Song: “Red River Rock” by the Silicon Teens
Mood: 7
Nightmares: 0
Ghosts: Several
Things have been going pretty well lately. I’ve been keeping myself very busy, which has been paying off both in how I’m feeling and in how productive I’ve been, which itself helps my mood. I’m making a lot of progress on quite a few projects, and have even checked some off my list!
Still have quite a few to do, though, and I’m adding more to the list pretty steadily. That’s actually a good thing, though, because an idle Mark is not a happy Mark. Plus, a lot of the things I’ve been doing are for other people, which makes me quite happy. The project I’m working on right now is a thermometer for J’s aunt. This is my third time taking a run at it, and now I’ve done it three different ways but I think I’m happy with the way it turned out this time.
My sister got those coin things I made today and she said they were exactly what she wanted so that worked out well, too. From a design, preparation, and printing time perspective, that was by far the biggest project I’ve ever done with the 3D printer. I’m really happy with that machine – 14 months now and it’s still working really well. I’ve replaced a few parts, but they were all (mostly) on my schedule so it hasn’t been dead while I’ve been waiting for parts or time to figure out what’s broken.
When I was young, my family used to pack into the car and drive for a couple of hours to visit my great-grandmother at her farm, and then later at the home she moved into. On our way home in the evening, we’d always stop at another house and visit with a couple. I remember she always had a box of rosebud candy for my sister and me, and they were always very friendly. I’m still not 100% sure how my parents came to know them, but they were good friends of the family, the woman in particular (he ran off with their neighbour at some point and died about a dozen years ago). Anyway, Mom has been in touch with her and she’s not doing so well. I wanted to make contact with her and say hello so I tried to write her a letter but six pages of nothing in I was getting bogged down and frustrated.
So I gave her a call. It was kind of surreal – I think the last time I spoke with her was over 25 years ago and a lot has happened to both of us, but we talked for a good half-hour about all kinds of stuff. She was very happy to hear from me and I was very happy to talk to her again. She asked at least three times when we were coming out to visit. Turns out she’s living in the same place that my great-grandmother lived in. I hope that my parents and J and I can get together and make the trip out there soon; if that doesn’t work out, perhaps J and I can get out to visit. Lots of memories out in that area, the last time I made it out that was was… I think 2009 when I took a day trip on my motorcycle to find and visit my great-grandmother’s grave. I’m going to make a point of calling her regularly to say hi.
We had some really nice days here lately. Just the other day it got up above freezing. I went out to check the mail and I could feel the sun on my skin – I know in six months that’s going to be the last thing I want, but right now it felt good and it’s a sure sign that spring is getting close!
This Friday J and I are going to do the second part of that OCD study. Hopefully it won’t be another long haul like the last one was, but just in case we’re going to bring along something to drink and a snack of some kind.
On Saturday, FA and I are going to have another geekfest and work on some stuff. I’m looking forward to it – we’ve put a lot of thought and time into the current project and it’s rewarding to see each bit of progress we make.
I may be volunteering at the church sometime later this week, too, but I’m not sure how or if it will work out yet.
Stay safe.