Mariposa's New Life

Productive

2012-02-08T21:37:00.002-05:00

I think February is the month for me to be productive.

At work, I managed to wrap up a project that was continually delayed last year (not due to me....there was always a competing priority). It only took a month, mostly due to the developer needing to fine-tune code. Otherwise, I'm waiting on feedback from the end user. Meanwhile, I'm up in Maine finishing another project, helping a school automate some of their processes.

On the knitting front, I have already finished one of the Sock Knitters' Anonymous socks.

Clover Socks in Cherry Tree Hill, Loden colorway

The Clover socks were a lot of fun to knit and they took no time! One week for the pair, which is probably the fastest I've ever finished a pair of socks. Even better, I bound them off and immediately put them on my feet (since it was 18 degrees here in Portland, ME today), I have a load of handknit socks to wash when I get home tomorrow and for some reason I'm not looking forward to it.

Solid Socks Mystery KAL

Meanwhile, while watching the Superbowl (Yay Giants!), I cast on for and finished the first clue of the Solid Socks Mystery KAL sock. I was smugly reveling in this fact when I realized that I was using Jojoland Melody from my stash.

Leyburn Socks in Jojoland Melody

CRAP!!! I need to learn how to read the instructions better, because Jojoland Melody is definitely not a solid or semi-solid sock yarn. So, after admiring the beauty of that bit of knitting, I frogged the cuffs and searched through the Ravelry queue for something else I could knit. I happened on the Leyburn Socks. These have been in my queue forever, so I cast on. So far, I've finished one full repeat of the instep pattern and I can see that I'm going to need to break out the stitch counter for this pattern because it's so easy to miss those rounds of plain knitting.

So far, in 2012, I've finished 3 pairs of socks....I'm thinking that I just might challenge myself to finished the full dozen for the year, especially since I'm already making good progress (2 socks completed, 2 on the needles, 1 waiting to start). I'm not counting the Escalator socks because they were begun last year.

Super Bowl Sunday

2012-02-06T00:51:00.001-05:00

And I'm sitting in JFK airport, so I'm sure you can guess the allegiance of most of the people around me.

I'm rooting for the Giants, mostly because that's who I rooted for in 2008. I'm what you would call a "day of" fan; I make my decision of who I'm supporting the day of the game. So in 2008, newly settled in Florida, bored out of my mind, and wanting to be able to keep up with the inevitable discussion at work the next day, I watched the Super Bowl.

I had absolutely no facts on either team. I didn't know that the Patriots were coming into the Superbowl undefeated and were looking to set a record. I didn't know that Plaxico Burress would later shoot his own dumb self in the leg and earn some prison time. All I knew was that it was Eli Manning vs. Tom Brady. Eli, the newly drafted little brother of one of the few names in football I recognized vs. the supermodel (who was married or engaged to the supermodel and had a child with another gorgeous woman in relationship circumstances that were as murky as Brangelina). Since I adored Peyton, I decided to give Eli a chance.

How time flies. Now Tom is still a brilliant, dominant player, Peyton is seriously injured and Eli has come into his own. This game is killing me.

UPDATE: the Giants won! Woo Hoo!!!

A Skewed Reality

2012-02-03T00:57:00.001-05:00

Tuesday, I started a second pair of Skew socks.

This has to be one of my favorite patterns, mostly because of the unique construction. I love the ergonomic toes, the origami heel, the candy cane feeling when knitting the legs...there is so much about the sock to love.

So, I'm thinking I'll probably finish the first sock sometime this morning and go ahead and cast on for the second sock. Or I can go ahead and get started on one of my SKA socks.

(Right now, I REALLY don't like the fact that the iPad takes such horrible pictures. I guess now is the time to try out Photoshop Express.)

That's the other thing I love about this sock; because of the uniqueness of the construction, SSS is virtually negligible.

2012! A Milestone Year!

2012-01-29T21:27:00.000-05:00

Wow, how time flies!The last time I updated my blog it was January 2011.....now, it's January 2012 and I'm back again. I would recap the year, but there isn't much there to get excited over...

Started working for a new client in January 2011
Left project October 2011
Placed back on the project (in a off-site consultant capacity) from October 2011-present
Picked up new client in November 2011
Gained entirely too much weight
Knit entirely too little
Bought Entirely too much yarn
Had new flooring put into house (Yay!)
Bought iPad, cracked screen horribly, bought new iPad...refuse to allow this iPad to know anything but the luxury of its case.
New cell phone....same crap coverage inside my house.
Ran up Credit Cards...Then manage to almost completely eliminiate CC debt
Paid off my car (Woo Hoo!!!)

Yup, that's pretty much a recap of 2011. So, what am I hoping for for 2012? Well, this is one of those milestone birthday years....and I don't really have anything planned, which is depressing me. So, I guess the big goals are:

Remain employed (Always important)
Out of debt by my birthday
Stash away more Emergency Fund money
Come up with decent milestone holiday spot
Lose Weight (always a goal, even if it isn't obtained)
Buy less yarn (already off to a bad start there.....33 skeins since January 2)
Blog more....Already up one post for the year.

Speak of which, I finally figured out how to get more blogging done this year. I purchased Blogsy for my iPad and this is the first post I'm using it on. I love it. It combines all the application I use most in blogging in one app and if it weren't for the fact that I'm hunting and pecking with one finger (although rather quickly). so let's see if this was a decent purchase.

I decided to get involved with Sock Knitters Anonymous's Monthly Sockdown Challenge. I started back in October and managed to finish that sock. I didn't finish November's sock in time and, to add insult to injury, I've managed to lose one sock! However, I did complete January challenge and not only did I complete it, I finished TWO socks in one month!!! Ha!!!

Sock one: Early Spring by Janice Kang. Knit with SWTC TOFUtsies in color way 923. I enjoyed knitting these, but I worried the entire time because the yarn is ~48% cotton and soy (meaning elasticity might be an issue). I was proven horribly right, but they're still a great pair of socks.

Sock two was the ever popular Hermione's Everyday socks. Talk about a fun pair of socks to knit! The only reason I didn't finish this in three days is because occasionally I have to put the knitting down to work. Umm, yeah I've been wearing the socks around the house, on my new (and dusty) floor. Why do you ask?

I'm literally chomping at the bit to start February. February's sock challenge In Sock Knitters Anonymous is:

Moderator Madness Month – we’re bombarding you with all the things you SHOULD have voted for just because we can :)
Technique: Knitting for a Cause or Mosaic/ Slipped Stitches or Self-Striping or Illusion Knitting
Designer: Kerin Dimeler-Laurence, Lykkefanten, Kate Blackburn

So, for February, I'm going to knit Clover and Ivy by Kate Blackburn For Sock Knitters Anonymous.

For The Solid Socks group, the challenge is Spring or a mystery sock designed by LauraJ. Since I'm not big on mystery socks, I'm knitting one of LauraJ's old patterns, BDY February 2011 KAL, in a suitably "Springy" color way.

I'm actually excited about knitting again and returning to my blog. I look forward to the new year now.

2011 Knitting Plans

2011-01-03T16:45:00.000-05:00

Toward the end of 2010, I cast on so many projects I surprised myself. Even more shocking is that I managed to finish 3 of the 5. So that got me thinking, I need to Plan this year's knitting for maximum efficiency. I had planned on going to Stitches South, but I realized that I would rather spend that money on more yarn and actually make some sweaters...you know, improve my skills, before I go to Stitches South...

So here are 2011's knitting plans:

Finish the following projects:

Bedroom Blanket: I cast on for that on April 3, 2010! Time to finish up. Besides, it is currently longer than I am tall. Then I need to determine if I'm going to keep it or gift it to someone.
Henley Perfected: I really wanted to knit this. I was perfect for my sensibilities and I knit it in a linen/cotton blend perfect for South Florida. Now I'm worried if it will turn out OK because I'm pretty sure I goofed up the armholes.
Convertible Mittens: I'm finishing these before I fly into Wisconsin next week. I'm rather fond of my fingers.
Felt Beret for Mom: This is actually a never ending project, since she wants one in every color under the sun.
Print O' the Wave Stole: I wanted to knit this so much. It's a beautiful project. But I despise the yarn. Cobweight and I will never be friends but the colorway is so pretty I'm determined to finish.

Begin (and End) the following socks (Ravelry Links):

Firestarter in Inca Sportlace Hand-Painted
Baroque in Cherry Tree Hills Supersock Blossom
Rhombus in KnitPicks Stroll Tonal in Blue Violet (although this may change)
Sunrise Chevron Socks but the yarn is undecided
Bifrost in Noro Kureyon Sock Mt. Fuji Paths
Bex in Cherry Tree Hills Supersock Loden
Naive Socks but the Yarn is undecided
Mermaidia in Cherry Tree Hills Supersock
Twinkleberry
Oak Leaf Socks
Spring Forward
Elfine's Socks
Farfalle Sock (This is the backup Pattern)

Knit three Sweaters

Sweater Girl Pullover: The Yarn has been wound, the pattern copied and sizing notes made, everything is ready to go.
Hey Teach!: Again, the yarn has already been purchased and the pattern has been printed. Just waiting to get started.
Deep V Sweater: Yup, the yarn has already been purchased and the pattern has been printed. Just waiting to get started.
The February Lady Sweater: This was supposed to be the backup pattern, but I get the feeling I might make this first because I'll get more use out of this.

I also made the obligatory promise not to buy more yarn. Then I completed my $100 order from KnitPicks, thereby breaking my New Years promise on New Year's Day. :) I like to start as I mean to go.

You deserve better

2011-01-01T16:44:00.000-05:00

For all my readers, I want to issue a sincere apology.

I'm sorry. You deserve much better. I haven't been blogging as I've meant to, to the extent that I thought about changing the entire format over to Tumblr . . .as much as I tweet, you would get more frequent updates. But I'm loathe to move from Blogger. I just have to try harder. For me, blogging takes effort, because I really hate releasing a blog without a picture to go with it. So, I'm going to start taking my camera with me more often so I can blog my mobile life and update you more. Yes, I'm still knitting (more on that below) and sewing, so maybe I can get more info released.

Two weeks ago was the last week I would spend as a consultant to a certain NYC based school. It was a bittersweet week for me. If asked a year ago if I would miss the school, I would have looked at you sideways and said, "HELL NO!" (Then I would have continued booking my table at one of NYC's finer restaurants). Now, a year later, I find myself really missing the people that I met there. I miss the individuals I had to work with and the teammates I could lean on for support. I miss NYC in the winter, the sights, the sounds, the fact that there was always something to do. Man, how times have changed. I'm actually regretting the fact that I'm not booking my normal flight into LaGuardia and am, instead, booking myself to Newark.

Yes, Newark. I know it's only across the river, but that's a long distance in NYC. Then, once I land, I'm probably going to spend the next hour driving to my destination. However, I took this job as a consultant because I wanted constant travel and change and, by George, be careful what you wish for because I'm certainly getting it. So here I am, on New Year's Day, packing for my 6:20 AM flight tomorrow morning. I certainly didn't want to fly that early, but that's all that was available.

So right now, I'm looking at all my clothes (I've just done a month's worth of laundry...I live alone. How does that happen?!?!?) and trying to decide what to pack. My new favorite books are packed (yup, in love with the Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich), I've queued up Doc Martin on Hulu (I watched all four season in 2.5 days via NetFlix! I hope Season 5 shows on Hulu), and I'm trying to decide what to knit...

Happy New Year to everyone! I hope 2011 is the year things happen for YOU! Wish me luck.

A year later

2010-10-13T12:08:00.001-04:00

As of September 28, I have been a traveling consultant for my company for 2 years. What has that meant for me?

I'm so tired these days I missed the 1-year anniversary of this job.
I sleep in my bed at my own home (the one I pay taxes on) 3 nights a week.
I consider the hotel (any hotel) my home.
I've developed gastritis and duodenitis. Trying saying that five times fast.
My yard is a disaster-zone
Spiders are running my house
I visit family twice a year and they're only 5 hours away.
I have 300K frequent flier miles. I am now Platinum Medallion on Delta. I'm aiming for Diamond by the end of the year (My coworkers have been doing this so long that they think my mini-celebrations when I hit a new level are mildly amusing. They're so jaded).
I have 200K+ points with both the Marriott and Hilton chains. I like both, but I think Hilton sometimes edges Marriott out.
I constantly feel stupid.
I'm back to working 10+ hours a day just to keep up.
I've developed the ability to fall asleep anywhere.

I've also learned the following:

To be grateful I have a job. Unemployment is at 10%. Nothing can be taken for granted.
That regardless of intentions, higher salary really does mean you spend more. I can't understand how I'm spending more than I use to, but there it is.
Savings are important. Emergency funds are your friends.
It is important to take time to enjoy the small things.
The North has four distinct seasons. I've now experienced them all and I like them. The south has HOT, "I'm sticking to the car seats HOT", Hot, and cold snap.

I initially started writing this post on September 30 and was planning on publishing it that night. However, I found myself unable to press the button and I still don't know why. Possibly because it just didn't feel right, but now it does.

Twitter + Kanye

2010-08-13T23:36:00.000-04:00

What happens when you combine pictures from the New Yorker with Tweets from Kanye West?

LMAO!!!!

Please excuse me. I need to find a tissue to wipe my eyes....That was hilarious!

Investing

2010-08-12T20:17:00.001-04:00

I've been watching Clean House all week. It's an exercise in amusement and bemusement. My favorite part is watching the homeowners, who have presumably watched the show and know what's going to happen, try desperately to hold on to their stuff.

However, it is making me look around my house and wonder what I would get rid of if Niecy and company blasted their way into my house. Thankfully my house isn't very cluttered, just slightly messy. So I started thinking, what would Niecy and Company want me to get rid of the most, my Tigger?

Eh. That might not hurt.

What would hurt?

The Yarn. Yeah. I would put up a fight over the yarn. So, just out of curiosity, I pulled a spreadsheet from Ravelry and did some quick math to determine how much yarn I have.

$1,140.33

That was the total for the yarn, in stash, that I had prices attached to. 71 yarns didn't even have a price attached. So, that means that I probably have over $2000 of yarn...

Whoa....

I have ~$2000 of yarn in my house. That means that the stash is easily the most expensive collection of anything in my house. The stash is worth more than the TV, the computers, any other single item. I have in yarn what I am trying to save for wood floors.

Whoa...Clearly, I need to rethink some priorities. Perhaps I won't put so much in the yarn budget each month...

I'm glad I have alarm system on the house.

Vacation Crafting

2010-08-11T19:17:00.000-04:00

I spent all of last week chained to the desk in my spare room doing work, so I wouldn't have to do any work this week (that plan failed. I've checked the email everyday this week, even if I didn't act on it).

However I do have some knitting related items to share with you.
The Cambridge Jacket is 99% finished!

I still need to modify the zipper (the instruction called for a 26in zipper, I bought a 24in zipper, and it's still too big) but do you remember what I said about the size issue?

Yeah . . .It fits me. This will definitely swamp my dad. I'm a little worried about this.
(momentary pause to acknowledge that it is currently 89 degrees outside and I'm standing here in a wool sweater)

I have a few things I need to finish on the jacket (weaving in ends mostly), but the jacket is largely done. I feel pretty good about it because it is my first completed sweater, it looks pretty decent and I learned a lot. The Rubicon has been crossed.

I've also done some sewing this week. I finished this in two hours last night.

The back of the DPN Case

DPN Case Interior

When it comes to sewing, I don't have a case of Startitis. I can sit and look at the pattern and the fabric all day long and won't cut the fabric. However, I have to admit that once I get started, I'm always pleased with the results. I still sew decently well.

I've been working on this hat all week

M'Gonigle Hat

I loved the pattern when I saw it on Ravelry and I thought it would be a breeze, since the cable pattern has the look of the Bayerische socks I knit two years ago (wow, has it been that long?).

I've had to rework this hat 4 or five times. Every day I end up tinking something because I either forgot to do a second repeat of the cables, or I messed up the pattern or I put the pattern where it wasn't supposed to be. Either way, I goofed something. But now I'm almost at the end of one skein of Stroll Sport Mink Heather and ready to finish this off.

In sad news, Needles and Knobs in St. Petersburg is the newest victim of the economy. I got her email yesterday saying she was going out of business. I know I should run up there to see what is on clearance, but since I just spent $151 at A Good Yarn Monday, I'm holding off. I'll probably go on Friday.

The Cambridge Jacket

2010-08-03T23:28:00.006-04:00

I am trying not to say "I HATE SEAMS", but I'm really feeling that way.

This jacket is turning out really well. I can see myself doing another sweater from my queue, but I need to find a better way to manage shoulder seams. I have the side and sleeve seams down pat, but seaming in set-in shoulders is getting the best of me.

I am worried about the size, though. I'm probably twice the size of my dad and I made this jacket in the 39" size. Soo.....

Why do I fit in this jacket? With room to spare? This is very scary. It will SWAMP my father.

Weekday Vignette: Sunday

2010-08-03T16:48:00.001-04:00

Well, here's another travel update story.

Sunday (7/25/2010) was supposed to be an easy day. I would sleep in, then drive to the airport to catch my flight to LaGuardia, drive up to Westchester, have dinner and enjoy the season's premiere of Mad Men. Well, that didn't happen....Enjoy!

9:00 AM: Finish packing. Take nap.

11:15 AM: Wake up to the sound of the cell phone. Delta is calling me to tell me that my "3:15 pm flight to New York--LaGuardia has been delayed to 4:30PM. We regret any inconvenience this may cause . . ." I smile and roll over to continue my nap.

2:15 PM: Leave the house to head to Tampa. I need to return some items to IKEA and this is the most time-efficient way to do it without using extra gas.

2:40 PM: Phone rings. Delta is calling me to tell me that my "4:30 PM flight to New York--LaGuardia has been cancelled. We regret any inconvenience this may cause . . ." SERIOUSLY!!! You mean I just wasted my gas on a cancelled flight? Nah, dude, you are getting me to NYC today.

I think now would be a good time to explain why (1) I'm traveling on a Sunday and (2) I'm ticked about the flight being cancelled.

I'm always irritated when my flight is delayed. Even when it is delayed for a good reason, I'm irritated.
Being delayed in Tampa is wonderful. Since the airport is new, they built all kinds of workstations and power strips into the design and the airport has free Wi-Fi. This can make all the difference in the world. When I'm stuck at LaGuardia, I'm usually praying that someone buys me a Delta SkyClub membership for Christmas. Seriously. The airport is THAT bad.
If I'm stuck in Tampa, home is 45 minutes away If I get stuck in NYC I have to find a hotel room.
The last time I went to this particular client, it was a disaster (partially chronicled in blog posts Weekday Vignette and This SHIT would happen to me), partially attributed to the fact that I arrived at 2PM on a Monday (not my fault. Thanks Delta!). This time I wasn't taking any chances; I was arriving with plenty of time to spare.

