Fun with technician day...

 

 

 Current Mood : Improving !

ur Our tech called a few minutes after 8am - he was on the way. We were glad to hear it, but made sure he knew we doubted he could do much. Power was out. Had been since 6:45 or so. I'd seen a repair truck about twenty minutes after I reported it, but it was still down. He decided to come over anyway, it was light enough for him to visually examine the lines and run some tests, and maybe it'd be back up by the time he arrived.

 

It wasn't, but he soon found a problem - a stray wire that no one could explain in the receiver box. After it was removed, everything tested well... and our power came back online. It's worked perfectly ever since. I surfed some web sites while joyfully watching ‘Pop Up Video' on VH1 Classic. Happy ! Since ‘Pop Up' was one of the few shows I was hoping for - we don't get We, so no ‘Bridezillas' - I was all bouncy when I found it.

 

Dearest Son got to spend most of today watching whatever he wanted. After all, he goes back to school Thursday, so I'll have whatever time I want to watch what I want. Tomorrow's his last day of summer vacation, and I don't plan on asking him to do anything at all but eat lunch and have an evening bath. Oh, and pick up all the Lego he dragged out during the day.

 

We went after about 2/3 of his awful closet today. I made a deal - if he'd drag out the ton of toys and trash he shoved in there, I'd sort, store, and clean it all. And while I cleaned, the TV was his. Surprisingly, it only took him about a half-hour to cover the mostly clear floor with closet debris, but it took me two hours to sort through it all. Three more bags of trash are waiting for the Dumpster, and the rest of his closet is easy to access. I can do the rest by m'self, probably on Thursday. Since nearly all of the remainder is also Dumpster-bound, it can wait ‘til then, when he won't see. So far, he hasn't noticed what's missing - or at least, he hasn't asked about anything. He's just happy with all the newly-rediscovered Lego filling his three underbed boxes, and that his room isn't as austere as he'd feared.

 

I was kinda crafty on his room-clean. Previously, he had so many toys, all the toy boxes and the dresser were packed beyond full, and there were even toy bins in the hallway and living room. I had to store his socks and underwear in an underbed box. By the time I got everything in there cleaned, the Lego overflowed the two boxes designated for it. Knew I'd have to buy another box, so he could sift through all the pieces, it'd just have to wait for the grocery run. But then I managed to empty the dresser. Moved his clothes there, and instant empty Lego box ! He wasn't home five minutes Sunday before he was digging through it all.

A star to mark...a not very good day...

 

Current Mood : Resigned frustration

 

Well, today did not go as planned. Oh, I got up early enough, got the last of the cleaning done and even finished vacuuming before we got the ‘on the way' call at about 5 minutes after 8am, but so far, our ‘cable' is just...not good. It's as delicate as a butterfly made of the thinnest tissue paper you've ever seen, halved, and we've trouble-shot it to a ridiculous level and it's still locking up and goin' down. Can't even use internet and TV at the same time, and when the TV crashes, half the time, our phone line does, too.

 

Well, let me go back a bit. It took only about an hour to install the hardware, but the first online initialization and update took almost three. Much longer than it should have. But when our install guy left, it was working. Too bad it didn't work for long. About a half hour after the truck pulled away, the TV picture froze...and we waited, and waited, and waited, but finally restarted it. It'd just barely come back up...and crash again. Then it began to ‘update' every time it crashed, so instead of five minutes of dead time in between crashes, it was now fifteen to twenty. And we'd get maybe, if we were lucky, three minutes of air time before the image froze again. We weren't going near our computers, but since it was down, we may as well go through the ‘help' files online and see if we could fix this ourselves. Too bad the lines for internet weren't working either...

 

We bought a new cable for the connection between Ethernet and TV box - which helped, but not a lot. Replaced the phone line outdoors (believe it or not, we already had the right cable and crimpers for that !) and it improved dramatically. It still locked up sporadically, but we got up to an hour in between ‘locks'. It was enough for Dearest Son to watch Clone Wars  on Cartoon Network, so he was happy. I was really proud of Beloved Hubby's efforts - if he had access to a few test tools and specifications, he could be a technician, easily.

