Monday 27 March 2017

Toomas Karmo (VA3KMZ): Seeking Accommodations 2017-05-01 to late 2018, Greater Toronto Area

Quality assessment:


On the 5-point scale current in Estonia, and surely in nearby nations, and familiar to observers of the academic arrangements of the late, unlamented, Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (applying the easy and lax standards Kmo deploys in his grubby imaginary "Aleksandr Stepanovitsh Popovi nimeline sangarliku raadio instituut" (the "Alexandr Stepanovitch Popov Institute of Heroic Radio") and his grubby imaginary "Nikolai Ivanovitsh Lobatshevski nimeline sotsalitsliku matemaatika instituut" (the "Nicolai Ivanovich Lobachevsky Institute of Socialist Mathematics") - where, on the lax and easy grading philosophy of the twin Institutes, 1/5 is "epic fail", 2/5 is "failure not so disastrous as to be epic", 3/5 is "mediocre pass", 4/5 is "good", and 5/5 is "excellent"): 3/5. Justification: Kmo had time to do a reasonably complete and (within the framework of the version 2.0.1, 2.0.2, 2.0.3, ...  process) reasonably polished job, BUT seemingly lacked the time to turn his pointform outline into coherent sentences. 




Revision history:


  • 20170328T0406Z/version 2.0.0: Kmo more or less finished polishing his pointform outline. He suspected that there was no real point in turning the outline into polished prose, since the writing is of a utilitarian, as opposed to literary, character. Kmo did reserve the right to make further minor, not-very-substantive, pretty-much-just-cosmetic, tweaks to this outline over the coming 48 hours, as here-undocumented versions 2.0.1, 2.0.2, 2.0.3, ... . 
  • 20170328T0000Z/version 1.0.0: Kmo managed to upload just a (partially polished) pointform outline. 



[CAUTION: A bug in the blogger server-side software has in some past weeks shown a propensity to insert inappropriate whitespace at some points in some of my posted essays. If a screen seems to end in empty space, keep scrolling down. The end of the posting is not reached until the usual blogger "Posted by Toomas (Tom) Karmo at" appears. - The blogger software has also shown a propensity to generate HTML that is formatted in different ways on different client-side browsers, perhaps with some browsers not correctly reading in the entirety of the "Cascading Style Sheets" which on many Web servers control the browser placement of margins, sidebars, and the like. If you suspect "Cascading Style Sheets" problems in your particular browser, be patient: it is probable that while some content has been shoved into some odd place (for instance, down to the bottom of your browser, where it ought to appear in the right-hand margin), all the server content has been pushed down into your browser in some place or other. - Anyone inclined to help with trouble-shooting, or to offer other kinds of technical advice, is welcome to write me via Toomas.Karmo@gmail.com.]


