Started this book last night, and just finished reading it about twenty minutes ago. Lots of the technical details went over my head, but learning about the technological wonders of the JWST was pretty astounding. I can’t wait to see what they developed, and then deploy next. Though I guess the Artemis missions to the moon are what’s up right now.
So yeah, two books down, with a three part omnibus on deck next. Going back to space faring science fiction and war stories in the Warhammer 40K universe. Dan Abnett and a couple of Gaunt’s ghosts are in the house! Pew-pew.
I did give some thought to going back to finish Mistborn, but I’m not in the mood for magic systems just yet. Give me a couple of weeks of reading dystopian war stories and I might want a break for elemental magics, and a good heist.
I have a massive book of dragon tales I can read, as well as yet another Aliens omnibus, so I have no shortage of things to read. Also my brain is a tad mushy after 200 pages of science history and telescopes, and Spectrography discussions. I’m not a smart man, numbers aren’t my thing, so it took a fair bit of focus to read all that, and keep a through line of what it all meant. Brain is tired. Much like those days when I would write 4,000 or more words of a short story, my head would get foggy, and I’d need to dumb things down a bit before bed. Know thine limitations!
Anyway — book good. Photos lovely. Science neato. Short and Sweet.
If I had my way I would scoop these sorts of things up from the farm, take them home to my garage shop, break them down, strip off the paint, add all new hoses & fittings, fix any bearings, pins, and bushings, chase threads, repaint it, reassemble it, and enjoy watching it get a whole new life of use on the farm. A few things stick out as to why I don’t. One- can’t lift it. I do not own a skid steer, a truck robust enough to carry it, nor a shop crane to manoeuvre it once at my shop. Two- I don’t really know anything about hydraulics, systems, hoses, fittings, pressurized lines, and how the flow of fluid works within such systems. Although this being an attachment for a tractor I suspect the majority of those complications lie inside the tractor, and not this add-on attachment. Three- my shop is not big enough to house this thing which is larger than it looks up close. I also don’t have a sturdy enough work bench for that type of weight. I also don’t do any sort of metal fabrication, so I couldn’t weld anything, bend anything, mill/lathe any simple fixes, or do much of anything worth while to it in my shops current state. I do mainly wood working, and a hint of vehicle service, and household repair. It’d be fun to figure this thing out though. Repair linkages, repaint it. Carve off the stickers & decals and then reapply them when done before a thick clear coat finish was applied to seal it all in together. Fun times!
There’s this sizeable wagon I want to fix too, that if you could add a third, fat wheel to at the front, that articulated would allow you to steer it around, could be used to hold a watering barrel for those hard to reach spots in the gardens. It needs sanding, dent repair, some minor fabrication, and a paint job. Possibly new, or just properly inflated tires, and some body work so the tires spin freely. Could also be a fun project. Likely a whole lot simpler than the excavator attachment. Weigh a whole lot less too.
Book two for 2026 (Fig 2.)
In other news I finished the Jason Pargin book last night. It was fine. Glad I got through a book, and am not into another one. This is about the James Webb Space Telescope, and so far reads pretty easily. Less textbook, more biography of the processes required in bringing it to life. Also — space photography! Ooh, aah… Very nice. While I’m not sure if I can do the twelve books in twelve months this year (my eyes and all that) I’m glad to finally sit down to read this one. I love science fiction, but occasionally I need to read about real science. Not that I understand much of it, but I am glad that others do, and are able to act on it in our favour. Sweet! Also the books not that long. Fewer than two hundred pages with a lovely photo spread in the middle. Just like the New Horizons book about the Pluto mission. One of my all time favourite books about actual science. But I digress.
I spent some time yesterday priming over my poor earlier paint job of several Warhammer 40K miniatures. I intend to redo those with my air brush, and considerably more patience. Not that I am able to battle with them, I just want a much cleaner paint job for the few that I have. I might even wash, and primer over some Eldar that I have too. My first pass with yellow was unsuccessful, let’s just put it that way shall we. Hideous results. No matter. Strip the paint off, and begin again!
Which I was told was supposed to start over this previous weekend, but that didn’t happen because it was still minus twenty five when I got up both mornings. However to hedge my bets I have gone and dug out the storm drain at the front of the property to try to eliminate a standing puddle that will turn into a solid block of ice every night once the sun goes down. And I took some time to cut away the snow & ice build up from the end of the driveway to widen it back up just a hair. I saw my spouse had driven directly backwards into the snow pile, so half the work of breaking it down was done for me. What the state of her rear bumper is right now, I don’t know, but I imagine there may be a couple new bumps, dents, and scratches on it, that’s for certain. No matter. I also dug out the alcove for the garbage bins, and the 306 L recycling dumpster we all use now. With there being so much snow making our driveway entrance tighter and tighter, I am not able to put the bins out in the drive, and still have room to get around them in the mornings. So a carve out of the snowbank is essential. It’ll get filled in with any new dumping of snow, just you wait and see. I’ll be back out there digging it out soon enough.
