Oak Island, Computer Growls and Cooking - A Busy Day

Oak Island is back for a new season, and they're really digging into the history of the island now - which is dating back firmly to the Knights Templar. I'm thrilled to be back watching once again - a devoted "acorn" am I for many years. This is the 13th season, so yeah - it's been a really long time with a LOT of money behind it. Without the TV show (and it's popularity with viewers), I doubt they could have gone so long, purchased the high-grade equipment they are using, and accomplished everything that they have. As a trained archaeologist, I love what they're doing, and not everything is "bring in the backhoe and start digging". When merited, it's true archaeology - trowels and slow, methodical excavation. 

The Curse of Oak Island has started Season 13 and yes, 
we took time away from watching hockey to watch the 
show (we're total "acorns"). I'm really looking forward to 
what they're going to find this year. They're stretching 
the history of the area farther back almost every season. 

I had wanted to load my next book onto my headphones for today's swim, but I'm in the wrong format for that book. It's in an MP7 format instead of an MP6 format. I'll need to run a file conversion on it later today when I have a bit of time, get it shifted to MP6, and then shifted once again to a file that my Audible headset can use. It's not difficult, but it will take some time and time isn't what I've got right now. So, I'll re-listen to a bit of the previous volume in the series for today's swim, and do all of the fancy electronic work this afternoon instead. 

My audio files for my ebooks are generally in 
ep6 format, but for some reason, the next book 
in my series is an ep7 format. I'll need to run 
a conversion software on the book before loading 
it onto my headphones because I can't listen to 
ep7 files on them. *sigh* That means I'm 
relistening to 45 minutes of yesterday's book 
today, but that's not the end of the world. 

I also need to get some household bills paid. Of course that's a simple matter of getting onto the computer, accessing the appropriate bank account, and e-paying the bills. But again, it's been a time factor. It's going to happen today because it has to happen today. No choices. 

It's soup and stew season now. We're getting colder every 
day. I'll need to pull the last of my hot peppers today, 
we're going to be getting our first frost within the next 
few days. 

Oh, and I do hope to be doing some cooking today too. Chicken for dinner, with thoughts ahead for what I'll make on Friday that will carry me through the rest of the week. It's soup and stew season now ... we're getting colder and more blustery every day now. A nice hot dinner will suit me very well. So life continues onward, chores are ongoing (today is three-load laundry day - a lot of laundry), and adding the electronic BS to the mix really wasn't something I needed ... but what the heck. If it's necessary, I'll just have to get it done. The real definition of life - live it and get things done. Here's hoping you have a day of accomplishments today and I'll be back tomorrow. Slava Ukraini. 

DH is On a Hunt - That's Always a Bad Idea for Household Organization

Happy Tuesday to all. It's going to be a tough week ahead. DH is very unhappy with our sales numbers (perfectly understandable) and he's making an attempt to get an accurate inventory of the artwork we have at the shop. That's a huge mess, and it's requiring a lot of digging and searching for items that we should have, but we're not finding. It's driving him a bit crazy, so his mood really sucks right now. Add to that the fact that he needs to set up his household budget for the upcoming year and I worked on that a bit yesterday. This morning I was remembering several other things - things that only come up once a year in my budget, that I forgot to add to the quick and dirty budget I worked out yesterday. *sigh* I added notations below the typed spreadsheet and I'll have to look up numbers later on. 

Tonight is a "Curse of Oak Island" night. There are only 
five more episodes for this season, and it's an interesting 
bunch of discoveries. Will this be the final season? That's 
really hard to say for sure. But they are getting closer 
and closer to finding the "Money Pit" and what the heck - 
like many others, I'm an Acorn and totally addicted to 
the show. Skinwalker Ranch starts on April 18th, so 
Oak Island is on the last few episodes. But it is the last 
few for this year? Or is it the last few for the series? 

He's specifically looking for some Arthur and Harrison Begay pieces that he's got on his list of artwork. He's quite fond of the two guys, and although I like their art, it's not in my top-ten. Nonetheless, apparently we're missing a bunch of their artwork and he's got a stick up his ass to find them. Late last night he decided to tackle looking in the dining room j- a room that's become a "catch all" room over the past few years. Now he's got a bug up his ass to clean that room. Well ... fine. But don't disturb my chair and small table which currently hold my extra food supplies and my blender. 

