mariakatriina

mariakatriina, 1 month ago to random

@moira @pericat @gannet On March 12 our little white carrito was rear-ended by an out-of-control big pickup truck.

Upon calling ICBC we were told that the carrito was not economically repairable. So we took the writeoff and paid way more money for a replacement, which is from the final model year that featured physical analogue controls. Plus! A CD player!

The new carrito has been giving us delightfully quiet ride and delightfully low fuel consumption.

Thanks be to autoworkers of Japan!

mariakatriina, 4 months ago to random

22 cm of new snow until 4.5-hour sunny break. Now another cloud band coming in over Castellmawr, so perhaps more snow?

Neighbours helped me dig out triangular entry across frozen ploughbank.

Had to extend digging behind driver's side, because otherwise Donnie's magic snowplough will seal us back in at 0505 tomorrow morning.

Donnie is diligent to a fault.

People had their tyre-chains on, to get up and down hills. All we had to do was dig, before snow sintered into icy blocks. Burns calories!

mariakatriina, 4 months ago to random

@gannet @moira @pericat Snow lightly falling and -14 at our village's fire hall. Air outside is crispy mix of wood- and coal-smoke, with plumes rising from all chimneys.

Weather Office forecasts snow until midday.

I am quaffing lapsang souchong, whose smoky taste matches well morning's atmosphere.

Car gets seen by mechanics this morning. I wish for simple fix to whatever has caused its warning lights to be lit.

B. and I would like to keep it running: it is bad to view cars as disposable.

mariakatriina, 4 months ago to random

This week being comprised of intercalary days, I am devoting myself to filing and weeding-out of old papers.

As antidote to humdrumitude, I am also transferring our technical library catalogue (10x15 cm handwritten cards!) to Library Thing, which happily ingests ANSI Z39.50 cataloging records from various academic and governmental libraries.

Cats have already spilled our box of cataloguing cards, so here we are on one-way journey forward.

Funny thing is that most of our holdings are unique.

mariakatriina, 4 months ago to random

Well, now. Those last two storms tore two holes in my roof, as well as peeling off the siding from the northeastern wall (which took the brunt of the gusts.

Three repairers (Don, Dave, and Pat), four ladders, two service trucks.

One hour to patch the roof and wall.

Cats sat in the window-sill and did a bang-up job of supervision.

And now the weatherfolk are predicting snow.

mariakatriina, 5 months ago to random

It is Sunday afternoon, and I am back home in my fog-shrouded village in Salishaan.

Freezing fog, as is the case in late November of most years.

This is proper time to run laundry, as waste heat shall warm rooms at back of my house.

There is also hot, acerbically-bitter black Finnish kahvi for quaffing, from my large stoneware cup that I bought in Manhattan in 1991. Yes, it has survived many adventures in past 32 years, included being pauked off kitchen counters by generations of cats.

[1/?]

mariakatriina, 7 months ago to random

@pericat @gannet @moira Thursday is washday.

On Thursdays after work I fetch my multimeter and electromechanical tools, to spend two hours in restorative necropsy of our washing-machine, for which I traded four bottles of pre-millenial Denman Island sherry. I then run one load of smalls and linens, at ending of which (final spin), our machine grinds to its juddering halt.

Our tumble-dryer tumbles faithfully, by way of contrast, in service to filter-out tree-wuzzies and week's worth of cat-fur.

mariakatriina, 7 months ago to random

[4] Then another winding way along nearly-flat alignment --- perhaps another old railway line, but this time much wider and better-drained. This was Cowichan Main, with new call-points but (alas!) with no indication of what channel to use.

I set our VHF radio to 'scan' all of its stored channels. Dead silence.....

Dead radio. Battery had finally gone to wherever good little batteries go when they become exhausted.

Cowichan Main was wide enough, and its curves broad, so that we could proceed.

mariakatriina, 7 months ago to random

16 hours from cats waking me up "something wrong YOWL!", to getting roofer in for post-cyclone roof-patching above map-room, to water no longer running down through ceiling.

Gain: rejuvenated old roof above map-room.

Gain (kind of!): water-soaked tax files from 20+ years ago, took to repple-depple.

Loss: some cherished documents from China. Also lost sleep since 0130 this morning.

Bonus gain: getting good roofer on short notice. Also sunny gap between storm bands, long enough to repair roof!

moira, 8 months ago to random

Does anyone know what this big screw thing with some kind of industrial flange on it might be?

Ignore the two screws I don’t think they’re important.

mariakatriina, 10 months ago to random

good morning, Shop!

Kahvi aika, jo?

mariakatriina, 10 months ago to random

Good morning Shop!

Happy scientific news this morning.

Yesterday was informed that our research group's second paper was accepted, contingent upon addressing reviewers' comments. One anonymous reviewer gave particularly helpful comments, without giving away their identity.

Paper is on sediment transport dynamics in forearc basins, as framed by micropalaeontology and radiometric dating.

There shall be follow-ups in due time. Next round of fieldwork starts three weekends from now.

Tally-ho!

mariakatriina, 10 months ago to random

Good morning dear Shop!

I am, this morning, in quiet and sleepy industrial town nestled in foothills of northern Rocky Mountains.

Quiet because nightshift workers are still down pit, and dayshift workers have just started to brew morning wakeup pots of kahvi or tea.

Four kilometres to north (and on far side of forest-covered mountain), big 25,000 hectare forest fire slumbers and smolders, sending its smoke plume eastward to central Canada.

Thankfully, no smoke here on our side of mountain.

mariakatriina, 11 months ago to random

@pericat @gannet

I decided to take afternoon bath and wash my hair, it being needful of same. Sat in bath, ready to sluice my hair and then PLOP PLOP both cats jumped into sudsy bath-water with me. Purring erupted.

Also batting at my wet but soapless hair, until I rose from bath as oceanic Godzilla.

Both cats leapt out, bedraggled, damp, still purring. then together as if choreographed SHAKE SHAKE SHAKE wet cat hair on all reachable surfaces.

Kicker was that cat fur clogged bath drain too.

mariakatriina, 11 months ago to random

Good morning, Siop siarad (sweet Shop)!

Am quaffing first cup of morning kahvi, and appreciating lovely sight of Beaufort Range mountains out window of winter-bedroom.

Cats are fed, and tomato-forest is watered.

---

What prospect does this morning bring to your house?