at the twp board meeting on Tuesday, the board decided that I needed to start the ball rolling (again) on the basement re-org. (note that I wasn't even at the meeting, because I'm only a twp employee, and I had somewhere else to be.) To be fair, the reason the ball had stopped is because TE had emergency abdominal surgery and was understandably out of action for six weeks. But he's back on his feet now, and can at least manage things. So I amended the write-up I did last time, and sent it out. Hopefully something will happen now.

FCB rehearsal was on stage this week (a last minute change because the bandroom was full of sorting music/instruments/uniforms, and their band director didn't want it rearranged). I put a big sign in red and black marker on a music stand in front of the door, and yet.... Every time I (or somebody else on set up) went back into the bandroom for percussion, there was a band member looking around, perplexed. One person had even taken it upon themselves to set up a chair and stand in the area where they usually sit.

The birds are getting to the strawberries before I do. There's only a dozen bearing plants this year, and this historical variety (my grandfather bought the first plants in 1933) is not one that has lots of fruit. We had lots of berries when I was a kid, but that's because we had 200 sq feet of strawberry patch, not 10. Well, and the soil at King Rd was better than the soil here, and I just don't have the spoons to do the required amendment here.

The pale pink peonies bloomed yesterday, and the dark pink ones have that lovely sun-faded look to them. And there is a carpet of white peony petals, and a thicket of lupine seed heads. I guess I know what I'll be doing this afternoon. :)

ETA: It's Friday the 13th. A black cat has already crossed my path. (OK, so he does that every day. I don't think it'll change anything.)

but still some same ol' things.

LCCB is still far more freeform than I like. Every summer, I wonder why I play the summer schedule. DM is concerned about our stage comportment, but doesn't do a damn thing about the sprawling layouts with random people way far away from other people who mostly play the same part. But people seem to enjoy the concerts, so I guess that's why I keep playing....

Sup is doing the "why is this not done yet" queries, and my response is "because TW and HandymanDan haven't gotten back to me (or you) to schedule. *You* poke them...." BC is finally up to a trek into the basement to see the status down there, and OMG there's a lot of work to be done. No more than there was (less, actually, as I've taken the recycling in). Somebody else needs to take the rubbish. Other somebodies need to schedule TE and HD for a day of moving big stuff. OTOH, the AC is now working -- something in the compressor needed to be replaced, so it was and now it works. Just as well, as we are now in an "if you don't need to breathe outside, don't" portion of the summer. (Canadian prairies are on fire, and we get the smoke. yay?)

Early last week, I moved the main plants from the deckside garden to their new home. Then it got hot for a couple of days, and then it rained for about 18 hours, so they're well watered in. The East garden is very appreciative of the weather - everything is blooming! Peonies, Lupine, three shades of pink daisies, three very different irises (white, dark purple, yellow & bronze), and bright yellow paintbrush. And some scattered magenta & white & purple carnations.... It's been a few years since everything in that garden has flowered this profusely. There are some spring bulbs in there that I need to move, because they don't bloom before the shasta daisies around them get tall, so they're hard to see. If I move them to the new garden, we'll be able to see them!

The concert last Sunday went quite well. I had a bit of a moment when I walked in and realized the *shape* and size of the space I had to work with. (I did not *quite* swear in church.) It did not fit the shape of the band very well at all! [I don't think the actual shape of the space changed from the last time we played this venue, but the renovations had fixed some of the issues with the sound. (my mother said to J "these acoustics are dreadful" the last time we played there.)] BM was still out ill, so I had a list of numbers to work from for setup. I wound up doing the final setup (once we got the chairs into rows) pretty much solo, because I was making it up as I went along, and there just wasn't room for more than one person moving chairs. It was a very tight fit. It didn't feel as tight as some spaces, because the edges were defined by low things (altar steps, kneeler rail) so we didn't feel like we were up against the walls. The actual performance went well, too! I was very tired after that, though.

Still no external monitor at work - local IT thinks it's probably the cable, but he didn't look at it until Wednesday, so it'll be next week before I know. The IT company that does the system IT screwed up Treasurer's computer setup, and are being cagey about fixing it (too busy figuring out who did it, rather than how to fix it. To be fair, they may need to know who did it to know exactly what they did...). T is very irked by this, and is making noises about finding another IT provider. I think that's a bad idea, as this is the first time there's been any real issue with the IT provider....

I have not gotten into the garden at all this week. It's been chilly (highs in the 50s!) all week, and raining a lot. Today is supposed to be not rainy, so maybe I can get out there this afternoon and (carefully!) pull some of the very very happy weeds.

now that the grand office shuffle of 2025 is over, local IT decided that he really needed to _do_ the computer upgrade/transition that was budgeted for the 2024-2025 fiscal year.