__a new development calls 
  for a sort of emergency blog posting
__I learned in the evening of 2017-03-20
  that my present 
  (_eminently suitable) 
  living arrangements
  come to an end on 2017-04-30, 
  with my 
  (_eminently helpful and reliable) 
  landlord now planning 
  on selling his house 
  __he will start a process 
    of painting my present flat,
    and performing plumbing 
    or other maintenance, 
    on or soon after 2017-05-01  
__what should I do? 
__it will be necessary for me,
  as an unattached (austere) individual 
  privately active
  in maths, physics-of-radio, astronomy,
  technology-of-radio, 
  aspects of computing,
  with also some amateur 
  literary and practical-philology activity, 
  to find (austere) new living accommodations
  from 2017-05-01 onward 
  __this envisaged 2017-05-01-onward accommodation 
    would serve as a stopgap measure
    until 
    my contemplated move away 
    from the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), 
    very likely back to the Estonia 
    which my parents fled in 1944
    __the envisaged "Big Move" 
      could usefully be taken as marking the
      end of World War 2 for our family
      __I was myself born in Canada in 1953, 
        and Dad and Mum died in Canada (in 1991 and 2011, 
        respectively) 
      __I am assured by the Estonian consulate
        in Toronto that I hold dual citizenship, 
        and that it wold be fairly easy for me to
        take out an Estonian passport
        __I presently (a) travel on my Canadian 
          passport,
          and (b) vote from Toronto in Estonian
          elections with my Estonian-citizen
          identity number 
          (_the approximate Estonian equivalent
            of Canada's "SIN Number") 
  __I am hoping to make the
    transatlantic, final-end-of-the-Hitler-War, 
    "Big Move" in 2018 
  __but I may have to make it 
    a year or two or more after 2018, 
    should the 2018 state of the
    troubled David Dunlap Observatory 
    (DDO) heritage conservation case
    make it advisable for me 
    to stay within 40 kilometres of DDO 
    (_some DDO background can be had from 
      __I discuss my own conservation casework at
        http://toomaskarmo.blogspot.com/, 
        in many of my 2016 and 2017 blog postings) 
  __at the moment, I am 70% 
    of the view that (barring major crises,
    such as a fresh Baltic-region war, 
    or private medical complications)  
    I will be
    able to leave the GTA 
    for Estonia at some point in 2018 
    __at the moment, I am 30% of the contrary view 
      that barring major crises, 
      I will have to delay my departure
      from the GTA 
      until 2019 or 2020 or so  
  __here one possible phasing of the 
    possible 2018 move:
    * preliminary reconnaissance visit to Estonia,
      for about 4 weeks, in the 2018 summer
      __in this period, I continue to pay rent to my 
        new post-2017-05-01 landlord  
    * final departure for 
      Estonia in the 2018 late autumn 
  __here is one possible eventual 
    (2019 onward?) Estonian scenario:  
    * basic living accommodations 
      (_single room, with shared washroom?) 
      rented within the municipal boundaries
      of Estonia's de facto academic capital Tartu, 
      and therefore within easy
      reach of Tartu University 
    * a private office somehow established,
      through purchase or rental, 
      either within the boundaries of Tartu
      or on cheap land just outside Tartu 
      (_conceivably on an industrial-park
      "brownfield") - 
      in the case of actual purchase 
      perhaps 
      either 
      (a) in a refurbished shipping container
      (_a feasible general concept is perhaps suggested by 
      or 
      (b) in a modular portable office
      (_as in the Estonian "garden office" concept
        discussed at http://www.easyhome.ee/en/modular/info/)  
    * a modest, unpaid, working
      relationship established in the longer term
      (2019, 2020, 2021, 2022?) 
      with Tartu Observatory 
      by analogy with my happy 
      1998-through-2008 relationship 
      with DDO in Ontario  
      __I would hope also to develop  
        some kind of modest liaison
        with the "Physicum" tower at
        Tartu University - one of the loci of activity
        in Estonia's current tiny space programme 
      __I would hope to continue 
        to serve in Estonia as the unpaid lead author
        of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada
        annual _Observer's Handbook_ 
        bright-stars article  
        __since this _Handbook_ reaches 
          around perhaps 8,000 purchasers or subscribers, 
          my own ongoing commitment to it
          is not to be abandoned lightly  
      __I would also hope 
        to resume amateur-grade observing 
        with my private 20-centimetre Dobsonian
        telescope 
        __I used this occasionally on the dark lawns of DDO,
          before the unfortunate 2008 DDO sale 
          by the University of Toronto  
  __a positive aspect of 
    my post-2017-04-30          
    situation
    is the ready availability of extra rented 
    GTA locker space, 
    to supplement my current 
    rented locker space if necessary  
    __I checked this point 
      in the afternoon of 2017-03-23, 
      getting the good news in 
      a face-to-face chat 
      in the vendor's front office  
    __I can put a small portion, 
      or a large portion, 
      or even most,
      of my current extensive 
      books and papers into 
      this GTA locker
      space, as my circumstances  
      after 2017-04-30 may require - 
      if necessary modifying 
      my current rental by taking on 
      more space a few days before 2017-04-30 
    __eventually, 
      some small, or large,
      or even dominant, 
      part of the (2018 late autumn?) 
      pickup for the "Big Move"  to 
      Estonia would be not from 
      my austere new living accommodations - wherever
      in the GTA 
      they might after 2017-04-30 prove to be - 
      but from this rented GTA locker space 

