And The Saga Of The Car Goes On. . .

Yes, it started making a knocking sound. I knew I was 500 miles pass my next oil change. But, you know, there should have been more then 1/4 of an INCH of oil in it! It's not like I have an oil leak. So I WALKED to the 7-Eleven and bought three quarts of oil to put in it. It took two and 1/4. Then the next day I took it to the car shop for new brake pads, and had then do an oil change. They replaced the oil with synthetic oil. No knocking. Engine actually sounds great.

However they told me the other knuckle had gone out (I knew that, I could feel the bobbling), and that I need new transmission mounts. Each one is $250.00. The good news is that I can piecemeal this. First, the knuckle, then the mounts, one by one.

However, due to my mess up on a credit card, all my "spare" cash is going to catch up on that. I have no savings (unless you want to count the ten dollars in the saving account, Ha!) left after the brake job.

The only upside to this, is I still think it's better then spending $300 on a car payment every month for the next five years. Oh, and if I'm really lucky, within a year, I should have my credit cards paid off. Then everything I make can go on the car (or new one) and the student loans.

******

So, B & B's baby was born Tuesday! I haven't finished the third baby coat for little Daniel. There's a little voice in my head tat sezs "Make it a hoodie". I may not have enough blue yarn for that, but I have a ball of white in the same yarn.

But because I knitted the second and third coat, I didn't knit the secondary presents for my family. Heck, I haven't even sewn them up yet! Or finished Don's present. Noticed how I'm doing this instead of knitting. . .

Yes, must get back to it! BYE!

I Think I'm going To Start A Little Business!

I'm thinking of knitting baby sweaters  as a side line. I could never knit fast enough on my own, so I'm going to invest in a knitting machine, (the plastic version, no way I could afford the $1000 to $2000 ones. Maybe later), and do as much as I can on the machine and finish them off by hand. My plan is to try EBay, (not sure I would qualified for Etsy, with using the machine), perhaps the farmer's market and the fall festival in the next town next year. And oh yeah, the local flea markets. I'm going to use acrylic baby yarn to start out with. If I make any money at this, I will upgrade to wool and alpaca for a specialty line!

  I have to clean out the master bedroom to do this in. Stay away cat hair! That won't be to hard. There's very little in there anyway. I can use my parent's dresser to store stuff for the sweaters. Then I have to drag one of the radio room tables in there. That will be a bit hard, but I'm going to bug Best Friend about getting her stuff out, yet again! So maybe there will be a pathway to drag it through!

I'm quite jazzed about this. I have read enough about the knitting machines that I don't think it will kill the desire to knit in me. They are similar, not identical.

I Am Never Going Back To That Oil Change Shop Again!

About two months ago I got the transmission fluid changed at the oil change  I go to. Lately I had noticed that my car didn't seem to changing up to the higher gears. The axle was also clicking, so I was hoping like hell it was that and NOT the transmission going out again. Well, it wasn't. But it was close. You see, the oil change place only charged me $89.00 for the service, because that's what he quoted me. As I left he explain that's what he was charging me, even although the transmission fluid needed an additive. Yes, that is what he said.

I took it to the mechanic yesterday. He checked it and it turned out that the transmission fluid was very low. It' not leaking. The oil change place didn't even put enough fluid in it, let alone the right stuff! The car shop replaced the low stuff with Hyundai fluid. That costs $180.00, but the car is running correctly now.

I'm very angry at the oil change place. If they had done the job right I could buy new tires which I really need. Now I just get to worry about the wear on the transmission from this.

Well I'm Still Knitting

So far I have knitted four hot water bottles, of which the very first I haven't even bothered to sew up. Let's call that one a learning experience, okay? The next two I tried to perfect my version. Learned (I think) to do the yarn over. These were mine and my niece's. By the time I did the fourth one for my sister I was getting very bored with doing the stripes, so I did a checkerboard pattern. My first stranded knitting! That was fun.

Since then I have been doing the baby sweater for B & B. The one I started in the fingering yarn was not flowing. I tried doing one in worsted weight and guess what? I am done with the body and am now doing one of the sleeves! With this I have learned how to do the single row button hole. It will probably fit their kid in August.

But I must buy some yarn and start on brother-in-law present. I am going to do a hat, and hopefully some fingerless mitts for him to use in the morning when driving.

Went To Vogue Knitting Live: LA

With my sister! We just went to the market place, there was no way I could afford any of the classes. My sister drove, oh thank God! To much stress and excitement for me that would be. So the marketplace was suppose to be $20.00. However I saw no place to pay when we went in to the market place.  So we just walked in. I saw people wearing badges, people wearing wrist bands of blue and pink, and people like us with nothing. No one ever said anything to us about that. Not even the vendors when they sold their wares to us! Of course I was waiting for the heavy hand of the law to descend on our shoulders, but it never happen. My sister was much more savior fare and wasn't worried about it.

I saw so many different kinds of yarn, alpaca, muskox (so incredibly soft!), wool, mulberry silk, BANANA fiber (really, really shinny!) No linden yarn that I could see however. I decided with my massively reduced fiances, that I would concentrate on what I didn't, and not lose my head. So it was stitch marker and blue yarn for Brian and Barb's soon to be baby boy.

