Eye Candy Friday

 A kitty nose.  There is no excuse for this photo.  It just is. 

 A finished scarf in its pre-blocked state.  I hope to rectify that this weekend.  It'll stretch quite a bit during the blocking, so it'll be a little longer than it looks here. 

And a new book.  I will give you a full report after I've savored it. 

Now I'm going to watch Last Man Standing and King Of The Nerds. 

A Good Night's Sleep

It's amazing how much better a good night's sleep can make one feel. Yesterday was a horrible day.  Today was much better, despite the usual Thor's Day mayhem, and having forgotten to put sugar in my coffee.  Because of the aforementioned mayhem, I didn't have time to go to the break room and look for some.  Maybe I should get some packets and keep them in my lunch bag, just in case.

Speaking of coffee, I bought a different brand and tried it out.  It tastes just as bad as the first brand I'd bought.  Maybe even worse.  After all that, I've come to the conclusion that people don't drink coffee for the taste.  They drink it for the caffeine.  Or because it's the in thing to do.  But definitely not for the taste of it.

I'm thinking about buying a new coffeemaker with my first overtime check.  The old one still works, but I'm wondering if maybe the heating element is wonky.  Maybe it's getting my coffee too hot, which is why it's tasting burnt.  You can get a decent one for $15-20.  I don't need one of them fancy $100+ deals.  I'm a simple girl, myself.

Oh, and I wanted to give you an update on my brother in law.  I've gotten more information on the pilot.  He had some pretty bad injuries -- broken ribs and the like-- but he has been released from the hospital and is home now.  Here is an article with a video:  Update On Plane Crash.  They have also set up a GoFundMe page to help with the medical and funeral expenses.  It is here:  Siegwart Family. 

Nathan is the one on the right, holding the cup of coffee.  Boy does that man love coffee.  He was here visiting several years ago, when we mentioned the nearby town of Coffeeville.  His eyes lit up, and he said, "COFFEEVILLE????"   I'm glad he's doing OK. 

Some jackwagon made an asinine comment on the news article suggesting that this whole thing is a scam.  Basically he said, "If they can afford to go gallivanting all over the country in a Cessna, they they can afford to pay their own medical expenses." 

Someone already smacked him down pretty good, but feel free to pile on. 

I mean, if you get into things like smacking down jackwagons, that is. 

Sons Of Liberty

I've stayed up late these last three nights watching Sons of Liberty on The History Channel.  Yes, they took a few liberties with history, but it was a pretty good story overall.  There were several moments when I was thinking, "Yeah, I don't remember it happening that way", but I did enjoy it.  My favorite part was the Boston Tea Party scene.  The part where Sam Adams was daring that British soldier to shoot him.  I could almost hear him saying, "Booyah!" 

Our country has such a rich and dynamic history, and I feel sorry for the kids coming out of school today.  They aren't taught true American history.  All they know about is slavery and killing Indians.  They don't even know the true story about those, either.   One day, when I've slept some, I might write a post discussing those very topics.  But for now, I'd just encourage you to watch my new movie. 

Well, not mine, per se, but you can buy or rend a copy and watch it. It has a good overview of those topics, and a few others.  He could have gone much more in depth, but then, it would end up being 12 hour movie.  

I also got this one, but I haven't watched it yet.  Maybe this weekend.  When I've slept.
  

Well, not only have I not slept, but right after work, I had to go get a tooth filled.  The cavity was under an old filling, so it was a pretty deep drilling job.  Now my tooth is a bit sore.  Not excessively, but just enough to be uncomfortable. 

I said I was going to bed at 6 tonight, but I haven't made it yet.  Soon, though.

Soon.

I Made It!

I'm a crazy cat lady!!  Well, I have the action figure, at least.

And I got some extra cats to go with her.  

You, too, can get your own Crazy Cat Lady action figure on Amazon.com. 

Don't misunderstand, though.  I still haven't given up my dream of eventually becoming the Crazy Kraken Lady. 

Now back to watching Sons Of Liberty. 

Laters.

