• Aikido, kittie, etc

    From Nancy Backus@1:2320/100 to Damon A. Getsman on Sun Jul 26 00:04:02 2015
    Quoting Damon A. Getsman to Nancy Backus on 12-Jul-2015 07:49 <=-

    Re: Re: Aikido, kids activities, kittie
    By: Nancy Backus to Damon A. Getsman on Mon Jun 29 2015 18:11:16
    Maybe he just assumed you'd know, or be able to find out from somewhere
    else... ;)
    Yeah I'm trying to give the sensei the benefit of the doubt. He
    seemed like the friendliest one that I've met around here so far. Plus he's the only fulltime Aikido dude in Portland (at least from what he says). Seems super friendly, really good with kids (with ones of his own, also), and I'm still planning on going with him. Still, I checked on all of the websites and everything. Would've been really nice to
    have gotten that callback.

    Sounds like someone worth giving the benefit of the doubt to... :)

    Could just be super busy, or not too organized at the administration
    level, or his voicemail doesn't work right... Sometimes in person
    works best for things anyway... :)
    Yeah. Like I said, I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt. I'm
    going to go in and see him again tomorrow, when he's got a standard session, and just start myself right away (if I can pull the cash together) and then probably get Deschain started right away, too, or
    else maybe wait for the family session on Sunday a week from today if he's more comfortable with that.

    So are you settled in there yet...? or more setbacks still...

    Sink fixed now...?
    Finally, praise be to all of the dieties that there may be. There
    is still a large amount of disarray where the kitchen was all torn
    apart to give them access, and there was a hell of a scare that the landlord would appear to micromanage things, as per his style, while
    the plumber was here. The clot was quite aways out, so it was
    definitely his responsibility, and didn't end up coming out of our
    dime, but the stress... Ugh. Especially in having to hide everything that made it look like there were too many tenants here. Still recovering from that complete ragtag compression of all of my worldly goods into the different closets and under some pieces of furniture around here.

    At least it's finally taken care of... :)

    Just need to carve through the mountains of backlogged, and
    somewhat toxic (due to NaOH), dishes and other cookwares. Then I need
    a day when this place is somewhat vacated to pull out all of my crap
    from the closets and the other stash spots so that I can get it all staged again to be replanted in areas where it'll stay folded and otherwise organized. It was a pretty major upset, having to hide 2/3
    of the belongings in a 1 bedroom apartment occupied by three people. Wouldn't recommend it. The kitchen, at least, is slowly returning to functionality, though.

    Eventually... <G> At least it wasn't a studio... ;)

    I think I found another community center that we'll be able to
    Did that work out...? Close enough to get to, and all...?
    Didn't happen yet due to other crap. I tried getting him out to
    some closer locations and none of them worked out, so I've still definitely got to go there. In fact *puts reminder in calendar for tomorrow* now I won't forget. ;)

    And.......??? ;)

    Oh, I do. It's always good when he points that out, also, because
    my own insecurity on the issue of employment in this field really
    shoots me in the foot sometimes. It's hard to maintain that "I'm not worthy," mentality when I find a bug that the experienced guy has been banging his head against the cinderblocks with for a few hours after taking a brief glimpse at the code, though. ;) We've got pretty complimentary skill sets, and it's handy. Unfortunately right now
    we're both down these coding rabbitholes that've got us buried in the same stuff. Then again, that means it's my time to learn. He's doing
    a little bit of double time teaching me what I'd forgotten about PHP
    and learning all about the OO support that it added that I'd never learned before. So I'm happy with it. I'm just keeping my fingers crossed as far as his levels of motivation staying up. ;)

    Sounds to me like progress is being made... :)

    Sounds like you were fortunate to have the kitty
    for as long as you did, actually.. :)
    I was, very much. I certainly won't forget that. I say it about
    several different things, so maybe it comes across as just a cliche
    that I use sometimes, but there are large chunks of my life where I
    don't know if I would've been able to make it through without that cat (or his brother, before his early loss). I actually wrote up a whole series of messages on my local boards about the different adventures
    that I had with those cats... Maybe sometime I'll cross post those to international, or something. They're windy and long, but I don't think that they're too badly written, and it goes into serious depth on some
    of the different bits of history with them that I alluded to in
    different messages over the months/years that I've been here.

    Cats can be important safety valves...

    I had to take a little bit of time off as well. Had a little med
    change that hasn't been throwing me for one of my major loops, but it's made things a little bit more stressful. So basically, when I haven't been using the computer for work lately, I've been spending a lot more time disconnected. Trying to do more things with my son around here,
    too, since it seems like the ones outdoors have, at least in the
    general vicinity, all been pre-sabotaged by Loki. :) Good things to
    be doing though, I think. Best wishes.

