that's a nope

I did wind up going back to campus. I regained some energy after lunch and also one of my particularly good students had asked me if there was any way I could be around in the afternoon (there is an exam in that class tomorrow) to answer questions if she had them, and I like to be available for people who are working hard. So I went back. And I did finish writing an exam for NEXT week, so there's that.

Then I came home and decided to oil my sewing machine - I had not in a very, very long time (have not had it professionally cleaned, either, though I do periodically clean the bobbin area out and get rid of the fuzz). I couldn't find the book for the machine (it's a 1970s era Kenmore) and so I was doing it from memory.

Then I went to turn the light on to check on something. It didn't come on. I thought, meh, could I have JUST burned the light out? So I tapped the foot pedal. Nothing.

No. No no no no no no no no no no no no no no. Did I kill my machine? Did I kill it NOW, right when I NEED the comfort of being able to come home and make quilt blocks, right when there is ZERO money in the budget for replacement of things that break that are not essential to health or safety?

No no no no no no no.

I called my mom, all panicky. Cried a little bit at her. (This has been a very bad week for me crying. The worst was crying in front of my chair Monday but then I've cried in front of her before). She suggested I try plugging the thing in to another socket. (Except my sewing room has but one socket; it's an old screened porch that got closed in years back. My house is just an old house any way and has fewer sockets than is ideal - I use a power strip for my tv, cable box, modem, and router, or else I'd have not enough plugs right there.)

It took some doing - hooking up an extension cord (which is a bad idea anyway for something that draws a lot of power and you use heavily, though I don't know how much power a sewing machine draws).

FINALLY got the machine moved far enough that the cord would stretch to the nearest plug in my bedroom.

The light came on. The machine wasn't dead. (Thank goodness). So, I thought, dang it, that means that outlet is dead. Then I decided to try....I went and got the little night-light I keep in the bathroom and plugged it in. It came on. In both plugs of the outlet.

The only thing I can guess is that I happened to joggle the power cord on the machine loose, and even though I thought I checked it before freaking out.....it must have been loose. (The power cord and the cord to the pedal of the machine are conjoined and are not permanently attached to the machine; they plug into it).

My mom said she doubted the machine was really dead and she is right, those old mid-70s Kenmores are built like tanks (which is why I love my machine so much and don't want it to die - it only does very simple sewing but 90% of what I do is plain old straight stitch on plain cotton, and the machine does THAT very well indeed).

It's model 158.1355080 and while I found a copy of the booklet online, it's not free. I'm going to have to decide if it's worth the ten bucks, or if I keep looking harder in my sewing room. I KNOW I had the booklet at one point but it is not where I used to keep it.

We found out today that there's apparently another 7% state budget cut. What is unclear is if that's going to hit higher ed, too (we just took a cut that ONLY hit higher ed), if our president was smart and fore-sighted enough to plan for this cut in the stuff he's already done, or what. So I'm thinking even a $10 sewing machine manual is too much to pay right now. (I found a version on the Sears site, but it's totally stripped down and is only stuff like "How to attach the presser foot" WHICH I ALREADY KNOW THANK YOU. Apparently it's just a basic repair manual and not the owner's manual.)

I went and bought more Vitamin D and B-complex this afternoon and even though the pharmacy also has the little Funko blindbox ponies, I didn't buy one. Because I'm telling myself I have to cut back, this is like a starvation diet....the NO FUN diet. But given a 10% reduction in pay for the next four months.....yeah, that's gonna cut deep because my withholding for various things won't go down, so that will be 10% of my base pay out of my take home pay.

I do think I need the D and the B.....the D because everything I've read says that most people don't get enough, I know I don't get out in the sun as much as I'd like to, and I do think I felt a little better when I was on it. (I quit taking it last month when my stomach was so bad). The B, because a long time ago it seemed to help and people were also telling my hair looked better. But I ran out and I just never started taking it again, and I can tell my hair has gotten more brittle and straw-like, so.


(Odd random thought: maybe another nickname for Celestia could be Vitamin-D-butt?)

but yeah, this has been an extremely bad and unhappy week. At least my machine isn't dead.