Fiberaddict's Fiber Fumblings

but I'm getting better! My throat doesn't hurt, and my ears are better. Probably because I'm taking SG's z-pack; he got it then decided he didn't need it. :sigh:

Baby chicks are doing well! (or were, when I fed them tonight). Checklit is a bit peeved with the service here, but he/she'll get over it.

Last week, SG's phone went wonky. Said No Service, and when it found service, it'd drop it randomly. He did all sorts of things to fix it; ended up he went to Apple Saturday and came home with a brand-spanking new iPhone 6S+. :sigh: Yes, company had paid for his old one....but you know, he COULD have "downgraded" to the older model. :shakes head:

Anyway. He also came home with the old, broken internal antenna phone. Apple didn't want it. He tossed it in a drawer to be "recycled" (when he finally gets around to recycling all our old electronics).......I had a Thought.

"So. Can I use the phone as an iPod?"

"Huh. Yeah, don't see why not - it's got 64g. Plenty of room for all your music. Wanna try it?"

Um....yeah. :lol:

We had to install the SIM card long enough to reset it, but now I have a handy-dandy iPod. I still have my old iPhone 4 (see "time", above); we're going to reset it and let Herself have it for a new iPod - she's still using my 3rd-gen original iPod. :blink:

I mean, why NOT? They don't need the newest iOS, and we don't need them as phones. Mine has a crack in the screen - not bad enough to prevent using it as an iPod (but apps were hard to use with it); SG's has a broken internal antenna - but you don't NEED the antenna to play music! It's a good use of resources, if you ask me.

Oh! Early Tuesday AM Chloe met a skunk....and pissed it off. At 1 AM, she decided to come into the bedroom to let us know how rude the skunk was - I could smell her thru my nose. :UGH:

She got a bath. IF you should find yourself in the same situation, here's a recipe that WILL remove the stink:

1 cup Arm & Hammer Washing Soda
4 cups Apple Cider Vinegar
1/4 cup Dawn dish soap (the original blue version)

Mix it all up, put on rubber gloves, and take the offending dog outside. Soak them with the water hose (if possible!), then work the mix into the coat. Let sit for a few minutes (I did it less than 5, because she was bouncing around to get away from me), then rinse, rinse, rinse.

She's clean and soft and NON-stinky now. I have warned her to NOT do this again.......but I am not taking any bets. She's called the "goofy Newfy" for a reason........:sigh: and :lol:

If you have an iOS device (Apple operating system), there's a book catalogue app called "Book Crawler". $1.99; you can scan in the UPC codes or enter the books manually. You then have a list you can take with you, to make sure you don't re-buy a book (or many books. :oops:)

It took me about 20 minutes to set up 16 books. I know what I'll be doing for a while! :lol: (you can also track ebooks....but I need to figure that out. For now, I scan!)

Yesterday I downloaded the trial of HST +. Followed the directions (that had worked for Basic) and...Nothing. Tried a few other things....this AM, I got the program to *start* loading, then it crashed. I quit. I don't have any more time to spend messing with this......and I don't have time (nor does SG) to try and get the stupid Dell to print.

I set up my lesson plans on Excel. It's not ideal - I can't easily plan more than 1 week at a time, I can't easily swap assignments around, and I can't put in a full description (I'm limited on column width/height - if I change too much it won't flow properly to the individual student sheets). It'll work....but it's not what I want.

And grades....I'm trying to find a native Mac app for grading. There's quite a few out there - but the free ones don't have screenshots/good descriptions, and I'm leery of them. :sigh:

Supposedly, there's a student on the WTM forum whose summer project was to create HST for Mac (only, from scratch). S/He claims it should be ready for beta-testing at the end of August...which is a bit late for me to start with - but I'm watching the thread closely, because it's the only thing out there for Mac that has all the bells-n-whistles I want. (Yes, there ARE online sites - some free! - that do most of this. I don't WANT to have to rely on the 'net for this - what happens when the power to the servers gets shut down? Or our net gets blocked? I want it here, on my Mac, where I can always access it.) I know that such a program isn't a requirement...but I know it'll help ME stay on track, and keep me organized. I need that....:glances at the table, piled high with school supplies/planning stuff/sewing stuff and freaks:

Anyway - I had allowed a week to futz around with this, and that week is up. I'm still on track - I have my lesson plans set up, I have *my* binder set up, and today I'll be setting up the kids' binders. And making 1 more snood - I found some cute quilting fabric yesterday. It's black with "Math" stuffs on it - cute little animals, numbers - for "2", it's a pair of socks. :lol:

Dentist.....3 hours. *3* hours. I didn't sleep last night because of the pain in my jaw - the tooth itself doesn't hurt, but my JAW...oi. I can't eat - can't open my mouth wide enough to get a spoon in. :sigh: Can't take anything - I'm allergic - so.....it's fun. Not.

