Knit Lace Is Weird, Blocking Is Magic

(Putting the PS at the beginning, for anyone who may not get through all the photos: the Bruins actually won last night! As I didn't dare expect them to. They had to go to overtime, and had to score twice there [the first time it was disallowed], but they did it! Color me tired, but impressed.)

If you haven't seen lace knitting before and after blocking (which is really just what we call washing and shaping a knit thing [sometimes strenuously]), you might think that the concept that it is really, really necessary for lace knitting in particular was an exaggeration. You might even think it's funny when you hear a knitter refer to unblocked lace as looking like uncooked ramen noodles.

Although, Exhibit A:

Yellow yarn makes the resemblance uncanny, doesn't it?

However, blocking is what makes this:

Turn into this:

And if that isn't both necessary and magic, I don't know what is.

In other words, I finally finished and blocked the lace shawl that I started in April (pattern: Puncia; yarn: Geisha from Blue Moon Fiber Arts).

It's been a while since my last update; what happened was that I was cruising along, wanting so much to be finished, and even when I got sick, I could still knit since it was just stockinette. But when that was done, and the two halves needed to be grafted together, I let the blurry thinking that was much of November for me decide that sure, I was up to grafting it! After all, I had an idea of wearing it on Thanksgiving, and time was ticking away.

So I did it, and I didn't do a good job of it. Too tight here, too loose there; at least I was smart enough to realize that fixing it would have to wait until I felt better. Which didn't happen until this weekend.

Tweak, tweak, tweak, repeat ad infinitum until it was good enough; then last night before stitch and bitch, I dropped into a dollar* store to get a basin, since I didn't have anything a good size for soaking it in. I pinned it out this morning (and didn't that take a while, even with blocking wires), and there it lies, drying.
*Not the kind of dollar store where everything is literally a dollar, but $1.80 won't break the bank, and I expect I'll use it again.

This was before the soak:

The squares are two feet by two feet, and that's on four of them, so you can see it's almost two feet wide (with the sides rolling in), and almost six feet long.

You may recall that I did a light block on the first half, to see how it was going to change the piece, so that's why the half on the red squares looks different from the half on the blue.

Even obvious in the middle:

Smoother and rougher. Blocking = magic.

So, it spent the night soaking in water and a little Eucalan (unscented, thank you).

And this morning I put it in a towel and pressed out most of the water, then got to work. Blocking wires are better than just pins for something this size, since they're easier to move around until it's just where you wantit, but it's still not a quick process. But so worth it!

For instance, here's what the sides did on their own:

Rollin', rollin', rollin' ... but with the wires, even before pinning them, it controlled that.

Oh, look, an edge!

So I wired-and-pinned one end:

Then one side, the other, the other end, tweak tweak tweak...It went slightly wider than the square, so I added another to the side so it wouldn't hang off the edge..

And in the overall view, you can see that it is, somehow, just slightly wider in the middle. I have no idea how that happened. It looks slightly pregnant.

But I'm not really worried about it showing once the shawl is off its pins and being worn. As knitters sometimes say, you won't be able to tell from the back of a galloping horse. And anyone who does point it out to me in person is asking for trouble, don't you think?

So while it wasn't finished in time for Thanksgiving, I can bring it to Florida to show my mother at Christmas. That will do.

Oh, Those Bruins

The Bruins play in Montreal tonight, which is about the last place they want to take a three-game losing streak*. Sigh. Perhaps they will surprise me (in a good way, I mean). It's not completely impossible, just very, very improbable.
*It has been painful to see headlines about Philly's win streak, now up to nine games...

The one truly, consistently bright spot this season has been the play of David Pastrnak, who by the way is 20 years old; I first mentioned him here on the blog in 2014, at development camp, when I said that "consensus is that he's a long shot to make the team this year, but not impossible"; he spent some that last season with the big club, as the youngest player in the NHL, and more last season, and now here he is. In January 2015, I said of him, "I like watching him. Although they're very different players, it reminds me of watching Bergeron in his first season; he, too, was 18, very young to make it in the NHL, but he was just so good."--and no higher praise can I give.

And his success is not just relative to last year.

