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Diary, late Augustdi
Scanty posting lately, and probably for a while to come. I am on vacation, yet paradoxically much busier than usual. And my typical writing time is during my commute, which I'm not doing this week. This morning, however, I am taking the T home from returning a rental car, so taking the time to write an entry.
Started the vacation on Saturday with a work-related "un-conderence", the first installment of Boston GameLoop. It was fun and stimulating, though I might have wished it to be on the final day, rather than the first. It deserves a full post of its own, which it may or may not eventually get.
Sunday was mostly pretty laid-back. In the evening, I went out with my guild-mates to finish getting Marfisa her Epic Paladin Horse, by completing a quest in the undead-riddled city of Stratholme. Much fun was had, and my thanks to everyone who helped. On the Horde side, completing this quest involves burning down a church. On my way back, I grumbled to myself, "OK, I've jumped through all your hoops, now are you going to give me my damn horse, or am I gonna have to burn *this* place down around your ears?" This caused![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
herooftheage, sitting across the room, to remark, "They do the whole Paladin thing differently on the Horde side, don't they?" which I had to acknowledge the truth of :-)
Monday, at long, long last, the electrical contractors showed up to start work on the house. The down side of this is that I am going to spend most of my 'vacation' getting up way too early and doing heavy physical labor. Since the electricians need access to all the walls -- most of which are naturally covered in bookcases -- I am going to have to shift practically everything I own, a minimim of twice, and probably more. This will be essentially as much work as moving to a new house :-( But next summer should be much smoother for having done so. No more having to turn the AC off if I want to use my computer, for instance.
Before doing too much of this, however,kestrell and I took a long-planned day-trip to Salem. We had a great time, despite old bones and scheduling snafus.
The centerpoint of our trip was *supposed* to be a ride on a replica privateer, the Schooner Fame -- we had reservations and everything. But when we got there, we discovered that they were not sailing that day, and were doing maintenance on the ship instead. I don't begrudge them taking time to do that sort of thing, but to not notify people who have gone to the trouble to make reservations for that day in advance is decidedly poor form. I am not minded to give them business in future.
We poked around the outside of some historic buildings, and found a really nifty recreation colonial garden behind Hawkes House. They had tons of interesting plants, many of which were labeled with their names, often very unusual ones like "Fuller's Teazle" or "Witches Thimble". We tracked down a Historian/Ranger who told us some more about the garden, and who kindly printed out a draft of a not-yet-completed pamphlet about the garden (advance reading copy -- score!). They are also working on an audio tour of the garden, but we didn't have time to check that out this trip. Guess we'll just have to go back!
There was an antiques store on Pickering Wharf which had a large selection of old books, and which captivated us for at least an hour. They also had a bunch of antique board games, sohungrytiger should be sure to check it out if he's in the neighborhood. We also spent a lot of time in Cornerstone Books, which had more modern fare, and scored several fine volumes from the Local Interest section.
We finished out the day with a meal at Lobster Shanty, whose sign advertises "warm beer, lousy food, surly waitresses, rude bartenders, cranky cooks". The food and service were actually quite good, though after a negative sell like that, they perhaps seemed better than they were :-)
Home, and bed. Up early, so as not to be woken by contractors. Out to return car. Back to start moving all my worldly goods into the back attic. I'm going to try to do it with frequent breaks, so as not to kill myself (Rule One: Don't Die), so maybe I'll be online more later after all...
Later: Day One of project massive clean-up successful. Much done, and I didn't die. There is clear evidence that I am less of a hoarder than I used to be. Much that was formerly treasured is now clearly junk, or at least not worth keeping. Several large garbage bags filled and removed. Approximately 2.5 computers worth of electronic cruft taken out to garage for later disposal. Six magazine boxes brought downstairs for giving away to comic book store.
Found many things I had not seen in years, or even decades. Of particular note, my Permanent Record, which I guess did follow me :-)
Have an ad hoc bookcase inside closet. Once this is over, will probably make it a more stable, permanent fixture.
