My New Office

 I finally got my new office space done, and I couldn’t be happier with it!

The desk we bought was from a used furniture store and is actually a dining table. It’s hand-made, and super heavy. Bryan had to replace the braces that hold the legs on, just to make it sturdier. It’s about 4’ wide by 6’ long, giving me plenty of room to spread out with my two monitors and whatnot.

My chair is just a regular chair, nothing special about it except that the seat is extra wide so I can sit cross-legged if I want to. Viktor sleeps in my lap a lot, so I had to consider that when I purchased it. I also got a floor mat for it, but the darned thing is too wimpy, so I ended up moving it over to the craft area.

The cables running from the monitors and keyboard over to the computer were a big jumble of mess, so I had Bryan drill a hole in the table to run the cables down through to the computer on the floor. He bundled them all up and attached them to the bottom of the table so you can’t see them from across the room. It really cleaned the workspace up a lot! I even have a multi-plug strip mounted up there, in case I ever need to plug more things in.

To finish off my workspace, I had him help me hang some pictures up on the wall. On one side, I have my elephant from Africa (really like that photo) and on the other side I have a poster that was made for me by my sister-in-law’s 5^th grade class from about 10 years ago (they made it to thank me for reading to them on my lunch hours that year). I even have a cat bed made up with blankets, pillows, and a heating pad at my feet for the kittens to nap on.

The computer itself is running smoothly, although we have had a few speed bumps along the way. I am mostly ready to turn my old computer back into the office but will hang on to it a while longer in case I come across something I haven’t thought of yet. I do need a few more programs loaded onto the new one still, but since they do that all online it’s no big deal.

Whiskey Tasting with Jack Daniels

I’m not a huge fan of Jack Daniels, I have to admit. But I do love these virtual tastings, so went ahead and signed up for this one, facilitated by Brown Jug and hosted by Jack Daniel’s brand ambassador, Ed Tecosky.

As usual, we bought out tasting kit earlier from the warehouse in Wasilla:

• Jack Daniel's Single Barrel
• Jack Daniel's Single Barrel - Rye
• Jack Daniel's Single Barrel - Barrel Proof

This tasting was an interesting one in that it was presented in the form of a Trivia game. We scanned a bar-code (no pun intended) they displayed on the screen which loaded the ap onto our phones. The game consisted of 21 questions on the history of the company and of Jack Daniels himself: some True or False, some multiple choice. You got more points the faster you answered, and even more points if you answered correctly.

Bryan and I did not do so well, ending up in 22 place (out of 25 players) – but there were prizes for the top three contestants. I assume the Jack Daniels company got their names & addresses from them after the tasting, to make sure they got what they won.

Somewhere during all that chaos, we tasted our whiskey. It almost felt like an afterthought, truth be told. Like “Oh, yeah… I guess we should actually drink something here.” But Bryan was happy with it, so I didn’t complain.

Viktor’s Appointment

As you all know my Viktor has a rare blood type, so he is a member of the Blood Donor program that his Vet created. To be in the program, the cat must have a good personality - one that tolerates handling and blood draws - and must be of good health. As a bonus to the cat’s human, we receive a free yearly check-up on the cat, including x-rays, full blood works, and flea/tick medicine if necessary. We also get a photo of our cat posted on their Wall of Honor, for all the world to see.

Yesterday was Viktor’s first annual check-up. Sadly, it did not go as well as his initial start-up appointment did. Viktor is upset at me for moving my office upstairs (he doesn’t like it upstairs but wants to sleep on my lap like he’s done since I started working from home). So, when the vet started poking him with needles to draw blood, he started struggling which caused the vet tech to nick him in the neck with the needle. He’s fine, there’s no real harm done – but he did come home with a bright yellow bandage around his neck which was rather startling. He did not like it – but had to wear it for at least an hour to make sure the wound stopped bleeding.

Honestly, though; when I finally took the bandage off there was no blood on the cotton at all. Still, it’s best to be safe.

Viktor has not been called upon to actually give blood yet, aside from that first time to make sure he could give. Cat’s blood is different than human blood in that it cannot be stored for months at a time, so they wait until they actually NEED it before calling for it. Thankfully, no cat has needed my Viktor yet – but we’re just a phone call away, so rest assured when he is called, he will be there.

Weekend Get-Away in Talkeetna

Bryan and I took of Friday afternoon and headed up north to Talkeetna for the weekend. It was our normal Friday Off, so we took our time and ambled our way up the highway. The snow just kept on getting deeper and deeper as we went, ending up with well over two feet at the cabin we’d rented for the weekend. It’s so pretty!

Our cabin was a tiny one, with some rather ingenious quirks getting all the necessary items crammed in there while still providing a livable space. There was a TV with cable available for our use, but it was located at a very strange angle from the couch, so watching our movies at night was interesting. The wrought iron ladder leading up to the sleeping loft was right smack-dab in the way of entry to the kitchenette, so you had to duck and twist each time you went in or out of the kitchen.

But honestly, it wasn’t all that bad. We had room for me to work on my artwork while Bryan worked on his computer. The kittens enjoyed exploring the place. Viktor even learned how to climb up a ladder! Mind you, he never did figure out how to climb down the ladder – he’d just sit up there and cry until I went up and got him. Come to think of it – maybe he did figure out how to get down!

This whole COVID thing really does suck. Last year in Talkeetna trip was so much fun with the Taste of Talkeetna, breakfast at the Roadhouse, and lots of Christmas shopping and people watching. This year, the Taste was canceled, the Roadhouse is closed, less than half the shops have managed to keep their doors open, and the whole place is a Ghost Town.

Still, we had Mountain High Pizza delivered to us for our first dinner, went to the Denali Brew Pub for our second dinner (masks required until your food arrives), and got breakfast to go from the Flying Squirrel. All in all, it wasn’t that bad.