More landscaping

I am so delighted, the landscaper will be back next week to start on the new sprinkling system.  The bid came in well below what I thought it might be (far below another quote I had gotten a few years ago).  Once that is done, the yard care will become so much more enjoyable and manageable for me.  It eases my mind a bit.  And Jenn and Zach spent a couple of hours yesterday with me planning their marriage party (we are not calling it a wedding reception - it's a party!).  It will be casual food, mostly catered, and should be lots of fun.  We are going to do some hand chopping of some veggies.  And we want to do the chocolate-dipped fruit ouselves.  I hope we can manage it.

I am thinking in terms of BP and AP -- before party and after party.  It's just a month away.  I feel we have plenty of time to be ready.

Blogging from bed

I should be sleeping, it's after 11.  But the mind just won't shut off.  It's been a Monday.  Not a horrible one, but a somewhat overwhelming one.  My workload has increased exponentially in the last few months.  And now I'm frankly not sure if projects will get done on time for the first time since I've worked there.  This month is my eight-year anniversary there.  When I started we had three testers and one writer.  Now we have 16 or so (I've lost count) testers and one writer.  They tell me they've put in the budget for another writer come July but there's no telling if the position will be approved.  So I told my boss we'll just have to start deciding which projects won't get their needed documents.  I'm keeping my sense of humor about it, though.  There's much to laugh about.  One day I will devote an entire post to acronyms - the IT world loves them.

My problem today was all my good plans got shot to hell.  I prioritize my work carefully.  I keep copious notes on my projects and where I am at any given time as there are too many of them to keep in my head.  Many things need to keep moving forward simultaneously, and I have to change gears constantly.  We have a number of deadlines hitting in the next couple of weeks and I have been finishing off several and turning loose from them.  Unfortunately, it seems they don't stay finished.  We're going to change just one more thing.  Oh, by the way, the same thing will apply on this other project, too.  Or, can we add some explanation here about this thing.  Or we're changing the look of this one little thing on the screen which just happens to appear in a dozen screen shots, so you'lll need to set up all the scenarios to grab those again.  And of course write up all the changes for that.  And so it goes.  And yet another says, Becky, have you started on my project yet?  And today was the day and I feel badly because it didn't happen -- because all the finished projects weren't finished after all.  I ended the work day by writing down what I needed to do to finish two projects that have now been finished a half dozen times each.  Will it stick?  I don't know, but I need to move on.

After work I met with the landscaper and we walked around the yard and talked about what I need done next.  The sprinkling system I have is a disaster and I've limped along with it for four years now fixing it as best I can on my own.  Alberto said we can just fix it or we can replace it.  I'm going to get the bid on the full replacement and then decide if the budget can stand it.  He talked about heavy duty pipe that won't break so I don't have to worry about shutting off the water supply all the time.  And a drip system to the trees and bushes so as not to waste water.  Sprinkling grass and the consolidated areas of flowers.  Still water-wise.  Good quality sprinkler heads that won't leak or break and set low enough in the ground I won't run over them with the mower (the mower - another issue I need to deal with).  New valves and a timer to manage the watering for me.  It will seem like heaven if it all really happens like that.  But I have a lot of confidence in Alberto since the first work he did for me.  I'm hoping the bid is something I can manage.

Oh he's going to do more clean up and bring in more bark.  And will plant a couple of trees for me too.  Last year's lasagne gardening experiment in the myrtle is a failure as the grasses have invaded throughout and there is no hope of saving the myrtle.  Well half of it will be saved.  But the other half will go to bark like the rest of the yard.  So that I'm doing for sure. 

All these things are rolling around in my head now instead of allowing me some peaceful sleep.  So here I am blogging in bed and approaching midnight with the alarm set to go off at 5 a.m.  But it feels better to have just put some words down, however disjointed they may be. 

In closing I just want to mock that phrase management is so foud of throwing around: Work smarter, not harder.  Hah!  If I work much smarter, my brain just might explode!

