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Tag: working

Getting busier with work.

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The lull period is starting to become a distant memory as event season has kicked off with a flourish, which means report season is now starting! Phew! Glad for the work, not that I mind being a SAHP most of the time, but it is far easier to keep my business running if I have both outgoing, and incoming invoices. No good going weeks or months paying subscription fees waiting for a season, or quarter to kick off. Not that I have much say in the matter. Helps I’ve done this for nearly twenty years, and can plan for extended quiet periods. This too shall pass.

Now I play the time management tetris game where I carve out 3 hr blocks to tackle whole sections of my report, interweaving smaller projects in between that require more frequent review & edit sessions as the projects evolve. I also need to not try to do the whole lot in one fell swoop as that would take me 24 hours straight, and would ruin my wrist, and end my week with injury three days in. So that’s not the plan I’ll follow.

If I utilize four eight hour days, plus an extra eight hour day for soft proofing, and minor adjustments then I can hopefully get an 85+ page document off for review inside of a full workweek, including other clients work on top.

I do love my day planner & desk calendar combo. Not as much choice over at Staples as there once was. Not sure how, or why, but I have been using that combo which ends in July. And what I see available for 2025 starts in January. Very few 24/25 options that I could find, under $30.00 CND. I like the open flat, spiral bound day planner, not the week on a single page type. When things get busy i need a page per say to track edits, reviews, approvals, and printer contact info.

I like to track family stuff too, so I need room, when I need room. Which isn’t every day, week or month, but I’ll be sore if I don’t have it when required. The quality of desk calendars was lacklustre too. The ones laid out how I like were too large, and started on the wrong month. I suppose Amazon would have a greater selection, but I need to have it in hand now. Oh well.

I would like to buy a new office chair, and a larger white board. Things I can make do with what I currently have. Profits and productivity are way, way down this year compared to last. So fewer expenses the better, right now. Though I do enjoy lists, making lists, and working off of lists. The benefits of a larger whiteboard are minimal beyond just having the room to breathe while writing out longer lists.

It didn’t help that I needed to run errands this morning before I could start work. Bank was not accepting cheques in the machines, so that was an early time waster. Staples was open, nay – empty, but didn’t have the selection I was hoping from from years gone by. So I had to really gauge and weigh my needs against what was available,  and what I know would work for me. Doing the rounds inside to triple check all spots where more, better, day planner/calendar options might be hidding. Unless I wanted to spend $60.00 or more, my options were fairly tight.

Afterwards I of course walked past the Apple laptop selection to see what sort of machine I could get, and how much I would have to look at spending. Not great. Very pricey, and not much going on inside the showroom demo versions. I need higher operating memory, and I need 1Tb of internal storage space. I work with too many photos, and design elements to skimp on storage. I’d love to be able to put a laptop in my bag and go anywhere, as my desktop is really unpleasant to move around. It can be done, but it’s a chore.

And thanks to an Apple update my printer nolonger works even though the extended ink cartridges I bought last September are still about 23% full. Something to do with nolonger supporting 8bit printers or something along those lines. My Canon inkjet is now a fancy anchor. Well shit. One day it worked, the next day they launch this patch, and my technology is bricked. Perfetto. Chef’s kiss. Fuck you. Couldn’t even opt out, just work up and the patch was live inside my computer. Love it. Fuck you.

Looks as though we are instore for a rainy Wednesday. Lord knows the farm needs it. That concrete level mud could do with a softening up. Ciao Bella!

It costs money to be prepared.

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If I’m going to go on a tear and execute a build project I absolutely love to have everything I need/want on hand to build it. That means laying out cold hard cash for materials, consumables, tech, tools and hardware so that once I’m in the mood, I can press play and go off about my business. But that also means that I need to be stocked up on various screws, bolts, glue, tape, drop cloths, and have the wood acclimated to my work space long before I begin. Buy more clamps here, a larger orbital sander there, more sanding sponges, a nicer rubber mat to stand on for hours on end. It takes time, effort, planning, and yes money. Lots of it. Spent weeks or months before you can possibly have the chance to utilize it. Which isn’t all that much fun, but when you’re neck deep in the “thing” I sure as hell don’t want to stop in order to go visit two or three hard ware stores to find a thing I need. Hate that. Mood killer. Joy sucker outer! Obstacle making fun time murdering pain in my ass. So I stock up ahead of time. Now I am no Adam Savage. I don’t have that kind of income, nor capacity go store a whole hardware stores worth of stuff. But my most commonly used screws, bolts, glue, and sandpaper I keep in stock. I just have too! I’d never get anything done. I’ll give you an example.

With the right tools a job can be started & finished (depending on complexity mind you, always with the caveats this guy!) With ease and you’d think, oh! You’ve wasted your money on that concrete drill. But no. Because I have the correct tool, and bit, I’m not sitting out there for hours chewing through bits and batteries to bolt on a new cover for a vent. Bam-bam four holes drill. Squee-squee for tapcon bolts put in, nice and firm with the correct tool. I could be about that all day with a hammer, drill bits, and a socket set, swearing and sweating my ass off. But nope, ten minutes and I’m in, out, cleaned up, and on to something else. Perfection. All because I went ahead, while sale watching, for a concrete hammer drill, and the appropriate bit, and sized falcon bolts. Bought them at a convenient time, and was able to utilize them to complete a job, nearly headache free. If I recall I lost a socket bit in the grass by the garage on that job, but that was me being clumsy, and not a tooling error. I tripped and knocked the bit off the end of my impact gun because I hadn’t put the socket on properly. I did however end up finding that bit, like five months later. Which was awesome. I don’t know if I owe a squirrel or chipmunk a thank you for that or not.

