Knitting in the Shadows

Life on the Student Track

Suddenly, I find that every minute is packed.  Mostly that's a good thing.

Yes, it's playing havoc with my ability to keep up with all the TV shows I like to watch, but I think I can survive if I've not seen this week's Closer.

Yes, it is slowing down the knitting and designing process a tad, but it's not keeping me from edging ever closer to binding off Fairy Stars over Diamonds (I'm so close!!).

But -- it's filling my brain with all sorts of wonderful new stuff! I have so much to think about (and talk about), that I'm sort of overflowing with it all.  Best of all,  I'm meeting new people, some of whom are truly delightful, with whom I can discuss this stuff so that I'm not driving my family mad.

Better still, it's not ALL brain work.  True, I'm learning physiology and anatomy and psychology.  And I do have to memorize muscles (among this week's pets: the Levator Scapulae.  They're among the culprits for headaches and are the reason you can't turn your head when you get a stiff neck.)  For each muscle, I need to know it's origin (where it attaches to the bone(s)), and its insertion point (the other bone(s) to which it attaches, and which it moves when flexed), and what it does -- exactly what it does.  It's both pure memorization and useful for the hands on work.

Learning all the muscles means that I understand what I'm massaging. And learning the origins and insertion points helps you remember which way is best to work the muscle (from origin to insertion).

The other part of my week is learning a new sequence of massage.  We started with the back, learning what will become about a 25 minute sequence (when we've learned it well enough to do it without lots of filler strokes to figure out what's next) that pretty much addresses all the back muscles.  Once we learn the sequence, we have to practice it. Each week we have to give a certain number of practice massages, and record what we noticed and/or learned in the process.  My local friends are lapping this up  :-)

At first, I thought this would be awkward.  I also feared I'd find it tiring to wedge in the massages.  Now, I'm thinking I'll be doing far more than the required number.  I mean -- I've fulfilled my obligation for this week, but I've got DAYS until the new week starts.  Surely I can give another one ??? maybe two???  It turns out, the hard part is scheduling them in ways that work for both me and the ... recipient.

Alas, all this fun and studying means that I'm woefully behind in reporting on the Scotland trip.  As I get used to the studying and the memorizing, I'll find more time to do that.  Perhaps tomorrow morning.

For now, I'm off to take another quiz.  I got 18/20 on this morning's quiz. I'm a tad irked that I didn't get them all right, and am dithering over taking advantage of the re-take option. On the other hand, it's hard to complain about an A when I know others are struggling for their C's.

On Customer Service and Unemployment

Every now and then, one gets the urge to blog about something that ... well... maybe one ought not.  Today is one of those days. (Well, actually, I had this day a couple of days ago, drafted a blog entry, and have let it stew.  This post is what happens when you get that urge, let it stew, and edit it a bit before hitting "publish", but don't let it stew long enough to do the smart thing and keep your mouth shut).

As you may or may not know, I'm quietly job-hunting.  Among the upheavals the past year has brought to ShadowLand has been an abrupt and unintended, and therefore premature, retirement.  This means that we're not as financially comfortable as we would most like to be.  Thus, I'm trying to return to the real-time job market.  This is relevant only because it explains why I had the following experience:

Taking full advantage of the joys of the internet, I've applied for a few jobs using sites like Monster.com.  A few weeks ago, I received a phone call from a search firm, evidently related to one of those applications.  I had a lovely, long telephone interview with a fellow who was trying to place someone in a Customer Service Supervisory position here in town.  We discussed my customer service experience, my experience in training/teaching, my supervisory experience, etc. etc.  I felt pretty good about the whole thing. 

At the end of our call, he told me that he'd like to keep in touch with me over the next two weeks as he would be setting up interviews at the employer's site in that time frame.   I felt even better about the whole thing.  I hung up having been given the impression that he thought I would be a good fit for the position, and that barring a flood of folks who were a much better fit, the likelihood was high that I'd be one of the folks he called to interview with his client (to whom, of course, he only sends his best candidates).

I tried not to be impatient.  I placed other calls, applied to other places, but held out hopes of hearing from this person. After all, he had said that he wanted to stay in touch over the next couple of weeks. 

Last Monday, I had the pleasure of interviewing for a different job -- one that feels very like I will love it, working for a fellow whose philosophy I admire and share.  I'm trying very hard not to build my hopes up for that position too much, because I know that he still has a swack of folks to talk to before he reaches a decision.  I have no doubt that he will get back to me, one way or the other, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I'll be joining his team. 

In the mean time, since I am trying to be a responsible job-seeker, I followed up and the end of last week with the first fellow.  As you may recall, this was for a customer service related job.  Our phone call went something like this:

Me:  Hi, I'm calling to follow up on the customer service supervisor position that you had talked to me about two weeks ago.  You had indicated that you wanted to stay in touch over these two weeks, and since that time is running out, I thought I'd call to see how that search was coming.

Him:  Oh yes... we had two folks interview for that and.... let me see... yes, that was filled on the 19th.

Me: Oh.

Him: So what is it you wanted?

