Fresh Supply, Part 2

23 May
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The various stages of carving a Whale

With so much Meranti wood, every evening I am kept busy! When the sun is up, I would be playing golf (especially this week) but when the sun goes down, I would be carving.

The process is simple, find two Meranti blocks that are about the same size to Elmer-glue together. Then clamp it down with the work bench for a day or so before carving. And although there’s a fixed set of measurements and angles to ensure every piece is standardised, there are still some variations. After all, it’s wood that I am dealing with and the carvings are all hand-made.

The chipping, carving and initial shaping does not take long. This is the fun but dusty and messy part. If I stay focused, I usually get one piece done a night depending on what time I start. It is after the carving that the process takes longer and sometimes tedious too because every step of the way requires time or even have to be repeated.

Details on the eyes and tail take time. The eyes are usually marked, carved out first before drilling to ensure it’s perfectly round and even. For the tail, it’s the curves and corners that I have to work on. Then the sanding and filing to shape the overall curves.

Putty work is next to patch ugly holes and the piece is then left to dry, taking time because this curing process cannot be hurried. When the piece is ready—usually a couple of hours or more depending on how much is applied—more sanding and filing, creating more dust and mess. Sometimes this step needs to be repeated if the patch work is insufficient to even out the holes properly.

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Putty work: before and after comparison

But when all patch work are completed, a coat of white gesso is applied and the piece is left to dry again for another day. The next step – more sanding to smoothen the surface before a second coat of gesso. By now it’s the fourth or fifth day from the first cut.

Once I am satisfied with the surface, on goes the acrylic paint, two coats over two days. Of all the colors I have, the new Glitter Blue color is most problematic because it requires more than two coats, several coats in fact to be even.

The last process is the gloss varnish, also two coats, before the final touches are added – the felt cloth on the base, the date and my signature and voila! The piece is finally complete.

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Before and after of the final touches with felt base, date and my signature!

With the fresh supply, I find myself repeating this routine every other night with several pieces overlapping each other in various stages of the process. Tedious, repetitive but enjoyable.

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Working on four pieces in various stages simultaneously

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Fresh Supply

21 May

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I am in wood heaven! Two weeks ago, I received two boxes of freshly cut Meranti wood to continue with my carving. And carving I have been doing.

I realize now that carving Whales do not hurt my left wrist compared to Gnomes. It is the size – Gnomes are smaller than Whales, and how I grip the wood tightly (when carving a Gnome) causing a strain to the wrist. Add in the many angles of a Gnome, that’s why the tender area of the wrist would flare up if pressure and the repetitive action is applied constantly.

I have stopped carving Gnomes and Citizens of Gigglesville for the time being and just focusing on Whales which are much easier to handle. Anyway, the Gnomes and Citizens are decorative, cute and fun but the Whales are more than that, they are useful – being a smart phone holder.

The best part, I can still play golf without pain and the Whale population has been growing steadily. Yay.

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1000 Days

20 May

Yesterday I reached the unimaginable – 1000 consecutive days collecting Candy Crush Soda’s Daily Bonus! I have been at this for so long, it’s crazy. Who does this besides me?

And what’s even more amazing despite a Daily Bonus mess up some time back, this milestone record was achieved on two devices — the iPad Mini and iPhone XR — on the same day.

1000 Days on the iPad

1000 Days on the iPhone XR

I guess I can stop now or should stop. After all, it was my intention to reach 1000 Days and I have done it.

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Minor Setback

17 May

So it’s Friday again. And time for the weekly weigh-in. How fast time flies. After some gains the first two days of this week, I stared at the numbers on the bathroom scale this morning. Hmm… a minor setback – that little reprieve on Wednesday.

While I may have burnt some calories playing golf, it was the meal after the game that lasted beyond 9.30pm that caused this setback. The dinner went past into the window that I’m not supposed to eat. Oh well… friends and making-merry was more important and I chose to do it.

I shouldn’t obsess too much over this because past record has shown that I have fluctuated on my track to shed some pounds. And sometimes it’s not the food I ate but the timing of when I ate that is beyond my control. I should be fine by next week.

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The Lazy Egg

16 May

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Over the weekend, I bought a new t-shirt and it’s not just any t-shirt, it’s a Gudetama t-shirt. I love it!

I wore it on Tuesday to the office because that was exactly how I felt… like a lazy egg. It was apt. I don’t normally wear t-shirts with graphics (cartoon characters or words) to work but it was an exception on that day.

Things are slow in the office again as projects that kept us busy were completed and new upcoming projects have yet to kick off because they are still in the planning stages.

It’s okay because this allows me to go play golf during the week, which I did yesterday. Unlike the marathon 36-holes last Friday, it was just a normal 18-holes followed by dinner, forsaking the 16/8 diet for a day.

