Weekend!
After a week with a flurry of work just trying to get the last stuff done before deadline I am proud and delighted to say: Deadline was met and the customer was delighted. FLYING COLORS BAY-BAY!!! I only spent 20 hours at work during my first week of vacation.
So I’m going to actually spend the second week of my vacation on vacation. I’ll probably only go into work one day.
But first I have THE WEEKEND!!! I have to take the car in for pre-autumn tire rotation and checkup and visit the clothing store where I can buy more ties/slacks than the “backup outfit for church weddings” (with its sister shirt “backup outfit for church funerals”).
We’ll have to hit the Costco for water, Mexican Fanta (if only they had grape…), and gaming supplies because Saturday night is GAMING NIGHT! The Sorcerer King has some smack to lay down upon some adventurers.
And, after that… just some old fashioned “not having an alarm clockin'”.
So… what’s on your docket?
Vacation!!! Apparently I’m spending a few of my vacation days in the (unfortunately named) city of Placentia, CA. Sunday I fly home. Until then, it’s drinks, dining, and visiting with friends. 🙂Report
From the Latin word for “pleasant”. Now I’m going to look up the other one… and that comes from the Latin word for “cake”. Or the Greek word for “flat, slab-like”.
Probably shouldn’t have looked that up on the wiki during dinner, now that I think about it.Report
We are now officially house hunting in a new city. The wife is now 2 weeks into the 1 1/2 hr (by train) commute, and has decided that we will be splitting the difference. So good bye Sac, hello ???Report
what jaybird said except it’s block break rather than vacation, and I don’t have to go buy work clothes.
so work tomorrow, then i am going to have the last-gasp Friday night porchsit (i hear it might snow). i have lots of homework to work on, but nothing DUE this weekend which is a nice change. i might clean the bathrooms.
nothing fancy. 🙂Report
And I was sure it was you wearing the tie!Report
😀 I often do, when dressing up seems called for. Lately I’ve been going for the more feminine 1-2 buttons undone approach to buttondowns, mostly to show off my tattoo …Report
I’ve been working with a lot of natural indigo dyed yarns recently, it had a tendency to crock — to have the color come off onto my hands and needles, like a pair of new jeans will turn stuff blue.
Most knitters hate this, but it gives me a weird joy, I get into spells where I only want to use indigo. Finally realized it was related to my childhood longings to be a painter or printmaker, not because I could or wanted to paint or make prints, but because I loved the idea of being physically stained by my work; my version of a tattoo. Blue hands.
So yes, show it off with pride. I’m certainly proud of the blue tinge on my fingers!Report
The Tuareg, of whom I’ve written a few times around here, are known as the Blue People. They wear indigo-dyed cotton. Tuareg woman. Notice the hands, the corners of the mouth, the neck.Report
I wore a tie to the last wedding I went to.
(actually looked more dressed up than some people there, believe it or not).Report
@blaisep thanks for that photograph.
I’m curious what the Taureg (they’re nomadic?) might ferment to make vinegars, of if they do ferment things to make vinegar? That’s what dyers normally use to set the dye so that after a first wash or two, the color is fast and doesn’t come off. That acid bath seems pretty critical.
Much better than woad, the color is more reliable.
Dyeing with indigo is pretty interesting. The dye vat is this sickly green yellow color. You dip what you’re dyeing into it, and as you pull it out, it reacts with the oxygen in the air and turns blue, right before your eyes. For more intense color, you do multiple dips.
Because the color happens as the dye reacts with oxygen, you have to be careful not to drip back into the dye vat, it introduces oxygen into it, and fixes the color before you’ve actually used it.
It’s also ammonia based, and very, very stinky to work with. An outdoor activity.Report
The Tuareg don’t make their cloth, they buy it from the Hausa of Kano, who have made dying, especially with indigo, into an art as arcane and secretive as blacksmithing.
Kano, the city I know best in Africa, the “big city” of my childhood, grew up around its indigo pits.Report
I am sad to report the old indigo cloth trade is not doing well.
