I'm meeeeellllllttttiiiiiinnnggg
May. 27th, 2020 08:20 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
hrj Let's see...last posted on the 23rd, so...
No sooner had my vacation started than a heat wave moved in, though it backed off from the original prediction of 5 days over 90F (including 2 over 100F), to 4 days over 90F (including 1 over 100F). Evidently this is to be followed by a weather system that shifts in prediction from day to day: maybe rain, maybe wind, maybe thunderstorms. I could do with thunderstorms, as long as they don't start any fires.
The heat has meant that my grand plans for doing all sorts of projects this week have melted into a puddle. I've done a fair amount of yardwork, and gone on a couple longer-than-usual bike rides. But mostly I've been sitting doing sewing and needlework, watching movies, misting myself regularly to go with the fan, and drinking large amounts of iced drinks. There are a few hours of good temperature in the morning if I get up early enough, but I decided to forego productivity for relaxation.
This afternoon I had an inspiration, based on the prospect of trying to do day-job work in this temperature. It would take entirely too much effort to get the house AC up to snuff. (Better house insulation, possibly a new AC unit, etc. etc.) But it might be manageable to cool off one room with one of those portable AC units, if I kept the room in question closed while running it. So here's the plan: I set up the computer desk in the spare bedroom and keep that room cooled. (In addition to space logistics, it's ideal for cooling because it has a north-east window that gets shaded in the afternoon.) But this requires a whole chain of steps.
1. The spare bedroom currently has the fiction bookshelves, a convertible couch-bed (twin size), and a large IKEA wardrobe. The wardrobe and closet contain my SCA/historic costumes, which I probably need to sort through anyway. I also currently have the harp in there. The natural place to put the computer desk and assorted accessories is where the wardrobe is. While I might at some point consider getting rid of the wardrobe, I rather like it as a piece of furniture. But where to put it?
2. The only really feasible place currently is in the master bedroom where the cedar chest is. (The two have a similar footprint, although the height of the wardrobe will make the room more crowded.) That means the cedar chest needs to go somewhere else.
3. The convertible couch-bed doesn't really work well in the office configuration (for one thing, because the AC unit will need to go near the window, and that's the only place the bed works in that room). But if the couch-bed moves out of the office (let's start calling it that), then the cedar chest might be able to go under the window. Maybe.
4. That means the couch-bed would need to move out into the living room and mostly serve as a couch. There's space for it. It could work. But it does mean that I'd no longer have a "spare bedroom" I could offer guests. There would be sleeping space aplenty, but in the living room, not in a private space. This could be an issue, but I haven't used it as a guest bedroom very often, in overall terms.
5. Let's toss another factor into the mix. I've been meaning to shampoo the carpets during the summer season. To do a thorough job in the master bedroom, that means doing it before I move the wardrobe in. (Ideally, I'd temporarily move the dresser out and the under-bed storage drawers, so I'd only have the bed frame to move around as I worked.
6. But this means I'm not going to get the whole project done during my vacation week, since the last 3 days of it will be spent participating in Nebula Conference events. But at the same time, it would be nice to have the office set up for those events. So...
A. Move the couch-bed and wardrobe out of the office-to-be (but not the wardrobe into the master bedroom yet).
B. Move the computer desk set-up into the office. Confirm whether the AC unit and cedar chest work in the available space. (Assume they do.)
C. Temporarily move the dresser and under-bed drawers out of the master bedroom. Shampoo the carpets.
D. Return the master bedroom furniture and add the wardrobe. Maybe re-organize things just for fun? (Probably not. There are limited logistical possibilities.)
E. Shampoo the carpets in the library (not done the last time I shampooed).
F. Shampoo the carpets in the hallway and living room (which the cats will then promptly vomit on again, like they did the last time I shampooed).
G. Probably move the remaining bankers boxes into the current location of the computer desk which will get them a little more out of the way, though I still need to deal with the contents permanently. (Mostly papers and such.)
It all looks very tidy laid out like that. My plan is to complete parts A & B tomorrow.
The Nebula Conference will be my first serious online convention. There was a preliminary event this past Sunday (the presentation of the nominees and a test-run of the social zoom-room system) which took the edge off my anxiety about how it will all work. I'm on one panel Friday morning (about being part of small press publishing) so I won't have that looming over me when I explore and enjoy the rest of the event.
