Friday, September 24, 2010

Read the Directions First

The Haruni Scarf is finished with major modifications, because I started knitting in haste and then repented in leisure.


It is a lace knit.  If you look carefully, one side is one stitch "off".  So I added a ruffle, and there ya go: finished.  Size 40" x 19" with a modified edging.

Close up of the bottom of the triangle:

The original free download for the Ravelry Emily Ross pattern can be accessed here.

Next time I knit this pattern, I'll re-read through all the directions. o:(

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Remember Albom's book: The Five People You Meet in Heaven?

Generous Omi, thank you for picking my comment from your posting a few weeks ago, and sending me such a nice box full of goodies.

You might want to read about the amazing occurrence here that Omi and her dog were lucky enough to encounter...spoiler alert: a $500 table she coveted 11 years ago she now owns.

Back to the treats that Omi sent: at least 30 items including little soaps, trinkets, books, charms, buttons, yarn, magazines, pin cushions.  Oh, my!  She even sent extra goodies because she knows they can be passed along to our local hospice patients.

Which leads me to the wonderful thing that happened yesterday while Libby and I were visiting a very ill elderly woman in her last hours of her long life;  and hence, the title of the blog post.
                                                                  
                                                                The Event

Our patient (Mrs. A) was not rousing when Libby and I arrived at the nursing home, along with our special friend and new hospice volunteer, Mary.  The aides said she had been asleep all morning and they could not awaken her, and that likely she had only a few more hours of life.

Libby licked Mrs. A's hand and I talked to her, placing my hand on her shoulder.  Within five minutes, Mrs. A. began a very lucid conversation, and talked about how her daughters had come from long distances over the weekend to visit with her.  Mrs. A. petted Libby and continued in conversation with us for 20 minutes more. The nurses and aides were surprised that she rallied to raise her head and talk with us.

After Mrs. A was fully awake and conscious of her surroundings, an elderly woman was brought in to the room by her middle aged daughter.  The visitor was in a wheelchair, connected to oxygen and had a bit of difficulty in speaking due to lack of breath, but we understood within a few moments that this visitor was Mrs. A's long time best friend.

Mary, Libby and I excused ourselves with heartfelt goodbyes and returned to our car. 

Mitch Albom  in his book The Five People You Meet in Heaven posits that we are all connected to another, and that an action undertaken by one person is destined to have an unanticipated and often life-changing influence upon someone else.

Perhaps the reason for our simple visit and leaving a small gift was simply to awaken Mrs. A. so that she could see her best friend and talk a bit with her before she left this world.

Makes sense to me.

Sunday, September 19, 2010

Where are all those American Jobs? Outsourced, of Course

A couple of days ago, I had to reschedule some flights due to an unexpected medical occurrence. Not to worry, United Airlines and Patel, answering the 1-800 number from out of this country, helped me reschedule. This two-way conversation consumed about half an hour, and only after he had to repeat most of what he said at least twice because of my difficulty in understanding his British/American/Indonesian accent.

After our transactions were concluded, Patel asked my level of business satisfaction, on a scale of one to five, with five being the highest level of satisfaction. It took me a split second to decide on the level "3"; an accurate and very generous response, I thought. Patel seemed very disappointed in that response, and you could almost hear his sigh of disappointment in only receiving a "3". He asked me why he had received this seemingly low number. I replied (likely in too much of an exasperated tone) that it was because our half hour conversation could have been transacted in about two or three minutes, if only I could have understood what he was trying to tell me in our lengthy discourse.

Poor Patel, I probably cost him a bonus that day because his customer satisfaction levels with United Airlines was less than exemplary.

Along the same lines, James Lileks tweeted this: