Here’s a list of changes that have occurred:

• New Logo (YES!)
• Killer background header
• Updated theme
• Return of registrations
• Removing dead social media plugin (BuddyPress)
• Bringing back the old school categories, tag cloud and calendar
• Having a better search at the top
• Floating navigation bar
• Featured images (which you’ll see more of in the future)
• Tags appearing with counts and in more accessible spots
• A clear cut category associated to each post
• Removal of Discus for comments. We’ll be using the built in comment piece instead
• General clean up and some minor optimizations behind the scenes
• The inevitable ad network (I need to eat)

In addition moving forward, I might update old content and potentially reorganize stuff better. The last theme I used wasn’t very good for what I wanted to convey. But I want to do more writing in general so having a way to surface content is key here. And I hope that any current readers and future readers will be encouraged to participate in the comments section. I’m going to open up registrations once again. I had removed them for a period because I had received a lot of spam. So if I detect an increase in spam, I’ll close the registration back up. At any rate, I hope you all enjoy the new system in place!

The post Latest Site News appeared first on Kontroversial Keith.

Nonetheless, the following day would require from him a similar effort and he could not afford to stay up. He stumbled onto his bed without bothering to pull up the covers over him, the only thing to comfort him being his faithful stuffed giraffe. That night he tossed and turned having nightmares of the cables strangling him, data center doors locking, the safety system freezing him inside, fires bursting out from faulty wiring and his manager constantly berating him over incompetence. When he woke up, he found his foot entangled by the sheets and a sharp cramp in his right calve that developed into a Charley Horse. Keith gritted as he was forced to get up faster while he wrestled with the ache in his leg that would cause him to hobble for the rest of the day.

He shivered as his bones creaked in the early morning frost of his heatless home, a hint of dim light from behind his bedroom curtains implying at least an overcast sky along with a moderate wind whistling at him. He drug himself to pull aside the curtain to see how the windows were frosted over from the outside by a fresh storm. Even if he no longer had to commute by his own car, he wondered how the office would be able to send their self driving vehicles to his place in this weather.

For that the notification on his mobile device provided a clear answer: work was cancelled until further notice. On the one hand, it was a relief to get a day off but he was on an hourly contract, which meant he wasn’t earning anything for the day nor the foreseeable future. Sighing, he pondered just falling back into bed except that his stomach growled and he realized that it was already 11am. His cupboard was nearly empty as he had so little time in recent weeks to hit the market, which was out of the way. Also, by the time he returned home every night, the market or the Walmart Superstore were closed. His region of the country lacked an Amazon Fresh delivery system but he doubted that anyone would be able to get through in this weather.

Nonetheless, he was lucky to discover several frozen dinners buried in his freezer. After joining the data center project, Keith no longer needed to purchase food as his meals were catered in the onsite cafeteria so he lost track of what he kept on hand in his pantry. As he scourged through his refrigerator, he examined various items that had been expired for at least a month, including a full container of milk that curdled up as he dumped the contents down the drain. Once the microwave dinged for his meal, he went to his office room where he ate on his desk, watching various video clips on YouTube or movies and TV shows from Tubi.

Like the bathroom, his desk was partly covered by cobwebs and a layer of dust. He grabbed some cleaner and wiped the surface, noticing another spider sitting in the corner of the ceiling, almost ready to pounce over him. Gritting his teeth, Keith issued a few sharp sprays at the creature, who dropped to the floor and scrambled away. This is not good. With his day off, he preferred to use the time for other projects and not cleaning. After lunch, he washed his dishes where he found the ones in his washer already cleaned from two months prior but never put away. Then he grabbed a garbage bag to dispose of all the expired items and went outside to dump it in the bin, which overflowed from him forgetting to put it out.

He trudged back into the house, doing his best to avoid slipping along the slick icy concrete that was partly covered by snow. Used to the Southern California weather of his hometown, Keith regretted leaving the warmth of his home and possibly his move away from California as he had dressed in gray athletic shorts, t-shirt, slippers and a hoodie, which only demonstrated how ill prepared he was for the vastly different climate conditions. While walking on his porch, he slipped forward and landing hard on his hands. He caught him before smashing his face on the pavement but his knees got scraped and both his hands were sprained. It took him a few minutes to gather himself as he saw one of his knees bleeding and the other bruised. Cautiously, he raised himself back up and made his way back inside, settling on the couch while he rubbing his knees and sore wrists. In turn, he decided he couldn’t afford to do anymore housework and searched his cabinets for some bandages after cleaning off the scrape.

The incident left him shaken up. Once he recovered his nerves, he walked around the house to inspect how much remained in disarray. It became clear that he needed help. He recognized that he survived the slip without serious injury but he was older and his body was frail. There was no one to help him if an emergency came up. One of his fears was triggered an old back injury that could leave him disabled for days, which would make his job impossible.

In turn, he returned to his office and searched for a local maid service. There weren’t many listed. He perused the Craigslist classifieds, a few spots on Yelp and a subscription service which had a minimum charge, fees and other things that effectively would cost him a few hundred per month. These options were not viable at this point as he didn’t want to deal with scheduling, leaving a spare key around, double checking his place in case something was missing or just spending more money than what he needed. Instead, he continued perusing the net, coming across the classifieds for the town’s local newspaper. There weren’t many ads but he did run into someone posing in the dating service but marketing themselves for household aid without naming a price. An email address that was a randomized jumble of letters and numbers linked to a Yahoo account was the only way one could contact this person.

Keith smirked to himself in seeing the older email service being used but figured that the residents from this town probably didn’t care much for tech beyond mobile service and TV. He submitted a polite inquiry then switched to an ARPG game he hadn’t touched since moving. It only took five minutes before his mobile lit up with a notification that an email was awaiting his inbox. Pausing the game, Keith opened up his Gmail application on the phone from another email address he did not recognize but more readable with judy.mccafferty as the sender. It only provided a number and requested that Keith call the person immediately.

In turn, Keith rang up the person and in a few moments received an answer from a woman. “Is this Keith?” Keith acknowledged himself then went on to explain his situation. After describing the details, the woman mentioned that she could arrive in 15 minutes. “Today? Snow is pretty heavy outside.”

“You’re not from here. I’ll be fine.”

Keith consented to her rate, which was remarkably low and gave her his address. While waiting her arrival, Keith searched his drawers for an old checkbook he almost never used anymore but kept around for emergency, in case she might not take Venmo or some other online payment system. He uncovered the checkbook as he heard a loud vehicle pulling up near the driveway. Keith ran back to the living room and tepidly peeked from behind the dark curtain covering the front window to see that an ancient station wagon with the trunk and mid section filled to the brim by the sidewalk. He observed a blonde woman struggling with the driver side door and retrieving a small cart where she unloaded a bucket, mop, several cleaners, an ancient vacuum and other tools and supplies. Keith pondered whether to help the woman as she dragged the cart through the sludge of melting snow but considered that he might slip again and dropped back out of sight until she arrived at the door with a sharp knock.

Upon opening the door, Keith greeted the woman, someone Keith guessed was at least in her mid 40s, possibly older. She had a very pretty face to Keith but was marked by lines of stress with small hints of white in her hair. She wore acid washed trousers that had a few stains and sharp tears but not by design as well as a faded white blouse under a once elegant fur coat that had seen too many years. Also, she was heavily doused in perfume. In turn, she examined him with a professional smile and extended a slightly worn hand. “Keith, I presume?”

Almost coming out of a dream-like state, Keith recalled his manners and shook the lady’s hand. “Yes. Come on in and get out of that cold.”

He helped her move the cart into the living room before closing the door. Both shivered as the wind started to pick up. Keith offered to take her coat and turn on the heater as the woman inspected the living room. Afterwards, Keith gestured towards her parked vehicle, “Hey, if you want you can move your car inside my garage. I’ve got only one vehicle inside and don’t know how much more it’s going to snow.”

“It’ll be fine for now,” the woman responded. “I think it’ll relent by the time I’m finished here.”

“I’m sorry if I didn’t get your name earlier,” Keith hinted as he placed the woman’s coat in the coat closet.

“Judy,” she responded. “I’m sorry if I was brief on the email but I heard that people can get this spam thing so I use two separate accounts.”

“Smart deal,” Keith agreed. “Don’t worry about it. Anyway, I’m really glad you’re here. Work has really gotten to me lately and I realized that I don’t have time to maintain this place anymore. I was lucky that they closed the place for the day because of the weather or I wouldn’t have known just how bad things have been getting here. Originally, I was going to clean up myself but I ended up slipping and hurting my wrists and knees. I didn’t want to risk anything since I have a bad back.”

“Well, just show me where I can help. I can do a variety of tasks,” Judy offered.

“Maybe the biggest is some deep cleaning. I’ve been noticing a few spiders pop up here and there in places I can’t get to without bending over and crawling on my knees. I just can’t handle that right now. I hope you don’t mind.”

