Canada Post sucks!

I don't believe this. I feel like I got scammed by Canada Post.

I have two packages, exactly the same size and same weight. One is going to Chicago to my husband's friend and the other is going to the next town in Canada (1 hour away).
The package to Chicago cost me 5$ to send. So I figure the package going 1 hour away will cost me about the same if not less since it's within Canada. Boy was I wrong! The postal worker without batting an eyelid tells me to ship this package it will cost me 9$!!!! So I ask her why the difference in price, she replies, your package is considered bulky. So I point out that the package going to Chicago weighs the same and has the same bulkiness, why is it so much cheaper?? She shrugs and answers, those are the rates...

I took the package that was going to my son home with me to repack and shipped the other one to Chicago. My son will have to wait a few more days until I've repackaged his mitts in a ziplock baggie with all the air sucked out of it and in a plain brown paper envelope. Let's see how much that will cost me. It doesn't cost 9$ to drive to the next town! I wish I had a car.

Why are we paying a premium for shipping small packages within Canada when Canada Post is obviously giving cheaper rates for packages going to the US??? Shouldn't we be given a better deal?

The Weekender

Let's see, how about I do some updates before moving on to new stuff.

1. job interview: As I thought... didn't get it. Doesn't surprise me, they may have had poker faces, but their body language spoke volumes. I guess they didn't want a bbw around their office filled with dainty, latest fashion clad admins. Their loss!

2. I forgot to mention my darling daughter also brought me some lovely gifts. 2 books, Picture Knits & I Love Knitting. There is new knowledge to be gleaned from both. I especially like the first one, lots of lovely charts for children's clothing plus a how to read a chart tutorial. I can definitely use that part as well. Knitting left handed creates some interesting problems when reading a chart. I have to keep reminding myself that the row going in one direction goes in the other direction on my knitting. Confusing? heck yeah but I'll learn!

3. She also brought me more Neopets to add to my growing collection. Yes, I'm addicted to these cute little plush animals. They are sooo cute!

4. And last but not least, a package of tape measures! I'm forever misplacing my one and only cloth tape measure. My favorite from the 4 she gave me is this nice small red one that when you press the button zips right back inside with a very satisfying "snick!" I love that!

5. Finished the fingerless mitts for the co-workers friend. I hope he appreciates the work that went into them. I used a generic wristwarmer generator, made some adaptations and went at them. I just have to weave in the ends and hand them to her.

Now for new stuff

1. I cast on another cloth in basketweave, I'm aiming for a hand towel with this design. Pictures to come as it grows.

2. Need to buy US8 circular needles for the gilet Twirl found in Minnowknits, Too by Jil Eaton. I have 2 nieces and a sister in law who would love this feminine gilet complete with fancy wrists and collar. I will change one thing on it though and that is what I'm going to use to knit the wrists and collar. I am going to use furry novelty yarn to give the impression of real fur. All 3 will appreciate it I'm quite certain.

3. I cast on and finished a Calorimetry hat for myself. Put it to the test yesterday in -20C weather and it was perfect. Having long hair makes tuques impossible to wear or give you hat hair which I hate. This hat is like a hairband but has a button in the back so no slipping over the head dragging your hair down with it. I love how it covers my ears and doesn't slip and slide around. Only took me 3 hours to knit from CO to sewing on the button. I also added a smaller button on the inside to anchor the main button better so the buttonhole won't slip off. I didn't cast on the 120 stitches since my knitting seems to be a tad more relaxed. I cast on 115 and it fits perfectly! I also love the shape when it's laying flat. Reminds me of a leaf.

That's it for now. More to come in the next few days.

Ugh, -22C !

Today was a balmy -22 C! Yeah, sure, if you're a penguin that could be construed as balmy, but NOT in southern Ontario it isn't!

I had to go out for groceries and pick up my darling husband's prescription. Two blocks to the pharmacy, fingers were numb. Not a good start. Got the prescription, warmed up a bit in the pharmacy and stepped out to go over to the bus stop. Bus ran late, fingers went numb again! Switched busses once I got downtown. That went fast, I actually managed to catch the next bus as soon as I got off the first one. The bus I caught is one of those super long hinged ones, so I made my way to the back where it's usually quiet and warmer and parked myself on a seat. I used to be more sociable but these days I've discovered in the past 9 years of city life that being sociable in a city isn't always a good thing.

