Greatwall Studios Graphic Design

If we weren’t lucky enough to work on multiple communications providers, my streak really could have been cut short, no fault of my own! But no worries, Day 206 is here and we’re all good. Not that I have much of anything specific to say today, but I’m glad my streak is still ongoing! I think that when I do end it, I want to be by choice, and for a reason, other than a communications outage which is still affecting my Cell phone.

In other news, I am able to keep working because of our family using multiple service providers (thankfully!). We took a gamble on working through the data without any of the new (possible) changes, and it sort of back fired on me. But On the plus side, the first draft of the report is done, and going back to change out five or six graphs isn’t that big a deal at this point. I felt waiting on the data to start with was likely to be foolish, and that played out, with the Rogers Cable/Internet/Cell Service outage across Canada today. So Bully for me. Why put off until tomorrow that which can be ignored today, or something to that effect.

In yesterday’s post, I said it was Day three of the battle with the fridge, when it was most clearly Day 4! Which makes me complicit and an unreliable witness in the trenches of this mechanized culinary warfare. I was discombobulated by the fog of war. The constant back and forth of will it work, why won’t this work, left me dazed, and confused. I misspoke and I apologize for injecting my own bias into a narrative fraught with tension and so many unknowables. It is, however, with a sigh of relief that the total defrost has eliminated the ice build up, and damming of the freezer vents which cuts of the exchange of cool air with the fridge. At least until it catches a whiff of moisture and condenses again. The moisture alarm failed to sound, and the gradual raising of the freezer temperature to bust the frosting process failed to produce any meaningful results. So a complete shut down, and the movement of vital supplies was our only actionable plan. Though it took almost ten hours, and several soaked towels I believe we were successful yet again. Though for how long, is anybody’s guess.

In other news today is Thursday, and the James Webb Space Telescope is about to present us with its first images after being deployed all of those many weeks ago. I am excited to see what they have discovered, or have rediscovered with far clearer higher resolution images. Happy to read about it all if they write a book about it like the New Horizons book about the satellite they sent to Pluto. That was a great book. Photos were incredible aswell.

The first batch of summer tie dye t-shirts are ready to rinse and dry before wearing. That took up about 30 minutes of time yesterday while I was working on various paid projects.

Simple measures that worked before are no longer useful. We’ve had to go full defrost mode. Stripping out all of the valuable food stuffs and sending them to the battered old unit in the basement, and stuffing what’s left into a cooler with freezer packs. The milk and dairy have been evacuated to a safe place far away from the front lines. Towels will soon be placed to soak up the mess from the frosty innards of the lower freezer. The trap is set, now we watch – and wait.

Can we once again best this unit in a battle of wits, or will we be forced to call in a repair man or – Gasp!, purchase a new unit in this, the time of heightened prices, and major supply line issues. Shoulders are tense, and nerves are starting to fray. The set of the jaw aches through the teeth and down into the top of the chest. Who will buckle under the pressure first? We just won’t know.

In other news the break is on to Day Six, and everyone is alive and well. Though for how long is anybody’s guess at this point. The rain came through yesterday, but it did not deliver as much as was forecasted. The grass is parched, and we continue to need to water the crops by hand canister and hose. This is July 6th of 2022.

The uneasy truce has been breached – yet again. First by a reluctant attempt to create ice for a birthday party set in the mid day sun. The second seems to be from the new groceries that went in the freezer yesterday. Must have mad excess moisture on them, as the whole freezer has crusted over with ice & frost. Once again we will slightly warm the space to eliminate the frost/ice, without spoiling the contents of either the fridge or freezer portions. It is a delicate task. One I usually undertake when no one else is home. But now we are in the midst of the first week of summer holidays and I can’t escape them for more than an hour or so at a time. This could prove to be very difficult. I don’t wish to purchase a new fridge at this time, but having to defrost it every single week to ten days will wind up being too tedious a task for us. But for the sake of saving a thousand bucks or more I might be able to deal with it for a bit longer.

The front lines of summer holidays are strewn with the discarded bodies of toys, markers and slips of paper. Plastercine lumps cover the ground, mashed into the cracks between floor boards. Old snacks and juice boxes litter the living room. All has gone to hell. We held the washing line for as long as we could. Bashing out two loads on cheaper Sunday, but we did not fold it, nor put it away. I fear the clothes are lost in the tides. Scattered about like the silhouettes of children run amok. Pray for us.

Yesterday was a bit of a blur, but we have now surpassed the 200 day writing milestone. Came & went without fanfare or markings of any kind. Seems like something I’d do. My hips ache from all of the walking we’ve done the last two days mooching around the town events. I also carried my youngest around a fair bit too, which didn’t help my back, nor my hips much. Partly why I have been consistently lifting weights, so I could do so, without further injury to my back. Who’d have thought getting fat & lazy would lead to minor, but nagging injuries hmmm. Well, exercising just a little every day has counter acted some of those nagging back issues, and made me less tired on the daily. Which is nice. I’m happy about it. Hasn’t done me much in the way of weight loss, but that hasn’t been my goal as of yet. I wanted the back issue to soften a bit over several months first.

And now we are, what? Three days into the 63 days of summer break. Several tantrums deep at this point. Some days are hot and sticky, some rainy, and some have been windy & cool. The whole gamut of possible summer time weather in three days. Very strange days indeed.

