kickin' up dust

Friday:

It ended up being a solo clean up day. Squeegees and floodbars? Check! Cleaning oodles of screens? Yup! Reclaiming and coating by the end of the day? Did that. Also burned screens. Listened to a good chunk of The Book Thief, which is a great book but also very depressing.

At home I itemized all that I had to do this weekend. I also arranged my car repair for Sunday. Hurray!

The way I planned what I had to do left Friday wide open, so I let myself relax for one more day.

Saturday:

Actually got up right between a reasonable hour and way too late. Had my oatmeal and tea. Then I ran my errands. Santa Cruz is so easy to drive around it. I'm in another gift exchange, but this one is one sided and for teachers. Specifically classroom supplies. So I swung by Staples. Then I returned home by car, and set out once again by foot for an art supply errand. It was a great day to walk along the river a little bit. I finished The Book Thief and started Reaper Man...which is an odd pair of books. I got some frames and a notebook from the art supply store, then a sandwich from Zoccoli's. I tried to sit in the park and watch the ducks while I ate it, but this wasp just HAD to get all up in my business, so eventually I was made to move and get walking again.

Back at home I took my art off my walls and took apart my bedframe. Tomorrow I want to reset up my bedframe in the new room, and move in a few shelves. Then I can start the slow process of getting my stuff over trip by trip. It shouldn't take that long. Then next weekend: my bed goes over and then I am out of this house. Though I'll probably make a trip for little things here and there. And help Janet clean.

Now my point of view is all weird because I don't have my bed and side table and art to look at.

We've been setting out things on the curb for free, and now this kid shows up at our door at weird hours and asks if we have any free stuff for him. We say we may put stuff out later on. It's odd to see what is a stereotypical "weird neighborhood kid".

Have a 10am appointment to get my car fixed tomorrow! And it's only about a 15 minute drive away, which is easy. No having to go up to some San Jose dealer or whatever.

NEWT!

NEW HARRY POTTER MOVIE! AHHH! Exciting. Well Harry Potter universe. Creatures! Waah! So exciting.

I ordered the car part. Hopefully it'll arrive by tomorrow morning and I can take my car in soon (Saturday) to get it fixed.

Work was another full day! Yay for full days of work! Money money money! And I like my job. Did a big banner, but since it was thicker it was easier to roll and move about. Caught a job. Weeded vinyl. Weeded more vinyl. Generally was helpful. Taped screens. Time can pass really fast.

At home I did a quick bike ride to the library and returned my library books, though I quickly finished one of the comics I checked out. The art was nice but the story wasn't all that captivating.

Working 10:30-6:30 really does cut into the evening time.

Whooo weekend! I have a list so I shall work on that list.

this weekend I'll revitalize and get stuff DONE!

Called the Toyota parts people. Think I'll just have to suck it up and get it fixed by the pros. Though it sounds like they can order the part and then when I bring in my car (and they are open on Saturday and Sunday) I could get it fixed same day, which is convenient. What is that idiom, a cheap man pays twice? Fixing it myself could result in breaking the newly bought part...

I did vinyl signs today at work and they turned out pretty damn awesome! Very proud of myself. Also weeded some pain in the ass vinyl. Caught stuff for a bit. But I was mostly on vinyl duty, and then at the end cleaning squeegee duty.

Had a salad for dinner. Like a responsible healthy eating person. Took out the trash.

Awesome Wednesday whooo!

I need to return my library books. Probably running low on renews.

slack

It rained today! I really want to wash my car but there is a water shortage right now so I probably shouldn't use the hose. Stupid California. But yeah, it was damp and cold which made for a really nice change of pace. I did banners for most of the day, as well as some burned screens and vinyl weeding.

Almost done with Ruby in the Smoke. Young Adult books go so fast!

My legs have been really sore these past few days.

Washed my work shirts. Actually they should be ready to take out of the dryer now.

I'm in another inactivity phase. Need to snap outta it.

a man, a plan, and no coyote corpses to show for his effort

WHooo!! What a day! Energy was high and lots of changes were made. Good changes! And the print came out pretty good. Finally done with that job! Lots of exclamation marks in this post!!

It ended up being a shorter day, though Jeff had arrived early so it was a full day for him.

I started Ruby in the Smoke, but as it is a shorter audiobook I'll probably be onto another one in no time at all. Yay audiobooks!

I called Toyota about my seat belt. Now I have to find a Toyota dealer and get an estimate about parts/repairs and compare that to DIY.

Zappos had Roos on sale, so I bought another pair but this time in purple! Now I'll have three good pairs of work shoes!

food, nap, shopping, shopping, sleep

Happy birthday Dad! Glad you liked the shirt.