(We will ignore, for the moment, that I had already answered that question. We will assume that since that job was filled, and thus no longer important to him, he skipped right past the part of my initial statement that indicated curiosity about a position he'd already filled.)

Me:  Well, I guess I'm kind of surprised not to have heard from you about that position, since you'd told me that you wanted to stay in touch over those two weeks as you set up the interviews.  I guess I thought you'd have told me that you were no longer considering me.

                .......

Him: So, you were looking at customer service work, right?  is this phone call really demonstrating that you'd be a good fit for that?  Is this really how you want to handle a conversation with someone who might be a good resource for you in finding a job?

Me: (pause)  For a customer service supervisor? Yes.  because it demonstrates that I would make sure that the customer service personnell working under me would not leave our customers hanging; I'd be sure they followed up on every situation where they'd created an expectation of hearing back.

Him:  But you aren't my customer.  Job seekers arent' my customers; the employers are.

 

[CUSTOMER SERVICE FAIL]

I guess I was trained differently.  It's my understanding that everyone with whom you interact is your customer: your boss, your co-worker, your subordinate, your clients, the people with whom you interact on behalf of your client, even the UPS guy.  My bad.

Clearly, I have higher expectations for customer service than many folks do. I worry about this country and this time because of what I see in folks' perceptions of what it means to be in a job where customer service is part of the equation.  The first issue that bugs me is the fact that people seem to have lost track of whether their jobs involve customer service at all. A lot of that comes from how one defines "customer", but some comes from what seems like a dwindling of the concept of service.  And that's the second issue: We all seem to want to be served, but no one seems to want to serve.  Oddly, if we all worked more on serving, and less on demanding good service, we'd probably all receive better service.

Alas, I have this pro-active tendency to follow up when I feel that a person who should have been doing at least a little service in his job has utterly failed to do so.  I find the supervisor, and talk to them abou the issue. (Note, my goal is never to get the person in question in trouble, but to find out where my expectations were wrong, and to help the supervisor help his or her staff do a better job, which in turn helps other customers.) 

I'm sure you're not suprised to learn that I followed up on my disappointing phone call by calling and asking to speak to a supervisor.  I explained what happened, and asked for clarifications on what my expectations should have been. As it turns out, they try to get interviewees to the employers within two day thus, my expectation that the two week contact time would be related to the particular job about which he called me was unrealistic.  Alas, all I had to go on was what he told me; and what he told me led me to believe that I was actually in the running for the job I'd applied for.  Additionally, since they never send people to their clients without having had an in-person interview, the fact that he didn't set up such an interview with me for the next day was a clear indication that he'd not actually be considering me for THAT job.  Alas, again, I only had his statement to go on, and his statememt was grossly misleading given the two to three day turnaround time he'd forgotten to mention.

She apologized that the lad had given me unrealistic expectations.  I shared with her my philosophy of who one defines as "customer", and she seemed to agree with me.  I told her that when I was in supervisory positions, I appreciated when I learned about situations in which people walked away from an encounter with my staff that left a bad taste in their mouths - it let me review stuff with the staff so that it didn't happen again.  The fellow's supervisor seemed to agree with me on that front as well.  Evidently, my expectations for customer service aren't THAT much higher than hers -- just his.

 So, I may have burned a bridge with respect to finding gainful employment.  I'm okay with that as long as somehow, his supervisor can help him work on creating realistic expectations when he talks to people, and maybe even following up on the expectations he creates.  At least then no one else will feel as let down by their company as I was.

 

 

 

Lace is saving my license

I have until June 30 to finish watching CLE videos so I can keep my license active.  I have seven hours of video to go...

I find watching a video of a guy talking, well, tedious.  Even if he's talking about something useful and interesting.  If he's not, or if he's a boring speaker, it's almost impossible.  Unless...

Unless I have something to do with my hands that occupies some, but not all, of my brain.  Luckly, Chrysopolis is in the right place that there's very little going on that is not now familiar to me.  So... I can knit my lace and listen to my "videos" (again, they show only a talking head).  When I need to, I stop knitting and look at the outlines that come with the vidoes.

Without this lace project, I would never be able to sit through several hours a day of CLE videos.  And thus, because of Chrysopolis, I have not only gone completely batty watching these things, but I'll be able to finish in time to meet the CLE deadline to keep my license active!

I knew I loved lace!

Trapped at the Keyboard

I am trapped.... trapped at my computer screen.  I'm stuck here watching not-very-entertaining videos.  Why?  Well, because up until Monday, I was a procrastinator extraordinaire, and I kept putting off taking the lovely Continuing Legal Education courses I need to keep my license up to date.  So now... now I'm stuck watching these courses via online videos.

It looks a little like this:

You see there the computer... showing a lovely video on forms of business entities, the diet coke (mandatory beverage don't you know), and the knitting that's keeping me from opening other windows to browse the web instead of staying focused on the video courses.  That's Chrysopolis, for those of you keeping track.

Sometimes, I knit socks instead.  Like, these:

I'm closing in on turning the heel.  And look, they're all matchy matchy even though I'm still working from both ends of the ball.  I'm regretting trying Queen Kahuna's toes instead of doing my own favorites,  but not by a lot.

