Tweaking. Again.

Title says it all. That gray line bugged the bejeezus outta me...

Update: Still not 100% happy. This layout looked so much nicer when I orginally designed it for WordPress. *Sigh* The gray line is gone, but I want the space between the girl's shoulders and sidebar "body" to be together.

Change of plans

The yarn shops didn't happen yesterday. I spent most of the morning screwing around with this blog layout, trying unsuccessfully to removed the gray line to the left of my chick. It's times like these I wish I hadn't switched to the new Blogger. I miss being able to code manually, and put things exactly where I want them, and dammit, in the size I want them.

I'm really thinking about paying for web hosting again. But that's $100 I could spend on other things. And the Estes Park Wool Market is coming up in June

Sock the First is still going. I hesitate to say anything that may jinx it. But I will say I am already looking at more sock yarn.

I'm tempted to try this stuff, as the fiber intrigues the hell out of me, growing up surrounded by fields of the stuff. And which I can get at MSK. But I really like the colourways in the Socks That Rock Watercolour Waves. I'm especially partial to the Ruby Slippers colourway.

Anyway, better get moving, the kiddo has to be to school early today for a field trip. (This is fun, by the way. She's been ready to go since 6:30 am, haha. Keeping her busy is a challenge.) Ciao!

Updated: Changed link to correct fiber and link for Corntastic, not Maizy.

Have you tried this?!

KnitMap! Thanks to KnitMap I have a new yarn shop, Nanytutu's, to check out today during my wanderings. I want to hit my favourite, My Sister Knits, as well.

The sock thing is going ok. I've frogged it about 4 times, the last on our trip home from my mom's, which sucked and left me with no knitting for the car. Why? Because I have long nails for the first time in years and I use a long tail cast on. This results in bleeding palms. To get 'round this, I've an old sock that I cut the toe out of and a hole in the heel for my thumb. There's just enough fabric that my nails don't bite. And of course my little sock friend was somewhere in the suitcase in the truck of the car and I didn't want to take the time to look through the whole case.

I have to watch my time though, since the kiddo gets out early today. Or at least she would if she ever got ready for school! Sheesh. Better get her moving'. Ciao!

PS. If things start looking wonky later, don't worry. It's just me changing things around. The green is bugging me, lol.

PS jr. Wow. The prices on Istock photo have really gone up. Sorry, but $13 for a single image? Not.

Feeling bitchy

I really dislike this web trend of animated glittery images. I wish it would stop.

I hate when my Warcraft realm is down, and they tell me it's up. It bloody well isn't.

Another thing that I greatly dislike is when some of my favourite blog reads stop blogging. :( I know it is best for them and I wish them well, but I sure do miss them.

I've switched blogs myself several times. Either grown tired of the "persona" or just needed to clear things out. I original blogged under an old game name. Then I switched to blogging under my own name. Until I ran into a harassment issue and decided that being a bit more anonymous was better.

The last blog switch was brought about because I really got the feeling that most of my so-called blog friends... weren't. After years of blogging together, emails and even phone calls, I discovered that most of the web folk I was in contact were too self-interested to care about anyone but themselves. The relationships were great, as long as I was the one supporting them, but turn it the other way around and no one was there.

So I let a few select people know I'd moved and the rest, I poofed on. Sadly, I only actually got two emails from people asking what had happened to my blog (I changed my blog, not my email...). One of those two, I had actually planned on giving the new blog addy, you know who you are ;) The other I just thanked for their email and went on my happy way.

Anyway, enough whinging. I need to go wake up my sick kiddo. We have to go to school today for at least the first hour as we have play practice. I wonder if any of them actually practiced over the holiday? I know mine didn't. Lol.

Lost

If I ever lose my desktop computer I am screwed. I have a password list saved on it and not so honest folks would have a field day. Yeah, not real smart. But I have to say, I am absolutely lost without that list. No Ravelry, because that was the one place that I forgot to update my email, so I can't even get in a change the password.

Blogger I managed after several tries to remember my gmail address, lol. And then this morning I realised that since I am using web mail this trip, I don't even have all the email addresses I need.

But the worst piece of info I don't have with me is the pin number for my unemployment benefits. Some time this week I am supposed to get online and request benefits. Without that pin, I'm so screwed. :(

Ain't technology great??

Geez Louise!

We are leaving for a vacation tomorrow. And so of course our laptop, slated to be keeper of all the vacation pics, decides to go wonky. Everything was fine when we booted up yesterday morning then midway through the day we lost our internet connection and then slowed down to molasses speed.

At first I thought that maybe it was because I had put McAffee on there and the firewall was messing with stuff. So I opened that up. I had also put Spybot S & D on there and I am now wondering if Spybot didn't trash something it should not have. Meanwhile I can't even run McAffee to see if there's something on there that doesn't belong there because it just runs and runs but never fully loads.

