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Feels like the list of things I need to do at home never shrinks, but actually, we've been making serious progress.
While a recent attempt to partake in a recycling event fell through, I was still able to find free resources to dispose of an old large metal desk along with some very antiquated computer hardware and other miscellaneous hardware/appliance junk. This both freed up room in the music room as well as on our deck outside.
Last year (or was it two years now?) we picked up a nice wrought iron outdoor table and chair set that has sat unused (aside from as a holder for some prop preparations) on the deck since we brought it home. Along with that was an old hand truck, and some previously used plastic chairs and table. The truck has since gotten rusted out, so I added it to the recycle pile along with the plastic chairs and table. And we finally got the last of the prop prep materials cleaned up and stowed away.
In that process, we discovered that not only are we very behind on a garden this year, but that some of the previous plantings from last year actually wintered over and are growing again. It's a shocker! We'll be adding some herbs to it and perhaps some lettuces and spinach. Nothing too fancy, but I enjoy growing things that are useful.
In place of the old desk, I picked up an IKEA shelf to house my bins of bits and bobs. I apparently collect a lot of stuff, and part of the process in digging out the spare room has been working through sorting some of what became "miscellaneous" bins and downsizing and consolidating other bins. It's been an ongoing project for the last 6 months, and the progress is showing!
In related music news, the path to the piano has again been unearthed, and I'm once again getting time to sit down to it to practice and learn new things. The recording equipment has also been getting some flex as G has been submitting various parts for stuffs. However, our recording computer, which is a nine-year-old laptop, has seen many a better day, and is finally reaching the end of its useful life as a recording computer. As timing would have it, my current everyday laptop has also reached a point where as a daily driver laptop, it is losing functionality and usefulness, so I just purchased a new laptop as my daily driver, and my old one will replace the studio computer which will be a sizable upgrade for it both in storage and in functionality. The oldest laptop will probably be relegated to some menial digital housekeeping tasks that I've been meaning to get working.
I did however add another two antiquated computers to the recycle pile recently. I had an old Dell desktop that was operating as our house fileserver for some time now, and since the new server has been burned in and bolstered, I no longer need a secondary location. Also, the old server was not set up in a way that monitoring was very easy or feasible and given its age, it was always a matter of when it would die vs if. I also replaced our routing device from an ancient Compaq desktop computer to a much more streamlined and power efficient purpose-built router device that not only takes up a fraction of the space but is more robust. Yay for having a VPN tunnel to the home network!
Home time seems to be otherwise dominated with keeping up with the regular tasks as well. Those definitely never end, but I've been working to find ways to at least make either completing them or prepping them more efficient. One of those ways has been using NFC tags. We each have phones that support NFC tag reading, and I picked up a pack of NFC tags to use at home. What are those, you ask? Basically they are little discs that hold a chip and transceiver setup that allows you to use your phone to program the chip with a small amount of data. With a specifically installed program (I use one called Trigger), you can hold your phone over the tag, and execute a pre-defined set of instructions like... "Set timer for 3 minutes" for brewing tea. Or "Set timer for 40 minutes" for the laundry cycle. Makes it much easier to remember your tea or to change out the laundry. It's been fun working with the tags and thinking up new ideas of things to do with them. They can automate almost anything your phone can do.
Along the lines of new stuff, I discovered I can once again afford to bring in a CSA box, so I reactivated my account with Full Circle and we've been getting boxes again. It is nice to have weekly incentive to get creative with food that is healthy and interesting. We've been working to bring in more veggies to the meals anyways, so it is a way to get it in the house. I find that a lot of the non-veggie options that Full Circle sells are a little out of budget, but I appreciate that they offer them. It also reminds me that quality product demands quality prices. And that's ok I guess. I'm still less choosy about some of my consumables, but I am at a point where I feel like I can do it with intent. Still an ongoing thing. I may decide to cancel again in favor of buying from a local market I like. We'll see how convenience prevails vs return on investment.
Little by little, changes are making a difference. Some days it's difficult to remember that, but I look back and see how far we've come. Some goals have been completely accomplished and would not have been without the little-at-a-time process, so I take comfort in knowing that the process works.