You Can Never Hold Back Spring

I'm so busy, there's just no time for blogging.  Things are looking better and better in the yard, though I haven't planted this year's color yet.  We are getting another storm tomorrow through the weekend -- yes, snow!  Saturday the landscaper comes to evaluate the sprinkling system and give me a quote on the project.  In the meantime, I have indoor projects lined up for the next few days.

Update on stereo boy

You all know whom I'm talking about by now - the guy in the house behind mine who plays his stereo so loud, I can feel it inside my house.  Yes, it's Sunday morning, but it makes no difference to him.

I was out around 10-ish this a.m. poisoning gophers (another story for another day), he was working in his front yard with the front door and living room windows all wide open and blasting his very fine stereo.  I should explain, he is slightly uphill from me and a street runs between our houses, and the front of his house faces my backyard squarely, so I probably get more benefit of his stereo than any of his other neighbors.  Today's selection had kind of a folksy flavor at first -- sort of an Irish or Chieftans sort of sound - at first.  I didn't mind so much and decided to just enjoy it, though unfamiliar to me.  Then it changed and became a blaring rap sort of thing with the Irish background continuing on and foul language in the "lyrics".  It was awful and I wondered what his church-going neighbors with small children thought of it.  I looked up at his house and at him just as he stopped working and looked at me.  Eye contact.  And then, a North Salt Lake cop drove slowly up the street between us.  Stereo boy looked at the cop and then back at me.  What just happened?  Did he think I called the cops?  He probably did.  He didn't look friendly.  He didn't wave.  Neither did I - the moment had passed.  I gathered up my gopher poisoning tools and moved to the front yard out of his sight.  I noticed the "music" got turned down.

I have no idea whether the cop stopped and talked to him or not - I was out of there too fast.  But maybe just that shared look and the coincidence of the cop driving by was enough to make him do the right thing and turn it down.

Honestly, hasn't this guy heard of I-Pod?

It's true, getting old ain't for sissies

Spent a few hours of work with my son and daughter-in-law digging weeds and grass out of flower beds and spreading bark mulch as they prepare to sell their house.  Had lunch, came home, and crashed.  Slept for about an hour and woke up aching everywhere.  It's so frustrating to me to lose endurance, strength, energy, and then to hurt like crazy on top of all that.  I want to be able to work as hard as I always have in the yard, but I'm hitting a wall and I am reluctant to admit it.  For now, my plan is to pace myself - not make a marathon out of it.  And continue to hire help with the heavy lifting. 

And I need to remember, it's been a very sedentary winter for me and these first days outdoors are bound to be taxing.  As time goes on, it will get easier.

UPDATE:  Two hours later, and doing much better.  Pulled myself together and got out to do some errands.  I'll admit to taking a couple of Advil first, and that had to have helped.  While at Lowe's, I purchased a little garden wagon that is more my size than my big wheelbarrow (currently being borrowed by my son and possibly permanently to be left with him).  I bought bags of top soil and steer manure for the small garden along my patio.  Irises I planted last fall are already coming up there and I will plant some dianthas in there right away as the deer don't seem to like those and they will tolerate whatever cold temps we still have coming this spring.  I managed a stop at the liquor store and grocery store while I was out, made it home and got everything put away except the wagon which I need to assemble.  Whatever my other limitations, clearly I still have what it take to shop.  Tonight I'll watch a movie and relax.  Up early in the morning to prepare that little garden and maybe assemble the wagon.  I have some fun things planned in the evening, so I'll remember to pace myself in the yard.  Next week, I call Alberto again to come and help me with some more things.

In the morning, I'll try to get a picture of the daffodils, they are starting to look pretty and it's so nice to have something blooming.  Eight deer crossed the road in front of my car this evening just two houses down from mine.  Most of them are babies  Oh my, a population explosion.  My poor flowers!  They've even started eating the day lilies.

To ENTER or not to ENTER, that is the question

I write instructions--tell people how to use their software programs, the custom ones we create where I work. It’s a fairly easy job for me, low stress, occasionally challenging, rarely overly-taxing. I’ve been doing this in some form almost continuously since 1981. I’ll be happy to do this until I retire.

