More Ups and Downs

To answer the burning question, yes, I did do laundry yesterday, but I also did other things.

I went for a walk. It was pretty.

And involved me getting off the couch, going out, and moving for 45 minutes. Go, me.

These vines twining together caught my eye.

And there were pretty flowers.

Then on a whim, I drove up to the north shore and had lunch at Woodman's. No photos of that, though I did see a truck with a huge tailpipe, what's up with that?

I refrained from going to Coveted Yarn, since yarn would have been too tempting (and I have plenty of loveliness, I don't feel deprived), but I did expand on the treat a bit.

After all, as the sign says:

So it was an overall good day. Still down moments, of course, but nothing major. And today I got the last of the laundry put away, a task I often postpone, and made brownies to take to a father's day gathering, and that was nice. I'm kind of feeling in the dumps now, for no particular reason, but it will pass. We can be sure of that.

Being Kind to Myself

I don't know that the five stages of grief are exactly right for being laid off, at least for me, but I'm definitely moving through stages. And the first one, last Thursday, was absolutely Denial: all day, I kept saying, "I can't believe this is happening." After that, I spent a couple of days in whatever you would call "I don't want this to have happened"; maybe that's just the second part of denial? I remember going through it (much more strongly) after my father died, when "I want him back" drummed through my head for the longest time.

Now, I guess I'm coasting through Emptiness: I find myself sitting and looking at nothing, thinking about nothing. Not even "I should be..." but just nothing. It's weird and blank. It's not like I do it all day long, mind you; I'm reading (so much) and running errands* and patting cats, but periodically I realize that I'm just ... sitting there. If my brain is saying anything, there's just that background refrain of "12 years, 8 jobs, 4 layoffs" bouncing around with other bad thoughts. (At dinner Sunday night it came up that one friend has been in her current job for 6 years; she was in the one before that for 15. I can't even imagine that. My longest stretch is almost-three.)
*Being able to run them during the day is another one of those little perks of being out of work.

So I'm trying to be kind to myself. I imagine one of my recent coworkers coming to me and saying, "I know I should be spending more time job searching, but after about 10 minutes I can feel myself getting so depressed I have to stop." I wouldn't tell her to snap out of it and get to work, because she needs to get a job, doesn't she, and there's no time to lose. I would say, "Well, 10 minutes is better than nothing; maybe you can build on that, but meanwhile, don't be too hard on yourself. This situation is hard enough." So I'm trying not to be too hard on myself. And I'm reaching out to others, from the lunch and kitten break yesterday to a planned walk on Monday with someone else. And I'm totally looking forward to my trip, which is a sort of deadline; I'm going to try to build up more and more time spent on job-search stuff over the next week, but then I get the restorative week with mama before things get serious back here.

It's funny, isn't it, how we're harder on ourselves than others sometimes. I broke something this morning, small and meaningless, I wasn't even upset, but when I went to throw the pieces in the trash one missed and fell on the floor. If someone I loved had done that, would I have apostrophized them in that tone as an awful klutz, How like you? No, I would not. I caught myself, and gave myself a little pep talk ("You are a smart and good person who is going through a rough time right now. And yes, you are a klutz, but that's not a big deal, really.") and moved on, but still.

No plans for tomorrow yet; what shall I do with myself? It ought to be laundry, but will it?

Natural Mood Enhancement

While I am not going out and getting a kitten myself (poor Carlos, he has enough to deal with), I have to agree that it is hard to be depressed around one. So tiny! So energetic! So cute! So unaware of things like the law of gravity.

A rare still moment by the track ball.

A lot of the pictures I got of Mr Perpetual Motion were blurry, what a surprise.

He was fascinated by my shoelaces.

As well as the camera cord, my jeans, my socks, the toy I brought, toys he had ... it's all fascinating.

We played with him for about half an hour, then went out to get lunch. When we got back, we learned that we had worn him out.

He woke up, but was not interested in getting up. Hand for scale.

I tore myself away and ran some errands, including to Wilson's for more peas (must enjoy the season while it lasts). Driving on, I realized that my folding chair was still in the trunk from Sunday, and since it was a beautiful day, I stopped at a pond and sat in the sun for a few minutes, enjoying it.