In the background, you can see the yarn that Bookworm has chosen for her summer sweater.  I think it's going to be a shrug of some sort.  I am even in a good place to start something new, what with having finished Deep Breath last week.  I still don't have GOOD pictures, but here are some that Kitty took ..

I rather liked this, until I noticed that the bottom edge is horridly crooked.   Oh, and that strange-looking fluffliness that seems to be part of my hair is actually a Japanese Maple tree in the back ground.

I just love my expression here... I wish I could remember what I was thinking.

And here, I look a tad haughty.  I know, I know; it's supposed to be about the sweater, not about me. But still.  The sweater is doing it's job being very simple, so I got distracted.  Since it's now actively showing summer weather -- temps dropped to 94 degrees F by 7pm around here, I'll be waiting a few weeks (months?) to don the warm soft alpaca silk blend garment again.

As soon as Natalia's yarn arrives (any day now), I'll return to work on that.  In the mean time.. until the Divine Though Blogless catches up, it looks like it'll be Chrysopolis and Jitterbug for me....

Lamentations of a monogamous knitter.

I'm not a monogamous knitter by nature.  I totally have knitting ADD.  I love it.  I love having all those projects going.  But for now... I'm trying to be a one project kind of gal.  At least until this one project is done.

I'm so serious about this goal that I promised myself that there would be no knitted gifts this year.  None.  Why?  Well, there's this "little project" I'm trying to finish up for Crystal Palace Yarns.    I'm not a speed queen knitter... and life does interfere now and then.  But even so, I'm trying to finish the Weekender Stole before the end of the month.  The original design called for four skeins of yarn.  I'm knitting a slightly wider version, so I anticipate that I'll need about five.  As of this morning, I've gotten close enough to the end of the second ball to put the third one in the project bag for when I leave the house.

I'm still adoring this yarn (Panda Silk, in case you forgot).  I'm still wanting to make something lovely and intended to be worn next to the skin with this yarn.  The yum factor is .... very high.

So... with that much knitting left to do, I have no business whatsoever adding a knitted gift to my list.  Right?  Which is why I'm going to be casting on for a scarf for my beloved Wicked-Evil-Stepmother as soon as I've narrowed the two remaining options down to one.  She wants to wear it not as a keep-your-neck-and-chest-warm-in-the-tundra-that-is-Vermont-Winter, but as a thing to wear over sweaters in the not-always-cozy classrooms in which she teaches.  I tend to think that scarves should be reversible.  Even more so when they're not going to be hidden by coats when they're doing their jobs. So... I scoured Ravelry for reversible scarves, and found the Asherton Scarf, which I quite like.  I also found the Chicabean Scarf, which I like, but which is not reversible.... and have come up with a variation on the theme that I might actually be able to pull into a reversible item.  I'll need to do some swatching to reach the final decision. (But votes are welcome).

I'll be using this

Those are two delicious skeins of Elsbeth Lavold's Silky Wool.  I love me some Silky Wool.  I love this color too.  Someday, I'll knit a whole sweater out of it just for me.  In the mean time... I'm knitting a scarf.

Of course, to get this Silky Wool, I had to go to the LYS.  Lately, I've been good... stopping in to visit and knit without buying yarn.  But... well... I needed new yarn for the scarf because my Beloved Evil-Wicked-Step-Mother had some specific color requirements....  and that got me looking.

I briefly toyed with getting this for her scarf instead....

It's Araucania Ranco.  It's yummy.  And though I tried valiantly, I was unable to leave it at the store.  I think I'll put it in my own stocking....

I managed to justify it thusly:  I do need a new cowl to go with my coat.  A cowl, not a scarf, because a scarf is likely to do grabby things with the dreaded velcro stuff on the front of the coat.  I have no yarn that looks decent with the coat.  I've dithered, was tempted briefly by some Noro, but then found this Manos Silk/Wool blend in yummmy colors.  They looked great with the coat.  Chatting yielded that I might be able to pull said cowl out of one skein, but then again... it could take two.  I'd almost talked myself into it, at $12.50 per skein, when I found this:

This Mirasol Chirapa looks STUNNING with my coat.  And though it too might take 2 skeins, they're HALF THE PRICE of the Manos.  Thus, saving me between $6.25 and $12.50.  So, my Ranco was practically free.  Really.  I mean look at the math!

You will note that the Chirapa and the Ranco are still in hanks, while the Silky Wool is all wound up into center pull cakes?  This is intentional... it's keeping me from casting on with the Chirapa before I knit the scarf.

The weather is testing my resolve though.  I mean seriously -- Sunday evening, it was 53 degrees. Monday morning it was 7. (yes, single digits). Last night, it was in the teens, sleeting at us.  Winter is not skipping us.  I neeeeeed that cowl.....

Ahem.
I'm going back to the Weekender Stole now.

I'm so devoted to it that I even took it with me for my Cytoscopy.  I didn't knit during the procedure of course... I watched the same screen that the doc did, and got to see for myself that my bladder is all healthy.  So today, instead of being 90% sure I don't have bladder cancer -- I'm 100% sure.  Nice thing, surety.  I wonder if it will make me knit faster.

