27 April 2010

Come Sail Away

There is a lightswitch at work with a label below it that reads, "FORCE OF GRAVITY -- DO NOT TURN OFF."

I love my job.

26 April 2010

Exhausting Weekend

One of the perks of working at Green Mountain Spinnery is occasionally bringing home free fiber. Today Laurie, the fellow who runs the carder, brought over a pound of "waste" wool and told us it was up for grabs. One of my coworkers and I decided to split it -- I took about 3 ounces, and she got the rest. It's white and fluffy, fresh from the carder, but it isn't the same blend as any of our stock yarns and wasn't part of any of our custom orders, so if we didn't take it, it would be used to clean dark fibers out of the carder before the next run of white, and would be ruined. It was too nice for that. I'm not sure what I'll do with it... maybe play with some food coloring or other dyes and then make a little hat or something.

On Saturday I went to CT Sheep & Wool, hung out with more friends than I expected to see, and allowed myself some very modest fiber acquisition. Sunday I moved the last of my things out of Erik's house. While both days went relatively well, the one-two punch has left me exhausted, bruised, and blistered. I really didn't want to go to work this morning, but I'm glad I did. I think I need to stay off my feet for a few hours, though... owwie.

I'll take pictures of the new fiber as soon as I dig out my camera and find an uncluttered spot to take a picture.

15 April 2010

Getting Better

My first day at the Spinnery was good. I came home smelling of lanolin, wondering how a cooperative can possibly make timely decisions, and eager to go back tomorrow. I spent most of the day twisting and labeling skeins, with brief interruptions to ball three skeins for a customer and pose for an impromptu photo shoot ("You look about the right size. Here, put on this sweater and come outside."). The people are great, the work appeals to me, and I get to inhale wool fumes all day. This job is a good fit for me. I hope it lasts.

14 April 2010

Well, that sucked.

I broke up with Erik last month. He didn't take it well, and things were getting a little dicey as I was scrambling to find a new place to live, going to job interviews, and dealing with daily harassment about the living situation, financial issues, and random other crap.

On Sunday the 4th, I came back from a weekend with my family, and the harassment began anew the moment I walked in the door. After 20 minutes of begging him to leave me alone with no positive result, I called 911. The Troopers who responded suggested that I pack a bag and go somewhere else for the night, and as soon as they left, that's exactly what I did. The next day, I went back with the intention of talking about the financial issues and even handing him a check, but he stopped me before I even got in the house and told me I had to leave because he'd filed a restraining order. He said it was because I "escalated" the situation by calling 911 the day before.

I dealt as best I could for a day or two, relying on family and friends for clothing and a place to stay. I made arrangements with the State Police to go get some of my things (more clothes, some food, the crock pot, one of the spinning wheels, etc.) and prepared for the hearing, scheduled for this morning.

Turns out that courts overbook dockets the way airlines overbook flights, counting on a certain number of people not showing up. They didn't count on so many showing up this morning, so they had to prioritize the cases they heard and continue (postpone) the rest... including mine. The new date is May 5th. As soon as that was decided, I made arrangements to pick up a few more things (computer, cookware, etc.) this afternoon, and I am now set up with the bare essentials (plus some knitting) in my cozy new place.

Erik is making noise like he wants to drop the restraining order, which would make everybody's life a whole lot easier, but I'm not counting on him following through. I'd love for him to prove me wrong, though. He seems to think I was "kind" today when I came to get my computer, and while I'm not sure what he's smoking, I'm not going to argue. I just want to collect the rest of my things (which will require a large U-Haul and several helpers), get on with my life, and see where things stand in, I dunno, six months or something. There is no way I'd date him again, since we seem to bring out the absolute worst in each other, but I'd consider being on speaking terms if he can show me the respect I deserve.

For now, though, I just want to get on with my life. I've been hired by Green Mountain Spinnery to work in production, and I start tomorrow at 9:30! The wage isn't much more than minimum, but the fiber discount is 50%, so I may have trouble not spending my paycheck on yarn.

My fortune cookie tells me, "soon you will be sitting on top of the world." The one before this told me, "you look pretty," and I'm beginning to think that Chinese food should be mandatory when I'm depressed. Those little slips of paper wrapped in sweet cookie are wonderfully uplifting.

Back to knitblogging any day now, I swear.

Oh, I'm planning on being at CT S&W on the 24th. Who wants to meet me there or ride along from anywhere along 91?