Last NaBloPoMo Post

I made it posting every day for November.  Every time I do this, I realize it's easy if you happen to post every day, something different when you plan to do it.  I made it and didn't lose any followers, amazing.

It's been a weird month, hasn't it?  I had hoped to end on high note.  Instead, I'm wounded soldier.  The cold sore is much worse.  The last hour of my shift today, I was in tears from the pain.  I brought my team leader up in a private chat and told her I needed to leave but it was too busy to VGH.  She told me to go ahead and go it would just be a 1/4 point.  Then I told her, I'm taking the next couple days off to try to get better.  She told me to do what I needed to do.

I'm going to stay home, get plenty of rest and drink lots of water and hope to flush what ever this is out of my system.  No need to push myself and have Duane come on here and say I'm in the hospital.

I'll probably continue to post more often when I have something to write about, just not every day.  There were several nights when writing a post what the last thing I wanted to do.  However, I made a commitment and succeeded.

Thanks to all of you who kept up with me this month.

WIP Wednesday

WIP Wednesday on Tuesday, which is really Wednesday when most of you will read this.

I finished the heel gusset on my second Tucson sock and am half way through turning the heel.  I thought I might have this done by Friday, but I'm not so sure.

I finished the third lace repeat on my Bellevue sweater and am now on the stockinette stitch of the body. I love the color of this yarn.

The past two months, I've getting up before the alarm.  This morning when it went off, I lay there wondering what that awful noise was.  That canker decided to form it's own galaxy of smaller blisters on the under side of my lip.  My glands are swollen, head achey and still I went to work.  The shift went by rather smoothly even though I felt like crap.

Had my bi-weekly meeting with my team leader.  I'm ranking 49 out of 250, in less than two months on the floor.

Before I left this morning, I brought my rose bush inside and stuck it in Duane's office for him to enjoy.  He said that the cats kept coming in and trying to eat it while he was in there with the door open.  I said, I would rather the cats eat it, than have some teenage snot steal it.  Yes, I'm an old grump.



For more WIPS by people who actually work on them go to Tami's Amis.

Great Customer Service

I heard back from Joan at Cupcake Fibers this morning.  She searched her stock to see if she might have some Pool in the SW BFL.  Sadly, she couldn't find any and is out of SW BFL until sometime next week.  She offered to try to duplicate the color in the fibers she did have in stock.

I'm starting on a long five day stretch of work and walking, so I told her to just wait until the SW BFL came in.  As it's not like I'll get to my wheel any time soon anyway.  She even offered to replace it for free.  I told her I didn't expect to cover our mishap.

Mondays are Mondays even when they are a day off.  I've been wondering why I've been so tired and cranky lately.  (More than usual, that is.)  This morning I woke up with a huge canker sore on my gum, under my right nostril.  I'm treating it with peroxide rinses and dabbing powder alum on it.  An old emergency room told me about the powder alum a very long time ago.  It healed it within a couple days.

I have that achey, head achey yuck feeling one has just as the crud is coming on. Unfortunately, I'm on the later shift this week.  Which sucks because I'm walking to the bus in the dark, then have a 30 minute wait for my connecting bus home.

I'm on the heel gusset of the second sock.  (Old picture of the first sock, because I'm lazy)  It looks like I might have a finished pair by the weekend.  I know, I'm amazed too.

My other long stem tea rose is starting to bloom.  I'm going to bring it inside before I leave for work in the morning.  The flower thieves can go rub salt if they have plans on this next one.

Hope you have a great Tuesday.

Sunday Snit

I'm in a bit of snit today.  I woke up at 1 am with sinuses all agitated and was up til 4:30 am reading.  It was ok, being this is my day off.  Woke up again at 8 am, knit and read some blogs for awhile.  Duane got up and after that I cleaned the bird cage and vacuumed the living room.

My plan was to clean the bedroom and do all the laundry.  Duane had cabin fever and wanted to go out.  I had planned to take him to Luke's on Monday, but we went today. For several years,  he's been craving an Italian Combo sandwich like he used to get in Chicago.  I was told by an old Chicago guy at work, that Luke's came pretty close.

A combo sandwich is a half pound of thinly sliced Italian beef, with an Italian sausage on a French roll dipped in Au Jus with hot and sweet peppers.  He said, Old Chicago guy was right and it was pretty close.  A little too much black pepper in the beef.

Back when we lived in Rochester, there was a pizza and sub place right around the corner.  They had steak subs and Italian sausage subs with a real link of Italian sausage.  Not those little bullet things that get put on the pizza like most shops back there used.  He called them and asked them to stick an Italian sausage on his steak sub to make his combo sandwich.  They refused to do it, because they couldn't figure out how to price it. I never would order from that place again.  You might have noticed, but I don't suffer fools or idiots very well.

(Honey, don't read any further.  Hit the back button.)

