How quickly the rains will turn to freezing rain and black ice is not up to me. If I had my way we’d avoid both at all costs. Nothing quite like being trapped miles away from home in terrible weather. But life goes on, weather or not. Today is climbing day, so with any luck it shall remain just rain until we’ve gotten home safe & sound.
We have our chalk bags fitted and filled ready for use today. We’ll see how well it works compared to just the small liquid chalk that I was distributing only every so often. Let us pray the kids don’t empty their bags today by being silly, or forgetful. Only time will tell.
With any luck California will get some much needed rain of their own to replenish that which was lost due to fighting the fires. They can have some of ours!
I had best get to work while the kids are occupied with eating, and not currently fighting like cats & dogs. I’ll see just how far I can get before I have to break things up, make snacks, wipe a butt, or find them clothes to send them out into the yard for their hour of fresh air today. See you all on the other side of it!
We decided to offer the game night ticket to my wife’s brother as an additional part to his Christmas present. So he will travel down and watch the game with my eldest daughter. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little sad about not going with her — again, this time. But, in all fairness we have tickets for the end of the month, and I have one more set for early March as well, so I’m not hard done by, by any means. I’ll put on my colours, and will cheer from the couch. Maybe this time their section will win a prize, or a t-shirt, or get to meet Carlton the Bear. I know she’d love that!
Tomorrow is a PA Day, so with any luck both kids will sleep in, and not be grouchy after a late night out to the game. Well, the oldest one won’t be much of a problem, she’s old enough to keep herself occupied, and to find things to do that she likes. The youngest one is that child that still needs/wants everything done for her, and is the bigger issue at play. It depends, if I’m busy with work it will feel like a hassle, and if I’m slow then I won’t much mind. I don’t like to be made to feel like a servant, but I also don’t mind occasionally being helpful for fetching an item from the kitchen. Problem is the youngest one tends to abuse this by calling for any & everything under the sun. Which makes me angry. You need “a” drink, sure, you want six refills, and snacks, and, and, and…. then I’m magically in a huff, and it’ll get pretty shouty around here quickly. No point worrying about that which hasn’t happened yet. Getting pre-mad is stupid.
I need to go back to the drawing board on a big project, so I’ll be fairly busy today. Best get a move on. Ciao Bella.
I was starting to panick yesterday when my brand new computer was not charging above 96%, but it turns out the Magsafe 3 charging cable is very sensitive to fluctuations in voltage from the wall sockets in my house. Luckily I have an APC battery station and surge protector which evens out, and moderates a steady flow of volts from it. So that’s the new chargers home to keep my computer safe. Just like my older iMac. Battery emergency power, and a safer power source for something vital in the house.
Turns out that’s pretty normal, maybe not the variance I’ve seen, but to some degree you’d expect and drop & a spike as people leave for school/work, and then return home to use devices etc… I just wasn’t prepared for a charging cable to be so finicky about the quality/level of power it was drawing in order to charge. I imagine there was a battery life, equipment durability reason to make the cords that way.
Here we are on Wednesday, and the Leafs have just lost three in a row — badly. I still hold out hope that they can pull off a valiant win for Thursday nights game, or atleast stay in the fight for the whole sixty minutes. A solid tight game, even with a loss is far better than a blow out either way. Of course all of the bus/train schedules are different from the last time we went. Nothing like needing to check the schedules for every single individual outing! It’s a shame it’s so damn cold as it would be fun to show my daughter around the city afterwards, ir before hand but if it’s minus sixteen or worse then who’d want to do that?
It’s a week night so the ability to get there early to eat elsewhere is greatly diminished. Will have to suck it up and pay for the overpriced on site food options. Fifty bucks to two slices, and two drinks is about right.
They came out so strong last night, and scored in the first opening minutes. It looked so incredible, and then Dallas answered almost immediately and the Leafs deflated, and then let in three more unanswered goals for a 4-1 loss in regulation time. It was… disappointing. Especially after that rocket start! They can turn things around, long way from the playoffs to go yet.
I have some work emails to go sort out shortly. Stay warm, stay safe. Ciao Bella.
