Heard from Zen

[BakerAunt]

When we last heard from Wonky, she told us her niece had been diagnosed with the same brain tumor that had caused the niece's brother's death. Wonky was doing her best to support their distraught mother and to be strong for everyone. I don't know if Wonky has been able to look in, but I hope that she knows that all of us are thinking of her and her family.

I also have been hoping that the posts on Zen's site might bring in people who were never on the Baking Circle but who happen across her site and want to find a place where they can participate in baking discussions. I will keep posting the two basic threads on Zen's site until the end of the year, and then I will decide if I will continue doing so. I'll also keep reminding people of this site.

[cwcdesign]

I actually just heard from Zen. She's been busy painting and it sounds like she's having issues with the host site (I think that's what it's called). She asked for the information for this site. I gave her the URL and Mike's email address. The boy child is looking at other jobs so she may or may not be staying put.

[luvpyrpom]

Sorry, I've been MIA for a while - work has been busy and trying to get ready for the holidays has kept me busy. I have been able to get on Zen's site and also following DL's page on FB. I think the other Mike also has a FB page called "Mike's Home Bakery" that just started.

[Pyewacket]

I feel like the guy in Monty Python's Holy Grail - "I'm not dead yet!"

LOL!

Sorry for the technical problems. I'm not sure yet if I chose my host poorly or not. Since traffic has pretty much petered out, I am not sure how much its up and how much its down. I think its always been up for me, but I got lots of reports that others couldn't get in.

Also there is a trick to getting it to not log you off. I forget exactly what it is but I'll look at it and let you know. It's easy, I just don't remember offhand what it is. It's a little non-intuitive - but again, it's a function of the host and the way they chose to implement the software.

I've been blaming the problems getting in on an upgrade to the site software, but if they changed ISPs - maybe it was an issue with the ISP that just coincidentally happened at the same time as the update.

I think I will try to keep it up and see if things can get better over there. But honestly, as far as content, I can't do that by myself. Right now I'm not baking at all and probably won't until after we get moved again. We'll just see how it goes.

So here's the deal - my son got a job at a new University in another state. We just bought this house that I've worn myself out on trying to get it painted and reno'd. The issues here have been mostly due to 2 things -

1) the place had 3 heavy smokers living in it for many years. Result being massive thick nasty smelly tar deposits. So before I could paint, I had to clean. And before I could paint after cleaning, I had to double-prime with an oil-based primer meant to lock down the smell. I used KILZ original if anybody is wondering. And because it was oil-based, there was oil-based paint smell plus a lot more work cleaning up.

2) I decided to strip all the woodwork. This was my death knell, LOL!

Basically I wore myself out, and part of that was unnecessary and a poor decision on my part. So I drove myself into a hole that I'm still pulling myself out of, LOL!

So we just bought this place in June and its still only about halfway fixed up, and now we will be moving out of state. The question at this point being, do we put this place up for sale and I go now, or do we hold on to it for a year or two (to maximize Profit given real estate here is going up rapidly and will likely continue to do so save we have a sudden Depression/Recession again).

So I'm still sort of in limbo with no idea where I will be 6 months from now.

Sorry to be "disappeared" again, but that's pretty much my life nowadays. I will seem fine for a long while and then suddenly - dropped through the floor with no warning, LOL!

[Mike Nolan]

There were problems at first, and right after your host moved to a different ISP, but it's been up every time I've gone there for the past several months, so I think they got it worked out.

[cwcdesign]

Hi Zen,

Nice to "see" you here. I hope all goes well with the changes and moves in your future!

[Pyewacket]

Back again. I've had a long "drifty" period, sorry. I'm just not reliable, sadly.

So I WON'T be moving to Tejas with my son due to a blowup on DIL's part. I don't know what got into her but she started shouting at me in a restaurant and issuing ultimatums as to where I WOULD (according to her) be going. I was upset myself and asked her VERY calmly to please stay out of the conversation - which was probably not the best way to phrase it but it was a lot better than just telling her to stop yelling at me. Pretty sure that would have been worse.

Plus, when my son said "I'm not sure but even though this is a great job, I might be going elsewhere in a few years" (because he has several friends in the Political Science Dept of a University on the East Coast, which is their preferred location, and mine as well, truth be told). Whereupon DIL stated "We will DEFINITELY not be staying in TX because I HATE TX."

Ummmm ... academics don't have THAT much choice of location plus "really good job" there in Tejas plus SHE HAS NEVER EVEN BEEN THERE.

Which is all really between them. But for me - what, move me barely a year after buying this place, and then make me move again, when I never wanted to come here 3+ years ago in the FIRST place? I think not. I'd rather just stay put and wait for them to settle, or decide they are settled in TX, if that's what happens.

So no, I will NOT be moving to TX with them.

However she is STILL angry at me and is running around telling people I told her to "shut up" (which I did not). She will not leave her room if I go over there, and sometimes she will make an ostentatious amount of noise to make sure I know she is leaving the house rather than be there with awful awful me. It's been 2 months at least by now. She should either be over it by now, or at least willing to discuss it with me - but no, that's not how OCD passive aggressive people do things, I guess, LOL!

So I'm not good enough to talk to or have in the house, but apparently I'm good enough to drive over there every day to take care of their cats while they're gone house hunting in TX next week, LOL!

Oh well. Them's the breaks I guess. Perhaps she will become less angry once she's actually in a different time zone, LOL!

Anyway ... STILL not dead yet!

[Author]

Posts