Holiday House Work: Revisiting the Attic
It’s been a long while since I was up here. I had a bit of nostalgia, remembering all the work involved in getting that space cleaned up. And how good it felt, to get new insulation put in.
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Holiday House Work: Upstairs Hall
With us in the last week of our time off from work, Liz and I have set out some house tasks to complete. Work was particularly busy for the both of us, in the last months of this year… and we’re trying to get back into a rhythm of working on the house, consistently, again.
Dusting Off an Old Project
Funny thing – I was explaining to Liz my frustration with all the setup. It’s like having a pencil, but then finding out it doesn’t work. It should work, because it’s a pencil! But for some reason it doesn’t.
And then it works, but only in one room (but not another). Why? I could see updated data via the Serial Monitor when running the Arduino IDE, but couldn’t see any data via the Serial Monitor when running VSCode. Gah.
Drams and Memory
It was a fun thing to revisit, stepping through our vacation and all the various places we went. We used a mixture of receipts, notes, blog posts, and regular old memory to try to revisit the whisky we’ve tried, the ones we’ve forgotten, and the ones that still stand out to this day.
Vintage Kitchen Door Restoration: the Other Side
Also – you can’t hear it, but I assure you there are sea shanties playing in the background.
Whisky for Christmas
While I’m not documenting all our gifts, I wanted to point out that among the things I received… I got three bottles if whisky! Liz said she felt that I missed some tasting opportunites during our Scotland trip – partly due to me being the designated driver, partly due to me discovering a little late that I had a preference for cask strength bourbon barrel whisky.
The Fisherman’s Friends: Strike the Bell
Well, somehow… one of her sea shanties actually got into my brain. And I woke up one morning with it in my head. Which feels really weird, since this is by all accounts her fault… and now it it’s something I can’t seem to get rid of.
Christmas, Interrupted
After a quick huddle, Liz and I figured it would be best if we headed back to Chicago. As much as we wanted to stay, there were a few risks involved. While our contact with Jasmine was limited, we were somewhat close (I did get to give her a hug at one point).
So whether we got it or not remains a question. We could remain in Indy a bit longer, but staying potentially increased our chances of contracting Covid.
Another risk: if we developed symptoms or started to get sick, Stacey potentially would need to them take care of us and/or we’d be unable to make it back to Chicago until we recovered. And in terms of self-isolating, we’d all end up having to restart the clock based on the last person to exhibit symptoms.
Early Xmas in Indianapolis: Day 1
My sister didn’t remember it at first, but she recognized this photo. She kept saying “Who is that?” but couldn’t quite place where she recognized him from.
As I played the video, she started to remember bits and pieces. And it was hilarious, watching her remember all the various characters from this film.
Hardware Cleaning, Door Work Continued
Liz spent a lot of time today, cleaning up hardware pieces. Using a newer approach, I think, of soaking things in vinegar and then using an SOS pad.
Charles Berthoud: 12 Days of Christmas in 12 Levels of Difficulty
This video by Charles Berthoud takes the “Increasing Difficulty” concept, and executes it perfectly. I was expecting some fancy bass playing, but I really wasn’t expecting the mind-numbing, two-handed, Stanley Jordan level sounds that came from this instrument.
Travel Home
Checking out how the family photos (and the silly one in particular) turned out.
Early Xmas in Detroit: Day 2
A view of the chaos, from above.
Early Xmas in Detroit: Day 1
I also got to sit in the recliner, which is the one spot Sandy is allowed to climb up on. So between Sandy and the blanket, I was extra warm. Best seat in the house, IMO.
No Ruined Stone
“When the dead return
they will come to you in dream
and in waking, will be the bird
knocking, knocking against glass, seeking”