So, I was to have another one-student class tonight (I really dislike those classes with one student - especially when they've paid half price), but I've just had a phone call from the woman setting up the classes and she tells me the customer enrolled in the skirt class decided to cancel.
NOT due to the impending weather, but because in looking over the other courses she had enrolled herself in, she realized she was nowhere near ready to tackle a skirt with a zipper, let alone use a sewing machine!
Good call, woman, whoever you are. [patting her back and flashing the 'thumb's up']
Really, people. If you want to take a class - in whatever strikes your fancy - have the common sense to admit to YOURSELF that you must begin closer to the beginning if you have absolutely no skills in [whatever].
In this case, whether it's clothing or quilts or pillows or ottomans, thinking you can simply dive in anywhere and make a dress or skirt or whatever....think again! You must know the basics and understand the 'whys' before you can proceed with the 'hows'!
If:
you've never learned to read (or SELECT) a pattern;
you haven't the slightest idea in how to pin and/or cut a pattern;
you can't thread your own machine (or wind a bobbin);
you have no idea what is meant by a 5/8" seam allowance (and couldn't locate that demarcation on your machine deck), etc., etc.;
-- do everyone (including yourself) a HUGE favor and begin at the beginning!
However, thank you for calling ahead to cancel tonight's session before I had arrived at the store! Sincerely....I mean it.
I was having visions of tonight, thinking you would call in to say you weren't coming after I had already arrived and prepped the room and myself for the evening, with the feeble excuse that the weather was the culprit. Whew! What a load off.
:)
2.05.2013
2.02.2013
Uh-huh, that's right
Yes, I expounded on how I like my hot dogs prepared - what did you want me to write about?
Oh! What did you want me to write about? You know who you are. [squinty eyes in your direction]
OK, here you go.
Cleo was due for a hard day in the evacuating department. That is to say, her ears were exceptionally hot, she was making frequent trips to the box - and straining - but yielding nothing beyond urine. Yup, she was going to have one of 'those' days.
As much a hassle as it is for me when she is blocked, for her, it is tiring and excruciating and horrendous....and about 600 additional shitastic-ly colorful descriptives which would all mean rotten and uncomfortable.
I was settling in and mentally preparing for the familiar long poo day when mom called.
While I was on the phone with mom, Karl came to the staircase to announce that he had wanted to go to the bathroom but that Cleo had 'used' the bathroom first - and had left a dash-and-a-dot and a puddle on the bathmat!
Yea!
For those of you thinking "ew," this is a crisis averted. Be happy for 'the pup.' Her ears are cool and she is relaxed and chatty, so sincere prayers are answered.
Thank you, Lord.
Oh! What did you want me to write about? You know who you are. [squinty eyes in your direction]
OK, here you go.
Cleo was due for a hard day in the evacuating department. That is to say, her ears were exceptionally hot, she was making frequent trips to the box - and straining - but yielding nothing beyond urine. Yup, she was going to have one of 'those' days.
As much a hassle as it is for me when she is blocked, for her, it is tiring and excruciating and horrendous....and about 600 additional shitastic-ly colorful descriptives which would all mean rotten and uncomfortable.
I was settling in and mentally preparing for the familiar long poo day when mom called.
While I was on the phone with mom, Karl came to the staircase to announce that he had wanted to go to the bathroom but that Cleo had 'used' the bathroom first - and had left a dash-and-a-dot and a puddle on the bathmat!
Yea!
For those of you thinking "ew," this is a crisis averted. Be happy for 'the pup.' Her ears are cool and she is relaxed and chatty, so sincere prayers are answered.
Thank you, Lord.
2.01.2013
Hot dogs! Get yer hot dogs!
I like my 'dogs' bathed in onion, with a commanding (but not overwhelming) smear of mustard, and then topped with a hint of ketchup (like thin piping on a cake). Maybe a few more onions sprinkled liberally over the top.
Occasionally I will partake of a chili dog with the works (provided 'the works' do not include relish - I don't relish relish).
Add a heaping pile of chips (or french fries) and some excellent coleslaw and baby....I am one happy puppy! Of course, if one is in a hot dog mood, and there are no chips or fries to be had, a decent tater tot or helping of homemade hashbrowns will suffice.
Satisfaction and culinary delights.
[burp]
Occasionally I will partake of a chili dog with the works (provided 'the works' do not include relish - I don't relish relish).
Add a heaping pile of chips (or french fries) and some excellent coleslaw and baby....I am one happy puppy! Of course, if one is in a hot dog mood, and there are no chips or fries to be had, a decent tater tot or helping of homemade hashbrowns will suffice.
Satisfaction and culinary delights.
[burp]
Sold a book
Must get it on it's way.
- - - - - - *
How come that "I Dream of Jeanie" arms-crossed-head-boinking-thing never works for me? Now, I'm gonna have to actually go outdoors and drive somewhere to mail this sucker!
- - - - - - *
How come that "I Dream of Jeanie" arms-crossed-head-boinking-thing never works for me? Now, I'm gonna have to actually go outdoors and drive somewhere to mail this sucker!
1.31.2013
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.
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.
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.
1.29.2013
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]
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]
1.28.2013
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.
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.
1.22.2013
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
Keepcalm and carry on.
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
1.21.2013
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.
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.
1.20.2013
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.'
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.'
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