Happy Dad's Day!

Today is Father's Day, so,

Happy Father's Day!

 I hope all you fathers out there have the very best day ever!

Check out some great photos of dads trying, but not doing the best job of being fathers here! No, really, click the link! It's funny!

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I'm sorry I haven't posted anything in a few days, but things have happened around here that have taken up a lot of my time. I'm sorry to have to post about this, but I want this on record somewhere in case things get even worse than they have been. If you don't want to read about a downer, skip this part of the post.

Thursday, I woke up and my TV was on. It's been malfunctioning, and sometimes (among other things) you can't turn it off. I've been reading on the internet about malfunctioning TVs, and one of the more common things (apparently, because people complain about it a lot) is that sometimes TVs turn themselves on or off without any help from anyone. At first, I thought that's what had happened. That my TV had acquired a new malfunction.

I should note that I ordered a new TV, it arrived, and is sitting in it's box waiting to be installed because the box it was shipped in didn't contain all the parts. They've shipped the needed parts, and I'll probably get them on Monday, so I can install it then. In the meantime, I'm still using the old, malfunctioning (in several ways) TV.

Back to what happened: I reached for the remote control to turn it off.

The remote wasn't there.

I looked around, thinking that maybe it had fallen off the table, where I put it. it was not on the floor, or anywhere I could have put it. At that point, I started to take this more seriously.

After looking around, I found the remote at the other end of the table, on top of something that was already on the table. It could not have gotten there by falling or any other way that was accidental. It had to have been moved by someone. I continued to look, found some other things that seemed to be out of place, and discovered that my door was unlocked!

I don't usually panic, but I called the police and reported a break-in. When the policeman arrived to take my report, he was excorted by Susan, the manager at my apartment building. Susan explained to me that she had announced over the PA system the last three mornings that the people from Comcast would be coming around to install converters because they're they last TV provider in the world to change from analog to digital, and if we wanted to continue to watch TV and had an analog set, we would need a converter. She also said later that she knows I can't hear the PA system unless I'm awake and alert and right next to it, and that she knows that I sleep in the morning, so she knew that by "notifying" me that way, I wouldn't know anything about it.

Even later, she said that if I can't hear what was said on the PA, I should call the office and ask what was said. Since I don't even have an idea that there was an announcement if I'm asleep, and even sometimes if I'm awake, this means I'm going to be pestering them to find out if there was an announcement at least twice a day. I don't think they're going to like it.

But while the cop was there, she rolled her eyes at him and acted like I was a crazy old lady who was completely incompetent.

She explained to the cop that she "had" to let the Comcast guy in because I needed a converter. I don't need a converter, and said so, and she countered with "Well we didn't know that until we came in."

Later that day, I spoke to the installer who had been in my apartment. He said he was sorry to enter without my permission, especially since I didn't need any service, but they let him in, and seemed to think that I did need a converter. He also mentioned that he saw me sleeping in the living room.

The following day (Friday), we had a meeting of everyone who lives here, and Susan stated that they would NOT let anyone into anybody's apartment without a written, signed letter requesting that, even if it was an emergency! I thanked her for changing the policy from the day before, and she said that she hadn't changed anything, and that they could still come into my apartment anytime they wanted for any reason, and would continue to do so whenever they wanted to.

She further stated that the maintenance man from the apartment building said that he thought he heard someone say "Come in, the door is open." He did state (to me) that the door was unlocked, so I know he said that. He can think anything he wants, but nobody in my apartment said anything like that, and the door was locked. I checked it carefully the previous night before I went to sleep. She further said that he said he saw me sleeping in the bedroom. Actually, I was sleeping in the living room, and even the Comcast guy, who I caught up with later in the day and spoke to said that he saw me sleeping in the living room. I'm convinced the man who actually let Comcast in said no such thing because he wouldn't have told such a stupid lie that was so easily disproved, and that Susan was making it up as an excuse for her behavior.

If you read my lease, the first thing it says is that I must obey all federal, state and local laws. But if you go to the page on the internet with information about tenants rights in Virginia, right at the top of the page, it says that none of the law applies to HUD subsidized housing, which this is. From speaking to the people at HUD, I gather that the management here can make any rules they want, no matter how unreasonable and unfair, and tenants have to obey them or face eviction. The woman at HUD said that all the other HUD housing is like this, and "If you don't like it, you're free to move somewhere else." But, of course, if you can qualify for HUD housing, you don't have the money to move, let alone the money to afford someplace else to live. So, if you're thinking about moving into HUD subsidized housing, there are monetary benefits, but there can be some big drawbacks, too.

in the meantime, the good news is that because of this, I started an internet search, and found The Virginia Department for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing. I had some email correspondence with a wonderful gentleman who referred me to someone who is a little closer to me, geographically for help in how to handle my worsening hearing, and giving me at least a partial solution to the problem with Susan in the form of a doorbell that is very loud, flashes lights, and shakes the bed (in case they come when I'm asleep, like they did Thursday) plus some other help. I corresponded with him on Thursday, and made the mistake of mentioning the doorbell to Susan on Friday, and she's already working to make sure that I cannot get or use the doorbell. Now I have to check the law on that, too, unless the person who will contact me from VDDHH or the federal/state legal group knows if she's allowed to block that.

