Friday, June 27, 2008

Knitting for Baby K

Lots of my friends are having babies this year. One of Buster's buddies had a beautiful little baby girl in May. Some friends of mine from my days in Seattle are expecting a little one in September. And KK and MK are expecting a baby boy in August. While I'm overjoyed for all the mommies and daddies, I'm especially excited about KK and MK.


KK grew up next door to me and our families remain the closest of friends. I remember playing "statues" with KK and his sister in their back yard, and building little villages in the sandbox and playing war with KK's army men. When I was a high school freshman KK was a senior and he drove me to school everyday in his super cool '48 Chevy. He was always nice to me and never once made me feel like I was imposing. I was a dorky little freshman -- I had to be cramping his style, but he never let on. Our families have Christmas dinner together every year. My brother and I don't have any first cousins. KK and his sister are the closest thing we've got. We don't share a family tree, but we are family nonetheless.

KK and MK got married a little over a year ago. I've met several of the girls KK has dated over the years. Not one of them can hold a candle to MK. First, she's gorgeous. I mean, look at her! Drop. Dead. Gorgeous. And she's fun, and silly, and bold, and genuine, and super sweet. She's exactly what a great guy like KK deserves.

Around Christmas time we learned that Baby K was on the way!

When I learned how to knit (early this spring) I immediately decided that I wanted to knit something for Baby K. I wasn't very confident in my knitting skills and I didn't want to take on anything that might be too complicated or that I wouldn't be able to finish in time. So I settled on a hat and booties.

I picked up Simple Knits for Cherished Babies from my local yarn shop, along with 6 balls of yarn in 3 different colors -- one color for each of the three babies that were on the way.


I saved the one for MK and KK for last so I would get lots of practice first (also because their baby will be the last of the 3 to be born and babies don't need hats and booties before they're born). The beanie and booties I chose are fairly quick to make and I knocked out the first two sets in a few weeks. I've been working on Baby K's set a few rows at a time for a month or so. I set it aside to work on my sweater and the socks, and I finally finished it up yesterday.

If you're looking for simple, elegant things to knit for babies, this book is excellent. It's full of lovely softly lit photos and well written instructions. The beanie pattern called for worsted weight yarn but I wanted it to match the booties so I used the same dk weight yarn for both, used appropriate needles, and worked the large size. Looks like it came out pretty close to the measurements for the newborn size.

If you want to see another sample from this book, head over to Shazam in the Kitchen and check out the cardigan Mary made.

After seeing Travel Bear model Mary's baby knits, Gray Bear got jealous and asked if he, too could model knitted baby clothes. Gray Bear, I think you have a thing or two to learn about modeling...

"Hey, are you sure these are supposed to be booties? They make much better gloves!"

I know MK occasionally reads this blog so I've spoiled her surprise. But there's a whole month before the baby shower. And if this lace project I've taken on (coming soon to a blog near you) doesn't take over my whole world I might find enough time to make something else for Baby K.

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Play Ball!


Last night was softball night. I keep score because, when they do ask me to play, I'm most definitely the worst player on the team. They're really a good team. And, frankly, I stink. When I was little I played t-ball. The coach (my dad) would send me out to play right field and I'd wander out there and have a seat. Sometimes I'd pick flowers. If a ball came my way, I'd duck. I haven't really improved much since then. But I have learned most of the rules and I understand a fair amount of strategy now. So I keep score and Buster plays shortstop.

Buster also hits Bombs.

"That Ball is... Waaay Back!!"


Often Mr and Mrs B come play on our team. That's Mrs B up to bat and Mr B on first. They don't play every week because it's a bit of a drive for them. Buster and Mr B have been buddies since they were both knee high to a grasshopper. Buster has a lot of really amazing friends and these two are top of the pack. I really enjoy spending time with Mr and Mrs B and with their two bright and energetic boys.

Seven there is one of our pitchers. She and her husband have been playing softball with Buster for many years. Her husband is the team manager. They're super nice folks and they often join us for dinner after the games. Would you believe Seven's a grandmother?

This is Seven's grandson. He's three years old. I think he's a switch hitter. We're gonna be adding him to the roster any day now.

Softball night is always loads of fun. We won both games of our double header and we had a huge crowd for dinner at Knights. Next week we once again face the only team that's managed to beat us this season. We like a good challenge!

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

More Socks!

Another pair of socks complete. I knitted these both at the same time on two circular needles. It was a bit of a challenge to begin with and I was very glad that I'd done a pair one at a time first. I pretty much got the hang of it after a couple dozen rows. It's just a matter of figuring out how to find your place if you get confused and keeping your two feeds of yarn from twisting up too much. Also, you gotta remember to drop the yarn when you move to the other sock. D'oh!

They're so bright and cheerful! I had to try them on even though they're not for me. I made these for marvelous Mary over at Shazam in the Kitchen. If you haven't checked out her yummy food blog yet, you really should. She makes the most amazing cupcakes and lots of other good stuff, too.