I was pretty stiff at first.My sister started looking worried, because I wasn't buying anything or really going into the booths. But I could see, that those booths didn't have the right kind of yarn or any stitch markers.I have, unbelievably, do have a problem spending large sums of money on something, even although I have PLANNED to do so. I walked into booths, looking for the right kind of blue yarn. And every booth we walked into, people spoke to us! Everyone was so friendly! Well, I finally found the yarn I was looking for! Sweet Georgie in tourmaline! Sock yarn/fingerling, $22.00 a skein. I bought two to make sure. I want to make a sweater, and a hat, and booties! The sister relaxed.
My sister at first stayed out of the booths, and I was greatly worried that she wasn't going to enjoy her self.
Well, that was until we found the right kind of yarn for her! It turns out that my sister likes multitexured yarn. She used to do weaving in the 80's and this stuff was right of her alley! Even  better if it was sparkly and shinny! I soon talked her into buying one skein/hank of yarn for her self to experiment with. So, into the booths with me she went.

My sister had three candidates, one sari skein, which she was delighted (and amazed) to find out it was recycled Indian sari dresses, secondly  a yarn make of five strand, different weights, type of fiber, metallic, and thirdly a skein of stuff that was a mesh. There was a scarf she was almighty taken with made of out it with a thread of sequins knitted on it in a technique that made it ruffle. The yarn was like $22.0 and so she didn't feel bad about buying it, I bought the roll of sequins for it, which turned out to be $30.00! Yes the sparklies cost more then the yarn!

With that I was done with the market place. I did have more money on me, but I was afraid to spend it, (and I was right not to, the trash bill came the next day). We took another look around, there was a BIG cardboard box fill with bags of skeins, and they were on sale, but the lowest was in the $40's and then a class let out and the attendees swarmed it.

With that we tried to leave, I say tried, because we couldn't figure out how to get out. We ended up in a lobby, and sister wondered out loud how to get to the car. Behind us was a vogue booth, (and I noticed that was where you payed for the market place. Augh! Don't look at us lady! But the lady in the booth asked us whether we wanted our parking validated! It reduced it to $12 from $24! Then she told us how to get to the parking garage! As we left my sister used the machine to pay for the parking. She asked the other people in line whether they had gotten their parking validated and , one lady proclaimed that she had asked the Vogue people twice but they said they weren't doing it that day!

And then we had lunch at the King's Head Inn!

The eye Lingers

I greatly suspect that I'm allergic to the eye drops I got for my eyes. Whereas before, my eyes were not red, as soon as I started using the eye drops, they both turned red and itchy. The gookiness increase. So the next week I went back. That doctor prescribed what she thought was a different eye drops, (I couldn't remember the drug's name). Well, it was the same thing. I took it for 6 days. No improvement.

Yesterday I stopped using it. eyes stayed red, gooky. I bought an allergy eye drop today. Instant 95% improvement. Right eye went back to normal. Left eye not red, but still leaky.

Going to keep on using it for a while and see what happens.

Doom and gloom!!!!

Well, let's see, car over heated and it turned out I needed a new radiator,$440.00. However the nice people at the car shop let me make three payments on it, and that's all taken care of now. Car seems to be doing fine now.

So in the last year I have been going to this car shop, I have noticed that all the old employees have disappeared and there are always new very young boys there doing the work. Like he was apprenticing them from high school. He was telling them what to do. Then I realized that his son was also gone, and you know business has to be really bad when you lay off your own child.This did worry me a bit.

Then I realized he was living in his RV outside the shop. This also worried me.  Boy, was I worried now!

Well this time I think I found out why. His son was there and was dressed for work. He didn't look the same however. Most of the right side of his face has burn scars, with a big honking shinny pink square of a skin graft on top of the cheek bone. I think the old man helped his son out with the medical bills. I think he sold his house or lost it paying for his son.

I am of course going to keep on going there.

Now however I am a little screwed now. My left eye has been bothering me. Wednesday it started bothering me more with gooking up. Slowly gooking up. Yesterday I woke up and looked at myself in the mirror and golly, I had a web of green gook at each corner plus a crust of dry gunk under my eye. I should have taken a picture.

I went to the doctor (county). I have pink eye. . .even although my eye is not pink or scratchy. Just gooky.The doctor thinks I have an airborne variety. I have to take three days off because I am contagious. That's four days with out pay. Screwed.

I will get through this, I just won't like it while I do.

On the plus side maybe I will lose weight living on oatmeal!!!!

An Open Letter To My Sister About Christmas Presents. . .

I would like to get knitting stuff, you know, YARN and knitting notions, that kind of stuff, not that the membership to Costco was not welcome, or the jam tart pans, nooo, I loved them! However, you now know that I'm madly into knitting now, and I need/want some stuff to go with it. Yes, last Christmas, you gave me your late mother-in-law's knitting needles, and God Bless You for that.

However, unlike Lil, I can't count to any degree of accuracy. I need those counter things, no, not the the counting barrel. I have those and I don't use them. This is why. At every row, you have to STOP knitting and give it a twirl. That sucks, it breaks my concentration/speed and makes me forget what I'm planning to do on the next row due to the ADD.

What I want is the row counter thingy-a-jigy. It's simple, it's a chain of loops that fit onto the needle with numbered beads in between. At the next row, all one does is to use it is move the needle into the next loop. These come in sets of 1 Thu 10, and 10 Thu 100. I want both. It at all possible I want the ones that have the rainbow beads you and Lila used to make those chandler earrings with.

Also I want some stitch markers, ones marked K2T, and D (Decrease), and I(Increase), also because of the ADD.

These things are rather cheap, even I could afford them. However I want to give you the ability to make me squeal with delight. You will find them on Etsy.com.

The second thing you could give me is yarn. This is the price increase in presents. One skein will make a scarf, or sock, or a hat, but a sweater needs like a 1000 yards, and in general that's like 6 skeins.I like rainbow colors, but you should pick colors you and your family will wear as I will promptly turn them into presents for you all. I would suggest Knitpicks.com (I have become a yarn snob, and want only natural fibers. . .sorry). They have a variety of yarn in different weights. I could use fingering weight and also DK weight. Compared to other places, their wool prices are comparable to acrylic yarn. Super washed yarn is treated so it can be washed in the washing machine and dried in the dryer (hint, hint).

