AFTRA Boston Sucks!

Sorry, just had to say that first. I'm none to happy with their version of "negotiating" right now. There was a day when unions fought for their members until the bitter end. There used to be a time when all one needed to negotiate a contract was some day-old pastry and bad coffee. Now, I'm thinking of sending the "negotiator" some KY, it's a little more in tune with the current strategy.

I say this as the fourth generation in my family to have depended on a union to get fair raises and benefits. Yes, FOURTH. My Great-Grandfather was a part of the Bread and Roses Strike in Lawrence, MA in 1912. These people we're threatened, arrested and beaten for refusing to work for less than a fair wage. My grandfather was IBEW and both my parents members of the teacher's union, I've seen a lot of union activity and more than a few strikes. I've NEVER seen anyone from any union try and argue "lets take it now or they might offer less." This guy needs to have his head examined less S*^T is still S*$T and if all they're offering is S*$T you get tough not wuss out. If this guy had nads bigger than a gnat they'd be planning to cancel the contract and taking a walk NEXT TUESDAY.

Face it, the wives should be negotiating, we know how to pull those short and curlies HARD. I have no qualms whatsoever about pointing out if this exec. spent more time running the company and less time sniping with the other exec. / daughter while that exec. boinks then marries the freakin help and puts her to work so much everyone's sick of her then maybe, just maybe the stock wouldn't be in the toilet and there'd be some money for raises that actually approached the cost of living. Who exactly do these people think they are? They're destroying a reputation that spans 80 years and let's face it the "Tiffany" is tarnishing fast. What do they care, they still get their bonus cash and stock every year, oh yeah how's that class action going? You SUCK too. You try working for less than half what the guy who delivers you packages makes but you have to work odd hours, be ready to come in at a moments notice and have a college degree. On second thought you don't just suck you SUCK WEASEL WANG.

Now, on to happier things. I took a photo of my cool Noro Kureyon tea cozy. Cute huh? I love tea, not that I can afford much of it lately, maybe if I toss that nadless negotiator into the Harbor. I'm really trying to burn through my yarn stash lately so I'm working up a lot of quick projects.

Hmmm, maybe I'll send micro-nads some of the old faberware I found in the cabinet, someone ought to have a pot to piss in when this is all over.

100% Done!

Well the stars aligned, hubby's vacation ended, and my niece caught a cold so I've had a couple of unexpected days to myself. Kind of nice, it almost never happens so I decided to finish up a couple projects.

First I finished reorganizing the pantry, I just don't get how people fail to put thing away. If you bought peas put them with the other peas. How complicated it that? The pantry looked like a bunch of starving apes had gone through it so everything came out and went back on the shelves in proper order. Aside from a couple frighteningly expired items that got tossed it wasn't too bad.

I finally chose the buttons for my cardigan so sewing them on was next. I went with wood, very New England-y in my opinion. I've already worn it a couple times and I just love it. I also finished up hubby's "Man-Ghan". I decided to change to a less sewing intensive pattern. Those blocks make me nutty after 1 row and dropped stitches in that fisherman's rib pattern were insane to pick back up. He likes it anyway and the arrowhead pattern I ended up with is still pretty masculine in the colors he picked out.

I also had time last night for a quickie project, a tea cozy in Noro Kureyon. It's a free pattern from Knitty and called of course the Kureyon Kozy. It only took two balls which is good because the yarn is kinda spendy. I love how it came out, I'll probably put up a couple photos later. I can't decide how much I like the yarn yet. Everyone raves about it but I'm torn. The colors are beautiful but they can be a little garish and the wool isn't the softest in the world before washing. I'm going to try a couple of felted coasters with the leftovers before I decide.

I tried a new recipe this weekend from my King Arthur whole grain cookbook. I needed something to bring when my sister and I went to visit Nana and I wanted to bring something sweet but not too unhealthy. Nana is starting Chemo this week and she was told her stomach might be queasy so I wanted her to have a homemade treat before the treatment started. They were pretty good, kinda sweet for my taste but if you like bars they tend to be really sweet. I was surprised how nice the texture of the crust and topping were being whole wheat and oats. They are a couple other bars I want to try in there, I think I'll do the citrus one next.

Button, Button, I Hate Choosing Buttons

OK, so I knit a sweater and sew it together. Then I put it on the dressform and block it all nice and pretty. Now, I'm stuck. It needs buttons. I hate picking buttons. They really can make or break a sweater. If they're too flashy they look stupid, if they're too plain the whole sweater looks boring, too fancy and it looks pretentious. So, what kind of buttons does this sweater need?

It's got a hood so it's kind of casual, but it's also got cables and lace so it's not really a "grubby". I need 18 of them to run straight down the front so nothing too overpowering for flashy will work. It'll likely spend most of it's time unbuttoned so nothing that will catch on stuff easily.

Anyone else have problems choosing buttons? Is this another neurosis exclusive to me? Maybe I have a problem finishing things, buttons are the last step. So anyone have any ideas what kind of buttons go on this sweater? I'm stumped.

It's January in New England again today. The warm weather from last week is gone and we have ...... SNOW. Lots and lots of snow. We've been trying to teach my mom's Bichon to potty OUTSIDE while she's on vacation. So far, so good once we put one of her puppy pads out in the yard. Yeah the neighbors already think we're the Munsters so this latest oddity probably doesn't shock them. Alas, Bichons are short and the show is deep sooooooo she couldn't figure out how to pee in the snow.

