#201 - ARC and Stops

I managed to get a good night’s sleep again and woke up feeling much better.

My back is still killing me, but that will get better in time. The day started with a request for me to help rework the asset library for our show using the new information to make the changes.

After a few meetings and many messages, I finally got work making those changes.

We took our lunch time walk, something we haven’t done in a long time. It felt great to get out from behind the desk and get some fresh air. The air was heavy with humidity, and it was foggy outside. Still, it was cool enough to make the walk enjoyable.

After lunch, work was more of the same until the end of the day came. Soon, after we headed out to Red Lobster to fete the stepson with crab legs and cake. We all stuffed our faces and enjoyed every bite. Then we walked off the meal at the mall across the street.

I picked up a few more of the little Nota notebooks I like from Indigo and Robyn snagged a few of the French mint chocolate bars from Laura Secord.

We dropped the kiddo off at home and I put some weed killer stuff my neighbour gave me onto the lawn. It was applied using a spreader and looked like pellets you might feed to a hamster. All I know is that my neighbour always has less weeds on his lawn than I do, so I gave it a shot.

Then we did a quick grocery run to Walmart. I needed some more ingredients to make the Tres Leche cake tomorrow, and we needed some basic things like milk and eggs. Really, I just wanted to lie down and rest my aching back.

Eventually, after putting away the groceries, I finally got to lie down and watch some TV: an episode of “The Last Thing He Told Me,” and “The Daily Show.”

I read a story to keep up my reading streak. My mentor puts a story up on her blog every Monday for free. I thought it would be a good idea to read more of her work and she if can see the things she is teaching me in her own stories. She is an extremely talented and prodigious writer.

I enjoyed this week’s story about a mayor of an old western town who is called to the local whorehouse when one of the women gets murdered. It had an interesting twist, and you could feel the old town really well.

I forgot to take my AG1 supplement again today. It slips my mind every day with ease. I still haven’t found a strategy to get that streak running consistently.

I ordered some rubber stops that go under my office chair wheels at the studio. The keep the chair from rolling away while you are sitting on it. The floor in our section is the original factory flooring of wooden planks. The floor angles down the further you get from my desk. The co-worker who sits directly behind me doesn’t have the same problem; his chair rolls towards his desk and he stays in place. I think the rolling is part of the reason my back is so sore this week as the slight roll constantly puts me into the wrong sitting position.

And for ten dollars, I thought it was worth trying.

My Microsoft ARC mouse batteries finally needed changing today. The mouse folds flat when not in use and bends into an arc when using it. It’s great to just shove in a bag when you are on the go and it works well on most surfaces. I think the last time it needed a battery was when I first purchased it almost three years ago. Now that’s a long-lasting battery.

It really is one of the finer products Microsoft has made.

I had to order a new set of salt and pepper grinders today. The ones I bought from Canadian Tire were prone to breaking. Mostly it was in the area where the two pieces connected. The grinding mechanism never failed, but when the plastic broke the motor wasn’t really engaging the grinder anymore. Hopefully, the new ones are made of higher-quality parts than the last pair.

I received some welcomed news from work about having to come into the studio. Apparently, the FIFA world cup will be playing games in Toronto and it is predicted that the transit and roadways will be overcrowded more than usual. We have been exempted from the mandatory days in studio on game days.

And any day I can work from home instead of the studio is a win for me.

Tomorrow is all about baking the birthday Tres Leche cake for the kiddo and getting the rest of my tax receipts together and inputted into a spreadsheet. And of course, after all that, I need to get some writing done on either my next mentor assignment or the start of a novel.

Having a novel to work on feels like something I would like to have going in my life now. I think I am ready to start something bigger, and the idea from the last assignment might be a good place to start. If it doesn’t work out, it won’t devastate me. And that lack of importance is a good thing when it comes to writing. Most authors get hung up, or get writer’s block, when they make their writing too important.

It took a while to believe that, but now I am convinced of its truth.

One of the many things I have learned from my writing teachers.

Well, I’ve stayed up until almost one AM and I have no reason to have done so. I am tired and more than ready to drift off into a deep sleep.

Time to call it a night and recharge the batteries.

Night all.