The socks are done!

Only took thirty days, but the dragonfeet socks are finally done. Mind you, actual knitting time was probably about 30 hours rather than 30 actual days, but when you don't have a lot of free time and waste a lot of it on the computer, it takes a while for things to get done. Please ignore the appearance of the floor; in the one picture it looks like it is really dirty but it's just a discoloration in the wood.

Had a kind of disappointing lunch today. We went out for a co-worker's birthday. Started off by having to borrow $20 from Mr. Boss Man because I somehow managed to leave my wallet at home. Took almost half an hour before the waiter took our order, and another 20 minutes before the soup & salad arrived. The place we went to has unlimited soup & salad, and after about 15 minutes the server asked the three men who had soup if they wanted more. One said he did, and the server left to get it--without asking me or the other woman who had soup if *we* wanted seconds. Since soup was the only thing I was having for lunch, I most certainly did want another bowl. When the server finally returned with the guy's soup, he asked him if he wanted cheese; he said yes and the server disappeared again to go get the cheese grater. Another 10 minutes passed, and at this point I was already late getting back to work so I just gave my share of the money to the guy next to me & headed back. The entrees hadn't even been served at this point; good thing I hadn't ordered one or I wouldn't have gotten back to the office until 2:00. As it was I was still hungry when I left the restaurant, and if I'd had any money on me I'd've stopped at fast food place for a burger. Fortunately I had some snacks in my office so I was able to keep from completely starving.

Sis got her copy of "The Forgotten Disturbed" today. Mine has not yet arrived, darn it!

Fifteen pictures from our gardens

Well, "gardens" may be an exaggeration. However, "Fifteen pictures of things growing at random in our yard" isn't nearly so appealing :-) Most of the photos aren't so great but I'm so excited about the flowers & fruits that I just had to post them.


First up is a spray just starting to bud out on an aloe vera plant. This plant came from a cutting given to us by our neighbor last year, and it's really doing well. I didn't expect it to get flowers at all so this was quite a surprise to me when I saw it this evening.


Next we have buds coming up on our kangaroo paw, a plant that is native to Australia. We had it in too small a pot last year and it nearly died. We transplanted it into a large oak half-barrel along with a banana tree, the aloe vera, and a few other assorted plants and as you can see it has recovered nicely.


And another plant that we nearly killed by keeping it in too small a pot: a wee hibiscus that is now in the same barrel as the aloe vera & kangaroo paw. Actually, every plant that we put in that barrel was half-dead at the time, and all but one have recovered.


This pretty little bud just ready to open is actually on a garlic plant, if you can believe that. The flowers have a very slight garlic under-scent (if that's a word) but aren't stinky as one might expect them to be.


The obligatory pond shot, with its single lily :-)


I realize this is an unattractive shot, but I had to include it as we are quite proud of our newly-sprouted marigolds. I can hardly wait for them to bloom, but I guess I'll have to be patient since they've just barely broken through the soil.


No idea what these are. Ralph saw them at Home Depot, and picked up one that had buds but no blossoms yet. I think they look like little orchids although Ralph disagrees with me on that. I know that they aren't really orchids, they just make me think of them.


Our amaryllis is doing marvelously well. We've never had this many blooms on it at the same time before.


Nectarines a-plenty! Still very small, and I know we'll lose at least half of them to the birds but there will nonetheless be more than we can eat before summer is over.


Itty bitty baby figs! Nothing quite like a fig fresh from the tree, and I recently got a new cookbook that has a recipe for a rather tasty-sounding fig crostata with cinnamon & sugar.


First fruits on our rogue tomato plant. I'll be keeping a close eye on these to see if they are red or yellow ones. Still hoping for yellow!


Blossoms on our Thai hot pepper plant, and if you look carefully among the green you'll see an actual pepper growing on it. These turn a deep, shiny red when ripe.


Another rogue plant! I saw what I thought was a large weed growing next to the pepper plant, and when I went to pick it I realized the flowers on it looked very familiar. Upon closer examination and rumination, I realized that it was a tomatillo. We had two of them growing last year, but all the fruit was eaten by bugs before we could get a single one. We'll be spraying this year, that's for sure.


This ratty looking plant is actually a blueberry bush, and as you can see it's producing a lot of fruit for something so scraggly. In fact, a few of them look ripe enough to pick. It does make me a little sad, though, for we used to have a conure that loved fresh blueberries, but he died two years ago. I always think of him when this plant is producing fruit.


