1. I got the new camera I’d been saving up for. I’m now the owner of a Canon Powershot G9. I’ve gone out and done some test shots to get used to it, but since my computer is in the shop right now, I can’t post ’em yet. Joel’s computer doesn’t recognize my camera, and I certainly can’t post them from work. Anyway, I’m firmly pleased with it, and hope to have a good handle on its particular quirks and peculiarities by the time we go down to Ouachita, so I can maybe out-do my shots from last year. Very photogenic countryside in the Arkansas Ozarks.
2. I’m very excited about our upcoming Ouachita trip. Like last year, Joel will be racing in the singlespeed class at the Ouachita Challenge and I will be riding around the countryside at my own leisure, taking pictures of whatever strikes my fancy. I hope the weather is as nice as it was last year, for both riding and camping purposes.
3. Not a lot happening around here. The weather is steadily sucking less, though it rained like all hell this past weekend, scuppering a local mountain bike race and killing my will to go to the St. Patrick’s Day parade. Normally, one of the local bike-shop owners takes out a permit for a group of cyclists to ride in the parade in costumes on decorated bikes, but this year he was out of town, so I wasn’t going to be participating anyhow. The weather on Monday was decidedly sodden, so I mostly stayed home and did more spring-cleaning/laundry/organizing. Joel and I went out and ran a few errands together since Monday is one of his normal days off anyway.
4. I’ve identified a bunch of clothes slated for remodeling. Stuff that has never quite fit right, or could use just a little sprucing up. I’m always glad for the change of seasons because by this time of the year, I’m sick to death of sweaters and heavy tweed suits. By the end of September, however, I just can’t face another stinkin’ tee-shirt or lightweight skirt, and can’t wait to resume the dignity of my cold-weather wardrobe. I’m ready for my much-pocketed knickers and cropped jackets now, thanks. I might even finish that mint-green suit with the floral ribbon trim this year. I’ve only been working on it for about 3 years now! All it needs is a lining and the buttons. Yes, I am THAT slack. Also, yes, my dummy is all cockeyed and leaning to the left. It’s kind of broken, which is why I have posted so few pictures of sewing projects in the past year or so. It’s now stuck at about 4′ tall and so anything knee-length or longer drags on the floor. I think I can re-rig it up to work with a new, longer dowel to replace its old metal post. One of the clamps inside of the dummy broke, so once I get its height set on a new post, I’ll just zip-tie the heck out of it, and it will be set at 5’5″ permanently. Since it is used principally for my own sewing work (I don’t do commission anymore) it makes sense to just set it at my own size and leave it there.
5. If I were willing to do one of those 100 Things About Me That Nobody Sane Will Read, I’d include the factoid that I hate making linings, but I equally hate wearing most unlined garments, especially skirts. This is because I wear tights and it’s completely detestable when my skirt clings to my tights and rides up. Pantyhose are not as bad as tights for the cling factor, but I hate pantyhose like the devil because they make my feet feel clammy and also seem pointless. Why wear something to make one’s legs look bare? That is foolish.
6. I am unnecessarily opinionated about legwear.
7. Another cat-bath is in the cards, this time for both felines. Shedding season is fast upon us, and that amps up the dander, as well as the drifting fuzz-piles around the house. I have some “conditioning shampoo” that I hope will help make Griswald easier to groom. His undercoat is long, wispy, and cottony, and doesn’t shed out cleanly but spins itself into little, yarny cat-dreds, especially in his armpits (I guess you call the crook between a cat’s leg and his body an armpit). Griz doesn’t appreciate being groomed under the best of circumstances, and working lengthy knots of shed-out fur from his kitty-pits is probably the worst of circumstances. Smallcat is due a bath, also because she is extremely lazy about bathing herself and her fur gets all greasy and grey. Right now she also has a nasty butt-problem I am not going to detail, but suffice it to say that I will NOT let the cat sit on my lap until after I can immerse her in pet-shampoo and water. Cats are supposed to be all self-cleaning and all, but Smallcat is defective in many ways; this is just one among many of her quirks. My mom suggests that maybe Smallcat thinks her own fur tastes bad, which is fair enough I guess.
Both cats still smell kind of weird from a flea treatment I gave them shortly after Smallcat’s bath back in January. It was Frontline instead of Advantage (which is whay I’ve traditionally used) and it had this HORRIBLE stench of artificial watermelon flavor. It was like my cats were made of “watermelon” Bubblicious. It is disgusting. The stink has faded considerably, but it is still there, especially on long-haired Griswald. Next time I get flea-treatment from the vet, I am going to specify Advantage. I like for my cats not to reek of artificial flavorings.
8. My bank-card got fouled up – apparently the database my grocery chain uses got hacked and every transaction run on a particular date ran the risk of being compromised, so they canceled everybody’s bank card who used it in that system. It was done very suddenly, and on a Friday, so I didn’t get any correspondence regarding this, so when I went to run errands on Saturday and tried to pay with my bank card – bzzzzt – it didn’t work. I thought it might be the clerk at the store I was at because she and one of her co-workers were horsing around, talking-smack, smacking bubblegum, and acting like complete dingbats. I had the clerk stow my purchases for a moment while I went to an ATM around the corner. I tried my card in the ATM, and the darn thing sucked my card in, gave an error message, and freaked me the hell out. I thought for sure someone HAD actually gotten into my account and drained it. I rushed home in a damn panic, called my bank and logged into my online banking account simultaneously, only to discover that my account was NOT compromised, and that everything was as it should be, aside from the functionality of my card. I went in to the bank on Monday (since I had Monday off anyhow) and got out cash for my grocery and assorted purposes, and can patiently await the arrival of my new card sometime within the next week-and-a-half or so.