Now, in addition to pointing out Pasta's achievement, that also says a lot of bad things about the rest of the team, but still, whoa. He has at times been at the top of league scoring. Again, 20 years old.

To quote Stanley Cup of Chowder:

95% of the Boston Bruins have been struggling to score - just another way to put the fact that relying on David Pastrnak to score all our goals is not a solid game plan.

I mean, keep it up, Pasta, but if the rest of you could step up a little, too, that would be great.

The Saturday Report, then More Music

Today I had a lazy morning and a busy afternoon, got a lot done out, and more around the house when I got back, and I'm happy to say that I feel normal-tired, not flat-on-my-back exhausted. (As I told my brother, I think I'm 98% over this cold, and the last 2% requires Florida sunshine to bake out of me.) My hands, however, feel (in spite of the ibuprofen) I that I vastly overdid things, so I will leave this as is and let them rest.

~~~~~
I found that Straight No Chaser, who did that fun 12 Days mashup, did a lovely, straight version of Carol of the Bells.



And if you want a silly version of that one, try the Muppets!

Brief Whine, Then Music

It turns out that I'm not quite done talking about being sick--I know, it surprises me, too, over five weeks later. I'm glad to be so much better, to have moved, on tasks like laundry or exercise, from "there's no possible way" to "I don't wanna," and then do them anyway, but there's no doubt I'm not back to normal. Doing some laundry today, I noticed that not only was I way more tired than usual after the stairs, but that my breathing had a slight, intermittent wheeze to it; lovely. Also, still quite tired. (I stopped after two loads, not the planned three.)

Ten days until vacation, ten days, ten days...

~~~~~
Today's Christmas music selection is the charming Bruce Springsteen performing Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town. There's a nice live version from 2007, but my favorite is always the audio version from 1975.



Clarence's deep ho-ho-hos, and Bruce cracking up at them ... I just love it.

Could It Be ... Spam?

Much as it amuses me to get an email addressed to Dear Webmaster, when the message tells me that they discovered my blog's "valuable furniture-related resources" I am a little ... what's the word? ... skeptical.

Particularly when the "here" where they say they found this blog is given as Blogger.com, without my blog's details. I wonder if it was actually sent to every Blogger blog?

Anyway, for some reason, the recent spam I've been getting on my regular email address is all in Spanish, so at least this makes a change.

And speaking of a change, I love the Muppets version of 12 Days of Christmas, but I haven't seen this "live" version in many years, and though I missed Beaker's meeps, having Animal do 12 drummers drumming is pretty awesome!



If you want a really different version, don't forget about Straight No Chaser.



Or go for a classic version, if you prefer. I won't judge. I like those, too

Where I Am, Where I Was.

Long*, stupid day at work. I hit a low point this morning when I knocked something off the side desk/knitting area in my office and made a big mess (fortunately not a broken-tech situation, at least). However, it forced me to assess what belongs on the desk and what in the knitting area, and why, and to see that switching around the desk organizer and the thrown-together-but-functional sock-needle-organizer would work much better. So doth the phoenix rise from the ashes.
*Not technically longer than a normal day, but so full of stupid that it felt longer.

Though there are still things on the floor to pick up and sort through. It's a process.

As is getting over this cold, by the way. I am so mostly better, but not fully there. I was able to go and swim last night, but for parts of the class I had to slow down or stop and rest. I didn't even feel totally dead after, which is good, but tonight I went out for a few simple errands, and right now I am keel-over tired.