    Agreed, good things to be doing... :)

    ttyl neb

    ... A woman's place is in the home, in front of her computer.

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  • From Damon A. Getsman@1:2320/100 to Nancy Backus on Sun Aug 2 07:22:02 2015
    Re: Aikido, kittie, etc
    By: Nancy Backus to Damon A. Getsman on Sat Jul 25 2015 23:56:46

    what he says). Seems super friendly, really good with kids (with
    ones of his own, also), and I'm still planning on going with him.
    Still, I checked on all of the websites and everything. Would've
    been really nice to have gotten that callback.
    Sounds like someone worth giving the benefit of the doubt to... :)

    Yeah well the bit that he's the only fulltime dude in Portland for Aikido was
    enough for me. The fact that he seems really great with kids and has his own is the icing on the cake. I was a little disgruntled by the lack of a callback
    after 2 messages, but thinking more about it, if he operates that dojo by himself, he could just be too busy to get around to new students right away when he's got such a huge chunk that he already trains with due to his niche's particular sparsity right now.

    or else maybe wait for the family session on Sunday a week from
    today if he's more comfortable with that.
    So are you settled in there yet...? or more setbacks still...

    Setback of summer school. We're going in tomorrow now (famous last words). I want to do it then and get him firmly established in it before school starts,
    and to keep at least a little social life in things for him up until the end of
    summer now. I can't believe how fast it's approaching. Saw a good graph on tumblr (yes I wasted some time there) the other day about how a year in a life relates from birth until the older years. The horror. I know we've talked about it before; just had to reiterate it again, though. The horror.</Marlon Brando>

    Still recovering from that complete ragtag compression of all of my
    worldly goods into the different closets and under some pieces of
    furniture around here.
    At least it's finally taken care of... :)

    Yeah the sink is still clear. The recovery from it is not. I need floorspace to be able to organize everything that got stuffed away and that's basically just not gonna happen here. So I'm gonna have to either take everything in really small chunks or else save faster for just getting the hell
    out of here. *grin* We'll see which wins. I've been having a lot of problems
    finding enough clean clothes for myself and for my son since then, so I'll probably have to take the little bites method, at least when D starts school again at the end of this month.

    occupied by three people. Wouldn't recommend it. The kitchen, at
    least, is slowly returning to functionality, though.
    Eventually... <G> At least it wasn't a studio... ;)

    This is truth. Something to be grateful for that I hadn't considered. ;)

    I think I found another community center that we'll be able to
    And.......??? ;)

    Haven't been to it yet because of the summer school thing. Going to try to find out which one it is again (lost the reference in the plethora) and hit there very soon here, though. Thank you for reminding me; I'm going to put a handwritten note here to make sure I look that stuff up and don't forget about it again. That way I'll see it whether I'm chained to the computer or not.
    He's been good with summer school for the past week, though. I just wish they would've mentioned it was free for me so that he would've gotten into it earlier instead of just for 1 week... With how isolated his summer has been that would've been a total bonus. I just thought it was closed because of all the rennovation that they're doing at the school before it reopens (the same work that closed the pool and the playground that I was planning to primarily use for his outlets-- all the same facility).

    added that I'd never learned before. So I'm happy with it. I'm
    just keeping my fingers crossed as far as his levels of motivation
    staying up. ;)
    Sounds to me like progress is being made... :)

    It's doing much better, yes. ;)

    Cats can be important safety valves...

    Amen to that. I miss my kittie a lot. Can't wait for a place where I can finally pick another one up. I miss having my rattling furball coiled up next to me when I'm trying to sleep. The memories are a little bittersweet, but still good ones. It'd probably be pretty good for Deschain, too. That's a good thing, because the next cat we get is his to train as a kitten. ;) Guess
    that means it has to wait for next summer at least. Maybe I can get a little tiny one I can hide in a shirt pocket in the interim or something. ;)

    -D
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  • From Nancy Backus@1:2320/100 to Damon A. Getsman on Thu Aug 6 17:44:02 2015
    Quoting Damon A. Getsman to Nancy Backus on 02-Aug-2015 07:01 <=-

    what he says). Seems super friendly, really good with kids (with
    ones of his own, also), and I'm still planning on going with him.
    Still, I checked on all of the websites and everything. Would've
    been really nice to have gotten that callback.
    Sounds like someone worth giving the benefit of the doubt to... :)
    Yeah well the bit that he's the only fulltime dude in Portland for
    Aikido was enough for me. The fact that he seems really great with
    kids and has his own is the icing on the cake. I was a little disgruntled by the lack of a callback after 2 messages, but thinking
    more about it, if he operates that dojo by himself, he could just be
    too busy to get around to new students right away when he's got such a huge chunk that he already trains with due to his niche's particular sparsity right now.

