Tag Archives: Humour

Goats of Llandudno: out for a stroll

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I just saw this pictorial article in The Guardian, and had to post it here.  It is called:  “Mountain goats of Great Orme hit Llandudno – in pictures”.  According to the article, the goats belong to a wild herd of Kashmiri goats and normally roam a nearby parkland.  But the lack of people and cars in the town have drawn them in for a closer look at the downtown:

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Photograph: Andrew Stuart/PA

Or perhaps they plan to do some shopping:

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Photograph: Christopher Furlong/Getty Images

Can they be fined for illegal parking?

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Photograph: Carl Recine/Reuters

Click the link to check out the rest of the photos if you feel like a giggle.  Llandudno is a beautiful town.  I once wrote a post about it, which you can find here.  I’ll be back tomorrow with another Lockdown Flashback post.  Stay well!

Knit Kurt Cobain’s sweater and save big bucks!

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Yesterday’s Guardian had a lovely little piece called Smells like Kurt Cobain: his $137,500 cardigan deconstructed.  This was, of course, a report of how a cardigan worn by Cobain for a 1993 MTV Unplugged performance sold at auction for the grand and unexpected price of $137,500.  The cardigan is described as “a moth-eaten, oversized acrylic, mohair and Lycra mix”.  What I liked best is the delightful infografic that accompanied the piece, which I have reproduced for you here.

Cobain’s cardigan in detail. Photograph: PR handout

Cobain’s cardigan in detail. Photograph: PR handout

Knitters!  Here is your chance!  Finally, you can knit some something for less than it would cost to buy it!  How many times have you patiently explained to muggles (oops! to non-knitters) that, yes you do know you can buy four pairs of socks for $10 at Walmart but you actually prefer to buy a skein of sock yarn for $25 and then labour for a month to turn out a pair?  Or that, yes you could knit a sweater just like (actually probably better) than that cute one in Anthropologie, but the yarn will cost $175 and then you must tack on 60 hours worth of labour costs.  But now, your time has come!  Yes, knitters, you can KNIT KURT COBAIN’S SWEATER AND SAVE BIG BUCKS!

If you look at a photo of Kurt wearing the sweater, you will immediately ascertain that it is knit in very affordable, fuzzy, acrilyc novelty yarn.  You can likely find some in Walmart next to the socks.  For a more authentic choice, however, you can raid a yard sale and buy an old moth eaten sweater and re-claim the yarn.  Let’s say that you can find one for $10.  That would save you a grand total of $137,490.  Even after calculating in a hefty hourly wage for knitting – it still comes in under the price tag.  But, knitters – I have saved the best news for last!

This sweater has only 4 buttons instead of five!  To knit the authentic Kurt Cobain sweater, you will only have to buy four buttons instead of five, thus saving you an additional 70 cents!  As far as the smell (see the Guardian headline) well, that I leave up to you; I’m sure that we knitters are clever enough to sort something out.

Have failure prevention measures been implemented?

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Last month I started an Executive MBA in Management degree.  I am still working full-time, and am now enrolled as a part-time student for the next two years.  I used to spend my evenings knitting.  I now spend my evenings studying business management.  How does a knitter read a business management text?

Tonight, I am studying process and operations management.  I am reading the textbook Operations and Process Management: Principles and Practice for Strategic Management by Nigel Slack et al (2013), Third Edition, Pearson.  Chapter 14 is about risk and resilience.  This is what I read:

Have failure prevention methods been implemented?

Failure prevention is based on the assumption that it is generally better to avoid failures than to suffer their consequences.  The main approaches to failure prevention involve designing out the possibility of failure at key points in a process, providing extra but redundant resources that can provide back-up in case of failure, installing fail-safe mechanisms that prevent the mistakes which can cause failure, and maintaining processes so as to reduce the likelihood of failure.

Hmm.  This is what I think:

  • designing out the possibility of failure at key points in a process – take really good measurements, make a proper gauge swatch and block it
  • providing extra but redundant resources that can provide back-up in case of failure – buy enough yarn before you start, check dye lots, have a tape measure handy, an extra needle in the right size wouldn’t hurt
  • installing fail-safe mechanisms that prevent the mistakes which can cause failure – count your stitiches (frequently), read the pattern, use a lifeline on your lace
  • maintaining processes so as to reduce the likelihood of failure – put the wine away!

It’s going to be a long night……