#169 - Fictional Airbases and Chicken Wire

Work was good today. We got plenty of the work we have been doing approved, and we are now moving towards getting the next episode prepped for our painters.

After missing my deadline for the mentor assignment, it was necessary to inform my mentor. This keeps form looking in spam folders and waiting for the assignment to arrive. I received a nice letter reply from her, and she put the assignment back by two weeks.

I think I took on too much considering how busy work and life have been of late. I am looking forward to getting stuck into the story over the next two weeks. One error I may have made, purely to do with speed, is setting my story in a place I am unfamiliar with. This caused me to have to do a lot of extra research. I love learning about new places but under a time crunch and lack of energy it was bogging me down.

I had some god thoughts on how the story was going to move forward, some of which I had to shut down, because after researching, I thought the Air Force might be involved at one point, only to find out there weren’t any bases in that part of the US.

But that’s just plot and I’ll find a way around it.

We managed to get a short walk in today at lunch. I had an eleven o’clock meeting and then a one o’clock meeting. Too tight a meeting sandwich to go for the full walk, but it was great to get out in the fresh air and move my body. Sitting all day makes me feel worse the longer it goes on.

After work, I spent some time wrapping chicken wire around the raised garden of our front yard tree. There are about fifty tulips in there and some are already poking out of the soil. Every year skunks and rabbits attack them. They bit off the tops and leave the flower head lying on the ground. They must not like the taste, but they sure like biting them.

Hopefully, this year we will get to see the flowers bloom in their full glory.

I took some time to use the rest of the chicken wire and wrapped it around a tree in the back that has hostas and other spring bulbs that keep getting dug up. I believe squirrels are the culprits in the backyard. It would be nice to have the plants we own actually bloom.

The new oven arrives on Friday, so it was stovetop cooking for dinner. I breaded tilapia fillets with panko crumbs and sautéed a bag of mixed vegetables to make a quick and easy dinner. I was tasty enough so I can’t complain and it didn’t take long to make.

When we were shopping for ovens, we also looked at over the stove microwaves. There was a new LG model that had a pull-out fan extension to cover more of the burners. It seemed like a really cool design. Our microwave is on it’s last legs as well, so its just a matter of time before we are back there buying another appliance.

Then I went upstairs to watch some YouTube. There wasn’t much of interest in my feed, so I watched mostly cooking videos. Nothing I saw made me want to make it though.

I am back in the studio again tomorrow, and I plan to stop at The Patrician for another serving of bacon and eggs. I’ll be trying out my new lap desk on the train tomorrow. Using it on the bed and in a chair here at home suggests it is going to be perfect for writing on public transportation.

I read today that Cuba is going through a massive power outage. That means no refrigeration, lights, or power for communications. All part of Trump’s plan to overthrow the country. The blackouts are a direct result of the US blockades of oil and other products from reaching Cuba.

I still wonder about the people we met there and hope they are able to manage with even less than they are used to. I suspect they are more resilient than I would be in the same situation.

Living in a relatively stable country, and thankful for it, we watched a ‘This Week Tonight’ with John Oliver for a little comedy and depressing news. Then we moved on to the most recent episode of ‘Paradise’. The show is still holding up as it continues through this season.

In this episode, they made a reference to The Shawshank Redemption, and that’s how you know the writers are into good writing.

Speaking of good writing, I grabbed my fountain pen the other night when I was working on the mentor assignment. It’s a Pilot Namiki Custom 823 and I’ve had it for a few years now. It quickly became my most expensive pen and my favourite to use. The writing experience is exceptional, and it holds a large amount of ink, allowing for long writing sessions.

I haven’t used it for months, and I forgot what a joy it was to write with. Ever since I started blogging, I haven’t been keeping an analog journal anymore. I do miss the act of writing and working on my penmanship. I enjoyed trying different inks and different papers as well. If I am not journaling with it anymore, I am going to have to find another excuse to use it on the regular.

I think I’ll end things here and go fire up the spa bubble machine, followed by an hour or so of reading to cap off the night. Early start tomorrow, so I want to be sleeping before midnight.

Have a tremendous evening, my friends!