![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
danieldwilliamHere is a list of ten things that are currently improving my life in little ways, followed by a list of ten little things I could do that would improve my life in a little way. I'd be interested in hearing about yours.
1) Big boot socks. I got some cozy Nordic socks for Christmas and, prompted by that decided to buy half a dozen large, knitted boot socks for wearing inside. Mostly, obviously they can be worn when going outside but my main use-case for them is wearing them inside. They are large enough to go over a pair of normal socks so I can double layer. Which has been very nice over the last few weeks when it's been very very cold in Edinburgh and I've not been moving around as much. Nice warm feet.
2) Having a second smart TV in the bedroom. When the old smart TV broke I decided to get it fixed and replace the older, dumber TV in the bedroom. Which means we now have two rooms where someone can comfortably watch audio-video and we still have a room for mostly sitting or listening to audio. This may not sound like a small thing, but the repair cost was relatively modest. It's kept our living space flexible.
3) Fondue sets. We had a fondue set. I bought another and we had a double fondue, cheese and chocolate for dinner - which marked items number 2 in an attempt to break out of the food rut that we've gotten in to because we're ordering so much of our grocery shopping on line. It's too easy to just order the same things each week and then cook the same food each week.
4) Ginger Beer - I've been making ginger beer in a big carboy. Batch two is about to be decanted in to bottles. I've been industriously sourcing bottles with Groslsh type flip-lids. It's nice to have a little project to engage in especially as I wasn't much taken with making sourdough bread. I seem to have roped Dad in as a client.
5) Dice Drop Maps - I haven't played RPG's for *years* and I was hoping to get back in to it last year, but, didn't. However, I've been reading up on it and buying a few system rule books. I've become quite keen on the idea of using Dice Drop Maps. The idea being that rather than painstakingly come up with the geography, social relations and small-p political interactions of place you drop a handful of dice on a table and use a series of procedural generation techniques to create a map of the town, district, county, whatever. I'm finding a useful and, from an improv point of view, interesting toolkit.
6) Getting my mum on WhatsApp - which means that we can keep in touch in a low bandwidth way. It was especially useful during the run of operations she's had on her jaw, when talking was painful and awkward for her.
7) Self-adhesive aluminium strips for facemasks. I was struggling a bit (a lot) with my glasses getting steamed up whilst wearing a facemask. Especially if I moved from cold, dry conditions (outside in Edinburgh) to warm moister conditions, like the bus. So I tried some self-adhesive aluminium strips to act as a shaper around the nose. They stick on to the outside of the mask, you press them around your nose and they help form a tighter seal. 200 for fiver. It's nice being able to see.
8) Having worked out how to use the issue tracking software at work so I can transfer my to-do list to it.
9) The prospect of going for dinner with someone when "all this is over". I don't mean just anyone, but I'm beginning to get a few events, if not dates, in my diary. Which is lifting the spirits a little.
10) The relocation of my training sessions from the park outside my house to the Commonwealth Pool, which is a) a 15 minute walk away meaning I'm getting a bit more exercise and b) a more versatile space with more all weather functionality i.e. it has steps and a larger cover.
And now a list of ten small things that would improve my life in little ways.
1) Better speakers for the Captain's tablet so we can properly hear the coaching on the regular online rugby sessions when we are outside. He has two friends who come and join in with him doing it, with me moderating, and I think them being to hear the head coach easily will really help them do the activities and me to coach them.
2) Getting my glasses adjusted after my sledge crash. They are okay but I reckon I'm getting used to them being in the wrong alignment.
3) A thin but strong board about six inches by 24 inches which will allow me to turn one of the dressers in the bedroom in to an impromptu standing desk for when I'm on video calls.
4) Getting rid of some boxes. I am a terrible hoarder of boxes in case they turn out to be useful. I got rid of some at the weekend. I should get rid of some more and enjoy the extra space.
5) Taking my old work laptop back to the office which will free up a little space on my desk and help me make it more comfortable.
6) Sending half a dozen books I have no use for nor joy in to the charity shop which will allow me to file some of my RPG books in a better place.
7) Planting some more fresh herbs. We're currently running a hydroponics machine as an experiment and it would be nice for it to succeed and produce some strong herbs which we can plant up in the planters in the bay window and in the herb pots on the front door step. In particular the additional fragrant plants in the living room would help lift spirits as we move in to spring.
8) Working out if we are net long coffee beans or net short coffee beans. For some reason the equation preys inordinately on my mind.
9) Levelling the bench in the front garden as it's soon going to be usable again and perhaps getting a cushion for it - which will make sitting on it with my lopsided backside a little more comfortable.
10) Framing a few plywood Festival Fringe flyers I have from a few years ago. It will be nice to make a small change to the flat.
1) Big boot socks. I got some cozy Nordic socks for Christmas and, prompted by that decided to buy half a dozen large, knitted boot socks for wearing inside. Mostly, obviously they can be worn when going outside but my main use-case for them is wearing them inside. They are large enough to go over a pair of normal socks so I can double layer. Which has been very nice over the last few weeks when it's been very very cold in Edinburgh and I've not been moving around as much. Nice warm feet.
