Your projects, what are you working on in your free time? Options

[Decrepit]

Project: Participate in 2020 US Census
Status: DONE
Received notice from the Census Bureau in today's mail. It included an Individual Census ID for online completion. That's how I did it. Piece of cake, except I had to state not only that I'm 'white' but also which Euro countries my grandcestors came from. Wasn't expecting that. (It's prolly been on past Census forms. I just don't recall it.) No biggie. I've always known mine, as related by mom and dad and more recently confirmed by 23&Me.

Project: Create TRS19 video
Status: one possibly usable session opener in-the-can
No idea if this project will see light of day. Yesterday, I drove the first leg of a Helston freight run without screwing up. Did well enough that I decided I ought to 'film' that portion of the session. Easier said than done. With 'cameras rolling,' I made dumb mistake after dumb mistake. Nothing that would ruin a session were I not 'filming' it, but not something I want before the (non-existent) public. Then, after who-knows-how-many aborted captures, I had a well-nigh perfect run all the way to the session's first station-stop. On playback, I discovered to my horror that that capture had turned itself off at the 2-1/2 minute mark. Back to the drawing board. More aborted attempts followed. I finally captured a flawed yet potentially usable run. Mistakes are made. I can live with 'em, maybe. We'll see how I feel about if and when I get around to shooting supplementary footage.

This post has been edited by Decrepit: Mar 21 2020, 02:23 AM

[SubRosa]

I received my Census notice too. I am too lazy to get around to doing it.

[Decrepit]

Project: TRS19 video
Status: Ongoing
I surprised myself in capturing supplementary footage and cranking out a finished 'basic' video in my editor. It does not yet contain text narration. I expect to struggle with that. I've enough TPF1 Scenic Excursions episodes under my belt to pretty much know what I want to say (yet still manage to goof it up). TRS19 is uncharted territory, narration wise.

I received my Census notice too. I am too lazy to get around to doing it.

For what it's worth, participating online likely takes less effort than filling out physical paperwork, plus no envelop preparation or added trip to the mailbox/post office.

[Sakiri]

Old teacher of mine was kinda insulted by the latest census.

Race: White
Nationality background: What the heck am I supposed to put here?

She's like, a three or four ancestry mutt and didn't know what to put there. And then questioned why they need to know this anyway.

[Decrepit]

Project: Create and Post TRS19 video
Status: It's uploading now.
This being my first stab at a TRS19 episode, I've not yet figured out what should be said in the video's text narrative and description. If this becomes a regular thing, which is doubtful, maybe I'll get a feel for it. Also, I really ought to end the video earlier in the ride, almost immediately after departing Helston station. I intended to, then forgot by the time editing reached that stage. Truth to tell, it wouldn't take much effort to chop out the unneeded footage. I just can't drum up enthusiasm to do so. It's scheduled for publication early Saturday morning.

Project: Make lying down tolerable again
Status: A losing battle?
Returning to the couch, where I slept in reasonable comfort several years ago, hasn't work this time round. Neck and shoulder pains are almost as bad as when lying abed. Occasionally worse. Stripped the bed of its two toppers yesterday and attempted to lie down / sleep directly on the mattress several times during the day. First attempt produced mild but tolerable pain. Each subsequent attempt found pain a bit worse. My final attempt, at bedtime, netted me several hours sleep, only to wake in much pain. Returned to the sofa, for several more hours sleep. Still painful but endurable. First thing this morning I restored the bed's 3" mattress topper. Lying down attempts are thus far more successful than yesterday's. Not pain free by any means, but not yet unendurable. I'm not holding my breath, but we shall see.

An aside. During this morning's first lie-abed attempt I got perturbed about the headboard reading light shining directly in my eyes. This frequently bothered me back before my various aches and pains sent me to the sofa. Anyway, out of the blue it dawned on me to simply bend the fixture shank so that the bulb points to the headboard mirror. This works perfectly. I've used that headboard since 1986, and never before thought of doing that, simple and obvious as it is!

This post has been edited by Decrepit: Mar 27 2020, 02:30 PM

[Acadian]

C'mon, folks. Let's knock off the political commentary, mkay? This is primarily a medieval fantasy forum where folks of all kinds of views warmly get along. A big reason for that success is that we don't allow political discussion. There are loads of political forums out there for those who want to debate or discuss their political views.

[Decrepit]

C'mon, folks. Let's knock off the political commentary, mkay? This is primarily a medieval fantasy forum where folks of all kinds of views warmly get along. A big reason for that success is that we don't allow political discussion. There are loads of political forums out there for those who want to debate or discuss their political views.

