Sunday, February 25, 2007

The Evil Spinstress possibly assimilates her first soul!

Doing much better today than I was yesterday. Hubby had his OT again, and Child from Hell had requested if it was ok that he goes with Hubby so he can see his old friends where we used to live. Request granted! In a heartbeat! It meant total peace and quiet for me and other than trying to straighten up I was having company!

Kelly (LIcraftgal) was coming over to hang out. Other than last week while I was deathly coughing my lungs up, we had gotten together over the past few weekends to schmooze and knit and discuss spinning. Kelly is in the process of deciding what wheel she was going to purchase. I've been practically begging her to come over and at least give my Lendrum a spin (oh the bane of bad puns!).

Kelly arrived and I gave her the tour of the royal mansion, lol, and we settled ourselves in my livingroom. So we did schmooze,, we nibbled,,we got serious and started talking fiber. She had brought her spindle but I told her,,, do my wheel.

And so it began...........



Kelly looks nice and comfy with a Lendrum, doesnt she, as my evil sinister plan comes into play. Look how comfortable she is, look at how nice her roving is being spun with ease. My 2nd skein, the skein of destruction, stands guard,, on the snack tray, making sure that she doesnt miss a step in her treadling. Yes we have yarn being made here. Easily, and surely. Kelly comments how comfortable she is at my evil wheel. How the height is right. How her legs are comfy. The Lendrum has wrought its power over Kelly methinks.

And possibly the Lendrum has won. Possibly. We talked about different wheels, how she is/was partial to the Kromski Minstral. Then I struck my final blow, lol. Discussing how if she were to get the Lendrum DT complete,, she'd have the wheel, with reg flyer, and fast flyer, a plying flyer with bobbin, 4 reg bobbins,, and a tensioned lazy kate too! We spoke about how the wheels were made. The Lendrum, of course, is solid Maple. I love my Ashford Joy too, but all in all,, its fancy plywood (excuse me, MDF - at a higher cost, why I dont know) But I now love my Lendrum above and beyond all others!

So that was how the afternoon went. We cruised on my computer looking and drooling (well maybe not drooling) at fibers and handyed and kettledyed rovings. Talked about purchasing fiber at one site and splitting the cost for natural merino and blends that we can Kool-aid dye ourselves (Kelly has done it, I so far have not).

I cant wait for Kelly to get her wheel, whichever model she does decide on. Its just great having a spinning buddy that is nearby!

After she left to return home, I dug out the Merino that I got with my wheel that Lois at Bountiful sent me. Last nite I had started some of the fiber. I continued at it. Relaxed is not the word I would use to describe how I felt! The silence was sweet. Hubby and son werent due home till around 9:30pm. So there I was enjoying myself,, with my hot cup of coffee,, nibbling on cheese,, with total control over the TV for once! It got even better once I realized it was starting to snow, so I got the fireplace going. Nothing like spinning in front of a roaring fireplace I tell ya!



So in the comfort of my home, enjoying the serenity of it all, I've this to show for the moment. PS if Tamara is reading this,, this is the Holly Berry! :)



Sigh,, too bad tomorrow is Monday and I have to go to work,,, and drive thru possible snow and ice to do it. But I digress,, my Evil Lendrum is now calling to me, singing its diabolical song to me. "Make more yarn,,, spin me some more". Must go, cannot keep Master waiting.

The bad things dont stop happening.

Well from being out sick last week, and running to my Dr.,, one thing I had done was get my bloodwork done. With my job since I'm diabetic,, I have a recheck medical every 6 months. I've been going thru this since I was appointed and hired for 7 years now. The past 2 years have been good, I've passed my medical, even if at times I was just squeaking by. Job needs my results for whats called an A1C Glycolated Hemoglobin test. It shows how well my control has been for my diabetes over the past 3 month period. I guess I simply wasnt as good as I should have been,,,sigh. I am one full point over what my job will accept to allow me to drive. My medical recheck is this coming Friday,, and I know I will be restricted after I show up. And there isnt much restricted work,,, and it goes by order of seniority,, of which I have some, but probably not enough, even with 7 years on the job. If there is no work,, then I get to use my sick time of which I have 8 days left. After that I go without pay, which I really cant afford. So now is the big full steam ahead playdates with my treadmill. Which I havent been doing for months. At all! Yeah I know, I've no one to blame but myself. I know exactly what I should be doing and when,,, but as I say way too often on here,, I am just so dead tired due to the job and commuting. Who the hell wants to do anything at all when you have your 2 days off?

I'll deal with it. I always have and try to make the best of it and become the superwoman of exercise. Whatever it takes to get my levels down. So far hubby is being cool about this too. He knows I'm aggravated and depressed over this,, but he's trying to take up the slack by doing OT. He's doing it all weekend.

Had some pics,,,, thanks to my cell phone,,,,one cool one after the dr, when I was waiting for hubby to drive me home. The sunset. An eerie one,, but cool nevertheless.