Hope y'all have a good day! Shabbat Shalom!

Guess what??? Torah class is coming out with some ebooks - 1 of which is for HOMESCHOOLERS!!!!! From what I read, it's going to be "Torah Class Lite"; same study as the original, but aimed at KIDS!!!! I am psyched - don't care what SG says, I WILL be buying a copy!!! Link here

It's due out "Summer 2011"...well, that's now. :bounce: No mention of price.....but the other stuff they offer isn't outrageous, so it should be affordable. The Homeschool set includes the textbook, teacher's manual, and tests/chapter reviews/study questions. The age range is 11 - 18 - but I bet it'll work for younger students as well.

I've been looking for something like this! Right now, I've got Bible Reading scheduled....but, you know - my kids *know* what it says, we do audio readings every Sabbath, and have for 3 years now. I want them to KNOW what it means.....but they're not ready for the "real" Torah Class yet - I tried. :lol:

The kids go to Granny's this weekend for 2 weeks - they are beyond excited. I'm glad I scheduled a day off tomorrow - there's NO WAY they would be able to sit still and *do* anything. This means I'll be putting in at least 2 days at work next week....:sigh:

Oh - and SG looked around last night for a Mac-based planner for me. We decided to get Homeschool Tracker (windoze based) and run it using Wine. NO VM, no partitioning my hard drive, NO Windoze on my beloved Mac! He said he'd take care of the install - you have to install Wine, then download HST, then do something to....the "command line?" in Wine - I have no clue. Wine is shareware that basically translates microsnot stuff into OS X. Or something. I'm excited - HST does everything I want, including making transcripts. (Should we be here in 4 years - Herself is starting 9th grade. While I'm not sure she's college-bound, I need to be prepared for that. Should we be here in...6 years, or so, Himself will (probably) be ready for college. :eek:) (Yes, I'm watching....but I also need to make sure my kids are prepared for adult-hood should the Lord tarry longer. I've seen some people (here, IRL) that aren't even doing the basics, because after all, He'll be back Soon, so why bother? I....can't think like that.) HST is kinda pricey - $50 - but you get free upgrades for life, and you can install it on every computer in your home. It has a lot of features *I* won't use - TX is VERY homeschool friendly - but you know, that could change. We don't have to track hours, or list curriculum, or report *anything*...but you never know what the next legislative session will do. :sigh: This way, I'll be prepared for the worst.

Risky was a brat yesterday AM - because Himself tried to help. Last night, I did her alone, and she was perfect. This AM was the same - she just doesn't like male humans! :shakes head: I think eventually we'll break her of that - if needed, I'll have one of the guys help her delivery next year.

Oh! And Himself is HAPPILY writing a paper for me. OK, so it's on all the silly stuff in Portal 1 (video game) but - HE suggested it, HE didn't balk when I said "Fine - *2* paragraphs, 5 sentence minimum in each one!". He ended up doing an outline (!!!) almost perfectly (and...he's never done outlining before; I figure he's seen enough of my outlines that he figured it out himself) AND the whole thing makes sense. :boggle: We need to work on spelling, but hey - he WROTE something without arguing!!!!! :happy dance:

Gotta do some work....later!

I got my copy of EuroTalk's "Talk Now - Hebrew" last night. I opted for the free shipping option, since I fail at noticing COUNTRY codes on URL's. :sigh: It took the slow boat from England...anyway.

The disk is universal - it'll run on Mac OR PC. The instructions are.....scant, shall we say? Seriously, the brochure lacks a lot in the "how to" department. Still, we are intelligent people, and installing programs is *easy*, right? Right.

