caerula's Diaryland Diary ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- random musings and ethical dilemmmas I think I stole someone's Mountain Dew out of the fridge here at work this morning. There's a bottle that's been sitting in there unopened for days and days, and I couldn't remember if it was mine or not, so I left it there. But this morning I was desperate for my caffeine fix, and there it was, so I took it. Again, I feel vaguely guilty. But it *could* be mine, in which case I have no reason to feel guilty. And if it's not mine, someone who left their bottle of pop in the fridge for over a week, without their initials on it, was really just asking for someone to take it. I'll probably buy one at lunch to put back in there, thought. Just in case. We're supposed to have treats this morning for someone-or-other's birthday. I hope whoever is bringing them hurries up and gets here, and I hope it's doughnuts instead of bagels. I like bagels, but I don't really think of them as a birthday treat. And I need sugar this morning. I didn't check email or go on line at all last night after I left work. It was sort of freeing, really, although I had to forcibly restrain myself from logging on at 10 pm, when BB was caught up in the hockey game and I wasn't quite ready to go to bed. I knew if I got on I'd be sucked into chat, and there would go my good night's sleep. So I was virtuous, and went to bed early. I didn't go to my quilt class, either. After our counseling session I was wrung out, and tired, and just couldn't cope with the concept of going to class. I really just don't think I'm cut out for crafty-type classes; I have the same problem I did in high school, where I pick up on the concept quickly and sit there bored to death for an hour while it gets explained over and over to people asking really stupid questions. I just don't have the patience, and I don't tolerate fools gladly. Perhaps I should feel bad about this, because people can't help it if they're stupid, I guess, but it's one of the few things I actually don't feel guilty about. I took this class because it was described as an advanced beginner class, and I thought it might enable me to actually get YB's quilt done before his birthday. A bit of explanation may be in order, here. This class was for a mystery quilt design from a book called Fat Quarter Quilts. A mystery quilt is when you make a number of different quilt blocks which can be put together in a variety of patterns. So I figured this would be a good class to start learning about design, since I have piecing down pretty well. A fat quarter, in fabric, is a quarter of a yard piece cut so that it is approximately 18"x22" instead of the typical 9"x44". You would think, if you were taking a class called "Fat Quarter Quilts" that you might want to find out ahead of time what a fat quarter is, no? Nevermind which, if you've spent any time at all in a quilt shop you would know what it is. Well, there were 12 people at the first session and at least HALF of them could not understand the concept. They just couldn't grasp that a fat quarter and a quarter of a yard are the SAME AMOUNT OF FABRIC, just cut differently. And, after we'd discussed this concept for 20 minutes, the teacher moves on to explain that IF you have a quarter yard cut instead of a fat quarter, then when the book says to cut 4 strips 2.5"x20", you actually only have to cut 2. Because your fabric is LONGER. SO there was one woman who, every single time, had to have this clarified. The teacher would say, "for this block, cut 2 strips 2 by 20." She would RAISE HER HAND, and say "so I only need to cut one?" Every single time. "Oh, so I should cut 3." Ad infinitum. I had like 20 of my strips cut while people were still trying to fold their fabric. And I am still a rank beginner at this (what does that mean, *rank* beginner?) So I know I couldn't have that much more sewing experience then the others, most of whom had at lest 20 years on me. I just couldn't face watching them try to arrange their blocks last night. I had all my blocks done, and I think I can manage to arrange them myself. (10 minutes later) Now I have a glazed doughnut in my possession, so I think I've fulfilled my sugar quota enough to get some work done. 7:43 a.m. - 2001-06-08 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
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