Good news/Bad news

[susandennis]

The fabric store up the street is opening again - very restricted hours but they do have a daily hour reserved for high risk individuals. This is the store where I really do not like the staff at all and swear I will never go back - every time I go. I could use some white thread, tho. Amazon's is crap and Wawak, my notions headquarters, doesn't have what I need either "This item is temporarily unavailable due to the manufacturer not currently operating, or is having production capacity issues related to COVID-19. We are working on getting these items back in-stock as quickly as possible."

I might go 'shopping' on Sunday. The non-profit shop that sells all things crafts is having a by appointment fabric sale. I signed up for a slot. I'll find out friday if I got it. It's a back of store, one customer at a time, 30 minute max deal. I'm ok if I get a slot and ok if I don't.

The gym that I hope to join for swimming is also opening [EDIT: they are not opening yet but are only now describing how things will be when they can open which they hope is soon] but even more limited than the fabric shop. A few classes of 5 people or fewer and one on one training sessions only. No pool. But, then, reading further, no High Risk people at all. Oh well.

My old gym, the one I can't get to any more because they closed the bridge, isn't even hinting at an opening time yet.

Yesterday I sat here and crocheted all day. Mostly with nothing on - no TV, no music. Biggie's water fountain and the occasional traffic sound outside. I was trying different things - crochet wise. I think I finally settled on this



I'm thinking squares of at least double that size. Maybe. I tried it with various sizes of crochet hooks and think I like this version the best. Maybe. It did feel luxurious to just do nothing but feel the yarn go through my hands and watch the work emerge with no pressure to do anything else. All day.

I ordered something from England via Etsy at the first of May. It got to Chicago pretty darned quickly. But there it sits. It was set via Royal Mail. I filed a claim with USPS and got a response yesterday that my package was in Chicago and they were really backed up and there was no way they could give me any idea of when the package might get to me. Way to enlighten!! Royal Mail won't declare it lost enough to track for another two weeks. I've given up on seeing this sucker ever.

I routinely order yarn from England from one vendor and it always gets here in 10 days.

My dinner last night turned out to be better than expected but my expectations were very low. It was not good enough to try again. There's some spice or combo of spices they use that is just not to my taste at all. On the upside, two doors down from there location, one of my favorite hamburger places is going in. Every couple of days they post photos of the progress they are making on the place. I was afraid, when they closed all the restaurants, this place would abandon their plans but it sure doesn't look like it now. Yeah!

There's a new renter in the building who's plugged his Tesla into the condo's electrical outlet. We have a very specific rule that says this is not allowed. We are not allowed to install electric outlets in the garage or use the ones there for charging cars. This renter (and maybe the condo owner) are in for some rude news today. A few years ago, we had a couple rent a unit and move in with their three little dogs. We have a two pet limit. They and their owner tried to get an exception and couldn't. They moved out. Condo life.

Today may be another crochet day. I'm reading another good book - at least good so far. But the rule is no listening during the day unless I'm walking - outside or on the treadmill. That rule got me a half mile on the treadmill yesterday so that's better than nothing. Of course, the book plus seeing my boyfriend gets me out the door every morning.

We've had so many sticky days lately. It's so weird. Right now my weather app says it's 93% right now. Ugh. At least it's only in the mid 50s but still. It makes me want to turn on the air conditioner just to dry the place out.

I think I'll take a shower instead.

Comments

[chocolate-frapp.livejournal.com]

I sometimes order tea from England and it never takes that long to get here.

[mairi-dubh.livejournal.com]

Oh, that's so exasperating, isn't it?

Not all that long ago, a book I'd ordered bounced all over the eastern half of the U.S. for nearly two weeks before it sat in a medium-size city less than an hour away from me, and it sat for five days before it moved to the local Post Office.
If I'd arranged for pick-up, I could have driven to that medium-size city and collected it, sooner!

Crochet project is looking wonderful. Hope you'll keep us apprised as it progresses. :^)

[carriea31.livejournal.com]

I don't know much about Tesla cars. If they can't plug in there, are there other parking spaces somewhere else nearby that they can use, or are they just SOL?

It's interesting to read about your state and the things that are just now gradually opening, and are still just not opening, period. Our state has been easing restrictions over the past 3 weeks, and cases are rising by the hundreds every day. They say we are still ok (not great, but ok) as far as hospital capacity, but it seems odd to me the way it is all being handled.