Being out of work does have a few bright sides, after all.

Plus, I inspired a woman finishing up a walk as to what to do about dinner; she was pretty funny. She told me about her grandmother, shelling peas from her garden, and how for a woman with 15 children, sitting down to the task probably felt like a vacation!

Another Day

Today had its pleasantries:

• knitting with Mary Ellen over coffee
• going to the chiropractor
• making plans to have lunch tomorrow with a (former) coworker, and meet her new kitten
• pizza for dinner--and salad!

It had its successes:

• turning in the paperwork the parent company needed, and overcoming tech obstacles to do so (with only minimal snark)
• buying a plant hanger
• updating my resume on Monster and Indeed

And it had its failures:

• I got the new bike seat onto the bike, but though it should be secure as far as I can manage/tell, it is clearly Not Right, and I Cannot Deal Right Now

Meanwhile, I saw this on the road today:

And I keep wondering, who is Ed and why do drivers want him? Ideas?

(I also saw a Ford pickup truck with a BMW logo where the Ford should be, so alternate question: who does he think he's fooling thereby?)

All Right, Where Was I?

You know I'd rather be writing about the weather (so inconsistent), hockey (did Chicago have to win the Cup? yuck), or my haircut, but hey, let's get the layoff crap out of the way, and then I can discuss more fun things.

So, Thursday morning the guy at the parent company who is the boss over our office showed up, which didn't initially worry me because the word didn't always get out that he was coming in, but he arrived along with a woman who turned out to be the VP of HR, and as soon as I heard that, I got very nervous. A VP*, and especially HR, doesn't fly 3000 miles for no reason, right? It's got to be a big reason. We all stood around in nervous groups, guessing, while they were in with the boss, and after a while, we got the invite to a meeting at 11.
*I mean, I think he's a VP too, but that's not the same.

That's when they told us that they were suspending operations, and we'd all get 2 weeks notice (though few of us have enough loose ends to tie up that we would need to work that long, we get paid for it anyway), and six weeks of severance pay. Which, honestly, is nice, given that we've almost all been there just a year. And they're paying for our healthcare through the end of the year, too, which I also much appreciate. Basically, they could have done a lot worse by us, but oh, I wish they had given us more time. It isn't a year and a half since they bought the company! And they're giving up already? I know I don't understand big business decisions, I can't say they are wrong for the big-big picture, but at ground level, it really hurts.

It hurts in a lot of ways, actually. I'm sorry for myself, sure: 4 layoffs in a dozen years seems like particularly bad luck. I don't want to job-hunt again! (Do I even know how? My last two jobs have found me, but I can't count on that.) I'd actually really enjoy the time off, if I could be sure I'd get a job in August or September, but without knowing that, there's just a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach. Plus, this was such a good group of people, who largely worked really well together, and I did not take that for granted. How to find it again?

I'm also sorry for the people who founded the original company, who had this idea and nurtured it until it was successful enough to be bought, and now have seen it die before their eyes. And for the younger ones who haven't gone through layoffs before, the older ones who worry about the harder job search at their age, the ones with kids or student loans or whatever makes it particularly hard. For all of us. It just sucks.

Anyway, back to Thursday. We all had 1-on-1 meetings with HR, but we'd been told to stop working on everything, so there wasn't much to do until then*. Two of us went over to Starbucks for a break, and sat there in disbelief for a bit. They brought us in sandwiches, so I tried to eat one. I wandered around talking to people, who were all as shell-shocked as I was. Finally I had my meeting, and kind of took in what she was saying, and took all the paperwork, and didn't even snarl when she wished me a good evening on my way out, which, yeah, not likely I'd have a good evening, is it, dear? Think before you talk.
*Some people started packing up their desks, and I'm not blaming them, but I couldn't bring myself to take things off the walls and then sit staring at blank walls, so I did a little, but didn't get much done.

