One down, one to go

The ping of metal tent rails as they drop onto the asphalt is all I'm hearing this morning as they tear down the music festival set up. When I left for the pool about 7:40, there were already about 30 people in line for the U2 concert that is scheduled for 6:30. When I came back, 2 hours later, the line had more than doubled. It is almost drippy, cloudy and cool. Not a particularly great day for standing outside on concrete all day. But, whatever. I am not a concert goer so I don't get it. Plus, I'm surprised they don't have tickets for specific seats. Why stand in line at all?

I read one review of the music festival in a publication I would expect to be a harsh critic and it was pretty much a good review. I wonder if it will be back next year?

Today is laundry - one load in the dryer now and the other load in the dryer. Baseball - game starts in 10 minutes. We have, so far been unable to beat Toronto who sucks worse than we do. I'm not sure of the game plan but it seems we're trying for most suckage. And winning!! I'm also going to finish the shirt I started yesterday. And probably print out and tape together a couple more patterns.

My swim this morning was different and great. I had the entire soundtrack from Jesus Christ Superstar loaded up and I cranked up the volume so I could hear it plainly over the splashes. Turns out that music has great swim rhythms. I did swim about 5 minutes longer than usual but way harder. I hit my fitness goal for the day before 10 am. I'm cool with that. It usually takes me until about 6 pm.

My brother's back to work on the chicken coop (https://video.nest.com/live/back) so I guess I'd better get to work, too!

My tweets

• Sat, 15:09: Watching my brother build a house for his chickens in his Georgetown, TX backyard. 🐔🐔🐔 @ The… https://t.co/Nod4iSeB3C
• Sun, 10:36: Pressing interruptus @ The Florentine https://t.co/CPRQfXt1be

Continued

My new office was in White Plains, NY. Right downtown which was interesting. The Charlotte plant was out of walking distance (well, as the joke goes, depending on how much time you had) of any other place. And here, I had Alexander's department store next door plus all manner of other places to spend time and money.

My new manager told me that within the year we would be moving to new offices in Stamford, CT. Norwalk - next town over - seemed like a good enough place to live and, as it happened, the guy I was dating lived in Norwalk. I found a really cute little apartment. It was a condo this guy owned and rented out. It was oddly shaped which was part of the appeal and had a fireplace and a garage. It was a 3rd floor walk up which today seems impossible but at the time was a no brainer.

Norwalk was a fun place to live. My friend, Tim, who worked with me in Charlotte, was in Danbury, CT now and the drive up there was really lovely. There was a crazy grocery store - still there - called Stew Leonards - still there. And a store of whackiness - Mr. Amazing's - now gone. And Friendly's and diners. I loved the diners. All of them.

Every spare minute was spent exploring places. That first fall, the guy I was dating put together a fabulous road trip from Norwalk to Montreal, CA at the height of the leaf turning. It was just amazing and wonderful.

And it was a beautiful place in the snow.

I drove everywhere, to work in White Plains and then Stamford and all over and don't remember bad traffic. There must have been and it's odd that I can't even remember it. I did take the train into New York City. Not often but sometimes. It was just a vibrant place to live.

Somehow - way way way pre internet - I heard that Conair had invented these new hot hair rollers and they sounded amazing. I wanted them and none of the stores knew what I was talking about. Conair headquarters was in Samford - I passed it every day - so I called them. It was late in the afternoon and the receptionist had left for the day and some random dude answered the phone. I told him what I wanted and he was surprised and intrigued that I just called out of the blue. He worked in kitchen stuff but had a buddy who worked in personal care so he told me he'd go find his friend and call me back with info.

Even as I type this, I cannot believe that 1. I even thought of calling and 2. I got this great dude so very serendipitously. He did not call me back but his friend, did. They were not on the market yet but he had some samples they had used for testing. Did I want a tester? He'd leave it at the front desk for me, if I did. I picked them up the next day and there was a nice note telling me to enjoy the curlers and tell my friends when they hit the market in a couple of months.

Yep, it was a fun place to live. But, even as much fun as all that was, the actual job was even more funner.

To Be Continued

So delighted

I finished off that shirt from yesterday and I am beyond happy with it. It looks really nice and feels amazing. I was afraid of the bamboo knit. I was afraid of how it would feel on my skin and how it would breathe. No fear necessary. It's going to be fine even in heat. I was shooting for a casual shirt and ended up with a fancy!

I love the pattern. Watch for it next fall when I add the long sleeves in and make it out of fleece!

This collar is my favorite part. I love how it sits on my shoulders. I'm not ever sure I'm going to flip it around like it's supposed to go in the next versions. I might even make a peter pan version and round out those points. I am delighted with this pattern. I made zero size adjustments and it fits me exactly like I want a shirt like this to fit.





Now I am anxious to start one of the other patterns from this place. I think I'm going with the straight, plain t-shirt one to test fit, especially shoulder fit. The only fabric I have on hand is good stuff. So I think tomorrow, I'm going to go find some elcheapo that I can use for a test shirt.

The Mariners lost again today - we should get a freakin' thank you note from the Blue Jays. I'll bet this was their best weekend this season. Today's loss was a walk off home run in the bottom of the 9th. AKA a jagged cut.

Time for CBS Sunday morning.