So, I have been largely absent from blogging for a while. But maybe you have noticed on the side bar…a new widget for Plurk. I have been spending way way too much time over there.

One of the things that has come up is Miss Violet created a Farmgirl club called the plurkette hencircle. Lately I have been trying to get in better touch with my inner farmgirl, and so decided to join!

Our first assignment is to post an introduction about ourselves, so here is mine:

I am 26 years old, married and working days as a computer programmer. Not very exciting, but of course when I come home I am a knitter/spinner/crocheter/tatter…

I love fiber in all forms. My husband thinks I am nuts as our house has turned into a huge storage facility for all my yarns, wools, and threads.

Hubby and I have been married now for almost 3 years! Both being computer people, we have not been very in touch with things like gardening or nature in general. Living in an apartment does hinder our ability to grow the things we like etc. But only really serves as an excuse for now. We are trying to build a house, and when that happens, no more excuses!

I have recently started tatting, and really do enjoy making lace in this way. It is fast and somewhat reminiscent of friendship bracelet making, what with the knotting and all.

Also in the farmgirl spirit, today was the first day I made home made butter! Ohhh boy was it nice The first batch went to my parents. We tried it out on cinnamon raisin bread. YUM!

I can’t wait to do more creative farmgirl things!

…Thumbs!

Yeah I know…weird eh? What a stupid thing to call the doctor about.

Nurse: What are we seeing you for?
Me: Um…well, I hurt my…thumbs…
Nurse: Oh? Erm, ok…

Yeah, not funny! I actually know how I did it and everything. After I wash the yarn, I roll it up in some towels, then do this snapping thing. I put my thumbs in the loop and give it a good snap, about three times each skein…

So anyway, I did the last batch on Saturday morning. I didn’t notice any discomfort while doing it…just after wards, I realized that my thumbs were really weak. I couldn’t grasp things, I couldn’t write, I couldn’t knit or spin! I let it go until Monday…it still isn’t better…so I called the doctor.

He was really nice about it…he even understood what had happened. Apparently because it didn’t hurt as I was doing it, he thinks I just pulled the muscles. Which is good! Muscles heal quickly…tendons do not. So he says its good I didn’t injure the tendons. If it would have hurt as I was doing it, he said that would probably be the tendons not the muscle. Tendon injury could mean surgery!

So now I am to wait 5 days, and if they aren’t better I need to come back and see about imaging to verify it wasn’t my tendons after all.

Blah! Spinning and knitting are still a no go, but writing and typing have gotten easier. So I assume that they are healing. Sigh, I miss knitting! I have to be more careful now, my hands are my main tools for all the hobbies I love…I don’t want any permanent injuries.

Last night Hubby and I went to go get our taxes completed for the year 2007. My what an ordeal! We had started our return over the weekend using our usual online filing method. However when we saw the $3000+ that we owed…we squirmed a bit. So I remembered this guy that used to come into the bank when I worked there. He was known for doing taxes and being very good. So…I called him up and made an appointment. I figured even if he could save us the $200 it cost to get them done by him, I would rather give the money to him than to the government.

So we went last night. He and his wife keep this little accounting business in his home. Very nice people. They were great! Saved us about $1000 with using my business stuff from Knittin’ Pretty. It was a huge relief! I definitely think we will continue to do the taxes this way. He even helped us identify why our owe amount was so big, and what we could do to fix that. He also gave me pointers on how to keep better records for the next year. Wonderful service!

Whew, so another year completed. What did you do on April Fools day?

Weight loss. I have been making efforts to lose some weight. I had gained over 40 pounds since my college days – I know, horrendous. But I have lost about 13 of those pounds so far! Woot! The only bad thing — loose skin — EWWWW!

I was putting cream on my winter dry hands the other day and noticed how wrinkly they look. All I could think at the time was: “Wow I my hands look like I am 80 years old!”. But then later I realized that its not because they are dry…it’s because the skin on my hands is so loose. Still, EWW.

My wedding bands are turning all over the place, maybe I will have to go get them resized again soon. I had gotten them enlarged before, when I was having my weight problems…but now, I am thinking I should get them smaller again.

Until then, I will continue to put lotion on my hands so that they retain some elasticity…maybe they will spring back into life.

