bruceb

Mom's back home now, and our visit was thoroughly satisfying. We got some time out, as I wrote up previously, and had a lot of good time at home. Each of us has made some big progress since our last visit, and so we had a lot of admiring exchanges about that, and we find ourselves thinking more clearly than has sometimes been the case about upcoming challenges, with good advice for each other.

Looking forward to the next one. :)

Mom's coming for a visit—we finally got to a point where she feels up to the trip and I feel up to hosting her. She'll be here from the 9th (Thursday) through the 13th (Monday). Still got a few things to work out, like reviewing the options for getting from train station to here and vice versa, but surely these things will indeed work out. The big-picture stuff is all very much in order, for both of us.

Posting may be light between now and then, as I take advantage of warmer weather to get some rearranging done, and all the things prepped as needs prepping. Likewise, posting will be light during the visit, and then probably as I take some recuperation time. There may be flurries of activity here, or there may not.

I am very, very happy about this.

When Dad retired from NASA in 1993, his office gave him a neat gift. His work on ranging system for the Deep Space Network meant, over the years, a lot of time out in the Mojave desert, at the Goldstone complex. In 1988, the 64-meter radio antenna dish got upgraded into 70 meters, and there were bits and pieces of the old ones in storage. His gift was two of the massive six-inch nuts from the old dish and the brackets they'd held in place, chromed.

After he died, Mom felt that she didn't quite know what to do with them, and asked if I'd like them. I said yes indeed, but then I didn't exactly know what to do with them either, and they've been in one of the closets, in a handsome wood carrying case.

But tonight they're out again! I've cleared off enough books, DVDs, and what-not that I have significant open space. I was puttering around gathering up things I have that are intended for use as bookends, realizing I could use more, and thinking about what else I could press into service, and it struck me. Dad's gifts.

Now they're front and center in the wall of shelves facing the front door, the chrome mirroring the colors around them, and looking altogether wonderful. I am really, really happy about this.

All of a sudden, this evening, I felt like I really deeply truly wanted to be out of my office for a while. It's not that there's anything wrong with it. It's very comfortable, and I like my setup in there. It served me well last summer, and this winter, and it'll serve me well again in the summer that's coming. But...I just really needed a change.

So I've done some shuffling around.

I got a wonderful little new laptop table last year, and I'm writing this with my laptop on it, elevated by a little stand made for that purpose, with my usual full-size keyboard tucked under it, and a trackball by my side. The external hard drive and various peripherals are on the dining table, which is tucked next to the fireplace, since I don't expect to be using it much. I've got a direct Ethernet connection to the Clearwire modem, and the living room speakers hooked up to the Airport Express; as I write they're steaming out Angels of Venice.

There are a few specific advantages to this setup, starting with being able to use the speakers late at night without worrying about disturbing sleeping neighbors. ;) I never like my music very loud anyway, but have not wanted to take liberties with other people's sleep. This is an L-shaped building, and the living room is in a part of the L where there's nothing but open space on three sides. Also, I'm writing this while sitting in Dad's most excellent recliner. I do try to rotate chairs every so often, to shift the balance of forces in my back. And, finally, I've got the windows here to watch the world through.

My expectation is that I'll do this for a few weeks, returning to the office when I start needing more cooling than is feasible in the living room. If it's sooner than that, that's fine too. What's nice is having this change, right now, when I really needed one.

...they'd hammer me in the afternoon, they'd hammer me in the evening, they'd hammer me in the living room, they'd hammer me in the office...

Mending time. Talk to y'all tomorrow, unless I get the urge to do some slow catch-up.

There are moments when a whole lot of work comes together and is done, with the results on clear display. It's not that there won't be more to do, but some stuff really is now history. This is one of those days with me and housework.

My place looks better right now than it has in years. There's...well, I've still got a fair chunk of labor ahead of me, but there's a much closer match between what I have and places I have to put it in. Books, DVDs, and the other things I have shelved aren't wedged in as tightly as I can cram them, but have a little space to lean and slide, and it makes the shelves look a lot more...is "mature" the word I want? I don't know for sure. "Realistic", at least, with possessions better accounted for.

I am really, really pleased.