The Icy Cold is NOT My Friend

Do you ever get to the point in where maybe you've gotten too used to writing for an audience?

I was writing an email last night when I realized, as I was hitting send, that I used a bit of my "blogger voice" in it. You know, where you start relating a story and you just GO with it in the style of your blogging persona? This isn't such a big deal with me as I have no "blogging persona" per se, but like a good student of writing, I always keep my audience foremost in my thoughts as I write. An audience of one friend of 10 years is a little different that the invisible internet friends of a few months/a little over a year are.

I don't know if I'm going anywhere with the above, but I just thought I'd share. It's New Year's Eve after all! Like xmas I'm sure my "audience" will have dwindled significantly. And no, I don't want a "Mouseketeer Roll Call" to find out the exact numbers...I know this isn't a popularity contest or anything, but I know I'm not all that popular.

Anyhow, I have been sorely remiss in my blogging duties as I had a bit of a Carpal Tunnel scare. I awoke the other night, in the middle of the night, to pains like you wouldn't believe along the inside of my forearm. I was in the middle of pulling blankets over me in my sleep. This happened ALL NIGHT LONG, as I am quite a fidgetty sleeper, it would seem.

So I kinda slowed down on everything I do that involves my thumb and repetitive motions...blogging and emailing are pretty high up on that list. As well as all the data entry I've been doing at my recent assignment...I chose a mountain of filing instead. Everyone was happy.

After doing far too much internet reading and speaking with my Hana'i mom in Hawai'i I realized it just isn't following the usual CT agenda. So it must have a WHOLE lot to do with the fact the I fall, A LOT. I mean it. Just the other day I got to fall downhill on a rather icky sidewalk in downtown Seattle. Fun times. I smashed both my knees and my left hand, but my right one was holing a tall mocha and somehow I saved it. I think I know how, now. I think I may have "bounced" on my wrist and torn my already iffy tendon, again.

I'm used to having a little pain in my wrist since I was involved in a pretty bad bicycle accident back in Hilo, HI when I was on my way to sign my divorce papers. (Coincidence? Yes, completely.) The wrist and a bump on my hip that makes its presence known whenever I try to buy pants (urgh), are what keep the bitter high in my tactless heart.

Anyway, so the other morning the whole "old hurts + icy cold weather DO NOT MIX" mantra/jokes that I'd heard in old cartoons and stories growing up truly hit home. I did not fall as I "skated" to the bus stop, but by end of my wait for the bus...say 10 minutes, my shin (busted after river rafting 15 years ago), my knees (thank you 6 years of fencing and a lifetime of smashing them on concrete), ankle (strained to within snapping distance, but saved by a birkenstock 9 years ago), the aforementioned hip and wrist were BOTHERING me to the point of my limping to the happy warmth of the office.

The warmth and multiple applications of my hot tea mug on the joints in question made the bad pains go away...except for that buggy wrist/tendon electric shock feeling every time I try to do anything beyond the stiff-wristed norm. So I've gone out and bought the big guns:

No more simple ace bandages for me! urgh. But I can't complain, much. It really is working. I hate getting old...I've done far too much damage to myself for this to be a pleasant experience from here on out. My last tendon escapade lasted about 4 months before I could pretend to be semi-kinda-okay...Who knows how long this one will take.

Okay, I've exceeded my comfortable typing experience.

Happy New Year everyone!

Let's all be safe out there tonight. I'm planning on plopping myself down on my friends' couch and eating Pozole and sipping Champagne, cuz that's how we roll at casa de Tactless.

We Don't Need No Stinkin' Glasses...

So if there are way too many funky errors in this post, it's because my "eyes," that wonderful combination of plastic and metal, are somewhere else, and it's too early for me to go turning on all the lights and doing a thorough search.

It is simply amazing how much I can do without my eyes. Training for later life? Let's not go there.


So Xmas...spent the eve in Kent. Had yummy tamales and champurado (think an uber-thick hot chocolate...made thick from the corn masa you mix with the milk).

I have been inundated with Hello Kitty this year! I don't think I've ever owned this much pink as an adult! I'm not complaining. Badtz Maru might be a wee bit jealous that he has to share space with the kitty, but yeah, they don't make Badtz slippers, mugs, license plate covers, note pads, magnets...I'm missing stuff but yeah, I mentioned the early thing.

I'm not linking this morning either, sorry, it's all the squinting, but maybe you remember me hoping my brother's MONSTRO hat would be big enough?

