Of Moose And Men
The Best Laid Plans Of Both Often Go Astray

The annual DC tradition of trying to guess whether Congress will fund us before the fiscal year ends at the end of this month has begun. I get asked, because of what I do, but my go-to response is always, “If I could guess with any accuracy what Congress would do on any given day I would be making a lot more money in some other job.”

Easing back into commuting to the office, though still mostly on medical remote work. I tell folks when they ask why I’m in that I’m practicing walking. Which has the virtue of being true. And it allows me to assess the stuff in my office for disposal and/or taking it home before we (eventually?) move office buildings.

The current scarf hit a snag, mostly because I bought a Switch 2 and have been playing on that instead of knitting. The pattern has been fine, the amount of attention has been finite. Speaking of, here’s the niece’s scarf (three links/pics). I’m very happy with how it turned out.

Finished the niece’s scarf this evening. Added some length to it in the middle, and had to use a tiny bit of the second skein to complete it. Will wash & block it tomorrow and get some more pictures. Already have the yarn wound for the next project.

My legs have been killing me. Between the increase in hopping and braking work, the three (!!!) childhood fillings I’ve had to replace the last two weeks, and just the general state of the country, I’ve been completely worn out and sore. Hence the day of knitting today to polish off the scarf. Heck, I even reactivated Netflix so I had something more to play in the background (started Supernatural, which I’d never watched; it made good background for me for knitting). I did make sure to get up every few rows and move around, so I wasn’t a complete lump, and my shoulders are happier for the movement.

Today’s PT was all about bouncing, hopping, breaking, etc. Those movements that are necessary if one is going to be out walking/running. So we’re pretty much done with strength training now, and on to working my hip flexors and glutes in new and interesting ways. Progress!

Work had me read something to see if we should cancel it. I said it was borderline, but leaned to keeping, but management was spooked, so they were planning on canceling it. It was at that point that I repeated my work zen mantra to myself – “they pay me the same no matter what; they pay me the same no matter what.” It’s not as bad as paying me to make photo copies (which is a waste of salary at my level), but whatever, if that’s what you need me to do, that’s what I’ll do. Ohm.

Just about halfway through the niece’s scarf and I think I may add some length to it in the middle section. I have the yarn, so what the hey.

At work we continue to lose lawsuits left and right, which frankly is fine, because it means people can continue to do the grants we gave them. Means more work for us (it’s terminated, lawsuit, now it’s reinstated, whee!), but again, whatever. It does make one want to toss the meme from Liar, Liar at 47’s people – the one where Jim Carrey is yelling, “Stop breaking the law, asshole!” into the phone.

It’s been a long six months.

Started the niece’s scarf yesterday to try out the new (to me) dip stitch. It’s one where you reach through three stitches below the current row and pull some yarn through to bring it up to the working row. Makes these fun little textured bits, and once you get going it’s a breeze. I had some long mass meetings where I didn’t need to be on camera, so I worked on it a bunch during those. These ‘skinny scarves’ that Westknits has come out with sit nicely under a coat without adding a lot of bulk, which I really appreciate. The next one I have queued up after this gift does a different dip stitch, but pulls up five stitches instead of just one, and should show off the colors in the variegated yarn nicely.

Lazy weekend. Picked up yarn for a small scarf for the house, and to make a gift scarf for a niece who just started college (in the green of her new school’s colors). It’s dangerous having a yarn store in walking distance from home.

At the moment I’m listening to the husband wailing in the bedroom as he tortures his poor calves with our massage gun. And I’m quietly giggling at the drama. He went out dancing Friday with friends and is paying the price for jumping around a lot more than he’s used to. I suggested the massage gun, which he initially balked at, but he relented so I got him started. I know the feeling – that sucker really does work your calves, and if they’re sore, it’s quite the change. But he’ll feel a hell of a lot better after. I know I always do.

Haircuts and a trip to BJ’s warehouse for the morning, then a quiet day at home, mostly catching up on comics for me.

No knitting today, as planned. Legos instead!

The husband and I went out to BrickFair in northern Virginia to check out all of the cool buildouts (“MOCs” or “My Own Creations” in lego-speak), and do a little shopping. The creativity on display did not disappoint; lots of fun stuff to look at. I had my eye out for some minifigure display options for a set of 12 I have, but no dice today. We did find a couple lighting kits for some of our sets, and the husband put one of those on one of his favorite sets this evening with my help (extra hands). Very pleased with the results, the building is very nicely lit in a way that fits the underlying design.

Took so much time today, but I finished the bloody shawl. Here’s a bunch of photos over on flickr.

Spent the bulk of the day finishing it. Did the math just now, it was about 600 stitches per row at the end (started with 3!). Had a minor panic attack when I was on the next to last row and I dropped a stitch, which promptly laddered down 5-6 rows. There was a lot of swearing, and the fix isn’t pretty, but I got the errant stitch wrangled.

I’m glad it’s done. I’m glad I did it. And now I want to give my shoulders and fingers a rest. Though I think the leftover yarn might make some fun chickens…

Four more rows done today; ten more to go. Cue “little engine that could” noises.

The husband picked up Thunderbolts on blu-ray, so we watched that tonight. We’ve gotten so used to streaming that it was a pleasant surprise to be reminded how much better the picture quality is on physical media, especially blu-rays.

Work is a mess as people try to get the last funds out the door before the end of the fiscal year, plus dealing with lawsuits, cancelling awards at the whim of the administration, reinstating awards at the order of the court, etc. Full employment, but not full engagement. And no news on when our agency will move, if it does (it probably will because it’s a cabinet agency that wants our space, but they haven’t found us a replacement space yet). D-r-a-m-a.

Early day metroing downtown for dentist appointments for the husband and myself. Walked him up to a different metro after, then I walked up to the U street metro, all around about a mile and 3/4 (2.7km). Hardest part was reminding myself to brace my core and stand upright. I’ve been walking oddly for so long because of the knee that I have to retrain myself to walk normally. But I’m determined not to be one of those old men who are permanently hunched over.

Home to cool off, then PT. The husband met me there, a quick trip for groceries, then home to shower and knit. Finished the body of the shawl, now I’m on the border. Between the afternoon and evening (post comics & dinner) I finished the last two rows of the body and the first four rows of the border. Fourteen more to go, then bind off and done. So maybe seven more hours? Ha.

After all that I’m hoping I sleep like the dead.