We came home, I gave up on the cleaning idea as I was tired from the walking.  So, I pulled out my spinning wheel.  I finished most of the ounce I had started back in September.  When I went to get the box with the rest of the fiber, it was gone.  I searched the few spots it could possibly be.  I'll search a little deeper tomorrow, but I'm not holding out any hope.

It's been thrown out.  I threw a fit.  Someone (not me) mistaken it for a empty shipping box and took it out to the garbage, sometime since the beginning of November when I last saw it.  I threw a fit.

It's the first time in nine years that anything of mine has been accidentally thrown out.  However, it brought back memories of The Jerk and my step-father who just throw out other people's things accidentally on purpose.  I think that's what pissed me off the most, is bringing back those memories.

I have since sent a message to Joan at Cupcake Fiber to see if she could come up with something close. I guess I'll just Navajo ply this ounce and come up with something for it.  Maybe knit a minion to guard the next batch of fiber.

I think the manager should have left the meth addict in the apartment above me.  At least she would eventually run out of meth and crash for a few days, and there would be quiet.  The women upstairs and her kids continue to sound like a herd of crazed St. Bernard's wearing Dutch wooden shoes holding wrestling matches.    I have went up there and said something,  I have pounded on the ceiling with a broom.  They are just inconsiderate, final opinion. It's 10:30 pm and they are still romping.

No sense in complaining to the manager.  He won't do anything unless someone is disturbing him personally.  He has himself well insulated with the snowbird above him and quiet people on either side. (Us for one) It takes forever to get anything fixed.  The toilet has been constantly running for two months now.  I've told him about it twice.  The only thing this place is good for is when people have a hard time paying their rent.

I'm done, finished with this place.  After the holidays, I will work on getting a car.  So I can work overtime, and save for the first month's rent and deposit for a single family house.  They have been putting up notices at work daily that they need people to stay for overtime from 4-8.  I usually get out between 5 and 6 so staying a couple extra hours wouldn't be a problem, except for walking in the dark, two miles to the bus stop through the barrio.

My horoscope for Monday: Owing to the unfavourable influence of the stars, you will be confronted today with situations which will easily stretch you to the max. Don't doubt your abilities. It is within your power to change these circumstances. If you are also faced with problems at work, try to make the best of it. Problems are ultimately placed before us so that we will learn from them. You can use these difficult times to improve your skills. 

(rolls eyes)

I need to do something and I'm on a mission.

This Pot Has A Story

This pot came to our complex last fall.  A lady who had moved in with the woman above me, brought this as far as the parking lot and left it.  Another new resident asked the manager if she could have it.  Not knowing or caring whose it was he gave it to her.  It had a nice palm like plant in it.  That tenant let it die and left out of here abandoning most of her stuff when Duane was in the hospital.

Then someone moved into the apartment across from me over the summer.  Somehow, she was given the pot.  Planted something in it.  Let it die and abandoned her apartment last month.  We lay claim to this pot.  This is where it's story will end.

My friend, who takes me shopping might take me to the nursery Sunday or Monday.  I want to get a mini citrus tree for it.  I found such a plant on Amazon, but they won't ship to the citrus states.  So, I'm hoping to find one at the plant nursery.

I woke up this morning and it was 42F with 98% humidity.  When did I wake up in back in NY?  How did that happen?  It was so tempting to just call in.  However, that would give me two points for the month and I would lose any bonus, I've been working so hard for.  Plus a days pay.  Plus it affects my two week average they use to calculate my holiday pay.  I stood to lose a good chunk of change.  So, I dragged my butt to work.  Seriously, I pulled out the tow change and dragged it kicking and screaming all the way there.  I did VGH three hours early when they asked if I wanted to go home.

Just as I was about to take a picture of the unopened box of chocolates, Duane picked it up and ripped the plastic off.  So much for that bit of suspense.  The thing is huge.  As wide as Duane's recliner.

Believe it or not, I only had one piece.  A maple fudge.  I don't eat much refined sugar since my acupuncturist told me refined sugars exacerbates chronic pain.  Since, I'm not feeling well with our high humidity and cooler temps, I don't want to add to it.

Have a happy Sunday.  I know I will, since I will be at home.  Just hope I don't wake up earlier than if I had to work.

Fiber Arts and FO Friday

Happy Friday!  Or is it Sunday?  This is my second of two days off, then I go back tomorrow, Saturday and have Sunday and Monday off.  So, is Saturday my Monday or Friday? I don't know.  I'm sooo confused.

Let's talk about socks.  I can have an intelligent conversation about socks.  I think. Um, maybe. I'll give it a shot.

I finished one sock, so I'm throwing it in the ring for a finish.  This is toe up, using Wendy Knits' pattern Waterfall Socks. (It's free.) I'm using Alpaca Peds yarn in the Kaleidosock colorway. It comes with a smaller skein for the toes and heels but I did toes and cuff.  I'm calling it my Tucson colored sock.  The colors remind of the color accents on the sand colored buildings here.  Terra Cotta, purple and turquoise.