When DH cleans, it's often not really a functional 
cleaning as much as a move stuff from one space 
to another. That's not cleaning. He has a problem 
throwing things out. I don't. I clean, he "rearranges". 

I'm sure it's the same for any of you. If someone decides to put away things that you rely on regularly, you'd rather find new space and rearrange things on your own so that you can actually find the items you need without sending out the search dogs. I can possibly find room in our kitchen cabinets for my Wolf blender, but since it's something I need EVERY week, sometimes twice a week, I need to know exactly where it is, and I need easy access to it. I cam probably clean out half of one cabinet fairly easily and move my items there, but I can't do that until tomorrow. He wants to clean today - at least that's what he's semi-panning. We'll see. 

I have my Wolf, high-performance 
professional blender kept in my little 
stash area in the dining room. If he wants 
to clean that room, I have no problem with 
that. However, let ME clean my little area 
tomorrow when I can rearrange kitchen 
cabinets to make space for my 
equipment. 

So my Wednesday might be all up in the air if I have to add cleaning to it. But, it won't be the first time I've had to rush through something like that. I wouldn't mind getting my dining room back. It's a nice room, and right now it looks like crap. So ... not a bad idea, just bad timing. And on that note, I'm off to the pool to work off some of this stress - LOL. Have an excellent Tuesday and I'll be back tomorrow. Slava Ukraini. 

Crystals, Etsy, Swimming and Acorns - A Busy Tuesday Ahead

Yesterday was slow at the shop, so I took advantage and did some serious work on the next category of Swarovski crystals that I intend to put up on Etsy. I've got the 8mm size ready to go live, and I needed to pull and make the blank photo charts for the 6mm size. I set the laptop up at my desk at the shop, and - fortunately or unfortunately, depending on outlook - ended up with plenty of time to work on the category. I'll try to get the final pages printed out tomorrow morning after swimming, and work on the photography tomorrow afternoon if possible, Friday if the day gets away from me. 

This is one of the final photos for my 8mm cube 
section. Now I need to start doing the photos for 
the 6mm size. I think I've figured out the pricing 
for the 8mm size - not the least expensive, but 
not the most. A nice mid-range, with a much 
larger selection than the others offering a similar 
product. I'll try to start the 6mm photos tomorrow. 

I want to quadruple-check the 8mm cube section I have waiting in the Etsy wings, so if time permits, I'll be doing that at the shop today. I've got everything loaded and all of the text added, but it's hard to change things once they go live, and it's a large category. I want to make absolutely sure I'm not allowing typos or inaccurate pricing to sneak in on me. 

My Mom had me in the pool when I was this young, maybe 
even younger. I love the swimming pool, and I really 
can't remember a time I wasn't at the pool in the summer 
as many days as possible. Sometimes, especially when 
I was a teenager, I'd stop going because I never felt 
as if I fit into "social" swimming, but when I could actually
swim laps, I was happy. Summer recreational pools,
however, rarely are focused on laps. 

It's my first of three days in the pool today, so that's always a serious positive. When I'm on the treadmill, I dream of swimming, and when I'm in the pool, I wish for the less hectic mornings of my treadmill days. Never truly satisfied, am I - LOL. But just being in the pool again makes me happy. My skin does not like the chlorine, but my body is happiest when swimming, so it's a toss-up. Both exercises are necessary for me, so I split the week between them. 

DH is going to be channel flipping tonight, and that's 
one thing that drives me crazy. I might have to watch 
Oak Island on the downstairs TV, just to get away 
from the clicker. 

DH is in a quandry tonight. He has the Ken Burns "Benjamin Franklin" 2-part on PBS that he wants to finish, but he also has Oak Island, and oh ... there's a hockey game on too. I think I'll watch Oak Island on the downstairs TV so that he can channel flip to his heart's content and not drive me crazy. Of course, he'll complain, because watching Oak Island together is our thing, but he may need to sacrifice this time. 

I'm an "acorn", as is anyone else who watches 
the progress (slow though it may be) on 
"The Curse of Oak Island". Although we're 
always getting closer, that goal is always just 
another hole or another idea away. Still, I've 
been watching it for years and I love all of 
the many finds they discovered that have
changed the history of the area dramatically. 

On that note, I'm out of here because it's a busy, busy morning. Have an excellent Tuesday and I'll be back tomorrow. Please pray for peace. What we're seeing out of Ukraine these past 48 hours is sickening and evil. We need to amplify the peace and love to help offset this black cloud. Every voice and prayer makes a difference.