How are things progressing for you?
While a recent attempt to partake in a recycling event fell through, I was still able to find free resources to dispose of an old large metal desk along with some very antiquated computer hardware and other miscellaneous hardware/appliance junk. This both freed up room in the music room as well as on our deck outside.
Last year (or was it two years now?) we picked up a nice wrought iron outdoor table and chair set that has sat unused (aside from as a holder for some prop preparations) on the deck since we brought it home. Along with that was an old hand truck, and some previously used plastic chairs and table. The truck has since gotten rusted out, so I added it to the recycle pile along with the plastic chairs and table. And we finally got the last of the prop prep materials cleaned up and stowed away.
In that process, we discovered that not only are we very behind on a garden this year, but that some of the previous plantings from last year actually wintered over and are growing again. It's a shocker! We'll be adding some herbs to it and perhaps some lettuces and spinach. Nothing too fancy, but I enjoy growing things that are useful.
In place of the old desk, I picked up an IKEA shelf to house my bins of bits and bobs. I apparently collect a lot of stuff, and part of the process in digging out the spare room has been working through sorting some of what became "miscellaneous" bins and downsizing and consolidating other bins. It's been an ongoing project for the last 6 months, and the progress is showing!
In related music news, the path to the piano has again been unearthed, and I'm once again getting time to sit down to it to practice and learn new things. The recording equipment has also been getting some flex as G has been submitting various parts for stuffs. However, our recording computer, which is a nine-year-old laptop, has seen many a better day, and is finally reaching the end of its useful life as a recording computer. As timing would have it, my current everyday laptop has also reached a point where as a daily driver laptop, it is losing functionality and usefulness, so I just purchased a new laptop as my daily driver, and my old one will replace the studio computer which will be a sizable upgrade for it both in storage and in functionality. The oldest laptop will probably be relegated to some menial digital housekeeping tasks that I've been meaning to get working.
I did however add another two antiquated computers to the recycle pile recently. I had an old Dell desktop that was operating as our house fileserver for some time now, and since the new server has been burned in and bolstered, I no longer need a secondary location. Also, the old server was not set up in a way that monitoring was very easy or feasible and given its age, it was always a matter of when it would die vs if. I also replaced our routing device from an ancient Compaq desktop computer to a much more streamlined and power efficient purpose-built router device that not only takes up a fraction of the space but is more robust. Yay for having a VPN tunnel to the home network!
Home time seems to be otherwise dominated with keeping up with the regular tasks as well. Those definitely never end, but I've been working to find ways to at least make either completing them or prepping them more efficient. One of those ways has been using NFC tags. We each have phones that support NFC tag reading, and I picked up a pack of NFC tags to use at home. What are those, you ask? Basically they are little discs that hold a chip and transceiver setup that allows you to use your phone to program the chip with a small amount of data. With a specifically installed program (I use one called Trigger), you can hold your phone over the tag, and execute a pre-defined set of instructions like... "Set timer for 3 minutes" for brewing tea. Or "Set timer for 40 minutes" for the laundry cycle. Makes it much easier to remember your tea or to change out the laundry. It's been fun working with the tags and thinking up new ideas of things to do with them. They can automate almost anything your phone can do.
Along the lines of new stuff, I discovered I can once again afford to bring in a CSA box, so I reactivated my account with Full Circle and we've been getting boxes again. It is nice to have weekly incentive to get creative with food that is healthy and interesting. We've been working to bring in more veggies to the meals anyways, so it is a way to get it in the house. I find that a lot of the non-veggie options that Full Circle sells are a little out of budget, but I appreciate that they offer them. It also reminds me that quality product demands quality prices. And that's ok I guess. I'm still less choosy about some of my consumables, but I am at a point where I feel like I can do it with intent. Still an ongoing thing. I may decide to cancel again in favor of buying from a local market I like. We'll see how convenience prevails vs return on investment.
Little by little, changes are making a difference. Some days it's difficult to remember that, but I look back and see how far we've come. Some goals have been completely accomplished and would not have been without the little-at-a-time process, so I take comfort in knowing that the process works.
How are things progressing for you?
