Mr. Upstairs and the Fan Light

I must preface this post by stating that I really like my upstairs neighbor. He's a really good guy and a great neighbor. That said, taken out of context, the stuff we hear from his apartment can lead to some really good stories. The best one is about the Fan Light.

The Ghost Light -- a True Story of City Living

Several years ago, we installed ceiling fans with lights and remote controls in the kids' rooms. We did this ourselves after investing in a Milwaukee hammer drill and, also after having watched a maintenance worker install 3 others in the apartment.

We waited to install the fans until the heat got too hot to bear. We were going to wait until Little Squid had out grown the stage that might have him lassoing the fan but we'd still be waiting and springtime can get pretty hot.

Amazingly enough, they went up pretty easily and spun fairly smoothly. A year later, however, Squidette's started exhibiting some alarming behaviors.

Squidette would go into bed around 8 PM, turn out her light and go to sleep. Mike and I would turn to our own beds about an hour later. As a general rule, we'd all remain in our bed for the night.

One night, I woke up around 10:00 PM as I noticed a light in the outer areas. Thinking that I had forgotten to turn one off, I staggered out of bed only to realize that it was Squidette's light. Hmm, I thought as I looked for the remote and turned it off. Maybe she was sleep lighting? Returning to my bed, I forgot about it until the next night. When it happened again.

Mike and I discussed it and started to wonder what our daughter was up to. We spoke to her about it and she was, as expected, clueless.

Going on with our day, we repeated the same patterns and, at about 10:00 had the same outcome. The next night I unplugged her light before she went to bed.

Thinking on it for a few days, we suddenly had an aha! moment as we heard Mr. Upstairs doing some more work on his apartment. He'd been working on it all summer and had done some major demolition and relaid all the wooden floors, doing some lovely work -- he invited us up to see and even gave us a bottle of wine as a "sorry for all the noise."

What if, we thought, Mr. Upstairs had installed a ceiling fan / light with remote control? The local Home Depot had one major brand of this fixture and all of the remotes came set to the same default. We'd left Squidette's fan on the default setting while changing Little Squid's setting.

If Mr. Upstairs had installed a fan with remote and had not changed his settings, could he be triggering Squidette's light? After all, his fan/light would be on his ceiling, but Squidette's was under his floor -- closer then the ceiling.

Bumping into him a few days later, we asked. Yup, he'd installed the same brand of fan / light with remote. Nope, hadn't changed the settings. We explained the problem and politely asked him to do change the settings. He looked at us as if we were weirdos and we went our separate ways.

A few days later, we changed the settings on Squidette's remote.

I really do like my upstairs neighbor -- we got closer a year or so later. One day I will share these stories with him ... or not.

Apartment Living

I love living in a large apartment building. There are many reasons, including a 24 hour maintenance staff, but last night I found a new reason to love my home ... sound transmission.

Some time around 9:30 last night, I finally decided to wash up while Mike watched the last quarter of the Superbowl. While I was in our bathroom, quietly washing my face and brushing my teeth, I heard a huge shout from our upstairs neighbor.

Rushing into the living room I gasped "did the Giants just lose?" Nope, replied my sanguine husband, "they just ..." and he proceeded to describe some sort of amazing play. Noting the score -- the Giants were still losing -- I returned to my ablutions and was changing into my p.j.s when I heard another, actually several, huge, outbursts from upstairs.

As I reentered the living room, Mike looked at me and said "you might as well stay up -- Mr. Upstairs is not going to let you get any sleep." This was punctuated with what was obviously a foot hitting the floor (ceiling) above our heads and a shout so loud it made us both laugh.

I stayed out and worked on my vest until the Giants won and then attempted to go to sleep. While the noise upstairs abated to more normal levels, I think Mr. Upstairs was mostly alone or only had a few friends over, the noise outside rivaled New Year's eve.

Definitely an interesting night in New York.

Spinning on Sunday

Feeling like I had to finish a project today, and deciding that the vest probably needed a bit more time, I took to spinning.

I turned this,

into part of this (part of one bobbin) which finished off the 8 ounces of Berrylicious Merino that I bought from Dave many, many months ago. I might ply it next week.

Then I totally wiped down my wheel, removing years of built up oil / fiber gunk and reloaded with some Ingeo roving that has been aging in the stash for a while. It took some time to get the hang of it. This is a very fine, slippery fiber with a staple length of 1.5 to 2 inches or so. The resulting single is relatively thick (think a thin sock yarn) and kind of hard.
I finally figured out a predrafting method that allowed me to spin without it breaking up. It will be interesting to see how it plys up. I'm thinking that it might make a small, slinky scarf. There is only 2 ounces of it but the small bit I spun went a long way.

***

Even the stuffed animals get into the act around here.

Don't Look Back!

Or you might embarrass your kids!


Now to stop cleaning (hard drive) and get to my knitting!

