set as well. Yay.

Sunday was nice too. I got up at a decent hour and got the yard cleaned up a bit. I filled our last 3 leaf bags with leaves, and also moved some more wood from the "seasoned" pile into the garage to keep it dry. I still need to split some more, soon. Maybe this weekend I can get that done. Still have about 5 bags worth of leaves in the yard, too, and it'd be nice to get those cleaned up... Always something to do! I had a one hour massage at Abundant Wellness yesterday afternoon, which was great of course. Coming home, I cleaned the boys' cage and got bills paid and receipts filed, then spent the evening on the couch, and watched Braveheart, then read a bit before bed. Nice weekend!


11/21/2011:
This sickness just keeps hanging on. I felt terrible on Saturday, better yesterday but not great. Today, better but still not totally healthy. At least I felt well enough to come into the office to work today, though I still have a lot of sinus pressure and my voice tips between gravel and whispery. At least it's getting better, gradually... And today is my only day in the office. I am working from home tomorrow and Wednesday, then a 4 day weekend for Thanksgiving. That will be nice, since I didn't do much over this past weekend, other than sit on the couch and watch a lot of movies. Did clean out our Netflix instant queue a bit...


11/19/2011:
Ugh, sick :( Started feeling a little ill on Monday, but it was fairly minor. Tuesday, a little worse but I was working from home, so I could relax better than in the office. Wednesday morning at 3:30 am found me wide awake with an upset stomach. I was up until 4:30, sitting on the couch, trying to feel better, and then back to bed for a couple hours. Woke with a pounding headache and what felt like a fever, so I called out of work that day... Yesterday, I felt sick but better than the day before...and today I'm feeling worse again. At least it's Friday, and we don't have any plans this weekend, so I can hopefully recover before Monday. Should be able to...just need some relax and sleep time, and also planning on some fresh air and a little exercise (still plenty of wood to move around; will probably do a little of that, but not overdo it). I just want my work day to be over so I can relax.


11/14/2011:
Had a good, productive weekend. On Saturday, I helped Sean move 2 couches out of his place, and move a new one in. We had some others helping, and everything went smoothly. Between couch moves, I got to play some Smash Brothers Melee with Sean and Ian, too, and that was fun. After couch moving, Sean and I took a trip to Home Depot. I picked up some wood to build my indoor wood rack, and also snagged a pair of waterproof gloves and a ratchet screwdriver. The rest of the evening was spent relaxing at home, playing some games and watching some TV.

On Sunday, Joanna and I raked and bagged 12 bags worth of leaves. We probably have 2 or 3 more bags worth scattered about in the back, but they can wait until later, or even the spring if needed. Most of the leaf cleanup is done for this year. I also cleaned out the gutters, which were full of leaves as well. Unfortunately, the aluminum gutter guards I bought do not fit our gutters, either, so I returned them to Home Depot for a refund. I am going to call the company that installed the gutters, and see if they can install gutter guards on them. I expect they will have some that fit that size and style. I also built the indoor wood rack on Sunday, and it came out well. I look forward to moving the seasoned wood inside, where it can dry out and remain dry for the winter months, which are fast approaching. I need to put something together for outside, too. I hope to have time (and decent weather) to work on that next weekend. After all the work on Sunday, I spent some time relaxing. Joanna made pizza, which was delicious as always. I played a few games of League of Legends, then hit the couch for a couple episodes of Criminal Minds (season 4) and Full Metal Alchemist (on Netflix). Good weekend!


11/05/2011:
Power was returned to our house on Tuesday at noon, and we could not be more thankful. We weathered the storm well, I think, and we will be more prepared for next time, no doubt. I also have no doubt there will be a next time.. hopefully not as lengthy, but it will happen.

Today was a day of yard cleaning. Joanna raked leaves while I cut and hauled branches that fell during the storm. It looks much, much better out there now. Most of the thick branches are limbed and have been added to the pile to be cut up into firewood. The branch scraps are out by the road, hopefully to be picked up on Monday along with the branches in front of all our neighbors' houses. I have a few more branches to clean up tomorrow, in the back yard, but I got more done today than I had expected, and the remaining few won't take long. I also pulled down some building wood that was left in storage above the garage, in preparation for fixing our shed door and also building a couple of wood racks, one inside to store some seasoned wood, one outside to help the wood season but keep it up off the ground so it doesn't rot. I plan to work on those tomorrow, if I have time. I also picked up some gutter guards that I want to install tomorrow if possible. It is just aluminum mesh, but it should help keep a lot of the crap, especially leaves, out of the gutters. I bought some plastic, screened ones originally, but they were too wide for our gutters, so I returned them today and picked up the aluminum ones. We'll see how those work!

