We got back to work Wednesday after the great snowstorm. A skeleton of the loyal came in, the usual suspects failed to show. We closed up at 5 prompt on both Wednesday and Thursday and we got paid for the full day. Those who didn't show lost vacation or floating holiday time or pay. Dumb. By Friday, there was absolutely no reason why anyone shouldn't have been at work. And not very fair to the rest of us who did come in and handle the whole horrid pile. But that's about what I expect from a significant cross section of my co-workers - slackness.
Today the sun was out and the temperature close to balmy - a lot of melting, but the entryway is far from clear and I suspect it may take through Monday to clear it up. I picked up my new glasses, went to Whole Foods and Trader Joe's and also got a new filter for the humidifier and some goodies at Tuesday Morning - including some rain boots - because I don't think the snow and ice are over and I discovered that none of my shoes were really great for coping with soggy snow.
Read "Citadel" by Ringo; "Intrigue" by Mercedes Lackey; "Finders Keepers" by Craig Childs and an utterly forgettable continuation of the Pern series by the son of the original writer - who, sad to say, does not have enough of his mother's skills. By the end of the book, I had no clear image of any of the protagonists, no desire to read an more about them and no real idea what had happened other than a lot of action and running around. Off to the library for a refill tomorrow.
Charlie drank some meltwater in the parking lot and sicked up - have to keep a firmer grip on him - even if he's just had a quart, any standing water interests him - silly beast.
Saturday, January 15, 2011
Sunday, January 09, 2011
Impending snow?
The weather people are going bonkers, but no snow in sight yet. On call this weekend and hence have not done much - other than mislay a piece of jewelry that is quite dear to me. And tear the house apart trying to find it. Unsuccessfully.
Ms. Packrat has been very tired this weekend, possibly as a result of being on call and constantly having one ear cocked for the phone.
Books for the weekend "The Room and the Chair" by Lorraine Adams. Odd, vague, meandering. Not a great read. "Body Work" by Sara Paretsky, good thriller. Have a nice stack of fresh reads, most light, for the week ahead. 10 books read by the 9th. Could I possibly go 365 for the year? Actually, I read two utterly frivolous and forgettable bits of fluff Saturday morning, but I really can't bring myself to count total fluff. A good mystery - yes, but chickfic? Nope.
Find of the week - a thick tome on sharepoint at the library from 2005 but 50 cents instead of $49.99 The basics of handling data can't have changed that much.
Ms. Packrat has been very tired this weekend, possibly as a result of being on call and constantly having one ear cocked for the phone.
Books for the weekend "The Room and the Chair" by Lorraine Adams. Odd, vague, meandering. Not a great read. "Body Work" by Sara Paretsky, good thriller. Have a nice stack of fresh reads, most light, for the week ahead. 10 books read by the 9th. Could I possibly go 365 for the year? Actually, I read two utterly frivolous and forgettable bits of fluff Saturday morning, but I really can't bring myself to count total fluff. A good mystery - yes, but chickfic? Nope.
Find of the week - a thick tome on sharepoint at the library from 2005 but 50 cents instead of $49.99 The basics of handling data can't have changed that much.
Friday, January 07, 2011
Latest books; knitting progress
Finished "All Clear" by Connie Willis and "If I Loved You, I Would Tell You This" by Robin Black. That's 8 for the YTD.
Finished and Kitchenered Xmas sock for MPU, working on hat for PPU, need to start hat and mittens for nephew.
Have a lace edging for a bride's hankie to finish, finish a scarf for Mark, a market bag for a friend's MPU, the edging on my Aestlight, the beginnings of a Citron. So 7 UFOs and one pending project. Oh and I have some pretty alpaca to make a burgundy scarf for moi to match new leather gloves.
Speaking of Kitchenering, there's a blogger called TechKnitter who is a total GENIUS. Her Kitchenering with knitting needle instead of sewing needle is nothing short of brilliant.
On call this week, looking forward to the weekend being mostly spent at home and hopefully productive - err, well, if you can call getting rid of things "productive" ...
Finished and Kitchenered Xmas sock for MPU, working on hat for PPU, need to start hat and mittens for nephew.
Have a lace edging for a bride's hankie to finish, finish a scarf for Mark, a market bag for a friend's MPU, the edging on my Aestlight, the beginnings of a Citron. So 7 UFOs and one pending project. Oh and I have some pretty alpaca to make a burgundy scarf for moi to match new leather gloves.
Speaking of Kitchenering, there's a blogger called TechKnitter who is a total GENIUS. Her Kitchenering with knitting needle instead of sewing needle is nothing short of brilliant.
On call this week, looking forward to the weekend being mostly spent at home and hopefully productive - err, well, if you can call getting rid of things "productive" ...
Thursday, January 06, 2011
2010 kind of vanished...
And here we are in 2011. A new decade.
Ms. Packratty is still at the same employer, but there have been many changes, almost all for the better, including the departure of her manager for a non-managerial job. Ms. Packratty is always distressed when another woman makes a total hash of it, and severely disappointed when a woman behaves worse than men. And that is all she has to say. Suffice to say that her desire to come to work has returned to a great degree.
