Chauvinists

There seems to be a species of chauvinists out there that just cannot fathom the fact that a woman might be in charge and that she may even be responsible for completing the task at hand. 

I have encountered a being in his natural habitat within the last week. Although, I do not care for the sight, I cannot avoid him. Yucky comments were made without any foreboding thought and snide replies to questions I've asked like "Uh, I thought I just explained that". EXCUSE ME! It is my job to understand requirements and interpret those business needs into functionally sound software on physical machinery that will support it. It is common for me to ask the same question different ways to get the customer to answer the same way each time ensuring the idea or workflow is solid. 

The other irritating characteristic of this creature is that he constantly bypasses my authority or abilities. He will not accept that I write the code. He happens to be an ex-coder and due to this experience he feels that he shares the pain of our team developers but will only look at the male programmers when speaking to this. Comments such as, "...Up really late working... but you especially know how that is.", while turning from me and referring to a more masculine team member. 

I joke about this but it's very insulting. I've been saying things like, "I won't be able to complete that task today because I'm a girl." On the inside I'm thinking WHO DOES THIS GUY THINK HE IS! Here's what I'd like to say...

"With all due respect, Sir, I have worked very hard to get to where I am today. Which happens to be a leader of a fantastic integration and software development team. I am a proud mother of 4 children where each of them receive individual emotional attention and love. I am a wife to wonderful and supportive man where I am treated as an equal, a partner, and a friend.

"I clean a house for 6 people (occasionally), make dinner every night, clean and chemically balance our swimming pool and spend 50 hours a week thinking of how to use everything I know in order to solve problems technically. 

"Please do not forget that I find time to sew, paint, create jewelry and spend an hour or two with extended family. In addition to this, I alternate between reading about building a small business (my studio) and untimely classics. I worry about our foreign affairs and try to stay on top of politics. 

"There is one last thing that I am naturally wired to do, and that is to pay close attention to others feelings and how my actions could potentially make or break the spirit of those that I encounter. This last characteristic is by far the most important for me. It defines who I am no matter what I do or have accomplished. It is not a characteristic of being a woman either. It come from a delicate balance of nurture vs. nature. That means good morals and values instilled as a child, inheritance of good genes and blind luck. Unfortunately, not everyone is quite as lucky."

A Quilters Knot

Below is a great tutorial on hand stitching/quilting.
The technique used for knotting is very different than what my grandma taught but it looks tidy. I'll try this but hand stitching a quilt is a little too ambitious for me. I would end up with a UFO as my mom explained this past weekend to me is an unfinished fabric object. I tried to Google this but was unsuccessful in locating any information on the crafting acronym. I did find lots of crafts to make UFO's though. Cool but not what I wanted.

http://www.sewmamasew.com/2010/05/learn-how-to-hand-quilt/

Surging Thoughts

I'm keying on a foreign laptop instrument this morning in a dark dining room. My longtime fruitful desktop bit the dust yesterday during a handful of brownouts.

In case you were wondering, brownouts are the opposite of surges (too much voltage). Too little voltage or loss of voltage can shut down your electronics and then to make matters worse, they can be followed by spikes/surges that can literally "fry" the tiny parts in your machine. Put a couple of cycles of these events together and you could be left with a heap of useless machinery. These guys happen just as frequently as power surges but they don't get the same recognition. I think it's discriminating.

I refuse to believe there is anything wrong with my desktop other than a fried power supply, which is the part with a moving fan on the back of a desktop. If you haven't seen this part inside the chassis then all it is is a box with lots of wires protruding from it to plug into the various components inside the desktop providing a power source distribution. The main power cord's female end is plugged into the back of the box and then into a wall outlet. Thus providing the necessary low voltage direct current (DC) conversion before distributing to the tiny parts inside. This device "wears out" after many years of use. It can get weighed down with dust or depending on user habits - leaving the machine on during non-active times vs. shutting it down - it may get continuous use - for years. 

One other contributing factor is the desktop's environment. This power supply runs the cooling systems inside the machine which is critical to keeping the machine safe and running. Providing adequate ventilation and air-conditioning for your desktop means that the internally cooling system does not have to work so hard and draw so much power. In my previous life, as an A+ hardware student and technical support, I would come across desktops that were caked with a brown sticky substance that turned out to be second hand smoke deposits. Yuck.

So how do you prevent total annihilation you ask. Surge protectors do a good job of regulating the voltage and grounding your device but not do nothing when the power drops out. Purchasing a UPS  (uninterrupted power supply) ranging from $60 - $100 can save your machine. Is it worth the insurance? Yeah. This device provides a couple of functions that can give you peace of mind. One, of course, is the surge/brownout protection and two, a battery backup. If the power goes out or drops out completely, then the device will continue to provide continuous power for about 6 to 7 min. for a lower end model. This gives you enough time to get to the machine and safely shut it down or wait out the outage. These devices should be replaced every two years.