It has also been a weekend of spiritual contemplation. I have been..remembering more, about past lives and my connections in those lives. I will write about this in more detail in the History section on the main page .


10/31/2011:
Things I am thankful for during this trying time. The Halloween weekend storm knocked our power out at 9:30 pm on Saturday night. It is now Monday at 6:00 pm, and power has not yet been restored. It could be another day or two until it is restored. I am thankful for a loving wife who endures this trial with me. I am thankful for our fireplace, and our store of wood, to help us keep warm during this cold time. I am thankful for our good neighbors; we have all helped each other out as best we can: cutting and dragging trees and branches, shoveling, giving firewood to those in need. Without such kindness, each of us would have a harder time as we wait for our power to be turned back on, so we can heat our homes as we are accustomed. I am also thankful for an understanding company and immediate manager, who did not complain that I arrived 3 hours late today due to the hardships of this time, even with the knowledge that tomorrow may be another instance (though I hope it is not; with a good night's sleep, even with no power tomorrow morning, I should be able to make better time than today). My work time is at a close, and it is time to go home to my warm living room and loving wife, to a night of warm food and scary stories. It is Halloween, after all.


10/08/2011:
Beautiful day outside today, and Joanna and I did a lot of yard work. I mowed the lawn, front and back, and raked a bit. We cleaned up the front flower gardens, cutting down some of the dead flowers. Joanna also planted some new ones, which will come up in the spring. I also got up in our front tree and cut off one of the branches, which was starting to overhang our aerial cable wire. I could see it coming down and taking our cable out, once the snow and ice start. Better to take care of it early. After our yard work was done, we did a little grocery shopping, and got some tasty sandwiches at D'Angelos for lunch.

After lunch, I worked on Joanna's computer for awhile. It started having trouble with the video board last weekend. I tried 2 different boards, with the same problem: the system picked up that the board was there, but no matter which driver I installed in Windows, it always said it had a problem. I came to the conclusion that the AGP slot on the motherboard was bad, so I went online, found a compatible one, and ordered it. It arrived today, so I took her machine apart, put the new motherboard in, put everything else back in, and booted it up. The good news: the motherboard seems to be working fine. Windows installed all the new hardware for it, rebooted, and all was good...EXCEPT the video board. Same issue there... Grrrr. The new motherboard has onboard video, so I swapped over to that...and it's having the same problem. At this point, I believe the issue to be some sort of windows video driver subsystem problem. I don't know how to resolve that other than reinstalling Windows... so I will be doing that tomorrow. Thankfully, she is able to use my backup computer, which is running well. I just wish the motherboard swap had resolved the video issue. It is very possible the old motherboard is still good, so I will be hanging onto that for now... Darn computers!

Page Updates:
- updated Happenings section on Main Page


10/02/2011:
October. Seems like it was August just a short time ago. This year is cruising on by; soon, the snows of winter will come. I'm not ready for that yet, but I expect I will be when it comes.

It has been a productive weekend. I have busied myself, organizing things. I completely emptied and sorted both of our "junk" drawers in the kitchen. Now they have a more defined purpose, one holding handy tools and batteries, the other with cat toys and instruction manuals for our various appliances in a handy and much less cluttered location.

Awhile ago, Joanna and I measured and bought some frames for our favorite pictures and paintings, many of them gifts that were in cardboard frames. We wanted real frames before we hung them. Yesterday, we opened all the frames, put the pictures inside, and hung them around the house, which was a fun activity for both of us. Wolf Wood and The Rat King now both hang in the bedroom. There is a beautiful wolf in the living room, and also an endearing, adorable, whimsical picture of mice racing upon the backs of turtles. It guarantees me a smile each time I look at it. There is a Japanese Thunder Dragon in the hallway, and in the office, the Wreck of Heaven, which features a dragon which I have recalled I have some history with. We are happy with our new decorations, and plan to enjoy them for a long time to come.