“Spiders aren’t terrible,” Judy brushed off. “Luckily, you don’t have to deal with brown recluses out here. That’s where I have my limit. Usually, these are probably the typical household type especially in this place.” She glanced around the living room and hallway as Keith guided her to the bathroom. “New place?”

“Yeah, moved in a few months ago. Got a great deal where I could not only get this place but got a job too.”

“Oh, what are you doing?”

“Contract work building up the data center nearby.”

“I think I’ve seen that zone. Heavily blocked off when it started,” Judy noted. “Must pay good if you’re getting this place.”

“Hourly. So a day like today really hurts. On the other hand, I think I needed the day off given what happened today.”

“Just put your feet up and relax and ol’ Judy will handle the rest. Just point out the rooms you want me to fix up.”

Keith had her focus on the bathrooms, kitchen and family room since those were the most neglected by him. He offered to help out since he was a stickler for how things were organized but she promised that she wouldn’t throw things out of order and insisted he relax on his couch. The woman was surprisingly spry once she started her work and a few hours in, his home smelled better than when he first unlocked it. She did have to rest and Keith could only offer filtered water from his Brita, which she accepted as she sat on one of the dining room chairs that she pulled up into the living room.

“You live alone?” Judy asked taking a sip from her glass.

“Pretty much. Never married. No kids. No baggage,” Keith grimaced.

“So what happens when you do get injured?” Judy inquired putting her glass down on a small tray. Keith pointed at Judy. “I see. What about food or even using the restroom?” Keith shrugged glancing in the distance. “Well, if you need a meal, I can certainly help cook you one or fetch food.”

“I shouldn’t complain but part of the issue is that I’ve been eating at my work’s cafeteria. They have onsite chefs that match the hours of the workers. Also, unlimited snacks. I think I got a little spoiled over the past few months.”

“I read about those types of working environments. They get you to do overtime with a little free meal they can write off.”

“Food is ridiculous in price and in my case I get overtime pay so it is worth it.”

“You also mentioned that you had to throw out a bunch of expired stuff. I’m guessing you hadn’t been to the market in a while. Again, what do you plan to do if you get hurt or sick?”

“Hopefully avoid all that by being even more cautious.”

“You sound like you’re still a teenager with that kind of thinking. There’s some good pantry stuff you can keep around for days like today.”

“Well, I would have more stock stuff like corned beef hash or something longer lasting. But I’m not good at planning.”

“Let me help with that sometime. I’m very good at meal prep work.”

“Thanks, Judy. I’m a bit of a picky eater. That said, I need to figure out what to do for dinner. I’ve got some frozen meals in the freezer but the one I had earlier left me a little queasy.”

“Maybe eating that junk got you in trouble when you fell,” Judy insisted. “Well, I don’t know if you’ll need me much longer then.”

“So do you prefer a check or maybe use Venmo?”

At the mention of either, Judy’s jaw dropped. “I can’t accept a check. The last one I received bounced. And I can’t do Venmo. Cash only.”

Keith cursed. “You got to be kidding. Why wouldn’t you put that in the ad?”

“Because most people don’t carry cash anymore. I wasn’t sure if you would and work has been very slow. Please. I really need the money.”

“Well, that means I have to go find an ATM because I certainly don’t have one of those plugged in my home.”

“The Walmart has one. If we leave now, I can help you pick out some groceries and make you dinner. That’ll be on the house from me. I can do a lot but not Asian.”

Keith bit his tongue and agreed. “Well, I hope that the ground is clear outside.”

“If not, I can drive. I’m familiar with this area and can handle snow if you’re uncomfortable.”

Fortunately, the snow had melted away but the roads were still slick. They took Keith’s old RAV4 as he had more space inside where Judy insisted on driving as she knew a few short cuts. She wasn’t a crazy driver as Keith had feared but steady and sharp. The typically crowded parking lot of the super Walmart was slimmer than usual and they obtained a space fairly close to the entrance. Before they proceeded though, Judy compelled Keith for her payment. She gave him some distance to perform the transaction. Keith noticed how she was shaking and was in a sullen mood. In turn, Keith withdrew more money than he had planned and handed her $200.

“I can’t accept this. This is beyond my rate,” Judy said in surprise as Keith stuck his hands in his pockets.

“Hey, I know times are rough for everyone right now. I mean it took me over a year before I landed this one and I can see things aren’t easy for you.”

“This is the most generous anyone has been towards me,” she fought to hold back her tears.

“It’s just money. Look, you were pretty good in getting my place into shape. And I can’t ask you to cook for me for free. How about this. Let’s have a good dinner. My treat. I’ll help out and call it even.”

“Thank you so much!” Judy enthusiastically hugged him.

“Don’t worry about it. I haven’t eaten with anyone in a long time. Even my coworkers I don’t socialize much since our hours shifted and everyone is constantly trying to get every second in.”

They loaded up on groceries where Keith selected a fair of New York steaks, some potatoes, shrimp and asparagus. Though Keith had an area for a grill in the backyard, he would have to settle for a stove top cooked meal, which he didn’t mind as he wanted to whip out his Sous Vide. The meal took until 9pm but was well worth the effort, despite how it lasted only 30 minutes in terms of devouring it. Afterwards, Keith was stuffed as was Judy and she offered to clean. “It’s late. You’ve already done a lot for me today.”

“You’ve overpaid me. This is the least I can do,” Judy said as she rinsed his dishes. “Besides, your washer will do the rest.”

“You don’t have to be anywhere?” Keith asked as he moved the dishes into his washer.

“Not in particular. Work in this town is tough to come by,” Judy admitted grimly.

“Even so, aren’t you tired? It was a long day. Or maybe you have a favorite TV show you enjoy watching at night?”

“No TV for me. Not these days,” Judy replied as she wiped down his countertop. Keith then noticed that her hands lacked any jewelry.

“I didn’t want you to feel awkward here since it’s getting late.”

“No, I enjoyed my time here. This is a very nice place and you’re a wonderful host. I just hope you have more work in the future.” Keith stacked up her cleaning tools back on the cart and hauled them outside.

“You’ll be okay tonight?” Keith asked as he helped guide the cart towards Judy’s station wagon.

“I’ll be fine. You don’t need to do anything else for me. I’m really happy I was able to have dinner with you. You’ve been more than generous.”

“You have my number in case you need something,” Keith said. Instead, Judy just grinned and started up her car, waving as she let the engine warm up.

Grimly, Keith returned inside to take a hot bath then brush his teeth before setting his alarm, knowing that another day of work awaited him in the morning.

The following day, Keith’s internal alarm went off earlier than expected. But he figured he could get a head start for work that day to make up an hour or two for the previous day. Outside remained dark and he was glad that the company afforded people like himself the automated ride service as he would’ve hated driving around in that part of the country under those conditions. There were a few people who also decided to take the early shift and ignored him as he checked into his section of racks. Closer to lunch time, Keith received a call from the police about an attempted burglary near his home and required that he appear since there only was one other person living on the block. In turn, Keith searched around for their manager and was informed that he took an extra day off, which infuriated him since he needed a sign off for obtaining a new vehicle to return him home.

Instead, one of Keith’s coworkers offered to drive him as that person had to pick up his kids from daycare in an hour. As the pair approached his street, Keith noticed Judy’s station wagon parked near the other occupied home in the neighborhood. Besides the vehicle was a cop car, a pair of policemen, the neighbor’s wife and Judy not in handcuffs but appearing tense. Keith thanked his coworker as he flew out of the door and interrupted the pair of cops as they were about to shove her into the open backseat of their car.

“What’s going on here?” Keith exasperated.

“This woman shouldn’t be parked here. This is a private road,” one of the cops replied with tobacco laden breath.

“Well, she’s my maid and works for me,” Keith interjected.

“She was sleeping in that nasty derelict!” the neighbor accused. “On my sidewalk.”

“That’s not on your sidewalk. Besides, if someone decided to have a large family gathering out here, this whole street would be filled.” Turning back to the cops. “Looks, it’s probably a misunderstanding since she just started for me the other day and possibly forgot my address. It’s the house over there,” Keith pointed at his home.

The cops released Judy as the neighbor continued to grumble out loud until one of the cops ordered her back into her home. After showing the cops his identification, the pair left and Keith had Judy move her vehicle onto his drive way. Afterwards, he invited her into his home. “Judy, can you tell me what’s going on? Was it true you were sleeping on Mrs. Harris’ sidewalk?”

“I don’t want to say. It’s really embarrassing,” Judy insisted as she stifled her tears.

“Well, I can’t help you if you don’t let me know what’s going on. I had to lie to those cops about you working for me because I didn’t put in an order for your help for today and I had to take off early from work.”

“I know. I’m really sorry. But the truth is that I live in my car. I’ve been living in my car for over a year now and drive from place to place trying to find work and doing odds and ends type of jobs.”

“Jesus Christ, why did you say something to me yesterday? You mean to tell me you were sleeping in your car the entire night? It was freezing outside.”

“Like I said, I have no where to go. I didn’t want to seem like a leech.”

