working on that take home exam.
Which is why I am playing computer games and otherwise procrastinating. Like puzzles –
just those last few pieces
which means that I finished –
all 524 pieces
and an area where you can see the details –
no two pieces alike
Otherwise? I finished Questions 2 & 3 on my take home exam, leaving Question 1 – probably the most difficult, for tomorrow
is what this particular take home exam is driving me.
5 May afternoon
which may be why I am spending time working on the puzzle. Unfortunately, the easiest portion is complete. From here on in, criss-crossing tree branches. And more branches and more branches. I am not sure that this puzzle is not also going to drive me around the bend (and that is not really all that far since I can see the curve from here….
AKA, just running errands and playing with puzzles prior to starting on my take-home exam.
about 1/3 completed
which is challenging considering that the entire upper section is fairly dark as is the section of the living room where I am working…
Meanwhile, George is spending the day at the Bay Area Book Festival.
Since I have an exam tomorrow morning, bright and early (0830 in San Francisco) it means that I should be diligently studying this whole day, right?
Instead I find my mind wandering. It is that awful feeling somewhere between–I know this stuff and I don’t want to over think it– and “I don’t have a clue, much less a reason for why I am doing this to myself. It might be why I was more than happy to take something for my headache and go back to sleep for a number of hours this morning. Or why I spent sometime sorting out paperwork. Or looking at furniture for the back deck. Or working on a jigsaw puzzle that had been put away for months.
Winterland
I am sure that I’ve mentioned Liberty Puzzles before. Wonderful small firm located in Boulder, Colorado. Wooden puzzles, all laser cut for accuracy, with whimsy pieces and challenging shapes. I have a lot of their puzzles, accumulated over the years. Not cheap, but challenging, durable and interesting. Plus, they are not 1000-2000 piece puzzles. I want a challenge but something that can be completed in my life time.
I don’t actually remember when I started this particular puzzle. It has to be more months ago than I want to admit. Perhaps after we reorganized the living room furniture but maybe not. I had tucked it away in the puzzle keeper I had in order not to lose the small bit of progress that I had made. Challenge of dark colors, not as much light as I would like and older eyes in the evening. Enough said on that, if you don’t understand, you are just not there yet. Just wait.
Anyway –
the foreground
has some identifiable plants below the house (easiest part as the colors are pretty obvious) before heading up into trees, trees, and more trees.
and not making much progress
as so far 8-10 pieces a day seems to be about as much success as I have been able to accomplish.
Having said all of that – I need to get back to my Admin Law outline. I just shouldn’t be that hard, right? Rulemaking, Adjudication, and Judicial review, along with about a dozen cases which I should make a serious effort to remember. It would be nice if the entire grade didn’t hang on this one exam.
Oh, right – Administrative Law. For those in the US – it is the area of law concerned with all those pesky US government agencies from how they make rules and regulations to how they decide (adjudication) everything from licensing to customs fees to Social Security/Disability payments (who gets what and how much). For those not in the US – you have a similar system in one way or another. Your government has to set the standards for licensing, or benefits, followed by a standardized application process which results in a determination. There are also likely set rules and procedures for appeals and renewals. It all falls into the category of Administrative Law. Normally there is count oversight with more or less deference given to agency decisions depending on challenges of interpretation (substance) or procedure. Since the US is a common law country (also UK, Australia) previous court decisions have a weight of precedence on subsequent determinations. Frankly – I much prefer countries that just have legal code. If a court is involved, the judge makes a determination for that case. The result applies to that case, and that case only.
Anyway – the devil is in all of the details and I have procrastinated long enough….
The Circle of time
since, obviously, I needed to start a new puzzle.
completed
Again, not all that many pieces but a challenge in terms of fitting everything together and the interesting loops on the edges.
and then there is the cloth underneath – an old pastry cloth inherited from my mother’s mother with a circle imprinted so that you would know exactly how big to roll your pie crust.
I have three daughters who bake as well as a son who cooks. I am hoping one of them will treasure this bit of history.
I adore wooden puzzles. You have heard that particular line from me a number of times. I have raved about Liberty Puzzles. I must have mentioned Artifact Puzzles as well. Like Wentworth and Liberty, the company produces high quality wooden puzzles precision cut by laser.
Stem Cell
by Bruce Riley. Combining the most interesting from science, painting and whimsy pieces, it is not a large puzzle (~150 pieces) but completely and totally challenging.