Takes time, and effort to move 608Gb of data to an external hard drive, approximately three hours if you’d care to know. That’s my 8Tb external hard drive back up now roped into the mix. It now shares an exact copy of the last ten years worth of working files. After that came the set up of the new computer itself. Apple atleast makes things fairly simple, so making things personalized isn’t a massive time suck, nor much of a chore. The last part, and probably the trickiest is loading all of the Adobe design software, Microsoft apps, and file transfer protocols so that I can continue to work more or less seamlessly. It took up a significant portion of my afternoon and evening yesterday. Authenticating myself, passcodes, passkey, key chains, two step authorizations, text messages, and e-mails to verify actions. It was nearly more than I cared to undertake. Which is why I had been putting off this investment for so long. Also why I’m reticent to upgrade my phone any time soon, even though it’s got to be seven years old by now, possibly older give it take a couple months.
And yet, and yet he says, I managed to get it done. I will likely encounter a few instances where I have forgotten about an application I use rarely that I’ll need to migrate over aswell. Hopefully I have covered much of my bases. I do know that I have to transfer my invoices, and tax stuff so that I have copies of that too. I don’t fancy starting that from scratch again. I like continuity wherever I can find it.
I am lucky that in years gone by I signed up for multiple family licenses for programs that I use alot. Although I was under the impression that I had at least two Adobe licenses that came under my umbrella package, due to the old e-mails claiming as much. But once I started to dig deeper found that to be untrue. Yes I can manage my apps, and yes I can invite myself to be a part of my team, but to use said apps requires another paid license. So sometime soon I will have to delete Adobe from my old computer so I’m not paying for two for too long. Would make sense of I could continue to use my iMac for years to come as a studio machine, and not just a fancy monitor/storage device. Oh well. Cost of doing business I guess. I did get ten years from the iMac, and it still works commendable well. It’s the software updates stopping due to out of date OS, and my system nolonger being compatible with newer versions that get pushed out every 3-months. Not just that, but as they push out the newer stuff they shut down the older versions, which is where my iMac was headed. One day I’ll turn it on and all the Adobe stuff just won’t launch again. I’ve had to keep my computer on, with the programs loaded for the last few months for fear of them not launching before I had my new computer in place, and running properly. I guess now I can shut it down at night. Save me some battery life on the keyboard & mouse.
As of today the programs still launch but can take anywhere from seven to eleven minutes to load while the icon bounces and jumps. Gave me heart palpitations when the load times moved into double digits. I should go move those last couple of items, and be truly ready to work on the new machine from here on out. It’s not a good bye, it’s a see you later moment. Also if I mirror my laptop screen onto my old iMac then it’s not a goodbye at all really.
I had a surge of creative activity last afternoon and I had hoped to use it for today, but I’ve had misfires before with automated times releases of prewritten materials. It all counts towards the day it was written, and not the day of release. So my streak gets nullified if I do that. That’s no good to me. I am attempting to get back to my 831 day streak, but it’s going to take time as I haven’t even hit 275 yet. An awful lot happened over the first few years of creating that streak. I do not know if I have it in me to better it at this point. So, for now I will have to take it day by day and see where things take me.
All it took was for me to remember which two books I had forgotten about to complete my 12 book challenge. Forget that I only made it through eleven and three quarters of those twelve books, but still. Not only that but I finished reading the first book I have picked up this year yesterday afternoon. And much like I predicted, I skipped the .25 of the lingering Alien novel in favour of the new James S A Corey hardcover I ordered months ago. I’m about 50 pages in, and so far it’s great. Love it.
I have a fair bit of paid work to do today, so that will take 100% of my time for at least the next three days. One big report, plus various other smaller items for different clients have come in. Things could get intense around here for the next little bit. And on that note, I had best be about my business then. Ciao Bella.
If you hate sleep, and never want to do so again read this book, it’s terrific.
First out of the starting blocks is Annie Jacobsen’s “Nuclear War” a terrifying look at just what a nuclear world war three will entail. A deeply researched, and terribly captivating look at the death of the world. A fast paced train wreck that ends with us all either vapourised, pulverized, chemically choked to death, starved, or crushed. If you don’t want to sleep anymore let this book gnaw at your subconscious for a spell. A memorable waltz down the lane to our doom. Spectacular. I bought this in September expecting to read it in 2024, but I got hung up trying to get through some Alien’s anthologies, and just couldn’t get to it in time. Fresh start with 2025 though.
The Alien book that I’m 75% finished. Fewer than 100 pages to go! Should be book two with an asterisk for 2025.
