Huston, We have another car!

One of my clients called with a line on two cars. He went & saw them, offered to bring the most likely for me to try out & told me to meet him at my favorite Greasy Spoon. Threw on my clothes - wasn't dressed yet - roared down the road in my hot "little" car & met him as he pulled in. He was driving MY VAN!!! Well, a silver version of MY VAN! I ran over & peeked inside - it was MY VAN, same interior, same seats & the steering wheel even had the Chrysler emblem on it! A TWIN to MY VAN. I got in, drove it across the parking lot & said, "I'll take it!". I actually drove it to New West from Surrey & delivered it back to it's owner so I know it rides nicely & purrs along so quietly you can barely hear it!!! Oh, it's a little newer, has a couple of extra buttons, a 3.2 litre motor instead of my 3.0 & a different color outside but it's essentially the same van. Dodge calls it a Caravan & Chrysler calls it a Voyager. Whoopee, I'm back in business! Kudos to Ralph, my sweet elderly Rock Truck owner, who spent most of the last week driving all over town to find me a car! He's getting my last big bottle of Port from 2005 that I was saving for a Special Occasion!

Car Trouble - Part Two

So I got my new-to-me free car on Friday evening. Not a bad looking car with a couple of problems. It's a Buick Skylark. The car has been sitting in a client's drive for the last month since he found his mother-in-law the new mini van! He gave me the car to use until I can find - scrape together the money - a car. My van picked the worst time since every bit of spare money I've made this year went to pay down the bills I 'inherited' when I gave the BT the boot. But, back to the car. Gavin gave it to me for free. He told me it had a dead short so I'd have to disconnect the battery at night. He also told me about the leak in the trunk & the hole in the muffler. I can live with that I said. RIGHT!

It came on empty with the gas door pried open. What a surprise! It also came with one set of keys & the official wrench to connect the battery terminal. So, I connected the battery & took it out to Revenue Canada to drop off paperwork. I can't believe it's so low & so small inside. My butt barely fits into the seat but there's actually plenty of leg room. And, I couldn't get the door open to get out of the car. I was afraid it would run out of gas before I got next door to the gas station!!! I couldn't find the interior light, I couldn't open the door to make it come on & was stuffed inside so tightly I couldn't even climb out through the window if it was sinking into the river!!! Eventually, I found the Kiddie locks on the doors - why on the Driver's door??? Like some kid has room to open the door when MOM's driving??? I think I hate this car! Eventually, I got gas & went home. On Saturday morning I had to let it run for half an hour until the condensation on the INSIDE of the windows cleared enough so I could see out. I could get into the car by gravity feed which I remembered from the night before but getting that seat belt on is a trial! My ample butt overfills the moulded seat & doesn't give me much maneuver room to find the belt & stuff it into it's other end. When I could almost see through the windshield, I put the front windows down so I could see both sides & left for work with the defroster still blasting. The passenger window wouldn't come back up again. But, the heater works, the radio sometimes works - you have to dial in your favorite station every time you reconnect the battery . . . But, the car really moves. Lots of power, signals work, horn works, electrical works when the battery is connected. I parked it in the sun on Saturday to dry out the interior. Sunday morning was great. No condensation inside at all. But it was cranky to start after I dropped the wrench inside the car when trying to connect the battery cable in the dark. Had to tighten it by hand. Couldn't keep the car running properly & had to balance the brake with the gas at all lights or it would die. Got to the main intersection - lots of accidents here - car stopped, battery not connected properly! Oh Shit! Had to pump brake lights to let people know I was there in the dark & then pry my butt out of the car, raise hood, tighten battery terminal by hand because I'd dropped the wrench somewhere inside the car where it probably fell out on the road by now, close hood, fall back into snug seat & get out of the intersection before the light changed. To hell with the seat belt . . . balanced gas & brake all the way to work. This car is a menace! I'm going to go to the Auction, get a car & put it on my credit card if I have to!!!

So, while I haven't been driving anywhere other than work, I've been knitting. I've cast on new socks for the Ex - this is pair #3 this year - and am to the heel shaping on both. If I survive this car, I'll make him one more pair before Christmas.

Yes We have No Wheels

Since I still don't have a car & yesterday was payday - the 'Boss' didn't have a problem picking me up - late!!! - & dropping me back home - also late - he forgot about me!!! He WAS sick so I told him to GO HOME & go to bed. I didn't need him breathing all over me - I was very busy for the whole day. I didn't even realize I'd been forgotten till my stomach started to growl . . . . My loaner car will be here sometime today - if the current owner can be located to sign the transfer paperwork . . . so I'm working at home making soup & doing laundry while I pound on the keyboard. The old Home Office is really great at times like these - I can multi-task & get paid for it too.

I've been out on the patio moving plants around. My houseplants are still out there where they've been since Easter. Since the basement is quite dark in the winter, I try to give them as much time outside as possible & yet not freeze them. As long as we don't get a hard frost, they'll be just fine out there under the cover of the balcony & against the back wall. The Easter & Christmas Cacti are already setting buds & getting ready to bloom their little hearts out when I bring them in. The Jade Plant has sprouted new leaves all up & down its thick main stem & the remnants of the branches I left attached. It got quite weedy in the office's dim light so I pruned it severely & gave it a shot of fish fertilizer in the spring. One of the Spider plants has babies almost as big as the mother plant & the Ferns have doubled in size with the damp, cool weather! Jade plant cuttings were thrown into the side of a large plumed Flamingo grass planter & rooted themselves. I've been giving them away as I can. The Grasses are enjoying this weather with a nice variety of plumes, seeds & nubs.

