Roll with the punches

Greetings from the Melbourne, Florida airport, where I am waiting for a flight. (It would seem my name is fine today, and the only issue now is that the flight is delayed. I am under a curse, but am working hard not to care.)

I would seem, little butterflies, that I was entirely premature with the “broken camera” statement. It turns out that the camera itself works just fine – it is the the screen, and only the screen that is broken, and the screen really is broken. As you can see, the only display the camera gives me is this one:

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(I took that picture just now with my computer camera.) See that? White screen, with black blotches and tiny black, red and blue lines. (I bet you can’t see those, but they are there. Clearly, very, very broken. Now, since this camera doesn’t have a viewfinder, just a screen, this means that I really can’t see what I’m taking pictures of, and this really, really upset me until I realized that the camera is still taking pictures. It’s taking them perfectly. I just don’t know what they look like until I download them on the computer and look at them. I discovered this while talking with Rachel H on the phone at the airport yesterday, and she cheered me right up by pointing out that this is now a perfect camera for Kinnearing. The minute she said it, I realized she was right. This is now entirely a Kinnear Camera. If the purpose of Kinnearing is to take a picture of someone without looking so that they don’t notice, then this is now perfect, because now it is impossible to look. I could be taking a picture of anything! It could be out of focus, it might not have the subject in it, it could be crooked, I mean, it’s totally a crap shoot now. I can keep taking pictures, but there is nothing in it but the element of surprise. Now, I sort of like surprises.. so this is what I did. I kept taking pictures anyway. I took pictures of Joe’s sister Kelly when she came to visit me yesterday at the time of the great airport waiting (she works at the airport):

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I took pictures of the sweater in the bathroom – because heck. Maybe they would work out…

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but they didn’t. Fortunately for me, I didn’t know that they didn’t work out until just now, which means that I went boldly forth taking pictures between then and now, and didn’t give it another thought. There was nothing I could do, so I did nothing. I arrived in Vero Beach last night at 2:30am and fell into the bed without getting undressed. In the 13 seconds of consiousness I had before I was asleep, I thought I heard the sea… so this morning when I got up, I went over to the window and looked out, and this is what I saw:

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(See that? I kinneared the ocean. Worked great.) I took a bath, I packed my stuff back up, I drank a quick cup of coffee, checked email, pulled out my notes for where to go and what to do, and realized that I had an extra 15 minutes to spare, so I walked to the sea.

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What a beautiful place… and hot and sunny (really hot, really sunny) and I rolled up my pants and walked along the beach until my 9 remaining minutes were up, then went back inside, grabbed my suitcase and went off to speak at Vero Beach Books for 11:00, with my jeans soaked with seawater from the knees down. (I like to think that people understood. It was the ocean.)

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I tried to take a sock picture with the knitters there, but it turns out that didn’t go as well –

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since I only got some of them in. (Sorry. The sock looks bad too.) Then I took a picture of Tracy and Sarah:

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(That one went really well, didn’t it?)

and I totally kinneared Lisa and her first socks (one of which is a ladies large, and the other child sized)

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but I only got the socks and her lovely daughter in the picture. Sorry Tracy. If it’s any consolation, the parts of your body that I got in that picture look really great.

In any event, I’m going to be making lemonade of of lemons. The kinnear camera is on the road. Next stop,

Foxtale Books.

128 thoughts on “Roll with the punches

  1. What GORGEOUS weather and a lovely view you have–enjoy! I hope the rest of your travel is uneventful!

  2. Don’t forget that you can look through the viewfinder to compose your photos. 😉 Even without that, you still took some great ones!

  3. Enjoy the Florida weather for the brief time you are here! I’m bereft that I didn’t make the 2 hour drive to hear you! I hope your remaining travels are stress free! Knit on!