I bought two of these Alien omnibus’ with a third single story line book to add into the mix. It was supposed to be an easy 5 story/book add-on to my 2024 reading list. I however stalled out after completing 1.75 of the first two stories in the first book. I had just watched Alien : Romulus and was on a real kick for that type of easy reading. But it started to wear on me, and I slacked off in November & December as far as reading is concerned. This *Should* be my book two for 2025, but I have a feeling the next item on today’s list might usurp that spot.
From the duo whom brought us “The Expanse” series of novels.
I have a sneaking suspicion that I will be heavily drawn to reading this new universe from the writing duo known as James S A Corey as my actual second book this year. Things it has going for it: hard cover book with large type (my eyes aren’t what they used to be). A brand new story I know nothing about. It’s hard science-fiction but snappily written from what I can tell, similar to the other ten books of theirs which I own, and have read, and thoroughly enjoyed, I might add. The book isn’t too thick, which even though I am so close to finishing the other novel, visually puts me off as a mental obstacle. I know, I’m weak. I get it. I don’t have the stick with it—ness of a 1,000 plus page tome like I used too. I’ve gravitated towards better written short science fiction, but that might be due to brain rewiring from Covid-19 infection(s) from years previous. Hard to nail down. Anyway, I ordered this book ages ago, once I found out about it. Unlike video games I will jump on a favored authors pre-order so that I get a nice surprise delivery months, or years, later out of the blue. Sometimes those release dates get bumped or shuffled and I don’t bother to keep up to date on them. I do note when the release date I last heard of passes by, if no book arrives though. I have wanted to pre-order a Scott Lynch book, for his court of gentlemenly bastards line (sic) I don’t recall off the top of my head what it actually was. But he’s been ill, or suffered familial issues and his next novel has had its release date jump by a number of years. I’ll keep an ear/eye out for that should it come out. I like his stuff a great deal. It’s all very reminiscent of George R R Martin and his final entry into the Song of Ice and Fire “Game of Thrones” series. Waiting on baited breath for that let me tell you.
Three more Alien stories to read in two books.Final two books in the Dune series to go.
Then I will have atleast three more Alien’s based books to read, and two more Dune novels to round of this years to-be-read list. I will likely order more throughout the year as I hear of my favourite authors releasing stuff I’m interested in. I like to aim for twelve in a year, but I don’t always hit the mark. In some years I go well over, and last year I did 11.75. I was a mere 100 pages from successfully completing my challenge. And yet… I managed to clutch defeat from the arms of victory. Oh well.
I figured out I was forgetting Fart Quest book four from last years count, and a second Adrian Tchaikovsky book from very early January last year which I forgot about. So I was really close to hitting my twelve, I really was. Even after 41 days of travel to Florida!
I read a single self help type book which one of my brothers recommended to me last year too. Luckily it was short, about 150 pages or so type of short. Not overly clinical either. Felt more like a long opinion piece where none of the statistical data /research gets mentioned all that much. Psychologists I guess!?!
I wish I could release this tomorrow, but it would only count towards today. I’ve tried delayed releases before, and it messes with my daily writing streak by attributing posts to the incorrect day. So two posts today! A big day in Greatwall Studious blog news.
A whole lot of nothing if I’m being truthful – ha! I ramble and rant/rave about whatever the day has brought me, or not. I talk about raising my children. I talk about freelancing, graphic design, and being self employed. I talk about my new puppy Graham a fair bit too. Can’t forget about the weather, or Domestic Duties Monday’s, Hump Days/Middle of the Week Days, and things going on from my childhood. I don’t personally know who reads this stuff other than me, or why they would do so. It’s a bland account of my daily life, hobbies, stressors, and on occasion pop culture. A mish mash of random ideas floating around pretending to be a coherent narrative.
Yesterday we went back to rock climbing after taking a few weeks off for the winter break. I found my first pair of climbing shoes! And they were cheaper than expected, and also on sale for 20% off. Score! Now I have everything I need to climb. Shoes, a harness, and two types of chalk (that’s not really a requirement, but a nice to have). Once I get my harness reviewed by the front desk, and get a tag out for the auto belay, I will nolonger need to rent equipment to climb. A savings over time of about $20.00/visit. I rented each of the six visits I did, and the kids have rentals included in their session fees too. So now that I’ve gone a bunch and the continued rental fees would exceed the upfront cost of the harness, and the shoes I opted to buy my own. The only issue I encountered was that climbing shoes do not adhere to standardized sizing across all available brands. Not only that but the toe tip shape, and arch vary widely between makes, and models of boot. It took a few attempts to find one that suits me. My initial thought was to buy top of the line, but I resisted that urge, since I’m a noob, and uncoached at this point. And instead for a reasonable “first” pair of like basic introductory climbing shoes. I still like them. I hope to get a few tears out of them if I can!