It's not.

Disappointed is an understatement.

I'm either waiting for the hat to come back, or the measurements my mom said she would take and I'll have another stab at it with the leftover yarn. I'm hoping the original comes back...I don't have enough to make a whole new one in the same color scheme, and I don't really have the gumption to travel up to the yarn store where I first found the Dalegarn as it is no longer all that close to me...it used to be on my way to/from my receptionist assignment...that would be completely opposite of where I travel now.

Complain, complain, complain, sorry.

Here, I'll leave you with this little bit of "6 degrees of separation." Well, more like 39 or so as my Best Friend From High School (the acronym made it look like "boyfriend") has dropped off the face of the earth again...she tends to do this every once in a while...ANYHOW, her husband/his company does the sound/score for Battlestar Galactica. No lie. It gives me goosehives :).

My Gift to You, Merry Xmas!

May I have a small container of coffee?

I'm "it." Beth tagged me:

THE RULES:
Each player of this game starts with the 6 weird things about you. People who get tagged need to write a blog post of their own 6 weird things as well as state this rule clearly. In the end, you need to choose 6 people to be tagged and list their names. Don't forget to leave a comment that says "you are tagged" in their comments and tell them to read your blog...

hmmm 6 weird things!?! Hmmm well, I'm sure people who know me would agree that there are far more than 6 that I could share...but what HAVEN'T I shared already?

I joke a lot about my "OCD" behaviors...but if I were much worse, I'd be on medication, seriously. As I haven't gone into much detail about such issues, I'll start there and see what other weird things come up to the forefront:
1. I don't have to have anything super neat or anything, Andy can attest first hand about that one, but numbers are very important to me. Today's blog title is a mnemonic for pi (3.1415926).

2. 5s are my favorite. I spread my hat decreases over 5 rows, I stretch out my fingers and make sure I can "feel" all five digits, I set my alarm in 5 minute increments. 4's are okay as long as they are easily divisible by 6...just ask my mom's latest socks. Multiples of 3 I don't like so much, especially after 15. I avoid them as much as possible.

3. I can make most numbers "work" for me, as long as they live somewhere on the 1-12 pee-chee-multiplication-table-world that I've constructed in my head. I might not like certain areas of the table, but the numbers therein don't stop my daily existence or anything. Once outside off that box though...uhhh, it's hard.

Enough about the numbers...they're making me antsy now.
4. I am the great "locator of things" in the house. Ask me where anything is, AS LONG AS IT'S NOT MINE, I can tell you. I have absolutely NO CLUE where my keys are most of the time. Or my wallet, checkbook, passport, cell phone...head.

5. When frustrated or far too excited, I "lose" the language I'm speaking in and fill in the blank with my "second." Sometimes it's just a word; others, and this is bad, the ENTIRE phrase I'm aiming for. (i.e. when conversing with my mother the other night, in Spanish, I could not for the life of me remember how to say "package," in Spanish. You know, like, "has the package I sent down for your grandchildren arrived?" (Ha llegado el um, aahhh, package para tus nietos?) Or at work, um, today? Computer = blank. But computadora was right there to take it's place. As in, "The ummm computadora won't load lotus notes." ) This has always been the case, but I was much better at catching myself before inserting the odd word out---at least in English--when I was younger. Sometimes it sounded like I was getting my "latina" on as a heavily accented word might slip out. Now? Umm, no se. Either I just don't care anymore, or I just assume everyone will catch what I mean in context.

6. I have to know "why." If something is broken, the bus is late, dinner is burned, I'm bugging someone, someone is bugging me, a dog is howling, the mail didn't show up, someone who said they would call didn't, etc, and so forth, I must know WHY. There has to be a reason, even if I have to come up with something myself. Most of the time I tend to share these theories out loud, "Maybe he got stuck in traffic." Especially the ones I have absolutely no control over, "Mother nature hates me!" Or the now ubiquitous, "You don't like me!" being bantered about Casa de Tactless for every little thing. Yes, I am annoying and I don't know why people put up with me...but I'll come up with a reason if they don't tell me.

I am very bad at tagging for an infinite number of reasons. But right now, at this time of year when everyone will be busy with family and craziness? I say if you had time to read this entry, then you're "it!" (Well, only if you want to be.) Leave a comment or email me if you do post a "weirdness" post so I can go stalk you :).

I am the Midnight Blogger What Posts at Midnight!

With apologies to super evil villans out there, you know who you are :).