“We don’t know one another that well but you don’t seem like a terrible person. Why don’t you just stay at my place, help me out a bit and call it even.”

“Are you serious?” Keith nodded. “You’re taking in a homeless person that you just met.”

“Maybe I’m crazy but you didn’t try to poison me with your cooking last night so I figured you’re not going to murder me in my sleep.” Judy chuckled. “But let me open my garage, go park your car inside, get yourself a hot bath, wash your stuff up and we’ll talk.”

“Okay, but what about your job?”

“I’m taking the rest of the day off. Manager wasn’t even there and there’s plenty of work for months to come. Don’t worry about it. I got an eye witness to show that this was a bizarre incident. Besides, you can come and go as you please there.”

Judy took Keith’s advice in moving some of her belongings inside, washing some of her apparel then taking a hot bath in the guest bathroom. When she finished up, Judy was like a brand new woman. Even without Judy’s makeup, Keith found Judy to be quite attractive. Her hair gained back some luster and she no longer was overly emanating her perfume, only the fragrance of bath wash and shampoo. Also, she wore a set of clean pink satin pajamas and pink satin robe that looked fancy for someone who was previously homeless. Keith offered her a spot on his sofa which she gracefully accepted as she dried her hair with a spare towel.

“Feel better?” Keith asked.

“It’s been a while. I’m sure you probably didn’t like all the perfume I had on but I didn’t want to offend you.”

“How long since you had a proper wash?”

“A few weeks,” Judy dourly admitted. “Once in a while the local gym will leave the doors open and I can sneak inside for a quick shower. Or one of the girls at the sorority house lets me in if I fix up their dormitory. But the school hired a custodian so I stopped going.”

“There’s other places that probably have more opportunities. Why this spot of all places?” Keith asked.

“Not an easy to tell. But I’m a bit trapped here is the short version. Ran out of money. Can’t go far enough. All my life is packed into that old thing. Also, people didn’t mind me in this place and I was able to survive have a small studio for myself. Not glamorous but I could eat and have a roof over my head.”

“But you’re not from this town I surmise,” Keith observed.

“As much as you are. But I’m not from California and certainly not from Los Angeles. Maybe my life would’ve been a lot easier if it were.”

Keith snickered sardonically. “That’s what everyone says. But the grass is always greener, right?” Judy shrugged. “Do you need to rest? I imagine sleeping in a car can’t be comfortable at all.”

“You get used to it. But I could use something hot to drink if you don’t mind.”

“Let me fix us some coffee. Or cocoa if you prefer.”

Judy accepted his offer for coffee as he went into the kitchen to grab a pair of keurig cups for his machine. He added creamer to both out of habit, forgetting that he had a guest and apologized in case she was lactose intolerant. Instead, she sipped the liquid in delight. “Good stuff.”

“So you asked me the other day about me living alone and I mentioned my status. What about yourself? Were or are you married? Or maybe have some family that need to get in contact with you?”

Judy took a deep breath. “No children but I had a husband once and some annoying in laws.” She remained tight lipped.

“Did he pass away or something? Because I noticed you don’t wear a ring.”

“Just nothing but pain,” Judy answered as she broke down again in tears.

“Okay, I won’t pester you on the subject. It’s just odd seeing someone like yourself in this state.”

“How about you?” she asked in a raspy voice as she recovered. “I noticed your place is more like a young adults rather than someone with a job.”

“Nope. Been single my entire life like I said yesterday.”

“I mean, there must have been someone out there. If not why?”

“Never met anyone. Well, that’s not true. The real love of my life, the person that I probably should have been with got married a long time ago. I was too ignorant to realize what she meant to me at the time. I never was good with women. Instead, I focused on my career. I wanted to avoid getting fired or sued for bad behavior. Of course, you see a lot of these jobs where people treat it like some post college party. Then you try to do the right thing and only end up with a pink slip or getting ghosted despite having no issues from your work history. Go figure.”

“At least, you have employment and a roof over your head now.”

“Which is ironic since I’m at the office almost all the time. Makes me think I could’ve saved a ton of money dumping everything into storage like one of my coworkers who’s from Canada.”

“But you said that you got this home as part of a deal.”

“Like a signing bonus thing to move out here. It was either that or a bigger starting stipend. Figured it would be better just to settle down instead.”

“That usually happens only when you have someone to settle down with. Anyone you have your eye on at your office?”

Keith laughed loudly. “Everyone there is a dude. I think Jimmy Deans has less sausage grown on his farm than the DC unit. But I was thinking I was probably going to retire out here. Try to work as much as I can, save every penny, pay off this place as fast as possible, save a little more for a new car and maybe extra for any emergencies on this place or in my life. Then work on my hobbies until the inevitable.”

“Must be nice to have a dream. I haven’t had my own dreams since before my marriage. Then one day all I could do was live day to day.”

“If it helps any, feel free to stay here as long as you’d need. Just don’t steal anything. If you really need something badly, ask me. Except for a Porsche or something ridiculous ask like that.”

“Thank you, Keith. You’re really my angel come to life.”

Keith took a nap and was awoken a few hours later by the aroma of garlic, tomatoes, onions and various meats. His stomach growled vengefully which he told it to behave as he slid a tank top over and sauntered to his kitchen, hunting down the scent. Judy was there, her attire changed again with a chef’s apron as she wore over a dark shirt and her jeans. She was rolling Braciole and tying them with strings while toasted garlic cheese bread sat on a foil covered trail.

“Jeeze, is that Sunday gravy during a weekday?”

“Yes, saw that you had the pots for this and with the cold later tonight thought it would be a nice meal.”

“You need any help? You must be exhausted from today.”

“No, I’m fine. Really. Also, I disturbed your work earlier. So this is the least I can do to make up for it.”

Once again, Keith was able to utilize his family’s dining room table and aided Judy in setting up the table. She prepared a garden fresh salad and even grated Parmesan over his salad and sauce. Half way through the meal, Judy put a cake into the oven, despite how Keith could not finish half his plate. “I like baking,” Judy mentioned. “Keeps the home warm during the winter.”

“You are something else, Ms. McCafferty. I’m sorry if I couldn’t finish this but that was a lot. The one or two times I made something like this for myself, it would take me a week to get through half.”

“I take it you enjoyed yourself,” Keith acknowledged that with a subtle belch that made Judy beam with pride. “My ex-husband never showed any appreciation for my cooking. He expected it then complained all the time along with the in laws that lived with us.”

“Did his family serve him filet mignon and lobster tail every night or something? I mean this has to be one of the best meals I’ve had in a long time. And I will say that the cafeteria ain’t that bad.”

“I have no idea why he didn’t like what I cooked. No matter how hard I tried, he never was satisfied. Then he made me feel like I was worthless.”

“Maybe you should forget this guy. He is your ex- after all,” Keith suggested.

“It’s not that easy because of what he did. I’m sorry I keep bringing him up.”

“Well, try not to worry about it while you’re here. Look, I don’t have a TV and usually use my laptop or my office to watch anything. So if you want any kind of entertainment like that, you’d have to bring one of those chairs into the office or sit on the floor.”

“I think I’ll just clean up instead,” Judy said.

“No, why don’t you lie down on the couch and let me handle all this. You’ve been busy all day. It’s time you deserved some rest yourself.”

“You’re very sweet to me, Keith.” She hugged him. “My ex- didn’t care how exhausted I was. I had a job and I still had to do everything. He never appreciated a single thing I did for him and his folks. God, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to-”

“Go relax. I’ll finish up here. We can chat after.”

Quietly, Judy took him up to rest on his sofa as he moved the half full pot of sauce and other remaining meal items into the fridge then rinsing his plates and cups. By the time he was done, Judy was fast asleep on the couch. Keith grabbed a few spare blankets in his walk in closet and gently placed them over Judy as well as leaving a few pillows under her head. From there Keith went into the garage where his washer and dryer units were and moved Judy’s attire into the dryer. He noticed that the robe she wore from earlier was one of the items. He examined the fine material and spotted a few dark stains on the sleeve that had long been made permanent. Shrugging, Keith dumped the robe with her other attire, a few nice pieces of silky lingerie possibly high end, into the dryer before retiring back into his office to watch a few shows.

In the morning, Keith noticed that Judy was still sound asleep on his sofa. Keith hoped that day would be short as he wanted to spend more time with her and learn about her background. Work was set at a frantic pace as two admins had been fired for abusing the contract system in adding extra hours to their timesheets. One of Keith’s coworkers told him in private that the two admins had been sleeping inside the data center and were counting those hours as official work. However, the cameras corroborated that the opposite was true when their manager denied approving the extra hours. In turn, the manager was put on probationary status and had his position shifted, which left the remaining admins in a small quandary. As a result, the team were only allotted a maximum of 40 hours until a new shift manager was hired but that would mean Keith could leave at a normal time.

