peeple of zee wurl, relax!

susandennis @ 12:03 pm: i haz itchy eyes
I have a very mild case of a skin thing called Seborrheic Dermatitis. Every once in a while, it wanders up to my eyes and they get the mad itchy. Today's one of those days. I'm going to give an antihistamine a try.

On the up side, I have noticed over the past few weeks that my tooth issue - weird pain on one side when chewing something hot - has disappeared. It just went away. I'm very big on ignoring things like that as much as possible. I'm convinced that once they are convinced you aren't going to do anything about them, they give up the ghost. It's kind of like the Christian Scientist take on medicine except without the Christian or the scientist part.

I'm sure I will die of something completely preventable or treatable but it will be without having wasted years in doctors' waiting rooms reading old magazines.

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My neighbor Ann's package for her husband's Christmas is Out for Delivery. The hard part is letting her know without arousing his suspicions... I'm hoping to catch one of them on the Front Door TV Network.

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My jones for an ebook reader is getting severe. The Kindle is pretty much a non-starter since it won't read library books. Sony will but eh... The Nook will, too. But, happily, it's not available until February. The word on the street is that ebook readers will be THE hot item at CES. So by the time the Nook is available, I'll have more info about what's on the horizon *and* have the spare cash to get one.

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Woops the work computer just beeped with work. Sweet.

susandennis @ 09:24 am: Today's Basket

Finished off a cute bear last night and just barely got the purple started...

susandennis @ 02:04 am: From Twitter 12-20-2009

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susandennis @ 12:59 pm: Today's Basket

There's another bear in there. The second one was closer to perfect but not exactly on it. This one will be better.

susandennis @ 12:38 pm: I'm sure you were there... I just didn't see you
If you were not in downtown Seattle this morning, you had to be one of the few. It was packed. With shoppers. Before 10! Neither Tiffany's nor Cartier's was open yet but everything else was and doing big business. Whew.

As I walked towards the south end of town, the shoppers were joined by Seahawkers. What a zoo!

I had brunch and it was delicious. I did hear the couple at the table next to mine tell the waitress that they lived in Seattle but annually spent her birthday in town at a hotel. Usually they go to the Mayflower but it was booked. So they had stayed at the Hotel 1000. I got the distinct impression that the Hotel 1000 just picked up an annual booking.

It is very not cold out. Hard to see all the snow reports and not even need a heavy jacket outside.

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There are 4 movies out that I would actually go to a theater to see. There are two giant multiplexes downtown. One is nice and one is scuzzy. 3 out of the 4 are playing at scuzzy. The 4th one hasn't opened yet. If it's playing at the nice one, I might go.

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I could stand to do some laundry but it wouldn't hurt anything to wait until tomorrow.

susandennis @ 02:04 am: From Twitter 12-19-2009

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susandennis @ 02:56 pm: Murphy's technology law
This happens to me on computers all the time. But today it struck a light bulb.

Something breaks or doesn't work like it should or your can't make work and you futz and you futz and you say nasty things but nothing works. So, finally, in desperation, you compose what you hope is an intelligent email with examples and steps taken and send it to the tech people in charge. And then you try again and the fucking thing works!

Today it is light bulbs. I have the very expensive florescent kind of screw in spotlights in my two recessed kitchen light receptacles. When I went in to make a sandwich a bit ago, the one over the sink didn't come on.

I got my nice extension pole with a suction cup for just such things and a light bulb - one of the cheap ones I had from before I went all lightbulb-green, and tried to get the burnt out one out. It wouldn't come. I got out the ladder and climbed up onto the counter and unscrewed and in screwed in the new one. No joy. I tried the circuit breaker in the wall outlet. The coffee pot clock went out but the light didn't go on. I went to the fuse box and fiddled. The computers shut down and the fridge but the light was still out.

I decided to eat my sandwich and bitch to my brother and ask him why he didn't fix it when he was here. As I'm typing out all the details. I think... hmmmm and I go get one of the expensive Costco bulbs to try it.

Bam. We have light.