****

__I blog here 
  with a description 
  of the type of austere accommodation I seek 
  as I surrender my current 
  living space on 2017-04-30 
__anyone with advice to 
  offer is asked to contact me
  rather urgently - preferably 
  on my cell phone (647-267-9566; 
  usually reachable live, but
  with mere voicemail on Sundays), 
  or as a second-best communication 
  channel by e-mailing 
  Toomas.Karmo@gmail.com 
****

__here is an overview: 
  * I seek accommodations 
    as simple as possible,
    (_being under some financial strain 
      after my strenuous 
      2012 and 2014 financing
      of unsuccessful efforts, by the Richmond
      Hill Naturalists
      at the Ontario Municipal 
      Board, 
      to save at least some of the
      threatened DDO urban forest, 
      and in any case leading 
      an austere bachelor-scientist 
      lifestyle) 
  * ideal would be some 
    unfurnished basement 
    space equivalent to two 
    small rooms - with a 
    totally unfinished basement being 
    from my austere perspective every bit
    as good as an unfurnished 
    finished basement 
  * my move into new accommodations,
    and also the storage of chattels
    in a rented locker, 
    is simplified by my construction,
    over the period from 2009 the the present,
    of many "stackerboxes", as explained 
    in a separate blog posting tonight, 2017-03-27/2017-03-28
    __as at UTC=20170323T235959Z, 
      my inventory of stackerboxes
      was the following, if 
      my records from that instant are accurate
      (_I am 65% certain that 
        each UTC=20170323T235959Z figure is accurate
        to within plus-minus a count of one): 
      * 81 stackerboxes in my current place of residence
      * 8 stackerboxes in my currently rented locker
        (_but the total capacity 
          of this particular locker is 72 stackerboxes) 
      * 2 stackerboxes in a state of partial construction 
     * 13 or so stackerboxes awaiting construction, 
       with their hull plates cut to size at Home Hareware  
       in 2015 or 2016, 
       but with the necessary hole-drilling and
       glue-and-paricleboard-screws 
       assembly to be performed by
       me over the approximate period 
       2017-03-25/2017-04-15 
    __my inventory has now improved somewhat - 
      with, I think,
      the deployment 
      of 12 boxes in the locker 
      as of UTC=20170327T2130Z
__I am proposing to put many, 
  and perhaps even most, of my
  chattels into the rented locker space
__it may also be advisable 
  to donate some of my books in philosophy
  and linguistics to Our Lady 
  Seat of Wisdom Academy 
  (_in rural eastern Ontario) before 
  my envisaged 2018-autumn 
  move to Estonia 
  (_but I have not yet, 
    as of 2017-03-27, opened discussions 
    with Our Lady Seat of Wisdom Academy
    __anyone needing particulars 
      on this minor tertiary-sector
      institution
      (_the Government of Ontario
        has just given it,
        or else has just promised it,   
        degree-granting status) 
      can check 
    __a complication: 
      if Our Lady Seat of Wisdom, 
      in our eventual to-be-opened
      bilateral diplomatic dialogue, 
      were to wish me to assist them
      academically, 
      then I would have to forego 
      the envisaged move to Estonia,
      proceeding instead to rural eastern Ontario
      (_this would actually make some sense,
        given my conservative Catholic
        convictions, and additionally 
        my strong Latin,
        my four degrees (two from Oxford),  
        my background - with relevant publications - 
        in logic, 
        my current Hebrew studies, and so on  
      __but the complication has at present to be 
        regarded as only a remote contingency, 
        of present subjective probability 
        just 1/20, or 5%) 
__what chattels remain 
  would fit into modest accommodations
__best, from several 
  practical standpoints (notably cost)
  would be basic unfurnished 
  basement accommodations 
__a possible, and in fact pleasant, scenario: 
  I take 
  unfurnished basement accommodation, 
  and also take one meal a day as a boarder, 
  with the landlord upstairs, 
  and make (modest) use of washroom upstairs, 
  and thereby become in the eyes of the law
  a resident-member-of-household 
  rather than an independent basement tenant 
__such a room-and-board arrangement would be particularly
  suitable for an old-age pensioner landlord or
  landlady now living
  on his or her own, and therefore feeling the need
  for an occasional helping hand, with a bit of daily 
  social companionship, at meal time  

