I KNIT A MOTHER OF GOD SOCK Y'ALL!!!!

OK so Merry Christmas and Happy New Year blah blah blah. I haven't been around. I traveled to the great north country to spend Christmas with my parents and one cancelled flight and a night in a stuffy loud motel later I am home and getting the house spiffed up for the New Year.

But what I have to tell you about is my fucking SOCK y'all!!!! I am the one hit wonder of the knitting world. Since I started knitting I have done 13 baby blankets - 12 in one pattern and one in another. Baby blankets are easy and the one pattern I have done over and over has become a no brainer that I can do while on conference calls. Two years ago I did an easy bulky sweater and I love it but I don't wear it outside of my house. I have a stack of hand knit dish cloths in my laundry room. My dishcloths taught me some simple stitches. That is the extent of my knitting. Nice, easy flat things.

I decided this time last year that 2008 would be my year to begin branching out in the knitting department. (also I decided to quit smoking and lose weight but let's not go there) In July I even purchased sock yarn. Then I knit two more baby blankets. Knowing I was going home and that my father had knit all four of his grandchildren Christmas stockings I decided this was my opportunity to knit a sock with tutors present and so I struggled through getting it started on the double pointed needles and then packed it.

Suffice it to say that neither of my knitting parents were much help although God love them they tried. I ended up Christmas Day sitting on the sofa with my laptop pulling up youtube videos of how to knit a sock and yelling at them to shut up so I could concentrate.

And I finally figured the damned thing out! Look at this!

It even GOES ON MY FOOT!

It isn't pretty or fashionable but I KNIT A FUCKING SOCK Y'ALL!!!!

When I landed yesterday I came home and unpacked and started a load of laundry and loved on the cats and then I went to Walmart for another skein to make the mate. And lo and behold it seems I learned a whole lot from doing the first one because the second is much tighter and the stitches are more even. Look at them side by side (second one I have done the heel flap and turned the heel about to start on the body of the foot):

Here is sock 1 with sock 2 (in progress) on top to give you an idea of how much I have improved in only one sock:

I have a few friends who think knitting is for old ladies and that I have fallen into drooling and eating pureed food. Not true. Knitting is cool. Knitting is hip. When I have gone into my local knit shop to beg for help I get it from 20-somethings. Who have cool tattoos and piercings. You can not imagine the sense of accomplishment. I think by completing my first sock I have accomplished more personally than I did all year professionally.

The pattern I used for my first sock was incredibly easy (although it could have been easier) and can be found here: http://www.royea.net/sock.html

I did need some help after turning the heel and I found it here - which is hands down the ONLY reason I have a completed sock today and the courage to go on: http://www.cometosilver.com/socks/SockClass_Beginning.htm

I am now rabid about doing socks. I want to do maybe one more pair of the basic pattern to make sure I am comfortable with it and then I plan to begin branching out into real patterns. I am so excited!


OK that's all for now. Got to get back to my second sock and get it finished!

Cutting Costs

It has been a challenging year financially. When the year started I was riding a very small, very manageable amount of credit card debt.

And then the rat problem. When one leaves a very old house sitting empty as long as my house sat empty (with only a few weeks of exception that was October 1 2007 - June 1 2008) critters tend to move in as squatters and I did have some critters in the attic and crawl space and this had to be taken care of. To the tune of almost $3000.00. Which went on credit card.

Then came the dental problems. I had a root canal/crown. Then another root canal. Then I found out I had met my maximum dental coverage but I needed to have the first root canal tooth pulled and have a bridge. Which had to all be paid out of pocket. To the tune of almost $3000. Which went on credit card.

So now I'm carrying about 4 times the debt I feel comfortable carrying. I can and do make payments in excess of the minimum and I haven't touched my emergency savings which, at this point, amounts to about 4 - 5 months of living expenses but I just simply don't feel comfortable. So I am working on ways of cutting back, even if it is only a few bucks here and there.

Last month I negotiated a deal with my landline/DSL carrier and cut my monthly bill by $30. This morning I cut back my personal cell phone, which I rarely use but don't want to give up entirely. I shaved another $20 from that monthly bill. I have weather stripped every window and door in the house but got my gas bill this week and in a month where the weather was warm enough several days to have the windows open it was still too high. So I got out the socks and sweaters and turned the heat down about 8 degrees. In the past I would regularly throw away spoled veggies and left overs but now I make a huge effort to make sure I do not waste anything. I've been clipping coupons and printing them off the internet. Christmas will be scaled back a little this year. Normally I go all out but this year I'm cutting back just a bit and I took advantage of deep discounts and free shipping on Cyber Monday to do a lot of my shopping. I'm looking for an online work from home part time job that I can work nights and weekends.

I'm not complaining mind you. I have a great job and a roof over my head and my bills are paid and there is food on my table. I'm just saying that I've come a long way. Instead of pulling a pillow over my head I'm very realistic about things. I've educated myself and opened up my ears. It makes all the difference in the world.