Keith took off around 4:30pm and arrived with Judy greeting him at the door. Secretly, Keith was elated to see Judy still around as he was fearful she might attempt to run away or steal something. As he entered the front door, he noticed that the living room emanated with a clean scent and that the rug had been thoroughly cleaned. “You didn’t have to do all this,” Keith said in awe of how pristine the living room was compared to when he found it.

“It’s okay. It kept me busy for the day. It’s my way of repaying you for letting me stay here last night.”

“No, you don’t have to do any of that. I said you’re free to live here. Don’t worry about it.”

“I know but…I’m afraid that you’ll just end up kicking me out and having a court ordered injunction then…”

“Why though? Unless you suddenly drive me crazy, steal, burn this place down or do something anti-social, I really don’t have a reason to kick you out. I mean, I’m enjoying the company. I didn’t think I would after all these years but it’s nice having someone around the house.”

“You really don’t know how that makes me feel,” unexpectedly she hugged him then pulled herself off after seeing that he was surprised. “Sorry. I’m just very emotional now.”

“No, it’s fine. The thing is that after the fall I had the other day, it scared me. I’m not young anymore and I have no idea what I would do in case something like that happens again especially if it’s a health scare problem.”

“Well, I’ll look after you, if that’s what you want.”

“You don’t have to go that far. I’m just saying that it’s been really rough over the past few years. Even before the pandemic started but having a job forced me to avoid these issues.”

“Maybe for now you can relax a little. I thought you would be returning later this evening. Did something change?”

“They fired two guys and my manager got put on probation. I heard people looking into this project think he was doing a poor job especially because a few people were sleeping on premise and claiming hours he approved. Instead, they’re telling us to work 40 hours maximum until they find a replacement.”

“That sounds good.”

“Well, the time and a half was nice. But I guess it was probably too good to be true.”

“By the way, I must thank you for the blankets and pillow last night. It was pretty cold when I woke up.”

“Feel free to turn on the heater if you get too cold. Also, I moved your clothes into the dryer last night.”

“Oh,” Judy’s face changed to slightly pale. “Thanks again I guess.”

“I was going to wash my attire but forgot. Also, figured to help out. Hope you don’t think I violated your privacy rummaging through some of your intimates.”

“No, but I do think I should wash up now that you reminded me.”

Judy excused herself and went into the garage to grab her other suitcase. A hour later, she came out dressed in a slinky lacy and satin tap panty and cami combo with her pink robe that had the stain. She located Keith in his office perusing several news sites. “Anything interesting?”

“Not really,” Keith replied as he shutdown the browser tab. “Just bad habit. I’m a bit of a news addict.”

“If you’re not too busy then, there is something I would like to request. Now, that you’re letting me stay here, is there a place I can store my belongings? I know you have two rooms that I haven’t seen yet.”

“Come along then,” Keith said as he guided her to two locked up doors. One was an empty room where he kept a few bookshelves. The other was his basement with his massive Lego collection. “Don’t think you’d want to use the space down here. But I figured to satisfy your curiosity.”

Judy’s mouth dropped in awe at the numerous shelves that were lined up, a table containing the start of a project, various plastic crates containing his Lego collection where a few had been opened as he started wiping them down for reassembly. Several dozen instructions cluttered the long table in various states of his progress. “My god. How much do you own?”

“I estimated at one point at least 2000 sets. Maybe close to 200,000 parts. I guessed the value to be around $60,000 based on age if I could get a buyer who wouldn’t mind non-mint in box condition.”

“If you ever were to have kids, they would be incredibly lucky.”

“Ever see that Lego Movie? I’m more like that Mr. Business character/father who had no desire to let his kids touch his sets.”

Judy laughed. “Ah, so you’re the kid in this,” Keith nodded. “In any case, neither situation solves my problem.”

“How about you use some bins I have for the time being? Not these in particular but others I keep in my closet when I did my move.”

Keith helped move more of Judy’s items from her vehicle into the spare room. Besides her cleaning equipment, she had additional suitcases that were worn from years of travel and usage. She teared up again once she put them in the room’s closet. “I’ve been carrying these things for so long that I can’t remember the last time I had a proper place to put them.”

“How long were you living in that car?”

“Too long,” she admitted. “I lost count and prayed no one would discover I was drifting from place to place, hoping people wouldn’t kick me out or have my vehicle towed. Years ago I had a much better car too but traded down to get some money to survive and do this business.”

“You don’t have to move from place to place as long as I have this home.”

“Keith, even so I still need to work. I’ve got some old accounts I need to settle and handle. My phone was barely working and I got lucky when you contacted me. But for that I need internet.”

“Oh, god. I’m such a bozo. Let me set you up here. Also, I’ve got a spare laptop you can use since my new place gave me a fresh system.”

“I want to make it up to you sometime. I never intended to impinge on your hospitality.”

“Forget it. After showing you the laptop, let’s have dinner and watch a movie or something. I’ve got that standing desk with a monitor I’m not using and can hook up one of my laptops to some streaming service. We’ll just move that into the living room for now.”

They had the leftovers from the previous night then proceeded to watch Miami Vice from Tubi on the monitor for his standing desk. Outside, the wind howled loudly and the lights flickered periodically. Inside, the air was frigid and Judy suggested keeping his mobile device handy and charged or a flashlight. Keith checked the news report which mentioned a heavy snow storm that would last two days straight and possibly knock out power in the region. In addition, he received a message from his work telling him to stay at home until the storm passed. A minute later the power shutdown with the video from Tubi cutting off as his router and net died.

Keith cursed up a storm as he scrambled to unplug the monitor from his laptop and use the light to search for one of his spare flashlights he kept in a cabinet near the kitchen. He kept a pair along with spare batteries for situations like this. Still, he knew he wasn’t prepared mentally for a black out. Judy stayed behind him closely and they moved back to the living room after he handed her one of the flashlights.

“What should we do now?” Judy asked.

“Originally, I wanted to take a bath. According to the news report, this storm might last another day so I doubt I can do much more for the night.”

“Going to sleep then?”

“Yeah,” was all he could respond with as he shut the hood of his laptop off and cautiously walked back into his bedroom.

Even with his blankets, Keith shook from the severe cold. He would have to check the insulation about he couldn’t do anything in the short term. A knock at the door startled him even though he knew it was Judy. He unlocked the door seeing that Judy had wrapped herself in one of the blankets he provided. “It’s too cold out there.”

“Yeah, here too. I’d use the fireplace but I wasn’t prepared for this.”

“Is it okay if I share your bed for tonight?”

“Sure. Get the other blanket and pillows too.”

A few minutes later Judy returned and they partitioned his bed. Judy stayed near him even though his back was turned towards her. Even with the added blankets, both remained chilled in the dropping temperatures of the night. Judy lightly tapped him on the back. “Maybe we can hold each other to keep warm.”

Silently, Keith turned around and wrapped his arms around her as she did the same. “Sorry, I didn’t take a bath earlier. Most times, I just have a shower in the morning.”

“It’s fine,” she replied. “I didn’t smell too good living in the car for a while. I’m sure you knew that’s why I kept all the perfume on me. I didn’t know how effective it was because I couldn’t notice anymore.”

“You smell wonderful now,” Keith mentioned as her hair brush softly under his nose.

“When was the last time you were with a woman?” she ventured.

“Can’t remember. Perhaps, when I was in Japan two decades or so ago. Not even for more than a week.”

“What happened?”

“I started seeing this hair stylist. Slightly older lady but pretty. She broke up with a guy she had been seeing and we went on a few dates. Later, I met up with that woman and we had dinner. She came back with me to my place and we had sex. No condom. I lost control with a crazed idea in my mind. She panicked and started counting since she experienced her menstrual cycle. I told her I’d take care of the kid if we had one. But I think we were both in shock. We were supposed to visit LA together to see my mom and dad because my dad was in a nursing home and I only had a small chance to see him after a business trip a few months before. She left the following morning because she had to go to work and I stayed in bed thinking about what happened.

“One day just as I was about to quit this insurance company job, I called my mom up and learned my dad had passed away in a nursing home. I didn’t have any time to grieve because it was the same day I would leave this place. I was so angry that I walked around for an hour blaming everything. It wasn’t surprising because he already had suffered a few bad strokes that left him paralyzed and speechless. Didn’t help I was going through a lot of pressure at work. I was glad that episode of my work was done but that woman kept calling me to find out what to do about the tickets because she bought them. My mind was a mess because I found out that my aunt came down from Hawaii and had my dad cremated. I didn’t even get an invite. My mom wasn’t invited either. Instead, I stopped talking to the woman and started the new job. But I was messed up for a long time.”

Judy’s blue eyes reflected from the tiny digital light from one of the few electronic devices in his room that offered minimal light without needing an outlet. “Keith, I’m sorry for that. Did you like her at all?”

Keith shook his head. “Doubt it. I think if she really meant anything to me, I would’ve had a family by this point. I think I was scared and not confident in myself. Maybe I thought about putting a child through everything I went through or messing up someone else’s life. All I know is that I was confused.”

“Would you ever consider someone else?” Keith nodded solemnly. “What do you think about me?”

