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

[Decrepit]

Went out for an exercise-walk 0630ish despite predictions of rain and T-storms. Took an umbrella with me. I needed it during the middle third of the walk. Steady medium drizzle to light rain the entire time. It was a soft rain. There was no wind. Only a few stray drops hit me. I even lingered outside a bit once home...until school kids started walking to their bus stop. I wanted no part of that so beat a hasty retreat.

(I notice I failed to mentioned having walked yesterday morning.)

[Decrepit]

Mowed the lawn late yesterday. The mower conked out with a bit of front yard yet to cut. A quick investigation showed that the mower was not out of gas but rather its grass ejection port had clogged. My mower tends to have trouble restarting after such stops until I let it set for some minutes. I therefore broke to remove a mess of weed-vines that have infested my front-of-the-house shrubs. I'd put the project off far too long so that there was a ton of vine (and other undesirable growth) to remove. I'd gotten a decent start on that when I heard an odd sound nearby. It was the "city" mosquito sprayer coming down the road, only a house away. My lungs being what they are, I knew I had to escape exposure. Didn't pull it off as quickly as I'd like. Have been coughing (more frequently than normal) ever since. Bit of a headache and scratchy throat too. As the sun was close to setting by then, I called it quits with the front yard not fully mowed and shrubbery weeding maybe 3/4 done. Will prolly finish up, the mowing at least, this evening. Done right, shrubbery will take a lot more time and effort.

Been able to exercise-walk every day for quite some time. Predicted rains and storms thankfully haven't materialized. Walking as early as I do, I've needed to wear a sweatshirt the past several days. Will do so again today, likely tomorrow. After that, who knows?

[Decrepit]

As threatened, I finished my lawn mow last night. So little was left to mow that I was done in well under five minutes...discounting the fellow who flagged me down just after I'd fired up the mower to ask if I had any useless junk lying around he could haul off. (Go figure.)

I must report that, as expected, the recently purchased mattress topper didn't pan out. At first I thought it might. For several days (nights) my neck did hurt less while lying on my back. But at the same time my shoulder blades gradually started hurting more and more. After the second day my lower back started hurting. Eventually neck pain too began worsening again.

For now I've given up on the bed entirely and am sleeping on my side in my 30+ year old ultra cheap second-hand mushy living room sofa. Awkward as all get out, and not very comfortable, but for whatever reason it causes less shoulder pain and slightly less neck pain when side-sleeping than the bed does. (Less pain lying on my back too, but not quite enough so to make it a viable option. Besides, the sofa is too narrow for back sleeping.)

[RaderOfTheLostArk]

I'm thinking of soon starting a WordPress blog. Partly just because I can, partly because there is a wide variety of things I just like talking about and discussing, and partly for other reasons. Even if I am the only one who reads it, I would at least put words down about the stuff I find interesting: political science (what I'm in school for), history, video games, sports, astronomy, and perhaps some more miscellaneous things.

The major issue I have with doing stuff like this is that I have the tendency to look at what I write just on my own and think "Wow, this sounds stupid," often times after a while. I do that even with stuff I wrote for school before, even relatively recently. I look at so many things that could have been better. Certainly you should be able to critique your own stuff, but I take it a bit far. But you know what, I'm still going to try to start it up. I have to make sure it doesn't cut too much into my time here at grad school though.

I must report that, as expected, the recently purchased mattress topper didn't pan out. At first I thought it might. For several days (nights) my neck did hurt less while lying on my back. But at the same time my shoulder blades gradually started hurting more and more. After the second day my lower back started hurting. Eventually neck pain too began worsening again.

For now I've given up on the bed entirely and am sleeping on my side in my 30+ year old ultra cheap second-hand mushy living room sofa. Awkward as all get out, and not very comfortable, but for whatever reason it causes less shoulder pain and slightly less neck pain when side-sleeping than the bed does. (Less pain lying on my back too, but not quite enough so to make it a viable option. Besides, the sofa is too narrow for back sleeping.)

What size is the mattress topper, if I may ask?

