Taking a break

Although I've been swamped with marking, sometimes I need a break.

The mittens have been progressing surprisingly quickly on those breaks.



PS: In case you didn't notice, I added the broken needle photo to the post below.

Furnace Filters

...Not just for furnaces:



I bought a pack of filters last week, but hadn't gotten them in the windows yet. When I got home today, it was quite warm in the house, so I rigged this temporary set-up. Works great. :)

Social Cooties

Winnipeg is in it's dusty season, where the snow has melted, leaving behind a season's worth of road grime, ground down sand (and probably road too), salt, and snow mold. I'm recovering from my cold, and still have a hacking cough.

So that my cough isn't exacerbated by the dust, I've been wearing dust masks.

People look at me strange, and I've noticed the seat next to me staying empty longer. I ignore the looks, and enjoy the space. ;)

Crunch...

...That didn't sound good.

I caught my lunchtime knitting bag between my hip and the door frame. One of my KnitPicks wood straights is now in three pieces.

Photo to come when I'm near my camera cable.

Update:

Hrmmmm...

Getting 22 stitches per 4 inches, instead of 24. I think the pattern must have been written by a tight knitter, because it calls for 3.5 mm / US 4, and that's the size needles the yarn recommends to get 22 stitches per 4 inches.

Punching in the numbers, the gauge difference is adding an inch to the circumference. Looks like I need to rip and restart on smaller needles. :(

Besides the size, a looser gauge will be less durable, and let more wind through.

Trying to balance keeping the floats loose with getting a tighter gauge is going to be tricky.

Pattern: Wool Trends double mitten with knitted-in angora lining (note: I got a different angora yarn than the one listed on the kits page), Ravelry link.

Ravelry project page.

Stupor

I've basically spent the last five days in bed, if you ignore the failed attempt to go to work, the time spent doing laundry Saturday (no option), or the few dishes I managed to do... was it Sunday? I'm now in a bit of a stupor. I'm hoping that this is a sign that I've now slept the cold off, and am ready to get back to work. (It would have been more convenient had the "slept enough" point happened in the morning, not when it was time to go to bed.)

I woke up this morning, coughing enough I had to have a bath to settle it. I had another bath tonight. After a bunch of phone calls, I got some asthma meds to prevent bronchitis. (Amusing: after getting a phone call, I went to the back door to exchange a fist full of cash for a paper bag with drugs... my parents had picked up my prescription for me. ;) ) I took the puffs then, and will take a second dose after I finish writing this, before bed. (It's supposed to be twice a day, and it was mid-afternoon when I got them, but I didn't want to wait to start.)

I'm not sure if the medication is starting to kick in, or if the cough is under control due to the bath. If it's the meds, I should be able to go to work tomorrow. If it's the bath, I probably won't do so well if I try to go in. I suppose I'll have an idea when I wake up, and find out how the hacking cough is then.

I should just go to bed, and figure this out in the morning (since I obviously can't figure it out right now)... but sleeping for five days has really thrown my schedule off. I feel like I should be hungry (I don't know why... possibly because I only ate twice today), but I don't think I am. I hate being in a stupor.

Well... time to medicate, use the neti-pot, do my normal nightly ablutions, and hopefully I'll get to sleep okay. Perhaps I'll change which pajamas I'm wearing, just for some variety.

Whatever I have, I really hope no one else gets it. :(

To The Fool Who Would Be King

I'm all for rehabilitating criminals, but wouldn't a prison farm be better than a job as a political advisor? And even if that person appears to have been reformed, do you really want to give them security clearance? Especially since their crimes involved fooling people?

Either you are a fool, or the person you allow to do your hiring is a fool... and anyone who allows a fool to do his hiring is a fool.

*wiped*

I thought I was feeling better this morning, but my the time I got to work, I thought better of it.

There's nothing like a virus and lungs full of gunk to leave you wiped out. Even sitting in front of the computer right now is making me tired. (I already napped for four hours after straggling home from my failed attempt to be a productive member of society today. I thought I'd let myself up for a bit, to see how it goes.)

This morning I knew I wasn't 100%, but I thought it was just an iffy voice and not-100% lungs. I felt like I had energy.

The energy was used up by my walk to the bus stop.

By the time I got to work, I had to take a sore throat lozenge, and was probably disturbing the rest of the bus riders with my hacking cough. Standing up at the office, I felt dizzy.

So I said "hi, good-by, I'll try again tomorrow."

I called my allergist, and she's phoned in a prescription for my "try to prevent the cold from becoming bronchitis" lung medications, so I'll at least have to show up to the university for that. (I could have had it sent to a closer pharmacy, but I didn't feel like going out again today, and made the possibly foolish assumption that I'll be better by tomorrow. Four days in bed should be enough, right?!?)

*sigh*

Blargh.

Well, this is useless. I felt like I had a bit more energy, so I decided to attack the dishes. (At least a bit.) I changed from pajamas to real clothes, rinsed the few items that were soaking in the sink (most were already piled to the side), then filled the rinse bucket with water.

I'm now pooped, and out of energy. (To the point of feeling shaky.) Maybe that feeling of "starting to get some energy back" was just a delusion. :P

Amusing

Amusing: Discovering you have a frog in your throat when you call your boss to warn her that you may be home sick on Monday too. (It's my third day in bed... not much is amusing at this point.) Unsurprisingly, she had no trouble believing that I'm still sick.

Given how much gunk I've been hacking up, it probably shouldn't have surprised me that it was having an effect on my voice. When you live alone, you really don't have many reasons to make that discovery, though, unless you decide to test it.

Here's hoping I'm over this nasty cold soon!