The Hobbit Hole VI - And Whither Then? I Cannot Say...

[ecurbh]

Welcome to The Hobbit Hole!

And Whither Then? I Cannot Say...

• First thread: New Zealander builds Hobbit hole
• Second thread: The New Hobbit Hole
• Third thread: The Hobbit Hole III - Journey to the Cross-roads! (Congratulations, we filled it up!)
• Fourth Thread: The Hobbit Hole IV - The Road Goes Ever On...
• Fifth Thread: The Hobbit Hole V - Where Many Paths and Errands Meet...

The Road goes ever on and on
Down from the door where it began.
Now far ahead the Road has gone,
And I must follow, if I can,
Pursuing it with eager feet,
Until it joins some larger way
Where many paths and errands meet.
And whither then? I cannot say.

[Wneighbor]

Ha?

[300winmag]

I'm going back Thursday to talk to the actual registrar. Oh, am I mad! I'll hand him his head on a platter if need be, but I want my minor!

I got a note (this was pre-email) from the math department a month before graduation. It said I couldn't graduate because I didn't take all the required classes as spelled out in the 1965 catalog (am I dating myself here?). I rushed in to the office the next day with my transcript for my eight credits for my 1964 advanced placement freshman calculus I took in high school, and the 1964 catalog that I was admitted under.

After I pointed out that I met all the course requirements of the 1964 catalog, the secretary admitted that she hadn't noticed that, and just sent out a zinger to me along with the poor schmucks who really weren't graduating.

Most of the others were grad students who hadn't paid the $25 graduation fee. I heard one of them whining to her department advisor, who was my advisor, too. Standing in the hallway, I heard my advisor tell the grad student, "I'm really sorry you missed the notice on the math department bulletin board. But it's partly our fault. Once you get your bachelor's, the math department does all the thinking for you, relieving you of all responsibility of even looking at the board. That's why I prefer advising the undergrads, because we require them to think for themselves. Once you get to grad school, we ask you to turn your brain off."

[Wneighbor]

Jen, first thing you need in your ammo against the college is to read through the college catalogue and see if they have the rules on transfer classes spelled out in there. If they do, you are gonna be stuck cause they'll tell you it was in writing and you've got no recourse.

But, if it isn't in the catalogue in writing then you need to take the specific pages with you to the advisors and registrar when you go. Also, if your advisors have ever at any point written out a degree plan for you then you need to have that. If the degree plan is in writing and there is nothing in the catalogue you have a good leg to stand on.

If you don't have any paperwork yourself from the advisors then ask them for copies of the material they have in your file. They may have a copy of something that would work in your favor, you never know. Here, we are required to keep files on all our students and have a degree or certificate plan for each student in their files.

The bad thing that I have dealt with since I've been here is that prior to my coming to work here the previous instructor wasn't competant in the job. He actually signed students up for classes just to fill classes knowing those classes wouldn't count toward graduation but telling them they would get credit. I've had a lot of fallout from angry students because of that. Unfortunately, not every individual in these positions has the integrity to do the right things for students. I am hoping that's not what you've had with these advisors.

Lemme know what you find in your catalogue and I'll see if I can't try to come up with some other suggestions.

[HairOfTheDog]

Thanks - both of you...

Mom's wedding dress looks real good. It isn't old enough to be delicate and the fabric is nice and crisp and not too yellow. That other little dress is the one that is too dingey (sp?) to look good.

I will look into professional advice on cleaning them if I decide to use them somehow!

How about the linens? - I can photo them if you want, but they dont' feel particularly delicate either, just have yellow spots.

[Wneighbor]

Okay, Winmag has another point here Jen that could work in your favor. Although Pennsylvania MAY be different from Texas on this.

Here a student who has been continuously attending classes can graduate under any catalogue issued during his tenure at the school. I'm not sure if you've been in this school more than one year - but, if so, it might be to your benefit to check out each catalogue from your time there. You never know what may have changed in the catalogues.

Also, I forgot to mention, the thing we try to do whenever a student here gets into the position you are currently in is to work within the established rules and try to give credit for any other class as the missing necesary course for the degree. Okay, so I can't give someone credit for a drafting class if they took nursing. But, I've used computer maintenance, machining, welding and other stretches of the imagination.

For math, it seems to me that there may be upper level courses that could possibly be subbed for math as you minor. Again, I don't know what classes you have, and they can't be applied both to the major and the minor, but some creative thinking might be in order.