Most importantly I found the storm drain, and it is uncovered. May the warming spell drain itself away unfettered! I can’t say what has become of my down spouts or eaves troughs, but the street (at least on my side) shouldn’t flood too badly. I mean if the storm drains are a solid block of ice underground, my opening the top grate to the world isn’t going to do much good. It’s the thought that counts! Ha.
Here we are in February, the 2nd at that. And it’s sunny. The ground hogs are sure to see their shadows, and we get six more weeks of hard winter. On the plus side, no icy trips to the cottage or Ottawa this February, so that’s a plus in my books. It’s always so damn cold! I hate the cold. I hate it! With a passion, no less. Interminable season. Never wants to leave, sticks around for far too long. The fact we started snow in November means we’re four months into the white stuff, and I don’t care for it. Makes Christmas look picturesque but is otherwise a nuisance.
Welcome to Monday everybody. We started the laundry last night. I put the dishwasher on before I left with the kids this morning, and I can focus on other things if I wish. Like taking a nap! In all honesty I welcome the coming of spring. I can get back into my wood shop and build some useful items for the house. Start to poke around in the trees, shrubs, and hedges a little. Clean up the left over weeds and leaves from the lawn. Pick up all the dropped twigs from the trees. Take a load of stuff to the farm as clean fill for the field(s). I get to open the windows, and doors, and begin the spring cleaning. Washing the windows, blinds, ceiling fans, vents, that sort of thing. It’s not glamorous work but it feels like things are getting done around here. Cobwebs on the ceilings get brushed away. Dust bunnies are found and disposed of. See if the closets I cleaned out have gathered newer junk to be sorted or purged. Swap the kids clothes over to lighter items for the impending temperature change. It’s a whole thing!
Do a nice little service to the bicycles and the lawn mower. Make sure both chainsaws are up and running. Maybe return to bucking logs at the farm for a week or so. Much can be done when the weather begins to turn in March/April. Can’t forget tax time either. Wheeeee!
Toasty and warm while it’s minus twenty three degrees Celsius outside. (Fig 1.)
I worked a little on my report yesterday, and I shovelled another foot and a half of snow off the back deck, for those playing the home game that outs me up to just shy of 100 cm of snow removed from this particular deck so far this winter. The skies are blue, but it is icy cold out there, and I don’t much care for it. It was just a few days ago that I realized I hadn’t even read one whole book in January, so I tried very hard to sit down to read a bunch over the last two or three days. I’ve made progress, but my one book a month goal has fallen short all ready. D’oh! Maybe I can make it up with two shorter books in February, or over the summer? I don’t know, and I’m not all that concerned about it to be honest with you.
But, I did sit near the fire to read for a solid hour or more and I’ll take that as a win. No phone in my hand, I left it in another room to charge while I focused on reading. It feels good to work, or entertain myself without a phone nearby. Helps to keep my mind on the task at hand.
I don’t mind having music playing though, but with music from my phone comes notifications, texts, emails, and all of that type of nonsense. I still have CDs, but my last cd player died about five years or more ago. My television hook up can play music, same with my old Xbox. So physical media isn’t totally out of reach right now. Perhaps I’ll look into getting a new CD player for the house, eliminate the need for my phone for music. Though a lot of my new favourites were discovered on iTunes, and I don’t have a disc for them. I can’t remember the last time I went out to buy a disc for a band I like. That has to be more than a decade ago by now. Wow. Funny how time flies. I guess the iPod destroyed music stores. No need to buy albums when I could grab the single I was after. Funny that. Huh.
I’m trying to locate large print versions of books I’d like to read. Long gone now is my desire to read an 800 page time with 6 pt nice type in it, and a thousand words per page. Give me 140-210 exceptional pages of snappy characters in an interesting environment and I’m with you for the ride along! Think Martha Wells and the Murder it series in regards to brevity. I’m far more drawn to that now than ever before. I used to love long winding, meandering, world building tales that used thousands of pages. Now I want you to allude to it, and keep the story moving. That’s my jam now. That’s where to meet me in the book store aisles.
I might have to just wander the large print section at the book store because I can’t ever seem to find new titles in large print online. Maybe it’s a special order kind of thing? I guess hard cover books get printed with fairly large type in them, so I have that option available. Those just get pricy. More than I’m looking to spend at the moment. Whatever, I have glasses, and a substantial pile of books to be read, so I should knuckle under, read those, then search out newer stuff that’s easier on the eyes.
It’s not difficult to want to sit a read when it’s bitterly cold out, and there’s a fire going in the family room. Sunshine, warm blankets, fire crackling. Get your books out! It’s reading time.
Making my way through this book — finally! (Fig 2.)
Fewer than 200 pages left to go until book one for the year is done. Wish me luck!
Greatwall Studios Graphic Design 
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