And lastly, fresh lemons on the ever-producing lemon tree. I am going to try to make use of the fruit this year; last year we hardly used any at all and it does seem such a waste when we've got so many.

Bad Kitty Blog: Tunisian Crochet Giveaway

Hello, Teeming Millions! Go check out Bad Kitty Blog (www.slapthatpony.blogspot.com) and enter her contest for a chance to win an awesome Tunisian Crochet prize package! Yarn, hooks, simple patterns, and other fun shtuff await. . .

Pleasant Sunday

Had a very quiet day today. Slept in until 6:30 (!!) which felt really good, although I was in desperate need of coffee when I finally dragged my butt out of bed. Had a leisurely buffet breakfast at El Torito, where we were waited on by our favorite server. He's always very friendly & upbeat, with a great sense of humor. Did a little grocery shopping, then read & knit for a while out in the sun, which resulted in the need for an afternoon nap. For dinner, Ralph grilled burgers & corn while I sliced up tomatoes & avocado, and warmed up some baked beans, Served that with some potato salad and Maui onion potato chips (because one can never have enough poe-tay-toez). Needless to say we were both stuffed to the gills.

I am almost done with my dragonfeet socks. I've got 1/2 a pattern repeat (six rows) left to do on one sock, one pattern repeat on the other, and then it will be time to knit the cuffs. I was hoping to have them done by today, but I don't really feel like working on them now so I guess it will be tomorrow. I better wind up another skein so that I can start on the next project when the socks are done.



I decided to post a couple more pictures of the dragon puppet, mainly because the one from yesterday doesn't really show how big it is. That, and I just think it is really, really cool. That's Ralph standing next to it in the first picture. He's 5' 10", and the hat that is balanced on top of his sackbut is about a foot high, so that will give you a little perspective on the size of the puppet. Please click on them to enlarge; the shots don't look so dark and you really get a good look at the dragon.

Ren Faire

Had an OK day at Faire yesterday. We weren't sure what time the handfasting was to begin, so we arrived shortly after Faire opened at 10:00. Found out the handfasting was at 5:15. Sigh. Hadn't really wanted to spend the entire day there, but oh well. Ran into lots of friends & had nice chats with them. The handfasting itself was a bit hectic; apparently the Food Network was there taping the event, so at the last minute the bride decided to make it more "wedding-y." The groom had already changed out of his Faire clothes & borrowed a doublet from JM, the head of the band (if you could call us a band; more on that later). The cake was gorgeous but I wasn't able to get a shot of it, more's the pity.


Didn't really hear any of the ceremony, as we were waaaaay in the back. At one point JM shouted out "Project!!" Being closest to him, I of course smacked him with my recorder. One of our friends said later that he overheard someone saying, "Only at Faire would you have someone heckling a handfasting."


The band consisted of JM on sopranino & shawm; Ralph on sackbut (type of trombone), MLS on bohdrain (pronounced "BO ron, it's a type of drum), myself on recorder, and a late-arriving DH also on sackbut. I felt the music was rather poor. It's been a long time since we've performed together as a group, and it showed. My recorder was well in tune with JM's sopranino, but not the shawm. Flubs were made, and I had to drop out of many songs because I didn't know them well enough to play at speed. Some I had never played before & didn't even bother to try as a handfasting seemed a bad place to give them a whirl. It would have been better if we'd had a chance to practice at least a few minutes beforehand, and if there had been a little less beer going around.



Today's pictures are all shots I took at the Faire. The first is a very large dragon puppet that was hanging in a tree. The eyes were lit up, and on occasion it would growl and/or smoke would come out of its mouth. Even though I don't like anacronisms at Faire in general, this was cool enough to make an exception in my book. If you watch the video at the end of this post, you will hear it growl right at the end of the movie. Second we have two sacked out children in the "Friends of Faire" environmental area. Taking a nap at that point in time seemed a wonderful idea and I was more than a little jealous. Third is a little gosling by the edge of the lake. I had to use the zoom for this & I'm pleased with how it came out. Lastly is one of the stages; take a good look at the side walls. Notice anything strange? Yup, you got it--they put the left wall on the right side & vice versa. Kinda gives the "castle" a crazed, cock-eyed perspective.

Blooms

Today is a very flowery day for me. I brought home the bouquet that I received at work; no sense letting them die in the dark office over the weekend. Our front hedge is full of sweet jasmine blossoms. The amaryllis by the pond is in bloom, as are the geraniums, bat-faced plant, and the little plant with the purple flowers that I don't know the name of.

