Hello everyone. I guess it's been a couple of weeks. Time certainly proceeds apace here. There have been a couple of very enjoyable gatherings. Last friday evening, I went to one and made some roasted potatos which seemed to have been enjoyed. I'm still tinkering with the timing of those but have reached a point where I can count on them turning out well. It was good to get to know the people who attended the event better. The food was terrific. Mainly though, I enjoyed the conversation. I felt like I was in my element.
My futon, coffee table and two end tables arrived last week. Mark and Wendy came over and assembled the tables for me. It didn't take them long with the help of one of those diagrams. The futon didn't need much assembly and the delivery guys handled that. One of them bumped my desk on the way in and was surprised when my computer's voice suddenly began speaking. It seemed to break the ice wonderfully. I gave them a couple of softdrinks as they left. It was a marvelously warm day and I figured they could use them. The place feels so much more complete now. It makes a relaxing change to sit on that futon and enjoy music, podcasts, etc. The two tubchairs will get here some time over the next month or so. There are a number of people who I'm very much looking forward to inviting over for visits including a Spanish couple who I've become acquainted with who live in the building. I've seen Sandy a few times and have helped him move some stuff around in his apartment. He's have some ups and downs healthwise. However, he has at least been in contact with some more helpful people. They've managed to assemble the new furnature he recently got. It seems like he's pretty serious about making the best of life. There's still a kind of listlessness to him but it's no great surprise given what he's experienced. There's a lot more sunchine in him than when we first met though. He seems to think I've done him some real good already and we haven't really gotten to serious computer efforts yet. It'll alll some in due time though. I expect we'll be hearing from John Morgan soon. I wonder what he got up to in England. Some day, God willing, I'll go there with a special lady or one or more very good friends.
I'm still slowly proceeding through Stephen King's Duma Key. It's keeping me interested so far. Also, I've started going through a book called Brain Fuel which is filled with scientific facts about all sorts of foods and other things. I believe it will eventually cover more than chemistry and biological stuff. I still have quite a bit to go through. Browsing the CNIB digital library, I found another interesting-sounding book called Our True North Strange and Free. Apparently, that's got a bunch of strange stories and facts about Canada. Books like that are splendid for when you don't really feel like engaging with a story.
Tomorrow, I'll be taking another stab at trying to help improve the situation with the router my parents have. Dad's computer is just wizzing along on the information superhighway but nobody else is able to connect. Dad looked at some pretty negative reviews on Future Shop's site which may have given the key to solving the problem. Apparently, all the trouble might be resolved by updating the firmware in the router. We got it on sale just before Christmsa and I never would have figured he'd have to bother upgrading the firmware this soon. My own router seems to have come with the latest firmware already installed. Thankfully, it appears that D-link has made the updating process quite easy. Here's hoping that this step restores mom's ability to go online with her laptop.
Adam came over on wednesday. He arrived just as I was heading back upstairs with my laundry. We had a good visit and went to Monahan's in Oakville for wings. That certainly brought back some memories. The wings are more pricey now but thankfully, the taste hasn't changed. We'll doubtless head back over there on a monday to take advantage of their wing night. We hoped to play a game called Settlers 7 but found that my computer just wasn't up to it. The lack of a wide-screen monitor doesn't help its gaming capabilities. However, its CPU and outdated graphics card are larger issues. It will still be perfectly suitable for my own needs. Accessible games don't have nearly the same hardware requirements. Nor does any other software I'm likely to use. Fortunately, Hinterland turned out to be playable if a bit awkward due to not having a wide-screen perspective.
I'm taking it fairly easy today. Other than this blog entry, there are two weeks worth of groceries to order. It's that time once again. I'll have them come early next week. It has gotten quite cold here again. The weather people don't think that'll last too long. Hope they're right. I've never been fond of the cold. CSUN is happenning right now in the states. Still no word about either Trekker Breeze's update or of the Blio Reader. Their site is still up but I haven't had any news from them since sighning up for their news updates. I hope nothing has tangled them up. Regarding Dragontavern and Plenty of Fish, I'm toing equally dismally on each of these fronts. Seeing as I haven't yet sorted out my profile on POF, that's not too surprising. I also haven't kept up with the forums there and have to sink some time into all that soon. DRagon Tavern is another matter entirely. I've had a run of utterly dreadful luck. Poor Eldrex has been killed so many times now that I'm laybouring under a half-million-point XP debt. Every time I manage to chip away at it, another nasty fate befalls my brave adventurer as his controller, yours truly, takes one too many chances with his fate. What can I say? I find it good to have one area in life where decisions can be made and risks taken without fear of consequence.
It looks like I'll be seeing my two new Spanish friends Lila and Fernando tonight. We'll have drinks and some good conversation. It'll also be interesting to let them have a look at the various talking gadgets I have in here. Nice not to have another empty evening to look forward to. My grandmother will be coming late next week so she'll also get to see my apartment. I expect I'll be going on one or two family outings over the next while. The haircut I got recently seems to be a good one judging from the feedback I've gotten so far. All in all then, I'd say things were going pretty well. Think I'll end on that high note, whip up some hot chocolate and then look through the Grocery Gateway flyer which arrived in very timely fashion into my in-box.
Friday, March 26, 2010
Friday, March 12, 2010
Friday's Man
Hello everyone. I've had myself quite a good friday. The groceries came with only one substitution. Probably should have gotten another bottle of dish detergent but I think what I have will last until the next order. It feels wonderfully fresh in here. I had the balcony door open for quite a while. The ceiling fan drew the outside air in and spread it around nicely. Cooking was on the whole successful. The only exception being a new Stofer's barbecue chicken penini I figured I'd try. I couldn't scan or otherwise access the cooking instructions beyond determining that it was indeed microwaveable. I overestimated the time required and nuked the first one to an inedible crisp. I was annoyed but gleeful at such tactile wanton destruction. If there was a speck of liquid in the hot brittle pile that felt ready to crumble to dust, I certainly couldn't sense it. That thing was bone dry and utterly wrecked. The second one turned out splendid. Now that I know what I'm doing, I'll have to order a few more next time. They make satisfying light lunches.
I got more done on Enchantment's Twilight this afternoon. However, it's mostly game mechanics and possible locations. The character roster still hasn't materialised for me. That's beginning to annoy me. I had a good roster in those damned notes I threw away when I thought that any desire to work on an accessible game had died along with my marriage. I still have a kind of dim faith that something or someone will inspire me at some point. It'll just click into place like so much has in my creative efforts.