The third thing I could use is interchangeable circular needles. This is a kit that has like three different lenghts of cord that attach to a sets of needles in progressive sizes. In other words, I could knit a a sock, a hat, or even a sweater, by just changing the cord to a different lenght. However I should tell you these are rather expensive. But they would last me for the rest of my life.

A cheaper alternative, is bamboo needles off Ebay. Way cheaper. They are not switchable, and don't last like metal ones, but they are even affordable for me. They come in bundles of needle sizes with the same lenght of cord. In other word, needle sizes between 3 to 14, all with, say a 24 inch lenght cord.

Then there are books on knitting. I need a stitch dictionary. I would like it on my Kindle, but I'm not sure whether the diagrams will show up legibly. These also are affordable.

I thank you for your patcients with my various manias, and heres hoping you will get lots of use out of this one.

Love your sister.

Tid Bits

There are ants in my bathroom. This is my punishment for smugly telling my sister that I have had only one ant attack since BF moved out. Hublis.

*****

BF has given up on drug addict because she saw him high on morphine alternative. She is now dating a school teacher. However he hadn't called, when she she expected him to, so who knows. Must have talk to her about why she expects to hear from them EVERY SINGLE DAY after the first date. I personally feel that chases them off if you talk/see/text  every day after meeting them. They did have a life before they met you, and they want to continue having a life after meeting you. Don't suck all their free time up.

*****

My house has been broken into, about three weeks ago. [I found my bedroom window lock on the floor of my bedroom, and realized there was scrape marks on the paint where it had been forcibly dragged down the window, and the slide down lock that comes with the window was cracked in half] I didn't realize it at the time, but I do know Goosie was freaked out of her mind and jumped a foot into the air every time I touched her. I wasn't worried, because I thought it was my big brother who had broken in. But now I wonder, because he acted very shocked with my sister about my cats, but I would swear he had been in the house at least three times if not more in the last year and a half. So if it wasn't him before, who was it?

This puts a completely different perspective on that guy who visits the gangbangers down the street, who when he passes me doing yard work, always proclaims, "That's real hard work, anit it?" Me thinks he's been in my house, definitely my back yard. Of course BF thinks I'm being paranoid.

Definitely need security screen door on kitchen door.  I am going to buy way more window locks and put multiples on all the windows.

*****

Goosie is eating very little. She is very crabby, and also very loving. For the first time in her life, she is head butting me. Last night I tried a package of tuna in water on her and she ate almost ALL of it. I am going back to the store to buy her more. I'm pretty sure it's time for another steroid shot for her.

my phone is turned off due to nonpayment

I have no idea how I gt that far behind. also I am behind on college loan and cell phone.I haven't got my paycheck yet becauseof the holiday.On to work to pick it up so I can pay these thhings.

It's Summer Time!

And life is boring. I spend two hours everyday dragging the sprinkler around the lawn. I check my email for a letter from my English cousin, I've written him like 4 letters now with out a reply. I greatly fear that he is NEVER going to write me back. Hell, he doesn't even talk to me on Face Book now. I'm sort puzzled as to why. . .?

Anyhoo, sometimes I manged to make myself do some house cleaning, mostly not unfortunately. I mess around on the Internet and pet cats. Then I go to the gym and have gotten into a really bad habit of NOT excising, but just washing.

Then it's off to work, where I do work. It's the only bright spot of my life that I am able to make myself do stuff there. I think I need to talk to someone or have BF come over and force me to work on house.

***************

Now for the distressing news. I think my brother has broken into the house. I had to change the lock because the old lock wouldn't lock or unlock anymore, and there nothing like spending fifteen minutes after midnight in a really bad neighborhood, trying to get the door to unlock. This means he doesn't have acess to the house. I also stuck a knife into the lock on the cat door after I realized the duct tape holding close had been pulled loose. I figured he sent my youngest nephew in through the cat door to open up for him like he use to do with the eldest nephew. So that entry way was out for him. So he forced my bedroom window open and got in that way. I found the window lock on the floor and the slide down plastic lock that comes on the window has been cracked in half.

His Tandy computer is gone, as well, as well as Daddy's car models, the deed to the house, the paperwork deeding my sister's 1/3 to me, and I can't find my birth certificate either. It's the latter which makes me wonder whether it's it's him or not. My birth certificate is not useful to him.

Also the spare house key is gone from it's hiding place if I remember getting four key correctly. If it's just three, he didn't get it or made a copy of it.

We have no idea why he is this way. . .

I have read "HOW NOT TO LOOK OLD"

And I do get the point, which some of the reviews I have also read, don't. This book is mostly directed at your working life. Charla Krupp is very aware of the statistics that we are at the top of the aging pole. Everyone else is going to be YOUNGER then us, and they are going to be the people who are running things. You don't want to stand out because you are dressed like an alien compared to the younger people around you. You want to look like them in a professional way as much as possible. You don't want to tap into the preconceived notion that old equals slow, hard to teach new methods, and unattractive.

This is the point of the shape ware, the skin stuff, the clothes that hides your sag and bulges. I get the point. And I intend to implement them as well. I'm going to have to make a game of it as to clothes. I just can't afford to buy those kinds of clothes new. But I can haunt the thrift stores. My only problem is that I can't subjectively judge what looks good on me. But I can try.

So Blogger Suports Favicons Now!

This is the Link to Blogger in Draft about this
Unfortunately, nothing on my computer supports the ico format. So I'm going to have to wait until they support other file type. Now I could download some software for this, but I'm afraid of viruses. . .