Feeling a bit better about the music tomorrow. I practiced before work & at lunch, and did pretty well. Of course, it's different playing in a group than by one's self, however now I know that I *can* play most of the tunes and that's a confidence booster there. Also, it appears that the handfasting isn't until 5:00 pm which means I can play at some of the open dance groups and see if I'll be good enough for the main event.

Saw a license plate & frame on a Hummer yesterday that amused me. The plate said "IM TRYIN" and the frame said "to pay for it." Should probably have said "to pay for gas" ha ha. Love my Prius & its 50+ MPG.

It's out!

Sis just told me that our brother's book is now available on Amazon, woo hooo!! For those interested it's called "The Forgotten Disturbed" by T. L. Trevaskis.

Got flowers today for Administrative Assistant's Day, which was actually yesterday but the delivery was late. Very nice bouquet of carnations & daisies, which happen to be my favorite flowers. I'd have posted a picture if I'd brought the camera to work.

Feeling more dubious about playing music at Faire on Saturday. I am reeaaaallly rusty.

Slow week

Nothing much to post about, despite not having posted since Monday. I did see one thing that amused me yesterday: a van for a termite extermination company passed me on the freeway, and the logo painted on the back was a skull & crossbones. The skull had insect antennae on it. Oh, that also reminds me of a van that is parked up the street advertising a paint company called "Mr. Smartypaints." I thought that a pretty clever name.

Still not impressed with Facebook. I sign on a lot hoping for interesting little posts and status updates but there's usually not much there. It does seem that most of the people I went to high school with have fabulous, exciting jobs and/or live in fabulous, exciting cities. Makes knitting in Long Beach seem dull indeed. It kinda gives me that old high school feeling of being one step behind the rest of the world. Ah, well, I should just stay off Facebook if I don't enjoy it, right?

Going to the Renaissance Faire this weekend. Playing music for a handfasting (why, why, why did I agree to that? I haven't played music in almost 2 years & I am struggling with tunes I used to know inside out & upside down) and hoping to meet up with our friend CH. Other than that no big plans.

We have been enjoying having our house to ourselves. It's so quiet and lovely having our privacy again. E-gads, 5:55, time to get ready for work.

Ta da! Thank you, Cher, for teaching an old doofus a new trick.

Now, for the blogs that I like, as mentioned previously I really don't read that many on a regular basis; in fact, there are only three: Cher's blog "Bad Kitty," my sister's blog "Knit and Pearl," and one called "Cake Wrecks" that is run by a woman named Jen. The first two are in my links in the sidebar; the third is www.cakewrecks.blogspot.com. Warning: Some of those cakes will have you screaming for mercy!!

Been having some very HOT weather recently, up in the 90s here in Long Beach and up to 102 in Ontario this afternoon. Thank goodness it's supposed to cool down by the weekend, especially since Ralph & I are supposed to be playing music at the Renaissance Faire on Saturday which means long sleeves and many layers for us both. It's always fun wearing closed-toe shoes, knee-high stockings, bloomers, underskirt, overskirt, long-sleeved blouse and a lined bodice in 100 degree weather. NOT!

End of the four day weekend

Very quiet day today. Picked up the car--rides so smoothly on its new tires!--went to the bookstore, read a bit, knit a lot, and did a wee bit of housework.

Feeling like a bit of a doofus, too. One of my blog buddies, Cher of Bad Kitty, nominated me for a friend award, and I have no clue how to post the icon on my blog. I'm also supposed to pass the award on to eight blog friends, but not only do I not have any, I don't know how to link their blogs on my post! So, Cher, if you read this--help this doofus out, would ya? :-)

Today's photo is the one and only picture we took at the Pet Expo (click on it to view larger; it really doesn't show up well in the size posted). This dog was warming up for the Splash Dogs competition. I wonder if Zoe would enjoy doing that?

knitting update et al

First off in knitting news, I finished 4 pattern repeats on Sock #2 and three repeats on Sock #1. As I was about to start the 4th repeat of S#1, I realized that all the decreases should have been SSK, not K2tog (for you non-knitters, that changes the slant of the decrease). So, instead of the graceful swooping curves of the dragonscale pattern, I was getting some plain diagonal lines instead. Meant to frog 36 rows; miscalculated & frogged 38 plus part of the heel. Couldn't get the stitch count right so ended up ripping out the entire heel as well. Still, it will be worth it to have the sock look right. And fortunately I only had to do this to one of them, since the second one is a mirror image of the first and therefore K2tog was the correct decrease for that one.