Only, you don't install it. This is one of those programs that have to run off of the disk. I think it makes a folder on your drive to keep your info; not really sure. This means *I* have to keep track of the CD...not so easy in my household. (This is just a pet peeve of mine....)

The format is the same as iTunes U-Talk App....only, instead of photos you have cheesy cartoons. I.....I prefer the photos, actually, but hey - I can deal. On the word list pages, they have a male and female in either corner.....I think it's to make you feel comfortable? I dunno....they have goofy grins after they pronounce each word, which bothers me, but......I guess if I had started with this instead of the App, it wouldn't bother me. I do like that I can *see* who's pronouncing the words.....

Here's the deal - IF you have a smartphone/iPod Touch/iPod Video/iPad, go with the App. It's cheaper, and it's almost the same thing. BUT.....if you want the whole family to learn at their own pace, go for the program. You can set up a folder for each student, and it'll track the scores individually. The App doesn't - and the App writes over the scores each time you test. The program (supposedly - I haven't tried this yet) keeps track of your weaknesses and works on them.

That being said.....when you pick a category, let's say "Parts of the Body", you get a picture of a person, with circles around various body parts. You can either click on the circle, or just hit the > key; you'll hear the Hebrew word, see the circle light up, and see the English word underneath (or is it next to? Can't remember) the Hebrew word. That's cool...but I have a hard time looking at the part AND the word....but I want to learn to speak it right now; I can work on reading it later.

The "Easy" test is the same on the App and the Program; you get "cards" with the spoken word, then you pick the correct card. I'm sure the "Easy +" and the "Hard" tests are the same as on the App; Easy + gets you multiple cards with multiple words; Hard is a game of "Memory".

The CD has an option the App doesn't - it's sorta like a Vegas card game. There's a dealer; he deals out cards - the first round, 2, the next 3, and so on. You have to ID each word. There's a hard version of this one, too, but I didn't try it last night. Oh! On the body parts one, you get to build a skeleton. :grin:

You can print out a color dictionary, and you can (supposedly) copy the word lists to your MP3 player - but I hit a snag there. It keeps telling me I don't have the current version of iTunes....well, I downloaded the upgrade 3x last night, and it STILL tells me that. I even went to EuroTalk's support desk and downloaded their patch....and STILL don't have the "correct" version. :sigh: (I'm on a Mac, though....a PC might not have this problem)

You can record your voice and the program "grades" you on your pronunciation. I haven't done this yet - I need to dig out my earbuds - but I think that's a neat thing. You can record on the App, too - but I don't think it corrects pronunciation. We'll be testing the CD soon....

What I really like about it is that it'll track more than 1 student. This is good for us - each kid can learn at their own pace without "dragging down" the others (or outpacing them - I have some smart kids!)

Overall, it's a good product. Again, if you have something that'll run Apps, do that - it's cheaper and basically the same thing. ($9.99 vs. $29.99...for just a few bells'n'whistles). It's a LOT cheaper than Rosetta Stone....and seems to be the same basic idea. (Again, $29.99 vs. $250 for the Basic....the full set will run about $80 vs. $527. Yikes!)

They have a LOT of languages...some I'd never heard of. EuroTalk also has some Rosetta Stone doesn't - Scottish Gaelic, for 1. The prices seem to be the same across the board, no matter the language.....and it's not priced out of sight. I can't comment on the next levels, as we don't have them...yet....but I'm pretty sure we're going to "level up" soon.

So. If you want to learn a language but can't afford a tutor or Rosetta Stone, then this is a good fit. The games are fun, and you're learning without really realizing it. The price is not bad, for a computer program, and it allows multiple users (on 1 computer, of course.) A printable dictionary, to learn off-line, and an iPod playlist.....you get your money's worth.

Seriously - ever had one of THOSE days? Where it seemed Murphy was in charge?

Yeah.

This day is already cursed. It started off OK....we milked fine, got 1/2 gallon, everything worked great. Kids got up pretty much on time, Herself was in a GRAND mood (this is good - she had a Doc. appt, and got to miss school)......everything seemed well.

Until we got to Starbucks...and I dropped. My. iPhone. On the tile floor.