Today, we got a few small errands done, including returning all our bottles. It was nice to get them cleaned up, and the return money is always nice :) I also shredded some papers. I am nearing the end, finally, of the "mass shredding" of old bills and receipts. Soon, I will just need to shred occasionally. Unfortunately, I'll need to buy a new shredder before I can. I broke mine today, shredding some vet receipts and failing to notice a rabies vaccination tag that was taped to one of them. I managed to get the metal piece out of the shredder, but not before breaking the paper sensor. I can jury rig it with a paper clip, to work when I press it, but it's not very convenient, and may even be a little dangerous. Next time I'm down near Staples, I'll probably pick up a little one.


Page Updates:
- updated Happenings and History sections on Main Page


09/30/2011:
This vacation has been really good for me, and I still have a few days left to revel in relaxation before I return to the working grind. I feel like I haven't accomplished a lot this week, but if I think about it for a bit, I have. I think it's just that a lot of the work done is on projects that are not done yet.

I have done a lot of work on a D&D weekend campaign that I will be running near the end of October. I still have a decent amount of work to do, but things are coming together much better than they were at the beginning of the week. I have spent a decent amount of time conversing with Hannah and Jon since my visit with them, and we continue to learn from each other, usually something new each day. I've done a decent amount of gaming, which has been fun. I am enjoying the new League of Legends mode: Dominion. I also bought the new Deus Ex game, Human Revolution, and I started playing that this week.

On the days when it hasn't been raining, I've done some work outside, cleaning up for autumn. I mowed the front lawn, and cleaned up the back yard. I picked all the weeds out of the mulch around the bamboo plants, and spread the mulch around to better cover and protect the bamboo roots. I trimmed the branches from one of the stumps out back, and also trimmed some of the vines around the hedge back there, to keep it a little less chaotic.

Joanna and I have gone out a couple of times for errands, usually shopping of one variety or another. This morning, I got my car inspected (passed, yay), so I won't need to do that again for a year. Joanna's car is not due for its next inspection until January.

And I've done some work on my website.. :)

Hmm..laid out like that, I am feeling more accomplished now. Today, I did a fair amount of work on the campaign that I am running tonight, for Kris, Joanna, Sean, and Roland. I think it may be time for a little Deus Ex :)

Page Updates:
- added a History section to the dragon-rider.us Main Page
- updated Happenings section on Main Page


09/26/2011:
I had an amazing weekend down near Baltimore, with Hannah (Kerowynn) and Jon (Taeren). It was a weekend full of spiritual growth and revelations, some of both very powerful. Jon has just awakened, and we spent some time working with him, helping him develop his abilities and realize his purpose. It will take time, but there is no rush; nothing is impending right now, as it was when Hannah and I awoke. He and I have already set up a training program, Taeren and I, Sepheera and Shadowchaser. Both have much to learn, and we can teach them. In time, we will teach them side by side so their bond will grow. For now, separated is best.

Last night was especially powerful and eye-opening. Throughout Saturday evening, my memories started coming back, and it felt good; I have gone awhile just being, which is fine, but also wanting to know more, but unable to recall. Hannah is a catalyst for remembering; her touch brought Jon's memories to the surface -- currently more than he knows what to do with, but he will put the pieces together eventually. He needs things to keep him busy. That will help. We spent a lot of the weekend talking about things, answering questions for each other, providing understanding to all. Last night, through powerful joint meditation, Hannah awakened in me a vast store of memories. I had the whole 6 hour drive home to think about them, and I am still sifting through, putting pieces together. It will be awhile before I have the whole picture of anything, but I now have many more pieces than I had. As larger pieces are completed, I may post them here. It is an easy place for me to reference things. I may create a History section on the main site, www.dragon-rider.us, as well. That could help us all, in the end, as an organized reference. If I feel I have enough to do so, I will.

My soul is ancient; how ancient, and how powerful, were two of the many items brought to my immediate attention last night, as all of my chakras were blown wide open in a burst of controlled energy. I cannot remember ever feeling so alive, so overjoyed, and so sad all at the same time after a spiritual event. Kerowynn's essence has been around as a solitary entity since even before I split from the source; she is probably twice as old as I am. After a point, though, ancient is ancient. We are both heralded as "ancient ones" from those younger; in the end, the numbers mean less than some think.

I saw our first home; not Nilfgard, the original one, before the worlds were divided and Gaia left us. I remembered my time there, with Kerowynn, with the others whose names escape my grasp and may for a long time to come. But Gaia was there. She was mother to us all. So caring, and warm, and protective. She kept her secrets, to protect us, but in the end, our home was lost. And when the worlds split soon after, Gaia disappeared. Last night, I saw her; we both saw her, and I know she will come back, but not until the worlds are one again. Until then, she sleeps, protected at all times and for all time until she comes back to us.