I might be on a T.S. Elliot kick...behold, my latest find to share with the world:

:) Do I Dare to Eat a Peach*, Baby?

Your Famous Last Words Will Be:

"I dunno, press the button and find out."

What Will Your Famous Last Words Be?

* The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, by T. S. Elliot.

Reprieve! And Storm News

Okay, so my mom is happy to get her gift by the Epiphany/Noche Buena/
12th Night, or January 6th for those whose xmases end with the 25th
of December.

I am not a fast knitter. Nope, no way, no how. I planned on only
one knitted item this winter, socks for mom. Then some hats for
others, a scarf or three, and a couple of stockings kinda fell into
the lineup...Oopsie?

Well, I do have one finished sock. As soon as my grocery store
regains power (maybe you all read/heard about the massive wind/rain
storm we just had?) I'm off to find the tea part of her gift. There
must always be tea in my mom's gift. This is now a given.

So, yeah, the storm.
I hear there was much damage and much loss of electricity. During
the massive part of the wind storm, our plastic shed-where the
lawnmower lives-discombubilated, but Andy has since fixed it. No
trees fell, and we only lost power for a couple hours, maybe between
2 and 4 AM. I know, I was woken by the plastic shed at 2 AM. Then
when all was settling back down we all heard these immense popping
noises and it got really dark outside. REALLY dark outside.

By 5 AM, however, the power was back on and I didn't really think
much of anything...I was too much of a zombie girl for the first half
of the day, except for the quiet. The wind had been buffeting
Seattle for about three days prior to all hell breaking loose, so the
quiet was a little weird. Almost, but not quite like pulling into a
quiet anchorage after 10 days of rough weather and big slaloming
waves on the way to Hawai'i from Mexico (the first 19 days were a snap).

Downtown had all it's lights on, and I figured all went well. By
9:30 I was amazed my mom hadn't left 10,000 messages, what with the
death and destruction that had been reported! Mostly by car radio, I
heard, seeing as most people didn't have power for their TVs and the
paper did not get printed since they had no power there either.
People wandered in far more dazed and confused than I was as they had
to battle trees to get to their smashed vehicles and wade through
ginormous puddles to get to taxis or busses.

Andy and I made the big mistake of going out to try to get food, or
at least groceries last night. That's when we saw just how many
parts of our area were still quite dark and spooky. Not to mention
where all the nice houses with the really nice decorations are!
Let's just say there was a bit of traffic and 1.5 hour waits at every
restaurant we tried. Frozen pizza and netflix to the rescue!

Some Stuff

Done!

Hats for the hat wearers of the OB clan.
Specs:
Made from Dalegarn Falk Using wild and varied combinations of "farges" 0020, 4203, 5224, 4246, 4516, 0090, and 00007
Needles: US 3 DPNs
Pattern: Clubbed together after finding out my brother's head is ginormous! (He now reads my blog every once in a while, hey Alfred, how's it?!?) So I cast on enough on the "Monstro" hat to go around his 25"s of circumference...I hope it fits, I really do. Then I did some ribbing for about 5 or 6 rounds and went plain stockingette for the boy hats with the color changes.

I really like my the way my nephew's hat came out and was wondering why I liked it so much, then I went to slip my vans on and I swear I did not plan it. Now if my bro and SIL were to get little B a pair of vans to match his hat? Well, that would be too cool for school, I think. But what do I know, I went into Hot Topic yesterday for some exploratory gift idea-gathering for my lil' bro's gift and could not get over the fact that A) The whole store is an homage to "The Nightmare Before Xmas" and "Pirates" and B) Tinkerbell is a goth!

My niece's hat was very experimental. I think I've blogged enough about the pain and suffering I went through to get the colors and slipped stitches in just the right places. Following Murphy's Knitting Laws, of course it will be too small for her and/or she will hate it. Whatever, it's out of my hands, la la la. I'll have them bribe her with candy so they take ONE picture with the thing on and I will be happy.

So this year, instead of trying to make some fabric stockings to stuff the little hats in (sorry Alfred, I don't have the time or patience to make one big enough for YOUR hat), I knitted something up:

I wish I'd thought to double up the yarn, or make them bigger...but then I'd probably still be knitting them instead of trying to figure out the hows and whens of packaging and mailing these things off before the children outgrow the hats and the stocking season is over :).

How Can I Stalk You If You Won't Cooperate!