Life is good.

Happy Thanksgiving to my US Friends

My turkey is brining in the fridge. Before I get in bed tonight I will rinse it and set it to dry uncovered in the fridge for the optimum crispy and delicious skin. I do hope this works - it is the first time I have attempted this method.

I made the tomato aspic salad this afternoon and it is congealing in the fridge now, soon to be garnished with a bit of caviar and consumed without mercy.

I will wake up in the morning and prepare the oyster stuffing. I unintentionally purchased too many oysters and I look forward to enjoying them while I cook along with the cocktail sauce I also unintentionally purchased. I will unintentionally eat them for breakfast I think.

I love preparing this meal. I missed out on it last year due to the fact that I was stuck in Mexico City. It will only make this year that much more enjoyable.

There is so much I am thankful for and although I do try to remember these things every day it is truly wonderful to have one day out of 365 where the entire focus of the day is remembering and being grateful for all I have. My life is modest but I have all I need and that is more than many can say. I try to never forget this.

So Happy Thanksgiving!

Putting Things Off Is So Stupid

So in early summer 2007 I got a wireless router and I got it set up so that I could work from home from anywhere. On good weather days I would sit on the porch for a couple of hours and I could choose to sit in the kitchen or living room or at my desk. Very important to have variety when you work from home. I was happy and all was well.

Last March I came home from Chile for 3 freaking days to find that my Bellsouth modem had blown out during my absence. They got me a replacement before I headed back out but I didn't set it up right. I came home twice after that but the wireless always worked even if the hard-wired PC didn't so I let it slide.

This has pissed me off for the past 6 months and today I tackled it. I didn't want to but I was tired of being pissed off. I wanted to put the work laptop away on the weekends and use this PC.

DONE! The actual work to get it online took about 15 minutes. I have no idea what I did but finally it worked. Then I tackled the wad of knots of line under my desk and get them all un-knotted and wrapped all the slack with velcro wire wrappie thingies.

Also I watered the plants, went to the store and bought my turkey, made an eye doctor appointment, and did a full pattern round on my knitting project. And got my Chicken Satay dinner for tomorrow night marinating.

I still have vacation time which must be burned before 12/31 or it will be lost so I am taking Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday off so I have a full week with the 2 day Thanksgiving holiday. I think I have made MAJOR progress already.

I am feeling quite proud of myself.

Google Translator for Skype - the great equalizer

In high school I had a shitload of French and I was close to being low level fluent. I also had 3 years of German but it mixed up with the french and I failed everything in fluent frerman. It seriously screwed me up and I wish I had not added another language.

Flip to me 28 years later. I lived in Japan for a year and learned a lot of the 3 alphabets but not a lot of that crazy language. Then to South America to live in Spanish which I learned a shitload of thanks to French but never felt comfortable speaking let alone writing.

Then Sam turns me on to google translator for skype. And now I can type in English and immediately have a translation into Spanish. Or any other language. My Spanish contacts assure me this device is at leat 98%accurate.

Totally recommend this add in for skype.

This has already made my daily business life so much easier!

Could We Just Get Something Straight Here?

One of my pet peeves is the widespread misuse of the verb "utilize." I hear it used incorrectly every day and thought I would take this opportunity to clear up some confusion.

"Use" and "utilize" are two verbs with distinct meanings. Don't confuse them.

"Use" is to employ objects for the purposes they were designed for.

"Utilize," on the other hand, is to employ objects for unintended purposes.

Authoritative proof:

The Oxford English Dictionary defines the verb use as "to make use of (some immaterial thing) as a means or instrument; to employ for a certain end or purpose."

But utilize is defined as "to make or render useful; to convert to use, turn to account."

MSN Encarta Dictionary defines to utilize as “to make use of something, or find a practical or effective use for something.”

And here is the logical proof of the crucial distinction between these two verbs: the logical extreme of "use" is "abuse," referring to the act of using something in ways that is contradictory to its original "mission statement" or designed function.

But there is no corresponding logical extreme for "utilize" like, let's say, "disutilize" or "abutilize" since by its very definition, to utilize something means to use it in ways that is different than the purpose for which it was originally designed or created. "Abuse," so to speak, is a built-in semantic component of "utilize."

WRONG: "The TV set utilizes coaxial cable to connect to the antenna." (A TV unit and a coaxial cable were meant to be used together, by definition.)

CORRECT: "The TV set uses coaxial cable to connect to the antenna.

CORRECT: "The TV set utilizes paper clips to connect to the antenna." (A TV set is not designed to use paper clips to connect to the antenna. That's a highly unusual improvisation and -- in the stretched sense of the word -- an "abuse" of paper clips.)


SOURCE: http://ezinearticles.com/?Writing----How-To-Use-Use-Versus-Utilize-Correctly?&id=479574

For All of the 40+ somethings out there!!!

Three Dog Night!