I went home, and called my mom, and sat like a lump, and hugged the kitty. I went to bed early, and though I took a unisom, I still didn't sleep that well. Or late, and I really wanted to, since I could! But my brain wouldn't stop, so I got up, but didn't go in until around 10. Packed up my desk, talked to people, then waited around since the boss was taking us out for drinks/lunch. After that (which was nice of her, but about as merry as you'd expect), I picked up the last of my things, and went shopping for peas and ice cream.

Friday night was a little better than Thursday; Saturday wasn't a great day, but I got a few things done around the house. I also almost killed Belmont when she thought that my beloved office plant, Seymour, had been brought in for her to chew on, but I managed to let her live (barely). Seymour is currently living in the hall outside my door, but I'm going to try getting a hanging thing and see if she'll leave him alone way up in the air, instead of on the kitchen table.

Sunday I already had plans. First, Mary Ellen had invited me to join her, her husband, and their guinea pigs at a pignic in Wellesley, and on a nice summer day, who could resist that? I don't know a lot about the piggies, but they're cute, and this thing was very well organized.

One pen for boys:

And one for girls:

Apparently mixing them is not a good idea. And if you're wondering, the dust pans are there for breaking up disputes. Who knew?

Piggies investigating.

A good time was had by all. Later on I went to dinner with friends, which was also very pleasant, and since I didn't have to get myself home early for work, I went on to the ice cream after, yum. It was a big enough group that I didn't get to catch up with everyone, which is always too bad, but still it was very pleasant.

Monday I slept in, then went off to have lunch with someone I worked with before: we'd been trying to coordinate our schedules for dinner, and hey, look, my lunchtime availability just increased! It was good to hear how he's doing, and get to talk a bit about the current situation. (I both do and don't want to talk about it, so I'm kind of hard to please right now.) I ran some errands after, and then it was stitch and bitch, a good distraction too. Today I only went out for a few errands, but I've been trying to chip away at all the Things To Do, too. And I'm working on setting up daytime meetings with friends who are available then, since after all, why not? I may as well appreciate the opportunity.

Trying to look on the bright side, anyway. Mixed success.

You Know

It's been a bad day. Not unexpectedly.

Hopefully tomorrow will be better. I have some plans out of the house, afternoon and evening, which should help. And Monday I have lunch plans, and stitch and bitch, so I just thought I should pop in now and say if I'm not back here before Tuesday or so, don't be alarmed.

I'm Okay (for being not okay)

The computer is moving like molasses tonight*, so this will be brief. I just wanted to let everyone know that I am seeking consolation in the usual ways.
*My favorite is when it tells me it is Not Responding, like I hadn't noticed that. Paging tech support!

Happily, tis the season! Yum.

And the classic comfort for when adult life sucks.

Which I totally needed after fighting for half an hour trying to get that much into the computer before I moved to the iPad. I hope it just needs something defragged or some such nonsense; it has been a bit slow lately, but not like THAT. Lordy, talk about the absolute worst time for it to die. How do electronics know?

Fourth Time Unlucky

Yup, laid off again. Fourth time in a dozen years.

The parent company decided we weren't going to make a profit for too long, and "suspended operations," which means shutting the office down, apparently. Wham. Out of the blue.

Damn it.

Get to the Koala

The weather was gorgeous today, which, while slightly painful to be inside during, meant that I could eat lunch outside, blissfully, in the sun, and when I got out of work, take the long sleeves off and drive, windows open, in the sleeveless shirt. So that was good.

Also good is that we're almost done with the (depressing, depressing) oncology conference at work, finally.

What, you want more? Even though I have a hockey game to watch? Well, fine. Here. Go look at pictures of the baby koala, hanging onto mom while mom has emergency surgery.

All together, now: Awwwwww.

Briefly, While Sweating

I did not ride the bike last night, but I've ridden it tonight (she said, distastefully). Here's hoping that a new seat is more comfortable. Owie.

Meanwhile, I have a couple of pictures to share. The first one was of a bush I noticed when stopped in traffic the other night.

I was puzzled that it seemed to be dying in the middle, healthy near the house, and thriving farther out. How, and why, was it dying only in the middle?