It's a process.

~~~~~
Now, what have I been up to?

On Sunday, I joined friends for a holiday event, the house tour in Salem, which we did three years ago. We all agreed that the houses were closer together this time, which made for an easier tour. Some were private houses or condos, one was owned by the historical society, one was a church, another was I think assisted living; it's a mix. I liked some more than others, naturally, as they were very different styles. My favorite, hands down, was 25 Washington Square North, aka the Joseph Parsons House. Details:

I grew up in a Queen Anne Victorian and clearly I imprinted on it. This was the spot where it really killed me that the tour did not allow photographs in the houses, a policy I can reluctantly understand, but that I just hate. I'm not casing the joint to see what would be most valuable to come back and steal! I just want a picture of that window seat in the turret! Sigh.

So the photos that I took that day were limited to outside (and I should have taken some of the outside of that house, so obvious in hindsight).

Paths:

Pillars:

A porch tree:

And, naturally, popcorn:

I just liked that they brag on the marquis about the real butter.

Which leads, indirectly, to what I was doing last night: there was a limited theatrical re-release of the movie Spirited Away, and I went with a friend. It was amazing to see on the big screen! It's a thoroughly weird but also very beautiful movie, and the detail is fabulous, so the bigger, the better. We very much enjoyed it, and also the short film, Ghiblies: Episode 2, that played after it.

The showing we went to was the Japanese-and-subtitled version (they had done the English version on Sunday, when I was busy), whereas I had previously seen the dubbed-into-English version, so that was an interesting change. Overall, a good night.

Oh, and almost forgot that in Salem, we ate an early dinner at Trattoria Orsini, and it was wonderful; I highly recommend it, should you be in the area.

Now, off to scrabble for dinner before keeling over--in front of the Bruins game. Go Bruins!

Not a Relapse

Sorry to have gone silent for a few days; it wasn't the cold hitting harder, but the result of being busy, and having not quite back to normal energy levels. However, despite being out late (for a work night) last night, I woke this morning feeling normal-tired, not deathly tired, and tonight my feelings about exercise are more in the realm of "not particularly wanting to" instead of "so crushed by the cold that it is actually impossible to contemplate"--so, I'm going swimming!

I will try to update tomorrow on the things I've been doing. Here, have some nice peaceful Christmas music in the interim.

Not Even This Bergeron Fan

This week was an odd one for me; after feeling somewhat better on Monday and Tuesday, my resilience dipped on Wednesday and Thursday, and only rose partially on Friday. The symptoms of the cold have been mostly gone all week, but the exhaustion lingers, which is very annoying. It threw me off so much, I was surprised by yesterday being Friday! Pleasantly surprised, of course, but still, that doesn't usually catch me off guard.

Anyway, let's talk about something else. Specifically, an ad that came in the paper last week with the holiday sales at the Pro Shop, which is where one gets Bruins (and Celtics) gear.

Now, if you've been paying attention at all, you know I'm a big, big fan of Patrice Bergeron. In fact, a search of the blog entries before this one shows his name coming up here no less than 87 times (which, in ten years, is actually less than I expected). However, take a look at this.

Specifically, I'm looking at the ugly sweater part-hidden behind the ugly vest.

Much as I love him, and bargain-hunter that I am, not even for $20 was I at all tempted by this. I'm not sure I would take it for free! Wow. What an interesting object.

In the same paper, though, I noticed another hockey player in an ad.

I knew Max Domi was diabetic--I read an interesting article last year about the dog he has, to sense when his blood sugar levels were off--so I thought it was kind of neat that he's involved with a diabetes product.

And on to the next subject--zip!--I started knitting something new.

Not bad, so far. I haven't done a lot of color work, and in a sock it seems kind of tricky, but we'll see how it goes.

Pretentious Chocolate Milk

With a title like that, you won't be surprised that the next part starts, "I was at Whole Foods..." But there I was, with a little time to kill before going somewhere, so I was looking about to see what sorts of interesting things they might have, when I saw this.

See what it says at the bottom? "Crafted From Single-Origin Peruvian Cocoa Featuring Flavor Notes of Caramelized Sugar" is what is says. Um-hmm.

So I bought it.

On one side is this cheery message:

But the other side? It starts out, "Welcome to the side of your carton." Yeah.

And you are advised to:

Finally, a small note near the opening.

"You can fire your therapist now."

I mean, it is good. But isn't "pretentious" the right word?

~~~~~
Also on the camera: Remember the story from this summer of my plant Seymour becoming parent to little Junior, now his own plant? Well, the other day I noticed that the still-growing tendril was going off the side of the table, and when I stretched it out, I saw that it would reach up to the nail that holds my Bruins calendar on the wall.

That was on Sunday, and today it's looking like this:

Straight up! Further updates as growth warrants.

And as long as I was going to be getting pictures off the camera, I took it first to visit his lordship, who was unimpressed to be bothered for such a purpose.

"Really?"

