Category: Uncategorized

The time change did a real number on me today. I was feeling alright during the day but when I got home I almost instantly felt the fatigue set in. I’m going to bed now.

So, in a previous post, I wrote about my desire to remove a baseboard so an electrician could install a baseboard heater in living room. I gotta admit I was a bit unsure about how I could get this done by myself.

The tool I ordered that apparently makes this process a breeze arrived on Wednesday. I picked it up and then went to the dollar store to buy a small and thin putty knife and a utility knife as well. Using the utility knife, I scored the edge between the top of the baseboard where it meets the drywall. There’s a sealant or caulk there and you need to cut that so the drywall doesn’t come off with the baseboard. Then using the putty knife and a rubber mallet, I began to gingerly wedge the knife in between the top of the baseboard and the dry wall. This part is the most difficult because you’re trying to create the first gap between the two components where this is none. I was really carefully to put the putty knife straight down so it would cut at an angle. If I tiled it one way, I could cut into the dry wall and the other way, I’d be cutting into the baseboard.

I really lucked out and the putty knife slid into a gap between the dry wall and the baseboard after a few taps of the rubber mallet. It was really tight, so I had be to super careful pulling the knife out. Once I made the first gap, it was much easier to move the knife along and then use the mallet again to loosen the top of the baseboard. Slow and steady, I made my wall along the whole top of the baseboard until there was a small but visible gap between it and the dry wall.

I left the final part until Saturday to do. I woke up and almost immediately went to work on it. With the small gap there, using the trim puller tool was so easy. I started on one end and hammered the tool down into the gap. The tool has a wedge that separates the baseboard from the drywall automatically. This is where the real work was being done. The gap went from a few millimeters to about half an inch (mixing my units here). Again, I worked the tool along the length of the baseboard so there was enough space for me to see all the nails that were holding it to the dry wall. While there weren’t a ton of nails present, they were long and strong. I had to break out some work gloves to get a real good hold on the baseboard and I just pulled as hard as I could from one end to the other. I had to rock it back and forth a few times but once the first set of nails comes out completely from one end, you’ve got it.

I was so happy to see the whole baseboard just come off the dry wall. I also was able to do it with no damage to the baseboard or the dry wall. This was my biggest concern. I’m really happy I did this by myself instead of getting some dude to do it. I saved a ton of money that way. Here’s what I thought was critical in getting this done successfully. First, was knowing what I needed to do and seeing how others did it. I watched several YouTube videos, some using regular tools and others using the specialized tool I bought. That convinced me I needed that tool. This almost seems like a no-brainer but if buying a specialized tool is going to make your life 100x better, then just spend the money for it.

I wrote “mission accomplished” as a bit of a joke because this is just the first part of the process. I still need to get an electrician in install the heater. In doing so, the electrician will need to cut the dry wall unfortunately, so there are dry wall repairs in my future. This home improvement adventure is far from done.

This is a big weekend for me because I am going to attempt to remove one of my baseboards off the wall while simultaneously trying to prevent damaging both my drywall and the baseboard itself.

I’ve watched a dozen YouTube videos on how to do this and also ordered a special tool which people have said makes this a trivial exercise. Yet, despite all of this, I feel like I’m going to screw it somehow. I am not a handy person around the house. At the same time, I did some research and it would have cost me about $200 to get an actual handyman to do this. For that amount of money, I am willing to give this a try.

I’ll let you know what happens!

I returned to work today after being away for almost a week. I don’t know why my company doesn’t have a more clearly defined work at home policy. Commuting wastes so much time in day when I could be working instead. I could actually have a shorter work day but work more hours for my company if I could work from home. Instead of getting ready for work and commuting, I could be at my computer ten minutes after waking up.

Anyways, it was a bit weird being at work again. While I was working at home, the studio changed the security company contract, so it was a completely different set of security people at the front desk. They were not very prepared for their first week. They didn’t know how to give people temporary badges if they forgot their own. They didn’t know how to operate the parking gates, so lots of employees couldn’t enter the campus. They weren’t answering the visitor call boxes when couriers were trying to get access to the shipping dock. It was a mess.

As for the studio and the employees, I saw that some people had decided to continue to work at home. I don’t blame them, it was kinda unnerving to know someone was potentially infected with COVID-19 at work. Even though that employee didn’t test positive, people in the lower mainland continue to come down with the infection. So, staying at home does make things a bit safer.

