The Internet (or Maybe Comcast) Hates Me!

Actually, all communication with the outside world is having a big problem here.

My phone, my cell phone, and my computer all started having problems the other day. I've been trying to fix my phone, my cell phone, and my computer, and then it struck me that all of those three have one thing in common. They're all plugged into the internet.

Since Comcast has created nothing but problems for me with my TV connection, Occam's razor says it's probably them.

I am so fed up with Comcast! And they've made it practically impossible to even report the problem since all my communication seems to depend on them. I really have to find some other way to contact others! I've set my cell phone to not connect to the internet over WiFi, and it seems to be acting a bit better.

Holly says there's a way to reset everything on my phone to factory settings, but I can't find it anywhere or I would have tried it already.

***************

So, after spending a little time trying to get to my email today, I found a link to this in my inbox! If you click the link, you'll find that Craig Charles spilled the beans, and that there will be another six episodes of Red Dwarf! All I really know is what's on the web page, so I can't really comment except to say that it's the funniest thing I've ever seen on TV, even funnier than The Middleman, and that's saying something!

In with the same email, there was a link to a story about a new show called 17th Precinct, which will be a new science fiction show. Once more, I don't know anything except what's on the page from the link.

I saw a trailer for Medium on last night, and they said to tune in tonight for the series finale. I'm really sorry to see it go!

****************************

Usually, the knitting content comes first, but this time it's last. Sorry, I'm struggling just to get something up here, and it's not easy.

I went to the library on Wednesday, and picked up a fairly new knitting book, Modern Top-down Knitting.



 It's got some really interesting things in it, and it's a must-have if you want to knit dresses from the top down. There are seven slim, pretty dresses in this volume, including the dress on the cover. There are a couple of cardigans and a few pullover sweaters, too.

All these things make sense for knitting from the top down. You can try on the dresses and sweaters and make changes as you go to make the garment truly fit you. That's the whole point of top-down knitting.

But there are a batch of other projects in here that don't make sense to be knitted from the top down, and some that aren't knitted from the top down at all. They're mostly accessories, and while some of them are nice, and I even love a few of them, I feel they should have been saved for another book, and the space they're taking up should have had some more top-down designs.

There's some knitted jewelry, including a ring, plus a belt and a wrap (which obviously can't be knitted from the top down) that are wonderful and innovative, but not top-down. There are some interesting hats, which don't benefit at all from being knitted from the top down. There's one hat which I'm not too enthusiastic about knitting, but would love to own in several colors! She uses pipe cleaners to stiffen the brim.

That's the Annie Hat from the book, the one with the pipe cleaners in the brim.

She also has a beautiful wrap, which is, once more, not top-down. I was going to show you a photo, but can't, due to computer problems.

The author, Kristina McGowan, obviously comes from a sewing background, and applies lots of designer detailing to her patterns. Some of it is useful and welcome, but some is just extra work for nothing. For instance, if you sew a skirt or dress, the hem is a raw edge unless you finish it with something. Hem tape or stretchy lace is great for this. It's really completely unneeded for the same purpose when finishing a skirt or dress that's knitted, though. Yes, it can be a pretty trim that nobody will ever see, but why bother?

She is also really big on binding off, adding a bit of crochet, and then picking up stitches and continuing. Once again, what is the point, except for make-work? Then again, you needn't do any of these except the ones that are actually needed for the design.

One thing I've noticed, is that some of the directions are shown right-handed, but a lot of the photos of sewing and crochet are shown and described for a left-handed person. I'm not sure why they're mixed up like that or if it was intentional, but that's the way it is.

 I'll try to keep posting, but if you don't hear from me for a while, it's because of the communication problems.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Happy Craft Month!

March is craft month, as all the advertising sent to me has made perfectly clear. So, do some crafting in celebration, and don't forget to check those sales! Most of the craft stores are having special sales, and this is your chance to cash in on them.

*******************

A brand-new episode of Reaper is back on TV tonight! I like Reaper, and I'm glad it's back, but if I had a choice, there is a long list of programs I'd much rather see back, such as The Dresden Files, The Middleman, Firefly, Blake's 7, Babylon 5, Red Dwarf, Probe, and lots more. Oh, well, we take what we can get.

There will also be a rerun of The Mentalist. I'd like to see some new episodes, but I'm very grateful that they're rerunning them. So many channels are showing a series, and then it disappears. I'd like the chance to watch them again and to catch up on ones that I've missed (such as the entire Middleman series, which Comcast managed to show entirely without closed captioning). Comcast is so inept!