[susandennis]

I have no answers for Tesla. I only know we are not allowed to recharge electric cars here.

[lostincandyrain.livejournal.com]

I ordered a mother's day gift for my mom from England IN APRIL, and it is still nowhere to be seen. The etsy vendor just says "be patient"

It's ridiculous

[hopefulspirit.livejournal.com]

Appointments for the fabric sale is an interesting idea, I wonder how well it will work. I'd love that option for the grocery store.

I like that pattern you came up with! I tend to do pretty basic granny squares or mile-a-minute patterns. I'm boring with my crocheting. lol I haven't done much of it since the holidays.

I can't believe it's taking so long to get your package and they can't even give you an idea when it'll get there. Especially when it's in the US already.

Are the owners of these rentals not clear with their potential tenants beforehand, or do the tenants move in thinking they'll just do what they want? We have one renter in my HOA and she does several things she isn't supposed to. The property management company claims they've notified the owner but nothing changes so we aren't sure if the management company hasn't actually done their job or if the owner hasn't notified the tenant (or if the tenant has been told but does what she wants anyway).

[susandennis]

If I had to bet, I'd bet that the owners haven't read the rules and neither have the renters. Renters are a problem always. We have a very tight cap on how many units can be rented and very tight rules on renting.

If a renter breaks a rule, they and the owner are notified and they are given a specific amount of time to stop or fix. If they don't, the owner gets fined. And the fine gets escalated. Like it starts at $100, say and if not paid and/or problem not solved, $200 is slapped on and then $300, etc. At the point where hiring an attorney makes financial sense a lien is put on the property.

Rules without teeth, in condo land, are useless.

[(Anonymous)]

What's the vendor you use in England, out of curiosity.

[susandennis]

Deramores. They carry Stylecraft yarn - Special DK that I love and they ship fast and are solid to deal with.

[(Anonymous)]

Cool I'll give them a look. Thx:)

[ringsandcoffee.livejournal.com]

My friend works at a USPS processing center in California. She said during shutdown, it's been 10 times busier than during the Christmas season.

Where do you get your audiobooks? I get some from the library but there's usually a long wait for ones I want to be available. Audible is too pricey. I wish iTunes or someone would let me rent instead of buy. Once I read it, I really don't need a hard drive full of books.

[susandennis]

Library and audible but I'm about done with Audible. Their app for android sucks donkeys. FYI You can get library access to Brooklyn, NY library for 50 a year - their inventory of audiobooks is substantial.

[ringsandcoffee.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the recommendation.

I got my mom a 3 month Audible subscription, which I'm pretty sure she didn't use. It was enough effort for me to figure out how to get her signed up. I think she could only listen on her phone, so that was another factor against. She can manage her iPad, but next to nothing besides calls on her iPhone.

[msconduct.livejournal.com]

I've been having stuff shipped to NZ for twenty-five years, and the only parcel that's ever gone astray disappeared during lockdown. The UK vendor posted two to me the same day and one arrived without a problem. Maybe it will arrive in a few months:). We had the same problem too as you're having now with local parcels when we shifted from Level 4 to Level 3 and people were allowed to start buying things online again. Things that normally took a day were taking a week. It's still slower than it should be even though we're now back to normal life.

[msconduct.livejournal.com]

My UK parcel has now arrived! Delivery took three months. So there's hope for yours yet!

[coercedbynutmeg.livejournal.com]

That USPS processing center in Chicago was the bane of my existence in Bahrain. Once I sent something to my sister in Kansas, and it got to Chicago, where they abruptly sent it back to Bahrain(!), and they sent it *back* to Chicago, and she finally got it 3 weeks later. Another time I ordered a book from Amazon, and that stupid USPS processing center delivered it to a Pacific-deployed aircraft carrier, then it went to Manila, then Japan, then *finally* got delivered to me about a month behind schedule. No idea how it got from Japan to Bahrain but it did not go through Chicago again.

[alice-mccoy.livejournal.com]

Hi I use Deramores they took over 2 weeks to deliver to me in the UK. Lovely wool though the "Isle of Skye" mix.

[zoefruitcake.livejournal.com]

My local quilting shop is opening up with hour long slots but they can only be booked by phone, which for someone who hates the phone as much as I do is a no-no :0(