Day in the Life of an Idiot

 
Image: blue iris growing in my boulevard garden.

As previously discussed, my attempts at gardening this year feel very... fail. Thanks to the timing of our trip to Connecticut, I didn't get a good head start. There are a lot of leaves still in the beds, and at this point it might be more disruptive to try to move them. I am trying to see what leaving the leaves in the woodland garden does, but the others? Not so much. 

But, what's that (in)famous line from Jurassic Park? Life finds a way.

It's also been really dry here in Minnesota. I believe we are officially in a drought (again.) We had just gotten out of it after the snow melt, and yet now we are this very strange position of having parts of the state flooded while also being in a drought. When Mason and I were driving around Fort Snelling State Park yesterday, there were roads we couldn't take due to high water. Even though, as I drove us there, I could see several burned out lawns already.  Worse, it always seems like it might rain every morning, but the haze in the sky is actually from the Canadian forest fires, not potential relief. 

Yet, my peonies are out there in my backyard doing their best. Likewise, the Solomon's seal and bleeding hearts.


Image: Variegated Solomon's Seal. 


Image: bleeding hearts and hostas

The other big news around Chez MoreRounds (or, if you prefer, Roundhouse,) is that we got a new stove/oven. I guess in the US they always come together, so maybe I should call it a "range." But, it's that thing with which you cook and bake things. We opted for a new gas oven, so that was extra exciting because as part of the installation we had to have a gas technician do the hook-up. Mason, when we were prepping the house so the delivery people could get it through the door, asked nervously, "Should we even BE here if they're screwing around with the gas??" I mean, I kind of don't blame him for this sentiment, but it's actually a fairly simple hook-up. I just have this rule about handiwork I will do, which is "call a professional for electricity and gas." My feeling is that while, yes, water can do a lot of damage to a house, not hooking it up properly will not immediately kill me. So, I have done some plumbing? And props to all of you who rewire things? I won't argue with you if you suggest to me that some rewiring is not only easy, but fun. I'm just not that brave. I won't work with things that can murderize me if I make a small mistake.

 
Image fancy new oven. (Our floor looks filthy in this picture, but the tiles are actually grey with black "marbling," trust me, I also hate them. They are very retro, but never look clean.)

Anyway, this is the new beast. Today is the first day I will be making anything on it. The delivery came late enough in the day that we had all pre-agreed that it was a pizza day.

I have a couple of cute stories about the install itself. First of all, the guy who was our gas technician was named Lee. We hit it off immediately because he was very chatty... possibly the first person I have met in a long time who appears to be more extroverted than I am, more about that in a second. I actually started to get out of his way, so as not to hover over him while he worked, and he said that the company was actually appreciated, but then said, "Unless you're an old, white guy in boxers who insists on standing right in front of me while I'm crouched on the floor." Which, I laughed pretty hard at that. So, we fell into talking a bit and I did the Minnesotan thing about apologizing for the state of my kitchen, etc., and he said, "Oh, this is nothing," and then proceeded to tell me about his FIRST DAY on the job where he and his partner were called to an actual hoarder house. They're hauling out the old oven, when, out from the warming oven, scurries an entire family of RATS. One of which, in sheer panic, crawls up his pants leg and tried to hide in Lee's jacket. He's so freaked out that he dropped the oven and they ended up leaving a dent in the floor. Somehow, he not only STAYED WITH THIS JOB, but also apparently didn't get fired. 

But, at one point, I did leave him because he was struggling with removing the old hose (did I mention that the other thing I learned about Lee was that he is younger than our previous stove?) which had corroded over the 30+ years that we owned the previous stove. And, I was surprised to hear him talking to someone. Apparently, Lee is enough of an extrovert that he called one of his friends to chat with while he struggled with my appliance.

As an uber-extrovert, I found that deeply charming. 

I gave him very high marks on the review that the company sent along afterwards. 