*Sigh*

See, the big art of the problem is this computer started off life as my brother in law's. He Rebuilt the bloody thing then loaded it with crap. We've removed a lot of it, but... He'd had some sort of free virus checker, but never had a spyware remover.

So back I go to removal mode.

PS. I've cast on a sock. I would really like to be finished with the cuff before The Harlot starts speaking tonight, which shouldn't be a problem, since I don't life a lot of ribbing and only plan to go about an inch.

The horror!

I'm a coffee addict. Both my husband and I are. So imagine our horror when we popped on the espresso machine yesterday, and all it did was spin, instead of grinding the beans. It had worked fine the day before, and even yesterday morning. But now it just hisses at us.

So online we went, looking for a replacement. Now, our machine is, or rather was, a super automatic espresso machine. Meaning it grinds the exact amount of coffee, tamps it and brews it, all at the touch of a button. Touch another button and the steamer comes on so I can steam my milk.

It cost a lot. But since if you add up the money that we would have spent at Starbucks instead, it paid for itself many, many times over in the nearly 8 years we had it. Think about it. A drink from Starbucks is at least $4.50. I would buy one a day, my husband, 2. That's $13.50 a day. That's $4927 a year. And that's not counting the cost to go out of my way to drive there. I know it sounds crazy, most people would just buy a regular coffee maker or give up their coffee. But I know us. We wouldn't.

When we bought our first espresso machine, I was in the habit of drinking two iced mochas each night after work. That espresso maker paid for itself in under 4 weeks. The next machine we bought was a step up, and made far superior coffee, but my hubby was still buying coffee on the way into work to save time. Espresso Maker Number 2 still paid for itself rather quickly though. Then we bought the Saeco. Since it does everything on it's own even my hubby has time to brew himself 3 shots.

So to make a long story short, a refreshed Saeco is on its way. (No, we didn't pay that much for it, lol).

Why, oh why

can I not find any cute knitting patterns for kids? Not babies and toddlers, but kids! My kiddo is almost 8. Most patterns I have found don't range large enough for her. The idea of knitting a sweater for my kiddo is much less daunting than the idea of knitting something for myself. And I have always done better at things meant for others. Things meant for myself tend to sit ;)

Although, I have to say the scarf I was making for my daughter bored the hell out of me, so it sat too. What can I do with 400 yards of sport weight pink wool that won't bore me to death? Something with cables, maybe.

I need to learn a simple crochet chain. My shawl calls for a provisional cast on, starting with a chain. Eek. And really, I need to learn it anyway, since I made a summer tank for the kiddo that really needs the crochet edge to stabilize the arm bands. There has to be a site somewhere online like knittinghelp.com for crocheting, right? ;)

PS: Have I mentioned that I think it's the coolest thing that Denver is only the 3rd stop on the Yarn Harlot's tour? She travels on the 3rd, too. So hopefully she will actually have some time to see more of Denver than just the airport (with its slightly odd looking Bison art, lol) and The Tattered Cover. Speaking of which, I need to check on Ravelry and see if there are any meet ups planned for the day. Ciao!

Maybe?

I am going to cast on today, really. Well, maybe. ;) It depends on what I really get done today. I know I need to go to the grocery store. But first I need to plan next week's menu.

My scale should arrive today, just in time to portion up all of my ground beef into 1/2 pound packages. I should also portion the chicken breasts as well (2 per package), and get it all in the freezer.

And since I will now have a scale, I need to find my wax and soap stuff, so that I can start making some candles and soap.

The best laid plans...

I really was going to start my shawl today. I have the provisional cast on bookmarked at knittinghelp.com and my needles and pattern out, my yarn all wound into lovely cakes of wool.

But there's a slight flaw in my plan. His name starts with G. He's still laying in my bed, instead of at work. He's staying home to keep me company. Isn't that sweet? ;)

80s Music you're ashamed to love?

So I open up my browser and see on Yahoo, "Ashamed to love '80s music." and a list of 20 songs. Nope. I'm not ashamed to tell you that I knew almost all of them, and liked them too. And I'm not ashamed to say that of VH-1s 100 Greatest Songs of the 80's, I have most of them in my iTunes. In fact, it would probably be easier to count the ones I don't have, since I have over 11 hours of 80s music alone. There's around 20 I don't have that appear on the list. Can you guess which ones?

Let's put it this way... I never liked New Kids, or Michael Jackson. Or any kind of rap. Well, unless you want to talk the Beastie Boys, lol. We all had to fight for our right to party back then, after all, hahahaha.

