Inauguration!

Yesterday, Washington DC was standing room only!

No kidding!

All of downtown was filled with people to the point that there was only room for them to stand. Well, you know that if you watched the inauguration on TV.

Holly said she looked at the photos of the crowd and was floored. 

I looked at them and something in the back of my brain said "That can't be right." I found myself checking landmarks, thinking that they couldn't be taking those photos where it looked like they were, and it must be someplace smaller. But no. Downtown DC was literally standing room only!

And the commotion extended all the way out to here in Northern Virginia (or NoVA, as the natives refer to it). I was at PRTC (local bus company in PW county) headquarters in Woodbridge, and watched big buses leaving in a constant stream with big signs on the front that said "FREE RIDE DAY." They were headed to the Metro. For people going to or coming from DC on the Metro, buses were arriving at the Springfield station and leaving every minute, apparently all day. I didn't know they had so many buses. The only thing to or from DC yesterday was public transportation. Which was probably a good thing. After all, where would you park?

The local buses were not free yesterday, though. Which I found out since I rode around on three buses yesterday. I took four trips, but caught one of the drivers on the way back on the same bus.

After watching the actual inauguration on TV, I pulled myself together and took the bus to the station and took another bus to Comcast to straighten out the mess. It's not totally straightened out, but at least they're not planning to turn it off at this point, and I can not only watch TV, but blog and use the internet without fear of sudden disconnection. I caught the same bus on it's way back to the station. I've been riding the bus so much that I'm beginning to know all the drivers.

Yesterday, the temperature did not get above freezing at any point. So, I was amazed to watch our new president take the oath wearing a business suit. His only concession to the cold seemed to be warm gloves. I can't imagine how he avoided freezing, but he did look spiffy.

I watched the proceedings on Channel 7, and Holly watched it on 4. We compared notes later and discovered that we had seen very different things because of the way that it was presented. One of the things that I missed, but Holly filled me in on was that he was sworn in with the same bible that Lincoln was sworn in with.

Since I spent my day riding around (it was well after dark by the time I got home), I missed the parade. Holly says that despite the strong resistance of the secret service, Barack and Michelle got out of their bulletproof limo and walked for a couple of blocks, and then did it again for a shorter distance later.

I have been around Washington, DC, one way or another ever since 1964, and I have never seen such a wild frenzy here. I wasn't crazy enough to go downtown, but stories of friends are filtering back to me. It's awe inspiring.

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

I'm halfway through the leg of the fourth stocking. This is what it looks like from the front.

This is what it looks like from the back. Please note that I have darned in the ends from the colorwork at the top. The ends from the name and date, and the ends from the edge between the white of the "snow" and the red of the body of the stocking. The mess you see here is just from the tree and Santa designs.

This is why I don't like to do colorwork. I can't just knit. 

I have to keep stopping to count. And cut new lengths of yarn for a new color section. And wind bobbins. Then unwind parts of bobbins so I can knit a few more stitches. And periodically stop completely and spend an hour untangling the mess and darning in ends because the yarn ends have gotten too unmanageable to continue unless I do. 

Once I get past the colorwork on the leg, the rest is simple. Just knit. Well, and there's some shaping, too, but that's easy. And it doesn't require untying a bad tangle and darning in ends.

Actually, I took the photo a while ago, and in the meantime I've darned in most of the ends and gotten further. Only one more complete stocking to go!

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

Haunted has been on the SciFi daytime rotation all today, and Doctor Who will be on Friday's fare. Those episodes will include Tooth and Nail, and School Reunion, which show the inception of Torchwood and the beginning of The Sarah Jane Adventures, respectively.

Which reminds me of the Leverage episode last night. They suddenly find they need some aliases, and they go through "Sylvester McCoy" and decide on "Tom Baker" and his wife, "Sarah Jane." Who says they don't have a sense of humor?

SciFi is starting two reruns on it's Friday night line-up starting this week. Look for Invasion and Moonlight on Friday.

They're both good series.