This guy comes weaving down the aisle and plants himself in the seat ahead of mine, turns around and exhales one of the most disgusting fetid breaths I've ever smelled. He had been drinking and it was 2 in the afternoon! He smelled absolutely rank and my stomach was having issues at that point. He tried to strike up a convo with me, but I studiously kept looking out the window and trying to ignore his drunken attempts at conversation. Thankfully I had my mp3 earbuds in my ears which should have led him to think I couldn't hear him. My hand was in my pocket wrapped around my mp3 player and I quietly turned it up enough so he could hear the music. That worked, he muttered something along the lines of bitch and turned to face forward again. Thankfully he started harassing someone else which enabled me to make my escape to the front of the bus.

I finally get to the grocery store. It's located near one of those mini malls with all the store entrances giving out to a sidewalk. As I'm walking down this aisle I spot an elderly woman shuffling along pushing a stroller (assistive device) I can't believe my eyes, It's -22C and she's shuffling along in slippers, no socks, a thin dress and a thin cardigan. As I'm passing her, I notice the cardigan is wide open! Her fingers are bent with arthritis so I decide that I will be sociable this time and ask her if she needs help buttoning up since it's so cold. She looks up at me, I realise she's barely able to see anything since her eyes have the typical milky bluish film that cataracts give. She says yes please, so I button up her cardigan. I ask her where she's going and she tells me to the pharmacy. She's already passed the pharmacy so I explain it to her, she looks confused so I offer to help her get there since I'm seriously worried this woman is going to catch her death dressed like that in those temperatures. The wind was from the north and it was bitterly cold. I finally get her back to the pharmacy, help her navigate her way through the doors and walk in behind her. During our walk back to the pharmacy I'd asked her why she was out in this weather and she tells me she desperately needs her prescription renewed.

Once I've safely left her with the pharmacist, I walk over to one of the ladies I've seen many times before and ask her if she knows the elderly lady I just helped into the store. She looks over and recognizes her and asks me where her coat is. I tell her she didn't have one on when I found her wandering down the mini mall. She gasps in shock and I suggest that if she knows where the elderly lady lives that it might be a good idea to call and see if someone could come pick her up. That's when I find out that she lives 2 blocks away at a retirement home. How the heck did she get past the staff??!!! So last I knew, they were calling the retirement home and have someone come pick her up. I'm glad I found her, goodness knows where she'd have ended up.

After all this excitement, I still have groceries to get done! We do most of our groceries at a No Frills once a month. I pick up all the staples, non perishables there and get fruits, veggies and meat at the Vietnamese market as we need them. I walk in and head over to get a cart and there aren't any left! Oooh boy, that means it's going to be a zoo in the store. Sure enough, after waiting for 10 minutes to get a cart, I push it through the door and it's a jungle in there. Not entirely sure why there are so many people doing their groceries at that time of day, but the store is full. It's not like there are fantastic prices or a special sale. I weave my way through the throngs, manage to get all the groceries minus a few items the shelves are cleared of and head for the cash. The waiting lines at the cash are 10 deep and every single cash is open! I don't get it. I finally get my groceries bagged since I bring my own carry-all bags and call for a cab which shows up in record speed considering that it's saturday pm and it's freezing!

Cabbie loads up my groceries into the back of the suv and off we go. I direct him to pull into the driveway behind the apartment building we live in so it's safer to offload. I pay him, give him a tip and get out. He gets out on his side, I let him know to put the groceries at the back door while I'm grabbing 2 bags to start it going. I walk away, get up the outside stairs, leave my 2 bags by the door, turn and start walking down the stairs again when I see the cabbie pulling out of the driveway. Where are my freaking groceries!!! I hurry over to where the suv was and there piled on the 3foot snowbank are my groceries! He just grabbed everything and tossed them out! I got to the snowbank just in time to grab the bag of glass jars before it tumbled down. I was about as mad as anyone can be at this point. I hope his ears are still burning because I cursed him roundly during the entire time I had to slog my way through the snow to retrieve my groceries. I'm just happy I had tied my bags with the handles. At least nothing fell out but tons of snow got in. The trip from the street edge to the back door takes a minute but I was terrified that while I was gone someone would take my groceries. By the time I got everything in the apartment, I was exhausted. I definitely had my workout today! LOL Let's see, I did approximately 20 trips up and down stairs. No stairmaster required here, I think that's enough!

