The wizard I finished cross stitching so long ago is finally hanging up! Instead of framing it, I decided to stretch it over a canvas, which I think turned out pretty well. It involved a lot of time and several techniques I’d never used before, so it’s nice to have it actually done and on the wall. Yippee!
Let us have a moment of silence…for my printer. It lived a full life, starting back in 1999 when it was part of a high school graduation gift from my parents. Kyle mocked it the first time he saw it because it’s such a dinosaur. But it has worked great all along! Well, it started going downhill a few weeks ago. And then yesterday, it finally choked on its own disintegrated belt and died. Alas.
[mourns]
We got a clock!
Ok, ok. I realize that statement is probably not very exciting without explanation. Mom had asked me if there was anything in particular we’d like as a graduation/wedding/Christmas present. We thought about it and we need things like nightstands and a dresser and such, but felt like it’d be nice to have something less utilitarian—something classy, traditional, nice, and would be with us for awhile. We thought it’d be nice to have a key-wound chiming wall clock. Growing up we had a chiming clock in the living room which was nice. So I mentioned this to Mom and on Christmas morning one of our presents was a list of clock options (so we could pick one in particular that we liked).
Later in the day we sat down and went over the list several times slowly whittling it down. We eventually made our selection and Mom put the order in. Then we eagerly awaited its delivery.
It was shipped in a box within a box:
It was made in Germany. Apparently the Germans are the only ones who still make nice fully mechanical clocks like this.
Here it is in the box. The first language on the instruction manual was German, not something you see everyday.
And here it is on the wall:
We like it. I appreciate the level of skill it must require to build a clock like this. I think if I lived before the era of computers I might have become a clock maker, putting together the gears and stuff is like programming but with metal! Though, there is the problem that if I lived during a time without affordable eyeglass solutions I would’ve had an issue.
Here’s a video of the clock chiming:
(In case you were wondering the title of the post is from “My Grandfather’s Clock“)
Today’s a big day for me: it’s been one year since my second surgery! I’ve decided that Jan. 12-26 shall hereafter be a two-week celebration that I AM ALIVE! And not, y’know, in the hospital or anything. Kyle thinks the big day should be the day I got out of the hospital (the 26th), and I agree that that’s a good one. But I think the really big one is today, since that was the surgery that saved my life. But I’m not against celebrating both.
Anyway, in case anyone’s wondering how the recovery’s going, I guess my strength and whatnot is all back. And my scars have really faded a lot. They’re basically the same color as the rest of my skin now (well, except the one on my back; it’s still fairly dark). The only real lasting damage seems to be my right side. The skin is still numb there (they cut some nerves to a small area over my ribcage), though I hardly notice it anymore, and the muscles get stiff and hurt sometimes where they crammed in a bunch of drainage tubes. But yoga helps with the stiffness a lot, so I try to keep doing that. Oh, and I have a slightly increased tendency to choke on my own spit, which I blame on scar tissue around my throat. But it could just be that I’m a bit of a spaz. Y’all knew that, right?
I’ve been rather contemplative lately, between the new year and this anniversary. I can’t quite get over how crazy this last year was. Starting last January, I got sick, had 2 surgeries, got engaged, quit my job, got married, and moved to California—and none of those things were anticipated at the beginning of the year. Well, actually, all those things happened in the first 6 months, I guess; the rest has just been recovery and adjustment? Still, although “eventful” isn’t normally what I go for in life, and I think 2009 has to have been the most eventful year thus far, I think I’ve come out ahead. 😀
Megan and Chad came to California after Christmas. With three Dickersons within a hundred miles of each other we reached critical mass and a bowling trip was induced.
Megan and Chad drove down from Sacramento to our apartment on the 31st. Jess, however, had a migraine that day which wasn’t responding to medication so she got to stay home and be miserable. Megan, Chad, and I drove down to Sunnyvale to meet Mike and Tina. We pulled up while Mike was out walking the dog! We found it quite comical, I tried to take a picture, but discovered that the batteries I had brought were dead.
We went to lunch at Country Gourmet, which was kind of like eating American food at a restaurant in another country—mostly what you’d expect, but not quite. The food was fine though.
Then we headed over to Google so Megan and Chad could get the tour. It was at this point that we started using my phone to take pictures. We discovered why Google is so powerful—it’s because they have these:
Mike showed us what he spends his time doing. This involves complicated tasks like walking up the building supports:
and getting Nerf darts to stick to the ventilation ducts:
Apparently it is these highly developed skills that cause Google to pay him the big bucks.
Megan and Chad needed their picture with the Android statue and his pastries:
At this point we headed off to bowling in hipster central, Cupertino (home of Apple Computers). They’re so hip, in fact, that their malls don’t even need stores, just hallways to walk through and be seen by other hipsters. We walked through a good 100 yards or more of indoor mall hallway without a single store or commercial presence. The bowling alley itself turned out to be more of a club which happened to have a bowling alley in it. While there were families there with kids, I would have bet it looked different 6 hours later as New Year’s parties were gearing up.
There wasn’t enough light to get any worthwhile pictures at the bowling alley, but if I remember correctly, I won with a score of 153. Wii Bowling has really been paying off, apparently.