OK, I lied

Is it February yet?

Just felt like doing this

Last entry for January....honest (not that I went overboard this month).

Word out in the 'sphere is that three of the films I worked on over the past four years are finally going to see the light of day.  I know, wahoo!

Or, maybe a better way of putting it would be: those three films will finally be distributed and seen by people other than their respective editors, directors, and film crews.  What a novel approach to filmmaking.

See you in February.

Obviously a S-L-O-W news day

I truly believe our news stations (television-wise) are quite envious of states like Colorado and Minnesota.

Whenever there is a pile up on an expressway - due to fog or snowy/icey weather conditions - they salivate like Pavlov's dogs.  I picture them whimpering over the lost opportunity to broadcast non-stop, interrupting programs for the chance to be self-important for hours on end.  Bemoaning the lost glory, and daydreaming of when it may happen here in the Detroit region.

"How come we can't have a forty-vehicle calamity?" they whine.

Well, this morning they have their wish!  That's right, somewhere around 9:45AM, the weather collided with inept and careless drivers (Detroit, and it's surrounding communities, has a great contingency of thoughtless people behind the wheel), and voila!  Something around 25-30 cars and semi-trailers made a mess on northbound I-75.

And, of course, the news stations are idiotically bombarding us with anything and everything, supposed and maybe actual information and sensationalistic images.  The same things stated over and over and o-v-e-r and OVER and OVER.

Enough!

[click]

My stereo works just fine.

All's slushy in the kingdom

Seven bells and all is slushy in the kingdom.

I look out the window to find a rather depressing grey pall hanging over the neighborhood.  In the last twenty-four hours temperatures have steadily risen from our frozen tundra state (numbers in the single digits and sub-zero) to balmy-for-January upper-twenties-to-thirty-something.  Yesterday, temps managed to peak in the forties in our state - flirting with the fifty-degree mark - and today...

Well, today we will pass well in to the fifties (with some weather weenies predicting 60-something), but it will be a wet, w-e-t day.

So, our grey misty, foggy day has begun.  I was awake early enough to hear the rains begin, then progress into thundershowers.  There was even a bit of lightening, but none of it was the raucously loud spring or summer brand of thunderstorms.  Nope, just a confused January storm.

There will be flooding issues today to be sure, and most likely LOTS of careless driving issues to boot.  And as soon as the day is over - - POW! - - we will be back in a deep freeze situation, with slushy, half-melted snow and rain mix all over the back roads and sidestreets, and a slick glaze on the expressways making moving around absolutely treacherous.

There will be the short-wearing contingent, thinking that showing some skin during January is a right (or a must) for Michigan natives.  Not in this household, however; I can't even get my two mooyaks to wear short pants during the sweltering days of summer!  Not even just around the house!!

Hopefully, the next storm said to be moving into position will take an odd turn and miss us completely, but I am not counting on it.  Simply saying it would be nice.  [sigh]

I do intend to get Karl outdoors with me to scrape and move the slushy remains of our driveway off to the sidelines, so whatever falls next will be flat and easy enough to walk and drive on.

Ah, Michigan winters.  [blech]

Wheeeeww!!

What an incredibly l-o-n-g weekend.

Lead five sewing classes - each one quite different from the others - and mostly kids to boot!  Little germ factories. Yech!

Hey, you parents who don't take part in your children's grooming habits (and there were three of them in one class load)....EW!  Long, skanky, broken/chipped fingernails, caked with dirt and layered with boogers (and booger 'film' from funny noses), ratted hair and smudges on their faces.  Um....hose 'em down and rinse them off, or don't bring 'em out in public.  Little girls do NOT need to have long nails.  It's not attractive, and if you don't help them with the grooming, then it's just ugly, gross, and unsanitary.

Yeesh!

And specifically to the parent of the child who was quite obviously ill: WHY DID YOU BRING HER OUT OF THE HOUSE TO A ROOMFUL OF PEOPLE?!!?  Seriously!!!!!!  I can feel the bubonic plague welling up inside me as I type.  You didn't need to share that!

[insert annoyed, gutteral noises of disgust and loathing here]

Excuse me while I make myself a glassful of Airborne.  More later - if I'm not on my deathbed.

Odd thought

The month is melting away, but the weather is becoming more frozen in nature.