So now I'm about 5 minutes away from IKEA and I'm on the phone with World Travel, trying to get another flight. All the flights leave at 5:30 PM or 7PM and they all have a connection, so now matter what, I'm not getting to NYC until late. I finally decide to take the 6:59 to NYC-JFK on JetBlue, so the agent books the ticket and reroutes my car pickup so I can relax.

2:15 PM - 4:00 PM: Killing time in the Tampa IKEA

5:00 PM. Well, obviously since I'm not leaving until 7PM, I can get something to eat while in Tampa, but I'm not hungry. I grab a slice of pizza at Whole Foods and try to decide what else I can do to kill time. I finally decide not to push my luck and head to the airport.

5:30 PM: I've dropped off my bags and now I'm headed to ...OMG!!! How many people are in the security lines? It's Sunday??? Where are you people going?

6:00 PM: I'm now through security and I walk over to the departures screen to figure out which gate we are leaving from and . . .My flight has been delayed to 7:59 PM. Tonight is the Mad Men Season 4 premiere episode. Obviously, I'm going to miss that and True Blood. This sucks.

7:20 PM: Hmm . . . we aren't boarding the plane.

7:30 PM: We still aren't boarding the plane.

7:45 PM: We will begin boarding in 10 minutes.

8:15 PM: We're on the plane but we're 21st in line for takeoff. We aren't going anywhere any time soon. On a positive note, JetBlue planes have TVs in the headrest. On the other hand, no HBO, no AMC, no Comedy Central. In other words, really nothing I want to watch. I guess I'm watching Family Guy reruns until I fall asleep.

11:30 PM: We land at JFK. I've never been at JFK, so now I need to figure out where ground transportation is.

12:00 AM (Monday): I found National Car Rental and I'm trying to decide on a car. I need to make a choice fast; it's pitch black out here.

1:00 AM: I realize I haven't eaten since that one slice of pizza 8 hours ago. No wonder my stomach is talking to me. I stop at McDonald's for a quick meal.

1:45 AM: I'm at the hotel. I can't sleep. This isn't fair.

There you have it. Another travel story for you. Since I'm home for the next two weeks (thank you Jesus), I won't have any travel updates, but I might have some knitting updates to share.

The Final Stretch

2010-07-24T16:26:00.003-04:00

I'm headed into the final stretch with the Cambridge Jacket cardigan. All the pieces have been blocked.

Cambridge Jacket--Left and Right Fronts

Cambridge Jacket--Sleeve

Now for the sewing up part. . .

Progress

2010-07-24T05:54:00.000-04:00

Isn't it a great feeling when you attempt something that serves to illustrate how much experience you've gained since you first learned to do it? I remember the first time I made a sock. . .well, a sock-like object. That sock would only fit a person with extra-wide feet and cankles. The important part, however, was that I followed a sock pattern and ended up understanding how socks were created, how gussets work, and why those weird instructions actually worked to create something that would cup the feet.

Since then, I've made plenty of socks and hats, but I still had my own personal Rubicon to cross: Sweaters. That's right, there are absolutely no sweaters in my repertoire. Why? Well, let me see:

I'm a plus-sized woman, which means:

There's a shortage of patterns to work with (Big Girls Knits, notwithstanding)
I don't like most plus-sized patterns
All those patterns require a great deal of yarn
I really didn't have the money to buy the yarn required

I tried making a sweater once before but it was a disaster, because

Instead of trying to follow a pattern and learn the basics, I tried to modify the pattern from the beginning.
The sweater in question wasn't even for me; It was for my dad
I was a really slow knitter, so I was easily distracted and bored

All the items above meant that sweater knitting, for me, was more of a hassle than a joy. However, I started reorganizing my yarns last month and realized that it was a shame (and really ridiculous) that I had so many cardigans and pullovers in my Ravelry Queue, but I never knit them.

Hello Rubicon.

I had the yarn in question, I had the time necessary, I just needed the right project. I started the Cambridge Jacket 2 weeks ago thinking that it would take me at least a month. I am proud to report that at 5:20 this morning, I bound off the second sleeve and threw everything into the washing machine for a quick bath before blocking.

Now I wish I hadn't drunk so many cups of tea. I need to sleep.

I'm making a statement.

2010-06-28T17:10:00.000-04:00

This had to be the most hilarious thing I've read in a while:

I'm making a statement.

This SHIT would happen to me....

2010-06-16T23:41:00.000-04:00

Occasionally I have one of those days simply meant for the record books. Those days are few and far between, but when they happen, I can only sit in amazement that I made it through. Usually, my body (or its unwillingness to listen to instructions) is a determining factor in this situation, but not always.

Yesterday, it was the only factor, in a brutal and embarrassing way. . .let me take you back about 24 hours. . .

(Author Note: If you have a weak stomach, do not read any further.)
This week was going to be a banner week for me. I was doing my first solo site visit and my first solo BPA (Business Process Analysis). I left LaGuardia feeling perky and confident, mostly because this also meant that for the first time ever, I get to drive in New York. This was probably the part I was looking forward to the most.

I arrived on site, began the BPA (oh my GOD, what a mess!!! This place is going to need a lot of help), and left at 5PM. So far, so good. I went back to the hotel, took a quick nap, then tried to determine my meal options.

Lesson 1: When in a strange city, go for safe, familiar food first.

I checked UrbanSpoon, which is like a free Zagat's. Blue Moon Mexican Cafe ranked highly and since I didn't want sushi or Chinese for dinner (sushi made me sick last week and I had Chinese this weekend), Mexican seemed like a good choice. I made my way to Bronxville and, 20 minutes of walking later, arrived at the restaurant.

Lesson 2: If you arrive at a restaurant around 7PM and it's more empty than full, LEAVE.

I sat, nibbled on the chips, and ordered and Lone Star burrito. I am noticing that in New York, burritos come with the rice and beans inside. I hate having my rice and beans inside, but no matter, I was hungry.

The first bite was . . .interesting. Not exactly in a bad way, but in a "Is-that-BBQ-sauce-on-top-of-this-burrito?" kinda way. I few more bites and I could tell that this was not going to make my short list of favorite burritos by any stretch of the imagination. I ate somewhere between 1/3 to 1/2 of the burrito then stopped. No point prolonging the pain.

Lesson 3: Listen to your body's signals. They mean something.
Almost immediately after leaving the restaurant I began to feel heavy, as if I had acid reflux or something. This feeling lasted all night and into the next morning, but I've had that feeling before and it meant nothing. So I slept, uneasily, and resolved to get some acid reducer in the morning.

I made it through the morning sessions OK, willing the heavy feeling to go away. After the morning sessions, I realized that I was sick...not uncomfortably heavy but SICK. I followed Yuriy back to the IT offices and sat down. For an hour I fought the urge to sleep and the urge to vomit. I went to the bathroom at least 4 times, but it was no use. My stomach was on a collision course with an embarrassing destiny.

Lesson 4: If you are going to be embarrassingly sick, wear Linen. It cleans easily.
I stood up, calculating the amount of time it would take me to make it to the restroom if I tottered very quickly down the hall. In the high heels I was wearing, I immediately realized I wouldn't make it. I turned around to tell Yuriy I was going to be sick and no sooner than I had the words out of my mouth I became the Trevi Fountain, vomit spewing from me in spectacular form.

Oh no, it gets worse.

Remember the 4 restroom trips? Well, my sphincter decided that it would be much more efficient to rid me of whatever was plaguing me from both ends.

That's right. I pooped myself.

I now have bright orange vomit and poop spewing from me in spectacular fashion, while an office full of stunned IT employees watched. I must have continued for a good 4-5 minutes, but it felt like an eternity. I had poop running down my legs, vomit splashing out of the trashcan onto the floor, and all I could do, while keeping my mouth open, was look on in stunned wonder.

Lesson 5: People with children understand poop.
Finally, it was over. My body had spewed out everything I'd eaten in the past 18 hours (that horrible burrito, 3 glasses of orange juice, and about a liter of water).

4 people stood looking at me, not in horror or shame, but understanding. Mariana grabbed my suit jacket and wrapped it around my waist while Yuriy went to inform the AD (Applications Director) of the incident. Val called custodial while Debbie packed up my bags (carefully. Vomit had splashed onto the computer bag strap). In the bathroom, Mariana made me strip off the pants, which she tossed into the sink and began to rinse. I pulled off my undies and began to wash them in the toliet (hey, the toliet is the largest source of standing fresh water in any home). I started crying and Mariana said that each time she was pregnant, she had pooped herself at least once, so I shouldn't be ashamed.

I told Mariana I wasn't pregnant. She said it didn't matter; adults understand that sometimes, Shit happens.

Finally, my pants were clean enough for me to put them on and leave, so I went back to the hotel, drank a couple of glasses of orange juice and water and immediately climbed into bed. I slept for the next 2.5 hours.

Lesson 6: Until everything is better, swear off any product that was involved in the display.
I woke up with that heavy feeling again. I had just enough time to process it before the meaning became clear. This time I made it to the bathroom and picked up the trashcan while I, yet again, spewed forth the contents of my stomach from both ends.

All orange. Time to swear off the orange juice. I got back in the bed and slept for another 1.5 hours.

Lesson 7: If sick, stay home.
I woke up at 6PM and remembered that I had a dinner date with Al for The Tap House, a restaurant that Glenda and I found weeks ago and definitely wanted to take Al to. It was clear as I pulled up to Al's hotel that I was sick, but I was fighting it gamely, determined to let Al experience this excellent restaurant.

The Tap House lived up to all expectations. If you are ever in Tuckahoe, NY and you have the opportunity to eat there, please do. Given the dodgy state of my stomach, I decided to have the Roasted Beet Salad and lots of Ginger ale to settle my stomach down.

I ate six bites of my salad, Al cleaned the pork tenderloin and he payed (I had left my wallet at my hotel, which meant that I was driving around NY without a license and I couldn't pay for 1/2 the meal. I'm not sorry; my half couldn't have been more than $20.)

We walk outside and watch these cute little kids playing in front of the train depot. Well, Al watched. I immediately walked over to the trash can.

That's right. For the third time that day, I vomited. Thankfully, no poop this time.

Having relived myself of the 6 bites of salad I'd eaten, I immediately felt better. . .well, I felt kinda bad for the kids, who were having a great time until their mom saw me going at it for all I was worth. She had them packed up in the car before I could lift my head decently. Al scolded me the entire way back for having come out when I was clearly sick, but he did admit he enjoyed the restaurant. I was back to feeling embarrassed. At this point, it was clear to me that I needed to swear off food for the day, go home, drink water and go to bed. Maybe everything would be better in the morning.

Lesson 8: WebMD exist for a reason. Use it.
I made it back to the hotel, found my wallet (woo hoo!!!) and immediately hopped online to see if I could figure out what was wrong with me. After a little while I came to the conclusion: Food Poisoning. It fit all the criteria:

Nausea
Vomiting
Diarrhea
Abdominal cramping

It also said that the symptoms usually go away in 2 to 3 days. So that's where I am right now: waiting for my stomach to settle down because as I write this at 11:40 PM on Wednesday, I have not had a single thing to eat today and I am starving.

This s**t would happen to me...

Weekday Vignette: Monday

2010-06-14T23:03:00.001-04:00

This is a quick snapshot of my typical week. Responses to stimuli may vary.

12:01 AM: Bags packed and in car. Plane ticket and ID in back pocket of jeans. Cell Phones are charging. I've forgotten something.

12:30 AM: iPod now syncing with computer. Useless exercise anyway; I will listen to every podcast on it before I land in NYC. Really need to bite the bullet and subscribe to Audible, but I like getting my books in paper form.

12:45 AM: Stack Dishwasher.

1:00 AM: Go to bed

4:00 AM: Receive call from Delta. My 7:15 flight has been delayed until 8:53. Curse out the automated voice, not for calling to tell me (I'm grateful for that), but for calling me at 4AM!!!

5:45 AM: Get out of bed, still glaring at the cell phone. Get dressed. Pack cell phones and chargers.

6:20 AM: Pull out. Head to airport. Curse Tampa Traffic and TSA, which necessitates having to leave almost 2 hours before the flight.

7:40 AM: Arrive at Gate, which says "Now Boarding". No one is moving. I go to Starbucks.

7:45 AM: Still not boarding. Eat oatmeal, drink tea, think about work ahead.

8:20 AM: Gate agents began calling for Passengers with small children. This is the beginning of the boarding process. Watch as 1/2 the passengers get up to crowd around the boarding lanes, despite the pleas of the gate agent. I'm not moving; I'm Zone 2 (Zone 1 if I get upgraded). I'm almost guaranteed overhead space.

I would just like to break in here and say that the current policy on baggage fees needs to be reexamined. Because of those fees, everyone is bringing a carry-on bag (what can a 4-year old pack that necessitates a separate carry on????) instead of checking bags, which means that the business travelers, who never had a problem getting overhead space now fight with everyone for the space. Airlines, raise the ticket prices to cover the baggage issues and remove the checked bag fees. People are giving themselves hernias trying to get overhead space.

8:25 AM: Board plane.

At this point, I would like to point out that "You know you've been traveling too long when. . .you look at the aircraft and know the make and model number AND you know how comfortable you're going to be based on the seat assignment number."

8:30 AM: Listen as 12C describes both his position on the futures market and his prostate. I now know his last diagnosis, when he's due in for a checkup, his doctor's name, and his position on something in the Mexican market. Hmmm...I suppose he wants us to know he's important. I don't care about the futures market and I don't have a prostate; I think he's a too-loud idiot on a cell phone.

9:00 AM: Sleep until we land. This is hard-won sleep, b/c 12A is one of the most uncomfortable seats on the plane.

11:30 AM: Take shuttle to rental car agency. God help me; I have to drive in NYC this week.

12:50 PM: Arrive at hotel. Very nice. Why can't I check in?

12:55 PM: Staff comes back to the front desk. Irritated now. Want my room. Due at site in 5 minutes.

1:00 PM: Brush teeth, change clothes, run downstairs to car. Thank God I got GPS with the car.

1:25 PM: Arrive at site. Everyone waiting. Skip the PowerPoint, discuss what we're going to do this week.

1:30 PM - 4:00 PM: I'm going to kill my boss. These people don't have a clue about what they are doing. No strategic plan, no plan, everything is just willy-nilly. Sweet Jesus, this is going to be difficult.

4:30 PM: Leave site for day. Exhausted and hungry; I haven't had a meal since this morning's Starbucks.

5:00 PM: Find grocery store. Get the usual: Water, OJ, fruit, tea.

7:30 PM: Go forage for food (i.e spend 30 minutes online looking for a highly rated restaurant, then drive there).

10:00 PM: Decide to blog about this day.

And there you have it. One day in my life; heavily edited to remove any information about the client. I'll try to post one for everyday of the week; I usually try to post the interesting stuff. No one wants to read about the mundane stuff; heck, I don't even like to remember the mundane stuff.

No Willpower

2010-06-10T17:06:00.002-04:00

I don't have a lot of weaknesses but I readily admit that I lack willpower; That's why I'm overweight and have too much yarn. However, I believe one of the keys to life is knowing which battles to fight and which battles to leave be. Below are two personal battles I've learned to leave be:

Useless battle #1: Yarn Diets

Yeah, for me this is a useless battle. First of all, KnitPicks sends such pretty catalogs that it really doesn't make sense for me to try to stay on a Yarn diet. Second, I'm on Ravelry. Ravelry is no friend to dieters. Third, I have this bad habit of reading knitting blogs and seeing lovely finished items using covet-able yarns. Yeah, no yarn diets for me.

Since I don't believe in Yarn Diets, I studiously save for my yarn shopping sprees. I setup a separate account in ING Direct for my yarn and every two weeks I put a little bit more money in the account. That way, when I go crazy, I feel better knowing that I have the money already set aside for this. Yeah. . .my yarn has a line item in my budget but groceries doesn't. That falls under "Home".

Unfortunately for my willpower, Elann sent a message saying that they would have Noro Sock yarn for $11.38, limited colorways, but ...come ON! It's Noro! I used to hate this sock yarn, but once I made a pair and they felted to my feet, I fell in love. I had to jump on that. So, I checked out the yarn, decided on the colorways I wanted, and waited for the sale to open....

It took less than 8 hours for Elann to sell out of every colorway except 2! I know that knitters are a rapacious bunch, but my god, 8 hours?!?!?! So, I put two lonely skeins in my cart, then decided that buying two skeins was a waste of the US Postal Service's time, so I added a few more skeins until I had nearly $50. No use buying what I didn't have a plan for.

On a lark, I decided to check the ING bank balance to see how much damage I was doing....I should not have done that. I had barely had spent about 10% of what was in there. So over to KnitPicks I go.

By 11:59PM on Tuesday night, I spent $190 on yarn....and I don't feel the slightest bit of guilt. I love that feeling.

Useless Battle #2: Food Diets

Look, let's get this straight: I have no intention of being overweight all my life. However, living in New York right now is not doing anything to help me lose weight. I am living across from Lincoln Center, so there is a plethora of amazing dining establishments all around me. I don't fight the feeling; I go to dinner. So, I feel pretty good about the fact that I've only gained 10 pounds. . .umm, OK 30 lbs, but 20 of that was the constantly fluctuating pounds that it took me 6 months to lose and only one dinner to regain. So as far as I'm concerned, I've gained 10 pounds.

So why is this a losing battle? Well, I'm a traveling consultant. I live in restaurants. I don't have access to a kitchen when I stay in Lincoln Center, so I enjoy the takeout options available. Now, what I do feel guilty about is the fact that I won't go to the perfect adequate gym downstairs.

Random Questions

2010-04-26T20:00:00.003-04:00

About a month ago, I sent out a random question to see what my friends my think of me:

If you saw ME in the back of a police car, what would you think I'd been arrested for?
Reply to me alone, then forward to your friends:

Interesting responses.

Shaye: Ummmm, beating the $hit outta someone for letting their baby cry unattended on an airplane! Or....beating the $hit outta some cabbie for smelling up your luggage one more time and getting you lost yet again! :) Yes, so in other words, beating the $hit outta somebody! Love ya!

I think she's still a bit upset about this tweet.

Virginia: Excessive Speeding

Ok, that's believable.

Carlyn: What an interesting question! I honestly don't know what I think you'd be arrested for. I'd be more worried about the people that called the cops on you. When you got out, their lives would suck royally and it would all be legal.

This is true . . . I believe in payback

Sue Ann: Honestly, I would think it was an error. I can't imagine why you would possibly be arrested.

The next morning she told me that it would probably be speeding.