"I was asleep, you know."

Finally, if you're not in the mood for Christmas music, skip this, but I thought I'd share some of my favorites this month, and here's one that randomly came into my head today: Mary's Boy Child / Oh My Lord, done by Boney M.



My weird memory attached to this song dates back to high school, when for three years my dad drove me to school, and, neither of us being morning people, turned on WBZ's Maynard in the Morning every day. It was a news/talk radio program, traffic and weather and news and chat, but one day (IIRC), Dave played this song, for some reason, every time slot he could get it into, over and over (at least during the ~half hour I was in the car). Why? I have no idea. But that's how I remember it.

A Step ... Toward Bed

While I wouldn't say today was a total regression, it's true that I've felt more tired today than I did the past couple of days. No laundry today! It's also dark (so early, so sad), and it's been raining and isn't going to stop--though it did occur to me to be grateful that the temperature* is keeping it from being snow, because a foot or two of snow would really knock my mood down.
*It's in the 40s, and actually supposed to go UP a little overnight. Suits me fine.

Another thing making me happy today is that my new neighbor put a wreath up on her hall door, which is right next to mine, so I smell fabulous Christmas-tree scent whenever I open my door. Love it!

I'm not kidding about being tired, though; I stopped writing this to go lie down for a few minutes (and make Carlos very happy). Funny thing, going back to the weather: I had the window open a crack, for his lordship, and the air coming in certainly felt cold! If I hadn't checked it, I would have assumed I should be worrying about snow, but apparently it's 46 right now...it just felt so cold!

On the other hand, as we all know, winter is not my season.

Some Improvement, Actually!

I had every intention of blogging after stitch and bitch last night, to share the happy news that finally, finally I felt some improvement in my health after this damned cold has been around so long. However, the asterisk on that news is that I'm not quite back to full health yet, and when I got home I was so tired I sat down to gather my strength to get ready for bed, and only got more tired, so, yeah. Heading in the right direction at last, but Not There Yet.

Still! It's good news, even if I have to rest a lot more than normal. Do you  know what I did yesterday? Laundry! For the first time in weeks! (Boy, was I ever scraping the bottom of the underwear drawer.) And I did more today! I must say, being sick really makes me regret that one of my compromises, when I bought this place ten years ago, was in-unit laundry. Putting two flights of stairs between me and the machines didn't seem like a problem then, and even now it normally isn't, but when I'm sick? Yeah, not going to happen. Two loads yesterday and two more today did not by any means catch me up, but it's a start.

I had hoped that I would feel well enough to go to swimming tonight, but that clearly wouldn't be a good idea, given how I feel after work (exhausted, vaguely sore, and still bothered by that weird taste in my mouth [though that last one wouldn't have kept me from going]). So I will spend a quiet evening, folding my clean laundry, and cutting my fingernails, which have reached the point of interfering with contact lens maintenance. And I will watch the start of the Bruins game, anyway, though I may not make it to the end. The better they play, the longer I'll make it, probably, but a 7:30 start time means I probably won't make the third period anyway. Oh well. It's a long season.

And I feel better!

Yaaawwwwnnnn

I can't quite believe that today is the 27th of November.

Given the fog I have been in since the night of November 2nd, the passage of time is even less real than usual. Three weeks from right now, I will be in Florida for Christmas, and given that I have done  nothing one single thing toward Christmas prep, well, it's going to be an interesting holiday. The fact of having just three weeks left before my trip, and the additional fact that I am still not out of this fog*, and don't know when I will feel truly well again, means that I doubt much will get done.
*Nope! Still sick!

I don't usually get a Christmas tree, much as I love to have one, since I'm not here for the holiday, and especially because there simply isn't a good place here to put one and not regret it as it is underfoot for the whole time it's up.

I like to send Christmas cards, but I don't always manage it, and this looks like one of those years. Perhaps I will copy my mother's example one year, and send Valentine cards. (Probably not, but it's a fun idea to play around with.)

And presents? Yes, I have to think about that...

But not right now. Since I just had to stop the movie I was watching so I could go lie down for a few minutes, perhaps I am not at the top of my game tonight.

But at least I have himself. Last night, he did a Big Stretch that, but for the happy fact of my foot being there, would have landed him on the floor.