I've always wondered what those things were called and now I know! I also have wondered how you got them, (let's face it, my AA in Computer Graphics is ancient now). So I messed around with a Fer De Lys that I grabbed off the Internet, and discovered that the icon has to be under 10 KBS, which means it has to be very simple to be recognizable. Then I found out, there was no way I could save it to my computer in the right format. That's okay, that will give me time to design my own favicon.

Opps! Wrong Date, Right Time!

Yes, I took the date of my second appointment at Harbour UCLA off from work , because I didn't know how long the Moa surgery would take.  I drove down there, (ooh, only took two hours this time, traffic was light around LAX), and was informed by the receptionist, that my appointment was the next day. Since I had now wasted $20 dollars in gas, I decided to throw more money away and hit the Getty on the way home. Parking is now $15! On the other hand they had an exhibit called Paris: Luxury in the 18TH Century. It's focus is on the the daily toiletry of a wealthy Parisian woman. Clothes, furniture, nicknack's. It was wonderful! They had two dresses from the 1750's, and a man's outfit. All were made with silk and embroidered with metallic thread. They were faded but so beautiful. They were also rather short, as to be expected.

The nicknack's were made of porcelain, and were highly decorated, even topped with real diamonds! The furniture was inlaid and mutifuntional. All they needed were laptops and they could have fitted right in with today!

The next day I drove back and received two options as to my ear. I could try cancer creme and see if that worked or have a Moa surgery done at that time. If the creme didn't work I could have the Moa done later. I went for the creme, because I really don't want to have a deformed ear, even a little, and I have no idea how much they will have to cut out before they hit cancer free skin.

As I waited for my prescription, I called up my sister. She told me that she had done every kind of cancer creme out there and it didn't work for her, and she thought I should have gone and just gotten the Moa then, instead of waiting. She told me the Basal Cell, would just be deeper and more entrenched and they would just have to take off more, the longer I waited. I had no idea that my sister had EVEN done the cancer creme. But it was too late to change, so I got the creme. Still haven't used it yet, the doctors were very specific about just using it on the cancer as it will burn the normal skin, and I am scared now.

I have a return date already and I will start Monday with the creme. I need to buy gloves and a box of band aids.

Have Started Doing Stuff About My Looks

Due to the water situation in this house, I don't look at my self when I wash. When I puck my eyebrows, I look at them, not anything else. I really don't see so much of the rest of me because I am so near sighted, (I'm like two and a half inches away from the mirror when I pluck). So I looked at myself at work and discovered that while I have been away from the mirrors, I have winkled up! I have crowfeet! I have bags under my eyes! When I smile, three winkles appear in each of my cheeks! I wasn't expecting this!

Why do you ask. . . Because nothing in my face moved when I smiled until I was 25. I didn't develop smile lines until I was in my forties. Yes, my skin has sagged, and my neck looks like someone took a super hot inch wide band and burned me along my crease line, but winkles! I thought it would take longer. . .

So I have bought a rentinol product from CVS, sun block body lotion from Eucerin, and a level 20 face foundation. Also started wearing lipstick and eyeshadow again. I stopped last summer when I started having non stop hot flashes.

The foundation is a success. It's not really seeable on me, but evens out my skin tone. Men in my age group are looking at me. I don't know. . . part of me wants to date again, but I just can't go through another addict.

I am trying to look at this like I'm hiring a employee, ( which is the mind set I think BF should discover). I want a good fit with my personality. Of course I have no idea of how to find this. But I'm pretty sure it involves writing a better mission statement on Plenty Of Fish.

Yet another iris blooms!

And a group shot!

Beating your best friend with a stick, part two

Best Friend is still involved with convict guy, even although, a, he lied about his age, when he got out and what he was in for, b, has an official girlfriend, c, has told her it's just for sex, d, is now a homeless perkadant addict.

Her iPod and charger have been stolen from her car, along with a box of old food from the trunk, even although there is no sign of forced entry, as if the thief has her car key.

A pack of razors and her facial scrub is missing from her apartment, even although there is no sign of forced entry, as if the thief has a key to her apartment.

Yes, I'm spelling it out for you!

She won't have the door lock changed because it's $40.00 dollars and she doesn't want to take that financial hit right now. She got her alarm activated, but is going to cancel that because she doesn't have a land line to connect it to, so the cops are called. She like to leave her sliding glass door on her balcony open, that is connected to the neighbor's balcony by a wall I could climb over, but doesn't want to get a stick to put in the door track, so the sliding glass door OR the screen door can't be forced open, because that would mean she would have to keep it closed all summer long and use the AC all the time (her words).

See where I'm coming from? She might say she doesn't believe it's the convict, but her action say other wise.
And she's still hooked on him. Other wise she would be concerned for her laptop, which was on the kitchen table, and that nice big plasma screen TV of hers. To say nothing of her safety.

Did I mention how I found out she knows he's a addict now? Supposedly he texted her and told her he was homeless and wanted food. She picked him up in her car, brought him back to her apartment, and went and got him.food.

Oh and by the way, she had eighty dollars in her purse because , somehow "her ATM card got left at a fast food restaurant", and she was using cash until the new card came in the mail. That money disappeared, but of course "it was her co-workers," not the drug addict who was going through withdraw stealing it. . .

And since I know she has been concealing things from me, I wonder if she saw him before and her ATM card disappeared at that time. . .

And I really hope it is the convict, because there a certain class of rapist who like to get to know you, through your stuff, before they actually rape you.

But, noooo, she's not concern at all. Didn't call the police or nothing. . .

