Greetings from Santa Fe!

Image courtesy of Flickr.

Long time no see, folks! 

Apologies that my posts stopped somewhat abruptly back in September: Moving Day came a lot quicker than expected and it's been a flurry of activity since then. I started my new job in late-September, and we moved in to our new house shortly thereafter. We still can't quite believe that we're homeowners. 😲

As with our last places, I have my own hobby space. The War Room is still being unpacked (yes, even after 3 months) but I'm determined to keep it in order this time. 

Thankfully it's not quite this bad anymore...

But as you can see from photos taken before the moving truck came, it's actually a fairly spacious room. And it's already been approved by Jimmy and Gizmo too (the latter of whom loves to curl up in the window). 

Unfortunately my desk didn't quite survive the move, so I've had to get a new one. I actually think I like this one a bit better due to all the storage allotted by the cubby holes. Many thanks to Teresa for doing the bulk of the des assembly....I absolutely hate putting furniture together.

I've also bought a few new desk accessories as well: a large cutting mat that covers most of the desktop, LED lights with magnifying glasses built in (seen above), and a 10" portable DVD player that I've already tested with Kelly's Heroes. Now I'm looking into shelving for the closets for even more storage space. 

It's a work-in-progress, but I'm really happy with how the War Room is shaping up. This isn't even mentioning the home improvement projects Teresa has planned (of which there are several). Her most recent project was replacing a recessed light in our entryway with something that better fits the Southwest. 

In terms of projects, I'm currently working on stuff for The Silver Bayonet, a game of gothic horror set during the Napoleonic Wars. I'm hooked...and the figures from North Star Military Figures are absolutely fantastic! But more on them in a later post. 

Big Move 2021: Curb Alert!

It's become a common sight over the last couple weeks to see boxes of discards sitting outside our house. Pretty much all of this stuff has been coming from the basement, and I'm pleased that so far everything has been taken (I really hate throwing away perfectly good things). Even an unopened, rolled mat of model grass was snatched up within hours; I was really convinced that no one would want that. Thanks for proving me wrong, Jefferson Manor! It also really helps that we live on a fairly busy street too.

The big thing now is the mini fridge. It's served more as an extra table in recent years and I don't feel that I'm going to need it in our new place. It might take a while for this to find a home....but if my old, slightly used set of Mount Vernon Christmas cards can find a new home, I'm pretty certain that this will too. 

Look at that...I have space now!

And hey, it's cleared out some more space in the basement! That's particularly good since the movers are coming next Monday. So we have about a week to finish sorting, organizing, and purging stuff before it gets packed up and shipped to New Mexico. 

UPDATE

So yeah….the mini fridge got picked up in the middle of the night. 😂 That’s dedication.

Big Move 2021: Work Continues

We’re less than 2 weeks away from our packing date, and work continues on clearing out. By this point I’ve filled several bags of trash, put two full boxes of things on the curb for my neighbors, broken down countless boxes, and started going through stuff in two corners of the basement. Progress is slow going…but I think it’s happening slowly but surely.

I feel like most of the time, though, I’m just moving stuff from one area to another. It’s a little disheartening to see my pile of sprues growing taller and taller. 😬

But I'm still doing a little bit here and there. I also think I’ve found a way to work on getting that pile smaller though. I’ll post about it more in a little bit, but I’ve found a new project that will help me use up some of those spare parts and bits that I’ve been accumulating over the years. It’s also quick, easy, and has been a welcome creative outlet in these anxiety-wracked times. 

I’m talking about Sludge. 

More on that next time though. You can head over to my Instagram and see what I’ve been working on for the game though. They’re proving to be my most popular posts in that platform ever for some reason! 

My next big task, though, is to clear off my workbench....

Oooof. 

Big Move 2021: Clearing the Clutter, Part I

This past weekend, I tackled the mess in the basement. It's something that I've been dreading for a long time but I couldn't really put it off any longer. Each day I had a simple goal: Saturday's was to clear off the folding table, and Sunday's was to clear up the floor in the center of the room. Baby steps. 

