Today? Let me tell you about today...

While Monday made an initial strong showing with the promise of lunch with purplevenus and dpaxson, those hopes were dashed when, after parking in a convenient space with a broken meter, lwood noticed that her car, the Trusty Taurus, was copiously leaking a nurglish green fluid that was not in fact Mountain Dew, but rather engine coolant.

Erring on the side of reasonable blood sugar, a fine lunch proceeded to be had by all, but the day was placed On Notice and a written reprimand was issued. An immediate upturn in effort was displayed by Monday, as time spend waiting for the tow truck could be pleasantly spent at a nearby bead store and, while public transit was made a sad necessity, the fact that this happened near a busy transit hub revealed that Monday's position in this week might yet be salvageable.

However, Monday had to be put on written notice a second time around 1830 PM, when countgeiger had to be admitted to the hospital, netik got hit by a car while himself operating a bicycle, and one of purplevenus's charges was, in an unrelated incident, admitted to an entirely different hospital.

The decision to terminate came some time before the action could be carried out. As a result, Monday's strong, if futile, efforts to retain its position in this week are duly and gratefully noted: lwood, dpaxson, et al wrapped up the day by bottling approximately 20% of one batch of mead. This mead shows promise in its field, and with the right guidance, should prove a credit to its kind.

Monday was reluctantly terminated from its position shortly before midnight PDT.

Due to Monday's erratic performance, Tuesday, which was promoted to the position based on Monday's strong recommendation, will have to undergo stringent review, especially in the areas of medical performance, postal performance, and bureaucratic detanglements of several and various sorts.

-- Lorrie

[knit] Wait, start that sock WHERE?

If one is so fiber-mad as to knit socks (and this one is), then it is Understood that, however one may fall out on the question of how many needles ought to be used (roll d5!), one may start from the cuff, or one may start from the toe, and until Cat Bordhi comes down from Mt Sinai her island in Puget Sound with New Pathways in Sock Knitting, Vol. 2 that, simply, is that.

But no! Inspiration is not to be so hemmed in! It marches on--and flies, creeps, leaps, and subtly insinuates into the ears, and onto the knitting needles, of anyone willing to listen.

Thus:

This month's issue of the popular online knitting webzine Knitty features a pattern that rejects your toe-up AND your cuff-down.

Nosir, this pattern starts at the heel.

I picked up three skeins of Regia Silk sock yarn, color 050 (Marine) at Stash Yarns of Berkeley, while they were having a "30% off EVERYTHING sale". While ordinarily this would be a two socks = one pair kind of yarn, well, these socks are for countgeiger, and he has Feet of Size and Note. He Approved of this yarn a week and a half ago, and as I've finished a test upper armwarmer for my sainted grand-mère, this is a logical next project while countgeiger is in hospital.

Yep, I'm gonna be at his side, knitting on his socks, and Keeping An Eye On Things. Kaiser, bless 'em, works best if the patient or a member of his party is cheerfully proactive and they know what's wrong already. Cellulitis has a set treatment path ("rehydrate, dump IV antibiotics, profit!"), so that's sorted, leaving Yrs Truly as the cheerfully proactive party member.

This is why dpaxson and I make it a point to do so many hospital visits.

Go well, all y'all!

-- Lorrie

@countgeiger Update

I spent the day with him today at Kaiser--from when visiting hours started through to when dpaxson had to pick me up for trance class.

It seems to be a simple cellulitus: not MRSA, not necrotizing fasciitis, no debriding required, no clots on ultrasound. By the end of the day, he didn't have his appetite back, but his temperature was approaching normal (from a high of 103!) and he was considerably more alert than he had been.

I doubt they'll be willing to release him Wednesday, but Thursday is not unlikely, although I gather from listening between the lines of the several doctors that the swelling may not have wholly subsided, and his mobility may yet be impaired, when this happens.

Mind you, I happen to have an unemployed, medically trained, gentleman to throw at him for in-home bullying care while dpaxson and I are off in the Great Southern Wilderness. HA! This is good--I would not feel comfortable leaving unless there were something highly available and in place.

No mistake, though: as long as he's in hospital, my place is at his side, every moment I can manage (and I can manage quite a few). I have to say, though, Kaiser's been quite on the ball, with responsive and pleasant staff every time we've interacted with them.

Tonight's section of the trance class had, as their exercise, a working on countgeiger that incorporated as many of the class's techniques as possible. *grin*

And now, adieux, my friends, that I may sleep!

-- Lorrie