Invasion is about a first contact situation during a hurricane in Florida. It started on the air right before Hurricane Katrina, and was interesting because you could watch a hurricane aftermath and clean-up both on a TV show and on the news. The show was far more bizarre. Kind of Hurricane Katrina meets the pod people. Although it was very good, it ended after the first season, and they didn't have a chance to wrap up the story successfully, so it was very disappointing that way. I want to watch it over again, though.

Another really good show that ended after the first season was Moonlight, about a vampire private investigator. It starred Alex O'Loughlin as the most likeable vampire ever, Mick St. John. This one is beyond description, it's so good. You really need to watch it. They didn't get a chance to wrap this one up successfully, either, but it's easy to assume that they just went on with their lives (or undeadness). Invasion never got a chance to tie up the loose ends that really needed to be resolved.

I was very unhappy when each of these shows ended.

But the really BIG news on TV is the premier of Lost tonight! This is what everybody has been waiting for!

Enjoy!

I know I will.

And don't forget that Burn Notice will be having it's premier Thursday, too, on USA!

Oh, and Dragon Sword will be on SciFi on Saturday.

Check local listings!

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

After riding around on all those buses yesterday in sub freezing temperatures, with a 20 mile-an-hour wind with who knows what kind of chill factor in order to pay my Comcast bill, Comcast thought it was necessary to call me today and ask if I'd like to make a payment. This is just another example of their substandard everything. I wish I could change to another provider.

Oh, well, it's supposed to go above freezing tomorrow, and I might even go out voluntarily under those conditions. I still have money on the Michaels card that Malaia and John gave me, and I'm thinking about using it for some sock yarn. Yes, I really want to take a break from knitting Christmas stockings with knitting socks! Even though it sounds crazy. I also have to get busy on the photos for the cover of Volume 2 of the Steve Canyon series. Busy, busy, busy!

Have fun with Lost tonight and Burn Notice Thursday!

Martin Luther King Day

Yes, I knew it was Martin Luther King day, but I didn't stop to think about the ramifications.

I was all set to go over to Comcast and wrangle with them about my service, but luckily I called first. I got messages that they didn't have anyone to talk to me due to being closed for the holiday. The messages also said that they would be open tomorrow. So, I guess I'll have to deal with it then. I'd rather watch the inauguration tomorrow.

I discovered that I actually did forget to make a payment. But some of the problem is them. I made a payment through their website, and they not only didn't credit it to my account, they didn't collect it. I think their website is malfunctioning. The other part of the problem is that the website was only telling me about current charges, and didn't tell me that there was any more I owed until this month.

If they'll let me make payment arrangements, it'll be OK, but if they want it all right now or they're going to turn it off, then we'll be parting company because I don't have it all right now.

I'll talk to them tomorrow.

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

In the meantime, I've been knitting like crazy on my Christmas stocking commission. Here's where I was on the third stocking yesterday morning.

I have a couple more rows on the toe, kitchner it together, sew up the back, give it a light blocking and add the stars and loop for hanging and I'll be done with this one. The second one needs the pom poms and the loop for hanging. I'll be starting the fourth one in a bit, and hope to finish them all in a little over a week from now. I can use the money.

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

For all you Lost fans, there will be six episodes of Lost on the SciFi Channel tonight starting at 5 pm and running until 11. And, of course, the premier will be on Wednesday evening on ABC.

I can't find any information on The Middleman as far as whether it will be out on DVD or will be brought back for another season, so I copied two of the episodes off of my DVR last night. Comcast messed up most of them so badly that they're unwatchable, but I had forgotten how low my standards have gotten since I have Comcast.

One of the episodes had sound that went off and on during their broadcast. It has to be watched with closed captioning on unless you're a lipreader, and some of the action wouldn't let you do that. The shows are so good, though.

I have to go do something productive now, so I'll post again sometime soon (depending on whether I still have an internet connection).

Have a great holiday and a great inauguration day! I hope you get to watch it on TV rather than being here.

Steve Canyon Rides Again!

For all you Steve Canyon fans out there, there's a new article about it up on the internet at this address, and it's a great review. There's even a photo of the cover I did.