For the most part people like my work results and thank me for the help it gives them. But every now and then there’s a bump in the road. Like yesterday.

A young woman involved with one of my projects decided that we must never say ENTER when instructing someone to put data into a field; we must say TYPE. She quoted for her source the Microsoft Style Guide:

Correct: Type your password.
Incorrect: Enter your password.

Sadly, the young woman is somewhat new to the corporate world, and she did what we all know is sure to escalate the matter and extend the discussion: she copied her supervisor and mine in her email.

Thinking to nip this in the bud, I diplomatically replied that there is some disagreement in the technical writing world over this usage, and I have chosen in my own writing to use ENTER as it is well understood by our users and is already used throughout the company. Clarity, I said, is my objective in my writing (copy to both supervisors).

Some huffiness ensued and then a flurry of emails ending (I learned today) with forwards to executives in the company. I surely have not heard the end of this.

My, but people take their rules seriously.

One co-worker forwarded to me a snippet from the UMASS technical writing style guide, also thought to be the definitive authority in the industry, to wit:

Correct: Enter your password.
Incorrect: Type your password.


Yes, they specifically give opposite instructions in this usage. What’s a technical writer to do?

I’ve been exposed to a few style guides in my time, and they each have their own take on all sorts of things. Being of independent spirit, I pick and choose what I like and discard others. It suits me. I'll split an infinitive, write incomplete sentences, I'll even start a sentence with AND.

And let me emphasize, I love language and its correct usage as far as that can be determined. I never confuse AFFECT and EFFECT. I insist that subject and verb agree. But I know the rules about ENTER and TYPE are blurry at best, and it is entirely within my purview to choose how I use them. And so I do.

The young woman’s supervisor did not like my response nor follow-ups from my supervisor, and kicked the matter upstairs to the execs. Good lord, the execs need to think about the usage of ENTER vs TYPE. I can’t wait to hear the outcome.

I’ll be sure to let you know.

Brain Challenges

This year my oldest child will turn 40.  When you have a 40-year old child, there's no denying you are getting into the "old" stage of life.  On the news they refer to people my age as "elderly".  It makes me laugh.  I'm definitely not thinking of myself as elderly.  But people age differently, and some of my age definitely do seem much much older.  What is the difference?  Is it how we think about ourselves?  Is it keeping ourselves fit in mind and body?  It is genetics?  Is it simple luck?

It's probably a little of all of those things.  We can't do anything about the latter two - illnesses and genetic predispositions can take a toll over which we have no control.  But we can certainly do plenty about the first two.

I was thinking about this today as I did the daily Sudoku on the Washington Post site.  I do that puzzle Wednesday through Sunday.  I skip Monday and Tuesday as they are too easy now -- I am solving them faster than I can put down the numbers.  The WP puzzle is rated by difficulty one through five stars.  The puzzles begin at one star on Monday and progress to five on Friday.  Then the weekend is usually a three-star on Saturday and five on Sunday.

My goal is to finish quickly without making mistakes.  In Sudoku, one mistake is fatal and you have to start again.  No guessing either.  A guess is simply a gamble.  Sudoku is a logic puzzle in which you use various techniques for determining the placement of numbers.  Sometimes you determine what CAN go in a spot, and sometimes you determine what CANNOT.  I have developed my own techniques and methods, but it still requires some thinking and deducing on my part.

I like to test myself as I play.  I look at a row/column/square and see how quickly my brain can determine what numbers are still needed there.  I am at my sharpest when I can take it all in in a single glance and know exactly the numbers needed.  I am at my dullest when I have to actually run through the numbers 0 through 9.  It is proof to me that my brain at certain times functions more optimally than at others.  And thus this game has become a little something more to me.  It's a way of watching my own mental capacity as I age and determining the things that seems to make me sharper.

I am usually pretty sharp in the morning after a cup of coffee - but not if I've had little sleep.  I'm very sharp right after a workday that has involved learning a lot of new material.  I can run through a Sudoku, make stunning Scabble plays, solve some tough crossword clues, sight-read piano music.  It seems my brain is most available to me when it has had some challenges and has had to work hard -- but is not yet over-tired.  I am not at all sharp right before bed.  I always have a crossword and a Sudoku on the nightstand, but it is often only a matter of minutes until I can no longer concentrate and I am falling asleep.