    Yeah... he probably has his time and his hands full... :) And it
    sounds like, like my massage therapist, it's a one-person show... Her
    personal phone is her business phone, and there's nobody but herself to
    handle phone calls, etc, along with the business itself... :)

    I want to do it then and get him firmly established in it
    before school starts, and to keep at least a little social life in
    things for him up until the end of summer now.

    And then, hopefully, the Aikido will continue into the school year...?

    I can't believe how fast it's approaching. Saw a good graph on tumblr (yes I wasted some time there) the other day about how a year in a
    life relates from birth until the older years. The horror. I know
    we've talked about it before; just had to reiterate it again, though. The horror. </Marlon Brando>

    Some things are just best not dwelt upon... <G>

    Still recovering from that complete ragtag compression of all of my
    worldly goods into the different closets and under some pieces of
    furniture around here.
    At least it's finally taken care of... :)
    Yeah the sink is still clear. The recovery from it is not. I need floorspace to be able to organize everything that got stuffed away and that's basically just not gonna happen here. So I'm gonna have to
    either take everything in really small chunks or else save faster for just getting the hell out of here. *grin* We'll see which wins.
    I've been having a lot of problems finding enough clean clothes for myself and for my son since then, so I'll probably have to take the little bites method, at least when D starts school again at the end of this month.

    Yeah... the bit at a time is probably a good strategy... can be done
    sooner than later... and yup, you'll need to do something when the kid
    goes back to school... :)

    I think I found another community center that we'll be able to
    And.......??? ;)
    Haven't been to it yet because of the summer school thing. Going to
    try to find out which one it is again (lost the reference in the plethora) and hit there very soon here, though. Thank you for
    reminding me; I'm going to put a handwritten note here to make sure I look that stuff up and don't forget about it again. That way I'll see
    it whether I'm chained to the computer or not.

    And you'll be able to use the information later, even if it turns out
    not to be needed at the moment... :) Or it might be just the thing to
    get you both through the tail end of summer... :)

    He's been good with summer school for the past week, though. I just
    wish they would've mentioned it was free for me so that he would've gotten into it earlier instead of just for 1 week... With how isolated his summer has been that would've been a total bonus. I just thought
    it was closed because of all the rennovation that they're doing at the school before it reopens (the same work that closed the pool and the playground that I was planning to primarily use for his outlets-- all
    the same facility).

    And now you know better... At least you found out in time to get one
    week in... :) And know that it can be an option for next summer if
    needed... :)

    Cats can be important safety valves...
    Amen to that. I miss my kittie a lot. Can't wait for a place where
    I can finally pick another one up. I miss having my rattling furball coiled up next to me when I'm trying to sleep. The memories are a
    little bittersweet, but still good ones. It'd probably be pretty good for Deschain, too. That's a good thing, because the next cat we get is his to train as a kitten. ;) Guess that means it has to wait for next summer at least. Maybe I can get a little tiny one I can hide in a
    shirt pocket in the interim or something. ;)

    Or take in an adult cat and promise the kitten for next summer... ;)
    Or get a small stuffed animal or two in the interim, one for each of
    you, perhaps... ;)

    ttyl neb

    ... Am I ranting? I hope so. My ranting gets raves.

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  • From Damon A. Getsman@1:2320/100 to Nancy Backus on Fri Aug 14 19:48:02 2015
    Re: Aikido, kittie, etc
    By: Nancy Backus to Damon A. Getsman on Thu Aug 06 2015 17:36:56

    Yeah... he probably has his time and his hands full... :) And it
    sounds like, like my massage therapist, it's a one-person show... Her personal phone is her business phone, and there's nobody but herself to handle phone calls, etc, along with the business itself... :)

    That's what I'm guessing. Right now I'm dealing with the fact that I'm behind in invoicing to the tune of around ~$2000, so that's holding me back again here. I really need to learn how to do the invoicing myself so that I'm not relying on anybody else, especially anybody that doesn't have the will to get up and breathe, let alone make money or keep stable a place to stay.

    And then, hopefully, the Aikido will continue into the school year...?

    Well the Aikido is something that I plan to do permanently. As far as Deschain, I'd like him to at least get to a point where it'd help him if he's getting physically attacked. It'd be really cool if he'd like to stay in it long enough so that we could do it as a bonding thing into the teen years and all, though. :)

    though. The horror. </Marlon Brando>
    Some things are just best not dwelt upon... <G>

    You got that right.