Tragedy

My sister met her husband when they were both in the Navy, stationed in Naples, Italy.  Yes, that's where I was stationed as well, but we weren't there at the same time.  After they got out of the military, Nathan felt called to become a missionary in Alaska.

His mission was to start a church in the language of some of the Native Americans of the area.  They live in Fairbanks, and fly in and out of the little village he ministers in.  As you can imagine, chartering a plane four times a month can get rather expensive.  So, with the help of one of the churches that has been sponsoring them, they've scrimped and saved, and finally had enough money to buy a little plane of their own. 

The church that was helping them get the plane is located in Michigan, so Nathan traveled there to learn to fly, then to pick up the plane.  The pastor's son was his flight instructor.   This morning, the three of them headed out on the first leg of the flight back to Alaska. 

They were flying through Wisconsin, on their way to Minnesota, when the wings began icing up.  The pilot -- the pastor's son-- began looking for a place to make an emergency landing.  They circled for a while, then finally found a country road that looked as if they would be able to land on it.  Just as they touched down, the wing clipped a tree, which sent the plane careening into a ditch filled with other trees.

Nathan and the pilot were both hurt, but their injuries are not life threatening.  The pastor died at the scene.  It's a terrible tragedy. 

After looking at this picture (which I found by googling the accident), it's a miracle anyone survived. 

Now, I feel both glad and joyful.  I'm so thankful Nathan is OK, and kind of feel bad that I'm glad he's not the one who died.  But at the same time, I do feel sorrowful for the pastor's family, and especially for his son, who was flying the plane at the time. 

This is something that will haunt him for the rest of his life. 

I don't often ask for much, but if you could be so kind, please offer up a prayer for the family and church family of this man who had gone home to glory. 

Dear CoWorker

Yes, you can go on into the bathroom.  Really, you can.  Honest and for true. 

You don't have to stop and stand in the doorway just because all the stalls are full.    Trust me.  Go on inside.   Stop clogging things up for those of us trying to get past you. 

Thank you.

That is all.

I'm Back, Sort Of

This was one of those days.  There just wasn't enough coffee.  Not only did I drink all my coffee, I went down and stole Group Leader Fernando's coffee and drank it.  He stood there staring at me, shocked and incredulous as I drank his coffee.  "I need this," I pleaded.  "I need this." 

There's this flu that's been going around, and I think it finally got around to me.  This morning, I felt so bad that I almost called in sick to work.  But, I didn't want to lose my perfect attendance bonus, so I toughed it out and went anyway.  After lunch, I felt a little better, but I still don't feel great. 

That, combined with the fact that absolutely nothing of interest has happened has happened, is why I have had no blog posts for you this week.  Indeed, I haven't even knit, not one single stitch.   And it's raining again. 


In fact, the most interesting thing that has happened is that I stole Fernando's coffee this morning.

Which is why I told you about it. 

Hopefully, life will pick up soon and you will have thrilling and interesting blog posts to read.   But for now, this is all you get. 

A Day Off

I had a whole, long list of things I was going to do today.  What did I end up doing?  Sitting in front of the TV all day.

No, that's not completely true.  I did wash all my bedding, including the blankets and comforters, and I washed dishes.  So, that's something.

Remember that box the plant gave us back before Christmas?  I decided to put all my lace weight yarn into it. 

As you can see, it barely fit.  That's not even counting partial skeins or the yarn that is already being used for projects. 

Already on the needles are this Orkney Pi, which is barely started.  

This Anniversary Mystery Shawl -- I don't even remember which year this one is.  I think it's 2012, but I'm not completely sure. 

And this one, which you've seen before if you've been reading my blog for any length of time.  It is the closest one to being finished, so it'll be the first one I pick back up.  After 5 years, it's time to get the thing over and done with. 

Meanwhile, I'm still plugging away at the Fruit Of The Vine scarf. 