I called the cab company to complain and they just poopooed it off saying that cabbies aren't expected to carry groceries in. I explained that I didn't expect him to carry groceries into my apartment but to at least put them in a safe place which is the cement pad by the entrance and NOT in the snowbank! I might as well not have bothered to call.... As I was putting the groceries away, I also noticed that both boxes of cereal were now open and crumpled looking. Sure enough, they had either been stepped on by the driver or run over by the departing suv. I guess I'll be eating crushed cheerios for the next month LOL no chewing needed :P

I need to get some circular knitting needles for a gilet I want to knit for my nieces and sil but that's going to have to wait. This weather is to fracking cold to go jaunting about town using the transit system. A 10 minute trip in a car turns into a 45 minute journey on a bus or several busses. I hate not having a car but it's going to have to wait until I have a steady income from a full time permanent job.

Catch your dreams before they slip away

Work went great as long as I ignored the over extended supervisor going in 20 different directions at the same time barking at us for nothing.

I had a job interview this afternoon that I'm not sure on. Talk about poker faces. I should know by the end of the week if they're even considering me for the position. I'll consider then if I really want to work for them. Temp work has it's advantages, if you don't like a placement, you complain to your agent and someone else gets the spot. Not that I'm going to complain since I've figured out the supervisor. I just let her rant on and do my job :)

But the best part of today was..... *drum roll please* My darling daughter came with me to visit! You might say, so what? To me this is a gift to be treasured. My daughter doesn't live in the same town, neither one of us owns a vehicle so visiting means a long trip on a train/bus and then walking walking walking to wherever we want to go. After my interview was over, we headed over to the Vietnamese market to pick up a few things and some chicken wings. My daughter's special supper request was my pineapple curried chicken wings with rice.

After getting everything set, and were waiting for the wings to be done, I sat my daughter down in front of the computer and introduced her to my folder of knitting patterns earmarked for her. When I see a pattern I think she would like, I drop it in that folder so she can take a look whenever she's visiting. Apparently my tastes in what she likes is pretty smack on since she only took a few out of the list :) She also added a bunch more from my regular pattern folders. Then I introduced her to Ravelry, she may not knit or crochet, but she has a flair for clothes. Ravelry is one of those awesome places for anyone who has a flair for knowing what looks good and what works and doesn't work in clothing and accessories. She really enjoyed the site and will likely join so she can check out new patterns and let me know which ones she'd like to have knit up for her.

I put in her backpack a couple of facecloths I knitted up as well as a Kinder Surprise egg. One of her favorite treats. I totally forgot to take pictures of the facecloths but these were experimental designs of my own anyway. I can always knit them up again. She will let me know how they perform under heavy usage so I know what alterations to make if need be. I wish we lived closer by each other.

Cold, colder, coldest! No hot potatoes here! My fingers were numb within minutes of walking out the door this morning. Despite being bundled up to the eyeballs, my fingers were cold even after I stuffed them mitts and all into my pockets. Walking with your hands in your pockets doesn't work so well when the sidwalk is snow and ice covered. You never know when you're going to need to use your arms to pinwheel yourself upright again when your feet skid on ice. Learned that one this morning! The rest of my walk to work was done pigeon toed to keep my center of balance over my feet. An old friend who lived up north with the Inuit taught me that walk and It works.

Still working on fingerless mitts and another facecloth. Doing this new facecloth on a plain sideways rib. Once I've figured it out I'm going to try and incorporate some designs into the sideways rib for visual relief.

50 things about me...

Some truths about me!

1. I love my husband
2. I love my children
3. I love my silly cat Gambit
4. I knit left-handed but I'm right-handed and can't knit right-handed
5. I crochet right-handed and can't left-handed
6. I learned knitting from my grandmother
7. I am self taught for crochet, I am not very fond of crochet but that may change over time
8. I love knitting
9. I love thinking of new patterns
10. I collect patterns
11. Lately I noticed that I follow a pattern like I follow a recipe. The basics are there, but I throw in my own updates and adaptations when I see that it will look better.
12. I love to knit for babies but have none of my own to knit for.
13. I love to knit for children, but have no money to ship the finished items to my nieces and nephews.
14. I used to sew up a storm when my kids were little
    
15. I used to do traditional native beadwork
16. I used to draw and paint
17. I miss my grandmother
18. I used to do embroidery
19. I wish there was more equality in the world
20. I miss horseback riding
21. I am metis
    
