Saturday, February 27, 2010

24 minutes remaining…

Day two without power. The boyfriend and I have had a lively discussion about the politics of the Tea Party movement, Good Times Bill Clinton, the need for more moderate republicans like the first George Bush, and the undeniable fact that Thomas Jefferson is Temple Granden. No tears were shed and we came to agreeable conclusions.

I finished listening to The Big Over Easy by Jasper Fford. Overall on a scale of one to ten, I’d give this a four (ten being the best). It took two hours before the plot became at all interesting and then the use of literary figures quickly lost its novelty. The main draw for the novel is that Jack Sprat is the lead detective in the Nursery Crimes Division of a police station. It sounds cute to investigate the murder of the Big Bad Wool but I found that he was limited in his character development based on what we already assume to be true of each Nursery Rhyme character. I’m certain that there were literary shout outs I missed but the one that struck as me most was the albino movement against their depictions as violet, which was led by a fellow called Silas. Why would you want to salute Dan Brown? Perhaps if you enjoy mystery novels the twists and turns that lead to the discovery of the murder would be of interest. I must say that I would not fall under the classification of a mystery reader.

And now it is close to dusk on day two. The Boyfriend and I figured out how to light the oven our gas powered stove last night and have been able to maintain the house at a 60 to 65 degree temperature while baking pizzas, appetizers, and cookies. They were going to go bad in the freezer if we didn’t! The cats have enjoyed the forced cuddling to stay warm and I’m wearing my Smartwool tights and hand knit alpaca hat (less itchy and just as warm as wool).

The battery is warning me that it’s at critically low levels. So farewell for now.

Friday, February 26, 2010

It’s only 10 AM

It’s only 10 am and it’s been an interesting day. The day started at midnight, as it typically does. The Boyfriend and I happened to be awake when the high winds finally caused the flickering power to go out. We set our cell phone alarms and went to bed.

At six when the alarm went off and the power was still out, I decided that no self respecting employee would show up for work on time on a day when the power out. Mac was also cold and needed to cuddle because at this point the house was down to 60 degrees. I rolled over and slept another hour.

When I did leave the house, un-showered with a bag of toiletries and visions of a hot shower at the gym at work, I heard the sound of chain saws. I drove 50 feet through the condo association to find that one of the two 50 foot monumental trees that mark the entrance to the property had broken in half during the night, fallen across the only road out, and taken down half of the other 50 foot tree. The chain saws were about the sounds of 10 guys scurrying around chopping up the tree and moving pieces out of the road. I had the camera, took some pictures and waited for about twenty minutes.

Next I needed coffee (being that I was only twenty minutes late at this point). Dunkin, Starbucks, and Paneara had lines four five cars long into the road. The cart corrals at the grocery store were up rooted and up against the building. I decided that work also had coffee and breakfast there so I went in.

It turns out that half of the female population here decided that a shower at work was the way to go since home was without power. Lines for showers which were ice cold due to the water demand. Man, I could’ve done this at home with substantially more elbow room.

Up to my desk with wet hair. Turn it on and spend a few minutes commiserating with coworkers about their power situations. We’re all in the same boat here in New Hampshire. Alright, grab a coffee and settle in to work. Ten minutes later the power goes out. Pitch black and quiet without the air vents blowing. At least I have knitting. As we stood around talking waiting the mandatory hour before calling it quits for the day, I knit two inches on my vanilla socks. Three minutes before 10, the power came back on. The head of maintenance had gone through the building announcing that at 10 if the generators weren’t up and running we could call it a day. THREE minutes more!!!!!

Now it’s snow/raining outside and my home phone still doesn’t work so still no power. I’m shocked that in the year 2010 we can be lose power. Really!?!? Really?!?! We haven’t figured this out yet? And after the ice storm last winter!!! I’m shocked and tired. But at least I’m warm and there are lights here.

Friday, February 12, 2010

A Friday in February

February is a boring month. Nothing much happens. It’s cold. It’s sunny. I go to work. I go to knitting. It snows. I listen for plow trucks. That’s pretty much it. Last weekend Mum and I headed to a cat show in Groton with Emma and Bernstein. Considering his previous performances, he did Very well with a capital V! It was an 8 ring show. That means 8 judges put there hands on Emma and after 6 of them we had nothing to show. We were afraid it would be another wasted weekend, in terms of collecting points toward Emma’s Grand Championship. Then the last two rings were wonderful. A Second Best All Breed and a Third Best All Breed! Excellent! We’re about half way to the number of points she needs. The weekend went from a bit discouraging to invigorating in about twenty minutes. We immediately started planning for our next show. What a funny roller coaster cast showing is.

After the Cat show, VS & I watched the super bowl. In was unremarkable. Although I think U2 lent The Who their stage. But what was that 3rd song? The 3rd song is my favorite Who song and I don’t have it!

Next Trader Joe’s in Boston had a visit from The Boyfriend and I. Typically he goes to the grocery store with a list of everything we need. That way I don’t spend three times as much on everything we “need”. I don’t really mind since it gets me out of that chore. I’m sure the employees enjoyed watching him chase me around the store with his arms crossed, a smile on his face, repeatedly proclaiming that if I was going to buy all that stuff then I had to put it away myself.

And now here it is another weekend. Nothing much planned besides the usual, knitting and reading. I’m flying through my second pair of Baudelaire socks. But I haven’t hit the dreaded heel yet. I think I’m going to just substitute in Wendy Johnson’s heel. I love it!

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Purple Socks

I'm not feeling particularly verbose so I'll just share photos of my recent finished socks.

Twinkleberrys...so simple and wonderfully soft in Knit Picks Felici. Semi-brainless knitting. Really only 15% of a brain required to knit this pattern. Pairing of lace and cables.

I loved this pattern, Baudelaire. Not an easy knit. I'll just have to cast on for another pair to get it right. Oh and if you were wondering, for the 52 Pair Plunge III, I should be on my 32nd or 33rd pair to be on track for a pair a week for a year.