I don't think he even appreciated the save. But that's all right. I live to serve.

This Is What I Came Up With

On Thanksgiving eve, I would normally post some sort of things-I'm-thankful-for list, but to be honest I'm not feeling it tonight, as I "celebrate" three weeks of feeling crappy.

However.

This guy?

I am so, so thankful for him.

Hanging In There (Here)

Still not feeling great.

I did go to the doctor's office today (well, and saw the nurse practitioner), since yesterday I mentioned on Facebook that I had this weird taste in my mouth that wouldn't go away*, and one of my friends said that can be a sign of a sinus infection. I figured it's better to rule that out, and at almost three weeks in, not a bad idea to be checked out anyway.
*It is SO unpleasant.

Long story short, the NP doesn't think it is a sinus infection, unless it's at the very beginning stages, and that's unlikely enough that she didn't want to give me antibiotics. She suggested that I double my usual dose of Flonase, to try to get my sinuses to clear out more, and keep taking the sudafed if it's helping (which it is). And they're open tomorrow, and Friday, if things get worse, but otherwise give it a week and see how that goes.

Sigh. She wouldn't bring out the magic wand, even though I asked nicely. Though I did get my flu shot, as long as I was there. That hasn't made me feel bad in the past, other than injection-site soreness; maybe it will make me feel better! Perhaps it will be magic!

Yes, well, I can dream, can't I? I mean, in theory I will feel better one day: why not tomorrow?

Meanwhile, at work today I found myself sharing this image:

Just among the editors, not to the people who really need to see it, but it was somehow satisfying anyway.

Ups and Downs

No, I don't feel better, not really, not much. Well, I guess it's like a migraine: it gets a little better, a little worse, but it isn't linear. Right now I feel a bit better. This morning I had to go lie down because I couldn't summon the energy to move. Up and down. We'll hope it's getting better. Two weeks and four days, so far, after all.

However, there are bright spots. Last night I went to see Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, and enjoyed it very much, as did my friends, and the rest of the audience to judge by the applause at the end. I'm glad they're making more, and I hope Eddie Redmayne will be in them; I liked him a lot.

Also, the Bruins won last night; I was in the car in time to listen to the end, and it was very encouraging. Bergeron and Marchand both scored, and since they've been not doing as much of that recently, it's good. Hopefully Pasta will be back soon--he was out for the second game last night, "upper body injury"--but I'm glad they did well anyway.

Finally, I was TV watching yesterday and saw this commercial, and want to give kudos to Amazon: I think I would have liked it any time, but with all the divisive, us-vs-them stuff going on these days, it just hit me strongly. Yes. This.



There's a nice little story about it here; the story notes that although the ad is scripted, the men are not actors, they actually are religious leaders. Just so cool.

Finally, I saw this on Facebook yesterday, and it just seems to say it all.

More, More, More Movie Ratings

Time once again to share my amusement with movie rating language (August! This fall really has been crazy.)

I can't help wondering how much funk is a lot:

Rated R for realistic.

Why the quotes?

Yes, I suppose it's better if the co-dependency is not self-demeaning.

Rated R for "hardcore statistical analysis"?

I'm madly curious as to what the others are.

Deviance is one thing, but if it's exquisite, is that better, or worse?

Is there any other kind?

That is really, really descriptive.

Seriously, who writes this things, and what are the guidelines?

Not what I find entertaining, actually.

Menace? And how do you determine if nudity is graphic?

I kind of need some hand sanitizer after reading this one.

I can't believe I've spent so much of my life not noticing these things, but they do make me smile now.

Bleary

Well, I survived the day in the office, just barely.

I did in fact get to bed early on Tuesday night, in preparation for getting up and moving early; I was in bed around 8:15, I think, and only read for a few minutes before lights out. Last night? I was so tired that I was in bed before 8.

It might not have been so exhausting, except it turned out that the new boss was going to be in the office on Wednesday, which meant an hour spent in a meeting*, trying to look alert, and then a two-hour sit-down lunch spent trying to do the same, and wow, that was not easy. Which sounds stupid, perhaps, but when all you want to do is lie down ... the only good thing is that feeling the way I did, I let myself off the hook for feeling like I ought to have Meaningful Questions to ask her, and Pertinent Conversation Topics at lunch, and just rolled through the uncomfortable pauses as I was. Fun times.
*So nice to hear all about the company they just acquired; I wonder if they could afford it because they didn't give us raises this year?