*** 
__in the detailed discussion 
  of chattels which follows, 
  I divide the chattels 
  into (I) "Core" and (II) "Periphery"

****

__(I) the Core comprises 
  a complex U- or L-shaped desk, 
  with its computer, 
  its small and plain chair, 
  and other accessories 
__in the optimal, U-shaped configuration, 
  the desk area has a footprint 
  of 2.1 metres by 1.8 metres
  (_6.9 feet by 5.9 feet; 
    6.9 feet is just a couple of fists less
    than the internal width of a standard
    "40-foot long" intermodal shipping container) 
__in the suboptimal, 
  L-shaped configuration, 
  the Core has a footprint 
  of 1.6 metres by 1.8 metres
  (_5.2 feet by 5.9 feet) 
  __(1) I use a naval metaphor to describe 
    the optimal, or "U", 
    configuration, of the Core
    __in this description, I take it 
      that one normally faces the bow 
      as one sits in the chair
__in terms of this metaphor: 
  * the bow arm is used 
    for pencil-and-paper work
    (_very notably in mathematics) 
  * the port arm is presently a table for
    poorly sorted papers, 
    but should very soon 
    (_perhaps even as soon as 2017-04-25 or so, 
      just before I leave my present landlord) 
    be becoming a radio table, 
    reflecting my Industry Canada
    radio license status as VA3KMZ 
    __on the radio table 
      will be quite a lot of equipment: 
      two general-purpose 
      shortwave communications receivers 
      (already operational), 
      1960-vintage ham radiotelegraphy gear 
      in a receiver-transmitter pair 
      (_awaiting repair, 
      perhaps in 2017 or 2018 
      or (in Estonia?) 2019 or 2020), 
      1985-vintage ham 
      radiiotelegraphy/radiotelephony gear
      in an integrated transceiver 
      (_awaiting detailed inspection,  
      and possibly repair,
      perhaps in 2017 or 2018 or (in Estonia?) 
      2019 or 2020), 
      and minor auxiliaries
      (_antenna analyzer; 
        a 1960-vintage "Q-multiplier", 
        or receiver-tuning 
        auxiliary box; 
        and eventually also
        (_2017? 2018? or (in Estonia?) 2019 or 2020?) 
        a laboratory-grade power DC supply) 
  * the starboard arm houses a full-tower 
    Debian GNU/Linux computer,
    with its keyboard and monitor
    (_assembled by me 
      from components early in 2013: 
      Intel dual-core CPU, 
      2 GB SDR3 RAM 
      (_even though the motherboard 
        is capable of 8 MB),  
      two internal hard drives  
      (_a camera exists for Skype, 
        but is not (yet) configured))
   * occupying a bit of the stern is a computer printer, 
     on a box base 
   __readers curious about 
     the Core, in its "U" configuration, 
     should examine the 
     graphic which I shall eventually
     be placing at the top of this present 
     blog posting
  __(2) I likewise use a naval metaphor to describe 
    the suboptimal, or "L", configuration, of the Core
    __here the bow arm, 
      the starboard arm, 
      and the stern
      are arranged as in the "U" case, 
      but there is no
      port arm
    __the "L" configuration 
      might be used if, for instance,
      space in my new accommodations 
      were to prove tight, and it 
      were therefore to prove necessary to 
      have nothing but a basement wall at the 
      Core operator's left shoulder, 
      when the Core operator is writing
      on the (bow-arm) mathematics surface 
__under whichever of 
  the two configurations is selected, 
  the bow arm is made 
  cosmetically attractive with 
  a bevelled-glass surface, 
  such as perhaps decorates the desks 
  of some high government officials 
  and some high commercial executives 
__under whichever 
  of the two configurations in slected,
  the bow arm has a wooden 
  hutch of twenty-four pigeonholes  
__this hutch rises 
  from the desktop on four wooden legs,
  of height 0.45 metres (i.e., just under 18 inches) 
__the pigeonholes are 
  arranged in an array of 6 rows
  and 4 columns, 
  with each pigeonhole capable
  of taking 500 USA letter-sized sheets
__the entire array 
  is secured at its lower level 
  (_at 0.45 metres, 
    i.e., at just under 18 inches, above the desktop) 
  by dowel-and-borehole mating,
  without glue  
__the array is secured at its upper levels
  by a kind of sliders-and-ridges mating, 
  without glue  
__under the array is a 40-watt fluorescent tube,
  of the kind used in greenhouses, 
  providing a strong and 
  even and spectrally balanced illumination
  for the entire (glass-surfaced) bow-arm desktop 
__the hutch is of my own design, from around 1984, 
  under the general design guidance of Dutch (Phillips) 
  electronics engineer Vladimir Stibic
  (_in his 1980-era book _Tools of the Mind_)  
__the Core, in whichever configuration is selected,
  is designed to be flexible, being implemented
  in pieces which I can dissemble and carry with 
  almost no assistance 
  __one qualification is needed
    for this assertion of  
    "almost no assistance": 
    the starboard arm 
    is currently implemented 
    with a visually attractive brown-stained 
    plywood slab resting not on 
    stackerboxes but on a 
    conventional two-drawer metal
    filing cabinet, probably 
    too heavy for me to lift unaided -