I loved The Fixx, the boys in Duran Duran were the be all and end all as far as I was concerned (And dammit, Save a Prayer was originally released on Rio, not Arena, boo!). Dr. Noah Drake (Rick Springfield) on General Hospital was one of my first crushes.

I proudly admit, I am a child of the '80s. I came of age in the '80s and I see nothing wrong with liking the music I grew up with ;)

It's Done

But not without casualties, lol. We were trashing some old fixtures that no one wanted to buy, and the entire bloody thing decided to fall over on me. There were boxes behind me on the floor, so I couldn't get out of the way. I'm one long bruise on my right leg, starting with a palm sized one on my thigh and working down to my calf where I've a lovely series of scrapes to go with the bruises.

I was very lucky really. My thought as I went over was, "Well, doesn't this suck. Last day and I'm going to end up with a broken leg." But only my foot got caught under the thing, and it's not even bruised.

So it is done. I had a few weepy moments. Mostly as we all said good bye to one another. I had a few malicious moments, like when hubby and I (I drafted him for the heavy work yesterday, lol) were packing our Piece of Shit registers into the boxes they provided. They are 20 year old pieces of junk that never should have replaced the system we had prior to them. I really thought about just dropping them into the boxes and saying to hell with the peanuts. But they know where we live and the last thing I want is for them to hold my severance because their PoS system was trashed, lol. So I behaved.

Today I am planning the week's menu and getting ready to do some grocery shopping. I'm bidding on a scale on eBay, since my old scale got left behind in the move and if I am going to cook I need it for some recipes and if I am going to eBay again I need it for shipping weights ;)

We need to go to the library in a bit, and then we need to tidy up a bit.

I want to spend the afternoon scrapbooking with the kiddo. I asked my hubby last night to take the old broken bed rails out to the garage (since they are laying across the floor of the spare room, our craft space), but he didn't, so I guess I will just stand them up out of the way for now. All of my planters for my gift baskets and the acorn dishes I bought for container candles need to be put out of the way into the closet for now.

No work

As of Friday afternoon I am officially unemployed.

Saturday the munchkin and I will work on my mom's scrapbook, and hopefully finish that.

Sunday is family day.

But on Monday! Monday, I plan to begin my Flower Basket Shawl to celebrate (see Gilneas' lovely finished shawl here). Sometime before then I do need to go find the pattern and make sure I have needles and such ready to go. I believe that I may drag the shawl along to see The Harlot. Lifeline and hair-tearing, here I come!

I will try to document the life of the shawl here, lol.

I do need to see what I have for soap/ candle supplies as well, so I can make some for my Mother's Day gift baskets. Hmmm, maybe I need to go look at my wholesaler's for scents *g*

Owwwwww

Around 12:30 am yesterday I woke up with the worst ear ache I've had in over 20 years. It kept me up the rest of the night after that, since neither Advil nor Alleve would touch the pain.

Hubby went off to work with the promise of coming home as soon as he could and I little while later I woke the kiddo and we went off to buy a heating pad, cotton balls and over the counter ear drops.

Around 8:30 my ear started popping and the pain increased ten-fold. I called my hubby in tears and told him that when he got home I was going to urgent care because no way in hell could I wait until Monday. He left work right then.

I decided that maybe a shower would help, since my sinuses were pretty stuffed too, and hopped in. I pulled the cotton ball out of my ear to find fresh blood. That moment of seriously nasty evil unbearable pain was when my eardrum ruptured.

I am now on some pretty hefty antibiotics for the sinus crap and to try and avoid anything happening inside my eardrum.

The good news is that after the thing ruptured the pressure was gone and so most of the pain has gone. There's a bit, but the over the counter pain stuff works on it. Between it and the heating pad, I slept most of yesterday.

Unfortunately, that means I didn't do any of the stuff I planned to do yesterday, except return the library books that were due on the way home from the Sam's pharmacy.

No grocery shopping, no house cleaning, no scrapbooking with my daughter (we need to finish my mother's scrapbook, since we are going there over Spring Break). *Sigh*

There has to be an easier way...

A friend gave me a baggie of Amish Friendship Bread Starter. I wish I'd been thinking at the time. I'd have bloody well just baked it that day. Instead, I went through the entire 10 day process, which while not hard, it just a pain, trying to remember what day you are in, haha.

But now I have 3 baggies of starter to give away. I think I shall just give them away with the baking instructions, lol. All the people I know are really busy right now and I can see the starter hitting the trash because of that.

It looks like we will be closing soon. Our store has shrunk to 1/3 its size and the stuff we have left is exactly the stuff I expected we'd have in the end, haha. And some of the prices are just crazy! Hint: If you see a Pfaltzgraff boot planter or watering can on eBay, don't pay a lot. The slob selling them probably paid little to nothing for them ;) Oh, and beware Pfaltzgraff listings on eBay. Check their web site first. A lot of the stuff I see on eBay is going for more than Pfz sells it for!