We knew this arctic blast was on the way, but temps have become more intolerable and unseasonably frigid.  Dangerously so, in fact.  Air temps are in the very low single digits to minus numbers...and that's BEFORE the wind chill can be factored in.

Keep your bits and pieces covered ladies and gents, and do not stay outdoors any longer than need be.

xxxxxwarm
Keep calm and carry on.

Found this

From: Kajil Sharma 
Re: Please respond my letter
Date/Time and so on

Found this in my SPAM box this morning, and my first thoughts were not kind. Sorry, but that's the truth.

"Please respond my letter."

Um.....hmm, let me see.

NO!

And that was the nicest comeback/thought I had.  Really, it was. 

Really.

Of course, when you simply place your cursor over the name in the inbox you can see the ghost pop-up of the email address these spammy emails use.  There's absolutely no need to ever click on any of your SPAM-filtered email to open it "just in case." 

You would have to be an idiot to open ANY email from an address you do not recognize.  DO I need to repeat this?   mmmmm....I feel I do.

You would have to be an idiot to open ANY email from an address you do not recognize. 

But I do admit to enjoying some of the creativity of the names used....I just don't respect any of the scoundrels, nor do I open their tripe.

"Please respond my letter."  At least they used "please."

I said "NO."


English much?

See. I told you my first responses/thoughts weren't nice.  Now, let's see what else I can find.

Today: Part two

So, if you read the entry where I said I am currently a sewing instructor at a local JAF, you will also know that I am not as keen about the whole thing as you would think one would/should be (at the prospect of doing something you like - and have a talent for - all the while, getting paid for it).  Well, allow me to explain....again.

Their policy is to charge a price for the class - usually not a lot to begin with.  The instructor receives 60% of that - but that's if the class is a go....and the students show up.  If a student blows off the class, well, then the instructor receives 1/2 of the 60% they should have made.  JAF keeps the difference - lots of money for them.  JAF also regularly sells their classes at 'half off,' thereby reducing the fee the instructor would make.

Example:
$50 class at half off = $25.
60% of $25 = $15. 
Now, divide that by the number of hours (3, on average) for the class, AND the 1/2 hour extra JAF expects you to be there before the class (and something a little more afterwards, because you can never walk outta there right at the stroke of the end of class because of clean-up, non-compliant/slow working 'students', etc).
$15 / 3 = $5 per hour. 

And since JAF will run a class with one person in it, which generally has happened in my case, that's not a lot of do-re-mi. Most classes are significantly less expensive, so the general take is $4 or less per hour for a class.

$35 at 1/2 off = $17.50. 60% of  $17.50 = $10.50 / 3hr = $3.50 per hour.

Yes, if the numbers of students in a class exceed more than one, the amount earned per hour would go up, but that occurrence is fairly dismal. 

Yesterday I instructed a class with two women, which was supposed to be a class of five!  One person was a no-show, and two others cancelled well in advance "due to the flu," so it was not the moneymaker I was counting on.  Couple that with the fact that I expected to be teaching another class later in the afternoon (planned on because those were the instructions I was given two or more weeks ago), which ended up having been cancelled completely.

Today's class is part two of a skirt class which began last Sunday, for two people.  Yeah, right.

One woman didn't show / didn't call / didn't cancel, and the other showed up 25 minutes late......and NOT PREPARED!  No supplies, no clue. 

So I sat there waiting for the first 50 minutes for people to arrive, then another 1/2 hour while the lone person who finally showed up shopped, had material cut, waited in line to purchase the goods; then we faux-cut her material (because it hadn't been pre-rinsed/-shrunk for cutting). 

Didn't get out of there on time because I felt compelled to impress on her the things she would have learned had everything happened the correct way.  Here's the math:
$55 / half price class sale = $27.50.
60% of $27.50 = $16.50
$16.50 / 5.5hrs (4hr class + extra wasted time before and after scheduled class time) = $3 per hour.

I know, I know...I'm looking the big ol' gift horse in the mouth.  The only bright spot at the moment is that the samples are all made, otherwise I would be out of pocket (WITHOUT reimbursement) to make the items used for display in the store (to advertise the classes and drum up business).

[sigh]
[deep breath]

Forty-six days (give or take a few) until notification is received that PQ1 is in the AQS 2013 'running.'

Mmmm...nom-nom

Good cooking is hard to beat.

