1999 Beeson Banner ---L--P+----1----@10--2----+----3-----R Joe wrote yesterday that he closed on the club Friday ÄÄ that means that the two boys retired on the same day! ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ4 May 1999 ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ Odd to wake up to silence on a week day. The clock radio went off yesterday; when Dave turned it off, he said "Does this mean I'm not going to listen to Don Weeks any more?" I assured him that he'd have early- morning golf dates. All they predicted for today was light showers, but this looks like a nice all-day drizzle. I'm due to wash sheets, so I presume the drought is over. ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ5 May 1999 ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ Harrumph! Now I find the chocolate chips ÄÄ right where I looked for them the day I baked Dave's cake. It was better without chocolate chips anyway. Managed to mislay my socks. I took them off the hangers and went upstairs to put them into my sock drawer, but somehow they never made it, and I've looked in some pretty unlikely places for them. Got the stuff on the sewing-room bed organized in the process, and printed new labels for some of the boxes of scraps. So all I have is the pair I had on when I washed socks, the pair I put on before taking them off the hangers, and three pairs that are still in the mending basket. Stumbled across Armenian Needlelace and Embroidery by Alice Odian Kasparian in the library. I'd been reading about Armenian Knotted Lace on Arachne, but found it hard to envision. It's a needle- made lace that looks a little like netting, a little like crochet, and a lot like nothing else in the world. No wonder the Gentle Spiders have been making so much fuss about it. I found the pictures beautiful, the text much too sad to read. Dave mowed my half of the lawn this afternoon, then I helped him load my lawnmower into the Jeep. He plans an excursion to Ravena tomorrow, the nearest John Deere place. A piece fell off his mower and got mowed, so I suppose there is a trip to the Honda place in his immediate future. The riding mower won't fit into the jeep, so I hope he can buy a new whatsis and install it himself. I took a pass at the garden, but it isn't quite dry enough to cultivate. That was only a few hours after the rain stopped; couldn't have been much water in it. It was probably enough to bring up the potatoes, I hope. There have been a lot of brush fires, but no more in our territory. Didn't take a single stitch in my jersey, but I got the cat blanket off the ironing board. I pieced two scraps of yellow wool and one scrap of black wool into a scarf to lay over the corner of the bed where the cats sleep. While rounding up left-over mittens for Children in Common, I found a scrap of black wool too small for a bed blanket and too big for a cat blanket, and used it as a draw sheet to cover a cat-attracting space on the sewing-room bed. Good excuse to buy some more of the $3.88/yard wool ÄÄ we could use another single-width blanket, and I really ought to cover the sewing-room bed with cat blankets. I've got the mattress pad soaking in the washer now, though it wasn't visibly stained with vomit, so I think the mattress is all right. Which means I'll have to move all those boxes of scraps again when the bedding is washed, but they are organized now. Also got the cedar chest cleared off ÄÄ I put the pile of spare blankets on the sewing-room bed. The blankets look like a very fat pillow. ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ6 May 1999 ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ Fashion note: I caught sight of five children walking to the high school this morning, and both boys appeared to be wearing their own pants! A little excitement yesterday. Claudia of Countrywool has been agitating the sock-knitting list to make wool socks for Children in Common, a charity that collects warm fuzzies and gives them to parents who are going to European orphanages to pick up their children, so that they'll have presents for the children who don't get adopted. After reading on another list that CIC likes mittens, scarves, sweaters, and anything else that it can get its hands on, I realized that the Guilderland Guild's expedition to Countrywool the Saturday after next would be a good way to get rid of the hats and mittens I didn't sell at Indian Ladder. Yesterday, I noticed that a couple of shawls that ran out of yarn before they were big enough to do a grown-up any good were plenty big enough for children, and washed them, along with my two remaining pairs of socks. I wouldn't have hung wool out even if it hadn't been raining, but I left the cellar door open while running in and out to tend the hose that carries out the dirty water. When I closed it, I put the leaves down in reverse order, to prop open a crack at the bottom for the hose to run out. This also makes a little gap at the top of the doors, of course. Pretty soon I heard an appalling noise and traced it to Freda, sitting on the level fill-in that makes standard doors long enough for our cellar steps ÄÄ I'm sure there's a dash of Siamese somewhere in her ancestry. (Fred didn't get that gene, thank goodness.) Freda has a history of freaking out completely when she gets out, so I was afraid she would run away from me ÄÄ I left the garage doors open and circled around to approach from the other side, so as to drive her toward the open door. However, she was appliqu‚d to the crack at the top of the door, and her only reaction to getting grabbed was to change her yowls from appalling to blood-curdling. As you might imagine, I held her at arm's length and put her down as soon as she was in the garage, before I got inside myself. She ran straight for the inner door and nearly bowled Dave over as she was passing through it. Thirty seconds later, she was perfectly calm and wondering whether I'd come into the kitchen to drop food. I wonder what the neighbors thought. Afternoon: huff, puff! Got the bed re- assembled. I put a white sheet under the polyester sheets that match the curtains, so that I can peel the dust off if we should ever want to use it as a bed. The mattress pad and both sheets are "fitted"; even though it's a small bed, doing the corner-to-corner dash three times in quick succession made me feel abused, after all these years of using flat sheets. ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ8 May 1999 ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ After pressing creases into the pocket- edges of my shorts ÄÄ which are back on the front burner after being abandoned last fall ÄÄ I got desperate to use my pin cushion and yelled, "Dave, old ham, could you put transponders into all my possessions?" He laughed, and came up and found the pincushion in thirty seconds flat ÄÄ on the sewing-room bed. If you've been following my adventures attentively, you know that I've washed the mattress pad since losing the pincushion ÄÄ a chore that entailed moving everything from the sewing-room bed to the sleeping bed and back again twice. Still no sign of my socks. I've swept under the bed, so I presume they are there. Raining off and on today. Bad for the centennial party, good for the marigolds Dave just planted. So I don't mind that I can't ride my bike to the Voorheesville clock dedication. I found a broken rack stay when I was in Delmar yesterday; I presume that a fatigue crack snapped when I crashed on the way up Grant Hill last Saturday. I was riding so slowly that I fell over during a moment of inattention. I was rather pleased that none of the groceries fell out of the pannier, but didn't think to inspect the stays. Evening: This day has been a nutritional disaster. I was afraid to buy skim milk on my way home from Delmar yesterday, because of the broken rack, and by the time I was rested up enough to go back in the Jeep, I'd forgotten about milk. So Dave ran to SuperValu before breakfast and got 1% milk, sticky buns, and canadian bacon. All of which we ate for breakfast. Then I took a nap before lunch instead of after, to be sure of waking up before the party, and had cake, punch, and double dips on the ice cream instead of lunch. On the way home from the party, I saw Dave's car at Smittys ÄÄ and the pizza of the week is Potato Skin, a primarily-butterfat confection. We joked about taking the plates home to Freda. And I had another slice at eight o'clock. I should go eat a celery stick or something, just to introduce a token vitamin into my system. I took a tour of a railroad engine. Had to stand on the catwalk for ages waiting my turn to go into the cab ÄÄ and the engineer didn't offer to let me sit in the co-pilot's seat and ring the bell! He did give me a handful of toys, though. From inside the cab, you can barely hear the bell. Couldn't hear the diesels at all, but it might be different when the engine is moving. The grates over the catwalk made me nervous, but now I realize that they must have been air intakes, since they weren't blackened with smoke. So I still don't know where the exhaust pipe is. A pipe sticking out near the track was pfft-pfftting like the relief valve on a steam engine. The excursion on the abandoned Delaware and Hudson track scheduled for today didn't happen. Dave was surprised that anyone had thought they could pull it off; he says it would take a million dollars to make the track usable. I think the right-of-way should be made into a one-lane gravel road for mountain bikes and a commuter-and- excursion bus, by way of keeping it open, but Heaven only knows where we'd get the money to maintain the bridges. I greatly fear that the right-of-way will be broken up, or turned over to some fanatical group that won't ever let it be used for transportation again. Perhaps the Albany end could be made into a long, skinny parking lot. Learned while reading Lace-Chat today that "Sara" means "princess". ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ9 May 1999 ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ The socks were under the bed ÄÄ in the hardside suitcase. Usually, when I find something, I can say, "Oh, yes, the phone rang while I was using it to sharpen a pencil", but this remains a complete mystery. ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ10 May 1999 ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ Tetris is like life ÄÄ it's amazing how often the piece that comes along is exactly the piece you need, and even more amazing how often you fail to recognize it. ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ11 May 1999 ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ I washed four king-size sheets today, two of them in the same load even though it crowded the washer. So now I'm caught up. With the two on the bed and the one in the sewing room, that makes seven. I'll never need new sheets! The last load was hot water and bleach, so I threw in an apron Dave brought home from R&P, which probably dates back to when he was the entire staff, and which certainly had never seen soap and water before. Not surprisingly, it came out almost as black as it went in. The strings managed to tie themselves to every other item in the washer ÄÄ the sheet more than once ÄÄ and they were also tied around the agitator under the paddles. Getting that load out of the washer was an experience! If I wash it again, I'll stuff the strings into a pocket and sew it shut. Found some nicotina plants at SuperValu when I went to fetch supper, but I haven't had the energy to plant them yet. Didn't touch my bike today, either. Yesterday, putting on the new rack hit a snag when I couldn't get the brake bolt out of the bridge. I think I should put on a coat of Rustoleum while I have it apart, too. Didn't ask the shop to install it because I didn't want to leave the bike; would have been quicker to let it wait in line. Especially if I have to take it back and let a mechanic finish the job. Was much easier to put the old rack on ÄÄ things weren't rusted together. Learned while reading Lace Chat today that "Sara" doesn't really mean "princess", but "female high official"; there is no good English translation. ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ12 May 1999ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ I have eight sheets ÄÄ and I'm not caught up on the wash. It's a good thing I checked my calendar today ÄÄ tomorrow is the last day I can mail my registration to GEAR '99 Saratoga: Springs, Spokes, & Saddles. Note in today's MHCC mailing list says I can get registration for $25 for being a member ÄÄ why didn't he say that last week, when there was time to ask for the details? Registration isn't much compared to board and room, however. I have GEAR two days in June, the Punkintown Fair three days in July, August is clear, September is clear, a dentist's appointment in October. Revision: just got e-mail from Nancy ÄÄ the second week in August is taken. Read on e-tatters that there's an old- fashioned dime store in Wyoming, Michigan, where one can buy good thread. She didn't say whether Wyoming is near Tecumseh. ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ13 May 1999 ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ It was a little startling to come home from the poets' meeting and try to shut the door behind me. It's out in the garage on sawhorses. Didn't get a thing done today except for mopping the kitchen floor. Did put a few rounds on my sock during the meeting, though. ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ15 May 1999 ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ The freshly-painted door is back on its hinges. Dave plans to hold off on varnishing the inside of the door until he has all the woodwork sanded. Took another try at getting the brake bolt out this morning, then gathered up the pieces and took them to Klarsfeld. Spent more than $200 on the bike in short order. The Mastercard for $57 for the pump came in today, the rack was around $45, toe straps about $10, and it's going to cost $99 to have the bike overhauled. I figured if I was going to have it in, I'd get everything done. Sewing machine is doing fine ÄÄ but the washer wants another session with its mechanic. Queer thing happened ÄÄ Dave called that he was going to be late from driving Patty home. Someone left a dog tied up in her yard. It's a well-behaved, friendly dog and appears to be a purebred Rottweiler. Heard a rumor in Smitty's that the reason the train trip didn't come off is that it's illegal to board passengers without an expensive platform. ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ17 May 1999 ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ Just found my broom, which I put Someplace Convenient when I mopped the kitchen floor. I guess there's a spot even more dangerous than Someplace Safe. Yesterday, I put the furrowing attachment on my cultivator and plowed an irrigation ditch. The dirt was black for the full length, so the drought hasn't been too bad yet. On the other hand, three nineteen-gallon tubs of water dampened only two or three yards of furrow, so it's soaking in pretty fast. I've got Anthony the Washer Man in my cellar. Talking on his cell phone at the moment; I'm surprised that the radio waves get down there. Dave has gone to plant catnip for Nancy Hannmann. He took two jugs of water, since her tap water stinks. Still no clue as to who dumped the dog. My theory is that somebody stole it just to be mean, but wasn't mean enough to torture the dog. The puzzling part is that it had to be someone who knew that Patty knows how to take care of a Rottweiler. ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ18 May 1999 ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ I left the ladder out last night ÄÄ we have gotten rather careless about the possibility of rain. Paper says it may shower tomorrow, then will clear up until it's time to get my bike out of the shop. I hope to get the front mowed this afternoon ÄÄ Dave intends to fetch the mower this morning ÄÄ but there won't be much time between my nap and time to get dressed for the Guilderland Guild yarn crawl. Assembly at 5:15, roll-out at 5:30. Dave got back early enough for me to finish the front before lunch. Now I'm ready to roll ÄÄ thought I'd clean the car while putting the back seat up, and took Dave's nifty new Black & Decker Dust Buster out. Alas, aside from the noise, I couldn't detect any difference between turned on and turned off. It does pick up lint if you hand-feed it. The back lawn will be pretty shaggy before I get to it. ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ19 May 1999 ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ This looks like a perfect rain, coming down about as fast as it can without driving and damaging. Now if it can keep it up for a while.ú.ú. I put a saucer of milk down for the cats to share, and Fred gave me poor-me looks until I gave him a dish of his own ÄÄ and then each cat drank about half its milk. Today the door between the house and the garage is on sawhorses. Since there is no screen on that door, Dave is using a storm window for a baby gate. ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ20 May 1999 ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ Just finished reading Cliff Notes on Gulliver's Travels. Leaves me wondering what Swift would have thought of computers. That was in the interval of hemming down the collar of my jersey; remains only to attach the back pocket, sew the side seams, and hem the bottom ÄÄ which I intend to do by top-stitching by machine. Looks like I'll have a new cotton jersey when I retrieve my bike. But it looks as though I'll want to wear a wool jersey if I ride on Saturday. Also sewed a button on Dave's pants ÄÄ just before he came home in another pair that's missing a pocket button. I don't think any of the buttons in my collection match the one on his other pocket, so I'll have to cut it off and replace both. ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ21 May 1999 ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ I found a button that was the same size and shape, and settled for that. A bad-luck check: the printer isn't lining up just right, so I had to print three checks before I got one I could mail to the GEAR registrar ÄÄ and I got it back in today's mail. But they want it made out for $270 instead of $355, so I'm not complaining. (Discount for being an MHCC member.) In the meanwhile, I've gotten into the habit of giving it two clicks down before printing. Hope Dave tells me when he finds the trouble! I think it's the printer, not Quicken, because the Banner is printing too low too. It's become a routine: I take the adolescent mouse and throw it out the door, Freda gives me a dirty look and heads for the cellar to look for another one. ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ23 May 1999 ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ Two months in a row, I've forgotten to go to the Auxiliary meeting. Last month I was tired from the fire; this time I can't remember last Thursday at all. And I particularly wanted to take part in the flower-planting. The Auxiliary is providing refreshments for the open house today; I presume they planned that last Thursday too. Haven't finished my jersey, but the bike wasn't ready either. All the jersey wants now is snaps and hems. I think I'll zig-zag the hems, as I did for the pockets. Probably pick the bike up Monday; I think I'll stop at K-Mart and buy some 2/$9 20-gallon totes to use as trash cans. I'm seriously considering offering to edit a newsletter for the Guilderland Guild. Could do the S.A.S.E. bit, since we don't have dues yet. Got the hems in. I'm wearing the jersey, with a pin at the neck. Need to make another, shorter, narrower of sleeve, and higher in the back pockets. Putting the breast pockets up on the shoulders was a great success. Haven't tried eating mints out of them yet, though. Someone on Knit U asked for informa tion on needlework classes and explained "school is out now, and I would like to immerse myself in learning." Looked at envelopes the last time I was in SuperValu & decided I had enough to last until I got to a stationer. Today, I wanted to address thirty-eight envelopes for the Writer's Exchange Bulletin. ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ28 May 1999 ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ Oh, ar. My feet ache ÄÄ at one point I caught a shuttle to a place I didn't want to go, just for a chance to sit down. And after being in sight and smell of barbecued ribs all evening, I came home and made a tuna-salad sandwich and ate a handful of nuts. Never saw the line less than halfway across the parking lot, and never saw it move. The Stewarts' and Indian Ladder booths were less crowded than the Crossings and SuperValu booths, so I did get an ice-cream cone, a strudel stick, and a pint of cider. Otherwise, I lucked out. Went back to the car for my poncho and a shawl to sit on, and arrived at the best place to see the fireworks just as they started ÄÄ and it wasn't the place I was headed for. Also decided at the last minute that I no longer have the figure for a tucked-in shirt, and couldn't find a clean T-shirt that wasn't transparent, so I wore the shirt I brought back from the Bahamas, which has large pockets that proved very convenient. Carried a small clock in one, since I still haven't found out where my watch went. Might be in my purse under a Chapstick or something; it's been hard to keep track of ever since the second strap broke off. Last time I was in Wal*Mart, I saw a pocket timepiece especially made to wear on a keychain. Turned out to be a countdown timer for the new millenium. :-( I miss the bike, but I'm just as glad that I drove home in the dark, rather than riding home in the dark. Probably wouldn't have been as tired if I'd been able to park closer to the festivities, though. ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ29 May 1999 ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ Ow, ooch. Should have parked at the Catholic church instead of the library. Thought it would be convenient for visiting the book sale, but there wasn't any. No wonder I hadn't seen any of the book-sale publicity. The lines for the food weren't as long today, but they were still longer than my desire for barbecued ribs. So I came home, and I'm thawing bread to make another tuna-salad sandwich. Looks as though I'm going to eat more of that tuna than Dave. (I've seasoned it up until it doesn't taste like fish.) I was surprised when the float for the Voorheesville Presbyterian Church came by. I'd thought that Mountainview Church on State Farm Road, St. Matthew's Church on Mountainview Street, and the United Methodist Church on Maple Avenue were all there was. The walking-tour booklet says that the Presbyterians got their start in the building that became the public library, then Christine's Restaurant, and now has a brand-new sign reading "The Crossings". It didn't say why they moved out or where they went. I think there might be a church up on Pleasant Street, where the walking tour says the original foundations were. It says they laid foundations, then decided to build elsewhere, but it doesn't say why. I noticed on my place mat that barbe cued ribs were still being served on the Village Green ÄÄ and ordered barbecue- sauce pizza. Dave, too, thinks there's a church at Center and Pleasant. I wonder when and why they changed back? Went to Supervalu for milk etc. after eating; there was still a policeman at Maple and Stonington when I came back, but he was standing beside the road, instead of standing in the middle trying to clear a jam, as when I came. The pedestrians were still heedless, so I had to drive very slowly. Got my ticket to Gear yesterday. Also an ad for the Effective Cycling Course; I think I'll take it. The elementary course; I already know all the stuff they cover in the advanced course. Hope I have a bike by then. I took in the Fuji to build up with the Carleton's components Tuesday. Or maybe it was Monday. Tuesday, because I just entered a receipt for the interlock I bought on the way home. The "Alfred's" had faded off, and I like to never identified it. ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ30 May 1999 ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ This morning I was reading the paper and thinking that I'd write a Banner entry beginning "I'm feeling much better now" and go back to bed. Then I came to the horoscopes. A horoscope is always either good advice or a good laugh ÄÄ this morning, I got the laugh: "You feel like you're on top of the world. A sense of excitement marks interactions." Perhaps that means I'll roll over on the cat. I may get the barbecued ribs after all. According to today's supermarket flyer, tomorrow's "Moms' Meal" is the same menu they were selling under the tent. I wonder whether Klarsfeld's is open on Memorial Day. Came pretty close to holding it on the proper day this year. Very little mention in today's paper, though, not even in the funnies ÄÄ if you don't count a barbecue joke or two. ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ31 May 1999 ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ Amazingly quiet this morning; you'd think I was the only person awake in the whole town. And on the word "awake" two cars drove by. Something sounded like a car running in the driveway all night. I hope it wasn't George's air conditioner. Chilly this morning, and the top garment on the peg was the sleeveless dress that I made out of my old muumuu ÄÄ I wore it for the first time yesterday. I'm wrapped up in a shawl so I won't wake Dave up fetching a more-suitable outfit. Today's paper mentions Memorial day. The list of events isn't much bigger than my hand. Yesterday I opened the tape I bought Saturday, and our cassette recorder wouldn't play. It did rewind. Last time, it would play, but wouldn't rewind. Might be time to look into buying a new one. ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ1 June 1999 ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ Grumble, gripe, snarl, snap. I fed Dave frozen corn with his meatloaf tonight, forgetting that we have fresh asparagus in the garden. The meat loaf is good, though; I mixed beef and pork with "wild mix" rice and assorted seasonings, and baked it all day. Didn't think of mushrooms until we were eating it; told Dave that meant I had to make another next week. He has a golf lesson in the morning, after which he plans to drop me off at the bike shop, and bring the Raleigh and left- over parts home. He played golf this morning. He said he had a wonderful time, but all the details were such things as Hiawatha Hills is more hills than Hiawatha ÄÄ he was walking ÄÄ and the pollen was so bad his playmate had to lend him an inhaler. About all I did today was take a bath. Hope I can get my hair under control in time to put it under my helmet! Also hope I'm not being too optimistic to count on a newly-overhauled bike to get me home. Even the best mechanic can turn out work with infant difficulties, and this overhaul was fairly extreme. Not to mention that I haven't ridden in over two weeks. But Dave takes his cell phone every where; I can always call for a pick up. ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ3 June 1999 ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ Trip home wasn't as long as I remembered it; I think my new bearings roll easier. Found a few glitches. First off, I noticed that he'd forgotten to change my bottle cages over. Since I have my own ideas about how cages should be installed ÄÄ and I doubted that he had any black cotton handlebar tape ÄÄ I didn't mention it. Discovered that one doesn't drink as often when hauling the bottle out of a back pocket. Did go back inside and have him move my left pannier back a bit. He said "I was hoping it was just because my feet are bigger than yours." Good thing I observed how he did it, because I ticked my heel on the right pannier a few times. Moved it back one strut this morning, also installed my bottle cages, and removed Dave's Flick Stand, which doesn't work with fenders. This rack seems to support the panniers more securely than the Pletscher did; I don't see any need to pad my seat stay and cable-tie the pannier to it ÄÄ yet. I thought, the second time my pump fell off, that it was incompatible with the lugs on the Fuji, but when I looked at it this morning, I saw that the bolts on Dave's cable guides were pushing it out of line, so I loosened each bolt half a turn, rotated the clamp slightly, and tightened the bolt again. This also removed the cable housing from the exact center of the top tube, where it gets bumped when I throw my leg over. I felt awfully far from the ground during the test ride, but that wore off before I got home. Haven't adjusted the left brake lever yet. I don't see any exposed nuts or bolt heads; I hope that isn't something I have to go back to the shop for ÄÄ the left brake lever is the most important part on the bike. I think I want the nose of my saddle lowered half a degree, but I'll ride a time or two more before deciding. Had a watch pinned to my pocket, by way a loop of heavy-duty nylon thread. Found it in the pocket of my old jersey when I threw it into the wash. Now the watch is pinned to my denim wallet. Also took a gander up Center Street when I came through the village ÄÄ yup, there's a church there, plainly visible from Main street. Dave has been playing with the computer. If you want to see how he looked in his beard, go to: http://www.members.global2000.net/~jbeeson/dave ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ5 June 1999 ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ Dave is off on an all-day train trip with a few of the boys; I dropped him off not-so-bright and early, then sewed snaps on my denim shirt until it was late enough to go garage saling. The town-wide garage sale in Rensse laerville was a good idea, but the map is waste paper. After visiting the sales in the village itself ÄÄ and buying two lids I have yet to try on my skillets for size ÄÄ I decided to drive directly to the festivities in Guilderland. Stumbled upon Garage Sale #6 on my way out of the township, and bought a boxful of books. Much to my surprise, I was able to put all three dictionaries and the thesaurus on the reference shelves. I seem not to have looked at every  book in the pile, though. The "Thorndike- Barnhart Comprehensive Desk Dictionary" is Volume One! I was tempted to buy a tall chest of drawers that had space to store about a dozen shirts on hangers; I think I could get everything in the chest in the spare room into it, with a little sorting, and it takes less floor space ÄÄ and we are desperate for space to hang out-of-season clothes. I just packed a computer-paper box full of turtleneck shirts to make room in the dresser for my T-shirts. So I'm hanging onto the map because the sellers' names and addresses are on the clueless sheet. (Good cues, but they were in random order.) Pleasant drive through the hilltowns ÄÄ I was motivated to get strong enough to ride hills, because they were mostly-good roads with practically no traffic, and postcard scenery. Lunch in Altamont, which was clogged with people attending Edgefest. Next stop, the bike rodeo; I was pleased to see that all the children were on sidewalk bikes ÄÄ that's the age a rodeo is for, but something ought to be done for the twelve-year-olds. Considered getting my face painted, but I intended to take a nap before anybody saw me, so I refrained. Short detour to the Fort Hunter Fire Company rummage sale; they were in bag sale mode by the time I got there, and I took them literally: I bought a bag. Looked like a half-way decent fanny pack, and Dave had been trying to remember where ours is when he was getting ready for his outing. Alas, there doesn't seem to be any way to tighten it around your waist. I managed to tie the strap into a bow knot, but that wouldn't work for Dave. I stuffed three paperbacks into it, of course. Being tired, I set off on the straightest route for home ÄÄ and swerved suddenly to the right when I saw the big "book sale" sign on the Guilderland library. I think that that is where I picked up "Poise: How to Attain It". Sounds like information I could use! My across-the-road neighbor had a garage sale going when I got home, but I didn't limp over to look. ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ7 June 1999 ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ The UPS truck just went by without stopping. My fabric isn't likely to arrive before Wednesday, but it might have been shipped on Saturday. If Phoenix works on Saturdays, that is. I doubt that a wholesaler would. That was shortly after I mixed up the first Gatorade of the season. Haven't bought any yet, but had a packet left over from last summer. I also have half a box of loose tea, so I made a half gallon of icebox tea, too. Can't remember where I found loose tea last summer, but with half a box on hand, I have a week or two to hunt for it. Dave has been invited to play golf tomorrow, so I've put a bottle of water and a bottle of Gatorade in the freezer. I'm thinking I'll buy some juice boxes and freeze those too. I don't want to go out into the heat to take down the clothes. It was hot enough hanging them up this morning, and it's close to the hottest part of the afternoon now. Nice going down into the cellar to tend the washer, though. Can't understand why fat little Fred isn't laid out there, instead of puffing on the bed upstairs. Perhaps he is hoping we'll haul out the air conditioner. ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ10 June 1999 ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ Air conditioners hauled out, but it's cool today. Seriously considered wearing my tights to the grocery. Will need the ride to cool off in. I tried to look at my shopping list before leaving, and Windows got shirty ÄÄ wouldn't answer to anything but the mouse, and wouldn't do what I clicked at. Like to never opened the window that allows me to open my files. Couldn't even get the Start menu to open, that's supposed to be before everything else. I don't like obsequiousness in humans, but I could use a little obedience in my machines. I'm still upset with Word for feeding me false information ÄÄ if it didn't want to indent my paragraphs, it could've said so, instead of pretending to create the format I wanted, and then scrambling things to suit itself when it saved. I've really got to find a list of the HTML commands somewhere. Doing it by hand doesn't look very hard, and it would certainly save time. Programmers are always saying, "Why are you sewing with a needle ÄÄ I've coded an awl and a skein of imitation sinew into this wonderfully complex baseball bat!" ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ11 June 1999 ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ This morning I cut out my new jersey, and this evening, I got Dave's new nightshirt torn off the bolt. Exactly one week to the first day of Gear ÄÄ I don't think I'll have a new jersey to wear. Hope I can find something in the huckster hall. The fabric came Tuesday; I washed the twill Wednesday, and the seersucker yesterday. Sigh. I saw the puckers on the swatch, and went right on thinking it was gingham. It would have been filed under "yarn-dyed shirting" if it had been a flat weave. But two nightshirts and a daygown will put a dent in the twenty yards. I ordered three yards of "cobalt" twill, thinking that if it was too thin to make pants, I could make a garden shirt. It would make a good work shirt ÄÄ but it's a perfect fabric for pants, and I desperately need pants just that weight. But cobalt is only a tinge of green off being teal, and a woman who is pushing sixty can't wear teal pants. Not one who took up sewing to get out of being forced to wear codpieces, anyway. It would make a lovely pantsuit, so now I'm kicking myself for not getting six yards. Might be able to squeeze pants and a vest out of three, since Phoenix yards are thirty-nine inches, but I wouldn't want to wear two shirts on a day when I want to wear light cotton pants. I think I've got enough of the "sage" interlock left to make another jersey. I bought enough to cut the front and back one below another, and the fabric is wide enough to cut them side-by-side. I also allowed for a yoke that I got out of the scraps left from the previous jersey. ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ12 June 1999 ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ One reason the three new dictionaries went on the shelf so easy was that the Oxford American is lying beside the keyboard. I learned recently that wool is more absorbent than cotton. I've known all my life that it takes a wool shirt longer to dry than a cotton one, but never stopped to think that that means that it starts out wetter. Distracted by the difficulty of getting the wool wet in the first place, I suppose. Dave came home with a new toy this morning: a cart to drag his golf bag behind him. It has a water-bottle cage, and a rack on the handle to hold scorecard, pencil, tees, and two balls. "And if I *really* have to have something that fits, I buy a piece of fabric and stash it in the closet. Then [I] discover that fit isn't as important as I'd thought at first." -- Tamara Duvall ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ14 June 1999 ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ Found bulbs on the winter onions when I made soup for lunch today. Thought that was early, but I searched last year's Banner for "onion" and found "the winter onions . . . have begun to form bulbs" in the entry for 25 May. The grass was wet when I got up this morning, but the rain doesn't seem to have been heavy enough to reach the ground. May get a thunderstorm tonight. Made progress on my new jersey this morning. The machine was stitching so badly that I decided it was time to mess with the bobbin tension ÄÄ had to loosen it a full turn. Might still be a hair tight. It was raining when I came out of the Guilderland library after the Knitting Guild meeting tonight. When I got home, Dave said it had been raining for half an hour ÄÄ but the pavement is still dry under the trees. Only four knitters came to the meeting, so we decided to postpone the next meeting until September. We're thinking of going to the Rhinebeck Festival in October. ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ15 June 1999 ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ When the package came, I figured it had to be the hammock 'cuz it sure didn't look like a pair of shorts. I checked the return address: Campmor: Yup. In the evening, when I cut up the box to put it in the bin, I noticed that it says "Goodtime Hammock" in letters the full height of the side of the box. Two of the trees in the cluster on the field side of the garden are spaced just right to support a hammock, and the rest are placed just right to shade it. The only down side is that Dave doesn't believe me when I tell him that beating a path through the garden isn't good for the soil. "I walk on dirt all the time!" he said. ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ16 June 1999 ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ Just finished my jersey, all but sewing on the snaps. There's time to do it before bedtime, but I used up today's allotment of hand sewing when I hemmed the back pockets. I thought the elastic didn't need to be zig-zagged a second time, & by the time I realized that that was a mistake, doing it by machine would have meant a great deal of un-sewing. Oops. Also need to tack the ends of the two rows of stitching that divide the back pocket into three pockets. That has to be done by hand, to keep from making the "strengtheners" into tear-starters. Must also sew snaps on my denim shirt before GEAR. It was meant to be a "muslin", to test an intermediate stage of the jersey pattern, but I realized today that it doesn't look half bad, & will relieve the shortage of decent summer shirts. It's almost certain that I can get a third jersey out of my yellow scraps ÄÄ I realized while making this one that I need to shorten the sleeve and add a band of black, so as to gather it in tighter around the hem without restricting my freedom of movement, and that calls for the collar to be black too. So if there isn't enough to cut every part all in one piece, I can add a black stripe and make it look as though I pieced it on purpose. Dave talked me through reading our next Mastercard Bill on the Web; shipping for the seersucker was $2.85. At that rate, I can afford to send in small orders. Any of you guys who have both a computer and a sewing machine must check out Phoenix Textiles! ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ21 June 1999ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ There was a jolt in the mail that came while I was at Rally North. The results of Don's tests are in and it's the worst possible news: he has small-cell carcinoma. ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ22 June 1999ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ For those who aren't Lovelesses: Don Lecklitner is my sister's husband. We are both limping around today: while I was riding too much, Dave was golfing too much. He assures me that he'll use a golf cart for his next game. And I don't plan to take my bike to Klarsfeld's until tomorrow. I took the last ride of the rally on Monday morning, and then walked the full length of Saratoga's business district twice ÄÄ once on each side of Broadway. I knew I was stupid with fatigue when I came home, but I didn't realize how stupid until I wondered why my spokes plinked as I was rolling the bike into the garage. I'd put it into the car derailleur-side down. And just when I'd got the brakes to working properly. Continuing your regularly-scheduled fluff, here are the notes I scribbled on notebook paper during GEAR '99 Saratoga/ Rally North/Springs Spokes and Saddles: ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿJonsson Room 511 ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ17 June 1998 ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ Exciting Day: I've had two naps and want another. When they said the room came with sheets, towels, and one blanket, they meant exactly that ÄÄ I had to run over to the campus bookstore and buy a washrag. Then I threw it into the car on the way to "Yaddo in the Afternoon" (not hilly ÄÄ HAH!), forgot about it, and had to go down seven floors after I wrestled my bike up the elevator & wanted to take a shower. And the elevator goes only to the basement ÄÄ it's two flights of stairs to the parking lot from there. [But one isn't a full flight.] On the opposite side from that entrance, the basement has a ground-level entrance. The ground floor also has one or two ground-level entrances. This is not a bike-friendly campus! No matter where you go, there are steps. Nicely laid out for walking, though. (For people who know their way around, that is; there were almost no signs other than those put up by the Rally people.) The plaque in one entrance says that Mrs. Jonsson gave them the land in 1961 & they abandoned their shabby downtown campus. [Caught a glimpse of it during "Historic Saratoga" on Monday; Empire State College is in it, and it doesn't look all that shabby.] Before leaving, I made a great fuss about having enough money to visit the huckster hall ÄÄ there are only a few vendors in tents, and nothing new. [Later noticed a fellow selling a book, "Cranks from Cooperstown", with a set of matching county maps. This book got rave reviews, but I don't think I'll ever tour Coopers town ÄÄ and I have a mail-order blank that came in my confirmation packet.] I considered buying a tie-dyed jersey, but there is no way to add front pockets without spoiling the design. Back from E.C. class and ready for bed ÄÄ thinking of doing a little homework before turning out the light, I suddenly notice: there's a light to read at the desk, and there's a light to read in the window seat ÄÄ but there is no light to read in bed. Now is a fine time to think of bringing the laptop! ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ18 June 1999 ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ As I contemplate wearing my T-shirt to breakfast & resent its lack of pockets, I think that it's high time I got on with the patchwork poncho short I've been mentally designing. Back from breakfast, & contemplating a morning of needlework, as yesterday's "flat" seven-mile ride has left me tired & the E.C. session from three to five in the afternoon promises to be active. Took a chocolate-fudge cupcake by mistake for a muffin at breakfast. ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ19 June 1999 ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ In the dormitory lounge, overlooking the parking lot. I haven't seen the two kids on a tandem pulling the baby of the family in a trailer today. Not too surprising, since I went back to bed after breakfast & slept until lunchtime. Got over to the ride start a little before 12:00, meaning to see the demo rides ÄÄ which were on Case Green, it turned out. Saw the mechanic, remembered my bad brake, & he kindly offered to stay on duty (he was to quit at noon) until I could run back to the dorm and get my bike. I did run part of the way, though he said not to hurry. I think getting out of breath did me some good. The brake works much better now. Two hours until class time. Should be reading the book. Yesterday's evening session started late and let out early, and I came home wasted. It wasn't the exercise, it was the terror! [later] Today's class was in downtown Saratoga, but it wasn't as scary as the parking-lot exercises. I can't be the only one who came back from supper saying "boy, am I glad I don't have to drive home tonight!" I went to lie down for a bit about 7:30 and when I woke up at 9:30, the dorm was so quiet that I thought I'd slept until midnight. I wish there were some way to shut off the rush-rushing air conditioner. It's quite pleasant outside. ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ12 June 1999 ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ Packing up ÄÄ and on my last trip to shave, I remembered to take a towel! [It was never very far to where I'd left it hanging over the closet bar. Semi- private plumbing facilities may make the dorms easier to rent out to conventions, but I see no advantage to them for normal use. My idea of luxurious bathing in a dorm is trotting down the hall to a facility that somebody else is responsible for cleaning! And facilities that serve fewer people considerably increase the chance that all four girls will want to use the shower at the same time.] ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ23 June 1999 ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ One of life's little mysteries. When I heard the spokes plinking as I put my bike away, and traced it to the derailleur, I thought I'd been tired enough to put the bike in the car right-side down, but as I loaded it into the car just now, intending to take it to Klarsfeld, I realized that it had been in the car just that way when I was packing luggage around it. I also noted a small scar in the plastic, as of violent contact with pavement. But I rode up to the car on the bike, which I couldn't have done with the derailleur in the spokes, and I wasn't tired enough to fail to notice dropping it while loading. Whatever, I suspect that I'd better take the Raleigh's derailleur with me. I couldn't find the rear derailleur in the box of left-over parts, so I took the whole box with me, but I never took it in. When Jeff checked the derailleur, he couldn't find a thing wrong with it ÄÄ after he put the chain back on the chainring. I'm looking through my list of smileys for one that says "sheepish grin". Dave tried the hammock tonight, but the mosquitoes drove him into the air- conditioned bedroom. It's only 80ø, but I've got a bad case of the lazies. ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ24 June 1999 ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ I thought digging up the narcissus was tedious ÄÄ it took me two days. Planting them is going to be much worse, even though I'm putting three bulbs in every hole. I've decided to leave the other over- crowded stand of narcissus where it is. ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ25 June 1999 ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ Finished planting the narcissus this morning. Not at all tiresome ÄÄ perhaps because it hadn't gotten hot yet. I remembered to go to the Auxiliary meeting yesterday ÄÄ but nobody else did. So I went to the poets' meeting instead. Later: checked the fridge: the Auxiliary met at six and went to a steak house. Explains all the cars in the lot with not a soul in the building. Though I'd forgotten exactly why, I'd suspected that there might not be a meeting, and went prepared to continue to the library. It started raining about noon, and continued until nearly 1:30. But when I went out afterward to fetch the pillow we'd left in the hammock, the ground under the pines was bone dry. I put a dry case on the pillow, and put it back on the bed. At least the rain laid the dust. The paper says that we might get some real rain on Monday ÄÄ in scattered showers. ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ26 June 1999 ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ Pleasant out, and the fog is burning off, but the prediction is hazy hot and humid, and worse tomorrow. Dave is sanding the frame to the back door of the garage. I was surprised at how good that door looked after he scraped off the peeling paint & screwed plywood panels over the cat hole. He made them the full width of the door, so they look like kick plates. Found one of my glass-head pins in the tape recorder, picked it out, & now it plays fine. But the song on the tape is about what you'd expect of a local boy celebrating a village festival. We got a little more rain yesterday evening, but the garden would like for me to find something to wash. I can run two loads ÄÄ that's six tubs ÄÄ into a furrow. The bindweed adores this kind of weather. The roots may not go all the way to the Indian Ocean, but they certainly go down to the water table. The birdsfoot trefoil and the oregano have been flourishing, but I suspect that I should have watered the common thyme. I think I'll run out and pour another bucket on the marigolds and lemon thyme. ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ27 June 1999ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ The walk-behind mower is acting up again ÄÄ gasoline runs briskly out of the exhaust, which made me very reluctant to start it. Dave mowed the back yard ÄÄ what he could get at with the riding mower ÄÄ but he can't go to the John Deere place until Tuesday. Nothing but trees and bindweed to mow anyway. The roots of the locust we cut down are sending up shoots everywhere. The Clapps are having a party. Kids all over the place. They are amazingly quiet. Seem to be having a ball. ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ28 June 1999 ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ We had a heavy shower while I was taking my nap, and another right after I got back from riding my bike to the grocery store. How's that for good weather? Got my Rosette Edging off to Georgia today, but couldn't find beads to make a sample for Beginners' Star. ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ29 June 1999 ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ Rode to Beyond the Tollgate this morning & bought suitable beads ÄÄ I hope! Reports of floods here and there, and a picture on the news of a man being rescued from his stranded car. Got rained on twice today, and went off to the Punkintown-Fair envelope-stuffing party wanting to say "don't spill anything on me, this is my last dry outfit!" One pair of linen slacks and one shabby pair of cotton slacks just isn't enough. Oddly, I have more winter pants than summer pants ÄÄ perhaps because I seldom wear wool or synthetics when I'm not going someplace, so they never wear out. Have yet to stick a shovel into the garden to see whether the drought is over, but the pavement was wet under the trees when I was riding home from Beyond the Tollgate. Absent-mindedly watered the spearmint when I washed my riding outfit ÄÄ I'd forgotten that we'd disconnected the hose when Dave mowed the back yard. ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ30 June 1999 ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ Good news and bad news: I can get a shirt and a pair of pants out of the "cobalt" twill easily, and do it with the fabric simply folded in half ÄÄ I'll cut the shirt on the fold, and the pants along the selvages. The bad news is that I can't possibly cut it without laying out the whole three yards at once, which means getting down on the floor. Now that I've finally selected my pattern pieces ÄÄ I'm making a scoop-neck pullover shirt, despite my misgivings about things that have to be ironed and don't open down the front ÄÄ perhaps I should bundle up the whole mess, drive to the fire house, and cut on one or two of the long tables in the meeting hall. Still have to draft a patch pocket pattern, but that shouldn't take long once I've measured the pockets on a few old shirts to see what's too small and what's too big. It always takes me forever to cut out. ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ2 July 1999 ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ My horoscope for today says "You will literally float into the office." I've half a notion to write a letter of complaint. Spent the whole day cutting out yesterday ÄÄ and then realized that I'd forgotten the passport pockets, which are to be cut from thinner fabric. They are merely 5«" x 6«" swatches, so the most time-consuming part will be roodling through my box of "solid and woven-in" scraps. But perhaps a print would be appropriate . . . Job wasn't quite as strenuous as I expected, as I quickly realized that once a piece was separated from the rest of the fabric, I could move it to the table to finish trimming. Freda thinks that my stack of marked pieces is an excellent place to sleep, even though I've told her many times that I don't allow feet on the dining table. I'd better move them to the sewing room, and put the table back into eating position before Dave wakes up. Well, not quite the whole day cutting ÄÄ I cultivated the garden yesterday, too. I found that the places where the rain had done good coincided pretty well with the places where I'd been emptying the washing machine. We had another envelope-stuffing party, and ran out of stuff again. This time it was raffle tickets. Must take longer to replace tickets than letters and posters, because yesterday's stuffing party was cancelled. Or perhaps they decided to go ahead without them ÄÄ I got our copy in today's mail. It had been stuffed on the first night ÄÄ I did it myself ÄÄ so the presence of raffle tickets doesn't prove anything. We've been having light sprinkles, and we just had a brief downpour that made me rush all around closing windows. Hated to do it, because the rain came with a nice breeze. Not much done, but the shirt is starting to look like a shirt, with the darts and shoulder seams in. I was about to baste in the easing threads on the sleeves when the rain started. Found my blouse pattern under the nightshirt pieces, but did not open the envelope to see whether I'd have used it instead of the vest pattern if I'd been able to locate it. ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ4 July 1999 ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿArachne ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ I finished plowing through The Veils of  Azlaroc recently. Hope I've spelled that correctly. Took so long I'm not sure who it was about, or what the point was. Part of the trouble is that the premise was too far out to be handled consistently. Even if I could accept that "Veils" of processed matter can coat individual atoms of matter, I kept hitting places where, according to what had gone before, it just wouldn't work that way. Reminds me of Acorna. I could accept the magical horn that cured ailments and detoxified poisons even when that involved transmuting elements and violating the conservation of matter and energy. I could not accept a planet not quite so large as Indianapolis, or a one-time evacuation of slaves that permanently solved the problem of slavery ÄÄ and that's assuming that all the slaves of a whole planet can be housed in one building on the moon; even for a planet the size of Indianapolis, that seems a bit crowded. And the reason nothing had been done about it sooner was that the economy would collapse without slaves. How is a collapsed economy going to supply the needs of that building on the moon? It is too hot to do any work, so I went out to the hammock after supper this evening and finished reading Two Crowns  for America, by Katherine Kurtz. I consider it educational; Kurtz appears to have nestled her supernatural story into what really happened, and she does have a degree in history. It's an M.A. in medieval English history, but it can't be too hard for a trained historian to read up on the American Revolution ÄÄ everything has been preserved. And she covered less than a decade. I'll bet that Kurtz would be startled to know how much her Masonic ritual looks like her Deryni ritual. I had a suspension-of-disbelief problem in the scene where they overcome the Ba'al Shem's objection to letting a woman into the seance by explaining that Arabel was a Free and Accepted Mason, and therefore his sister, so he was allowed to speak to her. I don't stick at Arabel being a Mason ÄÄ it came about magically, it's consistent with the premises, and it's important to the plot. What I stuck on was, would a Jew so devout that he won't speak to a woman who isn't his wife, mother, daughter, or sister join the Masons? I suppose I should read one of the books in the Masonic section of the bibliography. Rainy spell seems inclined to stick as long as the dry spell, but we did get significant rain last night. This morning I found the cat box I forgot yesterday half- filled with water. (I'd left it in the driveway to air after washing it.) (Before you get too sympathetic with the kitties, we have two boxes, and I clean the dirtier each time.) ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ6 July 1999 ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ Now that we have enough rain for the garden, could I have some dry weather to cultivate it in? And cool enough to work more than five minutes in a day? It's down to eighty degrees this evening, and predicted to drop all the way to sixty tonight. We are looking forward to it very much. Fell off the no-computer-games wagon with a thump because it was too hot to do anything else, ended up staying up late, and woke up with a hangover this morning. I gave up sewing yesterday when I found myself leaving wet fingermarks on the pockets I was ironing. Told Dave, "Don't be surprised if you find that I've set up the sewing machine in the living room." & he said "Why not push it into the bedroom? It's on wheels." It's been sitting in the same corner so many years I'd forgotten that. So I pushed it into the bedroom and set it up, but didn't sew until this morning, when I found that I'd pressed enough stuff yesterday to keep going for an hour or two ÄÄ five patch pockets, and two sets of side seams. Pressed the side seams after naptime. The shirt is down to hems; I've got to decide whether to use twill tape, and whether to top-stitch or hand-hem. I've been annoyed that pants and a plain shirt in cobalt cotton look like a scrub suit, but not annoyed enough to do hand embroidery or complex appliqu‚ on dollar-a-yard fabric. Thought I had it when I remembered a tatted edging left over from a pillowcase, but it was much too long, and I didn't want to cut it. It was too coarse anyway, said the fox. So I got the pima cotton out of the stash drawer and tore the shorter piece into four pillowcases. That leaves eight pillowcases in the fabric stash. Scared poor little Fred out of the air- conditioning. He held his ground through the first two tears, but when I picked up the last piece, he broke and ran. ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ7 July 1999 ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ "[young Bush has] made so much money without producing anything that he should put a '.com' after his name." ÄÄ Rob Morse It's happened ÄÄ according to today's paper, when you sign up for Internet access with Microwerkz, they give you the computer. I wonder when it starts coming with a service contract, as Bell used to do? Good drying day, but when I went out to plow an irrigation ditch, I found the garden still too wet to work, so I'm putting the water on the grapevines. I figure they have roots deep enough to use what I'm putting on now during the next drought, when all the water goes to the garden. ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ9 July 1999 ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ If I want to get that pattern to AKTATTER by the fourteenth, I'd better tat today. [didn't] As I was shutting off a popular talk- show host, I thought of a useful addition to such clich‚s as "Were you raised in a barn?" and "You make a better door than a window." When someone whines and yowls and refuses to converse in a civilized manner, we can say "Do you think you're on radio?" I took the last stitch in the shirt of my scrub suit tonight, though it could use a touch-up ironing. I was lucky enough to find some J&P Coats Supersheen thread the exact color ÄÄ probably left over from the maternity dress I made in 1965 ÄÄ but not enough to thread the sewing machine, so I sewed the hems by hand. A simple running stitch, not blind hemming, though. When I made the linen pants, I said my top-stitching wasn't even enough that I'd try it with contrasting thread, but there wasn't any alternative to contrasting top stitching on the cobalt pants, since white and ecru are the only colors 6-ply cotton thread comes in. I doubt that there's enough Supersheen to hand-fell even one seam ÄÄ not that I considered doing it! The pants want only two waistbands, two hems ÄÄ and four hooks and twenty eyes. My linen shorts are still in progress, though I finished the eyes recently and need only attach the hooks. Took two or three nights to make the first ten eyes, because my arm got sore, but I finished the other side all in one morning. Must be toughening up. I've already sewn hem tape into the cobalt pants. In the process, I discovered that my tape collection is picked-over. I logged in, asked Jeeves "Where can I buy black 100%-cotton twill tape?", and got a screenful of rock-music groups. I knew that "plain English" input is a shuck, but rock music???? I think maybe "tape" was the only word that registered. I asked again as if doing a key-word search and got better results; don't remember whether I finished with Jeeves or wandered over to Yahoo, but I did get sensible answers, for the first time in my experience with Jeeves. Unfortunately, on-line tape suppliers come in two classes: Re-enactment vendors selling limited selections of tapes at thirty or fifty cents a yard ÄÄ not varying with width; the different prices were different vendors. And places that have very cheap prices on widths from an eighth to an inch, in increments of a sixteenth, dyed to your specifications, minimum order a hundred bucks. The order I mailed this morning included a check for 37.95, though, so I guess you wouldn't need a very large guild to buy from one of the wholesale places. Found the tape on my bookshelf, in the Home-Sew catalog. That rather surprised me, because I'd found the Home-Sew page while searching ÄÄ for "Home-Sew", not tape ÄÄ and couldn't find any plain tape, just fancy ribbons and trims. Also found ÄÄ using ""twill tape"" as a keyword ÄÄ an article about seam finishing on the Threads Magazine home page, which included the name and address of a twill- tape supplier. Meant to send for the catalog ÄÄ perhaps to fill in the 3/16", 3/8", and 1" tapes that Home Sew doesn't have ÄÄ but it wasn't in my address book where I thought I'd put it, nor yet in my shopping list, and not in the Eudora "message" I keep in the outbox to paste things into. Haven't looked in the back pages of the latest Threads yet. Phoenix is having free shipping on orders placed before Sunday, and they have some metallic-print paisley cotton I've been looking at covetously, so I'm tempted to log in again now (and re-stash that address), but it was bedtime when I started writing this. And now it's really, really bedtime. Hope I sleep better than I did at naptime today. ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ10 July 1999 ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ There was an ad in the paper for a clearance on summer dresses, which reminded me that it will soon be too late to buy a summer dress, so I spent the morning at Stuyvesant Plaza. Found only one dress to try on, a skirt and padded- shoulder overblouse that had been marked down to $44 ÄÄ a giveaway, by Stuyvesant Plaza standards. It fit, and looked good on me, but I stood in front of the mirror trying to imagine putting it on and going somewhere, and came up blank. Part of the problem was that I went with a clear idea of what I wanted. I'm planning to log in to Phoenix Textiles before their offer of free shipping expires. ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ11 July 1999 ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ Ordered fifteen yards of paisley cotton. Yup, after all that angst over cobalt pants, I'm making a paisley pair. While reflecting that if I didn't like it, I could use it for pillowcases, I realized that I should have gotten sixteen yards ÄÄ powers of two are much easier to tear into one-yard pieces. And then I calculated that fifteen Phoenix yards are 16.25 American yards. Meant to order a half-dozen balls of white DMC Cordonnet #100 from Lacis, and some #30 while I was at it, since Lacis has the coarser Cordonnet in several colors, but after selecting red and green ÄÄ the only non-pastel colors in #30 ÄÄ I ran upstairs to make sure I had a ball of ecru #30, and found an unopened ball of white #100 I'd mistaken for #80. So I cancelled the order. I was worried that I had only half a spool of thread, and hardly any bobbins, but now that I can re-fill bobbins, I'm confident that a half-filled 800-yd spool will last for months. I can't wind anywhere near eight hundred yards of a slightly-thicker thread on it with a hand drill ÄÄ if I recall correctly, it won't even hold all of a 472- yard ball ÄÄ but it still holds a whole bunch of thread. I ran up to the sewing room twice while describing my thread. I'm worried about what I'll do for exercise in a one-story house. I'm much too lazy to persist in exercising just to get tired. I'm giving serious thought to a floor loom, but they take up a lot of space, good looms are expensive, and I'm taking months to finish knitting my onionskin socks even though I want the socks. Weaving dish towels isn't a lot of motivation. ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ12 July 1999 ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ Hand-hemmed the waistbands last night, wondering whether there'd be enough thread to hem the legs ÄÄ looks as though I'll have a little left over. I meant to top-stitch the waistbands, and "make a neat rectangle" the way the pattern says for once. Since I usually use matching thread, I top-stitch only on the three sides that need it. Alas, I didn't think about topstitching when arranging my seam allowances, so I had three options: Make an extra line of white stitching across my waistband ÄÄ which I've just now thought of; at the time I was thinking instead of rather than in addition to. Undo a really, really fussy job of easing. Or back-stitch by hand, trying to catch only four of the five layers. It wasn't the first time I've finished a waistband by hand, but it was by far the easiest and pleasantest episode of the kind. If I knew what brand of "cobalt cotton twill" this was, I'd buy more at full price, assuming that they make it in black. 'Course I might change my mind after it's been washed a few times. ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ14 July 1999 ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ If I'd checked my messages before going to buy steak for supper, I could have picked up my library book on the way. Could take another ride, I suppose; I could use the exercise. According to the time stamp on the message, I was asleep when the library called. If I don't have reason to think I might have gotten a message, I'm not likely to notice that the light is blinking until cat-feeding time. (I line up their supper dishes in front of the microwave, and the answering machine is on top of the microwave.) Oughter take the lawn mower out before it gets too dark to see. I think it was the day before yesterday we got it back, and I mowed the front ÄÄ the close-in part with all the trees; Dave had mowed from the trees to the road. Got what I was willing to mow in poor light done. In the process, I discovered that my poor little lilac was a victim of the mower outage. I was delighted this spring to discover that the lilac tree I cut down by mistake last fall was sending up sprouts, and carefully marked it so that I wouldn't mow it off by mistake. Alas, Dave makes a point of mowing off trees and bushes every chance he gets. I told him once, "Men have an instinct to clear a bare space around the nest, so that nothing can sneak up on them." He said, "What a wonderful idea!" ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ15 July 1999 ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ I outsmarted myself. Expecting more hot weather, I've designed a seersucker slip to slop around the house in. Since I'm to wear it instead of pants and a shirt, I planned to put in both pants-type side- seam pockets and smock-type patch pockets. Seeking ever-simpler ways to install side-seam pockets, I hit upon the idea of making an inside patch pocket. That is, I'll hem the pocket opening, appliqu‚ a pocket shape to the wrong side of the front, and sew the side seams as usual: Voila! Side-seam pockets. Trouble is, the side-seam pockets underlie the smock pockets. I think it's possible to put overlapping patch pockets on both sides of a piece of fabric, but it's not something one does for a slopping- around dress. Cut out two door curtains, finally, to block the draft when we are running the air conditioner. We've been improvising for a couple of years, with the fabric hanging in the closet all that time. Or maybe it was hanging in the sewing room the first year or so. After writing the above, I tore two pieces of seersucker off the roll ÄÄ and here I sit in the completed gown! It's bedtime, and it consisted of only four pieces ÄÄ six if you count the bias tape on the pocket openings ÄÄ but I don't think I've ever cut something out and finished it the same day before. There are only two pockets, by the way. The weather prediction in the paper says that I'll want it rather badly tomorrow. ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ16 July 1999 ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ So far, not. But I was upset to find no woven-cotton shirts in my closet. Then I found them in the sewing room, and thought "There is no way I'm going to let myself be seen in this shirt ÄÄ so why should I iron it?" Gone have to heat the iron up today anyhow ÄÄ I've got to press creases into the curtains that I cut out yesterday or the day before, and sew up the hems. Should take only a few minutes, and the weather appears to plan on living up to the prediction. So far, shutting all the windows to keep in the night air has sufficed. I bragged about cutting and finishing all in one day ÄÄ how about designed, finished, and on the bed before lunch? Yesterday I was looking at my black- and-white plaid gown in the mirror, thinking that it would look much better in a splashy floral, and wondering what I'd do with the rest of that bolt of seersucker, when I remembered that I wanted some- thing cheap, easy to wash ÄÄ and more convenient than five carefully overlapped trash bags ÄÄ to protect the bed in the shed from dust. So this morning I measured the bed, tore two and three-fourths yards off the roll of seersucker, took it out and tried it on the bed ÄÄ I've been burned a few times by trusting measurements ÄÄ brought it back in and tore off two more (one to wash and one for the other rollaway), then pressed all three with starch, pressed one of the door curtains (and straightened the end on the other), made the heading on the door curtain I pressed, then finished one of the spreads and put it on the bed. And emptied the wastebaskets, after putting four of the trash bags back into the cupboard. Also ran two loads of wash; I'm feeling very housewifely. But it naptime & it's too hot to touch bedding. Still hotter when I got up, so I put on my new gown and took the mail, a copy of "Two Faces of Tomorrow", and a bottle of half-frozen Gatorade out to the hammock. By the time I finished skimming the mail, which included two magazines and the Altamont Enterprise, the bottle was empty and I was hungry, so I came back in. Can't think of anything to eat that doesn't involve turning on the stove, so I gave the kitties a serving of chilled Tuna & Egg Dinner and sat down to play with the computer. Might cultivate the garden after the sun goes behind the mountain; it needs it rather badly. On the other hand, cultivating means putting on shoes . . . Didn't cultivate; did finish the other two bedspreads. Sewing black-and-white fabric in my black-and-white gown reminded me of the scene in "Daddy Longlegs" in which the hero comes to the orphanage for the first time: the curtains, the girls' dresses, the heroine's blouse, and everything else in sight is blue-and- white checks; she cheerfully remarks that a benefactor had given the orphanage bolts and bolts of gingham. My twill tape arrived in today's mail, and I got a message from Phoenix that my "Paisley-Black/Taupe" has been shipped. After feeding the tracking number into the UPS site, I went to the Phoenix site to frisk "all for a dollar" for cotton prints. Noticed that "splash" is still there, despite being all cotton. It was in "all for a dollar" when I discovered the site. Perhaps everyone looks at it and says "What on Earth is 'the cord family'?" ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ17 July 1999 ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ I'm getting acclimated. On the way to cultivate the garden, I was marvelling at how pleasant the temperature was that early in the morning, and stopped to check the thermometer: 80ø. And it's in the shade at that time of day. I was sweating when I finished ÄÄ well, I need to hand-pull weeds, hill potatoes, and mulch tomatoes, but that can wait ÄÄ so I gathered up my library books and retired to the hammock. When I came in, Dave had the air conditioner going in the living room so I ran upstairs to finish the new pair of curtains. Upon remembering that one of them hadn't been pressed yet, I took my linen shorts to the living room and sewed on four hooks, then put them on, threw a rather raunchy pair of black shorts in the wash, and started working ten eyes on my cobalt pants. I was really impressed at the progress I was making until I remembered that there are supposed to be twenty eyes. I'll mark out the other ten after my nap. One of the volunteer tomatoes, an Italian, has fruits that appear to be about as big as they are going to get. Every thing is still grass green, so far, but there are a lot of well-developed tomatoes. I've been buying hothouse tomatoes shipped down from Canada. ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ18 July 1999 ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ The sticks of my ice-pop mold have little cups on them, which serve as lids when the ice is in the mold, keep the sticks centered and upright while the ice is freezing, and serve as drip-catchers while you are eating the ice pop. Seems really clever until you realize that you can't lick drips off the ice because the guard is in the way, and can't lick drips out of the guard because the ice is in the way, and pretty soon the drip catcher fills up, one false move, and there's Red #40 all down the front of my new seersucker shift. I rinsed it pink in cold water, then put blue liquid on the stains and washed immediately, even though I had only half a load of light colors to wash with it, and dried it in the sun. Seems to have worked. Plowed an irrigation ditch first, and was pleased to see it overflow with one load, so the earth must not be as dry as it has been. Of course this was a shorter ditch than usual, and less cloth in the washer means more water. My other sleeveless cotton shift and my polycotton gown were in the same load ÄÄ the polycotton is the only one that looks as though I ought to iron it before I wear it again. Luckily, I won't want to wear it unless it's cool enough that I don't mind ironing. A lesson learned in making the seersucker shift: I cut it in complete disregard for the plaid, but one of the pockets just happened to match ÄÄ and that pocket was MUCH easier to pin in smoothly than the other. Spent most of the day in the air- conditioned living room hand-sewing, and now my scrub suit is ready to wear ÄÄ as soon as I touch it up a bit with the iron. I've half a notion to baste on the pink- and-green appliqu‚s that came as a "free gift" with my twill tape. Turned off the air conditioner at naptime, because the noise was keeping me awake, and Dave has gone to play golf, so it's not likely that anyone will want to sit in the living room before it's cool enough to turn on the window fan. The paper predicts lows in the sixties from now until Thursday. ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ19 July 1999 ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ Used up my last bobbin today, wound four bobbins (all I had; the last batch I bought at Wal*Mart don't fit), then wound the rest of the ball onto my other empty SubSilk spool. About three-fourths full, I estimate. Found a SuperSheen spool with a DMC label stuck to it; that's probably what I remember as holding less than a ball. It's an old spool, cut at least twice as deep as the last wooden spools, but only a tiny fraction of the depth of the SubSilk spools. I thought the "spool" patchwork pattern was far-fetched until I used up a spool of SubSilk. Unfortunately, it is very Sub and not very Silk, so I'm not emptying the rest of those lovely spools very fast. (Bought them in the '60s, when I wanted lots of browns to embroider cave pictures. Made two, both of which are still around here somewhere.) SubSilk is a brand of 3-ply mercerized cotton; doesn't hold up in seams unless I double it. I can't feature the enthusiasm for 2-ply thread for "heirloom" sewing; seems to me that you'd want the seams to hold forever in that sort of work. But one brand, I noticed, claims to be made from long-staple cotton, which would help considerably. Hints, if you ever have to wind thread with a hand drill: I put the ball in a cardboard box on the floor and threaded the machine as far as the take-up lever, to put tension on the thread and leave both hands free to work the drill. (I don't have one of those so-called "easy thread" levers, so thread popping out of the hole was not a problem.) Standing at a considerable distance from the machine put more tolerance into the system, so that it was easier to keep from missing the spool and winding around the drill. Thread wound with a drill tends to collect on the flanges of the spool, so trying very hard to wind a lump in the middle kept it fairly flat. An electric screwdriver leaves one hand free to guide the thread, but it's a lot slower than a hand drill. (I wonder whether Dave knows that his hand drill is in the sewing trunk, with a piece of chopstick wound in carpet warp in the chuck?) A high of 80ø is much nicer. Rained some today. We forgot the pillow in the hammock, and it's still there. ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ20 July 1999 ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ Grumbly-gripe: once again, I remem bered to take out the trash ÄÄ when I heard the brakes squeal. Our entry was a lot neater when they picked up the other side of the street, then came back to get ours. The front page of yesterday's Times Union devoted all but the leftmost column to telling us there was no news about JFK Jr. The top two thirds of the left column was a picture of a happy baseball player, and the beginning of an explanation for his glee. And below the fold, a few inches reminded us that the first Moon landing was just thirty years ago. It is as though a malignant fate were using the Kennedys to hurt America. First JFK ordered the space program to go off half-cocked, and now, when the anniver sary might remind us that the time is finally ripe, it knocks off another one. My latest order from Phoenix hit the bottleneck occasioned by their free- shipping promotion, so in addition to acknowledging the order, they sent a notice when it was shipped, which included the UPS tracking number. So I logged in the next night to check its whereabouts ÄÄ and discovered that I'd trashed the message by mistake. After logging off, I opened "trash", made creative use of Eudora's excuse for a search utility, and moved the notice to "ypending". (Moving the target is the only way you can know where it is; very frustrating when it is one of several things that are apt to be in the same place.) Logged in the next day & discovered that there had been no change since I received the message: a UPS depot in Georgia received the package on the evening of the sixteenth, and loaded it onto a truck about ten that night. It can't have been on the same truck all this time; they must bundle the packages into containers that won't be broken up until they get to Albany. Nope. Just logged in: it's now in a depot in Meadowlands, New Jersey. Arrived at 9:36 this morning. I never learned how to make Mom's punch ÄÄ perhaps because I didn't like it. If I make a pint of orange soda, I use one ounce of orange juice and fifteen ounces of seltzer. Mom felt that punch was food; if you were thirsty, we had an excellent well. (It was an abominable well if you were dirty, but that is another story.) This morning, in a bit of manual spoonerism, I made some Mom-type punch. We had only a little apple juice left, and we both were tired of it, so I thought I'd pour it into the pitcher of Red #40 drink & use the apple-juice bottle to mix up some Orange-Strawberry-Banana. So I set out the bottle of apple juice, the pitcher of "cherry" drink, and our last can of frozen juice concentrate, carefully opened the can --and dumped it into the pitcher. When Dave set out for golf this morning, he filled one of his bottles from the pitcher, tasted it, and said "Ew, is that sweet!" The melting ice cubes should help. I suppose I could put water in the pitcher, now that he's taken out some of the drink. ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ21 July 1999 ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ Fabric just arrived, and it's beautiful. Too beautiful. I wanted to make a blending-into-the-scenery suit, and this is party clothes. Yawn. And I was still in bed at the time, awake, but thinking that I'd go back to sleep. Caught me by surprise; I'd checked the Web site in the morning, and it was still in the Albany Depot & I reflected that mail to be delivered this afternoon was already on the truck & figured it would come tomorrow ÄÄ forgot that you can't load enough parcels on a truck to stay out all day. ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ24 July 1999 ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ Tore pieces off to make an overshirt, and in the process left the paisley draped over the gate-leg table. Freed said "Oh, you've made me a cosy bed!" so I looked around for a way to stash fifteen yards, minus one blouse, & decided that the seersucker could do without its rolling tube. Was much surprised to find barely enough left on the roll for the no- iron hot-weather shirt I mean to make Real Soon Now, and I might have to piece it. Twenty yards isn't all that much! Added up better when I remembered that two nightshirts have come off the roll, and the shirt I have yet to cut out ÄÄ I have to press the torn pieces first, and you know how I've felt about ironing lately ÄÄ took considerably more fabric than the gown I have on. Fuller, longer, for a larger person, and with sleeves. Happy Day! Now that the seersucker is all committed, I dare resume looking at the Phoenix website. Took considerable resolve to resist the yarn-dyed linen-and-cotton shirting that was in All for A Dollar the last time I looked. ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ25 July 1999 ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ It's gone, and so is the Splash. Ironed all the fabric that I mean to cut Real Soon Now today, and three curtains. I'd been using two of the window curtains on a door ÄÄ from the two north windows, which look better without curtains, IMHO ÄÄ so I threw them and one of the too-short door curtains into the wash basket when I hung up the new curtains. Rode home from Langan's by way of downtown Schenectady Friday ÄÄ got to Jay Street at fifteen before nine, and Schenectady doesn't open until eleven. Just as well, as I discovered later that I'd forgotten my lock ÄÄ haven't figured out how to carry it with my new rack, so it occupies space in my pannier & I take it out when grocery shopping. Guess I'll have to try the wrap-it-around-the- seatpost bit. Anyhow, I got home in excellent condition & before lunch, so I figure I'm up to the long-delayed trip to downtown Albany. But making it one-way requires the Jeep, and Langan's still has it. I'll be surprised if Lodge's still has summer hats. I've managed to lose all but one of last summer's hats. ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ26 July 1999 ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ How hot is it? I tracked down pitiful Mrrows to find that Fred wanted me to turn on the air conditioner. I didn't, so he flopped down in the doorway. Dave scraped paint in the downstairs bathroom today; I cut out his nightshirt, but I'm writing an essay on irons for Rough Sewing instead of sewing it together. ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ29 July 1999 ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ Got all the pieces of the shirt attached & am ready to sew up the side seams and hem it -- but while feeling delighted last night at how fast I was proceeding, I remembered that I'd forgotten to cut out pockets. So I've got to make those and appliqu‚ the front pockets before I sew up the side seams. The Health Department says that we have to wear rubber gloves. That is going to make it a lot harder to keep clean. Also means that neither of us can take a break while the other takes care of everything. Unless I put up a sign saying "exact change only". ARRGH! I've let the Banner go until it's going to be a bear to print out again. Spect it's time to put on my beautiful new shirt & go to the fair. Good news: We get two shirts each, they are still embroidered, and they are styled to replace the yellow shirts that most of us have worn out. (Mine is still around because it's too small.) The bad news: They are half polyester. It isn't as hot as it's been, but it ain't cool enough to wear polyester. I wonder whether the woman who embroiders them for us will be selling souvenir shirts with last year's design on them again. [She was.] The good news: I was quite comfortable in my polyester shirt. The bad news: lemonade went over like a lead balloon. I started wondering about the wisdom of wearing linen pants the first time I got them wet, but I don't think any of my cotton pants would have dried nearly as fast. The rain stopped about sunset, and the weather was quite pleasant from then on, but you don't sell much lemonade after sunset. Didn't ask Dave how much money we took in. Traded lemonade for a hamburger and a fried dough from the booth next door. I knocked off early and went home ÄÄ it's about twenty after ten now. ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ30 July 1999 ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ Hot and sunny and we knocked off early again. We ran out of syrup. Dave was too tired to go on anyway; he did nearly all the squeezing. I took money, cleaned up, fetched things, etc. to keep his gloves clean. Sometimes we did without; a freshly- washed hand is much more sanitary. Ran a load of wash this morning, and hemmed my linen pants a quarter inch shorter when they were dry. (I'd taken the hem out before washing them, of course.) The shirt I wore today wants washing, but each of us has a never-worn shirt to put on tomorrow, so I won't wash. Woke up poohed this morning. Ate breakfast & read the paper, & it was noon, so I read in the hammock for a while, took down the wash, and took a nap. Read a little e-mail & started composing an essay, and it was time to put on my lemonade- selling shirt. ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ31 July 1999 ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ Early-morning dash to buy another bag of sugar, and two gallons of milk and four bottles of seltzer. We've been hitting the seltzer pretty heavy ever since the heat worked its way down to the water mains. Consumption dropped off some after I started keeping bottles of plain water in the fridge. ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ1 August 1999 ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ Sigh. I meant to have the clown paint my face, but we were so busy that I forgot about it. Dave, who did most of the squeezing, woke up with a sore arm. I woke up asleep, so I told him that I'd wash the dishes and the lemonade stuff if he went to the clean-up party without me. So I suppose I should get at it. The sooner the syrup bottles hit the drainer, the sooner my bod hits the hammock. Though the only unread adventure in the house was rejected as intellectually challenging on another sleepy day. Might be something in the litter in the sewing room, or I could finish knitting toes on my onionskin-dyed socks. We had seven and a half lemons left when rain gave us an excuse to close up and go home. It was after eleven, I think. I still can't remember which pocket I pinned my watch to. I should look harder to find a proper pocket watch, but when I lose them so often, I don't like to spend very much, and the least expensive pocket watches cost a lot more than the least expensive wrist watches. Remember when it was the other way around? There is a half gallon of syrup still in the cooler, and one of the quart bottles we dispensed it from is nearly full. Pretty good planning on our final day, except that we ran out of cups and had to steal some from the beer booth. Later: did you know that if you dip something in lemon juice, put it in a plastic bag, and leave it in a car parked in the sun, it gets Really Raunchy? It was naptime by the time I washed everything ÄÄ must have got up later than I thought ÄÄ so I sat down to check my e- mail, and the next thing I knew it was time to get up from my nap, so I didn't get one. ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ2 August 1999 ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ And then I stayed up late reading a gloomy-seventies SF book. (Copyright 1987, not 1978 as I'd remembered. The seventies went on longer than I thought.) I think that everything that goes back is in the entryway; the stuff to be stored in the chickenhouse is in a paper-cup box, the shaker and shot glass that go to the bar are in the colander that belongs in the kitchen. Haven't printed out the notes yet; I want Dave to add a list of sources, since there's a chance it won't be us that unpacks the stuff next year. I don't have to worry about how to dispose of the left-over syrup ÄÄ Dave says that he sold it for five dollars! John said he'd bring the jar back; I told Dave to tell him that for five dollars, he can keep the jug. The jar was all that was ours to sell anyway. I have over a pint of syrup in the fridge, with half a lemon floating in it. I figured that would be a good way to keep it from drying up. Will make it rather sticky to squeeze, though. For some reason, neither of us has yet felt a desire for fresh-squeezed lemonade. ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ3 August 1999 ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ That's my kind of neighbor! Did I mention that on Saturday, the Clapps held an enormous party that was still going on when I staggered home from the fair? This morning, his recycling bin is full of Gatorade bottles. ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ5 August 1999 ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ Dave is playing at the Colonie Country Club this morning. He was looking forward to playing in his red shorts and one of the yellow-orange NSVFD shirts he wore for the fair, but I must have said "They'll see you coming" one time too many; at the last minute, he changed into a plain blue button-front shirt. Didn't squeeze the floating lemon ÄÄ I ran it through the blender. Didn't make much difference to the taste of the syrup, save for making it lumpy. I drank quite a lot of lemon syrup after my ride to Colonie and back yesterday, most of it in cold herbal tea. Didn't have anything but starlight mints and two fig bars on the trip, either. I meant to stop at the Colonie Nature Trails entrance and eat some snack bars and a pint of half-frozen milk, but I blinked and missed it both ways. Went for a half dozen sewing-machine bobbins, and stopped at Kim's on the way to buy four packs of saimen ÄÄ all the same flavor; the ramen-noodle display is harder to read every time I go there ÄÄ a bottle of soy sauce, a box of loose tea, a bag of black rice, and some candy. Thought I saw stadium blankets, in zippered cases. On closer inspection, they were futons and tatami. At the sewing center, I saw a green General Electric sewing machine, smaller than the Featherweight. Looked like a toy at first glance. I had had no idea that G.E. used to make sewing machines. Finally saw some of this "clear elastic" everybody on the lists and groups is yapping about; felt no urge to buy any. Also a full assortment of pleater tape and the matching drapery hooks. Pity I won't want any more pleater tape until after we move. ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ7 August 1999 ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ Sent off an order for thread to Lacis, for about twice what I've spent on fabric lately ÄÄ and about the same as what I spent on twill tape. I guess the moral is that I should spend more on fabric! :-) Hope I have the proper elastic for the sleeves of my new shirt. All the parts are together, if I don't decide to add pockets, so I should have it to wear soon. I'm thinking of making the matching skirt next. I'm sorting through my solids to see whether I can make a daygown with patch work trim; my old cotton gown is getting a bit too Freeda-picked. But it will be cool before I can finish, so I think I ought to make fall clothing first. ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ9 August 1999 ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ How cold is it? When I got up this morning, I put on shoes and pants! I had a brilliant idea yesterday, and today Dave installed two lamp hooks so I can have an extension cord dangling down over my ironing board, and not have the iron cord constantly rumpling stuff I'm trying to flatten. I'm going to buy a light fixture with outlets on it, and be able to see what I'm doing too! Been cleaning the sewing room ever since; decided that while the ironing board was folded up, I'd sweep the floor. Spent at least an hour picking up books and piling them in a box. Found an outlet I'd forgotten about, because the bookcase blocks it. There's a flat, right-angle plug designed for just such a situation, and the fan cord lacks a foot or two of reaching that outlet -- while I'm hunting for the light fixture, I'll look around for a short extension cord with a behind-the-bookcase plug. There was something else I wanted at the hardware store. Besides a hem gauge, that is. A Chromalux light bulb. They didn't have any, but I might go back for a plant light, or for the pressed-glass halogen bulb at SuperValu. No hem gauge or short extension either, but I found that a little fiddling persuaded a regular extension to work. Today's mail brought a letter from Kathy Brown and a picture of Grandfather Bailey and his dog preparing to cook over a campfire. Well Grandpa is; the dog isn't even watching. Just as Aunt Doris said ÄÄ I think it was Aunt Doris who first brought it up ÄÄ if Kathy hadn't told me who it was, I'd have sworn it was Lyn Elden Bailey. ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ10 August 1999 ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ Sunday was our anniversary ÄÄ the 35th ÄÄ and we went to the Olive Garden on Wolf Road to celebrate. We enjoyed ourselves, but feel no urge to go back. Having been warned that they are crowded, we went early ÄÄ and found people already lined out the door. Seriously considered diverting to the Red Lobster, but Olive Garden is set up to handle crowds. When you check in they give you a pager, an estimate ten minutes longer than the real delay, and menus so you can make up your minds & order as soon as you sit down. Service is very prompt, but they don't hurry you out. Dave had Tuscan Steak with shrimp; I think they called it "tour of the Mediterranean", and I had angel-hair pasta. Discovered that you can't twirl angel-hair like spaghetti; you cut it like mashed potatoes. Mom's Meal for yesterday (chicken parmesan) also included "angel hair", but I think it was really spaghettini. We each had a left-over bread stick with it. Dave hummed his & I put mine in the toaster oven. 11 August 1999 When you meet your girlfriend at an overlook, leave a note in your car! I'm quite certain the missing guy isn't in the woods, but the searchers need to be fed, so I'm wearing my NSVFD shirt and I'm on my way out the door. Actually had some work to do, and the woman in charge had considerable experience at feeding people in the field. She came with one of the rescue squads. Noticed a car belonging to a caver on my way out of the parking lot. I'm due back at 5:00 to help serve supper. The next time I logged on after commenting on the disappearance of "Splash", it was back again. Did I blink and miss it? Did they delete it by mistake? (The page had just been revised.) Did they get in another shipment of the same exact stuff? I'm on the last leg of printing out the current addition of the Banner. Just discovered that a four-ounce letter takes precisely three one-ounce stamps. Since I've used up all my 22s, 77s, and 55s, that's very good! (Should have noticed the multiples of 11 sooner.) Oh, arr. Berne is burnt out and it's our territory anyhow ÄÄ so I'm due at the firehouse at 5:30 tomorrow morning to load the searcher's breakfast into the bus. We conned Price Chopper into donating a cartload of bagels and a box each of pastries and doughnuts. She threw in the fancy stuff; all we asked for was bagels. One way or the other, this is the last day of the search. After this, they look for vultures. ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ12 August 1999 ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ Alas, we didn't have to serve supper. About the middle of the morning, they found a mangled body at the foot of a cliff. The radio news show quoted the sheriff as saying that it was yet to be determined whether he jumped or fell; from what I heard at the feeding station, that's just to spare the feelings of the family. Even if he jumped knowing he would be killed, and wasn't jumping onto a hallucination, I'd say that morally, it was an accident ÄÄ the poor fellow wasn't responsible for himself at the time. I woke up from my nap so tired I'm worried about Kay Bayer, who worked harder than I did, and isn't in as good a condition. Berne served lunch. We'd scheduled us for breakfast and supper, Berne for lunch; when we realized there would be no supper, Kay and I ran down the mountain to pick up the salad left over from the previous supper, which Berne had given us along with the responsibility for the evening meal, and it was served with the hot dogs and "goulash" (macaroni in a tomato-and-hamburger sauce, just enough sauce to stick it together). Lots of bagels left over. We'd been expecting to give them out all afternoon. Folks demobilized pretty fast after lunch. Still a lot of cars around when I drove past a poohed-looking incident commander on my way out. Then there was some clean-up work to be done at the firehouse, and the food to be disposed of ÄÄ I've got ten bagels and a gallon of orange juice ÄÄ and I guess I should get dressed and go back to put the water jug away, as it must be dry by now. It wasn't, but I put it away anyway. Credits: Berne got bagels from the Cobleskill Price Chopper, we got ours from the 20-Mall Price Chopper, Mobil contributed coffee and lent us two carafes, and SuperValu promised a discount off what we charged there. ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ14 August 1999 ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ We had a heavy rain that left puddles on the driveway ÄÄ but it lasted such a short time that the book I forgot in the hammock wasn't injured in the slightest. ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ15 August 1999 ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ Things look wet this morning. I'll have to dig some potatoes later in the day and see whether it really took. Rain did make it through to the ground under the pine trees.