I went through my music folder on the backup drive. I tend to keep a stripped down version on my computer for regular use but keep every song I purchase or have otherwise obtained on the backup drive. I discovered something like 109 songs which I had eliminated from my hard drive one by one after Janene left me. They would come up in Winamp's random drawing and I would simply find them just too painful to hear. They seemed too much a part of what she and I had together. I couldn't stand them seeming to pounce on me laiden with all the memories of jenuine love, deep friendship, comfort, and good conversation which I had so suddenly lost any hope of enjoying further. Now, at last, those songs are all mine again to enjoy. Things like Matchbox 20's Real World, Creamy's Little Yellow Fish, and at least 105 others. Putting those songs back in the playlist gave me a quite unexpected sense of restorationn which seems somewhat disproportionate to the act and situation. God knows if I'll ever be fortunate enough to find another level-headed cheerful lady remotely interested in this unemployed blind ammature writer and digital do-gooder. Even supposing I get that lucky, whether I'll actually be able to trust her enough for love to happen at all is a very open question. I guess what I've discovered is that life has changed enough for me so I can wait for time to answer those questions. Meanwhile, I can continue to build this new life I have here with the whole of my being. I feel complete again. I've reclaimed what's mine.
Adding to this triumph was tonight's dinner. I cooked chicken wings and an experimental roasted potato in the oven. It all came out perfectly. Now, it's just a matter of trying out different spices. Once Sandy's all better, I can introduce him to the potatos that used to bring the superintendants in the apartment I shared during my marriage knocking at my door.
At last, I've started reading a new novel. Over the past while, I've been turning to old favorites like Raymond Feist's excellent Serpent War sauga. However, today, it was time to start Stephen King's Duma Key. I may or may not have that spelling right. Wouldn't you know it? The book is about a man whose old life comes to an end as a result of an accident which damaged his brain. On the advice of a psychologist friend, he goes to Duma Key in Florida to start over again and figure out who he is. It certainly strikes a chord with me. However, in my case, I believe that I've at last come to a place and situation where I can fully express myself and discover a lifestyle in keeping with my desires, goals and resources. A somewhat different journey similar in its scope of possibilities.
That life continues tomorrow when I'll likely be off to Hamilton to visit my two neaces and perhaps Dan and Allison. It'll be fun seeing Ava and Amia again. On sunday, I have church as well as a possible outing with Shane and one of his friends. Sundays are becoming far less likely to be empty these days. That suits me perfectly as week days can still drag at times. I still enjoy them but have that sense that there ought to be more people in them. I think this spring and summer will expose me to a lot more people living here. That should let me find an excellent balance. Presently, I think I'd better turn in for the nigh after an great friday.
I got more done on Enchantment's Twilight this afternoon. However, it's mostly game mechanics and possible locations. The character roster still hasn't materialised for me. That's beginning to annoy me. I had a good roster in those damned notes I threw away when I thought that any desire to work on an accessible game had died along with my marriage. I still have a kind of dim faith that something or someone will inspire me at some point. It'll just click into place like so much has in my creative efforts.
I went through my music folder on the backup drive. I tend to keep a stripped down version on my computer for regular use but keep every song I purchase or have otherwise obtained on the backup drive. I discovered something like 109 songs which I had eliminated from my hard drive one by one after Janene left me. They would come up in Winamp's random drawing and I would simply find them just too painful to hear. They seemed too much a part of what she and I had together. I couldn't stand them seeming to pounce on me laiden with all the memories of jenuine love, deep friendship, comfort, and good conversation which I had so suddenly lost any hope of enjoying further. Now, at last, those songs are all mine again to enjoy. Things like Matchbox 20's Real World, Creamy's Little Yellow Fish, and at least 105 others. Putting those songs back in the playlist gave me a quite unexpected sense of restorationn which seems somewhat disproportionate to the act and situation. God knows if I'll ever be fortunate enough to find another level-headed cheerful lady remotely interested in this unemployed blind ammature writer and digital do-gooder. Even supposing I get that lucky, whether I'll actually be able to trust her enough for love to happen at all is a very open question. I guess what I've discovered is that life has changed enough for me so I can wait for time to answer those questions. Meanwhile, I can continue to build this new life I have here with the whole of my being. I feel complete again. I've reclaimed what's mine.
Adding to this triumph was tonight's dinner. I cooked chicken wings and an experimental roasted potato in the oven. It all came out perfectly. Now, it's just a matter of trying out different spices. Once Sandy's all better, I can introduce him to the potatos that used to bring the superintendants in the apartment I shared during my marriage knocking at my door.
At last, I've started reading a new novel. Over the past while, I've been turning to old favorites like Raymond Feist's excellent Serpent War sauga. However, today, it was time to start Stephen King's Duma Key. I may or may not have that spelling right. Wouldn't you know it? The book is about a man whose old life comes to an end as a result of an accident which damaged his brain. On the advice of a psychologist friend, he goes to Duma Key in Florida to start over again and figure out who he is. It certainly strikes a chord with me. However, in my case, I believe that I've at last come to a place and situation where I can fully express myself and discover a lifestyle in keeping with my desires, goals and resources. A somewhat different journey similar in its scope of possibilities.
That life continues tomorrow when I'll likely be off to Hamilton to visit my two neaces and perhaps Dan and Allison. It'll be fun seeing Ava and Amia again. On sunday, I have church as well as a possible outing with Shane and one of his friends. Sundays are becoming far less likely to be empty these days. That suits me perfectly as week days can still drag at times. I still enjoy them but have that sense that there ought to be more people in them. I think this spring and summer will expose me to a lot more people living here. That should let me find an excellent balance. Presently, I think I'd better turn in for the nigh after an great friday.
Thursday, March 11, 2010
laundry day
Hello everyone. Life is going pretty well at the moment. Yesterday, I went out to Best Buy with my father to help him get a new computer. He thought it was time to take that big step and get his own rather than just using the laptop provided by the company he recently retired from. I've steered him towards getting an HP Pavilion which came with a good sised lcd monitor. Computers and monitors certainly aren't the heavy things they once were. We had no trouble carrying anything. They pack that stuff very well to the point where it took time just to get everything out and assembled. Once all the cables were plugged in, the startup and installation was quite simple. The only snag happened with the N wifi adaptor which wouldn't link up with the router without some extra prompting which shouldn't have been necessary. There are some differences with how Windows7 does things but most major elements like the control panel seem to be the same as with XP. We downloaded and installed Microsoft Security Essentials. I figure that this software combined with the firewall built into Windows ought to be plenty of protection. In fact, after reading numerous favorable reviews, I've decided to uninstall the security package I've paid for to start using the free Security Essentials on my netbook. So far, I've been quite impressed. It takes up a lot less memory. The interface is very accessible. We'll see how things go over time there.