I'm at a decision point now.  If I go strictly by the pattern, it's almost done.  The pattern says to knit 30 pattern repeats, for a length of 33".  If I stop there, I only have one more pattern repeat to go.  But, when I cast on, I said I was going to knit until I ran out of yarn, and I still have quite a bit of yarn left.  I guess I'll just keep knitting.  Thirty-three inches seems a bit short, even for an accessory scarf. 

Finally, to honor Martin Luther King, Jr.

Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into a friend. 

First Saturday

Today was the first Saturday of the overtime season, and boy am I tuckered.  When one hasn't had to get up at 4:30 AM, it can be quite a jolt.  Not only that, the night shift left us an absolute mess again.  What good is it to schedule work when they aren't going to go by the schedule anyway?  Group Leader Fernando said he'd pass on my message filled with colorful metaphors to them, not that it would do any good. 

What is really bad about working today is that I'm not yet used to working on Saturday.  I keep feeling like it's Friday.  I'm afraid I'm going to forget to go to church in the morning.  Yeah, my mind has been just that scattered lately.

A few weeks ago, I started scattering birdseed in my front yard.  It seemed that every time I put some out, it would rain and pound said seed in to mush.  Last week, I bought a bird feeder and a few days ago, James put up a pole for me to hang it from.  

Those birds have already cleaned out that feeder once.  I refilled it yesterday, and it's about half empty again already.  

 I sure am enjoying watching them.  So is Squeaky.  She has hardly left her perch in front of the window.

I almost hate to put that box back into the closet.  She'll be heartbroken.

Once again, I am pondering the sudden drop in my blog hits.  It's gone from in the high 70s, to low 30s and even into the 20s. 

I'm not complaining, mind you, since I mostly write for myself and my close friends.  I'm left to wonder, though, what made those posts more appealing than the later ones.  As a writer, you always want people to enjoy your work, and that's my conundrum.  What made those posts more popular, and the later ones less popular?  What did I do differently? 

It's a question for the ages. 

Eye Candy Friday

Seeds!  I'm getting the jump on spring.  Now I just have to wait until Spring gets here.  That's the hard part.

And I managed to brand myself again.

Yeah, that's going to leave a mark. 

Tomorrow is our first Saturday to work this year.  Yesterday, our production superintendent said he will be looking for us to be working 6 days a week until October.  And because I need to be at work at 6 AM tomorrow, this is going to be short. 

That's all I have for today. 

First Mayhem

This Thor's Day brought the first truly mahemic day of the new year.  It all started when I took the dogs out for their morning potty break, and discovered that freezing rain was falling.  Oh, goody. 

Then I came inside and started getting ready for work, and poked myself in the eye with my mascara brush.  Sigh...At least the roads were clear, so that was one good thing. 

Buuuut, I got to work, and walked in to a mess.  A mayhemic mess of truly epic proportions.  The work that was completed was not the work we needed, while the work we needed hadn't been finished.  Not only that, two complete orders between the work we needed and the work that was completed had been completely skipped.  At one point,  I had four different orders in various states of completion on my brazing stand.  I had so many parts scattered about, that I had had to put some into my pocket and work from there.  It was not fun.  But we persevered and got through it.

Group Leader Fernando asked me why second shift had done things the way that they did.  All I could do was to give him a blank look.  I may have many talents, but mind reading isn't one of them.  The only excuse I could think of is that they don't have experienced brazers on second shift, and so they are more apt to get confused or make mistakes. 

Eventually, we got things straightened out, and things went much more smoothly, but by that time, I was too tired to appreciate it.   I just wanted to come home.  Wouldn't you know it, we had a brazer meeting after work.  Sigh...again.

Yesterday morning, I woke up to a surprise.  It had snowed during the night.  

Yes, it was touch and go there for a while, but somehow, I managed to survive The Great Blizzard Of 2015.

Finally, a bit of a sad note.  Christmas is truly over, as I have eaten the very last piece of Christmas candy.

Fair cherry, we hardly knew ye.  But ye were delicious. 

P.S.  I'm not counting the 8 bags of Cherry Cordial and Mint Truffle Kisses that I have hidden from myself.  They're still there. 