“I think…I knew I felt something the moment I saw you. I don’t know what but I felt something.”

The post The Strange Maid appeared first on Kontroversial Keith.

While the LED lighting will be convenient and controllable by a mobile device, the real thing I want is the built in connection ports. Having this will allow me to eliminate the floor surge protector that has been getting in the way and is quite old. Then I can hook my laptop up directly. But the real thing I’m going to do is move my current computer light into that room and connect it to the nightstand for reading. I think my late night computer habits of reading in the dark have finally caught up to me. And since my desk light really hasn’t been used lately, I’ll be able to make better use in my room.

I still have a floor lamp that I’m going to swap to the other side of the bed along with the table (if I decide to continue using it in that room). Then down the line, I’ll probably move my soundbar into my room and will eventually buy a new proper sound system for my computer. I saw some speaker mounts that I might eventually get so I can properly position the new speakers in a surround sound type of deal. We’ll see how this nightstand turns out because I’m eager of more room rearrangement.

Another small but meaningful benefit of swapping things around with this nightstand is that it has a few drawers and a middle section where the LED light is for storage. That storage area looks good for magazines. So I might move some of the magazines on my small bookshelf and place them under this area. For the drawers, I could put some accessories or more books/magazines. I could even put in extra underwear or socks just because my armoire is overflowing these days.

Once I get all these things, I might finally get that laptop monitor. If I get that folding desk next to my couch, I wouldn’t mind having the folding laptop monitor setup to my side. Then I could use that on the nightstand as well if I’m doing some late night writing on my bed.  That’s going to be pretty nice. I’d love to be able to watch a Twitch channel or movie on the side while doing some other activity but in the comfort of my bed or couch.

Also, I’m considering getting a gaming chair. I’m still putting it off because there’s no huge need at the moment. However, because of long gaming sessions, I’m thinking that it might be an interesting choice. My office chair is decent for programming but awful for my gaming. There’s one I saw that has Bluetooth speakers built in. So for my gaming laptop, it might actually be quite neat.

Something else that a friend of mine turned me onto was a cup cooler. My office had a cup warmer for coffee but I really don’t care about that since I prefer cold drinks. So I might eventually get one of these. The one I heard about was built into the desk, which actually sounds like a great idea. I would prefer if such a thing comes in the form of a desk attachment just to prevent me from accidentally knocking it over or taking up more room that I don’t have.

Lastly, I’m starting to think about buying a standing desk. I’m already running out of room on my office desk especially because I use it for eating. So I might get one so I can have more space. In this case, I would have to do a great deal of rearranging as my power strip is on a holder on the back of my current desk. But the idea down the line is to eventually get a three armed monitor monstrosity to better align my computers and monitors. Then I can get another 27″ monitor for a better work setup. It might be extreme but I think it can work. Also, I would be able to use the new desk to assemble future Lego sets.

The post More Home Upgrades Coming appeared first on Kontroversial Keith.

Since this was an end of the month pay-the-bills session, I decided in paying down a few cards that I might as well get a few more upgrades. For this round, I bought an under-the-desk tray, another small shelf and a stand for my iPad. The under-the-desk tray’s purpose will be to house some of my more used items like my clippers or possibly put some loose wires. The shelf will go to the left (or maybe the right side) and take on stuff like my wipes or kleenex box and maybe even my backscratcher while the stand will probably face the patio door/window for my iPad. Right now, I don’t have any uses for my iPad but I’m hoping with the addition of the Bluetooth keyboard, I’ll find something for it.

Now, before this set of purchases, I had picked up that mouse support and the small end table that I situated next to my couch. The end table ended up being quite mediocre. The screws for the charging outlet requires a power drill. Although I have a power drill, I decided not to use it and just kept the charger piece loose. Putting the item together was a hassle as the wood was cheap and very hard to work with. While the end product managed to fit nicely behind my couch, I’m sure I could have found something better possibly at Target. The idea was good but the execution was bad. The mouse support actually works nicely though. It’s a simple thing but it prevents the mouse cable from getting caught so I think that was a good buy.

On the bright side, I was able to put my small desk light on the end table. While I don’t use it much, I know if I start reading again, it’ll come in very useful. Or when I need to look at something that requires more lighting. Also, the charger portion is nice in that I can pull out my Mac charger and just use that in a closer proximity. I just wish that the screws were easier to nail in or that they had pre-drilled the holes. Just really shoddy design.

Also, one other thing I wanted to talk about was this food tray thing I bought. It’s another not so great items. The problem is that the tray has this bar that attaches and makes the tray adjustable. However, it doesn’t lock in and there’s a tilt so that the tray isn’t exactly level with the ground. That makes the tray unreliable for what I really wanted which was a laptop stand. So I might have to look around again for something better. This thing might be useful for a guest or maybe something light. But I’m scared that the bar will slip and anything on the tray will crash and possibly get damaged.

Instead, what I might end up doing is finding a cart. I have one already but it’s overloaded. I might try to find something with shelves like a mini portable desk. I’ve seen a few online that I might consider. I don’t want something too wide or unwieldy as I want something that’ll compliment my couch space. Then I would be able to do things like keep my iPad on the mount I’m buying or perhaps use this cart to put a mobile display on.

Speaking of the mobile display, my next three major electronic gadgets will be a better sound system, a mobile display or another 27″ monitor to replace my Acer. In all likelihood, the mobile display unit will probably be handier than the other two items. I am running into space issues with the current setup so I don’t know if another 27″ will fit easily in replacing the 19″ Acer. My coworker showed me this triple mounting thing he uses for his work station and I regret not knowing about it originally. That would’ve been far better for my setup but I had piecemeal’d most of my setup as I kept upgrading. In turn, I’m at the point where I’m replacing the replacements like the two shelf extension. I can’t complain too much because my setup is a million times better than what I had before.

The sound system part would be nice down the line though. I still have my soundbar which is okay but the quality is meh. Because it’s a bluetooth device, I’m thinking I could use it elsewhere like my bedroom where I could just program my iPad or another device to hook into the soundbar and play my music or podcast from any spot in my apartment. But once I get a new sound system, I’ll probably use it in conjunction with the two shelves. Not sure where I’ll put the subwoofer though.

The other piece I’m thinking about getting is an organization long cabinet that’ll live under the back of the kitchen counter. I’ve got some boxes there now as well my laundry basket and some old books. But I’d love to eventually move most of that and replace it with a better organizational unit. My counter has a bunch of loose things that just take up space and look sloppy. So if I can move all that into a cabinet, it should make more room on the counter top for various bulky cooking devices like my Air Fryer.

Of course, having all this just will make moving that much harder. But at the same time, I’m still living in this spot and want to at least keep it somewhat livable and have some motivation for keeping this place as clean as I can.

The post Desk 2.0 Continuation appeared first on Kontroversial Keith.

First, let me say that I really like this laptop mount. It has cleared up some desk space where I’ve moved the other desk mount to the side temporarily. That also gives me more visible space to access the rear power strip. The one downfall though that I should have done a better job at anticipating was dealing with my 27″ curved Samsung monitor. While this monitor is probably the best one of the bunch, it’s a little bulky. When swapped the positions between my laptop and this Samsung, I did not measure how much space it would need and how the cable modem would bump into the rear. So this monitor is pushed up front a little more than I’d like. And since I don’t think this monitor has the VESA rear mount, I won’t be able to get another arm mount for it (I’ll have to double check but I’m almost certain it doesn’t have the VESA mout).

The other major issue is that it covers up the small shelf. So the only way I can get everything organized is either to move that shelf, which means putting all the devices into an awkward space or add a small side table to host the Samsung. I think that would be overkill at this point. One other option would to move the main twin arms to where the laptop mount is and doing a swap. But in changing that over, I’ll lose some of the shield from my balcony window.

Quite honestly, I think this setup is fine for now. I just don’t like having the monitor this close to my face. And I want to have easy access to the shelf. Yet with the cable modem, external drive and router taking up the bulk of the space, I feel that the limited access I have doesn’t really give me much back. Instead, the better solution is to get another side extension that probably will go to the left of my table. And with that I can place stuff like my Kleenex box, paper towels or other utilities. Originally, I wanted that space to be an extended cabinet. But I might end up putting something like that under the desk. Having the extra room to the left would allow for me to put my iPad on that area with a stand. But maybe I can just have the double decker type of shelf except with more of a cup-like frame. That way I won’t fear knocking something over by accident. I do want an area dedicated for my iPad though and I want to have it on a stand.

Something else I need to consider is how I can organize all the cables on my table. I’ve got quite a few and it can get chaotic since they’re sticking out in all directions. Even if I can get another laptop arm, I’ll still have cables running around. So down the line, I’ll want something to help clean up my cable mess.