I like the short row toe better than Judy's magic cast on for toe up socks.  I'm tried both so far.  For the heel, I found I liked Fleegle's heel better than the short row heel. It didn't seem to look right using a different color for the heel without a proper flap.

I used Jenny's Stretchy Bind Off for the cuff.  I first used it when I knit a cowl last year and that is what prompted me to try toe up socks.  Previously, I had been worried about the bind off not being stretchy enough.  I think this past year of experimenting, I'm converted to toe-up socks.  Now, I want to get a bunch of 0 and 1 cable needles and give two at once a second try.

Yesterday, I worked on my Bellevue Cardigan in Knit One Crochet Too, teals.  I completed the second repeat of the pattern stitches then dozed off in my chair during a Roseanne episode last night.  

Last Friday, I bought myself a Crazy Zauberball for some socks.  I stared at it in the bag until Tuesday night, when I came home in that foul mood.  So, I cast on a cuff down basic sock.  Too sooth myself, I took it for my bus knitting on Wednesday.  It was a fun knit for two hours when the phone system went down and all was chaos for awhile. 

Did you go out in the madness today?  I stayed home. I slept in to all of 6am today.  It was a high of 56 and cloudy here by noon.  We had rain overnight.  I woke this morning to my left shoulder blade, back and left hip hurting really bad. Needless to say, I didn't spend any time with my spinning wheel.   Spent the day finishing the above finished sock and starting the second one.  That was about all the ambition I had.  Then I took a two and half hour nap at 1:30. It seems like forever since I took an afternoon nap. 

Last week, Frys had a New York Strip roast on sale.  We had not heard of a cut of roast like that before.  It was a $55.00 dollar roast for $17.00.  Yeah, you know you would have carted that thing home too.  Duane noticed there was a little whole in the plastic wrap a couple days ago.  Not wanting a roast like that to get freezer burnt, he took it out of the freezer to thaw.  That was what we had for dinner tonight. 

My plate.  Yes, I sucked the whole thing up.  I need sustenance for my long walk and shift tomorrow. 

Can you believe it has been over 24 hours that this box of chocolates has been in the house and we haven't ripped into yet?  We just sit here and admire the size of it. Temptation will win over one of these days soon.  I guess it can be a bit of blog suspense.  How many days will those two stare at that box of chocolates before they finally give in and open it? 

Thanks for stopping by. Click the following links for more FO's  and Fiber Arts.

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving for those who are celebrating.

I had the day off and yet I still got up at 5:30am. UGH!!  I'm thankful to be home and not taking calls for Drugs R Us, I can tell you that.

I needed to walk up to the CVS for evaporated milk to make the pumpkin pie.  Duane went with me and we shopped.  Our eyes lit up when we saw the biggest Whitman's Sampler box, ever.

It is about over 2 feet by 1 foot.  It's huge!!  Amazingly we didn't tear into when came home.  It's still sitting here in the plastic wrap.  The pie will probably wait til tomorrow's breakfast too.  (Note to self.  Put the pies away so Bright Eyes doesn't help herself.)

I'm thankful we're all still here together, though some of us are carrying scars from the year.  That we could afford to buy more food than 2 people, 4 cats, 3 rabbits and 18 birds could possibly eat.

My daughter called with good news.  Tuesday, the judge gave her immediate temporary full custody of Faith. Until they have a formal hearing.  Which the father said he's not going to even show up for.  That will bite him in the butt someday.  Nicole said, Duane and I can Faith for the summer.

After the holidays, I need to save up for a down payment on a car.  Then I was researching house rentals and found some 3 bedroom with 2 baths for just a couple hundred a month more than what we are paying.  After that, the plane money to fly up get Faith and come back.  Plus, pick up a puppy in Pennsylvania.  I've found the puppy I've been wanting for five years. I've researched this breed and it seems like it will fit in with our menagerie.

(Picture from Greenfield Puppies)

I told Duane this summer, I will fly up north and come back with a child and a puppy.  He rolled his eyes, thanks ever so much.

Me:  She's not three anymore.  She's seven.  Old enough that she can be of help to you.

Him:  Ok, Faith, go entertain the puppy.

We're excited to have her for the summer.  Seven should be the right age which will have lasting memories of coming to visit Mama and Pappa for the summer.  Thirty years from now she'll remember waking up to Mama's flock of birds chirping away in the living room.  

I have tomorrow off too.  No, I won't be participating in the Black Friday madness.  I work Saturday, then have Sunday and Monday off.  Maybe, I can actually get some spinning done during that time.

Stay safe if you're going out to face that madness that will be in the stores.

I Got Nothing

Nothing much for WIPW.

How was your day?  Probably better than the owner of this Cadillac.  I'm sitting at the picnic bench waiting to start my shift when the repo man comes and takes this guys Caddy.  I don't know which is worse having your car repoed at work, or having all your co-workers come out to watch.

I didn't post my Wednesday post Tuesday night because I came home in a bad mood and exhausted.  The snowbirds were horrible, calling in to fill their prescriptions.  I kept hearing about how much they hated our system down here at Drugs-R-Us compared to their Drugs-R-Us back home.  One actually said, "I hate you call center people."