Didn't feel like making breakfast, so I went to Zachary's and had their "big miss" scramble of sorts. It was too big so I had to take left overs home with me. Then I took a nap to allow that to digest. The day started mild and gray and then it escalated into warmth.

Made a Target trip for furniture felt, a bucket, some little bags for packing knick knacks safely, and some other miscellaneous stuff because Target has too much selection. I packed up a few more things, but I feel that it won't really take off, in terms of packing, till I start actually moving things out. Still, gotta get a start and then I can work from there.

Also made a Trader Joe's run. So much shopping!

Also finished A Cuckoo's Calling. It was okay.

pear people

Sketch from Saturday's pear pie making.

pears and pies

Oh joy to have a Saturday where the alarm goes off at 8am. But I had some quality time planned with the new housemates, so that is swell. So I arrived at the new house at 9:20ish ready to pick pears from the backyard pear tree. Hurray! Chris is still in the house, but is moving soon. He is a pretty cool dude, I hope he enjoys Portland. So it was Jeff, Justen, Tara, Chris, Jan (Jeff's friend), and I! Whooo! And we came up with an order for operations. Justen, Tara, and I went about picking pears. We went up on this orchard ladder with a long picker. It took a lot of careful maneuvering, but we got so many pears! Some were really high up. Using a picker is hard work. It's a lot of weight to navigate. It was a brilliant sunny day, but not a scorcher.

Once the pears were picked, they were washed. Justen had an engagement so he left, but not before cooking us eggs and bacon! What a guy!

Then we started cutting and cutting and cutting. So much filling to be made. Chris and Jan worked on the crust. Tara also cut up some strawberries. The table was set up outside, so that it was a conveyor belt of pie making. Five pies were filled! Of various sizes. A couple had lattice crusts, because we are fancy. Conversation was good, everyone was polite and on the same level. It was a good group and I feel good about it.

Then pies went into the oven and we started cleaning and tidying and relaxing and chatting. I sketched a bit. Then a pie was out of the oven and we consumed a good portion of it. Mmm. Pear and strawberry. Very good.

After helping with the dishes I bid adieu and went to Atilla's Antiques because I am on a quest to find a badass seal/signet type ring. The big kind that you can use to punch an emblem into wax. So far I'm not coming up with anything badass enough that is also reasonably priced. I should also find out my ring finger sizes.

But I did get a few neat can labels featuring squid, a framed print of some sea shells that I really liked and wasn't badly priced, and some old drawing guide books that I liked the images in. Hurray!

And all that before 4pm! What a Saturday.

I hung out at home for a bit. I walked to Betty's Noodles for some noodles for dinner because my laziness to cook was more than my laziness to walk to a place to make me food. I ended up getting a beef rice bowl thing. It was all right. The rice was a bit dry in a few parts. Like it came from the side of the cooker. It's fun to read Mary Roach's Gulp while eating dinner. Hhehe.

Anyoo. Night came. I packed my books into boxes. I think I'll make a Target run and get some tubs, though I think a lot of my things can be moved without actually unpacking. Just put the shelving thingies in my car and tape the drawers shut. The plan will be to make a trip every night from the 15th to the 22nd, and then on that weekend, move my bed and desk and actual thing things. But get everything but clothes out. It may not take THAT many trips, considering what I have on hand.

Not fun to think about, but some things are inevitable I suppose.

I can't deal with three figure heat

Uhg. What a day. It was 92 degrees in Scott's Valley, according to the internet, but in the studio it was probably more. I kept hydrated but still that heat is a killer. I burned screens, the job got set up and...well it took some tweaking and....it took some color changes AND... we still are not quite there and stress was running high. But we are a well oiled team! And my suggestion to put stars on the seps to separate them was well received and ended up being a very approved idea by the end of the day.

And at home I took a nap and Joey came to join me. That was nice. Nice to nap the hot part of the day away. I've got an early morning tomorrow so nighty night!

eye of the beholder

My eye is almost all better! Just a tinge left. Such a weird thing.

As for the car, well...err things haven't moved forward. I keep sleeping in and not taking the time to call Toyota about the part.

We didn't print much at work because the film needs some tweaking....so I went ballistic on reclaiming screens. 44 in total! We have a full rack and 20 to coat tomorrow. Booyah. We'll have so many screens to burn stuff onto!

I also cleaned stuff. Knocked out a good chunk of audiobook listening.

Then I wasted yet another night at home. Just not feelin' it these days.

Janet is the best, no lie

My eye is looking lots better. Still a bit of redness but generally it seems to be healing.

Work was fun. Brought in cheese puffs and got Kara addicted to them. Trader Joe's white cheddar puffs are sooooo good. Mmm. Jeff warned her, but did she listen?

