I really overcommitted myself this summer. I did finally manage to get the last of six bloom lights working just before Eva had to leave for Burning Man. I don’t have any pictures but hopefully there will be some good ones when everyone comes back from the burn. I also spent an evening helping Chris with his group’s firefly costumes, assembling four controllers with light sensors and high-powered LEDs; the idea is that each light will flash at some adjustable interval, and that the controllers will watch for other flashes and try to stay in sync. This of course means that they will pick up on any source of flashing light, of which there will be many on the playa. Add on half a dozen minor errands I’ve run for other friends, and I’ve ended up doing a surprising amount of Burning Man prep considering the fact that I am not even going this year. Oh, well. I’m working down my list of commitments and trying to refrain from making any new ones for a while. I need a break – and a few long nights of sleep.

Ava and I looked at a couple more houses yesterday. One was a 1900 construction just around the corner from John & Holly; it was in surprisingly good shape, had a nice big yard, and would have needed very little work. Three bedrooms upstairs, a nice big kitchen (built as an addition to the original house!), even a parking space. The other place was a wreck – priced accordingly, to be sure, but it would have been months of work, and it really wasn’t what we were looking for.

I think we’re about ready to make an offer: despite being on a busy street and having no yard, we really like the house on 23rd. It’s a good price, a good project, and a good location.

Work is going OK. It has been tough keeping everything in the air since I have been burning so much energy on other projects, but that is settling down, and I’ve done some good work in the last couple of days. I’m working on a design and estimate for the next phase of the project I just finished; not a big thing but it has some interesting challenges.