Odds and Ends
That was June? Wow!
I'm back to work after having taken last week off. We didn't go anywhere, we just hung around home.
I took the opportunity to leisurely take care of some outdoor projects in between hours of doing not much at all. Our driveway before and after sealing. My John Deere before and after cleaning. You know...that sort of stuff.
Once again I found myself dreaming of retirement and what it will feel like to not have to return to work, where every day is Saturday. 548 days to go. I can wait.
We finally got back in the studio for glassblowing on Thursday morning after having been away for three weeks.
We told ourselves we weren't going to allow those sorts of breaks to happen again but there was little we could do about it. Foci has seen their share of equipment malfunctions lately and because of that, we've had several of our slot times canceled. Friends of ours, Brenda and Marty, met us there to observe a couple of glassblowing hacks in action. I was a little concerned, having been out of practice. I didn't want to embarrass myself. Not to fear, I was able to blow a nice vase for them. At least I think it turned out well. I won't know for sure until I see it again on Friday when we're due back.
I was hoping to make progress during my time off on a stained glass project we've promised for friends of ours but I couldn't bring myself to sit down with it long enough to get anywhere. Tammy has the basic design done so all I need to do is drag it into a program I have and apply the finishing touches before moving on to the real thing. I'm motivated to get it done because once it's completed I can begin work on a model ship; a replica of the ship I served on while in the Navy. It came in the mail last week and I took a few photos to post to a Facebook group I'm a member of for the ship's crew. Some of the guys there expressed an interest in building one too.
Here's an Overhead view of the pieces with a Close-up view and a better look at the Vehicles.
I'd like to take my time with it and focus on the details so it could be a while before it's completed but as I said, I've got a stained glass project that needs my attention first.
Our gardens are beginning to pop with color. This is probably my favorite time of year for viewing them because the Liatris is in full bloom and there's no lack of bees and butterflies busying themselves among the plants. But the key to appreciating the gardens fully is in getting in real close, being still and just watching—something I need to do more of.
I was on a walk last Saturday morning making my way north on Ipava. I couldn't help but notice the number of people driving by me with their heads either looking down at their laps or tilted off to the side focused on their cellphones, most likely texting.
I too am occasionally guilty of this. A quick count over the next 20 minutes revealed that easily 25% of those driving past me appeared to be texting with women outnumbering men 2 to 1. It's definitely a problem. I use my voice-to-text feature which is somewhat less distracting than without it but I suppose only marginally. A recent law here in Minnesota bans texting while driving but I'm not sure how they go about enforcing it.
I'm enjoying my CompuTrainer more than ever and had the best workout yesterday doing the first 40 miles of the Kona Ironman triathlon route. Rather than trash myself for 3+ hours on it like I had been, I'm mostly limiting myself to 2 hours every other day. I'm still tossing in my longer rides occasionally but 2 hours is very doable and I'm less likely to find an excuse to not ride because I don't have the time. I love the feeling of giving it my all on the bike and my CompuTrainer allows me to do exactly that.
Of course, I'd rather be out on the roads taking my chances with texting drivers but this will do for now.
I still enjoy playing Draw Something on my Droid. I'm getting more creative with my drawings but I'd love to have an iPad to take it to a whole other level. Maybe someday. Rachel posted this video on my Facebook wall tonight. It's quite cool...
I'm back to work after having taken last week off. We didn't go anywhere, we just hung around home.
I took the opportunity to leisurely take care of some outdoor projects in between hours of doing not much at all. Our driveway before and after sealing. My John Deere before and after cleaning. You know...that sort of stuff.Once again I found myself dreaming of retirement and what it will feel like to not have to return to work, where every day is Saturday. 548 days to go. I can wait.
We finally got back in the studio for glassblowing on Thursday morning after having been away for three weeks.
We told ourselves we weren't going to allow those sorts of breaks to happen again but there was little we could do about it. Foci has seen their share of equipment malfunctions lately and because of that, we've had several of our slot times canceled. Friends of ours, Brenda and Marty, met us there to observe a couple of glassblowing hacks in action. I was a little concerned, having been out of practice. I didn't want to embarrass myself. Not to fear, I was able to blow a nice vase for them. At least I think it turned out well. I won't know for sure until I see it again on Friday when we're due back.I was hoping to make progress during my time off on a stained glass project we've promised for friends of ours but I couldn't bring myself to sit down with it long enough to get anywhere. Tammy has the basic design done so all I need to do is drag it into a program I have and apply the finishing touches before moving on to the real thing. I'm motivated to get it done because once it's completed I can begin work on a model ship; a replica of the ship I served on while in the Navy. It came in the mail last week and I took a few photos to post to a Facebook group I'm a member of for the ship's crew. Some of the guys there expressed an interest in building one too.
Here's an Overhead view of the pieces with a Close-up view and a better look at the Vehicles.
I'd like to take my time with it and focus on the details so it could be a while before it's completed but as I said, I've got a stained glass project that needs my attention first.Our gardens are beginning to pop with color. This is probably my favorite time of year for viewing them because the Liatris is in full bloom and there's no lack of bees and butterflies busying themselves among the plants. But the key to appreciating the gardens fully is in getting in real close, being still and just watching—something I need to do more of.
I was on a walk last Saturday morning making my way north on Ipava. I couldn't help but notice the number of people driving by me with their heads either looking down at their laps or tilted off to the side focused on their cellphones, most likely texting.
I too am occasionally guilty of this. A quick count over the next 20 minutes revealed that easily 25% of those driving past me appeared to be texting with women outnumbering men 2 to 1. It's definitely a problem. I use my voice-to-text feature which is somewhat less distracting than without it but I suppose only marginally. A recent law here in Minnesota bans texting while driving but I'm not sure how they go about enforcing it.I'm enjoying my CompuTrainer more than ever and had the best workout yesterday doing the first 40 miles of the Kona Ironman triathlon route. Rather than trash myself for 3+ hours on it like I had been, I'm mostly limiting myself to 2 hours every other day. I'm still tossing in my longer rides occasionally but 2 hours is very doable and I'm less likely to find an excuse to not ride because I don't have the time. I love the feeling of giving it my all on the bike and my CompuTrainer allows me to do exactly that.
Of course, I'd rather be out on the roads taking my chances with texting drivers but this will do for now.
I still enjoy playing Draw Something on my Droid. I'm getting more creative with my drawings but I'd love to have an iPad to take it to a whole other level. Maybe someday. Rachel posted this video on my Facebook wall tonight. It's quite cool...
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