Complex Numbers

Wake Up Now

It's the final day of September, so I thought I'd take a break from trolling internet articles to do some personal updates and plug a few friends. Er, I mean, plug a few friends' items here on WDC.

Home Ownership

By which I mean, the continuing process of being owned by a home.

Last week, in "Hard, Erect Deck" , I detailed some of the tribulations involved in replacing my house's back deck. Basically, I'd put it off as long as I could, but the old one was about ready to fall over, most likely with me on it, so this was much-needed home maintenance. However necessary it was, though, neither I nor the cats took kindly to the change. Now, though, it's about half done, with the entire superstructure in place; they still have to do some electrical work to put in some lights and outdoor outlets, and finish up the drainage system. But here I am, tonight, sitting on the new deck getting cancer from the treated lumber fumes.

It rained some last night, and I took great pleasure in being able to stand, dry, on the patio beneath and watch the drainage system in action. Said pleasure was mitigated somewhat by watching the trees in the backyard sway in the thunderstorm's stiff breeze. I don't want one of those trees to fall onto the brand-new deck (or, you know, my house) in the next windstorm, so I guess my next project is to cut down some trees. Let me rephrase that: my next project is to pay someone to cut down some trees (the ones in question are nearly dead anyway).

The only downside to the new deck is that my cats were accustomed to leaping up to the old one from down below. They can't do that now because the new railing is too dense for even a cat to get through. Something about building code changes. I told the contractor this yesterday, and he volunteered to use some scraps to put a cat ledge on the outside so they can jump to that, and thence onto the rail. He also reduced the price somewhat as lumber prices have come down since we signed the contract. I like this guy so far and will probably hire him for other work; sadly, he doesn't do trees.

Meanwhile, some pipes broke in the house so now I have to deal with plumbing issues as well. It never rains but it pours. In this case, it pours discharge from the dishwasher through a cracked pipe. So I also have to clean up that mess. Fortunately, I got the worst of it fixed yesterday, so at least I can run the dishwasher.

Bite Me

Went to the dentist yesterday for a routine cleaning. He found work he says needs done. I was like, how much. They showed me. I nearly had another heart attack. Which would be expensive and probably fatal, but at least then I wouldn't have to take out a mortgage to get my dental work redone.

Transportation

I still don't have a car. I can walk most places or, as I did today to go to the dentist across town, summon an Uber. Two things need to happen before I buy a new car. One, they need to fix supply chain issues so I'm not paying more for the car than I did for the deck. And two, even though I can see just fine for now with glasses, I want to wait for after the cataract surgery. Which leads me to...

If Looks Could Kill

I have an appointment with the eye surgeon late in October. Unfortunately -- or fortunately, if you're as phobic as I am about shit touching your eyeballs -- it's not for the actual surgery, but for a pre-op consultation and verification that I indeed have cataracts. My vision continues to deteriorate, so it's a race to find out if I'll still be able to see a goddamn thing when they finally schedule the surgery. If I quit writing in here, it's because I lost the race.

Don't get old. It sucks. And it's expensive as fuck. One star, do not recommend. Yes, I know what the alternative is; my recommendation stands.

Le Français

On the plus side, I'm still doing French lessons every day. I have a hell of a streak going on Duolingo. One of my Uber drivers yesterday was from Paris. Fortunately, I didn't find this out until after the ride was over (he had an accent, but I didn't peg it as French at the time) and I went to tip him in the app. This is fortunate because I managed to avoid embarrassing myself by attempting to pronounce words in French in front of him, which surely would have resulted in him giving me a one-star rider rating, if not blackballing me from the app altogether.

I said I'm learning. I didn't say I was any good at it. Like I said, getting old sucks.

Movies

I know I haven't done a one-sentence movie review in a while. That's because I haven't been to the movies in a couple of weeks. That, in turn, is because nothing's appealed to me. This should change next month. Provided I can still see the screen.

Some of my blog entries next month, assuming I don't go blind first, will be for:

Journalistic Intentions  (18+) This is for the journal keeping types that come to PLAY! New round starts July 1! #2213121 by Turkey DrumStik

There's still space for other contestants, and I never win that one so don't be all like "I'm not entering a contest Waltz is in." What? You weren't all like that? Okay, cool. So enter.

You know what October means. Halloween shit everywhere. Creative October-themed WDC handles. Pumpkin spice everything. No more Green Day for another year, because September's done ended already. Christmas bullshit appearing in stores, if it hasn't already. Leaves falling off the damn trees for me to rake. And, of course, preparing for NaNoWriMo:

FORUM

October Novel Prep Challenge  (13+) A month-long novel-planning challenge with prizes galore. #1474311 by Brandiwyn🎶

You have until the 3rd to sign up, but why wait?

And some fun ongoing things that don't require you to get into an October mood:

FORUM

Question of the Day!  (18+) Come answer a question, share a laugh, encourage one another, and bring me a coffee! #2142667 by Lilli 🧿 ☕

No competition, no signup, just hop in and participate.

BOOK

Smile! (Groan?) You Know You Love These!  (13+) Want to smile at least once a day? Then read these! Okay, maybe you'll groan some too... #2177903 by Sum1's Home

What, I'm not funny enough for you? Add that blog to your favorites for a daily assault on your humerus.

There's plenty more going on here, of course, and I'm not trying to snub anyone by not plugging them right now. Feel free to add your own (or someone else's) in the comments below.

Tomorrow, it's back to the usual programming around here.