Someone Else's Wisdom... and a Rant

I have a big nasty rant brewing for my not-so-friends at Comcast.  But first...
there's something important anyone who knits, or who knows or loves someone who knits should read.  Go on... I'll wait.  If you read it a day or so ago.... read it again.

It's hard to type with the welling up thing my eyes are doing after reading that.  Franklin's right.  What we do IS important.  And we ARE beautiful.

And since that's true.... why does Comcast have to treat anyone who is stuck with it's services so damned badly!???

I have had connectivity problems with my comcast email since they bought out my former ISP.  (We're talking months here) The server times out.  Over and over again.  But not ALWAYS... so it's an intermittent problem.  So I get to call them.  A lot. Sometimes, they tell me that it's a known problem and they're working on it.  Sometimes they write up a "ticket" and tell me that a tech will call me within 24 -48 hours.  Until yesterday, no techs ever called.  When I got peeved with the shitty service (that included reports logged on my account saying that the problem had been resolved even though no tech ever contacted me, and the problem was still very much there), I asked to speak to a manager type.  Here's what they do for that.

1) The person you're on the phone with logs into his/her computer, and tries to log into a "chat system".  You wait while this happens.

2)  When the person finally gets into the chat system, he or she then has to explain what your problem is, what he or she has done about it, what anyone else has done about it, and why you want to speak to an "acceleration agent".  You wait while this happens.  No matter how long this takes, you wait.

3) Eventually, this request gets sent to someone who decides that you can speak to an acceleration agent.  They then send a telephone extension number to your "customer service" person.  You wait while your person gets this extension number.

4)  The customer service person then attempts to conference you in on a call with the acceleration agent.  But first, you wait while he or she explains stuff again.

I'm not sure what really happens next, because this process takes at least 1/2 an hour.  By the time I got to talk to the acceleration agent I had been on the phone for a total of 50 minutes, and was too angry to speak rationally.  I explained this to her, and asked her to return my call in a couple of hours when I'd be able to behave civilly.  She promised to do so, but seemed to want me to stay on the phone while she put a bunch of stuff in a form.  I hung up.

I hates Comcast.

And they wonder why I don't want to add their phone service to my account.

I likes the tech fellow who came out to my house and solved some of the problems, but he hates their system too.

Oh -- if you're talking to SALES, and not tech support.... you can get a manager almost right away.  I know this because sales keeps calling to try to entice me to add their phone service.  I'm so up for having my phone line be intermittently available.  NOT

And while I'm ranting about folks not doing their jobs..... today I had an appellate argument.  Yep, I got all dressed up in my lawyer suit and drove for an hour an a half to defend an appeal on a case DH had won on summary judgment.
I'd done my homework.  I was primed and ready. 
Opposing counsel (who, it turns out, was in my first ballroom dance class) was primed and ready. 
It didn't seem to me, however, that the panel of judges had done their homework.  I'd be very surprised if they'd read the briefs (why do we write them if they're not going to read them??).  The questions they asked made me wonder if they had any idea what the case was about, who the players were, or what the real issues of law were that they were there to decide.  They'd have known if they'd read the briefs.  I can't say that they were either primed or ready. Either that or they were trying to trip us up somewhere. Harumph. 

I lost a lot of good knitting time preparing for that case.  (But they do allow knitting needles into the appellate court building.)

But tomorrow .... tomorrow I might get to go hang at the yarn shop with Janna, who is in the area for sadder things (and thus safely away from the floodwaters in Iowa), but thinks she'll be able to squeeze in some time for blogger meet up fun.  And better yet.... one of they LYSs is having a 40% off sale on some of her stuff tomorrow.....

Editing is fun .... but lace is better

As I'm editing this book, I get to look at all sorts of source documents.
They bring me strange giggles.

Here are two of the guidelines set forth in the Member Safety section of an Al Qaeda terrorist manual circa 2001.

"12)  [The member should] break the daily routine, especially when performing an under-cover mission.  For example, changing the departure and return routes, arrival and departure times, and the store where he buys his goods."

" 20).   [The member should not] undergo a sudden change in his daily routine or any relationships that precede his Jihad involvement. For example, there should not be an obvious change in his habits of conversing, movement, presence, or disappearance. Likewise, he should not be hasty to sever his previous relationships."

Hmmm.  I wonder if this inconsistency  caused any members difficulty.  You should change your daily routine, especially vis a vis departure and return routes and times, but you should not change your habits of movement ...  You should shop at a different store, but not sever previous relationships (like, say, with your regular shop owner).

Ya gotta wonder...

I also wonder how to pronounce all of these Arabic names I'm verifying the spelling on.

But one thing you can stop wondering about is when I'm going to break down and wind that Korppi Laci for the Irtfa'a (and yes, I do delight in the fact that this too is an Arabic name - but I know how to pronounce this one):

Despite your lack of confidence in my ability to withstand the pressure of this luscious yarn, I didn't wind it until today.  And actually -- I had help.  J did most of the actual winding.

She makes a pretty nice yarn cake, doesn't she?

