Of Pi Day and Hammers

Happy Pi Day!  March 14th, 3/14, 3.14…  yeah. I celebrate that. Gonna have to make a T-shirt for it one of these days.  Yes, I am enough of a nerd to appreciate this,  and as a side note, I also celebrate Towel Day, May 25th (Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, anyone?) The plan is to go out for pie later. Woot.

In other news, work is going well, in my mind “they” is starting to become “we”.  I got approved for the internet researcher thing, so that is going well, too. As for living arrangements, I got a line on some shop space, we are going to check it out sometime this week. My description of our RV lifestyle and our two large dogs and extensive hobbies did not see to daunt her in the slightest, so it might be a go. We’ll see.

My husband bought me a new hammer, too.  It has been dubbed “Tink”, after a long-standing inside joke regarding correlation between data mining and knocking someone over the head for info… anyway, I figured it was a good name for a hammer.   This hammer is perfectly balanced, you pick it up you just want to smack something with it.  I think it will end up being my primary hammer for black smithing work.  Yeah, other women get flowers, I get a new hammer and am filled with the warm fuzzies. They can keep the blooms, I grow my own, but a hammer will last a hell of a lot longer.

Of Morphed Relationships and Paid Research

Good afternoon world!  On the job front, weather canceled work, so I have another free day! But no paycheck… so, in search of that at-home-job holy grail, I applied with a premier internet search site who pay a pittance for questions answered.  The world at large pours in questions, which get translated into proper English by other people, and then sent to the likes of (hopefully) me, wherein  a jeopardy-like race against time ensues, and I get to search and cite sources for an answer to the aforementioned question.  If accepted, it will be an independent contractor situation, not actual employment, but could mean a couple dollars here and there, and something moderately interesting to add to my resumé. A schedule created at my own personal whim as well.  At the very least it will be a way to whip my internet search skills into shape, a step or two beyond just googling something.

In other news, I was able to catch up with a good friend last night, someone who I haven’t seen in person in a few years. It is interesting to see how people change, how they grow.  In this particular case I was glad to see the person had become more responsible, but at the same time more willing to try new experiences in life. He seemed as though he had healed from a great deal.  Me, my dh, and our friend were able to hang out until almost two a.m., recounting old stories and sharing the events of our more recent lives. This was especially enjoyable because of our mutual histories, and it became clear that old wounds were healed, and we had all moved on. Perhaps that is one of the tests of true friendship, to have weathered stormy waters,forgive and be forgiven, and still delight in each others company?  In any case,  I look forward to our next meeting with none of the trepidation that preceded this one, and am both happy and proud to have genuine friendship affirmed.

Settling In

Well, and almost a month later, I return. What can I say? life happens, and then you look up and it’s a week, or a month, or a year later,  and you ask yourself, wtf happened?  Well, here’s some of it:

I’ve been settling in at my new job,  it fluctuates a bit, some weeks I get overtime, some weeks I get part-time.  Overtime gets the paycheck, part-time allows me to get caught up on other stuff, like this. 

In other news, I finally got the radiator replaced in the car, with my awesome husband assisting.  Also, the pile of junk got hauled off, including the old, leaky refrigerator that I had been using for power tool storage ( no garage, not enough tool box space, etc) and again, the dh helped me assemble the NEW plastic storage cabinet that now houses my bench grinder, router table, band saw, drill press, etc.  Boy am I glad to get that stuff out of the weather.  

Also, a new workbench is to be seen just over the horizon! Our neighbors gave us a solid plastic pallet when they pulled out a few months ago, I have been trying to figure out the best use for it. The work bench idea came to mind (large, square flat surface, sturdy).  I looked up stats on the pallet,  it is rated for about 1500 lbs and would have cost around $200 new. I had no idea pallets were so expensive! Anyway, sometime this week I will be drawing up plans for the support structure, probably 4×4′s , brackets, 2×4′s and a bit of plywood.  I will also be making a worktop surface out of 1 in. solid oak plywood, marine varnished, and possibly a steel top cover, at some point.   one corner will have holes drilled to accept bolts for a bench vise, and there will be a shelf on the bottom.

I got soil put into the cinder block planting bed out front, transplanted the english ivy and the strawberry plants that were covered in mulch over the winter.  I started some flower and vegetable seeds inside a couple weeks ago, hopefully the weather will be nice and I can  put them outside in 3-4 weeks.

On the education front, I found sites online where I can get my autoCAD certificate ($2000) and also some college level, for-credit math classes, algebra through Calc III, through the university of Ill., (between $900 and $2000 per course) and also Microsoft certs, (between $500 and $900, depending on the app). This is good news in that I will be able to get the education at home, and then exams through locally proctored testing, bad in that it will cost as much as a year at university.  I will figure it out though, somehow.  Still need to find science and Eng. courses.

Otherwise, I think I have found a workable invention idea to develop that could be useful at work, met an interesting neighbor who is into HHO gas conversions and amateur robotics, and have at least half a day to get caught up on a variety of tasks. If I don’t get distracted by the internet.

Toodles!