Woggy #21: Game Night Bag

My husband plays board games as one of his major hobbies, and belongs to two local game groups, which meet weekly for game-playing sessions. Attending these usually means bringing along at least a couple of his own board games, plus a snack to share. For years he made use of a sturdy old canvas market bag that we got as a member bonus for being members of San Francisco's KQED. Now we've been living in Seattle for over 10 years now, so I'm sure you can imagine the shape this bag has reached by this point in time.

Last year at the big local indie craft show, I saw some bags that were pretty similar to this and thought it'd be fun to give my husband a board-game-themed bag for him to use as a replacement for the dilapidated old tote he insisted on continuing to use. But, as it turned out, these bags didn't come any bigger than a large handbag, which is nowhere near the capacity needed to carry actual board games.

So eventually I began to wonder if I couldn't make him a bag myself. While I never could figure out how those craft people managed to attach a hunk of cardboard to a vinyl bag, I did eventually find a supplier for novelty game-themed quilt fabric, and bought enough to make some sort of sturdy large bag.

My husband thankfully has been enthusiastic about the idea, but while he was helpful in choosing the fabrics to use for his bag, he has as yet been not so forthcoming about his actual size needs for a bag. Once we can finally work that out, I can come up with some sort of a pattern and turn this pile o' fabric into the fabbest game bag this side of the Cascades.

Things Left to Complete This Woggy Project:

• get bag need measurements from Chad
  
• sketch up a pattern plan, including a plan for sturdy straps
  
• cut fabric to sew
  
• sew bag together
  

Woggy #20: Home Inventory

Any of the responsible among you will know it's a good idea for everyone to have a homeowner's or renter's insurance policy, which provides for you in case of unfortunate incidents resulting in the loss or damage of the insides of your home. One can always use the standard suggested amounts for families of certain size, and rely on one's memory when the day-after filling in of the paperwork is required (hmm.. was that 13 or 130 handbags I had..?) but these can in many cases be wildly inaccurate, and it turns out there is actually a better and more precise way of assessing this, called a household inventory. The very dutiful among us will actually follow thru on this in a manner that is more than just a small envelope filled with one or two outdated snapshots per room of your house and a handwritten note that says "Think that necklace Aunt Agnes gave me might be worth something. Get appraised." Doing so requires making a list of all your belongings, along with an estimated value of those items. However, even the most responsible among us can't really bear to go through this process more than about once every five years, as it is very tedious and laborious.

My husband recently brought it to our attention that the amount on our homeowner's policy had not been changed in at least 5 years, and perhaps that might be out of date considering all of the newer, higher-quality furniture and other things we had purchased over that period, to replace all the ones bought during or just after our years in college, when our finances and tastes were considerably less discerning. I tried to avoid the inevitable, but I knew that this could only really mean one thing, that it was time to dust off the old household inventory for an update.

Conveniently, there have been some technological advances since then and with the use of digital cameras and photo uploading now being second nature, and software to make the best advantage of this, the process has been made somewhat easier. And by somewhat I mean it is somewhat easier to carry a ten-gallon screw-top titanium jug filled from your bathtub faucet across the living room than it is to carry two wooden buckets of 5 gallons each on a broomstick from the town well.

So I have begun this task, and it is of course taking much longer than I had originally anticipated. I began with the three simplest areas of my house, which I knew would have the least number of items and complications. Going thru and finding prices, model numbers, and proper product names for these items alone has already taken me the better part of several afternoons of valuable summertime. One of which has already been completely wasted due to an unfortunate forgetting-to-save followed by a fatal program crash. I haven't had the courage or endurance to return since then, though I'm sure I'll be finishing that and moving on to all of the more complicated rooms of the house soon.

Oh, and by the way, I have had at least one reward so far for all my hard work.. Finding out my framed space-stamps sheet, originally purchased new for $20 to fulfill my nerdly cross-section of both stamps and sci-fi/space hobbies, is now apparently worth $225! Wow, it's like starring on Antiques Roadshow... thanks, Household Inventory!

Things Left to Complete This Woggy Project:

• research & re-enter all of the item details for the coat closet
  
• take down holiday items and photograph them
• put holiday items back away
• upload holiday item photos & add to hall closet folder
  
• research & enter item details for holiday items
• photograph kitchen, dining area, living room, bedroom, garden, WIC, master bath, workroom, & workroom closet
• upload photos for all above rooms, and place in appropriate folders
• research and enter item details for all above items
• print out new household inventory
• adjust homeowner's insurance to new amount
• replace old inventory with the new one in our lockbox
  

Update: Woggy #19

I have actually made pretty significant progress on this now. Just a few last minute things (which for me of course always take the longest to actually complete).

Things I can check off my Woggy to-do list:

x rip open all the new packages
x begin hammering, drilling, ratcheting, and hanging
x finish hammering, drilling, ratcheting, and hanging
x make labels for all the new bins
x sort everything into its proper place
x clean up the tools and other project debris

Things Left to Complete This Woggy Project:

• decide on how to permanently attach labels (and do it)
  
• amaze husband with dazzling mail and message efficiency possibilities
  
• school husband and self in proper use and upkeep of said dazzling system
• hope for the best

Summer

Yeah, yeah, 5 weeks... what can I say? It's summer for cryin' out loud. I've been busy with summer things. Pretty good reason, if you ask me.

Woggy #19 Mail & Info Sorter/Organizer

Mail sorting, message delivering and communication, and other such related issues have always been an extremely vexing thorn in the side of my household. While I understand these are not simple issues for anyone, they seem to be a particularly difficult issue for us, even though we are a tiny ole household of two.

Always one for analyzing a vexing problem and attempting to create efficiently working systems so solve them, this is one I have thrown my efforts most valiantly against in various goes over the past many years. Yet, while some aspects have improved over the various iterations, this problem has continued to plague us with its clutter, miscommunications and general untidiness. So I set out several months ago to (um, once again...) resolve this problem in a permanent fashion. And finally this time, I actually saw some hope that it'd really come together this time.

I researched products, I measured various inches, I assessed needs, I studied usage patterns, and many other probably ridiculous things until I had decided on a system, a set of products to make that system, and a blueprint for how that system would go together. I was very thrilled. I ordered all the necessary goods and waited with baited breath for my fabulous plan to come together.

As it happened, half of my order was shipped immediately, with the other half to arrive within 2 weeks. I originally decided I'd just wait until I had everything delivered to install it all, but as I unloaded my first set of boxes, my enthusiasm got the better of me. Within the ensuing three hours there were packages ripped open, holes drilled, screws ratcheted, nails nailed, magnets magneted, memos posted, and messages..., um..., messaged. Never mind this was only half of the system.

My enthusiasm still brimming, I left out all of the screwdrivers, hammer, drill, extension cord, etc. etc. to wait for the second shipment's arrival, where I was sure I would get to the finishing just as efficiently as I handled the first batch. Of course, things rarely work out exactly as planned.

I did manage on the day of the second shipment to put up a few additional items, which only required double-stick-tape to put up. the rest I left to do "tomorrow".

And so have they sat since then, waiting, waiting. Meanwhile, we have tried to become adjusted to our new half-assed system. This system, while better in a couple of aspects than the old one, is for the remainder of the aspects (namingly the where the heck do I put all this mail aspect) is much less adequate, about half as good as you might have half-expected this half-baked, half-completed system to be working. Old bad habits are mixing with new bad habits, and are threatening to tear down the fabric of my beauteous, wonderful system before it even has a chance to get started. So, I'm afraid the pressure is on, which of course may make this whole completion thing all that more difficult to manage.

In any case, I still have hope that any day now, I'll get the rest of this system put up, and everything will begin to magically begin working like the efficient dream I originally had. We'll see how this works out... I've got my hammer and step stool sitting at the ready for the moment it does.

Things Left to Complete This Woggy Project:

• rip open all the new packages
• begin hammering, drilling, ratcheting, and hanging
• finish hammering, drilling, ratcheting, and hanging
• make labels for all the new bins
• sort everything into its proper place
• clean up the tools and other project debris
• amaze husband with dazzling mail and message efficiency possibilities
  
• school husband and self in proper use and upkeep of said dazzling system
• hope for the best
  

Update: Woggy #15

Back in February I mentioned I had been working through a difficult book called Get Out of Your Mind and Into Your Life. Having taken a break recently for one of my periodic spiritual retreats, where my goal is generally to center and refocus myself, I decided to put an emphasis on reopening the book and making another serious go at the next book exercise.

While it was difficult and I avoided getting around to it more than I would have liked, once I did open the book and start rereading the section that had been giving me trouble, I found myself moving through the next pages and their exercises in a foot-after-foot fashion. While it still required considerable intention to turn each page and do each exercise, I found myself on the last day of my retreat two chapters forward, where I stopped not out of fear, but due to the request of the book and exercise itself. The exercise was one of writing down a list of difficult tasks associated with the things brought up by the previous exercise, and setting yourself a timeline to attempt the first of those items on the list. Once you finish with that task, you then continue through the list. So an intentional resting point of sorts in terms of reading through the book.

I felt really good having worked through the difficulties and reached the point I had, which was made to feel even more of an achievement after reading the last summarizing words of the chapter:

"If you've made it this far, then you've done some really good work."

Things I can check off my Woggy to-do list:

x set aside time to read
x write down the answer to troublesome question
x continue reading
x keep moving through next stumbling block

Things Left To Complete This Woggy Project:

• being working through the list of items in chapter 10
  
• continue until all items are accomplished
  
• consider doing the daily/weekly mindfulness exercises from the earlier chapter
• begin reading chapter 11
  
• continue reading and doing exercises until the end of the book is reached

Update: Woggies #1 and #3

Woggy #1 Update: BC Trip Scrapbook

I can now check some items off my Woggy To-do list:

X wait for photos and scrapbook cover,etc. to be delivered
X plan scrapbook layout
X create any needed text or other related content
X paste up first 7 days of trip

Things left to complete this woggy project:

• paste up remaining 5 days of trip
  
• punch holes in the pages
  
• assemble scrapbook
• clean up the disaster zone left behind by this project
• sit back on my couch with my scrapbook and reminisce about my fab trip

Woggy #3 Update: Learning Calculus

As often happens with true progress, the latest burst of activity towards completing this woggy came in a completely inadvertent and unexpected fashion. Having finally moved into the 21st century by getting an iPod nano for my birthday, I was looking to try out all of its various features, and stumbled across the iTunes U section of the store, in particular the completely free Calculus class offered by MIT's open courseware. So I figured what the heck, why not download? Of course as the entire point of me visiting the store that day was to find some sort of content other than music for my nano, as a test run to see if I could figure out how to make everything work properly, I had to upload the first lecture and try it out to see how everything worked. So before I knew it there I was sitting in my living room, watching the tiniest professor in the world give me a first day intro lecture all about derivatives. Once it was over I suddenly realized, hey! Look at that I've started learning Calculus finally!

I can now check some items off my Woggy To-do list:

X order calculus video class
X actually begin watching calculus class
X finish watching Lecture 1 (and understanding it!)

Things left to complete this woggy project:

• download and print out supplemental materials for this class
  
• watch, take notes and do any problems required for Lectures 2 - 16
  
• donate some money to MIT's open coursework program for goodness sakes!
• download the second Calculus class in the series
• repeat steps 1 & 2 for second class
• go and read all those physics chapters I couldn't read before I understood Calc!