A little while later, though, I passed a similarly sized grouping that had three different colored flowers, and thought, a-ha! The one I photographed may have appeared to be a single bush, but in fact have been multiple bushes, of which one was dying. I think that's the most likely, but any other theories?

Second, stopped at a traffic light tonight, I saw this in my rear-view mirror (so it is a reverse view).

I happen to love driving barefoot, but if I tried to stick my foot out the window while driving, I think I would dislocate my hip. Perhaps it depends on the model of car?

Right, I want to get to bed sooner than later. I will leave the topic of my haircut for another time.

Brief Report

Head: better.

Monday: was still Monday.

Cats: still being alternately amusing and annoying.

Shoulder: sore for some unknown reason.

Sweater: progressing nicely. Almost done with the front. Soon it will be sleeve time!

Hockey game: on in the other room. Must go watch.

Bike: I really ought to get on it tonight. Will I?

Getting Through It

I woke with a bit of a headache today; it isn't awful, though it is persistent, and I've been able to get a few things done:

• Laundry, except folding the towels, and that may yet happen.
• Balancing the checkbook, to make sure there are no snags approaching this week.
• Catching up with my mother.
• Reading the paper.
• Petting kitties.

Well, maybe that isn't too much, but head-impeded, it isn't that bad. I have hopes for the towels, and maybe a little clearing of the kitchen, this evening. For now, I will husband my strength, and prepare mentally for the upcoming week.

Here She Is

Miss Mouth.

I don't know how such loud noise can come out of such a small cat, but there we are.

I also don't know how I can be this tired, when I spent most of the day at a bridal shower, but here I am, yawning and creaking. It was a really nice shower: I love happy occasions, I got to (very, very briefly) hold a three-week-old baby, and look at the lovely and unusual flower arrangement.

Isn't that cool? Some people are so talented.

Off to watch a hockey game. I don't get to say that many more times this year...

Stream of ... Non-Coherence

Was it a long, long, weird week for everyone? I know it wasn't just for me, my whole office seems to have gone through that this week, but wow. Happy Friday night, squared.

It was nice to see the sun today. I hope it comes out tomorrow, too.

Tomorrow I'm going to a bridal shower/brunch! That should be fun, and it isn't super-early, plus will leave me much of the day to do other things. Followed by a hockey game to watch at night. Perfect.

We got free lunch at work today. No such thing? Well, a lunch that I had to neither prepare nor pay for, but that I had to eat awkwardly in a conference room with all my coworkers.

And at the same time, we learned that one of my coworkers has given his notice--actually not someone I ever worked with (although we were in the same office when I started), but one of the learn-to-knitters, and a really interesting guy, so the group will feel his loss. (He's decided to get out of graphic design; his explanation sounded a bit like what I imagine mine did when I gave notice to get back into editing. [And to get away from the specific company...but also to get back to editing.])

Goosefairy asked yesterday if Belmont is still around, and the answer is yes. Generally either mouthing off, or sleeping; little in between. Perhaps she will sit for a portrait sometime soon.

...Was there something else?

Picture Time

I haven't been putting enough pictures up lately. Such as the baby!

What happens to a banner on a really windy day.

Do you think the top of this building is communicating with aliens?

That's a lot of antennae.

For some reason, I've been noticing lots of license plates. Do you suppose this one means "go more"? Or maybe the dog's name is Mo.

I assume this is "blarney".

And the bumper stickers clarified that this was a "girl runner".

My favorite car-related item wasn't a plate, though, it was this, seen the other day.

I always thought the new beetle looked like a toy.

Gratitude at the One-Year Mark

I started this job a year ago.

I went out to lunch today with the woman who started the day after I did, to celebrate our anniversary.

This week, I have worked on articles dealing with psychiatry*, ulcerative colitis, and prostate cancer. And it's only Wednesday. (Should be all cancer the rest of the week, though.)
*Antidepressants! Faked hallucinations! Suicide risks! What a cheery subject.

Most of the people I work with are really nice, we work well as a team and chat at the coffee machine, and some of us even have lunch together on Fridays and do crafty things.

I hope the next year only gets better, but for right now, basically, it's awfully nice to feel appreciated, and that the move was not a mistake, and all that good stuff.