The cranky old lady in my head wanted to say, "Yeah, well hop on your broom and fly yourself back home.  Cool your arse in a snowbank for awhile."

About 45 minutes before my shift ended, I went to the bathroom, to prepare for my 20 minute run to the bus stop.  The scheduler guy looked at me as I walked past his desk on the way back.  (He'll learn not to make eye contact with me, one of these days.)  So I said, "Just putting it out there.  If you need someone to leave at 5:45, I'm volunteering.  If not, that's ok.  I'll just keep my butt in the chair until I'm scheduled to leave at 6."

The head of scheduling was sitting there. (The one who gave me the coat.)  She burst out laughing.  "I never heard it put like that."

Me: "I'm just putting it out there and trying to be reasonable."

Her:  "You're always totally reasonable."

Him to me:  "I'll keep that in mind."

He let me go at 5:40.  Which was good because I don't think my body could have made that walk in 20 minutes.

This is where I lost it.  When I got off the first bus, the connecting bus almost pulled up beside me a few feet from the stop.  I waved my arm and shouted.  He looked right at me and took off.  You'll can just imagine what the cranky old lady in my head said to that.

When I finally did get home, the TV was blaring with politics and the birds were trying to out shout the politics.  I felt like Duane wasn't listening to me.  It just wasn't a good night.  My day was still better than the guy who got his car repoed.

Today, the customers were actually nice.  It seemed to be mostly locals already starting with the holiday cheer.  About an hour after I started, the phones started going down.  The people coming on couldn't log in.  I said in chat, I was jealous, I could be knitting.

Then one minute before lunch, I was on the phone with a customer, when screen went down, but the customer was still on the phone. I told her to hang up and call back, that my screen went down.  She said, just type in my name.

Me: "Mam, I can't type in your name, because my screen went down and there's nothing to type your name into.  You need to hang up and call back."

Her:   "What do you mean? Just type in my name."

Rinse and repeat the above about four times.  She finally says, "You want me to hang up and call back?"

Duh!!!

Because it was the client's software, we had to stay since they could continue to bill the client.  So, I knit for about two hours.  They were going around one by one having people try to log back in.  If they couldn't, they went home.  If they could, obviously they went back to work.  About an hour before I was to leave, they got to me.  Don't you know, I was able to log back in.

Duane and I went out for pizza at a new place.  We finally found a place close by with decent pizza, good prices and they deliver.

Half my meatball sub and the last slice of his pizza.  I decided to take a picture before we ate it all.

I'm taking my very exhausted butt to bed.  Will post knitting or some fiber stuff on Friday.

By the way, I got a 22lb turkey for the six of us, tomorrow.  It's Duane, the four cats and I.  Of course, I fix the cats plates.  You wouldn't expect anything different from me would you?

Have a Happy Thanksgiving to all my US readers.

Guess What!?!

That's what my granddaughter says when I talk to her on the phone. Guess what!?!  Such enthusiasm she has.

No real purpose picture.

This morning I'm sitting at the desk, taking calls from stupid people.  It felt like a repeat from the day before.  They ask a question, I give the answer.  They don't like my answer, so they repeat the question.  I give the same answer.  They still don't like my answer, so they repeat the question.  I repeat the same answer.  Rinse and repeat several times til they give up and go away, raising my handle time with them.  I often wonder if these are same people that pestered their parents until they changed their answer.

I feel a group of people gathered around my chair behind me.  One of the floor team leaders moves into my peripheral vision.  I think, oh crap, time for a pop quiz.  They did this last month and I failed because the policy was vague, so I gave a wrong answer.  Pointed out the policy was vague.

It's my Wednesday on a Monday. It's cold and slightly rainy.  I'm really not in the mood for this.  I finish the call and turn around.  The group of team leaders and administration shout and cheer at me. What the hell is this?  Apparently, I got a 100% quality for the week.  Which is really hard to do.  Especially, this past week dealing with cranky and stupid people. The snowbirds are here is full force and calling the pharmacy. Demanding people. Somehow, I managed it.

My prize?  My choice between a package of peanutbutter crackers or microwave popcorn.  I can't eat popcorn, so I took the crackers.  No picture, I at them for lunch.

One of the team leaders said, "We'll be back next week.  Since you can do it, you can do it every week."  Really???  Ok, I guess we'll go with that. *cough*

Strange place I work at.

One the long walk to my first bus stop, I noticed a double rainbow in the sky.  I tried to take a picture, but there wasn't anyway of doing so without having the street sign involved.  There are too many sickos out there to give away my location.  It's enough to know I'm Tucson, a kinda big city.  Don't want to let out just exactly where and what time.  Yeah, I could have photo shopped it, but I'm tired and lazy.

Have a great Tuesday.  Just two days of the crankies left then I'm home for two days.

For Your Monday Amusement

I'm slowly climbing up the leg of my Tucson sock these past two evenings of knitting.  Or maybe it's Bootsie doing all the work.  Duane told me today while I was on lunch that Bootsie is pulling yarn out of my knitting bag.  He puts it back, leaves the room, comes back in to find yet something else laying in the middle of the room.

I'm adding increases in the center solid section on the back of the calf.  What I don't like about this pattern is that the curls around while I'm knitting.  It looks like I'm knitting on the back of the calf when I'm actually knitting the front portion.  I'll try to get a picture in the daylight either Thursday or Friday when I'm off.

Just eight more posts to NaBloPoMo.  I think I can consider at this point I've made it.  My second try I succeeded in 2008, though I have to say it was pretty hard.  I was home all the time watching my granddaughter 14 hours a day.  It was hard to think of things to post about.  Going out everyday, Tucson never fails to provide more amusement.

(This picture serves no real purpose other than something to look at)

This soul sucking, un-creative job has my mind just jumping with imagination once I'm unshackled from the phone.  I officially dislike working Sundays.  Not so much, the fact that it's Sunday, it's that I've officially dubbed it Stupid People Sunday.  I get some of the dumbest people calling on Sunday.

For your amusement, I will tell you about the worst part of my Sunday.  It's the bus ride home.  The past three weeks, it's been the same fat, obstreperous, jerk of a bus driver.  He glares at me when I ask for a transfer.  Then he waits til I put in my very last dime and heaves his beefy arm over to push the button.  He makes such a display of inconvenience in this act of moving his arm six inches to push a button.

(This one too.)

Even though it was 73F outside, today he had the heat running full blast.  Besides making the temperature extremely uncomfortable, the bus smelled like a combination of a U-Haul full of unwashed Mexicans and urine.  Halfway through the ride, a guy came on and sat down next to me reeking of cheap cologne.  You know the kind, the $2.00 cheap spritzers they buy by the caseload at the Family Dollar.  At that point, I actually considered getting off and walking the seven miles to my next stop. Just for some fresh air. Except, if I had, I would have missed the guy getting on at the next stop.

I have to say, most of the normal folk that get on the busses would be weirdos in other cities.  In two years, I've gotten used to them and barely raise an eyebrow anymore.  Full body tattoos, body piercings and enough metal to supply ammunition for a small war.

Riding the bus, I have my earbuds in with music blaring and only look up from my knitting long enough to figure how much longer til my stop.  The guy that got on was enough for me to look up from my knitting with rapt attention.  He looked normal enough with a t-shirt and shorts.  Too clean to be a homeless guy.  He carried three large duffle bags, two back packs, a brief case and what really caught my attention was what looked like a nylon rifle case.

He sat down and proceeded to arrange the overstuffed bags on the seats and floor around them.  Then he laid what looked like a rifle bag across his lap.  This really didn't seem too odd, as this is the conceal and carry state.  It's said, they issue side arms as you cross the boarder into the state.  What concerned me was when he began to unzip it and pull a wooden item that at seemed at first, to be shaped like a rifle.

Well crap, I thought, this guy sitting directly across from me is about to open fire on the bus.  There certainly wouldn't be any help coming from the bus driver who had a hard time moving his beefy arm six inches and push a button.

It ended up being a small square body mandolin.  It appeared to be homemade. The man then proceeded to pull out a tuner, tune it then carefully polish it. Relieved, I returned to my knitting.

Duane got to watch his Bears win on the TeeVee, this put him in a good mood.  He asked me to take a picture of him in his Bears gear next to the grill.  For those interested, he made barbequed buffalo ribs, barbequed pork roast, homemade German potato salad and applesauce.

This my Wednesday on a Monday.  It doesn't bode well.  The weatherman is calling for rain.

Try to have a good day, even if it is a Monday.

I'll Never Look At Broccoli The Same Way Again

Some of you may have realized from my previous posts that I live in a mental asylum.  I wasn't aware of this when we first moved in.  It looked rather like a late 40's early 50's style motel.  Lots of inmates have come and gone in the year and half that I've been here.  My first realization this was the nuthouse was when I met Ravioli Lady and her Psycho son.  I should have been keeping my blog back then, they would have provided lots of blog fodder.  There has been dozens of other cast of characters which I may use to write about at some point as the mood suits me.

Today, I will write about the strange man that lives upstairs and across the way.  It's ok, I'm the only one in this place he will talk to. It's not like my two neighbors who are on my FB will tell him. He moved in while Duane was in the hospital this past winter.  I first noticed him when I came home late at night.  He had his window open with his head stuck out looking up and down the cat walk like he was afraid someone might be coming for him at any moment.  When he saw me or anyone, he ducked back inside and slammed the window.

Weird guy looks and walks just like Michael Stivic on All In The Family.  If Mike did way too many drugs in the 60's and fried his brains out.

One night, after Duane came back home, I was standing out on my patio.  The guy comes out and asks me if I have the time.  I said, I needed to go in and look at the clock.  He said, I'll come down.  I wonder why he needed to come down for me to tell him the time.  When I came back out he was standing on my patio.  I told him the time.

