Unemployment Schmunemployment

Due to the recent notification that I will be unemployed in about a week, and a HUGE boulder that fell on the road between home and the office, I stayed home today and did almost nothing. But the crafter in me has been itching to do something, so I pulled out the rest of the orange roving I bought on etsy and spun the remainder into some sort of yarn... Pics of that after it dries from its little bath, but here's the process...




Oh, and yeah, we just got back from Hawaii, did I forget to mention that? During our eleven days there was quite a bit of rain...



but there was some glorious sunshine too...





So, yeah, I'm not complaining about anything!

Right This Very Minute

It is too bad that the Huzbunkle doesn't want a sweater vest for christmas, 'cause then I might make it on time...

But since he wants a whole actual sweater, those pesky sleeves might put me closer to his February birthday than Christmas morn... But I do have to say that it is begining to look a lot like a sweater these days, a nubbly, cabled, and complex sweater! Yay!

As for our train ride last week, Tank Boy and I had a fabulous time! We made the 6:20 am bus (a small miracle, if you know my preferred sleeping habits!) and then made all three subsequent transfers from bus to train to bus to train! We ended up in my old hometown of Truckee, where a friend picked us up and fixed us dinner while we waited for the Huzbunkle to fly back from a business trip in GA and then drive up from Sacramento. All together the logistics of this trip were akin to an algebra word problem, but it all went surprisingly smoothly in the end. We made it to the work holiday party in Reno, and rubbed elbows and white elephants with the big bosses, despite the fact that I had pretty much lost my voice to the hacking cough that had taken up residence in my torso region.

This weekend we're all considerably healthier and homebody-er! We got our tree up, and some lights on the entry way, and are tackling the two weeks of back laundry! Funny story about the tree though, last night, a mere 8 hours after getting the darn thing up and decorated, it decided to take a swan dive in to the middle of the living room floor. The Huz and I who had been dozing on the couch watching the tube, bolted upright ready for action at the surprisingly loud noise a fully decorated tree makes hitting the hardwood (and the family dog, totally uninjured btw.) An hour and three vacuum passes later we were back in business. Lets hope the bugger stays put this time!

We've got non-stop carols on the sound system, and a ham in the freezer! I loves me some holiday cheer!

Ack!

I didn't follow my own advice about staying in bed for a week, and boy am I sorry. Aside from Ted Kennedy's passing, and much more locally, today we had substantial rockfall within a 1/2 mile of my jobsite, and the controlled burn (that The Hubsand was monitoring for its impact on air quality) has jumped its bounds and taken off. We are all on pins and needles here.

Two For One Coupon Day?

Today, at work, the contractor did this crazy thing where they made a Tee into a pressurized waterline, without geyser-ing hardly anything! To start they bolted a sleeve around the existing water line with a little tee type protrusion on it. Then they bolted a valve on to that, which is just a piece of pipe with an extra bump on top so that a little door can go up out of the way, or down to stop the water flow. They they bolted this crazy enclosed drilling contraption on, of which I'm only showing the business end...



Then they drill in the center pilot hole, and then the big circular drill cores out a honkin circle. The center pilot bit actually has some heavy short wires that pop out and hold onto the circle (I believe it is called a coupon, but I read that on the internets, so someone could be playing a cruel joke on me...). They were more than happy to let me take it home!



Construction work iz fun!

0.37 Millimeters, Actually

I use this nifty site pretty often. For example, today I was on there to figure out the thickness of a gallon of paint spread over 110 square feet (parking lot striping thing, gad my life is thrilling).

But I have to admit that today was the first day that I have ever noticed this link in the sidebar. I know I am a geek, but how about you dear readers?

I double dog dare ya to click on that second link and see how many "conversions" you are just itchin' to try... I have already tried 5, and won't be surprised if I sneak in another one or two before the day is out. You?

Got Sledgehammer?