And the second volume is in progress. I am downloading files for the cover as we speak. I have a fast internet connection (at least for the moment), and the first file says it will take four hours to download. Of course, it said that about a half an hour ago, too. Then there are two more files to download after that.

But the covers are going to be wonderful!

It's gone up to four hours and ten minutes for the download.

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

John is going to be going to Dayton, Ohio to The National Aviation Hall of Fame for an event to honor Milton Caniff (among others), and they'll be showing a Steve Canyon episode. There's lots more info if you follow the link.

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

I was talking to Holly just a little while ago. Her car still isn't fixed, and at this point, she's hoping that it won't be fixed before Wednesday. She lives close enough to the inauguration that her car was towed the last time around. They have told her and people on her street that they will not be towing cars this time, but that's what they said the last time and they towed anyway.

All the bridges between Northern Virginia and DC are being closed down, and most of the major highways are also being closed in this area. 295/395, and a list of others. You can only reach DC from Maryland now (or soon). 

Hotel rooms and other accommodations sold out long ago. People in Holly's area are selling crash space (enough space on a floor to lie down) at $100 each, and some people are putting up tents and selling space outside. With the high for today at 23 F, that sounds dangerous to me. I'm hearing rumors that some accommodations are going for as high as $400, and we're not even talking hotel room, here. 

Restaurants in DC are allowed to be open 24 hours for the duration, and bars are allowed to close at 4:30 am. Most of the bar operators really want to close earlier than usual, though, due to the situation. And restaurants probably won't be staying open for the whole time they're allowed to, so food and drink may be in short supply, too.

Holly works almost across the street from the White House, and they will be closed down all day on Monday and Tuesday. She has no fonder wish than to just stay at home until Wednesday, although she may have to go out to Safeway for supplies.

She was hoping to go out with me and get some yarn for a knitting project last weekend, and that never happened, so she won't be knitting on that project. But, she's got her new, wall-sized TV and new BluRay player with some new discs to play on it, and games to play on the computer and TV, so I don't think it will be too much of a strain for her. She plans to watch the inauguration on TV in the comfort of her own living room. I'll probably be watching it on my dinky little 19 inch TV, too. And we'll have a better view than the crazies that will be out there freezing.

I have 7 pizzas in the freezer (sale), ramen noodles, and lots of Chicken and Stars soup, so I'm dealing with the cold, too.

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

I've been steadily working my way through the irreplaceable stuff on my DVR, copying to DVD the stuff that I would like to buy, but that isn't for sale anywhere.

ABC Family is giving out no information on The Middleman. They haven't said that they're either picking it up for next season or not, and nobody has mentioned Middleman and DVD in the same sentence until I did it just now. So, I want to copy the few episodes of it that Comcast didn't manage to mess up so badly that they're unwatchable. If it ever becomes available on DVD, I promise I'll buy it. The same thing goes for some things that I'd dearly love to buy, but that aren't available.

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

I've also been working my way through the Christmas stockings I'm doing on commission. I'm about halfway through the third one (time-wise), so I'm about half done. I'm almost at the bottom of the leg on the third one.

The leg part is very time consuming. There's lots of combination intarsia and fair isle in color. So, it's not just knitting. It's stopping and winding bobbins with new colors, untangling the mess of yarn ends and bobbins frequently, darning in the ends of colors/strands I've finished with so they'll stop tangling with the ones I'm currently working on, and stops several times in each row to see how many stitches I have to knit in the current color before I change to a new one. Once I finish the leg, it's just a standard sock, with about the same number of stitches as a standard sock, so, no big deal. Then there's sewing up the back-of-the-leg seam, blocking and adding the pom poms and hanging loop. I'm finding it easier to do some preliminary blocking on the leg before starting the heel and foot. But there's still blocking to do on the finished stocking.

Pictures soon. I know I keep saying that, but it's been so dark and cold all day, I can't get good pictures in this light. And the flash makes it possible, but not flattering. At some point in time soon, I want to get a slave flash or two.

Here's a rerun of a photo from the second one, in case you want to get an idea of what the stockings look like.

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

Have a great weekend and enjoy the inauguration!