I also foresaw things to come. We all do, sometimes. I am often not gifted with clarity, and I am thankful of that. I don't want to know what is coming, not truly. My duty is to prepare for anything; foresight can cloud the issue by allowing us a glimpse of what will come, without the truth behind the reason for its occurrence.

I am tired, physically, mentally, spiritually. I am done writing for now. I continue to sift through memories, and hope to post something coherent soon.


09/13/2011:
Last weekend was very nice. It was relaxing, and I needed it, because last week at work was very stressful.

On Friday night, I played D&D, DMing for Sean, Joanna, Kris, and Roland in what has become my "main" campaign. It has been a lot of fun so far. I am looking forward to next session, when the PCs seek out the "Deathwatchers", a group of shamans, for aid.

I slept in Saturday morning, and then Sean and I went for a nice hike at Mt. Tom. We took a different trail than usual, which led to a detour that we decided to try, rather than go through the low-lying mosquito-infested watery part. It wasn't very well marked, and we got off the trail once, but we found our way back easily enough. I even spotted a deer, lying down nearby when we stopped for a water break. He couldn't have been more than 30 feet away, and he didn't bolt when he saw us; he just continued lying there. We opted out of trying to get a picture, and just enjoyed the sight, then moved on. At the next split, we headed back to the car. The trail was pretty rocky, and my ankles were starting to get sore.
Joanna and I went out to do some errands when I got home, and then I played UT3 with the clan for a few hours in the evening. It was a good day!

I slept in on Sunday (was nice to do, two days in a row), played an early game of League to get my first win, then did some yard work for awhile. I cut down some of the dead and dying flowers in the front; figured I may as well start on the fall clean-up. Afterward, I moved some wood around in the back yard. I would like to turn my two piles of wood into one pile, so we can clean up the area back near the bamboo. Joanna would like to plant some stuff there, and we also plan to set up a little sitting area there; a peaceful little grove, with the bamboo and other plants around. I got a little over half the wood moved before I had tired of moving it. I had also destroyed a number of insect homes, which was inevitable. Spiders, ants, worms, beetles, centipedes. I found them all. I have decided to wait until it is cooler before I move the remaining pieces. It is still pretty warm, so they are all quite active. I have plenty in the other pile, and it all needs splitting. I hope to work on that soon, maybe even this coming weekend.

After the yard work, I came inside and relaxed awhile. Watched some TV, read my book (I have picked back up Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrel -- it is a strange read, but I find I'd like to know what happens, so I continue). Then I went for a nice 1-hour massage at the Abundant Wellness Center. It was a great way to finish off the afternoon. I returned home thereafter, watched a couple of movies, then went to bed. Great weekend :)


08/28/2011:
Had a great weekend last weekend. After my 5 day weekend, I worked two days, then drove up to NH on Friday night. I stayed at Jeff's place while I was visiting up there, though unfortunately he could not be there, due to a death in the family that had him traveling to VT. That made me sad, but I decided to visit anyway, to see Kheri, who was up visiting from North Carolina. I am very glad I decided to go up. Friday night, Kheri and I went out with her friends Wendy and Donna. We went to the Dolphin Striker to watch a live music show for awhile. There, we met two other friends, Devan and Jeff, and all spent the rest of the night hanging out. First at the Dolphin Striker, then the Press Room, then eventually to the Friendly Toast for "dinner" at 1 am. It was a great night out; everyone had a lot of fun. I returned to Jeff's place to sleep, then Kheri and I went to the beach the next morning.

The beach was stony, but that was fine. Kheri went in the water for awhile, but most of the time we just sat on a blanket and talked. It was great to spend time with her; we have been friends awhile, but always hanging out with others. Her and I have many spiritual aspects in common. We "feel" energy more than many of those around us. We talked about our spiritual connections, and she made some observations that helped me to understand my energy flows better, especially when I am sharing energy with another, in any form. I am a conduit. I draw energy from the source, through myself, to flow into others and help them feel more relaxed and/or empowered. Once the energy is flowing and swirling within them, I change the flow so it is circular, and we are sharing the flow, fed from the source. I've also known instinctively how it works for me, but talking about it with someone else was very refreshing. Before we left, she took all the excess energy and gave it back to me, which kept me feeling empowered for days afterward. It was an amazing experience, and I look forward to the next time we can meet up. Hopefully it'll be less than the 2 year span between our last meeting and this one :)

This weekend, we were supposed to have hurricane conditions, but it was downgraded to a tropical storm and by the time we got it, it was slightly breezy with a few heavy gusts, and a lot of rain. That is OK with me. I love storms, but those that put me, my loves, and my property in heavy danger are those I'd prefer not to see close-up.