People, people, people! Update your websites and live journals! Come ooon! (okay, maybe a bit too whiney, but I'm exhausted....rum dummy even.) How else can I fulfill my need to know all about you and your daily doings, if you don't write anything anymore!

So hard to be a stalker lately, sheesh.

To all my blogging family and friends out there who do post more than monthly, thank you. I have no life and must find a way to live vicariously through you. Yarn only goes so far, you know? What's really sad is, well, I really and truly doubt that I'll get any response from those I'm trying to stalk...I mean, well, unless they're stalking me back :).

***

I was supposed to be hangin' with Tim and Andy and waiting for 10 PM to go see "The Fountain," but that's not gonna happen. I was falling asleep into my Palak Paneer Masala... It's not even 8 PM and all I can think about is how much I desperately need to, um, inspect the insides of my eyelids, you know, for holes, yes, that's it. I can not believe how exhausted I feel. My goal is to stay up as long as possible so I don't go waking up at 3 AM, you know, ready for the day to begin and all. That's what comes of doing that work thing, bleh.

Speaking of work, I have so little to complain about, truly. My commute is so easy! One bus, no more than 15 minutes worth of commuting, thus far, even in traffic. The hard part is waiting for it to show up...it's cold, damp, and dark out--both morning and evening. The assignment has lots of tedious, repetitive work, but it's MUCH better than sitting there and doing nothing/answering telemarketing calls/same difference. I'm learning loads. It's all very boring unless you're into accounting and stuff, which I kinda was, once upon a time. It's experience, that's for sure. Though it's not too stable. The company is transnational and moving all financial stuff to the head office (out of state) sometime next year. That's okay, I don't know if I want to make AP a career...

I can feel the building move though...I've invested in some ginger candy, from the Ginger People. 40 floors...and I'm only part-way up. I've been told I just have to go up to the 70th and check out the observation deck. Heh, um, no, thank you. Really. Eep. I get quite enough of a view from two of the three desks I work from...I'm the um, modular helper, or something.

Okay, must go pass out.

OH! Hey you blogger folks, before forget, anyone tried the "new" blogger? I want to know if it really is as "ready for me" as they're saying on the sign-in page. Thanks!

The Unfriendly Side of 5 AM

Aside from traveling to far off exotic places, the only thing that gets me out of bed so early now-a-days is, yes, you guessed it, MONEY. I start a new temp. gig today. Waiting was a good thing, I guess. (I hope.)

I'll be some assistant's assistant...I actually am not sure what all my assignment entails until I get there, but it takes place in the accounting dept. of "big corporation." I'll be on the 40th floor of some huge building downtown. Yes, that's right, 40th. Have I ever mentioned I'm not all that good with heights? Fun times, oh yeah.

Anyhow, I've been super bad about embarrassing friends and family with this lately, but I actually remembered this one...it's cuz of little xmas, and he knows it:

Happy Birthday Thane!

St Nick's Day!

As others have adopted Wednesdays for posts of the "random/WTwhatever/and such" variety I thought I'd post about a random holiday... or at least not too well known.

HAPPY St. Nicholas Day!

Maybe better known as "Little Christmas," or celebrated on the 7th instead, this is one of my favorite days in the whole xmas cycle because boys and girls? It really is all about the gifts today/tonight/whenever. Seriously, you can't have a tree and decorations being put up all the way back in November and NOT have some reward for the kids for not whining too much and trying their Calvin & Hobbes best to be oh so good for Santie Clause (it's the way I always thought it should be spelled) without a break! So bust out the stocking, treats and/or healthy snacks for the kids and pat them on the head to tell 'em they're doing well...

For those determined to educate themselves about said random holiday, go here.

Tuesday Already?

I feel like I've misplaced a day somewhere. Maybe I dropped it on the way in with the groceries. Maybe it was the wretched night of sleep I had... When too many things are rolling around in your brain, how are we expected to turn it all off to get some sleep? I could have easily stayed up all night and been zombie girl this morning...but I had some stuff to deal with that needed my undivided attention.

Remember my brand new car?
The one I've only made ONE payment on?
The one that HAD NOT NEEDED a trip to the body shop before last night?

Tim, this is how I vent, I'm sorry. I promise I'll be the old me when next you see me...that is, if you even bother to read my blog anymore...just in case :).

So last night I think Andy's realtor-guy cursed me. If I was my dad, I'd totally go on and on about this because he is a believer, I seem to be agnostic in all things... But the guy kept going on and on about my new car and how fancy, and it's a "Matrix," did you watch the movies... Oh, on the gold team, are you having this tag laminated...etc, and so forth.

