Done last month (20140222 Su - 28 Sa)

[mdlbear]

Pretty good week, actually, though things are going more slowly at work than I'd like. Meanwhile, we had the organizers (from a company called Eliminate Chaos) in on Monday; they (with me and Naomi) got through half the garage. More, really, because there's more empty space in the half we didn't get to.

About 40 boxes of books, a lot of luggage, and several boxes of fabric were brought into the house for later. I'm going to have some shelf-building to do. Fortunately we also have a lot of shelving components. And a sizeable pile of stuff for Chaos(wolf) to haul off.

Perhaps inspired by this, Emmy arranged with our housekeeper to get her room cleaned, which makes room for the futon that's in the garage. Whee!

Meanwhile, I have been trying various stress-reduction techniques. The hot bath I took on Wednesday did a great job of un-knotting my back. Have to do that more often.

0222 Su
  * awake 6:30ish; Curio-cuddles.  He's been very affectionate lately.
  * up 7ish; ; Shower
  @ How Microsoft Lost the API War - Joel on Software
    " When you try to unify two opposing forces by creating a third alternative, you just
      end up with three opposing forces. You haven't unified anything and you haven't
      really fixed anything. " (From 2004, though.  YMMV  His basic argument that the MS
      API is irrelevant because apps have moved to the web is still largely accurate.)
  * YD is in the process of taking 5 boxes up to her room, and wants the futon (!).  The
    latter is a huge win.  She won't be able to take it upstairs until next week, but we
    can put it in a corner or G's room until then.
  * 15min:   Started consolidating Kat's boxes.
  * 15min:  brought up the boxes of CC+S that were in G's room; did some re-arranging to
    put them by the fireplace.
  * 15min:  brought up a banker's box of wineglasses, mugs, lovely blue pyrex pie pans,
    and suchlike.  Filled it with the papers from the shelf by the desk, which have to be
    sorted anyway before tax time.
  * 15min:  Epic.  Another box of cups/mugs/glassware/etc; cleared the front of the
    workbench and all of the top except the cement board.  Which is *heavy*  Consolodated
    more of Kat's boxes (and took her 12 bamboo placemats as a storage fee).  Stacked
    wood, and nearly emptied the wardrobe box thereof.
  * 15min:  Raised bottom shelf in office corner, but it still didn't clear computer cases
    so put it back.  May not be wanting those anyway.  Rearranged the two boxs of label
    and card stock to put the common ones on the shelf and the rest in the smaller box.
    Dumped sortme envelopes into the larger box.  Still a lot of stuff to be sorted; I'll
    deal with it after tomorrow (when the organizers are here).
  @ Being Thin Didn't Make Me Happy, But Being 'Fat' Does | Ravishly 
  @ 50 Free Genealogy Sites to Search Today f(Megan Jean Bouchard)
  * Glenn made beef stew for dinner.  Yum.
  * Some work on sorting the stress stuff.  vide infra.
  * Another stint in the garage.
  * Posted about stress management.
  * stress:  progressive relaxation at bedtime

0223 Mo
  * up 6:30; W=215.2; laundry, ... dishes
  * take the day off work
  : Good weather, fortunately.
  * 9am Organizers - garage-clearing.  A little more than half done.  Maybe 2/3.
    Could not *possibly* have done it without the organizers.  
  * 4:30 dial in for meeting
  * stress:  progressive relaxation at bedtime

0224 Tu
  * up 6:30; W=211.6 (!); laundry, ... dishes
  % My back didn't hurt much last night, but it still hurts this morning.  Ugh.  QLs.
  : I counted 37 boxes of books staged into the downstairs hallway and living room.
  * 12:30 Colleen Swedish First Hill
  @ Lenovo Superfish scandal: Why it’s one of the worst consumer computing screw-ups
    ever. (solarbird | seriously though this lenovo/superfish thing is bad)
    " Lenovo says it’ll have a removal tool out Friday that will actually fix the
      Superfish problem. Who cares? The company might as well promise us jetpacks, for all
      its word is worth right now. "
  * stress:  made myself a cup of ginger tea.  (Did not drink it mindfully, however)
  * stress:  Progressive relaxation, though I kept getting distracted

0225 We
  * up 6:33; ; laundry, dishes
  * Team lunch at Ping's Dumpling House in the I-District.  Yummy and cheap.
  * stress:  bath.  No back pain afterward!