I burned a bunch of screens all through the day. Caught a couple jobs. Broke down the press. Generally I was awesome. Boss said we are going to be printing some really awesome posters coming up soon. Won't go into detail due to probable disclosure contracts. But it's neat!

I really like my job. I can be goofy yet respected for my drive. I can listen to audiobooks. I can give input into matters. It's awesome.

Once home, I got a text from Janet informing me that I can have the rest of the ice cream pie she made. I thump thump thump thump thumped down the stairs SO FAST! So tasty. Just like chocolate and ice cream in a graham cracker pie tin. I'll have to get her recipe.

eye see yoooou

Woke up to this red spot in my eye. I don't know how it got there, but it seems like the type of injury that would result from carelessly rubbing your eye in the middle of the night. It doesn't hurt and it wasn't oozing, so I just left it alone and it is looking a bit better. I'll see how it is in the morning. Hopefully it will be minimized and not like, HUGE RED EYE AHHHH.

Swung by the post office and put a package in the mail. Hopefully it'll arrive by September 8th.

Work? What can I say about work that I haven't said bunches of times before. I did stuff. Oh. We mixed natural discharge and white discharge to make a custom slightly off white color for the client. That was new. Jeff and I were super efficient at printing this one job. Boss bought a wheely shop stool. That is fun. I started Cuckoo's Calling, which I've been excited for.

Home meant laundry, and my sheets got tangled up in themselves, so those have to try more before I can put the other laundry in.

Had Trader Joe's potstickers for dinner. They were okay, but I know I can make my own potstickers that are just as good, I just need to take the initiative and make the filling.

car parts

Boss and I managed to get the seat belt retractor out of the side of the car. I was mighty in strength as I pulled off the side panel to expose it. Haha. But there were a buncha warning signs about contents being under pressure and stuff, so neither of us wanted to undo the thing further....so it was agreed that the best course of action would be to order the part and replace it. The adventure continues!

Today was a clean up day. I listened Locke Lamora, a book I'm becoming less interested in as it goes on (just isn't as dynamic as I would have hoped). I cleaned allll the used squeegees and floodbars. I cleaned alllll the screens. I reclaimed 9 screens and coated them at the end of the day. It's good to get on top of things like that, because they can pile up. Oh! I also used a staple gun to put up some banner scraps to block off the cleaning tank from splashing on the clean stuff to the left of the tank. Yay staple guns!

Was an early day. Spent some time cuddling with Joey on my bed. Talked to Ma and Pa.

We've got some big printing to do in the next couple days. Let's do this!

too hot to enjoy the heat

Saturday:

Woke up to an oppressive heat. Just that warmth that is all "yeah, I'm going to be really hot today". So I bought some ice cream and sat on the porch and read. Didn't get up to much. Janet is slowly packing up the house. Glasses. The couch was put on the curb and some people grabbed it an hour and a half later (it's always smart to put a "free couch" posting on Craigslist to get rid of things quickly like that).

My seat belt retractor broke, so I spent time Googling and talking to Dad and trying to figure out how to fix it. But I lack the tools to remove the bolts. But I'm sure we'll have the tools at work, so hopefully I can get it sorted soon. Stupid thing. Don't want to take out the whole side panel, but I might have to. Don't want to take it to a repair shop either but hey, might have to. Bleh.

Been watching Stephen Fry in America on Netflix. It's pretty good. He drives around to all the states and interviews people.

Sunday:

Another warm wakeup with some more porch reading. Got groceries later on. Don't want to drive more than necessary. Certainly don't want to go on a road that goes more than 35mph. How do people just drive without their seat belts?

Working on my continent drawing. So easy to do digitally! Lotsa fun.

Right now I'm working on my Goodreads profile, hopefully as a way to get suggestions for new books! Not that I don't already have enough on my shelf AND in my audiobook queue.

part of the record

You know that you know it is going to be hot when you just leave your sweater at home. Normally I bring one for the start of the day but nooooope. It was hot and it stayed hot. Mixed ink. Taped stuff. Counted things in. The job had several color changes, and the front and back had to be hand pulled because they were large images, and it was discharge ink which is a fuss! Poor Jeff looked so beat. I cleaned up the ink and broke down the press and call it one warm warm day. Gaah. I drank plenty of water but still. So much sweat. Rarely do I shower right after work but oh that shower felt great.

So yeah. Weekend!

I went to Bookshop Santa Cruz to look at their birthday cards because I need to get a card for.....someone... uhm. Ahem.

And snagged a great deal on hardback copy of Reamde. I saw the pile and then had the devil of a time trying to find the pile again. So many books!