Hello there! So things are moving forward here, I've started my new (old) job, back in Yosemite Valley for three days a week. I will be doing construction inspection on some sewer line replacement. Fun, huh? And now to get totally geeky on you, I will tell you why some if this will be especially interesting... The contractor will be doing directional drilling! Whoo hoo! Meaning instead of opening a gigantic long pit in the ground and laying pipe in the bottom of it, they will be drilling horizontally through the ground and hauling the pipe through behind it. Neeto, and less damaging environmentally! I knew you'd be just as excited as I!

I will mention here that it is very sad to leave my old job, they were nothing but wonderful. But the new job will be much closer to the new home. And speaking of which...

We are also starting some stuff on the new house. We meet with an electrician today to try and make it less of a spontaneous-bonfire-house potential, and then we will be seeing the lead paint inspectors in the next week or two. I'm not gonna sugar coat this at all. This house is a pit. It is disgusting. It needs a new roof,

new electrical,

new foundation, new flooring and an entirely new kitchen. There is a 2 foot by 1 foot hole in the floor of the bathroom. It stinks. (Um, literally, like really smelly.) But let me enumerate the benefits to you (so that I don't forget them myself!)

We will be living in El Portal, right on the border of Yosemite, closer to all of the fun things that we all love to do!
It is a wonderful neighborhood to raise kids in!
It is scads closer to The Hub's office, and Tankster's daycare, and with gas prices that is significant.
It is right next to a fire hydrant, and in this flammable state, that is significant.
It has city water and sewer, no more worrying about dry wells and overflowing septic systems.
It has fast internet. (If only it were in time for these fabulous olympic days!)
It has a better elementary school. (A few years down the road, but not too far!)
It has four(!) bedrooms, so we will have a guest room for all of you! (Maybe not all at once though...)
We already have friends in the neighborhood.
It has a mother-in-law apartment for monthly income or future housing of The Father-In-Law.

The house will be walking distance to the river, post office, community center, and when they get it rebuilt (after its own spontaneous-bonfiring earlier this year) the new community market. (Photo by B. Popp, not Potts like they list it!)

So it will be a good thing. But right now its a scary thing. An expensive, time consuming, dusty, dirty, smelly, and scary thing. So I might need your help in the future, if not actually toting that bale, then just mentally helping me stay in the game here. Just tell me that this thing has potential, okay?



All pictures from Ken Card of Advanced Home Inspections.

Suzie's Santa Sweatshop

My husband makes fun of me because every year I decide to make way too many handcrafted gifts for the holidays, and end up working my little fingers to the bone during the month of December. So what do I decide to do this year? Knit a sweater for each and every employee at the company I work for...

Um, okay, well there are only six of us, and yeah I knit them teeny tiny ornament sweaters, but they are REAL sweaters and would keep a tiny stick figure very warm!

And don't forget the beading...

Good friends and family, pipe up with your favorite colors if you'd like one of these! Quick before my fingers fall off!

The Grass Is Riz

It has been a big week here at the ranch. Jackson is looking so big and growed up! He looks more like a boy, and so much less like a larva!

Aside from that, Tank Mom has now headed back to work. (Um, yes, I just referred to myself in the third person... moving on.) So yes, I have officially made it through my first week back. And by first week, I really mean two days. Because I get to do this part time, believe it or not. I will be working in an office, at a desk, doing mathy things that I studied in college, for actual money. With four or five painfully nice office mates. That are also incredibly helpful and knowledgeable.

But it is tough to explain this to our wee offspring, he doesn't seem to get it yet. So his first day away went pretty rough, but the second one seemed to go better. In fact we even have the reassuring documentation right here:

Now immortalized for eternity, Tank Boy's first report card! Notice the "Today I was... happy" block checked at the bottom center. So. Proud.

On a completely different note, and for all you folks in northern climes, and other non hospitable climactic zones, I would just like to say that spring has struck here with a vengeance. We are basking in temperate weather and cloudless skies. Remind me of this when it gets to be 108 degrees in the shade, okay?






Oi, with the cute already!