It’s Friday afternoon.  I’ve got 45 minutes left of my work day.  And I’m bored to tears.  So, here’s an update.

I still haven’t heard anything on the other job I’ve applied for.  The automated system still tells me that no selection has been made.  I’ve sent an email to my “inside” source, asking if he’s heard anything, but he’s not in the office until Monday.

I’m frustrated with our in-house Desktop Publishing group.  I ordered a dozen or so nameplates for new staff arriving in the next couple of weeks.  I got them today.  They look nothing at all like the existing signs in the building.  Did someone change signage fonts and not tell me?  Petty annoyance, I know, but I’m still annoyed.  Not to mention, they forgot to send the 1/2 dozen nameplate frames I ordered at the same time.

I’ve been knitting more lately.  I find it easier to concentrate on knitting than on sewing at the moment.  Actually, I seem to have lost almost all drive to sew.  Life has been kicking me in the head again, and sewing takes so much more effort than I can put forth.  Knitting, on the other hand, is more mindless.  At least the patterns I’ve been knitting are a bit more mindless.  The MMario QAL shawl is easy to just sit and knit and not have to think very hard.  The Goddess Knits Shawl is a little more difficult, but still easier for me to concentrate on at the moment.

The loss of any desire to sew makes me sad, which just makes it that much harder to want to sew.  It’s a vicious cycle.  I had to tell a client I would not be able to finish her garments.  I really don’t know when I’ll be able to get them done.  And I have another friend who wants stuff for the upcoming faire season.  The good news there is that everything is simple, and once I do get the desire to sew back, won’t take very long.  But I feel horrible for letting her down.

I don’t even really feel like sewing for myself for the upcoming season.  And with the weight I’ve lost this year, I probably need to sew for myself.  I’m not sure anything will fit.  There’s about 2 months to go until it starts.  Hopefully I’ll be feeling a little more upbeat about sewing before then.

In happier news, TOH and Klumpen are throwing a party for my 40th birthday.  We’re combining it with a party for our friend, Action Deb, whose birthday is 2 days after mine.  So, if you’re in the neighborhood of the “Stupid Big House” on July 12th, stop by and join the festivities.

Excellent show.  I have never been disappointed in a Ben Folds performance.  He did a few songs from the upcoming (later this year) album and a little bit of everything else.  Our seats were in the Orchestra Pit, in the 2nd row, and directly in line with Ben himself.  I should have made that sign that said it was Klumpen’s birthday….

Anyway, for other geeks like me, here’s the set list:

1. Errant Dog
2. Gone
3. You To Thank
4. Free Coffee
5. All U Can Eat
6. Rockin’ This B*tch In Sign
7. Landed
8. Hiroshima
9. Annie Waits
10. Bastard
11. Not The Same
12. Dr. Pyser
13. Fred Jones, Pt. 2 (Ben solo)
14. Gracie (Ben solo)
15. Kylie From Connecticut
16. Underground
17. Army
18. Kate
19. Narcolepsy
20. Zak And Sara
    encore
21. Effington
22. Rockin’ The Suburbs
23. One Angry Dwarf And 200 Solemn Faces

I’m always tickled when he plays “Gracie”.  I think it’s one of my favorites, because it’s such a sweet song.  It captures parenthood very well.  Of course, he screwed it up, but that just made it more memorable.  And screwing up somehow seems to fit in with parenthood anyway.

There are a couple of blogs out there about the show, including one from Wolf Trap itself.  I love how the actual set list went so wildly off course from his planned one.  Although I am glad he skipped “Brick” (oh I’m so fucking sick of that song), I would have liked to hear “Battle of Who Could Care Less”.  Can’t complain at all, though, because he played “Narcolepsy”!  Which is definitely on my top list of his songs.   And “Kate”!

Ok, so I apparently am really happy about almost everything he played.  Huh.  The version of “One Angry Dwarf” was the absolute fastest I’ve ever heard it played.  Trying to keep up with that one was damn near impossible.

I always enjoy when the sign language interpreters have fun with the show, and the two young women who were there most definitely seemed to enjoy themselves.  Had I been paying more attention, I could have learned the subtle difference between the signs for “shit” and “poop”.

The opening act, Julia Nunes, was quirky, but immature.  I liked her voice, and some of her original songs, but there’s a lot of polish (and that’s not really the word I want) needed for her stage presence.

Overall, a fantastic way to spend the Klumpen’s birthday.

I know, I know, delusions of grandeur, thinking more than three people read this.  Actually, I know how many people read this, but I’m trying to be cheery here.  Give me a break.

Anyway.  I have some good news.  Very small, but I’ll take small victories when I can get them.  I’ve been keeping very quiet about this, because I don’t want to jinx myself, but now that things have moved on to the next stage, I thought I’d put it out there.  Back in mid-May, I applied for another job here at the agency.  One that would involve working downtown, but would also mean a promotion and the potential for more promotion.  Last week, I found out that I’ve made the short list of candidates for the position.  I’ve told my new boss (the one they just hired here where I’m working now, not the one I want to go work for), that I’d put my name in the ring for the other job, and she’s quite supportive about it.  So, now it’s more waiting to find out if they’ll call me for an interview.

