Birthday
👴
On Wednesday I will officially be old. I might try to get some people together for board games.
Church
🤔
Sunday I visited liturgical church #4, this one Anglican. Unlike every other time I visit a church, at this one I actually wanted to talk to people, because they occupy the building of my old church that closed. Plus I’d met the organist and wanted to say hello. However, this one wasn’t very welcoming–not even the priest greeted me, since he was already in conversation with probably some church members–and I didn’t get a good chance to greet the organist. Still, I liked the service, so I’m planning to give it another chance, probably in a few weeks. The need to be more proactive at this one made me generally more open to socializing at the churches I’m visiting, even a little eager.
Life maintenance
😄
Saturday I was getting ready to renew my driver’s license at the DMV, and I happened to notice it’s not expiring till next year. The renewal notice the state had sent me was for another ID I’d gotten six years ago and practically never used. So I’m off the hook. And I got my glasses a year early. Oh well!
😐
I’ve barely started on my taxes, but I did collect some necessary information for them, which took some time. I’ll work on them more this week.
🙄
Last time I tried taking my cans to the recycling place, the drop-off bins were gone. Last week I did some research and found out the whole center had closed. More research told me the closest non-closed drop-off place is half an hour away. I gave up. No more Mr. Good Citizen! I’ll just throw my cans and bottles out. But my apartment building has a paper recycling bin, so at least I can still do that.
Thinking
😐
On my analysis essay, I stumbled on an idea for an update I can finish soon, so I’ll try to post that this week.
Coding project generator
😐
These days my project ideas usually end up involving programming, and my study of analysis is no exception. Thinking about my plans for that project has made my coding project generator feel like a bottleneck again, so last week I got back to working on it. It’s proceeding slowly, but at least it’s proceeding.
Fiction
🤔
I finished Skeleton Crew. I generally liked the rest of the stories, except for “Survivor Type.” I couldn’t wait for that one to end. I couldn’t stand the character. I was also in a bad mood that day. I really liked “Gramma,” though maybe not the ending. “The Ballad of the Flexible Bullet” was interesting.
😎
While I was waiting to start Skeleton Crew, I started on another of my shorter ones from Audible, Pilot X by Tom Merritt. After Skeleton Crew I continued it. I think of Tom Merritt as a tech journalist, so I didn’t know how his fiction would be. It turns out I really like it! Pilot X is written very accessibly and has an interesting premise and setting. The reader is really good too, Kevin T. Collins.
🤔
After Pilot X, I have a pair of Haruki Murakami novels lined up–Wind and Pinball. Reading the thoughtful posts of Makoto Murata on some mailing lists I follow has put me in the mood to look into Japanese literature.
Work
🤔
Last week another of my favorite coworkers left the company. She retired. We never actually worked together, and we didn’t speak often. But she’s the kind of person who has a distinct presence. Whenever she was around, I could tell things were getting done and people were feeling appreciated.
I hope you have a wonderful birthday, Andy!