Book 16: Allison Hewitt is Trapped

When I'm not reading IT books or romance novels or mystery novels, I like zombie fiction. Yes, that English degree is not going to waste at all! My professors must be so proud to have taught me. This book is framed as being submitted for the historic record of the Zombie Plague. It's the blog of one woman (Allison) who was a hero that contributed to the ultimate survival of the human race. A very good read. The pacing was good. The characters were well done. The ending was not what I expected, but I am not a spoiler kind of reader/writer.

Allison and some of her coworkers are trapped in the bookstore where they work, surviving on beef jerky and juice until they bust out. They do some moving around and there are some casualties, as you might expect. There is also some great ass kicking and axe wielding. I sort of like how the overall zombie genre doesn't agree about what zombies are capable of and if the plague is transferrable to animals. Some surprises in how that all plays out.

Book 15: Prelude to a Scandal

Ok, so the writer is a very good writer, but the relationship was mind bendingly stupid. The hero is basically a sex addict who's screwed up his life but good. I dislike it when my historical heroes have their problems framed through the modern lens. The heroine is a big ole nerd who agrees to marry him because he's getting her dad out of jail. Offputting. Her dad's in jail for writing a book saying homosexuality is no big deal. AGAIN with the modern framing. Then! THEN! When our hero finally tells his wife with whom he has not actually had sex that he's a male slut, she makes him promise to get rid of the portrait he beats off to AND stop beating off! And he agrees. I don't believe any dude on earth is giving up polishing the pole. CRAZYPANTS.

Book 14: Socially Responsible IT

I read this for my CSTE certification upkeep. It was quite a dry read. It is also very idealistic. I read perhaps 5 or 6 IT books per year and I don't really have any outlet allowed by my employer for my thoughts on them. I do recommend the book to other IT professionals, especially those who are empowered to implement policy. I would also recommend it to job seekers. When you are in an interview and they ask if you have any questions you can really dig in with the topics in here.

Book 13: Love in the Afternoon

At last, I've finished up with the Hathaways series. I must say, I thought the hero a dreadful snob who needed to get the hell over himself. And the heroine was the type of girl who never speaks up but wonders why people take advantage. I do like Kleypas, but this was not my favorite of hers at all.

Wear Protection

IMAG0206, originally uploaded by fudh4x0r.

I am dying wool for the mitered cross blanket and neglected to wear gloves. I thought I had bleach. Not so much.

I am really, really overthinking this project and I haven't even cast on. Sad!

Book 12: Made By Hand

Obviously, I am a fan of making things by hand and fixing what I have, but I still put down this book thinking that Mark Frauenfelder is kind of douchey. He's pretty oblivious to what a privileged life he leads. I am so sick of fixing things (and cleaning the things and fixing the things that clean and cleaning the things that fix) that frankly at the end of the day, I don't want to make a cigarbox guitar. I want to knit or read a book. I harbor no illusion that a baby blanket is qualitatively superior because I made it. The value is based on emotions, the sentimental ties between myself and the recipient.

So Frauenfelder has kept chickens, and thus built a chicken coop from wood he saved when tearing down a shed. He has several instances in the book where he talks about all the bits and bobs he saves because he might use them some day and all I can think is "his poor wife." (I read recently, by the by, that Chickens are the New Knitting. At one time Knitting was the New Yoga. I guess time marches on.) His life is very full of stuff, it's just old junky stuff instead of new shiny stuff. I must just be too middle class to appreciate the nuances because I don't see how this makes him morally superior, which is definitely the undercurrent of the book. I do feel superior to people who can't fix a flat or drive stick or make bread or replace a button or catch a fish or grow tomatoes or patch drywall or glaze a window, but that is intellectual superiority. And intellect is an accident of genetics, not something meritoriously earned.

To my way of thinking, keeping stuff because you might need it in the nebulous someday is the underlying issue of our consumerist mentality. I don't lead a low stuff life by any stretch, but maybe from being in a smallish house with 3 other people, a dog and 2 cats I have begun to think of what it costs me to keep things. How much room does this take up? What do I pay per month for that space? How long do I work to earn money to have the stuff? Are those hours at work worth the cost of this stuff? How much upkeep will this thing take in terms the time I'm not at work? If something is not consumable, I don't want to make a commitment to it where the stuff owns me instead of me owning it. This is probably why I have more yarn and books than clothes.

