Closed September 2 for Labor Day
User Manuals...
User Manuals...
As a general rule, I like User Manuals.
I don't actually read them but I like knowing I have them... just in case.
When it comes to something like my computer, television and toaster, I read just enough to get me set up and plugged in. I'll figure out the rest if and when I need to.
Given that I write quilt patterns - what are essentially user manuals - this probably meets the definition of "irony".
I confess that I did have to pull out the manual for my car when the defroster kept fogging up the car windows instead of keeping them clear. Given that I hadn’t used it much while living in Arizona, I considered the possibility that it might be broken. Nope… it was an “operator error” problem. In my defense, living in warmer climates meant that turning on the AC button was automatic. Apparently that just confuses the defroster. I’m glad the seat-warmer has just the one button.
Other than that little hitch, my move has gone well. I’ve found several different routes to work, all sorts of cool restaurants and markets, a place to get my hair done, and pretty much every kind of store I need to know how to find. As for getting settled in my apartment, I have only a dozen or so boxes left but they can wait because I know what’s in them – quilts and some office stuff. And because I still need to get a bookcase or two so I have someplace to put everything.
And yesterday, I actually set up the sewing machine and sewed. I didn't need the manual for my machine... but almost as I hadn't sewn since sometime before Thanksgiving. While everything was unpacked, it's not all put away yet so I did have to go hunting for a whatever or two.
While my job didn’t come with a user manual, it did come with a Help Line and Tech Support. There’s been a phone system to learn and a different e-mail program to figure out, that last one has been particularly useful. There’s been new terminology to learn and in between curiosity-trips to the warehouse, I’ve been working on an upcoming project and compiling a list of possible topics to write about here.
And that got me wondering… if you were writing the “user manual” for this blog, what should it include? While I’ve got a long list of ideas, I know you’ll think of all sorts of things that would never occur to me. (Like not turning on the AC button when using the defroster.)
Fabric – Moda Fabrics. Done – it’s already on the list. But what is it you’d like to know? Is there something specific?
For example, this is V & Co.'s gorgeous new collection, Color Theory. I saw it being rolled into/onto bolts in the warehouse and it's getting ready to ship. Would you like to know where Vanessa gets her inspiration? How long it takes from her idea to actual fabric?
United Notions - every possible notion, pattern and book you can think of is in a big warehouse about 100 yards away. How tempting – distracting – would that be for you? As someone who loves “sewing/quilting stuff” as much as fabric, I’ve already got a few things put aside that I’ll share soon.
What else?
Is there anything - more - you'd like to know about my job? While there are things I'm working on now that I can't share, there probably isn't much that you won't see or know about eventually. But I can address one thing now - no, I don't get to take home a yard of everything.
At least not the first week.
So will you help me with a list of blog topics? It’s a “user manual” I promise to read in its entirety.
While you do that, I’m going to go look for my list of logins and passwords.
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