Yesterday ...

was not nearly as amusing for the family Squid as it was for Dave. Go on over an have yourselves a nice laugh. I'll wait for you to come back.




Dang! Lost half my readership!

Oh well, my tales of driving to City Island, saying a teary farewell to a colleague who is suddenly retiring and then driving back through the pouring rain with no real idea of how to get back to my island, is not nearly as interesting as Football Squares. Nor are my cute tales of little kids melting down on the talent show stage and then pulling it together to actually perform ... followed by a wonderful brag about my own kid playing Elenore Rigby as part of a group of 5th graders in same talent show and the fact that I actually made it in time to witness the performance despite said driving experience.

Nope, nothing I can say can top Football Squares today.

I think I have to go knit a Football Square now ... or maybe get Mike to bake one ...

Movin' Right Along

Look! Progress on the blanket! Only another 14 inches or so before I start the picture.

In other news, Little Squid just asked if we had gun cleaning solvent and I was able to answer "yes." What does that say about me? (I have it because apparently mice like the taste of it so I use it as bait when they are ignoring peanut butter.)

Oops, better call the Maytag Repair Man

After seeing this commercial,

Little Squid had to make this for his dad.

(Look closely)

Papa Squid's reaction?
"AWESOME!!!"

Healing Kids and Stitch Markers

Thank you all for your well wishes for the kids' recoveries and on their performances. Both are feeling a bit better and Little Squid will return to school today. And my generous children? They gave me their cold! Sniff, sniff, cough, cough.

Yesterday's mail brought the last of my stitch marker splurge. See? One set is called "Penguin Wannabe" and the other ... yeah, I don't remember but aren't they pretty?One of the other fishies broke last night. Oh well. I think that almost has to be expected with glass stitch markers. It was cute while it lasted.

Sick Day ...

... actually a half sick day. Mike will be home in an hour or so to relieve me so that I can go take care of some business at work. Little Squid is curled up on the couch next to me, sick and miserable. This is the first time I have kept him home from school for illness in several years. Squidette was not 100% either but she was in good enough shape to go to school and has an assessment after school that she has to be at. She's been "off" for a week now and is finally showing signs of feeling a bit better. So that means that yes, they both performed yesterday while feeling icky.

I'm antsy right now and I really don't know why. I put some time in on assembling the school blanket. Not a lot of time, but some. My goal is to put a few blocks together every day this week and maybe have it done in 10 days or so. My students keep asking about it so I really should get cracking. I also knit a few rows on Squidette's blanket. It is a project I can do while reading so it is better then the vest right now. I did finish the back of the vest yesterday and am working on the left front now. The end is in sight if I do not get distracted by other projects and sick kids.

Now a bit more knitting before Mike comes home and I have to leave for my meeting.

Squidette In Concert

(This is take 2. I blew it the first time and forgot to actually record. The accompanist and Squidette humored me by doing it again after the rest of the families left. She was much better the first time out. Trust me, she really was. )

Little Squid in Concert

A Hat

To keep my daughter warm.

Pattern slightly modified from this.

Yarn: leftover Cascade 220 Superwash from the sweater I knit for her last spring.

Now back to knitting my vest.

***

Tomorrow -- Violin Recitals!

More Granola and Some Stitch Markers

My stitch markers are starting to arrive. Only one package is outstanding and it is making its way across the border from Canada.
This should give you an idea ... 4 each of the ducks, 5 of the teapots, 4 sheep (one black), four gold fish and the other sea creatures.

Today also saw the arrival of a miss-shipment of more granola. It was supposed to be a different flavor. They said we could keep it and are sending out the correct order.
With the granola, came a complimentary T-shirt. Now we can show our true feelings about this granola.
To answer your questions ...

The reason that we ordered 26 pounds of granola (the Maple Almond flavor) is because we both eat it as part of our breakfast and Mike uses it for lunch as well. I add it to plain yogurt with a bit of honey. Mike adds it to his morning oatmeal and to his lunchtime yogurt. Our usual purveyor of it tends to go through dry spells and neither of us has found a comparable substitute. Mike has a back up granola but I am a girl of habit and like to have my breakfast taste "just right" to quote a certain golden haired porridge stealer. So, after the last two trips to Fairway failed to yield our favorite flavor, we finally caved and ordered it on line.

I'll let you know when it is time to order again.

Thanks for Making My Day

Two, count them, two other bloggers awarded me the "You Make My Day" award, citing my NYC posts among other things. Thanks Cat and Dee! You two made my day!

With this award comes the obligation to bestow it on others.

So, in no particular order ...

Susan for giving me a glimpse of life in Oklahoma and for being a shoulder to cry on when I really needed it.

Cookie for her no-holds barred approach to griping about life. Sometimes you just have to tell it like it is. She is also an amazing fast and amazingly good knitter.

Sarah for inspiring me on the biking front as well as on the knitting front. Her pictures make me really want to bike in New England.