Tony: Disorderly conduct - for cursing out the officer for pulling you over at the wrong time on the wrong day. Temper temper.

Hmm....I'm starting to see a pattern here...

Nikki: Computer Fraud.

Not a chance. To easy to get caught.

Jackie: Assault on an idiot co-worker..

hmm...

Stephanie: Disorderly Conduct and sassing the police.

Ok . . .I know that friends are the people that know you and love you anyway, but this is interesting . . .apparently all my friends think I'm thisclose to an assault and battery charge.

Interesting.

Something New

2010-04-24T23:54:00.004-04:00

I'm determined to start blogging again, so I'm learning ways to get faster and more interesting blog posts out to you. That does mean that you may occasionally get a stinker, but I thought that, as much as I "tweet", I should be able to update on the fly.

Anyway, last night I finally blocked the Lakehouse socks. Yes, it's true; the sock have been complete for 2 weeks, but I didn't bother to block them until last night. Anyway, I pulled them out of the washing machine and put them on my feet and blocked them to my feet exactly.

As a side note: I'm a wet-blocker. I put all finished items into the washing machine for a nice soak, then set the dial to "Spin", and wait for the beep. Water is spun away with little to no effort on your part and finished garment is clean and waiting to be pinned into it's final measurements. Everyone's happy :)

Anyway, I put the damp socks on my feet and they dried within the hour. . .I think this might be how I block all my socks, especially during the summer. In the meantime, I need to buy a smaller sock blocker. I bought the large size from FiberTrends, but my feet aren't large, they're medium. I need medium sock blockers...or maybe I can just be cheap and block my socks on my feet.

I also finished washing and blocking my Henley Perfected Swatch.

The swatch to the left is the pre-washing/blocking size. Even at this point, I can see that on size 4 (3.5mm) needles, the lace portion of the swatch is much bigger than it's supposed to be. The stockinette portion looks fine, but this is why you swatch, to be absolutely certain that your sweater isn't going to go wonky.

This is the after washing/still drying swatch. I actually left it in the washing machine and it went through a full cycle with my whites, so I really laundered it the way it might get laundered at my house.

Anyway, you can see that the extremely high linen content (70%) in this yarn prevented the cotton component (30%) from lengthening much. So at the end of the washing/drying cycle the swatch looked pretty much like the unlaundered swatch.

Swatching

2010-04-24T21:25:00.003-04:00

I'm doing something I rarely do: I'm swatching for a project.

I'm a process knitter. I enjoy the calm progress of a project. If it fits at the end, great. If not, oh well it will fit someone. This attitude is also why I mostly stick to sock knitting. But the yarn that I'm using, Elann Mercurio, is discontinued and that means that there is no room for mistakes.

Elann Mercurio
70% Linen / 30% Cotton
Made in Italy

I'm finally knitting Henley Perfected by Connie Chang Chinchio. The yarn, Elann Mercurio, is supposed to be a DK yarn, but it certainly doesn't feel DK. It is 70% linen and 30% cotton, the perfect mix for hot, sultry Florida and the oppressive heat of NYC.

I thought that this might be the perfect sweater for both locations. Besides, I haven't knit a sweater in so long it's time I finally got back on sweater knitting.

I've had this sweater in my Ravelry queue for 2 years, ever since I got a membership to Ravelry and this issue came out. So this is definitely the long awaited summer sweater.

Of course, I still need a mobile project. Skew by Lana Holden is looking to be that project and I'm really excited by it. I love unique sock construction (I really really enjoyed knitting the Lakehouse Socks) and this looks like it will be a doozy. My problem now is I don't know which yarn to use for the project. I know I definitely want a variegated yarn, but I am having a hard time choosing:

Austermann Step in Fjord

Zen String Loopy Legends

Neighborhood Fiber Company in Mount Pleasant

I think I may go with the Austermann Step (I frogged the one sock I made out of this yarn in order to use it for the Skew Socks), but the Zen String is also calling me. Anyone wanna chime in here?

Seen at LaGuardia

2010-04-19T13:13:00.001-04:00

Perhaps someone should tell them that they are at LaGuardia, not JFK.

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

New Reading.....FanFic!!!

2010-04-18T00:28:00.008-04:00

I have a new obsession.

FanFiction.net

Right now, I am on pins and needles waiting for the next Sookie Stackhouse/Southern Vampire Mysteries book to be released and I didn't know what to do. I haven't read fan fic in years, but last week I thought (rather randomly) that I should check to see if there were any fanfic out there for consumption.

Let see...The following are my current favorites (in no particular order):

Pour Some Sugar on Me and Addicted to Love: Addicted to Love was the first story I read. I stayed up until 4AM to finish it off. The next night I did the same for the prequel, Pour Some Sugar on Me. Excellent Stories!!!

Let Love In: I think this is right up there with PSSoM and AtL. I love the way the writer really set a new scene for Eric and Sookie.

50 Things Jason Stackhouse is Not Allowed to Think: This is just hilarious!

She by nox-alatus. Beautiful. Just beautiful. Set from Eric's POV

Stronghold series by DCWriter16
DCWriter writes a series of stories about Sookie and an accident which causes Pam to turn Sookie. This was touching is so many ways. The writer uses spare, but evocative language to really make you feel everyone's pain and happiness. You really must read the stories in order, starting with In The Evening.

In The Evening (Eric POV)
The Deep (Pam POV)
Dark Summer (Eric POV)
Rise (Sookie POV)
The Dead (Pam POV)
Gone Missing (Bill POV)
The Long Way Around (Eric POV)
Heart (Sam POV)
The Fall (Sookie POV)

If it isn't painfully obvious by now, I am definitely an Eric Northman fan. I am Team Eric. I am all about the Viking settling down with my dear Sookie. The only thing I don't like in some fanfic is how they seem to. . .i dunno, almost tame him. Eric is not to be tamed. The best fanfic gracefully deals with the fact that Eric is autocratic, opportunistic, and scheming by nature. He loves Sookie, he's scared to death, but he's not letting anyone turn him into Puppy Chow.

I also don't understand all the anti-Quinn feeling...I liked Quinn. I guess since I dumped a fiance with "Mommy-issues", I understand where Quinn and Sookie are coming from. Quinn has the responsibility of his mother and sister; Sookie wants to be first in someone's life. Yep, I understand that.

(I was also Team Jacob in the Twilight Series. He kept fighting for Bella until she turned. I loved Edward, but he was too perfect sometimes. Gimme Jacob's hot-headedness any day.)

Anyway, why am I writing about all of this? Well, the Sookieverse is running a contest to promote their brand-new blog!!! I just found this blog a week ago and got all excited about the contest and the blog itself (excellent synopses of the books!), so I agreed to blog about the site. Which I don't mind doing at all, especially if there is a chance I can get True Blood, Season 2 (hint hint). I'm still trying to catch up on all I've missed, but TiVo is ready to catch all the goodness of Season 3!

Anyway, to go along with my new-found excitement, I found that May 4th, the day of the release of the 10th book (Dead in the Family), Charlaine Harris will be at Barnes and Nobles Union Square! Well, lucky me, that's a day that I'll actually be staying in Midtown, so I'm going to the release and I'm going to try (try try try) to get my book signed! sigh... It's going to take everything I have not to stay up all night reading and rereading the book...

Wish me luck!

FYI: POV = Point of View

Ticked

2010-03-26T22:16:00.002-04:00

I think Blogger must be out to ruin my life. The moment I figure out how to modify my blog to a three column layout, here they come with that and more....

ARRRGHHHH!!!

I'll update my blog to take advantage of all the new features this weekend.

Looking good

2010-03-17T21:03:00.004-04:00

For a blog I don't update much, I sure did spend a lot of time updating it. . .Let's see, what have I done in the past 5 days:

Modified the entire blog into a three-column blog!
Modified all the headings, footers, paddings, margins...everything.
Modified the Works in Progress widget to display all the yarns being used and
Modified the Works in Progress widget to put all my current WIPs in order by most recently cast on.
Modified the posting code to allow for the "Read More" option, instead of having super long posts...

If you ask me, Blogger has finally gotten the idea to catch up to Wordpress's beauty and ease of use. Did you see that they've finally added Pages?!?!?! I couldn't believe it and, now that they have pages, I don't have anything I would want to put on a page.

A consultant's life

2010-01-25T12:52:00.006-05:00

consists of sitting in airports, driving to airports, and navigating the security lines!

I'm glad that Tampa has such a nice airport. Horrible TSA agents but a nice airport. They even have a "Business Center" in the airport with outlets and desks for laptops and free wi-fi. So when my flight is cancelled/delayed/whereabouts unknown/"manually defrosting at the gate" (read "sitting in the sun until the frost melts off"), I can sit in the business center and work.

So, I promised to update this blog over a month ago and, in true Victoria fashion, I haven't done it, I've been racked by shame at my inability to find anything to write about, and I'm resolved (daily) to do better. So here I go:

The best way to follow me now is Twitter (www.twitter.com/veiland). I'm forever updating Twitter with the silly stuff I see in NYC and my consultant's life.

I've been knitting like a fiend. In the past month, I've finished, well....look at the FOs in the side bar. Lots of hats and a pair of socks...(now realizing I left a hat in the washer after spinning the water out to block it. Oh well).

I'm a loyal Delta Airlines Fan. As much as Delta has been screwing me this month, I still prefer Delta. Don't know why....I just do.

90% Done

2010-01-18T18:50:00.001-05:00

I am 90% done with the Lordana Boucle Jacket, but I have a problem.

I keep looking at this jacket and thinking to myself, "I want to frog this..."

I was rereading "Knitting in Plain English" and I realized that this is one of those sweaters that needs seams. The sides need seams. The shoulders need a better bind off. I need to finish both sleeves...

And looking at this pictures depressess me because I realize that this item has been a UFO for almost 2 years now....that's pathetic.

Happy Holidays (also known as Shame)

2009-12-16T15:11:00.002-05:00

Hello Readers!

I did not intend to take a 3 month break from my blog.

I really didn't.

But this new job is kicking my butt.

I'll post a really great post tonight. Actually I have a lot of things to post about. I'll spend the next week catching you up.

Thanks for being patient.

Good (and not good) News

2009-09-26T20:06:00.005-04:00

Good News: I have a job next week.
Bad News: I was so excited about next week I didn't want to do anything last week.

Good News: The job comes with a significant pay increase.
Bad News: The job is 100% travel.

Good News: I knew I had a job before the school started inviting people in to extend job offers.

Bad News: Everyone else didn't know, so the fact that I didn't even get an invite had everyone looking at me funny.

Good News: The three people I was worried about the most in this transition got out clean; myself and my counterpart got jobs elsewhere, the CIO got a job offer at the school.
Other Good News: The school offered jobs to 7 additional employees.
Bad News: They canned L, C, D, and S. A. (sob). ***

I think this is the part of the bad news I am taking the hardest. S. A. is just a good person, adored around campus, and very good at her job. Her firing makes no sense.

Let's get something very clear here: I've always been a very practical, sometimes hard-hearted realist. I know how to save my own rear end. I will always secure my own advantage first.

I have no concept of loyalty or trust to any multinational company once they start talking about layoffs, staff reductions, redundancies, you-name-it.

I started college at a time when they were trying to impress upon us that we will have approximately 7 jobs in the course of our working careers. I'm now on #6 and I graduated 5 years ago.

So when this mess between corporate and the school got started (approximately this time last year), I did exactly what I needed to do.

I thought through the options strategically, trying to determine where each entity's best gambling position would be.
I updated my resume.
I began to troll the job boards to see what was open where.
I waited.

This was probably the hardest thing to do, but I did it well. I waited to see who would show their hand first.

The school showed their hand first.

They (meaning their representatives) came to see us, lulling everyone else with talk of loyalty and duty, trying to impress upon us the idea that they were committed to bringing everyone back into the fold, that they considered us "family", no layoffs, no redundancies, maybe a slight decrease in pay, but hey, at least you would have a job.

I immediately started applying everywhere I could.

You see, in my short working life, I've learned that when any company starts talking about loyalty and "family", it's time to bail. They already know who they're going to keep and who's going to go. However, they don't want to scare anyone into leaving yet. They need you to work, and work hard, until the moment they let you go. Meanwhile, they're going to make sure that you get just enough news about what's going on to keep you nervous and scared. I don't play that game. Corporate didn't lie to me. They made it very clear: we just had layoffs. We might have more. If there's a job open, apply for it. We'll try to help, but we might not be able to do anything for you. I appreciate not being lied to. I can work with hard truths. I decided to work with that one.

So I applied for a job with the corporate office right before the school and the company went into mediation. Lucky thing, because the company agreed not to recruit any members of the staff before the school had a chance to extend their job offers. Since I applied for my job before they came to an agreement, I was grandfathered out. I could apply anywhere and everywhere I wanted. Everyone else allowed themselves to be lulled in. They assumed, they believed, the school would bring them in. They all thought they were doing such a great job that there wouldn't be a problem.

The other consultant and I knew better. We updated our resumes. We talked strategies. We sent each other jobs. We committed to getting each other out of there. I signed on with corporate. She got a job as a Director at a major Research University. She spent this past week on a cruise with her family. I enjoyed Andrea's company, wrote exit documentation, and basically chilled. We did what had to be done because both of us knew (1) the school was lying through their teeth and (2) even if the school wanted to bring us back, they would attempt to humiliate us in the process. They saw no value in the work that we did.

Best part about getting this job: All of a sudden the school sees great value in the work that I did. Since they (in their infinite wisdom) cut my part of the department from 5 people to 2, no they don't have any functional support. You got questions? You better have answers, because Victoria doesn't work here anymore, K won't work here at the end of the month, you fired L, J isn't answering any functional questions, and D. is going to be entirely too busy (and doesn't know enough) to answer those questions.

Yup. Now there's great value in my job. I think I'll take it somewhere it can be appreciated.

***Names shortened to protect the innocent (and very hurt).

New Job Excitement

2009-09-26T01:51:00.000-04:00

I haz it.

The first indication that I had a new job arrived today. A 17" monitor to go with the laptop I have to pickup when I hit Manhattan.

I did mention that right?

My first 2 weeks on my new job will be in Manhattan. The Lincoln Center Area. Where my hotel room is 2 streets over from Central Park
I spent a truckload of money today.

That's definitely newsworthy because I'm definitely cheap.

God Don't Like UGLY

2009-09-17T15:24:00.005-04:00

You better believe that. Wanna know why? Read on.

Yesterday, right after I wrote the blog post below, I received a call from the manager of the division I applied to. It was actually a pretty good conversation and it made me realize that in the 20 months that I've been on this job, I've learned very little. Even though I was overworked, stressed, and gaining weight like a sinking ship gains water at my previous job, I was learning a lot. Nothing that I've done in my current job has in any way measured up to that.

It all came in handy during that one hour phone call. We went through my work experience and resume, situations I've had to handle, ones I haven't, and I know that the manager was trying to pick my resume apart. I can't blame her; she called me out of courtesy, she had a candidate in mind, and now here I come, barreling down the runway begging for a job.

The conversation lasted an hour before she decided to pull in another consultant, someone who would be my co-worker, for a quickfire challenge, "Name that Form".

I did well. I didn't knock it out of the park like I would have liked, but I proved I had a good background and knowledge of the product. More importantly, I think like a Functional user, which is extremely important. Besides, having forms and processes thrown at me for 25 minutes was disconcerting and confusing. Toward the end I would have hesitated if you had asked me my own name.

So, I hung up thinking, "Eh." I went to the Gym, allowed Suzanne to kick my behind for 30 minutes, then went home and soothed my soul with Pork Chops (I don't want to hear it).

I did the correct and proper and sent the manager a follow-up "Thank you for the opportunity" email and went to bed.

What did I get for all my trouble?

I have a second interview today.

So why did I entitle this post "God Don't Like UGLY"?

Because the CIO pulled me into his office today to say that he was very concerned that I had not applied for my position here at the school and was wondering if everything was OK, or was I certain I was going to get the corporate job, or had I decided to simply not work once the contract was over?

Huh?

Apparently, someone in the schools' HR department told him I had not applied, so no one was making a job for me and that they might have been interested in retaining me except that I was making it very clear I had no desire to work for the school.

WHAT?

So CIO and I chatted, I assured him that I had applied for my own job, and had sent in all the requisite materials, and we discussed his job offer. Then I went back to my office, printed off a copy of my application, which showed the date I applied (Sept. 8, 2009 at 3:02 PM) and sat down. He can do with that what he will, but whoever lied will get it coming back to them.

I missed the second interview doing all that. Granted, I didn't know until I picked up my cell phone and realized I'd just missed the call. I called the number back immediately and, since I had not been informed that they were going to call right then, the manager was gracious enough to reschedule to 4:30 PM. So I'm walking out at 4:25 so I can stand in the sun, have an uninterrupted cellphone signal, and (hopefully) land this job.

There was a very boring call to corporate HR at 2 PM, then the quickest staff meeting on record. Sitting here, counting down time, I was surprised to see my cell phone ring with a familiar, but unknown number. It was corporate HR, calling me about another job that I had applied for. I applied for a sales position, selling enrollment software, and the manager over that division wanted to know if I had any recent experience presenting to large groups. Well, again, working here has stunted me, but I did have all that lovely previous school experience to fall back on and I have never been afraid of public speaking. I told her that. Apparently, that manager will be in Orlando at the beginning of October, so if I don't get one job, I might get a face-to-face interview for another.

God Don't Like UGLY. It's best to act with integrity in all the things that you must do. Either that or you better pray. Why?

In 48 hours I've gone from having no job prospects with my current company to having 2 job prospects. Lovely!

Lower the Boom

2009-09-16T13:18:00.007-04:00

The Tuesday before I left for vacation, we had a meeting with the corporate office and with the school's HR department about our employment. The school and corporate had come to an understanding that services from corporate to the school would end effective September 30, 2009. Everyone currently in the office would have to apply for their jobs. I left the meeting with a sense of ...I don't know. I think I just didn't care; I wanted to get on the road to Georgia. I had applied for another job with corporate and was waiting to hear back about that, so I just had no feelings at all.

While in Georgia I received the letter I had been waiting on (and dreading) for months: The letter containing the information about my termination, effective September 30, and the details of the possible severance package. Of course, if I managed to find another job with corporate before September 30, then the letter was null and void, but I can't say I was surprised at all. If anything, I felt a great sense of relief steal over me. Finally! Now I know where I stand.

So here's to hoping that I get the job I applied for. It was the same as my current job, but with 75% travel. Perfect!!! So I hunkered down in Georgia to wait for a call. Well, they called, but they called my office at school, not my cell phone. So the entire time they were trying to reach me, I was completely oblivious. When I walked into the office on Monday and saw all the missed calls, I immediately sprang into action, but it was too late. Well, the HR recruiter is pretty sure it's too late, the manager of that department has pretty much set her mind to someone and I probably won't even get an interview.

