Capitalism, Casey Anthony, and other conundrums

I recognize that there has been much brouhaha regarding the Casey Anthony trial and justice or lack thereof being served. I did not closely follow the trial but feel certain that little Kaylee is much better off where she is than in the care of the individual who purports to be a mother. That said, Casey Anthony will be free very soon. If you feel that justice was NOT served then the best way to punish Ms. Anthony is to give her no further attention or reward. Do NOT buy her book (there will be one - we all know it). Do NOT watch made-for-TV movies about the case.(there will be those too) Do NOT allow her to profit from the short life and miserable death of her child. Capitalism at work people! Just as our country enforces trade embargoes on countries whose policies we disagree with, we must state categorically with our wallets that some behaviors are unacceptable. Stepping lightly off my soapbox now.

On to a completely unrelated topic. I went to Home Depot today to have a hissy fit about an incredibly shoddy (and expensive) product that the sweet hubby purchased. No, he didn't know that it would turn out so badly, and, no he didn't listen when I told him to buy something else to begin with. His lesson was learned. I didn't even have to say "I told you to buy... to start with". Anyway, two junior flunkies and one assistant manager later and I walked out of the store with my dollars, and a very red face. Now, you have to realize that I try to be friendly and smile at people except when I'm being grumpy and surly and today was a happy day. I smiled at the other ladies at the returns counter. And I got asked out. On a date. By a woman. Never had that happen before! Come to think of it, I haven't been hit on by a guy in quite a while either. Must be the wedding band that they find off-putting. Or the big fuzzy guy following me. At any rate - I was floored. I managed to decline politely explaining that I was flattered but in a relationship already. Then I left. Quickly. I'll be shopping at Lowe's for a while I think.

A trip to the bank

I went to the bank this morning. A very ordinary errand on a regular day. After I stopped my car at the drive-thru and placed my signed check and deposit slip in the pneumatic tube, a pleasant voice asked me how could- insert large national bank here -help me today. Did they not see the signed check and deposit slip? Did they think I wanted to pick up my dry-cleaning? Or that I wanted an order of fries with that deposit?
I am left with many more questions. Is common sense such a rare thing? Should I leave my hard-earned dollars in a place where they hire such utter idiots? Or, should I keep it in my sock drawer where I am reasonable sure it would be safe from everything but the cat who is unusually fascinated by socks.
Before I pulled away the very genial teller asked me again how "Big Bank" could help me. I hesitated, wanting to ask for a shake with my fries, but in the end said "No, thank you" like Mother taught me before driving off, shaking my head. Sigh.

Novelty

Yes, this is a novelty. An actual post about knitting on a knitting blog. I have been working for a couple of months on a project of my own design. Nothing fancy, mind you. Just a gift for a friend that I wanted to be special. As it happens this friends' family are huge fans of the University of Georgia. How we EVER became friends is a mystery since I have long loved the University of Tennessee. There is a nod to Neyland stadium in this design though most will not see it. I am sharing the pattern for my fellow knitters and I hope that you will enjoy it.

University of Georgia themed baby blanket:

This pattern can be modified using any teams' colors of your choice.
Materials: 2 skeins Caron's Simply soft in white
1 skein Caron's Simply Soft in red
1 skein Caron's simply Soft in black
4 stitch markers
Size 8 circular needle 80cm
Row counter

Cast on 120 stitches using black using cast on of your choice. Place marker at beginning and every 40 stitches. Work in garter stitch (knit every row) for 7 rows.

Change color to red. Continue in garter stitch for 3 rows.

Change color to white.

Row 11 (right side row): Knit across.
Row 12: (wrong side row)Knit 40, Purl 40, Knit 40

Continue in this manner until Row 40 is completed.

Row 41: Knit across
Row 42: Purl 40, Knit 40, Purl 40

Continue in this manner until Row 70 is completed. You will notice that you are creating a very large basket weave or checkerboard pattern. (Just like the end zones in Neyland Stadium)

For the next section the center panel will include the "G" logo for the University of Georgia.