Now, does this mean I've also cast on?  Is the answer to the contest question now available?

Yes! and yes.

This afternoon, the Divine Though Blogless Elizabeth came over, bringing her Thraven, and her pattern, and we sat down to begin our own personal Irtfa'a KAL.

She chose the waste yarn provisional cast on, and I used Judy's Magic Cast On.

I used the recommended size 3's for the edging here, and she (having forgotten hers) went for the 4's, (with which she'll be knitting the whole shawl).

We giggled along with the first few rows, simply delighted to be knitting this stuff into this pattern.  We then declared the pattern fiddly, as the design starts with over 20 repeats of a four row pattern that ranges from 5-7 stitches.  It was still fun for awhile.  ... we giggled at each other as we said things like "I have to do this how many more times?"  We got out kacha counters to count the repeats until the light bulb went off that said -- DUH!  that place with the double yo's ... makes a clearly visible HOLE!  and it happens only once every four rows.  I'll be we could just count the HOLES to see if we've gotten enough.

Here we are having finished the 84 rows of the edge pattern.  You'll note that hers (above in the picture up there, and to the left in the picture down there) is a tad larger than mine, but not by enough to make much of a difference - especially when we realize that I actually had one more repeat to go here:

Having agreed that we would NOT knit on this without each other right there, present, in the room, we were then faced with the question of whether or not to go on.

DUH

We couldn't resist.  We finished page two of the pattern today:

Oddly, mine now seems larger. 

There they sit.  On their respective size 4 needles, stitch markers in place, ready to face the first charts (well, the second and third charts, since there was actually a chart for this bit, we just didn't use it).  Alas, we weren't ready to go on.  And it was nearing 6:00 -- and DH and I had West Coast Swing class at 7:00....

Irtfa'a now has to wait until the Divine Miss E comes by again (or until my children and I invade her home... whichever comes first.

But it's on the needles, which means that I need to pick a prize winner!  Nicole (who appears also to be blogless) guessed that I'd start on January 22nd in the evening.  She was the one who gave me the most credit for holding out.... and thus is the winner of this lovely skein of Hill Country Yarns Sweet Feet -- in Cowboy. 

In the mean time, I've got 20 rows to go on the Pre-Columbian Shawl.....

Wednesdays Without WIPs

Last Wednesday, I subjected you to a frightening (to me anyway) list of WIPs in honor of the now traditional (in the KnitBlog World anyway) WIP It Wednesday. 

Doing that today would likely be dull.  You'd get no new pictures at all.

Why?  Because I didn't work on any WIPs ....

Work-wise, the evil proof-reading job from hell was over and done with on Monday.  I hadn't really anticipated another this week because I knew this morning's meeting was coming.  Instead of proofreading this week, I get editing. 

I am pleased.

I am even finding the specific task amusing, despite the book's somewhat gloomy subject (it's all about 9-11 and the things that led to it).  Part of the task is making sure that various documents were transcribed correctly.  That means I have the ... er ... privilege of reading some of Osama's writings (yes, that Osama -- and that's as close as I'm coming to putting this blog in line for hits based on that kind of search). 

It is likely a sign of just how twisted I am that when I read this line in one of his Declarations, "So the people of Islam realized that they were the fundamental target of the hostility of the Judeo-Crusader alliance.",  my response was, "What? This is new? the Crusades weren't a clue?  Remember the guys in the white surplices with the red crosses?  The Knight's Templar?  Came in with a bunch of Brits? killed a bunch of folk?"  I'm twisted.  I know that. (And for the record -- I don't think that the Judeo-Christians are currently out to destroy Islam.  I think most of the Judeo-Christian folk have learned tolerance well enough to accept that different folk can have different religions without offending God).

With any luck, my disrespectful side will keep this task interesting.  I sure hope so.  There's a LOT of it this time.

So... while I guess that's a WIP now, it sure wasn't when I started it.

Along those same lines, I took no WIPs with me to piano lessons today.  Instead, since I clearly have insufficient choices in the WIP pile (what with the four different socks, multiple sweaters, and two lace and one intarsia shawl to choose among), I started something new:

I'm calling them Two-Fingered Knucks for now.   They're for DT (she writes the Chaos Chronicles, which, though technically a public blog, is read by about three people, all of whom know her well. I include the link for the sake of completeness, but don't really expect you to go there). She is the pleased owner of an iPhone, but has discovered that you need bare flesh to operate the thing.  This means that in the cold, with gloves on, she can't answer her phone!  And though she knits, she is afflicted with nerve damage in one hand that means she can't use needles smaller than about an 11, or perhaps a 13.  So, she can't whip up a pair of fingerless gloves to enable phone use in cooler weather.  I decided to do something about it.  And since you use more than one finger to get full use of the iPhone, I'm knitting her gloves that are fully fingered at the pinky and ring finger (which aren't involved in iPhone use),

but are un-tipped for the middle- and fore-fingers and thumb.  Un-tipped kinda the way Knucks are untipped.