The other big news from yesterday is that there is some progress on my novel. My editor, who is very savvy like this, has suggested that it "WOULD BE NICE" (hint, hint!!) to be able to put out a press release for my lesbian space opera during Pride Month. Seeing the brilliance in this, I have agreed that I will spend the next couple of days really looking at what I have left and make some educated guesses as to when I can deliver it to Wizard's Tower.

On top of that, of course, I finally need to decide on a title for this thing. Currently, I am in the "there are no wrong answers" phase of this process, but I'm going to have to narrow it down to something serious soon. Likewise, Cheryl Morgan has asked me for a blurb to sell "what it's about" to people, and so that's another project I'm tackling.

The good news part of this? I will definitely have a book out this year. 

The bad news? I'm going to finally have to get serious about finishing it!  I mean, I have 70,000+ words, so it is already technically novel length, if not yet "novel shaped." 

We are only a few weeks out of lockdown, and I have managed to make a brand new friend? We are headed over to theirs for dessert and a game of Scrabble tonight and I think everyone in my house is dreading it... EXCEPT ME. And, dread is maybe unkind? But, those of you who are introverts understand. They want to go/absolutely do not want to go. 

Meanwhile, I'm positively giddy. I love meeting new people!

Right now, I am making some zucchini bars to bring over. I gave them the option of brownies from a box (with ice cream) or homemade zucchini bread and they CHOSE zucchini??

Wish my introverts luck tonight!

It finally rained, so my clover is no longer thirsty, hooray!

I went to the post office today to mail off a copy of Unjust Cause to someone I was reacquainted with at a Zoom virtual party who lives in Canada (and to send something I have been promising my parents since forever.) But, the book is important, because I got to chatting with the woman behind the desk about all the stuff that's been going on at the post office, foreign addresses, and, eventually, books. She told me that her niece loves SF/F, specifically paranormal stuff once it came out (because it always does when you're talking to me) that I write SF/F for a living. I was going to hand her a business card, but I'd cleaned them out of my wallet because I didn't expect to be hand selling in the era of COVID-19. So, I wrote down my information and... walked away.

I TOTALLY FORGOT TO PAY.

Just a few minutes ago a carrier came to my door and knocked. I ran down to meet him, and he told me that he'd gotten a text to check at this address because I'd spaced on my payment. He gave me a look like he half expected me to say, "it wasn't me," but I was so horrified! I was like, "OMG, we got to chatting and I totally DID!" I asked him if he was authorized to take payment, but, of course, he wasn't because he was literally just doing his route when he got sent over here.

So, I zipped back to the post office (it's less than 2 minutes from my house) and we had another big laugh. Had I been thinking I would have brought along a copy of my book for her. Mmmm, I could still do that, actually. Hang on. Going to go do that.

Okay. Back. I just went back to the post office a THIRD time, but she was very charmed to get copies of Precinct 13 and Unjust Cause out of the deal. I felt particularly good about this because, in passing, she said that had I not made it back before her shift ended at 1pm, she would have just paid my bill HERSELF. Which... that's TOO damn nice. So, I'm glad I was both able to take care of it AND give her a little gift.

In other news, I started a new quilting project. (rachelmanija , I need to still put a backing on yours, but it nearly done as well. I just have a small learning curve to surmount and... there may have been drunken hemming, I will have to send pictures.)

Here's the new project:

Image: cheery, whimsical brightly colored squares interspersed with cartoon-y quail-like bird fabric.

So.. I suppose I can't just parenthetically mention drunken quilting and not EXPLAIN.