I got a call about my long awaited furnature at the Brick. Apparently, most of it will arrive at the store on the 12th. I'll be getting a call to set up an appointment for delivery soon. Two tubchairs will take a while longer to get here. Having the futon here will certainly make the place feel more complete. I can start to have more than one or two people over and feel like I can properly accomodate them. The futon should seet three people comfortably when in couch form.
On tuesday, dad took me out for a walk. It was wonderful weather and I was actually hot when we got back. Getting to the Meadowvale Town Centre will be easier than it was from my parents' house. I'll only have to cross one small street. There are a few branches on the path which I'll have to avoid accidentally taking but nothing dangerous. Also, there were a lot of people out there and plenty of benches and areas for outdoor activities. I expect I'll spend a lot of time out there this Summer. The Trekker Breeze is working quite well. I still await the release of an update for it which ought to be out fairly soon along with the Blio Reader.
I had a great deal of fun on Sunday. The church service was excellent as always. It was followed by what is becoming a fairly regular but deeply appreciated ocurrance of having lunch with Shane and his family. After that, we attended the games night event held each month. It was a good thing Shane brought his computer. Something had gone wrong with my copy of Jim Kitchen's Monopoly version. Later on, I figured out that re-installing the game fixed the problem quite simply. It looks like Shane's in to games as well so I imagine we'll be attending more of them together. Hopefully, Joseph will also be able to join us. Life has definitely taken on a far more social aspect since I've moved here. I'm can't express how deeply grateful I am for this. There are still many moments when I keenly feel the lack of a special lady. However, barring some catastrophic change, I can be more than merely content here. There are enough friendly people around that I can picture things becoming even more fulfilling over time as I meet more of them.
Saturday evening was an unexpected interesting experience. I went out to lend my knowledge of trivia to a table attending the Mississauga MS Society's trivia fundraising event. I had a lot of fun, got to know some very good people and even came up with some answers in timely fashion. Earlier on Saturday, I finally bit the bullet and removed my outdated copy of Jaws from my desktop computer. I'm strictly using System Access and NVDA on the desktop. That let me install a long overdue update to my graphics card drivers which ought to make gaming with Adam here more palitable to him. It has also greatly sped up my computer's boot speed and made things generally more snappy. I won't be able to play some treasured games on it anymore. However, I plan to keep Jaws on my netbook for occasions when its strengths are needed. So far, System Access has done quite well. The major exception was the day before yesterday when I was ordering my groceries.
Today is a laundry day put off nearly to the last moment. It's been a tad over two weeks. I'll definitely be getting my laundry money's worth this time around. I wonder if the nicer weather we've been having will have any impact on how busy the machines are. While I ate breakfast, I heard an excellent BBC Radio4 Choice podcast about the large hadron colider. I remember how excited I was when that massive and complex machine went online around a year ago. It looks like they're finally ready to continue with experiments. Hearing the people involved discussing what things have been like at the LHC was absolutely fascinating. Even more was hearing about their hopes and speculations on what might be uncovered by the machine. I have the same sense of how intrinsically worth-while such exploration is as I do about our ventures in space. I've learned first hand how utterly empty life can get if there's nothing new to experience or contemplate. Hopefully, that sort of stagnation is at last behind me for good.
The laundry is half done now. There was absolutely nobody in that room today although at least one machine was running. Pretty soon, everything will be back up here and hung or stashed in its proper place. I always feel better when that's the case when it comes to laundry. I prefer my disorganisation to be in other areas of life. After the laundry's all squared away, things ought to be pretty relaxed. I have leftovers from yesterday for dinner although I may throw some green pepper on the grill to add to them. I've been accidentally neglecting those lately. My new order of groceries will come tomorrow. I don't think I'm going to over-spend on groceries this month. Keeping supplied with fresh fruit and vegetables takes some consideration. Online shopping can be quite economical once you get into a good rhythm and learn to space things out properly. I ought to have that more in hand in another month or two. Things are certainly moving in a nice direction in that area. I'm getting the hang of things like that again fairly quickly.
I got a call about my long awaited furnature at the Brick. Apparently, most of it will arrive at the store on the 12th. I'll be getting a call to set up an appointment for delivery soon. Two tubchairs will take a while longer to get here. Having the futon here will certainly make the place feel more complete. I can start to have more than one or two people over and feel like I can properly accomodate them. The futon should seet three people comfortably when in couch form.
On tuesday, dad took me out for a walk. It was wonderful weather and I was actually hot when we got back. Getting to the Meadowvale Town Centre will be easier than it was from my parents' house. I'll only have to cross one small street. There are a few branches on the path which I'll have to avoid accidentally taking but nothing dangerous. Also, there were a lot of people out there and plenty of benches and areas for outdoor activities. I expect I'll spend a lot of time out there this Summer. The Trekker Breeze is working quite well. I still await the release of an update for it which ought to be out fairly soon along with the Blio Reader.
I had a great deal of fun on Sunday. The church service was excellent as always. It was followed by what is becoming a fairly regular but deeply appreciated ocurrance of having lunch with Shane and his family. After that, we attended the games night event held each month. It was a good thing Shane brought his computer. Something had gone wrong with my copy of Jim Kitchen's Monopoly version. Later on, I figured out that re-installing the game fixed the problem quite simply. It looks like Shane's in to games as well so I imagine we'll be attending more of them together. Hopefully, Joseph will also be able to join us. Life has definitely taken on a far more social aspect since I've moved here. I'm can't express how deeply grateful I am for this. There are still many moments when I keenly feel the lack of a special lady. However, barring some catastrophic change, I can be more than merely content here. There are enough friendly people around that I can picture things becoming even more fulfilling over time as I meet more of them.
Saturday evening was an unexpected interesting experience. I went out to lend my knowledge of trivia to a table attending the Mississauga MS Society's trivia fundraising event. I had a lot of fun, got to know some very good people and even came up with some answers in timely fashion. Earlier on Saturday, I finally bit the bullet and removed my outdated copy of Jaws from my desktop computer. I'm strictly using System Access and NVDA on the desktop. That let me install a long overdue update to my graphics card drivers which ought to make gaming with Adam here more palitable to him. It has also greatly sped up my computer's boot speed and made things generally more snappy. I won't be able to play some treasured games on it anymore. However, I plan to keep Jaws on my netbook for occasions when its strengths are needed. So far, System Access has done quite well. The major exception was the day before yesterday when I was ordering my groceries.
