Blink...

"Without a commitment to withdraw partisan and sectarian politics from the selection of senior inspectors general leadership, there is the likelihood that investigations will not have credibility."

So sayeth the sages who are reporting from Iraq on the state of the "government" there and their courts system.

Ironic, huh?

In other news:

I am so "L33+". Last nite on the way home from work I realized my left turn-signal had a lamp out. By process of elimination (checking for reflections in other people's bumpers), I realized I was also missing a brake-lamp, as both the turnsignal and brake use the same lamp. Joy. *sigh*

I also had a trunk full of boxes, which I had to unload first, so I went home and unloaded - then realized that since I had the car going anyhow, it wouldn't be all that hard to drive to a "service station" - which isn't that easy to find anymore! - and get it fixed.

On my way to finding the Marathon station that still has a mechanic on staff, I noticed a "Car Quest Auto Parts" store - so I drove in. I went in my trunk and pulled out the carpeting away from the back of the taillight, and voila - within seconds I had a burned out light-bulb in my hand. Went in, showed it to the guy, and got a new one for $1.38. Went back out to the trunk, plugged in the new one, started the car, checked to make sure I had turnsignalage - and SUCCESS!! Drove off with working lamps. WOOT!!

Would have cost me over $10 at the service station, no doubt. I am feeling very sassy and superior for this - which is silly because it's only a freaking taillight bulb - but hey, ya takes yer "attagirls" where you can gets 'em, eh?

486 days

Holiday Planning

So I'm planning to take a couple days off work next month and go down to Florida and visit the Dadster. Gonna drive. Which means I'll be stopping over about 1/2 way down. Trying to find a decent hotel/motel/whatever to stay because I don't want to spend a fortune, but I am also not wanting to freeload on my friends either.

Meh.

I hate doing all this research baloney. I'm not sure I trust the "user reviews", because sometimes there is a one-off bad stay at a hotel - and sometimes folks have expectations that are vastly different from my own. For instance, I expect a certain level of cleanliness/quality at a 3-star rated hotel than I do at a 2 or 4 star one, but this is MY expectations. What do you do when you research the same site on several booking sites and get 3 different ratings?

"The best part of our stay was the hotel" vs. "What a dump! Don't stay here!!" Who to believe?

Tonite I'll have to make a decision, most likely, so that I get the rate that I'd prefer. But I sure do wish I had a way to run a real-time robot-cam through all the possible hotels before I made a reservation!!

487 days

"Ya can't catch me, 'cause the rabbit done died - yes he did"

Sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet Emo-ooooooooooooootion

Gah, I love that song. Love the whole album, actually. 12 inch record and the title cut and all, not to mention the equally top-40 "Walk This Way"

And not just because it all so vividly recalls the "Aerosmith Story" which I will refrain from retelling to protect the gentle sensibilities of the other party involved (because it is kind of embarassing and all)

No, I love that specific song "Sweet Emotion" because it is LOUD!

As a general rule, I drive to and from work with no radio, no CD, no tapes - just the hissing of tires (or tyres if you are UK), the swisssshhhh of air movement, the myriad small noises from the engine and a suspect muffler noise that may soon require some attention.

And then there are those moments... when someone wants to share their (c)rap "music" or Cuntry and Western, or *shudder* contemporary female pop "artists". Or the VERY worst - mariachi "salsa" garbage.

#1) Turn on CD player
#2) Make sure track 3 is set to play
#3) Turn up volume to almost maximum
#4) Enjoy the song stylings of Messrs Tyler and Perry
#5) Enjoy the lack of (c)rap, C&W, mexican Oompah or Brittney

This often also will result in #6) Enjoy watching the idiot blasting THEIR songs try to avoid your car - thus allowing you to turn off the CD player again.

*very... big... evil... grin*

488 days

More babbling

So it seems the Shrub has come up with a name for the guy to replace Not-So-Speedy Gonzales as Attorney General. Some guy named Michael Mukasey. Apparently some retired judge or something. Never heard of him, actually. Every time I see his name I think of Michael McCaskey, and considering what HE did to Da Bears...

Bend over, grab your ankles and prepare for the worst.

In the process of making the "mystery quilt" along with whatever 2 or 3 readers are also interested, I've managed to move 2 steps beyond what I've already posted (always good to know WTF you are planning to spring on folks BEFORE you spring it), and I am surprisingly happy with the choice of fabric colors I've made. My digital camera is crap, and the colors are always just exactly NOT what they really are when I take photos, but the colors you see on the blog here are actually fairly accurate (pink, brown and mint-green) - even though the original pieces that I used for the photos were using a much brighter and more "POW in your face" kind of lime-green. The switch has made a world of difference, instead of being "all bright and loud", the quilt is now going to be "soft, warm and subtle" - not my usual style, certainly not my usual choice of colors - but damn, it looks nice. So far. I have surprised myself.