22. I have diabetes
23. I have neuropathy
24. I have COPD
25. I miss my health
26. I miss my children
27. I miss gardening
28. I miss goats
29. Everything I knit, a little piece of me goes into it to give the recipient strength and purpose
30. I wish for my health to improve
31. I wish for my husband to be pain free
    
32. I wish for my children to be happy and healthy
33. I wish my friends lived nearby
34. I wish my family lived nearby
35. I hate housework, it's pointless and thankless
36. I love neo-classical, celtic, rock, industrial, rave, house, new age, rap/hiphop, native, film soundtracks and heavy metal music
37. I love historical, knitting, sci-fantasy, adventure and horror books
38. I wish for a full time permanent job with health benefits
39. I'm thankful for the temp work I do get
40. I'm thankful for my wonderful husband
41. I wish we didn't live in a basement apartment
42. I wish my eyesight was better. I wear glasses
43. I wear magnifying glasses over my regular glasses when I knit or read. I don't care if people see me wearing 2 pairs of glasses
44. I don't care if people think I'm fat, my husband loves me just like I am
45. I wish I could afford a car. I miss having a car
46. I'm a decent cook
47. I'm good at a lot of things, but don't excel at any one thing in particular
48. I'm ambidextrous
49. I can roll up my tongue sideways
50. I can pick up things with my toes
    

These are just a few things about me. Maybe I'll add to the list in time, but for the moment, this is all I'm saying.

Weekends, snow & chores... have to find room to knit!!!

It's Sunday afternoon and between getting dishes done, kitchen cleaned up, general pick up and put away in the rest of the apartment and working on knitting, I'm trying to figure out where the weekend went?!!!

Not really complaining since with all the snow we've been getting dumped on us over the past couple of days, I really don't want to go out there. I have enough of walking to work 5 days a week in it! Mind you, it's pretty to look at just not so much fun to brave -30C temperatures in the morning. Friday morning, my face was numb by the time I walked the km to work. The rest of me was warm enough, bundled up into fleece pants, wool sweater and 2 fleece jackets along with a wool hood and my scarf. I was beginning to feel like a snowman, could hardly see out LOL That's me walking up the street by the railroad tracks. Darling hubby thought it would make a good picture.

The wristwarmers are just about done. Just finishing up the crochet hem. They came out really pretty. Here are pictures showing a finished one versus unfinished. It's amazing what adding a nice hem does for these.

Now I've got fingerless mitts to make and I'll use my own pattern for those since she wants to pay me for them! She also wants to pay me for the scarf/wrap which means I'll be combing stitch patterns and designing my own.


I love this picture taken at night of a nearby park. My husband really did a great job photographing it. The atmosphere is wistful, as of days gone by. Love the amber color of the lights coming through the trees. I could just sit there and look at it forever.

Commissions!

I got my first commission today! A co-worker was complaining that her hands were freezing while typing and I loaned her my wrist warmers. She wore them and was so happy that her wrists and fingers weren't freezing she asked me to make her a pair. Then she saw my ratty scarf that's 7 feet long and asked me to make her one of those as well! LOL

I'm debating whether to go through my stitch dictionary and show her some very pretty stitch patterns that are much much nicer than my original ratty old scarf (the one I knit for myself 4 years ago when I got back into knitting again). See if she'd rather I make one of those for her instead. :) considering she wants to pay me. Depending what she picks out, I'll likely charge her the cost of the yarn tripled since putting an hourly wage/value to the finished scarf is pretty well impossible.

I've already picked out the yarn for the wrist warmers and I'm going with this pattern. She has such tiny dainty wrists that anything worsted would make them look odd. Since I have a nice, slightly thicker than fingering, yarn and I'm using 3.75 mm needles, I figured that the Knit Cuffs with a Cable Twist by Deborah Pulliam would be perfect for her dainty wrists, not too chunky or thick for the office. The yarn is Patons Canadiana in royal blue, her favorite colour even! And since I can't "sell" the wrist warmers, I'll knit them for her for the cost of the yarn.

I'll update with my own photo of the finished mitts once they are finished.

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

Well, the baby wrap shawl gift was met with awe and great appreciation. Apparently I picked out the perfect colour and it actually solved a dilemna they were having about what to use to cover her shoulders when sitting in the car seat. Daddy was properly impressed. Nice to see someone appreciate hand work.

I'm almost done the basketweave dishcloth, 2.5 rows to go!

Not looking forward to walking to work in the morning, temperatures will be well under 0C :( It's definitely going to be a brisk walk. At least the park around the corner is pretty to look at.

