Happy 2007

Welcome to the New Year. Let's hope that this one is full of joy.

Microsoft Sucks
I can't tell you how many times I've said, heard or read this statement, but any of you who have had any exposure to their piece-of-shit products, knows it's true.

My latest story isn't shocking or awful, but it sure did put a dent in my ability to get things done, as I had to spend about five hours getting access to my checking account on-line again.

I have been a long-time user of Microsoft Money, my latest version being Money 2000. Converting from a prior version of Money was painful and never really worked, but for years, I was able to successfully use the software for tracking all my accounts and pay my bills on-line. This past Friday, I tried to download my latest account information, but my bank no longer supports Money 2000. With bills to pay, and not wanting to write out manual checks, I decided to pay for, and download the latest version of Money, which is Money 2007. All went well, until I tried to install, and found out you need to have Windows XP to support it. Of course, I have Windows 2000.

Hours later, I finally had my refund from Microsoft (except for a stupid $10 download fee), and I was able to download and install Intuit's Quicken and set up all my accounts back on line.

Quicken is, like it's company's name would suggest, a little more intuitative than Money, but mostly, they both do the same thing. The biggest difference is that I don't hate Intuit, while I do hate Microsoft.

Family That Knows Me
When Christmas rolls around, it's nice to have friends and family that know me well enough to give me things I really like.

While at my sister-out-of-law's this past Christmas, I opened a box to find a Lands-End, Fair-Isle cardigan. The colors weren't exactly good for me, and the size was too large. Something had clearly gone terribly wrong. I know my sister-out-of-law knows better than bringing coals to Newcastle.

I come to find out that this is my brother-out-of-law's favorite work sweater that he has worn through the elbow of, and my gift is the challenge of trying to fix it for him.



I know some readers might think this is a terrible gift, but my unlawful family knows me better. They knew I would love the chance to try and make this sweater wearable again. And don't get me wrong, they also got me some very lovely other gifts (this is the same family that lives near WEBS, and has given me gift certificates there in the past).

I have already attempted my first repair, by grafting in the missing fabric, but I'm not pleased with how it's turned out. I'm thinking that I will try and remove the bottom half of the sleeve, and repair all the damaged rows, and then graft it back on. I have yarn that is close in colors to the damaged section, but not a perfect match. We'll see how it works out.

Current Knitting
I did finally finish the Kaleidescope jacket, using the Araucania yarn, instead of Unicorn's Shetland yarn.



I am extremely happy with how it turned out, and I can't wait to give it to my friend Nora today. While it's a little late, I think she'll be glad to have waited for it nonetheless.

New Project
I've started two new projects.

First one is a man's colorblock sweater, using the same colors as my friend's Araucania jacket. As I was knitting her sweater, I realized these colors would be great for a man's sweater.

I also started a finer gauge, man's pullover, using a very dark tweed that I got at WEBS last year. The color is almost black with flecks of lighter colors.

I'll post pictures of both in my next blog entry.