Him: "I just wanted to make sure the time was right on my new phone."

Me. "Ok" (meaning I gave you the time, now go away.)

Him "I moved here a few months ago."

Me "Yes, I know."

Him "My old lady kicked me out."  He moved closer and I could smell the booze on his breath.

Me: "I'm sorry."

Him "Your real nice."

Me "I need to go inside and do something for my husband now."

A couple weeks later, we had the boarder staying us.  He went outside to smoke a cigarette.  I went out on the patio and saw he and the weird guy sitting next to each other on my planter having a conversation.  I thought they made a great pair.  Not wanting another encounter, I made an excuse and went back inside.  A few minutes later the boarder comes in.

Him: "Denise, you should have told me he was weird."

Me "You two seemed to be getting along."

Him "He was really weird.  Next time warn me about something like that."

Me "What am I supposed to do?  Say back away from the weirdo while your right next to him having a conversation."

Him "Next time warn me.  Say something like, Broccoli! Broccoli!"

Me "Broccoli is the code word for weirdo. Check.....  Hey Duane.  Broccoli! Broccoli!"

Boarder didn't think that was funny.  He's a sensitive guy and can't laugh at himself.  I regularly poke him for my amusement.  I'm not really a nice lady, it's just a costume I wear to fool people.

One day Duane and I are sitting on the patio when weird guys walks down the cat walk to his apartment.  He was wearing a green sweatsuit.

I say, "That's broccoli."

 Duane says, "Yes, I can see that.  He even dresses like broccoli."

I just can't look at broccoli on my plate the same way ever again.

Happy Sunday Everyone!

Saturday Catnip

Feeling pretty tired from my two days off.  Yet, I go back to work for another five day run of 5 mile walks and answering 350 calls a day.  I have Thanksgiving and Black Friday off.  I put in for PTO for those two days hoping I would have either Tuesday and Wednesday or Saturday and Sunday as my regular days and thus four days in a row off.  No such luck.  I just get the two.

Today, I give you pictures of the cats with the catnip I bought them last month.  The problem was, I couldn't let it grow inside, because the following happened.  If I took it outside, the same would happen with the neighbors' cats.

Bootsie, what do you have there?

Catnip!!!

You don't lick it, you bite it like this.

Hey, what do you two have there?

Happy Saturday everyone.  Think of me sitting in the call center today.

Fiber Arts and Foto Friday

A certain feline took offence to me calling them lazy in Wednesday's post, so this is what I woke up to this morning.  Out of my work bag.  No that is not the culprit.  That is the tattle tale.

This is our culprit.  Ms. Bootsie Bitey, formerly of the Scottsville Biteys, aka Yarn Hoarder with a refined taste in only the best yarns.  Silk and cashmere needs to be kept under lock, key.....

with an armed guard.

Yesterday, I cleaned the living room area in the morning.  The refrigerator guy came and fixed the fridge.  He and the manager tried to blame us, that we didn't know how to use a refrigerator.  It was some Freon thingie that was faulty.  Duane knows what it is. But yeah, we are 45 and 50 years and don't know how to use a refrigerator.  I never had one break down on me until we moved here.  I've lived in apartments for ten years at a stretch and never a problem.  We will be looking for a new place to live, probably after the holidays.  I wanted to wait until we had enough for a down payment on a house, but this place is becoming undo-able.

His new case manager came to meet us and do the the three month evaluation.  He's on a new medical plan and this one has a Dr. that does house visits.  A Dr. who make house calls, that's pretty cool.  We didn't like the new Dr. he was seeing at the clinic, so we agreed to change.  Because she is new to us, she's keeping everything else the same.  I'm still his caregiver.

Remember the sweater I showed you on Wednesday?  It now looks like this.  I'll give you all a moment to get over the cringing.

I measured it yesterday and it was two inches wider than I wanted.  Since, I was afraid of running out of yarn, I decided to rip it out and restart the smaller size.  Hopefully, I won't have to spin more yarn doing this. I really don't have time to spin more, when you consider I'm away from the house twelve hours a day.  Exhausted from all the walking.  Plus, most of the housework, running errands on my days off.  I will re-cast-on tonight in time for the bus in the morning.

Last night, I worked on the first pattern repeat of the Bellevue Cardigan.  I'm using Knit One Crochet Too, merino/silk fingering in teal.  Once I get past the pattern stitches and into the stockinette, I can add that to the bus knitting rotation.

Foto of the week:  My rose bush must have felt bad about Sunday.  Yesterday I noticed this little bud had shot out the side at the bottom.  I hadn't noticed it there before.  Then again, I've been tres busy lately.  I'm hoping when my friend comes to take us to do our errands she will stop at Lowes so I can get supplies to make a sign for my planter.  "Keep your damn hands off MY plants!"

My day includes, running all the errands, the weeks laundry and vacuuming the bedroom.  If I can muster the energy, I might spin for a bit tonight.