In knitting news, I’ve been moving along on the MMarioKKnits QAL shawl.  I’ve gotten to the point of the “paisleys” in the pattern, and moved up a needle size.  I can usually manage 2 rows during my lunch hour, and then a couple more once I get home, provided I’m not too exhausted.  Still not sure about the color, though.  I don’t know that I have anything I can wear it with and not clash horridly.  We’ll see.  I’m thinking about adding an extra repeat of this last pattern section, to make it really huge and dramatic.  I guess I should wait and see what my rough estimate of the blocked size will be once I actually finish the repeat for the first time. 

I also started the Goddess Knits Anniversay Mystery Shawl KAL.  This will be a circular shawl, starting from the center out.  The first clue came out on Friday the 13th, and gave you 4 options to choose from.  I started out working one option, screwed it up, ripped it all out, and then couldn’t decide which option to actually knit.  I ended up pulling up an online random number generator, and picking which ever one came up the most often out of 50 tries.  That ended up being option A.  I cast on for that on Friday and finished it up on Saturday.  Now I’m patiently waiting for the next clue.

The local news stations have all been pushing the “Dump the Pump” day story, encouraging people to use public transportation.  I decided to see what my commute would be like if I only used public transportation.  I know I bitch about traffic all the time.  And gas prices keep going up.  It made me curious enough to do the math.

My journey would be as follows (all times are approximate, based on posted schedules):

1. Walk from house to local bus stop.  15 minutes.
2. Local bus to regional transportation center.  28 minutes.  Cost $1.00.
3. Bus from regional transportation center to nearest metro station.  34 minutes.  Cost $2.50
4. Metrorail to station nearest office.  11 minutes.  Cost $2.65.
5. Shuttle bus from metro station to office.  25 minutes.

My grand total for a one way trip would be approximately 113 minutes (not counting any waiting times between buses/trains/shuttles) and would cost me $6.15.  My daily time would be about 226 minutes (that’s 3.75 hours) and $12.30.  Monthly cost would add up to about $246.00.  My agency does, however, offer a transit subsidy for people who take public transportation.  That would bring my out of pocket costs down to $131 a month (based on 20 working days per month).  This would make my daily cost $6.55.

Currently, driving to work takes me about 40 to 45 minutes each way (so, 80 to 90 minutes round trip), with some days better and some days worse.  Based on the mpg of my car (and that’s based on what I actually use, not the number they use to sell the car), it takes me about a gallon of gas to get back and forth to work each day.  As of this morning, the cost was $3.95/gallon at one of the local gas stations (and not the cheapest).

So, let’s look at that side by side, shall we?

Driving               Public Transportation
90 minutes              226 minutes
$3.95                       $6.55

Can you see why I still drive every day?

I actually had specific examples, but I’m too tired to type them all out.  Let’s just say that government bureaucracy at its best infuriates me.

That “Spanish Armada” shawl I mentioned a while ago?  Had to frog it completely.  I screwed up somewhere along the line, and couldn’t figure out where, so I just ripped the whole thing out and put it aside for now.

However, I did start the Queen Anne’s Lace shawl, and it’s moving along wonderfully.  I’m at somewhere around row 110.  Still not a fan of the “Aegean Blue” I bought, but we’ll see when it’s washed and blocked.  And if I still hate it, there’s always over dyeing it.

Klumpen and I went on an adventure on Saturday.  TOH and I have promised to pay for her first tattoo as her 18th birthday present.  So, she did all the research, decided what she wants done and found a tattoo artist that came recommended.  Saturday afternoon, we made the trek to the studio for the consultation.  I was impressed with the artist.  She asked questions and seemed interested in the project.

I’m still debating my tattoo.  I’d like one, but haven’t had any luck with a design that really speaks to me.  A couple of friends had done some preliminary sketches, but not much further.

I have a new boss, finally.  But not really.  The agency hired from within, so my new boss is someone I’ve worked with for a while now.  But this person is still doing her previous job, and therefore not paying a lot of attention to the 3 of us who now work directly for her.  Which isn’t really bad, just frustrating.   Otherwise, things aren’t too different from what they usually are.

And I guess that last sentence applies to the rest of my life, too.

