The Smell

It was evening. I walked out into the garage to throw something away, and ewwww. There was this smell that was just plain awful. 

I looked about, but I couldn't see any sort of leak. Besides, it kind of smelled like sewage. How would sewage get into the garage? I didn't want to think about that. 

Landlady said she had smelled it earlier, but Luisa hadn't. And she'd been working out there... 

A couple days prior, Luisa started going through a pile of paperwork. You know the kind--the sorts of bills and mail and such that accumulate over time. She had started going through them and shredding much of it. The pile had been sitting in the garage for a while, and nowadays we have the time. 

So, it was weird that Luisa wasn't smelling anything while we were. 

On the second day of the smell, Luisa smelled it. She opened the garage door while working, which got the smell to clear out. 

On the third day, Luisa pulled out the shelving unit. She was sure she was going to find a dead rat. Nope. Nothing. 

And then, after days of not being able to figure out where the smell was coming from, Luisa discovered it. Rats had peed on her paperwork. Well, at least the paperwork was being trashed... 

She finally finished going through all of her papers. It only took four or five days. And the smell was gone. 

(I don't have an image to go with this post, so consider this a palate cleanser.)

I so need to go through all of my papers. I'm a bit reluctant to start, now.

That's a Lot of Money

At the heart of much speculative fiction (and fiction in general) is a question. What if? On Tuesdays I like to throw one out there and see what you make of it. Do with it as you please. If a for-instance is not specified, feel free to interpret that instance as you wish. And if you find this becomes a novel-length answer, I'd appreciate a thank you in the acknowledgements. 😉

I'm stealing borrowing today's question from a situation that occurred on a TV show last week (bonus points if you can identify which TV show). 

You've been invited to a poker game. The other players are fairly wealthy. You try to beg off, but your friend offers to stake you. Reluctantly, you agree to play... 

What if you then proceed to win a lot money? We're talking life-changing money. (On the show, the character won over a million dollars.) What do you do?

Another Knit Fabric Mask

Hi. 

How do you like my new mask? 

Yeah, so I totally didn't need to make another one. Really, I didn't. I had the knit and lined one. I had the one I showed off two weeks ago... 

Plus, I ordered one a month or so ago. So, I now have four masks that I can use. 

But, I do enjoy making them. And I had an idea to make the ear straps easier. (I suppose one of these days I should do a blog post about how I modified the No Sew Fabric Crochet Pattern to be knit and with ear straps rather than a tie around, but that won't be this week.) 

Instead of knitting an I-cord that I then sewed onto the mask, I knit one continuous loop for the ears, employing a technique I used for my Tablet Buddy pattern. It worked. 

That doesn't mean this project went off without a hitch. It turns out I worked too many stitches into the mask. If you take a good look at it modeled on me, you can see how the sides kind of flare out. And my first attempt at knitting the ear loops ended up way too huge (a mistake I've made before). I debated whether or not to photograph the mistake, choosing not to. 

That just means that my next mask won't need nearly as many stitches along the sides, which will make the whole thing that much quicker to complete. 

I did modify the size of the fabric. The pattern called for a cut piece of fabric 8 by 14 inches. I realized the reason the width was too narrow was due to my seam allowances, which I fixed on the new mask. But the length was just a bit too short, so I cut the new mask 8 by 16 inches. I like those dimensions and will be doing that in the future. 

Because, yes I will make this again. It's fun. It's quick. And it's nice to have a couple masks on hand so that I can change things up a bit. 

What sort of masks have you been wearing? Or, have you been wearing a mask in public? 

Topic Mash, FunTrivia

In my quest for different quizzes, I came across FunTrivia. Okay, let's give it a try... 

Topic Mash, Mixed Authors

They took a random bunch of questions and put them together. Which makes it hard to give you a topic idea, so I'll call this a general trivia quiz. 

The questions are multiple choice. The question comes up first, giving you a few seconds to read it. Then the choices pop up. The faster you answer, the better your score. 

It looks like it generates a new quiz each time you try the link, so your quiz and my quiz will be different. (I've tried this link three times and gotten a different quiz each time.) I'm not sure if I like that or not. So, good luck, and I definitely can't help you with any hints.

The Long Wait, Part 2

Last Tuesday was Cinco de Mayo. Which is not something I normally pay attention to. But Luisa pointed it out, and she wanted Mexican food that day. So, we ordered from our favorite Mexican restaurant (more about that in yesterday's post). 

