(no subject)

This weekend has not been the best in recent memory for avoidance of self-injury. Around four o' clock on Friday, I demonstrated a curious lack of understanding about the proper sequence of things as I walked into the door of the server room at work, splitting my forehead just over one eye well enough to bleed. "Turn the handle, then open the door" my team lead was kind enough to advise me. I will have to make a note of that advice in order to avoid any further interior portal related injuries.

Grabbing the wrong part of a broken broom handle on Friday evening left me with my second instance of blood loss that day. I picked the broom up by it's bent and slightly splintered plastic handle and said "Are we throwing this out?" Shortly after the object in question viciously attacked me, my decision was made; it's now sitting in the garbage pile in the kitchen.

Saturday saw me give myself a blister on my right thumb as I worked on the vacuum cleaner. After opening the thing up to figure out whether the kludgy wiring job I'd done early last year was still holding (it was), I found the tripped breaker on the beater bar and reset it. After that, the belt promptly slipped off the spindle of the beater motor and in the course of attempting to slip it back on, I burned my thumb quite well on the spindle. Those things get hot!

I was saved from a probably rating of four-for-two on Saturday evening by lisagems, who was kind enough to lend me the lining of her coat to wear as she, wooisme and I stood in thirty degree whether on a platform of a Metra station awaiting a train back to Waukegan. Having been rather distracted when Moira and I left the house, I had forgotten my coat and was dressed in only jeans and a short-sleeved t-shirt which, for those not familiar with the area, is probably a poor choice in Chicago in February. My lovely mate was kind enough to lend me her sweatshirt as well.

Apart from that though, there were some very good parts to the weekend. I had a wonderful time hanging out, first at Noodles and Company, then at the Borders Café, with Moira and lisagems on Saturday night, despite the fact that, when they start talking about people from Chicago fandom, I'm about seventy percent lost. It was pointed out that Lisa's new apartment is a fairly easy walk from a train stop, so I'm hoping to have a chance to go down to visit soon.

Working together, Andrea and I got the kitchen and living room about ninety percent clean, respectively. I didn't get the bedroom or computer done as I was hoping to, but I'm still happy with the progress that was made. With the framework laid in the basement already, I'm hoping that we can now keep up with the rest of the house, once we finally get it clean again. I did finally hang the tapestry from the railing of our stairs so that it peeks down into the living room and makes the stairs feel a little more enclosed and cozy.

I hung the last closet pole down in the basement today and have begun using it for costuming items. My boots, belt, belt pouch, kilt, and leather jerkin are down there already, keeping Moira's bodices and velvet dresses company. I am hoping that centralizing these items will avoid the sort of stress that has historically heralded an upcoming con or group get-together. Now we can find everything!

And, since I was down there, I took the back off of the washing machine and got the broken belt out of it. Moira is going to stop by Sears tomorrow anyway to get vacuum cleaner bags, so she's going to take the belt with and see if she can find a replacement. It took a bit of mental preparation before deciding I wanted to go deal with taking an old, wet, rusty washing machine apart in the cold, dank basement, but I'm too bent on getting the bedroom and accompanying piles of garments all clean to allow the issue to go unaddressed.

Not excited about going back to work tomorrow (what else is new?), but I do feel good about most of the weekend and I can see real, tangible progress on things; that's enough to keep my spirits high I think.