One of my hobby friends came over once and said, "I love it! I wish my space could look like this!"

I've always been a messy person (as if it wasn't obvious). I can wax poetic about how having a messy desk can mean I'm "creative and full of new ideas," or how a "disordered or chaotic workspace may be enhancing [my] creativity." And then there's that famous Albert Einstein quote that I'm personally very fond of...

Regardless, I think I might be a little too creative? 😬 

I've been coming to the realization that I need to do a better job of keeping things organized...and I'll do a better job of that in the new space. But for now, it's time to clean up and go through what I have now.

And yes, as several people have pointed out, my wife is an absolute saint. 

Saturday dawned, and I admittedly wasn't thrilled one bit at the prospect of starting to clean out the basement. But my goal was simple: clean off the folding table. 

But this was the result after about 3.5 hours. I used the 20/10 method on this, which is to say 20 minutes of cleaning followed by a 10 minute break. I was amazed at how quickly things went! Rachel Hoffman promotes the 20/10 method in her awesome (and irreverent) book, Unf*ck Your Habitat. I created a playlist (called "Get Crap Done!") and went to work. 

Most things were sorted and put into bins, while others were simply thrown away. I'll never know why I decided to keep so many shipping boxes or opened blister packs, but that's another matter entirely.

Sunday's goal was to clean up the remaining clutter in the center of the room. This one took a bit longer to do, as I got distracted with ideas for the new space (you can see my Pinterest board here if you're so inclined). But it was worth it once I finished for the day!

There's still a long way to go, but I'd say it's a pretty good start. I think the key will be to keep chipping away at it until the movers come. My big goal is to sort everything out by type (sprues, bits, bases, etc.) and put them in a respective bin for later organization once we get to New Mexico. I've got a few ideas in mind for what I want to do.

Until then, the cleaning continues!

Image courtesy of Hyperbole and a Half.

Big Move 2021: So It Begins

We're about three weeks away from our big move to New Mexico. I figured it might be fun (and self-motivational) to document hobby-related things during this whole process. In short, packing and sorting through all my miniature stuff. I started that process today.

Since this is a Permanent Change of Station (PCS) move,  the movers will come by and pack just about everything for us. Some things they can't take on the truck, though, are things like liquids, aerosol cans, and cleaning chemicals. So...pretty much all of my paint, primer, and Simple Green. 

I spent some of this afternoon packing up my model paints. I've been working on some WWII Soviet test figures over the last few days, and now that they're done I reckoned it was time. I'd previously brought all my paints to Vancouver in four small totes as this was easier to fit into my 2012 Volkswagen Jetta. 

The trunk of my Jetta in February as I went out to Vancouver, WA.

A few weeks ago I traded it in for a 2017 Volkswagen Tiguan. I hated to do it, but I really need something with AWD for New Mexico (especially since I'll be driving into the mountains daily). But I do have a bit more cargo space now. As such, all of my paints went into a single box.

Umm...woah. 😲

For whatever reason, it didn't seem like I had this much paint when I was in Vancouver. I certainly didn't think I had this much when we last moved 4 years ago. I think I'll be good on paint for a while!

I also spent some time gathering specific forces and getting my new Chessex figure cases ready. While the bulk of my unpainted collection will be going with the movers, I'll be taking my finished and primed figures with me for safekeeping. I've always been somewhat lacking on carrying cases but I think this move will finally fix that for me! Fortunately (or perhaps unfortunately), though, I have significantly fewer painted figures than unpainted.

My Bolt Action pile for Stalingrad.

Over the weekend, I'll be tackling the mess warzone that is the basement. It's going to be quite the job: the bulk of my miniature collection is scattered throughout in multiple piles on nearly every available surface....including the floor. The words "tripping" and "hazard" come to mind here. 😬