DAMN!

So, here I am, looking at unemployment in 2 weeks, and oddly enough, I still don't feel anything.

I finally finished Henry tonight.

The iCord bind-off makes it look professional and tailored. I had to pick up the cast on edge and apply iCord to it, but I'm pleased with the results. I think I'm going to plough through a couple of the books I got from LibraryThing before I start another knitting project, but I already know what it will be.

Vacation Knitting

2009-09-03T18:01:00.003-04:00

I spent 30 minutes packing my knitting for my (oh so necessary) 10 day vacation. I packed the last 2 skeins of KnitPicks Palette yarn in Fog to finish Henry

and packed the 4 Skeins of KnitPicks Palette yarn in Lipstick to start another Henry.

My problem is, knowing I'm fast but not that fast, I still feel as if this isn't enough yarn.
I really feel as if I need to pack enough yarn (and needles) for one more project. Whatever the project, it needs to be a project I can handle with a size 3 needle, because I'm not packing more needles.

Right now, I'm stuck on what project and yarn to pack.

Do I attempt another Print O' the Wave Stole? Or maybe the Icarus Shawl? Do I take socks instead? I dunno.

I have some Lacey Lamb I can use for the Print O' the Wave Stole, but I don't know if I want to.

This is the problem with having one skein of really nice yarn. Eventually, you simply don't want to knit anything with it because you don't know if another, nicer, prettier pattern will come along and make you regret using that nice lambswool on something else.

I think I will go with the Print O' the Wave Stole. I need to pack the yarn and pattern before I change my mind.

Last night, I finished packing the knitting before I packed the clothes.

I leave in 90 minutes. Once I leave the school I have to:

Swing by Albertsons and pick up the seafood I asked them to bag. That includes 20 lbs. of Snow Crab (on special down here and $8.99/lb. at home) & 6 lobsters.
Go home, pack car, hit the road to Tampa
Once in Tampa, hit IKEA. Pick up one small pink chair and 4 packs of mirrors (I'm going to end the night transferring a lot of money from Mom's account into mine)
Hit the road to Georgia. I should make it in around 1 AM.

I'm actually looking forward to this. For once, I have the trip planned out.

Now we are retreating

2009-09-02T15:36:00.003-04:00

One of my biggest problems in life is an inability to make up my mind. I keep all options open far too long, just in case I need to make an about U-turn.

Why am I mentioning this?

I installed Ubuntu on my computer to use as a server.

At first, I was in love. It was simple, had a great interface, looked lovely. but as the weeks went on, I realized that

It was taking me forever to install Samba and set it up for windows networking.
I really wasn't keen on having to find alternatives to all my .aac, m4a, and mp3 files
I wanted a Server. Not a desktop with server qualities. I wanted a headless server.

So I got another product key from Microsoft on Sunday and reinstalled Windows Home Server. I now have the 120GB and 200GB drives installed and running, but the 500GB drive does not want to work. I am trying to copy everything off that drive onto the other drives, then wipe the 500GB drive clean (because when I add it to WHS, it will format the drive anyway, so I might as well get my stuff off first).

Now that I no longer care about work, it's going much easier. Today I was praised for handling the client's issue quickly and without any drama.

Woo Hoo. That doesn't change the fact that I'm burnt out.

Yesterday I received a book in the mail that I'm actually looking forward to reading

The World is Open, by Curtis Bonk. I received the book through LibraryThing and I'm taking it (and some other books I need to review to remain in good graces) home with me to Georgia. I am already excited about reviewing this book. Even the first sentence is revolutionary and exciting:

"Anyone can now learn anything from anyone at anytime"

Wow! Think about what an amazing (and true) concept that is. Instead of children/students being the recipients of knowledge for 8 hrs/day under a rigid structure, they have become the pursuers of knowledge, thanks to the Internet, blogs, Wikipedia, TV, etc. This is a true knowledge-based generation and America's concept of education will have to change in order to address this reality. Even more so, it will have to change to address the reality of the students who do not have access to this knowledge all the time.

To me, this is mind-blowing because what we are really looking at here is the reorganization of the entire educational framework and the re-evaluation of what it means to "receive an education" in this country. . .I'm really excited about this book.

One the home front, I still need to mop my floors. They're a mess. My fridge is nearly empty...

and all my text messages have disappeared from my phone. WTF?

A vacation

2009-08-27T12:59:00.004-04:00

I'm going home for Labor Day weekend. It's pretty necessary at this point.

I'm burnt out and I no longer love my job.

I need to be a traveling consultant. There is one traveling consultant position open with the company right now, but I haven't heard anything since I applied. I'm wishing I had uploaded by recommendation letters with the application.

In the meantime, I'm burning through money much faster than I need to.

I finished the Magic Mirror Socks.

I cast on with a US#3 40" circular and worked both socks from the toe-up two-at-a-time, turned the heel, then switched to the US#2 for the beginning of the leg. I worked with the #2 for one repeat, then switched to US#6 DPNs for the remainder of the foot. Not bad planning on my part. These should fit Stephanie's feet without any problems. Right now, I'm trying to decide if I also want to give her the Cloverleaf Cables socks....but I think I'll gift those to Andrea.

So now I'm working on Henry in KnitPicks Palette Fog for Daddy. I'm trying to decide if I want to make another one, in Lipstick, for Mom later.

Again, We are NOT retreating

2009-08-21T23:45:00.003-04:00

we are advancing in an entirely different direction.

~Victoria, channeling Douglas McArthur

I know when I've been licked.

I've been licked.

Because it's Hurricane Season here in Florida, I've come home to blinking clocks twice this week. The first time, the server was fine, so I didn't think about it.

Tonight, I decided to rip some more music to the server. Hmm...the server isn't on. Turn it on (and yes, I've priced a few UPS systems. The one I want is $100; I'm not buying the cheap crap at Wal-Mart. I want the battery backup to last longer than 15 minutes.)

Greeted by

"Secondary IDE Channel no 80 conductor cable installed"

Crap. Reset the BIOS. Move battery backup to top of purchase list. Log into server.

"The Evaluation Period for this copy of Windows has ended. Windows cannot start. To continue using Windows, please purchase and install a retail copy of the product."

ARE YOU KIDDING ME!!!

I give up. I been licked. If you'll excuse me, I'm now looking for my last 120 GB drive. I'm going to clean it off and install Unbuntu onto that.

Windows Home Server is absolute crap. Linux, here I come.

We are not retreating

2009-08-15T18:53:00.000-04:00

We are advancing in another direction.
--Douglas MacArthur

Sometimes I just can't win. Last weekend I built a server, a home file server. I was sooo excited about this. I should have known something would go wrong.

Sat., Aug 1: My new case arrives!!! It's a plain case from Newegg. This is a file server, not a gaming rig.

Wed., Aug 5: My 1 GB memory stick arrives. Finally, I have everything I need to rebuild my old computer into a file server.

Thursday, Aug. 6: I install the motherboard, the memory and the 200 GB hard drive into the case. On it goes....

"Secondary IDE Channel no 80 conductor cable installed"

Hmm...I wasn't expecting this...Google the error message on the laptop. Oh....the BIOS is looking for a floppy drive. I decided not to install one (who uses them anymore, anyway?), so into the BIOS to check all the settings.

Man, it's been a long time since I did all this.

Friday, Aug. 7: (this is really just a continuation of Thursday night). Hmm....I have Unbuntu running, but it says that it doesn't recognize my hard drive. This hard drive is brand new.....what's the problem?

Two hours, a glass of wine, and a longing glance at the vodka later....

Oh, I don't have any power going to the Hard drive....duh. Hook up power. Install Unbuntu. Go to sleep.

Late Afternoon: Hm....where the GUI? I suck at command line. Install GNOME. No GUI? Do some internet research. Crappers. I should have installed Unbuntu Desktop, not Unbuntu Server....

Wipe drives. Download Windows Home Server and burn to disc. Open Vodka.

Sunday, Aug. 9: Install WHS. This is great. . .wait, this is a stripped down version of Windows Server 2003! I feel somewhat cheated, but let's see how this works.

Late Sunday: In order to connect my 500 GB drive (the one with all my music and pictures, which is the entire reason I want a home server), I have to format the drive. . .which defeats the purpose of connecting it. Instead, I move all the music and pics to the 200 GB drive, then format the drive.

Tuesday, Aug. 11: Well, everything has been moved. Now for the moment of truth. Format 500 GB drive (it needed a cleanup so, why not) then connect it. Presto! 700 GB of space in my new server! Now, how in the hell do I activate this???

Wed. Aug. 12: How do I activate this?

Thursday, Aug 13: How do I activate this?

Later that day: Huge Rainstorm today. Knocked all the power out at my house. I know this because the microwave clock was blinking and wrong. Hmm...server has been knocked out. Will power on later...(need to buy battery backup for it)

Friday, Aug. 14: Turn computer back on. Greeted by

"Secondary IDE Channel no 80 conductor cable installed"

Crap. Reset the BIOS. Move battery backup to top of purchase list. Log into server.

"The Evaluation Period for this copy of Windows has ended. Windows cannot start. To continue using Windows, please purchase and install a retail copy of the product."

ARE YOU KIDDING ME!!! I've barely had this installed for a week. I'm supposed to be able to evaluate it for 120 days. It's barely been 120 hours!

Search Google again. Finally figure out how to register and get a product key. Then jet over to the Windows Forums (amazing how easy this stuff is to find when I'm in a blind panic) and get some help. Olaf tells me to do a server reinstall, not a new install, because a new install will wipe out everything on the drive. Message received. Reboot from CD, server reinstall . . .

At the moment, I'm back in business, but I'll tell you this now, I'm installing Unbuntu tonight and creating a dual boot system. I'm not going through that drama again.

Happy Days are here again

2009-08-15T15:00:00.000-04:00

I have a new camera! A Canon PowerShot A1100 IS. I'm in love.

Because I knit so much, a camera that could take lovely macro shots, had intuitive controls, and had some control over manual settings was a must. However, the built-in settings are working wonderfully for me, especially the Indoor setting. I can take a picture that's so near perfect that when I open it in Photoshop, I barely need to make any adjustments.

:)

I also have a new mp3 player.

I miss my iPod horribly, but I'm getting over that. Apple has done a great job of making a wonderful music accessory that is very intuitive and nothing will come close, but at least this will play music (and pick up the radio, which even the iPod can't do...)

I went 2 weeks without an mp3 player, which is a lifetime for me. I haven't been without my iPod since I got the first one.

Update: After writing that post, I went and bought an 8GB iPod. Yes, I'm a hypocrite; I love iPod. The sansa will be taken to the gym, though. I'm not losing another iPod.

Happy Birthday!

2009-08-04T12:00:00.000-04:00

Alpha Kappa Alpha Sues President Over Wax Statue

2009-07-30T12:38:00.001-04:00

Alpha Kappa Alpha Sues President Over Wax Statue

Shared via AddThis

I am...

2009-07-21T00:09:00.001-04:00

Elizabeth Bennet of Pride & Prejudice!

You are intelligent, witty, and tremendously attractive. You have a good head on your shoulders, and oftentimes find yourself the lone beacon of reason in a sea of ridiculousness. You take great pleasure in many things. You are proficient in nearly all of them, though you will never own it. Lest you seem too perfect, you have a tendency toward prejudgment that serves you very ill indeed.

Take the Quiz here!

A slight security Problem

2009-07-19T01:48:00.003-04:00

I was burgled on Friday, July 17, 2009. I am still recovering from the shock. I wasn't at home at the time of the burglary, but I still feel very violated. These thieves took:

My brand-new, just-replaced-it-2-weeks-ago 120 GB iPod Classic
Silicone iPod protectors in Smoke, Clear, and Blue
My 5 year old, 6.1 MP, still takes excellent pictures Kodak Z760 Zoom digital camera
My shipment from Interweave Knits (unless UPS just didn't deliver)
A half-empty bottle of Cabo Wabo Tequila
2 Cartons of Egg Beaters....

The last part is the one that confuses me. WHO IN THE HELL STEALS EGG BEATERS??? A geriatric burgler with cholesterol problems??? A tech happy knitter who loves Breakfast?? Seriously??

I mean honestly, don't steal the new laptop that was just sitting out in plain view. Or the attached 500 GB hard drive. Or the 42" TV (OK, maybe that is a bit big to hoist). Or the 19" TV (that would have made the burglary obvious). Or my Blackberry. Or any of the other expensive and sundry devices all around my home.

Seriously, take my iPod, which I just replaced on the 8th (literally, like 9 days earlier) after losing the one I had had for 4 years. Thankfully, I still had the box, and could give the officer the serial number. So if you try to fence that to a pawn shop, you are seriously screwed dude.

Take my digital camera, which I'm not too upset about since I wanted to replace it. But wanting to replace something and needing to replace something are two totally different playing fields. One pisses me off. The other sends me to Consumer Reports.

Take my Egg Beaters . . . which causes me not to call the police because I know that the ensuing conversation is going to make me sound like an idiot.

Me: I've been burgled.
Officer: Ok, what did they take?
Me: iPod, Silicone Cases for the iPod, Digital Camera, Knitting books, Egg Beaters
Officer: (thinking "I always get the nut jobs") Egg Beaters ma'am?
Me: YES! ...and a half-empty bottle of tequila.

Come on now, what would you think? I literally sat on this burglary for 24 hours because I thought reporting the Egg Beaters was inching toward the ridiculously sublime. Then I noticed the camera (and its charge dock) was gone and that's when I knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that I had been robbed.

Actually, that's pretty close to how the actual conversation went down, only Officer K. Smith was kind enough to let me know that I would definitely be his Facebook status in the morning and that he was going to tell every cop buddy he had about this one. Thieves lifting an iPod, a digital Camera, and Egg Beaters. What's more, the victim noticed the iPod and Egg Beaters missing first. The digital Camera took a bit longer, like 24 hours....

Yup, ridiculously sublime.

But he was very very nice. My mother, who continues to harbor hope that I'll find a nice new man down here in Florida, was heartened by the fact that this was a 1.5 hour conversation. However, I noticed the Wedding ring and he mentioned his kids and that one had a license, which meant both she and he were too old for me.

Curses.

So, I'll replace the camera tomorrow with a brand-spanking new version. I'll wait a few weeks on the iPod, to see if it gets fenced.

I'll also replace my Egg Beaters. They're an important source of protein for someone trying to lose weight.

Queue

2009-06-25T17:22:00.005-04:00

Don't get it. How about this?

Nuff Said.

The Face of Evil

2009-06-24T23:29:00.000-04:00

This is the face of evil.

Don't be fooled by the innocent look.

Suzanne is evil and I'm the idiot who pays her to be evil.

I pay her to beat me up twice a week. I call her my "Personal Trainer."

Why am I doing this? Because I have been asked to be in a wedding next April and I'll be damned if I'm the biggest chick in the group. If there is a single, cute groomsman, I'm determined to look my best.

Hence, the need for assistance.

In one month, she's help me drop 11 inches.

EVIL!!!

Life is getting me down.

2009-06-11T20:37:00.008-04:00

I'm trying very hard not to get depressed.

I've been unemployed once....right out of college. After I ended up taking a job well below my skills and abilities, I vowed I would never be without a job again. If need be, I would always be ready to cast my resume out into the world, pull up stakes, and leave without a second glance.

That vow looks more and more difficult to fulfill right now.

Unemployment in Manatee County is around 11.5%. The fact that I have a job right now makes me one of the lucky ones. I have my health (and health coverage), I have some savings, and I have a home.

I should be happy.

However, every day that goes by at my job seems to take forever. I like what I do; I'm no longer enchanted by the people I work with. The client doesn't see the value in the services that either of the User Liaisons perform; we've been told our jobs are definitely on the line. They want to start transitioning the department back in July, so I have less than three weeks to get a nibble. During one of the most critical employment periods in the country, I have to start a job search....hopefully for a job with 75-100% travel. Yeah, I know, good luck.

So tomorrow I need to spend the day applying for jobs. I've resolved to apply for jobs inside and outside of higher education. I have an MPA, I have skills and abilities, I am willing. If I didn't have this house right now, I could pack up and leave at a moment's notice. I think that is the worst part of this recession; I'm not upside down in my mortgage b/c I bought last December but I know that if I put this house on the market right now, I wouldn't have any takers...unless I simply rented it.

I need a fallback option...Anyone have any ideas?

Organic Gardening is Pretty

2009-06-08T08:30:00.000-04:00

My Square Foot Garden is a mixed blessing. Because I didn't get the seedlings into the ground fast enough, most of my plants died. The ones that survived are beautiful.

Jalapenos (or Serranos...I'm not sure)

Basil and Parsley (and Cilantro in the bottom corner)

The Corn is really my pride and joy. My grandfather grew up on a farm for most of his childhood and he is the family expert on gardening....and he's jealous of the fact that I have corn in my garden.... :)

This is what excited me...TOMATOES!!!

YUM!

I think this is the best photo of the day...a baby cucumber

I forgot what kind of squash this is....Now it's kind of exciting to find out later....

I'm getting excited about nature.

Baking in the Heat

2009-06-07T18:28:00.006-04:00

For some reason, I've had more success baking this month.

This is surprising, given that this is the weather outside

Hurricane Season in Florida started on June 1st and the weather is determined to live up to the reputation. It has rained 4 times today.

I hate when it rains.

Anyway, Feng's 50th Birthday party was on Thursday.

I spent three days trying to figure out what to make, then I finally decided on the Strawberry Chiffon Cake that Smitten Kitchen had posted.

Her's looks better (of course) but I didn't think mine looked too bad. I think he thanked me for the cake at least 10 times (no joke). I thought the cake was good, but not quite the knockout I wanted.

Today, I made Dorie Greenspan's Orange-Berry Muffins....

OH MY GOD

DELICIOUS!

It's taking everything I have not to eat all 12 in one sitting....

Two is the limit today....

I'm glad I'm baking today. It's taking my mind off the fact that my job is in jeopardy. I have to find a new job ASAP but I'm having a mental block trying to complete my resume with the details of my current job. However, I'm determined to finish it and get some applications in before I go to bed tonight...

If you pray, pray for me. If you don't send good vibes my way.

I've never had so much difficulty

2009-06-03T16:00:00.000-04:00

keeping my stomach settled or trying to find a new pattern to start.

I really like Henry.

But at 452 stitches, it's a beast to knit. Undeterred, I cast on with Rowan Cashcotton, miscounted and ended up with 490 stitches.

That should have been my clue to stop.

