Several of the lots around us aren’t developed yet, so we have been enjoying a sense of space, and sight-lines that will, one day soon, be obstructed. We knew this intellectually, but now that one of the vacant lots is being developed we are faced with the reality of a house in “our” backyard.
The ground behind our house drops away considerably so that the house which will eventually be most apparent in our view will be lower than us. We’ll be able to see the far horizon over the roof of that house, and things in the foreground to either side of it. The house that was started this week is off to the west of us, or to the right side of our backyard when you stand with your back toward our house. The view that way will be obscured by the new house as it is nearly as far up the slope as we are.
At one time last August we were seriously considering that very lot for ourselves, but eventually decided that the sight lines were better here than two over. We still feel that way, however it will be interesting to visit that other house as it is being built to see what its view would have been.
The other thing about the building is the noise and traffic. This morning Sibylle counted about 20 trucks and men at the new site. And they start early in the morning, the first two were there when I left for work at 7:15 am. By this time next year all the lots around us should be completed, we hope, and the construction chaos moved elsewhere.
I like that we are here early enough to see some of the changes. It is sad in a way to see what was here smoothed and shaped and manicured for a subdivision, but it is exciting in another way to watch the process and see the lots and houses take shape.
Upon arriving home today I was ready to setup and start using our new Fujitsu SnapScan, however I was thwarted by a variety of issues.
Our office has a desktop computer we refer to as the “Money Computer” as that is where first Microsoft Money and now Quicken live. (Money has been discontinued by Microsoft forcing us to make the switch to Quicken.) It’s an elderly machine that was new in perhaps 2005. It’s running Windows XP and does an admirable job as our financial center. However I was unable to get the DVD/CD tray to open, even after sticking a straightened paper clip in the little emergency release hole. So I was unable to install the scanner software on that machine.
Next I tried my ancient PowerBook G4. The scanner software installed without a problem, but I wasn’t able to install Evernote on to that version of Mac OS X. Strike two.
I have a ThinkPad that was running Ubuntu 10.10 that I wasn’t really using for anything, so I formatted its hard drive and started the process of installing Windows XP. I have a copy of XP, and that what was originally on that machine. Installing and updating XP is a laborious process at best, and as I have been distracted throughout the process it only just finished several hours after I started.
Late last year we had talked about getting Sibylle a new laptop as hers is full to overflowing and consequently slower responding. We actually purchased a Gateway from BestBuy and brought it home only to discover they had blundered during their setup of the machine resulting in a dead slow computer. We returned it and rather than exchange it we walked away from the idea for a while.
Tonight we returned to BestBuy and picked up a new Toshiba Satellite for her to have as her laptop. Her current laptop, a Compaq, will now become the new “Money Computer” and we’ll use the old eMachine desktop in the studio. This solves several problems: Sibylle will have a computer capable of importing and editing video files, she have enough room on her computer for all of her files, we’ll have a computer to act as the scanning station and be our money computer, and we’ll gain a machine for general purpose use in the studio.
Tomorrow, once all the rearranging is complete I’ll take a second stab at getting our paperless office setup.
In golf, and other sports, a mulligan is a do-over or repeat of a spectacularly errant shot or play.
I’d like a mulligan for today.
Normally after I get up I turn my alarm off. Today I forgot and midway through my shower the phone started in bing-binging again. So, out of the shower, dripping all over the floor and counter to turn the alarm off. Not a terrible thing perhaps, but a portent of things to come as we shall see.
When I went to sit down at the breakfast table I discovered that Bootstrap had thrown up all over the neatly labeled and addressed bills that Sibylle prepared last night for mailing today. Also on the table, and part of the rug under the table. He’s been throwing up more lately so we may have to take him to the vet to see what is upsetting him.
When I went to leave work to go to my Music Theory class I discovered the driver’s side rear tire was a bit soft, so I detoured through the nearest gas station to add some air. After class, a mere 75 minutes after filling the tire, it was again a bit soft. Obviously we’d picked up something sharp. So I detoured to the local Honda dealer to have the tired repaired. Fortunately they was able to take the car right way. It’s only 5 minutes from where we live so I called Sibylle and she came to pick me up for an early lunch.
After lunch I needed to take my cello with me for my lesson this afternoon, so we cleared out some of the things from the back of the Jimmy. While walking past the passenger side of the Jimmy I brushed against the outside mirror, and, you guessed it, it promptly fell off the car. We replaced the driver’s side mirror last winter after it fell off the car. Apparently the plastic that mounts it to the car gets brittle with age. I used a pair of kitchen scissors to cut the wires and completely remove it. We’ll have to schedule a trip to the local body shop for a new $130 side mirror.
All of this before noon today.
I’ll take that mulligan now.
In the classic musical You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown, there’s a song about writing a book report about Peter Rabbit. I forget who sings it now (and I’m too lazy to open a new browser tab to find out via Google) but I do remember that the report was supposed to be 500 words long. The singer writes a little bit and then starts counting the words.
Tonight’s posting is a bit like that report. It’s 11:23 pm and I haven’t written anything all day so you are getting this rather flimsy excuse for a posting just so I won’t miss a day.
And now you can all go look up You’re A Good Man Charlie Brown.
Neither of us had a lot of energy today, and we both ended up taking naps late this afternoon. After a dinner out at Panera we did some grocery shopping in anticipation of freezing drizzle followed by snow tonight and tomorrow morning. The plan is to not go out at all tomorrow.
I did manage to get our recycling to the local collection station this morning. After which I bought a terabyte hard drive to go along with the scanner we ordered. In addition to being handy network attached storage, this drive will hold one of at least two copies of every paper we scan. I suspect it will also be used as a backup drive for Sibylle’s computer and the computer we use to track our money.