08/17/2011:
I took 3 days off for my birthday, giving myself a nice 5-day weekend, and it has been nice. Wills stopped in to visit on his way home from Boston last weekend. He arrived Friday afternoon and left Saturday evening. We took a nice hike with Sean on Saturday morning, and otherwise just hung out. Sean and Ian came over Saturday afternoon and we all played some Super Smash Bros Melee on the gamecube, then Ian and I played some Super Mario Wii. It was a good time. Joanna made me a tasty birthday cake (chocolate almond w/ white frosting), and everyone enjoyed it.

Sunday was pretty low-key, and Mom came down in the late afternoon to spend the night and accompany me to my procedure Monday morning. It was my 3rd endoscopy, a checkup because I've been dealing with stomach issues since 1998, and have been on prilosec/omeprazole since then. The prognosis was clear: everything looks normal down there, which is good. I have a followup appointment with the gastro doctor, and we'll discuss the next steps to address the tightness I've been experiencing in my stomach / diaphram area.

I was put under for the procedure, and most of my remaining Monday is a blur, and what I do remember has a dreamlike quality to it, hazy at best.

Yesterday (my birthday) was mostly spent relaxing. We did run a few errands, which I wanted to get out of the way. Otherwise, I did some reading, and played quite a few games of League of Legends in the evening. Ending record for the day was 6-1. Much better than I've done any day in recent weeks. I'll probably play a couple today, see if I can continue the winning trend. Alternately, I might play more Mass Effect instead, as I'm really enjoying the game.

Today, I mowed the front and back lawns and did the trimming. It looks all nice and neat now. Flower gardens are still overgrown a bit, but Joanna can weed those out later. I did pull a few of the big weeds out while I was out there. After sweating it up outside, I took a nice cool shower and plan to relax the rest of the day. Ah, vacation. Back to work tomorrow, but I work from home then and Friday, so it won't be bad at all.


08/04/2011:
Last weekend was nice. Much more relaxing and low-key than the previous, which is exactly what I needed. On Saturday morning, Sean, myself, Rob, and Brittany went for a nice hike on Mt. Tom. We were up there about 3 hours, and hiked a decent amount, but leisurely, with plenty of breaks. It was a little on the humid side, but it was a nice day for a hike. Hopefully we can go again this weekend; I think the weather is supposed to be nice.

GMH came and installed our new fence yesterday, yay! 6' tall cedar fencing, nail-on stockade. It looks really nice, and the yard is finally fully enclosed! This is good piece of mind for security and also to keep other people's animals out of our yard. And we finally have an enclosed place for a dog of our own, when we get to that stage :)


07/27/2011:
Had a good, but busy, weekend. We played my D&D campaign again Friday night, and it went well. Lots of conversation and interactions with townsfolk and members of a caravan that just rolled in. I am looking forward to the next session.

On Saturday, I did the plumbing project that had me all frustrated the previous weekend. This time, I set my drains up and left them alone for an hour or so. When I cut the cap off, there was no water (yay), so the replacement of that valve went pretty smooth (until later, when I found out it was leaking, probably due to melting last weekend, so I had to replace it again, with a ball valve this time). I also replaced the valve for the back faucet, and that went well, also. I am glad I bought 2 little heat shields at Home Depot when I bought my supplies for this project; someone previously ran some electrical wires very close to where I needed to apply solder to the pipes. I was able to set up the heat shields to prevent me melting any of those...

I hadn't planned to do much on Sunday, but Joanna and I ended up putting up a fence around the area where the bamboo is in the backyard. We have a wild rabbit living in our backyard now, and, while adorable, has also been feasting on my bamboo plants, almost destroying one of the six. With the fence in place, he will no longer be able to reach them, so he can go eat some grass, or sample the other plants we have around, probably. The fence setup did not take too long, which was nice, so I was able to get some relaxation time in on Sunday, too.