Puzzles?
Because I am studying.
Right.
the puzzle completed
and tucked into a towel to move it off the breakfast table and into the living room where it can be the first to be admired.
Unlike the crabbiness of the last couple rounds of Prednisone, it is UP this time. So I have been cleaning and organizing and playing computer games. Now, I just probably should get some sleep. Two of my unfriendly poisons also were dose reduced so that might be helping a bit.
So today it has been laundry, a lot, dealing with the pups while Dani is at work, and then there is progress on the puzzle which I have probably failed to update you on…
Light snowfall over Manhattan
Like all the other Liberty Puzzles – there are a lot of whimsy pieces that are appropriate to the picture plus some wonderful details.
In house construction, the heating guy has been here, the plumbing guy has been here. There is a plan. Now if the construction crews shows up with the diggers on Monday – everything will be wonderful.
In order to deal with this –
and yet another pile of floppies
It really helps to have caffeine. You can drink it fizzy, you can drink it in tea, coffee… or it can take over your life –
whimsy pieces
which came from Artifact Puzzles which is my other source of lovely wooden puzzles. Those fun little bits fit into this –
which totally works with the table cloth
and becomes the little fiend –
at the end
right about the time that I dropped the last diskette in here –
one full brown paper bag
Of course, now that I have had a volunteer (thank you SO MUCH Steve) who actually is willing to take a few diskettes off my hand (yes, there are other geeks than me out there) and can actually play some of these games which I still have on original diskette. Plus who doesn’t need their very own MS-DOs 3.1?
By the time I was through all of this I managed only a couple of boxes sorted from the garage, drank enough fluids for someone twice my size and rounded out the rest of the day with progress on that fractal –
4 Feb 2017
which with any luck I will be able to finish tomorrow. The purple is within six rows of the bottom which means it isn’t that much further for the greens or yellow. Of course, there is the slight issue of the Cal Basketball games which are a little higher on my priority list. But I can bring knitting to those….
I’m not sure what I expected when I walked into Liberty Puzzles in Boulder. I have been buying puzzles from them for years. Lovely, real wood puzzles cut by laser with each piece unique + dozens of whimsy pieces in each puzzle. No, they are not cheap, but I believe the value for the money is there.
I left Colorado Springs this morning after spending an enjoyable week with Kathy, seeing some of the local sites but mostly relaxing and getting caught up on a number of projects. With a flight tonight I needed to fill the day. Why not Boulder? The drive just isn’t that far. Jane & Don’s whose car I will be returning in a couple of hours live near the airport and certainly on the right side of the city to go to Boulder.
Where was I?
Oh, walking into Liberty Puzzles after finding it on 49th very close to C 157. This is not a paid advertisement, but a report of a place with a great product and even better customer service.
see those old puzzles on the wall?
There is part of the owner’s collection of hand cut wooden puzzles passed down in his family. There are displays of the current puzzle lines –
As well as a table with several set out just to temp me into spending more time.
The kind Collette gave me a tour of the manufacturing process which takes about 3 days total per puzzle.
The picture for each puzzle is printed on archival quality acid free paper
Then applied to the wooden piece so that it seals and drys (which starts the explanation of the amount of time involved. From here – the puzzles are individually cut in the production room. Think more than a dozen individual closed machines each computer controlled and capable of burning a puzzle in about 45 minutes. (and no pictures in this room). This is followed by cooling….
From there –
each puzzle is then taken apart piece by piece
with each being checked and rough edges sanded or filed as needed. Then comes hand packing in boxes. Followed by my gleeful shopping in the inventory racks!
I stuck with the adult puzzles
and stayed away from both the small round and the kids puzzles. It really helped me to look at the boxes to give me a much better idea if I really needed that puzzle. I did find a couple by one artist and then there is the Dr Seuss line. Shipping, as it turns out is much, much cheaper than Boulder sales tax (9%).
I also found enough puzzles to extend my puzzle membership for another year which makes me a happy camper but not sure how it is going to affect our bookshelves… It is probably extremely good for my pocket book that I won’t be back this way anytime soon. My flight is rather late this evening from Denver direct back to Oakland.