WTF? My light sockets have gotten too good for the old incandescent bulbs???

Now I have to reprogram the coffee pot, reset the computers, put away the pole, put away the ladder. What a festuche!

susandennis @ 12:08 pm: Today's Basket

Blue bear on the way!

One of the advantages of knitting in one piece, stuffing as you go, is that you don't have to sew the bits together after. I realized last night that the yellow bear was sewn exactly backwards! His ass was on his front side. Unsewing and fixing is way more tedious. But, he's now one leg away from fixed.

susandennis @ 08:55 am: Saturday morning with Travis
Travis is resting from a very busy morning. He had his imaginary friend over and they were playing tag and toss and high speed hide and seek. Now he's here in my lap on the bed, catching his breath. We have a moment of calm.

Today's get out of the house adventure is a simple walk along the waterfront and then up to Pike Place Market and back down 1st Ave to a place that seattlejo discovered this week for breakfast. And then home.

I still have the red splotch on my hand. It still doesn't hurt. It's still not warm. It's still a mystery.

susandennis @ 02:04 am: From Twitter 12-18-2009

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susandennis @ 06:58 pm: Fatal Hand Disease?
I first noticed it this morning and figured I'd just leaned on it or something. But all day long - no change. I have this very strange redness on my left hand. It's a little more rectangular than a square inch blotch across where my bird finger attaches to my hand. It looks like it might if I had slept sitting up with my chin resting on my hand.

It's not warm. It doesn't hurt (except a little from where I keep poking at it to see if it hurts). But, it's not going away. It's a little redder than the photo shows. It's the strangest damn thing. I hope it's not fatal.

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And more cat hijinks... I opened up the webcam software to fix something and caught this shot. Travis is, obviously, ready for his closeup!

susandennis @ 11:58 am: I love it when Travis loves my pants
Before I get into the shower, I dig out pants and a top from the closet and plop them on the bed. After I get out of the shower and dry off, I put on the top and while I'm doing that - every single time - Travis loves my pants. He'll continue to love them until I have to take them from him. But, it is nice to have my pants loved every day.

Travis Loves My Pants from susan dennis on Vimeo.

susandennis @ 10:55 am: Gym Report - mixed
There's a young woman who is often on the elliptical machine. She pounds that thing. She used top have two pig tails that came out the sides of her head and they would flop up and down with abandon. And she went on forever. Nadia dubbed her the Energizer as in bunny.

Today the Energizer (who let her hair grow so now it's only one pony tail, more's the pity) was bopping away so I got on the machine next to her in hopes of sucking up some energy. We were ellipticalling along when I noticed she reset her machine to have less resistance. I think I was a bad influence on her!

So after 10 mins, I moved to the bike (sit up) and did 10 that were really hard, and then did 10 (well, really 5) minutes of stretches and crunches.

It was a B gym day. Probably a C, really, but I'm a push over of a grader.

Shower time.

susandennis @ 09:41 am: Betty the adventurer!
This morning, while on the bed computing and enjoying coffee and then when putting my my contacts and getting ready to really start my day, I kept hearing a cat whining. Travis does that now and again for no reason I can ever figure out so I tune it out.

But, when I got to the living room, I figured it out this time... Travis was inside the door whining away and Betty was outside the door on the terrace whining away... It was a kitty chorus!!

About three hours earlier I had gotten up and shut the terrace door. It was dark and apparently Betty was out there on a mission of some kind and I didn't see her. Funny.

The first year she lived here, she was always getting lost and sneaking out. Once she got shut in a dresser drawer for a day. Once I found her way down the hall shredding a neighbor's Sunday morning newspaper. Then there was yet another drawer episode.

She's a very sweet and pretty and quiet cat who seems to go along to get along but every once in a while, she asserts her own agenda. It's part of her charm. The photo is from last night when, I suspect, she was plotting her terrace escapade.