This post has been edited by RaderOfTheLostArk: Aug 26 2017, 04:19 PM

[TheCheshireKhajiit]

I'm thinking of soon starting a WordPress blog. Partly just because I can, partly because there is a wide variety of things I just like talking about and discussing, and partly for other reasons. Even if I am the only one who reads it, I would at least put words down about the stuff I find interesting: political science (what I'm in school for), history, video games, sports, astronomy, and perhaps some more miscellaneous things.

The major issue I have with doing stuff like this is that I have the tendency to look at what I write just on my own and think "Wow, this sounds stupid," often times after a while. I do that even with stuff I wrote for school before, even relatively recently. I look at so many things that could have been better. Certainly you should be able to critique your own stuff, but I take it a bit far. But you know what, I'm still going to try to start it up. I have to make sure it doesn't cut too much into my time here at grad school though.

Khajiit would read it. Post a link to it in your siggy, if you want to.

[Decrepit]

I must report that, as expected, the recently purchased mattress topper didn't pan out. At first I thought it might. For several days (nights) my neck did hurt less while lying on my back. But at the same time my shoulder blades gradually started hurting more and more. After the second day my lower back started hurting. Eventually neck pain too began worsening again.

For now I've given up on the bed entirely and am sleeping on my side in my 30+ year old ultra cheap second-hand mushy living room sofa. Awkward as all get out, and not very comfortable, but for whatever reason it causes less shoulder pain and slightly less neck pain when side-sleeping than the bed does. (Less pain lying on my back too, but not quite enough so to make it a viable option. Besides, the sofa is too narrow for back sleeping.)

What size is the mattress topper, if I may ask?

Thickness is 2" though it is patterned so that the "grooves" are less than that. It's also rather soft, or so it seems to me. I suspect my pain issues come from it eventually bottoming out so that I am once again resting more or less directly atop my very firm mattress. As to other dimensions, it is a "Queen Size" topper.

The 3" "soft" version of this topper intrigues me. Lots of good reviews, and doesn't seem to bottom out. But at $299 it's a great financial risk. That's a heck of lot to spend on something that might prove no more beneficial than previous toppers and other pain relief bedding gizmos.

[RaderOfTheLostArk]

I'm thinking of soon starting a WordPress blog. Partly just because I can, partly because there is a wide variety of things I just like talking about and discussing, and partly for other reasons. Even if I am the only one who reads it, I would at least put words down about the stuff I find interesting: political science (what I'm in school for), history, video games, sports, astronomy, and perhaps some more miscellaneous things.

The major issue I have with doing stuff like this is that I have the tendency to look at what I write just on my own and think "Wow, this sounds stupid," often times after a while. I do that even with stuff I wrote for school before, even relatively recently. I look at so many things that could have been better. Certainly you should be able to critique your own stuff, but I take it a bit far. But you know what, I'm still going to try to start it up. I have to make sure it doesn't cut too much into my time here at grad school though.

Khajiit would read it. Post a link to it in your siggy, if you want to.

Thanks, Khajiit. When I have a block of free time to use, I'll make it and let people know.

I must report that, as expected, the recently purchased mattress topper didn't pan out. At first I thought it might. For several days (nights) my neck did hurt less while lying on my back. But at the same time my shoulder blades gradually started hurting more and more. After the second day my lower back started hurting. Eventually neck pain too began worsening again.

For now I've given up on the bed entirely and am sleeping on my side in my 30+ year old ultra cheap second-hand mushy living room sofa. Awkward as all get out, and not very comfortable, but for whatever reason it causes less shoulder pain and slightly less neck pain when side-sleeping than the bed does. (Less pain lying on my back too, but not quite enough so to make it a viable option. Besides, the sofa is too narrow for back sleeping.)

What size is the mattress topper, if I may ask?

Thickness is 2" though it is patterned so that the "grooves" are less than that. It's also rather soft, or so it seems to me. I suspect my pain issues come from it eventually bottoming out so that I am once again resting more or less directly atop my very firm mattress. As to other dimensions, it is a "Queen Size" topper.