  4. Damn. You are the Queen of All That Is Kinnearing. The Original Kinnearer, kinnearing with the very first Kinnear-only camera.
    It seems like this camera should eventually end up on display in the Smithsonian, with a printout of your original Kinnearing post, prints of the first Kinnearing shots, a continuous loop playing Greg on Conan’s show talking about being Kinneared…

  5. Things are bound to look up after yesterday, right?! Thanks for sharing that whole experience (even nonknitting dh giggled through that entire post, & today’s too!) – & here’s hoping you can catch up on some sleep tonight. or knitting, or beer. Your choice.

  6. After yesterday you deserved a good day. Waking up to that view from your hotel and walking on the beach had to have helped. I sighed when I saw the sand and surf. If your camera has a small window (whatever they call that little thing)at the top you can look through it. Happy Kinnearing!

  7. Phew!
    The best part of your travels is the babies and their mamas and all the cool socks.
    Lucky thing you invented Kinnearing!
    I’m so glad you got out of Canada okay! Safe travels.

  8. It is so cute that you call the ocean the sea. I love you and Canada and all Canadians. And I love the Kinnear-Cam. I think you could market them and sell them and make a fortune.

  9. Unfortunately, it’s getting harder and harder these days to find a camera with a viewfinder. Just a screen. So if the sun is bright, you can’t see the screen and you can’t get up really close to the screen and peer through it either. I know. I’ve tried.

  10. Now, aren’t you glad you invented Kinnearing?
    Your photos look fine. Sorry you didn’t have more time to enjoy the beach.

  11. Dude, that stinks about the camera. We had one do that once. But at least you got to Florida and had a chance to enjoy the beach a little! 🙂

  12. i do love how you shake it off and move along! and that ocean picture?… sigh.

  13. Next thing you know there will be actual “Kinnear Cams”. If I were you I’d call my attorney and have him patent that name.

  14. Really enjoyed hearing you speak today in Vero Beach. Being a native of Florida, I’m really glad that mean Mother Nature cooperated and gave you a beautiful few minutes by the ocean. She does have her moments.
    Sorry about the camera, but it does make it somewhat interesting not knowing what you’re going to get! Hope the rest of your trip goes well.

  15. Gee, it’s like you’re using film again–you don’t know what you’ve got until you get the pictures back! (Except, of course, that most film cameras have functioning viewfinders.)
    Glad you’re keeping your spirits up!

  16. Another historic moment! I remember your very first post about Kinnearing and was glad that I was able to take note of that historic moment (and all the other historic moments since then – vicariously). I’m so glad that I could enjoy this historical epic event as well.
    The beach is beautiful and you deserve every second on it as a reward for handling adversity so well.

  17. Fate, Kinnearing, bad cameras but great photos, good crowd and safe travelling … somewhere in there is good karma. Pretty ocean, somewhat naked neighbours, an excuse for guinness, and actually .. if you just turn into Yoda and feel the force YK .. its all rather good.
    Happy travelling and feel the force Luke …. feel the force

  18. That happened to my camera!! Except I know exactly what happened–my 15yo son took it to Philmont, put it in his back pocket and sat on a log, thus cracking the screen. I used it for quite a while before the colors started to do weird things…
    But your pictures are turning out great! You must be practiced at shooting from the hip.

  19. WAY TO GO STEPH!!!!! You overcame the mess from yesterday and have a smiley attitude!! Also, looking at the ocean does MUCH for any attitude. I grew up in land-locked Nebraska, so the ocean just completely blows my mind. Awesome that you took the few precious minutes you had to spread your toes out in some sea and sand! You ROCK!!

  20. Great photos! You can’t tell you’re not looking. And the beach looks awesome, I hope you get to spend some more time there. And that your naked neighbour puts some clothes on.

  21. what IS it with hyphens, anyway? my dd’s given name is hyphenated, and that freaked social security out 26+ years ago. but wouldn’t you think that by now computers (and people) could cope?
    here’s hoping the rest of your trip is as hassle-free as the first segment was hassle-full.
    and three cheers for kelly and air canada!

  22. Thank you so much for making the trip to Florida, despite all the mess you had to go through to get here. We were so excited to be be graced with your presence and humor today. And I agree, that Tracy and her Sarah sure are precious. Great picture! I sincerely hope the rest of your tour goes more smoothly, and you finally get some very deserved rest!

  23. I have a camera just like that . . . it’s a really great camera even if the screen is shattered into tiny little bits. I keep it cuz I like the pics it takes – at least when they come close to hitting the mark.

  24. That happened to my dad’s camera. He’s retired and has something called “free time” so he went to the camera shop. Turned out it happens a lot and the company knows about it and will fix it. And when they couldn’t fix my dad’s, they sent him a new camera. For the price of shipping. Really. (And now that it’s happened to mine, I think I’ll ask him to get it fixed for me…)
    But if you wanted, you could keep Kinnearing and call it art, because it kind of is.

  25. You were awesome today! Thank you so much for taking the time to come down to Vero Beach and speak with us – you’re a rock star!!

  26. As a fan of your writing for a long time I would like to thank you for perservering and getting to Vero Beach.
    It was wonderful to hear you speak today, like one of your books came to life right in front of me. I invited my mother in law to come along and she agreed with you that “it’s not about the knitting.” I am disappointed that I couldn’t stay to say hello as your blog has inspired me to be a better knitter and human being. I made a commitment to donate monthly to Knitters Without Borders based on your advocacy. I wanted to thank you in person but sadly other commitments intruded. Plus the whole tongue-tied shyness thing.
    Anyway, Thank You for coming and making us laugh. You may want to reconsider the suggestion of making a cd of your talks. Are we greedy to want to hold on to a bit of that feeling in the room today, to take out on a day when life is a bit too much??
    Thank you again,
    Katrina

  27. I can just picture Tracy’s daughter jumping up and down in delight at that cool picture of herself on your blog. That careening kinnearing camera does okay after all!

  28. I have had the same thing happen to my camera last summer in the middle of a trip. It sucks so bad when you take the camera out and it is just one broken mess of an LCD. Luckily you are taking some great photos anyway! Good luck on the rest of the trip!

  29. There’s nothing quite like waking up to the sound of the ocean. What a peaceful end to a tough day.

  30. Hope you enjoyed your trip to Florida. You got here just in time, before it gets really stupid hot!!
    Good luck on the rest of your travels

  31. I’m very jealous that you got to walk on a beach, and it’s evening cooler waiting to see what the kinnearing camera will turn up. Maybe we should all try it by turning off the screens on our cameras.

  32. Steph, Churchill would be proud! (never,ever give up!)Glad you enjoyed the ocean! Godspeed.

  33. I recommend trying to get it repaired with the warranty when you are back.
    This kind of screen problem should be able to be fixed.
    Hope the rest of the trip goes well.

  34. Just remember: not too long ago, we didn’t get to see how any of our photos looked until they were developed. Sort of the same thing (at least that’s what I told myself when my camera did the same thing, after I fell on top of it in a New York City street!)

  35. Haha, Foxtale books reminds me of “fox books” in “You’ve got mail” movie, which ironically has Greg Kinnear in it. It’s a stretch, but thats were my mind went.

  36. glad you were able to make lemonade out of your camera situation (though i really like Arnold-Plamers over lemonade alone). That said, it is a liquid-crystal-display, so don’t think to hard about it, but start saving up for a new camera as the liquid will find it’s way into the there parts and eventually it will just not turn on. Have fun with the rest of your trip.

  37. Stephanie, we had so much fun coming to see you today. Sarah was so worn out that she slept all afternoon after her big morning out. Thanks for including us in your blog! And thank you for coming to talk to us. We really enjoyed it – and put most of it into practical use on the way home. I shot you an e-mail to tell you about our “McGyver Moment” on the trip home.

  38. Steph, you’re not under a curse. It’s Mercury Retrograde and it’s happening to all of us. 🙂 Last night, when I went to turn off my Mac, it started spewing gibberish in white letters on a black strip background over top of the regular desktop picture. Then it wouldn’t acknowledge me.
    Today, it’s fine. It’ll pass. MR only lasts three weeks.
    Great Kinnearable Camera, btw.

  39. Hmmm… Perhaps, in a couple of years, companies will be offering this sort of camera for sale and marketing it as a Kinnearing camera!!! Atta girl, Steph–you saved the trip from being utterly frustrating, blogging-wise.
    Also, I was thinking along the same lines as Rose–back in the day, you didn’t really know how photos were going to come out until you picked them up at the developer. I remember my Dad (and me and everyone else I knew) taking several of everything, just in case.
    Rock on, Steph!
    P.S. AHA: just remembered: Mercury is in retrograde, and therefore communication and travel are liable to become… er… messed up. I’m afraid it won’t get better until the 31st, when Mercury goes direct again. Good luck!

  40. I’m glad you made it to Florida safe and sound. Thankfully, the weather cooperated for you!
    As my daughter’s team prepared for the big game (we lost, by the way), I eased out of the hotel. My husband cornered me and said, “You’re not going to Vero, are you??” Um, no, but I seriously considered it!
    Wish I could have been a part of the headless crowd you got a picture of!

  41. My Dad, who is a very serious amateur photographer, is always on about how you shouldn’t use the screen, you should use the viewfinder, and although he’s right, this another reason to always choose a camera that _has_ a viewfinder 😉 My son has a camera who’s screen went bad, and he’s content with it, because he uses the viewfinder!
    My husband told me not to forget to tie my shoes before I went to the yarn store today…he didn’t want me falling down and swiping my credit card….unfortunately I listened, which is why that purple namaste bag is still in the shop…

  42. I am soooo proud of you Stephanie! As someone else so aptly said…
    YOU ROCK!
    You are made of some very strong stuff, and you came out winning!

  43. Hoo boy. I just finished reading your prior entry. As an astrologer, I feel the need to point out: Mercury is retrograde. THAT’S what you can blame the whole mess on. (Okay, maybe the airline is run by people with brains the size of walnuts, but besides that.) Anyway, it’s not unusual during a Mercury retrograde period to have challenges with travel, communication, and technical hoo-hah. Sounds like you covered them all…

  44. Hang in there! We love you here, I’m sure we could organize some sort of rally to go the airport and totally harass the people who gave you a hard time about your name. Maybe a whole contingent of Americans with hyphenated names converging all at once.

  45. Rachel H is obviously sent from Heaven. Nice one.
    And even though I hated living in FL, I too found that for some reason, walking along the sand and getting some ocean water on the bottom of your pants somehow cures most things. And what that won’t cure, usually some combination of beer, yarn, and chocolate will.
    Have a wonderful time in the Sunshine State!

  46. You have just the best attitude, you get the blue ribbon on this trip. I’m glad the ocean was lovely and babies were cute. Have a great trip.

  47. A recent issue of something or other suggested that when life gives you lemons, ADD ALCOHOL!!
    I hope you have an uninteresting trip home.

  48. I really enjoyed the photos in this entry. I think they’re beautiful on many levels, especially knowing they were taken purely by chance. I’m so glad you were open to discovering the silver lining to this camera’s condition. I believe this is what most people call “creativity”. 🙂

  49. I am shattered.
    I just read your entire blog back to front, and am now caught up (by just, I mean I started in March).
    This is not fair. What on earth am I going to do with myself at work now? Actually work? not bloody likely.
    hurry to Austin, please. Update on the weater here, yesterday it was 90F, today, it’s rainy and 76F. That’s 32C and 24C, respectively. Maybe you’d get to wear your sweater outside after all.

  50. I’m so glad things are starting to go better! When you get home, are you planning to send the AWISNNBIATATGTTGH story to Consumerist?

  51. Sorry to hear about the camera – and I’ve had that happen. Downside of the digital cameras is no viewfinder! Because of course the screen is supposed to be working. In the break between Fairhope and Austin, can you repair/replace?
    And when you get to Dallas, find a way to hie thee to Trinity Hall for proper adult beverages and congenial atmosphere. Much better than any ilk they’ll point you at in Plano and Frisco – and I speak as a decade-long resident of a home within walking/biking distance of Legacy Books. So there. Central and Mockingbird. Proper beverages.
    Hopefully you’ll have some wool-seeking time as well. There are a lot of great independent dyers in the Dallas area, too bad you missed the market at DFW Fiber Fest (by mere weeks) but a lot of them sell through LYS and you can fall down well-cushioned by lovely and unusual wools. I highly recommend the FiberLady bamboo-wool sock yarn and The Accidental Knitter’s colourways and of course the Madelinetosh sockweight and laceweight yarns.

  52. wow. that hotel window shot– like a postcard. i would give 1/2 my stash to have the sound of the ocean to wake me up in the morning for a week or so. have a great trip!

  53. Stephanie!
    you are a bounty of inspiration!
    as for your camera: you may find that you’ll develop a sense for the framing as you continue to shoot and review, even without a viewfinder.
    it is so great that you continually find ways to make lemonade from the lemony sourness of life.
    (though I’d still like to know that airline so as to avoid them like the plague, not that I fly often but when I do it is already traumatic, I would not need resistance before boarding, I might start to walk!)

  54. You are such a trooper! As a fellow hyphenated namer I sympathize with your troubles. I’m constantly being asked is it under M or G? And I’m constantly heard yelling “treat it like it’s one word, ignore the hyphen”. And your camera is kind of like a game now…what kind of picture will it take…it’s a surprise.

  55. Just think, if it wasnt’ for Mercury Retrograde and suchlike, how would you have all these weird and wonderful zany adventures/misadventures with which to keep us all howling? I *still* chuckle over the post about your throwing away one coffee after another in the airport last year and even copied the post to send to a friend as a cautionary tale against exhaustion. All hale Mercury Retro, kinnearing and our very own Harlot, who makes the best of things, in all things!

  56. I so identify with your camera situation. Mine isn’t broken (yet), but doesn’t have a view finder only the screen. When it’s bright sunlight it’s almost impossible to see anything on the screen – so it becomes a PASD camera (point and shoot, dummy). Still, occasionally, I am astounded at how some heads are cut off and other times a couple of kittens, elusive and ACTIVE, are centered perfectly in the middle of a bed of flowers. I guess I have come to enjoy the surprises. Could that be rationalizing? I think not. Enjoy your posts, as always.

  57. Bum, yesterday’s erudite comment posted after liberating glass of wine, has been stolen. May need new, early, liberating glass of wine to aid composition.
    Still love the blog, which hasn’t been stolen … still love the photos, still confused about missing comments!

  58. Recently edited/corrected DEFINITELY NOT politicallly correct motto:
    “When Life hands you lemons, make lemon MARTINIS”
    As long as you keep the knits out of the ocean water, you are good to go!

  59. Enormous damn, yesterday’s comment not stolen, I need glasses (on the nose ones not full with wine ones).
    Double damn … I got hugely polite email apologising for spam filter.
    Perhaps no-one will notice … but in case you do – so sorry, all my fault, must go back to knitting and leave keyboard alone for while.
    Lo siento. Tenga un buen día. Encuentre el café.

  60. Steph, you should be the poster child for Landing On One’s Feet!! Hope the remainder of your trip is uneventful………safe trip home.

  61. The shot of just the surf and sky is amazing and awesome….especially when you consider that it was pretty much an accident.
    Hopefully this is the end of your bad travel karma for this jaunt, though.

  62. Oceans and seas are lovely things. – though maybe they aren’t things but beings – they move and contain a lot of life, after all.
    Idea: Next camera you get, for backup, do a test: hold it up and compare the screen image with what you see from a point just above the screen. Then make a little cardboard cutout that, when taped to the camera, acts as a viewfinder (at least for a point-and-shoot shot).

  63. I’m a day late with this; nevertheless, here are many (((((hugs))))) for you for undergoing the horror of the red tape at the airport.

  64. One more reason why I like my Canon. It will never be a Kinnercam. One of the few point and shoots still with a viewfinder. I can never see anything in the screen when it is sunny so a viewfinder was a deal breaker for me.

  65. Broken screen or not, those are mostly really cool pictures. I really like the ocean one, you could frame that and put it somewhere – or carry it with you to airports – for reference when you need to look at the sea and zone out. Of course the baby pic has to be my favorite.

  66. …what a beautiful photo from your hotel window in Vero Beach…what was the name of the hotel??? I would love to stay there sometime!!!!

  67. You were in Melbourne, that’s 45 minutes from me and I missed it, stupid work! Sorry about the camera, but I am glad that the ocean helped. If you thought it was hot this week be glad you missed last week!

  68. The Kinnear camera, snerk! Well, what the hey. You are a good photographer and familiar with your camera, and after all, really, how much different is it from film photography, which is what we all did just a few short years ago? (OK, without a viewfinder, granted, yes, yes, I know. But what’s a viewfinder among friends?)
    Have fun Kinnearing, and I do hope your computer continues to work….

  69. My friend and I drove from Miami to see you at Vero. It was definitely worth the 5 hours in the car (total time to and from). Thank you for braving the Florida heat. I’m glad you got to enjoy the beach. Trust me everyone understood about the wet pants. :)!

  70. Nothing like waking up to the ocean and having some time to enjoy it after a really crummy day previously. Glad you made it to Florida safely and your camera is taking pictures… personally I think they all turned out pretty well considering.

  71. Dude, when did they stop making camera with view finders? I have a digital and it has a view finder. That’s totally wild.

  72. Sorry to hear about your airline troubles, that post scared me a whole lot. I’m flying to Montreal the week after next and the airlines can never fit my whole name on to my ticket. This time I have my first surname, then the hyphen, my second surname with a lowercase “d” and the final letter missing. I’m crossing my fingers the airline people are friendly!

  73. Oh, I forgot to quote a “blue collar” buddy, “I believe that if life hands you lemons, you should find someone who life has handed vodka and have yourselves a party!”

  74. Your picture of Tracy and Sarah was great! Thanks for coming to Vero. I had a great time. In route back home I got to use my emergency yarn project in a MacGyver moment to temporary correct a dragging bumper. 😉 I’ll send you the pictures.

  75. Safe travels! I think your pics will be fun to see and laugh about later 🙂
    You can always put on beer goggles first…

  76. Oooh-oooh-ooh! It’s like the olden days! Remember? When you had to drop off your film at the drugstore and wait (GASP!) a WHOLE WEEK sometimes to find out what you had!

  77. Wow. Your dealing with that airline sounds like when i lived in China for so many years. The complete lack of logic of the communist bureaucracy was staggering. Wonderful to know it’s alive and well in an airline. . . .

  78. way to roll with it!
    i’m so sad that i’m going to miss your trip to dallas (plano). but if i’m going to miss you, at least it’s ’cause i’m on vacation.
    trying to roll with it.

  79. Um, I didn’t look at all the comments (yet) so this could be there already. Ya know, with old time FILM cameras, ones piotures were always a crap shoot. You never knew if you really got Aunt Martha smootching Uncle Fred under the mistletoe or not until the pics were developed 2 weeks later. So, see, you have a Retro Camera!

  80. Too awesome! When I read your airport nightmare blog yesterday, I turned to my husband and said “now there’s a lady who knows how to make lemonade”! Well done! And those ocean shots are amazing!!

  81. Oh come on, just think it’s better than the ones with the negatives where you have to wait till your finished the whole role. this one, you can just download right into your computer, it’s cool. Different perspective…. always a good thing.

  82. I hope you enjoyed the palms while you were down south.
    I am planning on going to your talk in Saskatchewan on June 6th.
    That is if it stops SNOWING

  83. i went to southern georgia (north of where you were) in late december for christmas a year and a half ago, and we went to tybee island (just outside of savannah). the only ones who didn’t wade in the ocean were my mother & my husband (she’s 81 and he has foot issues). EVERY time i get near the ocean, i dunk my feet,regardless of location. i’ve even been known to wade in the pacific off the oregon coast in october (my feet were numb, but i loved it!)
    and even though you don’t want to give the so&so airlinethe google hits, could you whisper it in my ear, so i know to avoid themin the future? what asshats

  84. You absolutely make my day – I adore your humor and ability to make light of situations that can push the normal human bean to murder.

  85. Maybe someone has already suggested this, I haven’t read all the comments…but there is a way to prevent all this silly problems w/ your last name (and first name too!). That is to join the frequent flyer club of every airline that you fly. This is somewhat annoying in that you may get some junk mail, etc. but trust me…they will then know exactly who you are because when you or a travel agent books any flight for you …they will use your name AND your membership number. Also, you can get points, etc. and possibly use them at some point when the moon is in a certain phase for a free ticket. But mostly…it will fix the whole airline name problem and it can make things very easy at check-in. Within the US, for examply, you can electronically check in at the counter by merely swiping your membership card (for some airlines) and get your boarding pass etc. faster than the non-member lines. Your travel agent will just keep all your membership numbers on file and also, once something is booked you can easily go to the airlines web site and confirm that everything is hunky-dorry. The important thing (I have memberships in like 6 airlines…you might need more)…is that you need to make sure your name is exactly the same on all of the cards and try to have your login name and password the same for each account. Trust me this will simplify your life. I carry all the cards when I travel…in case I need to switch airlines due to some snafu. Being part of their club makes them treat you better…even a small amt certainly helps. For examply…if you had been a card-carrying member of a certain well know airline that starts w/ U. they will always try to fix the problem and get you on a flight. I know this for a fact as they have serious PR w/ their membership. I was able to get a ticket changed at the airport by them and my friend was not. Same flight, I was a member. It made all the different.
    The camera…I have no suggestions except to take it to camera repair! Best of luck w/ the next flights.

  86. As Dr. Evil might say, if he were a knitter and therefore not quite so evil, you validate me. Thank you for making the trek to Vero.

  87. Your optimism is inspiring – and the kinnearing photos are definitely working. Love the one with the baby. 🙂 Best of luck with the rest of the flights!

  88. I have found that walking on the beach, toes in the sand and water, can cure just about any problem. Glad you got the chance to do that.

  89. That baby picture was the really important one, and it came out great! Someday, she’ll be looking at herself immortalized online by the Original Kinnearer herself.
    While I understand the security issues, the fact that I can be held up by stupid mistakes over which I have NO control infuriates me. My first name is hyphenated on some things, not on others. And I can’t correct them when they are wrong because the Federal/State officials say we can’t do that. I’d have to pay hundreds of dollars for a legal name change to fix things. All because some idiot somewhere wasn’t paying attention.

  90. mmm…nice beach pictures. I grew up in Melbourne–thanks for taking me back. My mom says that salt water heals all.

  91. I was born and raised in Vero Beach and it is a wonderful place–beach is great and the community does a lot to keep them spectacular. Glad you enjoyed your time there. Made me homesick.

  92. I was going to comment on the last post, but Ill put it here.
    I was trying to send my dog down to my parents (Im moving near them in a month, this keeps me from having to make the 2000 mile road trip with both dogs.) and the airline wouldnt let me send her down. the kennel was too small… a kennel they sold me for that dog 6 months ago! bastards! And i cant get a bigger one- It wont fit through the door of the plane… grrrrrr…

  93. Stephanie, First thanks for coming to Vero… Your presentation was really amazing. I would seriously love to have some of the info on the research you shared with us. I was so busy laughing and enjoying every moment that many of the amazing details you shared about the brain waves and the monks flew out of my menopausal head – I hope you can share some of that on your blog soon… I’ve tried to tell a few other knitting friends about it and just could not get it really right.
    Thanks again for coming to Vero and I do hope the rest of your trip went well.

  94. *laughing* Sorry, sweetheart, but all I can tell you is that Tracy must be so pleased… those, uhm, socks were stunning!

  95. Vicariously enjoying it all 🙂 from the Central Tablelands of NSW, Australia.
    Have just discovered your books and am absolutely hooked! Thank you.

  96. About yesterday and the hyphenated name thing.. OK my middle name is the name, I’ve ALWAYS been called and it is hyphenated. This placement has given me a lifetime of issues much like yours. The latest — I called to begin Medicare and was told I HAD TO GO BY MY FIRST AND LAST NAME –rules!! That confuses doctors and medicine supplies. The only way to change this problem (so I was told) is to legally change my name in court. I feel like I’m trapped in a circus!!!!!
    I must have wasted my entire life trying to teach school when there is no intelligence in “the system!!” –send in the clowns

  97. It’s like the old days. Back when we had that thingy… what was it called? Oh yes! 35mm film. You never knew what you had until it was… erm… developed, is that the word?
    Lovely ocean. Am chartreuse with envy.

  98. The restaurant where they didn’t know what to do when confronted with a vegetarian: you can’t go wrong with Greek salad and a baked potato with sour cream, and most places have those. Add a cheesecake for dessert, and it’s opulent. Anyone like me, with a family member who suffers from gout, knows that it’s more restrictive than being a pure vegan, because as well as meat and fish, there’s all kinds of vegetables–the kind usually held out as meat substitutes, like lentils and beans, that are off limits. Eggs, dairy products, baked goods, SOME vegetables, and SOME nuts, and that’s about it.

  99. At least you have a broken camera screen — the last time my camera just took broken pictures too!

  100. Safe travels – sorry about all of the travel trouble you’ve been having (I read your previous post and was so angry at AGJERIOOIHJRHJTHJTEUEGERJOGRHGH [I just made that up, isn’t it awesome?] that I wanted to scream and then I saw all of the spammers and wanted to freak out even more) – best wishes for a smooth rest of the trip and enjoy yourself 🙂

  101. I have an apostrophe in my name — O’Brien. Airline computers HATE the opostrophe. when I check in, the computer ALWAYS thinks I’m Mr. O, going to Korea. I swear someday I’m going to get on that plane and go to Korea! and I’m glad you made it to Florida in one piece, and Mr. camera is back working.

  102. I’m so glad that you finally got to Florida, and Florida was good. I wish I were there right now, instead of in my window-free cubicle eating badly cooked rice. (I cooked it, so I can’t complain, so this is not a complaint but an observation.)
    I know, because we have been down this road before, that you can’t be cajoled into revealing the name of AWISNNBIATATGTTGH, which is too bad, because what a bunch of boneheads, I would never fly with them again. (Given that I fly about once every three years, this is not really much of a threat.) But I hope they refunded your ticket several times and promised to fix their computer. I hope this knowing that it didn’t happen. Freaking airline.
    On the plus side, we just had our washing machine fixed by the replacement of a $20 part at a cost of $120. After being informed that we would have to fork over $89 just to have a repairman lay eyes on it, I briefly toyed with the idea of trying to diagnose and fix the problem ourselves before realizing that we’d just end up needing a new washer. I congratulate you and Joe on being able to fix a washing machine yourselves and on living in a place where repair calls are cheap, even if it is often cold there.

  103. I missed reading the 5/15 post until after John started spamming. The airport/airline thing is a real bummer, and I hate those situations where people have just turned into zombies and can’t think about what customer service means.
    The Kinnear camera looks like it’s working well! Cameras seem to be really cheap at the moment, so I guess I wouldn’t feel too bad about replacing it. But maybe you can get this repaired??

  104. Haven’t read this post yet, just commenting on your last. What craziness. My husband flew in and out of Toronto (and hence, other airports in other countries too) with a Canadian passport with his name spelled wrong! For 18 months! We noticed it finally when on a cruise, a bar receipt had his name wrong, even though it’s right on the “Sea Pass”. But you can’t fly because they stuck your names in the wrong boxes? Crazy.

  105. RE: yesterday.
    Kinda makes you love the Vulcans and logic even more…..
    Really nice to see the Vero Beach ocean again having spent some winter vacations there.
    On the return trip through your original airport, please take the opportunity to Kinnear the people at the evil airline. Might even ‘fix’ the camera.
    [Hmmm, just discovered that Kinnear is not yet in the Google spellcheck dictionary. Yuhda though….! ]

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