    unless, indeed, I 
    manage to borrow a moving-van trolley 
__by 2017-04-30, the Core will be composed
  almost entirely of stackerboxes, plus the just-mentioned
  two-drawer filing cabinet, 
  and of plywood panels or other timbers 
  (_the panels-or-other are already
    in a visually attractive dark brown), 
     resting on the stackerboxes  
  __as at 2017-03-27, however, 
    the design is still suboptimal  
    __I use stackerboxes correctly on the port arm, 
      but still use a 
      conventional cheap-and-battered desk, 
      which I may well have to donate to someone 
      before 2017-04-30, or even to convey into
      the municipal waste stream,  
      for the bow arm
    __it will be appropriate for me from 2017-04-30 
      onward to replace the cheap-and-battered desk
      with a total of four stackerboxes, 
      arranged into two 
      columns of two stackerboxes each, 
      (_retaining my current 
        horizontal on-desk plywood, 
        with my current on-plywood 
        decorative bevelled glass), 
      and also  
      (_should time in the period 
        2017-03-23/2017-04-30 permit this) 
      to build visually attractive
      internal partitioning into the each of the four
      envisaged desk-function stackerboxes  
__connections are as follows:  
  * the Core can run on a single outlet
    of AC power, although two outlets,
    whether on the same or on two different
    wall-or-baseboard faceplates, 
    would be  
    slightly more convenient 
  * the normal maximum power draw 
    is 170 W
    (_full-tower computer, as I measured it
      at around UTC=20170324T013411Z 
      with a "kill-o-watt" (TM) meter, 
      is 110 W; 
      the main desk lamp is greenhouse-quality
      a fluorescent tube, 
      as already discussed, drawing 40 W; 
      and 
      there is 
      auxiliary fluorescent 
      adjustable-desklamp lighting,
      drawing on the order of 20 W; 
      and
      there is also at present 
      a starboard LED task lamp,
      drawing 10 W, 
      used only a few minutes per day)  
     __if I were to bring radio gear 
       into full operation
       on the port arm, power 
       consumption would be increased
       by on the order              
       of perhaps  30 W at times of reception,
       and by on the order 
       of perhaps 150 W at times of
       reception-with-transmission  
       __however, transmission would
         in my case hardly occur 
         for more than an hour a week  
    __it is in some ways advisable, 
      and yet is not essential,
      to leave the computer running 
      24 hours a day, 7 days a week
      __I hope at some point 
        in 2017, subject to
        availability of residential
        Internet, to make this computer
        a processing node in the SETI-at-home
        search-for-extraterrestrial-
        intelligence project
        (_https://en.wikip
            edia.org/wiki/SETI@home) 
        __if this hope is 
          realized, then it will be
          advisable to have the computer running
          24 hours a day, 
          letting it perform a good part 
          of its SETI-at-home
          processing through the night
     __persons not familiar with household
         electricals should note that this power
         consumption is modest: a typical spaceheater
         (I do not own one) draws on its "medium"
          setting around 1000 W, and on its "high"
         setting around 1500 W
      __it is only when one draws appreciably more than
          1500 W or so from a single circuit - as when one
           rashly plugs in the space heater on its "high"
          setting, and then also plugs in,
          at the same wall or baseboard faceplate, an electric kettle -
          that one begins risking the tripping of a
          circuit breaker at the house-and-public-powergrid
          interface 
  * the Core can run with 
    or without landlord-supplied
    telephone landline 
    __I am independent of 
      landlord telephone arrangements, 
      since I have a shirtpocket cell phone  
  * the Core can run with 
    or without a landlord-supplied 
    Internet connection
    __if the landlord arranges 
      at my expense for a telephone 
      landline jack near the Core, 
      then the Core can reach 
      the Internet via phone-jack splitter, 
      with modem-router 
    __if the landlord has his or her 
      own modem-router with WiFi 
      (_such a modem-router is these days common, 
        perhaps in Ontario almost universal) 
      then I believe I can eventually link      
      the Core to this modem-router wirelessly
    __if the landlord does not 
      supply a telephone landline jack
      near the Core, and also 
      (_this is perhaps in Ontario unusual) 
      lacks his or her own
      modem-router with WiFi, then 
      I can 
      either 
      (a) connect the Core 
      to the Internet by
      purchasing an Internet-on-a-stick 
      solution from Bell Canada
      (or from a similar vendor) 
      or 
      (b) forego use of the Internet,
      making my infrequent, though operationally essential, 
      Internet 
      connections at public terminals
      in libraries 

