Huddled

as I am, in my bed wrapped in comforters, I am really regretting not having knit any handwarmers. I just can’t manage to type wearing mittens.

Heat? What heat? What plumber? Modern Housing Solutions has so pleasantly lied to me each and every time that I have spoken with them today.

0800 – given job number, told that someone should be there with 3-4 hours. The key word is should.

1250 – call back. Oh, they are working their way down the emergencies. Shouldn’t take more than three more hours.

1700 – they should be right there. But after waiting around all day – I can’t be there for the next two hours. I have to take my son to the airport. Well – you could reschedule for another day.
What! I already lost today from work. Can’t they just come, I don’t care if I am not there.

But they do, they may be bonded but apparently they are not trusted to be in the house alone.

It is the usual insane Friday traffic on the M25 with Staus up to 7 miles. Of course, we are going to have to drive through the worst of it. As we are merging in the clockwise direction, the traffic report notes that there are flight delays and numerous cancellations from Heathrow’s Terminal 5. The brand new terminal apparently is having some teething problems. The preprinted boarding card does not have an information phone number. Ok, we take the chance and it turns out that his flight is fine.

70 minutes to get there, 25 to get home (hint – I avoided the motorway completely).

1910 – Where are they? Can they still come? I am really cold.
Will send them over.

2210….still waiting.

My toes are warm, my nose is not. Wool socks are really great; my turtleneck falls down from over the lower half of my face. . My hands are aching and we are all sick of listening to me whine.

Do I call again in the morning and lose the whole day waiting? Or do I just bag it till Monday and do another day of telecommuting?

Knitting

The guy has knit about 4″ done on his scarf. It is mostly stockinette except for when he wasn’t paying attention. We decided that the random purl rows here and there are a design element. He took it with him in his backpack; I swapped out my good enameled Inoxs for Denise Needles just in case airport security decides to be dumb. No room in his suitcase (shoes in size huge take up a lot of space) but doubt he will knit on the plane. After all, he is 17.

This makes up for the fact that the ribbing was done and two pattern repeats of the English Slipover. We both looked at it.

It now looks like this.

He really wants ordinary, guy gray. Nothing fancy, nothing confusing, nothing with stripes or splotches. Just a simple vest he can wear for somewhat dressed up. Since I don’t have anything at all that meets his requirements, a trip to a yarn store is in order (see comment above about not wanting to hang out all day for the little man who is not coming).

The March Sweater Madness Group has UFOs for April. I have this sweater started.

It has several issues: it is too big, I am out of white, I don’t like the way it looks and the sleeves have a long way to go. OTOH it is going to be a pain to frog because of all the short lengths of handspun.

If I take it down by a good 8″, I should at least have enough for a decent vest. Or probably a sweater if I do more handspun and less white.

Or I could give it away to an unsuspecting stranger!

Computers

For those of you using WordPress, 2.5 should be out soon. I am using what is likely the last major beta build. Upgrade as soon as you can. There are improvements galore including a re-do of the interface, better media handling and a built in gallery maker. Not all the old plug-ins work and you will need widgets. I already have found a couple that are critical to my sanity.

Arches

-Holly