Knitting Cybrarian

We've gone tankless!

Joel and I decided that it was a good time to get a water heater.  Our old one was fine, but showing rust around the bottom.  And was 20+ years old. 

Missouri Gas Energy is offering an instant rebate, and many of the local plumbers are offering rebates.  Plus the federal gov't is offering a rebate. 

We got estimates from two established local companies.  The first one pushed, Pushed, PUSHED their service contract.  My head swam with the pricing options -- with or without their service contract -- gold, silver, blah, blah.  Ergh.

The second one didn't push the service contract, answered my questions, didn't try to sell me more than I asked for, and was up front about the pros and cons of various systems.  One option was a tank-type system, and he and I measured the space -- that option would not fit in our space.  The other guy didn't even consider that!

The prices were very close.  Joel and I discussed the options and we decided to go with the second company, and Noritz 751 tankless system.

Ed Norton from Neal Harris did the estimate and did the installation.  He was on time, and was so neat and tidy!  Everything was picked up, cleaned out, and the only way you'd know he was there was the new water heater!

Joel was impressed with how neat the venting was -- Ed did a great job installing the outside vent and caulked around it. 

The tank was installed on 5/19 and after 1+ weeks of it, we really enjoy it.  The only catch is that you have to let the hot water run for a few moments for the heater to kick in and the heated water to get to your faucet, but it's hot after that heater kicks in. 

We'll be keeping track of our gas bills for the next year to see if we save any money gas-wise.  I do like that the heater is on only when we need hot water, instead of just waiting for us to turn on a tap.  So far, I really like the system.

And you can set the temperature quite easily.  We've set the temp at 110F right now, although I will probably change that to 120F in winter for my showers.  Yup, I can go down, change the temp for my shower, and after my shower change it back for Joel.  Soooo easy. 

Full disclosure:  if you call Neal Harris (816-361-1950) and tell them I sent you to Ed Norton for a tankless system, I do get a few bucks out of it. 

Long time, no...

blog. 

The rain is coming down outside, as it has off and on for most of the past week.  At least it's not snow -- we had about 6 inches of snow towards the end of March!

Spring here on the edge of the prairie is pretty, unpredictable, and rainy, or at least this year it is.  The spring flowers have held up well despite wildly swinging temps and snow, rain, sleet, ice, you name it.  Hopefully the fruit trees have too.

The other night 5 wild turkeys visited.  They didn't come onto our property, but just up to the edge.  This is the first time we've had them this close.  The neighborhood possum has gotten pretty fat (unless that's a momma possum expecting!) and waddles around close to sundown.  Joel gets tickled watching it.  We've got raccoons around too, and we try to keep the outside cat dish empty.  Mooch and Evil Cat still visit regularly, particularly Evil Cat. 

And did I mention the deer?  We see a group of 6 deer back of our property around once a week.

While I enjoy this, I do miss the mountains.  The mountains back home are covered in redbud and dogwood right now, with green shoots coming out too.  When I was a small girl, Mom and I would hunt and pick wild asparagus in April and early May. 

Thinking on green things reminds me that my mother's mother used to hunt herbs and such for home remedies -- I wish I had been able to learn from her, but by the time I came along, her eyesight was not good and it deteriorated even more with time. 

Knitting, what have I been knitting?  I knit a fair isle bag and felted it for a Spring Runway Show at the Studio.  The leather handles didn't come in time for the event, hence the twisted yarn handles.

I'm knitting a breast too.  Yes, you read that right.  I'm knitting a prosthesis for a dear friend.  Still working on a pair of socks for me, and a few other items. 

My grandmothers and an aunt tried to teach me to crochet when I was small, and all I produced were tightly twisted crochet chains.  Perhaps they'll forgive me that, given how I've embraced knitting!  I'm sorry they're not around to see and feel my handiwork-- or to try to teach me to crochet again.

Happy Easter and happy spring!