****

__(II) the Periphery involves arrangements for cooking,
  relaxing, and sleeping
__for cooking, my current arrangement 
  (_which I would be happy
    to continue) 
  is minimalist:
  * bar fridge
  * 1980-vintage microwave, 
    on the top surface of 
    which is additionally a collection
    of food-useful laboratory glassware 
    (_the microwave is of 
      heavy-duty construction, 
      with a purely mechanical timer, 
      and without a turntable 
      __I think of it as a 
        "quasi-military" microwave)
  * small crockpot 
  * wide-mouthed thermos, 
    with laboratory 300 mL beaker and Petri dish
    to fit inside 
  * laboratory balance, for the occasional weighing
    of foodstuffs - notably of dry spaghetti 
  * minor accessories - most notably 
    a grater, two wooden bowls, 
    a wooden spoon, a ceramic bowl, 
    one large kitchen knife 
    and two small kitchen knives, 
    and a single-cup drip filter for coffee 
  * some shelving, to 
    give the effect of a pantry 
  __I prepare all meals without a stove, 
    favouring simple foods 
    that take a minimum of cooking   
    __an example: for lunch on 2017-03-23, 
      I prepared spaghetti 
      by raising a spaghetti-water
      mixture in a 300 beaker 
      to nearly 100oC in the microwave, 
      and then placing this beaker, 
      covered with Petri dish,
      into the wide-mouthed 
      thermos for about 10 minutes,
      by way of energy-efficient
      "retained heat" cooking 
    __accompanying the 2017-03-23 
      spaghetti was a salad of spinach
      with raisins and granola, 
      dressed with a home-made
      vinaigrette (olive oil, 
      apple cider vinegar, ground ginger) 
    __following the 2017-03-23 
      spaghetti was an orange, with 
      chocolate fruit dip 
    __a second example: for 2017-03-23 dinner, 
      I had rye crisp bread, vegetable dip, 
      cold fish (cheap Alaskan pollock, 
      crafted in some factory
      to look and taste like crab), 
      peanuts, and several dry biscuits
      dipped in yoghurt 
    __I keep no meat or chicken in the bar fridge  
      __I do, however, sometimes keep 
        in the bar fridge a 
        tofu product that looks and tastes
        like ground beef 
  __I currently operate without a blender
    (_even though healthy-diet 
      arguments can be made
      for acquiring a blender) 
  __I currently forego stoves and ovens,
      and I prefer not to begin using them
      __the power consumption of an electric
          stove is high
  __in my cooking area I currently keep also 
    electronics-lab gear and other tools: 
    * oscilloscope
    * RF signal generator
    * antenna analyzer 
    * two containers 
      for tools (both electronics
      and woodworking) and electronics components, 
      each rising to about
      waist height, 
      and one of them also presently
      with some superstructure ("small-parts drawers") 