I wonder if she wants the leftover yarn back. Since these are shorty socks, I might have just enough left to make a second pair.

I need to block them, then pack them up and send them to her. I hope she has as much fun wearing them as I had making them.

I just cast on a new project. Wait until you see it. Oh my! I may have bit of more than I can chew this time. It's lace... eep!
...

In other news, I'm one week into the More Thrust, Less Drag project. I'm down 4.6 lbs. Ok, that's cheating a little since I changed scales and I changed the time of day of my weigh in. Nonetheless, there's some progress there.
...

And one more thing, as it is now the wee hours of the 24th of June. Twenty-nine years ago today I ceased being an only child. Happy Birthday, little brother!! In case I haven't said so recently, you rock.

Sunday, June 22, 2008

OH Boy, Oh Boy! I got a New Toy!

The mail lady brought my new toy yesterday.

Oh! My! Gaud! It is sooo coo-ul!!!

The pictures are very crisp and pretty. It makes all sorts of fancy high tech beepy noises. The battery lasts forever. And I no longer have to wait for Mr Sunshine to take nice photos -- low light is no problem for this little puppy. I might not ever need the flash! It is not, however, perfect. It cannot read my mind so I'm going to have to learn how to tell it where I would like it to focus.

I wanted a picture of the bar with some out of focus stuff in front. Instead I got a very nice photo of Buster's soda. No problem. You actually can set the focal length on this one manually, I just need to figure that feature out, along with the zillion other fancy features. Also, 13.6 mega pixels is some serious overkill. Buster says they should stop it with the mega pixel wars and concentrate on the what-cha-call-it (the bit that converts the image to a file -- I can't remember the acronym). I think he's right. And finally, the gosh derned thing doesn't come with a memory stick. There's about 15MB of internal memory, but that doesn't go very far, even when you tell it to take the smallest possible photos. I'm going to need a memory stick right away!

Anyhow, not long after the camera arrived yesterday, Buster and I decided that we better finish off the garden. So I put the camera down and planted some potatoes.

We now have 4 varieties of potatoes planted in 3 nice neat rows. We've got Charlottes (the row on the left), Yukon Golds (front half of the middle row), Huckleberries (back half of the middle row and a couple more in the very back of the right row), and Purple Majesties (most of the right row). Except for the Golds we haven't grown any of these before. I wish we had more room!

After we finished with the garden, Buster went fishing and I spent the afternoon running errands. Then we went out to dinner with the wacky Korean (he's a good friend and also my boss). I took my new toy to dinner with us.

We went to the Blue Nile for Ethiopian food. It was very tasty, as usual, but not so good for my diet. You use yummy flat bread to scoop up the various lentils, veggies, and meats from a shared platter with endless refills. It's all fairly healthy stuff, but portion control is near impossible.

I don't feel too bad about it, though. I got up this morning and went for a 33 mile bike ride, burning nearly 2,000 calories. I think that probably took care of last night's overindulgence!

After my bike ride I got back to playing with my new toy. I present to you Alexander Snuggles, the wise and aged pussy cat, resting on his heated bed after enjoying a fine lunch of tuna and shrimp in sauce. (no, he's not spoiled rotten. can you smell the sarcasm in that one?)


Alex wasn't really diggin' the photo shoot today. Oh well. Maybe next time.

Thursday, June 19, 2008

More Thrust, Less Drag

Project More Thrust, Less Drag has begun.

Yes, this photo is stolen. I purchased prints so I feel entitled to the electronic rights. I made no effort to remove the watermark and I cropped it. It was taken by Greg Sadler Photography. They shot photos at the Tour de Cure and are selling prints online (proceeds go to the ADA). Their pictures are really nice, even when the subject looks like an overstuffed sausages on a bicycle.

Yes, I confess, that's me. I honestly didn't realize that I look like such a lard butt on my bicycle. Ick! That was taken at the finish line of the Tour de Cure. It was a hard day so please ignore my poor form (by that I mean the shoulders that are crawling up into my ears and the elbows pointing sideways instead of turned back and relaxed).

Now, I've known for quite some time that my "got married and quit smoking" weight gain wasn't particularly healthy or attractive. And I can definitely feel it when I'm trying to pedal those extra pounds up a hill. But it really hit home when I saw this picture. I'm not just a little chubby here, folks. This is downright disturbing. A small part of me is actually a little bit proud because I don't know anyone that's anywhere near my size that can ride as fast or as far as I can, but still, it's disturbing. This photo is the last straw. Something must be done.

