Signs of Spring

It's been a long winter here in Eastern Ontario - indeed most of Canada and the northern United States are well and truly sick of it. But Spring is finally here and I've been seeing a lot of posts recently about the arrival of Spring and what that means to different people. As for me, I've been waiting for one thing which truly is the sign of spring at my house. And it came today.

It wasn't the fat buds on the trees and shrubs

It wasn't the miniature daffodils on the south wall of the house

Nor was it the rhubarb or green onions

No, it was none of these things.  What I've been waiting for is that damn bird, aka the Northern Flicker, back from it's annual migration, banging holes in the side of my house.

Happy Spring.

Forced Change

I heard some bad news today.  My sister-in-law was laid off from her job after 27 years with the same company.  It's a rotten thing to have happen and I think it's going to be a rough few days (weeks?) for her as she tries to get her feet under her again.  She's got what appears to be a good severance package but without going into too much detail (because this isn't really my story to share), it could have been much better.

The funny thing about forced change like this though is that in my experience it always works out for the best.  All my friends have lost their jobs at some point and each and every one of them has ended up in a better situation than they were in before.  Truly - every single one of them; me included.  I'm sure you have similar stories.  So why is it that if it always works out so well that we avoid it like the plague and send condolences to the person who lost their job?

I don't have answers, though I suspect its something along the lines of "people don't like uncertainty" or "pressing financial commitments".   But I suspect the real answer is about control - I don't know anyone who goes out of their way to court change like this, but I know lots of people who have voluntarily left jobs for something else; me included.  But I was the one who decided to leave the old job and I had something to go to.  I was the one who called the shots, who decided if, when, where, how and why.  That's a pretty powerful position to be in.

On a related note, I took a deep breath today and unraveled Semele, my scarf which demonstrated that I can't reliably count to four.  It went from being 95% done to being very undone.

But you know what?  This too has ended up being a good thing even though it looks like a setback - I read the entire directions again and am using the actual printed instructions instead of what I thought they said and the whole thing looks better.  I can tell already that this end is going to block out to a better shape than what I had before.

Now before I'm publicly flogged, I'm well aware that ripping out a scarf isn't in the same category - the same universe - as losing a job - that feels more like having your right arm ripped off.  But just like when the scarf wasn't working out, being forced to start over will produce a better end product and for my lovely and talented SIL, this forced change will surely produce something better than she had.

Raspberry Fizz

It's amazing what can be accomplished once there is a little pressure and a deadline.

Here is the first of three projects I'm aiming to complete before Christmas.  At the time of this writing, I have 32 days remaining to complete another scarf which is far less complicated than this (and to be fair - it's already half finished) and a pair of socks - which I can almost knit in my sleep.  I think it's a reasonable goal.

The pattern is Alhambra by Anne Hanson.  This is the third time I've knit this so I'm getting faster at it.  The first time, it took me 5 weeks.  The second time was 3 and now I'm down to 2.  Two weeks for a lace scarf.  Not bad.  Like the others I've made, this is knit in SweetGeorgia CashSilk Lace - a lovely blend of cashmere and silk.  The colour is called "Orchid".

One down, two to go.  Knit on!

Sense of Humour Failure

So.  In the continuing saga of the aftermath of hitting a deer....

A few days after hitting the deer, I was driving to work and the engine quit on me.  Not just a little cough and  a sticky transmission, I mean it stopped.  Stopped dead.  In the middle of a six lane highway during the morning rush hour.  The Gods who watch such things had a bit of mercy and I was able to get it restarted and off the road to a safe place where I called CAA and was able to get a tow back to Perth.  Faulty Crank Sensor is what I was told.  So that was replaced and as things go, it wasn't too bad.  Less than $200 for parts and labour.

The following week I took the car to the insurance-company-designated body shop in the nearby town of Carleton Place to get the grille replaced, a few dents knocked out and some paint fixed up.  They had my car for a week, during which time I was given an all-singing, all-dancing 2012 vehicle.  The loaner car and dealership shall remain anonymous to avoid a libel suit.  In all fairness, it did actually drive well and was comfortable, but I think the center console with the on-screen controls is a huge safety hazard.  After a week, I still struggled to adjust the heat, the wiper blade controls are actually complicated (this is an issue when the remnants of a hurricane are passing by) and there is no way this particular Bluetooth/hand's free system is safer than just answering a phone.

