Domestic Geek

The following Denver Craigslist ad in the "denver craigslist > community > volunteers" section (I didn't link to the ad itself since those links are temporary) was brought to my attention on a Ravelry forum:

Knitter or Crocheter Needed To Volunteer at Yarn Shoppe (Denver)
Date: 2010-01-09, 5:03PM MST
Reply to: see below

Yarn Shoppe in Tamarac Sq Mall Space #206 seeks a volunteer for two days a week for 4 hours each day.
Requirements:
Senior Citizen, or Student is preferable.
Must be able to knit or crochet during shift 11:00am - 3:00pm.
Must bring own project to knit or crochet to work with you.
Must be able to sit down for several minutes at a time.
Must be able to greet customers in a friendly manner.
Must be able to write up sales receipts.
Must be 100% responsible and dependable for shift.
Must be able to multi task.
Must have high integrity and an honorable character.
If interested, please email resume to: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
WRITE YOUR NAME and the word RESUME in the Subject line.
Junk, sales, and inappropriate emails will NOT be opened and read.

I replied to the forum poster with:

Shame on whomever is trying to get away with that. Obviously the poster is going to profit from selling yarn, so he/she should pay someone to man the store. The person is not even offering to provide the yarn to demonstrate with. Most definitely tacky. I really hope nobody would agree to do such a thing.

Seriously, I know we're in hard economic times and all, but let's get real. People's time is valuable and if you can't be there to run your own damn store, at least pony up a few dollars for the person you want to do so. The part that particularly got to me was the "Must have high integrity and an honorable character" line. Obviously a character trait missing in the poster.

I did a little more research and I'm pretty sure I've got the general idea about what this woman is trying to do with this store. I just don't agree with the mentality and definitely won't be spending any of my money there.

If you're on Ravelry and have searched the pattern database for dishcloths, more than likely you're see the awesome patterns designed by Kris of KrisKnits.

Today she announced that she's going to be hosting a monthly Dishcloth KAL (knit-a-long to the uninitiated) on her blog. She's going to post 10 lines of the pattern 6 times a month and at the end of the month, if you've been knitting along, you'll have a completed dishcloth.

Tomorrow I'll pick up a ball of cotton and cast on. Should be fun!

Sorry for the extended absence.

2009 was not a good year for me in many ways. I've noticed that it wasn't particularly good for finished craft projects, either. I think I've frogged projects more times that I ever have. As I look at my WIPs on Ravelry, I've only almost completed one in the past year (I've still got ends to weave in). My Macbook sleeve felted poorly, but I haven't tried to make it better yet. I've got a felted bag that needs to felt and sew the handles on. Other than that, I'm not close to finishing anything. Even the Christmas stockings I was making for Marcus and myself didn't get finished in time - they'll have to hang on the mantle next year.

I didn't work on any other crafts, either. I've got lots of projects in many different mediums underway, I just could't seem to work on any of them. Even my web design (for this and my other site) has slipped. My dissatisfaction with my job has been a major culprit. I've also let myself get addicted to the Internet again, so I spend way too much time on Ravelry, Twitter and Facebook that could better be used crafting. Then there was my Animal Crossing City Folk addiction on the Wii that lasted for many months.

I'm starting to snap out of the funk I've been in for so very long and the creative juices are starting to flow. I'm hoping that I'll have many completed crafty items to show off in the coming year. Also, I finally want to get a decent design put together for this site.

Man, I can't believe it has been almost a year and a half since I did my last Ten on Tuesday post. That was right before I went into the hospital to have my gall bladder removed. Since I've decided that things will be different for me in 2010, this topic seems appropriate to start the meme back up (albeit a day late). I've always been really bad about keeping resolutions, but I have a good feeling about the upcoming year.

Ten New Year's Resolutions for 2010

1. Learn to use my embroidery machine
2. Learn to ride a motorcycle
3. Get my finances under control
4. Get a new job
5. Sell things through my Etsy store
6. Purge the house of unnecessary stuff
7. Lose weight
8. Do the Project 365
9. Complete 10 knitting projects
10. Knock some items off my 101 in 1001 list

Well, the goals are lofty, but doable. The main goal is to get things in place to move. We're hoping to be able to accomplish that goal in 2011. The year we were going to spend in this mobile home park has turned into 7 (wow, time flies), and that is waaay too long.

I change my own oil. Yesterday, I decided I had better get an oil change done before the snow moves in later in the week. Usually, it is a pretty hassle-free process. Yesterday...not so much.

First, we're technically not allowed to work on vehicles where I live. I usually get around this by doing the work on Sundays, but it was raining/snowing this past Sunday. I waited until about 5pm to get started (after owners/manager/maintenance go home for the day). It was still relatively warm outside at that point and I had at least an hour and a half of daylight left.

I gathered all of my supplies (oil filter, oil, air filter, blue towels), my tools (breaker bar, sockets, screwdriver, oil pan, funnel) and set to work. I changed the air filter in no time at all. Usually, I have a devil of a time getting it switched out because the Subaru Baja has the air filter in a really stupid, no easily accessible place. Next, I crawled under the car and removed the plastic panels that project the undercarriage. I then realize that I had forgotten that I was not the last one to change my oil. I went ahead and had it done while it was being serviced for something else. Damn, it wasn't one of the Fram filters with the rubber grip that are relatively easy to get off. It was also on there really tight. I was going to go ahead and get the oil draining while I was under there. Of course, the 17mm socket that I needed to remove the drain plug is missing from the set. I clean myself up as best I can and head back into the house to find a 17mm socket and to see if we have a fuel filter wrench. After much search, I can not locate a wrench, so I call Marcus and sure enough, we don't have one. I tried to use a pipe wrench, but there wasn't enough clearance under there to get it around the filter.

I got in Marcus' Escape and trekked over to Advanced Auto Parts. Why are auto parts stores always understaffed? It was a problem when I worked at one and is always the case still. I found a wrench I thought would work, stood in a line for a really long time, finally paid for it and got back home. Too small. Damn! I package it back up, go back to Advanced, exchange it for the next bigger size (after standing in line forever again) and went back home. At this point, it is dark, so I went inside to find my mini LED flashlight that I really like because I can clip it onto things. I had lent it to Marcus the day before and now I couldn't find it anywhere. I had to call Marcus to see where he put it. After the flashlight is found, I go back outside to try it again and now this one is too big. Are you freakin' kidding me?! I almost started crying at this point. It was dark and getting cold and I have tools scattered all over and I just wanted to be done with it. I got back in the car again and went to Autozone. They didn't have a strap wrench that seemed like it would work, so I went with a different kind of tool (kind of like pliers). I stood and waited to be checked out yet again, picked up a couple of tacos from Taco Bell because I was starving and my dinner I had prepared before starting all of this was now ice cold and had to be reheated, got back home and tried again. The damn filter still wouldn't come off. Did I mention that whoever put it on last put it on tight? Jerk. I went back in the house, found some duct tape, wrapped that around the filter and tried again. After a bit, it finally came off.

The rest of it went pretty quickly from there. I was so cold, though, that I spilled oil trying to get it from the pan into the bottle. I gathered up all the tools, took my garbage to the dumpster, ran my car for a bit to get the new oil flowing and went inside to take a shower. Damn, I totally forgot that the handle on the shower broke the day before. Now I had to go find some teflon tape to make a temporary repair so that I could clean myself up.

So, that's my sad, sorry tale. A quick oil change that turned into a 3 hour ordeal. At least next time, the filter will come off easily and now my car has shiny, new oil before it snows tonight.