Happy Friday for you.  This is my Sunday and tomorrow is my Monday on a Saturday.

Going All Splodey In The Mental Asylum

I made it, six straight days of work and mostly walking four to five miles a day.  I'm so exhausted, I'm just a bundle of nerves. It's like being hyped up on the world's strongest expresso.  Luckily, my co-worker gave me a ride to the bus stop tonight since we were getting out at the same time.

Everything in the refrigerator is spoiled.  The freezer thankfully is working.  Duane contacted the manager twice and still hadn't heard anything by the time I got home at 7pm.  I marched over there and exploded about everything.  Including my flowers, and how it's crap, that I'm trying to make the place look better.  However, the trash he rents to destroys it.  He said he will send out notices to the tenants to leave the stuff on people's patios alone.

Duane still isn't feeling well, even with the new air condenser. I'm really getting concerned.  Anyway, I went up and got McDonald's for dinner.  I walked the quarter mile up and then back again so fast, he thought I ran.

We got rid of the meth addicts above us last month.  This month, I believe we have a herd of St. Bernards wearing Dutch wooden shoes, up there.  The constant stomping over head is beyond annoying.  Duane was saying he was about to go up there and say something.  Without saying a word, I jumped up and stomped to the upstairs apartment.  Being it was the first time, I was rather nice to the mother.  She said, it's their first time in an apartment and she'd been trying to tell the children.

When I walked back to my apartment, I noticed a child's face peering out from between the blinds, looking down at me.  I gave him my "you better cut the crap" glare.  The one my daughter will tell you can put the fear of me, in people.

I walked back in the door, looked at Duane and said, "Is there anyone else you would like to sic me on, while I'm still up?"

"Damn woman, your like a guided missile tonight."

"I'm so stressed, I just want to go all splodey on someone.  Point me in the direction of someone you don't like."

Really blurry action shot.

That's when I noticed Ms. Bootsie Bitey, formerly of the Scottsville Biteys, stretched across the back of my rocking chair with her "this sucks" expression on.  (Please note, I realized I should have said, formerly of Rochester, Scottsville and Syracuse since we  moved to Tucson. Forgive me, I'm just a bit tired.)

"What do you say, Ms. Bootsie Bitey, formerly of the Scottsville Biteys, if you and me go out and go all splodey on someone.  I'll even let you use the tazer."

D: "Wow, that's quite an honor Bootsie.  Mom's going to let you use the tazer."

"Well, yeah.  Imagine the guy we encounter when he talks to the cops.  'You won't believe this officer.  It was a little lady, with long grey hair, walking her cat.  All of sudden, the cat pulled out a tazer and tazed me."

D: "Officer,  it was Pink!  Plus, the cat pulled the tazer out of her butt. Not only was I tazed by a cat, but I have cat butt all over me."

It's especially funny when you think about the drunk thugs we have wandering the neighborhood late at night.

Mom wears this expression too.

I have the next two days off and a ton of stuff to do, so it's not like I'm going to get to rest or anything like that.  The saving grace is that I won't have to answer 350 calls a day.  Imagine saying, "This is pharmacy technician Denise. How may I help you?"  or some variation of one of the four different questions I have to use depending on what the computer tells me that the call is about, 350 times in an 8 hour period.  Sometimes, I get so over-stimulated my brain farts, then my tongue trips over itself and I say a combination of all four questions at once. Which makes absolutely no sense.  About a third of those calls are angry people screaming at me.

I just noticed that Ms. Bootsie has put on her cat prowling suit.  It's time to go.  We'll let you know of our exploits when we get back.  If there is someone you don't like, send them my way.  Ask them if they're feeling lucky.

Happy Thursday everyone.

WIP Wednesday

Happy Friday!!! It might be Wednesday for you, it's a much deserved Friday for me. This week, I'm sorry but I haven't been pretending to knit very much.  I don't know what the cats have been doing, but sure isn't knitting.

Wow, this picture looks like more progress was made than it does in real life.  I'm halfway through the waist decreases and half-way through the first ball of yarn.  I'm rather concerned I might not have enough yarn and will have to order some more bfl/silk to spin for the sleeves.  When I'll get around to spinning that, who knows.

I tried teaching the cats how to spin last year, but it all ended in a hot mess.

A little progress was made on the granny ripple last night.  After a row or two, I started dozing off in my chair, even with all eighteen tweeters going all at once.  I went to bed and the cats took to do whatever it is they do while I'm sleeping.

Duane slept through most of the night finally.  He woke at 4:30 am and Ms. Bright Eyes decided I needed to up as well.  Instead of holding road races with her cohorts, she sat next to my head and patted me on the shoulder every ten minutes.  Until, I finally gave up and got up fifteen minutes before the alarm went off.

Pearl offered to send Liza Bean Bitey (of the Minneapolis Biteys), over to have a talk with my unruly kitties.  After seeing this post about Liza Bean Bitey, I think she and Bright Eyes might head out to the patio to share a pack Virginia Slims and a Gin and Tonic.  Which would be ok, as long as Liza Bean keeps her occupied between four and six am so I can get some sleep.