Other than instaling the drive on our network, and initiating the transfer of 50GB of videos from and older drive, I did little today. Which makes it a pretty good Saturday I think.
A couple of months ago I stumbled upon a video showing how to setup a scanner and Evernote to create a paperless office. The results were impressive and I shared the video with Sibylle. We’ve talked about it on and off since then and finally decided to take the plunge.
Like all families we collect a surprising amount of paper in the normal course of events. Bills, insurance statements, pages from catalogs or magazines, flyers, pictures, business cards, et cetera. The problem with trying to keep these pieces of paper is that they take up a lot of space and, once misfiled or misplaced, are lost. The idea of scanning them, and cataloging them is intriguing, but getting the parts of that process all lined up and working was the barrier.
With the Fujitsu SnapScan S1300 and Evernote it seems that the barrier as been lowered if not completely eliminated. The software that comes with the scanner allows you to setup some predefined actions that occur whenever something is scanned. In the video below John Chow demonstrates that two copies of the PDF are created. One is stored on an external hard drive and the other linked to his Evernote account. The Evernote dialog allows him to quickly label and tag the document. Evernote syncs to all his other devices and provides a web interface, so he has access to everything he’s scanned from virtually anywhere.
Tonight we ordered a SnapScan S1300 from Amazon, which should arrive on Monday thanks to a free Amazon Prime membership due to my status as a university student. I’m sure it’ll take a little while before we have our document tagging system sorted out, but we are looking forward to digitizing lots and lots of documents.
One of the things you discover with a new house is that it isn’t perfect. In this instance when I say new I mean a brand new house that no one has ever lived in.
Everything in the house is new, the appliances, the paint, the floor coverings, the mechanicals, …, everything. But there are places where it isn’t perfect. The one square of trim in the master bath that is held in place by friction only. Or the water dispenser on the fridge that won’t dispense when the dispenser area light is on. (Must be shy, I guess.)
I’m not complaining about any of these things, but I am surprised to discover the distinction between “new” and “perfect.” Nothing, it seems, is truly perfect, even when it is new. But then a strict definition of “perfect” may not itself be perfect. The imperfections here are ours, lock, stock, and barrel. (Got the official recording of the deed in the mail today - it’s ours!)
They say when you buy a new car you should open the trunk and in an obscure location scratch the paint with the key to firmly move it from the “new and perfect” stage to the “not new anymore” stage. Finding the little things that aren’t perfect here are a way of adding a little scratch to a new car.
Sorting out the difference between new and perfect has helped me to see that neither new nor perfect is really the key here. “Ours” is the key. This house, this property, with all its wonderfulness and whatever blemishes there are, is ours.
One of the exciting things about moving is getting new neighbors. You never know just what to expect. Last night, around nine-thirty we got a chance to observe some of our neighborhood’s residents while they were out for an evening stroll.
On Sunday afternoon we shoveled the snow off one of our neighbor’s driveway. She had been gone for much of the semester break and all the snow the fell around Christmas was still piled up on her drive. I like the idea of random acts of kindness and so I told Sibylle I wanted to shovel her driveway for her. We went over together and took turns shoveling snow. While we were there we saw evidence of other residents - tracks in the snow - and wondered when we might see them in person. At the time we commented that they must be walking at night.
So when Sibylle called to me that she could see them I came running. Four residents were milling around in one of the yards behind us, enjoying the cold night air and relative privacy of the dark. While it was a bit hard to see in the dark it appeared to be a family, with adults and children. My camera wasn’t up to the low-light situation, so you’ll have to take my word for it that there were four deer in the neighbor’s yard having dinner.
With an iPad at my disposal I have been exploring some of the available applications. Apple is quick to tout the number of apps available from the App Store, but as it turns out, quantity isn’t the same as quality.
One of the apps I’ve tried is the WordPress for iPad tool. In theory this application allows you to interface with the administration side of your WordPress.com or self-hosted WordPress site. In actuality I have had trouble with it. Yesterday I posted a new entry about having lived in our house for one month now. Somehow the app decided that I really meant to post this on January 8th. I had to edit the post date/time this morning to properly position the entry on my site.
Once you start an entry on the iPad there is no obvious way to delete it. I think the reason yesterday’s posting was published on the 8th and not the 17th was caused by my overlaying a previous draft rather than successfully deleting it from the iPad WordPress app.
As convenient as using the iPad may be for some things, using it as a front end for managing my website is not its strong suit. This entry, and those that follow, will be done the old fashioned way - from a browser tab on my laptop.
Sibylle and I moved into our new house just over a month ago. We are slowly gutting used to it; it feels less and less like a really fancy hotel suite and more like our home everyday.
The riot of boxes is largely hidden away either in the cavernous unfinished area downstairs, or in the third garage bay. Even though we, or friends of ours, packed everything, there are things we can’t find yet. The iron, for example.
The master shower leak seems to have been fixed by redoing the grout at the base of the tile wall. Of course, this repair was after a hole was cut into the bedroom wall to check for leaks in the tubing. We are awaiting the drywall guys return to repair that wound, and then the painters to hide the repair.
The huge pile of dirt behind the house was neatly haul away right before the end of the year, so we’ll have to wait for our builder’s next foundation to be dug before the grading work behind the house can be completed. He next project is staked out, but we have no idea when digging will start.
We have set in to motion having a whole house humidifier added to the furnace, and we are in the midst of completing and order for cellular blinds for some of the windows. Once the drywall repairs, grading work outside, humidifier install, and binds install are done we’ll likely bar the door and not let anyone into our house or our lives for a while. We need some time to just be here to fully appreciate the wonderfulness that is out new house.