No sooner had my vacation started than a heat wave moved in, though it backed off from the original prediction of 5 days over 90F (including 2 over 100F), to 4 days over 90F (including 1 over 100F). Evidently this is to be followed by a weather system that shifts in prediction from day to day: maybe rain, maybe wind, maybe thunderstorms. I could do with thunderstorms, as long as they don't start any fires.
The heat has meant that my grand plans for doing all sorts of projects this week have melted into a puddle. I've done a fair amount of yardwork, and gone on a couple longer-than-usual bike rides. But mostly I've been sitting doing sewing and needlework, watching movies, misting myself regularly to go with the fan, and drinking large amounts of iced drinks. There are a few hours of good temperature in the morning if I get up early enough, but I decided to forego productivity for relaxation.
This afternoon I had an inspiration, based on the prospect of trying to do day-job work in this temperature. It would take entirely too much effort to get the house AC up to snuff. (Better house insulation, possibly a new AC unit, etc. etc.) But it might be manageable to cool off one room with one of those portable AC units, if I kept the room in question closed while running it. So here's the plan: I set up the computer desk in the spare bedroom and keep that room cooled. (In addition to space logistics, it's ideal for cooling because it has a north-east window that gets shaded in the afternoon.) But this requires a whole chain of steps.
1. The spare bedroom currently has the fiction bookshelves, a convertible couch-bed (twin size), and a large IKEA wardrobe. The wardrobe and closet contain my SCA/historic costumes, which I probably need to sort through anyway. I also currently have the harp in there. The natural place to put the computer desk and assorted accessories is where the wardrobe is. While I might at some point consider getting rid of the wardrobe, I rather like it as a piece of furniture. But where to put it?
2. The only really feasible place currently is in the master bedroom where the cedar chest is. (The two have a similar footprint, although the height of the wardrobe will make the room more crowded.) That means the cedar chest needs to go somewhere else.
3. The convertible couch-bed doesn't really work well in the office configuration (for one thing, because the AC unit will need to go near the window, and that's the only place the bed works in that room). But if the couch-bed moves out of the office (let's start calling it that), then the cedar chest might be able to go under the window. Maybe.
4. That means the couch-bed would need to move out into the living room and mostly serve as a couch. There's space for it. It could work. But it does mean that I'd no longer have a "spare bedroom" I could offer guests. There would be sleeping space aplenty, but in the living room, not in a private space. This could be an issue, but I haven't used it as a guest bedroom very often, in overall terms.
5. Let's toss another factor into the mix. I've been meaning to shampoo the carpets during the summer season. To do a thorough job in the master bedroom, that means doing it before I move the wardrobe in. (Ideally, I'd temporarily move the dresser out and the under-bed storage drawers, so I'd only have the bed frame to move around as I worked.
6. But this means I'm not going to get the whole project done during my vacation week, since the last 3 days of it will be spent participating in Nebula Conference events. But at the same time, it would be nice to have the office set up for those events. So...
A. Move the couch-bed and wardrobe out of the office-to-be (but not the wardrobe into the master bedroom yet).
B. Move the computer desk set-up into the office. Confirm whether the AC unit and cedar chest work in the available space. (Assume they do.)
C. Temporarily move the dresser and under-bed drawers out of the master bedroom. Shampoo the carpets.
D. Return the master bedroom furniture and add the wardrobe. Maybe re-organize things just for fun? (Probably not. There are limited logistical possibilities.)
E. Shampoo the carpets in the library (not done the last time I shampooed).
F. Shampoo the carpets in the hallway and living room (which the cats will then promptly vomit on again, like they did the last time I shampooed).
G. Probably move the remaining bankers boxes into the current location of the computer desk which will get them a little more out of the way, though I still need to deal with the contents permanently. (Mostly papers and such.)
It all looks very tidy laid out like that. My plan is to complete parts A & B tomorrow.
The Nebula Conference will be my first serious online convention. There was a preliminary event this past Sunday (the presentation of the nominees and a test-run of the social zoom-room system) which took the edge off my anxiety about how it will all work. I'm on one panel Friday morning (about being part of small press publishing) so I won't have that looming over me when I explore and enjoy the rest of the event.
