Asberry.org

Author: aron

  • New One on Me

    I just walked Sandy out to her car and kissed her goodbye and for the first time in my adult life, my SO has a real job and I don’t. I’m not sure how I feel about that but it has caused some soul searching and I don’t believe it will take me that long to find a job but I’m still figuring out what I want to do. I feel I’ve lost my spark and direction in computers, don’t get me wrong I still love them and can’t imagine doing anything else but I need a direction. I’m certainly tired of HR and HR related software. Oh well, I’m sure something will turn up when the time comes.

    I’m really proud of Sandy, this job represents the pinnacle of her career in both compensation and prestige. Ask anyone who works in skilled nursing facilities who state is and it strikes fear in their hearts because of the power they have to shut down substandard facilities. And they serve a very needed purpose which is to keep these places professional and their patients safe and comfortable.

    I’ve got painting to do and then flooring and other home improvement efforts to undertake and some contract work to cleanup the last dying Taleo instances that will keep me entertained until my future because clear.

  • And Then There Was Paint

    While painting ranks up there with plumbing as things that I would just rather not do. Painting isn’t actually that bad but the amount of prep work that you have to do in order to get to the painting is friggin ridiculous. Clear > patch > repair > re-texture > wash down > tape and then maybe you’re ready to paint. Not that much fun. But I got the major rolling done and it feels good to actually see some progress.

  • Prepping In Process

    I used the rest of the joint compound that I had to finish up the last un-textured part of the wall, then we took the TV off the wall and found another spot. So I could go to Ace and get the joint compound for $5.99 or drive all the way to Lowe’s to get it for $4.37. I opted to pay the extra to not have to drive, took the bike to Ace, they didn’t have any, so I would have had to upgrade to the next size at $10.99. So off to Lowe’s I went.

    I pulled the baseboard out of the closet and patched and textured so we should be ready to go tomorrow.

    It’s the 50th season of SNL tonight, we’re going to stay up and try to watch it so we can pretend we’re cool and hip.

  • Crowsfeet Not On My Face

    So the holdup on progress has been how to match the texture of the as is. Well it seems that there’s a crows feet brush and it seemed to work well. It’s drying now and hopefully holds well when it gets painted.

    On another note, the Xterra is riding like a brick. I ordered $500 dollars worth of leaf springs, shocks and struts. It’s the first payment to the TLC I owe it for it’s 150k mile anniversary. Here’s the old:

  • Drywall Cut & Placed

    While it still wasn’t easy, the oscillating tool made short work of getting the piece to replace the ironing board. Also is a picture of the before of the under sill, its scary…

  • More Progress

    Slowly but surely, it’s getting there. After getting rid of the ants, we got some spray foam and drywall to fix the ingress area under the window sill. I’ve always had an issue doing drywall work because it’s such a pain in the ass to cut. In carving out pieces from the 8 x 4 you can use a jig saw but it’s never clean and always messy.

    After looking up suggestions, the oscillating tool seemed like a good solution and then I remembered that I inherited one from dad when he passed. It was a Dremel and I had opened the case but never even plugged it in. After locating it, I popped open the case and the first thing I see is a drywall blade. After changing out the head and putting on the blade I was delighted to see the tool slice through drywall (literally) like butter. This gives me the confidence to take out the old ironing board storage and make it into a standard room. It made me smile because over 10 years after his passing, it felt like my dad was still in my life.

  • Ant Issues

    So awhile back I noticed that ants had been making a track into the attic. I put some bait traps out and then I saw them on the other north side window. I sprayed it and tons of dead ant bodies fell out and I thought that would be it. I had seen them inside too when I put in the new liter box, the little fuckers got in there and I think they bit Sammy, henceforth her aversion to it.

    As I was pulling baseboards from the room I decided to pull the baseboard under the sill. As I pulled it off, there were ants starting to stream out. I ran to the RV and got the home defense spray and started the chemical warfare. A quart later the bodies have piled up and I’m guessing that I have to drill into the wall and spray and now it’s time to figure that out.

    Finally decided to drill into the wall and deliver some void injection poison to them.

    Blank spray. 3d illustration isolated on white background

  • Making Progress

    Made a trek to Harbor Freight today and continued progress on the back room. Needed a scraper that was longer than 12 inches so got the 48 inch floor scraper. It made short work of scraping the floor and getting the remnants of carpet padding and glue off the floor. Still a bit of work to do there and then the closet needs to be cleaned out and the carpet in there pulled. I’m also pulling the baseboards and will redo/replace as needed but painting is going to be super easy, no baseboards, not worried about the floor since it’s concrete and the minimal other things are easy to tape.

    I’m enjoying the ‘Inside Track Club’ from Harbor Freight too much. Aside from the 4 foot scraper, I got a 100 set of bits for the house, another 33 piece set for the RV/spare. Knee pads for the upcoming flooring job as well as a set of hole saws and two 15 foot extension cords. All for $65. The fact that you can use the app to make a list and then it tells you the aisle. Mind you that just slightly narrows it down but at least it’s a start.

  • Home Improvement

    We started off the day on our Sunday bike ride of about 12 or so miles on the river side trail. It was nice

    Got home and I got the rest of the carpet pulled up in the back room and laundry in process. The Cowboy’s play this afternoon and we’ll see if they can’t stack up against the Raven’s who are limping into Jones World at 0-2.

  • Thoughts on Mortality

    As the years drift by and my body tells me it’s getting older by triggering pain receptors in various points and parts of my body, my thoughts are increasingly turning towards the inevitable end. We’re seeing peers die, a close friend of mine (Tony) has been dead a year and a half already. We lost two female members of our graduating class to cancer in the span of a day a couple of months back.

    And of course watching our parents age is an incredibly eye opening and horrifying realization of what’s to come. It’s playing on my mind and recently more heavily and pervasively. To the point I look at my cats and almost tear up thinking of a horrible day (hopefully years away) that I’ll have to say goodbye to them for the last time.

    So in this pensive state I’m considering the process of dying. I mean that starts as soon as we’re born but I’m now more concerned about the actual transition between living and dying and then what’s after that. And the thing I’m stuck by most is that I don’t think of believe that there’s anything after. Death is the end, the body dies and that’s it, there isn’t a heaven or hell, there isn’t anything at all. It’s horrifying that this life and all the lessons learned are gone.

    But it’s been like this forever, we created religions to ease the scary thoughts of what happens after passing. I’ve started planning for my eventual passing so that it’s going to be easier on those left behind. I think that may help in my anxiety on the subject, hopefully.