As you all know, last Sunday was Mother's Day. Shawn decided that what she really wanted to do to celebrate (in case you're new, yes, I am also Mason's mom, but he's always called me 'ima,' and Ima's Day is Dec. 5, the day I legally adopted him,) was have mimosas and quiche. I made quiche and we popped the cork on Champaign that we always keep on hand for celebrations, and started sipping mimosas around... 10 am? In my extreme wisdom, I decided that it was a good idea to work on the quilt I've been making for Rachel. The fabric that I chose for Rachel is very shiny and lovely, but I bought it in 1990-something and so it is thin enough that I was worried that it would not actually take the full weight of the quilting. So my plan was to add an extra layer. Which I did. Three out of the four edges are fairly perfect, I even mitered the corners. Then, there's the drunken hem....

I am hoping to mitigate the worst of it when I put on the final backing.

I mean, I could rip it out and redo it? But the whole quilt has been a learning experience and I have taken to calling it my Shackleton Quilt, as it is a disaster of my own making, but I'm getting through it so that's heroic. (My family takes a very dim view of Dear Ernest Shackleton who is universally touted as a hero for having gotten his crew out alive from a disastrous shipwreck. That was heroic, no doubt, but when Shawn got a book about management based on Shackleton we were like, "mmmm, maybe a better manager wouldn't actually STEER THE SHIP INTO DISASTER IN THE FIRST PLACE." I mean, I am actually fascinated by the extent to which people will defend the guy who captained the ship into disaster simply because he managed to fix his f*cking mistake. Men get an interesting amount of credit for f*cking up.) But, so my quilt is also a bit of a c*ck up, but hey, I'm fixing it, so I'm clearly AWESOME.

The lat bit of news is that yesterday my iPad Gen 7 arrived and I immediately used it to attend a zoom book club/bookstore fundraiser. I listened to Mary Roach and Emily Anthes for Moe's Books talk about science writing. As an extrovert in this socially isolated era, I have been missing random casual interactions and I've discovered that attending stuff like this really does sooth my soul, as I have mentioned previously. The book club was fun, because it was actually more of a performance so it wasn't like I needed to have read anything to enjoy it. I am doing as many of these sorts of things as I can afford. They are wonderful.

Ah, the sun came out! Hopefully, Shawn and I will get our walk in today.

To be fair, the world is set-up for extroverts, but I'm such an extrovert that I think I get bonuses that even other extroverts don't.  

There's a coffee shop that I've been going to for years, Claddagh Coffee.  I don't even entirely remember how I found it, but it's on 7th, on the way home (if go that way, if you know what I mean,) from Shawn's work, the Minnesota Historical Society. Normally, within a few months of going to a coffee shop, I've learned most of the baristas names and more often than not have talked to the owner.  

I've been going to Claddagh long enough now that I know the names of my fellow regulars, too.  

So, today, I come in, and one of my fellow regulars, Tim, says, "Hey, Lyda, I brought in a print to show you." I'm thinking, 'A print? Like a piece of art?' but Tim has a great sense of humor and we've huddled together, close to his phone to watch videos, etc., so this isn't necessarily out of the ordinary for an interaction between us and I'm super-curious about what kind of art print Tim thought was worth bringing in for _me_ to see.

So, I say, "A print?"

Out of his pocket, Tim pulls out a 3-D printed HAND.  

I have never seen anything that's been 3-D printed before. It's really cool. He was particularly excited about this print because it was the first time he got the "clear" (it looked milky-white to me) resin to work. Apparently different types of resin have different melting points? He was happy to have figured out this one, at any rate. He said that the design for the hand is one that's downloadable (because I asked if he'd scanned the hand of anyone he knew), and is supposed to be able to hold your iPhone for you (though it didn't work terribly well, when he tried to demonstrate.)

Apparently Tim (who is this sort, which is why we've bonded in the past,) bought his son a 3-D printer kit and the two of them built the 3-D printer together.  Tim is also a mentor at his son's robotics and I secretly groaned when I heard that because the other thing I know about Tim is that he's an engineer who DESIGNED AIRPLANES (and maybe still does) for a living.  Meanwhile, one of the guys we have mentoring our Washington team is an investment banker.... who makes "future money."

At any rate, I thought that moment was very illustrative of my life as an extrovert.