You see, I worked really hard to lose a lot of weight several years ago. I got my lazy tush off the couch, I swam, I biked, I joined a gym, and I did Weight Watchers. At one point I had lost a full 100 pounds. My lifestyle had done a 180. Through most of my 20s I was a grumpy, sarcastic, overfed couch potato. I worked too many hours, smoked too many cigarettes, and ate way too many nacho cheese combos. One fine day in May of 2003 I decided that enough was enough and I turned the corner. Over the next year I discovered that I kinda liked exercise, especially bicycling, healthy food can taste really good, my life and my job are NOT the same thing, and it really is possible for me to lose weight. I became healthy, happy, and, for the first time in my life, I really liked myself.

Weight Watchers (henceforth known as "WW") was a huge part of this. See, I love to eat. I love little snacks. And I love to sit down at a meal and try a little bit of everything and have seconds of my favorites. I love going to Morgan & York (if they're not the best cheese mongers in the US then their right up there near the top) and tasting a dozen different cheeses and bringing home a decadent snack to share with Buster. I don't mind cooking and I like to try my hand at new recipes and taste as I go. From cheesy poofs to grilled asparagus, from sushi to prime rib, I just love food. If I don't pay careful attention to what I'm eating, no matter how much I exercise, I will gain weight.

WW held me accountable for everything I ate. It's really a very good program. You track what you eat using a "points" system. The number of points for a given food is based on its calories, fat (bad), and fiber (good). I did WW for so long that you can hand me any nutritional label and I can calculate the WW points in my head in a few short seconds. I can also give you a fair points estimate for most food items without a nutritional label. WW really worked for me, but somewhere along the line I just plain burned out. Buster and I got engaged and my commitment to WW started slipping. Then we got married and a few months later I quit smoking and decided to give WW a break while I recovered. I never really got back on track. I tried a few times, spent the money, went to the meetings, kept the points journal for a few days, then I'd fall off again. I backslid, bad. I've managed to gain back over half the weight I worked so hard to lose.

Other than simple burnout (after three years, can you blame me?), I had only one real problem with WW. It wasn't designed for people that do intense exercise. Road biking isn't for slouches. I wear a heart rate monitor when I ride so I know that I routinely burn well over a thousand calories on a weekday evening ride. WW would give me 12 extra points on a day when I burned 1200 calories. 12 points represents somewhere in the neighborhood of 600 food calories. That system works when you're burning fewer than four or five hundred calories a day, but 1200? That's too much deficit. WW also wants you to eat those extra calories all on the same day you burn them. If I rode hard and took the next day off I would get very hungry on the off day because my body is still recovering.

So, when I saw that sausage photo above and knew that biking alone wasn't going to peel off those excess pounds or make me ready for DALMAC (Lansing to Mackinaw on a bicycle, 5 days, 340 miles, at the end of August) I decided that project "More Thrust, Less Drag" must begin. I'm a geek remember? And I studied aerospace engineering in school so thrust and drag are painfully familiar concepts to me. I need to get stronger - more thrust, and weigh less - less drag.

I knew that WW wasn't going to do it for me this time around. A friend of mine signed up on SparkPeople not too long ago and she told me a little about it. So I decided to sign up and see what they have to offer. It's part social networking site (think facebook or myspace), part fitness and nutrition site. I've mostly been ignoring the social networking part and using the food and exercise trackers. It's actually pretty similar to WW.

Similarities:
  • both are more "lifestyle changes" than "diets"
  • you have to record everything you eat
  • there are no off-limits foods
  • both strongly encourage exercise
  • both have online message boards, recipes, motivational articles, etc.
Differences
  • WW uses points. Spark tracks calories along with fat, carbs, and protein (these are by default, other values, like fiber, sodium, and calcium can also be tracked).
  • WW gives "activity points" for exercise. Spark asks you to enter a goal for calories burned in a week, then spreads extra calories over the whole week to cover your needs.
  • WW can be done on paper or online. Spark has to be done online.
  • WW encourages you to go to weekly support meetings (but also has an online only option). Spark has no meetings available.
  • WW strongly encourages a weekly weigh in. Spark tracks weight and measurements, but doesn't suggest how often these should be measured (at least not that I've seen so far). [ETA: Found it. Spark wants weekly weigh ins also but they're less stringent about it.]
  • WW costs money. Spark is free (their site is full of ads but it's not overwhelming).

I just started a few days ago and, so far, I like Spark. It gets around my WW burnout without sacrificing the things I know work for me. It tracks meaningful nutritional stats and I really like the way it handles exercise calories. I don't know if I'm going to miss the WW meetings. I met a very dear friend going to those meetings and, for a while, they helped me stay motivated. I'm also not sure how I feel about being tied to the computer for tracking. I don't mind it so far and I think it's all gonna work out.

My short term goal is to ride every mile of DALMAC -- no sag wagon for me! The photo on the right represents my long term goal. That's me on a beautiful natural beach in the Bahamas in February of 2005. That was my first vacation with Buster. We spent most of the vacation fishing and I loved every minute of it. When I get back to that size I think I'm going to ask Buster if we can go back to that place. They say you're supposed to reward yourself for reaching a fitness or weight loss goal. I think another vacation in a remote part of the Bahamas would be a perfect reward! I'll keep you posted on my progress.