Lovely Lace

I stayed up last night to watch the ball game.  Well, I didn't make it through the whole game.  I went to bed halfway through the third quarter, but it was still way past my bedtime.  Ohio State seemed to have the game well in hand by then, so I bid them good night and went on to bed.

College football is losing me, I'm afraid.  Too much politics involved. 

Everyone was all excited about this new playoff system, but to me, it's not really much better than it was before.  I mean, it's 13 men picking their favorite teams.  I just don't understand how that is any more fair than the old BCS system.  No matter what happens, there are going to be teams that felt that they should have been included but weren't.  Like TCU and Baylor for example.  Why were the three one loss teams chosen over them, especially after the whalloping TCU put on Ole Miss in the Peach Bowl? 

Personally, I think we ought to just completely dispense with the idea of a college national championship.  College football isn't the same as pro, and we should stop trying to make it so.  The job of colleges is to educate young people, not to entertain old people.  I know some may object, pointing out that college athletes can just play pro sports and make millions of dollars.  The fact of the matter is that only some 20% of college athletes make it to the pros, and of them, at least half are no longer playing after 5 years.  (I heard that on an episode of Talkin' Cowboys, just in case you are wondering what my source is.)

Professional sports is a business.  College sports shouldn't be. 

Now that that unpleasantness is out of the way, here is a photo of my now blocked Traveling Roses lace scarf.

The yarn is Knit Picks Aloft in the colorway Blush.  I think the color is why I had such a hard time knitting this.  I couldn't see it unless I sat under a bright light, took my glasses off, and held it really close to my face.   Without my glasses, I couldn't watch TV, so that meant that if there was something I wanted to watch, this was not a viable project.   Nevertheless, it is done now, and well worth the effort.  But I won't do it again.  Not with that yarn, at least.

This is the next project I've picked back up. 

The pattern is Fruit Of The Vine, and the yarn is Knit Picks ...something or other.  I don't remember, but it doesn't matter because it's been discontinued anyway.  I'm having a much easier time with this one.  Probably because I can see the yarn. 

That always helps. 

Coffee

I was rather a late comer to the coffee drinking thing.  I never learned to drink it in high school.  When I got to college, I was told I would start drinking coffee then, but I didn't.  When I was in the Navy, in my A school and later on in my C school, I was told I'd start drinking coffee then, but I didn't.

Fast forward to 2011.  Around here, we refer to that year as "the year it snowed so much".  All you have to do is say, "that year it snowed so much," and everyone knows what year you mean when you say it.

It was the year it snowed so much that I started drinking coffee.  I just felt like I needed something warm in my stomach in the mornings.  That icy cold Dr Pepper just wasn't doing it for me.   It was one cold, snowy day that year it snowed so much that after work, I went to the store and bought me a little jar of Folgers Instant coffee.

I'll admit, I didn't like it.  It took several months and the discovery of that magical ingredient -- creamer-- before I could drink my coffee without grimacing.  It took even longer before I started drinking it on my days off also.  After three years, I finally consider myself a coffee drinker.  

I was in what used to be Cody's room, and has now become a storage room, when I found my old Mr. Coffee coffee maker.

Did I say old?  This here coffee maker is so old, they don't even make them any more.  But why, you may ask, did I have a coffee maker when I don't drink coffee?   Well, I'll tell you.

Back in my Navy days, my then fiancee' now ex did drink coffee.  I decided one day that I was going to surprise him.  I went to the Navy Exchange and bought the aforementioned coffeemaker.  Then I went to the commissary and bought some coffee.  I took it back to my barracks room and brewed a pot of coffee.  I followed the directions on the can exactly.  That point must be perfectly understood.

I followed the directions exactly. 

When the ex got off duty and came to see me, I proudly poured him a cup of that coffee.  He took one sip, made a horrible face, and said, "Let me make the coffee from now on." 

Back to the present...I found that old coffee maker, and since I have decidedly become a coffee drinker, I felt it was time to make the transition from instant to brewed coffee.  I added coffee to my shopping list,

and yesterday morning, made my first cup of real, brewed coffee.