Today is a laundry day put off nearly to the last moment. It's been a tad over two weeks. I'll definitely be getting my laundry money's worth this time around. I wonder if the nicer weather we've been having will have any impact on how busy the machines are. While I ate breakfast, I heard an excellent BBC Radio4 Choice podcast about the large hadron colider. I remember how excited I was when that massive and complex machine went online around a year ago. It looks like they're finally ready to continue with experiments. Hearing the people involved discussing what things have been like at the LHC was absolutely fascinating. Even more was hearing about their hopes and speculations on what might be uncovered by the machine. I have the same sense of how intrinsically worth-while such exploration is as I do about our ventures in space. I've learned first hand how utterly empty life can get if there's nothing new to experience or contemplate. Hopefully, that sort of stagnation is at last behind me for good.
The laundry is half done now. There was absolutely nobody in that room today although at least one machine was running. Pretty soon, everything will be back up here and hung or stashed in its proper place. I always feel better when that's the case when it comes to laundry. I prefer my disorganisation to be in other areas of life. After the laundry's all squared away, things ought to be pretty relaxed. I have leftovers from yesterday for dinner although I may throw some green pepper on the grill to add to them. I've been accidentally neglecting those lately. My new order of groceries will come tomorrow. I don't think I'm going to over-spend on groceries this month. Keeping supplied with fresh fruit and vegetables takes some consideration. Online shopping can be quite economical once you get into a good rhythm and learn to space things out properly. I ought to have that more in hand in another month or two. Things are certainly moving in a nice direction in that area. I'm getting the hang of things like that again fairly quickly.
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Spices and Ice! Nice!!!
Hello everyone. The last week has certainly been a good one. No word from the Brick yet on that furnature I've ordered. I suppose it may still come tomorrow. Last sunday was one of our church's soup sundays. I met up with Shane, Sue and Angel and had a thoroughly enjoyable time. Shane drove me home and also came for a short visit. He tried a few of the audio games. We also dropped in on Sandy so Shane could help him with an answerring machine. That proved relatively easy. Sandy's feeling a bit under the weather today. That happens fairly often apparently. Hope he gets better soon so I can have him up for another chicken dinner. I tried one of the frozen curri dinners in the oven last night and it came out splendidly indeed. Had enough to do me for this evening but it'll have to wait til tomorrow. Adam and I are going out for dinner and a gaming cession.
For some reason, I was quite tired through most of yesterday. Today, I'm feeling back to normal again. I went home for dinner at my parents' house and got to see Dan and his family also. Ava and Amia are up to their usual chaotic standards. Elliot, their dog, is no slouch in that department either. Mom has apparently begun going through the closets and was probably hoping Dan would take some of his assorted stuff back home with him. Not much of that left the house. She figures that perhaps she'll try again when she turns 70.
My father came to visit me today. We went out to Symposium for a late delicious lunch. While on the way down in the elevator, my cell phone somehow dialed 911 on me. I had the keypad locked so I have no idea how that would have happened. Something to check into over the next while. That certainly added a tinge of creepiness following my listening to the described version of My Little Eye. That film has quite a bit more bite to it when the details I missed without said description were filled in. Dad helped me fill out a survey that the managers of my building wanted. Hope it helps. They've done a terrific job so far as far as I'm concerned. My first rent payment went through without a hitch. Dad also brought a spice rack and those covered ice cube trays. Yay! The first batch of cubes is now safely freezing solid in the door of my freezer. It'll be so damned nice to have ice at hand. The spices are all labelled with bar codes for my scanner. That'll help until I've gotten an intuitive sense of what's where. Next week, I'll be helping dad pick out a new computer for himself. That shouldn't be too hard. He doesn't have any specialised requirements or anything. Just a good system which does what he wants it to and has enough resources should he take a keener interest down the line.
At long last, I can officially say that work on Enchantment's Twilight is proceeding. I've begun to touch up areas of the design document and am considering a completely different skills system for characters. Not exactly earth-shaking stuff but it still counts. My profile on Plentyoffish has also gotten more or less settled in a manner I'm fairly happy with. I flurted with the idea of going for strictly platonic friendship but I believe I'll find that sort of thing through church and around the building. Love is what POF is all about and I can't entirely give up hope that some special soul out there might take an interest in me. There must be someone who would truly value what I can give to a relationship. I can't quite believe that money is all that matters despite all I've been through. I'm just incapable of that level of cynicism. I do, however, feel that I'm in for a long wait. Having my own place certainly puts me a big step ahead in that all-important game.
For some reason, I was quite tired through most of yesterday. Today, I'm feeling back to normal again. I went home for dinner at my parents' house and got to see Dan and his family also. Ava and Amia are up to their usual chaotic standards. Elliot, their dog, is no slouch in that department either. Mom has apparently begun going through the closets and was probably hoping Dan would take some of his assorted stuff back home with him. Not much of that left the house. She figures that perhaps she'll try again when she turns 70.
My father came to visit me today. We went out to Symposium for a late delicious lunch. While on the way down in the elevator, my cell phone somehow dialed 911 on me. I had the keypad locked so I have no idea how that would have happened. Something to check into over the next while. That certainly added a tinge of creepiness following my listening to the described version of My Little Eye. That film has quite a bit more bite to it when the details I missed without said description were filled in. Dad helped me fill out a survey that the managers of my building wanted. Hope it helps. They've done a terrific job so far as far as I'm concerned. My first rent payment went through without a hitch. Dad also brought a spice rack and those covered ice cube trays. Yay! The first batch of cubes is now safely freezing solid in the door of my freezer. It'll be so damned nice to have ice at hand. The spices are all labelled with bar codes for my scanner. That'll help until I've gotten an intuitive sense of what's where. Next week, I'll be helping dad pick out a new computer for himself. That shouldn't be too hard. He doesn't have any specialised requirements or anything. Just a good system which does what he wants it to and has enough resources should he take a keener interest down the line.
At long last, I can officially say that work on Enchantment's Twilight is proceeding. I've begun to touch up areas of the design document and am considering a completely different skills system for characters. Not exactly earth-shaking stuff but it still counts. My profile on Plentyoffish has also gotten more or less settled in a manner I'm fairly happy with. I flurted with the idea of going for strictly platonic friendship but I believe I'll find that sort of thing through church and around the building. Love is what POF is all about and I can't entirely give up hope that some special soul out there might take an interest in me. There must be someone who would truly value what I can give to a relationship. I can't quite believe that money is all that matters despite all I've been through. I'm just incapable of that level of cynicism. I do, however, feel that I'm in for a long wait. Having my own place certainly puts me a big step ahead in that all-important game.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
A Journey Well Begun
Hello everyone. I don't usually write two blog entries this close together. I fully expected that after my busy but excellent day yesterday, that life would continue somewhat placidly through tomorrow morning when my groceries arrive. Sandy, however, had other ideas. He was itching to find out exactly what kind of a system he had been sitting on for what thankfully has turned out to be less time than I had feared. Setting it up on his kitchen table was mostly very simple. The only snag happened with his speakers. I believe he's got a 2.1 set of Creative I-trigues on his hands judging by the feel. Dad came over and pretty quickly determined that we had simply misjudged the use of a cable. He also straitenned the pins in a cable end which had become bent. This time, it wasn't me who did the cable wrecking via bending pins. Everything's pretty ship-shape now. The sound from those speakers is quite excellent. Sandy will really enjoy hearing music through those once they're in their proper places rather than on the kitchen table. Even as it is, they sounded pretty good to my likely less critical ear.
