Hot Water

They replaced our hot water heater yesterday, even though we got a new one last March and it worked fine. But that must not have been recorded, and the powers-that-be had already decided we were up for a new one. I tried to dissuade them, to save everyone the hassle, but they went ahead anyway.

On the brightside, it didn't take them near as long to replace it this time (last one they were here nearly all day for some reason). Maybe this guy just knew what he was doing. He said that the old one was going to Habitat for Humanity, so at least it's hopefully going to someone who needs it.

However... there were two guys who showed up first to drain the old one, and Jenny said she heard one of them complaining that he hated working when people were actually home. So they hooked up the hose to the old heater, ran the hose down the stairs outside, and left it to drain while they went to eat lunch. Oh, and the front door was propped open by the hose!

So our thought was - would they have done the same if we hadn't been home? Just left our front door open and walked away? I doubt they would've hung out and waited for it to drain. Thankfully a different guy came back to do the actual work, who seemed a lot nicer and way more competent.

Also, my wisdom tooth above the one I had removed has been hurting really bad over the past week or so, and needs to come out. My appointment's on Friday. Yay.

Odds & Ends and even some Art

A few miscellaneous things that I haven't really blogged/twittered about. Just trying to catch up....

• Our local bank is Washington Mutual, which is of course now becoming Chase. Not particularly pleased about that, but we don't do much banking anyway, so it's probably nothing to worry about. I am glad that Jenny and I both hung on to our credit union accounts in Alaska when we moved...
  
  
• I'd mentioned the wasps coming back - I did get the maintenance people over here to spray bug killer and knock down their hives, and it seemed to have done the job. There's still a few around, but they're not swarming directly outside our windows anymore. It got really bad last year, with wasps regularly getting into the house, even after we got the new windows installed.
  
  
• Avista is our local electric utility provider, and they've already been catching a lot of flack recently for raising their already high rates in the face of the current economic conditions. We normally pay our bill on-line, but when we logged on last week we found they'd switched to a new 3rd party company to handle their billing transactions. With this comes the new requirement that we give them our bank account information - even though we're paying with a credit card. We said no, and sent them a check. Just rediculous...
  
  
• We hadn't been watching Chuck, although we had caught bits and pieces of it (since it's on right before Heroes). Jenny decided to start watching it on-line, since about half the series is available, and now we're both huge fans. The show's hilarious, with a lot of geeky in-jokes, and has got some awesome guest stars. Luckily we got caught up in time for tonight's episode, which is the season finale. Unfortunately, it's not certain whether it'll be around next year. Just our luck that we'd get hooked on a show right before it get's cancelled... :)

Also, the AFL tournament I was participating in is over, with Gene Kelly being the champion this time around. For his final entry, instead of just an illustration or comic page, Gene actually made a 2 person flash video game pitting his character against his opponent's! It's really impressive, and can be seen here: AFL 3 - Final Battle

I drew up this pic of his character Rocket, as a congratulations for his well deserved win:

All Hands on Deck

So, on Wednesday we got a note from the apartment people "reminding" us about how they're rebuilding everybody's decks, and that we were going to be scheduled for either Friday or Saturday. Now, they've been pretty good about warning us months ahead of time for the previous renovations (appliances, windows, etc), but this was the absolute first time we had ever heard about this so it was a bit surprising.

We of course were supposed to make sure that everything was cleared from the deck and away from the patio door for when the workers got here. But since this was the first warning we got, we could've just as easily been away from the apartment for the week and missed the whole thing completely.

Well, they showed up bright and early Friday morning and were in and out of the apartment for most of the day which was all sorts of fun... Jenny normally has Fridays off, but she was working that day, so her one day of sleeping in wasn't ruined. Lucky. I guess.

Anyway, they replaced all the floor slats of the deck, but really that wasn't the part that needed to be fixed. The whole thing looks rather precarious, and should probably just be completely torn down. It's not like we actually use our deck, so we wouldn't miss the safety hazard. And it'd be one less place for the pigeons to land on....

Appliances! (update) + Misc.

We got our shiny new appliances yesterday (the 29th)! New fridge, range, dishwasher and washer & dryer! Everything is quite awesome and we're super-happy to finally get them. It's not enough to keep us from finding a new place to live, but we'll enjoy having them while we're here.

We got another note from the apartment people today - apparently they're going to re-key the whole complex, starting next month. We're slightly curious as to the "why"s, but it's not like it really affects us one way or the other...

Jenny's finally starting to get over being sick, and now I'm coming down with something, probably the same thing. Stuffy head, general aches and pains, normal stuff. 