Now, I was going to ask if I really wanted to get up for an 0715 exercise class in the morning before realizing that I at least exhibited enough common sense to sign up for the 0945 session instead. Followed by an A’s game. Then I need to pack up my current puzzle in anticipation of some new ones arriving in the mail!
this is the puzzle I started a few days ago, getting completely confused by blues…
Completed!
Another one by Artifact – interesting shapes, complicated colors but under 300 pieces.
Next Up!
under construction
Finished
None of which explains at all my seeming preoccupation with Baba Yaga type homes (or Howl’s Flying Castle if you area a Diane Wynne Jones fan)
At the end of the – from my window
view from the studio
Sunset toward Marin
and all is well. George was just dropped off at the North Berkeley BART. He is on a long and deadly combination of flights and won’t get to Vienna till late tomorrow afternoon. Something about someone else making the reservation. Thus he is booked on British Airways of all things with a plane change at Heathrow (cue sympathetic groan here). Noah doesn’t have to be at work till 1500. Julia headed down the hill to UCBerkeley’s library. Shana is stopping by later.
But right now the house is MINE!
I can have total silence. Or listen to an audio book without headphones. I can look out the new dining room windows at the Bay Bridge. I could go and soak in the hot tub without sharing. I could even wander back down to the Himalayan Fair if I really wanted to, but they honestly don’t have anything more interesting than I found in Nepal.
Live Oak Park
Momos
Work on my puzzle
old Cunard Travel poster
Of course, my peace and quiet isn’t going to last, the windows are only partly replaced and the workers will be back in the next couple of days. But I can dream, can’t I?
Had enough sense this morning not to attempt another exercise class. Instead I made a stab at organizing. When that failed – or at least didn’t get completely finished I moved on to a more favorite concept – cruise ships:
my latest Liberty Puzzle
Not that I have ever been on Cunard, you have to understand. But there is something lovely about vintage posters. Since it is a vintage style puzzle, there are the usual whimsy pieces
mostly period people
as well as the set of totally and completely confusing pieces.
no two of which are idenitcal
And then there is desert. Since I couldn’t decide which flavor to buy …..
so I have a dozen choices
I will admit to not always knowing the day. They are blurring together and are punctuated by critical events – like seeing Alison yesterday or visiting friends this coming Sunday or spending a significant number of hours playing with Fractal 53.
As it turns out, unlike the cross-stitch taken from a painting, or even the previous spiral – this particular fractal has large areas of one color. Like 10-30 stitches! that might not seem much in the scheme of things, but compared to previous works with 26-35 colors in any particular hundred stitch block this is amazing.
going more quickly
then there are also the whimsy pieces of a new Artifact Puzzle
more than one of the Hindu gods
and challenging to assemble
Obviously I am at the limit of my local entertainment.
In honor of my upcoming trip – may I present a fun, Artifact Puzzle called Indian Palace?
There weren’t all that many pieces – less than 200 as I remember but with the usual combinations of whimsy and strange shapes it turned out not to be as easy I thought it was going to be.
and the new Fractal has been started:
Not the greatest pix – but better than nothing…..
This one is courtesy of Liberty Puzzles ….
The Puzzle
and, as usual, the whimsies are just perfect for the puzzle theme
fabulous whimsies
and progress wasn’t exactly fast
The start of the upper title
First – there just happens to be the Elephant
which has just perfect whimsy pieces
and pretty much looks just like the cover
And to follow up from yesterday – with both detail and edging from the smaller creatures
The Puzzle
This is the puzzle that has been hanging out in the puzzle keeper since I was here in June. A vintage poster from the days when sailing across the ocean was either necessity or luxury and unlikely anything in the middle.
Like all of Liberty’s puzzles, they are wooden, laser cut and well seasoned with whimsy pieces.
interesting pieces
and the finished puzzle.
starting the transportation modes
which of course I started with the train since that was my most recent traveling method. also frankly the easiest to identify with the pieces… there are the two sea going vessels left in addition to the flags and a globe in the middle.
Now – see the cool whimsy pieces?
Critters!
and fish and people and palm trees…..
there is this puzzle….
Autour de Monde / Round the World
Wooden of course from Liberty Puzzles (Colorado) and contains 502 pieces. It appears to be an old fashion travel poster complete with sailing vessels, a steam ship, train and flags from many countries.
My other puzzle has been completed for several days and I had to work my way up to taking it apart; placing the cat girl, the detective and the rest of Mike Resnick’s urban fantasy detective story set in an alternate New York back in the box.