Tonight we had ribs, sweet potatoes, green beens, and corn for dinner.

I don't know how, but there is a small amount of sweet potatoes that haven't yet been consumed.  Where's my fork?

Lately

It's been a week since my last post.  Guess I just haven't had much to say of late. 

I mean, there's lots to post about - plenty of things to update or announce - but when I get in here and set my fingers to the keyboard, it all seems so....so-o-o....what?

You know, I think some days it comes down to the fact that I only know a handful of you reading this stuff, and I think to myself: why should I bother?  There are the friends I talk to on a regular (or somewhat regular) basis, and a relative or two who stay in the know (hi, Aunt Deb). I mean, it gets plenty of hits, and daily there are readers, but do you really read?  Or are you searching (googling, b-inging, asking jeeves, however it is you fall in here) for something else, and a word or phrase you used directs you to my blogging 'door'?

You are here, you may read, you may smile, laugh or nod in agreement with some articles, but you never respond.  You visiting strangers, from far flung corners of the globe....say "hello."  Ask a question.  Introduce yourself...but don't stay anonymous.

And for Heaven's sake, if you're here, trying to figure out if it would be possible to leave a spammy-type comment to solicit hits on your own websites, bugger off!  Those sorts of comments will be deleted in the spam folder.

See, lately I've grown very tired of people who take advantage, who aren't thankful, and those who spend their time (and waste mine) lying.

They did it!

The boys muscled the heavy, oak, trestle table out the front door, down the hill around the house, and into the back door of the lower level.  And just like that [finger snap], my sewing area has a fabulous work surface!

I have been sitting in the living room for the past several years, using the table there, and taking up space in the process.

Finally, the urge to make that view disappear became too much for me, and I did something about it.

There's a small percentage of items yet to move before the entire undertaking can be considered complete, but for the most part there is an incredibly vast (and marked) difference upstairs and down!  All for the better, too.

Thank you, my babies, for your wonderful help.

Progress

Have been spending a good deal of time and energy lately (both mental and physical) on rearranging the lower level.  It's been a long project, but is becoming well worth all of the hassle.

The ultimate goal was to free up more space for my sewing area; allowing me a larger table to work on and the floor space to move freely around it all. [squeal of delight]
Although....perhaps the ultimate 'ultimate goal' was just to be able to return ALL the material that had migrated upstairs over the past several years back to the correct storage area, and to eliminate the chaos of it all up here.

Hmmm.

In either case, it's happening! 

Over the weekend Karl and I managed to move the bulky divided storage wall-unit-thingy to it's new location (and a couple of upholstered items around), and then I got to work re-placing the massive stash back in order on the shelves - PLUS the migrated material stuffs - and it's looking promising.  Plans now are to bring the table into the mix some time this week!!  Once that happens, I will be back in business in my sewing nook - something that hasn't happened in over three+ years!!!!

Yes, that last sentence required all of those exclamation points.  This is a 'wahoo' moment, and it's been a LONG time coming - so celebrate with me!

For me, everything else has been on hold as I work my magic on the lower level (except Karl's class and looking for work).  I am eager to begin making changes in other areas of the house, but this has been the most necessary and longest in the works. IT WILL BE A WONDERFUL THING TO HAVE IT ALL FINISHED.

Let me know what you've been up to.

Maria: this means now I feel better about asking you inside my hovel. ;)

OMG, BBC! TY!

How come the United States can't get our stuff together and produce television programming as splendid as the Brits?

OK, yeah, we had Firefly, M*A*S*H, Mary Tyler Moore, Doctor, Doctor, and House. We have Castle, Big Bang Theory and....huh.  Well, you get the idea.  GOOD stuff is few and far between here.

But I need more than two fists full of fingers to tally up the lovely programs offered up from across the pond.

Thank you, BBC!  Downton Abbey, AND the fantastic special regarding Highclere Castle was well worth the wait.

C'mon. MORE snow?

Seriously.

I know we haven't had it as badly as some areas of the country this winter, but....it's been snowing since 9AM!

Stop, now.

In a galaxy - far, far away

A long time ago, I taught quilting at a fabric store (a large, chain store, no longer among the 'living'), and I was pretty good at it....for being a relative newbie myself at the time.