And while I was sick, I made Caloriemetry (sp). You can see how simply awful I look by my eyes alone,,, but I did feel really good making this. I had a skein of Manos that I bought about 2 weeks ago fron The Yarn Girl on Staten Island. A really fast and easy knit if I say so myself!




Then next up is the cell phone pic I took of that 2nd skein I made,,,, holding it in my hand gives a better perspective of it.




This I had to post. One day last week, think it was Wednesday, my bus stop request system wasnt working (what else is new with things not working on buses?). But this one,,,a prior driver had,, and had placed strategically all over the bus, signs stating the bells didnt work. In the front, the rear and several along the length on each side.

Here's the front of the bus.



And here's the rear of the bus.



Of course I get all the passengers that either 1) Can't read, 2) or are just plain ignorant,,OR oblivious to what is going on around them. So whatcha think happens?

"Lady,,,you missed my stop"
Me- You didnt let me know.
"I rang the bell."
Me-Did you see the signs?
"Your bell doesnt work, it didnt ring"
Me-I know, did you see the signs?
"But your supposed to stop at the bus stop"
Me-Yes, when someone lets me know that they want the stop.
"But you didnt stop!"
Me-Sigh!

To which I gave my classic answer.

Me- If I were a Psychic, I wouldnt be driving this bus and I'd be making a lot more money.

They were not amused,,, but then again neither was I.

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Wednesday, February 21, 2007

Icky stuff and yummy stuff!

I'll do the yummy stuff first! Since my child from hell is off this week from school,, after calling him earlier to get the mail and asking him if I got anything,, I got his usual answer. Nope Mom,, you got nothing. Well,,, after an exhausting drive home,,, I got this! My first package from my SP!



I couldn't wait to tear into it. Talk about being psyched!

First thing I opened was this adorable little Valentines box!



Filled with a bunch of decadent looking Chocolates! Since I am watching my carbs for pending medical,,, I'll probably have one each nite starting tomorrow nite.

Here are all the lovely things my SP surprised me with!



Starting from the left a Mudslide Lip Balm (think like the Bonne Belle ones), I simply love these things! And its funny I just picked one up in Hersheys Chocolate flavor too (cant have enough lip balm while driving a bus, I'll tell ya!) To the right of the lip balm is a heart shaped tin of Sugar Free mints. Love the tin. Says Shut up and Kiss me on it. Hysterical! Above that is a packet of Bigelow Lemon Body Cream,,,and the top is an assortment of teas! Theres Tazo Chai (love Chai), Pickwick Berry tea (Mmmm berries) and Chamomile tea (That I need very much to soothe my frazzled nerves after driving - or dealing with the HELLCHILD!!!) To the right of the Shut up and Kiss me mints is a very large tube of Bath and Bodyworks Freesia body cream. Now my SP def has me pegged,, Freesia's are my most favorite flower! Cant wait to try it in about 15 mins! Now to the right of the Freesia is a truly lovely very Valentiney skein of Artyarns Ultramerino 6 in colorway 115,,, you cant get anymore closer to Valentine colors than that! And its soooo soft,,, I am simply loving it and petting it to death! All this followed by a very lovely letter from my SP telling me the Chocolates are Sugar Free,, and that more fibery fun is yet to come!

Hmmmmmm perhaps I will have one of those chocolates to nibble on as I sit in my bed,,, playing touchy feely with my skein. Oh yes,, for those that want to know. Yes I am a Yarn Pervert!

Now the Icky stuff!

For the past few days I have been sick as a dog with a very nice bout of Bronchitis. Went sick last Thursday,after I had driven all the way and paid the toll to get to work. I was able to see my Dr. in Brooklyn prior to going home,, so with the help of antibiotics and heavy duty cough suppressent pills AND thanks to the holiday I've been home resting for 5 days. But the damage was already done. I have been coughing so badly all last week,,,now not that my throat hurt at all, it didnt, but I've no VOICE! I am officially squeaking! Gave me plenty of time to spin and knit. And watch TV. And DVD's. And drink lots and lots and lots of tea! I made Calorimetry from Knitty,, but forgot to take a pic so that will follow. Came out nice tho. All done up in Manos in a blueish/teal color. But I did spin,, and spinning I did, lol.

I went from this



to this



to this!



I had the 2 bobbins of singles which I Navahoe Plyed,, and I think it came out much better than my first skein that I Navahoed, which is here



Tho I really like the colors better on this first skein. Its some of the massive shipment of the superwash that I ordered,, that I carded with my dog brushes and spun up. Actually my 2nd attempt on my Lendrum (LOVE LOVE LOVE MY LENDRUM!!!)

So short of this,, I am back to work as of yesterday, lol. Thank god there isnt school,, its been sort of light and I hope it stays that way the rest of the week!

Oh I also received prior to the weekend my bag for my Lendrum,, and still have my credit to deal with due to its delivery mishap,, I see handcarders in my future. That and the possibility of a hackle set that I just found online yesterday at a really awesome price! If I keep going like this, hubby might have to move me to the cottage out back (not that I wouldnt mind that!)

