judith_s | Reading

I could also do something crazy and go to trade school for carpentry, or become a handyman. I enjoy working with my hands and being more active, and it's creative and mechanical and productive and can be detailed. I've long said I wanted to be a librarian and do fine carpentry when I retire. That would be a major lifestyle change, though, and a tough industry to get started in as a middle-aged woman (for reasons of both age and gender).

Oh! I just discovered that Houston has a hacker space with lots of classes, including woodworking and soldering! I might have to see about taking some. https://txrxlabs.org

EDIT: Orrr...hm. TC has at least 3 custom millwork shops. That might be a way to bridge engineering and get into woodworking. Can't hurt to try.

lil_m_moses

Oh, dear. One of Lillian's maternal great grandmothers, Gran Anne, passed away this morning. Her house, where e-Pa and YiaYia had also been living to care for her, got flooded for the first time ever during Harvey, despite it also being in the heavy flood zone for the last 2 big floods. They'd evacuated her via floating innertube to another son's house down the street, but all the upheaval of the last 2.5 weeks probably tipped her over the edge she'd been lingering near for a while. RIP, Anne. I'm glad both I and Lillian got a chance to know you a little.

lil_m_moses

Hey, Internetz!

If I wanted to take some free or cheap online courses in introductory programming to help me figure out if that's a potential career change (with reschooling) I should consider, are there particular programs you'd recommend? (I enjoy the problem solving aspect of what little I've done, but I do tend to yell at the computer a _lot_ in the process, which is why I hesitate.) I was just glancing at MIT's Open Courseware. I've heard of others like Coursera and Codecademy, and here's a little list with those and others. My background: I learned some Basic and LOGO as a kid in the dawn of PCs, struggled immensely to self-teach while completing honors calculus assignments in MATLAB in the early 90s, dabbled in class-taught FORTRAN '77 in the mid-90s for engineering courses, and have done a little VBA with Excel over the past decade (with a class to start). I have historically been able to figure out generally what code is doing by reading it. I played with LabVIEW a bit and found it pretty confusing, but I was slowly sorting it out.

Current Mood: curious

lil_m_moses

Seems our sunken living room/bar does not qualify for my flood insurance coverage because it's classified as a basement: below grade and enclosed on all 4 sides. Dammit. I thought I'd read through the policy and found it not classed as a basement, but I think I was reading the homeowner's policy. Or something. Good to know. More impetus to just fill the damned thing in. Or suggest the next owners do so, or something. *sigh* Oh, and apparently the cost to add coverage for the sunken rooms would probably cost more than my entire current flood policy.

The adjuster said he'd put in something for cleanup costs for us, at least. But that wouldn't be more than our deductible, I don't think. And he suggested we look at FEMA stuff too (conveniently, my friend from CA just texted me this morning that he's in town helping FEMA and suggested the same).

But it's just flooring, thankfully, and stuff that was pretty old already (he noted that the carpet is high quality, which would explain why it looks so good after the 13 years I've owned the place and however long it was there before that (it was definitely not new...probably late '90s vintage, if I had to guess). He also opined that he'd pull out the bar cabinets too. Which, if we add concrete, would have to happen anyway. In the meantime, I need to talk to my insurance agent about adjusting my policy, if it's not going to cover some 20% of my house.

Just need one of us to get a job elsewhere, then we can move north and sell this place as-is, probably for about what I bought it for. =/

lil_m_moses

Libra Horoscope for week of September 14, 2017

"Dear Dr. Astrology: I'm feeling lost, but am also feeling very close to finding my new direction. It hurts! It would be so helpful if I could just catch a glimpse of that new direction. I'd be able to better endure the pain and confusion if I could get a tangible sense of the future happiness that my pain and confusion are preparing me for. Can you offer me any free advice? -Lost Libra." Dear Libra: The pain and confusion come from the dying of the old ways. They need to die a bit more before the new direction will reveal itself clearly. I predict that will happen soon -- no later than October 1.

So very timely while considering what to do about the house, while looking for ways to move north (or jobs to ensure us income there, anyway) and where exactly to go (gut tells me TC or Madison...the latter's a lot better for jobs for me (and probably both of us), but it's not all that close to my family, being on the wrong side of a giant lake; Grand Rapids would be the theoretical best compromise), and if going back to school for a career change (and to what) would be better. Josh's is pretty good too, while he undergoes similar soul-searching for similar reasons.

Current Mood: anxious

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My friends are cooler than your friends.

Thinking Out of the Box

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Phooey

Eeeennnnhhh! Now!!!

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