Thanks for the reminder My most recent entry is edited to reflect our guideline.

[Decrepit]

Project: Prepare and Post Feb-Mar 2020 state & local tax-due payment on internet purchase
Status: In my mailbox
Did so this morning after placing my final Amazon (book) order of the month. Lucked out in that Amazon tacked on state tax for all purchases these past two months. However...county and local tax is left for me to take care of. As those are super low for me, 2% combined, I owed only a couple of bucks. In fact, I could have held off another few months until my accumulated total is above a certain monetary amount. But keeping track of which orders add state (only) tax and which don't add tax at all is a major pain to keep track off, more so over long stretches of time. For me it's best to pay small amounts often, though the state prefers otherwise.

Project: Balance Feb 2020 account ledgers
Status: DONE
Did so this morning after posting internet purchase tax-due payment. All went well until attempted to balance my checking account. It was off by $5.08! The $5 was a quick easy fix. The $0.08 took some time. Eventually found the mistake on a ledger entry for Walmart dated mid Mar. I'm honestly surprised I make so few of this sort of error, especially as my computer glasses are too weak to read receipts, while the reading portion of my bifocals don't focus on the computer screen (my ledger). Which means I need to remember the amount shown on a receipt long enough to change glasses, the type it into my computerized ledger, an increasingly unreliable proposition. But again, mistakes of this sort remain rare.

[Decrepit]

Project: Deliver city utility payment to City Hall
Status: Complicated, but done

Yesterday, 6 April 2020, being the first Monday of the month, I planned to drop off payment on my way to get groceries. Instead, I was greeted with a notice taped to City Hall door stating, "City Hall Closed, No Entry", and a sign to the right of the door stating "Utility Payments are to be either mailed or dropped in the slot below. No receipts of payment will be issued." I kept payment with me until groceries were in-house and properly stored. I then checked an old payment 'receipt' to see which half of the statement to keep, wrote check # and delivery date on that half, stuffed the other statement half and my check in an envelope, properly (I hope) labeled the envelope exterior, walked to City Hall (all of five minutes away, even with weak knees), and dropped payment down the 'chute.'

Admittedly, we've been able to pay our city utility bill online for several years now. But they tack on a $4 processing fee. Outrageous, in my opinion, especially for a bill that rarely reaches $40. Besides, City Hall being as close to my house as it is, the price of a first-class stamp for postal delivery makes no sense, let alone a $4 online fee. Or so I see it.

[SubRosa]

Paying my rent was the same way. I can do it online, but they tack on a $30 surcharge each time. So F that. Instead I had to drop it in the mail slot at the rental office.

[mALX]

Paying my rent was the same way. I can do it online, but they tack on a $30 surcharge each time. So F that. Instead I had to drop it in the mail slot at the rental office.

Holy Cow, 30 dollars? That is outrageous; they are way overcharging for their inconvenience = obviously trying to discourage people from paying that way.

[haute ecole rider]

I agree! One of our utilities charge extra for online payments - none of the others do! It's really irritating when you run into that. That utility uses Western Union for the wireless payments, and it's ridiculous. I just don't get it.

[mALX]

I agree! One of our utilities charge extra for online payments - none of the others do! It's really irritating when you run into that. That utility uses Western Union for the wireless payments, and it's ridiculous. I just don't get it.

Our Utility charges 2.95 extra if you call in your payment or pay it online rather than mailing it directly to them or paying it directly in their office.

The reason for the extra fee they charge is because our Utility uses a "Bill Payment Matrix" service that actually does all the processing of those (indirect) payments for the Utility = that is their service fee per payment to process them. (in other words; those payments go directly to the Matrix instead of to the Utility; so you are paying for that middleman).

I have no idea how much it costs the Matrix service to process the payments; but I'm sure they make enough to stay in business doing it at only 2.95 per payment. But 30.00 = yeah, no. That is WAY more than it would cost any business to pay for processing of their payments. 30 dollars is just a flat out way of telling their clients that they absolutely don't want to do business in this way; so if you insist on it = it is going to cost you big time for the inconvenience to them. I agree with SubRosa = F that, lol.

My life insurance company is the same way as SubRosa's rental office = they absolutely do not want to take phoned in payments; and if you are going to make them uncomfortable they will charge you out the ass for it.

The Utility's 2.95 fee is different. It is low enough that it is worth my peace of mind to pay it every month. It equals out for what I'd pay in gas if I drove the payment in; and is much lower than any late fees I might incur if the Post Office/Mailman somehow lost my payment in the mail.