The 3" "soft" version of this topper intrigues me. Lots of good reviews, and doesn't seem to bottom out. But at $299 it's a great financial risk. That's a heck of lot to spend on something that might prove no more beneficial than previous toppers and other pain relief bedding gizmos.

Yeah, my dad has some similar issues. He has some back pain and can't sleep on his side. He also uses a CPAP machine. I think his mattress topper is 4" though, but I believe it was for a lot less than $299. I can try to check with him.

[mirocu]

More cavator projects for me; removing tree stumps that have annoyed me for too long.

[TheCheshireKhajiit]

More cavator projects for me; removing tree stumps that have annoyed me for too long.

Burn stumps with fire!

[mirocu]

There's an idea. Could be fun and quite safe now since it has been raining. Mebbe I'll try it if the stump proves too much for cavator. Shouldn't, really, but it's right next to big rocks so it's difficult to dig around it.

[RaderOfTheLostArk]

It will still probably be at least a few weeks before I could actually start that blog, but I did manage to create one blog post that I am going to edit later on (it is much longer than I thought it would be, so I might trim it down). I want to have several different articles on a variety of topics first before I get the blog going. That way, if it takes me a while to actually post some stuff I will have already had a few articles up for anyone to read.

Plus, I have no idea what to name the blog. I want it to somehow reflect the variety of things I want to talk about, but I don't even know where to begin.

[Decrepit]

Removed both Oblivion Reloaded and Cinematic ENB - New Dimensions from my Oblivion experimental build load order over frustration with how bad distant visuals looked during sunny daylight. My thought was to reinstall Oblivion Reloaded plus ENBoost and make do with those for awhile, forgoing an ENB. But...I quickly discovered that after living with an ENB it's all but impossible to do without, warts and all. Cinematic ENB is now back in place. I might audition Candid ENB late in the week, but my hope is that Bevilex someday makes his ENB available for download.

My bro visited this Sunday. As always he slept on the sofa, leaving me stuck with my bed. (I've offered him the bed during his stays, but he'll have no part of it.) Didn't take me a minute to know I couldn't lie on it as configured. Stripped it down to the raw mattress, then added first (at bottom) a 2" memory gel topper, next (middle) my new 2" "grooved" memory foam topper, and lastly (top) a 2" microfiber down alternative topper. That combo let me make it through the night, if not in much comfort. I kept that combo in place Monday night, which didn't turn out so well. I've move my sleep essentials back to the sofa for tonight. Likely for the foreseeable future.

Cut it very close during today's grocery run. Spent $49.30 out of my $50 weekly food allowance. Seems a good many "periodic" food purchases (as opposed to weekly purchases) came due this week... butter, Wowbutter, Mrs Dash Extra Spicy Seasoning, cheese and so on. Truth to tell, my current Wowbutter jar might have gotten me through the week, but I didn't want to risk it.

Yeah, my dad has some similar issues. He has some back pain and can't sleep on his side. He also uses a CPAP machine. I think his mattress topper is 4" though, but I believe it was for a lot less than $299. I can try to check with him.

I'd be interested to find out what he has, especially as it seems to work for him.

[RaderOfTheLostArk]

Yeah, my dad has some similar issues. He has some back pain and can't sleep on his side. He also uses a CPAP machine. I think his mattress topper is 4" though, but I believe it was for a lot less than $299. I can try to check with him.

I'd be interested to find out what he has, especially as it seems to work for him.

Just got the info from him. He got it for whenever we go on family trips with the trailer. He got it online from Linenspa for $68.38 and it is made by a company called Lucid. It is called "3 Inch Bamboo Charcoal Memory Foam Mattress Topper." I thought it was 4" but I guess not. So maybe try checking it out to see if it is still around that price. Even if they aren't but are still in stock, I doubt it would be $299.

EDIT: Just realized the quote didn't work because I accidentally deleted a ].