I believe I succeeded because I wasn't afraid to try, to learn, to say I didn't know it all, to practice, to explore.  And also because I could identify so closely with the eager people interested in following suit.  We were a part of the resurgence of quilting in the mid-eighties.

Now, I'm no published guru, no award-winning, well-known, quilting household name.......yet, but I am good at the craft.

I think.

I've been sewing the better portion of my life, mostly clothing, alterations, curtains, etc., until quilting became a member of my family, so I am pretty good at it.

Well, today I opened my 'book' and started a chapter over.  I am teaching sewing at yet another retail chain giant - admittedly not what I would prefer to do, but it is work and I am making a difference in a small way (for some people).  Originally I was told the beginning sewing class would be a multitude of two, but when I arrived to set up, the number had grown to three paid attendees.

Within 10 minutes of my arrival, the class had swelled to four curious sewing-challenged individuals!

We were together for 2.5 solid hours, and I hope they learned something.  At the very least, I hope they found the desire to go on and buy machines and continue on their own sewing sojourns.

After the class I was invited to stick around for the 'open house' at the store to talk with individuals who may want to take classes as well.  You know, foster excitement, chat it up, and answer questions.

It must have worked because the education manager found me toward the end of the open house to say a good number of people signed up for sewing classes, so there would be further work for me (and other instructors) down the road. So wahoo!

On another note: there is only one more sleep 'til season three of "Downton Abbey" (to paraphrase the brilliant Muppets)!!!!!

Nobody call me tomorrow evening after 7PM EST.  There will be no one taking calls around here.  That's when I'll be on another planet - far, far way!

Activities

I spent a portion of the morning (into the early afternoon) working on the lower level.  Cleaning, pitching, moving, cleaning, vacuuming, reconfiguring.  There was a good deal of wondering, wishing, and tweaking going on, too, but none of that needs going in to at present.

I took advantage of Brian's presence to move the bulky/heavy walnut architect's desk.  He and Karl handily separated the two pieces and moved them about until I was satisfied, then set the pieces back together again.  In the heartbeat that followed me saying "thanks, that's great!" they were gone!  Just like real men, they left me on my own to keep working away on the bits and pieces.

To be fair, Bud did have something he was looking forward to doing, and that meant he needed to pack and get ready to walk out the door; but he promised two days ago that he would help out all morning before he had to leave.  I was only helping him stick to his promise.  ;)

There'll be a time in the near future where I will call on them once more to help move the 6'x6' Ikea storage wall, but I'm good for now.  The havoc this morning's maneuvering alone will cause the cats is enough to contend with (for the time being).  The sheer thrill of just getting it accomplished (even in snitches and snatches) is enough for me!

Baby steps.

For now, I'm taking the rest of the day to ready myself 100% for tomorrow's sewing class.  No last minute regrets or panic searches.  Just want to be able to walk out the door content and relaxed.

I'll let you know how it goes!

Appearances

It appears to me that somebody (or several 'somebodys') are taking a trip down Memory Lane lately.  Lots of reading going on in the wayback machine for the ol' blog.

I am noticing quite a few hits happening from the time period where I was enrolled in a production program at Specs.

Well, whoever you are, you may as well know, there has been a good deal of 'house cleaning' from that time period.  That is to say, I have gone through that year's worth of entries and deleted a LOT of those photographs, so if you think something is missing....you're right.  The references to the photos may still be intact within the entry, but the pictures themselves have been removed.

So it appears as though you may be outta luck. [finger snap] Ah, well.

If you are looking for someting specific, send me an email or leave a comment, and I'll get back to you.

Tah for now.

Grey

Or, "gray", if you prefer.

The day began bright but grey.  No hint of blue or atmospheric color values....just clouds to the point of a monochromatic sky. 

Even the curling vapors writhing from neighboring chimneys, into the crisp January air, is grey.  Coupled with the snow blanketing the landscape, houses, and streets, the only punctuation to it all are the trunks and branches of the trees and deciduous bushes.  But it was bright this morning, and so was somewhat cheerful, despite the lack of hue.

As the day grew on it somehow became dreary grey - and 'pleh' - outside.  Thus, the feeling in the house became 'pleh' as well.  The dreariness has drained the exuberance right out of the day, and I feel like I am moving in slow motion.  Go figure.

Feh on the 'pleh'.