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

It's a Cyclamen!


Many thanks to Peggy for letting me know in comments to the previous post that this is a cyclamen. (By the way, Peggy, I love the mailbox!)

With a little help from my friends google and wikipedia, I have learned that these guys live in dry forest soil. They like bright but indirect sunlight and cool to moderate temperatures. And they don't like too much water.

This page claims that it's a challenge to get them to bloom more than once and that they don't live very long, just 2 to 3 months. But Mary informs me that she had one for quite some time and it bloomed over and over without much trouble. Her questionable watering habits ("whoops, this guy's getting parched!") might not be good for some plants, but probably helped this one along.

I think I must have watered this guy too much. I'm going to let him dry out a bit and see how he does.

Thanks, all!

Name That Plant!

Can anyone tell me what this houseplant is? My mom got it as a table prize at a bridal shower. The bride is a beautiful young lady that I babysat for many years ago. I sadly couldn't attend her shower because it was the same day as the Tour de Cure. Mom brought the plant to me because I have a nice sunny window in my kitchen and plants tend to be very happy and healthy living there.

This pretty little plant has rubbery stems and thick heart shaped leaves and delicate pink flowers that curl over like a shy little girl staring at her toes.

Sadly, though, I think this shy little plant is in trouble.

It's leaves are turning yellow and it's flowers are getting wilty. Can anyone identify the plant? Or maybe even identify the problem? I'm not much of a green thumb so any help or advice you might have for me, dear readers, would be much appreciated.

Monday, June 16, 2008

Caveat Emptor

On the flip side, your customer service can make ya or break ya.

Last week I decided that I really really badly need to replace the digital camera I've been using. It's probably 10 years old and I'm just not satisfied with the pictures it's taking. Buster and I discussed it and figured we could afford to spend a few bucks on shiny new digital point-and-shoot. So I logged into our very useful account on consumerreports.org and did my homework. I decided that I would really like a Sony Cyber-shot DSC W300 (Consumer Reports rated the W200 but it's been discontinued in favor of the W300). The Consumer Reports page has a button that takes you to Yahoo! Shopper to search for the best deal. And thus began the saga that left me fuming mad and without a shiny new camera.

The best price was from a place called WildDigital (no link, this is buyer beware, not an ad!). I looked over their site and figured they were probably legit. I've had many good experiences supporting mom&pop Internet operations, though I usually use a mediator like eBay or Amazon. I wasn't particularly worried that I'd never heard of them, and they take American Express -- amex has fantastic fraud protection and dispute handling, not to mention stellar customer service.

I placed my order and got my automatic confirmation email last Wednesday. On Thursday morning I received an email from Orders@wilddigital.com telling me that they'd like to confirm my billing address and to please call their 800 number and connect to a given extension. They hadn't shipped my camera yet. That was a stinker but it's in the name of security. I can jump through their hoop and wait an extra day for my camera. No biggie.

I called the 800 number right away in hopes that maybe my camera would ship that day... meepmeep meep. Why is an 800 number busy?? I tried 3 or 4 times over the next couple hours with the same result. There must be something wrong with their phones, I figured. So I gave up on the phone and tried replying to orders@wilddigital.com. It bounced. That's silly but not unheard of. I poked around their site and found support@wilddigital.com, guaranteed to respond in one business day. Ok, that sounds good. I emailed them with my order number and asked them if there was another way to confirm my order because it seems there's something wrong with their phones. In the mean time I continued trying the 800 number and I even tried the direct dial sales number listed on their site. meep meep meep.

Friday: No response to the email and no change in the phones. They were testing my patience. Friday afternoon the phone finally rang through! Only to provide a recording saying they closed at 2pm on Fridays. The email from Orders said they closed at 5pm on Fridays. Clearly they're having some trouble getting their act together!

Monday: By Monday afternoon there was still no response to the email and the phones were still meep meep meep-ing. My patience was all worn out. I'm the customer here and I want some service, darn it! I sent a second email to support asking them to please cancel my order as I was unhappy with the customer service. I also sent a query to amex asking them if they could block any charges WildDigital might try to make to my card.

7:30 Monday evening I'm wandering around Bed Bath & Beyond, stinky and hungry having just come from spin class but determined to purchase a new bathroom scale (fill you in on that later). My cell phone rang with a very strange caller ID: 1 800 000 0005. When I answered, there was no one on the other end. After several "hello?"s with no response I hung up. Half a second later it rang again, same caller ID. I'm terribly busy trying to choose a fru fru body fat % measuring bathroom scale, here, I don't need no stinkin' telemarketers! talk-end. Third time. Heck with it...

truncated, paraphrased conversation follows:

me: pause hello?