Another thing I did was move that new desk light. I really like this thing. It’s much brighter than I expected and I put it on the left side just behind the new 27″ monitor. It’s a nice light for reading and just brightening up the little middle section because my living room area is poorly lit at night. Also, by moving the light, I’ve freed up the side space where I can add another extension to the right. Right now I’m considering adding another shelving unit to that side, a mini cabinet extension or something like a desk pocket/folders to keep things like key documents or slim books and magazines that I want handy. Right now, I’ve got my small cup holder with a tiny boxy extension that I keep some loose utility stuff. Having a drawer under the desk would allow me to move some of those items that I don’t want to accidentally knock out (like scissors) So what I could do with another shelf is move the cup holder to the left side, swap my mobile phone holder to the right side and add a 3rd shelf to the left side. I still like the idea of having a small extension to the left though.

Regardless, probably one of the biggest winners in all of this is my floor under my desk. The only device remaining is my air purifier which is in the obnoxious middle section connecting my L shape desk. But outside of cleaning that area, I don’t really see myself messing too much with that. Nonetheless, the rest of the desk’s underside has become immensely easier to clean. Tomorrow, I’ll probably take the early afternoon to give it a good sweep and vacuum.

Yet with a good chunk of this desk in a better spot, I’m starting to think about what other things I can do here. I did mention the probable next piece of furniture would be an end table that sits between the left side of my couch and the wall. Since it has a USB charger (along with the normal one), I could set it up to charge my laptop. I’ll probably end up just using the normal charging outlet because I had issues with the power strips I recently got. But I might use the charger for something like my iPad. There’s a little basket underneath but I’m not sure what I’d do with the space just yet. I just know that I need more lighting on that side of the room.

Also, with the two monitor/laptop stands being unused, I’d like to figure out something for them. That’s partly why I wanted an extension to the left of this desk. I could still use both stands and just have them stacked on each other. I don’t know if that’s the best idea as it seems transient. But I would like to figure out other uses for them down the road (Lego?)

Maybe the one thing I’m not totally happy about is the feeling that I lost some space for food. While I have my cup holder, I don’t have that much space for meals. I probably shouldn’t be eating on my work desk (especially because I have a proper dining table not 6 steps behind me). However, I like eating at my desk because I have my computers here and I enjoy watching things on my monitors while I eat. Even with all the space savings, it’s still feels tight. The only way I can solve this is getting another monitor arm for my personal MacBook Pro. Again, that’s a project for the future.

Overall, I think the setup is far better than where I started. The floor having nothing on it besides my mat, the footrest and air purifier are huge wins. There’s still space for expanding and further clean up. For now, I think I’ll just let this ride until something like my carpal tunnel dictates another series of upgrades.

The post Today’s Desk 2.0 Progress appeared first on Kontroversial Keith.

One thing I bought was a cheap TV dinner style tray. It’s fine for the couch as it has a cup holder and can be used for light implements. I’m hesitant about placing my laptop on it though because the bar that keeps the tray upward doesn’t lock into place. With the wrong motion, I could easily lose some valuable equipment. In turn, I probably will just use it for eating and lighter activities.

What I did find was a small end table on Amazon with a charger station built on the top surface. My couch has two gaps to either side of the arms that I think would be perfect for this thing. So I could use that to place a mobile laptop monitor or another Bluetooth soundbar. Or I could place my iPad and/or phone there when I’m not at my desk. It has another tray for a little more storage. I might use that space for something like a humidifier. Also, I can add a reading light to the table as that corner is quite dark.

Depending on the actual size of that piece, I might get another one for the other side. Right now, that side is occupied by an unplugged three way light. Unfortunately, I’m not a huge fan of that light. I’m starting to dislike traditional GE type of lights since they go out easily. But that section of the room can get dark at night. I could simply add another attachable light device or another desk light. I have at least one available that I was using on my computer desk. If anything, it might be better suited for either position.

Down the road, I kinda want a lazy boy style chair. My parents had one ages ago and I loved sitting on it while watching TV. I don’t have something like that and end up using my couch in a similar situation. But some days I just want to face my balcony. My couch is placed against the wall to help create more feng shui type of openness but I wouldn’t mind having a comfort chair facing the outside as an in between. Plus if I ever get guests, they would need to sit somewhere.

Eventually, I will need to dump my old office chair. It’s broken, heavy and literally drags against the floor because one of the components either broke or wasn’t positioned correctly. If I end up replacing it, I might end up going for a gaming chair. I haven’t decided on one because I’ve been using my office chair for both work and play. I did find one with Bluetooth speakers built in. It looked like a nifty idea but I don’t know if it’s something I might seriously buy.

Another thing that I might reconsider is a mobile cart. I mentioned something similar on my previous blog post. I want to avoid getting a similar model to what I had before. That format wasn’t good. I think it was meant for my printer but I mostly keep my printer/scanner in storage. I don’t want to have it next to my desk though because it would block my balcony door. I want to keep that open if possible. So if I intend to pick up a cart like that, I would need a clear purpose.

Instead, what might be useful is another kitchen cart. I have one I absorbed from my parents. It’s mostly filled with old pans, a breadbox on top as well as other clutter. But a replacement/secondary one would be used for my lesser used appliances like this meat slicer I acquired or my Air Fryer, which is bulky. I’ve been running very low on space on my kitchen counters so I need to find something to help with space management. Likewise, I have another rolling cart with a bunch of rusted baking sheets. I’m thinking I should just dump those and buy new ones.

Speaking of counters, the taller kitchen counter has a ton of junk that have no rhyme nor reason just filling up space. If I can find a good organizing unit, I would like to move all that off that counter to free up more space. In turn, I could just move stuff like the Air Fryer or meat slicer onto that section. Below that counter are a bunch of cardboard boxes. One is filled with my dad’s old college engineering books. Another has some random junk. There’s a computer buried in that pile that probably doesn’t work and a pair of laundry baskets. Finally, there’s another monitor box with a plastic box sticking out that I should dump. In general, just more clutter.

The books are going to hard to dispose of because of the weight (I want to donate them to the library but these might be too old). I don’t know what to do with the laundry baskets. I don’t have room in my bedroom. But that monitor box probably should be dumped. I could easily get back a good chunk of space and put some storage unit to de-clutter that area. Something else I might try is some kind of bookshelf or cabinets that I can place some of my Lego. That should help a lot but I’ll need to look around for something that could satisfy those dimensions.

In parallel, I want to do some work with my bathroom(s). The biggest problems are my tubs and around the toilets. I can’t do deep cleaning anymore because of knee and back issues. In the case of both tubs, they have a really annoying metal/glass door frame which makes cleaning very difficult. What I’m looking for is a good device for cleaning at least the tub. But I want a deep cleaner for the back of the toilet too. I saw a few devices on Amazon that might help out. However, I question the quality. I might just go to Best Buy or Home Depot to inspect what they have before making a purchase.

Another thing I’m looking at is possibly introducing a small cabinet in the hall near the other bathroom and washer/dryer units. Currently, I have an old long folding table just sitting there. But I’m thinking I might move that back into my storage room and get either a small cabinet to put my laundry baskets on top of and/or just have some spare storage stuff like my dryer sheets. That’s definitely a down the road very low priority project but I want to avoid having the embarrassment of my dirty laundry being out like it is.

I might get somethings for my bedroom too. I have a very old folding table next to the side of my bed that I use for my laptop or phone. Sometimes other things like my light. But with all these extension devices, I think it’s not that great of a table compared to what I can get. So I’m either going to look for a proper nightstand or buying more accessories to this table. Getting another power strip with a clamp, a better night light (with a clamp) would be a great start. I have another set of lights in there but I hardly use them except back when the ceiling light went out.

Other general things that are on my list. I definitely need a good flashlight. When my building power goes out, it’s really rough. I might try to find something that is more powerful than a normal flashlight, something that can be charged for occasions like that. Another thing I’m thinking of getting is a Roomba. I’ve heard mixed things about them but with my main work/living space having a clear floor, it makes sense that I acquire one. I have an old school giant vacuum that is great but it’s a pain in the ass to haul out and cleaning it sucks. I feel something like that is better for heavy duty jobs. But a Roomba might be good for daily use.

Also, I need a UPC. I had one a long time ago and it was crap. I assume that the newer ones are far better but I haven’t looked after that experience. Maybe the newer ones can handle long power outages better.

One thing not on my list is a TV. I think I’m going to avoid having a TV for a while. I don’t watch anything and I don’t feel like subscribing to 10+ channels or whatever and spend hundreds of dollars on something I wouldn’t use. Maybe if I bought a home, I’ll consider getting a TV. I just don’t feel the urge to have one.

Anyway, that’s my brain dump for today.

The post More Home Decorating Project Ideas appeared first on Kontroversial Keith.

First, the new monitor is great. It’s actually lighter and has more space plus far better resolution overall. The power button is on the backside and I guess Samsung has a standard method for shutting down these newer monitors. I’m hoping that with this switch, my overall power consumption will drop. But I do think my eyes will find this new screen more amendable. Part of this process has allowed me to learn about the VESA mounting format on the back, which allows me to use the twin monitor arms. I wasn’t aware of the name beforehand, but I will be looking a lot closer to avoid the mistake with the other curved monitor. I might still try to get another curved monitor that’s as good quality or better but I’ll certainly make sure it has the VESA mounts next time.

