Too Spooky (I'm Not Ready for Halloween Yet)

I was very troubled tonight to see a house with its yard fully decorated for Halloween. It's more than seven weeks to Halloween! I was driving, so I couldn't study it completely, though I did make out graves and at least one full-size scarecrow figure, but there was a lot more. I thought about going back with my camera to take a picture, but does anyone want to see that on September tenth?

Yet more troubling is that suddenly, the days are shorter. There is no longer sun at my breakfast table, and it's darker earlier. So suddenly, I swear! I truly enjoy autumn, with the crispness to the air, the color in the leaves and the crunch of them underfoot, the taste of apples, and of course the return of hockey season (training camp starts Friday!), but as for what it portends, the season of cold and dark, not so much that part.

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But let me not depress myself. Time for some Q&A! Recent comments have raised a few questions, and let's see if I have any answers:

About the Mazda issue, I haven't talked to the guy yet. I tried calling on Saturday, and he had left for the day. I asked the Young Person who answered the phone what his regular hours were, if he had them, thinking that I would like to know when I would have a hope of reaching him, and after telling me that he is the Customer Service Manager (which I knew, and hi, I'm a customer), she said that he usually comes in around 7A.M. (ugh). Since I am not a morning person, I'd rather not call him before my brain is functioning, so I asked what time he leaves, thinking I could call him after I leave work.

She said she wasn't sure she should give out his schedule. What are they worried about, do you think? I found that rather odd, and even if she thought so it was hardly good customer service to say so outright, but then it hardly surprises me to receive further poor service from them. Certainly, I don't even really want to talk to him that much: he called me. However, I am faintly curious to find out what he'll say, so I guess I'll try to call him on my lunch break. Maybe tomorrow; we'll see.

About the square, I have washed it and tried to get it to want to be bigger, and it really wants to be a nine-inch square, not a ten-inch square. (I would knit a square with a backbone, so to speak, wouldn't I?) On the plus side, Ms. K says send it along, she'll put more of a border around it to make it play nicely with the others. In the words of the South, bless her heart.

Korinthe, the picture you asked about is of Chinese lanterns (thank you, Leslie and Kali!). Pretty, aren't they?

Amy asked how I "earned" my MacGyver (Level One) badge from Cast On. I thought it was funny, actually, that I had done just what they used as an example:

The recipient must demonstrate clever use of a non-knitting tool in a knitting-related scenario. For instance, recipient has used paper clips as stitch markers, or successfully whittled and then utilized bamboo skewers as dpns.

The first one, the first one! I've used paper clips as stitch markers. I've also used my finger as a ruler, which I think would count, don't you? Although, in a very real sense, fingers are the ultimate knitting tool. But they aren't rulers, now are they?

Reading that over, I come to the inarguable conclusion that it's time to finish up here. Anyone who clinches an argument with herself by stating triumphantly that fingers aren't rulers should probably have been in bed a while ago. Night!