Debby, another cycling knitter for organizing the Tour de France knit-along this summer. The day-by-day summaries were a must read for the entire Tour.

Kristen, yet another cycling knitter (see a trend here) for inspiring me to get off my rear and work on preventing osteoporosis.

Dave, for his amazing photography and way of spinning a tale. Love that Ms. Lulu.

There are so very many blogs in my google reader, but these are just a few that I make sure to click through to every day. Thank you all for making my day!

A Little Granola Anyone?

26 pounds.

Nah, we're not choosy. Nope. Not us.

Public Service Announcement

Life is too short ... go tell someone how much they mean to you today while they are still around to appreciate it.

Go ahead, call them, I'll wait.

...

Well? Who did you call? Were they nearby? Did you give them a real or virtual hug?

Me? I got some good news that moved me to tears. And then called her back to tell her just that.

Just a little PSA from your friendly neighborhood Squid.

***

Mom, Dad ... I do not know what life would look like without you. And I really don't want to find out! (Sibs, same goes for you all.)

Books Without Paper

A few months ago, Mike started looking into Amazon's Kindle . The Kindle is an electronic book reader that is supposed to have a really good look and feel to it. Mike's main objection was that he wanted them to come up with a book swap program so that he could send back his paper versions and get the electronic free -- or maybe reduced cost. The logic being, of course, that he had already purchased the book. The cost and our lack of need for yet another gadget may also have convinced him to hold off on the purchase.

I liked the idea but it is yet another gadget to schlep around. And, I doubt that they will make knitting books available initially. Yes, I read popular fiction, lots of it and I have now found a great (for me) way to procure my "girlie books" and mysteries without having to schlep to the library and tote around paper that may very well be harboring those same buggies that I am trying to kill. (Yes, I am a bit obsessive these days. My obsessiveness did not stop me from requesting a copy of More Sensational Socks when Mike went to Borders yesterday.)

I also like to read while I knit and balancing a book on my lap (and keeping the pages from flopping about) can be somewhat awkward. Doesn't stop me from doing it, but it is a bit cumbersome. I also love to read on the subway but hate schleping extra weight so over the years I have experimented with reading books on my Palm. Initially I was getting them from Project Gutenberg which led to reading a lot of Louisa May Alcott for a while.

Then I discovered that the New York Public Library has the electronic version of TONS of books available for free download. They only stay active for 3 weeks so taking out a virtual stack of books is not a good idea if you are a slow reader. When I first discovered this, I only downloaded the books to my Palm and ran into the deadline issue. If my phone is the only place I am reading a book, it takes a very long time to finish because I am not likely to pick it up at home and I just do not ride the subway that often these days.

Then I realized (about a week ago) that I could read the books on my laptop. Woo Hoo! Using Mobipocket, I load the book and view about half a page of text at eye level while I knit away. I went through two books this way this weekend. Understand now how I injured myself?

Yesterday, during the usual "have to kill time while kids are in religious school" time, I took myself to the public library, found a comfy chair, propped my Palm on my lap, put the book (same one I am reading on my laptop) on "scroll" mode and knit away. Finished the toe of a sock. Yes, it was a bit odd to do this in the library but hey, it was a library book.

I'm in heaven! Now to see what they have in non-fiction ...

Jammed!

"...It appears to be Jammed!"

"Jammed ... Raspberry."

"There's only one man who would dare give me the Raspberry. LONE STAR!" (From Spaceballs)

Or perhaps my husband. Left on the counter from making the kids' lunches. And found on my finger.

Knitting Injury

Knitter down! Seems I set my goals a little too high this weekend and between trying to surpass them and no obligations, I seem to have given myself a repetitive stress injury to my "throwing" finger. Boo. Maybe Squidette's new hat will not be finished today.

Injuries aside, I had, indeed, set myself goals, not just for the weekend, but for the week. The plan was to knit a minimum of 12 long rows per day (or 3X as many short ones once I split for the back) on the vest. Then, 8 rows per day minimum on Squidette's blanket. The hat got started last night when my brain could no longer process knitting instructions. The hat is all knit. That's probably where I did myself in.

Fear not -- just the act of typing this post seems to have loosened up the joint a bit but I won't push it. No knitting until after breakfast. And then ... maybe some spinning instead.

Sitting Alone in the Dark

Until just a moment ago, I was sitting alone in the dark. Now I have filled the darkness with the light of a single bulb -- and am still alone.

No, I'm not being metaphorical.

I got up at 6:15 and came out to have my tea in a still quiet living room. As is my wont, I did not turn on the lights but made the tea in the dark and then sat at my computer to read blogs. The light of the screen was plenty.

Until I had to plug in one of those spam preventer codes while commenting on a blog! I am not sure enough of my touch typing to do one as complex as this one was without looking at the keys. Hence the single bulb in my reading light.

Now I guess I'll read blogs and knit on my vest.