But I kept going and finished 3.5 rows before I realized the following:

I would run out of yarn before I finished this.
My daddy doesn't wear pink.
I don't like cotton yarn, even cotton yarn that has cashmere in it.
This is cute, but cotton scarves don't do crap for warmth.

So now I'm frogging it and trying to find something to knit. So now I'm casting on for Spring Forward.

Yup, I'm back to my old standby: socks.
This pair is for Rowena, who recently lost her dog.

Overthinking the Simple

2009-06-02T15:16:00.000-04:00

My boss's 50th birthday is coming up and, in acknowledgement, the office is going to throw him a potluck party. Usually I'm relegated to bringing Brisket , which has become an office favorite and cemented me into that role. However, that Brisket is a $30, 8 hour affair. I don't have the time or energy.

So, I planned on bringing the cake. Since my love affair with yeast and baking began, I've been on a baking kick. This will be the first time I've had willing (probably eager) volunteers for taste testing.

I just checked Dorie Greenspan's Baking out of the library yesterday and I'm anxious to play with it (although I can already tell I will need to buy my own copy). I need to figure out which cake I'm going to make for the party on Thursday....

Smitten Kitchen's Strawberry Chiffon Cake?

Pioneer Woman's Strawberry Shortcut Cake?

Some unknown goodie from Dorie????

Plant City, FL is known nationwide for their strawberries (unless you happen to get California's overgrown behemoths). They are sweet, tender, and juicy and right now is the perfect time to pick some up from the fruit stand near my house.

Which closes at four.....and I don't get off until 6.....darn....

I have to figure this out.

Random Thoughts

2009-05-25T00:38:00.003-04:00

I'm not inspired in my knitting.

I went out last week and purchased new yarn. I don't know why; probably because I had been on a yarn fast and, like any bad dieter, was craving something new.

This gorgeous Lamb's Pride Worsted in Silver Streaks at Nite (my god, that's a great name)

I wanted to make a scarf for my dad. Had the pattern picked out of Barbara Walker's Treasuries and everything before I realized that I needed a fingering yarn for the pattern. Worsted is way too big.

I love the yarn. Beautiful...

I also picked up this absolutely gorgeous Shibui Sock in Orchid.

I saw this and automatically thought AKA socks for Stephanie. Her beloved doggy Roc died about 2 months ago and she's been at a loose end. She has a new dog, Dayla, but Dayla isn't Roc.

Roc was half Chow, half-something else big. Roc could've eaten Dayla, a Shih Tzu.

Anyway, I bought the yarn and cast on for the scarf....that's when I discovered that the yarn was too thick.

The lace curtains in #10 crochet thread are not coming out too well either.

I'm exhausted. Not with Knitting, but with being on a budget....I want to buy yarn!!!

Swallowtail Shawl, post Blocking

2009-05-21T00:36:00.004-04:00

Just for the record, I believe in the wet-bath method when I handblock. I send it through the washer on the spin cycle to remove the excess water, then pin flat.

This is the result.

(Being modeled by my co-worker, Kate)

(Being modeled by my co-worker, Sue Ann)

I think it looks better up against the red.

What a difference a blocking will make.

Book Review: Halfway to the Grave by Jeaniene Frost

2009-05-19T12:10:00.003-04:00

Three Sentence Synopsis: Catherine Crawfield (known as Cat) is a half-human, half-vampire vampire killer who meets Bones, a Vampire Hit man/Bounty Hunter during a kill. In exchange for her life (and help determining the identity of her rapist vampire father), Cat agrees to help Bones with a job of his own. She falls in love with Bones but as the bodies pile up around them, she is forced to make a difficult choice between staying with the man that she loves or protecting her own heart and soul.(Book One of a Trilogy, thus far).

Recommendation:
I recommend this book highly. The pacing is fast and the characters are well-drawn and interesting. The plot is mostly solid and well setup for sequels and books for offshoot characters (a book for Spade please!). All in all, an excellent first-book.

I would like to comment on the many reviewers who were turned off by what the perceived to be the main character's immaturity and shallowness. I think most of them forgot that at the beginning of this book, the main character was in her early twenties (like 20-22)! At that age no one's thinking is tied too tight and, when you consider the circumstances of her birth and her maternal family's conflicted feelings about her very existence, she's a lot more mature and clear thinking than a lot of people her age. However, I do feel that the author did a good job of convincingly aging her up in the next book and giving her more maturity without sacrificing her personality.

Main Review:
I will preface this review by saying that I am NOT a big fan of paranormal romance. Vampires, ghouls, the undead, none of that really tickles my fancy; give me a good old-fashioned Regency Bodice-Ripper any day. Normally I would never read this kind of book, but I received it from someone on LibraryThing and it sat on my coffee table for over a month before I offered it (half-heartedly) to a friend who loves paranormal. She was so excited about receiving that I decided to give the first chapter a go; if the book was good, I would loan it to her, otherwise, she could keep it.

That said, this book will be on LOAN only (sorry Nikki)!

Halfway to the Grave sucked me in from the first chapter! Catherine is the product of a rape and is half-human, half vampire. She has been taught from her earliest days that all vampires are evil creatures from hell who must be destroyed; thus begins her early career as a vampire killer. However, while staking out a victim, Cat runs into the most gorgeous vampire she's ever seen and the only vampire who's ever been able to take her out while she's on a job. In exchange for her life (and help finding the vampire who raped her mother and fathered her), Cat agrees to act as bait for a Master Vampire named Bones, who is trying to determine who is killing young human women all over the state of Ohio. Over the next few months, Cat learns more and more about her vampire heritage, embraces her strengths, and turns what had been a obsession into an almost full-time job. She must also confront the fact that, like humans, not all Vampires are evil and she has prejudice issues of her own to deal with. Bones, her new vampire partner, is determined to show Cat the limitations of her thinking while training her to be faster, stronger, agile, and more creative. Together they move closer and closer to the center of an interesting mystery where the guilty party is no one that you would assume and the list of people that can be trusted grows shorter and shorter.

Final Opinion:
After I finished this book, I checked Book 2 (One Foot in the Grave) out from the Library and I'm going to buy book 3 today. It's just that compelling but I sincerely hope that Jeanine Frost gives the side characters (Tate, Spade, possibly Cooper) their own books.

The Swallowtail Shawl is done

2009-05-17T22:00:00.000-04:00

I'm moving through the Christmas knitting pretty well. I've finished the Swallowtail Shawl.

Now to block...

Bread Baking

2009-05-17T19:27:00.000-04:00

Lately I've been looking for new ways to save money. I'm having a great time going through my budget and trying to figure out how I can get the most bang for my buck.

One of the things I've decided to do is try to reduce the number of items I have to buy in stores. I don't think I'll be outside trying to milk a cow anytime soon (and unfortunately there are no sheep within shearing distance of me), but I can try to produce more of the simple items I have to pay for.

Like Bread.

Bread baking was my Rubicon because bread required Yeast. I simply wasn't going to cross that bridge again; I've never succeeded. Those gassy, unicellular creatures have never cooperated with me.

Yeast is SCARY.

But I'm cheaper than I am afraid.

So, here we go. I pulled The Joy of Cooking and read through the recipe.

Then I pulled Alton Brown's website, read through his instructions, and steadied myself. I could do this.

To the Kitchen!!! I measured everything carefully, reread the recipe and got started.

Hmm....

This looks promising.

Let's Bake...

Ni i i i i ce

I do believe this looks like bread.

It slices like bread. It takes like bread.

I'm going to eat the hell out of this, like bread.

**Edited because rereading this post in the light of day, I realized that the original read as if I'd written it while drunk.

Umm...I was drunk. Drunk on success. And passed out from the pure carb overload.

When it's a bad day...

2009-05-11T22:00:00.000-04:00

It's a REALLY REALLY bad day. I'm talking major league bad day.

(cursing ahead)

Don't get me wrong, I love my job.
I love the work I do.
I love/like the people I work with.

I just don't like the people I have to work with.

Last week was a week from HELL! Monday (today) didn't start off that great either.

You know, I pride myself on being honest. I have no choice, since I'm a poor liar.

If I don't have an answer for you, I'll tell you. If I don't know, I'll say, "I don't know, but I'll find out."

What I hate is that honest answers make you look as if you don't know shit. Sometimes I don't know shit. And I'll say it. "I don't know....I really don't know. But I can find out..."

Why is this an unacceptable answer?

And when I find out, why is the answer unacceptable? I have an answer for you. It is based on the best intelligence I have at the moment. If and when I get more information, better information, new information, I'll update the answer.

At the moment, this is the best answer I have for you.

Why is this an unacceptable answer???

You know, I'm paid enough to come to work, but not enough to give a damn.

I have no problem articulating that. I'm going to make sure you feel that.

Please don't decide to be the lazy bastard who wants to make my day difficult. I'm not my co-worker. I CAN and WILL ignore your dumb ass.

And please don't be the hyper-sensitive control-freak bitch who won't calm down long enough to realize that there is not a major problem here.

Your inability to do your job is not my problem but I hate you both.

Happy Cinco de Mayo

2009-05-05T15:49:00.001-04:00

(New posts coming soon)

Tea

2009-03-24T23:37:00.004-04:00

Ok, so this post is completely and totally about me . . .

I love Tea. I mean I really really really love tea. Right now, at 11:40 PM I am working on my third cup of Earl Grey. For some reason, I want to share that love with you.

Foglie de Tea, Earl Grey.

I love the smell of Earl Grey.

Seriously, you should smell this.

I would take a picture of myself but
a) that would involve getting out the tripod;
b) you do not want to see what I am wearing; and
c) I need to wipe the drool.

This is my Tea strainer. 99 cents at IKEA. Simple and functional. I'm making tea, not launching a space ship.

So, let's see....Boil the water, then measure one level teaspoon of loose tea into the strainer.

Oh, yeah, this is going to be good....

This is after two minutes of steeping....This smells so good.

Now, in the eternal debate of milk first or last, I am solidly on the fence. Sometimes I put the milk in first, sometimes it goes in last. Sometimes it's half-and-half, sometimes it's 2% milk, sometimes it's Heavy Whipping Cream (most of the time it's heavy whipping cream. American milk tastes nothing like the milk you can get in the UK). No matter what, 1 teaspoon of sugar is a definite.

Ouch...I just scalded my tongue. Oh well.

Now, I need some scones.

Spring has Sprung, but the Break is over

2009-03-24T16:00:00.008-04:00

Last week was Spring Break at the college. I took off back to Georgia.

View Larger Map

Sometimes I still can't believe I used to make that 5 hour drive every other weekend... here's a quick run down of the week:

Friday: Watched the first part of the Battlestar Galactica Finale with Sue Ann. Tried not to cry.
Saturday: Slept in. Was rudely awakened at 8:30 by parents who assumed I had hit the road at 5 AM and were anxious for me to arrive (I'm still a bit concerned about that.... I never see 5AM unless I have been awake all night.) Went back to sleep. Hit the road ~4PM. Hit Albany around 9:30-10PM. Met up with Andrea and hit Waffle House. Full of sugar, I easily stayed up until 4AM.
Sunday: Slept in. Watched as parents tried desperately not to sit underfoot. Man, they missed me.
Monday: Mommy left around 5AM to go to work in Columbus. Sat around house with Daddy all day. Drove to Columbus to take Mommy out for her birthday and celebrate their anniversary. Drove back to Albany.
Tuesday: Sat around house all day. Snoozed on couch. Slept in bed. Very exciting day.
Wednesday: Daddy cut work to spend the day with me. So, we spent the day together just like we used to: he worked in the yard while I slept in every conceivable room in the house, including the kitchen.
Thursday: Daddy had to go to work today. Thank God. I went to Thomasville to visit the Grandparents. They were overjoyed when I arrived [Sidenote: Why did everyone feel the need to warn me that the cops were watching the road? I KNOW!!!! I'm not speeding (that much...)] and in their determination to spend as much time with me as possible, they stayed up until 3AM!!! Come on people, can't I get some alone time....?
Friday: Woke up with every intention of going back to Albany. Granny had different plans. She hid my keys, then put on the "sad-sack" face. I stayed another day, but warned them I was running out of clean undies. . .she did my laundry while I took a nap. Watched the BSG Finale. Cried for hours....I'm still not ready for the show to be over, but it is over.
Saturday: My keys returned, I set off to return to Albany. Met up with parents for breakfast, then a little mall crawl. However, my plans were rudely interrupted when some random teacher friend of my mother's showed up and started yapping her mouth. DAMN! I've been ditched. So I ditched her when Andrea swung by. I hit WalMart for the first time all trip (good looking out!), then a few more stores. Stephanie called me because my sorority was having an intake soon and the new DP and Pres didn't know what to do, so would I come by ~6PM to help them plan, since I had been the pres during one of our more infamous lines. Sure, so I split from Dree (her sister's on the line, so she didn't need to know anything going on) and headed home to get a few things. Wouldn't you know, Mommy's home and she's cooked. So, seafood night at the parents, then over to Steph's. She's cooked (I'm feeling the fat settle on) so a small plate of Spaghetti and let's start planning. I'm finally free at 3AM.
Sunday: Mommy wants to try our girl's day out again. Great, but all the rest of my clothes are in the wash. So she ditches me again, (how rude!) then calls me back 1.5 hours later to meet her at the nail shop. At that point, I'm ticked, but I go. She pays. My toes are hot pink.

NOTE: I had no interest in alone time. I have quite enough of that in Florida.

When conscious, I spent my time in GA looking at plant catalogs and dreaming about Square Foot Gardening (the price of tomatoes is simply ridiculous!) . . . I feel rather confident that I can pull it off this year. I also looked at acquiring a few houseplants.

<--Like Dieffenbachia I grew up with this plant. Lost quite a few stupid dogs to it too (the leaves are poisonious).

Pothos: I grew up with this plant and it's also poisonous....What were my grandparents trying to do to us?

<--Philodendron: I grew up with this plant and it's also poisonous....I'm beginning to see a pattern.

Arrowhead Vine: My mother had this plant.....I'm seeing a disturbing trend here.

<--Cast-Iron Plant: Finally, a plant that isn't poisonous.

Well, I live by myself and I don't have a dog. I think I can manage not to chew on the plants.

I've stalked the Pioneer Woman's Gardening site for information on how she built her raised beds (not difficult at all) and I am almost living at Mel Bartholomew's site, but I may have a problem finding vermiculite. . . apparently it's tough to lay hands on.

While at home I had a great time finishing projects that have been on the back burner for a while:

I now have a pair of Pomatomus Socks and they are gorgeous! I am in love with them. A little blocking and they'll be ready for wearing.

A Koolhaas hat in Cream: Daddy claimed the hat, then Mommy stole the hat, then Grandy decided she wanted the hat (but in Blue) and PawPaw wanted the same hat but in a different blue from Granny. Let the Christmas 2009 Knitting BEGIN!

The Big Books List

2009-03-13T10:39:00.005-04:00

I have stolen this list from another blog, The Crazy Ranter. Anyhow, The Big Read thinks that the average adult has only read 6 of the books on this 100 list.

1) Look at the list and bold those you have read.
2) Italicise those you intend to read
3) Underline the books you LOVE.
4) Strikethrough the ones you hate.

Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen)- love love love love love. I have at least three copies of this book in my house. . .and the Colin Firth/Jennifer Ehle version is the classic movie version!
The Lord of the Rings (JRR Tolkien) - Well, I made it through The Hobbit and The Fellowship of the Ring. I made it partially through The Two Towers, but I haven't gotten anywhere near The Return of the King.
Jane Eyre (Charlotte Bronte)
Harry Potter series (JK Rowling) - I have the paperbacks, the hardbacks, and I'm trying to get the British versions. Does that explain???
To Kill a Mockingbird (Harper Lee) - I have a copy of this somewhere also.
The Bible - I grew up Pentecostal. I think it's mandatory.
Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell
His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
Great Expectations - Charles Dickens
Little Women - Louisa M Alcott
Tess of the D'Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy (Partially read)
Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
Complete Works of Shakespeare - Jeez, that will take forever! Do you have any idea how many poems he wrote?
Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier - I've seen the movie...does that count?
The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien - So, I guess this didn't count for the earlier Lord of the Rings listing, huh...?
Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks
Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger
The Time Traveller's Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
Middlemarch - George Eliot
Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell--I'm southern. I think this book is mandatory.
The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald
Bleak House - Charles Dickens
War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy - Someday...
The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh - This is pathetic. I received a free copy via LibraryThing and I still haven't read it. It keeps putting me to sleep.
Crime and Punishment- Fyodor Dostoyevsky - Thus began my love affair with Russian authors.
Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame
Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy
David Copperfield - Charles Dickens
Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis--YES!!!
Emma - Jane Austen - Not as good as Pride and Prejudice, but it will do in a pinch.
Persuasion - Jane Austen
The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - C.S. Lewis - HEY, why is the first book broken out from the rest of the series....???
The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
Captain Corelli's Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres
Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne- Yeah, but I like Curious George more.
Animal Farm - George Orwell - Loved it.
The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown
One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
A Prayer for Owen Meaney - John Irving
The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery
Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy
The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood
Lord of the Flies - William Golding
Atonement - Ian McEwan
Life of Pi - Yann Martel - I own it, I just haven't read it yet.
Dune - Frank Herbert
Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen
A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon - My copy is somewhere in the house.
Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez - I Tried
Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck - I think I've read this...
Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
The Secret History - Donna Tartt
The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas - Revenge really is a dish best served cold.
On The Road - Jack Kerouac
Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy
Bridget Jones' Diary - Helen Fielding
Midnight's Children - Salman Rushdie
Moby Dick - Herman Melville
Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens
Dracula - Bram Stoker
The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett
Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson
Ulysses - James Joyce
The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath
Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
Germinal - Emile Zola
Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray
Possession - AS Byatt
A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens - Who hasn't read this?
Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
The Color Purple - Alice Walker - I watched the movie numerous times as a child, but I didn't read it until my teens and didn't pick up on the lesbian bits until college....man, I was sheltered. I went to an HBCU; being able to quote this movie was mandatory!
~~The Remains of the Day~~- Kazuo Ishiguro - Easily ranks as the most boring book I EVER read. I still don't get it (and I'm no literary slouch)
Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert
A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
Charlotte's Web - EB White - I cry every time.
The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom - I read this entire book in 30 minutes in Target....
Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton
Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery - I'm pretty sure I read this.
The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
Watership Down - Richard Adams
A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute
The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas
Hamlet - William Shakespeare - By the end, I was ready for him to die.
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl
Les Miserables - Victor Hugo - Does Rent Count?

Total Count:
Read: 38
Intend to Read: 38
Loved: 12
Hated: 1

Hmm...this portends well...