I am just going to pray that you find someone to help you who has that creative type of thinking and who will work with you on this.

First, you gotta make sure and find what it says in the catalogue. Unfortunately that will supercede most human intervention.

[Wneighbor]

How bout for the yellow spots you try taking something small and using Spray N Wash or Wisk or Shout first. Soaking that and washing out by hand just to see if that works. Would be an easy cheap thing to try first.

I'm just concerned that bleach would make a yellowed thing even more yellowed.

[HairOfTheDog]

I can try without bleach and see what I get!

I have a friend who can look at them and touch too..... She'll know what should be done.

[Fedora]

Prayers are with you.

[Wneighbor]

I have a friend who can look at them and touch too..... She'll know what should be done.

Better plan!

I have some crocheted lace doilies that my great-grandmother's sister made - probably circa 1900. They were yellowed and I used the weak tea stain thing on them. Now they have a much more pleasing appearance IMO. I know they started out snow white, but there was no getting back to white. And as you say the yellow was spotty also. The tea stain gave me a consistant color that is antiquish looking. Not only does it look nice but they go well with the furniture I have.

[Fedora]

> Ok, I am fuming.

That sounds frustrating!--hope that gets straightened out for you. My sister-in-law had the same kind of problem when she transferred from one college to another. And then I have an incomplete on my record because I thought I had withdrawn from a class but at the end of the semester I found out someone had screwed up the paperwork, and nobody at the school office could figure out how to fix it. Grumble. . .

Anyway, hope you're able to get your minor. Maybe if you can get written statements from the advisors who told you that you didn't need to take another class it would help?

[Wneighbor]

Hi Fedora! That explanation you gave of your reading is fascinating to me! I would love to go right along with you as you outline the Silmarillion and the Book of Lost Tales. Cool that we both had similar plans! Reading the Norse legends and filtering out Tolkien's references is also VEY intriguing! The area I come from is heavily populated by Norse immigrants so I grew up hearing of Norse folk tales though my family wasn't of the Norse bunch.

*sigh*

Unfortunately, it looks like it will be some months before I get to read anything for fun again. Textbooks... for drafting and design. Engineering graphics. I teach in a college tech school. We're on the quarter system and the new quarter starts tomorrow. In this quarter I also have to work up lesson plans for 2 new classes. That's VEY overwhelming to me. I wasn't trained as a teacher. Got this job because of industry background and being in charge of workplace training for the last several years. This formal teaching stuff is a bit intimidating sometimes.

[Corin Stormhands]

I have some crocheted lace doilies that my great-grandmother's sister made - probably circa 1900.

I knew if I watched this conversation long enough I'd get to ask my question. We have a bed throw that my aunt crocheted, probably sometime in the 40s/50s. It is hundreds of little crocheted circles, each about 4 inches in diameter. It's a full sized spread.

Best we can tell is that over the years she did it she used two different brands of thread. One is still fairly white, the other has turned brown. So we've got a random mix of white and brown circles. We've wanted to get it restored for a long time but are afraid it would be ruined.

Thoughts?

[Wneighbor]

I found out someone had screwed up the paperwork, and nobody at the school office could figure out how to fix it. Grumble. . .

I have a good idea of how you feel about that frustration from a different standpoint. I have a student who went to registration to sign up for a class I specified. Someone hadn't added that class to the schedule and the student got placed into another class of the same description. My student had already had that class so he didn't get credit for the one he actually took.

AND NOW - the registrar's office can't figure out how to fix it and give the student the credit because our system won't allow it! My boss and I have fought the administration over this for the better part of a year now. And they just don't budge!

It's an embarrassment to me and my boss. And yet the registrar's office says it's the student's problem, that he should have noticed they had his paperwork wrong. Thing is, my paperwork and the paperwork I sent with the student to registration was 100% correct. It was the registrar's error!

[Rose in RoseBear]

Hair, find a local cleaners that handles heirloom clothing --- they may call the process "heirlooming." Should be someone in Olympia who can work with this properly ...

[Wneighbor]

I don't guess you'd be fortunate enough that the pattern for the squares was pleasing enough to leave it that way?

No, I figured not.

Thing is, if it's different thread, it would prolly also take cleaning or staining differently in the different fabrics. How brave are ya?

If it were me.... and I couldn't live with it the way it is.....

First thing is, if I wanted to try to get it white again - you said brown, not yellow so I'd fill a large pan or sink full of extremely hot water and bleach. Good bit of bleach. And soak the thing for hours. Then rinse carefully several times to get the bleach out. All of this by hand.

