Fun at the post office

Thankfully, the predicted ice storm didn't hit our area, and I hope no one else was severely affected by it. They had forecast significant ice, power outages, etc. I don't think our area was ever in the eye of that storm. 

Oh, the TV and surround sound system are gone! The guy came a little late but was happy to get the TV and thought it was a good deal. I'm not sure about the other stuff, but that's not my problem. That TV is heavy, but the guy picked it up from the front step like it weighed nothing and shoved it into the back seat of his car! 

The official week is almost over; I have one presentation later today. But there are no classes this weekend. The final day of the Etobicoke Quilt Show is today, but I've decided not to go. It's not that I don't want to support the guild, and I always looked forward to that first show of the year. 

I've decided that some downtime for ME is more important. My brain just needs a break from talking, and I have to be back by 1:30, so I'd feel rushed. I need to be selfish with my time; having most of the day free is a luxury, and I need to learn not to fill every moment with something.  

So, I will spend the day puttering, tidying, and putting things away since I can put almost everything away now. 

I had a small sewing job and was in a rush, so I didn't even add the extension table. I had a small item that needed topstitching! It's done. More on that in a second. 

My sewing machine is back in place

This is my main sewing area. The serger hides under that cover on one side and the sewing machine on the other. The amount of crap on the tables isn't so bad, but they are supposed to be empty except for the machines! My goal is to attempt to deal with the mess. I don't want to set things on another table. My preference would be to deal with it and then put it away. The cutting table and the ironing board are the same! It's time to make some changes; today feels like that day. Then I also have all day tomorrow. It will take a little while to make all that happen, but slow and steady! 

The main work tables are a mess

I also need to do some computer work, so I'll do that. I have two urgent things to accomplish. 

I did a lot of work using the Singer Momento (digital cutter). It's so easy to use, and now I feel like I've unleashed a tornado! Yes - one more toy to play with. I love that you can put the pen and a cutter in the two holders, and it'll write and then cut. I had a little "issue" with that and had to recut since I forgot to put the cutter in! But I learned how to recover from that little error, and all is good! 

Writing and cutting with the digital cutter

But I was able to make exactly what I wanted, and it all looks amazing. Unfortunately, it's a gift, so I can't share it yet. 

Then I grabbed the small item I had sewn, everything I created with the digital cutter, plus a few things in the Pony Express staging area, and I was off to the post office. I love how we no longer need to find boxes to mail things. You just select the appropriate size box from the post office, fill it, and pay for it. 

What I also love about this one post office is the manager LOVES to fill those boxes. I now just ask her what size she thinks will work, and she's pretty amazing. She even offered to help shove everything in! It's hilarious - I wish I could film what she does! But she is like a Tetris queen. Everything but one item fit in the box, and the next size up would have been way too large. That one item will have to wait for the next box. This one is expected to arrive on Thursday. 

Mailing the box

On my way home, I decided to stop at Indigo to check things out. They moved the quilting magazines to the front side of the magazine rack in front of the craft books. I did not buy anything, but on my way home, my brain got to thinking. 

The magazine section

I know some people refuse to use self-checkouts at any store because it's the loss of a cashier's job. And they are right. But how do you deal with some of the other areas where automation has taken away jobs, although they are less noticeable. Do people refuse to download digital media (books, whether purchased or from the library) because fewer cashiers and shelf stockers are needed to deal with the physical versions? 

A programmer or data entry person is required to deal with that stuff, and much of it becomes automated. I think if we look at many other instances, we'll find that the jobs are shifting—not necessarily going away—just shifting. 

However, I will not criticize you if you choose to use the cashier rather than the self-checkout. We live in a free country, and you can do what you wish within the long arm of the law. Did you know that that expression was started MANY years ago—in the 18th century! 

I have to post this because I'm stunned. I won't put the context because I don't want to make a big deal out of it, but this is a comment (in response to a repost I made) from someone I met many years ago. WOW—that's all I can say.  

Should I feel glad or sad? It truly is a strange world in which we live these days. 

Well, I'm off to have a wonderfully quiet day, except for two hours this afternoon! I feel blessed, happy, and giddy that I have "nothing" to do! 

Have a super day! 

Ciao!!!

Self Control

I swear my brain has been taken over by aliens. The self-control I have these days is blowing my mind! Today is the first day of Roll up the Rim at Tim's. I used to go crazy and would buy up to two or three cups a day. I wanted that chance to WIN!!  What was I going to win? In all the years I've been playing, I never won anything big. The odds are not in my favor. I don't eat the cookies from there anymore and I drink ONE decaf tea a week and I buy it on my way to Monday sewing.

After the most amazing workout at the gym, I thought about Roll up the Rim and I even got in the lane to turn in. Then I thought to myself - "I'm BIGGER than their marketing. I do NOT need to buy a tea just for a chance to win a tea." I drove on by. I have loads of tea at home - if I want a tea, I'll make one and I saved $1.80!!!

Same as food. We should eat because we are hungry. Not because someone else has suggested to us that we should eat and what we should eat. Have you noticed that almost all food commercials are advertising PROCESSED food? Can you imagine a commercial for cauliflower and hummus? I doubt it! I'm so over sugar - I simply do not crave it anymore. I'm quite happy and actually look forward to having an apple or cantaloupe for a snack and am completely satisfied by it. Yes - those items have sugar, but it's not refined sugar and I watch how much sugar I eat in a day.