The first gentleman from VDDHH referred me to another federal/state agency that does legal work for discrimination against disabled people. I suspect they're going to at least investigate, maybe (I hope) prosecute. She seems to me to have it in for anyone who uses a wheelchair or cane, too, and from what she's put in writing, it can be inferred that she'd like to ban them from the premises. She has banned them from the lobby except to enter or leave the building, but they have to keep moving and are not allowed to stop to speak to anyone or move too slowly.

Everyone I've told this to so far is shocked and appalled at Susan's conduct!

The idea that the people that run the apartment building have joined me when I was on the toilet, in the shower or asleep (many times) is just not acceptable to me! Especially when they're men I don't even know, or when a woman brings along a man to observe! I feel like I'm in a fish bowl! I won't go into details, but in many ways the people here are treated like cattle or property. And they seem to especially discriminate against the disabled people.

On to happier topics!

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This part of the post is both science fiction and knitting! What a combination!

Last Monday night, there was a new episode of Sanctuary on Syfy called Out of the Blue. In this particular episode, Amanda Tapping wears many different knitted items that look hand knit. The whole episode was fun to watch for that reason alone. About halfway through, she appears wearing this shawl:

I was really impressed by it (the photo doesn't do it justice), until just a bit later, she wore a sweater that was just stunning! I've gone crazy trying to find a photo of it on the internet, but they just aren't giving out publicity photos of it. I've written the people at the studio and am waiting for a reply. If they send me a photo, I'll post it here.

But the good news is that the season finale is Monday night, and they're showing the whole season on Syfy tomorrow before the finale, and you can see Out of the Blue at 9 pm (here--check your local listings). If you TiVo it, you can go to about 3/4 of the way through, which will take you to a commercial. The sweater first appears right before that commercial, and is shown even more right after the commercial. If you're a knitter, are not interested in the show, and have a DVR or TiVo, record it and fast forward through the parts you aren't interested in and check out some great knits! There's a whole thread on Ravelry about the knits in this story (in the Sanctuary group).

While on the subject of knitting and other things, I ran across a really neat scarf/shawl that you might be interested in, but the thing that blew me away about the photos was the model's tattoo(s)! It's so neat, and very attractive!

Go to the site, see bigger photos and get the pattern for the scarf!

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Sweeps month starts right around the end of this month and through most of July, so new shows are popping up left and right!

Last night was the premiere of Outcasts last night on BBC in America, which has officially turned it into the Jamie Bamber channel. In the first episode, we get to see Jamie as a character that is not trusted by anyone, subsequently shoots and kills his wife, is suspected of killing his son, and is shot and killed in self defense at the end. Then we see that the ship that's approaching the planet has Jamie on board! While we're watching this, we get to see plenty of footage of Jamie on trailers for Law and Order UK, and when the show's over, we get to see Jamie playing Apollo in Battlestar Galactica! I didn't hang around to see if he was on the Graham Norton Show.

I don't know about you, but I was beginning to lose track of what character he was playing at any particular moment.

Outcasts is on right now, as I write this, so I'm guessing it'll be on again sometime before it's regular time slot next Saturday, in case you missed it.

Tonight, we have the two hour premier of Falling Skies, which I'm really looking forward to. Click the link, and find out more about it than I could ever tell you since I've only seen the trailers.

The Nine Lives of Chloe King premiered last Tuesday on ABC Family, but they're rerunning it at 6 on this Tuesday, before the second episode, which will air later. It's SF and fantasy, written for teens, but then Harry Potter is for kids, too, and I love that! The first episode didn't show enough to decide that this will be fabulous, but didn't preclude that, either. I think it bears watching.

We join Chloe for her sixteenth birthday, when she is just starting to find out that although she knew that she was adopted, she's discovering that she's not human. If you've seen Red Dwarf, she's (apparently) related to Cat. You should understand that this is not a comedy series specifically, though. There's more drama and an intriguing story in this.

