Adventures in Diagnostic Imaging:

Or, Reasons I Won't Miss Where I Live Now.

I went to the diagnostic center this morning for my first ever boob squishing. Signed in at the counter, and sat down to wait. The selection of reading materials was limited to issues of Diagnostic Imaging Today and Garden and Gun. That's right, a proudly southern magazine celebrating the beauty that flowers and plants bring to our lives, and killing living creatures for sport. It was that or watch the Today Show, and since I'd rather poke my eyes out with knitting needles than do either one, I decided to take a cat nap instead.

A man in the waiting room decided to strike up a conversation with an older woman. He distainfully exclaimed that the nurses calling out people's names to take them back made it seem like a "welfare office" in there. They should do the respectable thing and use those flashy light things (beeper coasters) like the other hospital does. Um, okay. I can understand having privacy issues, but there's no need to be classist about it. Actually a beeper coaster would have helped, because another woman in the waiting room had the same last name as mine :)

I was called back, and the clerk who took my information talked non-stop. There was a wire basket next to the monitor on the desk, with a computer print out with somebody else's information on it. Not giving me great confidence in your privacy regulations, people!

Waited another eternity to get into the Mammography room. The nurse technician in there also spoke non-stop, about the weather, the busyness of end of the year appointments, the recent attempted terrorist bombing and how the people on the plane should "praise Jesus" that the guy wasn't successful.

The scan itself wasn't as bad as I'd been led to believe, and the whole experience led to a blog post ;)

* My blog has been suffering from a lack of posts due to the wonderful presence of my fiance, for both Christmas and New Year's! Plus my brother is in town as well! Good times all around!

Glen filled my stocking with Stray Sock Sewing, You Shall Die by Your Own Evil Creation! and Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog. His mom sent along some adorable vintage Vogart embroidery patterns and skiens of varigated thread, a book to prepare me for life on Vancouver Island and a pair of embroidery scissors. His sister gave me a huge stack of scrapbook paper and tins of brads, rivets and label discs. I see myself embracing my craftiness in 2010!

My parents were generous and gave us a Wii, Wii Fit Plus, Wii Sports and Wii Play - no more excuses for schlumping on the couch all evening. Mom almost fell over laughing at our attempts to race knitted cows in Charge!

And I discovered that I'm quite adept at Bowling as long as I'm not wearing rented shoes.

They also supplied me with a travelling case for my embroidery threads and works in progress - more craftiness!

The next day Glen and I made our Miis, and even made one for my cat! She wasn't impressed.

* Phew, that's enough updating for now. Tune in next time for photos of handmade stockings with gingerbread embroidery!

tees part two and other detrius

* On Saturday I went to look at fabric for the dress I'm getting married in, perused Big Lots for deals (nothin') and went by K-Mart for envelopes. When I left K-Mart I walked to the passenger side of my car to put my stuff in the front seat and saw 2 scratches through the paint from the back door to halfway down the back panel. It made me cry right there in the parking lot.

It was probably a shopping cart; if it was deliberate they would have messed with my Cthulhu fish as well.

* I haven't been sleeping well, so last night I took a sleeping pill. Woke up late this morning, and now I'm tired, sniffly and coughy. boo! I must have caught what my mom had on Thanksgiving.

* So, more tee shirts. How about horror?

- Last year at ScreamFest there was a Bite Mark Clothing booth
(whaddya know, it was her first big booth!) Lovely ladies with accents selling a small range of shirts. I walked away with an I Heart Zombies shirt and I love it. Got complimented on it when I went to see Zombieland!

- another seller at the con was Sigh Co. Graphics. I bought a shirt for a friend's birthday, and for myself I got the New Dark Age shirt. I hope to lose enough weight to be able to wear it :(

- 'Tis the season - only 21 more days until Cephalopodmas! Thanks to Gory Girl Pat I have a Cephalopodmas tee drawn by Apelad himself.

- Finally, Mini Cassette has a mix of scary and omg squee tees.

customer service win!

* This is not a paid endorsement, but I have to share.

Last week I ordered 2 pairs of shoes from Lands' End. The ones I ordered in Jan for walking in Victoria are amazingly comfortable, and shoes were on sale (half price!). The package arrived last night, and the shoes are great.

