Rock Shelves

I got all my rocks put up. I don't think I have any more hiding in storage or anything. I'd still like to put lighting in there to make it all shine, but for now I'm just glad to get it all out, like I've been wanting to do for years. My large citrine specimen is on the top of a shelf right next to the shelves, but it didn't make it into any of the pictures, so I just wanted to make sure you all knew it wasn't left out intentionally. :)

Here's the top-to-bottom view. The box with drawers on the top of the bookcase is a collection of rocks that my dad got me through one of those "buy through the mail and get a monthly delivery" things. There is a binder right next to it that is the paperwork that comes with each delivery, telling you about everything. It's pretty neat.

Zoomed in on the first two shelves. Yes, that's a pirate bear. It's showing off the three white and orange agate teardrops I bought in Tucson this year. The green tree in the background was found on a Game Night Weaverville trip many moons ago. I think my great-grandpa owned the really nice petrified wood at the back of the top shelf. Most everything else up there was bought in Tucson this year. The second shelf has a rock that Gordon & Mary gave me, which is the same rock as one of the memorials that was built in Texas (I can't remember which memorial statue thing it was right now). The giant salt crystal was also Danny's (my great-grandpa). It's also one of my favorites, but I'd say that for just about everything on these shelves. In the back of the second row are some neat agate slaps and in the center front is a really pretty quartz specimen with peach-colored calcite crystals on it:

Zoomed in on the 3rd and 4th shelves. I'm not positive where I got much of what is on the third shelf. Pretty specimens that I found through the years and got from friends. That's all I really recall. The fourth shelf is full of specimens that my friend Dan sent me from his time working in some mines. There are some great stibnite, realgar, orpiment, calcite, quartz and barite. I of course like the vibrant colors found in realgar and orpiment:

Zoomed in on the bottom two shelves. These are some more random specimens. I remember picking up the green and brown interwoven chert pieces on one of my geology field trips in college. It's just so neat to look at. I'm not sure where most of the others came from, but they're interesting enough to earn a place on these shelves. As you ca tell, the bottom shelf is reserved for some of my geology books. I've kept the majority of geology textbooks from college, but they wouldn't all fit, so they get to stay in a box in storage:

I took the pictures with my phone, so they may not be great, but you get the idea. I'm stoked to have this finally done!

How's it been?

All I can think to say is that it's been busy. The last week that we had the old house (until the 15th), we were there almost every evening trying to clean up. We agreed to have some painters come in because the owner didn't know how he was going to get everything done that he needed to get done before the new tenants moved in ON THE SAME DAY THAT WE WERE LEAVING THE HOUSE FOR GOOD. And he didn't even think twice about it. He just kept fretting "Oh man, how am I gonna get this done?" Why didn't he give a week between when we moved out and when the next people moved in? The carpets needed to be steam cleaned and the walls needed to be painted. But no, he didn't want to take over the bills for a week. He just wanted the new people to move in ASAP so he didn't lose any more money. Bah! I'm happy to be gone. He did a disservice to the house and to the tenants by taking too many shortcuts.

We couldn't work around the painters like we thought we could, so we ended up not being able to clean all the floors like we planned to, but by then I figured it was on the owner because we tried and the painters were in the way. We handed over the keys on Friday the 14th because the owner couldn't meet with us Saturday morning. The painters cleared out most of their crap just before we were set to hand over the keys, so we cleaned off the kitchen counters really quick, but the floors were dusted with dirt and paint chips from the drop cloths that the painters used. Our owner seemed fine with it and gave us the deposit check back in full when we traded keys, so I guess I can't complain too much. From there, with two loaded vehicles (my truck and the Beast) stuffed with what we hadn't moved over the 8th/9th, we drove to Apple and deposited the check, wiping our hands of the old house. We made a trip to Pete's place to drop off stuff of his that was in one of the trucks, then we headed to my place to unload my stuff before it got too late. We hung out with Lois for a bit afterwards, then Pete headed back home.

Since then, I've found a little time to do some unpacking, but I haven't done much. I've just been wiped out and crawling into bed not long after I get home. In the mornings this week, I've gone outside and gotten some sun and plant therapy by trimming the rose bushes that are in my yard. The root stock was running wild with suckers, which doesn't do the "real" rose any good. There was one rose that was pretty closed off in the center, so I cleared that too. It was mostly dead wood and root stock suckers, so it didn't hurt the rose any. I've been having fun with that, but now I've trimmed the dead heads and wild bits from all the roses (at least 10 bushes) and I guess I'll just have to start going into work early instead of dinking around here before heading to work in the morning... unless I start doing a little unpacking in the morning.

I'm trying to figure something out... if I go to work early, will I actually leave work early? Or will I just stay late anyway? The last time I was getting into work early (about 2.5 years ago?), I still stayed late, so I started coming into work later. I fear the same thing will happen, but I guess it can't hurt to try again and see what happens.

The weekends have been pretty busy too. One day ends up being a visiting day and then the second is a combo of lazy and not-lazy and visiting, so not a whole lot gets done except in that not-lazy period, which this last weekend was responsible for getting the kitchen basically set to rights and pinning up some lights-on-string, so I'm not complaining too loudly, just amazed that time zooms by and I haven't got as much done as I had hoped.

I have been enjoying the drive to/from work. It's only about 20 minutes (sometimes less). I've caught up on "Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me" podcasts (I was 6 episodes behind) and now I'm listening to a Coast to Coast AM talk about pyramids that a coworker gave me three years ago that I just never got around to listening to. It's pretty interesting. Next on my queue is some Radiolab podcasts. I've liked what I heard whenever Pete had it playing at home, so the drive is the perfect time for me to actually listen to episodes. I can't really listen at work without distracting myself or my coworkers in the lab. I might be able to listen at home, but I haven't really been awake at home long enough yet to try that.

Pete and I still see each other regularly, be it for tea or lunch or visiting friends or running mutual errands. It seems to work for us and hasn't gotten weird. We're still good friends and Pete still loves crossing my comfort boundary to get a reaction from me, just like he does with all his friends.

That's all for now. I love you guys. Except for that guy there, lurking, and that chick there, sneering. ;)

- E5