I'm rambling on a bit here, but this is all important stuff to me.  It helps me to see how people keep their brains fit and accessible into older age.  Two things seem to be important:  Sleep.  Mental challenges.  No doubt, food plays a part in this, too.

As I approach retirement age, I have begun paying more attention to what my retired friends do with themselves.  I worry that retirement will not offer sufficient mental challenges that I want and need.  Perhaps the puzzles and music do help but are they enough?  I can't answer that.  I'm still figuring this out. But I do have an easy way of keeping tabs on how I'm doing so far.

(By the way, I love the diagonal Sudokus that offer one more dimension to the puzzle.  I'm always looking for those.)

Letting Go

(NOTE: This post has been edited from the original post)
A couple of very dear friends are moving away.  Not together, not even at the same time, nor anywhere near the same place--in fact, in completely opposite directions.  But far away.  A plane ride away.  One soon and one a little further down the road. 

Good friends are not just a dime a dozen.  It takes awhile for a friendship to take on that special level of trust, intimacy, and love.  When feeling sentimental, isn't it nice to listen to the old songs from the Great American Songbook?

Phase I Landscaping finished

For some reason this project exhausted me. I wasn't doing any heavy lifting, but I was letting go in some ways that were difficult. Alberto, the landscaper, had some good ideas and I went along with almost everything. I am pleased with his work and his prices were so reasonable. I have already talked with him about coming back to do my sprinkling system and finish cleanup and add bark in the remaining areas. Here are just a few shots of the results.

The reconfigured and narrower steps leading up to the beautiful new upper level.  The apple tree is gone.  The little birds visiting yesterday seemd disoriented by that.  I'll plant some ground cover along the steps and a new bird-friendly tree at the corner of the deck once I have sprinklers there to keep it alive.  That's coming in Phase II.

 This is my favorite section - the round patio (we brought in heavier flagstone for this and used my little blue rocks for the pathway).  Next fall I'll plant some perennials in here, but this summer I think it will be annuals in pots.  I can't wait to sit up here on a summer evening and watch the sunset.

Standing at the top of the new second set of steps looking down on my large swath of xeriscaped area.  Many little things are starting to grow, but we won't really see a garden here until April.  A second view of that area from the other end looking up from my driveway.

They trimmed up the old pfitzer which I'm keeping for sentimental reasons, but got rid of that one plant that always gave me a rash every time I trimmed it, cleaned up under the bushes and the entire west side, reconfigured my funny little cinderblock steps I put in to get me to the backyard from the front.  The next phase I'll have them add the landscape fabric and bark on the west side too.

It's all good

The landscapers worked almost a solid 12 hours in my yard yesterday.  Honestly, they barely took a break for lunch.  I put out coffee and muffins and replenished during the day, with cold water as the day got warmer.  I appreciate their hard work and honestly feel sort of bad they worked such long hours on my behalf.  But I do know they'd do that wherever they were working.

The steps are so nice, the cleanup amazing, and the patio - well I had not imagined how pretty it would be.  They said there were not enough of the bluish rocks I already had, so we decided to go with some larger ones for a small additional charge, and they would use my other rocks for a pathway.  I'll get pictures when the sun comes up.

I decided to go ahead with the project on the west side while they were there.  Their prices are very reasonable and it's work I need to have done.  They are putting in a couple of retaining walls for me and taking out the old all-but-dead apple tree.  They cut down the tree late last night, and it was a shock to walk out and see it gone.  I have an emotional attachment to that tree.  It's where I've most enjoyed watching the birds from my dining room all these 30 years I've lived here.  I will need to replace it and soon.  My heart can hardly stand that vacancy.

They are going to be cutting down some other things today too, but I might put a hold on one of them, my last remaining old pfitzer bush.  It's another place the birds love, and it provides a small barrier between my deck and the road.  I think I need to keep it lest I feel totally naked to the world on that west side.