I'm using Ella Rae's Silkience, because in addition to being wristily affilcted, by dear friend is allergic to wool.  No seriously -- allergic.  Hives.  Allergic.  And Alpaca itches.  Even with  two layers of fabric between it and her skin.  (I can't imagine being deprived of alpaca).  She claims that anything would work, since all her hands seem to need are covers, not insulating fibers.  Even so, I'm working a stranded pattern to put in an extra space for trapped air to keep her warm to offset the high percentage of cotton in the yarn. I'm hoping that the silk, Modal, and rayon contents will serve as sufficient insulators to keep her hands warm enough in all be the worst of days. (Days like Thursday this week are not included.  Sub-zero. Fahrenheit.  School-closing cold). 

Speaking of school.... Guess what.... I can still pass High School!

You paid attention during 86% of high school!

 

85-100%  You must be an autodidact, because American high schools don't get scores that high!  Good show, old chap!

Do you deserve your high school diploma?
Create a Quiz

  Okay.  So I did work on one WIP this evening.  I put in another three rows on the Pre-Columbian Shawl.  I'm into the home stretch -- 11 more rows of intarsia, then 13 in the border, and the knitting will be done!  Not that I'm counting.

Hring, but not employees; and secret jobs

Today, I'm full of thoughts on many issues.  Some even include knitting....but mostly they're about advertising/marketing and the job market.

Once upon a time, it seemed that advertising involved providing information to a potential customers or others who might want what you're advertising to show that the thing advertised filled a need the customer had.  Then, it seemed that ads switched to creating desire for items, by providing some information about the commodity (or job).  Now it seems that advertising is designed to create desire by providing as little information as possible, and sometimes, providing misinformation.  (I'm going to bypass my opinions on advertising prescription medicine, despite their obvious relationship to the theme of creating desire without providing information, or we'll be here all day).

Until recently, I hadn't noticed this advertising trend in the Help Wanted ads, but as I embark on the project of replacing my former job, I'm discovering all sorts of things about employers. To be fair, I have noticed an improvement in the communication process.  In years past, I'd carefully craft my cover letters, and carefully adapt my resume to highlight the ways in which my experience and skills meet the needs defined in the want ad.  I'd send my cover letter and resume off to the appointed person within the appointed deadline, and hear nothing whatsoever in return. It is incredibly disheartening to toil over cover letters and resumes, adapting them appropriately for the position for which you're applying, only to send them into what seems like a communication vacuum. For the first time in YEARS it seems that applying for the jobs I find actually nets some response.  I am pleased about this. 

However, I've found a new wrinkle in the employers' approach to hiring.  Several ads to which I responded turned out to be prime examples of advertising while providing minimal if not misleading information.  I've responded to at least two ads that appear to be invitations to apply for jobs with companies who do not, in fact, intend to be hiring employees.... they are seeking Independent Contractors. An independent contractor is not an employee; he or she is actually self employed!  Thus, he or she is not entitled to any benefits, and is required to pay not only his/her own social security tax, but the employer's portion of the social security tax as well. 

I wonder at these companies who advertise seeking people to "fill positions" when what they're really doing is looking to hire "independent contractors".   These want ads generaly succeed in creating desire or expectation about an opportunity by describing a job (one even mentioned benefits), and describing the company for which you'd be doing the job, all the while knowing that you would not actually be an employee if they hired you.  Legally, it's a big difference.  First there are the benefits an independent contractor doesn't get, and the bonus taxes an independent contractor has to pay (being, as they are, self employed).  But there are also other rights an independent contractor doesn't have: An independent contractor can't get worker's compensation payments if injured on the job.  And an independent contractor can't sue for any number of things that the EEOC prohibits (sexual harassment, discrimination, etc.).  Perhaps that is why the ads do their best to disguise the nature of the relationship that the person hiring is trying to create. Of course, one wonders... do I really want to get into a relationship that was initiated through deception, no matter how minor?   

I responded to one ad in the paper seeking to hire a "Staff Attorney" to work for a university; it turns out that the University is not actually hiring an employee, but is seeking an independent contractor.  The very word "staff" implies "employee" to me.  There are others, not quite as misleading, but still full of all the stuff that leads you to believe that you will be employed by a company, not merely contracted to work for them.  To be fair, the Staff Attorney folks immediately followed up with an email explaining the whole independent contractor thing, and asking whether I was still interested in pursuing the position.  I didn't learn that about one other position until I'd appeared for the first round of interviews.

This deception thing bugs me.  These employers would fire you in a heartbeat for putting something misleading on your resume (the thing you use to get them to talk to you about the job), but they seem to be okay with putting something misleading in their ads (the thing they use to get you to talk to them about the job.)  It might bug me less if it weren't true that health insurance is a benefit that is important to me.  Or if I didn't WANT a 401(k) option. But it still seems misleading to appear to be seeking an employee when you don't actually want one. And that bugs me.

Of course, this may just be the new wave of employment practices.  After all, independent contractors cost the employer less (until we all demand more money to compensate for the fact that we get no benefits and have to pay more of our 'salary' in taxes).

Then, of course, there are the ads that don't tell you what the employer wants you to be doing.  This is the epitome of creating desire without providing any information.  Looking for a job? we have one! It may be the opportunity you're seeking... just send in your stuff and we'll tell you later what we want you to do. Usually, I bypass these, assuming that they're commission sales with a low base to push an odious product. (I could be missing out, but I'm risk averse and don't like pigs in pokes).

Here's one that I am going to investigate though:  They want someone "good with words" who is organized (they all want organized folks),  detail oriented (ditto), and proficient with MS Word to handle multiple projects on deadlines working with authors and publishers.  That's it.  That's all you get to know.  Well, that and there's some test involved, which they'll tell you about after they get your cover letter and resume. 

Let's assume for the moment that I apply for and get this job.  What will I be doing?  I can't tell whether I will be reading manuscripts,  typing them up, editing them, advertising them or.. doing something that doesn't involve manuscripts at all.  Thus, as I sit down to draft a cover letter (which I will mail to a P.O. box with no company name), I don't know what to say.  Do I focus on my communication skills in general?  my experience in editing professionally?  my experience in writing? my ability to generate spreadsheets and databases to keep track of all my yarn?  my insane tendency to catalog not only books but magazines?  the fact that I do really good phone? or that I can use project management software? or perhaps my understanding of just what is involved in making a book tour work (having diligently followed the Harlot's experiences and learned from them)?  Ah well, it does say "benefits" and that just might mean that they're hiring an actual employee......

I guess I'll start with the fact that I do love words.  After all, the first thing the ad asks is whether I'm good with words. I like to think I'm good with them. At the least I never abuse them by applying them in grammatically awful sentences, for example, and I try not to over use any given word when it has lots of useful synonyms.

Meanwhile, perhaps I'll work on a pamphlet that translates what these want ads are really saying.

Say Hello, Goodbye, Hello

Today was quite the day.

I dropped off a job application package.  It's a weird thing, this application.  I've applied there before.  In 2001, I was all but hired for the position (teaching Legal Writing).  When the person they all thought was going to leave decided not to go, the slot they'd have filled with me disappeared. 

In 2002 and 2004, I applied again.  I got no response. None, zero, nada.  It was rather as though I'd sent my materials into a black hole.

This year, I've been invited to apply.  Go figure.  Who knows, maybe this time's the charm.  Here's hoping.  I rather miss teaching.  And since legal writing tends to eschew adverbs and adjectives, I will have to spend far less time teaching my students the difference, and how to use both correctly.

That's me, opening a door for a possible new beginning.

I also closed a door.

I said goodbye to the faithful minivan. It was harder than I thought it would be. She saw us through 113,969 miles over the past nine years.  She took us to Maine and Colorado and many places in between.  She hauled kids and furniture and pets and friends.  She took books to the library, and donations to the places that accept them.  She fetched friends and family from the airport, and took them back again to catch their planes.  She brought home groceries and clothes and more yarn that we're going to discuss.  She's the only car J has ever known.
And now, she's not ours any more.

She looks rather forlorn there, with her plates removed, and her magnets gone.  The once loved "Knit Happens" bumper sticker is tattered beyond recognition... even that's gone.

Farewell, old friend.  And thank you for many miles of memories.

kachunk.  The door is closed.

beep. beep.

But... we did welcome a new friend to our driveway

There, coming home for the first time, is our new chariot -- the Passat Wagon.
We're already planning her (his?) first big trip to the East Coast in July.  And we'd love to stop by to visit blog readers along the way to let you meet the car in person (oh, and us too). If anyone will be home along the path between Indiana and Maine starting about June 26, with a pause in Vermont, and a long stay in Maine, a brief jaunt up to New Brunswick, and a peaceful return no later than August 8, please let me know.

Just thinking about it made the dear thing eager to get into the garage:

(Note the yarn magnet already in place?  I'm pondering moving it down next to the plate... what do you think?)

When I got home, with the car safely tucked in for the night, I found that this had arrived in the mail:

A bit o' Fleece Artist Big Blue (Blue Faced Leicester) in Woodland... just for moi!  Thanks Michele! (she posted it on KnitSwap at a price I was helpless to resist).

And, I finished pattern tweaking for the JOY socks.  I have to finish knitting sock two, and get decent photos of the socks taken.... but the pattern is done (unless I decide to add instructions for the alternate heel).

All in all, I'd say it was a pretty good day.

Oh, and Gina, yes, I'd love to have you test knit -- but I'll need your email address, or some other way to contact you.  Send me an email.

Whew.

Whew!
Am I ever glad this past week is over!!!

It started well, at home anyway.  I was home for the day Monday because the girls didn't have school.  The Divine though Blogless Elizabeth brought her gals over to entertain my gals, and we did phase one of my stash inventory and photographing, and photographed some of her stuff as well.  Her goal: post that part of her stash with which she can part on knitswap.  Mine --  get a clue what I actually have, figure out what I can post on knitswap, and prepare to Flash My Stash with the rest.

Over all we were successful, though this room is now a disaster area.  We took many pictures, we organized drawers in the yarn closet, and we uploaded all those pictures to my computer, converted them to smaller sized things, and uploaded most of them to the net.  Even though it was a yarn-filled day, it was also a computer-filled day.

