Eleven Weeks

Is how long I’ve lived in my new apartment.

You’d think there would be nothing new left to discover, but you would be wrong. Yesterday, while checking the height of the powerpoint above the fridge, I found a tap!

Tap? (Faucet I think you say in the US) But a tap up there? This is in the kitchen, in the place/gap left for a refrigerator?

No, wait. Some fridges come with ice-machines, I suppose they need a water supply.

And I suppose by giving residents these little luxuries, the designers and owners thought they could pull the wool over their residents’ eyes where ventilation is concerned.

Ventilation is a problem. In this apartment, the laundry is in a cupboard along the middle of the corridor. At one end of the corridor is the master bedroom and adjacent bathroom, and at the other end is the multi purpose room and so-called powder room. All three wet areas are provided with a ceiling fan.

The impending trouble is mold. Already there is often a smell of it in the laundry. I’m probably meant to run the laundry fan 24/7 but it’s noisy and uses a lot of electricity.

There is a Dry cycle on the aircon that I’ve used once, which is something to test out further. I’d like to know, though, whether and how the air in the apartment circulates? (I might wend to renew.com.au later to find out more about that.)

There are aircon vents and overhead vaned fans in the main room, the bedroom and the MPR. There’s no aircon vent in the corridor and it’s only possible to isolate the main room. The obvious solution is to run the aircon in the whole house to ventilate the corridor.

Without being sure that that will send air into the laundry. Because the laundry doors are bifold. Leave them closed for style and beauty? Leave them open for utility and inconvenience as they protrude into the corridor? Still can’t be sure. Air flow around obstacles is a mystery.

I’m seriously thinking about hiring a shed in the shed room, taking the laundry doors off and storing them in the shed.

Lego: Step Two

If I had an extra hand or two I’d be able to show you that all the gear wheels that should go round do go round when I turn the handle … I’m tickled pink!

Transforming Paintings

A thing I’ve been experimenting with is turning remaindered practice paintings into little books … seeing if judicious ‘analogue’ cutting and pasting can transform random images.

There was a left to right movement in this scrap … the two pages bound by ribbon had to stay loose from one another (ie not glued) or the whole booklet would’ve buckled.

Where are we? Help! I’m sliding … Uh oh where are we? Some kind of underworld?

is that a golden gate I see in the distance?. Maybe we can get there crawling …Turn the corner, quick …

In and out of the trees, I don’t feel safe in amongst all the vegetation. What’s all that gold doing to us?

Told you we changed. Let’s go already, it’s the wide blue yonder.

Guess we didn’t all get wings.

Lego: The Orrery (42179)

The contents of Bag One of the Orrery, a Lego Technic set. Couldn’t wait any longer with building it, after having it in the house for over a week. I’ve been fascinated by orreries for a good few years.

‘An orrery is a mechanical model of the Solar System, in this case with the Sun, Earth and the Moon. More planets would’ve been good, but can maybe added later. I’m pretty sure some clever clancy will invent some add-ons.’ from This Wikipedia article which also shows a good selection.

Putting together the build so far took me about two hours of fiddling. My fingers not as young as they were nor the brain running them, lol. I’m still very doubtful about the position of the little blue piece parallel with the diameter, where the directions were unclear about its position. If there does turn out to be a hiccup, I’ll know where to look first.

The first Orrery I saw, and knew what I was looking at, was in the Sydney Powerhouse Museum at Ultimo, the Strasbourg Clock. Not sure if it is a replica.

One of the most intricate orreries I’ve read about featured in the science fiction Revenger series by Alistair Reynolds. That one featured hundreds of planets, mostly small to smaller, called the Congregation, in what was left of the Solar System.

Don’t worry, some time far in the future. Great premise, though. Above, the second book in the series. That orrery, I seem to recall, was a navigation aid.

‘Seeding’ info in stories on the go …

What I’m writing now in Lodestar contains a few events that for better a better reading experience, should’ve had their beginnings seeded into earlier chapters. For example, you will meet Moab, one of the Marl-Family. He was thought lost/dead, never mentioned because that’s the herder/hunter folk’s tradition.