I've been re-reading the excellent Emberverse series from S.M. Stirling, and just started the 4th book after checking it out from the library. I just started it yesterday, and am almost half-way done; afterwards I've still got the newest (5th) book in the series to read. Then I'll probably re-read his Nantucket series, which is (loosely) set in the same universe. Stirling is a (in my opinion) great alternate-history/sci-fi author - highly recommended.

I think Jenny wanted to blog some more about the appliances, so I'll leave the details to her. :D

Appliances! And Art!

We finally got an official notice from the apartment people regarding our new appliances - they're doing our building next week, and our apartment is scheduled for the 29th. So less than a week and we'll (hopefully) have a new stove, fridge and dishwasher! Maybe even new washer and dryer, but the note they left wasn't specific, just that we needed to clear stuff out from the fridge, under the stove and under the sink before the maintenance guys get here.

They're having an apartment "party"/meeting this afternoon, where they're supposed to be fielding questions about what's going on. But really, all we wanted to know was when, so no point in going now.

Also, Project: Rooftop (a fan site for artists that deals with re-designing superhero costumes) is running another one of their contests. This one is to make a new Batman design, based on the idea of Dick Grayson (the original Robin) taking over for Bruce Wayne. My entry basically tried to evolve his current Nightwing persona into something a bit more "Bat-ty".

Happy Halloween & Apartment Stuff

We'll be heading over to Tigger and Lincoln's place tonight. We haven't got a chance to hang out for quite a while, and it also means we'll be out of the apartment and won't have to deal with any Trick-or-Treaters that might come by (since we didn't bother buying any candy this year). Should be fun - we'll probably just sit a round and watch some scary movies. Can't stay out tooo long, since Jenny has to work in the morning.

The apartment people are finally cleaning out the unit next door  - it's been vacant over a month, since the neighbors have been evicted. They really trashed the place, and apparently left a lot of stuff behind, like beds and other furniture. Guess they had to make room, since they took the washer and dryer when they went. Yep, they stole the washer and dryer that came with the apartment (and was brand new when we moved in 3 years ago). Wow. Just when I think people can't amaze me any more....

The prospect of them possibly replacing most of our appliances is definately appealing, and certainly makes the thought of staying here more bearable. But with our current lack of money, it's more and more likely, so we might as well try to make the most of it. Atleast we have somewhere to live. I'm seeing on the local news about how some folks can't get into homes right now, with the current economic crunch, and are actually staying in Motels long term, since it's cheaper than most apartments and they don't require the whole first/last/deposit + credit check thing to move in. Yeesh.

Normal Stuff

Went over to CdA today and hung out at Jenny's folks' place for most of the day, getting caught up on the copius amount of unread newspapers and unwatched TV we had waiting for us. Jenny's working Saturday and Sunday now, and my participation in the 24 Hour Comic Book Day this past weekend (and the subsequent off-kiltering of my sleep schedule) meant that we didn't visit Sunday evening.

We also picked up some yummy Mexican food - our favorite place, Cafe Chulo, may be changing ownership soon, but supposedly the food won't be any different. Swung by Borders as well. Same as always.

The apartment peoples came by yesterday and checked out all of our appliances, noting whether they were "old" or "new". Everything is still "old", and hopefully will be replaced soonish - probably in the next couple of months. They've got to order everything in bulk, and install all at once, much like the recent big window replacement.

Otherwise, nothing too exciting at the moment. Jenny's still working a lot, mostly at the library. I'm still looking for work and working on some art. Atleast gas prices have finally started dropping a little (below $3 here - yay)....

Atleast November will be here soon. We can dive into NaNoWriMo again and finally be done with presidential campaign ads.

Rodents, Writing and Road Construction

Well, I called the apartment people first thing this morning, and they sent some people over today to attempt to deal with the infestation problem. I say "attempt" because it's still there. It certainly sounded like they were trying to take out a wall next door, but they left at some point and didn't come back. Maybe tomorrow.

I think I might actually know what I'm going to write for NaNoWriMo this year. After taking a fresh look at a couple of unused ideas, I realized they meshed together rather well and might make an interesting story. I'd like to do some outlining before November 1st so I've got a plan going in, and hopefully this will be the year I actually finish (or atleast come close). Third time's the charm , right?

They're continuing work on the traffic pretzel near by, and it's just rediculous what they're doing. There doesn't seem to be a traffic light going up after all, just a giant round-about that's going to be a huge waste of space (and probably money as well). Just seems like it's going to cause even more congestion, and headaches,  than before. We'll have to get some photos and post them up.

A Couple of Things....