At work, however, they had no computers at all.  ALL DAY LONG.  I think lots of filing got done.

Tuesday, I endured one hour-long telephone conference for work before I resumed sorting and updating the stash inventory spreadsheet, and creating the post listing that part of the stash I hope to sell, and uploading more pictures to the net. By day's end, I had worked out and posted a big chunk o' stuff to knitswap.  At work, they STILL had no computers all day. 

On Wednesday, I arrived to learn that we were getting computers again, but that we'd suffered a "bit" of data loss.  Evidently, the crotchety server we'd been fighting with for months finally died.  When they replaced it, and went to upload all our stuff from the back ups, they discovered that the controller card that ran the back up drives had, er, failed back in mid-December.  The end result?  EVERYTHING that had been entered, typed, drafted, emailed, etc. on the computer since December 12, 2006 was GONE.

I keep my calendar on the computer at work.  I do not have a reliable hard copy anywhere.  For the past month, I've been doing a ton of scheduling in all of my cases -- depositions, hearings, client conferences etc.   So, for the past month, I've put more information into my calendar than I have in the previous three or four -- all of which is now gone.  I am NOT amused.  I am less amused than others in the firm, since I have repeatedly asked that the tech guys set it up so that EVERYTHING I do on my computer get stored on my physical hard drive (you know, the C: drive -- right there on my machine in my office) as well as on the server's drive.  I was told that they'd done that.  Except, well, they hadn't.

I do not enjoy calling opposing counsel to explain that our computer system failed, and that we're such idiots (as are our technical support team members) that we don't have anyone VERIFYING that the backups are actually backing up anything, so we don't have all this data.  I do not enjoy asking everyone to tell me what we have already scheduled so that I can get the data back into my computer.    I do not enjoy calling to ask for extensions of time in which to file and or serve things because the copy that was almost ready to go has to be recreated from scratch ....  I do NOT enjoy feeling like an idiot in front of that many attorneys in town.

Sigh.  I've gotten almost no real "work" done all week.  Everything has been trying to get myself to where I was when I left the office the previous Thursday.

Diet Saga and More Work

I was really kicking butt for a while there.  I was working out w/ DH at lunch almost every day, and getting in big work outs on the weekends.  For the past few weeks, this has not played out as well.  Worse yet, I seem suddenly to be eating more... and being hungrier. (grrr).

I have put a bit of a monkey wrench in the daily lunch work out schedule by starting to schedule what I call "Networking Lunches" with folks around town.  I decided that I needed to meet more lawyers around here -- partly because its always nicer to have met someone and established yourself as a reasonable person before you face them as opposing counsel in a lawsuit, and partly because I want people to think of me when they think of hiring someone at my level.  I have a great job in many respects (where else can I work at this level and still have the full flexibility of not going in whenever the kids are out of school??), but my boss and I have very different approaches to litigation and settlement and client management -- and sometimes that leads to ... discomfort. So... I'm meeting folks, and eating lunch, and doing good things for my career while slowing the diet process.

I am managing to maintain my average 1.1 miles per day walking somehow, so I'm still on track for Run-A-Go-Go.  Using Googles pedometer thing makes tracking so EASY!

As you might Imagine, this last week's stress load has not improved my work-out/diet schedule much at all.  I got no work-out Monday or Tuesday (unless you count walks around the neighborhood after dinner), because I was home w/ the girls all day and they are NOT cooperative about lurking quietly at the club for the hour to hour and a half I need to get a solid work out in.  Wednesday included a "networking lunch" and thus no noon work out.  Finally, Thursday and Friday I snuck in some quality time with the elliptical and the exercise ball.  The result -- the scale hasn't moved more than about 1/2 a pound in two weeks.  Sigh.

 

At least I've gotten some knitting done, though.

On Tuesday, when I was still photographing madly, my Red Scarf Project Scarf looked like this:

It has more than doubled in length since then... If you haven't started YOUR RED SCARF yet, there's still time!  (although at this stage, I recommend using worsted or heavier...) The whole story is here.  But I'll sum up swiftly so you know what I'm up to.  There is an organization called The Orphan Foundation of America  Among the wonderful things it does is send care packages to Foster Children who are in college (a stressful time in most young people's lives, when they're away from home for the first time, and when Foster Parents stop getting funding and so often can't afford to do things like send care packages to students surrounded by others with parents who can and do).  In February, every year, they send a package of stuff for Valentines Day.  Thanks to the Red Scarf Project, every package can include a hand knit (or crocheted) red scarf to keep the student warm, and to remind each student that someone somewhere cares enough to make something for them.  Not surprisingly, we knitters have (okay Norma has) created our own blog for the Project. The pattern I designed last year is here, if you want it.  This year, I've adapted the "His/Hers Reversible Scarf" (see, I'm not the only one) from Melissa Leapman's Cables Untangled to DK weight (by adding an extra repeat).  It's fun and fully reversible.  But you don't have to do anything fancy!  Even a bulky garter stitch scarf is good!  Go read the rules... get your scarves out!

Tomorrow (?)  More knitting reports.... and another round of Flash my Stash