To create a center panel with a UGA theme I used a simple piece of graph paper obtained here:www.printfreegraphpaper.com. I then traced the logo on the graph paper which has 40 blocks. I then decided to purl all stitches of the logo to create the design, knitting all remaining stitches. The opposite would work just as well. So the directions for the next section read thusly:

Row 71 & 73: Knit across
Row 72 & 74: Knit 40 Purl 40 Knit 40
Row 75 and all right side rows up to row 100: Knit 40, begin pattern stitches in purl, Knit 40
Row 76 and all wrong side rows up to Row 100: Knit 40, purl all knit stitches, knit all purl stitches, Knit 40.

Row 101: Knit across
Row 102: Purl 40, Knit 40, Purl 40

Row 131: Knit across
Row 132: Knit 40, Purl 40, Knit 40

Row 161: Change to red and knit 3 rows of garter stitch
Row 164: Change to black and knit 7 rows of garter stitch. Bind off.

Finally, to complete the blanket pick up stitches along the sides of work and work 3 rows of garter stitch in red followed by 7 rows of black and bind off. Work opposite side in same manner and bind off. Weave in ends.

Dear Mr. President

Below is a letter written by a young physician by the name of Dr.Starner Jones. His short two-paragraph letter to the White House accurately puts the blame for our spiraling health care costs and challenges on a "Cultural Crisis" instead of a "Health Care Crisis". His letter presents my own views so perfectly that I felt compelled to share it.

Dear Mr. President:
During my shift in the Emergency Room last night, I had the pleasure of evaluating a patient whose smile revealed an expensive shiny gold tooth, whose body was adorned with a wide assortment of elaborate and costly tattoos, who wore a very expensive brand of tennis shoes and who chatted on a new cellular telephone equipped with a popular R&B ringtone.
While glancing over her patient chart, I happened to notice that her payer status was listed as "Medicaid"! During my examination of her, the patient informed me that she smokes more than one costly pack of cigarettes every day and somehow still has money to buy pretzels and beer.
And, you and our Congress expect me to pay for this woman's health care? I contend that our nation's "health care crisis" is not the result of a shortage of quality hospitals, doctors or nurses. Rather, it is the result of a "crisis of culture", a culture in which it is perfectly acceptable to spend money on luxuries and vices while refusing to take care of one's self or, heaven forbid, purchase health insurance. It is a culture based in the irresponsible credo that "I can do whatever I want to because someone else will always take care of me".
Once you fix this "culture crisis" that rewards irresponsibility and dependency, you'll be amazed at how quickly our nation's health care difficulties will disappear.
Respectfully,

STARNER JONES, MD

Amen & Amen

Here we go again.

It appears that it has been a little less than forever since I last posted, so we'll see if anyone is still interested. My excuse for the long absence is that I was completing my Bachelor's degree. All done now - thanks be to God. Since I was spending inordinate amounts of time writing papers and otherwise completing assignments on the computer and also have an unhealthy addiction to Facebook - something had to go. It was the blog. I sure wasn't going to give up knitting or goofing off. And I do have a house and family and critters and a full-time job to maintain. So, that being said - I'm BACK! (Just imagine the whole Jack Nicholson crazy eyes and intonation - K? K.)
Since the snow and ice in the ATL has been beaten to death by newscasters everywhere - I will give you pics of the yard (taken this morning when I finally saw it after 3 days of house arrest at the hospital) Enjoy. Postings will continue to be created on a whim and with absolutely no rhyme or reason.

Not getting much done

Jenny seems determined to help with my schoolwork. But I think? Not so much. Here are a few more pictures of what has been going on in the ATL for the last month.
Jim and I spent some time at Heritage Park near our house.

The Magnolia tree in the yard has been especially pretty this year.


The baby birds are all grown up and gone but lightning has killed the garage door opener and we're praying the birds only nest once a year.

Brenna had her very first dance recital last week. She dances like her Aunt Kel but is way cuter.

Weekend fun