Please congratulate yourself for completing another year. If all you did was survive, that's OK!
The underside is way less nice looking than the top side and I'm OK with that. Working with a large board that is nearly twice my size in Tiny Condo has been a p.i.t.a. Luckily, most of my 2025 projects shouldn't disrupt my home as much. Once this shelf is installed, I will be trimming the bathroom door. I think I'll paint it later and reclaim my home since I'll have four doors to paint red anyway.
I was away visiting loved ones for much of the last week of 2024. It was fortunate that I had traveled on Sunday instead of Monday like I had originally planned. A snowstorm began around 10 AM. Outside the windows of my father's house was a near blizzard at times.
I needed to get a few things after I had lunch with friends. Then my afternoon was to be spent watching a movie at my brother's house. The items included some soft food for my canine buddy. I had forgotten his gift in Ottawa. It ended up being OK because he hadn't been eating as well in his old age. He chowed down on the soft food and I was so happy! My brother and I postponed our hang out due to the storm. We were both exhausted after clearing the snow.
Instead of a movie, I ended up watching History's Greatest Mysteries: Unlocking the Secrets of Stonehenge. The latest findings indicate that Stonehenge is far older than the Arthurian legends and the druids. There has been a lot of speculation that it is an observatory, but why are there so many human remains in the area? Were they workers who died during the building of Stonehenge? Human sacrifices to gods? Important figures who were buried there as a mark of honour? Apparently, the most recent discovery is that the site was in use long before the stones arrived. Dating indicates the site has been in use since 7,000 BCE. As to the use of the stones, they are connected to the astronomy in some way given how they map the solstices. I think it may have been a way to track the critical times for crops or some other survival need.
I find it interesting how some believe older cultures couldn't possibly figure out maths and sciences. As if they never had a concept of spatial reasoning or weren't capable of observing things about the sun, moon, and stars simply because they couldn't write it down like we do today. When I was a kid, my dad built a five-sided shed from a map inside his head.
I was able to do some knee pushups this week. Many more than I've been able to in the last year. I'm finally able to get going on my fitness goals!
On Tuesday, I had a tough time sleeping. My ears and throat were bothering me too much, so I booked a virtual appointment to see a doctor in the hopes that I could get a prescription since over the counter medicines and home remedies weren't fixing it. I got the first appointment of the day. I worried some because I hadn't used the texting option in awhile. That part went fine. They sent my prescription to Ottawa and I had to get it transferred to North Bay! After getting it, my brother and I watched Venom. I had more adventures as I got Vice stuck in some snow while on a quest to find pizza for dinner. A kind stranger got me unstuck. The first pizza place wasn't open. To Pizza Hut I went. It was delicious. In the evening, I watched Venom 2. Then I caught the end of Home Alone before turning in for the night with a book.
On Christmas morning I needed to put part of my brother's gift in my dad's porch to cool, so he would be able to drink the contents. I read Gideon the Ninth while we waited to open gifts and I read more while the men watched Paint the Wagons. It's a musical with a young Clint Eastwood.
I got Schitt's Creek season 1 & 2, Dragonball Z season 5, Doctor Sleep, some Amazon gift cards, cash from dad, and a bottle of rum chata. I had to wait to drink any of it until after Christmas due to the antibiotics, but I was OK with that. We watched Rudoph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. I napped briefly between lunch and dinner. I don't know if it was the antibiotics making me tired or the socializing, but I felt much better after.
After dad went to bed, I watched Twilight since it was on TV. It's totally a Christmas movie, right? It has a great soundtrack plus Kristen Stewart. The marathon continued on Thursday.
Friday was the return trip home to Ottawa. I was eager to get home and clean up. I had a brief delay of departure due to a train passing through town. It was an Ontario Northland freight train. Once upon a time, I worked at that company. It's a good place with a lot of good people.
The drive home to Ottawa was pretty relaxed. The highway was bare and dry. That night I watched The Incredily True Adventure of 2 Girls in Love. I also did some music research. After watching the PWHL Boston/Toronto game, I read some Gideon the Ninth. I'm over half way through the book now.
On Saturday, I tackled the cord channel on my shelf. It's not the prettiest thing, but it doesn't have to be. I slapped some acrylic paint on it before sealing the shelf. I had so much energy to handle it after the holidays were over.
The evening was spent watching Nosferatu in theatres with friends. This was the new Robert Eggers version and we had all been looking forward to it since we knew it was coming. It was beautifully shot, creepy, well acted, had excellent costumes, and there was a solid story.
Sunday was a PWHL Ottawa Charge outing to Sky Lounge to view the game with a friend. Ottawa managed to hold New York at bay to get a win. Emerance Maschmeyer was on her game. After getting some groceries, I watched Us. I had intended to work on the shelf, but I was tired and a bit soggy by the time I had gotten home.
I ended the week sad as I just found out one of my favourite humans in the public sphere passed away in October. Kerwin Rae was such an amazing human. RIP dude. Kerwin actually used to respond to my comments on Instagram. He had found a way to be successful in spite of his challenges with ADHD and he loved helping others.
Mata Ne (See you later in Japanese)