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Petition for a real 3-day weekend

If you live in the US, you know that if there's a holiday you can expect a 3-day weekend, except for Independence Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's. Now, Christmas I know is never going to be changed since that involves international cooperation which hasn't happened since the invention of time zones (after all we're the only ones not using metric as our standard for measurement). Thanksgiving is pretty much a 4 day weekend for most folks. But Independence Day is usually spent barbecueing and watching various events celebrating the day that the Declaration of Independence from England was signed, following up with a big fireworks display. The date, July 4th, moves each year (this year it's on a Tuesday). So if you haven't already opted to have Monday off, you go to work Monday after a busy weekend, stay home Tuesday and can't really do much, then go back to work on Wednesday. Now here's something the Republicans can do to make American lives easier-- designate the first Monday of July as the day we celebrate our independence-- instead of babbling about flag burning, gay marriage, or other useless crap they've been throwing on Congress's agenda. It would be more useful and not quite as contentious. And for criminy sake throw the fireworks display on the Sunday before so we can sleep in the next morning after getting home at 3 am because of all the traffic.

Rose Trellis progress

I discovered that after going through the pattern chart once that when you start up again the chart is off by 4 stitches at each end. She did warn the gentle pattern reader about the growing edges, but I didn't realize what she meant until I did some copying and grafting of the pattern to incorporate my pattern alteration. The first row of the next repeat was a bit of a challenge (four tinks of the first repeat -- made me want to shave my head and renounce the world for a more contemplative life, like counting angels dancing on a pin). But once I got going, I was back to my usual knit-a-section-count-a-section-tink-a-section-reknit-a-section-get-through-four-sections-breathe-a-sigh-of-relief-before-purling-back-and-counting-stitches. I keep telling myself it's Not The Princess Shawl. And at one point I treated myself to a long Addi Natura (40") circular. I may have to get a few more after three repeats. Which takes me to my next subject.

Idea for a product

Has anyone considered making tubes that you could slide over your circular needle tips so that you can connect two circulars to make one long circular? They would have to be made of a flexible plastic so that they would stretch enough to grab the needle surface without sliding off. Get to work, inventors! A new knitting tool!

Body progress

I succumbed to the temptations of Hawaii's bounty while I was there and didn't move around as much as I thought I would, so when I stepped on the scale this week, I was disheartened by how all the progress I had made (almost 10 pounds in the last month) was wiped away. My doctor's appointment is in two weeks. When I try to exercise more, my knees grind away. Hopefully the dietary changes I made (less fat, more vegetables) will result in my cholesterol dropping. The prospect of having two more prescriptions, one for cholesterol and one for diabetes, is depressing.

But that appointment is followed by a visit to my knee surgeon to see if I'm ready for my knee joints to be cleaned out of scar tissue. If I can get that done, I can see if I can try to get in water aerobics again. I've got to do something!

On the job front

You may notice that I post very few entries regarding my job. That's because of its very nature it requires a high level of confidentiality. I deal with home health claims to Medicare, which frightens some people--"OMG You deal with Medicare? How can you stand it?" Easy. They make the rules, you follow the rules, they pay the bills. The rules for home health are straightforward, so you don't have to be a mental genius to figure them out (not like some lines of medical care, like home infusion, which has no manual of rules that anyone has found out). Then there's the relations I have with the people I work for and with. They know I have a blog. I make no secret of it. It's laid out plainly in the company policy that disclosure in a public forum is grounds for dismissal. I like where I work, so I respect that.

Recently, however, I've been tempted with moving on to a different department. There was a shakeup in Information Systems, opening up a number of positions that I thought I could try for. The most recent application was to another department in the same division, but it didn't have enough variety for my liking. Like in any large organization, rumors fly, and soon my boss got wind of my inquiries and applications. So he confronted me and we talked. I have a good relationship with him and told him why I was looking. I was bored. I needed a challenge. I wanted to learn something new. He really likes my work and me and didn't want to lose me, so he offered an opportunity for me to learn some of the home infusion side. I didn't really want to leave, as I like the group. So this was great news for me. Hopefully this will help bolster my being put into a higher pay level as I'm at the pay maximum now. My boss has talked about having the positions reevaluated for their pay so keep your fingers crossed. It made my lead very happy to know I wasn't leaving (I had told her of my intentions) and I get to keep my desk with its privacy and lovely view.

Alicia and Norma's dogs, Dax and Phoebe. I've been told Phoebe's camera shy but she didn't run when she saw my camera. Probably because it's an ancient Canon AE-1 so it doesn't whirr, grind, or beep when you take a picture. Just click.