Changes are Afoot

First of all:

HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY/INDEPENDENCE DAY my fellow Americans!

I have two internet photo albums. I've got the one on Picassa for this blog (which is set Private so no one else can see it) and I've had my Yahoo photo album, which is public for all to see. Yahoo owns and operates both Yahoo Photos and Flickr. They've decided to close Yahoo Photos and concentrate just on Flickr, so all my Yahoo photos have been moved over to Flickr. It works quite differently than what I'm used to. Just figuring out what they mean by Collections and Sets was enough to make my hair curl, but I'll get it eventually. In all honesty, I liked Yahoo Photos better. It was a lot easier to organize my photos, and there were lots of little cool things that just aren't on Flickr. Oh well, maybe in time they'll add them in.

In the meantime, for those of you who like to check out my album, here's the new location.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/beadknitter/

This is the reason I have not put up my camping photos yet. Transfering took time. I will be doing it this week though. Gotta share with the family that wasn't there because later this month we're havin' a huge family camp out up that way. We've rented the Lions Head group camp on the east side of Priest Lake. So far, there's 42 on the 'coming' list. I would like to give them a preview of what's ahead.

Yesterday, at bead group, I worked on a pair of dream catcher earrings that needed finishing until I ran out of beads (I have more in the stash, but they weren't with me), then I attempted to start a Cellini spiral, but my idea wasn't working. I have delicas in pale pink, size 11 medium pink silver lined matte, and 4mm druks in a dark a/b fuschia. I need something between the 11's and the 4mm. Maybe some 8's, or 10 triangles would be neat, but it has to be a medium to light sort of pink. I will have to dig in the stash and see what I can find.

Now, the BIG news. I went and bought a new dryer yesterday afternoon. My fancy schmancy computer controlled dryer of 5 years old (maybe 6) just got to be too much hassle. I don't know if I mentioned this, but last winter the control board on it went bad. It was gonna cost $468 for a new board (not counting the labor charges), so I said no. The repairman told me it would work fine for years if I used the timed settings. Just no more automatic computerized control anymore. He also told me he'd never buy one of these computerized dryers cos he has to repair them more than any other.

Over the last 2 weeks, the timed settings have ceased to function properly. It's taking up to 2 hours to dry a load! Maybe the moisture sensor is going belly up, or the blower isn't blowing right cos it gets nice and warm inside. I used to be able to do a full load of jeans and towels in 45 minutes. Sweet hubby suggested I call the repair man. AUGHHHH!!! Forget it! That just brings back the wretched $468 control board issue.

Last week I was in Sears for a bit and looked at the dryers. I told the sales person, Georgia, my sob story. She was quite surprised cos Kenmore Elite usually is a good product. I think I just got a lemon on this one. Cos my matching washer works like a dream. Anyway, I explained I did not want any computer controlled crap. She showed me the perfect dryer. Not only did it have the features I wanted, and not have the features I don't want, it was ON SALE! For $415, regular $509, plus FREE delivery. A brand new dryer with all I want for less than it would cost to fix my current dryer? YES!

However, I do not make large purchases like this without consulting Sweet Hubby first. He was kind of for it, but kind of not. We discussed it, but a decision was not made. Yesterday, after he left for work, I thought about it. The sale was ending that day. It was now or never. I have laundry to do. The thought of waiting 2 hours for each load to dry was oppressive. I checked the bank account for it's contents. There's money there! I decided I was gonna go buy it, and he can just live with that. So, I did. It will be delivered on Friday. I've heard it said it's easier to get forgiveness than permission.

It's white. My washer is Almond. Apparently they aren't doing Almond now. I want a dryer that works right. It could be Avocado Green for all I care.

I started the first sleeve of the baby sweater. Hope to make more progress on it today.

Have a great day.