Charlie is well and happy and somewhat calmer and this is approximately the 5th anniversary of when I went to Alabama and got him from the foster home for Louisiana Westie Rescue. Yes, it's odd, but Charlie was rescued in TN and the closest formal rescue was Louisiana and the lady in AL was the closest person to pick up Charlie and the little girl Westie with whom he was found. Not a day passes that Ms. Packratty is not thankful for Charlie.
The latter part of 2010 brought back a return of Ms. Packratty's knitting mojo and she has completed quite a few UFOs and started a couple of small amusing projects, while staying focused on finishing things before casting on new stuff. However, there always needs to be a relatively mindless project for work. Useful to prevent foaming insanity during printer and scanner installs.
Much progress has been made toward the elimination of debt and savings - although it may be the end of this year before all but the house is discharged. Still, even with making extra payments on things and savings, Ms. Packratty often finds a bit of money remaining at the end of the month. This was facilitated greatly by a bright young AC repairman who discovered that the reason the AC was not cooling was because some aged fire dampers in the ductwork had snapped shut from old age and metal fatigue and were preventing any real airflow between the cooler and the vents. Although the summer was nastily hot, the portable wheel around ac upstairs was not pressed into regular service and the upstairs remained tolerable most of the time.
And on a final note - Ms. Packratty discovered a wonderful product and a lovely service during 2010. The product is Firefly vodka's Sweet Tea vodka made in SC and the service is organic vegetable and fruit delivery from Nature's Garden Delivered which is a special benison during the 4 long months when the Peachtree Road Farmer's market is closed. Ms. Packratty is also enamored of Malabrigo's Chunky and Rasta yarns, but yarn pashes don't count.
She does have three friends who are suffering from long term unemployment and asks any readers to think good thoughts in their direction. For some reason she is quite sure that 2011 will be a better year and hope this is true, especially for these friends.
2011 Reading to Date:
"The World Made by Hand" and "The Witch of Hebron" by James Kunstler.
"The Garden Angel" and "Secret Keepers" by Mindy Friddle.
"The Sound of A Wild Snail Eating" by Elizabeth Tova Bailey.
"Provence A-Z" by Peter Mayle.
In progress "All Clear" by Connie Willis.
I am only counting new reading, no rereads and no books on tape count.
bout to start "All Clear" by Connie Willis.
Ms. Packratty is still at the same employer, but there have been many changes, almost all for the better, including the departure of her manager for a non-managerial job. Ms. Packratty is always distressed when another woman makes a total hash of it, and severely disappointed when a woman behaves worse than men. And that is all she has to say. Suffice to say that her desire to come to work has returned to a great degree.
Charlie is well and happy and somewhat calmer and this is approximately the 5th anniversary of when I went to Alabama and got him from the foster home for Louisiana Westie Rescue. Yes, it's odd, but Charlie was rescued in TN and the closest formal rescue was Louisiana and the lady in AL was the closest person to pick up Charlie and the little girl Westie with whom he was found. Not a day passes that Ms. Packratty is not thankful for Charlie.
The latter part of 2010 brought back a return of Ms. Packratty's knitting mojo and she has completed quite a few UFOs and started a couple of small amusing projects, while staying focused on finishing things before casting on new stuff. However, there always needs to be a relatively mindless project for work. Useful to prevent foaming insanity during printer and scanner installs.
Much progress has been made toward the elimination of debt and savings - although it may be the end of this year before all but the house is discharged. Still, even with making extra payments on things and savings, Ms. Packratty often finds a bit of money remaining at the end of the month. This was facilitated greatly by a bright young AC repairman who discovered that the reason the AC was not cooling was because some aged fire dampers in the ductwork had snapped shut from old age and metal fatigue and were preventing any real airflow between the cooler and the vents. Although the summer was nastily hot, the portable wheel around ac upstairs was not pressed into regular service and the upstairs remained tolerable most of the time.
And on a final note - Ms. Packratty discovered a wonderful product and a lovely service during 2010. The product is Firefly vodka's Sweet Tea vodka made in SC and the service is organic vegetable and fruit delivery from Nature's Garden Delivered which is a special benison during the 4 long months when the Peachtree Road Farmer's market is closed. Ms. Packratty is also enamored of Malabrigo's Chunky and Rasta yarns, but yarn pashes don't count.
She does have three friends who are suffering from long term unemployment and asks any readers to think good thoughts in their direction. For some reason she is quite sure that 2011 will be a better year and hope this is true, especially for these friends.
2011 Reading to Date:
"The World Made by Hand" and "The Witch of Hebron" by James Kunstler.
"The Garden Angel" and "Secret Keepers" by Mindy Friddle.
"The Sound of A Wild Snail Eating" by Elizabeth Tova Bailey.
"Provence A-Z" by Peter Mayle.
In progress "All Clear" by Connie Willis.
I am only counting new reading, no rereads and no books on tape count.
bout to start "All Clear" by Connie Willis.
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