Sandy's computer is a pretty good one with a Pentium4 running at 3.something ghz. A gig of ram will handle XP Home edition nicely enough. To top it off, he's got over 200 gb of hard drive space. I have yet to determine the full capabilities of his soundcard but it ought to suit his needs well. Neither of us heard any rattles, grones or wheezes from the thing's innerds so things seem in good shape as far as I can judge. Software is where Sandy's system will ultimately run him into a brick wall when he goes online. I'm starting to run into more trouble online with my version 9 of Jaws. I wouldn't even want to think about what Sandy will run into using version 7. He'd never be able to afford to keep Jaws updated. Those SMAs are a killer. For both of us, as things stand now, it looks like System Access is the economical way forward. Pay once and never have to again. Once our good Mr. Morgan returns from his trip, the three of us can pool our collected resources and wisdom in figuring that kind of thing out. John has helped a great many blind people over the years and thanks to his sight, was able to better observe them than I. Each of us brings a different set of strengths to this quest and between the two of us, we can help Sandy find his best path into the digital world.
We took some small steps today but those were very important ones. It'll take some time before Sandy is truly competent and comfortable with the keyboard. However, he's begun that process better than I expected. I copied three audio files of movies onto his hard drive in a folder on his desktop. I gave him a quick crash tour of the keyboard and showed him where tab, enter, and the arrow keys were. With those, he was indeed able to find the folder on his desktop, open it, and select a file. When the sound of the movie Jourasic Park began to emmonate from those splendid speakers, you didn't have to be able to see to know that there was a big smile happening. Actually, there were two. Sandy had completed the first task I had set for him on the keyboard marvelously well. At that moment, I knew without the shadow of a doubt, that I would indeed be able to help this guy into the digital world. Theory is one thing, Results like that are quite another. I haven't felt this good since I finished Personal Power. It's a long road ahead but we're well and truly on our way now.
Sandy is loving the Olympics just now. However, he's starting to think beyond them to what he wants from his computer and eventually, the Internet. One thing he's asked me to look into is some sort of Guyanese Indian festival which will apparently happen fairly soon again this year. It's something called pagwah. Apparently, the event has to do with gods, ashes, and given his love of music, I would presume there would be a bumper crop of that involved also. I guess it's a part of his heritage. He gave me a link which leads to an Indocaribbean radio station broadcasting on the Internet. I just tried it out for a few minutes. It sounds pleasant and cheerful enough. However, it's not my cup of tea as I rather like to understand what exactly is being sung at me. Doubtless, Sandy will approve of it when I get him to have a go. Meanwhile, I'll see about this festival and whether there's a past recording of it in mp3 form that I could bring down to him on my flashdrive. I don't mind letting him listen to net broadcasts up here but seven or eight hours of stuff I can't comprehend for the life of me might prove a little taxing. Apparently, the radio station whose link is below will broadcast the event live and describe things in English. Should any of my readers wish to try out this station for themselves, go to:
www.icrradio.com
If I have perchance attracted any readers with a similar background to Sandy, perhaps the station will offer some cultural comfort. It's certainly a different vibe for me.
Well here's to my first success in this new building. Other than lacking a special ladyfriend to share my triumph with, I feel on top of the world. The hot chocolate I just had went down wonderfully and made a nice change from my more habitual celebratory beer. Sandy thought I was "not very Canadian" when I told him I was going to have that as opposed to suds. No interest in the olympics, don't drink beer after such a splendidly successful day... What can I say? I'm just a different sort of geek to contend with. A geek who finally has the clear sense that despite everything, he's in the right place at the right time to do the good lord's work. I've just got to keep on plugging away at stuff like always and I'll have a good impact here. Never fear though. The day when Sandy starts to surf the Internet on his own, I'll definitely be firmly in double-beer territory.
Sandy's computer is a pretty good one with a Pentium4 running at 3.something ghz. A gig of ram will handle XP Home edition nicely enough. To top it off, he's got over 200 gb of hard drive space. I have yet to determine the full capabilities of his soundcard but it ought to suit his needs well. Neither of us heard any rattles, grones or wheezes from the thing's innerds so things seem in good shape as far as I can judge. Software is where Sandy's system will ultimately run him into a brick wall when he goes online. I'm starting to run into more trouble online with my version 9 of Jaws. I wouldn't even want to think about what Sandy will run into using version 7. He'd never be able to afford to keep Jaws updated. Those SMAs are a killer. For both of us, as things stand now, it looks like System Access is the economical way forward. Pay once and never have to again. Once our good Mr. Morgan returns from his trip, the three of us can pool our collected resources and wisdom in figuring that kind of thing out. John has helped a great many blind people over the years and thanks to his sight, was able to better observe them than I. Each of us brings a different set of strengths to this quest and between the two of us, we can help Sandy find his best path into the digital world.
We took some small steps today but those were very important ones. It'll take some time before Sandy is truly competent and comfortable with the keyboard. However, he's begun that process better than I expected. I copied three audio files of movies onto his hard drive in a folder on his desktop. I gave him a quick crash tour of the keyboard and showed him where tab, enter, and the arrow keys were. With those, he was indeed able to find the folder on his desktop, open it, and select a file. When the sound of the movie Jourasic Park began to emmonate from those splendid speakers, you didn't have to be able to see to know that there was a big smile happening. Actually, there were two. Sandy had completed the first task I had set for him on the keyboard marvelously well. At that moment, I knew without the shadow of a doubt, that I would indeed be able to help this guy into the digital world. Theory is one thing, Results like that are quite another. I haven't felt this good since I finished Personal Power. It's a long road ahead but we're well and truly on our way now.