2009-03-11T18:58:00.003-04:00

I woke up this morning so dizzy I could barely stand up, so I stayed home. I'm still trying to make my way through Ballykissangel.

So what did I accomplish today...

I finished sock one of Pomatomus today.

My god, isn't it gorgeous?!?! The best part?

I know that twisted stitches eat up yarn, but I only used 1/4 of a skein to make the first sock (and I followed the directions to a T). If I play my cards right, I might get a full pair of socks and maybe some footies out of one skein....

Off to cast on the Second Sock!

New Home Project

2009-03-10T00:02:00.003-04:00

Like so many Americans, I've spent the last few weeks trying to figure out ways to cut back on my spending. I didn't do badly last year, but I want to bulk up my 401(k). So after getting a body blow from Quicken (I really spent $1200 on my CELL PHONE last year!!! Are you kidding me???), I decided to go outside.

I spent about 20 minutes in my backyard trying to decide where to put my square foot garden . . . I don't have a large backyard and every time I've attempted to grow something it has been a dismal disaster, but I'm going to try again.

Then I walked around to the front yard.

That tree has got to go.

The Palm tree might live to see another day, but that yellow grass thingy . . . I hated it the moment I saw the house.

Thankfully my neighbor Linda was on hand to help me figure out a plan.

Linda

(Grabs branch and twists)

Linda

Me:

Linda

Yup, I do like my neighbors.
So here's what I accomplished in one hour:
Beginning: See Above

30 minute Mark:

Done (45 Minute Mark):

I left three weeds and a stump, but I'll get rid of those before the trash get here in the morning.

Now I'm pricing the garden . . . This is soooo much fun!

Back to the Knitting

2009-03-06T11:27:00.004-05:00

I looked at my site today and realized that my blog is all over the place. That's not fair to my readers, all 3 of them (seriously, I have no idea how many. I just pretend that no one is watching and keep it moving).

So I promise that I'm going to get on the ball with the posting. My only issue with posting is that normally, you want a post with pictures. Everyone needs visual stimulation, otherwise this gets boring.

My camera is at home and I'm so anal about my pictures that I will only release them after they've had a nice liberal dosing of Photoshop to make them look better.

I will do better. So, what's on deck?

Pomatomus Socks

Yes, these socks are famous and rightly so; they are brilliant. However, the first time I attempted to make these, it was a complete disaster.

However, I now have the perfect yarn for them. . .

"Ward Circle" by Neighborhood Fiber Company, which is turning into. . .

Umm....yummmy. I'm in love....

You would not believe how fast I'm knitting these . . . Above is the end of night one.

This is now . . . If I keep this up, I'll be done with the pair in a week.

A Promise

2009-02-24T17:01:00.004-05:00

Ever since I bought my house, my posts have been filled with everything house related and precious little knitting. Well, I sincerely apologize for that. I will start posting more knitting related stuff. So, let's start with what's currently on the needles:

Lordana Boucle Jacket:
I sent the Herringbone Socks off to Daddy today, so I know that I will receive a message from my loving mother very soon inquiring after the fate of this jacket.

I wish I had an answer.
There isn't much left to do. . .knit the sleeves, sew it up, and mail. But for some reason I can't pull myself to do it. But I'm tired of having UFOs around the house, so I'm determined to finish this and have it ready for presentation soon.

The Shapely Knit Top:
I started over. When I frogged the bottom of the top, I ran into a horrible problem with the Cotton Twist that I'm using. . .

Why didn't anyone tell me that this yarn splits??? That's a full ball of yarn in the baggie that I can't use! Boo!

New Project: Yet to be named
The need to swatch is crying out to me. I haven't done my swatches for the Walker Treasury Project in a while, so I think I'm going to take one of the cable chapters and swatch that. Now, I just need the yarn (Ignoring my entire stash . . .)

Update

2009-02-22T17:42:00.000-05:00

Yes, I know. I haven't posted in a while. There's a reason . . .I've had absolutely no energy. Here's why:

Wordpress vs. Blogger: In the eternal Wordpress vs. Blogger debate, I am pleased to say that I've finally decided that Blogger has won the day. I will continue to update the Wordpress site as necessary, but I'm done with that debate. I have more control over Blogger, so I'll stay with Blogger. However, Blogger has to step the game up.

The Gym: I joined Lifestyle Family Fitness last week. I waited until after all the New Year's Hoopla and decided that this really was what I wanted to do. I've been three times since joining (an excellent rate of return for me). I even packed my gym clothes to go again tonight.

SSN Removal: Ever since I bought my house, removal of my Social Security number from every conceivable database known to man has been my life's goal. (not bad for 2 months). I'm still in a fight with Peace River Electrical Cooperative (home of the rudest, nastiest customer representatives I've ever had the misfortunate to have to interact with). If the possibility of signing up with Florida Power and Light ever presents itself, I will leave PRECO immediately. No questions asked. FPL never received my SSN and they were OK with that. They also charged me less for the deposit.

House Cleaning: I hate to clean my house. Now there's 1700+ sq. ft. to clean. This sucks.

Money Issues: No, I'm not having cash flow issues, although it would help if more of my bills occurred in the first half of the month. No, my money issues are "I'm trying to get my credit cards back down to $0 but it's hard to do that when I want to spend, spend, spend so badly". If I stick with the debt reduction plan that Quicken and I mapped out, by December my only debts will be the Student Loans and the House. I fear I might need to push the target goal to December 2010.

Anger: I spent a lot of the month angry. Angry at myself for taking out student loans when I didn't need to, angry for not being able to account for where $12000 of that money went, angry for being single for the 7th straight Valentine's Day (yeah, yeah, I usually deride the holiday as a meaningless commercial claptrap, but I would have liked some flowers), angry that I'm alone in South Florida and I haven't met anyone beyond my co-workers and neighbors, angry that I'm such a loner, angry that my childhood left me with none of the skills necessary to go out and meet people. I don't like nightclubs, I reject organized religion, I refuse to join the NAACP or Urban League, and I don't volunteer at the usually places for meeting people, so I'm all alone. sigh

That's it. That's all I have.

I love Swaps!

2009-02-09T21:19:00.003-05:00

I love swaps!
I am a convert!

Tonight I received my package from my swap partner, Wildthing1058.

I love Wildthing1058.

Here's what she sent.

Do you have any idea how excited I am? I much I loved seeing this package on my doorstep? I love this. My swap partner did an excellent job stalking me because she picked out things that I love.

She sent me Yankee Candles! I love Yankee Candles. In Splash of Rain. (I keep sniffling the candles...yummy).
She sent me small misters from the healing garden in White Tea Scent....I keep spraying.
Chocolates.....(I've already eaten 2).

Yup, I already signed up for two more swaps.

An Open Letter to the Carpentras at the Villages at Avignon HOA

2009-01-29T12:46:00.002-05:00

Dear Homeowner's Association:

I don't care how you feel about the fact that I purchased the property without you having received an application first. I purchased a foreclosure, meaning I purchased my home from the bank, not the builder. Also, since I haven't received the Declarations, Articles of Incorporation, or any of the other pertinent paperwork, I will **not** pay your ridiculous HOA fees. All I needed was the HOA articles. I don't have them. My realtor did not provide them. The selling agent did not provide them.

When I called today I get a copy of the legal documentation, your representative was very rude. That's not a good look for a quasi-governmental organization trying to recover money from me. Furthermore, I don't appreciate your representative threatening me with late charges because I didn't pay by the 15th. You didn't send anything, including an invoice, until the 22nd.

So, at this time, I don't consider myself a member of the HOA and if you continue to press the issue, I will take legal advice. If you want me to join your HOA, get me the Articles, get me the Declaration, show me where the HOA is mandatory in my title, and fix my Mailbox!

Otherwise, Leave me alone.

Sincerely,

Victoria

Morning Thoughts get me in trouble

2009-01-28T16:46:00.005-05:00

Why is it that you only meet men when you aren't interested in dating anymore? Is there a cosmic signal that goes out and says, "She's not interested in dating, time to hook her up?"
Why do good girls end up with bad boys?
Why am I letting someone get close to me when I'm not sure he's the one for me?
Then again, finding out if he's the one is the point of dating right?
Why am I stressing this?

This is the kind of stuff that was going through my head this morning when I stepped out to my car to place my breakfast and water in the passenger seat. You see, when I went to bed last night, I closed the door, but I didn't check to make sure it was secure. Brilliant woman that I am, I replaced all the deadbolts and door locks in the house over to one key. However, the lock in the door to the garage keeps turning within the handle, a problem I kept saying "I'll fix it later."

It fixed me this morning. I pulled the door, realized I had not engaged the lock last night and the door was open, and was overthinking my current relationship dilemma when I stepped out to my car.

The door closed behind me. And locked.

Yeah, locked. So when I go back to the door, I'm now locked out of my house. I don't have on shoes. I don't have my cell phone. I don't have my keys. I'm locked out of my house. So, I open the garage door and step over to my neighbors' house. I think I woke him up, but he was gracious enough to let me call the locksmith and my job. I went back to my house and sat in the garage.

On a completely random thought, I started sifting through the junk in my car. At one point, I had changed all the locks in the house except the front door and I could never remember which keys went to the front door and which ones went to the other doors, so I kept them all in my car. Lo and behold, the extra keys to the house were still in my car! $65 locksmith charge averted!

I rush back into the house and call the locksmith.

Me: Hi, this is Vic at {address}. I just wanted to let you know that I found an extra set of keys to my house, so I don't need the locksmith.
Locksmith: Well you know what lady? The next time, why dont' you check everything you can think of before you call us cuz now we have a guy rushing out to your home to help you and that's a waste we dont' need.
Me (slightly stunned): OK, first, I called you b/c at the time I did need you and I had checked everything I could think of. Second, I called you about 5 minutes ago, so regardless of how you feel about the situation I'm certain your guy hasn't gotten that far. Third, I'm still a customer and you're extremely rude, so I'll make sure I tell everyone about this particular incident and let them know to take their business elsewhere. (hang up).

I'll tolerate a lot of things, but poor customer service is not one of them.

Twitter Nation

2009-01-27T13:41:00.001-05:00

I have joined the Twitter Nation. I have no idea why, except that writing blog entries takes so much time. If this twitter thing works out the way everyone says it does, I might end up twittering a lot more than blogging....

Uh Oh.

Inauguration Day

2009-01-20T15:43:00.003-05:00

Today, Barack Hussein Obama II became our 44th President of the United States. Seated in the conference room of our office, surrounded by my (mostly) white co-workers, I watched an event I never thought I would live long enough to see (and I'm under 30).

I watched a brilliantly educated, fiercely intellectual, inspiring man of the people become the leader of the free world. He reaffirmed the ideal that intelligence is not embarrassing, competence is not threatening, bipartisanship is more than a word, and ignorance of the world beyond your borders is dangerous.

I watched a father take an oath to protect and defend our Constitution, the same Constitution another man vowed to protect and defend before sending thousands of young men and women into a danger zone.

I watched a husband stand with his wife and two little girls and promise to try to make life better for all of us.

I watched press coverage that kept highlighting the fact that for persons of African descent everywhere in the world, today is a banner day for us all, the culmination of what so many have struggled, fought, prayed, and died for.

I watched the orderly transition of power from one freely elected leader to another, knowing that there are many countries in the world where that has not and maybe never will happen.

Our country has its problems and its graces, its successes and its failures.
Our country struggles with the basic question of rights for all, individual liberties, and governmental influence.
Our country is an evolving experiment.
Our country is not perfect.

But most of all, today, January 20, 2009, the United States of America took another step closer to becoming a more perfect union.

I was certain I would see a Hispanic President first.
I was certain I would see an Asian President first.
I was certain I would see a female President first.

Hell, I was certain I would see a foreigner as President first.

This country has historically had a low opinion of the strengths and abilities of its non-White, Anglo-Saxon Protestant citizens. It took 100 years and a bloody Civil War for blacks to become citizens. It took another 100 years for us to receive basic civil rights.

But we are still fighting.
Women still make 76 cents of every dollar that men make. Add race and the numbers drop further.

Residents of rural areas and the inner cities can't find work.
The elderly can afford to retire and no one can afford to be sick.
The rich have gotten richer while the poor have gotten the shaft.

I can't empathize with someone who has had to drop the price of their house from $15 million to $9.5 million when there are millions of homeowners who have been evicted from their houses or are being foreclosed on.

There is plenty of blame to go around.
There is also plenty of hope to go around.

"What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility - a recognition, on the part of every American, that we have duties to ourselves, our nation, and the world, duties that we do not grudgingly accept but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character, than giving our all to a difficult task."

--President Barack H. Obama
Presidential Inaugural Address
January 20, 2009

It's OVER!!!

2008-12-24T21:32:00.001-05:00

Finally!

It's Over! I'm a homeowner. I will post a detailed accounting of this mess, but I can't do it. I'm too tired right now.

Nearing the End and Karma visits me again

2008-12-17T16:03:00.007-05:00

First, a knitting update:
I still need to do the seams on the Lordana Boucle Car Coat for my mom.
I have started on sock 2 of the Herringbone Rib Socks for Daddy.
I'm wishing I had access to my knitting things, but I've already packed all of it.

I am finally getting close to the end of this house-buying saga.

The Final purchase price of the house is $118K and hopefully the closing will take place on Friday or Saturday. I don't care which...because that will leave me with just days to paint before moving in. This is a major league hassle! If you are going to buy a foreclosure, please be prepared for the waiting involved.

So here's my timeline (assuming a Friday Closing):

Friday

Get keys to house
Call locksmith to change the locks on the house (Nevermind. Just did that. It will costs me $11 a lock...so for ~$35 I can have three locks rekeyed)
Buy Paint and Paint Accessories
Begin Painting (if I can start before nightfall)

Saturday

Paint.
Paint
Pain
Paint (I know I'll be in pain by the time this is over)

Sunday

While the new house is drying, I can go back to the apartment and finish packing. Hopefully I'll have the movers in to move me on Tuesday.

While writing the above, I took a moment to check my email to see what the status of my closing was...ARGHHH!!! The title company is moving my closing AGAIN!!! Let's see, in the past 30 minutes I had accomplished the following:

Rented a U-Haul truck online.
Arranged to have movers at my house on the 23rd.
Arranged for Brighthouse Cable to install my cable on the 23rd.

This is getting ridiculous. First the title company holds my paperwork for three weeks. Then they attempt to strong-arm me into closing fast by saying that I should have had the paperwork into the lender (even though they had not sent over the executed contract until December 5th). Now, the Lender has to have the contract for 48 hours before the closing can be scheduled??

I have to be back to work on January 5th. I need time to paint, move, unpack, and generally make my home liveable. I still have to get a garage door installed, get the water pipe into the house caulked, and get the air conditioning cleaned and updated. I have things to do that I can't even remember what I need to do.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I am about 2 seconds from cursing everyone out when we get to the closing table.

So, now that I know that I won't close until after Christmas, what am I going to do? Why, I'm going to:

Finish packing
Arrange for an iron-clad closing date
Go ahead and buy my paint and have it ready to move.

On a more positive note, I am glad to say that Karma, that lovely lady, strikes again. I spoke to a close friend the other day who let me know that my ex-fiancee is divorced.

LMAO!

The words, "I told you so" have never been so sweet. They weren't even married an entire year before he divorced her and I tried to tell her silly behind that he would leave her. She decided to cuss me out, post nasty things on MySpace (and I don't even hang out there), and generally blacken my name around town, which was a wasted effort. Meanwhile, Karma got him by deploying his behind to Iraq (although he apparently didn't make it out of Kansas). Failure: it's what he does best. (sigh)

Karma is sweet.

For those of you who think I'm just wishing ill on myself, please rest assured that getting him out of my life was the best thing I ever did for myself. It was one of those situations where God doesn't want you to have something that isn't good for you, but you (brilliant human that you are) know better. So finally, like any loving Father, God says, "Well, if she thinks she knows so much, I'm going to let her have it and then she'll know what I mean. I'll be here when she comes back."

I tell you now, if you keep wishing for something that doesn't come to pass, let it be. If it is meant for you, if someone is meant for you, you will be with them eventually. But don't run after someone who doesn't run after you. Once I dumped Mike (first time in 15 months I've said or written his name), my life improved dramatically. I lost weight, moved away, increased my income by 50%, and now I'm buying a house (eventually! ARGHH I'm getting angry again thinking about this delay); believe me, if I didn't feel so sorry for him, I might thank him....no, I wouldn't. Never mind.

Tired

2008-11-11T19:05:00.003-05:00

I'm tired of signing my life away.

I finished the front and back of the Lordana Boucle Jacket and bound off the shoulders. I need to finish the sleeves and I'll be done. Just in time for Mommy to try it on at Thansgiving.

Speaking of which, the entire family will be here for Thanksgiving. Here's the menu:

Roast Turkey with Gravy
Brown Sugar Spiral Cut Ham
Cornbread Stuffing w/ Sage
Collard Greens
Macaroni and Cheese
Fresh Green Beans
Sweet Potato Pie
Peach Cobbler
Vanilla Ice Cream
Cranberry Relish

I wasn't going to make a ham, but Uncle Bernard has requested one. I may still make a leg of lamb instead.

Moving Right along

2008-11-08T22:33:00.004-05:00

OK, on the knitting front: I've finished 43cm of the Lordana Boucle Car Coat (click to review in Ravelry). For about 30 minutes tonite, I couldn't figure out the match to the armhole shaping and I was convinced I would end up with more stitches than I was supposed to.

Tequila helps a lot of things.

After tequila, I stopped overthinking the math and, lo and behold, the armhole math was correct and I had perfect bind-offs. Now I'm confronting the possiblity that I will run 1 skein short of yarn in order to finish this project.

On the house front: The bank countered me at $119,000. At that point I was a little sick of the game, so I sent over a firm and final offer. I loved the way Jaya put it in her email, "this is my client's firm and final offer."

They accepted! My contract has been accepted! I'm almost a homeowner!

(Panicking, panicking, panicking)

Am I really ready for this? Am I really ready to be totally responsible for a house???? I mean, a house means that I can't just pick up and move when I get ready. I can't be footloose and fancy free.

It does mean I own a little something in the world, which is a strange concept. I believe in the Indian ideal that one cannot own land . . . you cannot own something that will outlast you in perpetuity. Someday I'll be dead and gone and that land will still be there. The most claim you have to it is temporary rights of guardianship . . .

But I'm off on a tangent.

The bank sent over an additional addendum. I read it yesterday in the Realtor's office, had questions she couldn't answer and am now waiting for the answer to my questions. I also didn't receive the termite information for the house, so I'm waiting on that before I sign this additional addendum.

Being a first-time homebuyer is frustrating and scary.

