Plastered the staircase hall and worked on spotlight effects Sunday, 21-Jan-24 18:24:09 CET

Plastered the staircase hall with TopFinish Sunday, 04-Feb-24 19:39:49 CET

Sunday, 28-Jan-24 21:09:08 CET

Started on the TopFinish layer in the staircase hall.

This week, I started on the TopFinish layer in the staircase hall. Merida had her fifth seizure.

Monday 22 January

Today, I worked from home, and DW worked from home.

In the evening, I "finished" the spotlight scene of my VFX program. I still have work to do on it, such as ensuring it is not leaking memory, etc. In the film, I am filming the screen showing the result. The colors are more vivid in real life, but this will do.

Tuesday 23 January

Today, I worked from the office, and DW worked from home. You might wonder why I tell you that, and in a way, I am wondering that myself. It is, of course, so that if I go to the office, it sets the scene for much of the day. Likewise, when DW and I work from home, it influences the day. The same goes for the weather; if it was sunny, I could see how shadows were cast over the desk from my inner eye. I could go back to the statistics of the EV panels to see how much the sun was shining, but it is not the same thing.

The storm Isha was not over that quickly; there have been calm periods, but it has also been windy and rainy. As I used to say, a storm often has a tail of rain afterward. I have no scientific evidence for that statement; I am just concluding.

This evening, I did something unusual. I worked on a little art project. It is a farewell present for a colleague. I thought I would give him some words of encouragement. So, I painted the text Glory to Ukraine. It is Ukrainian letters that I am not that familiar with. I did my best to mimic how they should look like. The painting is done with acrylic paint that MIL gave me. She has given me paint that will last the rest of my life. So much is it. The left dot of ï is cut out to make a little window. Then, I made a ribbon of QR codes that the receiver can slide behind the window. The ribbon sticks out of the exclamation mark. On the QR codes, I put links to podcasts I like a lot. These were the podcasts I made QR codes of: Ukraine The Latest, In Moscow's Shadows, On the Eastern Boarder, Ukraine without Hype, Legal AF, and This Week in Ukraine.

We will see if he likes this farewell present. His new job will be further away, and he will have time to listen to podcasts while on the train.

It is 5 weeks since Merida had her last epileptic seizure. We are getting slightly more relaxed about it, but we know it can happen anytime.

Wednesday 24 January

Today, I worked from home, and DW had a day off. She worked on her wool projects. After lunch, I plastered the corner between the ceiling and the south wall. That was the first bucket.

The second bucket went on the east wall and ceiling. I had already done the corner, so I stayed away from the east wall corner to the ceiling. It is essential to plaster an inner corner only from one side. You can do it from both sides, but it will likely fail.

Doing it only from one side makes it easier to do it repeatedly. That is what the plaster art is about, making surfaces even. For that, you need to use robustly reproducible methods. Especially in corners, each layer is the foundation for the next layer. It is essential to leave a straight line because the next time, you will pick up from where you left, and it is much easier to put another straight surface on top of an already straight surface. One bump is no issue. It is always possible to take that away. The real challenge comes with longer stretches of bumps. I had that; it was created precisely by plastering both sides of an inner corner.

Another secret is the use of light along the surface you plaster. Any irregularity casts long shadows, and when you can see mistakes, they are easy to fix.

In the evening, I finished yesterday's art project. Then, I started preparing for my next DJ show. It will be on Friday after work at my colleague's farewell party.

Thursday 25 January

Today, I went to the office, and DW worked from home. In the evening, I prepared for the DJ show. I had to practice to bring my skills up to level. I occasionally practice more advanced tricks but will not use them during a live set. Wise advisors say you should not make things unnecessarily complex when starting with DJing. I had no time to add more songs. That will happen another time.

I prepared the disco lights this evening. I got a light organ apparatus intended for colored lights, but I figured I could use them for other lights. I have a regular desk light on an arm that works well with the light organ. I changed an LED slinger to work with the light organ this evening. It worked very well. Now, I was adequately prepared for the DJ show tomorrow.

So I thought. I looked into the crate and thought there should be more cables. I could not figure out where the cables had gone.

Friday 26 January

Today, I worked from the office, and DW worked from home. Initially, she was supposed to go to her office, but that was canceled. That was good because I was playing a DJ set in the evening and could not go with her, and the buses might not go as often at that time. Complicated.

Today, I brought the ironing board and the crate with the light show things and cables. In the afternoon, I set up the light show. Last minute, before everything would start, I found one cable at my desk at the office and a mini-display port to HDMI adapter hidden in a bag. That was the last piece to get it working.