Sandy is loving the Olympics just now. However, he's starting to think beyond them to what he wants from his computer and eventually, the Internet. One thing he's asked me to look into is some sort of Guyanese Indian festival which will apparently happen fairly soon again this year. It's something called pagwah. Apparently, the event has to do with gods, ashes, and given his love of music, I would presume there would be a bumper crop of that involved also. I guess it's a part of his heritage. He gave me a link which leads to an Indocaribbean radio station broadcasting on the Internet. I just tried it out for a few minutes. It sounds pleasant and cheerful enough. However, it's not my cup of tea as I rather like to understand what exactly is being sung at me. Doubtless, Sandy will approve of it when I get him to have a go. Meanwhile, I'll see about this festival and whether there's a past recording of it in mp3 form that I could bring down to him on my flashdrive. I don't mind letting him listen to net broadcasts up here but seven or eight hours of stuff I can't comprehend for the life of me might prove a little taxing. Apparently, the radio station whose link is below will broadcast the event live and describe things in English. Should any of my readers wish to try out this station for themselves, go to:
www.icrradio.com
If I have perchance attracted any readers with a similar background to Sandy, perhaps the station will offer some cultural comfort. It's certainly a different vibe for me.
Well here's to my first success in this new building. Other than lacking a special ladyfriend to share my triumph with, I feel on top of the world. The hot chocolate I just had went down wonderfully and made a nice change from my more habitual celebratory beer. Sandy thought I was "not very Canadian" when I told him I was going to have that as opposed to suds. No interest in the olympics, don't drink beer after such a splendidly successful day... What can I say? I'm just a different sort of geek to contend with. A geek who finally has the clear sense that despite everything, he's in the right place at the right time to do the good lord's work. I've just got to keep on plugging away at stuff like always and I'll have a good impact here. Never fear though. The day when Sandy starts to surf the Internet on his own, I'll definitely be firmly in double-beer territory.
Monday, February 22, 2010
shaping the future
Hello everyone. Things have gone quite well over the last few days. Sandy had a good meeting with John Morgan on saturday. As always, it was a personal pleasure to talk with the man. He had a good look around at Sandy's and my apartments and also took a brief exterior look at Sandy's computer. He thinks it looks to be in good shape but we'll have to get it up and running to really know what we're dealing with. I took some time to show John a bit of System Access and why I believe it would possibly be better for people like Sandy than Jaws is. He'll look more into that for Sandy as well as other people he helps once he's back from his trip. If anybody deserve to enjoy himself on a trip, it's John. Hopefully, I'll hear bits and pieces about it as we try to help Sandy. I've always wanted to go to England.
Sunday also went quite well. Sandy enjoyed coming to church and out to lunch afterwards with this nifty family, Sudan, Shane, Chrissie and Angel who introduced themselves to me a week ago. There's a kind of awkwardness about Sandy that I believe comes from his very different experience of blindness so much later in life for him. He's been left largely on his own for the year he's lived here which doesn't help either. I can't anticipate all of the social ramifications of this. Today, I got in touch with my former mobility instructor at the CNIB who will write referrals up for both of us so we get the help we'll need. Thankfully, I seem to be running into some good people who can accept us as the very different blinks we are. I enjoyed another lunch today with Sandy. He makes a much better tasting cup of tea on his stovetop than I've yet managed to produce from my Brewstation. I have faith that I'll yet figure out how to get a nifty cup of tea out of the thing. I can produce very good tea in my microwave with the aid of a small plate or saucer set atop the heeted cup. However, the Brewstation, although designed for coffee, seems like a perfect and more convenient tea-making alternative presuming I can get the details down. What can I say? I'm seem to be born to fiddle with gadgets until kingdom come. I wouldn't have it any other way. Single life has too much time in it to bare comfortably if you have no capacity and erge to tinker with stuff and look for alternative ways of doing things. That erge doubtless drives wives to utter distraction. However, I do believe it's a saving grace.
So far, I seem to be doing well socially here. I did my two loads of laundry today. That certainly chewed up some change. I'll have to be careful to keep enough on hand for laundry and won't be able to give as much away as tips as I've become acustommed to. Fear not though. I won't turn into any sort of selfish bastard. No ghosts of Christmas past, present and future need visit me although I would doubtless find such supernatural visitors fascinating company. I met three of four nice ladies today while I was down there. One of them gave me her email and phone number so I could call her if I ever needed any help. She seems interested in getting to know me as a friend. Having a family of her own already, that certainly as it ought to be. One thing I hope never to be responsible for is the destruction of anybody's marriage. I wouldn't wish that painful experience upon anybody. Not a bad start at all. If this kind of luck holds, I should at last be able to build the more integrated social sort of life that I can best enjoy and feel at my most productive while living it. Doubtless, it'll take years to get precisely right but it certainly seems possible here.
There's still lots of mom's chile for me to eat. That'll make for a nice simple dinner this evening. I've begun working on my next order of groceries. Perhaps, I'll have it come on wednesday or thursday. There's so much different stuff to try at Grocery Gateway. I know that eventually, it won't seem like that years down the road when I've had all the products which currently strike my fancy. There's certainly enough to find a nice variety of foods to rotate through. Most of my furniture should arrive on friday if all goes acording to plan. The two tubchairs might take until May but that could change again to a sooner date. I got a call from Customer Service at the Brick. It'll be good to have some proper seeting for guests to use. I'm also keenly looking forward to the arriveal of my icecube trays with lids over them to prevent cubes or water from spilling. Such a simple thing; the ability to add ice to drinks. I didn't think I'd mind its absence as much as I have this past while.
To cap off the excellent weekend, I listenned in on one of the last shuttle missions as they landed safely after quite the successful construction project. The station is pretty much complete up there now. I can only imagine what our planet must look like through the new window on the world they've got up there. Now, I think we'll begin to see the real benefits of such international cooperation. The building is at last truly ready and the focus can shift to all the science people want to do in space. We have so much to discover and so many keen minds who can put the facility to excellent use. Perhaps, my incureable optimism is getting the better of me. However, I suspect a lot of the critics who keep popping up saying we should spend all the money on Earth will be forced to eat their short-sighted words while this blind man laughs in the years ahead. Who knows what marvels we'll discover up there? Also, there are the political benefits from such cooperation to be considered. As a species, we have to grow better at working with each other and playing to our strengths.
Sunday also went quite well. Sandy enjoyed coming to church and out to lunch afterwards with this nifty family, Sudan, Shane, Chrissie and Angel who introduced themselves to me a week ago. There's a kind of awkwardness about Sandy that I believe comes from his very different experience of blindness so much later in life for him. He's been left largely on his own for the year he's lived here which doesn't help either. I can't anticipate all of the social ramifications of this. Today, I got in touch with my former mobility instructor at the CNIB who will write referrals up for both of us so we get the help we'll need. Thankfully, I seem to be running into some good people who can accept us as the very different blinks we are. I enjoyed another lunch today with Sandy. He makes a much better tasting cup of tea on his stovetop than I've yet managed to produce from my Brewstation. I have faith that I'll yet figure out how to get a nifty cup of tea out of the thing. I can produce very good tea in my microwave with the aid of a small plate or saucer set atop the heeted cup. However, the Brewstation, although designed for coffee, seems like a perfect and more convenient tea-making alternative presuming I can get the details down. What can I say? I'm seem to be born to fiddle with gadgets until kingdom come. I wouldn't have it any other way. Single life has too much time in it to bare comfortably if you have no capacity and erge to tinker with stuff and look for alternative ways of doing things. That erge doubtless drives wives to utter distraction. However, I do believe it's a saving grace.