I have one set of mortgage contracts but I'm waiting on the other two lender to respond to me. I'm hesitant to sign with this first guy (even though everything is great) because I want to see if I can get the interest rate down to 5.875% or lower and I want to run back through the math again. If this works out the way I plan (and the way I really need it to), my house payment will be about $1000 a month, I will get the $7500 credit back on my taxes which I will apply to the car loan, and I'll be broke for an entire year, but I'm ready to do this.

Meanwhile, I still don't know if I'm doing the right thing in the right order. Once I send the documents back, I can schedule the inspection. But since this is a foreclosure being sold "As Is", I can't get out of it unless there is major structural damage. So I might be stuck with serious house repairs that I can't afford. I'm really gambling here. Then I have to get insurance, which is ridiculously expensive in Florida, and work on getting a moving company and a timeline. I have to box up my clothes. My move to Florida taught me how to pack quickly. . . so I know that a week of dedicated packing will get my stuff moved, but still. . . I'm so nervous.

I can't continue to rent. This is pissing away my money to someone else so they can get richer while I'm at their mercy on rent. If I'm going to pay $850 a month to live somewhere, I might as well chip in $150 more and have equity (kinda kills that earlier paragraph, huh?)

Finally, I try not to comment on Politics in my posts (only a few times I've broken that dictum), but I will say this: I'm glad election season is over.

Go VOTE!

2008-11-04T12:50:00.001-05:00

Let the GAMES Begin!

2008-11-03T17:43:00.003-05:00

On Saturday, I put in a bid of $112K on the house I told you about on 10/30/08. Well, Jaya called me today to let me know that the bank counteroffered at $122K. NO FREAKING WAY!!!! I'm not trying to be house rich and cash poor. I want to be house rich and cash even (hey, I know it's too much to ask for cash rich).

I countered with $116K. They better accepted that or I'm going to start house-shopping again. I know that this is a normal part of the negotiations and that this is to be expected, but when I need to give notice to the apartment complex on Nov. 16 that I'm moving out at the end of my lease, we don't have time to play! I need an offer, an acceptance, and a firm closing date that occurs before the end of the year. So although I'm nervous (really really nervous) I need this to happen for me.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch/apartment, I cast on for the Lordana Boucle Coat last night. . .179 stitches of bulky KnitPicks Twirl (great way to use it up and if it comes out looking good, I'll do another in Lordana Boucle for me :) ) on a size 8 (5.00 mm) needle. I'm hoping that this will move along fast. Instead of doing the back and fronts separately, I cast on on for them and will execute all of it at the same time. This is worrying me a little (I have to make decreases every 8 rows, but the yarn is so thick I can't count 8 rows) but I'm going to perservere.

I also decided to start designing more. So, using Shirley Paden's Flame Stitch Cardigan as inspiration, I'm going to try to create my own cropped cardigan. . . wish me luck!

PS. Am I the only person planning to get in line to vote at 7AM tomorrow???

FO Report and New Developments

2008-10-30T22:58:00.005-04:00

I finished the Undulating Socks tonight. Overall, I love the pattern and the socks, but I will never buy Noro Kureyon Sock Yarn again. The yarn is scratchy (I haven't blocked it yet, but I don't see this "hand" getting any better) and the twist of the yarn is incredibly uneven. In some places it's as think as a strand of DK. In other places it is like cobweb-weight yarn.

In other news, I've started house hunting. On Monday, my apartment complex left a note on my door to tell me that they were raising my rent by $100! That's a 13% increase! I would end up paying rent that is more than what my mother pays in mortgage. No way am I going to do that. So I contacted Jaya and we've started house hunting.

Tonight we found a gorgeous house in Palmetto. Specs:

1713 square feet
$124,900 list price
3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms
2 car garage
small porch of the dining room
In a well-developed community
Corporate owned

Let's keep hope alive. I'm hoping this will work out. I have to give the apartment complex notice by November 16.

Season Finale of Mad Men

2008-10-27T16:05:00.002-04:00

I originally posted this on Ravelry, but I'm reposting here for anyone interested.

Ok, so I've had an entire night to think about the finale and here are my thoughts:

Don's career: I do not think that Duck or Don will become the President of the firm or that Don will leave. The firm has been purchased by PPL and even though part of the conditions were for Duck to become President, you cannot have an advertising agency without Creative. Unfortunately for Duck, Don is one of the most famous and successful in the business. The fact that he doesn't have a contract means the SC can't afford to lose him and I don't see Don packing up ship, especially not now that he has the upper-hand on everyone. So, what do I see? I see PPL sending someone over from London to run the place and everyone stays in their current positions.

Duck's career: Duck's scenes could be subtitled "The Dangers of Overplaying your hand." As they say in politics "You dance with the one who brung ya." Don now has Duck in a very bad place because Don brought him in to bring in more business, Duck underperformed and just when Duck moves to redeem himself he finds that Don still has the upperhand. In one scene, Duck tried to pay Don back for all the humiliation over the past two years. He reveals the extent of his loathing and irritation at Don and attempts to chart a new course for SC. Sadly, although Duck is largely right on the plan, by insulting Don in front of everyone he weakens his own position in front of his bosses and subordinates. Worse, Duck underestimates Don, assuming that since Don is a Creative guy he doesn't understand Accounts, but Don (not Duck) is the person reminding Pete and Kinsey that aerospace and congressmen are the objective in California. The one person Duck should have groomed to have complete loyalty to him, Pete, is really loyal to Don (or as loyal as Pete can be). However, having now shown all his cards, Duck's power comes from knowing his London bosses better than anyone else. Don's the MAN in New York but that doesn't mean anything in London. PPL knows and understands Duck and his limitations but are they willing to put up with a boozed Duck as a puppet overlord?

Don's three-week jaunt to California: I think that time in California did Don more good than anything else in this world. During that trip he finally fused the two parts of his soul together and became a man again, instead of the empty shell we saw for 1.5 seasons. He has finally accepted that he is both Dick Whitman and Don Draper and that there is no impediment to his living his life as both men. After all, he is both men and the only person in the world who knows about his double life is OK with it and she loves him for the person he is, regardless of identity. Furthermore, he reached clarity on what he really wants in life: a happy family, which he never had as a child.

Betty: As I watched Betty during this episode, the thing I kept thinking about was, "Paging Dr. Freud!" Illicit sex in a seedy bar with a man who looked devastatingly similar to her husband (right down to the wedding ring)? Was Betty trying to release her frustrations by becoming the woman (she imagined) Don was attracted to? Women who, regardless of their social position, money, or any other list of attributes, simply slept with a man because they desired him? After all, that's what Mary Beth did, right? Furthermore, it was almost as if Don had given her permission by finally admitting that he had not shown her "respect" and that she wasn't crazy. She was faithful to her husband for as long as it took Don to finally admit he was a liar and an adulterer. The moment that cat was out the bag she was free to acknowledge all her appetites.

However, I liked how the scene finally played out. She can no more cast Don out of her life than she can rid her womb of that new child. No, it isn't convenient, it's happening at a bad time in her relationship, and it isn't really wanted. But just as the child was (symbolically speaking) between her and her tryst, that baby also symbolizes a new start, something fresh with no mistakes. Her marriage is broken but it can be recast into something new and stronger. The way Don looked at her, trying to gauge his reaction from hers, also symbolized (to me) the fact that he isn't going to take Betty for granted from now on. He now realizes that he has the life he was scratching at and, more importantly, that Betty is the one who controls his access to it.

Peggy and Pete: This is the part that took me the longest to write because there was so much going on there. It is amazing to me that in a moment in time when you assume that the world is about to end you realize, with great clarity, that there are only a few things that must be said and done. Trudy ran to her parents, her shelter in the storm, instead of banding together with her husband. She still refuses to accept the fact that she is married and her place is by his side. That left Pete to finally realize that he didn't love this woman, that Peggy really was the one for him, and he wanted to be with her if the world was going to end. I think that Pete really does see Peggy for who she is and doesn't put her on a pedestal, unlike Trudy. He just doesn't know what to do with this newly-independent woman. His cry of "Why are you telling me this?" as Peggy made her confession underscored this. If he and Peggy had been together and they had had a baby he would probably have been OK with the baby. A baby with Trudy is not a pleasant thought.

The problem is that Peggy, having had a taste for success and enjoying it, realized that she's moved beyond Pete. Her "crisis" happened on the delivery table and in choosing to do whatever she needed to get out the hospital she recast herself as a new and independent Peggy. However, I don't think all is lost for Peggy and Pete. Her choice of words during her confession was very careful and deliberate,a true ad-woman; "I could have shamed you into being with me."; "I had your baby and I gave it away." "I wanted other things." If read on the surface the words seem to say that Peggy wants nothing to do with Pete; I don't read any of them that way. I read "I could have shamed you into being with me" as Peggy telling him that she wants him as an equal, not with her in a subordinate position, having trapped him into marriage and him being there out of guilt. That isn't healthy or right and she thinks more of herself than that. That's also how I read "I wanted other things." She wants her career, she wants to be successful, she doesn't want to have to stop working once she gets married. She's enjoying this newfound sense of power and she isn't going to give it up for a ring.

Now for the controversial bit, "I had your baby and I gave it away". Anybody else notice that she did not once say adoption? Gave it away to who? Did she give it away for adoption or did the State of New York take it? I assumed that if she were to put the baby up for adoption it would be with a Catholic Adoption Agency (someone please let me know if I am wrong). That sentence was the most mysterious and interesting of the whole speech for me. I'm not saying that Anita has the baby (I think the baby we've been wondering about all season is Anita's) but this is interesting...

Whew...that's my 2 cents.

New Goals

2008-09-26T15:44:00.003-04:00

Ok, I'm coming clean. Work is a bust. My co-worker and I are on the outs and I can stand to be around it. Yeah, I said it. It. I'm not even acknowledging them as a person, just as an entity that is ruining my whole damn life.

However, this experience has taught me to acknowledge something about myself that I really didn't want to: I really do have the attention span of a gnat.

I do.

I can't even ignore the truth of the situation anymore.

Why am I finally acknowledging this? Because I'm ready to leave this work environment.

The co-workers in my department are great. They are fun, professional colleagues who enjoy working together (for the most part). I've been here for 9.5 months now and I know who doesn't like who and I have to say, everyone does an excellent job of keeping those frustrations tightly below the belt.

The pay is great.

The other people outside my department? ...Let's not go there.

All this leads me to an inescapable conclusion: I would do much better on 100% travel. If I could flit in and out of schools on a weekly or monthly basis I would be in a much better position. I would never get bored, I would always enjoy the new cast of characters, I would always be seen as the "expert" (thus affirming Virginia's adage: The expert is always 10 miles down the road), and I could travel more, which was my childhood dream job.

And I've always been a fan of per diem accounts.

So I've put it on my new 2009 plan: Learn as much about portals as I possibly can. Become a genuine product expert. In November/December 2009, start shopping for a 100% travel position.

Ahmed

2008-09-21T08:00:00.004-04:00

I'm in love. This is the object of my affections.

And the beautiful baby in action...a bit grainy. It was shot at ~2AM cuz this baby does NOT like to sleep!

Life gets difficult

2008-09-21T00:53:00.004-04:00

I am well aware, in the grand scheme of things, I have a tendency to make my life difficult. I shut down, I refuse to take calls, I don't email, etc. I know this and I actively fight it. Hence the lack of blogging in the past month.

However, I am getting back into my blogging. It keeps me grounded.

So, here's the update:

A Yarn Outlet: I need to stay away. I'm going broke.

Work: Let's not discuss that. Someone in our office is looking for a new job because my liasion is driving them crazy. I'm thinking that two people are looking for a new job for that reason.

An Update

2008-08-30T08:00:00.000-04:00

This has not been a very "bloggy" month for a lot of reasons.

A. The Fall school started.

really

B. The people I have to work with turn into stark raving fools.

I'm

will

C. I am on Vacation.

D. Shaye's new son, Ahmed Allen Sidee, is without a doubt, the most adorable, gorgeous little 2-month old I've ever seen. He is also attached to Shaye ever 2 hours. Amazing...

E. The Democratic National Convention was . . . words fail me. Inspirational and well-orchestrated come to mind first. 84,000 people at Invesco fields, 38 million people watching on TV. A bigger audience share than the opening of the Olympics, the Season ending of American Idol, and the Oscars. I can't wait to see what the Republicans come up with.
American's are ready for change. We have two change agents at the head of major party tickets. Which reminds me . . .

F. Gov. Sarah...Who? I mean really, Who???! If this isn't pandering, I don't know what is. I remember reading about her 2-3 months ago when her name came up as a possible VP pick and I thought, "If they choose her, all the Republican cracks about Obama's 'lack of experience have got to stop' ". This is hilarious. Debbie Wasserman Schultz [D-FL] said it best, "I have more people in my congressional district than she has in her entire state!"

In Knitting news, I finished the Baby Surprise Jacket for Baby Ahmed. I made a lot of upgrades on it:

Did some double knitting around the hood to accomodate an I-cord tie for the hood.
Added Moss Stitch to the edges, including the button bands in order to prevent curling.
Made the sleeves extra long
Added short rows in the back for more space.

I'm actually very proud of it. I'll post pictures soon.

Firebug

2008-08-21T11:34:00.004-04:00

I have a new Friend called Firebug.

Casey (on Ravelry) suggested the use of Firebug to all bloggers who were irritated with their CSS and HMTL as a way to check script before loading.

I thought it was a bunch of hooey. Until I used it.

I am in the league of believers now. Firebug helped me edit all those little things about Blogger I hated: My sidebar was higher than the main post page, those annoying double-line borders around my picture, etc. It helped me isolate all of it.

Wonderful! Now, if I can get over my obsession with pages, I might be able to make Blogger work for me.

In which our faithful blogger reveals her duplicity

2008-08-20T16:02:00.003-04:00

I started updating my Wordpress site again.

I can't help it. It's so pretty and clean.

It's not my fault. The Walker Treasury Project has made me an author. I don't want to have to update Blogger, then update Wordpress. I want to do all my blogging from one place. Not to mention that Wordpress Stats are a lot better.

I even thought about self-hosting. Ridiculous isn't it?

I did break down and get a year subscription to Flickr Pro. I just don't know if I want to go all the way with Wordpress yet.

What a Difference a Year Makes

2008-08-17T00:23:00.003-04:00

2007

I was living a home with my parents
I was working a great job for a great boss in a horrible environment for s**t money (it was getting better toward the end, but still...)
I had broken my engagment six months earlier but we were still in a relationship (or at least I thought that)
I had a lot of friends and family around for support and encouragement.

2008

I live 450 miles away from my parents. I moved 350 miles, then my parents moved 100 miles.
I work a good job for a good supervisor, a so-so CIO, and an OK environment. But the money is fantastic and the prospects for advancement are excellent.
I'm single. The Jackass is married to someone else. Karma will get his ass. I try not to think of him anymore. I'm looking but I'm not really ready for someone else.
I'm making friends very slowly. My closest relative is 3 hours away. I am my own support system.

A few months ago I spoke to one of my friends (and mentors) and I told her that there had to be some point to God placing me in "God's Waiting Room." She laughed and said that I phrased it quite well. I'm in the waiting room for some reason.

Why am I here? I dunno.
Is it to learn patience? Maybe; I am gaining more patience.
Is it to learn to focus? I can't focus to save my life.
Is it to learn to put myself first? Possibly. I'm definitely doing that now.
Is it to fix whatever emotional issues I have? Possibly. I'm coming to grips with the fact that I'm not perfect, I'm not always right, I'm not a State Department official who spends her time globe-trotting, I'm not a lawyer. I haven't done a lot of things I expected to but I've done a lot more than I expected.
Is it to become a better knitter? Why else would He place a yarn store within 10 minutes of me?

Hmm...I dunno. Let's see what 26 will be for me.

Happy Birthday to me.

Ravelympics Update

2008-08-15T09:37:00.006-04:00

I haven't been blogging lately because I haven't had much to say.

I finished my beret for Ravelmpics.

I immediately cast on for another one, but I've decided that Ravelympics is the perfect time to finish all those WIPs I have hanging around in the house. So I'm trying to finish the Bayerishche Socks first. BTW, did you see the fancy new button on the right?

It's not going well, but at least I've finished the gusset on one sock and I've brought the other sock to work with me to knit.

I need a vacation.

We apologize for the interruption

2008-08-07T11:36:00.007-04:00

I have two Flickr accounts, one for private pictures, one for knitting. I keep two flickr accounts because I'm cheap and don't want to pay $24.95 for the privilege of placing everything in one account. If Google Picasa web were better, I'd stick everything there.

But it's not.

So last night, I started scouring Flickr for this truly horrendous picture of myself 3 years ago, after a "Big Chop" that left me with an inch of hair on my head. I checked veiland first, although I was pretty certain that there wasn't anything in there except knitting-related stuff. I was right, so I switched to the old account, vne8172.

Did you know I had almost 600 pics in there? For some people that doesn't sound like a lot, but for me that's like saying 10,000! So I started deleting, all the while looking for this horrible picture of myself.

I deleted the Las Vegas Trip (half those pictures need to be permanently deleted), my (duplicate) pictures of the stash and the finished objects, miscellaneous picture of fruit trees, etc. I was proud, mostly because I'm a packrat and I hold onto everything beyond the necessary amount of time.It took me two days to find that picture. I’m still not proud of it.

What? You thought I was going to post it here? LOLOL! Not a chance.

A Yarn Outlet Press Release

2008-08-03T00:01:00.001-04:00

Hooked on Knitting by Sara Kennedy

You can't even carry my bra!

2008-08-01T22:11:00.008-04:00

I like watching mess from afar, usually because it's safer that way. Right now, there's no better mess than the continuing saga of Detroit's Mayor, Kwame Kilpatrick.

Yup, I've been watching the mess in Detroit shamelessly. In the car yesterday, NPR had a quick story about the electoral chances of Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick (you know, Kwame's Momma? Poor Woman). For the first time in 12 years, the woman is having to battle for her seat. And her opponents keep playing the same tape over and over again.

This one.

Thank you YouTube!

Now, on a personal level, I think it's really low of Rep. Kilpatrick's opponents to hold her comments from two years ago against her. She did what a mother, a real mother does: She saw her child being attacked and she got defensive. She went on the warpath. She reminded the people of Detroit that while her son was in office Detroit began a renaissance that the citizens of the city had been praying for for years.

Her opponents are trying to tar her with the same brush as her son and before her son was commonly known as a lying, cheating deadbeat, she was a very well-respected US Representative. Sorry. That's just not fair.

Anyway, I went to the Detroit News Online and read about the debate between Momma Kilpatrick and her two opponents. The last line made me pee my seat!

(Mary)Waters said, "Anybody who goes to Congress can bring home the dollars."
Kilpatrick replied, "You can't even carry my bra."