So, I put my notice in at work this last Monday. I'll probably be sticking around until the end of the month instead of just 2 weeks, to give them some extra time to find a replacement, and to make payroll easier on everyone involved. I don't have anything lined up yet, but it was definately way past time to move on, and I've got several applications out with more to follow this week. I'm hoping I can either find something part time that pays decent but will allow me some time to focus on working at art at home, or (more likely) a full time job that's more in my interests, preferably with benefits and more room for advancement. I'm mainly looking at office/administrative positions, but I'm also keeping an eye out for entry level graphic related jobs (copy shops, print houses, etc.).

In other news, our hot water heater decided to give up the ghost today. I'd noticed my shower yesterday wasn't nearly as hot as normal, but it hadn't gotten cold yet. Jenny took a shower this morning and kept having to turn up the temperature, and at one point it got really cold. Afterwards, we checked the heater and it was cold to the touch. Not only that, but there was a small amount of standing water on the floor of the closet it's in. We've got a call in to maintenance, and they're supposed to be here tomorrow, either to fix or replace it. Knowing how our management operates, I'm sure they'll try to fix it if possible, even if it probably should be replaced....

Cabin Fever - and Other Craziness....

With the Holidays over, and neither of us working, we've been going kinda stir-crazy being in the house all day. We really need to get out and about more; I'm thinking we might take the bus into the city Saturday and check out the Riverside Park. Jenny hasn't seen it yet, and it's been so nice lately. Otherwise, let's see, what's been going on....?

The last couple of days have been relatively productive (atleast when you add in the "not getting up till Noon" factor). We got caught up on dishes (2 loads) and laundry (3 loads), and got a lot of re-organizing done in the dining/living room. I've successfully re-written my resume, and today I sent off my application to Northwest Andrology. I've still got a couple of cover letters to write, and plenty more resumes to send off.

In not-as-cheery news, Jenny's grandfather's wife passed away after fighting Alzheimers for quite some time. The funeral is next Monday morning up in Sandpoint; we'll be driving into CdA to meet up with Jenny's folks and then driving up with them.

The maintenance people came by and changed out our fluorescent lights, but the ledge in the hallway still needs to be cleaned off. Looks like we're just going to have to borrow the parents' ladder and do it ourselves.

I did finally dye my hair (and Jenny trimmed it up for me), but it turned out red instead of blond. I'm happy with it, tho; I probably look better as a red head anyway. I don't have any pictures yet, but we did get our pictures from Halloween back. We dressed up as Peter Parker & Mary Jane:

Arts & Crafts

So, I'm trying to get myself back into drawing every day, no matter what. I really want to work on expanding my portfolio beyond superheroes and Warhammer art, in the vain hope of one day getting a real illustration job....

I've had this Graphic Illustration book for about 6 years now, and never really looked at it; turns out it's from 1982, but it's a very cool handbook that walks you through various techniques and "real world" scenarios starting with basic assignments and progressing from there. Since it doesn't look like I'll be going back to school anytime soon, I've decided to work my way through the book, doing all the suggested assignments and exercises, hopefully building up my skills along with my portfolio.

The exercises start out super simple, and the first one I did today was to draw a portrait of someone's face 3 times: from your memory, from life and from a photograph. My intent was to draw 3 pictures of Jenny.... (Click the Image for a Larger View)The first one, from memory, ended up looking like an elf. Not really what I was going for. The second one was drawn from her sitting next to me, and came out looking better, but not as much like her as I would have preferred. The third picture was drawn from the photo of her dressed up as Mary Jane for Halloween (which explains the long hair, if you're wondering), and was pretty much dead on. I'm really happy with this one, since it's been forever since I've drawn anything "realistic."

Well, once again I told myself I was going to enter Tokyopop's Rising Stars of Manga contest, and once again I have done nothing. The due date is tomorrow (Friday the 13th), and I had completely forgotten about it even existing until a week ago. Next year, right?

There aren't any Draw-Offs going on over at Digital Webbing that have piqued my interest; however the deadline for the Runes of Ragnar Essence of Odin contest has been extended, so I might still get an entry in for that one. I had every intention of entering when it was announced, and then stuff kept coming up and I never sat down and worked on it. I finally started sketching out ideas the other day, but I thought it was due tomorrow so I had written it off, but apparently I can't read my calendar correctly since it's actually due on the 22nd. Here's the thumbnail I settled on:

Jenny's been crocheting up a storm, working on a big blanket which is about 4'x6' right now. The plan is for it to be about 7'x6' when she's all done. She also just crocheted a hat for herself with cute little cat ears:

I guess that's about it for now. I hope to keep this Blog updated more frequently now, and to include more of our photos and artwork. We also are trying to get back into gaming again, and we'll probably post up pics of our painted miniatures from time to time as well.