Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Letting It Go

Just in case anyone is following--Tuesday rode the same negative wave as Monday. Time to spin this around.
The following is what is on my mind and my way of releasing it so I can move on. No knitting content.

A large chunk of crap causing frustration in my world are people who can't move forward when they don't get their way. They pick and pick at the same old work/life histories. I've observed once they get their way their celebration is brief because they have another personal item lined up to gnaw on until everyone around says, "alright already, have it your way. I'm sick of listening to it." These people suck the life out of me. I don't like being around them. They may be perfectly amiable at the onset or in a non-work related arena. That makes it harder. They are so focused on their mission. There's nothing wrong with being focused as long as in this line of work the focus is for the  betterment of all concerned. But then, that's what these people think isn't it? Their personal agenda, their pet peeve is not everyones but they can't understand why not and will berate those constantly with their reasoning and "you know what I mean?" repeated over and over until the person being talked at cries "Uncle!. Yes, I hear you but I don't happen to agree with you", which invites them to continue to try and convince you. (Go Away. I'm not talking to you anymore. I don't care that you have a personal grudge against another employee and want them fired when all they have done by all evidence is THEIR JOB.)
This has been going on for years and my tolerance left along time ago. If you like your job you shouldn't hate going to work. You shouldn't have to work in what you perceive as a hostile environment day after day when the hostility has nothing to do with you. You shouldn't have to accept their behavior; nor should you have to, after trying to discuss your feelings with this person (people) to stop the behavior be told by that person, "that's just the way I am so deal with it." How about you respect and deal with the way I am and leave me out of it? Better yet, grow up and deal with your issues with those that can help you solve them and let the rest of us come to work, do our jobs and go home without feeling like we've been interrogated all day to support your....personal garbage. Please.
Compounding the problem is A member of Administration (there are several with the title of Administration in this arena) that feels those with "passionate views" need to be heard by all members of staff whether it is any of their concern or not. I asked why they felt this was progressive and received an unsatisfactory answer that everyone should be able to put in their opinion on the subject. I voiced my opinion that it was exactly the opposite to my way of thinking and a waste of  time and money. Again, gather the parties involved with the parties that can resolve it and MOVE ON. I agreed to disagree. Done. Moving on. They, did not and want me to see it their way.

And I get up the next day and do it again. I work on removing myself from this environment. Thank goodness for knitting.

Monday, March 21, 2011

After a rather unpleasant weekend I was hoping the work week would be happier, brighter, dare I say...fun? Alas, if Monday (today) is any judge it ain't gonna happen.
It's been snowing all day. Today. First day of spring. That's just wrong on so many levels. On the bright side, none of it is sticking to the ground. Made for some nasty driving in the hill towns if the police scanner in my office is any indication. It would have been better to stay home and knit.
Ack, there's the rub. Staying home with a furnace that refused to work starting Saturday afternoon. The repairman couldn't fix it until this morning. That meant starting and stopping the furnace via the emergency switch on an hourly schedule. That meant no sleeping for more than an hour at night if I wanted to keep the house above 60 degrees.Tired is an understatement. I'm thinking of going to bed when I get home from work around 5pm.
I did get a good chunk of my aran sweater done while bundled up on the couch over the weekend. I'm designing the sleeves to be fitted to the arm by using a cable and stitch combination that really ends up being a ribbing. I'm doing so because I don't like standard aran sleeves which tend to be bulky. On the needles the my combination looks downright silly. The sleeve looks like it belongs on some other project. A long skinny tube attached to a heavily cabled body design. On my arm it looks fine. The way the weather has turned back to winter I may get to wear it before the shorts and flip flops become necessary.
I'm hoping for a better Tuesday.

Wednesday, March 09, 2011

Reading My Mind

Just the other day I was thinking to myself, how does heather yarn come to be? How do they do that? Well, as if he was hanging out in my brain, Jared Flood of Brooklyn Tweed is posting a 5 part series on just the subject. Jared, please disregard anything else you may have stumbled upon in my cranium. Cluttered mess that it is.
Heathers are what I gravitate to as I enter any yarn shop. I like the non-solidness. It adds another interest to my work. What may look like a green sweater upon closer observation has flecks of yellow, blue and fuchsia. A deep red is actually a bright red but flecks of black or charcoal gives the color more depth.

The photos don't readily show the gray interspersed. 

I like the visual dimension whether there are knitted textures or plain vanilla stockinette stitch. So, thank you Jared. Thanks for taking the time to run through the process step by step so I can appreciate the work that goes into my favorite type of fiber.
I hear we're in for another dousing of rain that will have nowhere to go but...in my cellar. Ah, spring is arriving. For the first time in six months I did not throw on a wool sweater for work this morning. Lovely old building that it is, it is not the most air tight but they're working on it. As with any municipal building it takes years of meetings to decide where the money is coming from to put weather stripping on the doors to keep the breezies out. All in good time.