It tasted terrible.

Even after I'd added the usual amount of sugar and creamer, it still tasted terrible.  Before anyone asks, yes, I did clean the coffeemaker out by running vinegar through it, followed by several pots of clean water.  But, I don't know what I'm doing wrong.  It just tastes terrible.

Maybe I should stick to instant coffee. 

On the other hand, I don't even know what real coffee is supposed to taste like.  Maybe it's supposed to taste terrible.  Next time I go into town, I'll buy a few cups from some of these fast food places and see. 

Dear CoWorker

When a real man sees a woman struggling with a heavy load, he helps her.  He doesn't stand there and laugh at her.

But then, you are not now, nor have you ever been a real man, despite your constant bragging about the size of your external genitalia.
 
Furthermore, a  real man doesn't feel the need to brag about the size of things, oh, by the way.  He just keeps his mouth shut and quietly goes about the business of pleasing his woman.  In more ways than one. 

Thank you.

That is all. 

It Is Finished!

This hideous, awful, Godforsaken, nerve wracking scarf is finally finished!!!!!

And God help me, I will never do another one!  Well, OK, maybe.  But in a smooth yarn.  Never in mohair.  Never again. 

BTW, I did weave in the ends after taking the photo, but I haven't blocked it yet.  I may attend to that this weekend.  It's such a relief to be done.  Now, on to the next one...

That's one thing that went right today.  Work was awful.  The computers were down in Tubing, so we sub-brazers couldn't get any parts from them.  Oh, they had parts done.  All morning they had work ready, but they couldn't send it to us, because they couldn't scan it out of the computer as complete.  The computers were down, you know.  So they couldn't scan it.  And they couldn't send it to us if it wasn't scanned.  They just couldn't, so we just had to wait.

Then, along about noon, the line ran out of header assemblies and went down. Suddenly, miraculously, they could bring all this work over that they couldn't send over before because it wasn't scanned, even though it still wasn't scanned.  We could go ahead and do the work, and they'd just scan it out later.  Funny how that works, huh?  We could have been brazing this stuff up during the 5 hours we stood around with nothing to do, but no....

After work, I went and picked up Jimmy.  He's running just fine now, and my wallet is a little lighter.  Well, technically, my credit card is a little heavier, which I'm not happy about, but I couldn't afford to pay that much out of just my bank accounts.  He ended up having to change the spark plugs and plug wires, too, which didn't surprise me.  I don't think they've ever been changed, so that added a little more to my bill.  Beverly  has been letting me use her car, but I'm glad to have my own back.  I get nervous being responsible for someone else's vehicle. 

I am going to miss her heated seats, though.  They came in right handy this morning, I tell ya.  

And The Hits Just Keep On Coming

I heard back from the mechanic, who finally had time to look at Jimmy.  He said I had a leak in my fuel injection system, and I needed a new spider.

A what?  No, sir, I do not need a spider!  Nobody needs a spider.  After I got off the phone, I googled it.  This is what he was talking about.

And I said, "Oh, that's what he's talking about.  Well, no wonder they call it a spider."

Anyway, I had a leak, and my engine wasn't getting any fuel.  That's why it wouldn't start.  It makes sense, too, because for the last few months, I've had to really pump the gas hard to get my engine to start.  Maybe it's been leaking for a while, and the leak finally got so big I couldn't start the Jimmy at all.

The good news is, he can replace that and it should be fine.  The bad news is, it's a $600-$700 job.  I nearly choked when he told me that, but I said to go ahead and get it done.  I've got to have a vehicle.  Maybe I can get another year or two out of this Jimmy, and get my debts paid down a bit more before having to invest in a new car. 

Good thing the plant gave us all those beans and rice.  It may be all I have to eat for the next two months.

 I'm just glad this happened at the beginning of overtime season, and not at the start of 4 day work week season. So at least that's good news. 

I've been knitting on this here hideous scarf for quite a while now.

"Oh, no!" you may say!  "That is a lovely scarf."