Just humor me, ok?

1. I'm sick.  Again.  Bleah.  A cold, which kicked in Saturday night and now I'm keeping tissues nearby.  Again.  Yes, I would like cheese with this whine.
2. Good news.  There's still sunlight at 6:15pm!  Yay!
3. Bad news.  DST kicks in March 8, so much of what we gain in the evening gets lost again.
4. Good news -- January, the longest pay period of the year, is over.
5. Bad news -- I'm pretty much broke from paying the bills.  Again.
6. Good news.  I'm still employed (and these days, that's no laughing matter).
7. Bad news.  A memo from the president of the university system came out today proposing 1-starting to pay into the retirement plan (so a pay cut will happen) and 2-no merit increases for FY10 (so as inflation and COLA continues to rise, it's effectively another pay cut).
8. Good news.  I'm still employed.
9. Bad news.  There's a matter at work that's driving me crazy.  I don't think there's anything I can do about it.  Well, there is, but I would like to stay employed and continue to pay my bills.
10. Good news.  I'm going to my professional organization's conference soon (unless travel really gets chopped in the next 2 weeks), and I'm mostly looking forward to it.
11. Bad news.  See no. 5.

I seem to have ...

lost something.  Like at least 30 lbs.  I just pray I've not misplaced it.

I've not done the scale test, which is ever so depressing.  But I've done the pant test.  Now guys, you probably won't get this, but the women will.

Like most women, I have several pairs of pants in a variety of sizes.  My FAT pants (the ones you wear when the others seem a little snug, or you're tired and/or sick and feel gross anyway, or maybe they're just the ones you find that are clean) were... well, hard to stay up.  The waist kept falling down -- almost embarrassingly so.  And when I wore them, people remarked on how much weight i had lost.

I stopped wearing those, and went back to my "regular" sized ones, which indeed, seemed loose.  I bought a pair of pants, same size -- they seemed loose, but I thought because they're knit, elastic waist, no probable change.

Last Friday I wore my favorite pants to work.  They seemed loose.  But hey, they're old.  Maybe I just lost weight over the break while sick -- after all, I didn't eat much.

But my jeans.  My jeans seemed loose.  This morning I thought I'd wear black jeans to work -- not necessarily the most professional looking, but hey, I've been sick.  The jeans were pretty loose.  And I thought that maybe I'd try on those twill pants I've not been able to wear in a very long time.  In fact, I've only worn them a couple of times and the waist seemed too tight then, and they showed my tummy bulge more than I liked.  I put them on and they fit -- in fact, they're loose!

So I think I've lost something.  I don't know how much.  I hope I can keep it off.  Maybe it's a good thing I was sick and couldn't sew up the new pants I was going to make!

random observations

• Open message to the person who gave me this cold on Christmas Eve:  I understand why you wanted to come to services.  But why oh why did you have to sing?  And sing beside me?  You gave me this cold, and my respiratory system is an embattled one anyway.  Unfortunately, I didn't realize I had this cold until after I was contagious, which means some of my friends have now caught it.  If you are sick and are still within the period of being contagious, please either stay home or tell me.  And I'll stay home.  Now I'll be lucky to get over this by 15 January, because that's just how these things go for me.
• Because I figured I was past the contagious time, I went to Sip and Knit yesterday.  I enjoyed being one of the knitters and not having to answer the yarn shop phone or wait on customers.  I did help other knitters with their questions, but it was fun.  Afterwards a couple of us went to our favorite Vietnamese buffet.  I couldn't taste things as much as I would have liked, so I didn't go nuts.  It's okay, I could still taste peanut sauce.
• Joel got me the Tom Bihn Swift Knitting Bag for Christmas/Hanukah/our anniversary.  I love it.  Yes, I probably told you before.  I still love it.
• Portia has taken over my lap for most of this vacation.  I've not gotten enough knitting done (or movie watching done), but she and I've bonded, which has been wonderful.
• The weather in KC has been crazy.  Snow, ice, rain, almost 70 one day, down to -2 a few days before or later.  I follow a friend's advice to wear layers, and carry sunglasses and an umbrella.
• Ah.  Verizon.  I've used Verizon Wireless for mobile service for a long time.  They were Cellular One (I think) when I signed up in 1994 or so.  I also pay for my mom's cell phone through Verizon.  So when I got a flyer in the mail saying I was eligible for early upgrade, I thought I'd check it out.  I've been interested in a Blackberry for a while, but I've also been drooling over the iPhone (and AT&T is the only provider in the US for the iPhone).
• The vacuous young thing in high heels at my local Verizon store wasn't interested in my business.  She wasn't willing to go beyond quoting how much the service cost would change or anything.  And the phone prices she quoted me were not the same as I saw on Verizon's website.  I told her so.  Sigh.  My contract is up in April and I'm wondering if this relationship should be severed and if I could spring for an iPhone.  I don't have a Mac laptop yet, but boy... I'm hearing sweet things about the iPhone. 