2) Having a second smart TV in the bedroom. When the old smart TV broke I decided to get it fixed and replace the older, dumber TV in the bedroom. Which means we now have two rooms where someone can comfortably watch audio-video and we still have a room for mostly sitting or listening to audio. This may not sound like a small thing, but the repair cost was relatively modest. It's kept our living space flexible.
3) Fondue sets. We had a fondue set. I bought another and we had a double fondue, cheese and chocolate for dinner - which marked items number 2 in an attempt to break out of the food rut that we've gotten in to because we're ordering so much of our grocery shopping on line. It's too easy to just order the same things each week and then cook the same food each week.
4) Ginger Beer - I've been making ginger beer in a big carboy. Batch two is about to be decanted in to bottles. I've been industriously sourcing bottles with Groslsh type flip-lids. It's nice to have a little project to engage in especially as I wasn't much taken with making sourdough bread. I seem to have roped Dad in as a client.
5) Dice Drop Maps - I haven't played RPG's for *years* and I was hoping to get back in to it last year, but, didn't. However, I've been reading up on it and buying a few system rule books. I've become quite keen on the idea of using Dice Drop Maps. The idea being that rather than painstakingly come up with the geography, social relations and small-p political interactions of place you drop a handful of dice on a table and use a series of procedural generation techniques to create a map of the town, district, county, whatever. I'm finding a useful and, from an improv point of view, interesting toolkit.
6) Getting my mum on WhatsApp - which means that we can keep in touch in a low bandwidth way. It was especially useful during the run of operations she's had on her jaw, when talking was painful and awkward for her.
7) Self-adhesive aluminium strips for facemasks. I was struggling a bit (a lot) with my glasses getting steamed up whilst wearing a facemask. Especially if I moved from cold, dry conditions (outside in Edinburgh) to warm moister conditions, like the bus. So I tried some self-adhesive aluminium strips to act as a shaper around the nose. They stick on to the outside of the mask, you press them around your nose and they help form a tighter seal. 200 for fiver. It's nice being able to see.
8) Having worked out how to use the issue tracking software at work so I can transfer my to-do list to it.
9) The prospect of going for dinner with someone when "all this is over". I don't mean just anyone, but I'm beginning to get a few events, if not dates, in my diary. Which is lifting the spirits a little.
10) The relocation of my training sessions from the park outside my house to the Commonwealth Pool, which is a) a 15 minute walk away meaning I'm getting a bit more exercise and b) a more versatile space with more all weather functionality i.e. it has steps and a larger cover.
And now a list of ten small things that would improve my life in little ways.
1) Better speakers for the Captain's tablet so we can properly hear the coaching on the regular online rugby sessions when we are outside. He has two friends who come and join in with him doing it, with me moderating, and I think them being to hear the head coach easily will really help them do the activities and me to coach them.
2) Getting my glasses adjusted after my sledge crash. They are okay but I reckon I'm getting used to them being in the wrong alignment.
3) A thin but strong board about six inches by 24 inches which will allow me to turn one of the dressers in the bedroom in to an impromptu standing desk for when I'm on video calls.
4) Getting rid of some boxes. I am a terrible hoarder of boxes in case they turn out to be useful. I got rid of some at the weekend. I should get rid of some more and enjoy the extra space.
5) Taking my old work laptop back to the office which will free up a little space on my desk and help me make it more comfortable.
6) Sending half a dozen books I have no use for nor joy in to the charity shop which will allow me to file some of my RPG books in a better place.
7) Planting some more fresh herbs. We're currently running a hydroponics machine as an experiment and it would be nice for it to succeed and produce some strong herbs which we can plant up in the planters in the bay window and in the herb pots on the front door step. In particular the additional fragrant plants in the living room would help lift spirits as we move in to spring.
8) Working out if we are net long coffee beans or net short coffee beans. For some reason the equation preys inordinately on my mind.
9) Levelling the bench in the front garden as it's soon going to be usable again and perhaps getting a cushion for it - which will make sitting on it with my lopsided backside a little more comfortable.
10) Framing a few plywood Festival Fringe flyers I have from a few years ago. It will be nice to make a small change to the flat.
no subject
Date: 2021-02-22 03:42 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-02-22 04:21 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-02-22 04:50 pm (UTC)9 is one that probably requires the most effort.
no subject
Date: 2021-02-22 04:51 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-02-22 05:59 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-02-24 07:28 am (UTC)But our provisional dinner date is one of the couple of engagements where just remembering the prospect of it brings some happiness to me.
no subject
Date: 2021-02-22 05:59 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-02-24 07:31 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-02-25 05:46 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-02-22 07:35 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-02-24 07:22 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-02-25 10:46 am (UTC)I've worked out the coffee situation; balanced by with too much stock.
I've taken my old work laptop back to the office.
I wasn't able to find quite as many books as I wanted to get rid of as I thought. The test being books that I actively disliked and disapproved of but the three that I did find were quite thick. And if I can do the framing task that also frees up a bit of space.
no subject
Date: 2021-02-26 05:27 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-02-26 05:32 pm (UTC)