The Good News and The Bad News.....

With respect to work......

The Good News is that the outbreak investigation training session has been scheduled.

The Bad News is that it's scheduled for the middle of the cruise I was going on in May. I could skip the training and go on the cruise, but I'd rather be at the training. Not that a cruise wouldn't be fun, but I think the training will be more fun. What can I say, I love epidemiology and figuring out how/why people get sick. This particular training won't happen for at least another year whereas I can always go on another cruise later in the year.

The Good News is that a tuberculosis case we've been working with has been taken out of isolation as that person is no longer infectious.

The Bad News is that we picked up two more suspected cases of tuberculosis (and the associated contact investigations).

The Good News is that I got the copies of the TB skin test results from one investigation.

The Bad News is that I now have to put them in the computer. And there are LOTS of test results. Like over 1000 of them, not to mention the other 800 that haven't been sent in yet. Why can't the really infectious people be hermits? Oh, that's right. That would be "easy". We wouldn't like that. That might lead to *boredom*. Boredom *is* the enemy.

The Good News is that I have gained the attention of "important people."

The Bad News is the reward for good work, which gained said attention, is leading to more work. Then again, boredom *is* the enemy, so perhaps that's not all bad....

With respect to knitting......

The Good News is that I tracked down several of my sweater projects for the Sweater a Month Knitalong.

The Bad News is that I found MOTH LARVAE and lots and lots of moth eggs in the yarn in that particular storage bin, plus some chewed on skeins of yarn.

The Good News is that I have now gotten all the yarn involved washed or thrown out.

The Bad News is that I'm now worried that I have conveyed moth eggs across the house, even though I vacuumed *very* thoroughly and washed the clothes I wore when I skeined and washed the yarn.

The Good News is that the yarn for The Freedom Sweater from Amazing Threads is apparently undamaged, as is the sweater itself (sans sleeves).

The Bad News is that I apparently have illiterate moths as they chewed on the green Reynolds Paterna yarn which is clearly marked "Mothproofed". Or perhaps these are hardy, country moths who normally dine on hot sauce and moonshine so that piddly little "mothproofing" is nothing but extra flavor.

The Good News is that I discovered that the green yarn bleeds dye like mad *before* I knit the ski sweater with it and the green dye ran into the white parts.

The other Good News about the green yarn is that I've decided against making the ski sweater with that yarn and will be knitting hats, socks or kids sweaters for The Dulaan Project.

The potential Bad News about the "moth incident" is that I have a LOT of yarn and fiber in the knitting room. I'll be doing a quick survey of the remaining yarn bins tomorrow, which will also facilitate finding the rest of the sweater projects.

The Good News is that I have found a mill to which I will be sending a number of my fleeces for washing and carding, so they'll be out of danger for a while. As long as I'm going through bins, I can figure out what fleeces I'll ship too. The mill owner/operator says the fleeces ought to be back by the end of February. w00t! I may have to try my hand at dyeing the roving when it comes back.

Other Good News/Bad News.....


The Good News is that it'll be 40+ degrees tomorrow so I can wash my car for the first time since possibly Christmas.

The Bad News is that there is a 70% chance of rain. Methinks I need to get the salt and ick off the car from Illinois anyway.

I think that's the end of the Good News/Bad News.

Cricket Update:
There were three crickets last weekend. I've seen two this week, though I found one of them dead on Thursday morning. Thursday night, I found the surviving cricket perched on my pillow in the bedroom. I ignored him until it was time to go to bed, at which time he was no longer on the pillow. I threw back the covers and found him under the blankets. Mitch suggested the cricket was trying to seduce me and to imagine it speaking in a Barry White voice ("Hey, Baby!"). I haven't seen cricket since I evicted him from the bed. I hope I didn't hurt his feelings. I'm just not attracted to guys with antennae or six legs.

More Work Excitement:
The three-day training session I was scheduled to participate in next week has been postponed with the subsequent dates TBA. I'm kinda bummed to not be going (BOOKSTORE!!), but I also didn't want to miss out on three days of the data entry and investigation stuff. There is too much work going on for me to be gone three days. Of course, the subsequent set of training dates may not end up being any more convenient.

I've also been tapped for participating in the statewide major disaster drill later this summer, so I get to go to the planning sessions in February. This could be fun. No, seriously. I like disasters and putting together drills.

Evil Raisins and World Domination
Breakfast this week featured oatmeal with golden raisins. I had purchased golden raisins in December with the intention to use them in a particular cookie or muffin recipe, but never got around to baking them. So when I ran out of regular raisins I started using the golden raisins in my oatmeal last weekend. I had a minor headache on Sunday, which I mostly ignored. On Monday, I was stressed at work and got a headache. I also had some sinus issues, so a headache didnt' really surprise me. Tuesday I had a headache. Wednesday I had blueberries in my oatmeal. No headache. Thursday more raisins and a bad headache which got worse overnight. Thursday night it occurred to me that there was a correlation between the onset of the headaches and the consumption of golden raisins. Golden raisins contain sulfites. That's what keeps them from turning brown like regular raisins. Sulfites cause headaches in people who are sensitive to it. Ouchies. Today's headache wore off by about 9:30 with the assistance of caffeinated coffee at work (I only keep decaf at home, even if it is stored in a regular Folger's container) and three extra-strength Tylenol.

So, what to do with the evil golden raisins? Obviously, the evil raisins must be made part of an evil plan. Conveniently, I happen to have an evil plan....I'm going to put them in oatmeal raisin cookies for Mitch to foist off on his co-workers. The cookies won't get to Mitch in time to make the 11am Tuesday meeting a happier place to be, but they will be there in time for the Thursday Secret Squirrel Meeting. The Secret Squirrel people don't know about Morenna Cookies. Yet. But soon they too will drool uncontrollably at the mention of Morenna Cookies. My plot for Global Domination continues.... And I'm going to make peanut butter cookies for one of the invaluable support staff. Just because I can. It's fun to make someone's day at random.

Comments

Stefaneener said…
HIghs to lows, all in one post!
Couple of things -- do you know about Angel Hair Fibers in Nashville? Nice stop, although they are right on the edge of Brentwood.

Thanks for the KAL shoutout.

Also, the cricket with the Barry White voice? Cracked me up completely. Thanks!
Ruby Louise said…
I have been to Angel Hair Fibers. My boss is also a knitter so the last time we were in Nashville on business we stopped in.

You're welcome for the giggles! Always happy to amuse everybody I can. :o)

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