Done this week (20170423Su - 30Su)

[mdlbear]

It's been a long month this last week.

• We are very close to buying the house on Whidbey Island. Just a couple of things we have to check.
• As of Friday, I am officially a Retired Person. (I've been a member of the AARP for 20 years. It's still weird.
• I had a couple of panic attacks. The fact that I know what they are, how they work, and how to deal with them is helpful, but they're still something of an ordeal.

I had a very nice send-off party from the team at work; another team member was moving to another team, so it was a combined affair, and of course combined with the weekly Friday "Beer 30". I will miss those people. Naomi was able to come up for the party, so we were able to do a little singing (set list in the notes). Damned good thing, too -- I had greatly underestimated the amount of stuff I would be bringing home. I would have had to call a cab.

For some reason I'm not seeing all that many events this week outside the house-related stuff. Oh, well. Maybe that's enough.

Notes & links:

0423Su
  * awake 4ish
    % severe anxiety? panic? attack.  Clung to Ticia.
  * up 7:30ish; W=197.8;
  @ FB review, which appears to be the only way of directly contaction $BMC
    1. If your call center's response to a report of a broken elevator is "call the fire
       department", you have a problem. 
    2. If the company that does emergency maintenance has someone "on call" but you've
       never heard of an SLA, you have a problem. 
    3. If the only contact information you have on your website is a phone number and a
       facebook ID, then things like the way your call center handles a broken elevator
       that might otherwise result in an emailed suggestion are going to end up making
       you look very stupid in public.
  @ Rocket stove - Wikipedia
    Beverage-can stove
    Build a Rocket Stove for Home Heating | IWillTry.org
  @ 5 low-tech innovations making a difference in the developing world | MNN 
  @ Stonekettle Station: A Few Thoughts on Religion (from 2014)
  : Call from Rick Weiss to Colleen - apparently it's only a short walk from their place.
  @ Google Maps link
  * Went to Doria - the Italian restaurant next door - for dinner.  Excellent.  But their
    door sill is so high that Colleen's scooter got stuck on it.  Worth the
    inconvenience.  We had their family-style "tasting menu" - some appetizers, four
    different pastas, and chicken marsala.  Yum.
  : My phone almost certainly needs a new battery.  An overnight charge doesn't make it to
    evening without a boost. -> ordered
  @ Senior Services of Island County
  @ eWheels 3-Wheel Scooter in Purple Colleen wants one.  Because purple.
  % With the info from Rick and Tess, I'm suddenly feeling a lot more comfortable and less
    anxious.
  * Transfer enough money into the checking account to handle both the earnest money
    (which I have to wire tomorrow) and the estimated income tax (which I wrote a check
    for and hasn't cleared yet.

0424Mo
  * up 4:30; W=200;
    forgot to take morning meds.  That seems to happen a lot when I get up before 6
  @ siderea | [tech] Three Awesome Hacks (and a Bonus Awesome Hack)
  * wire earnest money to escrow agent * ensure enough in account to handle tax as well
  * marriage certificate ordered (for C's spousal social security payments)
  : call from someone at B-T.  They're having a meeting tomorrow about this; they're
    apparently taking it seriously.
  * Accepted SewerFriendly's bid; signed 35R accepting offer for 37th Ave.
    Putting SF's bill on the Amex card -- won't have to paid until June.
  % 9ish sleepy.
  ! mood very volatile the last couple of days.
  @ What is pi? (and while we're at it, what is e?) - Affine Mess - Quora 
  : Restrictions around the well on Whidbey.  N. remains optimistic; I'm scared
    ! anxiety attack.
    
0425Tu
  * up 5:30ish; W=199;
  * Went to replace WLAN card on Raven, and found that the card I'd bought -- used -- had
    solder on it and wouldn't fit.  Raven also doesn't have it in the place where the
    manual said it would be, but in the WAN slot.  Hmm.
    -> works perfectly in Cygnus, however.  But Cygnus's card doesn't work in Raven. :(
  @ How you could use GalliumOS to "penguinize" a Chromebook | Opensource.com
    Only problem with a chromebook is the keyboard.
  * 9:30 downstairs to meet Naomi for island cruise
  * pleasant visit with Rick and Tess.
  : The water restrictions are liveable - we'll just keep the tiny off the grid.
  : N suggested Skybird Nest as a possible name for the new house
  * Inspection.  A couple of problems - garage roof, and gravel piled around the skirting,
    which isn't able to take the the load.  
  : assuming we can get to agreement about the problems, this will work.
  : the buyers of RE have accepted our counter-offer, so that's on.  The sewer work is
    scheduled for May 15th.
  * Pick up kids; get take-out from Snappy Dragon.
  * Practice with Naomi for Friday
  * Tried, unsuccessfully, to figure out why Colleen's gmail app doesn't have the tabbed
    categories that mine does.

0426We
  * Up 5:50; W=198;
  & discovered that I'd forgotten to load my drugs last night as I usually do.
  * finally found the problem with Colleen's gmail app:
    " Note: You won't see an option to change your "Inbox categories" if you only use the
      Primary category on your computer. " (Add or remove inbox categories & tabs in Gmail - Android - Gmail Help)
    That, or she has more than 250,000 messages in her inbox.
  % left side of my neck has been hurting all day.  I'm guessing it's the shoulder bag I
    was wearing all day yesterday instead of my backpack.  Trapezius, of course.  Possibly
    chair arm.
  * Stock sale has hit my checking account.  So has my first IRA distribution.  Need to
    make sure to set up withholding on that!
  & Several good conversations:  John and others.
  @ Making reliable distributed systems in the presence of software errors
    erlang and supervisor trees for fast-fail error handling.
  * Replaced the battery on my phone.  We'll see whether that helps.
  % think I found the (or a) trigger point on my left trapezius.