I think I'll go over to the gym earlier today and get it over with.

susandennis @ 09:13 am: Today's Basket

As the bear grows. This pattern continues to challenge. Each time I think I'm more smarter than it, it slaps me down. I had to knit and rip these feet 3 times before I got them right but once I got them right, they are perfect! I want this pattern to be wonderful and I think it will be. It's just this first one that is kickin' my knittin' chops!

susandennis @ 02:04 am: From Twitter 12-17-2009

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thebb73 @ 07:22 am: address
Since several people are asking for this again, I am posting my mailing address. Send anything attention to me.

The International School of Lusaka

6945 Nangwenya RoadPO Box 50121, Ridgeway Lusaka, Zambia

susandennis @ 03:14 pm: Next!

This group tickles me for some reason. It's like the ones left over after all the teams were picked. So they are their own team and they are quite happy about that.

susandennis @ 11:13 am: Gym Report - mixed
I did 25 minutes of the intervals program on the elliptical. It was ok except for the last 10 minutes which I spent trying to come up with an excuse to blow off the last 10 minutes but I was working too hard to think.

Then I did 5 minutes of stuff from Nadia's list yesterday. It was good. I did not cheat. And I am sweaty.

susandennis @ 10:02 am: The truth is...
We can just go ahead and call this post - Delaying The Gym Trip Post. I wonder if I will ever think 'yippee! I get to go to the gym again today!!' I just don't see it, myself.

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Last yesterday afternoon, Neighbor Ann called and in kind of a frantic voice said she needed a computer favor. I told her to come on down. 'you sure this is an ok time??!' 'perfect time', I assured her.

Turns out, she'd been trying to get rid of Ron (her husband) for three days to get down here for this favor. (She and Ron are retired and enjoy doing stuff together so they always are.) She wanted to see if it was possible to order him a sweatshirt for Christmas from his college fraternity. She even had the URL on a scrap of paper that someone had obviously slipped to her. And she had her credit card. She was ready to buy!

The URL turned out to not have sweatshirts but we found several that did and none that looked right but we finally found a good one and they even offered to add 'alumni' under the greek letters which was perfect and they can get it here before Christmas for a very reasonable shipping rate.

I actually had never seen this before. In the buy process, you were presented with a page that showed about 14 different shipping options - USPS, FedEx and UPS each with several shipping speeds and all with exact pricing. It was REALLY impressive and a model I wish everyone used.

Anyway, she's all set. It was great fun.

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I use a lot of free knitting patterns. And sometimes I knit from my imagination. Sometimes I buy patterns. I have been burned in the buying process - bad pattern, poorly written, tedious instructions, bits that are just not worth futzing with to get the effect, etc.

Like software, when I pay money for a pattern, my expectations are a little higher.

But, I have learned over the years that most pattern writers are not at all interested in replying to any requests for clarification and/or suggestions. I am not the only one who has encountered this so I just assume, when I hit a snag in a pattern, that it's mine to figure out. It just grinds a little sharper when I've paid money. This is why I don't buy a lot of patterns.

But, I bought one yesterday. And hit a problem. So I sent the writer a note - assuming I'd never get a reply. I got one in less than 12 hours! Plus, she's now responded several other times. Her pattern is fine but I use one needle instead of four so there was not enough detail for me to translate correctly. She's even promised a new version with the needed detail.

Very nice and well worth the money and I'm growing a sweet new bear.

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I've gotten kind of LJ jaded over the past year. I use it to chronicle my life for me but also enjoy reading other peoples' journals. Many of my readee's have left LJ and moved onto Facebook and I miss them but every once in a while I still get a hit of LJ delight and this morning was one of those times.

I'm a huge fan of House Hunter and House Hunter International. I love hearing about house hunts. What's important to people, what compromises they are willing to take on, etc. One of my LJ friends, johnpalmer is in such a hunt and had a great entry this morning about what he's finding and what he's thinking about those findings. He mentioned several times about wanting stairs. I found this very different. Being the old, fat slug that I am, I spend my days looking for ways to avoid stairs and, really, any inclines. So I asked and his response was just about magical.

I still love you, LJ. I do.

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Ok, fine. I'll go to the gym but I'm not going to love it.