WildDigital sales dude with a definite grump on: I'm from Wild Digital. Why did you hang up on me?

me: uh, because you have funky caller ID and I couldn't hear anything.

sales dork: I'm calling about your order.

me (nice tone, buddy, gonna make lots of sales talking to people like that): Yeah, I wanted to cancel that order.

sales dweeb: Did you already buy another camera?

me (what business is it of yours?): I'd rather not discuss that.

sales dipstick: Well, I was gonna upgrade you to free 3-day shipping. Now you wanna cancel?

me (3-day shipping, woohoo, overnight and an apology might have gotten me but your tone and 3-day? not a prayer!): I've been trying to call you for 3 business days.

sales nimrod: Our phones were out today.

me (ok, be calm, talk nice, explain the problem): I couldn't get through on Thursday or Friday either. I even tried emailing your support alias and I didn't get a response.

sales dip-twinkle: Sales doesn't see that email.

me (The right hand doesn't know what the left is doing. Why am I not surprised?): I'd just like to have the order canceled, please.

sales dillweed: I was going to throw in free 3-day shipping. Have you bought the camera yet?

me: I've already asked my credit card to deny your charge. I'd like to cancel the order.

sales dip-twit: fine, whatever. *click*

I bit my tongue to avoid saying nasty R-rated things to the empty phone while standing in front of the fru fru bathroom scale display at Bed Bath & Beyond.

When I got home there was a very polite form letter from Orders@wilddigital.com confirming my cancellation. Heh! At least their automated stuff is polite!

Customer service is a big big deal! I can't figure out how that poor sales dim-bulb makes a living talking like that to customers. Did they not know their phones were busted for three full business days? Wasn't there anyone bothering to monitor email to support? How hard is it to be polite to a customer on the phone for a few minutes? Poor. Really poor.

I'll get my shiny new camera, but not from them!

Sunday, June 15, 2008

half a garden

The phrase "a little too little a little too late" springs to mind...

We're a little late getting started with our garden this year. Frankly, Buster and I aren't very good at the whole garden thing. Neither of us did much gardening growing up. There's a nice garden plot in our back yard, but I pretty much ignored it first few years I owned the house. When Buster moved in he not only performed an amazing transformation on the lawn, he also convinced me that it might be fun to have a real garden instead of a weed patch with a few perennial herbs left from the previous owner.

This year we're getting a very very late start. We've both been quite busy with work and fishing trips and bike rides and softball and various other things. Buster borrowed the neighbors tiller and turned over the garden patch a couple weeks ago, then he left for a week of carp fishing and I got busy with work and thoughts of the garden didn't cross my mind. We finally realized this past week that it was time to pooh or get off the pot. Weed patch or late garden? Last chance.


Yesterday we ran out to our favorite gardening store, Downtown Home and Garden. They usually have purple seed potatoes. Potatoes are pretty much our staple garden crop, especially the purple ones because they're so hard to find in the store. Sadly, this year, we were too late for purple potatoes. In fact, we were too late for almost everything at Downtown Home and Garden. We had to go to another gardening store for plants and Buster ordered potatoes online. So, until the potatoes arrive next week, we have half a garden.


We have, on the left, horseradish that we stared the first year we planted the garden. We harvested the two in front last fall but they popped right back up again this spring. If ever we decided to eradicate the horseradish I think we would have a very difficult time of it. In the back, there are two mounds, one for zucchini and one for summer squash. We're starting these from seed and crossing our fingers. Next to the horseradish we've got bell peppers (Buster didn't want these but I insisted) and jalapeño peppers. And in the cages are tomatoes, one regular tomato and two cages of cherry tomatoes. We've been trying to jury rig something to hold up tomato plants for two years now and finally we broke down and bought the cages. We also have a few herbs awaiting a nice pot. I wanted to put the herbs in the garden but Buster was afraid they'd take over and now that we have everything else planted I'm worried we won't have enough room for our potatoes as it is. So I shall pot the herbs in a great big pot that I can bring indoors in the winter.

Our neighbor has an amazing garden. He's the one that convinced us we should get straw for mulch to keep the weeds down. He's also shared extra plants with us in years past and we gave him extra potatoes two years ago. I don't think he ever planted potatoes before that. Here's his lovely garden:

I took this from my backyard and you probably can't see much through the play set, but it's all green and growing in nice neat rows and the tomatoes have big sturdy cages and it just puts us to shame. I have a terrible case of garden envy!

Grow, baby pepper plant, grow! We have a lot of catching up to do!

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Sara's Silly Socks

I have long harbored a secret love of slightly outrageous socks. Not too bright, not too flamboyant, but patterned or stripey or with cute little things on them. I have a pair of light blue socks with lions, elephants, zebras, and giraffes on them. I have a pair of biking socks with smiley faces on the left side of each ankle and not-so-smiley faces with the tongue sticking out on the right side (good day/bad day socks). I have another pair of biking socks with a bunch of different color daisies on them. And I have lots of stripey socks in different colors. I wear mundane clothing most of the time but I like my socks to be a little bit more exciting.