There is an uncanny similarity between Liza Bean and Ms. Bright Eyes.

Now, for a cute story to distract you from the lack of knitting content this week. (Damn lazy cats.)  A few nights ago, I was perusing Pearl's cat posts while waiting for my pictures to upload.  Afterward, I went into the office to find Ms. Bootsie, (the tuxedo cat in the above picture) had attached herself to Duane's arm with her mouth.

D: "I was just petting her and she became over-excited and started biting me."

Me: "I think she may be a Bitey.  Probably not any relation to the Minneapolis Biteys, though.."

That's when I sat there and came up with names for everyone.  Bootsie Bitey, of the Scottsville Biteys.  She and her sister Tennessee Bitey, also of the Scottsville Biteys, came to us via the manager of the pizza shop, I worked at.  Their mother, big and pregnant, had been dropped in his driveway early one morning.

Butterscotch "Bubba" Stinky, (of the Rochester Stinkys) was born in my closet on a hot Memorial Day, when the AC had broken down.

His daughter, my familiar, is Bright Eyes Demanding, (of the Rochester Demandings) born in the middle of my living room one hot fourth of July.  The AC was working that day. She has made herself spokeswoman of the group.

We have Dammit "Bunny" Chewer, of the Rochester Chewers.  He came to us via the Pet Saver, family owned pet shop.  As we all know, he has a love of Led Zeppelin and will chew on the carpet to get his way.

Nippit "The furious" Disapproving, of the Syracuse Disapprovings.  She comes from a long line of award  champion Dissaprovings.

Betty Timid, of the Rochester Timids.  She came to us from another family owned pet store under false pretenses.  They said she was a purebred Netherland Dwarf and charged us twenty dollars more for the purebred.  After a few weeks, it was quite obvious she is a mixed breed and verified as such by our bunny vet.  We still love her anyway.

Finally, we the Tweeters, of the Rochester Tweeters.  The five came to us from various pet stores around Rochester, NY.  (Do I have to name them all?)  Anyway, after relocating to Tucson, they decided to open their own Chapter of Tucson Tweeters, hatching 13 more to the group.  Until somebody got smart and took the breeding house away.

Finally, we have Henry the Hateful Hummingbird, of the Tucson Hateful Hummingbirds.  Who came to us from who knows where.  One has to be careful when out on the patio, as he may put an eye out.  Where was he when my flowers were stolen?  Henry has been up to more antics which I will post about soon.

My reputation with animals is getting around town.  This little sparrow took up residence under the picnic bench at work on this past rainy Sunday.  He was out there today.  I fed him a bit of my stale danish, which a brown crow stole from him.  So, I gave him a couple more pieces.

Our refrigerator is going on the fritz.  Yes, the newest refurbished one.  It was freezing the refrigerator stuff. The freezer is still freezing, but now the refrigerator part is very warm.  While writing this post the internet went out and I'm sitting here waiting for it come back up.  Must be a large outage because when I called to report it, the recording said they didn't have time to take my call.

It never ends around here does it?  Excuse me, Life, I don't need so much new material to blog about.  I have plenty of old stuff I could write about.  Like how I live in a mental asylum.  Surely, you were figuring as much.


For more WIPS by people who actually work on them go to Tami's Amis.

I'm So Over It

Thanks to all you who stopped by and commiserated with me over my flowers.  My motto today is, "I'm so over it."  Today was better because it was only partly cloudy.  Work was tiring.  My stats showed I had taken 310 calls by 45 minutes before I left.  I will get my actual stats tomorrow.  The cranky customers that wanted to argue with me.  "I'm so over it."

I didn't sleep well last night, then my cat Bright Eyes woke me up holding road races on the bed, 15 minutes before the alarm was to go off. Over it.

Came home and Duane was asleep, because he's still not sleeping at night.  Not sleeping well during the day either.  I had to make my own coffee.  Over it.

That's the view I saw of the mountains to the north when I left work tonight at 5:15.  Within ten minutes it's getting dark on my walk.

Simply breath taking the short few minutes it lasted.

I don't know if it was the kids who took my flowers.  It's all circumstantial evidence.  No sense in saying anything to anyone anyway.  If they cared, it wouldn't have happened in the first place.  It's why Cookie and I are comrades in hating people.  Umm, still not over it.  If I ever catch someone messing with my plants, I'm going to go all Rochester on them.  (You would understand if you're from Rochester, NY or personally know someone from Rochester.)

I made it through my second Wednesday.  I'm over it.  Two more days to go then I get two days to be equally as busy at home.  Over it.

Having pot pie for dinner, then I think I work a little on the granny ripple afghan.  Put the damn cats in straight jackets and hope for a good nights sleep.

Happy Thursday, I mean Tuesday everyone.  Yeah, I forget what day of the week it's supposed to be.  I'm so over it.