Baby Wrap / Shaw

A co-worker became a first time Dad recently. A gorgeous baby girl who's pictures get shown around the office every chance he gets. I wanted to give something unusual for the young lady and with the cold weather the way it's been.... what better way to keep her warm than with a wrap /shawl.

I found this gorgeous little pattern that I felt was original and unusual enough that I'm sure this little lady hasn't been gifted with one already.

I had some left over pink yarn, Bernat solids and thought it would be nice to use it since it would make this shawl easy wash n wear. And who wants to fuss with pure wool when you don't know if the baby has allergies, etc.

It was a very quick knit and the pattern was easy to follow. Gambit decided he had to be in the picture with teddy modeling the shawl. I also found some darling pink buttons to use on the back to attach the shawl.

Now I'm working on 2 dishcloths, one with a simple basketweave pattern that's great to do when you don't want to think too much or follow a paper pattern while watching Veronica Mars episodes and the other to knit on during lunch at work. Yes, my life is that predictable LOL

These will especially come in handy when we start watching Battlestar Gallactica, the last season, the final 10 episodes. Yes, can you tell we are BG fans :) Incredibly good show that we will miss when it's over.

I will miss watching Stargate Atlantis though. I'm 200% positive that McKay's character was based on my husband.

Skully Mitts: 1st project for FGF!

My first Fingerless Gloves Fanatics entry for 2009. Done! Skully Mitts from Nadine's Patterns that I found while blog surfing a few weeks ago then discovered they were listed on Ravelry as well.

I'm quite happy with them, I'd never done duplicate stitch before either so I actually learned a new skill getting these done. They turned out pretty cool and my son will love these since he's a huge fan of skulls.

I used up a ball of black acrylic w/ nylon doing these, I'm not entirely sure of the full yardage since it was a partial ball with no label I'd picked up at the local Value Village. It's still one less ball of yarn in my stash!

More of that wonderful RAK

I finally took some individual photos of the gorgeous yarns Michiele sent to me.

The first one is a hand-dyed skein bought at a pottery festival in Sanford. It is 15% nylon and 85 % wool.I'm seriously thinking shawl for this one. I love the colors and how they blend into each other. I hope that it will do some gorgeous pooling when I finally use it.

The second yarn is 3 balls of Shibui knits. I absolutely love the blend of colors, reminds me of spring. I must think what would showcase those colors best. May not be socks though since I really don't want to practice making socks with this gorgeous yarn. I'd hate to ruin it.

The third yarn is 2 balls of Regia sock yarn 100% virgin wool. Again, love the colors! I'm waiting for it to tell me what it wants to become.

The fourth yarn is 2 balls of Caseria Copperbeach 100% merino. Feels more like silk to me than wool. Never thought that merino could feel so nice!

Skully Mitts hmm....

My son is not fond of full mittens. He likes to wear gloves but always finds that the hand part gets cold. So I knitted him a pair of fingerless gloves which he will hopefully get before winter ends! Since he loves skulls so much, I will be stitching a skull on each glove. He should like these.

The red velvet bag under the gloves is a project bag I use when I take smaller knitting to work with me. It holds everything I need and I always get comments from coworkers on how beautiful it is. They also admire the knitting, but the bag always gets them. Must be the red tassels!

Stash Wars cont'd

Well, I did it. After spending a weekend sorting and cataloging my stash I bit the bullet and put it all in Ravelry so I can keep track of what I use, how much and on what I used it. At least now it will be easier to shop my stash LOL

Now all that left to do is to go through my finished projects and substract the yarn from the stash. Shouldn't be too difficult. I kept written notes of yarn used and to which project it was attributed.

With all the sorting, I also found that when I threw all the bits and pieces and less than 1/4 skeins into one bag, I have quite a bit. I should think of something to do with all those bits and pieces. Maybe an apple core blanket, or a fish blanket. I did have my heart set on doing a cardinal blanket but I have nowhere near enough black or red yarn. So that is going to go on the backburner for now.

I also joined the Stash Knit down 2009 group on Ravelry which should help me get a lot of the stash knitted into serviceable items, garments, etc.

Surprise! It's a RAK!

I get home tonight to find a fat envelope sitting on the shelf above our mailbox. I notice my name is on it and the envelope is covered with hearts of all colors. I look at the address, my husband walks by and asks me "What's that?" My brain is still processing the address and then it hits me, It's a RAK!!!