Found several things which I no longer want, but which might be enjoyed bycvirtue and metageek's twins: Shakespearean word magnets, a rock with fossilized sea shells in it, a camera from my youth that takes actual film, and a costume turban with fake jewels.
Started the vacation on Saturday with a work-related "un-conderence", the first installment of Boston GameLoop. It was fun and stimulating, though I might have wished it to be on the final day, rather than the first. It deserves a full post of its own, which it may or may not eventually get.
Sunday was mostly pretty laid-back. In the evening, I went out with my guild-mates to finish getting Marfisa her Epic Paladin Horse, by completing a quest in the undead-riddled city of Stratholme. Much fun was had, and my thanks to everyone who helped. On the Horde side, completing this quest involves burning down a church. On my way back, I grumbled to myself, "OK, I've jumped through all your hoops, now are you going to give me my damn horse, or am I gonna have to burn *this* place down around your ears?" This caused
herooftheage, sitting across the room, to remark, "They do the whole Paladin thing differently on the Horde side, don't they?" which I had to acknowledge the truth of :-)Monday, at long, long last, the electrical contractors showed up to start work on the house. The down side of this is that I am going to spend most of my 'vacation' getting up way too early and doing heavy physical labor. Since the electricians need access to all the walls -- most of which are naturally covered in bookcases -- I am going to have to shift practically everything I own, a minimim of twice, and probably more. This will be essentially as much work as moving to a new house :-( But next summer should be much smoother for having done so. No more having to turn the AC off if I want to use my computer, for instance.
Before doing too much of this, however,
kestrell and I took a long-planned day-trip to Salem. We had a great time, despite old bones and scheduling snafus.The centerpoint of our trip was *supposed* to be a ride on a replica privateer, the Schooner Fame -- we had reservations and everything. But when we got there, we discovered that they were not sailing that day, and were doing maintenance on the ship instead. I don't begrudge them taking time to do that sort of thing, but to not notify people who have gone to the trouble to make reservations for that day in advance is decidedly poor form. I am not minded to give them business in future.
We poked around the outside of some historic buildings, and found a really nifty recreation colonial garden behind Hawkes House. They had tons of interesting plants, many of which were labeled with their names, often very unusual ones like "Fuller's Teazle" or "Witches Thimble". We tracked down a Historian/Ranger who told us some more about the garden, and who kindly printed out a draft of a not-yet-completed pamphlet about the garden (advance reading copy -- score!). They are also working on an audio tour of the garden, but we didn't have time to check that out this trip. Guess we'll just have to go back!
There was an antiques store on Pickering Wharf which had a large selection of old books, and which captivated us for at least an hour. They also had a bunch of antique board games, so
hungrytiger should be sure to check it out if he's in the neighborhood. We also spent a lot of time in Cornerstone Books, which had more modern fare, and scored several fine volumes from the Local Interest section.We finished out the day with a meal at Lobster Shanty, whose sign advertises "warm beer, lousy food, surly waitresses, rude bartenders, cranky cooks". The food and service were actually quite good, though after a negative sell like that, they perhaps seemed better than they were :-)
Home, and bed. Up early, so as not to be woken by contractors. Out to return car. Back to start moving all my worldly goods into the back attic. I'm going to try to do it with frequent breaks, so as not to kill myself (Rule One: Don't Die), so maybe I'll be online more later after all...
Later: Day One of project massive clean-up successful. Much done, and I didn't die. There is clear evidence that I am less of a hoarder than I used to be. Much that was formerly treasured is now clearly junk, or at least not worth keeping. Several large garbage bags filled and removed. Approximately 2.5 computers worth of electronic cruft taken out to garage for later disposal. Six magazine boxes brought downstairs for giving away to comic book store.
Found many things I had not seen in years, or even decades. Of particular note, my Permanent Record, which I guess did follow me :-)
Have an ad hoc bookcase inside closet. Once this is over, will probably make it a more stable, permanent fixture.
Found several things which I no longer want, but which might be enjoyed by
cvirtue and metageek's twins: Shakespearean word magnets, a rock with fossilized sea shells in it, a camera from my youth that takes actual film, and a costume turban with fake jewels.