I decided to wear the purple ones today, since I have tights and a shirt that match :) On the short walk to the car, I noticed they were a bit loose. On the walk from my car to work, across the parking lot, I realized that they are too big.

So I called the Lands' End customer service number to exchange the shoes. I dialed, the phone rang once, and I heard, "hi, this is Debbie at Lands' End, how can I help you?" A PERSON! A LIVE PERSON! Answered the phone! No endless menu of "para continuar en Espanol, precione uno" and "your call is important to us" and "all our operators are currently assisting other customers." I was so flabbergasted that I paused, then said "wait, you are a person?" and she laughed.

She pulled up my account, re-ordered the shoes in a smaller size for the same price (even though the price on one had gone up), told me that I could take the pairs I have to Sears to return them, and let me know that if I decided to order anything else today before 10pm CST, they'd add it to my new pairs so I'd get free shipping.

Yeah, that's what customer service SHOULD be!

and I found out they ship to Canada ;)

tee shirts part uno

* I'm not one for wearing advertising tee shirts, but advertising fake products is a-ok! Wake up ... time to die has great tees based on companies and products in great movies! The Stay-Puft man shirt is a beautiful color and the icon is adorable. Their other shirts include tributes to Die Hard, Kill Bill, Event Horizon and Blazing Saddles. Too bad the company is in the UK, and the prices are steep.

Last Exit to Nowhere, also in the UK, does the same schtick with different movies, including Westworld, Alien, Re-Animator, The Shining and The Wicker Man.

If you're looking for Big Trouble, head to The Wing Kong Exchange for officially licensed BTiLC tees. (dang, once upon a time they had Egg Shen tour bus shirts but I don't see 'em now).

Since I'm a) not made of money; b) hard to fit; and c) hard to please, I end up making my own shirts with iron-on transfer paper and some $5 Old Navy shirts. My favorite so far is a quote from The (criminally underrated) Frighteners: You are violating my territorial bubble. Spoken by the one-and-only Jeffrey Combs.*
My brother's tee quote was: Sealed with a curse as sharp as a knife. Doomed is your soul and damned is your life.

*I actually saw The Frighteners before Re-Animator (gasp) so this was the first movie I saw him in. And according to this website, it's one of his favorite roles!

shopping panic begins in 3...2...

* It's Thursday and I'm thinking of presents. So begins a new series on Yay blog!

I have a couple of friends who love to cook and/or bake. For them?

- Joie Shop has the cutest little gadgets in Canada! Egg timer shaped like an egg, cow ice cream scoop, the happiest bottle opener on earth, and a smilin' potato peeler!

- Fred Flare also brings the cute with Russian nesting doll measuring cups (I covet these), table saw cake cutter, and You Bake 'Em cat treats (includes cookie cutters).

- Via Mighty Haus, an excellent cookie decorating kit of squeeze bottles and spatulas at Sur La Table.

- Last year I got Gosamyr an udon noodle bowl for her Chinese take-out.

- Who doesn't need a soy sauce dispenser shaped like an origami crane? Or hugging salt & pepper shakers? ($30? yikes!)

- Finally, I like this fruit-infusion pitcher. Mmmm, iced tea with raspberries in the middle, or sparkling water with lemon and lime slices.

I'm very very lucky

* According to an interactive graph in the New York Times, the unemployment rate "For white women ages 25 to 44 with a college degree" is just 3.6%. wow. From what I can tell, that's the lowest average overall.

The overall average is 8.6%

The absolute worst? "For black men ages 15 to 24 without a high school degree" it's 48.5%

* Ida was nothing but a storm.

* I've died and gone to cross-stitch heaven! LOOK LOOK LOOK at the beautiful old borders and alphabets at Patternmaker Charts! From France and Germany and Russia! And free in multiple formats! Just have a gander at this tea border:

Only 364 days to plan for next year!

* I had a great Halloween! Partied with my Gory Girls and a good time was had by all. And so many creative, hand-made costumes! So here's a roundup of great costumes I've found on the intertubes:

Surreal Killer (via Metafilter)

LOL cat (via Fatshionista!)

Snuggie Elvis (via Facebook)

Pop Art Girl (via Charmed)

Stay Puft Marshmallow Man (via Craftster)