This post on domestic archaeology is a continuation of the Dormant Life post to be found here. I have inserted other materials from the Accident Log so that the temporal sequence of my experience is maintained.
Domestic Archaeology 05 – Camera Images
During the clean up, I found photographs of Colin. Some of these were posted to the prior Halifax Public Gardens post. I found images of me taken on cycling trips in the Gulf Islands over forty years ago. There are more images of Colin. There are boxes of slides taken to document some aspect of offshore safety during my period with BVO. Honestly, I do not know exactly what images I have. All of them need to be inventoried and the better images converted into a digital format.
Domestic Archaeology 06 – Technical Hardware
I still have lots of computers, OS, connectors, cables, NAS, and everything else. During my period with Gargantua, whenever a new tech was introduced I would buy a sample and play with it in order to learn more and be prepared to provide tech support. I now have lots of gadgets I cannot fathom. Cables, and pin outs, and performance specs, that I no longer remember.
Domestic Archaeology 07 – Technical Software
Lots of technical books. Primarily programming and server tech. Some nix books. Maybe lots of nix books. Since the accident, I have done no recreational programming apart from blog set-up. These very limited attempts filled me with horror. I experienced a great deal of difficulty and I now shy away from technical pursuits whereas previously I loved the challenge presented by technical problems. At present, I rely on a very limited set of routines and avoid any custom modifications. Even HTML and css hacks are avoided. I am worried I will break something and be unable to find the fix.
Domestic Archaeology 08 – Shoes
– Shoes. Have cherished leather business shoes and boots (jodhpurs). Would polish these weekly during the search for work in Halifax. No need for these in the world of tech and they were replaced by cycle shoes, or by lightweight hiking boots. I used to wear a size 9, or a 9.5. Now I am up to a 10.5, or an 11. Walking widens the feet. I am putting in 250 miles a month, or an average of 8 miles per day. Before the accident (and up to August 2014) I was walking 8 miles a week and I thought this was excessive.
The problem is no more sense of a mental boost from any additional miles. I have cranked up the mileage in the belief this might further improve mental function but no evidence of that is seen. I remain convinced there was a significant improvement in the period after August of 2014 when I greatly increased both distance and pace. Now, not so much.
Domestic Archaeology 09 – Art Materials
Art – Found watercolour sets, and pencil sets, brushes, and lots of sketch pads. Have not touched any of this since the accident.
Domestic Archaeology 10 – Cook Books
Cook books – have over six feet of cookery books. have not touched them since the accident. Have lots of culinary implements and gizmos. Have not used any of them since the accident. Just very basic meal rotation.
Domestic Archaeology 11 – Map Project
It stuns me. First that I have all of this stuff which has been left untouched for more than four years. Second, is that I have no memory of much of this material. I do not remember its particular usage, or value. Third that there is so much of it. Part of this is due to the fact that prior to the loss of the Gargantua job, I cleaned out a rented storage locker and moved the stored stuff back into the house. These items have never been properly inventoried.
It is also evident that I have confined my life to a very narrow spectrum of the house. I use the bed, the bathroom, the kitchen and the dining room table. The other space in the house is left unexplored, untouched, unrecognized, uninhabited. Actually it is inhabited. The person who lives in these nether regions is the man as he was prior to March 6th, 2011. The person subsequent to that date inhabits the same physical form, but is a totally different person.