Pictures soon, I think.

UPDATE:  Okay, here they are from the dim pre-dawn light.  The bark is coming along nicely.  This picture doesn't do justice to how pretty the new round patio is.  But oh what a mess where the apple tree was.  In the light of day it's an even greater shock.  Patience, Becky, this wiill get better.  You can see the steps, not as wide, not as steep, more of them.  But we exposed an old unused sprinkler line in the process and that will have to come out.

Just for a point of reference, here's how that tree was looking two years ago, already quite dead:

I realize things sometimes have to get worse before they get better. I remember when they tore down my room addition to turn it into a covered patio. I so love my patio now, but that, too, was such a shock at first. Why do we cling to things even when change is so needed?

Landscapers Tomorrow!

I promised myself I'd get help this year.  When a landscaper I had used previously dropped by two weeks ago asking if I had any work for him, I decided to look at what I needed and break it into three jobs.  I was thinking I might have him do one, two or all three jobs.  He started at $3,000 total with his bid and dropped to $2,500.  I felt somewhat unsure.  It seemed high and I had had some problems with his work the two occasions I had hired him.  I decided to get a couple more bids.  When he dropped by a day later, he dropped his bid to $2,000 but I would still have to pay for the mulch above that.  The second guy had done work for my sister and he seemed to really grasp what I needed. He promised to mail me his quote.  It never arrived.  The third guy I found from a flyer left on the doorknob of a friend of mine.  I was surprised the guy seemed to have a very good grasp of what I wanted and he made a couple of suggestions to improve on my ideas.  The bid was just under $1700 including all materials.

After thinking about it over the weekend, I called the third guy on Monday and said let's do it.  He asks for no payment until the job is done and I'm satisfied.  He said he could start this week.  He just called and he will be here tomorrow. 

So here's where we're starting.  I'm excited to be getting this done.

Steps to the upper level.  My husband had made these out of full-length railroad ties years ago.  Now they are tilting forward and slanting to the west.  We will cut these long ties in half and make two sets of stairs, one at either side of that upper level.  He will reinforce them with rebar to hold them firmly in place.  This is such an ugly area just outside my dining room, I'll be so happy to have it cleaned up and straightened up.

The upper level.  Long unused, it is the only flat spot in my yard and was once grass-covered and a place for croquet and badminton for the kids.  The workers will clean this up and put down landscaper's fabric and spread bark so I can extend my xeriscaping here.  Somewhere  here we will also put down sand and lay some rocks I have as pavers for a small patio.

Here are the rocks I got for free from my boss last year just for hauling them away.  Rocks are expensive and I was glad to get these.  I think the blue coloring is particularly interesting and should make for a pretty centerpiece in my upper level.

My main xeriscaped area will get all new rich brown bark this year.  Two years ago I worked very hard with the help of my granddaughter and put down some mulch that already looked rather gray and faded.  My landscaper promises nice and brown and he will bring a sample for me to approve.  I have already cut down all of last year's growth here, so it's pretty barren with just some daffodils and tulips poking through.  But everything is putting up shoots and it will soon be very pretty.

So those are the three areas.  If that goes well, I have some work for them to do on the west side, too.  With all that heavy lifting done, my job of maintaining becomes much easier.  And who knows, I may just hire some of that done as well.

Movie Review: Moon

*****

I don't watch a lot of sci-fi, but I took my daughter's advice and ordered Moon from Netflix.  It has an interesting enough concept: an energy company has a mining operation on the moon harvesting a fuel that has replaced fossil fuels on earth and solved our energy problems.  The moon station is manned by one man who is just two weeks from the end of his three-year contract and will soon be going home. His job is to keep the automated mining equipment online and to pick up filled canisters from time to time and shoot them back to Earth.

The moon station is appropriately futuristic, although worker Sam Bell has brought in an old leather chair and keeps family pictures tacked up around his sleeping quarters.  A detailed hand-carved wood replica of his town on earth gives the impression he's been there a very long time. 