So, when I decided to try knitting socks, I knew I'd probably be bored with solid color sock yarn but the multicolor pre-patterned sock yarn sounded like fun!


As you can see I've got 1.5 socks so far. One sock isn't exactly useful. It brings to mind wee Willy Winky running through the town. Except I think he had two socks and only one shoe.

Oh well. Soon I shall have two whole socks.

Knitting socks on two circular needles isn't particularly difficult. You start with a bit of ribbing, then switch to stockinette stitch round and round until you reach the heal flap where you you've got a knit, slip, knit - purl across thing going on, then you turn the heal and pick up the gusset and knit around with some decreases until you're back to the number of stitches you started with. Then knit around until it's long enough and decrease a bit for the toes and use a fancy stitch to sew it closed. Whew!

With the right directions it's really not as hard as it might sound. I'm using a book called Knitting Circles Around Socks (Knit two at a time on circular needles). I decided to knit one sock at a time for my first effort since I've never knitted socks before. The biggest difficulty is making sure the second sock is the same as the first. That won't be a problem when I move on to knitting two socks at once, though I suspect I might run into trouble keeping all the yarn and needles sorted.

I'll let you know how that goes. I've got the yarn all lined up for the next few pair.


The super colorful stuff is for Magnificent Mary (from Shazam in the Kitchen). As soon as I finish my second sock, I'll move on to Mary's socks and try working two at once. I don't usually like to knit for someone else when I'm trying new things but I figure, if it doesn't work out I'll buy some new yarn and make her something fancy to make up for it. The two less colorful skeins are for me.

After I bought those Mary showed me an ad for this stuff:

It's called Regia Galaxy color yarn and I must have it. There are a dozen different colors and they're all swirly and swoopy and named "Jupiter" something-or-other. Jupiter is my favorite planet. They must have known. I wonder if any of their yarn includes the great red spot! (Yes, I have a favorite planet. Yes, I understand this makes me a huge dork. I'm ok with that. Don't look so embarrassed, little brother. You live far away. This does not reflect on you.)

One day I will tire of socks. And when I do, I will have to find something to knit for these two gorgeous girls.


These faerie princesses belong to Buster's brother and are thusly my nieces. I took this picture the other day in the neighbor's yard on our way to DQ for dessert. This really has nothing to do with knitting socks, I just wanted to share with you this picture of my wonderful and super duper awesome nieces.

Monday, June 9, 2008

Success! Pain! Victory!
The Tour de Cure, 2008


The Tour de Cure is a once a year cycling event to raise money for the American Diabetes Association. This year's Tour de Cure was held yesterday in Brighton, MI and it was my most difficult Tour yet. Some of it was the new route, most of it was the weather.

I set an ambitious fund raising goal and thanks to some very generous, wonderful, and amazing people I was able to bring in just over $500 for the ADA this year. Huge thanks to everyone that sponsored me. You all rock! Success!

Registration started at 7am. I hauled my carcass out of bed before 6 to get some breakfast, pack up my bike and gear and get to Island Lake State Recreation Area by 7. If you know me you know that I find 6am to be an ungodly wicked and horrible hour for any human being to be pulled from a peaceful slumber, especially on the weekend. It was an act of sheer will combined with love for my cause and my bicycle that got me to registration on time.

That photo was taken after the lines had died down. The start time for "50 and 70 mile" riders was 7:30am. There were a lot of "50 and 70 mile" riders this year. I put that in quotes because the "50 mile" route was only 48 miles and the "70 mile" route was just shy of 63 miles. This discrepancy was noted on my comment card along with a note that the ride is getting too big for a group start.
The group start meant long lines at registration and a peloton at the start of the ride. A peloton (big bunch of riders all packed together) might look fun on tv, but it's actually super scary and dangerous, especially when you're sharing the road with cars and most of the riders have very little experience with cooperative riding.

Having aired my complaints, I must tell you, the volunteers and organizers really did a wonderful job. The route was challenging (which is usually a good thing if the weather isn't terribly hot, muggy, and windy -- something they certainly couldn't have predicted) , the rest stops were well spaced and well stocked, and the volunteers were friendly and helpful and all around wonderful.

The ride began with several miles of rolling hills through Kensington Metropark.

A pretty way to start the day. It was still under 80°F and the wind hadn't kicked up yet but the big rain storms Saturday night left the air heavy and wet.

Kent Lake (above) is the main attraction at Kensington Metropark. It's very pretty in the morning.

After Kensington we headed up past the GM proving grounds, then north and west to Highland State Recreation Area. Then we turned south toward Proud Lake and west, back again to the proving grounds. And then we headed further south returning to Island Lake where an out-and-back in the park brought us to 63 miles and the finish line.