Tuesday, February 06, 2007

A short one, fights with Nun, etc etc

Hmmm , this will be short and sweet. No pics to post right now due to son taking all the batteries,, and not telling anyone naturally. So on shopping list,, Batteries!

Been busy the past 3 weekends. SP8 shopping and browsing (why is it when I shop for someone else I have to buy for myself too!) Been hooking up With Kelly (Licraftgal), hit some craft/yarn stores,,, hung out at Panera bread and knitted (or at least she knitted, lol). Went to The Village Knitter in Bablyon to go to a Superbowl Charity knitting event yesterday. You bring the needles or crochet hooks, they supply the yarns for making Chemo caps for charity. Got there later than I liked but nice turnout,, very cute cozy store,, and everyone was friendly, chatty,, and knitting/crocheting up a storm!

Biggest news,, My Lendrum came!

It came Thursday,, a day later than it should have,, and due to UPS error, I'm getting credit at Bountifulspinweave.com,,, where it was purchased. And thanks to me,,,for finally playing Saturday night with my dog brushes,,,,,I LOVE CARDING!!! So,,, I think I know what the credit is going towards too!

Lets see what else,,,, between last week and today alone at work. I am beginning to hate school kids. And Nuns,, (or possibly make-believe Nuns). In a nutshell,, concerning the kids. These are literally snot nosed bratty know it alls, who are probably told by their parents "Just take the bus home,, dont worry if you dont have any money to pay,, the bus driver cant throw you off",, well I dont,, but I ask where are their school bus passes, and,,,"Dont you have any change to throw in the fare box?" Of course they dont. Who doesnt know a single teenager that doesnt have some change on them? Of course I let them on,, ask them for something to put in, but guess what? THEY HAVE NO GOD DAMN MONEY AT ALL! Amazing isnt it? Designer jeans,, Ipods,, the newest latest cellphone, with gps capabilities,, internet surfing,, DVD players (yup they bring them on the bus too!) but ANY change whatsoever? NOPE. Plus on top of that I get cursed out, threatened just for asking. In the long run its no skin off my nose. As the bosses that run the job have been saying since I was hired,, and keep saying. "Dont worry about it" "Let them on, its not worth the hassle", "The agency has more money than they know what to do with since the advent of Metrocards in 1995. How is that you say? Easy,,, say you buy your Metrocard,, whether its a pay per ride,, or a weekly or montly Metrocard. You pay upfront,,, say its the monthly card. Say you dont use it for about 3 weeks because your old one is still current. You have paid your money,, not using the product for that period of time all the while MTA has your money sitting in their banks earning interest. Now I'm bad in math but thats a no brainer. But the general public (now I'm not knocking them) doesnt give a thought to this.

Still they will cry, rant and rave when 2007 comes to an end,, and with the entrance of 2008,, the inevitable fare hikes will it,,, as they promised. We'll see,, time will tell.

Now on to the Nun. This is a doozy.

Last Thursday,, its my last trip. I do the 9pm trip out of the SI ferry. It should be an uneventful trip due to the fact that if I leave on time,, 19 minutes later I'm due to be at the stop across from my depot, where my relief driver gets on, I get off and drop my paperwork off and hightail it out of there to head home to LI. Of course things never turn out that way. Something almost always happens on the last trip of the night.

Its a packed bus,,, I mean sardine can packed. I'm about to leave when I see one more person in my sideview mirror running up the ramp towards my bus, schlepping a gigantic rolling luggage thingy. I open the doors and its a Nun. In a blue habit, complete with rosary beads and the works. She takes about 3 mins trying to lug her bag on behind her,, pushing the passenger up front all the while. Someone kindly sat up and gave her a seat right across from me. She then attempts to put in a single ride ticket (exactly as the name applies, not a transfer,, and single use no transfer ticket), which was already used as stated by my farebox. All I did was tell her that it wasnt good, that it was a used ticket. Well,, I'm by no means a prude, but did my jaw drop by what happened next! She whaled out on me with a string of profanity and then some! Telling me where to go,,, what I can do to myself and so on and so on. The whole bus became so quiet you could hear a proverbial pin drop. I then said to her "your supposed to pay your fare". She then threw at me, "What do you want me to do then" with much disdain in her voice as if she were testing me. Nothing I could do,, I did what the job wanted me to do, which was to tell her what the fare was. I shrugged my shoulders and that was it.

If I were catholic I bet she would have tried to excommunicate me! I cant beleive for the life of me that she was a real Nun. I told one driver what happened, once I was back at the depot and I've been getting tortured since. Really big mistake that I should not have done. Drivers see me at the depot or in passing on the bus and they make the sign of the cross as they pass me now. Good thing I have a sense of humor. I think I'll make a paper sign available that reads "In God we trust, All others pay cash" just in case she ever gets on my bus again.

And short of the freezing cold we are experiencing now,, I think its gonna be a hellava long week!