When we went to pick up our food, the line was around the corner and all the way past five other businesses in the strip mall. Now, of course, that line had everyone giving each other 6 feet of space, but it was still a long line. 

We thought the line was long when we got there, but shortly, five others had gotten into line behind us. One woman was just not going to stand in that line. "I already paid. I should just be able to go." 

Well, we had all already ordered. What made her think she was special? 

She cut in line, anyway. Went to the front and was out fairly quickly. Apparently there was a curb side pick up going that none of us knew about. Because, seriously? We totally would have paid on the phone so as to not have to wait in that line. 

There were others who showed up thinking they could go to the head of the line. And those of us in line weren't too pleased with them. There was a certain satisfaction when they were sent to the back of the line. 

We had an ongoing conversation with the woman behind us. Well, not me. I kind of stood there. My companion and the lady behind us formed a fast friendship, talking about diets and grandchildren and who did these people think they were going to the head of the line? Oh, never mind. That one was going into the ice cream shop (which didn't have a line around the corner). 

I've been seeing all sorts of complaints about wearing masks on the news. So many people seem to be protesting. But not so much in my day-to-day experience. (Although, there were a couple women complaining in the Dollar Tree a couple weeks ago. Sigh.) 

The woman behind us and the woman in front of us both had masks, but they had them off. They both apologized as the masks were bothering them. One had an asthma issue, the other was just kind of done with hers. But as both were standing a good ways off (we've all been pretty good at giving the people before and after us a good deal of space in line--the new normal), it wasn't a bother. 

By the time we nearly got to the end of the line, some guy decided to go to the head of the line. I guess our glares penetrated. He begged our patience--he was just going to order a margarita to have while he waited in line. Which he did, and then he went to the back of the line. 

The rest of us thought, why hadn't we thought to do that? Because that was an excellent idea. (Although, I would have preferred to do the ice cream thing.)

The Long Wait

Last Tuesday was Cinco de Mayo. Which is not something I normally pay attention to. But Luisa pointed it out, and she wanted Mexican food that day. 

(This next bit would completely shock my family if they ever read my blog, because I am not a fan of Mexican food. I never have been.) The roommates and I have a regular Mexican restaurant. It's very popular in the area. Most evenings, it's a good half hour to 45 minute wait to dine in. 

But, of course, these are not normal times. The restaurant is take-out only at the moment. 

The last time we had a hankering, the prior week on Tuesday, we phoned in an order and were able to pick up our food easily. We didn't drive down there until the food was ready, and while there was a place set up to wait in line, there was no line when we got there. (A couple people arrived after us, so there was a line of three when we left.) 

So, on the 5th, we went to call in an order... 

Really, that should have been our first clue. 

The line was busy. As the restaurant is usually a sit-down establishment, they don't have a dedicated order line. And the line continued to be busy for a good half hour. But finally, we got through and put in our order. 

The lady on the phone said that it would take 50-60 minutes for our food to be cooked. But that the line would take 20 minutes. 

When we got there, well, the line was way longer than 20 minutes. It was around the corner and all the way past five other businesses in the strip mall. Now, of course, that line had everyone giving each other 6 feet of space, but it was still a long line. 

In fact, we were giving everyone more space, as the line was in full sun on an 80+ degree day, so many of us hid behind the shadow of the columns holding up the overhang, and those were more than 6 feet apart. 

But the line wasn't moving. 

By the time we got our food, we had been waiting for at least an hour, although likely more. (I didn't bring my phone, so I wasn't watching the time.) 

How long were we waiting? A demonstration: 

Next door to the restaurant is a Baskin-Robbins. Many people went in, got their ice cream, and left while we watched. 

After a half hour or more, we turned the corner, so we could actually see the front door of the restaurant. 

The guy two ahead of me in line looked to the woman behind him, and asked if she minded if he stepped out of line for a bit. He went into the Baskin-Robbins. He bought a cone with two scoops. He finished his cone with lots of time to spare by the time it was his turn to pick up his food. 

Note to self: do not order Mexican food on Cinco de Mayo. That was truly a stupid move.

Crazy?

At the heart of much speculative fiction (and fiction in general) is a question. What if? On Tuesdays I like to throw one out there and see what you make of it. Do with it as you please. If a for-instance is not specified, feel free to interpret that instance as you wish. And if you find this becomes a novel-length answer, I'd appreciate a thank you in the acknowledgements. 😉

What if the person ranting outside (the one you generally avoid) started making sense?