Known as the blue men of the desert, Tuareg of Mali take their nickname from their billowing indigo robes.
“For most customers we soak the cloth in salt and vinegar to fix the color, but for the Tuaregs we leave it natural so that when it is washed, it dyes their faces and hands blue,” said Yusuf Sani, a guide. “That is how they got their name.”
The dying process has not changed in centuries: water and ash, to give the dye a glaze, is mixed with potassium, to fix the color. Finally, dried indigo twigs are added and the whole mixture is fermented in a six-meter deep pit for four weeks.
The garments are then dipped in the dye for between 30 minutes and six hours, depending on the depth of color desired. Every minute, they must be taken out so that oxygen can aid the coloring process.Report
Ah, so like me, the Taureg find the crocking a feature, not a flaw.Report
I will be stacking fire wood. There is four cords of the stuff in the driveway, needing to be moved into the barn.
And baking some more bread. I promised North and Kazzy that I’d write a post on the art; and I’ve been very negligent. After a summer too hot to bake, the spirit has returned, so after I’ve gotten the feel back in my hands (and maybe a photo or two of bread in progress), I’ll share what I do for you to chew on.Report
a summer too hot to bake
Yes, indeed. This phenomenon tends to suck. I am looking forward to busting out the crockpot and making stews/soups again, baking pluckit (aka monkey bread) again, and the monster amounts of Colorado-Style Spaghetti Sauce.Report
????
This comment is relevant to my interests.Report
Hrm. I will put together a recipe.Report
Yessssssssssssssssssssss!Report
Tomorrow morning I will take the car in to have a bent wheel replaced.
In the afternoon, I will be having a friend or two over to play Descent: Journeys in the Dark with me and my son. That means there will have to be some housecleaning between now and then.
No major plans beyond that. I may attack my junk room and start culling. It is highly likely I will be moving to Texas at the end of the year, and I plan to get rid of a lot of crap that I have kept through several moves without ever using.Report
Finally have a docket clear enough to try GTA V. Some technical difficulties getting the game installed.
I attempted the tutorial missions last night and have failed miserably at the “repo man” mission introducing the quite cool character of Franklin. I cannot make the hairpin turn up the California Boulevard incline without either bouncing off NPC cars or flipping the convertible off the landscape. Dropped the car into one of the canals during the chase through Venice. Somehow wound up driving a very badly-damaged vehicle into the Hollywood Bowl and getting shot by the police (until I stole a cop car and failed the mission that way since I forgot the mission was to bring the car back to the dealer). Eventually I got the car to the dealer with the entire front end torn off and massive dents and scratches down the side.
All quite amusing, but eventually the game gives up on me instead of the other way around and just advances me to the next phase of a mission, which makes learning the controls difficult. Also, the dealer didn’t pay me for my work — maybe that’s because I banged up his car so bad!
I’m impressed with how well the game captures the feel and the landmark images of driving in L.A., although I’ve never been able to get from Santa Monica to Beverly Hills to Downtown quite as quickly as this. If someone knows some way I can get into a mission-free mode to just do stuff and get familiar with the controls, I’d appreciate it.Report
If someone knows some way I can get into a mission-free mode to just do stuff and get familiar with the controls, I’d appreciate it.
Oooh, jeez. My suggestion would be to just take the first mission slow and steady and after the first two missions, you get left to your own devices. DON’T ANSWER THE PHONE.Report
Blowing a Saturday I can’t really spare getting recertified as a Level II swim official. Also, daughter #1 turns 16 (well, Monday).Report
You certainly named your daughters with real Soviet flair!Report
Actually, I picked it up from James Clavell’s books about Hong Kong.Report
The Roman way would be Hanlia Major and Hanlia Minor.Report
Tonight:
https://shotgunplayers.org/Online/bonnieandclyde
Tomorrow:
Meeting someone I have not seen since high school for coffee (1998). We both ended up in SF and are facebook friends. I eventually decided it was silly not to meet and be in the same city.
Sunday:
Kicking around probably.Report