As the day wore on the temperature and humidity climbed and so did the wind speed. It seemed like every corner we turned pointed us uphill or into the wind. I think I drank my weight in gatorade and my brain still felt like a fried egg before we finished. Pain!


We hit this rest stop near the proving grounds twice: once at 17 miles and again at 40 miles. By the second stop here I was sore and feeling dehydrated, though I was drinking water and gatorade by the gallon. And I was pretty sure I'd suffered sunscreen failure -- luckily I was wrong on that front and ended up with nothing more than a darker tan and a pink nose.

There were an unusual number of flat tires on this ride. The gentleman I ended up riding most of the ride with got one (his first flat tire ever), and we passed probably ten other riders changing flats. I wonder if weather was to blame? Or little bit of extra sand and gravel on the roads from Saturday night's rain? Somehow I escaped a flat this time, but I harbor no illusions about my tire luck. I've had not a single flat all last year or so far this season. I'm seriously overdue.

The last rest stop on the tour was at about 58 miles. A volunteer there insisted that we take off our helmets and handed us cold wet paper towels. Ahhh! Yes, the brain definitely felt like an overcooked egg at that point, but the little bit of cooling helped and it felt great to wash the salt off my face and neck. Somehow this, along with more cold gatorade, gave me enough strength to make it the last 5 miles to the finish.


When I finally reached the finish (Victory!!) I stashed my bike and made a beeline for food. Carrabba's Italian Grill provided lunch. They have this chicken and mushroom masala stuff that is super duper amazingly yummy. I think it would still be tasty even if I hadn't just burned 4000 calories (I'm not exaggerating -- that's what my heart rate monitor actually reported) riding a bicycle 63 miles uphill and into the steamy wind.

I headed home for some ibuprofen and a shower. A solid ten minutes under cold spray and I was finally able to stop imagining that my brain aught to be served up with toast and bacon. For the rest of the day I napped and watched tv and knitted socks (there's a blog post about those coming soon) and drank tons of water and ate every healthy thing in my fridge and pantry, and a few not so healthy things, too.

The wind, high temperatures, and humidity joined forces with a hilly route to make this the single most difficult ride I've done since I started road biking. Thanks again to the wonderful people that sponsored me. I'm very proud to have completed such an enormously challenging ride and I'm equally proud to have friends and family that made it possible for me to bring the ADA over $500.

I woke up still sore this morning but I'm feeling better and better as the day goes on. I think I have some work to do before I'm ready for DALMAC (5 days, 338 miles) at the end of August. Hopefully the weather will be more kind!

Friday, June 6, 2008

Piece o' Truck and Peonies

Buster is off at carp camp for a week and my poor little Ford Escort is in the shop. It's a good little car, but at 93,000 miles you just expect there to be a few problems. Luckily we have a good mechanic and he's taking good care of her. But it's gonna take a few bucks (bye-bye, remaining Bush money!) and a few more days. In the mean time I get to drive Buster's "Piece o' Truck". Now, I wouldn't want Buster to be upset with me about that one so I need to tell you, I did not decided to call it that, our mechanic did.


The interior smells like stale cigar smoke and the driver's seat is so worn there's hardly any stuffing left. Honestly, though, the piece o' truck isn't so bad. Thirty minutes with a vacuum, Fantastic, and healthy dose of Fabreeze has improved the interior. And this puppy runs like a charm despite approaching 150,000 miles. Good mechanic, remember. And it's kinda fun to drive. I know that must sound strange, but it's a stick and, boy, do I miss driving a stick! I can't help but feel right at home when I roll down all the windows and crank the twangiest country I can find on the radio. Baby, I got a pick-'em-up truck and friends in low places! All I'm missin' is a cowboy hat and some boots! If it wasn't for the cruddy millage (compared to my escort) and the astronomical price of gas these days, I might be perfectly happy driving the truck for a while.

On a totally different topic, as I was taking a picture of the piece o' truck, I decided I should treat y'all to the gorgeous peonies in bloom along our driveway.



They're so bright and cheerful! How lucky I am to have such pretty flowers great me as I pull up the drive!


Can you see the baby grasshopper? The little guy is much easier to see in the full size version, but that's just too big to put up here.

P.S. Don't forget! My Tour de Cure ride is this Sunday. You know you wanna sponsor me! There's a link right there in the side bar.

Thursday, June 5, 2008

This is Hockey Town!!



Red Wings Rock!

and that's all I have to say about that.