So far, I seem to be doing well socially here. I did my two loads of laundry today. That certainly chewed up some change. I'll have to be careful to keep enough on hand for laundry and won't be able to give as much away as tips as I've become acustommed to. Fear not though. I won't turn into any sort of selfish bastard. No ghosts of Christmas past, present and future need visit me although I would doubtless find such supernatural visitors fascinating company. I met three of four nice ladies today while I was down there. One of them gave me her email and phone number so I could call her if I ever needed any help. She seems interested in getting to know me as a friend. Having a family of her own already, that certainly as it ought to be. One thing I hope never to be responsible for is the destruction of anybody's marriage. I wouldn't wish that painful experience upon anybody. Not a bad start at all. If this kind of luck holds, I should at last be able to build the more integrated social sort of life that I can best enjoy and feel at my most productive while living it. Doubtless, it'll take years to get precisely right but it certainly seems possible here.
There's still lots of mom's chile for me to eat. That'll make for a nice simple dinner this evening. I've begun working on my next order of groceries. Perhaps, I'll have it come on wednesday or thursday. There's so much different stuff to try at Grocery Gateway. I know that eventually, it won't seem like that years down the road when I've had all the products which currently strike my fancy. There's certainly enough to find a nice variety of foods to rotate through. Most of my furniture should arrive on friday if all goes acording to plan. The two tubchairs might take until May but that could change again to a sooner date. I got a call from Customer Service at the Brick. It'll be good to have some proper seeting for guests to use. I'm also keenly looking forward to the arriveal of my icecube trays with lids over them to prevent cubes or water from spilling. Such a simple thing; the ability to add ice to drinks. I didn't think I'd mind its absence as much as I have this past while.
To cap off the excellent weekend, I listenned in on one of the last shuttle missions as they landed safely after quite the successful construction project. The station is pretty much complete up there now. I can only imagine what our planet must look like through the new window on the world they've got up there. Now, I think we'll begin to see the real benefits of such international cooperation. The building is at last truly ready and the focus can shift to all the science people want to do in space. We have so much to discover and so many keen minds who can put the facility to excellent use. Perhaps, my incureable optimism is getting the better of me. However, I suspect a lot of the critics who keep popping up saying we should spend all the money on Earth will be forced to eat their short-sighted words while this blind man laughs in the years ahead. Who knows what marvels we'll discover up there? Also, there are the political benefits from such cooperation to be considered. As a species, we have to grow better at working with each other and playing to our strengths.
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Enjoyment of Tranquility
Hello everyone. I'm having a very pleasant second week here. Although I still find myself having to root around for things whose locations I thought I knew, my competence with that sort of thing is approaching the point of subconscious mastery. I find I don't always have to take the time to pre-assemble, for instance, items used for a meal before I start preparing it. I just know where things are and can have them in hand without having to look in several places. The same holds true for items outside the kitchen. However, things aren't set in stone yet. I've recently moved my boombox from its former place on the counter to a portable table I had brought but wasn't previously using. This morning, I tried my new toaster on a couple of poptarts which thankfully came out in splendid fashion.
I've been delighted to get to know Sandy further over the last while. We've shared a number of dinners. Guyanese food is certainly very spicy and interesting. He does amazingly well with elements but I think he would definitely benefit from a microwave like mine. Getting him online could make all the difference in the world to this solitary man. I'm more convinced of that than ever. John Morgan is coming out to see the two of us on saturday. I'll be showing him System Access and the Samnet network. Together, these two Serotek products make for the most intuitive and jentle learning curve I've ever encountered. I showed him yesterday morning how easy it is to scan a document. Teaching him how to type is definitely going to take a while. However, I think teaching him the basic keys he'll need to operate System Access and Samnet will be quite easy. It'll certainly give him lots to explore as he masters the keyboard. Getting him online poses a somewhat more financial challenge. Thank God John is stepping into the role of financeer. As much as I would have wanted to, I couldn't pay for an Internet connection and Samnet access for both him and I. It should be a pretty interesting weekend for Sandy with John's visit on saturday and his first time at my church on sunday. He certainly seems cheered at the prospect.
Yesterday, I vacuumed and mopped the apartment. Things seemed to go pretty well and neither chore takes very long at all. Granted, I may have missed areas. I won't know for certain until someone sighted visits soon after I've done these things. However, keeping this place sanitary ought not to take up tons of time. I'll have to start working on my next Grocery Gateway order. It'll definitely be less costly than my initial order as it builds upon what I still have left from the initial order. Since I've paid for a year access to Samnet in order to be ready to help Sandy as well as to participate in the community there for my own personal interest, I'll skirt the lower end of where I want to be financially for the next month or so. No big deal as there's a healthy margin for error. I ought to have a proper sense of that whole aspect of things by the time Summer arrives.
One piece of kit I'll be wanting to upgrade before Summer is my router. I'm finding that it's a lot less problematic to just plug my netbook directly into the router than try to keep a good wireless connection in this apartment. I have no idea why I'm having so much trouble compared to how things were at home but I suppose that the walls in here must hinder things somewhat. Good thing these new N-capable wireless routers aren't very expensive at all. That little N adapter will definitely be getting some use on my balcony over the Summer. That's for certain. Other than that, everything is working like a charm.
Things have such a different feel to them now. This week has been nearly as solitary as ones I slogged through last Summer. Sandy has been the only guest I've had over. I've gone out one evening to a church-related men's group. I've also participated in a couple of evenings of online chat with other members of the Samnet service. Other than that, I've been alone here. However, this doesn't get me down at all. Unlike those long empty Summer weeks, I have things on the go socially speaking. There are definite boundaries to these stretches of solitary time. That makes all the difference. There's this weekend's plans. It certainly isn't going to feel empty at all. Presuming I can eventually put together some more visits and outings from friends who are actually present in the flesh rather than online, I believe I can live quite happily as a single man. I got off to a cracking good start with that last week meeting Shane and his family. They seem eager to do things with me. I found myself in the rare position of turning down such an offer due to prior commitments. That kind of thing hasn't happened in ages. As far as more serious relationships go, I certainly still would be thrilled with one. This time around though, it'll have to grow from friendship into something more. Should I be honoured and lucky enough to eventually have a female friend want to take things farther, I won't say no categorically. However, I'll approach that prospect from the stance that I would indeed be giving up the tranquil simplicity of life as things stand for me here. Sandy certainly seems quite content to remain single and thinks I'll feel that way when I reach his age. That's nearly thirty years away. However, the possibility exists that he'll still be alive and kicking. It would be very interesting to discuss that contention with him at that point. Despite being able to find peace and happiness as a single man, I would far rather be in a steady stable long-term loving relationship of some sort.