The only bright spots are the colors of the quilt in progress and my daydreams.  Perhaps a little music would help.

The cats are all scattered to their napping corners, and Karl is at his PC chatting with friends online, so I guess I will continue sewing.

Oh! I know!  I'll throw another load of wash into the machine and pretend the smell of fresh laundry is wafting in from an open window and laundry hanging on the line!

Well, it's dark again.  Sun's down and the night grows darker and colder.  And before you ask, today was a bit better than yesterday, so no complaints on my end.

I've been in the kitchen for the last hour or so chopping and saute'-ing; rinsing and pre-cooking; washing up dishes and pans and humming along with Christmas music quietly playing in the background.

Yes....I play Christmas music for quite a while past the holiday season, simply because I can't play it much throughout the correct time period as Brian hears more than his fill at work - starting in late October!  So I take pity and wait as long as I can to start my jolly music around the house.  And, I usually wait until he is away from home, too.

Karl doesn't seem to mind, and except for periodic forays out of his room, he rarely hears it anyhow. 

Making a pot of bean soup, with a liberal dose of garlic.  It's based on a recipe I came across online, so I hope it meets with happy faces after all is said and done.  We'll see.

Got a little caught up on the Black Widow today; spending time making more adjustments to the blocks of the Greek border here and there.  So it's coming together slowly but surely.  Also spent a little time re-reading the 'syllabus' for the class I will be teaching this Saturday.

Yes, I have a pseudo-job as a contracted instructor for JAF.  Beginning sewing....with a class of two....who paid half price for their class....and contractors are paid 60% of the fee collected - IF the students show up.  I'll spare you the rest of my disappointment with the way JAF runs this program, as it has to do with instructors having to buy all the supplies OUT OF POCKET for each item demonstrated - with no reimbursement!

Ah, well.  Right? 

This is just me looking that 'gift hourse' right in its mouth!  Right??

I guess I've got to start somewhere if the job market has a decidely unkind view of women my age trying to muscle their way back in after several years of uncommon (and temporary) employment in jobs that aren't quite 'mainstream'.

I have been gathering up items to demonstrate during the class.  JAF's sketchy list of things to talk about and demo for "Sewing 101" leaves a few holes to fill, but I am up to the task!  So let the games begin.  ;)

OK, time to step away from this keyboard and get back to work around here.  Have a nice evening, and stay safe and warm over the next few days - it's getting bitter out there.

Too bad

Sadly, today was not a good day. 

It wasn't horrible, but it wasn't good.  It was a wash.  A waste.  A lost cause.

And what's more - it felt like another Sunday, too.  This would have been the third inside of a week if the days could be arranged (or, re-arranged) in that way.  That's the trouble with holidays, as I see it, they mess up the flow of a perfectly good week!

Yes, I'm serious.

If a holiday falls on Sunday (maybe even on a Saturday), well, then the week is OK...normal.  It stays on track.  But heaven help us if the holiday falls on a weekday and either prematurely ends a week in progress, or breaks up the Monday-through-Friday flow.  Those "long-weekend" holidays are equally as irritating, and just as destructive to the routine of a week, if you ask me.

But I know you won't, so let's simply agree to disagree, shall we?
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
I took advantage of some daylight hours to get a little work done on the Black Widow, and due to circumstances beyond my control I wound up burning a good deal of the day on repairing, recalculating, and re-cutting to come up with something workable for the next time I pick up working on that particular quilt.

It was very disappointing to find the beautiful hand-dyed batik I had planned to use for the center of the backing (surrounded by my usual borders) is chock-a-block full of small - but harmful - holes!  I ended up having to substantially reduce the center medallion square by trimming away all of the unusable portion(s) and adding far more mass to the additional sashing bits all around.  That took some time to be certain everything was 'just so' for the next steps in the construction process.

After which, I labored over the Greek eternity blocks I am constructing freehand.  Mostly just one block....one pain in the asterisk block.  One of the corner blocks which needs to be sized correctly or the turn at the corner could look truly bad.  Hoping the next time I sit down with this project I can get more accomplished, because the hours spent today really didn't yield a whole lot - and it's a little disappointing.

Ah well.  Day is done; gone the sun.  The last of the meager winter daylight fast is evaporating behind the houses across the street, and I should move on to something else - perhaps dinner?

More tomorrow, but until then, welcome to 2013.