A new report came in yesterday early afternoon, which is terrific. Got a jump on that by building my templates, colour palette, and starting the first three sections right off the bat. I hope to put another 2 hours or so into it today, and maybe knock out the comments section, and one more subsection before Monday morning when I will need to dig into it for real. From what I can tell there may be a few early in the year reports coming. 2025 is off to a healthy start work wise. I’m well pleased by that news. I have no qarauntee that work will flow straight through the whole year, but atleast for Q1 I know I have work coming in, and payable invoices going out! BAM —BOOM! Business, yeah I speak it. A little, like a two year old learning to add a little something to the conversation.
It’s a saturday which means rock climbing session at The Hub in Markham to fill up three plus hours of my late morning, and early afternoon. The kids are in separate staggered classes this time around, so I need to rest more and climb over a longer period of time. Now that I own my own chalk bag, chalk dust, liquid chalk dispenser(s), and a harness, I am now in need of a first pair of climbing shoes. I think I will need to get professionally fitted for those because I don’t really know how much toe squeeze is acceptable. To me it would be zero, zilch, none, nada. But according to the coaches here I should feel some. Not a crippling amount, but the shoes should feel more than “snug”. I don’t go in for cramped toes. I hate it in hockey skates, work boots, and roller blades, so I’m not really with it for climbing. But I understand the need for a mightily fixed sturdy shoe so you can leverage out/over on a single toe point. Maybe I’m just a weenie with foot/toe pain. Years of losing toenails from soccer & rugby makes me loath to purposefully crush my toes any more than is absolutely necessary. Makes sense right? I think so.
Anyway, it’s a sunny and cool saturday. My eldest is feeling much better. Her fever broke mid day yesterday. She is eating and drinking, and has no fever. I think her throat was a bit off was her only minor complaint. We’ll wait and see how many of us come down with it this week coming. Hopefully none. I’ve had the hepa filters running to clean up the air and save us from catching it.
Threw up once last evening, and awoke with a fever of 38.9°C this morning. After three additional hours of bedrest, tylenol, and several bottles worth of water she looks a little more lifelike. More colour, better demeanor, and a lowered temperature of 37.7°C. Not in the clear just yet, but let us hope a quiet stress free day lounging about her bedroom moves this thing along. Could be a 24 hour bug, in which case she’ll be fine by tomorrow. Then the trick becomes who gets it next? Ha. Such fun! But in all reality, I’m glad she is feeling more like herself. She was rather subdued and muted yesterday after school.
It is the first Friday of 2025! The Leafs lost their first game after a five game winning streak. If they could keep up that ratio they will finish the season in a great spot for the play-offs. I’d love to see a real hardy play-off run, but I don’t know if that is really something I want to set my mind on at this stage of the NHL season. That way lies madness, and heart ache! But, he says… I am going to potentially go see five at home Leaf games this season, so getting riled up this particular year makes more sense than any year previous. I’m a little closer to it than ever before. Going to see them play in Tampa Bay last April really set a bug in my ear. Hell I bought a jersey for the first time ever this Christmas for myself, and one for my eldest daughter. I even went so far as to buy a named/numbered Matthew’s t-shirt from.the arena. I’m feeling the white & blue!
Rock climbing is set to start up again tomorrow morning, but this time around their sessions aren’t together, but staggered by 30 minutes. Means I’ll have longer to climb if I want. Means my wife will get a longer stretch of time to herself on saturday mid morning, through until early afternoon for the next seven weeks. She can read, or sleep, or watch a movie uninterrupted by the three of us.
Have been trying to trim my dogs nails for the last week. I have done his two front paws thus far. Mostly positive. Trying to get him comfortable with the clippers, and tapping his toes one by one without cutting the nails, and praising him, and giving treats after/during each session. Not working as quickly as I’d like. It’s at times like these where I wish we had got him at 8 weeks, instead of seven months old. But with a lot of work hopefully we can make it less of an issue. I hope!
Well I have paid work to get back to. I was just up here checking on my daughter, and fell into the trap of sitting down, and writing a blog post. Luckily I didn’t pull up YouTube or Reddit and lose myself for a bunch of time. Ciao Bella.
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