Secondly, the shawl is finished! It's still blocking, and I need to weave in the ends, however all the actual knitting is done. The paperback in the photo has no significance other than to give a little perspective to the shot. I liked how it looked with the scalloped edges, so I pulled the pinned points out a little extra and left the curved portions alone. From neckline to pinned point is 20"; as predicted, shorter than I would like but still long enough to wear.


Yesterday was a fairly quiet day. Went to archery, naturally, and afterward we took the Prius in for new tires & an alignment, both of which were badly needed. Then we came home & relaxed for a while. Around 3:00 or so Ralph showered and then said to me, "Let's go somewhere nice for dinner." So I, too, showered & we put on some decent-looking clothes. I asked him if he had a place in mind and he said, "The Stinking Rose." An excellent choice, really. Took a leisurely drive to the restaurant, stopping at a yard sale & taking some surface streets rather than the freeway in order to sight-see a bit. Anyway, we had barely had time to order an appetizer when Ralph excused himself to use the restroom, and next thing I knew some other people were sitting at our table. It took me a second to realize it was Sis and The Boy! Totally unexpected and a terrific surprise for me. We all had a lovely dinner & wonderful conversation. (For those among the Teeming Millions who are unfamiliar with The Stinking Rose, it's a specialty restaurant whose motto is "We flavor our garlic with food.") We started with garlic sauteed in olive oil & served with garlic rolls; Ralph had the garlic meatloaf and the rest of us had the 40-clove garlic chicken. Both entrees came with garlic mashed potatoes. For dessert, we skipped the garlic ice cream in favor of chocolate truffle mousse cake except for The Boy, who had fruit-topped cheesecake instead. Needless to say we were STUFFED by the end of it.

Not sure what we are going to do today other than picking up the Prius from the tire place. One of Ralph's archery buddies gave us a pair of tickets to the Renaissance Faire. Ralph kind of wants to go today because there is going to be a chain mail instructor, but on the other hand we've been away from the house & out in the sun for the past three days and we do have housework to do (including laundry if we expect to have work clothes for the week) and we really should spend a little time with the dogs. Plus it's glorious to be in our quiet, private house without guests. Guess we'll play it by ear.

A wee post for Friday

Wonderful, wonderful weekend so far. Had yesterday & today off; we spent yesterday at the LA Arboretum. Spent today at the Pet Expo. Have corned beef cooking in the crock pot, and a sock-it-to-me cake for dessert. Only 3/4 of a pattern repeat left to go on my shawl. To top it off our roomies have moved out with a day to spare. Could life get any better? Why yes, it can--'cause I still have 2 days left of my 4-day weekend :-)














Stills are from the arboretum; video is of Leap, who according to the Iams Superdogs announcer holds the world record for jumping height (for a dog, that is; 70 inches, wowzers!). Isn't he graceful?

I don't have to work today

Doo dah, doo dah, I don't have to work today, oh da doo dah day. Yes folks, I am on vacation today & tomorrow. Not sure what I'll do with the free time. Knit, of course, and possibly spin a bit. Might go to the Pet Expo tomorrow, and possibly to the Renaissance Faire on Sunday. We'll play it by ear, though, since we may need to stick around to unlock the gate for the Roomies' moving out (more on that below).

In other news, I have recently joined Facebook. Frankly, I'm not all that impressed with it so far. Maybe when I've used it a bit more that opinion will change.

Heading down to the wire on the Roomies move-out deadline. Not sure they're going to make it; they got a (rather small) U-Haul truck yesterday and have managed to fill half of it so far. Even if they finish filling it today, I don't see how they are going to get all their stuff into it, and I'm pretty sure it's a one-way rental so a second load is not an option. True, they still have their little trailer, but I dunno, they've got soooooo many things.

Speaking of which, I got their e-mail newsletter and was a bit surprised by one thing they mentioned: they bought a used camera "at a really good price" online. Now, let me get this straight: No steady job. Very little income. Have more stuff than they know what to do with. So they *buy a camera*???? I just don't get it. OK, OK, I know, it's not my life and it's not my business.

Got an early birthday gift last night: Ralph gave me a copy of "Animal Crackers." Haven't seen that in years. We watched most of it before bedtime & will watch the rest today. Harpo was a genius I tell you.

