All Hallow's Eve '08

My town is sort of built into a canyon and where I live now I don't get trick-or-treaters because it's just too far uphill, followed by a trip up stairs that most people pass by even when they want to find my front door.

I'm not much into the Halloween party scene anymore either, so for my one little acknowledgment of the day I always check out the town's annual Halloween parade.  Organized by the parents and schoolteachers, it's really all about the kids - which we have plenty of!

I think my favorite is the young lady dressed as a diver with her lobster baby - what's yours?

Public Service Announcement

With Halloween just a few days away, it seemed like a good idea to share this vital public service announcement from the creative geniuses at Common Craft. I hope you will find this video both educational and entertaining!

U is for Unloved

As in - The Unloved Gifts Shop, Avalon's only thrift store, run by the Avalon Hospital Auxiliary.

I deliberately took this photo on one of the days that it was closed because during the few hours on the few days each week that it is open, the tiny store is usually packed with shoppers. Not just inside but also those browsing the double row of hanging clothes racks, book bins, and occasionally a holiday merchandise table, all clustered outside the door.  So you wouldn't be able to see anything except a mass of people!

This is where you go to drop off your unloved items - you name it, they've probably sold it.  If it's small enough to fit in the door, they'll take it.  And this is also the place where if, like me you are somewhat cheap thrifty, you will visit regularly to see what treasures you can find. 

Saturday Sky slacker

I admit that I've really slacked off on the Saturday Sky.  I expect anyone who surfed the ring on Sunday looking for interesting sky pics has long since given up on me. When I first signed up it was fun, sharing lovely bits of the skies overhead with people from all over the world, and looking to see what their skies looked like on that same day.  It also gave me a good reason to get up and out of my house on the weekend, because I figured there's only so many times I can get away with taking the shot from my balcony!  But it's been a bit more challenging lately. You see, Mother Nature just hasn't been on my side in this endeavor. 

This is what the sky looked like on a Monday:

And this was a Tuesday:

A Wednesday:

And a Thursday:

But come the weekend our skies look like this:

A solid, cloudless light blue.  I know I can't complain and there are plenty who would envy me.  But it doesn't make for a very interesting photo does it?  In fact, that is a rectangle I drew in Photoshop and filled with red 102, green 153, blue 204.  But that's exactly what the sky looks like.

I think perhaps Mother Nature has a wicked sense of humor.  I mean, it's late October and I've had weather in the 80's how many times in the past few months?  So it's not a far reach to imagine that the gorgeous fluffy clouds and intensely colorful sunsets only happen during the week - and weekends just get the leftovers.

You want to trade WHAT?

Okay, so here's the story....

This little goodie:

Is a TI-83 Plus graphing calculator. Painfully obvious to anyone who is currently or has recently taken a Statistics class, or possibly even Trigonometry, Physics, or something else equally heinous. (In which case you have my deepest sympathy.)  There are newer, fancier models out now, but this one gets the job done, is on the list of models approved for use on SAT, AP, and other exams, and I've heard you can even load games onto it.  (Hey, now how's that for a selling point???)  It comes with a little USB cable and an instruction book that is bigger than the calculator.

As far as I know, it has absolutely no application for knitting.  Yes, I know there is math involved in knitting (I got the memo) but using this baby for simple calculations of gauge or pattern repeats is definitely overkill.  Kind of like turning on your laptop to check the date. (Oh, like you never did that?)  If there is knitting that actually requires the use of a graphing calculator, I don't think I want to know about it.  I certainly won't want to do it.

I am thankfully, blessedly, coming the end of my Statistics course. (Happy happy joy joy) I have the last "midcourse" exam next week, and a cumulative (hurl) final shortly after that.  And you know what?  I have TWO of these freaking calculators.  Why you ask?  Ummm...because I am a dumbass maybe?

Now, just to bring any newcomers up to speed - I live on an island approximately 26 miles off the coast, to go over to the mainland I have to get on a boat, the trip takes over an hour, and then I have to drive to wherever I want/need to be.  We square now?  Okay.  So, the last time I went to take an exam for this class, I'm on the boat, knitting and listening to the various conversations swirling around me, and suddenly it hits me - I have forgotten to bring my blankety-blanking, frick-fracking calculator!!!!  @#$%@#&%@&$%@!!!!  It's not like I can just turn around and go get it - the boat is chugging merrily across the ocean towards the mainland.  And taking the test without it is absolutely not an option, not if I have a prayer of passing.

So as soon as I was within cell phone range I called the testing center and told them I'd be a little late for my appointment. (This is the relaxed mellow testing center, the uptight super serious testing center probably would not have been so understanding. More on that some other time.)  Then I drove to a big box office supply store, one of the same chain from which I had purchased my oh so beloved TI-83 Plus graphing calculator months earlier.  I walked in the door, picked up a brand new TI-83 Plus, slapped down my credit card, and headed off to take my exam.  My rational was that A) I most certainly did not have time to figure out all the buttons and functions on a different model and B) since I only needed to use it once, I could probably sell it on our local bulletin board.

I did fine on the exam.  Selling the extra calculator - not going so well. I priced it under what the big box stores sell it for and when I put the ad up I thought it was perfect timing, back-to-school season in my town, when everyone's getting stocked up & buying supplies for the new school year.  But no takers, no interest at all.

Our local bulletin board is usually the primo spot for buying & selling random items, everyone looks at it. (Oh, now there's some blog fodder for NaBloPoMo!)  I suspect trying to sell it on eBay will be more trouble than it's worth.  So what are my options? Ideas anyone? Know any college students with healthy yarn stashes and less than healthy bank accounts? I'm open to suggestions!

A satisfactory swap

About a month ago someone gave me a copy of the latest MaggiKnits pattern book, "Irish Fashion Knits".  I flipped through it briefly and decided that while it was a very attractive layout, absolutely none of the designs in the book were of interest to me. 

My thrifty soul prevented me from just tossing it in the trash so on a whim, I posted an offer on a couple of the Ravelry group boards, including the one for fans of Maggie's work.  Which is where I quickly received a response.

So I was able to trade a book I absolutely did not want for this:

Mmmmm....pretty pretty! Blues, purples, a bit of grey - definitely my colors. I don't see how my partner in this trade could have done a better job of selecting something I'd like.

It's Zitron Trekking XXL, a sock yarn I've heard of but haven't tried yet. It's been on my list of yarns I'd like to try so I'm looking forward to finding a suitable pattern for it.

Now I have to wonder, what do you suppose are the odds I can swap this for some yarn?

Another contender for the Oval Office

Something to consider between now and November 4th:

So - - have you stimulated the economy today?