Travels, Turkey Dinner, and a Twisted Hull

   I'm sitting at my desk with a mug of very hot hot chocolate, spiked with spiced rum, and the music of the Flaming Lips is coming through my speakers. Outside, the changing leaves and cool, damp fog might just be enough to convince Victorians that Autumn has finally arrived and that we can put away the shorts and sandals we were wearing just last week. My lovely wife Megan is at work and I have the condo all to myself. Well, not entirely. Our cat Merlin is at my feet demanding my attention making it very difficult to type this opening paragraph.

   Since Rifflandia ended, my life has been pretty quiet. I find myself looking for work once again and I'm hoping I have better luck this season than I did last season. I really only need a part time gig to get me through the winter and I hope to get back into working in live music in the spring, so long as the Mayans are wrong and we survive past December 21st.

   It was nice to get away from Victoria over the recent long weekend, though. Megan and I visited her mother in Comox for Thanksgiving (Columbus Day, for my American readers, or whatever the day was in your part of the world), and we had a nice relaxing time there. I always enjoy visiting Comox and I get along really well with Megan's mother and her husband.

   A highlight for me was taking a nice, long walk along the beach on the Friday afternoon. The air was so clear and the only sound was the chatter of the sea birds swapping fishing stories - or whatever it is birds talk about.

 

 

 

   I also made friends with Megan's mother's newest cat Sneakers.

 

 

   Of course, it wouldn't be Thanksgiving without the turkey dinner.

 

 

   In other news: I've also been spending my spare time working on another 1/700th scale model ship, my third, and the project is not without its challenges. The biggest challenge is dealing with a defective part of the kit. What you see in the next picture below is the main portion of the ship's upper hull from directly astern. Your eyes aren't tricking you, the hull is twisted.

 

Forgive the sloppy paint job around the portholes. Those details will be taken care of when I do all my paint touch-ups.

 

   Lucky for me the lower portion of the ship's hull is straight and true, so I went ahead and joined the two components as well as the main decks and gently, yet firmly, clamped it all down. With a little heat from Megan's hair dryer the twist should work itself out.

 

 

   I still have a lot of work to do on the ship and I hope this issue doesn't set me back too far. There are a bunch of components left to install including the entire bridge and superstructure, the mast assembly, and a variety of equipment for the main deck such as sensor and communication domes, antennae, and weapons. In ship building lingo that would be "fitting out" and I enjoy that stage of the build. Wish me luck!

 

   That's all I'm going to write about for now, my friends. I've finished my hot chocolate and Megan just got home from work. My eyes have gone a little buggy from staring at the screen, or maybe it's the rum, and I need to stretch my legs. I was going to write about some of the music I've been listening to lately, besides the aforementioned Flaming Lips, but I think I'll save that for my next post.

 

   Until then, take care of yourselves, and each other.

 

The Wandering Oak