This post has been edited by RaderOfTheLostArk: Aug 31 2017, 04:06 PM

[Decrepit]

A non exercise-walk day for me, my first in quite some time, thanks to rain and winds from Harvey. We're not expected to get more than 3-5" ran total, spread throughout the day. I'm not worried about potential flooding, though we are under a flash flood watch until some time tomorrow.

No projects planned for the day, except maybe putz around a bit on my Experimental Oblivion Build. Still have a number of unacceptably sub par visuals, especially outdoors in sunny broad daylight, the very conditions where vanilla Oblivion does its best. No idea what I might be doing wrong. If and when I ever unearth the cause, it'll prolly be something simple and obvious.

Slept until 0534 this morning, unheard of for me, thanks to having taken a sleeping pill just prior to bedtime last night. I prolly would not have slept so long had I been on my bed. The sofa is just enough more comfortable (which isn't saying much) to let me sleep a bit longer than usual.

[Decrepit]

Has an unexpected add-on to yesterday's exercise-walk. During my first trip down our street I noticed a car parked on the road in front of one house with its driver's side front door wide open. Paperwork and envelops were scattered nearby. No one was in sight. My original thought was that the owner must have recently rushed into the house for whatever reason. But during my second and final walk down the street, some twenty-plus minutes later, nothing had changed. More, I noticed yet more paperwork scattered a good two or three houses further down the road. Coward that I am, I almost ignored it. In the end I drummed up enough courage to knock on the door when the car was parked. No one responded for quite some time, though I heard kids inside. I was almost to the point of alerting the police...just in case...when a fellow opened the door. It was indeed his car. He was unaware, so he said, of the situation. He didn't seem all that interested in it either, which seemed odd to me. I sort of goaded him into at least retrieving the spilled paperwork, which looked to be medical and/or insurance billings. I let things go at that and finished the walk.

My project yesterday evening and this morning was to replace a super blurry shrub texture discovered while my OCOv2 avatar explored Ancient Yews forest. Took forever to figure out exactly which texture belonged to that particular shrub, as RefScope ignores shrubs, free-standing grasses, and the like. That done, I needed to find a suitable replacement that both looked good and blended with existing shrubs. This proved quite a chore. None of the several downloadable replacements I unearthed fit the bill. I resorted to renaming shrub leaf textures, with no better results. In the end I used a tree leave texture, heavily doctored in Paint.NET. This is the result The replacement being seen at near left and also to its right across the trail. It needs further work but gets the job done...for now.

As for the rest of the day, I'll likely mow after supper.

[Decrepit]

Other than my weekly grocery run and an exercise-walk the only project tackled was to redo the shrubms14boxwoodleaves01 texture mentioned yesterday in better quality, and created a JapaneseRedMaple alternative. I prefer the green version, but the Maple adds a bit of pizzazz.

[Decrepit]

Daily exercise walk went well. Carried an umbrella but didn't need it. Heart reading almost immediately afterward: Blood Pressure 94/66, Pulse 85.

Spent a good bit of time this afternoon getting the lowdown on what is advertised as my forced migration from AT&T DSL to AT&T u-verse internet, or whatever they call it now. Yup, DSL is going away in my area. The good news is that after the switch I'll supposedly get twice the speed (still quite slow), a much higher monthly data cap, and a lower monthly bill. The theoretically good news: I was told that, due to it being a forced switch, installation fees would be waved. The theoretically bad news: AT&T shows I'm currently set to be billed the fees, an extra $100. I called 'em back. The rep said she'd remove the fee. It's still listed on my billing account page. Bah! Also, my phone will no longer function during power outages. The rep offered some sort of battery add-on to fix that, but between my poor hearing and her accent I couldn't understand enough of what she said to want to commit to that. I'll ask the Tech about it when he or she does the install this Saturday (I hope).

Finally got a return call from my neurologist's office. My pharmacy recently cancelled a Propranolol renewal "at the physician's request. This had me sweating bullets. Propranolol is the medicine that allows me to get only a relatively few migraines per year, as opposed to spending a significant portion of my life in severe pain as I once did. Thankfully, according to the lady I spoke with, all is now well and my order is being processes. We shall see.