I tear open the top of the envelope and out tumbles these beautiful jewels also known as balls of yarn in the most gorgeous colors. I'm thinking to myself, "but I didn't post a wish list for January..." and the one I posted for December was decidedly sad in content so how did this Angel know what to send me? I don't know how she knew, but all I know is I'm thankful for these gifts. Thank you Michiele!

Now to figure out what to do with these gems of gorgeous soft color. I know I want to make something really special for me out of some of these at least and maybe something special for a very good friend of mine who happily stepped up to the plate and helped me out when things were going badly in the past few months.

Building a square ... winter blahs

I'm in the process of writing up a pattern for a flemish lion cloth that I'm knitting in cotton. Depending on how it comes out, I may end up using it as a pillow top, otherwise it will become a face cloth.

I started knitting it tonight but will be frogging what I've done so far since I miscalculated the number of stitches on either side of the graphed lion and it's coming out uneven.

I was getting irritated by the cotton rolling around and since I had this lovely cookie tin that wasn't doing anything better, as an experiment I shoved the ball of yarn into it and started knitting from it that way. It works really well and I discovered than when I'm not knitting I can simply drop the needles with the knitting into the container and it all stays nicely put until I can pick it up again. This photo isn't very clear but I'll take another and update it tomorrow.

I'm getting tired of this trudge through filthy snow every morning on my way to work. I especially hate the drivers who seem to take great pleasure in driving closer to the sidewalk for no reason other than they can liberally spray your clothes with the filth that's accumulated on the edge of the street; a blend of mud, snow, salt and sand.... yummy. I just love walking in to work looking like a drowned rat. It's not like I can get away from them since there is no room to sidestep the spray if I saw it coming. Since the traffic is all one way, heading in the same direction I'm heading, I can't see them coming unless I walk backwards... or grow eyes in the back of my head or wear a side view mirror perhaps? LOL C'est la vie

Neopets

Well dip me in chocolate and call me a sunday!

I entered a Holiday Sweepstakes on Neopets and today, I got this in my email.

"Congratulations! The National Sweepstakes Company (an independent judging organization) has selected you (or your child) as a First Prize winner in the NeoPets' "NeoCash Card Holiday" Sweepstakes subject to the Official Rules. The prize you will receive is a $10.00 NeoPets Prepaid Neocash Card that may be redeemed on Neopets.com for ten dollars worth of Neocash."

So I submitted my information and clicked submit and got this:

"Congratulations! Your prize claim form submission was successful!

Remember, please allow 6-8 weeks for delivery of your prize.

Thanks again for your participation!"

I am about as tickled pink as anyone can be!

Dishcloths, A Moment of DOH!!!

Up until today, I had no clue why so many are gung ho about a knitted dishcloth. Boy, my learning curve was at it's lowest when I thought that it was silly to fuss over dishcloths.

The dishcloth I knit using the cheap dollar store cotton finally got used tonight to do dishes. This may sound silly to the uneducated on the subject of dishcloths but Wow!!!! I'm never ever ever! buying another machine produced dishcloth again!!! Even that cheap ass cotton works and at a whopping 1$ a 50 gr. ball, I can make at least 2 cloths and likely start a third. Guess where I'm going tomorrow on my lunch break!!!!

I have the perfect quick knit gifts that won't cost me an arm and a leg to mail to my mom, sister, sil, mil, etc etc!!!

Who is Dr Who?

Well, it's official, the new Doctor Who was announced. The eleventh incarnation of our dear Doctor will be played by a complete unknown, Matt Smith. He is also the youngest actor to ever play the doctor since the series` inception in 1963. His acting background is theatrical which should make it interesting to see how he deals with the sets and various plots. He has done some television acting with the Party Animals TV series on the BBC being is biggest role.

I just hope that he will be just as memorable in his performance of the Doctor as previous actors have been. He will likely bring a new twist to the character. I noticed that the last 2 doctors were evolutions on the previous doctor. Eccleston's Doctor was dark, angry, a pessimist trying to put on a cheerful face, Tennant's Doctor was lighter, somewhat less pessimistic with some angst at being the last of the time lords but not letting it get in the way of saving his beloved Earth from invasions and monsters.


The last specials from Tennant to be aired this year should make for some excellent watching when we all know these are his last in the role. I will miss his personnae more than I missed Eccleston's. Tennant has something very appealing about him. At least Rose got to keep her Doctor.

Ugh

Today is my first day of the new year that I am migraine free.. at Last!

