6-Letter "FF" Words Quiz

I went into Sporcle, and I hit "Random Quiz", and I got...

Can you name the six-letter words with 'FF' in the middle?

I got 20 out of 22. Not bad. 

You can answer the questions in any order. Just type your word into the box, and the word finds the correct box. (If your word doesn't vanish from the input box, it's wrong. Delete and try again.) 

Let me know how you do.

A Quick Project

It was my fourth (and last) day in Mr. G's class. Being summer school, they had individual work (that they weren't doing, mostly), so I had a lot of time to sit and watch them.

I had read my Entertainment Weekly, written three (well, this one too, so four) blog posts, and beta read thirteen chapters of a fellow blogger's book. I had also taken roll, kept track of all the classes, and made sure the classes' assignments kept up with what they should have been able to finish.

I needed something else to do.

I had recently (April-ish) replaced my school bag. I decided my IKEA clock needed a cozy.

Let me back up a minute. I carry a small clock for days when the classroom has no working clock. My new school bag doesn't have a great spot to stash it. So, I figured I could knit it a clipped pouch to make it easier to access in the bag.

And since I needed something to do while watching kiddos not work...

I started the gauge swatch. I measured it and the clock. I figured out how many stitches to cast on. And then I started it and knit almost half of it. In the first two-hour block of the day.

In the second two-hour block, I finished it with almost an hour to spare. That includes binding off and winding in ends. (And, of course, that includes starting class, taking roll, giving them their assignment for the day, and keeping watch over them.)

There were some obvious mistakes in my knitting. I had made a brief mental plan of what I wanted to do, but things got changed in the knitting, as they always do. I lost a stitch somewhere (I'm pretty sure I know where). I put the "button hole" in an awkward spot (making it diagonal). It is a little bigger than I needed.

But, I figured I could write up the pattern. If I ever decide to redo this, I have ready access. I edited out my most obvious mistakes in the write up. It is knitable, and it does the job.

Small Clock Clipped Cozy Knitting Pattern

Materials: 

Yarn: Caron Simply Soft (in olive green)--no where near a full skein, so use scrap yarn for this

Needles: US size #7 (4.5mm) dpn, set of four 

Notions: Name badge clip, marker

Gauge:

20sts/4 inches over stockinette stitch 

Directions:

CO 36 sts, join to work in the round (careful not to twist)

• Round 1: (K1, p1), repeat 8 more times, (p1, k1) repeat 8 more times
• Round 2: (P1, k1) repeat 8 more times, (k1, p1) repeat 8 more times
• Round 3: (P1, k1) repeat 7 more times, bind off the next 4 sts, (k1, p1) repeat 7 more times
• Round 4: (K1, p1) repeat 7 more times, cast on four stitches, (p1, k1), repeat 7 more times

Begin working in stockinette stitch (knit every round). Continue until piece measures as long as desired (to length of clock). 

Then, arrange sts evenly over two needles (18 sts per needle). Turn inside out. Bind off using the 3-needle bind off.

Wind in ends. Snap name badge clip through button hole made over rounds 3 & 4.

What's Your Name?

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 everyone wore name tags all the time?

My Knitting Whoops

The other day, I posted this on Instagram...

View this post on Instagram

Whoops. Made a boo boo. I’ll have to rip it back to fix. Tomorrow. #knittermistakes #knittersofinstagram #whoops #blunder

A post shared by Liz A. (@zizirho) on Jun 18, 2019 at 10:13pm PDT

...and someone commented that they didn't see the mistake. On a venue such as Instagram, it might be difficult to see. But it's such a glaring error. I'm surprised it took me a couple rows to notice it.

Here's another shot of the knitting in progress (before I've ripped out the error)...

It's at the top.

See it? Just in case, I marked this photo up a bit. In blue I've highlighted the mistake. In black is the way it should look...

And it wasn't even a Friday night when I did this. Sigh. Ah well. It's an easy enough fix.

I finally got a picture of the lightbox in action...

I really like how easy the lightbox makes taking photos. I don't like how long it takes to set up and tear down. But, it doesn't really take that long, so I guess I'm just whining.

Progress is slow, but it is progress. I'll get it done eventually.

Movie Friday

"Friday! It's movie day!"