I'm not going through another night where she gets drunk and calls herself a whore because she can't get it through her head that he doesn't care for her and does not see her as a human being.

The Color Purple

The irises have done incredibly well this year. Not only did some of my mother's irises bloom, but so did ones I have bought!

Mom's Iris

The iris I bought and planted 5 years ago, that bloomed the first year, had the bloom ripped off by the kid across the street, and never bloomed again until now. Yes, I like run on sentences. Deal with it.

And the irises I bought at the iris festival a couple of years ago and never planted are starting to bloom.
This is Mulberry Pink. I think not.

Why yes, THERE is a giant pine tree next door shedding those cones. And no, my green trash container disappeared last week so I'm waiting for the new one to be delivered to sweep them up!

Last Night Was Very Strange

Because I woke up in the middle of the night, and realized that my right (?) foot had been moving violently, to the point my bed was rocking back and forth, and my head board was making a cracking sound as it shook.

When I woke up and realized what my foot had been doing, I actually said out loud "Am I having a seizure?" But I felt fine and promptly fell back asleep.

Now my first thought when I woke up this morning was that somehow my little backyard trespassers had done it. But after a little reflection, I realized the only way they could have done that, was if one of them was in my bedroom with me, shaking my foot. I think I would have noticed that.

Hmmm, earthquake? Why just my foot then? Don't think so.

A more better possiablity to me at least, is the sprirt in my house. Mr. Michieveous . Why it would be doing that, I have no idea, but it does fit the bill.

So, I will try to keep track of when I wake up in the night and why. And the next time I go to the doctor, I will mettion it.

The Royal Wedding!

My sister had a party! We stayed up all night, (okay I stayed up all night and woke them up in time to see the ceremony)! Wimps! Even the Niece! On the other hand I started on the backside of the hot water bottle cozy and learned (I think) how to make button holes, while they were asleep. Lets put it this way, there are holes in it, where I wanted them, okay?

We were, my sister, me, the niece, sister's best friend (She is English!), and the nieces' Boy.We had bangers and mash for dinner, started ever so late for them. . .and I made the custard for the apple pie, for desert. Then they all went off to bed, and I started knitting, frogging, knitting, frogging, and so on, until I had holes.

I was suppose to wake them up at 2:30, but the Royals really kept on schedule! Soooo, I had to hustle and get the tea made before I woke them, which I figured I better do, when the Princes arrived before 2:30!

Sis' BF woke up right away, and was coherent as well! Wasn't expecting that, I expected her to be groggy from her meds. But it was my sister I had problems getting up! Strange, every time I've called in the middle of the night with an emergency, she's always answered the phone right away! My sister ended up getting her child and her boyfriend up. I was afraid to go in there. . . They all had tea, accept for the boy. He was the most awake after me! Surprise!

We had tea, finger sandwiches and scones for breakfast, while we watched the wedding. It was wonderful! The wedding was very very good. No mistakes were made, we were all afraid William would trod on that train of Kate's wedding dress. But He was very careful! I also noticed that she seem to be trembling a little and looked like she felt faintish, and at one point, I swear she was crushing her father's hand! William was very moved, and at one point my sister said he cried a little.

We marveled at the hats! What the hell? Someone please explain what the goal of those hats were, like Princess Beatrice's? And her make up (Beatrice's)! WTF!And how did they stay on? I liked Mrs. Beckham  best.

We stood up for the queen and curtsied! We also stood for their national anthem. We noticed the Queen looked very happy. Will and Kate (who is now referred to as Catherine, no more Kate!) were very tense during the ceremony, but relaxed during the carriage ride after, and then tensed up again going in the palace. It must have been really hard for them.

We really enjoyed our party, and have made plans to go to the King Head's inn on the Queen's birthday next year and celebrate!

My MSN Email Account Has Been Wiped Out!

MSN took steps and locked down my account (zombie bot, remember?). I was unable to prove to them that I was the owner, so I have had to create a new Windows Live Account. Every single job app was put in with that email address as well.

Also, my Yarn Pixie email address seems to have been corrupted as well (for knitting blog). I can't get in to it.

This sucks.

I have bought some anti-virus software. Hopefully that will help. But somehow, I'm sure, that the leak, break, whatever, was through fake job sites. I'm been very suspicious of some of them.

Time will tell. . .

I did my income tax on Turbo Tax Freedom!

This is important because. . .I'm getting a refund for the first time since I was 25! Thank you, making work pay/schedule M. I had to efile as, yes, one of my w2's AND the form from unemployment had disappeared. I got a new w2, (Bless him Lord), from lost employer, and got the info for unemployment from EDD and requested a new one. I thought I was going to have to request an extension since I couldn't mail it in with out the 1099g(?), but I efiled instead. And thanks to Schedule W, I'm getting enough money back to replace the water pump! Thank you God. And I only had to pay the state $6.00!

Now hopefully I have enough money to pay the water/phone/cell bills and still put gas in the car. Did I mention that gas is now $4.15 a gallon now?

So I took the car back to the shop. . .

The noise hadn't gone away, and was getting louder and more regular. Instead of just making the noise when I started out with a cold car, it would do on every start. Except of course when the mechanic drove around with me. . .of course. So I was forced to describe it to him. Which meant they had to check anything that revolved when the car moved i.e.; the belts, the axles, etc.

I also knew that I needed new brake pads. No, the screamers weren't going off yet, but I could feel the brake pads skipping as I braked.

I waited and waited. I had to be at work at 4:30. It takes me about 40 minutes to walk there. I finally called around 2:30. The owner said that it was the PVC axle, in fact it broke as they inspected it, popped right out he said. Okay, that's affordable. It will be the money I saved up for the water pump, but as my sister texted, that's the way it goes.

