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There is a lot going on with the canning, obviously. However, there isn’t much in the way of knitting. All the time is going to the canning.
I’m hoping to have a little time to knit this weekend. I’m still working on the Catkin for Mom. I’ve also rerestarted the Labyrnth mitts for Candy. One of the yarns I chose turned out to be a sports weight instead of a fingering weight and it made a big difference. There is nothing like tearing out ¾ of a mitt when you discover you haven’t judged your yarn correctly.
I’m waffling about a number of other projects. I really want to start on the Volna Scarf. I have three different colors of Knitpicks Chroma that would look really good as this scarf. But I don’t want to give any of them away so this would qualify as selfish knitting and this close to Christmas, I don’t do selfish knitting. I made Adriel a tam for Christmas but was debating whether to make Jordan a hat, he doesn’t tend to wear hats and he IS a teenage boy, for whom handknitted gifts from his aunt may be very low on the list of desired gifts. But Mora thought he’d wear a hat if it was in Boise Broncos colors (blue and orange). I don’t have a good pattern or any yarn that would be appropriate so it’s still debatable. I have been wanting to knit something for a couple of friends. They always give me gifts at Christmas and I haven’t had any money to reciprocate. But figuring out what yarns to use and what patterns is particularly difficult for these particular friends. So it's hanging out there until I see something that inspires me.
There are also a number of little things I’d rather make for Robert and Carrie than this never ending crocheted quilt. ;>)
Work remains incredibly challenging and very busy. I've been here until 6:00 two nights this week. It's not pleasant. The things that bother me most are the lack of decision making on the part of the dean and the assumption from the faculty in SMED that I am not capable because I don't do things the way Paula does. I actually require them to give me all the information rather than looking for it myself....I'm too busy to spend time chasing things down. In some ways this way of thinking is perpetuated by the dean's lack of decision making...They ask me to do something, I need input from the dean, the dean doesn't respond, the faculty then assume I'm not taking care of it. It's incredibly frustrating. I also have to acknowledge that it's been 12 years since I didn't know how to do my job and not knowing how to do all of my job is frustrating the snot out of me. It's ok when my boss is here and I can simply go ask him. But he's been gone a lot lately and those days have piled up right in a row this week.
I still don't have the signing authority that I need to be able to do my job independently. I know I won't have the same kind of impunity as my boss- like he said, I don't make enough money to take that kind of risk. But I should be able to sign some stuff. I have signed up for several professional development classes. I need to add a couple more in order to have the training I need in HR. But I'm having a real problem with scheduling anything more into my day. I'm almost ready to do the furniture order. We've had a couple of last minute changes and I'm still trying to figure out the task chairs. The designers want us to use hard plastic (wiffle ball type, complete with holes) or sling style fabric seats with no padding. I have said that this is not acceptable for people who work 8 hours a day and insisted on foam padded ergonomic chairs. We are still trying to find a style that works for the people who will be using them. I've decided we may need multiple styles that have the same fabric options.
The recent issue with my computer deciding to take a literal 2-3 minutes to switch between applications and then yesterday opting for the "do not start" option has dramatically increased my frustration levels. Fortunately, I am a fairly good diagnostician and I had a hunch I was going to need a new computer. Therefore I ordered one...a really good one, with two monitors and a new printer. I also moved almost all my files onto an external hard drive. I also ordered it with such exquisite timing that the day before it quit, my techs had emailed me to let me know it was loaded and ready to be placed. So, aside from the 2.5 hours it took the tech to set it up and make sure all my hardware/software was installed, I didn't lose much from the hard drive malfunction. And what I did lose, they were able to recover with their special super secret tech tools on the bench. I should have everything back by this afternoon.
There were a few frustrations with the new tech...for example, the old printer cable was not compatible with the computer so he didn't bother to hook it up...and didn't tell me or ask if we had a new printer. I had hoped to be able to continue to use my old printer since it's such a good workhorse and is fairly small. I ordered the printer just in case and was intending to pass it along to my successor in the OSII position. But I guess I really did need it. The sound bar cord was not long enough to reach the computer from where it was installed, so he also just left it dangling without any mention. The tech also could not figure out how to point outlook to my .PST files so I had my archive folders and he wouldn't listen to me when I said it was something he had to do through Outlook not something he could drag and drop somewhere. I finally had to tell him to leave it and I would figure it out myself. So his supervisor will be having a conversation with him about finishing a job and will also be doing some training. He probably started with the school year and doesn't know better yet but he'll have to learn.