So I was thrilled beyond words when the repair facility called and said my little no-frills Jeep was ready to be picked up.  So I went in, handed in the other car, got my keys back, turned it on and saw this.

The Check Engine light is on.  The Check Engine light was not on when I dropped it off.  This is something I'm very particular about. Hell, I just spent $200 to fix it the week before so believe me, I would have noticed.

Now, I understand - I do have an older vehicle that is approaching that time of it's life when parts start to fail.  The warranty is long done and I do have to assume that there will be expenses with keeping it on the road.  But I ask you - is it just me or is it reasonable to assume that when you pick up a vehicle from a garage that has just completed an exhaustive examination of the front end and engine, and completed a weeks worth of work, that they won't give it back to you with a check engine light on?  

What the Bear Did

I'm not the sharpest tool at the end of the day.  I spend 8 hours looking at minute details of auditing software in languages I can't read (literally - Hungarian is unlike any other European language out there) so by the end of the day I'm ready to just slide into my car and cruise home listening to the radio - no real thought required.  

Half the fun of this is I like the radio announcer who's on from 2 - 6 while I'm driving home.  He's got an intelligent show and has been actively working to raise the I.Q. of the listener base by a few points.  There's always something going on and while I don't much care for Harley motorcycles myself, I can't help but admire the devotion he has to his ride.  He's involved in the community and actively working at shining the light on the little known events that could really use people's support.

But I didn't hear him this week.  No big deal - it's summer.  People take vacation.  But I happened across a job posting for a radio announcer in the drive home shift for this station on Monday.  I was concerned, but I knew they were test driving other announcers to co-host with him so I checked their website to make sure he was still there. No mention of this guy.  I dug a little deeper and found out that the station cut him loose last Friday.

Now, apart from the poor business decision I see in "letting someone go" (what a terrible euphemism for getting fired) on a Friday, I thought he was the most engaging, entertaining and thought provoking announcer this station had.  He was working at expanding the topics beyond bacon, beer, boobs and bikes.

I'm absolutely gutted by this "restructuring" decision that has been made.  It's balled up my routine.

But more importantly, I'll miss you Kornicky.  Good luck.

Tech is great when it works....

So a week, maybe 10 days ago there was a big thunderstorm went rolling through my neighbourhood.  Since I have a line-of-sight Internet tower (which is essentially a big lightening rod), and a steel roof, Ian was sent upstairs to unplug the internet cables to prevent any possible electrical surges from destroying anything.

The computer wasn't destroyed, nor was the UPS.  Not even the printer.  But the transmitter on my wireless router was damaged.  We're still not entirely sure how it happened as it should have been unplugged but after that storm, it was no longer transmitting. 

So we had to get a new router.  No big deal right?  You go to any one of a handful of shops and get a new one.  No problem.  I left this in Chuck's very capable hands and true to form, he got a new router.  An all singing, all dancing, all the bells and whistles, router.  This one broadcasts on two wavelengths - one for regular surfing and one for video streaming or for tasks which require greater bandwidth.  It's a DLink and the past several routers I've had have been made by LinkSys.

And herein lies the problem.

I know how the LinkSys router works.  I can configure it quickly and easily as I know where to click and where different information is entered in the administration of the router.  I'm reasonably adept at setting this kind of thing up, and I'm sure DLink is going to be a wonderful piece of equipment, but damned if I could make it work.  After a screaming fit at an inanimate object (not one of my finer moments), Chuck very kindly stepped in, took over, and had it up and running in an evening.  By that time I had gone to bed, exhausted and spent after raging at a piece of plastic.

In the meantime, I'm writing from work, paying the bills through my phone and using that energy of rage and frustration against the Colorado potato beetles in my garden.  They had no idea what hit them - just a wave of fury destroying beetles, and eggs in the potato plants. 

Chuck tells me it's all up and running again now.  I don't know whether to be thrilled or irked.  It's symptomatic of my love/hate relationship with tech.  It's the most amazing thing in the world - when it works.