With the waning of summer comes the waning of the tomato plants. Last night must have been fair cold, because the baby-tomato plants are all rather wilty-leaved this morning. The midsize tomato plant is in a more protected corner and still seems "OK", but I suspect I'll have to gather in the last bits off that in the next day or so and then compost the remains. I should take an "after" shot of those 2 "baby" tomato plants. I swear they became almost "Attack of the Killer Cherry Tomato" size. (Quick! Someone get an STP sticker!!) They took over most of the fence and trellis, and then headed out into the narrow alley between our gates. Someone tucked it back into my garden again, so it's weaving in and out of the fence boards, with baby greenies still on it.

Nightmares still bothering me. Actually, very vivid, very bright and highly detailed dreams in general, and several of them being of the "wake up with adrenaline rush" variety. An example was the one where somehow I drove off a hilly road into a flooded bridge over a lake that washed away in front of me and the car sink in the lake. Managed to get out, and Manda was with me, she got out too, but I couldn't find her and she was hollering for me, so I backfloated and then she paddled up to me and I got her to backfloat and towed us both to the shore and got out, but the police wouldn't help us get the car out of the lake, and I was late for work.

Ok, who said dreams make sense? Fucking effluvia of the brain. This is not the first time I've dreamed of driving into deep water. I guess I have some kind of subconscious Mary Jo Kopechne syndrome or something.

490 days

Mystery Quilt 2007 - Part 6

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5

Hello Again Everybody.

This week's installment is very easy-peasy. So easy-peasy that I've not taken any "Real Life" photos even!

Gather up the 25 solid "B" squares and the rest of the un-used "horizontal" A+C squares.

What we want to do is take two of the "horizontal" squares and sew the long "A" side of each of these squares to opposite sides of one of the "B" squares. Sounds tricky? Bah. A picture, however being worth 1,000 carpal tunnels, when you are done, your piece should look like this:



Remember, the White is "B", the Yellow is "A" and the Green is "C". In other words - on THIS nifty strip, the 2 colors that are used in the "triangle" squares are not touching each other at all.

When you're finished, you should have 25 of these strips. Iron the seams toward the INSIDE - toward the "B" solid square.

Put them aside with the 50 you made last week - that's it for now! (Told you this week was easy-peasy!!!)

Fall has Fallen

Ok, that's a stupid title - but "Spring has Sprung" is equally stupid. It was COLD this morning. I kept having to leap back into the covers to get warm because I left the windows open in the bedrooms and the hall. One can only take SO long of a hot shower before even the greatest new water-heater is depleted.

For once, however, I've not encountered as many hordes of yellow-jackets as usual. This is a Good Thing©.

If you didn't read yesterday's post about Mattel - please do. Your kids' lives may depend on it.

Our dear Babzy has taken to using the word "georgebush" in replacement for "Fuck". Much too long for me to type, and in my not-so-humble opinion, FAR more offensive than a simple euphenism for coitus. Babzy, you little potty-mouth. *grin*

495 days

Boycott Mattel this Christmas

Folks, I know I've sent out a few "this is bad for the world" shouts for not supporting various "artists" or companies, but this time I am asking that you think of the safety of your family.

This week, Mattel has announced yet another toy recall. More lead paint and other dangerous things in their toys. Did you know that Fischer Price is owned by Mattel? You remember Fischer Price - those toys for tots with the fat little people and things, that kids are forever putting in their mouths?

The Chairman and CEO of Mattel doesn't think this is a problem. Poisoning your children or grandchildren is too bad - but he has a bottom line to manage, and regardless of what the law says, his bottom line is more important than your kids' health. Don't believe me? Would you believe the man's own words from the Wall Street Journal?

"Mattel Chairman and Chief Executive Robert Eckert said in an interview that the company discloses problems on its own timetable because it believes both the law and the commission’s enforcement practices are unreasonable. Mattel said it should be able to evaluate hazards internally before alerting any outsiders, regardless of what the law says." Wall Street Journal, August 7, 2007

Nope. That man is not at ALL concerned about your kids.

So here is the deal. I'm not asking you to boycott Mattel in order to get them to change their practices or their suppliers - not asking you to try and force them to make their toys HERE where there is oversight and they are held responsible. I'm asking you not to buy anything from Mattel for your kids so that they aren't poisoned.

Because unlike Robert Eckert, I care about your kids, even if I've never seen or met them. And I'd rather see them playing with something that won't kill them.