Today's photos are of the current incarnation of our always-a-work-in-progress pond. We thinned out the plants considerably, and Ralph redid the upper filtration pool at the top so that it's a little wider and the waterfall is off to one side rather than centered. We also added some flowering vines to the front posts of the shade arbor. I'd like a few more flowering plants in place of some of the greenery, even though it does look much nicer now than it did when it was so overcrowded with flora. These really aren't good pictures; I'll try to get better ones today.

An excellent Easter

Had a very nice day yesterday. Took the girls to the dog park where they ran and sniffed and slobbered to their hearts' content. Got a bit of knitting done, then met the "fambly" for dinner. Sis had an early birthday present for me: 400 yards of hand-dyed sock yarn. One of her Ravelry friends is doing a series of yarns in colorways inspired by the movie/book "Twilight." Sis asked if there was any of the "Wide Awake" left, and was told no, but she (the friend) would dye one up special for her (Sis). So, I've got a lovely skein of dyed-to-order fingering weight merino, woo hoo!!!!

It was fun visiting with family, too. Dad is looking pretty good, and The Girl's grandmother was a hoot as always. Hard to believe that The Boy & The Girl have been married almost a year already, but their anniversary is only a couple weeks away. Wow.

Tried my hand at archery today, since Ralph enjoys it so much. It was OK, I guess, although I did get twanged by the string a couple times, smack on the left breast. Ouch! Obviously this sport is designed for the flat-chested. I did a few rounds at five yards (and had one really fabulous grouping as you can see) and a few at 10 yards (you will notice there are no bragging pictures for *that* distance, LOL!) I can see myself shooting once in a while, although I don't think it will ever become the passion that it is for Ralph.

Seven on a Sunday

Here's a shot of Ralph at archery yesterday. It's surprisingly difficult to get a good shot of someone shooting arrows. Nothing to see from the back, face is blocked on the right, and can't really see the bow from the left. I suppose I *could* try from the front, if I were really desperate. . .


While he was shooting I got one whole pattern repeat done on the shawl. I was thinking that wasn't very much until I started doing the math. First & second rows are 485 stitches, the third & fourth are 381, so that's 970 plus 762 equals 1732 stitches on slippery metal needles. I know some knitters prefer metal needles because of the slipperiness; I am not one of them. I'm always struggling to keep the stitches from sliding off the tips before I've actually worked them. Really slows me down. So four rows isn't so bad after all.

Before archery, we went to Bob's Big Boy (of all places) for breakfast. They have what I have often said I was going to special request at a restaurant: an omelet with no eggs! They don't call it that, of course--they call it "stuffed potato pancakes" but really it's an eggless omelet. We both got the "lumberjack" which is bacon, ham, and sausage sandwiched between a generous portion of potato pancakes, cheese, and topped with sour cream. It was really good; the only thing I would change is to take out the sausage.

During archery we saw a pair of hawks flying a bit of a ways away. One of them was definitely chasing the other, claws extended. I took a short movie of them although it didn't come out too well; they were too far away for a really good shot so it came out a little blurry. You can see the extended legs of the chaser in a couple spots though.



We also went to the movies last night, saw "Monsters vs. Aliens." It was a fun movie, I thought; not quite as good as "Meet the Robinsons" but better than "Coraline." All in all a very good day yesterday.

Today we are meeting family for late lunch/early dinner in Diamond Bar. Other than that, no plans for the day.

Just a bit today

Using Ralph's sign-on today, so only old pictures are available. This is one from when we went to the Huntington Botanical Gardens.

Have had two very productive days at work. Mr. Boss Man has been too busy too give me things to do, so I've actually been able to get my work done uninterrupted for the most part. Feels really good, too!

Went to George's for dinner on Tuesday. As always, the food was delicious. I ate my leftovers for breakfast, and we split Ralph's leftovers for dinner last night. Mind you, we did order a lot: hallumi appetizer (tomato & grilled goat cheese on pita triangles), a large avolemono soup for Ralph & a small tomato soup for me, gyro plate for him, appetizer combo for me. Plus I ordered a kataife (sp?) to take home (a phyllo/honey/nuts/chocolate dessert that I usually call a "shredded wheat thingy).

Roomies are still sorting & packing up. Roomie B told Ralph they will be getting a truck next week to haul everything away by Friday. They have a plethora of things and I suspect they are going to ask for more time. Not going to happen; we have given all we can and 30 days is plenty.