      rising above waist height to face height
    * two columns of stackerboxes, 
      with a mixture of electronics items 
      and other items 
    __it might well be 
      necessary to move the electronics-lab
      gear into rented storage 
      a little before 2017-04-30, 
      and to leave this gear 
      more or less untouched
      until my envisaged 
      2018-autumn move to Estonia 
      (_at that 2018 point, it would be realistic
        to take my electronics 
        work further, by setting up
        in Estonia what has 
        eluded me in Ontario - 
        namely a small, 
        but properly functioning, 
        electronics lab, 
        as appropriate for a radio amateur
        engaged in physics-of-radio  
__for relaxing, my current arrangement 
  (_but I can abandon it easily) 
  is 
  (a) to keep two wicker chairs, 
  a heavy old (prewar?) floor lamp 
  (_around 15 CAD in a yard sale, 
    but in reality possibly an antique
    worth well over 15 CAD), 
  a small coffee table, 
  and an accompanying 
  small, cheap, fake-Persian carpet, 
  in synthetic silks (this was on sale
  a few years ago for 20 CAD or 25 CAD),
  and 
  (b) to spend a part of the day 
  in this part of my accommodations, 
  in reading outside 
  my work topics of mathematics, 
  physics, astronomy, 
  computer technology, 
  and radio technology 
  __I often additionally 
    relax by viewing YouTube materials
    on the computer in the Core, 
    with headphones for audio 
    (_a prospective landlord might
      care to know that 
      I like BBC thrillers, such as 
      the 1970s Royal Navy "Warship" episodes, 
      and snippets from 
      operas or classical concerts) 
    __I forego television,   
      as (a) superfluous 
      to my lifestyle,
      and (b) liable to induce boredom 
      or other undesirable states of mind  
__in my present living arrangement, 
  I have a visitor "ABC" for 90 or 120 
  minutes about three times a month,
  and a visitor "DEF" for 90 or 120 
  minutes about twice a month  
  __the visitor sits 
    in one wicker chair, 
    and I sit in the other, 
    and some tea or coffee is often consumed 
  (_I might imagine "ABC" continuing to visit, 
    perhaps once a month, if I end up 
    from 2017-05-01 in some part
    of GTA outside Richmond Hill, 
    and "DEF" finding in such a 
    GTA-outside-Richmond-Hill scenario that the
    distance is too great to make visiting feasible) 
__for sleeping, my current arrangement 
  (_which I would be happy to continue) 
  is minimalist: 
  * memory-foam mat, 
    raised on a platform, made of my
    self-constructed wooden boxes, 
    to very roughly 30 cm 
    (24 inches) off the floor, with 
    old (flat) sofa cushions 
    between mat and platform, 
    for extra softness; 
    conventional sheet, pillowcase, 
    and duvet at night; 
    dark brown bedspread in daytime, 
    to keep everything looking tidy  
  __I currently forego a conventional bed  