    Yeah... the bit at a time is probably a good strategy... can be done sooner than later... and yup, you'll need to do something when the kid goes back to school... :)

    Yeah. I've got tasks and different things piled up left and right. I need to start prioritizing some sort of a list again. It'll be so much easier to catch back up with a lot of this stuff once he's in school again. God that's less than 2 weeks now. They had an extraordinarily short summer.

    I think I found another community center that we'll be able to
    And you'll be able to use the information later, even if it turns out
    not to be needed at the moment... :) Or it might be just the thing to get you both through the tail end of summer... :)

    Not sure we'll make it before that, but it's a goal to get to as soon as humanly possible. If my meds stabilize enough for me to be more comfortable going out in public and engaging in conversation I'll probably get him there before school; otherwise it is definitely a resource for the future.

    And now you know better... At least you found out in time to get one
    week in... :) And know that it can be an option for next summer if needed... :)

    Yep.

    Or take in an adult cat and promise the kitten for next summer... ;)
    Or get a small stuffed animal or two in the interim, one for each of
    you, perhaps... ;)

    Well there are 2 more cats living in this 1 bedroom apartment. I think that's out of the question for now, at least for the living ones. Maybe some stuffed ones soon here... I know Deschain's already got some holed up somewhere here, but I need one for myself, too. Too bad they don't have any that knead lightly and rattle at you adoringly while squinting into your eyes.

    -D
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  • From Nancy Backus@1:2320/100 to Damon A. Getsman on Sat Aug 29 19:22:02 2015
    Quoting Damon A. Getsman to Nancy Backus on 14-Aug-2015 19:27 <=-

    Yeah... he probably has his time and his hands full... :) And it
    sounds like, like my massage therapist, it's a one-person show... Her
    personal phone is her business phone, and there's nobody but herself to
    handle phone calls, etc, along with the business itself... :)
    That's what I'm guessing. Right now I'm dealing with the fact that
    I'm behind in invoicing to the tune of around ~$2000, so that's holding me back again here. I really need to learn how to do the invoicing myself so that I'm not relying on anybody else, especially anybody that doesn't have the will to get up and breathe, let alone make money or
    keep stable a place to stay.

    Yeah, learning to do the invoicing yourself sounds like a very good
    idea... even if you weren't having to deal with someone else's
    issues... :)

    And then, hopefully, the Aikido will continue into the school year...?
    Well the Aikido is something that I plan to do permanently. As far
    as Deschain, I'd like him to at least get to a point where it'd help
    him if he's getting physically attacked. It'd be really cool if he'd like to stay in it long enough so that we could do it as a bonding
    thing into the teen years and all, though. :)

    If he likes it enough... :)

    Yeah... the bit at a time is probably a good strategy... can be done
    sooner than later... and yup, you'll need to do something when the kid
    goes back to school... :)
    Yeah. I've got tasks and different things piled up left and right.
    I need to start prioritizing some sort of a list again. It'll be so
    much easier to catch back up with a lot of this stuff once he's in
    school again. God that's less than 2 weeks now. They had an extraordinarily short summer.

    Or at least it seems like it now... :) When does school start out
    where you are...? Here it's the day or so after Labor Day...

    I think I found another community center that we'll be able to
    And you'll be able to use the information later, even if it turns out
    not to be needed at the moment... :) Or it might be just the thing to
    get you both through the tail end of summer... :)
    Not sure we'll make it before that, but it's a goal to get to as
    soon as humanly possible. If my meds stabilize enough for me to be
    more comfortable going out in public and engaging in conversation I'll probably get him there before school; otherwise it is definitely a resource for the future.

    Even just having it as a resource for the future is a good thing... :)

    Or take in an adult cat and promise the kitten for next summer... ;)
    Or get a small stuffed animal or two in the interim, one for each of
    you, perhaps... ;)

    Well there are 2 more cats living in this 1 bedroom apartment. I
    think that's out of the question for now, at least for the living ones.

    So he can at least maybe transfer some attention to the other cats
    there... :)

    Maybe some stuffed ones soon here... I know Deschain's already got
    some holed up somewhere here, but I need one for myself, too. Too bad they don't have any that knead lightly and rattle at you adoringly
    while squinting into your eyes.

    Probably there's some sort of robot cat that does... but those are
    probably rather expensive... ;) You'll just have to imagine the
    kneading and the rattle... and squint back into the glass eyes of the
    stuffed one... <G>

    ttyl neb

    ... going where no clusters have gone before.

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