 

Using the cell phones, we reported our troubles and they arranged for one of their techs to come by sometime tomorrow. So far, I'm underwhelmed by the whole thing, but when it works, it's wonderful. Just want it - and our phones and internet - to work all at the same time !

 

We're gonna leave it on all night, in hopes it'll ‘burn in', but we can't do anything else until the tech arrives. With all this going on, I didn't get squat done, and I haven't been near Brody since the 11^th. Guess I failed this challenge ! Maybe once we're back to a ‘school' schedule, I can take it up again. It's not like he needs a whole new wardrobe ready to go Thursday anyway.

Getting ready for a big week...

Current Mood : Still exhausted

Current Image Notes : Before and After with yesterday's new-to-Chez-Insanity Ariel ! 

 

 

The not-yet-final tally of yesterday's labors - cleaning Dearest Son's room - was four bags of trash, two of donations, and three cardboard boxes. I didn't quite finish, mostly because Dearest packed tons of crap into his closet. We're gonna go after that nightmare together, next week. And I want him to go through his books, decide for himself what goes and what stays. There's piles of them to go through, too. I figure the books'll keep him busy while I attack the kitchen and living room tomorrow. Beloved Hubby has the day off, so he's gonna prep our TV and DVD setup for the cable guy tomorrow morning. Wisely, he Dumpstered all the trash last night, long before Dearest returned from his grandparents'. And I made sure the donations were safely in Molly's trunk early this morning.

 

I finally quit after eight hours of cleaning. Eleven hours if you count breaks and supper. But I finally eliminated the toy box in the hallway, glory alleluia. It was a total dump for anything Dearest was told to put away - including trash and books. I'm not even gonna tell you how much Lego was in there. It's gone now, and I even relocated the plastic tote / toybox. It was a serious job, but I'm happy. All that's left is the bookcase and closet, and I hope to vacuum when that's done. I wish I hadn't put it off so much, but it's not like delaying something that'll take ten minutes. I knew this was gonna be a total butt-buster !

 

I got to clean Chez Insanity today, off and on. Still finding literally hundreds of pieces of Lego underfoot, so much so that even Dearest is tired of picking them up. But I'm still wiped out from yesterday, and didn't get as much done as I wanted. Gonna hafta finish up tomorrow morning, and I just hope tehre's time to vacuum the living room. I can't remember if I vacuumed at all in July... Our cable installer - well, actually, it's fiber-optic TV, internet, and phone service, but it's easier to say ‘cable TV' - is due sometime between 8am and 10am tomorrow morning.

Dearest Son's room work begins ! Boy, what a job !

 

Current Mood : Wiped out !

Spent on dolls and doll furniture : $6.

 

Busy day. Still in the middle of mucking out Dearest Son's room - at least he cleared a big enough path for me to get in there. Closet's a nightmare, though. But I've bagged up a bunch of broken and outgrown toys, and there's now space for the stuff that's been on the floor forever. Beloved Hubby hasn't had time to himself in a while, so I told him to enjoy the evening, I'd get Dearest's room cleaned if he'd take out the resulting trash. So far, it's two big lawn and leaf bags, and four empty boxes. More to come - I've barely gotten to the wholesale scrap and ditch.

 

Told Dearest I'd keep all his Lego, toy dogs, cars, and Star Wars stuff, but everything else was fair game for me to dump. He said he was OK with that. Of course, once school's back in, he's responsible for toy cleanup at day's end. I let him get away with murder this summer...

 

But then again, it's not like I wasn't kind to m'self. Hit the flea market and a couple yard sales, but didn't buy much. Found a four-piece outdoor furniture set for Elphie, Fiyero, and Gene - very nice wooden Adirondack-themed stuff. Two slightly reclining chairs, a bench, and a small table. Only a dollar for each piece ! According to a sticker on the underside, these were made for Boyd's Bears, although I can't find any information online about it.

 

Also snagged two dolls, a Princess and the Pauper  Erika, which you may remember, I already have. But she was wearing the Princess Anneliese dress, which I didn't have, so she was worth the  buck. Got the ‘Princess on Ice' Ariel, too - that's her up there, in a ‘before' and ‘after' shot, wearing the Anneliese dress. The seller had two of the same dress, and both were damaged, this one was the least frayed. Yep. Both have some fraying at the sleeves, but at least the one I got wasn't as noticeable. Fixed as much of it as possible, then applied some Fray Check to it. Also to the sleeve and neckline ruffles - Mattel left the edges raw again, and it frays if ya breathe on it.