****

__in my current accommodations, 
  the relaxing area is in a 
  small carpeted room 
  separate from the Core room, 
  and I suspect used 
  in the past by other individuals
  in my landlord's house  
  as a snug one- or two-person bedroom
  (_the house is from 1970s, 
    and landlord acquired it around 2004 
    __the detailed pre-2004 history of house 
      is not known to him and me) 
  __this small carpeted room 
    I have lined on three sides with
    stackerboxes, housing books 
    (_on the east wall are 4 columns of 5 stackerboxes each, 
      for a wall total of 20 stackerboxes of books  
      __on the north wall are 4 columns of 4 stackerboxes each, 
        for a wall total of 16 stackerboxes of books  
      __on the south wall are 3 columns of 4 stackerboxes each,
      and 2 columns of 5 stackerboxes each,
      for a wall total of 22 stackerboxes of books) 
    __this presently yields a
      visually attractive booklined room,
      reminiscent of a tiny municipal (village) library, 
      with books running pretty much from floor to ceiling,
      with an all-walls total of 20+16+22 = 58 
      stackerboxes of books
  __I have also presently 
    hung my small art collection in this
    small room, with an arrangement 
    of supports on the 
    stackerboxes (so that I drive no hooks into 
    my present landlord's walls)  
    (_the artwork hangs in two gaps
    between stackerbox columns): 
    * 1899 Oxford Almanac, framed under glass
    * two antique Edwardian or Victorian maps 
      (_Australia, and Straits of Malacca), framed under glass
    * 1948-vintage map of Estonia, framed under glass
       (_this was a present for my late Mum's thirtieth
          birthday, on 1948-09-04, when she was
          living in Sweden, toward the start of her long exile) 
    * a London etching by 
      Russian émigré William Walcot
      framed under glass - this I bought when still at Oxford,
      under a sudden inspiration, in 1978, for the surprisingly
      modest sum of 35 GBP 
  __I have also a headphone-equipped 
    and speaker-equipped solid-state
    1968-era stereo hi-fi 
    sound system 
    inherited from Mum
    (with tuner-amp and CD player; 
    its (strobe-equipped) vinyl-record
    turntable is in storage now,
    and I should in future sell it) 
    __the system is in two stackerboxes, 
      at the respective bottoms of the two 
      stackerbox-column
      gaps which display 
      my small art collection - 
      and therefore separate from the just-mentioned 
      58 stackerboxes of books) 
    __however, I only play this sound system
      for a few minutes per week 
      __YouTube, with headphones,
        turns out to be a more convenient 
        means of musical relaxation  
  __I currently have also,
    on an easel in this same area,
    large-format unframed imagery from DDO, 
    with a large crucifix
    __it might be best to donate the DDO imagery 
      either to the remnant DDO 
      (which is eventually going, 
      to be under the management
      of the Town of Richmond Hill, 
      in a sadly reduced state) 
      or (this might be more prudent) 
    to Tartu Observatory  

****

__apart from displaying my small art collection
  in the relaxation room, 
  I currently find it useful to keep my washroom 
  decorated with pinecones, 
  dried vegetation, and other botanicals 
  __this is currently easy, 
    because I do not share this
    washroom with my landlord  
  (_if in my new living arrangement 
    I were find myself
    sharing a washroom, 
    it might well be advisable
    to toss out the present decorative 
    washroom botanicals, 
    or else to donate them to someone) 
  __I likewise keep some botanicals 
    (_including window-ledge
      pots, of a self-watering design 
      I adapted from the Internet 
      around roughly 2012)
      in the relaxation room,
      and elsewhere, 
      to help make my quarters attractive 

****

__minor supplementary details:
  * being somewhat impaired in vision 
    and coordination, and being in any case
    philosophically averse to private transport,
    I do not run a vehicle
    __I also do not currently own a bicycle 
      __I am on the whole rather disinclined
        to start riding a bicycle 
        (_although I did ride significant
          distances in late boyhood, 
          in Nova Scotia, 
          I consider
          GTA streets not fully safe for cyclists) 
 * I keep no pets
 * I do not smoke 
 * depending on the nature of the
   post-2017-04-30 accommodations, 
   I would be liable to be
   spending significant time away from the house - 
   perhaps spending a typical day 
   working at my maths-and-physics in some
   convenient local municipal library, 
   and perhaps spending a full day once or twice a week 
   at the University of Toronto downtown campus 



[This is the end of the present blog posting.] 


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