The bill is $469.00. I silently wave goodbye to the new water pump and pay. I get in the car and start to drive away. The car makes the same noise only LOUDER! Mentally I'm screaming "OhGod,HowMuchIsThisGoingToCostME?" The owner and the two mechanics freeze in their tracks. The owner asks one, "Did it make that noise when you test drove it?" "No" he replies in shocked surprise!

We have a little discussion whether it's okay for me to drive it. He points out that whatever is wrong with it, I have been driving on it for a month. . .Okay, point taken. I carefully drive it the next two shifts. I take it back Monday morning. It turns out to be the wheel bearings. Another $263.00 I have $106.00 and I get to pay the rest in two weeks.

At least the car feels great now, and I think my gas mileage is going up a little.

The Sore Was Cancer

I received a phone message, apparently the Doctor called while I was at the gym.It`s Basal Cell Cancer just like my sister`s skin cancer. If one has to have skin cancer this is the kind to get. It took a while for it to sink in. I started to freak out. It didn't take me long to realize that I shouldn't be driving. Of course I listened to the phone message just before work. I had to ask to clock off.  I went over to BF`s house and got drunk. That helped. My next appointment is on June 2 at noon. I wonder how many layers they will have to take off. I bet this won`t be the only time I get this. Damn.

What you need to sign up for Healthy Way LA

The upper limit for income is the same as ORSHA, $1204.00 a month. Over that you have to pay on a sliding scale. If you are under $1204.00 a month it is free, along with your medications.

First do a google search for your local Healthy Way LA office. Go there with your documents.

What documents you need:

 1. Your birth certificate

2. Proof of income, in other words your paycheck stubs, or anything else that prove how much money you get each month.

3. Your driver license for California or a California ID card. So you can prove where you live. If you don't live at that address, you might need a new ID or license to prove where you do live. I'm not sure,but you might be able to get away with a utility bill in your name with your current address.

And that's it. All you need for ORSHA or Healthy Way LA/

I Got The Sore On My Ear Cut Off

For around a year and a half to two years now, I have had a spot on my ear. It started out as a scab, that itched and then turned into a white bump that itched, then a growing white bump that flaked and itched. By the time I had it cut off last week, it had gone from the size of a map pin head to about a nickle sized bump, that stuck out about a quarter of an inch.

I had pointed it out to my nurse practitioner the last time I was there and she got me an appointment with the county. The bad part: it was in Torrance, which turned out to be a 2 and 1/2 hour drive ONE way for me. Took twenty dollars of gas for a round trip. And I had to go twice, once for treatment and the second time to take of the bill.

For the record, I thought I would be going down there three times, once for them to look at it, second time for treatment, third for follow up, but no, they cut it off right there and then.

First of all, I blew my appointment time. Kathy's husband went there for his facial reconstruction after he was attacked and she told me it was an hour and forty minute drive. So I though 2 and a half hours would be enough for driving, parking and registration. Wrong. I ran into very heavy traffic by LAX and got to the hospital just after nine. Then I had to find parking. The parking was like 60 spaces, already filled! After circling three times, I drove back to the guard shack and asked if there was parking structures? She told me she had heard on the radio, that they were already filled. She told me there was parking down the street across from In-And-Out. And there was! It was a park and ride. I walked back to the hospital and went to registration. That took about 45 minutes! Then I went down to the basement to waiting room C and talked to the receptionist. She kindly fitted me in but warned me that everyone else there would go first. Okay with me. I waited about two hours. The doctor calls me in. I thank him for seeing me. He ask what I am there for. I show him my ear. He looks at it and tells me me he's getting his boss. Comes back with another doctor. They both look at my ear. The boss doctor then goes gets two other doctors and they all look at my ear, the other ear and my neck. They throw a bunch of terms out like SKK, and stuff. Then the three of then leave, and only the original doctor remains. He tells me he is going to take care of it right then and there, He tells me that if it is nothing, that this will be curative, but if the biopsy shows cancer, I will have to get more layer cut off.

He numbs my ear and shoots me up. He cuts it off. I don't even feel any tugging. There is no blood thanks to something in the shot. He shows me what he cut off on something that looks like it belongs to Jackie's work. It is a streamlined jaw shape piece of plastic with a band going across the front. On it is a circle of white, red streaked material. It does not look like flesh. I accidentally try to take it since he shoved it at me, and he snatches it away from me.

He decides that since I am from my far away town, that he will call me with the results of the biopsy. But I do have to come back about the bill, unless I want to pay them $80 that I don't have. I plan on doing it the next day and when I get home, I assemble the documents I need, birth certificate, paycheck stubs, and of course I have my driver license in my purse already. I also bring my unemployment documents as well, since that is income as well.

But the next day I am still so tired and I couldn't figure out where my cell phone was and I'm not driving out of town with out any way of getting help if the car breaks down. So I go the next week on the sixth day (I supposedly have only one week to pay the bill, but have found out, it's actually 30 days). Leave at same time, get there at same time, one hour and forty minutes, my ass! It's a two 1/2 hour drive! Go to waiting room C. Notice a sign saying the ORSHA lady doesn't start seeing people until 10:30. Oh well, better to be early then late. I sit and knit. Around 10:30, a sign goes up saying the ORSHA lady isn't coming in today. It says to go to financial services in Block 3. I get a map (this place is HUGH!!!) and find it. I explain to the receptionist there that I am from  my far away town and I have all my stuff with me for ORSHA. She is surprised. She fits me in. I sit and knit some more. About an hour later I get called in. A very pleasant lady, who's name I can't remember damn it, looks at my stuff. She photocopies it all and has me sign some papers, and WA LA! I am signed up for ORSHA and Healthy Way LA, and I don't have to pay for anything since my income is under $1204.00 a month. I also get my meds free as well. I thank her.Then I drive home.