LMAO!!!

Oh, you want to see it? Of course, dear readers! Don't you know that the debate is online? Oh please enjoy!

On a side note, I like Rep. Scott the most. My respect for Mary Waters is nil. That woman isn't articulate and she's just there to beat up on Representative Kilpatrick about her son, which isn't fair. Trash her record. Trash her personal life. Don't trash her for a being the mother of a grown man she can no longer control.

I am not in love

2008-07-28T17:43:00.004-04:00

I am not in love with the Bayerische Socks anymore. It's not because the pattern isn't lovely. It is. It also the most fiddly thing I've ever seen.

It's the yarn.

I do not like Knit Picks Gloss for complicated patterns. It isn't plied tightly enough for very intricate detailed patterns...which are my favorite kinds.

You see? It's all fuzzy. I can't even hope that blocking will take care of that because I know that blocking will simply make it more fuzzy.

This does not make my day.

What does make my day is the promise of beautiful new yarns.

From Zaol.

Never heard of them? Me neither (and their website was a beast to find).

Oh, but you have to see the swatches . . . I already want the Toki 80, Toki 40, Cashmere Classic, Lady Cashmere, BioRope, Biosof, Biosof 2, Olive and Muse. You have to check out their yarn!

Woo-hoo! More Books

2008-07-26T00:37:00.002-04:00

I received another email from LibraryThing!

Congratulations. You've snagged an Early Reviewers copy of The Empress of Weehawken by Irene Dische.You should get your copy in the mail shortly. The publishers ship the books directly--some are speedier than others, so please be patient!

We hope you find the time to read the book and review it on LibraryThing. You are free--indeed encouraged--to put your review on your blog, or wherever else you want, and to talk about it in the Early Reviewers group. I want to repeat that, although writing a review will help your chances of getting more books, the actual content of your review will not.

Remember, we also have a bonus batch of books up this month--you could win from that batch as well. Take a look!

We hope you like the book! Let me know if you have any questions.

Another book to look forward to! If you aren't on LibraryThing, you need to join. It's wonderful!

The comment I posted on WAOD

2008-07-25T08:18:00.000-04:00

I posted this comment on What About Our Daughters, one of my favorite blogs.

You know, I read all the comments her before I decided to post mine and all I can say is this:

If you really, truly, expected Soledad and CNN to cover the diverse spectrum of the Black Female Experience in 2 hours, then you have no concept of TIME!

I think the fact that Soledad even attempted is an accomplishment unto itself. She didn't have to try to produce this segment. She didn't have to care, but she's at least put the internal dialogue out there for us to discuss in public.

Moreover, a lot of you are missing the point. The point was to discuss how, as a whole, the black community is not doing as well as any other group in America. Here we are, on the verge of making history with the first Black President, but the bulk of black America has less equity with American society than we had in the 1960s. This is a tragedy and a shame and the burning question is Why? Frankly, considering the time constraints, I think Soledad did a good job. Not a great job. Not a crap job. She backed up her info with facts. She interviewed a diverse number of people (although I got tired of seeing Roland Fryer, as much as I do admire his work) and tried to cover as much as she could. Did she have a chance to interview every luminary in the Black Academic out there? Who knows. Unfortunately, so many comments on this page are complaining about the fact that she didn't cover more about the healthy, successful, and well-educated among us. Well, who wants to listen to a bunch of successful (and semi-successful) people make petty complaints? Who has time to watch a visual history of Howard, Morehouse and Spelman? Who needs a history of Alpha Kappa Alpha and Alpha Phi Alpha? We are out there, doing what we have to, doing what we need to, while 2/3 of our brethren are mired in poverty, thinking they don’t have options, without role models and fathers to help guide them. What has to be done to help them? What do we need to do in order to raise all boats? You know that you have these people in your family just like I do and if you’re anything like me, you don’t understand it either and you don't know what to do or how to help.

Urban Sista said it well: “Whether or not you like it, it’s necessary to show the other side of the coin. There are problems in the Black community – serious problems like poverty (the brother struggling to raise two kids on his own; the sister making ends meet on one income and supporting five children), ignorance (no one showing up for the AIDS awareness class), lack of importance placed on education, the difficulty Black women have meeting Black men who are like-minded, lack of proper healthcare.
The program may not have shown your particular reality, but this is one series on a very diverse group of people. Soledad and CNN would have to give us an entire year or more to truly dissect the diaspora.”

Well said!

PS. I didn’t like the Poetry brother either.

Just ain't fair

2008-07-24T17:25:00.009-04:00

This has been a diffcult week and I'm just going to unwind, so hang in here with me and let me vent . . .

Two Thursdays ago, I walked into work, booted my computer up, and watched in horror as my computer came up with the following error:

"INVALID LBAI"

Wanna see?

If you don't know that that means, it means "You just wasted 2.5 days trying to encrypt your machine. Ha ha ha!"***

AGGHHH!! Frustration does not begin to cover my feelings. I did as I was supposed to: I encrypted my machine, I started working on my open projects again, and this happens.

Did I mention that Friday at 5PM was the corporate deadline for encrypting each computer?

So on Friday, I start trying to encrypt the machine again. Of course, we get off work at 1PM on Fridays, so I know that I'm working against time. Thank God for Teresa.

"Victoria, you sent me proof of encrypting that machine earlier in the week, right?"
"Yes, I sent it in email."
"Then quit that and go home. I'll send in the proof that you did what you were supposed to and we'll encrypt the machine next week. Bye"

Thank you!

So on Monday I return, chipper, happy, ready to start reinstalling the encryption software. I reinstall Windows, get everything done by Monday afternoon, encrypt the machine Tuesday morning and send in the proof.

Then I rebooted the computer.

"INVALID LBAI"

Yes, you are seeing that right. This time I go to the helpdesk. James takes a look at my computer and suggest I find a nice cliff to toss it off. He calls Dell, order a new drive for my computer, then we get started again. On Friday, having sent in proof that I've reencrypted my machine, I reboot.

"INVALID LBAI"

This ceased to be funny about two reboots ago.

The new drive arrived on Friday. I uninstalled and reinstalled Windows and the excryption software again. This time I receive a new error and my computer no longer senses my keyboard.

By Monday, everyone in the office is ready to throw in the towel on my computer. You can't make up this kind of absurdity. I wipe the drive clean again, reinstall Windows, and start the encryption to run over night. I came in Tuesday expecting the worse. Instead, I had a Windows desktop . . .I rebooted the sucker twice.

If I'm going to have to reinstall this stuff for the 5th time, I better find out in advance, right?

Right. Machine still encrypted, Windows still installed.

As of this moment, this very moment, I've had a working computer for 1 hour. I'm not doing anything important, lest I screw with fate.

2.5 weeks of knitting in my office. All because some idiot lost a laptop.

Not bad at all. Just not fair either.

***Actually, it really means that the master boot record (the file that starts up Windows) is gone, missing, has been moved, etc. For me, with an encrypted drive, this means that the computer cannot boot from a recovery disk. Long story short, reinstall everything, starting with the OS.

Sometimes life is very good

2008-07-24T00:38:00.001-04:00

One of the little life's lessons I'm working on (besides patience, and the cursing, and the anti-social behavior) is the inability to be anywhere on time.

CP time is not even an issue with me. I keep black folks waiting (which is an accomplishment, because if you know black people you understand that while we will keep people waiting, you betta not leave us waiting!).

So on Thursday, after working on installing Oracle and TOAD on my machine all morning (more on that in tomorrow's post), I look up and realize that I've been sitting on my butt all morning and the WoolGather's Lunch meeting is in 30 minutes.

Did I also mention that I am incapable of getting dressed and out of the apartment in less than 30 minutes?

So here I am, in Bradenton, Florida (also known as God's Waiting Room), trying to rush 85 blocks across town. It took me 20 minutes and I'm surprised that everyone remained alive.

So I get to the LYS and there isn't a single parking space available anywhere! They're all gone! I can't believe it! So I park next door and walk over to the LYS! It's a MADHOUSE!!!

Mattie greeted me at the door (I'm beginning to really want a dog).
Linda is there (I missed her so much!)
Bettie, Carol, and Jaya are back (Wonderful! Always wonderful to see the return of new knitters and crocheters)
Lots of new people! Yay! Debbie really shouldn't worry about traffic into her store.

Now, walking in, I knew something everyone else didn't: There was a columnist from the local paper and a photographer there. The photographer seemed a lot more interested in what we were doing, so he (eventually) admitted that he had a habit of getting involved with his girlfriends' hobbies. He had been involved in miniature dollhouses and blue china, before, but right now, he was devoted to antique cameras.

So, like any proud knitter, I asked each woman to compile a list of her single friends who were fiber artists (regardless of affiliation) and let's get this man hooked up. The look of (momentary) horror gave everyone laughs! Everyone kept trying to push needles and hooks on him, so he started taking pictures, which gave everyone something new to do.

Hide from the camera.

But eventually we all settled down and started talking about our project. Bonnie brought a gorgeous crocheted dress, which she had also lined, and we all cooed over it. I'm tempted, tempted to take up my hooks again.

I brought my So-Called Scarf (Knit in 24 hours out of Noro Silk Garden)

and my Cable Love Scarf (Cascade 220. Probably about 2 weeks, on and off)

The lunch was excellent! Bettie brought a wonderful chicken spinach alfredo, so good that everyone asked for the recipe. Carol brought cheesecake fudge brownies. I ate three (3). That's all I'm going to say about that.

We knit, and stitched, and giggled for 2 hours. The photographer took lots of pictures. That columnists lit out so fast it wasn't even funny. We had a great time, as always.

And that's all I'm going to say about that.

Book Review: Summer Blowout by Claire Cook

2008-07-20T16:31:00.003-04:00

Three Sentence Synopsis: Bella has been betrayed by her half-sister, who slept with her ex-husband. At a public makeup demonstration, she meets entrepreneur Sean Ryan, who helps her start a sideline business. Misunderstandings ensue, involving her personal life and the family business, conflict is resolved, and Bella and Sean eventually end up dating.

Recommendation: This is a quick airplane/beach read. Light and fluffy, this book should take little time to finish. However, the characters are not well-drawn, the book suffers from product placement overload, and the motivations are thin at best. The best part of the book was the pacing.

Main Review:
Bella Shaughnessy is a woman scorned and betrayed. Her half-sister, Sophia, is now dating her ex-husband, Craig, a situation Bella finds intolerable. Her family is trying to keep peace between the sisters, especially since both Bella and Sophia work at the family salons. However, at a college fair Bella meets Sean Ryan, an entrepreneur who is selling a “How to Get into College” kit in the booth next to her. He admires her work (she’s a makeup artist) and suggests she start her own makeup kit for women. While doing the makeup for a wedding party, she is paid to take care of a pair of unruly children, then a dog. No one ever comes back for the dog, so she decides to keep Precious (who is later renamed Cannoli), then begins to create her personal makeup kit. Bella’s makeup knowledge combined with Sean Ryan’s sales knowledge ends up making the personal makeup kits a nice sideline for Bella. She invites him to her nephew’s wedding in Atlanta and he accepts, but later refuses when her ex-husband shows up one night to talk. Bella ends up flying to Atlanta with Cannoli and attends a college fair with Sean Ryan, where he tells her he’s interested, but he doesn’t want to be the rebound guy. At the wedding, Sophia flirts with Sean right in front of Bella and Craig. Bella confronts Sophia and tells her to get her own life then kicks Craig out of the reception. She then turns to Sean and tells him that he has to make a choice: she’s either a business associate or more. Sean eventually chooses more and they end the book dating.

Final Opinions:
Summer Blowout by Claire Cook ranks as one of the fastest chick-lit books I’ve ever read and for good reason. It’s badly written. I could not identify with the main character, Bella Shaughnessy, her family, or anyone else in the book. The only people remotely interesting were her brother and brother-in-law. Overall, the pace was good, but the rest of the book suffered. The product placement was staggering (to say the least).

A long awaited prize

2008-07-18T00:53:00.007-04:00

Today I received an email from JoAnn's.

Thank you for shopping at Joann.com! The item(s) below
were shipped on Jul 14,2008.
Qty Name
--------------------
1 Swift Yarn Winder

Woo Hoo!!! My Swift is finally on it's way.

Seeing this email around 1PM made the entire day go by faster. So of course, once 5 PM came and I could leave, I had completely forgotten about the email. Besides, I didn't expect the swift to come today.

What's this?

MY SWIFT!!! I couldn't get it into my house fast enough.

Or unpack it fast enough.

Is it my swift??

Yes!! It's here.

So Pretty . . . I need a better picture.

Oh forget that. I just want to use it.

Ok, maybe not. This bar pass is filthy. Time to clean.

Much better.

Time to work.

Wanna see me work?

(Hmm...I looked too goofy in that video. I promise, I'll be back with a better video soon).

Viva la Vida

2008-07-16T23:46:00.008-04:00

Today's word: Talisman:

An object marked with magic signs and believed to confer on its bearer supernatural powers or protection.
Something that apparently has magic power.

My knitting stand is a talisman. Whenever I take it to work, one of two things happens:

The day goes so fast that when 5PM comes I'm genuinely suprised; or
The day is so stupid I don't get anything done and I'm genuinely surprised when 5PM comes.

Either way, 5PM gets their faster when I take my knitting stand. This can only be good. Anyway, the last few days at work have been great. Someone within the corporate office lost a laptop and in higher ed there is no greater fear than students' SSNs getting out. Anyway, because of the lost laptop, now everyone has to encrypt their machines and run all sorts of virus scans and disk checks.

You know what that means?

That means that for the past two days I haven't been able to do any meaningful work in the office. I asked to go home earlier Tuesday so I could do some work from home. In 30 minutes I managed to do what would have taken me 2 hours at work.

I wish they'd just let me work from home. I could get much more accomplished and take naps.

I am in love with Coldplay. Viva la Vida is on constant replay on my iPod; so beautiful, so lyrical . . .I like this U2 direction Coldplay is moving in.

Keyshia Cole is the most ghetto R&B artist I've ever seen, but her song "Heaven Sent" is my song right now. She's rough (with the most appalling family I've ever seen and GOD KNOWS I don't like to pass judgement on other people's families) but she has a god given voice and some excellent song writers.

Tonight's Woolgather's meeting was Excellent!!!There were four new faces tonight:

Betty

Jaya

Karen

Carol

Of course the regulars were there: Jean, Deb, and Jim (who celebrated his 60th yesterday!!!) (hey, where was Linda?). Vashti was there as well and she reads my blog...! I have a reader!! OMG! That made my day (Thanks Vashti!)

Wonderful Surprises

2008-07-12T19:02:00.005-04:00

I love when nice things happen.

I went to A Yarn Outlet to pick up some more yarn for Mommy's beret's. After touching everything in there (I'm not even going to try to break that habit), I picked up 5 new skeins (and successfully avoided the sock yarns . . .sigh).

Yellow Cascade 200 Heathers

Purple Cascade 220

Nashua Handknits in Green

Misti Cotton in Mint Green

and in a Pumpkin Color

On the way home, I began to wonder when my advance book from LibraryThing would arrive. If you aren't on LibraryThing, and you are a voracious reader, you need to sign up. I signed up to be an early reviewer and I received an email about a week ago to tell me I'd been selected to receive and advance copy of Summer Blowout by Claire Cook (which is somewhat amusing to me, considering the book was released on June 3).

Anyway, guess what was inside my mailbox?

Hmm....I wonder what could be inside?

Yup! Now I have about 5 books around the house I need to read.

Where have all the good civil rights leaders gone?

2008-07-11T12:01:00.006-04:00

*****DISCLAIMER: This post is me calling it like I see it. I am in no way unappreciative of the heroic and brave work that these men and women did in order to secure my happy life. I am by no means ignorant of the struggle. However, I do believe that no one is immune of criticism.

Once you reach a certain age (sometimes called the "Age of Reasoning"), you realize that your heroes have flaws. Mommy doesn't always know the answer, Daddy doesn't like to play, Granny and Pop-Pop are old.

And if you're black, you notice that all the good civil rights leaders either died early or you don't hear from them and this cast of characters they left us is a joke. After the death of Dr. King, many of his contemporaries tried, in vain to carry on his mantle of self-righteous goodness. Most failed; if you ask me, John Lewis came the closest to correct, using the system to which the Civil Rights Movement had given him access to try to press for change from the inside. His work in Congress is laudable and his reputation as a member of the Civil Rights Old Guard means that no one in Congress even attempts to pull a race card on him (besides, he has a pretty safe district. He could die in Congress first).

However, the rest of that cast of characters is a joke: Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, Julian Bond, you name 'em, I'll laugh at them. The biggest part of the problem was that they never changed and adapted their message with time. They became mired in the marching/praying/chanting movement and never moved out. They never made themselves relevant to the younger generation. It was almost as if they expected us to fall lock-step behind them because they fell lock-step behind Dr. King.

So now you have an entirely new generation of African Americans with no connection to the Civil Rights Movement who watch these guys on TV and roll their eyes. People of my generation don't pay any attention to Jesse or Al. So now you have an African-American at the head of a national party ticket (a position made possible due to Shirley, Carol, Jesse, and Al) and Jesse wants Obama's nuts?! No wonder the political pundits are saying that Jesse may be a toothless tiger.

My sense is that many of the old-guard civil rights leaders, are seething at the prospect of a black president who owes them nothing. That's perhaps the most appealing thing about Obama -- that he could leave Jesse Jackson and his ilk in the dust. That's what has excited my friends and myself - Obama didn't come through the "Black Church Farm Method." His trajectory is one all my friends can see themselves on, no stop at seminary school, no marching. Just an excellent education, a sincere effort to organize and help his community (without having to get involved with the dysfunctional NAACP), marriage to a wonderful woman, and a desire to go further by winning elective office.

THIS IS CHANGE WE CAN BELIEVE IN.
THIS IS CHANGE WE DO BELIEVE IN.
THIS IS THE CHANGE WE WANT.

The NAACP needs to get it together. Ditto for the Urban League. Do it quick.
Jesse needs to retire (extra point to his son for rebuking his father's words. Jesse Jr. gets it).
Al needs to stay quiet (we've really appreciated your silence Al)

The King Kids . . . well, it may be too late for them. Have you seen the latest?

UPDATE: Apparently, I'm not the only person thinking this:

When The Man is One of Us by Jack White

This should be required reading...

2008-07-09T12:44:00.001-04:00

An Ideal Husband--NY Times

Oh yeah, Happy Birthday Chris!!!
Happy Birthday Andrea!!!

Getting Old

2008-07-09T00:51:00.000-04:00

My little Brother turned 23 today.

So why do I feel old?

Gotta admit, the boy is fly!