I came down with a migraine that wouldn't go away on Christmas day. This thing was a monster that started with tooth pain and just got a life of it's own. Taking painkillers would only send it to the background. Yesterday it finally decided it wasn't going to recede or take stage left for a break, it came back full force and boy did it hurt! I finally decided that a trip to the local hospital's emergency department was the answer albeit not something I was looking forward to since this more than likely involves a 3 hours or more wait to be seen. I sat in the waiting room with my poor husband in tow. Wore an icepack on the right side of my face and a towel over my head as well as dark glasses since the waiting room lights felt like the sun was 2 inches from my nose. I finally get called into the 2nd waiting room and my poor husband gets left in the main waiting room which is rapidly filling up with screaming children. When I was finally called into the examining room I wouldn't budge until they let my husband come in with me.
The doctor checked my neurological responses, eyes, tongue (no clue why) and ordered a shot of morphine mixed with something like demerol. And told us that if that didn't take care of the migraine, I'd have to come back for a different treatment using steroids. Got home last night, by the time we walked home, I was starting to feel better. Had something to eat and fell into bed.When I finally woke up this afternoon, the migraine was thankfully gone!

I also started a new temp position on Friday. This one is dispatch for the city's parking department where I live. I felt like I was on The Prisoner with using the officer's numbers to call them over the two way radio; "Control to eleven, control to 11" and would wait for the officer's response "11 to control". Just felt a bit surreal. The radio itself as an ancient microphone that looks like something from the 60's.

The woman who is supposed to be training me for the position is missing a very important talent; an aptitude for training others. That in itself precludes my learning the job since she's the rambling type. Starts to show me how to do something and then mumbles her way through most of it with an "you'll get it once you're doing it" comment. Thankfully my supervisor noticed how badly she was doing the training and made sure that I knew she was available to help me whenever I needed the help. I'm seeing this as a learn by the seat of your pants type training. Should be interesting.

Canada Post sucks!

I seriously don't believe this, but wow, never thought that Canada post was scamming us Canadians.

Here is my case. Two packages, both the same size and weight. One going to the US, the other going to a town an hour's drive away in Canada. Now wouldn't you think that the package going to the US would cost more since it's going a lot further? Wrong!

The package going to the US overland cost me 5$ to send! The package going to the town an hour's drive away would have cost me 9$!!!! if I had sent it. Now someone explain to me why?

I pointed out to the postal agent that both packages were the same size,weight etc... and asked why the one going to the next town was that much more expensive. The reply and get this: "It's bulky" so I pointed out that the package going to the US was also bulky so why that big of a difference in price? I got a shrug and a bored, "Those are the rates Ma'am" I shipped the US package and took the other one home with me. I'm going to repackage my son's mitts in a ziplock baggie with all the air squeezed out of it and put it in a plain brown paper envelope so it's as flat as can be. Let's see how much that will cost me!

I just can't get over how big a cost difference there is for 2 packages exactly the same size, weight and thickness. Boggles the mind.

I guess the old adage, "If you can't dazzle 'em with brains, baffle 'em with bullshit" fits.

On a happier note, I love browsing through lolcat. Our furry friends are always up to something. Tonight I found this Video that had me just about screaming with laughter. I had to stuff a pillow over my face since I didn't want to wake up my darling husband who was finally getting some rest from kidney stones.

New Year Resolutions

I don't know about everyone else, but I've given up making new year resolutions. These things only set you up for failure in my honest opinion.

I make a list of things I hope will happen or change in the new year.

Job - full time permanent with health coverage instead of part time casual. with zip. This will only happen if the hiring freezes come off in our city's big industry.... and that will only happen if the economy does a miraculous healing of it's own.

Health - continue to keep my diabetes under control.

Knitting - just keep on clicking those sticks with string, pick up new skills and maybe actually sell some !

Relationship - Just keep on loving my darling husband as much as he loves me!

Honestly, thinking about it, the only major thing that needs to improve for 2009 is the job front. Everything else is in a holding pattern.

I have a migraine again, so I'm cutting this post short and crawling back into bed after I take some painkillers. Happy New year everyone!

A New Year has begun

2009, what or where will this brand spanking new year bring us. So much upheaval in the world, even in our own backyard. It doesn't seem to matter where you live anymore.

Jibjab says it better than I ever could.

So after all this, I wish everyone a Happy New Year, all the best for the new year and hopefully better than 2008.