As far as I can tell, there were no major issues. Some of my work actually got easier(!) as the upgrade fixed the voter database printing issues (I can now print natively from the website, rather than going through a multistep process). Logging in to the voter database *and* the accounting software both required only one extra confirmation each. As I got upgraded to a physically smaller laptop, I also got an external monitor, which required a certain amount of desktop rejiggering, but that, too, is done.

I hauled a trunkload of cardboard boxes off to the recycling center on my way home from work, so that's another stack of shtuff out of the basement.

I have been slowly working my way through the gardens, but we've been getting (much needed!) rain, so there've been days when I've been home but the ground's been too soft. I was able to get into the E garden yesterday afternoon and do some weeding, though. Tomorrow, I think I'll move a few things from the deckside garden which is going away so that J can replace the deck skirting. We will need to replace the cat's "stack of sun warmed bricks" at some point, though....

it was a concert. We got a really congratulatory note from the director today, and I wonder if he was at the same concert I was. I mean, I understand that as a performer in the band, I tend to hear a lot of infelicities, and don't really hear the entire effect, but.... OTOH, some of my reaction may be colored by the fact that I "missed" three rehearsals for this concert, and there was a lot of finger-flying in the TSax part, and I was really off my game (I spent two rehearsals on BSax, then missed one because I had a (paid) FCB gig).

Got to the office today, and discovered that the plumbing issue we discovered Thursday afternoon is still not solved - the building was dark and there was a sign on the door saying "closed". Undoubtedly, Sup sent an email and mine went to my work email which I don't check when I'm not at work, mostly because when IT was setting my system up, he didn't set me up for offsite access. (This is a feature, not a bug, AFAIAC.) It was not a completely wasted trip though, as I was able to put the flag back up -- it'd been at halfmast for Pope Francis.

Last night's FCB rehearsal was very tiring, so it's probably just as well that I don't have rehearsal tonight. But I have no excuse for not weeding. (well, other than J is mowing, and I want to be on the other side of the house from the mower).

BC is back at work, so last week I actually wrote down the plan for the sliding-tile game that is the basement rearrangement. (Sup wanted it all written out, not just a map. She really wants to get the shed sorted out, but we can't do that until we get the election infrastructure into the basement. And I only want to move it once!)

Tuesday's clinician visit to LCCB went really well. He worked us a lot harder than DM usually does, and really seemed to concentrate on the middle voices (baritone, tsax, low clarinets), so I had two days of hard musical work in a row. I was very tired on Wednesday.

I've been working in the garden when I can, but it's been a typical April -- cold and rainy one day, nice and sunny the next, usually with the nice days on days I have other things to do. I spent over an hour picking up branches yesterday morning, and then last night we got more wind, so there are *more* branches to be picked up (well, and the ones I didn't get to yesterday). I should do those today, but I need to run to the grocer (I had to stay home yesterday for Reasons).

BC is back in hospital. I do not *know* why, but I suspect that her system is not tolerating the strong oral antibiotics well, and so they need to be administered intravenously. She finished the first round of strong antibiotics, but apparently the pneumonia did not clear up as the docs wanted it to, so.....

So yesterday I did payroll. whee? (and Sup and Treas were off at a state meeting, so it was me and the office manager.) Tomorrow, S & T should be back, so I can consult with T about getting the GL entry for April's payroll done, and see if BC did the one for March. If she didn't, I need to do that one before I do April. I may have to do checks this month as well -- last month, BC came back for a week and was able to do them while dodging moving crews. (I don't like doing anything that requires me to sign in as BC, because if my account doesn't have permissions, then I shouldn't be doing them, right?)

Last night, a smaller FCB (just around 50 people) did a 30 minute gig before the State of the Cities address in Farmington/Farmington Hills. It required nearly as much work as a full 90 minute concert. Perhaps a bit more, as I had to figure out a smaller layout that would fit in a smaller space. I dug out the seat "dots" (that we used in 2021 when the layout was different nearly every week) so that BM and I didn't have to point everyone to their seat.

And today it rains. nearly an inch since 8 am (it's currently 1230!), and they say we'll get more. And it's cold. (35F and rain is hard to dress for -- winter jackets aren't waterproof enough, rain coats aren't warm enough and mine aren't big enough to put warm layers under. Maybe I should remedy that....)

Z is more-or-less settled into zie's new office. Said to me "I was expecting a bit more space. But the windows are NICE."

Moving crew showed up yesterday to move C into Z's office. That was done fairly quickly, as zie had packed everything that needed to move, and the only "mess" was caused by the top desk drawer (which is not removable, and we didn't realise that it wasn't empty until they tipped the desk up to move it), but everything is still *in* the drawer. We may have to get a longer printer cable, as zie's printer isn't a network printer, but the phone is plugged in and works, and the computer is plugged in. I left the rest for IT, as I don't have (nor want!) C's password.