On the good side, I have the following:

• I’ve booked our room for the cruisefor next year.  February 1 - 6, 2009, on the Norwegian Jewel, with port stops of Cozumel and Great Stirrup Cay.  On a slightly down note, though, Guster definitely will not be there, and Carbon Leaf or Gaelic Storm have not yet committed to the cruise.  But, BNL (of course!) and Great Big Sea will be there.
• I’m past row 100 on my Seascape Shawl.
• I’ve purchased yarn and (gasp!!) actually swatched for the Goddess Knits Anniversary Mystery Shawl.  I purchased 3 different lace weight yarns, and swatched each one to see which I liked best.  I’ve decided on using the Misti Alpaca Lace in “Cranberry” (at least that’s what I think the color is, since I don’t have a skein handy).
• Since I had two other yarns that I wasn’t using for the Goddess Knits Shawl, I decided one of them could be for the MMario “Spanish Armada” Shawl.  I like the color of the 10/2 Tencel I’d bought more than I liked the color of the Jagger Spun Maine Line 2/20 yarn.  The Tencel is a burgundy color, while the 2/20 merino is called “Aegean Blue”.  The blue is more of a teal/bright robin’s egg to me, and not what I thought looked right for the Armada Shawl.   So, Tencel it was.  And the Tencel is a dream to work with.  Smooth and slides along the needles wonderfully.
• While traveling back and forth to my training course last week, I managed to begin the heel turn on a sock I’ve been dragging along for a while.  It will probably languish until I have to go downtown again, though.

On the not so good side, I have these tidbits to relay:

• Our Human Resources office told us last Tuesday (after 5 weeks of testing and nearly no communication from them - 6 emails total and the last one was 3.5 weeks ago) that we would be going live with the new payroll system this past Friday.  And it all had to be completed by 3:00 pm this Friday.  And, oh, by the way, some things don’t work the way they did during testing.
• I spent yesterday training on a new travel management system.  This is a toss up between good and not so good, actually.  The system itself is much easier to use than the old system, and the on-line contextual help is superb.  On the other hand, I have a certain supervisor who is telling people that they MUST be trained on the new system.  Well, actually, no they don’t.  Have they traveled in the last 12 months?  Are they going to be traveling anytime in the next 12 months?  If the answers to those questions are “No”, then don’t have your people call me, freaking out that they need to be trained “RIGHT THIS MINUTE”!
• While all of this is occurring, I have one employee who is leaving the agency.  To do that, you have to go through an exit clearance process.  Employee Ass (since I won’t name names) calls me Wednesday, the day before the last day Employee Ass will be working here, and wants to know what the sign out procedure is.  Well, the problem there (actually, there are many problems there, but I’ll explain) is that (referring to bullet point above) I was in training all day yesterday.  Employee Ass then calls the HR people and starts bitching at them.  Long story short, it got ugly and it’s still pissing me off this week, even though Employee Ass:  burned all her bridges, tried to get her immediate supervisor to plead her case, still had to follow the rules, had to be polite to me for the five minutes it too for me to complete my portion of her clearance form and successfully signed out and left the agency.  Bottom line, I have 90+ employees who are still working for the agency that need me to make sure they get paid, and they take precedence over the one Ass who was leaving.
• That Spanish Armada Shawl I was so gleefully working on?  I screwed it up and had to start the whole thing over.  There’s a row where you create 9 stitches in a YO from the previous row.  I managed that ok, but screwed up on the next row.  And couldn’t fix it “on the needles”, and hadn’t been using a “lifeline” on it.  So I pulled it all out, and restarted it.  I’m going a little slower this time around, but it still looks good, and the yarn is still wonderful.

This past weekend was good.  I think I knit some Friday evening, but I’m not entirely sure.  Amazingly, it only took me just under an hour to get home, even though it was the beginning of a three day weekend.

Saturday morning, we ran down to the HOA Clubhouse to get our new pool passes, and then I spent the better part of the day lazing about and knitting, with a brief break in the afternoon for an appointment.

On Sunday, the plan had been to sew for the day, while TOH was out doing car stuff, but that didn’t happen.  TSM needed an adult to go down to the pool with him, as he’s under 14, and hasn’t taken the swim test yet this year.  So, I ended up going to the pool with him.  Didn’t swim any, because apparently the water is Freezing, but sunned and talked to a neighbor for a couple hours.  I got a little pink where the top back of my swim suit slides down, but no big sunburn.  (TOH is another story.)  Then, once we got home from the pool, I was fishing out TSM’s garb for our neighbor’s son, who is playing Amerigo Vespucci in a school play.  Everything mostly fits, and he’s tickled with it all.  We’ve got him wearing TSM’s shirt, pants, ghillies, cloak, belt and TOH’s floppy feathered cap.

And yesterday was spent mostly making cake.  Tomorrow is Klumpen’s birthday, and since we’ll be at Wolf Trap, seeing Ben Folds, we decided to make her cake over the weekend.  Devil’s Food chocolate, with buttercream icing.  Double layer cakes, with three tiers.  (I ended up using 2 cake mixes, since the tier set I have is a mini set which normally uses a single mix.)  More powdered sugar than is good for anyone, and we were all set.  Then it was out to dinner at Outback, home to eat cake, and a fairly early night in bed by 10:30.

The banning issues seem to be resolved, and the banned parties have gotten the message they’re not welcome here.

And that’s pretty much everything that I’m willing to talk about publicly.  Life is moving along, and things are better than they were at the beginning of the year.