The chapter being wrangled into existence is one of my so-called bridges from section to section. The timeline is complex at this point. I may later post a map.

Snippet 2

Once everybody crossed the channel there was a confab among the Kuri-Family group. Since they were last to cross, their decisions would stay private a while longer. Jenk gave Moss, Kyle and Io his instructions, to explore the road west, mark the water-crossing somehow, and rest in the new grazing grounds. Discover its seasons. He gave more than half the herd into their care, consisting of most of the brood animals, young females and a few sires. Plus they had their own riding camels and stringers, of course.

“A few herdies wouldn’t go amiss,” Kyle said.

“Suggestions?” Jenk said tersely. …

“Lewit and Jeldie? Not her fault she’s a Jovat. Not his fault he’s a Lomack. Merin and Kier? Same again,” Kyle said.

“Marl-Fa might want to come totally,” Moss said. “What’s against asking him? I’m young for chiefing, anyone wanting to grab the chance will say. And then? We have exactly three defenders?”

“The Marl-Family and all their camels?” Jenk said. “We don’t know how much grazing there will be. But I hear you.”

“Jenk,” Kuri-Chief said. “Camp with them this side of the Red Channel. The tidal flats, sea-lettuce grazing will last a day or two. One or the other of the young men and Ivy can cross the water, see the lay of the land. The grazing, campsite near any freshwater supply. Once they return, you rejoin us.” She gestured at Kes and herself. “We’ll speak with Marl, Kier and Merin, when we arrive at the Party Camp.”

Kuri-Chief at the head of the column, and Kestrel at the rear, swung into east with the remaining third of their herd. Nearly all of the remaining animals were stringers and trained riding camels, carrying the Kuri-Family’s tent, a couple of annexes and also all the numbers fostering children. With a few additional animals destined for slaughter, they were a lean and mean herd.

Couple of Questions, WP?

How come when I post a teaser for a later, more comprehensive post, it’s not to be seen out in the published posts arena, but turns up in Draft? Wait, I think I published that teaser while on my mobile phone. Shouldn’t make any difference though, should it? The platform works seamlessly across different appliances?

And conversely, when I have a post sitting in Draft, it can collect Views and Likes? As though it’s been gamboling out in the public arena, and it is still only a haphazard collection of thoughts? While this is not the first time this has happened, it’s the first time that I’ve thought to follow the trail.

I thought Draft was the place where I could have things on hold, waiting for more info, more energy, more time and or everything else that I need to get a post happening? It’s the place where I save good topics, the possibility of long pieces, things I want to comment on, things that need editing. Not for public reading as yet.

This post was meant as a teaser: https://ritadeheer385131918.wordpress.com/wp-admin/post.php?post=2698&action=edit&calypsoify=1

It apparently has lived in Draft for the past two days, but managed to collect 2 Views and 3 Likes. How, I want to know?

I’m wondering whether you have a bunch of learner-bots out.

A ‘Woe is me’ day …

Yes. Having one of those days when all plans are having to be thrown out of the window. I have a ‘lurgy’ in the slang of my day and my time.

I’m sitting up sleeping at 4 PM, absolutely the worst time for an hour’s worth of sleep that will probably be traded in tonight for an extra hour of wakeful coughing. A ten minute nanna-nap or even a five minute power-nap would’ve maybe saved the night.

I can barely speak, and cough at the slightest exertion and it’s been over a week already, I’m over it, though when has that ever worked?

Days have been lonely while I’ve stayed home to not spread this bug through the facility. But, anyway, as more sitting down activities were required, I started the project I hit on during one of these wakeful nights.

Had a lot of notes already thinking I should remember these people somehow. Dots on the phone directory. Names and a couple of words on the calendar. Four people from this floor. Many I met while we all travel in the elevator.

I’m calling it my META project … which stands for Meet Everybody, Talk about Anything. So far, I’ve lived here for 70 days and have met and talked with 17 fellow residents, when the last nine days I’ve been in isolation.