 

Not sure why I went after yet another Ariel - I have six Barbie-size ones now, so it's not like I needed another, but she was originally wearing her tutu skirt, and I loved Belle's, so... Besides, for a buck, I can have fun and donate without feeling guilty. Frankly, I wish we had the money back for some of the toys I'm trashing in Dearest's room...

 

Ah, well. Almost time to get back ta work - Beloved rewarded me with Chinese delivery for dinner for working so hard, and it was so good. Three hours down, six or seven to go !

Lab work - finishing up !

 

Current Mood : Happily tired

Current Image Notes -  This car is on the center back of the shirt ! Like he's controlling Dearest.

 

Stayed up a bit later than usual last night, finishing up the Lab work and straightening out my desk. Both get cluttered so quickly ! And I wanted to finish up the Lab so I could bask in the new floor space I opened up. Aaaaahhhh...floor space... I could have three people in there now, while I sew, if they don't move around very much. That's up from one earlier this year !

 

There's still just a bit more to do - one of the milk crates needs to have a fabric re-fold. Most of the stuff in it's slippery, so it fell out in an artful cascade when I stood it on end. I got the rest bundled up and stored, and all the donations out in the hallway. I also need to tidy up The Slab, since there's dolls everywhere and props, too. I can actually play now, so I have that to look forward to, as well !

 

For today, though, I focused on the dining area, which had been a disaster long before the rest of Chez Insanity followed its lead. A half-pound of Lego, six drawing pads, four pounds of mail, a day's worth of dishes, a dozen dead flies, and various bits of food and papers later, I could wipe the surface free of dried milk, Kool-Aid, spaghetti sauce and flyspecks. Took three sweepings and two hours to get it all done. Of course, Dearest Son immediately took a fresh Lego project over there, and it has whatever Beloved Hubby had in his hands when he came home on it now. (sigh) And he wonders why I put off all the cleaning ‘til the weekend...

A re-organization is always good for what's buggin ya...

 

Current Mood : Happily tired. 

Current Image Notes -  On this shirt, the car is on front, near the bottom hem.

 

As you can imagine, and since I haven't been mentioning cleaning up Chez Insanity during the week, the place is pretty well trashed. So what did I do with all the time I wasn't spending anywhere near Designs by SiCK today ? Clean up the joint ? Sew ? Stare vacantly off into space mourning the demise of yet another forum ?

 

None of the above. I tore up the Lab and re-arranged some stuff. Of course, when I was ankle deep in milk crates stuffed with fabric, doll environments, sewing implements and unhung artworks, the phone rang. I turned around, and heard a very vivid Carrie Fisher, in her best Princess Leia voice, "Looks like you managed to cut off our only escape route !" in my head. (sigh) Managed to plant a foot on something that only slid a little bit, and got to the phone - hangup. There's some autodialers calling for the PBS station, a Veteran's group, and who knows what else wanting money we ain't got, so I get called and hung up on three to five times a day. I can only imagine how bad it'd be if the Do Not Call list had never been activated. I took one of the cordless handsets with me when I went back into the fray, only to have it go belly-up when the phone rang again. And, yes, it hung up on me again when I got to a fully-charged handset.

 

Three hours later, I was nearly done. Some stuff still needed to find new locales, but I'd amassed a box of never-gonna-use-it fabric, two larger doll props, and a few misc. Happy Meal-type toys for donations later. Basically, I had to pull out a buncha stuff so I could shift the milk crates over and stack ‘em so the open side faces out. I'd been stacking them so they'd ‘lock' together, with the opening on top, but that way, it just looks like a buncha milk crates stacked up. Now I can see what I have much easier. The largesse of material I had to dig through yet again should embarrass me from making any other purchases for a while. All the new goodies from July to last weekend are put away, and I gained about three more feet of floor space !

 

There's still some minor tidy-work still to go, but I feel much better, and it looks better in there, too. Maybe now I can sew tomorrow ! I'm not sure why I'm dragging my feet, but I gotta get back on the stick. I'll be cleaning Chez Insanity all weekend - cable guy'll be here Monday - so I only have one more day to relax.