For the shelving unit component, it was quite easy to assemble and attached nicely exactly to the spot I had planned. The main thing there was moving my router to the top shelf and the external hard drive to the lower shelf and stand it up. The benefit of this shuffle is to avoid a disastrous spill on my desk as I often eat and drink here. Of course, I have my attachable cup holder too but that’s off to one side of the desk and sometimes, I get a little lazy and just use the main desk space.

Beyond that, I put a few additional items on the shelves like my towels, a Kleenex box and some papers as well as my trusty backscratcher. If I were more of a green thumb, I might even add a plant. For now, I think it’s a good setup. However, I’d like to get a longer coaxial cable for my cable modem and place it next to the external Western Digital drive. That would clean up the floor, leaving only my air purifier as the thing remaining that really belongs beneath the desk.

Another major thing I was able to do was move the Soundbar in between my two work monitors. It’s actually a better spot since there’s an unclaimed space there. Also, the cable doesn’t have to stretch as far. But the idea was that I wanted to remove this laptop shelf that originally was used for my monitors. Since I’m moving towards a clamp style to create more room on my desk, the shelf no longer served a purpose except take up excess space. In addition, it was hampering my home MacBook Pro whenever I had my work laptop out. With those items gone, the only thing remaining on the table is my iPad and even then I don’t really want to keep it in that space.

But with my table is a far cleaner spot, I’m beginning to come up with more ideas to further optimize this space. I think the next biggest addition will be a laptop mount. I’ve been eyeing a few brands that use a mount with an arm that swivels outward. There’s two in particular that I think are really good. One seems more secure and has a similar spring loaded mechanism similar to my two monitor arms. The other seems a little less flexible and less secure but is cheaper and might be good as a test for my gaming laptop. What I want to do is put the first one in between the two work monitors and move either my work laptop to that spot or my gaming laptop there. Then I’ll shift the curved Samsung 27″ to where my gaming laptop is and get rid of the stand. I have to figure out how I want to handle the keyboard and mouse parts. Currently, I have a sliding drawer for my gaming setup but I might partly abandon it for a middle extension. Certainly, I’ll need to fiddle with that because I won’t be using my gaming keyboard for both work and games. Same with the mouse.

If that happens, I’ll have to look for another keyboard. I could just replace the gaming keyboard because it is several years old (same with my main gaming mouse). I’m more hesitant about using a PC style keyboard with a Mac though since I’ve gotten used to my Mac keyboard. I might just try to get a normal Mac keyboard and swap it in whenever I use my work Mac (or my home Mac). But I absolutely hate the traditional Mac mice and will stick with a gaming mouse. However, I would consider either a track pad or some drawing mechanism because mice are terrible for that type of application.

Also, I know that I’m going to need another power strip. I really like the one I got. The USB hook ups for power are great. The USB-C hookup is terrible for my laptops. They don’t seem to function well for them. I haven’t tried a non-laptop with the USB-C hookup. Nonetheless, when I get a new monitor, I will probably abandon the old cable. I might just swap out for my floor light plug. Then I’ll eventually get a better desk light. The one I saw has a USB connector and adapter. So I can use either type of plug. With that additional power strip, I’ll start using it to keep my iPad and old iPod Nano charged up.

Beyond those items, I also have been looking at drawers. This desk is just so bare bones when it comes to features that I think all these extensions were meant for this type of table. But I miss having drawers that I keep pertinent papers or other items. I still have my apartment’s drawers from the built in desk. But that thing is a hassle as my old computer chair is in the way and has a mechanical problem that interferes from easily getting stuff out of those drawers. So I’m either going to add a left side attachment for stuff like manuals, small magazines and other utilities to prevent me from losing things easily. I saw another device that acts as a clip and I could place my iPad there.

I’m not a huge fan of that one because I’m afraid that I might bump into the iPad and cause it to crash and shatter on the ground. Instead, I think a better option would be to find some sort of stand or mount for my iPad. There’s no immediate requirement for my iPad as I had been using mine for a few games. I could eventually start using it for stuff like music and get better Bluetooth speakers and move the soundbar into my bedroom. Then my iPad could be used to remote control the music in my place between my bedroom and office area.

Going back to the Bluetooth speakers, while I like the little soundbar I have, I think the quality isn’t great. It seems like a nifty device that I would prefer in my bedroom that I can attach to another, smaller power strip that I can add to my bedside table. But for music, I want something more booming. I miss my old Sound Blaster speakers which I used forever. So my main computers could use something more sophisticated. In that I’ll do more investigation on what to use. Nonetheless, I really like the Bluetooth aspect. I hate directly connecting via a wire and just being able to power up separately seems like a great thing

Other items I could get are another shelf. I might add something like that to either side of my L-shaped desk. For instance, if I got a subwoofer (are those still a thing?) and some extra speakers, one of these shelving units might be a great place to put such a thing. I wouldn’t mind having a shelf just for a few Lego sets. That one would have to go on the right side though because if I have my balcony screen door open, I don’t want the Lego to get wet during a storm. I could get a cart similar to my old desk. I still have my old one but it’s full of Lego instructions and way too heavy to move around. Also, if I ever got another, I don’t want it to be used as a glorified Lego instruction box or a spot where I keep tons of VHS tapes.

The other option is to evaluate the laptop arm. If that one turns out to be decent or inadequate for my gaming laptop, I might just use it for my personal laptop. I’ll keep it to one side and add another keyboard. Then I’ll shift my mobile phone, which has a goof arm to a different side of the desk. That might not happen for another month or two though. Before that occurs, I’ll try to get another monitor.

At any rate, I would say I’m at the half way point with this project. There’s still other things that I need to examine but I like the progress. I think this is definitely worth the money and effort.

The post Updates on Desk 2.0 Project appeared first on Kontroversial Keith.

One thing that has been a major boost in saving space is a pair of monitor arms that uses a clamp to hook onto the rear of my desk. Right now, I’m using two old Acer 19″ monitors that frankly need to be the next things to go. Both have broken power buttons but aren’t nearly as clear as my 27″ curved Samsung that I picked up last year and use for both my gaming laptop and working laptop. The whole idea of the clamp style extensions further was impressed upon me the other day when I bought an organizer for my older power strips and use for my gaming laptop’s power case. While that hasn’t completely cleaned up the floor, it has helped remove some of the ugly wiring and will the general direction as I start doing a major sweep of shifting things around my work area.

The thing with my desk that I didn’t realize until now is that it really has been a bare bones type of system with the except of a badly designed keyboard/mouse drawer that only can be used on one side of the L-shape set. The problem with this setup is that it severely limits my activities and the space on this thing barely can hold both my gaming keyboard and mouse. With my mouse, I frequently am wrestling both with the cord and the limited motion because the tray itself is quite small.

Nonetheless, the key thing about this desk is that it’s actually good for this kind of extensibility using clamps. With that in mind, I started looking for more of these extensions. Originally, the start of my search was due to wanting some sort of shelving unit. While there are a few shelving unit types of extensions, most are quite small. But the next thing coming in later is a small generic 4-in-1 type of cup holder/headphone clip/storage. I have a lot of little stuff just running around my desk like writing utensils, random eating utensils, notes, etc. So this item should clean a lot of those types of items nicely. Also, I have some giant gaming headphones just sitting between two of my monitors that I want to just place somewhere convenient to save even more space.

Along those lines, I bought an attachable power strip with USB and USB-C connectors so that I can free up more of my chords. My phone charger uses a USB connector which is hooked into one of my laptop USB-C extensions. It’s gotten to the point where that setup is really inconvenient since I have to constantly plug/unplug these wires. Also, having this new power strip allows me to get rid of this ancient fat power strip that takes up space on the floor because I can just directly connect my two MacBook cables into the USB-C ports. And for the last USB port on the power strip, I’ll connect my soundbar which will further allow me more general mobility in my place, namely having a permanent connection to my laptops whenever I need to broadcast music. Lastly, there’s another old floor power strip that I’m going to free up in having this thing. I’ll probably put this strip either on the corner or behind the middle monitor. Altogether, I’ll get back a bunch of space as well as have some more floor space and be able to vacuum.

Also, on the way are a new 27″ Samsung monitor (not curved this time) and a small 15″ width two layer attachable shelving unit. For the Samsung monitor, I’m intending to replace one of my Acer 19″ monitors. Unfortunately, both my Acer monitors are old and the quality aren’t good compared to the Samsung I bought last year. More importantly, the power buttons on both broke so I have a sneaking feeling that both have been costing me more money than necessary to keep around. I’ll probably replace the leftmost monitor to start because I use that one with my home MacBook Pro and the new 27″ one should help give me a little more privacy overall as the 19″ Acer is partly covering up my balcony window area from having people peek in at me.