You only say that because you aren't the one knitting it.  In mohair.  Hideous!

I'm thinking, without looking it up, I've been working on it for at least two years.  Last night, I thought I had it finished.  I was so excited, ready to start the 6 row garter stitch border.  But, it seemed kinda short to me.  I figured I'd better count and make sure I had done enough pattern repeats.

Drat!  I hadn't.  Kinda bummed about that, but it really did need some more length to it.  I'm determined to get it finished this week.

On that note, I'm off to knit a couple more rows.

Laters. 

First Day

Today was my first day back at work, and I nearly committed murder.

The last thing Group Leader Fernando said to me when we got off back in December was, "You need to come in at 5 AM the day we come back."

The first thing he said to me this morning was, "What are you doing here?  You weren't supposed to come in early."

I thought I was going to go to prison for sure.

Perhaps I need to remind him who my ancestors were.

And who my other ancestors were.

And in which year of the Chinese zodiac I was born.

And ask him if he really wants to go there?

That Creaking Sound

you hear is all the bandwagon fans trying to jump back on.

Sorry, guys, if you don't stick around for the 8-8 seasons, or through the 1-15 year, we got no room for you now. 

Find some other bandwagon to jump on.  This one is ours. 

First FO

The first FO of the new year.  That's finished object for you non knitters out there.

Yes, at long last, the 'Merica socks are finally done!

When I was done with those, I was looking around for something else to knit -- preferably a WIP, since I want to turn some of these UFOs into FOs.  Again, for you non knitters out there, a WIP is a work in progress, a UFO is an unfinished object, and I've already translated what an FO is. 

A few weeks ago when I was cleaning out my yarn closet, I found this sock I had cast on several years ago.  Yes, you read that right.  It says years. 

I'd only gotten this far before they got stuffed in a bag in the closet and forgotten about.  I was knitting them on those square needles, and decided I didn't really like them.  The needles, that is.  I'd intended to frog them and start over on regular DPNs, but I got distracted and never got around to it. 

This evening, I started to pick it back up, but then I remembered something.  I'd already knit one pair of socks out of this same brand of yarn, and I'd only worn them twice before they wore out.  I'm talking gigantic holes in the heels.  So, this might not be the best yarn to knit socks with, even though it's supposed to be sock yarn. 

I might just warp the loom with it.  Tomorrow. 

And I'd be remiss if I didn't show you the final FO of 2014 after being blocked.

I think the hat turned out well, and it was pretty quick to knit.  I think I might know what everybody is getting for Christmas next year. 

Happy New Year

It's a new year.  Time for new beginnings.  New goals.  New dreams.  A time to reflect on the past year and set goals for the year to come.

My goals for this past year were pretty simple:  To pay down my debt, and to not buy new yarn. 

How did I do?  I think I did pretty well.  I managed to pay down a pretty good chunk of my debt, but I still have a long way to go.  I only bought three skeins of yarn all year, and I wouldn't have bought those if one of my kin hadn't requested a scarf in a specific color.  So, yeah, I'd say I did pretty well meeting my goals last year.

What are my goals for the new year?  Same as the ones for last year.  I will continue to pay down my debt, though it may be more difficult this year, since I will have to buy a new vehicle sometime in the coming year.   I will continue to knit/weave from stash and won't buy new yarn.  I'll allow the same provision as last year, though.  I can buy yarn if I need something specific for a gift, but it must be used for that gift, and not just added to stash. 

Also, I'm going to try to drink fewer cokes and more tea.  Speaking of cokes, I've been a Dr Pepper drinker for as long as I can remember.  These last couple of weeks, however, I've found myself drinking more Cokes than Dr Peppers. 

I've been seriously thinking of cutting my cable off completely.  I've really enjoyed having the Inspiration channel, and watching The Walking Dead live instead of the day after, but as my son so wisely pointed out, everything you want to watch, you can find online somewhere.  Amazon, Hulu Plus, Netflix, and even the network sites offer most shows.  We'll just have to see how the budget goes once I have to start making car payments.