Glad I have sooo much else to do - I need the time now !

Current Mood : snotty

 

 

Spent on (glittery blue with stars) fabric : $3.17

Spent on mini-DPrincess coloring book : $1.08

 

Current Image Notes -  this time, the car is on the right shoulder !

 

Well, while I haven't officially been booted off the SiCK group forum, I've been accused of attacking the person who's really gotten a kick out of disagreeing with me on every post I've written, and I've let it slide... but they can't seem to just let me get away with doing the same thing once, so I'm done there. I was wasting too much time anyway. At least I took my say (I didn't ‘have' my say, I bloody well know I took it) and I explained myself well enough so that only an English major can possibly misunderstand. If she thinks that was an attack, I wish she could have read my first draft ! I spent over two hours writing and editing what I sent, gentling every word I could so as not to rile anyone up, but still have the verbal huevos to say that not everyone agrees here, or even has to. (sigh) Tired of yelling at a series of brick walls. They can all nod and agree with each other that their way is the One True Way from now on, I'm done. Last thing I need is evangelical fundamentalist fervor in embroidery.

 

It's just a shame, because I got several private notes applauding my little stand, messages from members who don't feel as though they can disagree with anyone without creating problems or getting banned. Which is exactly why I said what I did. I hate to leave ‘em without anyone to stand, but I had to learn to defend m'self, and I'm sure they'll get het up enough sooner or later to either leave or fight, too. My mind ain't big enough to give them the piece of it they might need. And my life's too crowded with stuff I wanna do with people I love to dedicate any more time to jerks who thinks Free Speech ends when they close their mouths or computers down.

 

Sayonara, SiCKies !

 

The whole business has made me mull over my past with groups, forums, chat rooms, etc. It always starts out the same, I feel lucky and happy to have found like-minded individuals I can learn from, share with, and maybe even help out. But a few months later, I can identify the ‘site stars', and I know who Those Who Must Never Be Challenged are. I start to get disillusioned, and I don't want to go, but I also don't feel warm and welcome there, either. I've enjoyed being ‘me' too long to subsume that for anyone.

 

Sooner or later, one of the Inner Circle says something that's just beyond outrageous to me, usually along the lines of ‘everyone here's just like me, and I think this way, and so does everyone !' and I usually mutter that I'm a different animal altogether, and it's stagnating to think everyone here is the same. Can't there be more than one opinion welcome here ? Next thing I know, I'm getting private notes saying how awesome I am for saying something, and I'm being publicly read the riot act for being such a meanie. I should know it's all just opinion - and I can keep my contrary one to myself. Not even gonna get into how despotic it is - one member can spray their opinion all over the board, but another can put up and shut up if they wanna stay - but it'd be dirt simple to. No matter how politely phrased it is, I'm the problem child, because I'm always outside the Circle. I either got there too late, don't have enough money/dolls/correct opinions, or don't do what everyone else does too often to ever be inside it. Happened on Prego, happened on Etiquette Hell, and a couple others.

 

Or, I keep my mouth shut and wander off, feeling unconnected to the world for a while, and useless  - and it isn't long before the group's down to the Circle and hangers-on and/or cronies. Beloved Hubby's calling this group ‘SiCKophants'. It's a shame I've let it happen more than once, and if I let it happen again, I'm dumber than this whole situation. If I take nothing more than this one thing away from the whole perishing mess, let it be this - if you gotta disagree with The Group, then just go away. Faster, easier, and less traumatizing on the ole self-esteem.

 

Anyway... I'm a bit behind on the ‘sew every day' thing. I actually spent last night's planned sewing time crafting my message to the group, which was dirt stupid. Hopefully I can catch up tomorrow. I got a couple more t-shirts on sale during the grocery run, and even found a nice blue one for Dearest Son's friend. Actually ended up getting three different shades of blue, since Dearest doesn't have much of that color embroidered - yet !  Just gotta run ‘em through the wash.

 

Can't wait to sew tomorrow !

I just can't stand intolerance...

Current Mood : On the slight buzz off one of my little crusades...

Current Image Notes : This car is on the shirt's lower left side. I like to mix it up a bit. Dearest Son'll wear yesterday's image on Aug. 24^th, and today's on the 25^th , and so on for that first week. And I'm still going !

