#225 - Flush Cut Dowels and Redenbacher’s

I got to bed after three AM and woke up around nine.

But I was able to complete my assignment and send it out. I have no idea if I did a good job on the writing side of things. Then again, I rarely know if I did a good job or not. There were parts that were like going down memory lane and other parts that made me laugh.

Hopefully, those are good signs that the storytelling went well.

I wasn’t full of beans this morning, so I made myself a tea and ate a banana. I got to work reading the morning emails and Teams messages before blocking in some colours for a painting.

Before long, it was time for us to have our Leads meeting and talk about the previous week and the week ahead. My supervisor had worked the weekend figuring out the tracking of the complex lighting in this episode to help the team receive fewer revisions and repaints.

Robyn and I took a short walk at lunch because I had a one o’clock meeting with the team. The weather was sunny but cool, making it the perfect temperature for strolling. Days like this are devilish, as all we want to do is keep walking and ditch our work responsibilities. But we always return home to do the right thing, even if it feels wrong.

The one o’clock meeting went for the full hour, and we were all ready to return to painting by the time it wrapped. I focused on blocking my lighting on as many paintings as I could while playing Mr. Inbetween on my iPad. Not a bad way to spend the afternoon. Having a show playing while working is something most painters do. It helps to free up the creative side of your brain for some reason.

Before I knew it, it was five thirty, and the workday was over. My garden called to me, so went out to look at the flowers and tidy up some of the garden beds. With the weather co-operating I decided it was a good time to work on repairing the fence gate.

I grabbed a half-inch drill bit, my trusty Ryobi cordless drill, a half-inch dowel, wood glue and a mallet, then returned to the backyard. The old gate hardware’s screws had come loose. They had been wriggling free for years. I drilled a half-inch hole, filled it with glue, and drove a section of dowelling in. I had to do this three times, one for each screw hole.

I came back a little later to flush-cut the dowels. Later this week, I’ll drill new pilot holes and reattach the hardware. It should last another ten years, fingers crossed.

For dinner, we ate some of the Chicken Ruby I made on the weekend with some rice. It was delicious as usual. We defrosted the portion I had left in the freezer so we could have it for lunch at the studio tomorrow.

Robyn has a wrap party to attend after work for Daniel Tiger’s Neighbourhood, somewhere in Liberty Village near the Exhibition, so I’ll likely stay a bit later at the studio and do some work on my sci-fi novel while I wait for her party to end. The party was scheduled to end by six-thirty. Must not have had much of a budget for the wrap party if that is the case.

It’s hard to believe that I won’t be stopping into the Patrician Grill for eggs and bacon ever again. I guess it’s time to find a new spot. There is a place near the studio called Figs if I get desperate for a Toronto breakfast.

After dinner, Robyn and I went upstairs; she to read and I to take an unscheduled nap.

I dozed in and out of consciousness, and when I finally came to my senses, Robyn and the kiddo had left to take a walk along the lakeshore at one of their favourite parks.

I watched some YouTube and ate a small bowl of Redenbacher’s.

After that, I grabbed a shower and started packing up my things for the commute into work.

And then Robyn told me she got the party dates mixed up. It’s next week, not tomorrow.

I settled in to get some writing done while Robyn read her book. Not a terrible way to end the evening.

I read that Netflix is doing a documentary on Martin Short. It should be available to watch tomorrow at some point. I had a great time at the live show with Steve Martin and Martin Short. They were so funny it was starting to hurt to laugh. My father can’t stand Short. I think Short is too over the top for my father’s taste, but being over the top was kinda the point when it came to his type of comedy.

Anyway, I will check the documentary out at some point this week, and I am sure Robyn would enjoy it as well.

New research data is saying that an even greater number of Canadians aren’t travelling to the US since a certain president came into office. Increase gas and airfare isn’t helping the matter, but the new research shows many of the places affected are due to decreased business in the automotive industry for example. But overall tourism is the biggest mover.

I don’t think any of this is surprising. The drop in visitors to the US from Canada always seemed a bit to low for the sentiment the locales were showing towards things said and implied by the sitting US president.

Words matter. And somethings can’t be unsaid.

Keeping it short again.

Until tomorrow.