I was hoping for more tutorials in the book but this is not that type of book. Mark may have learned from his mistakes along the way, but we don't really have the information to do so. I get it that he finds the learning and the improvement a vital part of his process. I am all in favor of those things, but I am also no fan of reinventing the wheel. My scrolling screen saver for a while was "If you don't have time to do it right, how will you ever find time to do it over?" So if you are looking for hard info on how to keep chickens, bees or a garden or how to build a cigar box guitar, this is not the book for you.

Maytag Still Sucks

here is the unsurprising email response I got from Maytag:

Thank you for visiting the Maytag web site.  We appreciate hearing from you.

I am very sorry to learn of the problem that you are experiencing regarding your
dishwasher. Based on the information given, it appears your appliance requires
service.

We, as consumers, can certainly understand and appreciate your feelings and
frustrations.  When a product fails to meet a consumer’s expectations, it
concerns us.  While we make every effort to ensure only the highest quality
materials are used during manufacturing, we cannot guarantee an appliance will
never need repair. 

Due to our remote location, it is difficult to determine the exact cause of the
problem that you are experiencing, and we do not have provisions for detailed
technical assistance.  We suggest for an accurate diagnosis and satisfactory
addressing of any malfunctioning component that may be contributing to your
concern that you contact one of the factory qualified service companies listed
below.

In an effort to administer our warranty fairly to all customers, Maytag
Corporation complies with our legal, written, product warranty.   Once a product
warranty has expired, any costs for maintenance, service, or component
replacements are then within the owner’s time frame of responsibility.  We
regret that due to the age of the product, we will be unable to assist with the
cost of the repair.  

You are a valued Maytag customer and we apologize for any inconvenience this
concern may have caused.

You may schedule service directly from our website using the link provided below
or by calling our Customer Experience Center.
http://www.maytag.com/support/service_parts.jsp

We invite you to contact Maytag again either by calling (800) 344-1274 between
8:00am to 8:00pm EST weekdays or by emailing whenever the need arises. When
calling please press the available option or stay on the line to reach a
representative.

Sincerely,

Amanda L.
e-Solutions Specialist
Maytag Customer eXperience Center
http://www.Maytag.com

Maytag Sucks

So, The Mister is a video engineer and thus, handy with the electronics. Today, for grins, we took apart the face of the dishwasher and got out the diagnostic sheet taped to the bottom of the unit. Turns out that Diode P-13 burnt up. Guess which cycle buttons use P-13?

Go on! GUESS!

If you guessed ALL OF THEM you are correct.

My friends, Maytag is officially crappier than your average string of Christmas lights, but instead of costing 5 bucks, it cost about five hundred bucks.

I am officially The Woman Who Hates Maytag. And I have pictures up on my flickr page. Oh, and again, this dishwasher was purchased on Halloween 2009, so it is less than 18 months old.

Top O' The Mornin' To YOU!

Books 7, 8, 9, 10, 11

Unveiled and Trial by Desire by Courtney Milan-- I liked Unveiled quite a bit. A most excellent resolution on that one. Trial by Desire I was lukewarm on because the hero was Too Stupid To Live-- he was all angsty emo-boy and frankly, I wanted to slap the hell out of him.

When Beauty Tamed the Beast-- by Eloisa James. This is a retelling of the fairy tale, put in a blender with House. Eloisa James owes us more than this. She is a good writer and I'd rather she put out one book a year than churn out something so. . .rehashed. Not up to potential. I suppose if this were the first book of hers you'd read it would be ok, but I expected more.

Notes From a Small Island-- by Bill Bryson. This book is funny but the time line is all jumbled. I was not always able to reckon about which stint in the UK Bill was writing. I would say this is better vacation reading that bedtime. It needs to be read in long stretches, rather than 30 minutes or so a night.

The Third Revelation -- by Ralph McInerny. Most exciting read of the year. This is a mystery about a former FBI agent, working with the Vatican to recover the stolen 3rd Secret of Fatima and solve some murders. Ralph was Catholic, so this is not like reading anything by Dan Brown. Also, Ralph was a scholar, so this is not like reading anything by Dan Brown. Yes, I went there. If you are not pretty familiar with Catholic Apologetics and Church history, you will want to read this with the innernets handy. I did have to look up a few things and I think I'm slightly above average among Catholics in my knowledge. Sadly, there are just 2 books in this series. I have been informed that the Father Dowling mysteries do not suck like the tv show. Very encouraging!

Shawl from Paton Lace

IMAG0162.jpg, originally uploaded by fudh4x0r.

80% acrylic, 10% wool, 10% mohair. This yarn has a nice halo but after knitting with it for several hours over the last 2 days, it's sort of irritating to my index finger, which I use to tension the yarn. It is super pretty though, and machine washable.

I started with the old garter nubbin-- cast on 3, knit 6 rows, turn 90degrees and pick up 3, turn 90degrees and pick up 3 more. Then some exploding increase rows with the old KFB. Pattern started once I got a good half moon:

It's stockinette stitch with 3 stitches in garter on each side. When this is blocked (with steam on account of the acrylic) that garter stuff will be the top edge.

Increases are on every other knit row, 10 KFBs, evenly spaced

I'm throwing in eyelet rows on the knit side about every 8 rows. Like a fool, I decided to do the decreases differently on each half of the rows. K2tog on first side, KRS on the other. My K2tog leans to the right. KRS, which leans to the left is made by Knitting a Stitch, Returning to Right Needle, Slipping the Second Stitch over. So it goes for the left handed mirror knitter.

To make a neater edge along the sides I knit the last stitch twisted-- for me that is through the front loop, but for standard knitters that is through the back loop. Then after I turn the work, I slip with the yarn in front, move the yarn to the back and continue in pattern. I can't believe how much I was bungling that for YEARS.

I am considering a picot bind off. . . .but that is a few days off yet.


I have another skein of this yarn and I don't think this shawl will require it, so I'm planning a lengthwise feather and fan scarf for myself.

Organic Cotton Scarf

IMAG0157, originally uploaded by fudh4x0r.

I hope this means I've linked my blog to flickr correctly. Considering that I don't know how to turn pandora off when I use it on my droid, I don't hold out a lot of hope. I am remarkably lazy about learning to use technology if I'm not getting paid for it. I could be learning knitting instead! Or a new recipe. Or reading some genre fiction.

Cheers!

Cotton Scarf

This is my latest finished object: a scarf knitted lengthwise from knit picks sport weight organic cotton. It's a nice cotton, not too hard on the hands. I like the natural shades of the yarn.

Books 5 and 6: My Lord and Spymaster and Forbidden Rose

I also read these two books while sick last week. I really should have had a fainting couch. I was that pathetic.

I would not say the particulars of these books are any more realistic than book 4, which I panned. However, these were very compelling. The suspense and danger were paced with near perfection. The tension in the relationships was great without the hero having to be an insulting dickhead. I so despise the 80s style alpha hero. These guys were wicked smart, as were the heroines. They were quick thinkers, rugged, good at manly stuff without being dumbass macho pigs. That's a fine balance in books and real life.

Book 4: Scandal of the Year

This book was a sidebar ad on Smart Bitches. It was one of 3 books I read last week when I was sick. Bronchitis bites it. Hero had a stick up his butt. Heroine was Victorian Emo. Eh. There were some good scenes, but the overall conflict keeping the two apart was . . . lacking something. It wasn't that I don't believe that women got divorced from rotten husbands in that day. But the husband was so ridiculously villainous, he may as well have twirled his mustache.

The Week In Review

I have to send weekly updates at work on a project basis. I'm almost in the habit. Well, I would be if not for the fact that they are due to be emailed on Thursdays and I have 8.5 hours total meetings scheduled on Thursdays.

Jason's Aunt Doyle passed away, so he's out of town. Aunt Doyle was great. We will really miss her humor.

We haven't made much traction on the house. We did get the tree down. And I hired someone to make a run to the landfill with the old drain stack pipe, the old dishwasher, the old water heater, and some other old house debris. Now we can make more debris. I think the replacement windows for the basement would be great to work on, but I'm not the project manager. I'm just the minion!