 

Beloved Hubby called in sick today - turned out for the best, the job wasn't ready for him, and if he hadn't called, he'd have driven 40 min. each way for nothing. So we kinda goofed around, paid a couple bills, ran some errands. Got to go to Dollar Tree, and scored six t-shirts. Five for Dearest Son, one for his friend's younger brother. I've decided to do name shirts for each of them, just as soon as I can. They didn't have red or blue in Friend's size, so I'll probably pick one up at Mal-Wart, when I do groceries tomorrow.

 

Got another container of ‘body butter', this one with green floral graphics on the jar sides. Not much on the ‘gardenia' scent - the pink ‘rose' one is nicer - but it fades fast enough. I like how soft it makes my skin, but really I want the container for doll furniture. Or notions storage. And since the last La Cross set of tweezers were so good, I got a second pair for the Lab. And another eyelash/eyebrow brush. It works great on the air conditioner's filter when it's time to clean it, so I got a fresh one for my dolls. Took a Sharpie to the handle of the old one, so I can tell ‘em apart. It wouldn't do to use the same one on the quickly-dirty filter and my lovely dolls !

 

Once home, I got two loads of laundry going - and found a spider in my bra. (shudddddder) I'm still mildly creeped out. It's a harmless bold jumping spider, but since it came out of the lingerie drawer and onto me, I'm a bit nervous about going back through that drawer again.

 

Opened up the ‘Blandness Girl' toy cell phone - inside is another Barbie sticker, this time with the ‘Benign Girl' legend in the Barbie font. It plays something that sounds like a dolphin, some sort of gibberish, a sped-up clip of Smile.dk's "I'm Your Little Butterfly", which sounds a lot like Aqua's ‘Barbie Girl', and a shrill ring. The three button-cell batteries fit in an easily opened compartment that's drilled for a safety screw, but there wasn't one. The permanently attached neck cord has no safety breakaway, either, and it won't fit around my melon head. Currently, it's an audio torture device for Beloved. But with some paint, a daub of glue, and an emptied thread spool, I could see it easily becoming Barbie's new bidet. Flipped open, it sort of has a toilet-like appearance.

 

Haven't been over to the SiCK site or forum in days. It's kind of funny - I felt so connected and even wanted and possibly needed over there, and now I feel shut out again. The ‘only use name brand products with your embroidery machine' contingent is still beating folks about the head and shoulders, spreading false rumors that using dryer sheets as stabilizer will void warrantees and sneering at anyone who dares say they do something different. One denizen even said, ‘If you have the money for an embroidery machine, then you have the money for decent supplies !'. Just like that.

 

And wouldn't you know it, it's the same person who always disagrees with me on other threads. You know, other threads where I mention that I use dryer sheets as stabilizer. So I calmed down, thought it over, and decided that this time, I'd engage rather than just slink off. Much the same happened with the About.com' s doll forum - I was happy there until one guy said how much he hated ‘big eye' 80s dolls. Most of the group agreed with him how terrible and awful and just sheer ugly those dolls always were and always would be, how could anyone even like such awfulness even a bit ? Too bad that, at the time and still today, those were among my favorites. There was a lot else going on with me at the time, but that was the straw that sank me. I slunk away without a word, withdrew from everyone there, and soon felt like there was no place for me even among the ‘weirdo adults who play with dolls' groups. It was months before I felt anything other than sub-human. Not the guy's fault, of course, but I never have trusted a group of anything since. It only takes one opinion, stated as fact, to change more than I'd ever expected.

 

And now it's the SiCK forum's turn. But I could at least be civil, and not turn this into a confrontation. Surely, I said, there was room for more than just one way to do things ! Declaring that ‘if you have money for A, you have money for B' rather presumes a lot - and you know what they say about assuming. Basically, I kinda spanked anyone who agreed that using X instead of Y was a bad idea without trying it first, and mentioned that no one should get looked down on for recycling instead of buying - because it's all up to the individual's choice, nothing more. I also encouraged ‘em to read their own bloody manuals instead of accepting ‘I heard blah, blah, bleh' as fact. We'll see how it goes. I'm rather proud of me for standing up for myself and not taking the veiled insults and leaving. Nope, they're welcome to keep them, I don't want ‘em and won't carry them. If that gets me run off the group, then I'm glad to be gone. Intolerance curdles my everything.