Tuesday, June 3, 2008

Visiting Mary and NASA

After the Race for the Cure on Saturday I drove down to Nowhere, Ohio (no, silly, that's not actually the name of the town) where my marvelous friend Mary from Shazam in the Kitchen lives (you should check out her blog, those lavender cocoa cupcakes with blueberry frosting are to die for!). Nowhere, Ohio isn't terribly far from Sandusky. Sandusky is probably best known as the home to that restful, relaxing, romantic vacation spot where Buster and I celebrated our first wedding anniversary:


Yeah. Buster and I aren't so much for the romantic retreats. We spent an entire weekend at Cedar Point, America's Roller Coast. It was Great! (I snarfed that photo from the Cedar Point web site)

Anyway, I wasn't planning on talking about that. I wanted to tell you about something else in Sandusky. Yes, there are actually things in Sandusky other than chain restaurants, hotels, water parks, resorts, and touristy businesses meant to suck money from the pockets of Amazement Park visitors. Sandusky happens to be home to NASA's Plum Brook Station and this year happens to be NASA's 50th anniversary (NASA was born on October 1, 1958) and Plum Brook Station happened to have an open house this past weekend in celebration.

Now, I'm not ashamed to tell you that I'm a geek. Most people assume this means that I'm a computer geek because I make the Internet go for a living. Actually my true geeky passion is space. Space science, space travel, the history of space exploration, space fiction... I'm no expert in any of that stuff, I just like it. So Mary took me to the Plum Brook Station Open House.

Plum Brook is a 6400 acre facility located just south of Sandusky. Once upon a time it was known as Plum Brook Ordinance Works, and until the end of WWII, TNT was produced there. The igloos once used to store TNT are still there. NASA uses them to store broken office furniture, paperwork, and old testing rigs. Here's a picture of an ordinance igloo:

This photo came from a document about the Plum Brook reactor facility and the history of Plum Brook station. It's here: http://history.nasa.gov/SP-4533/Plum%20Brook%20Complete.pdf.

There was more vegetation around the igloos we drove past.

The tour drove us past the cryogenic test complex where they test super cold stuff. Actually they're testing components and insulation and whatnot involved with cryogenic rocket propellant like LOx (liquid oxygen) and LH2 (liquid hydrogen). There are two parts to the cryogenic test complex. It's made up of the cryogenic propellant tank facility (K-site) and the cryogenics components laboratory (CCL). Click on the links to read about them.

We also drove past the Hypersonic Tunnel Facility (HTF) where they test rocket nozzles at Mach 5, 6 and 7 (that's really super fast -- a passenger jet usually doesn't get above Mach 0.8). If you have some background in this stuff, check out the link. Otherwise, maybe don't bother. NASA's not exactly giving a layman's explanation on this one.

The tour bus took us past this tower, as well:

(snarfed this photo from the NASA images database)

This photo is pretty old. The tower is no longer in use as a testing facility and it's fallen into a little disrepair. It used to be the E-Site missile stand. I think they used to shake payloads and missiles simulating launch conditions (I can't find info online about this -- just the picture, and I could be remembering wrong). Now the Ohio department of natural resources uses this tower to study the turkey vultures that have claimed it as their home.

We actually got off the Bus and checked out a few facilities too. The first bus stop was "B Control", a control center that I assume monitors and controls tests happening in B-2 (I'll talk about that next). The control room itself wasn't particularly exciting. There were screens up on the wall and a dozen or so workstations for the operators. In another room they had a couple 3-D demo things going on for visitors. One was a short 3-D movie talking about Mars and the Mars Rover. The other was a cool visualization of all the satellites circling the earth. There were all the geosynchronous satellites in a big ring high above the equator, and there was a dense cloud of LEO (low earth orbit) satellites. And this strange group in eccentric orbits sometimes close to the earth, sometimes far away. I had to ask what these were. The guy in charge said those were Russian satellites and they had funny orbits because Russia is so far north and those orbits kept them in a useful position above Russia for the longest period of time. Nifty!

Next we stopped at the B-2 facility, also known as the Spacecraft Propulsion Research Facility. This is, pretty much, a big pit where they test full-scale upper-stage launch vehicles. Here's a picture of a Delta III rocket stage being lowered into the testing chamber:

(photo snarfed from NASA's image database)

The testing chamber is pretty impressive when you're standing next to it.

We also got to walk through the Space Power Facility. There are actually two parts to this. The fist part we walked through is under construction and will become a vibro-acoustic testing chamber where they shake stuff and subject it to really loud noises, kinda like the vibration and noise of a rocket launch. The other part is the worlds largest space environment simulation chamber. They can seal it up and bring it down to vacuum pressures and also simulate the extreme heat and cold of space. Here's a picture of the skylab shroud in this testing facility:

(this photo and the next one also snarfed from NASA's image database)

We walked right through that room. They tested the mars rover airbags in there, too:


We exited the test chamber into the Assembly area where they get things ready for testing. They had all sorts of displays for visitors set up here.

Oh, I almost forgot. In addition to all these cool space-stuff testing facilities, old TNT bunkers, and the O-DNR turkey vulture stuff, Plum Brook also boasts a Bald Eagle's nest. There's a picture here.

So, my dear readers, next time you're riding the Raptor at Cedar Point in Sandusky, remember, just a few miles south of you there are real raptors, and real rockets, too.

Thanks, Mary, for taking me to NASA. You rock!