0427Th
  * up 6:24; W=198.8;
  * 1200 dentist - bite guard
  & several good conversations.  Notably Albert, Matt, and Shrey.
    Several people have said they will catch up with me at the party
  * Packed up a few things to take home
  % I will deeply miss being surrounded with brilliant people.
  @ mdlbear | Thankful Thursday
  % Trapezius not hurting noticably (0.5?) after naproxen yesterday evening and this am
  * entered new scripting for Rambling Silver Rose

0428Fr
  * up 6ish; W=198.8;
  % Bite guard seems to have done its thing!  No tooth pain this morning.
  % waffled for altogether too long about whether to take the duffle or Rolly.  Settled on
    Rolly, but that was probably a mistake in light of how much stuff I had to take home.
    The fact that I dragged along the entire LgF notebook contributed to the problem.
    Unimportant, since N. was there with Rosie.
  * set up autoload on my Orca card.  Had been on one of the old credit cards.
  * Call to Whidbey Island Conservation District - spoke with Karen Bishop.  Will get back
    to me Monday.
  * Retirement party shared with (principal engineer) Jason, who is moving to a new group.
  * retirement concert.  N shortened it because people were leaving.  The remaining
    audience was very attentive, though.
	Fox
	Rosie - new scripting
	The Bears
	World Inside the Crystal
	# October country 
	# Lord of the Buffalo
	# Gentle Arms of Eden
	# Ship of Stone
	Lockkeeper
  & was encouraged to keep my bus pass.  No telling whether it will still work on Monday.
l-band radio, but it's not as pressing now.
y  % I am now officially a Retired Person.  Weird.
  * N is staying the night, after going down to RE to feed the cats, pick up the kids, and
    take them to M+J's.  I would *not* have been able to get everything home on the bus.
  % 8:30 Sleepy.  N said "you've had an emotionally exhausting day."  I really hadn't
    accounted for that being a thing.

0429Sa
  : Alarm went off at 7:00 as usual.  I like having the mornings, but I should probably
    get rid of the 6:00 and 6:15.  Ticia still woke me around 4, I think.
  * up 7:15; W=198.8; cuddle
  * parking for Rosie has to be paid at 8am
  : so apparently the reason Raven wasn't connecting to WiFi was that I had a typo in the
    password.  :P  Still want a dual-band radio, but it's not as pressing now.
  : N is leaving a change of clothes and a set of sheets up here.
  @ ysabetwordsmith | Three Weeks for Dreamwidth: "Party Monitor Kit"
  ~ family expedition to Whidbey for dinner -> Bremerton.  an hour each way on the ferry,
    apparently.  Very nice trip, though; whole family together, ferry, Anthony's (good
    fish), Coldstone, ferry back.  Mostly phone, but there's a fair amount I can do here
    as well.
  % apparently just a couple of hours with my purse -- which isn't all that heavy -- on my
    shoulder instead of in a backpack are enough to make my trapezius complain.
    Fortunately I was sitting next to N. on the way home.  She agrees.  Backpack.  Always.
  : On the way back N noticed the affirmations on my screen background.  Do I need to
    expand that?
  @ Susan Cain Quiet Spaces - Steelcase (ysabetwordsmith | Workspace for Introverts)
    -> I can design my own work space now!  Hmm.

0439Su
  & Awake 4:30 cleanup
  * up 7:30; W=200.6; breakfast, shower, walk
  @ ysabetwordsmith | Three Weeks for Dreamwidth: "Emotional First Aid"
  @ This is what protest sounds like - CNN.com f(filk)
  : Facebook doesn't seem to have any way of specifying "retired" as a workplace.
  * 10:05-10:40 walk up Roosevelt to 56th or so.  Should start tracking again.
  * updated LinkedIn & FB profiles to Retired + HSX.  Updated note to headhunters on
    LinkedIn.
  : The apartment seems to have acquired a couple of cardboard boxes that serve as
    temporary tables or other supports.  -> Consider replacing the empty ones with boxes
    from the "to be podded" stack in the entryway; those are not going anywhere soon.
  & Wikipedia dive into fonts, starting from Imgur, cat macros, and the Impact typeface.
  : Washed Ticia's towel yesterday after it had been used to wipe up a spill; she is now
    curled up contenedly in her box.
  * Laundry done (two loads);
  * Trip to TJ's for feta, butter, a sourdough baguette, black+white cookies, etc.  The
    feta and butter were the only items actually requested by Colleen.

Comments

[ravan]

Congratulations! You now get to charge five times as much to "consult". ;)

[mdlbear]

Thanks! We'll see how well that works; I'm skeptical.

[alatefeline]

Congratulations, and I hope it stops being quite so weird-weird soon and becomes, perhaps, good-weird.

[mdlbear]

Thanks! I hope so too.

[amaebi]

Congratulations on all those closings, and may that be a final close to all panic attacks!

[mdlbear]

Thanks! We'll see -- there are still plenty of things to worry about.

[patoadam]

Congratulations on your retirement!

You still can be a software genius:

"The world never made any postmen.
That's for each postman to do.
How long did I pose as a postman
Before I discovered it's true?"

[mdlbear]

Thanks.

[jcfiala]

Congratulations on your retirement.

[mdlbear]

Thanks!

[kellan_the_tabby]

That's the damned thing about panic attacks, you can be perfectly aware it's a panic attack, know exactly what's going on, & even have a pretty good idea how it's gonna go & when it's gonna end, & all that STILL DOESN"T HELP.

[mdlbear]

Yeah.

[gorgeousgary]

Congrats on your retirement! And hope everything works out with the house.