I did get to work about half the day, better than nothing, and then I rolled home again, exhausted and grateful that there have been no noises made about me having to go into the new office in the city; once in a blue moon, perhaps, but nothing like regularly. I kept hearing conversations yesterday about, "How are you going to go in?" which made me actively aware of just how lucky I am. (New boss started that meeting by acknowledging that it would have been good for the move not to be so sudden, with time to gather feedback and plan and, oh, how many of you have longer commutes now? Really? Most of you? Oh.)


My back also hurt yesterday, and even more so today, which I didn't need. I can't imagine it's related to the neverending cold--how could it be?--and I do periodically have lower back pain, which I imagine is my body saying to me, "Hey! Remember that time 20 years ago when you worked for Barnes & Noble and lifted boxes all the time? Bad idea!" But on top of the cold, I really don't need anything else that isn't working right.

A final unrelated note: one of my neighbors sold her condo--the closing was today--so please to be crossing fingers for me that the new neighbor is, at best, awesome, and at worst, unoffensive. The previous woman was a good one; I'll miss her.

Early to Bed

Not only do I still feel sick, but tomorrow I have to go into the office, to get the stuff out of my desk before they pack up for the move into the city this weekend. Unless I miraculously feel better in the morning, I will have to pretend I'm a grown-up while really feeling cruddy. Fun. It's also cold and rainy right now, and of course dark. As is my mood, clearly.

So I'm going to go get my outfit for tomorrow ready (no sweatpants? no jeans?), and figure out something to eat for dinner, and get to bed early.

And of course, if you think I'm not going to enjoy tomorrow, imagine how Someone Else is going to feel about it.

When You See Your Mistake, But Can't Stop

Oh, people, I am so tired.

And multiple people have said this cold lasted two weeks.

For me, that will be Wednesday night.

I know, I KNOW, that doesn't mean I will feel better Wednesday night.

Or Thursday morning.

But if I don't, I will still be upset.

So, sooooooo tired...

Music in My Head

When I heard that Leonard Cohen died this week, I couldn't immediately put together the name with the music I knew. But two of his songs are ones I really like, and they've been taking turns filling my head today.

First, from the movie Pump Up the Volume, the version of Everybody Knows done by Concrete Blonde.



And second, of course, Hallelujah; I like the cover by Rufus Wainwright.



(Yeah, I'm still sick. Whatever. Faint but persevering.)

Well.

And to think that I was embarrassed for my country when President Bush was re-elected.

I've been numb all day. Not crying, but shying away from what happened. (But reading about some of it. The first thing--first thing?--he plans to do is propose a constitutional amendment for term limits in Congress. What the...?)

I got a headache last night, whether related to the still-present cold or not I don't know, and I went to bed before the third period of the hockey game; was up for a while at midnight when it got worse; and although it was better than that when I got up this morning, it hasn't gone away completely. My stomach is also very upset, which could be related to the head, the cold, the election, or all of the above. I'm going out to get some more cold medicine.

Tomorrow will be better. Repeat until you believe it.

Talking of Other Things

I won't talk politics here today, and who wants to talk about feeling sick? Not me, today. (I haven't been ill a week yet, and I hear this bug runs two, so I'll have plenty of time.) Instead, here are a few random unrelated things.

A friend and I had been talking about the NFL and its horrific problems regarding women shortly before this cartoon came along.

The Bruins won last night! 4-0! They actually played really well, and even got 3 (three!) power-play goals. Considering that on Saturday they not only couldn't score on the power play, but allowed shorthanded goals twice, it was puzzling, but preferable. They play in Montreal tonight, though; hold me. The Canadiens are off to another hot start this year, and although I felt tremendous schadenfreude when Columbus beat them last week 10-0, that was a huge outlier.