Sam is well tired of his job and very anxious to get home.  His conversations with his wife and with his employer have been reduced to recordings as the live link to the moon is broken.  Sam is discouraged with the company for not making the communications link a higher priority.  Sam's only companion on the moon is a charming robot named "Gerty", with the voice provided by Kevin Spacey.  You can't help feeling the loneliness.  And then one day, another person shows up . . .

I won't get into the plot more than this as it would be too easy to give too much away.  I have to admit I was drawn into the story and began to really feel for the characters.  Sam suffers some injuries, and there are some bloody scenes that required some eye-covering on my part.  I'm squeamish.  I did find myself getting ahead of the story a time or two, but there were sufficient surprises and tense moments. 

The theme of the movie plays well because the dilemma is most believable.  This isn't Star Wars by any means, it's more cerebral and less fantastic.  The movie is well done and will hold your interest.  I'm giving it 4 out of 5 stars. 

Movie Review: The Ghost Writer

*****

Saturday a storm rolled in, rain at first and then snow.  I had planned to do more spring cleanup in the yard, but the weather spoiled my plans.  And since the house was clean and everyone I know was off doing Saturday things, I took myself out to a movie on the spur of the moment.  I chose "The Ghost Writer" which had just arrived at Salt Lake's Broadway Theatre -- the place for foreign and independent movies, and occasionally mainstream movies with more of an edge.  This movie would fall into the latter category.

Directed by Roman Polanski, this was billed as a suspense thriller.  This is a bit out of the normal genre for me, but I liked the writeup in the NY Times.  It turned out to suit me quite well.  This was no Robert Ludlum story with numerous characters and a complex plot.  The cast is small and the storyline simple.  Facts are slowly revealed to you the viewer as our main character learns them.  There is just enough tension in the movie to keep you alert but not overly tense.

The movie opens in London with our main character, the ghost writer, played so well by Ewan McGregor, applying for the job of rewriting the memoirs of the former British Prime Minister, played by Pierce Brosnan.  McGregor's predecessor in the position has met an untimely death, falling overboard from a ferry and drowning.  Right away we begin to realize that all is not as it seems.  Questions arise, and clues begin to emerge.  Little by little we are drawn into the story and, through the eyes of the ghost writer, we learn the answers that lead us to the ultimate conclusion.

I particularly liked the style of the movie.  It had the feel of an updated 1940's Bogart mystery.  The characters are fairly one-dimensional but deliciously so.  The dialogue is crisp, clipped, spare.  Most of the movie takes place on an island off the Cape Cod coast.  The dismal weather, the stark but beautiful seacoast, the fortress-like building, all contribute to the uneasy feeling of personal discomfort and possible danger.

The political background has just enough flavor of recent history.  You might believe the Prime Minister is based on, but is not quite, Tony Blair.  The war-profiteering company Hatherton is clearly meant to remind you of real-life Haliburton.  But the story necessarily departs from reality there.

The one distraction for me was Kim Catrell's phony British accent, as she played the role of the Prime Minister's personal assistant.  Her voice was unnaturally high pitched, and when she says "Right!", it just doesn't feel right.  Much better, I think, to have cast her as an American assistant and allowed her to use her more suitable sultry voice.  Still, the distraction was minor.

I give this movie four stars out of five.  While the plot was a bit thin, that was more than made up for by the acting, the scenery, the photography, and the way in which the story was told.  It turned out to be a very pleasant way to spend a rainy afternoon.  Walking out of the theater afterward was a bit like closing the cover on an enjoyable mystery novel.  I recommend this one.

"Rated PG-13 for language, brief nudity/sexuality, some violence and a drug reference."

Consolidation

This is just a little FYI.  I'm giving up on my separate blogs for movie and books reviews.  For one thing, I rarely post there.  For another thing, I am simply committed to writing in too many separate places, and I need to simplify my online presence.  So I've iimported all the past movie and book reviews into this blog and will post any future such reviews here.  I'll try to remember to put "Review" in the title of those posts to help identify them.  I'll keep RedStateBlues as a separate political and commentary blog.