What have I been up to?!?

So the question was asked, what language do I program in…so here is my programming story (possibly more than you wanted to know about my history, and maybe too technical to be entertaining):

I started college as a physics major. I had a good amount of physics in high school and loved it. I even went so far as to purchase quite a bit of extracurricular reading material on some more advanced and interesting topics of quantum theory etc. Yeah yeah, I’m a big nerd.

My first semester was Physics 1, Calculus 2, Chemistry 1, and other liberal arts mumbo-jumbo. It was OK…because I was taking so many strenuous courses, the one that I struggled with was Calculus 2. I had to take it again…So next semester I took Physics 2, Calculus 2, Chemistry 2…not a great semester either. Chemistry was kicking my ass. So after this semester I decided that maybe Physics was not the subject for me.

Considering my options, I had many friends involved in the Computer Science major. I had one course in computer science during high school, and figured I would give it a go. It ended up being ridiculously easy. So, I stuck with it.

I had good teachers, and even enjoyed the subject matter. We studied C++, Java, Lisp, C and other languages. I got pretty good at it…I even was accepted into the PhD program for graduate school. During my last year at uni, I had an internship at an insurance company doing J2EE and .NET programming. I learned allot but, meh, it was just a job.

By the time I reached grad school, I was programmed out. I really started to feel that I did not enjoy it much. Along with health issues, I was having a hard time of it. So, I quit, halfway into the first semester. I moved back to Lancaster, and looked for a job.

I ended up back at my place of employment with the insurance company…but at a very different type of post. I was a “Product Automation Specialist”. I worked on automating the certificating system, learned too much about insurance, and got very frustrated. The company, and perhaps all insurance companies, was incredibly shady. No sense of responsibility for their lack of integrity. The certificates were sloppy, and honestly, not legal. I quit.

After this experience, I decided that maybe technology was not the environment for me. I needed something mindless, something enjoyable, but not heavy on the thinking. I went into banking. I was a teller training to be a head teller, then I was training to be at the desk. I enjoyed learning about banking, I enjoyed taking the classes, but I hated working with stupid people all day, customers and peers. So, I quit.

I got a job programming J2EE in Mechanicsburg. This was a young company, very small, but with allot of good, hard working, young people. It was OK at first. I enjoyed the people. The company’s main task was contracting for the Navy. We worked on huge programs pertaining to the procurement of supplies from everything from nuts and bolts to submarine hulls and guns.

I started getting more and more responsibilities, but there was no where to go. People were leaving left and right, and management told me that they don’t expect to keep people very long because of the low salary. I became increasingly distressed about management. They were arrogant and ignorant. They had no care for their employees. Most of us were just out of college, and they figured we were expendable. There are plenty of recent grads willing to work for a year or two for bread crumbs. So…I quit.

I sought my current position at a grocery distribution company much closer to home. With my varied experience they were excited to sign me on. They assured me that the new project they were working on was very similar, if not the same technology as I had been working with before. At my Mechanicsburg job, we worked in J2EE (Java) with Struts in Eclipse with an Oracle database and OC4J server. This new job is using ADF and BC in JDeveloper with an Oracle database and OC4J server. Sounds similar doesn’t it? I was told that ADF is like Struts, and JDeveloper is just like Eclipse. All the above technologies are Oracle products.

ADF is NOTHING like struts. Maybe they pursue the same goal, web applications, but they are very different technologies. ADF is Oracle’s version of Java Server Faces. It is a rather young product intended to phase out the old Oracle Forms. In its defense it appears that it is trying to be more like .NET than Struts. Which is a good goal, .NET is great!

The version of ADF that we are using is 10.1.3.3…it is on its last legs and getting phased out by version 11. Because the technology is young it is very immature in its implementation. Oracle has kindly donated allot of the framework to an open source project called Trinidad. The open source community has done allot to improve it and to fix allot of the existing problems. However, the real ADF and Trinidad are not used together, nor will we change to using Trinidad.

Even the simplest tasks in ADF become intricate problems that need to be hacked around. It is very frustrating to have to pull your hair out just trying to set focus to a particular field on the screen! The Oracle forum for this product is buzzing with interesting questions…resentment bulging behind every question…why is this product so stupid?!?

