Lethbridge

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The Week That Vanished

Is it really Friday again?! I know it’s rent collection week, but still, it’s been busy! The transcription hasn’t let up either, which is a Good Thing.

For lunch today, I decided that since I haven’t had sushi in weeks, I’ve been (and will be for the foreseeable future) too busy to go out for dinner, and it’s been a manic week I had earned a treat. So I called Dono this morning to place a pick-up order for lunch. I wish I had thought to do this before! I normally pay about $30 (plus tip) for a sushi dinner out and I got more food for lunch today for $19 (no need to leave a tip) than I do for a dinner. I had them make me up a bento box with an assortment of things and was really pleased with what was chosen for me, which including a type of sashimi I’ve never had or seen before (possibly mackerel). I had thought that for $13, I’d get a light lunch, so I added two pieces of nigiri (octopus and eel) to round out the meal, but I didn’t need to, not with the soup, salad, tempura (all included with the lunch special!), five huge pieces of sashimi, two other nigiri, and a gigantic shrimp tempura roll (the only disappointment (and a mild one at that) since that’s a bit too heavy/western for my palate).

This evening, I continued working on the study. Oh? Earlier this week, I took an evening and emptied the study of everything but the desk and the filing cabinet. I have been really unhappy with the paint job in that room so I decided to take advantage of the fact that I’m out of the rig to redo it and get it right. Tonight, I sanded down the walls and gave the whole room a good scrub. I’ll prime tomorrow and hopefully get a coat of paint done on Sunday. I haven’t picked out a new colour yet and am torn. I love the current colour, but it’s a bit dark. It’s just that it’s so hard to get the right shade of light green. I’ll see what options the home store has compared to the green in the curtains and decide then. I’ve also decided to relocate the wall cabinet for what will have to be the last time as I am down to the last possible place to put it! I hope that I’ve finally found a home for it where it will be usable.

Once the study is back together, it’ll be time to start thinking about slowly moving back home!

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Arrival of My Tupperware Order

I’ve had some requests to show off the Tupperware order that I placed in December. My order was delivered today:

Two collapsible bowls:

I’ve been wanting these for ages, but wouldn’t settle for non-Tupperware. Love the colours! They are super stiff right now, but should limber up. My only complaint is that they are not suitable for the microwave. I don’t use the microwave that much, but it seems silly to have to transfer the food to a microwave safe bowl. Still, I know these will get a lot of use. This past week, I sadly saw my lettuce get spongier and spongier as the days went by. I bet that storage in airtight containers like these would have made the lettuce stay nice a few days longer. I also like that these bowls are pretty much spill proof, so I will be able to store liquids in them.

Three little containers:

The shape of these has changed, but the size is the same. Again, love the colours! These will be the perfect size to store the other half of a can of something.

Finally, a silicone spatula:

I’ve tried spatulas in a number of price points and they all end up breaking down on me. This one was pricey, but should last a lifetime. I really dislike the colour, though.

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Less Fun Than Having My Wisdom Teeth Pulled

What. A. Weekend.

My computer was behaving normally on Friday evening, but yesterday morning it started to freeze, requiring a hard reboot. It really felt like it got abducted by Microsoft fiends overnight as that’s how my last Windows machine behaved daily. After a couple of those hard reboots it refuse to boot again. Uh oh.

I decided after spending some time on the ‘support’ forums that I never want to go back there again. People get a perverse pleasure out of suggesting a worst-case scenario. Anyway, it took a good part of the day for me to figure out how to run some hardware diagnostics and determine that my hard drive ($$) and logic board ($$$$$) are fine. I actually learned more about troubleshooting Macs yesterday than I have in the eight years since I made the switch! And I am very impressed by all the tools available. I could never have hoped to troubleshoot a Windows machine to this degree.

By late evening, I was seriously backed up on transcription and needed the issue resolved. Since the trouble appeared to be software related, I decided to just wipe my hard drive and reinstall OSX. I’m sure there could have been a more techie solution, but this was easy and I was confident that a clean install would fix the problem.

Once I had a fresh copy of OS X set up, I restored my old system using my last Time Machine backup. That took the night and I woke up to a happy computer as though I hadn’t lost a whole day with it. If I had known how to run the hardware diagnostics, I could have had the system restored and running again by lunch. Oh, well, live and learn.