What I hate about having a cold:

• Not being able to swallow -- you think you're going to swallow and yuck, there's this gunk... oh, you're grossed out already.
• Not being able to breathe through the nose.  Especially at night.  Ick.  I wind up sleeping with a cough drop in my mouth to try to avoid coughing in my sleep.  Bad for the teeth, good for the relationship (so Joel can sleep).
• Tissues, tissues, everywhere.  I stand up, walk into the kitchen, and when I come back I find wadded-up tissues on the floor.  I had no idea those were on my lap.  How did that happen?  And in the bed -- wadded-up tissues in the bed.  How weird!
• Deadened sense of smell and taste.  Popcorn tastes good because all you can taste is the salt.  Coffee is drunk because of habit, not because you can taste it.  The shower gel just smells weird -- hope I don't smell weird.
• Speaking is just too weird for words.  Making phone calls to check on things is worrisome -- I don't know if I can be understood.  Using the voice commands on my cell phone is difficult enough (there's not a Southern region or Appalachian region setting for voice recognition) normally, but with a cold it's even worse. 
• Zits and redspots.  Yeah, one's face looks so lovely during a cold.  I get zits and red skin from the tissues rubbing on my face (and I use Puffs with lotion), and it's just so lovely.  NOT.
  
  

And if you've read this far, I wish you a happy new year! I hope 2009 is kinder to us all!!!

on the 2nd day of Christmas

I have a headache.  It's almost 65F, humid and windy in Kansas City, North.  A headache has just hit, and I think it's another one of those weather-change headaches.  Just call me the human barometer.

We had snow/ice earlier this week, and driving back from Christmas Eve service (at 12:30am Christmas morning), I noticed the temperature varied between 8F and 13F.  Several deer were out, foraging.

We had a quiet day yesterday.  I slept late, and when I got moving, I made homemade rolls and a few other things for our Christmas Day dinner.  Our street was still covered in snow and ice, which was a surprise for our dinner guest, as the side streets south of the river had been clear for at least a day.

The current forecast calls for rain, then falling temps overnight into tomorrow followed by snow. 

Portia (the cat) and I've had a lazy day today.  We've snoozed and relaxed.  No shopping, although the many online sales have been so very tempting!  Personal property taxes are due, though and next week I have to complile tax deductions into their various categories.  Sigh.

Tomorrow I won't be so lazy -- must work at the local yarn store.  Today, more relaxing and knitting ahead!

Hope each of you had a wonderful Christmas or whatever you celebrate!

Snow day (?!??)

When we got up this morning, the snow was coming down.  I decided to stay home (after getting ready for work) because:

• KC drivers will be nuts
• the snow was supposed to continue most of the day
• I needed to finish grading papers and have grades turned in by 6pm today.  And thankfully I could do that over the web.
• and thankfully many of my staff live close to work

Joel went in to work, and now I'm waiting for him to get home. 

