for the night, i want to sleep the filth off a little more, wash the rest of the soap off (and the acne with it) and make some salsa a little later.

i got a lot done in the garage yesterday evening and continued the giant sleep-off by going to bed a little early, around 1:00 am. the idea was to get some extra sleep, wake up, wash the soap off and get something to eat. it's gone according to plan except that the weight is remaining a little stubborn so i've slept most of the day again, as well. i feel better than i did a few days ago, but i remain exhausted as a result of getting drugged. it's clearly putting a lot of strain on my kidneys, which is draining me of energy.

after i fixed the cardboard, i got the two tables that were out there already in place, put the lights up on the wall, moved two more small iron tables with a wood dining top out there, moved many things in the garage or the front entrance to the tables and vacuumed repeatedly in between steps. i want to wait before i put the carpet in. i will get some pictures up soon.

i'm going to seal up the steps with cardboard to create a barrier that can insulate that region a bit better. it was over 20 degrees in there last night despite barely hitting 20 today for the first time in over a week and the temperature falling to around 10 degrees overnight so the things i'm done have worked in retaining heat. it's ready to put the aluminum up but only if i still have some left after doing the rest of the basement, and i think i will. the heater doesn't need to come on yet, clearly.

the couch that was here when i moved in, and has been clawed by cats and soiled by rodents and smelled awful, isn't going to fit in there and i'm going to get it out of there over the next few days. it had aired out with the windows open, but the landlord installed an a/c in a dumb place and the couch absorbed most of the condensation. i could probably save it but i have no incentive and nowhere to put it. maybe the africans want it for the yard. i'm going to get some kind of smaller bench or reclining chair for in there instead that is less gross and fits better. i'd like to read in there on warm summer nights with the windows open and some candles burning, and maybe some music playing. it's a nice atmosphere. the neighbours regularly go to bed very early so it's quiet in there at night. it's like having a covered patio, in some respects. there's also more than enough space for yet another computer system, which i'm considering because it would throw off heat, but i'm considering getting something very old for the journal project. my first computer was a 486. can i find one?

i have never thrown away a computer, but i lost access to a few. i'd like to rebuild a 486 with real dos, civilization and duke nukem. there was also a windows 3.1 pc in my bedroom for a while, which was replaced with a windows 95 pentium 166, that was upgraded to the pIII 500 that i still have and still dual boots into 98/xp. so, that's three extra systems.

i had an atari when i was very young, a nintendo that i had grown out of before i got it for christmas and a sega genesis that i played only sporadically. i was not a video game focused kid. i liked reading books and playing guitar more. but i would like to rebuild these systems for the journal. i did not own a game console at all after the sega genesis (which i rarely touched after about 1992) or play video games at all past the age of about 15. i really firmly grew out of playing video games by my mid-teens. the last pc games i remember playing were civilization 2, wolfenstein/doom/quake and a very small amount of half-life. after 1996, the pcs were used strictly for recording and for messageboards, and never for gaming. but those three old computers were used mostly for video games and didn't even have modems or sound cards at all.

the garage won't be completely finished for a while. the landing on the other side will be used to grow plants (it's a greenhouse space), including edible plants and that will require some effort. the seating isn't a high priority, either. i will get to it in sequence. 

but once i get these last steps finished and finish cleaning, the shape will be in place, a lot of clutter will come out of the main unit and into there instead and i'll be able to use it for what it's for - soldering, cutting wood and fixing and building things. 

the first thing on the list is cutting some shelves for the kitchen, and finishing the kitchen then shifts to the main priority.