I’m looking forward to the weekend.

I mentioned in previous posts that I’ve been working from home for the past few days. More accurately, I haven’t been at the studio since Wednesday. The reason for this is that employees were informed one of our co-workers had travelled to Europe, came home, went back to work, and subsequently became ill with flu-like symptoms. The critical part of this is that they had visited a country that became a location where COVID-19 infections spiked alarmingly after they returned home.

Studio management erred on the side of caution and informed everyone at the studio. The person who became ill stayed home and was immediately tested for a COVID-19 infection. Because the test results were not available right away, employees were given the option to stay at home, even if they had no abilities to work remotely, without any penalty. I chose to work at home on Thursday and judging by the early closures of the cafeteria and the coffee shops, many others did so as well. Since the test results were not available on Friday, I continued to work from home on that day as well.

Today, a Tuesday, was my fourth day of working from home. Late today, a studio-wide e-mail was sent out, which announced the results had come back negative. While this is good news, the company is still going ahead with a disinfection of the entire studio, which will require two complete nights of effort. Furthermore, despite the negative diagnosis, management has stated that if people still feel uncomfortable about returning to work, they may continue to work from home. I have made the decision to return to work tomorrow but won’t hesitate to work from home again if a similar situation arises again.

Ten years ago, I would have never envisioned a global pandemic as one of the things that would make it difficult for us to develop a video game, yet, here we are. We live in strange times now.

I worked from home today and I will again tomorrow. Tuesday will be my fourth day in a row working from home. I really enjoy working from home but I admit I got a bit stir-crazy today. I only went outside once during the work day and that was to get a quick breakfast and a coffee. It was freezing today.

I hope I’ll soon be able to explain why I’m working from home so much now.

So I’ve been thinking about trying out more recipes that use a Chinese wok. In the past when I’ve used a wok, I’ve done so with my electric range and for those in the know, the heat you get with such a range isn’t hot enough to make the best use of a wok. The best flavours and caramelization comes a wok heated to the high temperatures from a gas-powered stove.

Now, I can’t install a gas range in my kitchen, that’s just not practical. What is practical is buying a relatively inexpensive portable butane gas stove. It’s perfect for the random times where I’ll need to cook with higher temperatures and it’s easy to store when I don’t need it.

Another added benefit is that it will be extremely handy during emergency situations. Outside of candles and matches, I have no other source of heat in my emergency kit. Having a butane stove would allow me to be able to cook and in a pinch, provide warmth.

While I didn’t file it just yet, I prepared my tax return tonight. Also, of note, for the first time in well over twenty years, I did not use TurboTax (also previously called QuickTax) as my choice of tax preparation software. I was about to buy TurboTax for 2019 but a quick look at the troubleshooting forum for the product revealed a ton of complaints. There were errors with trying to get an update, forms that were locked preventing people from filing, and inaccurate numbers in the forms that were unlocked. I’m normally a creature of habit but the problems I saw were enough for me to buy and use UFile to prepare my return this year.

Yes, I will admit that TurboTax is a bit prettier when it comes to their UI. The user experience is slicker for sure. I didn’t experience any show-stopping errors in the program however. It’s also at least ten dollars cheaper in most cases. At the end of the day, I finished my return and it calculated that I will be seeing a refund of just under $2,000. This is wonderful news since last year, I had to owed money to the government, to the tune of a few grand.

I’m going to double-check a few more receipts and numbers before doing the actual filing but it’s good news on the tax return front this year. As for what I’m going to do with the money coming back, I’m leaning towards putting it towards my mortgage.

I’m working from home tomorrow and if I gotta be working, it might as well be from home. I’ll be using the time that I was going to be commuting for some extra sleep. No need to change out of my PJs, I’ll just work in those. If I need to poop, I can do it in the comfort of my own bedroom. I can get breakfast downstairs and best of all, I don’t have to eat lunch at our sub-standard cafeteria. Yay!

We’re nearing the end of February and I find that it’s still quite cold. The low tonight is about 4 degrees but it feels much colder. The low for Thursday night is just 2 degrees. I obviously don’t expect it to be shorts weather just yet but it seems like it’s been cold for so long now. At least the sun is still out when I leave work.