So what did I do today?

• made bread
• graded papers
• ate too many carbs (leftover stuffing, 2 rolls, cheese wafers)
• graded papers
• petted Portia the cat
• graded papers
• turned in grades

After I got the grades in, I put on the layers and boots and shoveled the driveway.  Joel usually does this and the sidewalk, but I thought it would help him if I could get it done.  I spent over an hour in 10F shoveling.  My legs were cold, but the rest of me was pretty warm, especially my head.  When I got inside, the inside of my coat and polarfleece jacket (layers, she said) were soaked.  As was the inside of my polarfleece hat. 

Ick.

Oh well, it has to be done!  Hope you are safe and warm!

Monday afternoon/eve at the ER

I woke up around 4am this morning with a pain.  A pain that wouldn't go away.  I was reminded of the gallbladder pain from 2005.  Same place (about) and similar intensity.  And it wouldn't subside, move, or stop.

Fast forward to 2:20pm.  I've left a message with my doc asking what to do.  Still have the pain.  Am in the middle of a staff meeting and instead of being my usual attentive self, moving things forward, I have this instinct to say, "just stop.  your lips are moving but I'm not really here.  just stop.  leave me alone."

While I have to confess there are a few meetings where I have those thoughts, the short sessions with my staff do not fall into that category.  We usually have a good session, cover a lot of ground, and plan the next steps for whatever needs to be tackled.

My docs office called (we're at 2:20pm today) and urged me to go to the ER.  So I packed up and did just that. 

I don't always bring my knitting to work, but today I did.  Good thing.  I drove to the hospital covered by my insurance (an 8 minute drive), made a wrong turn, and backtracked.  Yeah, I don't usually have a problem with finding places I've been before, either.  Got there and parked, went in and checked in.

I found a seat and targeted a location where i thought I'd be a-out of the way, and b-unobtrusive.  ER waiting rooms often have lots of family drama, and I was having my own drama keeping back tears and trying to keep my teeth from being ground to dust.

After I brought out my knitting, I realized the man on the other side of the coffee table was still talking.  Talking on the phone.  Loudly.  Calling one person, then another.  Then he had a color commentary regarding the "Judge Joe" (or similarly titled) show displayed on the waiting room TV.  My knitting caught his attention, and he had to ask about that (after a woman across the way had asked too).  As if that wasn't enough, he inquired about how I entered the ER, and if I knew of other ways to get in.  (I had no clue, I entered from the garage). 

My name was called, and I nearly jumped with joy.  Ouch.

I'll spare you the rest of the details, except to say that I got to the ER and checked in around 2:50pm and left around 9:30pm.  I was poked, prodded, gave up blood and urine for tests and had a CT scan done of my abdomen.  Joel offered to come to the hospital, but I told him to stay at work, go home when he was ready and I would call him if there was a reason for him to come to the hospital.

When I left the ER, I was still in pain, and the bloody tests showed not a daggone thing wrong.  I'm still in pain.

But I got the better part of a hat knitted and major progress on a Starmore wrap.   Wasn't exactly what I had planned for today, though.

and if the previous one wasn't enough

Your Ideal Careers:

Archeologist
Astronomer
Book editor
Business manager
Civil engineer
Designer
Economist
Inventor
Judge
Scientist

Your Career Personality: Brainy, Logical, and Efficient

The Quick and Dirty Career Test

and NONE of these are close to what I actually DO!

oh good grief

You Should Be a Manager

You're very organized, motivated, and methodical.
Fair and objective, you can see all sides of a conflict. You are a good mediator.
You are task oriented. You do well with deadlines and schedules.
And while you can be a task master at times, you're good at managing people and listening to their input.

You do best when you:

- Must have attention to detail
- Are in charge of people

You would also be a good accountant or personal assistant. (NOT)

What Should You Be When You Grow Up?