Still haven't heard anything about the biopsy.

I wrote (E-Mail) To The EDD

Again telling them once again I was applying for an extension, not a new claim on a job I haven't lost or who's hours have not changed as well. Still no reply. I sent it Friday. BF pointed out that maybe they were on a furlow day. If I lose it, who cares, they are only giving me $15 dollars every two weeks.

I took the car into the shop Saturday. The brake light has been on for a month and I talked it over with Bob, and decided that it was the E-Brake light switch that was broken. Because. . .a.) The E-Brake light goes OFF when I engage the parking brake. b.) I can make it go off and on by pressing on the E-Brake stick, and it also goes off and on when I'm on rough roads and speed bumps. c.) I'm not having any trouble stopping.

But the car made a dragging, scraping noise for one second, three times and I wanted to make sure it was okay. So the shop checked it out and yes, it is the switch. $45.00 for that. But, that's okay as on the 30th, I'm driving down below.

I have an appointment with Harbor UCLA for my ear. I'm pretty sure it's skin cancer. I'm sure it will take three visits. 1st to look at it, second, to do something with it, and thirdly, a follow up visit to see that they got everything. So, it's good that the brake system will be up to it.

Yes, I am FUCKED!

I'm just going to talk a little about this because it's so upsetting to me. Apparently I have "lost" my original claim from the full time job and now I am "claiming" on my part time job. This means, from my original claim I was getting $253.00 a week, I am now getting only $173.00. I got my first check. . .it's for $28.00 rather then the $150 or more that I am use to.

I really think I'm going to have to go for food stamps. I am going to find it difficult to pay the utility bills let alone my credit cards.

I'm going to try to look at this as an adventure rather then a tragedy. It's the only way I can deal with this and sleep. My hot flashes have returned, although not at the level of last summer. It's because I am upset. I have discovered that the hot flashes are a barometer of my emotional state. When I feel anger, hatred, or depression, I have hot flashes. There is nothing corresponding for positive emotions.

I have discovered that I lie to myself a lot! I now must confront my emotions and  not denie them. This undoubtedly good for me.

I got new unemployment forms in the mail today!

And of course, I filled out a form online yesterday. . .hopefully that won't fuck things up. I am very nervous about this. I only did the online form because I hadn't received any forms in the mail and my last check said I was suppose to to file on line as I might be entitled to more unemployment.. Why do I have this hideous feeling this is to weed out the numbers of people on unemployment? My sister is reassuring as to whether I have fucked up. Just go down there and talk to the people if something goes wrong she says. She makes me feel better.

In the last two weeks I have ate three whole boxes of cocoa cripies because of worring about this. I'm up to 204 on my sister's scale. I have to stop this. I have spent a whole year losing 12 pounds, not to put it back on in less then one month!

I'm taking the forms with me to work, so I can get the paperwork on my hours, so I can fill them out tomorrow and mail them Monday.

I Did The Barnes & Nobel Groupon Thingie!

I was really worried about it too, since their message to me after I signed up and paid for it, was to the effect that they would send me my coupon code with in 48 hours. It was only good for 48 more hours! But I got it within 24 hours! So I got a book on knitting in color, and the book that "The King's Speech" movie was based on. I did this on-line as well, so I got even a further discount, and I also used what was left on my B & N Christmas card from my sister, So I basically got like $40 worth of books for $12.73! And my sister wants to borrow The King's Speech book after I'm done with it.

******

BF has gone off to San Francisco for a union meeting. I get to feed her cats while she is gone. BF doesn't get to sight see as she will actually be in a little city by the airport. I find this very disappointing for her. San Francisco is a FAB place to be!

*******

I am consumed by reading about knitting, but I am not doing all that much OF it. I have about a foot done of the basket weave scarf, which is now going to turn into a hat. I have beat my problem of looping and getting three stitches every time I switched over from knit to purl. I am now working on remembering on when I'm reversing stitches.

*******

My cousin hasn't written me back yet, even although I have sent him TWO letters now. He must be very busy.

*******

I did 15 deliveries on Super Bowl Sunday! It was busy from the  moment we opened. I did seven deliveries before 1:00, and was starting to fall behind. They called in Danny an half hour earlier then he was suppose to come in. At which point it became dead. . .!!! For two whole hours. Then it took off and never stopped.

Trying Again

I have bought 8 of those solar stake lights and stuck them outside my window. Than I dragged the broken mirror pieces over to the plastic table, and leaned them against it so I could look out my window, and see if anyone was crouching down. If this works they (the trespassers/peeping toms) will remove the lights and break the mirrors. But they will know that I know, and perhaps that will make a difference.

After this, I'm afraid it's going to have to be short pungee sticks. . .

So, this Kindle might bankrupt me. . .

So many books I want to buy and I have limited resistance. It's working out well at the gym. I just concentrate on the Kindle rather then my breathing, sweating, and the time flows quite well. Especially well on the stair machine.

******
I almost got robbed at work! I didn't like the delivery from the get go. It's didn't say which side of town the street was on, and the street wasn't listed on our map. All attempt to reach the customer resulted in a message saying the voice box was full. Brian found the street on his own fold out map. So I went. Eastside. I got to the street and drove down. I was getting "something is wrong vibe." There were no cars in the driveway, or any lights from the front. I drove past and looked down the side of the house. I could see no lights. I turned around and drove past again, and looked down the other side of the house. Still, no lights. I'm completely spooked by this time and drive off the street around the corner and park. I call my supervisor, and explain what's missing. He said to come back.