So it was bound to happen. The gods heard him, or something. So when Tim came by later to pick up some stuff from the garage... BAM! CRUNCH! (or so I'm imagining, I was upstairs dealing with dishes) His subaru's door decided to rework the lines of my passenger-side door...

Yep. I have a picture on the fischer price cam, but that's still in the back seat of the car...it's not like it's gonna go away before I can snap some more...I got the estimate this morning and my still unnamed car is going in next monday at ohmygodit'searly AM so that it can be a one-day job. I'm actually hoping it will be Tim and Andy delivering .... (need a name) as hopefully I'll have something like, oh I dunno, a JOB to go to...more on that later.

UGH! SO FRUSTRATING!
Andy told me of how he felt when an ex of his crashed his then 3-yr old car...god, if (insert name here) was 3 years old I would not have felt as angry. DID I MENTION I HAVEN'T EVEN MAILED IN THE SECOND PAYMENT! It was a total Homer Simpson, DON'T KILL THE BOY moment! ARGH! Okay, calming down...you really don't want to see me angry. I segregated myself into my little office until everyone left last night... I had hats to work on.

Speaking of which, let me distract everyone with some knitting:
Niece's hat. All done. Blocked. BILLIONS of ends all woven in. Yes, that would be my head. Yes, I hope it fits her too. I finished, but only have a progress picture of my OB's hat:
My SIL and I have the same comment on this one, "boy, this better fit your head, sheesh!"
It still needs blocking, where I will make it come down to my chin, if necessary...we're going for a 9" length, minimum. I'm calling it the "Monstro" hat...you know, from Pinochio?

Okay, the job thing...
They offered me a 90 day gig for not enough money manning the switchboard and "breaking" the receptionist...yes, for less money than I got for the last "90 day" gig as a receptionist that lasted 6 months...This time downtown Seattle, no parking/40 minute bus ride/more than an hour's salary if i pay to park. Can we way urgh again? Am I that desperate for cash? Well, not really, but kinda yes. She said she'd call me back if she couldn't find someone in the next few hours...urgh. What gets me most is that I need to move UP in the experience levels, not down. This is definitely a DOWN...but it's a paycheck...urgh.

I have another hat to deal with, 'scuse me.

Keeping Strangers Warm

So I have this habit of knitting on things while waiting for the computer. I've mentioned this before. Well, I have two FOs to show for my patience:

In one of the many visits to my parents' house (in Southern Cali/East LA) since the knitting bug infected me, I came home with "A Jo-Ann Exclusive!" Sensations Angel Hair. I wasn't sure what I was going to do with it. Images of Dr. Zhivago did dance in my head for the longest time. Then I read, on Beth's blog, about this:

I hope I linked the button above correctly, if not, go here.
In one of those treks through LA I got lost, and ended up on skid row. My friend Richard has this entry about his experience down there. I've got to say I was kinda scared myself.

Well, see, I think I was more afraid of being lost in my mom's car in the city I grew up in than of being in skid row proper. I get lost a whole lot, but for some reason if I'm driving someone else's car? I flip out...really. Otherwise, pre cell phone days, I'd gotten some helpful advice from people of all sorts in the worst of locations in LA when first exploring my confines at the ripe ol' age of 17. That was when I was a kid, usually with a carload of friends, and puttering around in a 66 Mustang that had seen better days. Not only did friends make you brave, and youth invulnerable, but the situation down in skid row really had deteriorated from any of memories, good and bad, of my (ahem) colorful youth.

With that in mind I knit up a scarf (pattern) and hat (pattern) to add to the project above. It might be "muppet" fur, but I was so surprised as to how warm and comfy both the hat and scarf are. I find it fitting that I took their picture in the snow. I can still see Laura wearing that hat through the Russian Tundra...or something. (Dr. Z is one we gave my mom eons ago, back when vhs tapes were the rage, and I think she and I watched it maybe 5 or 10 times too many?)

So then I heard about this...almost a little too late if you look at the time frame and all:
Again, here if I've messed up.
So I signed up...if you've been knitting for others and didn't know about them, go there, now! The end date is this Sunday when we will let them know what we've been up to. Obviously, this is the entry I'll be sending them to.

Now, back to working on those hats...

ETA at noonish....it seems bloglines isn't my friend either. I join the masses that have not been picked up by the rss/atomfeed/etc/et al feeder. le sigh.