Squidly Office

I had the opportunity the other day to photograph the controlled chaos that is Z's office. It is far more creative and much more interesting then my own office, so I thought I'd share.

Trebuchet

Captain Underpants, Klein Bottle

ChthuluDust Puppy, Egg Kalidescope, Magic 8 Ball

Papa Squid is a unique teacher. If you ever bump into someone who graduated from Stuyvesant High School after 1992, ask them about Mr. Z. You should get some interesting stories.

Feel free to ask questions about the various bits and pieces. Most have interesting stories behind them.

A Walk in the Snow Slush

Today was one of those rare work days when I was not at school at all due to back to back meetings downtown. Since I hate to drive and park in that area, I did what any sane New Yorker would do, I took the subway.

On my way back uptown for another appointment I decided to treat you all to some pictures of "Manhattan, the Day After."Not a pretty sight.

O.k., we do have some beauty ...

Central Park

(Courtesy of my totally flaking and winding up on the wrong train and thus having to walk across town in subfreezing temperatures.)

Wollman Rink (site of my Aunt and Uncle's first date)

The Pan Am MetLife Building (And the really pretty building in front of it)

The Chrysler Building -- my absolute favorite in terms of architecture.

Neat sculpture -- see the snow?
There are more but it is bedtime now. Tune in tomorrow for ... The Kiss!

Eww or Aww?

When I first became the Supervisor of Physical Education (don't all laugh now) I imposed on the person of the same title at Papa's school. She invited me downtown for a day of instruction in the fine points of observing P.E. teachers. At the time, my youngest sibling was a senior in said school and each period that I was there, she hunted me down and found me. And called me old.

Being the mature elder sibling, I took revenge in the only way possible. Remembering a complaint from Sis the younger regarding all of the people who made out in front of her locker, I corralled Papa Squid and ... made out in front of her locker.Her reaction? Ewww! Why? Because her teacher/brother-in-law and her sister were kissing? Because we did a dip thing while kissing? Because there was full mouth contact involved? Nope. Because we were old!

Recently I found myself back at Papa Squid's school for a meeting. (The city holds lots of meeting there because they have both space and technological capacity.) During a break in the proceedings I wandered up to his classroom and kissed him in full view of his students. The reaction ... Awww! He then introduced me as the knitter of his socks and pulled up his pants to show off Bender and Zoidberg.

Not-so Cold Squid

Turns out I over dressed. This morning I donned silk long-johns (tops and bottoms), silk sock liners, wool pants, wool socks and an alpaca sweater. This kept me fairly toasty while cleaning the ice off of the car (when supplemented with a heavy jacket, cashmere hat, two scarves, fingerless mitts and alpaca/wool mittens). Once in my office I discovered that things were cool but not overly cold. As long as I was in my office I was actually pretty comfy.

A day at my computer, however, was not what I had planned and while my office was unheated, the rest of the school was not (unheated). After just 20 minutes in the gym I was glowing. Another hour of roaming the building had me doing some decidedly unlady-like sweating. Retreating to the ladies room, I removed the silk and was much cooler for the rest of the day ... until I had to reline to make sure the kids did not toss snowballs at each other during dismissal.

Yes, we finally had some "real" snow if you can call 6 hours of sleet followed by two hours of flurries real snow. It really is not good for making snow balls and was a pain to clean off my windshield before going home.New York City Snow. It isn't pretty. (One of these days I will give you a pristine snow picture. My city can be pretty, before people start driving in it.)
Yesterday I was presented with this:

Squid do not celebrate Valentine's Day. Something to do with all of the people eating calamari on this day. We do, however, attempt to do for others every day and today was no different. I figure that my 15 minutes of nagging teens to put on their hats and mittens was a good deed. That or maybe the few extra minutes I took after dismissal to teach a young man to knit so he could make something for his mom for her birthday. And I share the candy I was given. *g*

And finally, some studious Squid.

Cold Squid

Earlier today a teacher noticed a drip in his classroom. The leak was traced to ... wait for it ... my radiator. When given a choice of no heat or heat and a classroom that has to be evacuated due to "rain" (and the brand new floor being ruined) I always opt for no heat. (Yes, I have had to make the decision before with other people's offices.)

I think wool socks and long underwear are in order for the rest of the week. Correction ... the rest of the winter.