Due to my low-energy weekend (such that I watched a movie on Friday night, and three more on Saturday, just for instance), I finished the knitting on the yellow lace shawl, and on Sunday, I grafted the two halves together, yay! The graft looks pretty uneven, though, too loose here and too tight there, so I'm going to go through and tweak it before blocking the whole thing, hopefully this weekend. Can't wait to see how it does!

Carlos is adorable. Still.

All right, just one political thing, but it's important. I saw this on Facebook today.

Agreed?

Hanging In

I'm still not well, but so far at least this cold has not been the totally flattening kind. I ran out and did some errands today, both for the sake of more cold meds and not running out of cat food, and though it has taken most of today's energy, it was worth it, though now I'm fading fast. Another early-to-bed night; I think I've gotten close to 12 hours, each of the last two nights. Won't get that tonight, not on a work night, but I might get 10, if I collapse early enough. And I can't help thinking that ought to help with the cold.

If you disagree, please don't tell me.

I'm Bullet-Point Tired

Some things I learned today:

• Putting a bandage on one finger decreases my ability to type by far more than 10%. It's like the other nine fingers, instead of pitching in and working harder, are more Eh, what's the point?
• Relatedly, I learned last night that the edge of the calcium chew wrapper is sharp, as I drew blood on the tip of my left index finger. Or re-learned, really, since some years ago I remember cutting my lip on one. Also not fun. Let's be careful around those!
• I use that finger so much. I hope it's mostly usable tomorrow.
• My company has hired a "branding guru" to guide us through our "transformation journey." The email states this, along with so much jargon it is barely comprehensible. There is also at least one subject-verb disagreement, some extremely dubious grammar, and details of a photo contest whose winners will receive things like a weekend trip (in the UK), Premiere League tickets (also UK), and the honor of having their photos posted in the office (in the UK).
• The winners will be announced on January 13th. I looked at the calendar, and sure enough, they picked a Friday the 13th. Classic.
• Did I mention that we recently learned that our office is moving, and they're making the move the weekend before Thanksgiving? Which is, you know, a major holiday in the US for which many if not most people travel?
• They could hardly make it less clear that they don't care about us here in the US without closing the office, and since I'm not convinced they won't decide to do that, you can understand why I worry.
• Judging by Facebook, a LOT of my friends were watching the baseball game last night. And it went very late; I can't imagine how much more tired I would be today, had I been one of them.
• I have felt very slightly under the weather today, not truly sick-sick but a bit of a sore throat, and decided to pass on swimming, and get groceries instead. If I already feel as tired as if I had exercised, then I am excusing myself. Since I joined this gym in late April, I have gone to class twice most weeks, and at least once every week. I'm doing okay.
• Back to the office move: Among some more information we've received about the move is that there are a number of parking garages in the area, with a note of which one "seems to be the cheapest," so I looked it up. It's $17 a day, $335 a month--or $425 a month, which would seem to imply that your $335 a month does not guarantee you a spot. Who can afford that? That's like 10% of my salary.
• Back to the lighter side: There is a company that is redefining "nude" in terms of women's underwear, and making seven shades from light to dark. So awesome!
• While watching the latest episode of the Bruins reality show, I learned that Torey Krug and David Pastrnak have an odd little ritual in the pregame warm-ups. Jump ahead to 13:50 to see them kiss each others' gloves, then spin around on their knees. Kind of weird, kind of adorable.

All right, kind of very weird...

Briefly, Of Carlos

My hands are having a bad day for some unknown reason, so let me tell you something quick and then I'm stepping away from the computer.

Carlos And His Day
This morning, Carlos got up with me as usual, since it's always a good time for treats and breakfast.

As always, he tried to convince me to go back to bed after this, and when I declined, he joined me on the couch to nap while I read the paper, etc.

When I started working at 8, he had second breakfast, then meowed for me to take him back to bed (yes, seriously, he does this). I walked him back, and he settled down.

As the hours passed, he moved from one spot on the bed to another, At about 1:30, he came staggering into the office, about 12% awake--I swear, I could see sleep rays coming off him. I cuddled him for a few minutes, then took him to see to the food situation. He ate, we went back to bed (I don't stay, obviously), and he came out again at around 3:30, and then around 4:30, to eat more between naps.

How do I sign up for THAT life, next time?