I'm currently reading the three books that are out about Chloe, and enjoying the beginning of the first one, The Fallen: The Nine Lives of Chloe King.

I've gotten dragged into Switched at Birth, also on ABC Family. It's not SF or fantasy, not even spy fi, but one of the characters is deaf, and since I'm having increasing hearing problems (which will probably be increasing due to the policies of the apartment building in which I live). I'm interested in seeing how Daphne functions with ASL (American Sign Language), largely because the people I contacted on Thursday are urging me to learn it, and I don't see what good it will do since I don't know anyone else that knows it. I would feel like a child who invents her own language before learning English. Who can I talk to?

I hope you've been having a wonderful Father's Day and a terrific weekend!

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Fiberarts Content Is Back!

For all you people who are not interested in fiberarts, skip down. I may get to another topic before I'm finished.

I got a catalog from Mary Maxim on Monday stating that they have 500 new items. They used to have those  catalogs with all the tacky, ugly yarn. They still do have that kind of yarn, but they have a lot of really fabulous yarns at great prices, too!

Most of the new items are not yarn, but some of them are. I've been going through the listings of new yarn, and will list some of them for you. Bear in mind that since these are new, I haven't had a chance to try them. I'm just passing along information, here.

For you sock knitters, they now have Simply Sock Yarn. They do not, unfortunately still have the wonderful Comfort Sock Yarn that they used to have at such a great price. I'm finishing up the last sock from the batch I ordered from them right now.

For novelty yarn interest, they're now carrying Bernat Boa Yarn. I've tried this before, and it's a very interesting novelty. It feels (and looks) like knitting with feathers. I think it's listed as new because there are new colors. Another novelty fur yarn is Patons Moxie Yarn. They appear to have taken the "fur" part literally, and it only seems to be available in colors that could be natural fur grown by something. More fur yarn in decidedly unnatural colors is available in Red Heart Fur Sure. I, personally like it in eggplant. For the ultimate in novelty yarn, try Red Heart Sashay, which is supposed to be a self-ruffling yarn. You can get a free ruffled scarf pattern (shown below) for this yarn if you register and sign in. I have no idea how this works to make the ruffles.

The scarf shown was made with one skein, but I think I'd like it better with two. But it's still not bad for about $5!

If you're looking for a hand-dyed, multicolor effect, there's Lion Brand Amazing, which has just come out with some new colorways, so maybe that's why they're listing it as new. There's also the Mary Maxim sport weight wool blend yarn, Mardi Gras, which is not new, but has come down considerably in price.

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Still on the fiberarts topic, but switching gears, Holly sent me an email about a sheep named Shrek. You can read about it here. Shrek managed to evade the shearers for seven years, and when they finally caught him and sheared him, the fleece weighed 60 pounds! Knowing Merino fleeces, probably half of that weight was lanolin, dirt and vegetable matter, but that's still an incredible weight for a Merino fleece!

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World Wide Knit in Public Day (which is not a day, but a bit more than a week starts on the 11th of June. That sounded like a long way off when I read about it a few weeks ago, but it's coming up fast (Saturday). You can click on the link and it will lead you to lots of organized events in a lot of different places, but if there's no organized event, you can just go out somewhere and knit while you're there. Pick a project that's easy to carry around, and go!

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Some of the new seasons of Summer shows have begun, even if USA did call the first episode of the new season of Covert Affairs the "Season Finale!" If any of you haven't seen it yet, it's more of a spy fi than science fiction. It started last night, right after the season premier of the delightful con called White Collar.

Doctor Who is continuing on Saturday evenings on the BBC in America's Supernatural Saturday. I, personally, find their idea of Supernatural Saturday a bit disappointing, since it consists of one hour of new programming which follows a rerun of the previous week's hour. I really like the idea of rerunning that hour, but my idea of an evening of programming is more like 4 hours. Once they've run through all the new Doctor Whos, they'll be switching off to another show. One of the new ones will be Battlestar Galactica. If you haven't seen it and always wanted to, keep an eye on Saturday evenings on BBC in America. They'll be rerunning it from the very beginning. They're also advertising several new science fiction or supernatural shows for Saturday evenings.

One of their new shows is called Outcasts.  It'll premiere on June 18th, and there's far more then I can put here if you click the link. When it comes out, it will replace Doctor Who, which is having it's mid-season finale on Saturday, and will finish up the season in the Fall.

It's getting late, and I want to watch some TV (if my TV is still working). I've (finally!) found an LCD TV
and ordered it through Amazon, and it will hopefully be here next week.

I hope your TV set is healthier than mine, and that you have a great week!

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