Leandra has already decided not to purchase any toys for her granddaughter this christmas. She is going to make toys from patterns I'm sending her that I bought from Annie's Attic many years ago. Stuffed animal dogs that actually LOOK like the breeds, a tote-bag barn full of small stuffed barnyard animals. A travel pillow with a pouch shaped like a lilypad that holds a stuffed frog toy. Knit sweaters and vests. "Pretend" food and drinks made from yarn and plastic canvas.

I have no personal connection with Annie's Attic other than as a satisfied customer. Their patterns are adorable and many of them make up very quickly and easily. If you make it yourself, you KNOW what is going into it.

Think about it, please. Please take care of your children. You know Mattel has already stocked up on whatever it is they plan to sell for Christmas. Their warehouses are full, and with the constant, continuing "oops, made in China, got lead in it" recalls, I am fearful for the fate of the kids who get these poisoned toys this christmas.

496 days

When I was young it seemed that life was so wonderful

I lived in the greatest country in the world. We had rights, and our government was answerable to US. We had privacy, we had ownership, we had all we needed, and much of what we "wanted".

Far away, on another continent, there was a land where people were spied upon by their government. Where they could be arrested for speaking their minds, and where they were held without lawyers, without bail, without trials - for years.

In that far-away country, people didn't live well, they wore sad, patched, broken-down clothing, stood in lines for food, and didn't even have any toilet paper. People were not allowed to travel without permission from the government. They did not have the right to vote.

Corrupt and evil politicians grew fat and wealthy on the backs of the oppressed "masses".

Abraham Lincoln was held up as an example of all that was good for us - "Government OF the people, BY the people, FOR the people".

Today I feel like crying, after reading the usual blogs.

Please, Dear Deity - let it only be
497 days

Mystery Quilt 2007 - Part 5

Just starting out? Here's what you missed:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4

This week we are going to sew together some of our squares. Grab all of your triangle-made squares and 50 of the 1/2 and 1/2 horizontal squares. Take 2 "triangle" and 1 "horizontal at a time.

What we want to do here now is attach one of the triangle-type squares to each side of the horizontal square. Make sure the pieces are the same size (if there is a tiny tiny difference, you can just "center" the offending smaller piece and adjust your seam-allowance to the larger piece) and sew the "B" side of one of the triangle pieces to each of the sides with a seam on the horizontal bar piece.

For the sake of example, my drawings will use yellow for "Color A", white for "Color B" and green for "Color C". Here is the drawing:

When you're sewing them together, try to keep the piece with the most seams along the sewing edge on top. In this case, the horizontal piece will have the most seams (one) along the edge that you are sewing with the "B" sides. The reason for this is so that you will be able to keep the seam allowances on the back side from twisting around and going the opposite direction from what they were ironed. The "Feed Dogs" - those spikey dealies coming out of the bottom part of your sewing machine - will catch on the seam as it goes through and if it is not already going their direction, will pull it the wrong way.

Watch your seam allowances here carefully - this is where the whole "matching points" bit comes into play.

Ok, yes, this photo blows. However. in the dimness there, you should be able to see where 2 of my pink triangle squares have been sewn to my brown/green horizontal square. Notice those ugly arrows again - they point to the place where the seams are. The arrow on the left shows a "GOOD" seam - notice that there is some brown touching the other brown, the "point" of the pink triangle is down 1/4 inch from the top of the piece. THIS IS GOOD. The right arrow shows the point of the triangle directly at the edge of the piece. THIS IS BAD. Here's why.

When you sew the next seam, across the top of these current pieces, you need a seam allowance. If you have the point of the triangle right at the edge of your piece, once you sew the next seam, you will have blunted your triangles, cutting off the tips, as it were. Sort of a Triangle Bris.

So now I'll go pull out the seam on that one on the right (Oh the things I do to make picture examples for y'all... *wink*) and re-sew it so that it too will have a nice "pointy" look for when we use it again. Iron your new-made seams OUTWARD - toward the "B" pieces. Both seams.

Ok! That's it for now - you should have 50 of these nifty strips - put them aside until later, that's it for this week!

New Graphic for the Blog

I can't do it now - it will have to wait for this weekend

The graphic will be a picture with the Republican Elephant.

Hush - Wait and listen...

Elephant inside a red circle, with a line thru it.
Underneath, the date "2008"

Beneath that, the phrase: "We won't get fooled again - oh no!"

Go ahead and steal the idea if you like it. If you don't - stfu, I don't care.

I'd make a bumpersticker of it for my car, but I live and work in the BRIGHT RED county of DuPage, where things like THIS happen, so I need to keep a sensible profile.