I am keeping up with the laundry still, and it's such a relief to know that there are school shirts and socks and underwear every morning. I do have a little pile of mending to do and will probably tackle that today.

Speaking of mending, I FINALLY seamed the Baby Surprise Jacket and put on some buttons. It's . . . enormous. It would fit a 3 yr old. Trouble is, I don't know any 3 yr old boys. It's a very boy sort of color scheme. I will get a pic up on flickr today. This is my favorite part of the droid-- I can upload photos without finding some stupid usb cord.

I found a list of the books I read last year and didn't review! Then I lost it again! I did read Jane Eyre, which I'd never read before. I really liked it a lot, but I honestly wonder if Mrs. Rochester wasn't gaslighted by Mister Rochester.

The prototype shawl continues along. I am not sure which way to go with the Real Yarn. I may take the Citron and put different stitch patterns in lieu of the ruched bands. I read about Crazy Lace on ravelry, but cannot find a copy of it anywhere for less than $70. No. Just. . . .No. Apparently it is a way to knit lace without charts or instructions. I am dubious. There is a rav group, but they don't have much to say that is useful-- it's all adoration for the designer. Not that there is anything wrong with that, I just need actual information.

As it is the time of year when I often have a little windfall at work, I ordered Vogue Stitchionary 2: Cables,
2-at-a-time Socks, and Sock Yarn One-Skein Wonders. I really want to also get Stephen West's delightful pattern Clockwork. Of course, since I want to make it in Knit Picks City Tweed DK which I do not have in stash, I will have to get medieval on some other stash busting projects in order to buy the yarn. Note-- I have added the knit meter gadget to the sidebar.

First Finished Objects of 2011

An acid green cowl for my coworker Stacy. Ravelry pattern is Ruched Cowl and it's free! I only used the smaller sized needles and it was plenty ruchey. It was a fun knit. She loves it!

Too bad that STUPID BLOGGER won't actually upload my damn picture. You'll just have to click the link.

There is another dumb bathroom shot of me in the hat I made for my other coworker, who had to fly up from Argentina in order to test unmasked data for me. It's summer there and of course, totally vile here. I finished this last night and errr, he flew home this morning. Sadly my droid is not uploading pics to flickr anymore. It's probably user error. I'm not reading a manual for a damn phone.

As it happens, I have 2 knitting related resolutions this year. I resolve to replace yarn at only half the rate I knit it. I further resolve that my yarn depletion method is not going to be FIFO or LIFO but instead will be cost based. I have several skeins of Supah Fancy Stuff that I really want to show off. And let me tell you, I've learned that anyone can appreciate a fantastic scarf but if you try to get people to pet a skein of yarn they just think you're off your rocker.

Book 3: Feeling Sorry For Celia

This is a young adult book in the epistolary form, where some of the letters are real and some are from pretty funny imaginary societies. Elizabeth, the heroine has a completely out of control BFF named Celia, and a great penpal in a nearby school-- Christina. I believe that this was one of the recommendations I got when I looked for similar titles to The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society.

I really liked that in this teen book, teens actually HAVE SEX. Because let's face it, in real life, they do HAVE SEX. I also like that this book talks about consequences- emotional and otherwise.

There were a couple of unlikely twists that I didn't care for, regarding Elizabeth's dad and his new family.

Book 2: Seven Nights To Forever

I must say, I am always dubious about happy endings for couples where one of them starts as a whore. The book was ok, but I agree with the commenter on the Smart Bitches site who wondered why the hero didn't exercise his rights as a husband on the bitch he married. If anyone deserved The Mrs. Rochester Treatment, it was whatshername.

Book 1: The Spymaster's Lady

I did read additional books last year, but I just couldn't be arsed to write reviews of them. 2010 got a lot less pleasant there for a while, mostly due to work. (My new year's resolution for work is No Crying At Work. So far, I've kept it, but I did have to take a brisk walk a couple of times and there have been more cocktails in my evenings.)

Book 1 of this year was Joanna Bourne's The Spymaster's Lady. Pretty fun read, I must say. I loved how completely brilliant and wily Annique was. She kicked all sorts of ass, physically and mentally. I do like that in a heroine. I didn't much care for the Startling Conclusion About Her Mysterious Parents.