Wondering

I just saw on Twitter, in photo and words, that my gym and the apartments above it has been evacuated. All manner of people out on the street and sidewalk with firetrucks. I left there more than an hour ago. But, how would that play out if I were in the pool swimming? Would I be out on the street dripping wet? Hmmmmm

Also this morning, when I drove into the parking garage there was a pile of glass pieces. Clearly someone's car window was shattered. By the time I was done, the glass had been cleaned up. That gym just gets dicier and dicier. The recent Yelp reviews are all about how filthy it is and mismanaged.

But, while I'm swimming, I don't care. I do hope it does not burn down.

My cat is not trained. She does what she wants when she wants. Any attempts to encourage her otherwise result in her speed dialing PETA. With one exception. I have a blue spray bottle full of water that I keep near my TV chair. All I have to do is pick it up and she stops whatever it is she's doing and runs into the other room. It's hilarious. If she's in another room and can't see me, I just squeeze the trigger. She hears the spray and sprints off to somewhere else. That blue spray bottle is a miracle worker.

About a decade ago, I created the pattern for the teddy bears I knit. The pattern starts with the legs, knits up the body, then the head. The arms and ears are added on at the end. Just a couple of weeks ago, I found a new pattern that was also knit in one piece but starting at the and knitting down to the feet. I wasn't crazy about the bear this second pattern produced but I did like some of the technique better than mine. So yesterday I tried my hand at making my bear from the head down and changing the face a little. It involved a lot of ripping out but I think I'm getting there. Interesting to have to think about a pattern I've knit hundreds and hundreds of times.

Today I want to finish that bear up and maybe do some sewing and I need to make a new batch of breakfast biscuits. My new chiming clock comes today. And no baseball. Monday...

My tweets

• Sun, 14:25: I'm trying new way for an old pattern. Ripping out on circulars is always a problem. So I ran a… https://t.co/7B3QCNW5oH
• Sun, 16:04: The outside of this house seems to wink at cute but the… https://t.co/CDJf4FbwNZ https://t.co/9Mnp9GFZbm
• Sun, 16:30: Good thing that string cause I did have to rip... @ The Florentine https://t.co/GItvUJkhTV
• Sun, 21:29: My condo has rules against stringing lights up that you can see from the street. So I wind my… https://t.co/lnn1CHO0Ex
• Mon, 06:45: They have been gone when I go westbound a little before 5 am. And... it is SO wonderful to have all the lights work… https://t.co/LPjImXCRSA
• Mon, 07:55: My latest TV screen saver.... Snow falling @ The Florentine https://t.co/swvkQgZ198
• Mon, 09:03: Cheesy egg muffins orrr eggy cheese muffins @ The Florentine https://t.co/cgFJs9EI33

Continued

When I think of that Charlotte condo, I really, honestly only thing happy, fulfilled, adventurous, fun thoughts. A lot of really fun happened when I lived there. I had good friends and I really learned how to be contentedly alone.

My parents lived about 2 hours away and Charlotte was their closest 'big city'. My Mom would come into town about once a month for one reason or another but I rarely saw her. She'd be there during the day while I was at work and scurry home to get back before dark.

But, she had a key to my condo and would routinely stop there first to pee or use the phone or just to get organized before she did her 'big city' errands. I loved catalogs (analog internet) and she got bunches. So often I'd come home to work and find a stack of new ones by the front door. Or I'd open up the fridge and the cheese would have a big bite taken out of it or the leftover chicken leg would have one bite taken out it. She always left little 'thanks for letting me use your house' clues.

One day, I got home and there was a stack of catalogs and, on top, was a small can of 3-in-1 Oil. As usual, no note or message of any kind. So I figured that she'd come across something in my house that squeaked and needed oil. I can take a hint.

So I opened and closed every single door, every single drawer, I checked and rechecked. I could not find a squeak anywhere. After a couple of day so just driving myself nuts, I called.

Me: What the hell is squeaking??? Tell me so I can oil it?
Mom: What are you talking about?
Me: The oil, you left me oil so I figured something needed it.
Mom: oh, no. I just had a spare can and thought maybe you might need it one day.

Good old Mom.

The first Christmas after my divorce, I decided to try a new tradition. I got the fuck out of dodge. I went to Arizona to visit my BFF from college, Heather. We had a great time. This is me, Heather's dog, and Heather.



The day after Christmas, about 3 days before my return home trip, my 2-doors down neighbor called me. Turns out they had had a big freeze and the pipes had frozen and some had burst. The neighbors had gotten together to hire a plumber to fix. Would I join? Absolutely and thanks for letting me know. Two days later she called again. "Are you sitting down". Oh fuck. Yep, when the plumbers finished for the day, they left a spark that started a fire. Mainly in the unit next to mine but mine was full of smoke and soot. Merry Christmas!

When I got home truly the place smelled like burnt popcorn. And everything was black. Not burnt, fortunately, but a layer of soot lay over everything - even the empty hangers in the closet and all the stuff in drawers. Geesh. The insurance company quickly sent over cleaners who did the whole house top to bottom. And that ended the burnt popcorn smell.

I cannot remember why but something in the process disabled my washer/dryer so for a month, I had to send over every bit of laundry out to be cleaned. Fine by me. I put it in a bag and it came back all sweet smelling and perfectly folded or on hangers. That was NOT a bad deal at all. My mother thought it was hysterical that I even sent my panty hose out to be cleaned. Well, I sure as hell wasn't going to wash anything while someone was paying for it to be done by someone else!

I do remember that on my birthday, that March, it was all put right back to new - just like before I left for Arizona. No harm, no foul.

To Be Continued

Chick delight

My brother has been talking about getting chickens for a while. He and his wife even went to Chicken Academy one day last year to learn all about having chickens. This morning, he wrote in his journal about maybe getting chickens. By lunchtime he had 3. And by mid-afternoon, I had a CHICK CAM!!!

This delights me no end. I can't stop watching them. I was in another tab just now and couldn't hear them so I flipped over to see that they were asleep in the most adorable little chick pile.

The chiming clock isn't a thriller. It's not loud enough. Until I swapped out the battery it was chiming randomly. It's supposed to chime on the quarter hour and then chime the actual time at the top of the hour. I think now it's skipping some chimes or the chicks are too loud for it. I'm going to give it until tomorrow but I think it's headed back to Amazon. Poop.

The fire alarm went off about 90 minutes ago. I happened to be downstairs checking the mail. I scampered into the elevator fast before they turned it off and made it back up here. I heard fire engines. Finally just now I went down again and the firefighters were still here milling about with clipboards but I was able to get down and back up again. Turns out the contractor working on a unit at the end of this hall, broke a pipe and water rushed into the unit below and the one below it. Ugh. It's new people who haven't moved in yet. What a mess. So glad it's not me.

This is Upside Down Creature. No way to tell if she's standing on her feet or her hands.