Saw the second to last episode of Stranger Things Season Four last night, and I’m pumped for the two plus hours of the finale! From what I hear there will be one more season and then it’s all over and done with. It’s been mostly quality thus far, so I appreciate them not going on until we’re all sick to death of the show. Top quality!

As great as we have it here, there are questions to be answered regarding our collective history. So take pride, but be aware that our history is not pristine, and free from horrible acts of cruelty.

The Canada Day/Strawberry Festival is upon us. The fireworks, though late (at 9:52pm) were wonderful yet again.

It is currently just after 8:00am on Friday July 1st, and The Summer Break 2022 is officially underway. Sounds as though the kids woke up on or around six something this morning even though there is nothing much going on until 11:00am. These kids have got to learn to sleep in, as they are exhausting when they get up early and then make demands they know cannot be met at that time. Unreasonable, logicless children. Primal savagery contained in minuscule bodies full of too much energy and not enough introspective self awareness. Trouble in waiting these kids are. When do they start to sleep in? When does that phenomenon begin to take hold? I desperately need to know, so that I can set a countdown clock for it in the back of my mind.

Not going to lie, the weather looks sketchy at best outside these windows. Could downpour on us as we attend the town’s events. Drizzle is one thing, but a full on deluge from the heavens is another issue entirely. Drizzle will limit the crowds and we can still have a good time, a downpour will cause everything to screech to a halt, and will kill the vibe. Plus it’ll set the kids to whining and crying in disappointment. We’ve tried not to shield them from disappointment so that they could learn to deal with it, and build up resilience to things not going as planned, but both being under eight years of age, means tears and moaning endlessly regardless. The Joys of parenthood. We’ll make the most of whatever we can get.

Nine weeks with the children at home. Well technically eight, as the kids both go to dance camp for one week this summer when my wife goes back to work, and they weren’t scheduled to be back in school yet. So we have eight weeks to try to stay sane and keep them occupied enough not to kill one another. A razor’s edge of keeping them busy without falling over into over tired territory which is just as bad as bored and irritable. I get it now, why our parents smacked the shit out of us in our youth. Not that we condone it, but I get it. I hated it, but I get it in a very visceral way. How much simpler it would be to solve every irritation with a slap upside the head, or a slipper to the behind. But all that does is breed resentment and more outbursts. Though calm talking and time outs only worked well when they were very little. The hankerin’ for a spankerin’ as The Simpson’s said, is growing some days. May cooler heads continue to prevail.

I have started to think alot about a live edge waterfall coffee table build for the fall. Can I just say, what a relief it is to have the screen door build finished. We’ve had many cool breezy days where it has seen use, and I am in love. It’s what I always envisioned for the house. And I’m still very interested in a slab table build project. It will depend greatly on price, as wood is kind of expensive still. I know plywood is not anywhere near as cheap as it used to be. So I can only imagine what the price of hard woods is doing these days. Maybe instead of Walnut, we use Cherry or one of the more locally sourced species like Ash. Of which I have a bunch all ready. I just need it to be 1″ thick or thinner instead of the 9/4 it is now. Which is heavy and unwieldy. Things to consider for the fall. Unless a very specific request comes in from my spouse, I won’t be building any furniture for at least eight child filled weeks. Yesterday’s rushed rabbit hutch was the last of it for now. Unless we need an outdoor over sized hutch for the rabbit to live in.

More akin to a hidey hole safe spot than a full blown hutch. Had to hurry as the kids are in school for less than a half day today. Summer break starts at 11:31am! Yahoo. So I rushed a bit, and that’s ok. I felt a bit lost yesterday with no projects in the shop. I did, however, start on a packaging job, which should last until August/September. And I have reports coming at some point soon. Plus it’s a long weekend, and the town has many events planned.

In between projects I’d like to get out on our bikes for a bit, swim a bunch, use the park far more than we have been doing, and get the kids to help weed our garden beds, so it’s not just me 100% of the time. Feels odd to have an actual, really real last day of school. The last three school years ended with us all at home, so it feels a little surreal. Normalcy in a time when that’s not yet warranted. Denial will get a whole lot of people killed, or critically injured internally over the next 18-24 months.

However, most are off on travel adventures, so we’ll become isolated once more! Less likely to get sick if we’re all home alone anyway. It is Thursday, the last one in June of 2022! Crazy how this year is moving along so quickly. It won’t be long before those “See You, in September!” Ads begin to play on tv. Ciao Bella!

Among many awful things, wasn’t click bait journalism something detestable that has developed out of the later 2000’s, and the rise of the internet. Oh, it’s deplorable. Loathsome even. I hate to see it, and do my best to avoid stuff like that, though it is far more widespread than you would think. Lots of what I would have considered, upright journalism, is presented this way with utterly ridiculous tag lines and head lines written by fools. Ugh. What a waste of an important medium. Gotta get those clicks, and eyeballs on ads though. All about the revenue. Bah!

It’s a gray day here, overcast, with some minor spitting rain. No torrential downpours as of yet. My straw for a lawn could use it though.

I finished up my tapered legged end table made of Walnut & Hickory yesterday. I used Danish oil for colour, and Osmo clear poly to protect it, and add just a touch of sheen. Looks nice. My through and through mortises could do with a bit of work, but I’m happy enough with it as is. It’s all a learning experience at this point. Some might recall my sculpted Ogre Rogue bust which I’ve placed on top for photographing the table. The splines don’t pop as much as I’d hoped. I think the bleached sap wood from the walnut mutes the contrast a bit. No matter, live and learn. Moving along!