A Time to Whine, and a Time to Moan

So, I was in bed at 7 last night. If I hadn't also closed the window, Carlos would have had his Best Night Ever. Even so, he was pretty happy about it.

I didn't fall asleep right away, but just lying there with my eyes closed felt so incredibly good, I had no impulse to get up again. In fact, I woke up out of a deep sleep to go to the bathroom, and it was 9:15 (that was disorienting). Clearly, there was a migraine hangover element to the exhaustion, though today I was also thinking about how ready I am for vacation; I think that's part of it, too. Everything irritated me today. Let me vent:

• I went back to the doctor's office to give blood, again (remember how I said I hated fasting?), because when I gave it before, they didn't test it for the right thing. So because of their mistake, I had to fast again. This time I brought a smoothie, and carried it in with me; I drank half of it before I even got back to the car.
• I'm finishing up a conference at work, and am at the stage where I am so sick of the subject matter, I want to puke. (I actually finished it today, but still.)
• There's a thing with my boss that I won't go into, and it's supposed to be addressed soon, but so far it hasn't been.
• At a meeting today, there was discussion of yet another issue that the production department has come back to us with: they seem to thrive on finding problems for us to fix. I am so sick of these discussions, where "we" have to try to figure out what exactly their problem boils down to, so we can see where in our workflow we can fit a solution to it. And then, when that still doesn't work, or causes other problems, change it again. And again. (No one expects me to fix it, not that they would mind if I did, but just hearing about the problems stresses me out.)
• On a side note, I sometimes think that the parent company bought the little independent company (which is what caused the expansion that led to my job, so I don't want to run it down) by saying, "Wow, what you do is so different, this is great!" and then we constantly have to deal with Production saying, "You do this differently, we can't handle that, please change."
• It's cold, and raining, and it's June. At this rate, when I do go to Florida, the change will be much more dramatic than it should be in summer. I mean, by the end of June in Boston, I feel like it should be in the 80s, and it will be in the 90s in Florida. Considering that today, the beginning of June, was, again, 50 degrees here...
• Also, since my condo has shared heating/cooling systems, I don't have direct, personal control over my temperature (had I thought more about that before I fell in love with the place...). And a few weeks ago, someone decided that it was now time for air conditioning, and switched us over. Which means that, even with all the vents closed against the cold air, it is 65 degrees in here right now. Brr!
• And though I was hoping that all this rain would wash away a lot of pollen, my allergies have actually been bothering me more in the last few days than they were previously.

Whew! I think that's everything. It feels good to get it out. So how are you?

Ugh. Urp.

I woke up with a bit of a headache/stomach thing, but not bad enough not to go to work (though, with the rain and the sub-50 temperature, not to mention Senor Pathetic and his guilt trip, I was sorely tempted). It was extra unfortunate, therefore, that I had the kind of day that would have given me a headache had I not already had one.

The head did get better as the day went on, but the crippling exhaustion did not abate. I sent my regrets to stitch and bitch, and I am going to eat something (bland) and go to bed, more or less now.

Zzzzz.

It's a month until I go on vacation, and man, am I ever ready for it. Like, now. My brain feels overloaded with Things. It's probably partly, right now, because of end-of-weekend feelings, but still. I just feel like all effort, no results.

I guess it's just a blah day; everyone has them sometimes. Today's rain, while much needed here, was unpleasant to run errands in, and the cool weather of course is not what I like. I keep seeing father's day marketing. The hockey season will be over in 4-7 more games. Like that.

But it hasn't been a totally bad weekend; last night I had dinner with a friend, and we got ice cream after, and watched a movie on my new TV, so all that was very fun. The errands I did today weren't fun, exactly, but they were necessary, and I got them done in spite of the weather--though, seriously, when I got home I took my jeans and socks off in the kitchen so I wouldn't track puddles everywhere. Lots of rain.

Anyway. I'm fine. Just tired. And really, what else is new?

Here's hoping it's a good week, at least. Good weeks for everyone!