But as I have reached my target goal weight last week, I thought a little reprieve to enjoy with friends this week on a weekday is allowed.

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The Tea Drinker, Part 2

14 May

It’s a known fact now that I drink tea rather than coffee. My favorite cousin gifted me with a lovely Crabtree & Evelyn tea & cookies set when we caught up over Chinese New Year. The packaging is just so lovely. And I am sure the tea choice is equally lovely to enjoy.

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The tea came with cookies! Yum…

Besides my usual two tea choices (Japanese green tea and decaf Earl Grey), I recently bought two other types of tea to drink – Tesco’s Peppermint Infusion tea and Mark & Spencer’s Empress Grey, the peppermint for the office and the Empress Grey at home.

Very refreshing!

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Marathon Golf

13 May

Last Friday I was free and agreed to a round of golf with my golf buddies. In fact, we played not a round but two rounds! Marathon golf was what it was, 36-holes.

The morning round was very enjoyable as the weather was lovely and there was no crowd in front to delay our progress nor at the back chasing us. It was very unusual but pleasant on a Friday at our golf club.

So much so, we decided to go at it again, after lunch to play another 18-holes! And the second round concluded in good time too. But the afternoon round was rather draining because the sun was scorching and we were tired by then. Two rounds in two days is pretty normal but two rounds within a day can be taxing if it’s not something we do all the time.

At the end of the two rounds, my Mi Band2 recorded at whopping 20,390 steps that I had done and my day was not even complete yet because it was only 5.00pm, and I had to go out to meet a friend later that evening!

When I finally climbed into bed that night, I recorded 22,093 steps and covered a distance of 13.1km. Dang… drained to the core.

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Target Achieved

10 May

Pleased to update that I have achieved my target goal weight! In fact, I reached the target twice before this morning’s weigh in – once being last Saturday, surpassing the mark by 1.3lbs before going back up a little. Then yesterday, down again. This morning, when I stood on the bathroom scale, the numbers showed 0.1lbs past the mark. Yay!

Now remember this is all on Newbie, the new digital bathroom scale. Trusty is still there but showing the exact same reading even though my weight can fluctuate up or down. Sigh…

I am so proud of myself being disciplined on this challenge. How did I do it?

It’s basically sticking to the 16/8 diet. During the 8-hours window when I have to eat, I stuck to a meal plan for my weekdays. Tea for breakfast, high fiber/low protein lunches, dried fruits and nuts to munch if I have to work my jaw muscles after lunch, lots of liquid (tea mostly) and light protein/high fiber with low carbs for dinners.

It may sound restrictive or even boring but I must admit, I do eat a chocolate or two sometimes within the 8-hours. But when the 16-hours window kicked in, no solids at all, only water.

During weekends, it’s a different story with flexibility and no restrictions on intake. I even drink whiskey and an occasional beer or two after the weekly golf game. But I find myself eating small portions because I have gotten used to the 16/8 cycle. Even if I indulged, it wasn’t excessive. By Monday, the meal plan routine resumed.

All in all, it took me 11 weeks to achieve my target goal weight. And if I take my peaked weight recorded on March 1st and compare that to today’s weight, I have lost a total of 8.1lbs. I am happy with the results.

So now that I have achieved my target goal weight, I am setting a new mark which is to lose another 2.0lbs which should suffice instead of my earlier intention to lose 15lbs in total because at this point, any further loses, I would have to change my entire wardrobe!

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Another One Bites the Dust

9 May

I swear I go through golf shoes so much more than work shoes. I had to throw away my 2017 Adidas pair because it was falling apart despite not seeing much action. Water seeps in after three holes on a wet day, it’s pointless to even wear it. Its last usage, I had to change socks but it didn’t help to ease the discomfort of having pruned toes. Into the bin the shoes went.

My latest purchase is yet another FootJoy which I find a bit more reliable although my last FootJoy, on a wet day could only last nine holes before water seeped in. Sigh… and I am still trying to break in the Nike pair because it tends to hurt my pinky toes if I don’t wear the correct socks.

This new pair is a Junior size for boys. Oh well, it fits, it looks great and I bought it for a steal, why not?

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The 2019 FootJoy Fury golf shoes

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Becoming Obsolete, Part 2

7 May

I couldn’t believe that I cannot download Pinterest on my iPad Mini yesterday. However, right after that problem, I had things to do in the office so I didn’t pursue further. But I didn’t give up to fix it.

When I had a little breather and time, I went back to the App Store to fiddle again. And thank goodness, the Cloud icon showed up for Pinterest along with a compatibility list that included devices that has iOS9.3 or later. Phew… But unfortunately, the same cannot be said for Skype and iFlix, both still need iOS10.

So Pinterest is back on the iPad Mini and perhaps, its lifespan has just been extended a little bit more than the rest of the devices by the bedside.

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