0226 Th
  * up 5:45; W=211.6; 
  % Still essentially no back pain on waking up.  I think I need more baths.  I also
    apparently need less sleep after a bath.  Hmm.
  * 8am Builder meeting
    ... Aaaaaand--we have lift-off!  All systems go.
  : FCC approves Title II classification for internet.  May not stick, though.
  @ Why I’m Saying Goodbye to Apple, Google and Microsoft — Backchannel — Medium 
  * checked G's Lenovo computer - not infested with superfish.
  * Worldcon hotel reservation - Best Western
  * email housing bureau for handicap

0227 Fr
  * up 6:30; ; dishes, laundry
  @ Net neutrality becomes the law of the land for the moment
  @ The Science of Why No One Agrees on the Color of This Dress | WIRED white
    balance, mostly.  Duh.
  @ Leonard Nimoy, Spock of ‘Star Trek,’ Dies at 83 - NYTimes.com 
  * stress:  sleepytime extra tea
  * fired up the Mac mini (whitewood) and installed updates.

0228 Sa
  * up 7am; W=211.6; Shower, laundry
  : Whitewood still hung trying to install updates; succeeded after a power cycle.
  * installed 2014 tax s/w (H+R Block, which I still think of as TaxCut)
  * Imported W2
  @ What Happens When You Strap a Camera to a Sea Turtle's Shell f(Lorien Patton)
  @ Leonard Nimoy: the first star geek - esr
    " There have been some surprisingly sensitive eulogies for him in the mainstream
      press, but they all merely skirted the edges of what may have been his most
      important contribution to popular culture: he made braininess sexy. "
  @ A different cluetrain - Charlie's Diary (Don Marti)
  @ Centuries Before Memes, There Were The LOLCats Of Japanese Woodprints 
  * 15min: garage puttering.  Brought up another box of fabric.
  * Drive:  around SouthCenter because Colleen wanted to explore the side-streets.
  " A language designed for geeks would have a short word that means 'stuff that
    accumulates on tables and desks because one is too lazy to sort it and is mostly too
    valuable or important to just throw out'. " (me on FB)
    -> surfage?
  @ SATURDAY CHORES A pro-choice husband/wife team from Raleigh, N.C.
  * 15min: Garage: 2 boxes of cottons (to be stashed) and one of hutch glass (now emptied)
  * 15min:  Closet:  went through the bag of small bags (one had to be thrown out) and
    hung up the shoulder straps and toiletry bags.
  @ All These Gifts Were Given To An 8-Year-Old Girl By Crows +Kee Hinckley
  * stress: sleepytime extra tea
  : Downloading Sita Sings the Blues : Nina Paley : Internet Archive because I can
  * Colleen's power chair not charging

Comments

[amaebi]

Sounds like multiple unknotting! May most of it resemble a hot bath more than it does garage-clearance.

[mdlbear]

Actually, the garage-clearance feels pretty good.

[amaebi]

I bet! I was just thinking that it probably didn't feel that good while in progress.

[mdlbear]

Oddly enough, my back didn't hurt at all until the next day. The clearing itself was fun -- we'd hired organizers to come in and all Naomi and I had to do was triage (literally - keep, donate, or dump). I did do some lifting myself, which may have been inadvisable but seemed like the right thing to do at the time.

[amaebi]

I am glad it wasn't a grim swelter for you!

[mdlbear]

Well, the fact that it was perfect weather for late winter/early spring in Seattle helped a lot. Warm enough not to need a jacket, cool enough not to get sweaty, and not raining.