Now on the other hand, if you see me selling gift baskets made from boots planters, well, then you should certainly buy it, hahaha. You're paying for the gardening goodies inside, after all. The planter is just a bonus. Look for those mid to late April, perfect for Mother's Day.

Hmmmm

The Harlot is coming to Denver again. On Friday, April 4. I will be unemployed by then, so you know what that means... I'm going to Denver ;) Well, Highlands Ranch to be more precise. Yes, there is a difference. Highlands Ranch is on the south side of Denver, which means hitting Denver right about rush hour. Oh happy day. Then again, I will be unemployed, so I could leave early ;) Well, if I could get the hubby to be home early to pick up the munchkin after school, anyway.

I've posted in the Colorado Bloggers group on Ravelry, to see if anyone would be interested in car pooling. I know there are other knitters in my area (Loveland is home to Interweave Press, after all lol).

A need to knit

I have not picked up my needles since the horrifying trip over Vail Pass. I really need to take some quiet time and just sit and knit. I'm going to do a few more plain knit rows, but then I need to start the pattern of hearts. I am thinking I very much just want to do one heart each end. The munchkin won't care, and really, the sooner I finish this scarf the sooner I can start playing with the yarn that has been teasing me for months...

I think this will drive me insane, but I really want to try it.

I also want to try cables. I went to my favourite knitting site, Knittinghelp.com, and watched the video on cables and it doesn't look hard, really. We shall see.

"Bust" Buy strikes again

I'm glad to see someone is finally taking a stand against them.

We bought a computer from them. Once. They talked us into buying the extended warranty. It was an HP. After a while, we started getting messages that warned us of imminent hard drive failure. We were glad at that point we'd shelled out the extra money. It's amazing how similar our story is to that woman's...

We loaded the CPU into the car and headed for the closest store, about 45 minutes away. They boot it up, and there's, of course, no message. Finally after booting it about 5 times, the message appears. OK. We have to send it to the service center in Denver and it will take about 3 - 5 weeks. (Now that I know better, I think, "What?? Three weeks to replace a plug and play hard drive??") But at the time we didn't think anything of it, and after all, we were heading to London for 3 weeks, so it was perfect timing.

We get back and no computer. For the next two weeks we hassled the store. At one point they freely admitted that they had lost it, but never offered us compensation. Finally, we discovered that our computer was in California. It had been placed on the wrong truck and had gone to Cali with a load of computers that were to be recycled.

So. Let's think about this for a second. The original store was in a town that was home to a huge HP plant. HP computer... One would think a hard drive would be easy to get a hold of. But no, we had to send it two hours away to Denver to have it fixed. Yet it ended up even farther away, in CA.

They truck it back to Denver. And we wait again, because it still needs a hard drive. Finally they put the new drive in. It doesn't work. They have to send for a new one. Days later the new one arrives, they put it in. Oh, and by the way, we can't seem to recover the data off your old drive. It's finally ready and they tell us that it will be another week before we can have it back because we've missed the weekly truck back to the original store. WTF??? Give. Me. My. Damned. Computer. BACK!

My hubby and I decided we didn't trust another truck anyway, so he drove down and got it.

I guess we were lucky, they found ours. But this article makes me wonder how many people go through this every year?

We boycotted Best Buy after our computer run in, we continue to do so to this day.

Statistics

Nationwide, foreclosures were up nearly 80% last year. That's scary. In my state, one out of every 314 households had a foreclosure filing. In E's parents' subdivision more than 20 houses were in foreclosure last year.

The housing market has stagnated. You can't drive down a residential street in this city without seeing at least a few houses for sale. The prices keep dropping, but the houses still don't sell. And yet builders are still building new homes. They offer massive incentives to get buyers to buy their new properties, rather than older homes (Older is relative, in some cases the houses are less than a year old). But even new home sales have seriously slowed.

And now the government is talking about helping out. Of course, this being the government, they'll talk the subject to death, while people continue to lose their homes. Too little, too late.

My mortgage payment was almost twice what I'm now paying in rent. So why the hell would I buy again? Not here, anyway. We are talking about moving back east of the Mississippi, where the cost of living is lower and strangely enough, the wages are still comparable! What would it be like I wonder, to be paid the same amount I make now, and have a lot less in bills??

My kiddo asked if she could take gymnastics lessons. I had to say no (you know, that out of a job at the end of March thing). I want to be able to say yes someday....

Moving

Bear with me. I need to spend my spare time packing, rather than playing.

Catch y'all on the flip side.