Hubby to the rescue, he grabbed a shovel and made, well he made a dog toilet. Grumbling about spending his vacation digging snow latrines for dogs. Tilly wasn't going to squat without a clear space so it had to be done. At least I remembered to put her doggy sweater on before we sent her out there otherwise she'd blend into a drift like camouflage.

Oh Baby, Have You Seen My Baby?

Isn't she gorgeous? We're getting some big snow tonight and tomorrow so hubby is off to give her some exercise. The delicate flower she is we pay for a storage locker in the winter months so she doesn't get all road-salty and rust-slushy.

Ever hear "There's no such thing as a free lunch"? Well, there's no such thing as a free car either. My sister and her hubby once owned our girl, bought her from the son of the original owner, but alas classic cars are not for the faint of heart or tight of wallet. My hubby always drooled over this car and when my sister sold her house way up in Maine she gave it to him for his birthday. To be completely honest she had to get it off the property before they closed on the house and it was hubby or the heap as having it towed and stored was going to cost a fortune.

Well the bucks added up fast anyway. The old girl decided an hour into her trip that she wasn't going to make it back to MA. So she got towed anyway. My sister, in her usual way, forgot to mention that when she said "all original" she meant the tires as well. Dry rot was not part of her lexicon at the time.

We got the girl home, well to our garage, later that day. Our mechanic made a face I've never seen before but being the good sport he is we left out girl with a promise he could get her back up to spec in a week. Well about $1,000 later our girl had her some shiny new shoes, white wall tires to the uninitiated, as well as a slew of new belts, hoses, etc. Anything that was worn, tired or looked like it might be worn or tired. Hubby went to pick her up and pay the bill, I think he clutched his chest a little, and brought home our new "free" car.

She's a lovely mint and jade, 1979 Ford Thunderbird with off-white leather interior. She has power windows and a cassette player as well as AC and a few other goodies. She's also a real boat, over 18 feet long with a huge wingspan when her doors are open. They all work except the cassette player which died about a month later so if you see one for sale let me know. We hunt parts for her when we have time, NOS preferred. We're always looking for extra tail light lenses, baby's are unique the only year Ford used them and they're hard to find and PRICEY.

Our girl does have a downside or two. She's a 1979 American made luxury car which means she eats gas like crazy. I feel a little guilty about this, I keep pretty green, but we only use her for special trips and in the summer months and she represents a bit of automotive history sooooooooo I offset with other things. Maybe our next everyday car will be a hybrid to make up for the baby's bad gas mileage.

This year we want to have her repainted. We're saving out pennies, lots of them, because you can't just take baby to Macco. We want her paint matched to the 1979 special order Jade Glow she is. New carpet on the floors might be needed too, it's looking a tad worn in spots. For 30 years and LESS THAN 35,000 miles baby looks great, a real head turner. So we'll tuck her back in her locker after a little ride and give her a little freedom as the Winter allows until Spring when she snow goes and the drive-in opens. Baby loves her a Summer night at the drive-in and we love to take her.

Out with the Old, In with the New...

The new and constant major problems that is, so much for the new year being better than the old. At least Christmas is OVER! Yippee! Hubby and I need a new plan, there was WAY too much traveling and too many events this year, it's just too stressful. We had places to be from the 24th straight through until New Years and it started to suck. I had one day off in all that time and I spent it getting a breast ultrasound, not fun, not as bad as I thought either. On the bright side no cancer, recent boob issues seem to have been caused by stress.

When the doc asked me what was going on in my life so I told him, I got kinda a blank stare in return and "Yeah I'd say that's stressful". I felt like asking him ... What doesn't everyone have their mother-in-law, fall and break her arm, sewage backup in a blizzard, Christmas, and Nana in the hospital, brother-in-law's dad get an 80,000 lien on his house from unpaid property taxes, and Christmas all in a month??? I don't ask, because their next question is.. "Why do they all call you?!" I don't know, they just do. My mother claims it's because I'm the "Family Anchor", I say S*%T rolls downhill.

On the bright side I got a little knitting done last week, my cabled cardigan is almost done. Just needs seeming and buttons. I'm not sure what kind of buttons yet so it's been put aside for a while. I had enough yarn to add a hood rather than the collar from the pattern and make the length 30 inches, I like it a lot. I made it from Classic Elite Wings, my favorite yarn but it's discontinued. I got this charcoal color for 15$ a bag two years ago (yes a BAG of 10) when they had the huge 5th floor sale at the outlet in Lowell, MA. So I made a wool/silk/alpaca hoodie cardigan for 30 bucks ... beat that bargain hunters!

I also got a new sock book from winning a contest in my Knitter's Tea Swap. The post office did something too it, it was way late the the package looked like it took a brief tour through Iraq. It survived mostly in tact save a couple coffee stains but who cares I like the patterns it's a very cool sock book from Sirius Knitting. Thanks!

My next project is underway, I'll get photos up when I'm a bit further along. It's a bulky weight afghan for hubby who swears all the ones I make are "too short". Well I'm a foot shorter than he is so I think they're just fine but he wants one for just him. I took him to the store with me so he could pick the colors for his "Manghan" and we ended up with dark brown, tweeded hunter and tan. It's a striped pattern done in blocks so it looks like a Roman Steps quilt. He always picks something I'd really rather not do like sew a billion blocks together. It won't kill me and it's bulky so it'll go fast. One picky remark though and he's getting a wifey smackdown.