[Decrepit]

Ha! I knew it! The Propranolol order got messed up. The Neurologist office mistakenly (?) sent it to my local Walmart rather than Express Scripts. It costs me an addition $120 a year or more buying it locally. Gonna have to contact my Neurologist again and let them know how to correct the situation. I could attempt to transfer the prescription online myself, but Express Scripts needs to verify the transfer with my Neurologist, and I don't trust them to get it right without me first explaining exactly what's going on. (I keep Walmart as a secondary pharmacy for those times I need "emergency" one-off medicines that can't wait on mail-order delivery. Otherwise it's Express Scripts all the way. The savings is normally substantial, though our ever munificent Congress is working to make it less so for us military retirees.)

I've not yet walked today. It's too bloody cold! In the fifties! You younger and/or more robust folk are probably comfortable with those temperatures. Me, I start shivering once the thermostat reaches about seventy. Rest assured I'll walk once it warms a bit...unless I forgot. That's always a possibility the longer I hold off.

As this week's grocery list was rather minuscule I had ample funds to dine out during my errand run. My plan was to eat lunch at our one All-You-can-Eat American style buffet restaurant. Only, I need to drive by my favorite Chinese Buffet to get there. It was too much to resist. Almost without meaning to I found myself in the Chinese joint. It proved a big mistake. I piled my place high with goodies as always, set down and began to chow down. Maybe five bites later I realized I was not in a mood for Oriental food. Not in the slightest. Everything tasted repugnant, more so as I continued on. Before the half-way point I was struggling to force myself to eat. Me being me I made it to the bitter end. About the only enjoyment I derived from the experience was getting to use chopsticks, which as stated previously I far prefer for Oriental Cuisine.

My grocery run was a letdown in that Walmart was out of of Sugar Free Strawberry Preserves, the only sugar free variety I enjoy with any regularity. I settled for SF Grape Jelly (or is it Jam?), but yesterday's breakfast proved that to be a mistake. Very little flavor, and what little flavor it has isn't very appealing.

Walmart was also out of lettuce. I might have enough left of my current head to last the week if I ration myself. And if the lettuce doesn't go bad first, as can happen. I don't mind brown lettuce up to a point, but draw the line when it gets mushy and slimy.

Early Afternoon ADDENDUM:
1) Got in touch with my Neurologist office this morning. They promised to switch the Propranolol prescription to Express Scripts for me. Lo and behold, they did! Express Scripts shows it now being processed. I suppose I shouldn't pat myself on the back until the med is in the mail. But as of now all appears well. <crosses fingers>

2) When I check outside soon after posting here this morning I was surprised that it felt warmer than my online weather channel of choice said it was. Warm enough to walk. In fact I ended up removing my sweatshirt after a few minutes on the road.

This post has been edited by Decrepit: Sep 7 2017, 06:44 PM

[RaderOfTheLostArk]

Just finished a 1000-piece puzzle. And that's coming from a guy who isn't into doing puzzles, so I feel fairly proud of finishing this one. But it was one on U.S. presidents, so that's what got me to do it.

My first real assignment for grad school is due on Wednesday, although it will possibly get pushed back because of Hurricane Irma. But I am hoping to knock it out today and tomorrow so I don't have to worry about it.

I only made a modicum of progress this week on my preliminary blog posts before I actually launch one, but I hope to do some more on them this week.

[TheCheshireKhajiit]

Just finished a 1000-piece puzzle. And that's coming from a guy who isn't into doing puzzles, so I feel fairly proud of finishing this one. But it was one on U.S. presidents, so that's what got me to do it.

My first real assignment for grad school is due on Wednesday, although it will possibly get pushed back because of Hurricane Irma. But I am hoping to knock it out today and tomorrow so I don't have to worry about it.

I only made a modicum of progress this week on my preliminary blog posts before I actually launch one, but I hope to do some more on them this week.

A girl made you do it, right?