Anyway, I must be off, my water aerobics class starts in 15 minutes and I need both the exercise and the time away from my desk.
I’m hoping to have a little time to knit this weekend. I’m still working on the Catkin for Mom. I’ve also rerestarted the Labyrnth mitts for Candy. One of the yarns I chose turned out to be a sports weight instead of a fingering weight and it made a big difference. There is nothing like tearing out ¾ of a mitt when you discover you haven’t judged your yarn correctly.
I’m waffling about a number of other projects. I really want to start on the Volna Scarf. I have three different colors of Knitpicks Chroma that would look really good as this scarf. But I don’t want to give any of them away so this would qualify as selfish knitting and this close to Christmas, I don’t do selfish knitting. I made Adriel a tam for Christmas but was debating whether to make Jordan a hat, he doesn’t tend to wear hats and he IS a teenage boy, for whom handknitted gifts from his aunt may be very low on the list of desired gifts. But Mora thought he’d wear a hat if it was in Boise Broncos colors (blue and orange). I don’t have a good pattern or any yarn that would be appropriate so it’s still debatable. I have been wanting to knit something for a couple of friends. They always give me gifts at Christmas and I haven’t had any money to reciprocate. But figuring out what yarns to use and what patterns is particularly difficult for these particular friends. So it's hanging out there until I see something that inspires me.
There are also a number of little things I’d rather make for Robert and Carrie than this never ending crocheted quilt. ;>)
Work remains incredibly challenging and very busy. I've been here until 6:00 two nights this week. It's not pleasant. The things that bother me most are the lack of decision making on the part of the dean and the assumption from the faculty in SMED that I am not capable because I don't do things the way Paula does. I actually require them to give me all the information rather than looking for it myself....I'm too busy to spend time chasing things down. In some ways this way of thinking is perpetuated by the dean's lack of decision making...They ask me to do something, I need input from the dean, the dean doesn't respond, the faculty then assume I'm not taking care of it. It's incredibly frustrating. I also have to acknowledge that it's been 12 years since I didn't know how to do my job and not knowing how to do all of my job is frustrating the snot out of me. It's ok when my boss is here and I can simply go ask him. But he's been gone a lot lately and those days have piled up right in a row this week.
I still don't have the signing authority that I need to be able to do my job independently. I know I won't have the same kind of impunity as my boss- like he said, I don't make enough money to take that kind of risk. But I should be able to sign some stuff. I have signed up for several professional development classes. I need to add a couple more in order to have the training I need in HR. But I'm having a real problem with scheduling anything more into my day. I'm almost ready to do the furniture order. We've had a couple of last minute changes and I'm still trying to figure out the task chairs. The designers want us to use hard plastic (wiffle ball type, complete with holes) or sling style fabric seats with no padding. I have said that this is not acceptable for people who work 8 hours a day and insisted on foam padded ergonomic chairs. We are still trying to find a style that works for the people who will be using them. I've decided we may need multiple styles that have the same fabric options.
The recent issue with my computer deciding to take a literal 2-3 minutes to switch between applications and then yesterday opting for the "do not start" option has dramatically increased my frustration levels. Fortunately, I am a fairly good diagnostician and I had a hunch I was going to need a new computer. Therefore I ordered one...a really good one, with two monitors and a new printer. I also moved almost all my files onto an external hard drive. I also ordered it with such exquisite timing that the day before it quit, my techs had emailed me to let me know it was loaded and ready to be placed. So, aside from the 2.5 hours it took the tech to set it up and make sure all my hardware/software was installed, I didn't lose much from the hard drive malfunction. And what I did lose, they were able to recover with their special super secret tech tools on the bench. I should have everything back by this afternoon.
There were a few frustrations with the new tech...for example, the old printer cable was not compatible with the computer so he didn't bother to hook it up...and didn't tell me or ask if we had a new printer. I had hoped to be able to continue to use my old printer since it's such a good workhorse and is fairly small. I ordered the printer just in case and was intending to pass it along to my successor in the OSII position. But I guess I really did need it. The sound bar cord was not long enough to reach the computer from where it was installed, so he also just left it dangling without any mention. The tech also could not figure out how to point outlook to my .PST files so I had my archive folders and he wouldn't listen to me when I said it was something he had to do through Outlook not something he could drag and drop somewhere. I finally had to tell him to leave it and I would figure it out myself. So his supervisor will be having a conversation with him about finishing a job and will also be doing some training. He probably started with the school year and doesn't know better yet but he'll have to learn.
Anyway, I must be off, my water aerobics class starts in 15 minutes and I need both the exercise and the time away from my desk.
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