The desk shelf extension is something I’m going to add behind my gaming laptop. Since it’s small, I’m hoping it’ll fit complimentary to the power strip/wireless organization thing I got yesterday. With this desk shelf, at minimal, I’m going to put my router and external Western Digital My Home drive. I’m skeptical about having electronics on the desk itself if I can help it because I use my computer desk quite frequently for meals (hey, my monitors are there!) and the shelf in conjunction with the cup holder should limit the potential of a major disaster. Also, it’ll be a lot easier to clean that side of the desk. Additional space might be devoted to storing my iPad and some other utility items like my Kleenex box.

Beyond those items, I’m also getting a TV tray with a cup holder built in. While I don’t have a TV mounted anywhere (nor do I watch TV at all), I like the idea of just keeping my drinks nearby whenever I’m on my couch. Ever since I got rid of my old coffee table, I really have nothing to place my stuff and the floor isn’t a good idea with dust, bugs and the potential of a disaster. So this tray is going to be great just to keep stuff like my cup, laptop and other things.

But the major future purchase that I want is a portable laptop monitor. One of my ex-coworkers would bring his in when we met in the office and it seemed like a really good idea for people on the move. In my case, since I prefer to do my writing on my couch, I’ve found that my limited laptop visual real estate really requires a small extension. So combining the TV tray with a laptop monitor I hope will resolve two things. Then I can watch movies or have a separate browser whenever I need to work on my couch.

Other ideas for the future:

• Attachable LED desk lamp. Again this item has a clamp and is wide and would replace another desk lamp I had that uses a traditional light. The main benefit here is that I could mount this on various sides of my desk and gain back space. So this is going to be another major item down the list.
• Mouse cord bungee. I have a major issue with my gaming mouse where the chord gets in the way or occasionally gets locked on the drawer mount. That can be crucial depending on certain games.
• Another Samsung 27″ (or up to 30″) monitor. I want to see how this one coming in is. If I really like it, I’ll consider a 30″ one as the next major upgrade to completely replace my Acers.
• A laptop arm. I’ve heard a lot of good things about these. At the very least, I want one for my gaming laptop. What that would do is free up more of the right side of my desk. I might be able to move my keyboard and mouse onto my desk since I’ll have more room there. I don’t know how comfortable/ergonomic that will be though. If this works out I might get a second one for my personal laptop.
• Another keyboard/mouse under the desk extension. Because I would be freeing up the USB cord from my extensions, I could use that interface to connect with a keyboard. This has a general low priority but I might at the very least get a mouse extension piece just to have more space for my gaming mouse on the side.
• A side drawer/organizer. This is another very low priority item but it’ll be used to hold more miscellaneous items and paper. The bulk of my paper and writing tools are in the built drawers for the apartment desk. I’m not a huge fan of that system because it was not built well. That said,  I don’t use paper that much anymore but I could keep utility items like scissors or cables there to have even less clutter.
• An arm wrest. Very low priority. I’ve seen some that fold out so this depends on how much space I can get back in moving my personal laptop to a laptop arm. I do use my work and personal Mac laptop keyboards on the desk but I don’t think they’re honestly very ergonomic. So I need to experiment more with my setup once this table evolves further.

I do have some stands for my monitors and laptop. Those might end up shifting around or being piled upon one another depending on how much space I can reclaim. Also, I might get another side shelf if the first one turns out decent. I could put my soundbar on that and even mount my phone there. Once I get more of these things in place, I hope to get some pictures in and show off the finished result.

The post New Home Project: Desk 2.0 appeared first on Kontroversial Keith.

The solution I propose for California (and I know this will NEVER happen unless I’m in charge) is that long time residents, those who are actual natives, etc. should receive a massive tax break and/or a coupon that discounts housing cost similar to the way the UC system does for its residents. What I mean by this is that if you were born here, live XXX number of years here, are considered a permanent resident, have paid taxes for a long time, etc. you should (deservedly so) receive tiered discounts to homes.

So for instance, I am someone who:

• Was born in LA
• Paid taxes since 1999
• Am a permanent resident (even though I did spend 5 1/2 years in Japan at one point)
• Have half my family here (whether I want it or not)
• Have my vehicle registered here
• Went to school here (from start to finish)

This makes me a full blooded Angelino through and through and definitely a California native. Despite all that, I still cannot afford a condo, much less a house, even though I’ve literally paid my dues of growing up here. So my only alternative is to get chased away to another state because I know there isn’t any way I will be able to retire here. And I’m not the only person.

Unless you had early on possessed the foresight to purchase a home when it was actually affordable, you pretty much are screwed. With the rising cost of virtually everything along with state taxes, California practically is one of the worst states to live in cost-wise. If this state was actually safe with regards to crime and wasn’t accident prone due to poorly thought out streets and had a decent public transit system (it stinks all things considered), then perhaps I wouldn’t feel awful about where my tax dollars were going.

However, I doubt anything will improve during my lifetime. It’s too slow to see something like the Metro become half way usable. And even when it does, it’s out of the way and doesn’t give me a sense of safety compared to say Tokyo’s overcrowded subway system. There’s just something wrong all around there.

But the real issue is that people like myself are going to try to escape this madhouse once we are given the opportunity. In my case, it might be a spot like Las Vegas next door just because they have no state tax, is still close enough for dealing with business when the need arises, the housing is relatively affordable and the weather isn’t that bad (though supremely hot during the summer). But hey, the weather can get deadly hot out here too so what’s the difference?

Also, the way California has been transforming itself makes me sad. All the things that I grew up with are going away and I simply feel depressed all the time. My favorite mall growing up, Del Amo, is a shell of itself now completely converted into a ritzy yuppy spot predicated upon the cold, calculated analysis of some corporate owner (Simon) that redefined the ancient spot into a modernized, “hip” place of decadence and soullessness. Toys ‘R’ Us is long dead. Many buffets, restaurants, etc. are gone or dying out. Most of my friends are gone or far to reach. What is the driving motivation for me to stay any longer outside of sheer laziness?

The answer is quite simple: none.

But I have a feeling that others in my position probably feel the same way. California is doing a horrible job trying to retain people. Companies like Google, Facebook, etc. have ruined this state, the economy and the housing market in general. Maybe they along with the cancerous, self-indulgent pus filled pimple on ones ass known as Hollywood, will be the only things remaining in the future here. Heck, Brad Pitt himself said, “Cya!” (or better yet “I’ll see ya when I see ya” to paraphrase a quote from Oceans 13) because this state has zero clue on how to handle its economy demonstrate that even the rich have zero desire to stay.

If anything the state should be grateful for those who had been supporting it and enduring the various hardships wrought through shitty politics. Give us back our land/housing and maybe we’ll stick around. Otherwise, I’m outta here.

The post The California Housing Law That We Need appeared first on Kontroversial Keith.

Yup, I’m going back to the best life advice I ever received. Fuck ’em. That means, I don’t give a shit anymore. I don’t want to waste my time nor energy with drama. Then I find out that a previous QA guy I know learned that our new QA hire started today and he was trying to guilt trip me. But I’m like you already have a full time job. You had three until two canned you. And there were issues where I couldn’t trust your output. I ain’t taking shit from that.

Also, they wanted me to go in next week because the CEO has another “guest” over. Well, the last time I went in for a guest, I got sick and still am coughing up a lung. Next week on that day, it’s supposed to be raining. So I ain’t moving from my home. I’m just going to sit here and get well. I don’t want to waste my time for meeting some person that takes 1 minute compared to the other 90 min on the road and a 3 week recovery. It says remote work not in office. So I put my foot down and was like no way.

I think in general I’ve just been grumpier. This weather has sucked a lot out of me and I am a bit disappointed with my Kate McCrae bag purchase. I’m going to spend this weekend talking to that other vendor and seeing if I can really nail down the material and design.

That said, the way I dealt with all this BS was treating myself to a good dinner. After having chili for 3 days, I said that I needed a break. If I had one more meal of chili, then it’ll be for tomorrow’s lunch. Otherwise, I’m going out because it finally cleared up and I was hungry. On top of that, I had a cookie with ice cream because fuck it all.

But all this got me thinking as I drove home. It goes back to what’s important to my life. Not other people’s lives just my life and my life alone. And that boils down to getting a home sooner than later outside of California and publishing my novel. The novel really has the biggest priority and at this stage, I just need a cover artist. But I don’t care if it ends up getting criticized or pissing some group off. They can go fuck themselves with the rest of this shitty world. I’m just going to focus on that and trying to get the hell out of this retarded state so I can start saving money again for retirement.

Beyond that, I just figured that I needed to again figure out ways to make myself happy while I’m alive. I was reading some long term covid trending tag on twitter and it was super depressing. All it really did was remind me why I need to make the most immediate moment enjoyable and the best for me. Not other people, me. You either come on the ride with me or I drop you into an active volcano.

At any rate, I’m tired. More tired of trying to help people and not ever feeling appreciated.

The post Not The Best Day But I Tried appeared first on Kontroversial Keith.