Last block of the day. Second semester eleventh grade English.

Mr. G had been out Thursday as well. The reason was mysterious--confusing texts to the summer school principal.

Sudden absence. No plans...

Movie day? I'm down with that, provided that they're not lying. (If we watched a movie every time a kiddo claimed the teacher had promised them a movie, all I would do all day every day is watch movies. Seriously. At least one student every day claims this.)

But, even if I had wanted to, I could not do a movie. I did not have a computer to hook up to the projector.

(Once upon a time, every classroom had a TV and VCR. Then a DVD player. A couple years ago, all of them were removed. Now every classroom has a projector installed with speakers in the ceiling. One can hook up a DVD player to the projector--I've done this a couple times--but most of the time teachers just hook up a computer and stream something.)

I do not carry a computer with me to work. The student computer cart was locked. There was an old desktop computer in the room that might have worked, but only if I could hook it up to the projector.

However, we had HDMI cables (which don't fit in older computers) and they wouldn't reach anyway...

Let's just suffice it to say I know how to hook up the equipment, but it would have been more trouble than it was worth, even if I had had what I needed.

But teens...

When I said I could not hook up a computer, one boy said, "I know how. I can do it."

I probably should have let him tinker with it until he figured out I wasn't lying, but I wasn't in the mood.

Another student offered his phone. Alas, I have yet to find a cable that'll allow this to work. (One can play music over the classroom speakers via a phone, but that cable was not in the room.)

In the end, I told them to tell Mr. G he owed them a make up movie day. And then I told them to get to work. (Which they didn't do. They decided it was watch-your-own-movie day and streamed something on their phones. Which wasn't any different than what they did on Thursday...)

I wasn't too disappointed at the technology fail, though. If I could get it all to work, what movie would I show them? Deciding that would open a whole new can of worms.

I'll Allow It

Those of you who have been following my blog for a while know what comes after the last day of school... SUMMER SCHOOL!!! Woo-hoo!

Summer school started last Monday. My first call came on Thursday.

When I got there, the summer school principal, Mr. E, walked me to the room. From what he said to me and to another passing teacher, it was clear Something Happened on Wednesday, and I likely didn't have much in the way of lesson plans.

Perhaps I'll find out what happened later...

As expected, there were no lesson plans. But it turned out the class had gotten books and had had a homework assignment the previous day. Okay, cool. I'd assign the next selection in the book (which turned out to be an excerpt from Antigone). It was a first semester tenth grade English class.

As we were getting started, a girl informed me that Mr. G (their teacher) had said they could finish the homework in class.

I'm terrible at lie detection, but this was clearly a lie. It was in the way she hesitantly said it. Another girl had previously said Mr. G was going to check their homework. Add all that together, and it just feels like a lie.

But, considering how I didn't have actual plans, and it is summer school, I went with it.

Sure, they could finish up the questions for the excerpt from Candide and turn it in by the end of the period.

(My general policy towards homework is: if the teacher specifically asked me to collect it or stamp it, I do so. If the teacher made no mention of it in the lesson plan, it doesn't exist to me, even if a student lets slip that there was homework.)

Summer school classes are two hours long. This was one way to kill some time.

Things I Learned

...in small claims court.

As I promised last Friday, here are a few things I learned going to small claims court two weeks ago. In no particular order...

1. Being a small claims court judge must be much like being a teacher. He gave us instructions that some ignored. He explained things clearly, but some still could not answer him. I kind of felt sorry for him.
2. If you find yourself having to take someone to court, document everything. And have all the documentation in a logical order.
3. If serving court papers, make sure to submit proof of having done so at least five days before your court date. 
4. Be on time, but expect a long wait.
5. It is illegal to charge more than 10% interest on a loan. (Not our case. A case prior to ours.) 
6. Cases were heard by quickest to resolve first. (Of course if we could have come to a compromise, we wouldn't have sued...) 
7. When your case is done, leave. (Papers were mailed out after.) 
8. And then don't return, wailing how the defendant "threatened" you out in the hall. (Another case prior to ours.) 
9. The judge can only rule on the specific case brought before him. Leave other matters out of it. 
10. Everyone's an idiot in court. Take a deep breath and try to keep up.