Lately allot of questions have been answered the very inadequate response of: we have fixed that in version 11, or that feature is not available, but will be implemented in version 11. Because the real version 11 is not out yet, and will not be available until probably the end of the year…and because our deadline for completion is well before that time, we are unable to simply switch and start using the next iteration of this inadequate product. So we hack it.

I will not go into the short comings of the technology…just know that our entire project is hack after hack…things that we have figured out in the most round about ways…are shoved into places they are not meant to be used, and forced to do tasks well beyond the scope of the technology.

ADF is not like Struts. Struts is a well developed, widely used, proven technology. ADF is just getting started, and in my opinion, should not have been chosen for as large a project as we are working on. I think it has the potential for being great…allot of promise…but at this time, and with the version we are using, it is not ready. Perhaps the next version will be mature enough to handle what we are trying to accomplish. But for now we are stuck banging our heads against the wall to achieve even minimal requirements.

Our project could have been completed had we used a better technology such as Struts. It would have been completed even if we were not using a framework at all! However, because of all the roadblocks introduced by this frustratingly immature technology, we are well beyond our deadline, and still not comfortable with how it all works.

My goodies:
—————
Pink alpaca/silk laceweight for Aunt gift
Blue alpaca/silk laceweight for mother-in-law gift
4 skeins of Karaoke for gift scarf – maybe one of my sisters or sister-in-law
4 skeins of socks that rock (one for a co-worker here that couldn’t go)
2 cones of silk/stainless steel from Habu – I think I am going to make some necklaces for the shop with this
2 4oz hanks of fiber from Lisa Souza for the shop
6 oz of multi colored merino for the shop
1 goknit pouch

I think that is all. I was very good about not buying any more bags of yarn for sweaters – and not toooo much sock yarn. Actually If you look at what goes as gifts, and what was for the shop…I only bought some socks that rock…I was very good!!

Then of course I came home and ordered a couple of pairs of the new harmony needles from knit picks…as well as some more bobbins for my wheel…

I was somewhat disappointed in the amount of fiber available…it definately was more a yarn expedition, which is ok. I probably would have spent even more if there would have been lots of yummy fibers around! Too bad about not going next week for Rhinebeck…Ohhhhh I so want to go!!!

I think I am going to be really good now, and not buy anymore yarn until at least the first of the year. Think I can do it?

Tomorrow is our annual trip to Stitches East. I want to have a plan, a list. Something to follow so that I don’t end up spending tons of money. I figure, if I can make a list, and commit to only buying those things…I will end up doing well.

So far I have only two things on my list: Lace weight for aunt, and Lace weight for Mother-in-law. I can’t really think of anything else. Probably some fiber for the shop…but other than that…dunno yet…

So I got my new wheel all set up! She is a beauty. I will have pictures to post later.

When it first arrived, I was so excited. You would think it was Christmas and I was 8:

I open the box and start pulling out pieces. Wheel, check, pedals, check…miscellaneous handle part, check.
I start putting the pieces together, because damn, I want to use it right away! I had just sold my Joy, so I was absent a wheel to spin on. The directions are pretty good, and I am doing OK with the assembly. That handle part, must be connected sometime…but there aren’t any holes in it for screws…oh well.

So I continue, everything fits together like a dream. I get her almost completed, look ahead in the directions…and notice, no handle attaching. I look at the handle again, wtf!! I think it is broken. In fact, looking closely, I can tell it is broken. It should be part of the main shaft, as one piece.

Sadness.

My first thought was, damn, I already put it all together and I want to use it! So I finish. Then I go and email Klaus from Crown Mountain Farms (where I purchased it from). Please please advise I write to him.

He checks into it and Majacraft sends out a new handle. It was a very bad thing for me to have put it together though…as soon as I saw the damage (ie. when I was removing it from the box) I should have stopped then and taken it to the post office for inspection. Majacraft could have claimed insurance on the wheel because it broke in transit. But stupid me, I went and put the thing together, so no insurance. They still send the piece though.

Last night I finally get the replacement part…and a dowel rod…
On the rod it says: “conduit removal tool” — what?!?