The last question you might ask is, why weren't you using yours? I admit I have one but I use it for the TV, WI and cable box. These devices seemed worthier. I've learned my lesson - buy a second one if needed. Now I have to replace my machine and fast. I was planning to buy the machine I use at work from my employer because I've had it for 3 1/2 years already and all the developers will be receiving brand new AWESOME machines soon anyway. But I don't have the new AWESOME machine yet so I may be stuck with a work laptop for a little while at home.

Making Pants

I'm really struggling with choosing a fabric for my Kwik Sew pants pattern. 

I originally wanted linen so I perused the isle of expensive linen at a local shop yesterday and thought the choices were too drab. My mentality on clothing is that I do not have a large wardrobe so I need to make every article count. Plain just won't do. Especially if I'm planning to dedicate time to constructing the piece. I quickly rationalized spending the same dollar amount on 2 yards of brightly colored woven to make them FUN. The pattern is for easy wide-legged, mid-calved slacks with a drawstring. Light and flow-y with COLOR!  A ream of purple, gray, white and gold in an elegant pattern of repeating octagonal designs caught my eye at first. I touched it an thought it would be great for slacks however, not this time of year...too much white. I wouldn't be able to pair it with a white shirt - a gray shirt maybe - but I don't have a gray shirt. I moved on to the next ream and the next making up every excuse as to why that color or pattern won't work. Looking at the time made my heart sank. I had already used 20 min. of my lunch and had nothing to show for it. With a lowered head I preceded to leave the store.

I tried to describe my dilemma to my mom last night but I couldn't pinpoint the REAL problem with words. The trouble is the way I feel about clothing and that does not translate easily into words. Sewing for me is about using or wearing the creation to reflect my personality. Not about hand-making or perfecting the stitch. I realize now this doesn't have to be true for every project. Plain Jane is perfectly OK in ones wardrobe because it leaves room for accessorizing with jewelry or hair or just taking it easy one day and dropping the idea of making a statement completely - which is also making a statement I might add. 

So linen it is. Linen has a certain elegance to it. It's heavy woven fibers drape with ease. It moves with the body gracefully and can be just as casual as it is dressy. Although, as my mom pointed out, it should be dry-cleaned, I don't care. An iron will do. I'll be stopping by the fabric shop today...again...and picking up a couple of yards. I will also pick up a box of emerald green fabric dye. Well, you didn't think I would completely abandon my love for color did you?

Resumes

I've spent my morning writing a friends resume. I'm not a qualified resume writer but I guess since I have a job and I don't mind doing it then that makes me qualified. I hope it works! Good Luck.

The Family Ties

I know I said yesterday that I would have to make up with my family for being such an A to them on Labor Day. We all had some time apart to reflect (me), and I tried hard to figure out how to make things right. But you know what? They welcomed me Home just like any other day. No even one mentioned my rude behavior. It was as if things were okay. No one was seriously hurt. That's what makes Family amazing. No grudges, no judges. Just unconditional love. I took that as my forgiveness and tried to savor that feeling to shed the guilt of being human once in a while and accept that I was selfish and ornery for that one day. Although, I cannot pretend that it didn't happen, I can say that it was simply over by the next evening. Acceptance and forgiveness are powerful and without the distribution of such gifts some of us would not be able to move on.

This blog is titled for K and T. The idea came to me after hearing about their Fam sitting around the T.V.  on Labor Day watching re-runs of Family Ties with Michael J. Fox and thinking how great things were when sitcoms were wholesome. I love you guys.

Weekend Funk

I'm not sure when it happened exactly but somehow I fell into a funk this weekend and just couldn't wait for it to be over. I was very grumpy and felt that I couldn't find any personal space and E whined ALL weekend. My funk was at it's peek last night because yesterday felt like I should have been at work.

I'm feeling refreshed today though, as I am up and moving around this morning, whilst everyone else sleeps. I think I was off my new early schedule and worried a lot about work. There is a lot of pressure there. I plan to get ready this morning, as usual, and walk into work with a get-er done attitude to work off some of the pressure and NOT bring it home tonight. I owe my family one. 

Needless to say I didn't get much of anything done this weekend other than clean the bathrooms and brush down the pool. Oh yeah, I did get groceries and found a moment to finish a dress that gathers around the collar and arm holes. I don't understand why the pattern wanted me to gather with baste stitches. Elastic seems like the better choice. I guess it was trying to keep things simple but it's a knit maxi and it should move with you. A lot. Oh well. I'm still trying to figure out how to use patterns to create clothing that fits well.

I think I'll make a pair of khaki drawstring pants from a pattern I bought about a year ago sometime this week. Its a Kwik Sew I think and It contains instructions for either a maxi skirt or slacks. I made the skirt last year and it was surprisingly too big. I think I know where to make the pants smaller to get the fit. I'll stop by the fabric shop to select a lovely shade and weight of linen today. That will definitely put my funk to rest.