It took over 3 hours for the custodians to disconnect my radiator. It is probably an original and did not want to be retired. The guys started with a normal sized wrench and some WD-40 and progressed to the extra-large wrench and then finally, the saw. The problem preventing the disconnection? A bent nipple. (The link is to hardware and is not obscene.)

This, of course, sent my knitters into fits of uncontrollable giggles.

In other news, the teens in question asked me if the knitting club was the best part of my week and I had to confess that yes, it is. Tomorrow we will have two more muppet hats and today a kid learned to cable. Yes I love these kids!!!

Squid Who Study

As traditionally educated Squid, Papa and I have a fairly low opinion of the math curriculum in the schools that the Squidlings attend. We are of the "drill and kill" school of thought -- the attitude that repetition is necessary to make the basics automatic.

To that end, Papa Squid (by license, a teacher of Mathematics) procured two sets of math books from a well regarded company. Most nights he yells "math books" and the squidlings come out of their rooms and dutifully attend to their math. Tonight a new rule was instituted. Not only do the squidlings have to do their math, but the parental Squid also have to study.

Now Papa Squid is always reading non-fiction and educating himself. I, too, tend toward self-education but my areas tend to be a bit more soft-core, according to himself. Knitting, weaving, and crafts in general were ruled out. A suggestion of "New York City History" was met with laughter. And so this evening I found myself reimmersed in Richard Dawkins' The God Delusion. Before you all start telling off Papa Squid you must realize that I do want to read this book but tend to put it aside in favor of pretty much any decent novel. There are several other books on tap that I have intended to read so this daily 20 minute study period will force me to focus for a change. That said, I did manage to prop the book open and knit a bit on Little Squid's scarf while I read. And yes, I did absorb what I was reading and even kept on reading when time was up, until I reached the end of my section.

Now for some serious fair isle knitting!

A Lamb in Wool Clothing

I promised pictures of objects in progress and pictures you shall have. But first some NYC.

one of my favorite billboards. The ad is painted directly on the building and is changed every six months or so. I love seeing the building change to its pre-ad coating of white paint with the outlines slowly emerging as the artists on the scaffold make their way down the building. Guessing what will emerge keeps me interested for the week or so that it takes the new ad to come to life. This one has been up for two or three months now so we should get a new one about summer time.

Then we have Madison Square Garden with One Penn Plaza in the background. I spent many weeks working in One Penn as a temp receptionist/telephone operator. Papa Squid and I made out in front of it while we waited for my train back home in the evening. (Sorry, Daddy) I landed gigs there two summers in a row and it was, I admit, some of the easiest money I ever made.

The first time I worked there was between my freshman and sophomore years in college when I nearly froze my bottom in the computer center for a major insurance company. The switchboard was there temporarily, the phones rarely rang because most people used direct extensions and no one ever came in to our area so I got to spend most of my days studying calculus. With that much time to study, I got an A!The following summer I spent two weeks there studying biochemistry but did not do nearly as well. I did, however, fall madly in love with Papa Squid that very same summer.

Now to the promised knitting ... Serving as model is Lamby, a long time member of the Squid family. I have promised not to reveal which of us she belongs to.
Knit Picks Tulip and Gingham socks for Fair Isle February. This is the second sock, the first finished a long, long time ago. They might even fit Squidette when I am done. (The first was too big the last time we tried it on.)
Mermaid Socks for the Dave-Along. This is only the first but they will be anklets so once I can dedicate myself to them they should go quickly.A scarf to match Little Squid's hat and mittens. You can see why Mermaid is taking a back seat to a cold Squidling.

And just for fun, an elephant.
Dumbo belongs to another Squid and the ear warmer belongs to Squidette. I actually finished the knitting months ago but just hid the ends yesterday.

For those wondering, Squidette did not make it into the music camp she auditioned for. Instead, I think we will forgo camp this summer and travel. We will also finally paint the common rooms.

Some Finished Objects, Some NYC and Mama Squid Cooks

Despite my repeatedly proclaiming that I would finish an old project before starting a new one, I have to admit that I did it again. Presenting a bumblebee hat to match Little Squid's mittens. We even picked up more Lamb's Pride to make a matching scarf.

After finishing the hat, the kids and I headed out to the Radical Lace and Subversive Knitting exhibit at the Museum of Arts and Design. The exhibits were really wild and we all enjoyed the show.
Then on to visit Pooh and Friends at the Donnell branch of the New York Public Library. Please follow the link, I took a picture and then read the restrictions on such photos so I am not posting it. These are the original stuffed animals that inspired the Pooh tales that we Squid love so very much. Nothing like their Disney counterparts, these are obviously well loved friends and I feel so lucky to have them in my town.

A short walk ...

MOMA

American Folk Art Museum

A little lunch ...

And then Mama cooks dinner ...
And it was edible!

Dave-along and Fair Isle Along updates tomorrow.

Squirrel Love

O.k., loving me, not each other. I can't get pictures of them on top of the air conditioner.
Yes, these were taken through very dirty glass with a cell phone so the quality is not the best. I will take an oath attesting to the fact that this guy is just waiting for me to open my window so he can steal my post-its.

On Wednesday when I did not have time to eat, he teased me by gnawing on a bagel out there. Truly a New York squirrel.

Just TRY to renew that ebook

Three weeks ago I downloaded a Lisa Scottoline book to my Treo. I figured that three weeks was more then enough time to read it during spare moments. I read it while waiting for my lunch, I read it on the subway (the one or two times I took it) and that was about it. Two thirds of the way through the book, it expired.

This morning I thought I would see what happens if you try to check out the same ebook two times in a row. In to the NYPL website I went. The book was available (yes, ebooks can be unavailable) so I checked it out and downloaded it. Then came the transfer to my device. That is when everything went bad. My Treo rebooted, and rebooted, and rebooted, endlessly. Even a soft reset didn't stop it. Even a medium reset didn't stop it. Even a hard reset stopping short of wiping all memory didn't start it. Wiping the memory worked. Blah. Fortunately the hot sync that mucked everything up had also caused all of my information to be saved to my computer. One more hot sync and I was golden.

Later I finally got up the nerve to try opening the book and it worked -- it was even on the correct page!

From now on I will stick to Project Gutenberg books and skip the hassle of the library due dates.

Skirting the Issue

On Monday and Tuesday I work a suit. A "proper" suit with a skirt, hosiery and heels. The theory was that this is more professional than a pants suit and when your school is being reviewed, you want to look professional.

My question now is: why is a "skirt-suit" considered more professional than a pants-suit? What is it about a tailored skirt that makes people take a woman more seriously? And, should a person reviewing said people in skirts actually think less of them when the weather is below freezing?

Please, I am dying to know the answers. Both my boss and I wore skirts on days when the outside temperatures ranged from 10° to 25° . Today, we both wore pants.

*****
The Second School Blanket

Another stack of blocks came in from my most prolific knitter and others are still working on them. The third blanket will have several crocheted pieces as well as knit blocks. A couple of my staff have donated abandoned crochet projects for our effort. Hey, it works for me.

Thanks to Anne for her recent donation of fun fur for the chemo cap project!

Murphy's Law

The last two days have been beset by Murphy's Law. Nothing horrible happened, just annoying stuff that, when added to the Quality Review, made life that much more stressful.

New York City has instituted an annual Quality Review for all public schools. I will not go in to the details but it made for a stressful two days. To add to this ... the boiler froze on Monday. The other school in the building could not go out for recess due to the extreme temps and were a tad louder then usual. Our own kids were obviously under the effect of the full moon from the other day. On Tuesday it seemed that a migraine epidemic was underway. Little Squid woke up with one at 5 a.m. and kept us guessing as to whether it would be gone enough by departure time. When we finally decided that Papa would stay home with him -- and Papa had called in to work -- the worst faded and Little decided he could go to school. Papa rescinded his sick call and, as he mounted his bike ... got a migraine.

Little Squid's migraine through me off my usual morning routine so that I forgot to take the new "school" blanket and Sis's hat to work. The blanket was finished in time for yesterday's club meeting which was partly postponed because of the club fair, which, due to circumstances beyond my control, I did not manage to get to. As for the hat ... I was supposed to mail it yesterday. Um ... I'll try to get it in the mail tomorrow.

Meanwhile, for the Teen Knitting fans ...

Scarf made from yarn donated by KnittyOtter.

Tune in later for pictures of the second school blanket. I plan on using it to warm my legs in the car on the way to work this morning.

Cold, Cold, Cold!

Temperature at time of departure: 10°
Temperature upon arrival at work: 12°

Status of heat at work: none.