Yup - the screen is SHATTERED. Toast. The phone is still usable - as a phone - but you can't read the screen very well, so all the apps are basically worthless, and I can't really search for phone numbers and stuff. :sigh: and :sob:

Yes, it's JUST a phone. But......they're not cheap. We do have the funds to replace it - in savings - but that's gonna take away from the tax payment (maybe this is a sign? I gotta have a phone....yes, I could downgrade, but I'm sure AT&T won't let me out of my contract (which should be up soon, but.....) and....... I LIKED my phone. I had it figured out. I don't WANT to have to learn a whole new system.

I'm trying to look on the "bright" side - I can upgrade to the iPhone 4.0! :sob: I can...you know, I'm having to stretch here....I didn't WANT to upgrade. I was HAPPY with my phone - the screen had a teeny-tiny chip in it, but it worked, it was my "friend", and.....damnitall! (In case you haven't figured it out yet, I do NOT do change well. I had to be convinced to go with the iPhone to begin with....and now? I don't want something else. I LIKE Apple products (I am NOT a Jobs' fangirl!), I like how intuitive they are, and....I don't want a new phone! I want MY phone!)

Sweet Geek has time before the doc appointment, so he's got my phone and my Debit Card, and he's heading to the local AT&T store. I'm sure they'll have to talk to me.....but....:sigh: At least I sync'd it Wednesday evening....so everything is backed up to the Dell (which probably just went belly-up, as well. That wouldn't surprise me, what with everything *else* that's going on!)

In other news, both my scales died last night, too - in the MIDDLE of measuring out the oils for soap. I have to toss at least 2 pounds of oils - the "good" scale got to 12.3 oz and quit. No matter what I did, everything weighed 12.3 oz....adding oil, removing the bowl and putting an empty measuring cup on it, still - 12.3 oz. The new scale, the one that isn't calibrated right? Said everything was 9.5 oz...or 9.7. It couldn't make up it's mind.


Oh, and my Cuisinart stick blender was full of rusty water when I went to set up for soapmaking. :big sigh: Fortunately, I have a KitchenAid one.....but......

I think I need to step away from the electronics for a bit, what do you think?

Huh. Maybe this'll push SG to move my iPhone stuff to the MacBook, off of the Dell......I'd like to have my phone sync to the Mac.....I need to do some reading and see what needs to be done. Probably have to haul both laptops to the Apple store....it'd be worth it....(I'm still trying to find the bright-side, here....not working, is it?)

OK....umm...Oh! Found a software I think I'll be getting: Eurotalk's Learn Hebrew. SG downloaded the freebie Gaelic version on his iPad (don't think I'll play with it today - I'm cursed!) and I was looking at it on the drive in. I like the format, I like the games (the Easy one, anyway!)....he's gonna download the freebie Hebrew one for me to play with. Sunday. I'm NOT going to touch his iPad until this......until Murphy decides to move on. :sigh: (The full version is $29.95 on eBay, so it's not a huge investment. I might do that on payday, after all this crap is past.)

The apps. No, really - there are a LOT of cool apps out there that you can download to iTunes, then upload to your phone. Some are free, some are .99, some are more.....

Why this? you ask....because, before we left for San Antonio, I went and downloaded KnitGauge. It was .99....and it is WELL worth the money. It has a "ruler", and it'll calculate your gauge for you you simply put 2 pins/darning needles/knitting needles into your knitting, count the stitches between them, then set your phone on the knitting and move the little knitting needle so that the 2 points on the phone are the same distance apart as the pins on your knitting. Voila! It tells you your gauge. (I am getting 7.15 st/in per my phone, vs. the stated gauge of 7 st/in. I think I'm good. :grin:)

Yes, it's a fun "toy"....but it's very useful. My sock pouch doesn't really have room for a measuring tape - the sock yarn is taking up most of the space..I even had to ditch the darning egg for the moment! - so measuring length has been problematical. The app only has a 2" "tape"....but I can work with that, no problem (actually, I can count rows and use it to figure rows/inch, and go from there, too.....)

Anyway...iPhone. Love it. :grin:

Another new Tool I love....KnitBobs. The Fiber Festival socks require 2 colors in the heels and toes....and, to do it easily and retain your sanity, you use bobbins. I have a problem with the regular, rectangular bobbins - they want to unwind themselves at the most awkward times. KnitBobs? They can't - it's a circular rubbery-plastic thing...how to describe..it sorta looks like a donut/pom-pom maker hybrid. It has a flat bottom and a "post" to wind the yarn around, then it has a domed top that you invert while winding, then pop it OVER the whole shebang when you get enough yarn on there. It holds the yarn snug, but it's easy to unwind more when you need it. Very clever idea - and very very useful. I just got 8 mediums for $4.50 - and a medium will hold TONS of yarn. :nods: I am impressed with it!

