Monday, February 25, 2019

What I Have Been Doing This Decade

1. Slowly Purchasing a Home
What feels like forever ago but is probably about 2 years, I signed an Agreement of Sale for a condo in one of the many new developments that were underway at the time. Progress has been very slow going with painfully few [near-zero] updates, but they're currently claiming fall 2019 occupancy (that's this year!). Becoming one of the landed gentry is a huge leap for someone who's happily skipped through life without any kind of debt. I get nervous even talking to friends about it because almost everybody I know (of my wage bracket) scoffs at the idea of being able to buy in this city. Although I've been pretty settled for some years, there's always been at least the possibility of nomadism. So, I'm plagued with the kind of anxieties that probably all new home-owners suffer: can I actually afford it without cutting every non-essential expenditure out of my life? will I like living in a non-residential area? will I be happy with a downgrade in size, however slight? will the sales pitch—e.g. rooftop gardens, sauna, amenities—live up to its promise? will I like the condo itself once I see it finally constructed? will it even be well-built and free of hassles/repairs for a while? is this a huge mistake that I'll be trying to recover from until the distant future? Presumably, this year will resolve most of these.

2. Music
A couple weeks ago, I finally bought a new recorder to replace the defective Zoom H4N that died on me years ago. After an aggravating exchange with a few service reps that started with "well we can sell you a new one, would that work for you?" and ultimately ended in "oh, you're in Canada... forget everything we said, and try talking to our Far North Outpost—let me google their email address," I let the whole thing sit for about a year. But now, armed with a new computer that doesn't sound like a wind tunnel, I'm hoping to do some more recording in future (possibly not until after I move... Upstairs Guy has stepped up his noise game). If nothing else, I hope it will motivate me to play more now, as I went at least a year without so much as uncovering my piano.

3. Work
Since my last post, I've been working at a different office on campus in a temporary capacity, first covering a maternity leave, and then a second secondment (a thirdment?) in the same position. I had to return to my "permanent" job in between, and in fact I had intended to go back (and stay back) after the first stint. But a concatenation of many factors made me realize that it was a toxic place for me, and the new office was working hard to serenade me back. With the combined push from Old Office and pull from New Office, I felt cornered—albeit serendipitously—into a decision. This week I officially locked in my permanent stake in New Office position, so that's a load off my mind.

Things I Am Totally Into These days:
  • The Boghouse Podcast about my favourite composer (and all-around inspiring human)'s epic adventure in buying a theatre. Beyond epic.

  • Bullet journalling. Let's see if I can turn myself into a productive (and economical—gonna have a mortgage to pay after all) human through writing lists.

  • Not that I'm particularly into it these days, but for some reason a couple years ago I found it necessary to start an Etsy shop and sell things made out of paper scraps. It never really seemed like a good idea, even at the time. Really all it's accomplished is fill most of my living space with crafting stuff.

  • I've also been pretty into MOOCS on edX, specifically some nutrition courses and one on the science of happiness. Highly recommend!

2 comments:

Daylen said...

Why was the old office a toxic place?

Lapsura said...

Hm, I'd absolutely not give that kind of info in any public forum, so you'll have to imagine it :)