The CEO gave a speech, presents, and flowers were given. Just as the DJ set could start, colleagues gave me a present. They handed over a cloth with the text "DJ Jens." This was unexpected! I was happy to get it but so surprised I had nothing well articulated to say. People helped me install the cloth. It looked wonderful.

Then I played my DJ set. It was good; the feeling in the room was good. People enjoyed it. When the set was over, I packed everything, and people helped me. I was precise in not forgetting my glasses; that almost happened last time.

On the way home, I brought the presents from the college to his home because he came by bike, and it was a bulky package. The municipality had cars spreading salt on the road; it was a sign it would be cold again.

Saturday 27 January

Today, I plastered one bucket of coarse MP75 plaster. I plastered the inner window reveal. What is now left is the upper reveal. Unfortunately, that is the only thing left to plaster with coarse mud, so I cannot make a regular-sized bucket of plaster next time. I could plaster the window in the next round when I do more regular buckets of MP75 plaster. I will see.

DW washed the windows. She cleaned windows around the living room. Nice!

After our practical activities, we went for a walk. We went to the same forest we went to on 9 December last year. Back then, while walking, we talked about how to plaster the staircase hall. This time, we talked about DW's sabbatical from May this year. Today, it was sunny and crispy.

When we were done walking, it was time to go grocery shopping. We bought a surprising quantity of stuff.

I was so tired at home that I had to take a power nap. You might guess I never got to do another bucket of plaster. After a while, I perked up. There was not much energy, though. DW sat beside me on the couch, spinning or knitting, watching Ravelry TV. We were on the ground floor.

Merida was lying sleeping on DW's office chair on the first floor, right above us. At 5:17 PM, she started her third epileptic seizure, fell off the chair, and was lying on the ground in convulsions. We heard this from the ground floor. When we got to her, I started filming her, but it was pointless because she had peed and gotten entangled in DW's knitting project. It was a mess. I could untangle her from the knitting yarn. DW fetched a towel, and the Diazipan shot we had gotten for this occasion. She was over the three minutes, so we gave her the shot. DW delivered it rectally to Merida. She did not get the entire dose.

When the seizure was over, she was fidgety. She walked and could not stop. She was also groggy and stumbled over things and fell. The bottom part of her body was groggy. We took her to the ground floor, where the litter box is. Then, if needed, she could use it. She walked and walked and could not stop. We blocked off the workshop and the staircase to keep her walking on the ground floor.

She walked behind the dryer and washing machine in the bathroom on the first floor. Usually, that is a dead end, blocked by a drawer, but navigating out from a narrow, confined space was tricky in this groggy situation. I moved the drawer so that she could continue walking. I created a path; she walked this at least seven times. Peculiar situation.

Eventually, Merida got peaceful. She slept next to me on the couch. It was calming to see her sleep. This was not a pleasant experience. I felt lousy the rest of the evening.

The night went well. She slept on our bed, and she was fine.

This means that Merida had five seizures in total:

1. 11 December 2023, 10:44
2. 11 December 2023, 21:45
3. 19 December 2023, 12:30
4. 19 December 2023, 21:19
5. 27 January 2024, 17:17, Diazipan

It appears to me that the seizures are getting more and more intense, but perhaps it is a subjective opinion.

Sunday 28 January

We had a slow morning. It was lovely weather though, that was not the problem. We drank tea, and I blogged in bed in the morning. Then, I mustered my strength, stood up, and decided to capture the day. We decided to call the veterinarian on Monday to get that medicine against epileptic seizures.

I mixed half of the course MP75 mud and plastered all three inner reveal panels of the window. Then I went on with the next phase of the project, TopFinish!

It was sunny, and Merida was lying in the sun enjoying every watt she received from the newly cleaned window.

	I snuggled up with a present from a blog reader living in New York!

 

Then we went to the train station to pick up DD! We went for a walk in the same forest as DW, and I went on Sunday, 12 November last year. The forest with a trident tree forest behind a little door.

 

I could show DD the banner that I received from my colleagues!

After the walk, we viewed DD's second presentation. She is busy with the final part of her studies. This was the second presentation in a series of five. It looked promising.

Here ends this week's blog. This week, I started on the next phase of the plastering project, which is excellent. I cannot wait to get to build the scaffold on the staircase. I played a DJ set, that was great. Merida had a seizure, which was not pleasant.

See you next week, bye-bye!