Ryan and I met up and we went to 99 Bottles and met his friends Hillary and Dean for dinner and brews. I knocked #41 off my card and had some fish and chips. Hillary and Dean are super into comics so we chatted a whole bunch and got along great! We cruised by their house to drop some stuff off. Hillary lent me a few issues of Finder! YAY COMICS! Yay new friends. Hahah.

Then back we went downtown to see The World's End. Yes I saw it last week. It was worth seeing again. Very funny and fantastic. Lots of great physical comedy bits and little touches. The people really know what they are doing when it comes to making these movies. Hope they make another one soon!

Lotsa people out tonight, and some were rowdy. Be interesting to move and see a new part of this city, though not being so bikeable to the theaters is a bummer.

Also! One of those gift exchanges I did set the world record for the largest online secret Santa at 44,805 participants! So cool!

beginnings and endings and beginnings

After work, I went to the new house to assist Jeff and Tara in interviewing potential candidates for the 4th bedroom in the house. There was Justen and Blake. Justen was quieter, Blake was more energetic. Both were younger, one had lived with many different people (even in Denmark) and one had not. We talked about it and we all agreed on our choice, so if the references clear....he shall be in! I got a better look at the house and it seems pretty good. Plenty of pantry space.

Being on the other end of the interview process is interesting. Figuring out all the different questions, and what matters in a candidate. It's a pretty big thing, figuring out who you are going to live with. After many years of experience though, you should figure it out. What you are looking for in a home and people to home with. Anyhoo. That was cool. Then Jeff, Tara, Chris (the guy who is moving out) and I went to Discretion Brewing for a quick brewksi. Chris is moving to Portland. It was a really awesome time! I'm a bit sad that Chris is leaving, because I think I would have liked living with him. Really nice dude. Hope he likes Portland. Found out that probably the lady who wrote the Feministory piece I illustrated for Bitch Magazine is a friend of Jeff's. Small world! Anyway. The conversation was fun and Tara and I bonded over mutual love for Spice World. Things should be good.

What can I say about work? I caught some sweatpants, I prepped some screens for discharge ink, I cut out and smoothed down some big magnets that are going on the side of a car that is going to be in a demolition derby, I cleaned squeegees and floodbars. It's always different and changing. I think I've mentioned that that is what I like about my job, but it bears repeating.

All in all, a very good active day. And whee, it is Friday! Fun!

whoooo wednesday

Another full day at work! Love full days, so nice to have.

We ran the fronts on one job, and the fronts and back on another. There was a spider in my respirator, but thankfully I noticed that before I put it on. No inhaled spiders for me!

Listened to the Lies of Locke Lamora, which is really enjoyable.

After all the printing, I burned a bunch of screens and weeded a bunch of vinyl and that was that.

Home found me relaxing and watching Archer. Worked a bit on my current pet project and set out the recycling and that was that.

cricket and the Perg

Coyotes got the goats at work. Awful. Just awful. And they had just gotten named! And it was during the day! So awful.

Anyhoo. I touched up the gilding on the sign and it is done and it looks awesome. I caught a job too, and broke down the press. I counted in some shirts. A nice full day, as doing the gilding takes time and patience.

After work, I met up with Benjamin. I met Benjamin and Jenn and Steve's wedding. He is from Santa Cruz but is going off to study abroad and what not. He was in town and we hung out, which was awesome because I got a Santa Cruzian's description of downtown. We had a pint at the Poet and I learned to play darts (I won by a slim margin). We had dinner at India Joze and it was VERY good. Indian fusion? I don't know what to describe it as, but it was flavorful and awesome. It was a nice clear night. Perfect to wander around and get what this and that building is pointed out to me. We finished at Cafe Pergolesi and called it a night at around 9ish. A nice little weekday evening. Fun to have visitors, even if we've only actually met once before. Yay for Facebook for making various kinds of contact easier!

And yay for getting out of the house, haha.

dress weather

Sunday:

Slept in, because duh. Did my grocery shopping and once home I made an enchilada casserole. Now I have a weeks worth of not PB&J! Hurray! Really gotta branch out in my cooking. Relaxed. Drew a drawing for Nate. Watched Breaking Bad.

Monday:

Also slept it. Finally feel all rested after the previous week of sucky sleep.

I've been blogging for over six years now. Some of my older posts used to go into so much detail, but I guess I was doing more. Going to different things in a day, doing different this and that.

I cleaned dishes. My new house will have a dishwasher, so that is exciting. Though I still like handwashing. It's just easier.

It was so warm and nice all day. I was able to wear just a dress and be comfy.

Welp! Back to work tomorrow.

Eman Draziw

Eman Draziw

Nate wanted me to draw his D&D character, so here it is.