NAYY - just a happy customer of both products.

Sweet Geek is off, so he's got the kids. I bet, when I get home, the house will be clean, the kids will be surly, and they'll all be chomping at the bit to do more launches. :lol:

Maybe not, though - Saturday Sweet Geek picked up an Apple Time Capsule, and started installing it yesterday. Worked great, on his Mac (of course!), but my Dell laptop.....yeah. Not so much. We do have wireless again (THAT took a bit.....), and he can wirelessly print from the Mac, but we can't get the printer to work on the laptop, and we can't get the backup to "see" my Dell, either. And, we haven't even *touched* the desktop. It has internet, but that's about it. :sigh: He was working on it again when I left this morning...hopefully he'll get it sorted - I like the idea of automatic backups.

The Monkey socks move apace. I'm on the 5th pattern repeat now (of 6 for the leg), so I'll be at the heel flap tonight (probably). This is a pretty fast knit - of course, it's only on 64 stitches, on size 2 DPNs...:lol:

I need to find a knitted bookmark pattern...I need a present for Saturday. No rush, or anything.....:snicker: I just found out that it's Sweet Geek's aunt's birthday the 27th...so, yeah - need to get something knitted up for her.

and I'm home. "Sick". Did get my new phone - yes, I caved. Yes, it's an iPhone 8g. 3G technology. Purty li'l thing - it's black. (They were already out of the white ones....and I got there at 6:30 AM. The first people in line had been there since 5 PM last night - c'mon, guys! It's only a phone!)(I was, like, 76th or so. The line, when I left, was STILL all the way around the building. They only had 300 phones....Someone's not gonna be happy.)

Yes, it's cool. I don't like that my iPod charger will not work with the phone (it does on the original iPhone...guess they decided they needed more $$). I can't get iTunes to upgrade on my laptop....so the iPhone isn't activated yet. (They assign each phone to the account, to try and keep folks from selling them. They also only allowed 1 phone per customer this time.) You have to sync it with iTunes before it'll work...Sweet Geek is coming home early today (as soon as the current crisis is fixed!), so he said he'll take care of it for me. :grins:

They were very organized this morning - I was quite impressed. Every employee - EVERY Employee - was there at 7:15; they passed out water at 7:20. They started the paperwork at 7:45; at 8 AM they were ready to hand out the first phones. I went in at 8:15 and was in the Jeep at 8:25. :blink: Very quick, VERY professional.

Some people were upset that you had to PAY for the phone right then - DUH. I had already decided that if they were out of the 8g I would go for the 16g...more $$$, of course, but...my old phone is almost dead. I charged the battery last night, and it's almost dead already. It drops calls for no reason. :sigh: I really needed a new phone - now - so...I was going to do what I had to do.

I also got Libby's oil changed and did a few other personal stuff. I'm still trying to download iTunes 7.7....I have it on the PC, but not the laptop. Stupid me - shoulda done this yesterday. Ah, well.....:grin:

haven't had an update from co-worker...but it didn't sound good yesterday afternoon. Her husband hadn't woken up all day - Ms boss has no clue, but that's a sign of the end; when you go off of dialysis, the kidneys shut down, releasing endorphins - the patient goes to sleep and doesn't wake up. It could take anywhere from 24 hours to 2 weeks; with him......even the nurse said 2 or 3 days *max*.

:sigh:

Been looking at my photos....I have a ton. I am getting ready to revamp the website (think I said that yesterday...) and boy.....TOO many photos. No wonder I'm outta space! :grin: The Dye pages will be going, as will the Quilting pages (I don't quilt anymore - it was just a passing thang) and the Construction Diary. That'll free up *lots* of space right there. Also going will be the garb and hair pages - don't need 'em, haven't updated them in forever, so....buh bye! That should give me room to post more Elissa photos, plus keep up the knitting/spinning pages. :crosses fingers:

Guess I should start reorganizing before Ms boss gets here - I should be able to get at least 1 photo folder done...maybe. :grin: