The following is a brief list of stupid stuff that pissed me off this weekend. I’m listing it here, then putting it all down (spiritually speaking) and going for a walk. Tomorrow I’m going to be chipper, damn it.
1. Salad. I had 15 minutes to grab something to eat in the airport on Friday. Does someone want to explain to me why all of a sudden, it’s impossible to get a vegetarian salad? They’ve all got chicken or ham or some other thing whacked on the top of them, and in airports they’re all pre-made so you can’t have one without it. I totally get that I can’t expect there to be veggie options for everything – but salad? Not being able to get a SALAD? I’m going out on a limb here and saying that there should be vegetarian salads. All the time. Everywhere. Seriously.
2. People who can’t figure out personal space issues. I had had an argument without words with the guy in the seat next to me all the way home from Vancouver. He had issues with using only his allotted seat range of space. He was spread eagled into my ribcage with his elbows, and rested one foot on my knitting bag under the seat in front of me. Totally unacceptable, but I couldn’t find the words to say anything so instead I just quietly hated his guts all the way. It was as effective as it usually is.
3. Me. Why didn’t I say something? Why am I so timid when someone’s jerking me around? I could have politely asked him to move.
4. My sock. I started the April socks on the plane ride home. It’s Show-off Stranded socks and STR lightweight in Valenscummy. 
Ironically, I thought this pattern would help prevent pooling. It’s not. Turns out that this pattern/yarn combo is an expert pooler. It has been ripped back into non-existence and I’m supremely pissed off that I knit that much of it when I knew I was not liking it. Stupid knitting indecision. Hate. It.
4. Someone vandalized our car in a classic smash and grab. (They did ten cars in a row.) For those of you who know me, you’ll be sad to hear that other than the damage to the car, the only thing the person took was Daniel – my beloved GPS. He was old, but faithful and I’ll miss him badly.
5. Whoever it was that smashed the car – thanks for the bonus damage to the car that you inflicted just for giggles. You know, I get that people steal stuff like that because they’re trying to solve a personal problem, and I while I don’t like it, I bet running out of crack money if you’re hooked on the stuff is really awful. I understand why you stole from us. Don’t like it, but get it. I’m having a hard time understanding why they had to do more damage than necessary. It makes me think maybe they’re just a jerk – and not a person struggling, which is where I was willing to go with it until they were that crappy.
6. Cookies. For not being here.
I actually really really like the way the colors are pooling in that photo.
Sucky stuff seems to come in groups. Hope that laying it down and moving on is effective.
Yup. I agree on everything.
Wow!! Sorry to hear you got problems. That’s a pretty bad list. Just remember, some days you’re the windshield, some days you’re the bug…
Oh, Steph – I’m so sorry about your car 🙁 Same thing happened to us last year: nothing of value stolen,, but they broke the stereo faceplate, broke the turn signal, ripped off the visors & the rear-view mirror. So, basically, it cost me my deductible because someone got angry that I didn’t have anything worth their time to steal. That was a hard pill to swallow.
I’m still boggled over the salad. That truly bites. Well, obviously, not *literally* for you…
the guy in the plane? Hes a noob.so’s the one who did your car. and pooling yarn- its a noob too.
Oh, that’s a hard list! I just ate a handful of dark M&Ms-maybe they’d help you, too.
Good idea to let them go and walk on this nice day-first day of warmer outside than inside for 2011. at least here in Western NY-hope you’re having as good weather to the north.
I have some spare boxes of girl scout cookies that I can send you…if that would help…
Deep breaths, count to 4 for each inhale & exhale.
I’ve never had anyone else on a plane try to rest parts of their anatomy on my carry-on (the knitting bag); but as I usually spend at least half a flight rummaging in it, I guess it’s just not still enough to be a good footrest. Yeah, the salad thing kinda boggles the mind. Unclear on the concept, they are. My cars are both so ratty looking, no one would think there’s anything to steal in either one. They’d be right.
I’m having a sucky couple weeks too (in the middle of typing this, it mysteriously went back a few pages, argh). What’s up with the planets? We had our stereo stolen once and they did way more damage than they needed too (they cut the wires when all they had to do was unplug the harness!). We had our brand new truck tires slashed once too…what’s the point of that?
I’m surprised your seat mate didn’t move when you brought out the dpns…
I’m having a sucky couple weeks too (in the middle of typing this, it mysteriously went back a few pages, argh). What’s up with the planets? We had our stereo stolen once and they did way more damage than they needed too (they cut the wires when all they had to do was unplug the harness!). We had our brand new truck tires slashed once too…what’s the point of that?
I’m surprised your seat mate didn’t move when you brought out the dpns…
I hate it when criminals are also jerks. Dang it!
And I’ve knit that sock pattern twice, once with great results (artyarns), and once with wicked pooling (BMFA). I ripped that one out, too!
Every time i’ve knit that pattern, it pools. I chalk it up to handknit socks are sometimes pool-y.
Sucks about the car. I once read an article about a man who’s car was busted into and destroyed. Caught, the criminals went to court and were set out on bail. When they came out, their cars had been smashed up. they went into the courthouse to tell the judge and he threw the case out b/c “justice was served.”