The moral of this story is that you should back up your computer often!!! Time Machine backs up automatically every hour, with the last one being just before I went to bed on Friday. Since I wasn’t able to do anything yesterday morning, I didn’t lose anything, making the decision to wipe the drive an easy one.

I’d like to invite my Mac-using readers to hold down CMD-V the next time they boot up. That will bring them to Verbose Mode, which means that instead of seeing a splash screen, you will see what’s actually happen to your system to bring it to life. Very interesting!

This incident just made me fall in love with Macs all over again and shows me just how far I’ve come with them. I had some major issues with my first Mac that were 100% attributed to my being used to using them. Eight years later, I can debug issues myself. Even with that long of using Windows, I wouldn’t have dreamed of that level of proficiency with the system.

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An RV Show in Lethbridge

Jody and I went to a small RV show this evening. Neither one of us was impressed by the offerings. We’ve concluded that we need to get into the RV design business!

Here are some shots of things that caught my eye:

a lot of rigs had this stupid corner cabinet

a lot of rigs had this stupid corner cabinet

worst place imaginable for a counter extension!

worst place imaginable for a counter extension!

Love this kitchen with the pantry right near the stove.

Love this kitchen with the pantry right near the stove.

I've never seen this colour of cabinetry in an RV; I adore it!

I’ve never seen this colour of cabinetry in an RV; I adore it!

love that cabinetry

love that cabinetry

I like this pendant fixture

I like this pendant fixture

still in love with that cabinetry

still in love with that cabinetry

one of the worst kitchens I've seen in an RV!

one of the worst kitchens I’ve seen in an RV!

class C with a mini bed slide, yuck!

class C with a mini bed slide, yuck!

the head of this bunk in a class C is raised and has storage under it. Not sure if I like it or not.

the head of this bunk in a class C is raised and has storage under it. Not sure if I like it or not.

love this tiny dinette for two!

love this tiny dinette for two!

best entrance closet ever in an RV; it's also has the washing machine hookups

best entrance closet ever in an RV; it’s also has the washing machine hookups

this tiny RV is essentially a bed that can be towed behind a car

this tiny RV is essentially a bed that can be towed behind a car

I rather like this kitchen in a class C

I rather like this kitchen in a class C

this toy hauler's ramp converts into a deck complete with awning!

this toy hauler’s ramp converts into a deck complete with awning!

wish this wasn't blurry because it's the crappiest faucet I've ever seen!

wish this wasn’t blurry because it’s the crappiest faucet I’ve ever seen!

tiny 5er!

tiny 5er!

I love distressed cream cabinetry

I love distressed cream cabinetry

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Friday Afternoons Are Rarely Fun

Today was fairly laid back. I had a couple of appointments past 4:00 so I went out mid-afternoon to do a deposit and grab an espresso. All was well and even with the late end to the work day, I was easing into weekend mode. Well…

My first appointment was for a move-in. I try to check the places ahead of time, but I knew this one was okay, having done a walk-through after the cleaning, so imagine my surprise when I walked in and discovered that someone from maintenance decided to be ‘helpful’ and mud some spots on the dining room wall, the hallway, and the bathroom door, then obviously forgotten to tell me to call the painter!

I was horrified! The tenant was speechless. I asked him what time he had planned to move in and he said 6:00. I promised that the paint would be done by then. I ran to our paint room and got everything I needed, then came back and did the sanding and painting myself. Thankfully, these were small areas, so by the time I got all the spots and doors done, the paint was dry enough to go over everything a second time. I cleaned up then raced by to the office to meet my next appointment.

As we talked, there came a knock at my door; the son of a tenant coming to inform me that he just got home to an inch of water in the storage room and a leak in a ceiling that looked ready to collapse. Maintenance was off duty except for dire emergencies, so I grabbed a bucket, a mop, and a garbage bag. The ceiling is essentially cardboard tile, so I knocked it all down into a garbage bag, mopped the floor, and placed a bucket under the very slow leak.

It was by this point that I was able to check my email and discover that Jody was having as wonderful an end to her week as I was. Hopefully, we’ll both get sorted out in time for us to go to a bloggable activity. I can’t promise you to stay tuned, but hopefully I’ll have something interesting later tonight. 🙂