Last bit, I found out yesterday that Tim Burton is filming a version of "Alice in Wonderland." I took a peek on imdb.com this morning & the cast looks really awesome: Johnny Depp, Alan Rickman, Timothy Spall, and Helena Bonheim-Carter to name a few. Scheduled for release next year. Looking forward to it!

A fine and pleasant Saturday

Not an exciting Saturday, mind you, but a fine and pleasant one nonetheless. Our roomies were up by 7:00 or so (normally they get up between 10:00 and 11:00) which was a surprise to us. Turns out they were taking a load of their stuff up to the new digs. I was beginning to wonder if they were ever going to start packing. Two weeks to go. . .

Being Saturday, we of course went to archery which means knitting time for me. One boy came up and asked what I was making (socks) before wandering off to shoot. The woman I sat by took out her knitting, too, and we had a nice time chatting & stitching away. The boy came back after awhile and asked, "How are the socks?" When I said "Coming along nicely" he responded with an exuberant "Yay!!!" Then he asked the other woman what she was making. She replied "A baby blanket" and lifted it so he could see the pattern. He let out an "Awwwww!" in an "isn't that darling!" tone of voice. And the thing is, he sounded sincere both times. I could almost learn to like this boy. ;-)

This afternoon we did some much-needed upkeep on the pond. We both worked to move out all the plants from around it, then Ralph mended the torn liner while I re-potted those plants that needed it. We rearranged how the plants are set up around the pond, and moved some of them waaaay over by the jacuzzi instead. It's much more open and soothing now. Took us about three hours total. My hands are really dried out now from handling so much potting soil (yes, I know I should have worn my gloves). Of course, the hot shower I took afterward probably didn't help much either, especially since I kinda zoned out in there and just let the hot water pour over me for a while. Ahhhhhhh. . . .

I am really pleased (finally) with my current socks-on-the-needles. I found a simple staggered eyelet pattern for the instep, which I think will look good with the dragonscale that I will do on the leg as noted in a previous post. I'd like to knit now, but with my hands so dry I think I'll slather on some lotion & go read for a while instead.

Fruits of our labor--sort of

Spring has sprung! Here you see the first fig of the year on our fig tree. Even though it's nowhere near ripe yet, it's already a pretty good size. Just hope this year we get to eat some of them before the birds do. Or the rats--they've been feasting on our blood oranges, the little beggars. Our other plants are doing well, too. We've got a couple blossoms on the hot pepper plant that is still growing from last year, and a couple buds on the Mystery Tomato mentioned in a previous post. The nectarine tree is loaded with small fruits, and of course the ever-producing lemon tree is still producing.

Had to restring the electric fence around the pond. The dogs did a bit of damage to the back pool section--completely shredded the liner--so we haven't been able to run the waterfall for a couple days since it feeds directly into the back section. We'd end up draining the entire pond in a matter of hours, an event our fish would not appreciate.

And still just one toe

Yeah, it's an old picture, I know. Deal with it :-) I picked it because it's the same colorway as the sock I am knitting.

Not making much progress on that sock, though. I cast on, knit the toe & 20 rows of stockinette, decided I didn't like it, frogged it, cast on again with more stitches to do a dragonscale pattern, knit the toe, knit two pattern repeats, realized/remembered that the dragonscale pattern rotates and in a couple more repeats would be on the sole of the foot, frogged back down to just the toe, and knit two whole rows. I'll still do the dragonscale pattern on the leg while keeping the foot plain stockinette.

Ralph got called in to work overtime yesterday, so he told Roomie G if he wanted to move stuff he (Ralph) could only have the gate unlocked from 7:00 am to just before 10:00 which was the absolute latest he told his work he'd be in. G assured R he would be ready to move things by 7:30. So, at 7:30 R closed the dogs up in the bedroom & unlocked the gate & garage. Roomie G came in & stayed in the red room until 9:45, at which point R knocked on the door & told him his window of opportunity was closing. G said that he had moved the ONE item that needed it at 7:40, which meant that R missed 2 hours of overtime, the dogs were locked up in the bedroom all that time when they could have been out in the yard, plus everything was left unlocked when it could have been secured. R was rather annoyed that G didn't even bother to tell him he was done. I rather thought that they were going to be moving lots of stuff, not just one item. Almost halfway through their alloted move-out time, and they've hardly moved a thing. Amazing.