Song: “Una Paloma Blanca” by the George Baker Selection
Mood: 7
Nightmares: 0
Ghosts: Lots
This past weekend was good. Both J and I got a lot of stuff done and time didn’t go by so quickly that we felt ripped off. We got some rain, too, which we badly needed and it immediately greened up the lawn and gave the garden a thorough watering. On Sunday, J and I watched a really interesting documentary about Fred Rogers and Mister Rogers’ Neigborhood. Oh, and for the first time in my life, I made some potato salad. Actually, I miscalculated and made several pounds of potato salad:
For a first try, it turned out alright…
J mentioned that I’ve been mumbling and shifting around in my sleep quite a bit lately, and I feel like I haven’t been sleeping all that well but I think I slept better last night. I’m not sure – I’m still waking up and worrying about a lot of the same things – but while I was slow this morning (like usual), I didn’t feel like I was eight hundred years old like some other days.
Today was a decent day. I don’t know if the ridiculous heat we had a little while ago is gone for the year or if it’s just taking a break, but I’ve found it very comfortable outside the last little while. I had breakfast and then went out for a walk. The air was nice and clean and I could hear the birds going about their days.
After I got back, I turned on the radio and listened to some music while I did some cleaning. I called in and requested a song and they played it, which is always pretty nice.
My Netflix “watch” list is getting out of hand so I decided over the weekend to speed-watch some of the more dubious/bad-looking shows to see if they were worthwhile or get them out of the way. I watch the first five or ten minutes, then every time it looks boring or dumb I skip ahead ten seconds. I can get through a pretty bad two-hour movie in less than 15 minutes. Even less if it’s so bad that I give up and shut it off.
Speaking of bad movies, we’re currently enjoying a bit of a grasshopper invasion. I grew up out in the country so they don’t bother me (except for the time I was riding my bike with my mouth open and I swallowed one and could feel it scratching and fighting all the way down), but the ones we’re getting right now are pretty healthy. This one stayed on the window for the better part of the day:
When you turn it into a black and white picture, it looks like it’s from a bad 50s monster movie!
I’ve been doing some more writing, too. Nothing too fancy, mostly blog stuff, but it often feels good to get stuff written down. J is always jotting down or updating lists… I wonder if lists for her are like writing up a post for me.
My new (hopefully final and permanent) laminar nozzle parts finally finished printing this afternoon and they threaded together nicely. Now I just need to transfer the guts from the test nozzle to this one and I may be one step closer to getting my little garden automation project done. You know… just in time for Christmas.
After many attempts and different approaches, I finally have what may be a reliable battery pack that will let me run my SDR Raspberry Pi wherever I want without needing to worry about hauling around an extension cord. You wouldn’t think that things could be so persnickety, but between the Pi being choosy, cheap parts in cheap USB battery packs, high current requirements, and reeeeeally cheap USB cables, it can be frustrating. I tried making my own but the regulator made enough noise that all the SDR was picking up was “WAAAAAAAAAA”. Eventually I went through a bunch of stuff on the oscilloscope and did some chopping and pretty bad soldering. Long story short: I made a cable, it works, the Pi ran for six hours on the battery today and didn’t have any problems. So that’s another project that’s nearing completion!
We got a card from my sister and brother-in-law thanking us for the birthday cards and the 3D printed stuff we sent a while ago. Inside it was another card that my nephews made. I don’t know why, but getting those cards made me feel pretty darn good. We sent that stuff with no expectations, but hearing that it’s being enjoyed makes me happy. Seriously, look at this – wouldn’t it cheer you up?
Awwwww…
Oh, and that volunteering opportunity that J and I were looking into is taking tiny little baby steps. Someone is interested in meeting with us to talk about what they need and what we are able to offer. Still no idea if it’ll work out, but I’m out of my comfort zone talking to strangers about things, and that I’m doing it willingly is a good thing. At least, I think it is. We’re supposed to meet with her on Thursday.
Aside from that, I have kind of a busy week out in the world. Wednesday I go see the cardiologist, and Friday I go for a bone scan. I don’t particularly want to go to either of them, but I will be happy when it’s done and out of the way. Plus, if there’s something wrong, it’s better to find out about it sooner. And if there’s nothing wrong, it’s better to find out about that sooner, too.
We got some more rain this afternoon. If it’s nice tomorrow, I think I will take my little SDR outside and see what I can pick up in the middle of the back yard, or maybe I’ll even go to the park and try it there. Who knows.
And now that I think of it, I should probably make sure those “grasshoppers” aren’t actually locusts. It’d be just like me to get irritated that the oven knob isn’t straight up and down or the dehumidifier sounds weird while entirely missing the four creepy dudes on weird horses trotting down the street in front of the house.
Stay safe.