So I start taking the wheel apart, and I see it. In the middle section where the base shaft connects with the handle a pvc pipe is inserted to keep the two pieces together and to allow for a bolt to go through there. I push the dowel rod into this hole…no luck. This thing is in there good — hopefully not permanently.

I find my hammer and check out the hole. This is not going to be fun…I really don’t want my replacing this part to result in me breaking the thing with overzealous hammering. So I start…
The dowel is not very sturdy…it starts chipping from my off center hammer strikes. It also starts to splinter around the end next to the pvc pipe. In fact, it starts to shape its self to go INTO the pvc pipe! And the pipe has moved, maybe 1 mm.

At this point Hubby is concerned…he thinks for sure I am going to do more damage than not. He is not very happy with Majacraft.

Eventually, the pvc pipe is out enough that I can grab it and yank it out. Success!!! Slowly I begin reassembling the wheel. Everything is going very well. I get the wheel attached, the pedals, the flyer head…

There is another bolt hole at the top of the handle shaft (the new piece). This is the last part I have to do. This sets the tension for the flyer head part, keeps it in place and allows it to be loosened and re-situated. I go to put the bolt through…and realize that it doesn’t push all the way in. Looking, I note that the bolt has a square part next to the head…this keeps it from turning and allows tightening of the bolt. I look at the hole, I look at the bolt again…the hole is round, the bolt is square…

I am trying my hardest to get a square peg into a round hole…sigh…

The wood is hard, I cannot simply push this bolt into the hole. I get out my trusty hammer again. By this time Hubby is freaking out, he is positive that I will break it if I try hammering this thing in. He is also very disappointed as I point out that the original part had the square already cut out of the hole, and inserting the bolt was easy peasy. — Why didn’t they do this to the new piece they sent me?!?

Anyway, I managed to get the bolt in enough for me to tighten it on the other end. There is a small gap, but its not bad. I might at some point try again to get it in all the way. So at this point she’s up, functioning and looking beautiful, handle and all.

Friday, I went to see Bruce Springsteen. And it was AWESOME!!

Hubby, my sister and her hubby all went together. We had gotten General Admission tickets. So apparently at all Springsteen concerts there is a system for the GA.

The System:
Between 2pm and 5pm GA ticket holders show up, and receive a bracelet with a number on it.
At 5pm, everyone with these tickets is supposed to line up in number order.
At 5:15pm, a number is drawn from a large bucket.
Starting with that number and going up, the first 400 people get to be in the pit.
After that, everyone goes to the regular floor area.

OK, back to the story.

We depart around 2ish for Philly. Should we get food before hand? Well, we decide that we will wait until we are closer. The drive is wonderful. Spend the time listening to Deirdre Flint and old Springsteen songs. I knit, the guys bond, and sis and I catch up with life stuff. Apparently not paying attention, we miss the exit! So, we get off at the next one, and continue on our way – way out of the way…

Finally we arrive at the venue, 4pm…having not stopped for food. We decide to get our bracelets and then look for food. So we stand in line for about 30 minutes…not bad, we get numbers 417, 418, 421, 422…no clue how we got separated but who cares, its not bad.

We go back to the car and try to look for food. Actually, sis and I send the boys off to go hunt for food…after all, women are gatherers! Sis and I try to find out more about the system, as it is very not clear to us at this point.

No food! By this time we are starved. Now that we have the low down on the bracelets though, we feel pretty confident that we probably won’t get picked for the pit. Should we go eat and then come back forgoing the chance to be close? No-way!! So we wait…

5pm. 800 or so people attempt to line up in order…

Remember in grade school those exercises where the class is to line up alphabetically by last name? And remember how it always takes 30 minutes or more for 30 children to do this? Yeah, lining up 800 adults by number…about the same result…There is no line, there is only confusion and mayhem. The event staff try their very hardest to organize the mob, but without any voice amplifying devices, you simply cannot expect to get the attention of 800 excited fans.

Of course then there is a jerk that decided to make up a lotto number and call it out…saying that that was the number picked! Right– the number had not been picked at all! So this just made the mass of people even more frantic and even more unmanageable.

Before even half of the people were semi-arranged, the number is drawn. Everyone that had been in line rushed to the front in order to hear…now there is no line at all…

The number was: 405!!!

Halle – freakin – lujah! We are only 10 or so people from the front!!!! Hot damn!

