Projects and goals for the next year

I start working tomorrow as a contractor at Google. Due to the non-disclosure agreement I signed the other day that's as much as I can say about that.

It is nice to know that I can do things like make plans in advance, go to the doctor, pay bills on time, etc.

I've been thinking about what to do with my spare time now that it's not taken up with guilt over work that I should be doing, or looking for a job.

Here's what I've come up with so far:
-Renewing my German, which I have let languish lo these 10 years.
-Cooking more! Lunch is free so I can put in more effort when I get home.
-Gardening! I'm excited to sit down and make a garden plan. It's time already to start some from seed.
-Art! Burlesque figure drawing is becoming a monthly thing with Nicole, which I'm greatly enjoying, though I need to do more in between.
-Either taking some classes or doing videos/games to get more in shape. Luckily there's a good walking trail for use at work.
-Working on some mental issues - more confidence, less anxiety.
-New glasses, finally. It's been about six years I think. Various other medical condition checkups.
-Pay off debts. It's looking likely that bankruptcy will be the best way to go.
-Online courses. FEMA has several, MIT has 1500 (!) and the EPA had some as well.
-Volunteering. Now that my own bills are paid I can get out there and do stuff.
-Craft projects. I have some that have been stopped midway for years.
-Learning new skills. I've been wanting to get into either embroidery or cross stitch, plus I'd like to try carving with my new Dremel.
-Fixing bad habits. Or at least starting good ones-it's difficult when you don't have a schedule. Now I do!
-Catching up with people. Whenever my life isn't going well I tend to stop talking to new friends, distant friends or anyone I haven't caught up with in a while because I don't want to dump my problems on them or whine the whole time.

I'm sure I'll add to this list. I'm also sure I'll probably spends most of my free time paying video games, messing around on the webs, or watching Netflix instant, but at least I have ideas for when I start feeling antsy.

Snow Day

You would think I'd learn by now to copy anything I write. I spent half an hour obsessively describing how to replicate the Shepherd's Pie I made this afternoon, and when I went to save it my router had crashed and I lost the post. Then again, my computer shut down without warning shortly after, so even if I had copied I probably would have lost it anyway.

The recipe was convoluted so I don't know that it's really worth saving.

Snow day here in Seattle is lovely. Unfortunately it's dry, powdery snow - a few inches piled onto a thin sheet of crackly ice, which is over a few inches of more powdery snow - so it's no good for sculpting. That's usually what I do on snow days, take pictures and make snow sculptures, which never turn out nearly as grandiose as I planned.

Here's something badass: so I have this goldfish that's been living in the rain barrel that my landlady installed to prevent our basement from flooding. It catches the runoff from the roof and drains into the backyard through a hose. When the water's flowing it all works nicely, but in the summer when it only rains every few weeks it becomes a mosquito breeding ground. A pond goldfish is a great, low-maintenance, chemical-free solution. Goldfish pee is also rich in nitrogen, which is great for your plants.

I've been worried about Jenny, our fish, in all this cold. Yet every time I check, she's still swimming around happily. I just went out and stomped around taking pictures with my nose (had gloves on, touchscreen is heat sensitive) and checked the rain barrel. The spigot and/or hose is too frozen to drain. This will become an issue fairly soon and I have no idea how to solve it. It's three-quarters full, instead of only a few inches, and most of that is chunks of ice and slurry. I stirred through with a bamboo stick to make sure it wasn't a complete sheet of ice, so that oxygen can get to Jenny, and there she was at the bottom, swimming around happily. Amazing. What a badass fish.

I'm off to build a fire and then try to earn some cash from this work-at-home job. It's Leapforce, Search Engine Evaluating. If anyone's looking to see if it's a scam, it's not. It's legit. If you only put in a couple of hours, it'll take a few weeks to get paid, but the more hours you put in, the faster your deposit is made. Also make sure you track your hours carefully. I'd use a software or an Excel spreadsheet.

Let's see how far I get before my PC shuts down. Once I start the contract at Google, I need to pay back all of my friends for lending me money during my 4 month unemployment, pay 2 months rent, then save up enough to get my Macbook fixed. But nevermind all that. I start work at the end of the month and it's snowing out. Lovely!

Why Modern Life Makes Us Vulnerable

When you remove redundancies, it can be streamlining or more efficient, but it can also vastly increase your risk and dependency on systems over which you have no control. Keep your options open! You don't have to use your fireplace instead of a furnace to heat your home, but it's nice to have for both emergencies and special occasions. It doesn't take a disaster or an apocalypse to lose access to a service; a water main break can happen at any time and suddenly not being able to flush your toilet really, really sucks.

I do like zombie apocalypses as a planning tool, though. So much more fun to think about. Maybe I'll make a checklist.

Why Modern Life Makes Us Vulnerable : TreeHugger

Adding more water may be the only way to save Venice from sinking

More proof that understanding natural processes, and either not interfering with them or reversing the damage already done, can prevent millions or billions in damages and preserve existing infrastructure:

Adding more water may be the only way to save Venice from sinking:

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