This post has been edited by mALX: Apr 8 2020, 08:32 PM

[Decrepit]

Project:Acquire C-19 mask
Status: <sighs>

I'm still not able to buy a mask. Every 'local' business I contact who might be expected to carry something suitable tells me that while yes, they normally carry something that would suffice, they and their supplier are out of stock, and don't know when they'll get more. Checking online finds sites with details on sewing our own masks. Problem there is I've neither the tools nor skill-set needed to create my own mask via sewing. I recently found a site that shows how to create masks without sewing, simply using a folded bandana and two rubber bands. I don't own a bandana, but do have a couple of oversize handkerchiefs, large enough for the purpose. I don't know that they're made of the correct material, but can sandwich a couple of 'coffee filters' between the folds, something my doctor's office suggested. My stumbling block yesterday was discovering that I own no rubber bands anywhere close to large enough to serve the purpose. So yesterday's Walmart grocery run was again maskless (and gloveless, another issue).

Too many shoppers and workers seemed to not take social distancing seriously. Worst offenders: a group of around 8-10 employees covering around shipment boxes at the banana section, all within a foot or two of each other, some with masks, some without, chatting away. As I needed banana, I limited my search to the counter side furthest from them and hoped for the best. On a positive (?) note, I did manage to buy a couple of bags of rubber bands, one bag of which contains bands of a suitable size. I now have a jerry-rigged mask of sorts. It's not quite large enough, and doesn't seal quite well enough - my beard doesn't help in this regard - but is better than nothing, I hope?

[mirocu]

First mowing of the season is done and although our riding mower is in need of service, it performed the job well.

I'm also in the process of restoring some garden furniture. It's an old set you may remember from 2013 when I last gave it a facelift. But I think back then I only restored the table, this time it's the chairs. I've switched out bad boards and removed the painting as much I can. Next step is simply giving the set a new coat.

I've put up a workbench where the old Cavator used to have its home; a perfect spot with good enough room to work with projects such as this.

[mALX]

First mowing of the season is done and although our riding mower is in need of service, it performed the job well.

I'm also in the process of restoring some garden furniture. It's an old set you may remember from 2013 when I last gave it a facelift. But I think back then I only restored the table, this time it's the chairs. I've switched out bad boards and removed the painting as much I can. Next step is simply giving the set a new coat.

I've put up a workbench where the old Cavator used to have its home; a perfect spot with good enough room to work with projects such as this.

Pics or the chairs aren't fixed till we see it!!!!

[Sakiri]

Our grass is still brown. You must live in the south.

We have garden projects planned and I have a sweater project planned.

Seeds planted. Need to get to the hardware store to buy a torque wrench and branch trimmers. Whatever the heck theyre called in Swedish, I dont know, and husband has no idea what a torque wrench is. Sighs. He's no help. I gotta go alone because his doctors recommended against him going anywhere unnecessary.

Masks don't help. They keep you from spreading germs. They don't keep germs out. And cloth masks? That's like expecting your underwear to hold a fart.

We're gonna dig up part of the lawn to plant wildflowers for the bees. And double our raised beds. And put out 12 buckets for potatoes.

And this is my yarn.
https://imgur.com/a/TdQhAi9

I am trying to find a pattern, and if I need to buy more than the 6 skeins I have, I've got trouble because Wool Warehouse is having issues dispatching orders due to covid. It could be weeks. Because royal mail. (It comes from the UK and royal mail is notoriously bad/slow)

[mirocu]

Our grass is still brown. You must live in the south.

Eh, it was just a test of the mower. Grass had not really grown.


I like the colors of the yarn!

[Sakiri]

Our grass is still brown. You must live in the south.

Eh, it was just a test of the mower. Grass had not really grown.


I like the colors of the yarn!

I see.

Yeah, we got some stuff in the back that needs cut. I need branch trimmers to cut the baby trees that keep coming up.

Every year, same crap. Saplings, saplings, saplings.

And yes, it is pretty yarn.

[Decrepit]

Project: Create new TpF Scenic Excursions 'Intro" episode
Status: Ongoing
Started working on this day before yesterday(?). It's nothing special. Just a third visit to the Valley Petrol - Dunwich fuel delivery run. It is, however, easily superior to original episode 01, which will remain in the lineup re-labeled ep01b. Original ep01 has slowly amassed a great many views, hundreds more than any of my other vids. My guess is that people first chance on a later, 'mature' episode, then go back to ep01. But there's nothing in ep01 to tempt them to keep watching. My hope is that the 'new' ep01 will convince them otherwise. Then again, they might be finding original ep01 simply because, with so many views, it turns up on generic Transport Fever search results. It that case, my work is for naught. Well, not totally for naught. It's a new series entry, after all.