So we wait in yet another line…a line that is very very close to the door. We wait, and wait, and wait. During our wait we notice these two chicabiddies talking to every guard and staff member in the area. Apparently their number is not in the 400 chosen to enter the pit. The one, tall, skinny, and blond, is half naked…she is definitely trying to use her feminine wiles to weasel her way into the line.

She talked to EVERYONE, people in the line, people outside the line, guards, staff, lonely looking men…This sort of woman just drives me nuts. Why would you do that?!? Doesn’t that undo years of feminine efforts to be looked upon seriously – treated as equals? Apparently she is not a feminist. Everyone around us is determined not to let her get to us, not to let her anywhere near that stage. She is so freakin’ obvious, I am sure that every guard has seen her and hopefully will not let her get there either.

We wait some more. This waiting sucks because now that we are guaranteed a spot in the pit, we know we will be standing all night…my feet start to hurt…

6:30 pm – the doors open. We receive our other two bracelets and enter. It is a mad rush to the bottom of the stadium and to the front of the stage. Frankly, I think this is absurd. Shouldn’t the people with the closest numbers be guaranteed a close spot? Regardless of physical prowess? No this is not the case.

Anyway, we score a spot about 1 person from the front of the stage.

The concert starts and OMG how awesome is it to be 10 feet away from Bruce for the entire concert?!?! The whole show is fabulous! The set is wonderfully varied, some new songs, some oldies but goodies, it is AMAZING. Sis wasn’t a big fan before, she just wanted to tag along and hang out with us…but by the end of the night, she was a huge fan! Now she is determined to listen to all his old songs and learn them.

What happened to the biddies? They ended up in the pit…right behind us. Some retarded man decided that she was pretty enough that she should be given a spot that she didn’t deserve. Everyone around us noticed, how could the guards not notice?!? We made a wall…determined not to let them get any closer. And we succeeded! Even at the end, those two chickies never made it any closer. If it hadn’t been for them, it would have been a perfect night.

Magical indeed.

What have I been up to?!?

Here is my last posting – translated into pirate (in honor of talk like a pirate day!).

Ye know whats comin’…th’ obligatory apology fer nay bloggin’ in ages.
Aye! but this time…nay wait…aye, I dasn’t be havin’ anythin’ but excuses.

Maybe ’tis on accoun’ o’ I be completely stressed at work an’ on accoun’ o’ I sit at th’ computer all tide at work…

Or maybe on accoun’ o’ Ravelry be a swirlin’ vortex o’ time suckin’ yarn an’ pattern goodness…

O’ course ‘t could be on accoun’ o’ I be so busy wi’ knittin’ an’ spinnin’ an’ makin’ beads an’ stitch markers…but t’ain’t that th’ sort o’ thin’ I ortin’ ta be bloggin’ about?

Aye ARRR, I be havin’ jus’ been t’ damn lazy. Thar, I spake ‘t!

You know whats coming…the obligatory apology for not blogging in ages.
Yes! but this time…no wait…yeah, I don’t have anything but excuses.

Maybe it is because I am completely stressed at work and because I sit at the computer all day at work…

Or maybe because Ravelry is a swirling vortex of time sucking yarn and pattern goodness…

Of course it could be because I am so busy with knitting and spinning and making beads and stitch markers…but isn’t that the sort of thing I should be blogging about?

Yeah OK, I have just been to damn lazy. There, I said it!

Yes, the blog has suffered…and will probably continue to suffer during the summer months. Anyway, some quick updates in pictures!

Finished my pomatomus pair – bonus view with the sock blockers! The color on this picture turned out terribly. Really the color is much more purple.

I finished one arm warmer:

and I started: Hedera — for the Sock Knitter’s Anonymous August sock.

On the way home I stopped by the grocery for a birthday card, and thought to check out the magazine rack. BINGO~ new Vogue Knitting – 25th Anniversary edition is now out!

Then I get to my mailbox only to find…Interweave Knits Fall 2007!!! SWEET!~

But thats not all — On my doorstep, Rowan Magazine 42!

What a nice ending to the day. Now to settle in and look through all my new knitting materials.

I haven’t been doing much knitting lately. Really, I have just been obsessed with spinning!

I finished!!