Next, if that didn't work.... and I didn't mind it being brown-tones... which IMO is good for antique crocheted things anyway, I'd try the tea staining.

Lastly, if you just want it to be something useable and none of that works - but you want to try to get it the same color - there's always the old faithful RIT dye.

Oh, one other thing. RIT has some products for A) removing age stains and B) color restoring. I have used the thing for removing age stains but it didn't work well for me. That is why my old white eyelet lace dust ruffle became a scarlet eyelet lace dust ruffle for Myranda. I have never tried the color restoration product. Not sure what that does.

Caution: At one point I thought I was going to try one of those Oxy clean products that is advertised. I was advised by a friend who works with things like that more than I do that it may eat holes in old fabrics. Caustic to some things it seems. I didn't try it myself.

[Fedora]

> I have a million stories. Some of them are part written down, I just have a problem finishing anything.

Sounds like my problem :) I have several notebooks filled with story outlines, but I'm a perfectionist and I tend to want to plan the whole story out in my head before I put it down on paper, with the result that it doesn't get put down. Finally last year I forced myself to write down one chapter a day regardless of whether it turned out right the first time or not, and I got a 100-page novella done. Now I'm trying to figure out how to expand it to 250 pages, which I figure is how long it needs to be to publish it.

> Actually... a writing course! For a requirement. It's a fiction writing course and it's quite fun.

Cool! Any specific type of fiction?

> The pieces are too small, though, I can't work at 3,000 words. Heck, 30,000 is just getting started.

Yeah, I had that problem when I took a nonfiction class on writing articles and I had to squeeze it into 3,000 words. In fiction I've found I can only fit a story into that space if I start in medias res or something; sometimes I can also do it if I use an "O. Henry" type of abrupt ending. Here's one of the shortest short stories I've managed to write so far:

---
"Mooncrossed"

The farmer raised his axe at the last second as the wolf sprang from the trees out of the corner of his eye.

He had told his wife he would be back from chopping wood before dark, but the work had been long, and the hour had grown late. She had begged him not to take the risk when over the past month so many sheep had been found with their
throats ripped out and their bellies gutted by something that had been large enough to tear one of the sheep dogs to pieces. But with winter growing cold they needed wood, so he had no choice but to kiss her goodbye and promise her he would be back before dark.

Now in the dark he fought for his life. By a stroke of luck he managed to at least raise his axe to swinging height before the beast was full upon him, bearing him down with a weight closer to that of a bear than a wolf. With the strength of desperation he managed to wedge his left arm into the wolf's mouth, keeping its jaws from immediately ripping his throat out. Pain seared through him like fire as the canine teeth clamped down on his arm, tearing flesh and crushing bone, and the creature's powerful neck muscles began to shake him like a dog shaking its prey. Blocking out the pain, ignoring the hot fetid breath in his nostrils and the slavering over his face, he knew he had only split seconds before his left arm was torn out of its socket. Setting his teeth and summoning all his draining might, his right hand swung the axe as hard as he could into the wolf's front left paw.

With a soul-piercing shriek, the wolf bolted limpingly away on three legs, leaving a severed paw behind where the farmer lay in shock.

Slowly recovering his breath, fighting off the wish to black out, the farmer struggled to his feet. Grimacing, he patched up his badly wounded arm before starting off for home. He took the remaining distance in short legs, resting every few hundred yards. Finally, he stumbled through his door into his kitchen.

His eyes were greeted by the welcome sight of his wife sitting at the kitchen table. But to his confusion, she did not rise to embrace him. Then he looked and saw.

A bloody bandage covered the stump where her left hand had been.

[Corin Stormhands]

I've always been afraid that bleach would eat through the thread.

'Course the other tricksey thing right now is that I don't exactly recall where we have it stored.

But thanks. Those are good suggestions.

[HairOfTheDog]

But thanks. Those are good suggestions.

Indeed! I will have my friend look at it, but then probably take it in to a really good cleaner.

I also have a lot of old silver.... that's next!

[Wneighbor]

NOTE OF CAUTION: Neither of you said anything about keeping these things for monetary value as antiques - but the methods I've described of making them look nicer to use would severely deplete any antique monetary value associated with the items! They are valuable to some antiques people as they are now!

For my things, they were important sentimental family items and I preferred to have them in usable conditions for me.

[HairOfTheDog]

I think that is my most important consideration too.... and these are not likely to be highly valuable to anyone else.