All I Have for Tonight

I turned the computer on with intentions, such intentions, but ... it's Friday night, and I'm both tired and sleepy. I'm going to crash on the couch and watch the hockey game (so few left this season!). Please to excuse me.

Optical Report

I had my eye appointments after work tonight--eye doctor and contact lens guy--they're father and son, and I got my first glasses, at age 7, from the previous generation--I trust them, is what I'm saying. I didn't even bitch too much when it turned out that it was a dilating-drops year (although the effect still hasn't fully worn off, a few hours later). I think they were even more pleased than I am that things are going well: stable prescription, no problems, all that.

In fact, my corneas are apparently "pristine", John said they were the best he'd seen today, and for someone who's worn contacts for 30 years, that's quite good. He's been monitoring a spot for years where a blood vessel was poking in where it shouldn't be, and now he can't see where that spot was, it's all healed. Here's to contact lens technology and its continued improvements.

In totally unrelated news, I am sad to say that it's true what they say, you can't "catch up" on lost sleep and nor can you bank it for future use. Over the long weekend I had three glorious nights of 11 hours of sleep, it felt fabulous, and as soon as the work week started up, I'm back to my usual sleepy self.

I've said it before, the only time I ever get enough sleep is when I'm not working. And god knows, I don't want to get laid off again (ever, in fact), but there was that side to it.

Not Tonight

If you picture me knitting tonight, or eating fresh peas (from NJ, but still good), either way, you got it. Yum, and I finished the back of my sweater! More to come.

Right, a quick couple of things

*Since I dressed for the office today (two long-sleeve shirts, cords, wool socks--and at work I was wearing a scarf!), I was woefully overdressed for the real world today. Especially as the chiropractor's a/c was broken! I was very glad to get home and into a t-shirt and shorts, and bare feet. Why do cats get extra-cuddly when it's so hot? And, kudos to me, I ate my melting popsicle without dripping on my shirt.

*It occurred to me to ask you smart people if any of you know why a weird tech thing happened, since I can't remember if I mentioned it when it did. Last summer, in response to something I read about making one's wi-fi network more secure, I changed my network name and password (to something I could actually recognize/remember). A while later, maybe a couple of weeks, I started having some problems (like not being able to print) that turned out to be because the network had reverted back to the old name and password. Is that a thing that happens? Is it a Verizon thing? Did I do something wrong? If I try again, will it revert back again? Anyone know?

*Does anyone want to try the Blue Apron offer, before I cancel my service? Speak now (well, by the weekend) or forever hold your peace.

*Any other Real Genius fans out there, you'll enjoy this. It was enough to get me to put the DVD in my Amazon basket.

*Finally, did I mention what my grandmother said, when I asked her what I could knit her for her birthday? "Something to scare them," them being the people who work at the home. Nice, right? Well, I thought about it, and decided, she's 101, if that what she wants ... so, if you're squeamish about spiders, don't scroll down, close the blog and come back tomorrow!







Still there?









Are we clear?









OK, I found a pattern for a tarantula. I will be knitting one of these:

Yuck! If that isn't love, I don't know what is.

Briefly, Of Chocolate

Three-day weekends are longer than the usual, obviously, but end just as abruptly. It's over? Really? I can't sleep 11 hours tonight?

Ah well. It's been a good weekend overall, even if I didn't get All The Things accomplished (I have such grandiose plans for long weekends).

Saturday's tour of the Taza chocolate factory in Somerville was a high point, well worth the city driving (I am SO not a city mouse; the GPS makes it possible, but not easy [Boston is a challenge to such technology]). I highly recommend the tour, if you have the chance.

The tour itself was informative about the general stone-ground chocolate-making process, and about the history of Taza specifically. What goes on in here, for instance?

The sampling, particularly in the gift shop, was a wonderful way to find favorites. Two thumbs up.

And now, well, I have to prepare myself for the week ahead. Sad sigh. Carlos is going to be so disappointed in me; he thought we had reached a new understanding, which does not involve me leaving him very often. If at all.

Chipping Away at the List

What have I accomplished?

I picked up library books tonight (and returned others).

I emptied the dishwasher.