Anyway – I’m gearing up for springtime so I’m on the look out for an upgrade to my bandsaw, and a better office chair. I sit kind of funny, I guess, and I tense my thighs a lot in my current chair, so I need to find a better seat, one that doesn’t leave me feeling hobbled after a three or four hour stretch of intense work. And bandsaw wise, I want at least a full 1hp, but would ideally like 1.75/2 hp if I can find the right deal. Plus a 3 tpi blade for resawing. As it stands I have a good load of Ash, but it’s too thick for what I want to build, and seems an awful use of resources to turn 60% of each board into planner chips, when I could resaw them all and use 90% of all of it, if I make them a half inch thick, or three quarter in thick on the bandsaw. My eight boards becomes 24 or 32 boards after a day of resawing. Well worth the trouble/hassle of making all those cuts. I’ll leave one at full thickness because a trestle table build is calling my name!

I’d love to get a sawmill up and running too. Process logs for my own stash of building materials. Oh what a hoot. I’d run a chainsaw mill if I could get a big enough, cheap enough saw and Alaskan mill set up for the farm. A sawmill would be far faster and have better results than a chainsaw mill, but would also be ten times the price. What do time and effort have to do with anything! Bah! The saw mill also needs a skid steer, and a sheltered place to work. I’ve given it a lot of thought over the last three or four years. Don’t forget about having to assemble the whole thing. Leveling out the beams and whatnot. It’s a whole thing. Plus building a suitable pad to work on. Plus some form of shelter from the worst of the sun/rain/snow. Making stickers, and stacking piles of wood everywhere for atleast 2 to 3 years before you can sell a single slab, or use one yourself. It’s a commitment. Plus additional tools needed to roll, and turn logs, getting rid of saw dust, burnable waste. Pretty soon it’s a real big spreading, all consuming issue. I’d still love to do it a few times a year though. Strange dreams I have here when it’s cold outside.

How did I get here? Office chairs, and bandsaw for resawing, which got me to thinking about milling, chainsaws, and massive life consuming saw mills. Ha. Funny how that works. Well, it’s Thursday, and tomorrow is a PA day, so I need to think about what I’m going to do to keep these kids busy. We have taekwondo tonight, but beyond that it’s any bodies game! Ciao Bella.

Carving their initials into my display unit.

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Was tidying up around the fireplace and noticed something odd with a lone flat, laid out tissue (unused), so I picked it up, and what did I find you ask? I’ll tell you. The letter “H” carved into the top surface of our new display unit. In black ball point pen. Sunken into the wood grain. And some other random drawings, equally pushed into the wood surface. I was not impressed with the youngest. Not in the least. She gouged it in there good and deep. I am impressed with myself for not losing my shit. Not much I can do about it, without having to sand the whole top surface. Restain it all, and then add all new clear coat to it too. It is too cold for much of that to be done in my garage. And far too smelly to do inside the house. It off gases for so long. I left it outside for a few days after each step when I built it in September, and it still smelled strongly once it came inside for set up.

The youngest’s handiwork. Pitted and gouged up real good. Thanks random ball point pen.

Why it wasn’t done in pencil, I’ll never know. Oh well. That’s a 2023 downtime problem to solve. Or a spring cleaning effort come April.

Otherwise it is now Wednesday December 7th, 2022 and I don’t have much else to say today. I mean, I do, but it’s not kind. And doesn’t involve my marred table. So happy hump day. Oh, also we are now well inside the last ten days before I reach my 365 days of writing goal. I am very excited to finally see that big number, and know that i somehow managed to stick with it, even with the storms, illness, vacations, and hectic school/work schedules we all have. I wish i could say the same thing about my exercise plan, but that was always second fiddle to the writing. It is still important, now that i am getting into my near mid forties. Staying in some kind of shape besides round, or pear are of a higher importance to longevity, and general satisfaction when looking in the mirror. So perhaps i will shuffle my priorities in 2023, and put exercise first and writing second? I doubt it, but it’s a fun mental exercise to play around with. What would that look like. How do i monitor success? Do i have to go “buy” an app or Fitbit or membership somewhere? If so, count me out. 2023 should be a year of cheapness. Saving since you never know if things are going to tank hard, and leave you wishing you’d put more away for a bad year.

2022 may wind up being one of my better years for the business. No where as good as when i worked full time in house for another company. But good for me still. It can get real easy to fall into the trap of living up to your new found wages. If they slip, fall shy, or disappear you are pooped. So best to find your line, and live there through good years and hard. Keep it as simple as you are able without being a deprivation weirdo. You know the type. All boisterous about going without, but then secretly binge behind closed doors instead of using sensible moderation. But I digress. Take care out there folks. Ciao Bella!

Big weekend spent getting things done.

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This one was a dozy. Moving docks, ramps, boats, deck boards, cables, snowmobiles, construction equipment, cleaning up the summer sports equipment and fitting in some time on the water, and a bon fire with S’mores. If it could be accomplished in 48 hours we just about did it vand now my hands, knees and back are grounded for a day or two to relax and recuperate.

Felt like we were some of the last people on the lake. I know that isn’t true, lots of multi million dollar estates up the Kawartha way, so unlikely we were actually alone, but the lake was still at times, and boats were few and far between. The stars were bright, and the temperatures this weekend exceptional! What a boon! Nothing like moving docks for the winter in 20°C weather & sunshine. It got a little wavy on the water yesterday, but today it was almost glass.

I was less than appreciative of my kids being up before the sun, but the sun rise itself was a beauty today.

If you want to enjoy the cottage and all of the toys, you have to be prepared to put them away and service them in the off season. Which is no small task if you have a fair number of toys lying around for the whole family to enjoy! Winterize, storage & maintenance. Weee! Ciao Bella!