My furnace only turns off between runs about an eighth as long as the runs themselves.
Between this and that 110s-level heat wave the last year, I am definitely getting my walls (and the roof) insulated when I have them opened. Fuckin’ globally warmed-ass weather.
Appreciating all I’ve got done with yard work this year but then realizing all the stuff I didn’t get to (like establishing lavender underneath the window I sit next to), but then realizing I’m probably going to live here for the rest of my life and I’ll have other seasons
(but I should prioritize getting the trees in – I’m going with a Japanese flowering theme, ume, sakura, and kaki – they’ll need years to grow and bear fruit)
One of the weirder quirks of Karafuto is as the seasons progress and night comes earlier this view actually stays brighter longer as the leaves clear out
Getting Badger to come in and out through the basement window is huge in keeping Karafuto comfortable in this cold, and I also like that if we’re both up here when he decides to go out he’ll just meow at me to open the front door again
Like, I might not even have to switch from basketball shorts to heavier pajamas this year. On the other hand hoo, it’s not long between when one round of the heater turns off to when another starts up, besides better glass I’m gonna get the ceiling and walls insulated when we open them up.
Getting Badger to come in and out through the basement window is huge in keeping Karafuto comfortable in this cold, and I also like that if we’re both up here when he decides to go out he’ll just meow at me to open the front door again
Dumped easily 20 trash cans worth of leaves onto Strawberry Ridge. Since I stripped all the curbs on the block for Blueberry Hill last year they’re bare – no previous years’ leaves rotting to dirt and growing weeds to catch the leaves this year, so they all blow down to collect in big drifts that’re easy to gather up.
That along with the side yard work where that realtor 2 or 3 years back told me all my work had made my neighbors tens of thousands of dollars richer, and since I’ve started cleaning up my neighbors in each direction have I guess realized that they looked underwhelming in contrast and/or the area was classing up to the point of being worth tidying…
Like, my looking out the window 5 years ago and being like “ah fuck, I should pull those weeds” has apparently cascaded into making the entire neighborhood look much better. Yay me!
Alright, cleared out and vacuumed the bedroom/bathroom hall, this means the entire wood-floored (i.e. not the bathroom) back half of the house is done
Alright, got the new vacuum and had a go for the first time in months, my room now joins the study as completely sorted. (Like, there’s a rug I’m gonna hang on the wall beside the bed Russian-style I still have to drill the hangs for, but everything put away is where it’s supposed to be and the only things out are things I’m actively using)
Uh, anyone know what that crossbeam in a Japanese house where you display a portrait of your dead father is called?
Hm. Well, if the power’s not on by tomorrow morning I might have to bust out my MREs if I want hot food
Though the funnier thing to do would be burn some of the scrap wood in the backyard now that things aren’t dry and risky anymore and roast a chicken breast on a stick
Power’s out again for the second time in a week. Portland has trees! And a windy season. Maybe I should get a PowerWall or something, maybe in conjunction with running the lines to the garage/driveway for chargers. Mostly hear about them for use with home solar, but Portland has trees! And a lot of the roof’s canopied over. An organic insulation system that shades the house and creates a moister microclimate, extending itself automatically each year by drawing carbon from the air!
Got some Christmas lights, my first holiday decoration! (Besides the flag, I guess. Oh, and my mom gave me a stocking.)
Jesus I need to replace these windows; get within a body-length of a closed one and you can feel the temperature drop
Used to be more down on outdoor lighting like it was pretty self-absorbed to light your identikit suburban house like an art piece for people to admire, but now I’m appreciating the utility to just being able to at all see outside at night from a lit house
Jesus, everything’s getting so tidied up like it never was it feels like I’m living in a whole new house! One I somehow both decorated myself from scratch and have been living in for several years
Alright, the study (2nd bedroom) is now entirely sorted, my bedroom only has the “miscellaneous” drawer and top of the dresser left, and sweeping up debris.
Alright, sorted all the clothes in the house (bar the jackets, which I need a good cold rain to test) into “good”, “tight but should look flattering if this weight loss continues on the same slope another year”, and “discard”.
“Good” is split into shirts and pants but still needs to be split into first-tier and backup wardrobe and put away, then “discard” needs to be split into “flog to secondhand stores”, “donate”, and “use as rags”
Like, the bedroom, study, parlor, garage, basement, AND backyard are all in the best state I’ve ever seen, they each require a bit more attention to miscellaneous objects and then a sweep (well, parlor already got it), the outstanding “yard task” list outside, but like… that’s it
Kitchen’s weird cause it’ll be totally remodeled with new built-ins so there’s like nothing to move in and no point prettying it up, but aside from a floor that desperately needs mopping, it also looks better
Okay, everyone who was yelling at me to clean up in here, this’ll have to do until I get professional cleaners in. Unfucked the polesaw, I’ll reassemble it tomorrow.
Hey uh, does anyone know what the word for that crossbeam in a Japanese house where you display a framed picture of your dead father is?