Crow's Nest

Got up at 5 am to see The Man off to work. It was 32 degrees and raining, with the rain freezing as soon as it hit the 8 inches of snow on the ground. It had evidently been doing this for some time, as there was a 1/2 inch thick layer of ice on everything. Wade's taking the bus route off the hill, so, since he made it off our side street, his commute should be ok, and he's got studded tires, which is about as good as you can get on ice.

The milkman didn't make it here yesterday. I've got an email in to find out if he's going to deliver today, or if I need to put on my boots, find my wheelie cart, and walk out to the store. Luckily, the co-op is only 5 blocks away.

I will not be at 12th night. saving money is a good thing.

My Sekrit Santa gift arrived today, delivered be Santa Cedric. :-)

Steamcon was amazing, even though I forgot my camera so no costume pics for me.

The good: All my panels were very well attended, the panels I went to were interesting and best of all, the between panel and late night random conversations were stellar.  Intelligent, witty, thought provoking and with the subject matter generator set on random. 

The meh:  I really need a much bigger room for most of my panels.  Also, 1 hour is not long enough for the Victorian Underwear panel.  I continued to lecture for 45 minutes in the hallway after the panel to more than a dozen people.

The ugly:  Hassle with the hotel over paying cash.  It all worked out, but I'm really tired of dealing with companies who make it so hard to NOT use a credit card.  Also, I'm sick.  Scratchy throat, stuffy head, etc. 

I haven't accessed LJ or Facebook since last Thurs. and I'm not going to even try to read all the entries since then, so if you think I need to see something, let me know.

cupcake_goth , you need this:  http://www.ebay.com/itm/HERITAGE-LACE-CREEPY-CRAWLY-HALLOWEEN-1-PIECE-SWAG-/120770336031?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item1c1e79151f

The Child is coming home Oct. 18th!!! Caloo, Calay!

Well, my main sewing machine died yesterday, so it has to go into the shop. I hope I can afford the fix.  Luckily, my old machine, which I gave to Daugher Number Two, is living here while she's in Korea, so I can use it.  I really need to get the 1900 Singer electric a replacement box or get the pressure foot lifter replaced on the treadle so I can use those.  While I'm doing more and more handsewing, there's still some things that are better by machine.

I feel a bit hypocritical in my attitude toward fireworks. On one hand, I come from a long line of rednecks people who thought nothing of blowing up stumps with dynamite or shooting blanks to make noise on the 4th. To be fair, however, these same people knew how to handle said explosives, and set a good long fuze, usually across a 40 acre field, and made sure there was no one or thing around to be hurt. I'll tell you what, nothing beats hot-loading a Kentucky flintlock and shooting it off for noise. M-80s just don't do it.

In addition, I REALLY like explosions.

However, I now live in the city. Not suburbs, city. My next door neighbor's house is literally 5 feet from mine. I have also seen some truly stupendous feats of stupidity with fireworks, done with no thought of any of the potential consequences to self or others. I've had firecrackers thrown at me. We've had fires every year. A few years ago, someone not very far from here set off a bottle rocket that went into a house window, setting it on fire. The fire ended up being minor, but the homeowner had a heart attack while evacuating his disabled wife, and died. So, when the city of Tacoma decided enough was enough and banned all fireworks within the city, I supported it wholeheartedly.

Has the ban gotten rid of all firework? No, but the number of fires and injuries are down, and the 4th seems to be the only day that folks are setting off fireworks, instead of least a week before and after, like before. Last night it was bad enough that we had to close the window (this old house is pretty sound proof) and there were still a couple of booms that rattled the place. Note to the idiot responsible: setting off M-80s after 2 am on a weeknight, even if it is the 4th, doesn't make you patriotic, it makes you a douche.

All in all, it was still better than St. Patrick's Day.