Yup. That is how the day started. The problem? The oil filter in the temporary boiler ... get this ... froze. The technician was able to make an immediate diagnosis and the building was starting to warm again by 9 a.m. This will not happen again. You really do not want to hear how I know that this will not happen again. It is not an environmentally friendly solution. It will, however, guarantee that our students and staff can walk around without hats and mittens on.

My squirrelly employee kept coming by and sunning himself on my window sill. I would swear that he was waiting for me to open the window so he could come in and warm up.

Squid on Strings

I promised you mushy mommy and mushy mommy you shall have.

Preparing for the concert.Taking a bow.Final notes.

I suggested that Mike put the video on YouTube but fear not, you are spared. Both children performed as only Squid can. Few mistakes, played at tempo (a concern with Little Squid) and generally making the other parents say "wow." They are not child prodigys but are quite respectable nonetheless.

After, we treated them to lunch at their favorite dinner and came home to do the laundry. Therein lies a tale which proves just how much I am capable of deluding myself.

Back story:

Yesterday I forced myself to clean the turtle tank and goofed a little. To drain the tank I use a siphon system that attaches to a sink and uses the force of the tap water to pull the dirty water through fifty feet of tubing and dump it down the sink drain. This system worked great in my mother-in-law's apartment when she and I cleaned her humongous fish tank. When we took the tank, we also took the system. The tank has since been donated to a school but we kept the siphon system after getting a larger turtle tank.

Using the system involves hooking it up to a sink in a far away bathroom -- totally out of sight of the tank being emptied. In the past, I have successfully used it, all by myself, to clean the turtle habitat. So, knowing that it was possible, and not wanting to disturb Papa Squid, I set it up and sucked all of the very dirty water out of the tank. This I did with only one or two visits to the bathroom. Once the tank was almost empty, and seeing that Papa was heading into the bedroom anyway, I asked him to turn the water from suck to fill. That was when he found it. The bathroom and bedroom awash in dirty turtle water. Oops. Towels were drafted in to action and the floors were soon brought to a state of tolerable dampness. The same towels were then taken to the balcony to drip-dry until they could be washed.

I should have seen it coming when I first realized that icicles were forming from the water dripping from the towels. Being in denial, however, and still having to finish cleaning the tank, I ignored the signs. Until today.

When we returned from the concert it was time to do the laundry. I gathered up the various soiled items from around the apartment, including from under Little Squid's bed, and headed out on to the balcony, dressed in my parka and mittens. The fact that I had bundled up for this activity should have warned me. The fact that the temperature today had never broken freezing should have been another sign. Nope, I was still in denial.I can deny no more. No, Papa Squid is not fluffing the towel. Yes, it is staying in that position all by itself. The same goes for those held by Squidette. Yup. Frozen solid. So solid that this is what remains on the balcony.I could not pry them loose of their moorings. (The red bathmat will actually be discarded. It was rather ratty before it got drenched in turtle poop.) Sigh. Maybe next Sunday will be a bit warmer.

Knit-alongs

This month I joined my first Knit-Along. And then I joined my second. And then I tried to figure out how to combine the two. And then I gave up on this "kill two birds with one sock" idea and the result is:

Sis's Hat for Fair Isle February Mermaid Socks for the Dave-Along.
Since there are no rules for either Knit Along, I have made my February the month of Finishing. I hope to finish the Mermaid Socks, and the long abandoned Gingham and Tulip socks which are ... Fair Isle! If I finish both then I would like to start a true Fair Isle or properly stranded sweater or vest. There are four hanks of handspun ombre yarn waiting to become something. I'm just not sure what yet.

Tomorrow: Violin Virtuosos (otherwise known as Squid on Strings).

Proof!

For those of you who still think that my squirrel stories are tall tales, I present proof in form of photographic evidence. Here you see two well gnawed window frames and one that was left alone -- that is the one near the window that they use as the main access to my desk.









My understanding is that these windows are not long for this world and should be history by the end of the month. Then the poor squirrels (not!) will have to sharpen their teeth elsewhere. Perhaps, just maybe, in the park?

In other news, a package of fun fur and needles arrived today from Susan! Included in the package was this:a glossy magazine all about Oklahoma. This is my next reading project. Red Dirt country, here I come! Thank you!

Knitting-wise we have this:a partially completed Boogaj bag

and Sis's hat.

Beware that visiting this blog on Sunday may result in an overdose of proud Mama. Just warning you.