Then we moved the extra file cabinet from the boardroom into the space where it will go in the basement. And put everything back in the cabinet. So that's two things in their new places in the basement. There are many more that still need to be moved. The pile of rubbish in the large room needs to go away before we can really do anything else downstairs. I put a lot of it into the trash roll-away, but the stuff that's too big for the roll-away, and the cardboard, and the fluorescent tubes needs to be dealt with. I need to pack up the file cabinets in the large room so they can be moved. That's tomorrow, as is beginning to move things out of the furnace room.

Sunday's FCB concert went really well. Lots of really good moments. The entire flute section missed an entrance because they were listening to the really nice brass duet behind them (but they all came in together, in the same place, so it sounded fine). The ASax solo in Steampunk Suite was AMAZING! (We are so lucky to have him!) MB's trumpet solo at the beginning of Pictures at an Exhibition had some strut, and it was perfect....

There are many many crocuses in the side garden and yard, and a few snowdrops. The daffodils are beginning to come up in the NW garden -- I guess that means I have to rake and cut back things there this weekend. OTOH, the weather peeps say that today is the warmest it's going to be for a couple of weeks... (But I don't wanna work in the garden today.....)

got into work yesterday, and there was a message from the supervisor -- "the moving crew will be here late Thursday morning to move your office". Um. OK, then, I know what I'm doing today. Well, after I finish these other two tasks which I am in the middle of. And BC (who is back in the office with strict instructions to do nothing more strenuous than walk to the bathroom or the kitchen) is actually working, and so there's a lot of stuff that I can't pack. And there's a board meeting Tuesday evening, so there's no place to stack the boxes that I pack anyway.

So I finished the tasks I was working on, packed up my desk. Packed up the notebooks/etc on the small table. Cleared the tops of the filing cabinets. Packed the top shelf of the filing cabinet. Packed the top drawer of the lateral file. After BC finished checks, packed up the top of her desk. Called the IT guy and asked if he would be available to do the re-assembly of BC's set up (thankfully, he will be, at least for a while.)

I still need to go in either today or early Thursday and pack up the rest of the filing cabinets. And buy/assemble a shelf in the basement for the ballot boxes which are currently in the office. I don't want to move them more than I have to! I don't know if we'll be moving the other offices Thursday or not. I have the plan for our old office, but I don't know what C wants -- I think BC knew, but she didn't write it down, so hopefully she'll remember (I haven't asked).

A couple of weeks ago, I made a plan for the basement rearrangement, but yesterday I realised that we'd forgotten all the cruft that was on the side shelf in the upstairs closet, so I had to add a couple more shelving units to the basement plan. There is wall space for that, in two different areas. I think it would be best in a side room, but it could also go in the main room. Supervisor was asking about the basement rearrangement, and I said that we'd need a moving crew for at least a day, *after* they got the pile of rubbish out of the middle of the large room, and then we could start the sliding tile game of getting cabinets/shelves/desks into their "proper" places. And we could install the new shelving units, and then get the stuff out of the random cabinets/piles where it was stashed in January. Must remind the IT guy to go through the stack of old computer equipment, so we can move the desk it's on.

And there's an FCB concert this weekend, with a stage rehearsal at an offsite venue Friday night. And complete teardown between Friday night and Sunday afternoon. (I will not be unhappy if the board says that we won't be using that venue again!)

And my thumb still hurts, although not as much. I fear that moving will not help it much. Doc knows what the issue is, but doesn't know *why*, and is sending me off to a hand specialist who may be able to figure it out (with the caveat that there might not be an obvious trigger). She's pretty sure that she knows a remedy for it, but doesn't want to administer it before the specialist sees the issue.

- Doc called yesterday, following up on the conversation I had with the nurse on Wednesday. She decided that rather than sending me for an MRI which probably wouldn't show anything that the ultrasound hadn't, she'd send me off to a hand specialist and Zie could order an MRI if Zie thought it necessary. Both UMHS and Trinity are scheduling for early April. sigh.

- we didn't even get the running around to the banks finished before KB (the treasurer) had me signing checks. :)

- J's chorus is having a fundraising meal/Social Night at a restaurant in Ypsi. I wouldn't mind going, and chatting with people in the chorus, but J invited one of his friends whom I do not like to join "us". So I'm not going.

- J is not sorting his laundry, again. I get tired of it, and about every 12 months I remind him that I'd really like it if he did. He does it for a few months, and then it gets to be "too hard" or something, and I'm faced with a pile of laundry in the middle of the closet floor. Nevermind that there are two laundry baskets right there to be sorted into, and he's got to step over his heap of dirty clothes to get to the shelves.....