Over the next while, my priorities won't be seeking out such a relationship. My profile on Plenty of Fish will, however, be receiving some much-needed attention. I'm fairly settled in here now. Financially, I want to reach a point where the balance goes up each month rather than down. I've got to bring expenses in line with my new income. That's far easier to do when you're single. Presuming nothing major breaks down, that ought to happen relatively painlessly in a couple of months. I should be in good shape to enjoy my first Spring and Summer here. I still await the emergeance of the upcoming enhancement to my Trekker Breeze as well as the opening of the Blio Reader bookstore. Meanwhile, I have a lot to explore with this Samnet network. There's quite a lot of content but I believe I'll get more out of the people who I chat with over the evenings.
Over the next week, I feel like it's time I tried to continue working on Enchantment's Twilight again. I don't really have any terrific new insights for the project other than looking at creating a smaller cast of characters with more optional episodes in their past to be chosen from. I think that this approach may perhaps work better than my old one of coming up with a large number of potential characters to choose from. We'll soon see how that goes. Once again, the island so long in my mind's eye is beginning to call to me. It wants to be realised in words and eventually, in sound and code. Perhaps, at long last, I'm ready to continue that process. We'll soon find out.
I've been delighted to get to know Sandy further over the last while. We've shared a number of dinners. Guyanese food is certainly very spicy and interesting. He does amazingly well with elements but I think he would definitely benefit from a microwave like mine. Getting him online could make all the difference in the world to this solitary man. I'm more convinced of that than ever. John Morgan is coming out to see the two of us on saturday. I'll be showing him System Access and the Samnet network. Together, these two Serotek products make for the most intuitive and jentle learning curve I've ever encountered. I showed him yesterday morning how easy it is to scan a document. Teaching him how to type is definitely going to take a while. However, I think teaching him the basic keys he'll need to operate System Access and Samnet will be quite easy. It'll certainly give him lots to explore as he masters the keyboard. Getting him online poses a somewhat more financial challenge. Thank God John is stepping into the role of financeer. As much as I would have wanted to, I couldn't pay for an Internet connection and Samnet access for both him and I. It should be a pretty interesting weekend for Sandy with John's visit on saturday and his first time at my church on sunday. He certainly seems cheered at the prospect.
Yesterday, I vacuumed and mopped the apartment. Things seemed to go pretty well and neither chore takes very long at all. Granted, I may have missed areas. I won't know for certain until someone sighted visits soon after I've done these things. However, keeping this place sanitary ought not to take up tons of time. I'll have to start working on my next Grocery Gateway order. It'll definitely be less costly than my initial order as it builds upon what I still have left from the initial order. Since I've paid for a year access to Samnet in order to be ready to help Sandy as well as to participate in the community there for my own personal interest, I'll skirt the lower end of where I want to be financially for the next month or so. No big deal as there's a healthy margin for error. I ought to have a proper sense of that whole aspect of things by the time Summer arrives.
One piece of kit I'll be wanting to upgrade before Summer is my router. I'm finding that it's a lot less problematic to just plug my netbook directly into the router than try to keep a good wireless connection in this apartment. I have no idea why I'm having so much trouble compared to how things were at home but I suppose that the walls in here must hinder things somewhat. Good thing these new N-capable wireless routers aren't very expensive at all. That little N adapter will definitely be getting some use on my balcony over the Summer. That's for certain. Other than that, everything is working like a charm.
Things have such a different feel to them now. This week has been nearly as solitary as ones I slogged through last Summer. Sandy has been the only guest I've had over. I've gone out one evening to a church-related men's group. I've also participated in a couple of evenings of online chat with other members of the Samnet service. Other than that, I've been alone here. However, this doesn't get me down at all. Unlike those long empty Summer weeks, I have things on the go socially speaking. There are definite boundaries to these stretches of solitary time. That makes all the difference. There's this weekend's plans. It certainly isn't going to feel empty at all. Presuming I can eventually put together some more visits and outings from friends who are actually present in the flesh rather than online, I believe I can live quite happily as a single man. I got off to a cracking good start with that last week meeting Shane and his family. They seem eager to do things with me. I found myself in the rare position of turning down such an offer due to prior commitments. That kind of thing hasn't happened in ages. As far as more serious relationships go, I certainly still would be thrilled with one. This time around though, it'll have to grow from friendship into something more. Should I be honoured and lucky enough to eventually have a female friend want to take things farther, I won't say no categorically. However, I'll approach that prospect from the stance that I would indeed be giving up the tranquil simplicity of life as things stand for me here. Sandy certainly seems quite content to remain single and thinks I'll feel that way when I reach his age. That's nearly thirty years away. However, the possibility exists that he'll still be alive and kicking. It would be very interesting to discuss that contention with him at that point. Despite being able to find peace and happiness as a single man, I would far rather be in a steady stable long-term loving relationship of some sort.
Over the next while, my priorities won't be seeking out such a relationship. My profile on Plenty of Fish will, however, be receiving some much-needed attention. I'm fairly settled in here now. Financially, I want to reach a point where the balance goes up each month rather than down. I've got to bring expenses in line with my new income. That's far easier to do when you're single. Presuming nothing major breaks down, that ought to happen relatively painlessly in a couple of months. I should be in good shape to enjoy my first Spring and Summer here. I still await the emergeance of the upcoming enhancement to my Trekker Breeze as well as the opening of the Blio Reader bookstore. Meanwhile, I have a lot to explore with this Samnet network. There's quite a lot of content but I believe I'll get more out of the people who I chat with over the evenings.
Over the next week, I feel like it's time I tried to continue working on Enchantment's Twilight again. I don't really have any terrific new insights for the project other than looking at creating a smaller cast of characters with more optional episodes in their past to be chosen from. I think that this approach may perhaps work better than my old one of coming up with a large number of potential characters to choose from. We'll soon see how that goes. Once again, the island so long in my mind's eye is beginning to call to me. It wants to be realised in words and eventually, in sound and code. Perhaps, at long last, I'm ready to continue that process. We'll soon find out.
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