When I get back, he meets me at the door and tells me it was a good call. He tried calling the customer around six times. The last time, he stays on the line after the full voice box message. It goes on to say "That extension number is invalid," and then states it belongs to the Eastside Elementary School.

I'm a little freaked after this. I really wished I could have gone on thinking it was a prank call.

I really have to stop wearing my jewelry to work. And because of this, I put my saved tips into my saving account at the bank. I was hiding them in the car. I don't think they are safe in the house. I have become very paranoid and I wake up every morning now at the crack of dawn, and I have no idea why. But I am afraid that someone is creeping the house. I listen until I hear the cats walking around and I know then that I am alone in the house accept for the kitties. This is becoming a major problem for me. I don't feel safe in my own home now, thanks to those trespassers and peeping toms. Hopefully those boys (and I know it's the teenage boys down the street and their friends, their smirks give them away). And doesn't that sound paranoid?

I'm about ready to paint over the windows if that wouldn't ruin the cats' view of the outdoors.Stupid, no?

I am doing this from my Kindle!

My sister gave me Christmas money and suggested that I buy a Kindle. I did so. I love this thing! I have several books on it and one MP3. The web browser is an experimental feature. It might conceivably go away. I sure hope not. This Kindle is a dream come true!

From a letter to my cousin. . .

Dear Non-Responding cousin,




I understand your lack of response. . .A; You are probably depressed as your family has gone off to your mom's, B; all I ever write about is knitting now. Alas, this email will be no different.



For I have knitted a happy little family of hats. Three of them to be exact. Don and Jackie gave me Don's mom knitting stuff. There was a great many things in the trash bag. One of which was about five circular knitting needles. I had read enough to know that all you have to do on them is just knit the knit stitch, around and around. Then to make a hat. . .you start decreasing. Sounds simple, no?



The first practice hat: It took me three tries to get this one. The Knitting for Idiots book just said "if you don't straighten the stitches you will be chasing your tail." So, I found out what that meant. I was knitting a mobius with at least three twists in it. I start over. I spent a great deal of time checking to see if the stitches were twisted. This is hard to do on a circular cord that's been in a trash bag for 15 years and has a permanent kink in it. I do two whole inches before I discover that there is one stinking twist in it, %$#@*&!!!! I start over. I check over and over. Finally I am rewarded with a untwisted round of stitches. Oh, I mindlessly knit and knit. A couple of times I get a cup of tea. Twice I come back and FLIP the FUCKING thing over and start knitting in the wrong direction. This also causes holes. . . I realize my mistake and start knitting in the right direction. . .only after three whole rows.



Finally it comes time to start decreasing. I decide that I am decreasing one stitch every ten stitches. I occasionally lose count but keep on working. Run into a problem. The pesky cord won't let me decrease after a point. WTF? I do research. I find out about doubled tipped needles. I don't think i HAVE ANY, (ACTUALLY i DO, THEY ARE IN THE TRASH BAG WITH THE REGULAR NEEDLES). So I cast off. I love it and wear it around the house (Hey, it's very drafty). I start on practice hat #2.



Practice hat #2 comes out very well. I have bought some doubled tipped needles. When I start using them, it takes me awhile to realize I producing the garter stitch. I'm knitting on the wrong side. Yep. I started knitting on them from the inside rather then the outside. I unravel it. I think I got it all but no. It turns out this one is going to have a decorative trim too. Frak! It's also rather pointy, like a Tartar's hat.



Then I start working on practice hat #3. It goes wonderfully. No dropped stitches, no flipping. I keep count of my decreases. It should be perfect, right? Unfortunately it will always be know as the nipple hat. Yet, I spent all that time knitting a very pointy hat. Nice and rounded on the bottom, gets towards the top, cinches in and WALA, it looks just like a nipple. I sit there and think about. Apparently one doesn't keep decreasing at the same rate. The closer one gets to the end, the greater the rate of decreasing.



So, these are my option regarding the nipple hat.



1. Unravel it back to where I started decreasing. I could lose the stitches this way however.



2. Tack the point to the side and make a honking big tassel to stick on the end.



3. Pretend it's a peculiar shaped oven mitt.



4. Sew a giant jingle bell to the point and pretend I am related to Noddy. I could annoy Goosie by calling her Big Ears.



Which option do think I should take, oh incredibly polite cousin. . .?

*****
 
So I haven't received a reply from him. I started to wonder if this virus I have on my computer (I don't known how to change my password, my computer is now a zombie bot), is keeping my email from being sent. So I left a message on Face book for his partner and it turns out my cousin is up there because my aunt is really sick. I don't know whether she's in the hospital or not. Unfortunately that's all I know. I don't know what's wrong with her, or anything. I'm a bit frustrated with worrying. I love and care for Aunt Rita. I don't like being left out of the loop even although I can't do anything over here.Maybe I'm too pushy.I don't know. I hope she gets well.
 
*****
 
Jackie gave me Christmas money and suggested that I buy a kindle. So I have. I have bought some books (Before I even have it!), most of them free or under three dollars. But I did buy Jumper and Reflex by Stephen Gould.. So want to get Neal Stephenson's books, Snowcrash, Alteumn, and then there's Charlie Stross' books too! Aurag! So many books I want, but have to get them in dribbles as I am poor.
 
After reflecting on my ability to drop my phone, wash my phone, lose my phone, I decided to pop for the two year warranty as well. Have looked at covers, and have decided the best solution for me right now is a padded mailing envelope. Ya! I found that solution on the web! But I will pop for the Van Goeg Irises skin for it. Also I will knit a pouch for it. Must find special yarn for that!!!