I guess it was inevitable...

Current Mood : A bit weird, really. 

 

Confession time : I didn't embroider yesterday. Not sure why, it was a truly beyond lazy day, but I totally lacked any motivation to get in and stitch. So today, I did two smaller ones - a redwork (like an outline in one color) VW Beetle from the Chinese site and a pair of crossed racing flags. Not sure where those came from. The VW stitched up nicely, but the flags went off registry and needed quite a bit of touch-up with that ultra-fine Sharpie.

 

At least I'm back on track, and I really missed embroidering yesterday. Glad I took the break, though. I'm planning on doing the pirate one this week - but first, I need to find about eight more shirts. Guess I'm going to Dollar Tree tomorrow ! I've also figured out the best way to re-use all those stabilizer scrips and scraps, and get them to stay stable while I'm hooping ‘em. I actually tape ‘em to the shirt, loosely hoop ‘em from the wrong side, then turn the shirt right side out and adjust the hoop so it follows the grain. Since masking tape's holding the pieces down under a single fresh layer of stabilizer, I can move the hoop around ‘til it's right, then snug it together, and remove the tape. Makes me happy to get the most out of my already-used-once dryer sheets, when I can use ‘em ‘til they're gone !

 

I was watching an auction for a Modern Art in good shape, but it closed at $131., well over my limit. Oh, well. That just means I still have my cash for some other little indulgence ! It might take a while to find one, though, since I've barely had time to play with Gene. Took her hair down today, and it is so beautiful. I kept the little side pieces and tied them behind the rest of the fall, and she looks much softer.

 

Speaking of indulgences, we gave in and we'll have cable this time next week. Since it's from our internet provider, we got a bit of a discount, so it's not so much. We already spend about that on DVDs, rentals, and such every month, and we'll get a digital recorder in the deal. I'm looking forward to it, but I've gotten so weaned from television, I'm not sure I'll use it much. We also get digital radio channels, so I'm hoping the comedy and music will also be something nice to have. It'll almost be like having the satellite radio back. 

 

I guess it was inevitable that we'd have TV again. I'm kind of excited, kind of sad. I've gotten so used to the quiet, but I know I'll be addicted to the tube again, since there's about 80 more channels now than there were last time we had it. (sigh) Life changes in odd ways sometimes. 

Just wish I could get Gene to smile, just a little bit...

 

Current Mood : Still amazed, still very lazy.

Current Image Notes : Here's yesterday's haul - dolls, clothes and all ! I head-swapped the beautiful-makeup Jasmine head to my other Jasmine body, then found a replacement body for that Jasmine head. And found her a new home already. Lovely when things work out. 

(laugh) I almost gave my 'new' Jasmine a word balloon, reading 'Rock me, Amadeus !', because that was my first reaction to this Ken's clothes !

 

Well, we didn't go anywhere, but I still didn't get jack done. Brushed out Gene's hair, and found that the pink ribbon is still sewn in. I'm wondering if I remove the ribbon, will the front twists remain ?  Because I like those.

 

Shortly after I took the photo, one of the bead and sequin decorations on Gene's top fell off. Since the back was already missing a similar bead, and a snap-half had to be reattached, there was no time like the present to fix it. I found the sequin and bead, but the bead broke while I was reattaching it. Luckily for me, I have a ton of various crafting supplies from dozens of sale and second-hand sources. A few minutes of digging through the jewelry findings box, and I had similar glass replacements. I had to use a small bit of folded leftover interfacing to sew the snap back in - the lining of Gene's top had torn where the snap went. But it was soon all fixed and back on.

 

When we went shopping together yesterday, Beloved Hubby found a small star-shaped mirror for just a few bucks. I'm thinking of going back for it, and attaching it to Gene's trunk, or possibly the Star Wall.

 

I also perused some of my older doll magazines. When this particular Gene doll came out, in 1999, her issue price was $50. The Hi Fi outfit, dating to '98, was $35., and the 1997 Tango costume was $40. The only reference I could find for the trunk said it was $70. ! Wow. It's also kind of funny to me that the clothes are older than the doll !