07/18/2011:
The weekend was much busier than expected. We had a rattie emergency on Saturday. Sometime Friday night or early Saturday morning, Clover got into a scuffle with another one of the girls and her left eye got ripped up. Our usual vet did not have a rat doctor in that Saturday, but we were referred to VCA in South Hadley and they were able to see her early, which was great. They were very nice, and they gave us some antibiotic liquid and paste, and some pain medication. Just a few days on the medication, and her eye is healing well, though she may never regain her sight on that side :(

Related rattie news: with Clover injured, we didn't want her in with all the other girls, but the vet said 1 friend in the cage would be fine, so the girls are currently split: Clover and Zinnia in the top half of the cage, Iris and Kena in the bottom half, and Nilla now has a place of her own. Since Kena's introduction to the girls, Nilla has been very agressive with all the girls, but a total sweetie with us, so Joanna and I decided we are going to try her as a solo rat. We don't think she will be lonely; she loves our company but dislikes the company of the other rats -- her original introduction was difficult, and her bond with the other girls did not grow in strength as we hoped. Even before Kena was introduced, Nilla was often alone during sleep time, when all the other girls were in a pile. We will see how she does in the solo cage in the office. So far, so good. She will probably also become a travel rat, coming with us on trips.

On Sunday, I tackled a plumbing project at the house that turned out to take about 10x longer than I anticipated, mostly due to my lack of knowledge about preparation of such a project. It took me pretty much all day to accomplish very little actual work, but I did learn alot. I made several mistakes, almost guaranteeing I won't make the same ones again next time, which will make the next project (a continuation of this one) that much easier and much less stressful.
What I learned yesterday:

1) Flux settles in its container, making it less useful. If it has been sitting awhile, make sure to stir your flux for awhile before using it.
2) Water settles at the lowest available point. If you are doing plumbing work in the basement, even if you drain everything upstairs, the basement pipes will still have water in them.
3) You cannot solder copper pipes if they have water in them.

That last point was really the crux of most of my frustrations yesterday, but, being an inexperienced plumber overall and specifically when dealing with soldering copper, it didn't occur to me until very late in the day what the problem was. Even when I figured it out, it took me a long while to drain away the water that was causing the problem, making me worry I wouldn't even be able to cap off the leaking end before the end of the night. I already have a drain plan in place for next time, and I think it'll make everything go a lot more smoothly. Also, I won't tackle the project the day before I need to go into Hartford for work -- ideally, it'll be on a Saturday, or similar day when I don't have anywhere to be the following day, in case there is some touchup work needed. Currently, the cap is in place (as far as I know -- Joanna is home and checking it periodically to ensure no leaks), and, when I'm ready (maybe this Saturday, we'll see), I'll drain it all off again (waiting for a full drain this time), then finish my project.


07/12/2011:
Had a nice weekend, not too busy. Played my D&D campaign Friday night w/ Joanna, Kris, Roland, and Sean. That was a good time. I am hoping to continue the trend of playing more often. On Saturday, I attended Pete and Jen's housewarming party at their new apartment in Middletown, CT. It was a nice little gathering, with fun people. We chatted, hung out, and played some Rock Band. I got home from the gathering around 6, and Joanna and I ordered out for chinese food (for me), and sushi (for her). It was excellent food, as always. On Sunday, I got the lawn mowed and then we went out shopping for awhile, for Joanna's birthday (the sushi dinner was part of that too). When we returned home, we gamed awhile, then got to bed. Nice weekend overall.

07/06/2011:
I had a fun but very busy 4th of July weekend. I went up to VT early Saturday afternoon, and left to come back home on Monday around 11 am. My parents had other houseguests for the weekend: Dennis, Jody, and Jason and Jovanna and their children: twins Elijah and Noah, 6, and Caleb, 2. They were camping out up in the field, but that really meant they were sleeping there; the rest of the time they were hanging out with us. This was fine, but very busy, with the children running around energetically from about 7 am until 7 or 8 pm each day. We did attend David & Lisa's traditional 4th of July party on Sunday, which was coupled with Chelsea's 18th birthday, and that was a fun, fairly low-key time. I got to see the family I rarely see, and chat with them awhile. I also got to visit with my cousin Katie for awhile at her house, which was nice :) We got a nice ATV ride in before the party on Sunday, too; also a lot of fun. I arrived back home around 2 pm on Monday, tired and headachey. I spent the rest of the day relaxing, reading a bit and watching some TV. I watched a couple episodes of Heroes (started season 4), some South Park, and the movie Kick-Ass. All in all, very nice weekend.


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