I have to share this story about chocolate with you. After over one month without chocolate, I felt that I wanted to have a wee snack of chocolate. I have a bar here that's dark chocolate, super healthy as far as chocolate goes. Half of the bar is one serving and equates to 210 calories. That's not bad as long as you do something to warrant eating that chocolate - like going for a walk. But here's the thing - the chocolate bar has FIFTEEN squares. Hmm - how can you have break fifteen squares in half? I settled for three squares and I savored them for a long, long time. It was great.

Sorry about all the food talk, but it's even more important in my life than before. You can eat what you want! A quick story about spin class this morning. Remember the guy last week who said he had done 27 K to my 30 K???  I arrived at the class this morning to find that guy on MY bike!!!!  So I sat beside him! I wonder if he didn't believe me and was going to check out my numbers after the class? I had a good laugh about that. But I busted my butt and cranked out just over 30 K. It was hard and I didn't think about anything except 30 minutes to go. 28 minutes to go. 25 minutes to go. Until the class was finished. God - why do we bow down to peer pressure?

Yesterday was another super productive day. I can't share a whole lot with you as it was a lot of prep for upcoming classes. You'll get to see it after the class sees it. I also got a lot of paperwork done. As you know, I hate paperwork but in the business that I'm in, paperwork is a must. And keeping track of my schedule can be a nightmare. I accomplished a lot in that area and I'm very happy about that. Going to be some exciting things happening this year, but I've got a TON of samples to make.

I emptied another spool of thread. This time it was for the long arm.

Empty spool of thread for the long arm

The rows came out almost perfect on this quilt. I must start taking notes to try and figure out what is the right formula. The bottom edge of stitching traveled about ¼" in from the edge of the quilt which means it'll get hidden in the binding. That's pretty near perfect!!!

Nice clean edges of quilting stitches

Here's the quilt I worked on.

Customer quilt - DONE

I got the red/white quilt from the other day trimmed and ready for pickup. The next quilt which was HUGE is loaded and ready to be quilted later today.

Next quilt is loaded

I think one thing that has changed in my mind about my quilting is that I'm looking at it as a "job??" instead of a hobby. Not sure that's the right way to phrase that. But after I get my paperwork done, I can go downstairs and work totally undistracted until it's lunchtime. After a quick lunch, I'm back working. I don't have distractions and I don't get distracted. Maybe my brain is slowing down and there's no room to think of a second thing while focusing on one????

Since the blog is really late - hey - it will always be late on Wednesday because I'm at spin class. I'm going to share the post office story with you.

We have a new post office outlet in our neighborhood. We used to have to go to the mall which wasn't a big deal. It's a walkable distance. But we got a notification that we have a new outlet near the grocery store. Totally opposite direction from the mall, so now I have an excuse to walk in the other direction. Plus when I went on Sunday, I stopped at the grocery store to pick up a few things. Oh - where is our postal outlet?? In a Dollar Tree store!

This is the smallest bubble wrapper that Canada Post sells. It costs $1.46 and measures about 4" by 7". I had purchased a small item for M and I wanted to send it to her. The item cost about $5.00. I knew the item would cost a bit to send because it's thick, but less than 1" thick.

Bubble wrap mailing envelope

Oh - let me stand corrected on the envelope size. It says that it's 4" by 7", but that's the size of whatever you could put in it. When they measure the package to see the size, they measure from the outside to the outside which makes it 5" by 7 ½" depending on how much you fold that end over.

It weighed .035 KG. Mere ounces. The man measured the package, weighed the package and calculated the price to mail the package. $18.00!!!!!   WHAT??????    I saw the price on the little screen and I also saw XPost so I don't know if he made a mistake. I asked for the cheapest possible way - no signature, 7 days, no Xpost. Personally, I'd like to think he made a mistake.

I just checked the rates on the internet myself. Yep - that fellow was correct. It was going to cost $18 to send this little tiny package. But here's the kicker. I mailed TWO packages on Jan 2, 2019. One weighed .754 KG, measured 34 CM by 25 CM by 8 cm. It went to BC. That one cost me the SAME price as mailing this tiny package. On that same day, I mailed another package to Saskatchewan. That one weighed .102 KG and measured 19 CM by 12 CM by 3 cm. That one cost $17.00.  I think their system is totally stupid!

Now I did some further checking. You can mail a DOCUMENT - that's PAPER up to .8" thick before it becomes a package. That costs a whole lot less to mail - like $3.50. Can you tell me why???
I think it's highway robbery to call some of these small lumpy things that are LESS than .8" packages. Oh - and they grill you on the contents of the package - is it paper?

I spoke to Tish about this as she mails a lot of stuff - swaps and so on around the world. Her solution? Slap a couple of regular stamps on it and shove it in the mail. DONE! Well - I'll do it this week.

I'm just in shock that mailing paper (which is HEAVY) is cheaper than mailing a small item that is less than .8 inch thick? Someday I'll get over that, but it won't be for a long, long time.

On that note, I'm out of here!

Have a super day and stay safe - it's very messy out there with ice.

Ciao!!!!