I moved the yarn (other than the fingering) into what I think will be its order. Thicker up top, except that in the bin peeking out of the bottom left, that's the bulky in with the lace-weight.

I'm planning to work on the office/craft space more this weekend. The majority of the yarn is in here and sorted, perhaps 75%, but I want to get, if not all of it, say 95%, done. It's looking good so far. My Saturday is very booked, but Sunday and Monday I should, head permitting, be able to get some solid time in.

Now, I have some laundry to put away, so I will leave you with a pop quiz. I was behind this car the other day, and perplexed by the cut-out spot on the bumper.

Lower right. What is that? Serious or silly thoughts welcomed.

Some Success

Not only is dinner cooking, and smelling quite decent in fact, but the DVD player is ... working! It turned out that its problem wasn't the update, it was that the DVD remote wasn't the one talking to it. Up to that point in the process, the TV remote had been navigating fine, but for whatever reason, at that point I needed to be using the DVD remote. And once I performed the time-honored move of taking the batteries out and putting them back in, it worked! And updated! And plays a disc!

I'm off to eat dinner and bask in this small, but sweet success. Any recent successes you would like congratulating for? Lay them on me! I will give you a round of applause for getting out of bed in the morning, if you like.

That Weight

I had a slight headache when I woke up this morning*, and by afternoon, although the pain wasn't that bad, I realized I was wearing the "yoke of headache," which feels like a weight on my shoulders and a tension in my neck, leaving me slightly hunched and moving more slowly than usual. Is there an app to track walking speed? I think mine would correlate pretty strongly to my head condition.
*And I was in bed by 9 last night...there is no justice.

I guess instead of being too bitter about this, I should be grateful to the chiropractor for making this happen so much less often. Still, never would be nice, too.

Tonight Is a Bare Minimum Night

I didn't sleep well last night, so I'm even more tired than usual.

It's Monday.

It got all the way up to 60 today (brrr), and tomorrow it's supposed to rain.

My hands, hips, and knees are being varyingly achy.

When I got home after stitch and bitch, and was feeding the cats, Belmont took a swipe at Carlos, who was just standing there, waiting for dinner.

Then, after she ate, she jumped up on to the couch and promptly threw up, on the couch.

I just need to do the bare minimum and get into bed. And hope that tomorrow is better.

Socks. Let's Talk About Socks. And Yarn

No, I still don't have the DVD player working. Let's talk about something else. Like Belmont, pre-electronic angst.

As I mentioned, I finished the purse socks and started new ones.

New, in springy greens:

Done:

 

And what are they hanging off, you ask? Well, we ended up using one of the dark bookcases for the new TV, not the while one, so I moved the white one into the office, and put it atop the old TV table, which is semi-camouflaging the litter box (making it less obvious, anyway).

Then I decided that, since I "consult" the fingering-weight yarn the most, for socks, it should go there, where the light is better. So:

I like it! And after all, I have only myself to please. The rest of the space is still settling-in, but it's getting there.

Finally, two photos taken when I was out, last week.

First, someone who is strongly asserting his masculinity, don't you think? The plate, and the sticker above it...

Second, this tree managed to smell just as good as it looked. The nice part of spring!

Some Progress, But Much Frustration

The new-TV setup process is a series of "yes, but no" events and right now it's riding on my nerves. (The TL:DR is that the TV and cable are working, the DVD player isn't, and I don't know why it's stuck.)

My friend came over last night, bless her, and got the TV itself set up. But, the cable box did not work with it, just kept giving error messages.

So I called Verizon, and after a bout with the robo-voice* I got to talk to an actual person, who said I could get a new one, and there's a store in a town nearby, that was open on Saturdays, so we set that up. I went there today, and the woman told me that while I could get a replacement for my old, standard box, what I really wanted with a new TV was the HD box. I was going to get the standard box anyway, but it turns out that you have to get the HD box to get the kind of cable connection I hadn't heard of before last night (HDMI, or something), which apparently I really want, and oh, fuck it, what's $4 a month, give me that one.
*I HATE voice-activated calls like that, because I can't curse the way I inevitably want to when I have to call them.

I also stopped at Best Buy and got the cable for the DVD player, because of course that doesn't come with the DVD player, because of course not. Why would they give you what you need to use the product?

I came home and hooked up the cable box. It didn't want to work, so I called and talked to the robo-bitch again, and she "detected" that I had a new set-top box to activate, and said she would start that process and it would take up to an hour, good-bye. What really frustrated me is that she said I would be able to tell it was done when the clock appeared on the front of the display, and the HD box doesn't have a front display, with a clock or otherwise. (That was when I threw the phone across the room. It landed soft. It's fine.)

So, less than an hour later, I poked at the power button of the cable box, and it actually came on! And the TV came on! And I was able to switch to the Rangers-Tampa game! And it was good! I didn't even try the DVD player then; I needed to pause in the something-worked mindset for a while. I watched the rest of the game, which was close but restful to me, since I don't care who wins, and my, hockey does look nice on this big screen. Then I went out, knitting with friends (finished purse socks, started new, photos to come), and picked up a few groceries.

After dinner, I tried to hook the DVD player up. It's supposed to be "just plug the cord into the TV and into the DVD player" but of course there's more to it than that. I did manage to get it speaking to the TV, and it has its own setup process because of course it does. Blah blah blah, enter the wifi password again, and then it got to a point where it said it had a software update it needed to do ... and it wouldn't let me push the OK button. Or the cancel button. Or anything.

To that point, I had been using the TV remote, successfully, and that remote would let me do other things, go into the TV setup menu and stuff, but it would not influence that screen. I tried the DVD remote, thinking maybe it was that, but no. The only way I could even get it off was to unplug the DVD player, and even then the TV was all "I'm looking for it and I can't find it" when I just wanted it to turn on the TV again, jeez, it worked before, would you just give me the damned TV and let me calm down? Please?

So. There I am. And I just want someone to take care of this for me. My hands hurt and I'm tired and aggravated.

Alternate title for this post: This Is Why It Took Me 25 Years to Replace My TV

No Hockey Tonight

I didn't watch all of last night's game, as I didn't care enough about who won the series to lose sleep over it. I'm mildly pleased (about 55-45) that the Rangers won, since the Capitals knocked the Bruins out of the playoffs in recent memory (painfully, in overtime), and since my uncle is a Rangers fan. So that's good.

The night before, I did stay up to watch Tampa, most satisfyingly, knock the Canadiens out. Buh-bye, bleu-blanc-rouge! I barely felt a pang as the camera showed the hanging heads on Montreal's bench. They are out. Good. It was the one thing I most wanted from the playoffs.

With these games, the second round is over, and we're down to two matches: Tampa-NYR, and Anaheim-Chicago. Two original six teams, two not. All have won the Cup before, so no chance of a first-timer. The next series starts Saturday, which gives me a few hockey-less nights, to get used to the concept of filling my time without a game in the background; the playoffs are a gradual weaning process for me. There should be a lot of news from the Bruins this summer, with the whole issue of having fired the GM, and ch-ch-ch-changes, and the usual development camp (I assume), but I must get used to hockeylessness.

In the meantime, though, this weekend is the National Women's Hockey League training camp for the Boston team, and it's being held at the Bruins practice facility in Wilmington, so I thought I might go up there and see what's what. I have something else to do Saturday morning, that's kinda-sorta out that way, so perhaps I can get organized and there before 11. If not, maybe Sunday morning. We shall see.

No Regrets

Sometimes one orders something online and is (slightly or considerably) disappointed by the item when it arrives.

This is not one of those times.

A while back, in November, the Yarn Harlot blogged about this yarn that was dyed to stripe perfectly in a shawl, which is something knitters will find very appealing (look at her finished project, so pretty). You don't have to use different balls of yarn and weave in ends, but you don't have to deal with the stripes being all different widths... it's very cool.

As is often the case when Steph writes about something like that, the dyer in question was somewhat overwhelmed by the sudden interest, but I kept an eye on them, and back in March, they had the yarn up for pre-sale, so they could dye as much as sold, and I bought.

It came today. I'll get good pictures, maybe this weekend, but just see a glimpse.

It feels just wonderful.