The best thing on tonight will be an episode of The Universe on the History Channel (I think) about alternate universes. I haven't seen an episode of this series that I didn't like, but this is my favorite.

So, check it out and have a fun evening!

Hi! and Bye! Again.

I was in CVS on Saturday, late, and they had some great daylight floor lamps out on the shelves. The kind I've been drooling over for a couple of years. You know, the kind that usually cost about $100. The kind that look like this. I checked for a price, and there wasn't any marked, so I figured that they would probably be on sale starting on Sunday, and they were just putting them out so they'd be ready for the following morning.

So, anyway, I went back today and they were $25, but on sale for $20. I dragged one home through the snow, and now it's next to the chair I usually use, and I can get some extra light when I'm doing craft projects!

I'm so tickled!

If you're a crafter or a reader, check this out. There are few crafts that couldn't be improved with a little light.

**********************

Oh, yes, we had our first snowfall of the winter today. It's been 14 years since we had a first snowfall of the winter this late! There were just a few flurries, and it looked like it was somewhere between 2 and 3 inches when I went to CVS.

It made everything look so pretty, and there wasn't enough to make a driving problem, so it was very pleasant and wintery. The roads were all clear, and most of the sidewalks were also clear. Nature decorated beautifully!

Tomorrow will be a different story. There will be sleet, rain, and freezing temperatures. 

I don't have any plans that involve going out tomorrow.

******************

For all you Red Dwarf fans out there, check this out! 

It's coming back! 

Well, for a little while, anyway.

Don't forget to watch a new Leverage tonight! And a new Fringe!

I have to run.

Have a great evening!

Strange Saturday

I woke up really early this morning (for me, almost middle of the night). I staggered to the bathroom (which was what prompted awakening at that insane hour), dragged myself back to bed, and the phone rang.

I answered it and was greeted with my daughter's voice demanding "Why are you up so early?"

Half asleep, I had visions running through my brain of causing cosmic ripples through space and time just because I was awake. Ramifications so dire that she had to call to find out why the planet was tilting.

Once I explained, then she wanted to make sure that I was aware that I had listened to bad information on the news. My mistake was listening to a news report on a broadcast TV station. She proceeded to explain that Robin had listened to the news on PBS, and it was so much more reliable. She may be right about that. 

She then launched into an explanation that there's no basis for thinking that the bank I deal with might fail because 39 banks have recently failed according to the FDIC (plus two more that I know about since then). She said that those banks failed because they were "playing the stock market."

When I was in Junior High (about 50 years ago), the teacher told us about banks. He said they make money by "investing money." I asked how they invested money, and he said "By loaning a portion of the deposited money (such as for mortgages) and collecting interest on it, and by investing in stocks and bonds." That seemed like a risky plan to me when I was 14, but it's worked pretty well up until now, so maybe I was wrong about the risk.

But I still don't see how that means that keeping money in a specific bank is safe.

Oh, and she said that even though the news report I saw said specifically that the FDIC was broke, they were WRONG! They also said that some people high in the government had a meeting and said that the problem is fixed (without saying how).

Then she said that the broadcast TV news programs were reporting that the FDIC was broke because the government wanted them to do that.

The US government wants to convince citizens that they're incompetent and failing? Well, we knew they are anyway. 

Did I miss something?

Probably. I was half asleep at the time. It's possible that she didn't say what I think she did.

Then, she called back later to say that when I wrote "Arrrrg" yesterday, I misspelled it, and that it should be spelled "Arrrr."

I want to go back to sleep!

***************************

Somebody in the apartment place I live is moving out, and I got some stuff for almost nothing in their please-don't-make-me-move-all-this sale. 

Once I actually unpack at least most of the stuff I've been slowly unpacking for the past year, I should have a workable bedroom. And maybe I can find some stuff to sell.

Monday evening, we will have four more episodes of Lost. And I found a really zany article about the show online here. It favors the explanation that Lost actually has it's plot taken from an episode of Red Dwarf.

And, speaking of Red Dwarf, more news about the revival.

The same blog has a post about talking like a space pirate, too.

This all comes from a fabulous blog (news site?) I just found called io9.

The wit and the news keeps rolling on this not-to-be-missed site. I even found an article about Fringe being the most reassuring show on TV.

The new Primeval is about to come on BBC in America, and I want to catch it, so I'm going to stop writing now.

In the meantime, I hope you're having a great weekend!