Finished two pairs of size 13 socks & started another for the Ex in a nice blue Regia yarn. Regia always feels so thick & cushy after knitting with Confetti! After washing, they all feel more alike of course, but Regia is just so nice to knit with. I have two 100 gm balls of the same blue yarn so I'm knitting one sock from each ball for him which will leave lots of yarn to knit a pair for me out of the remains. I found a nice simple lace pattern that I'd like to try & may use this Regia for it.

Still spinning up my Brown Sheep mill ends. I spent several hours every sunny day over the Holiday out on the patio with a Murder playing on my MP3 player spinning those mill ends. I have about half a Safeway bag full of the 'bumps' - I'm not even going to talk about the roving I haven't yet started to spin. My half of that 15 pound bag has gone a L-O-N-G way!! I never imagined when I bought it!! I am really hoping I have enough yarn here when it's all spun up to knit a kimono style jacket for myself.

The Fickle Finger of Fate

I distinctly remember whining about being a dull person with a dull life. On Saturday morning, I got a little excitement in my life that I'd rather not get. My car blew up. My nice little Voyager van that buzzed through that damned AirCare like a hot knife through butter. And raced up the Coq at 120k just as smooth as you could want! I had to fill up the oil once a week lately because it developed a leak. It had a problem or two but overall, it ran well, didn't cost me a lot of money & got me where I needed to go on time. Yesterday, it blew a head gasket on the way to work & left me on the side of the road in a cloud of steam/smoke. So, it's off to the Crusher & I have to find a new-to-me car.

Life isn't SO bad though. I spent a couple hours on the phone letting all my friends & customers who tinker with cars know I blew up the van. I also let them know I was collecting money for new wheels!! One of the worst offenders may be able to pay his bill by finding me new wheels!! And my favorite customer Ralph was already at the Auction - he offered to check out the Reserve cars at the end of the day!! In the end, I was offered the use of a car which has a small trunk leak & a dead short in the battery. I will have to disconnect said battery when I park it for more than a couple of hours but it's free until I can find a better one. We decided a kill switch on the outside of the front grill would be a nice touch & save me from being drowned when I have to connect/reconnect the battery in the rain . . . . I did ask for excitement. Didn't I??

And the wandering Red Cup has come home. When I ordered my tea at Wednesday Nite Knitting with the girls, it came in my Red Cup.

Nothing to Report, Nothing on the Needles

I've come to the sad conclusion that I'm not very exciting any more. I do the same old things, see the same old people, rush home to the same old tv shows & knit the same old stuff. It's Tuesday, so what am I doing?? Well, the very same things I did last Tuesday. I haven't got dressed yet although I've been pounding on the keyboard for a several hours contemplating going out to pick up the mail, pick up a cheque, do some banking & eat a chicken & swiss sandwich at my same old coffee shop while catching up on two day's newspapers. See?? Dull!
I miss the old BT in some ways - he, at least, wanted to get out & GO somewhere for coffee every day. So we had to get shampooed, showered, shaved & scented to go out for coffee. Sometimes, by myself, I don't go out for days. Not that I'm unhappy or bored - I have tons of things to do - but I'm afraid I've become dull, boring & sexless as aging women often do. Damned if I'm going to start running after men or drinking in public but I may just have to generate some excitement by dyeing my hair a flaming bright RED. Just to stir things up a little. If I was 16 again, I'd dye it MAGENTA!! But I'm not sure that would work when I deal with the public who are often insecure & needy.

So, I guess the only thing left to do is to take on a new project. I DO have 7 more classes to take to finally finish the degree I've been working on since the 70s. Hell, I've been working on it for so long that 5 of my classes have been deleted as "non transferable" "content unknown" from my transcript!!! It's time to get it finished! I even picked out new classes but I have to win the Lotto to afford them. Where is a rich relative or a Trust Fund when you need em???
I could start working on that Poncho Pullover pattern - the hot Pink & Purple yarn I bought is just too fine for the pattern but I have a ton of Briggs & Little Heritage that would work! Come to think of it, I have a box full of Buffalo Wool that would work too . . . . And then there's that bag of Phentex yarn that Gail so nicely gifted to me. Thanx a lot Gail! I should make her something she has to wear out of that "yarn"!
I suppose I could even get my sewing machine back in action - yes, I DO sew - and make myself some pants now that I've given all the ones in my closet away! I had a moment this summer & cleaned out my bedroom closet. I threw out everything I'm not happy with, don't wear, is the wrong color including all the pants - 11 pairs that I have to roll in the waist!!! I found out I'm petite sizing in pants with regular length legs. Whoop-de-Do!! They don't make pants for people like me. I can buy shorts or capris because they have short legs. but not pants because the legs are too short. I can't wear regular pants unless I roll the waistband or chop three or four inches off the top & put the waistband back on. Easy for pull-ons with no pockets or design detail but impossible for anything else. So I live in shorts or sweats. Lately, I've been thinking about buying stretch denim or heavy cotton/lycra & just making my own pants. I like a stirrup pant for winter so there's no gap between sock & pant leg when you get in & out of the car. I can make them easily AND since I don't have an orange cat anymore, I can wear black pants if I want!!!! I also want leggings to wear with my oversized tees for exercise class. I am NOT prepared to pay $40 to $60 for them! Hmmm - not a bad idea that . . . I may be boring but I will not be unpanted!! I can make wild, flowered leggings!! I can have MAGENTA & PLUM stretch pants!! Come to think of it, I haven't been in the discount fabric stores in years . . . and there's those bins of fabric in the closet of my bedroom - mmmm, I wonder what's in there . . .