Hugs, Steph. Here’s for a better week than weekend!
The guy on the plane? That’s what ELBOWS were invented for!
I hope you find some good chocolate on your walk.
I STILL hate the person who, 25 years ago, broke into my car and stole $3 in change from the ashtray – and the ashtray, which would have cost me $40 to replace. It was $40 I did not have to replace something which was non-essential but which bothered my anew every time I reached for change which wasn’t there. Why couldn’t he have just taken the change and left me the ashtray???
I think the Earth’s rotation is wonky right now because, as you might’ve heard, people are bat-shit crazy here in the US right now, too.
Your in-flight neighbor deserved a bad slip of those dangerous, pointy knitting needles you keep handy. That’d teach him! But, like you, I would’ve kept quiet with indignity because I shouldn’t have to tell someone how to be polite in small spaces.
Thanks for keeping things in perspective.
Yuck. Just yuck.
Sorry about the car, that happened to me a few years ago, but they only got 75 cents.
You really should have asked the guy on the plane if he could have moved his leg. My friend likes to tell a story about her father and a plane trip he was on years ago. Her father had lost his leg in an accident years before and had a prosthetic leg. A man sitting in front of him tried to put his seat back, but couldn’t because his prosthetic leg was behind the seat. The man in front of him would get up, stare at him, then sit back down and try to put the seat back, but never asked him if he could put his seat back. When the flight was over, he got up and kicked my friend’s father in his leg, only to break his toe on the prosthetic leg. The flight attendants laughed at him as he limped off the plane for being an arse. You should have asked, because he may not have been able to move his leg.
Oh, man. Wow. Wine and a bubble bath, stat.
I am so sorry you have had a run of bad things happen. It seems like when we are in the middle of one of these unsought after events they will never end.
People with no sense of private space get me down. Even if you had said something to the guy I doubt he would have changed his behaviour. It is like they are lacking an internal GPS device that tells them they are too close for comfort. Which makes me wonder if it could have been the guy on the plane who followed you home and broke into your car.
And that is the wildest pooling I have ever seen.
Oh, Stephanie,
I so get your pain about the food at the airport. Just when you think they’ve got it right for vegetarians, you take a second look and they’ve got some animal bits sprinkled on top or peeking out of whatever it is. I forgive a lot, like pretending that the broth in the soup is really a veggie broth and not a meat based broth or that the fries are fried in something I would use at home, but it is pretty hard to forgive when it is staring me in the face. What really gets me is that here on the west coast – in Vancouver where it is pretty easy to get vegetarian or vegan food that the airport acts like it is in another universe. And in a city where we have so many great restaurants with really good food – even really good fast food, the standard falls far short at the airport. I eat fish and seafood but not meat and am still challenged to find something that will get me through the next leg of my journey. As an aside, I don’t really think that discerning meat eaters have it much better. True, they have more to choose from, but the quality doesn’t look so great.
As for your seat mate – perhaps a well aimed Signature stilleto point may be what was needed.
Knit on!!
I think you have to get older to perfect this skill. I remember my mother just blurting out what she wanted when she got older and now I’m doing it. I absolutely say something no matter who is sitting next to me if they are being annoying.
My sympathies on the cookies. I keep an emergency box of Samoas (girl scout cookies from the U.S.) in the freezer for days/weekends like those. Of course, if you have too many of those days, you do run out of cookies.
I hate men (why is it always men?) who take up too much space on planes. My problem is usually the guy who feels he needs to sit with his legs spread-eagle, so one of his legs rests against mine. The best answer I heard for that came from a fellow knitter, who told me she once turned to the guy sitting next to her, pulled out her measuring tape and told him she needed to measure his balls to see why his legs needed that much more of her space. I don’t know that I’m gutsy enough to say that, but, man, it makes me gleeful just to imagine.
the salad thing is crazy. A salad should be vegetarian by definition. Why wouldn’t that be the go to option? Ridiculous.
The guy on the plane? Well, I’d have told him to move his foot, elbows, and knees or risk not getting any of them back. I have decided that since I am not inconsiderate, no one is allowed to be inconsiderate to me without hearing about it. Sometimes loudly. Does it make me a bitch to stand up for myself? Ya know, I don’t care if it does because who else is going to do it for me?
I agree that the universe is out of whack or something. I did a chakra cleansing yoga class and a reiki session this past weekend and I am feeling so much better for it. I am suffering a headache, though, and I’m thinking it’s due to all the negative/insane crap that’s out there that I’m more susceptible to now. Sigh.
Good luck and feel better!
Oh, and I thought that the pooling was some insanely bright sunshine on that sock before I read about the pooling.
Someone once broke into my car (OK, he did not so much break in, as open the door, because I had accidentally left it unlocked after hauling the 3rd sleeping child in) and stole the stereo and the car seat. I get the stereo, but the car seat – really, who would want something with mashed up arrowroots and spilt juice all over it? I like to think it went to a child in need – but I think they just took what was convenient.
OK, when I first saw the sock, I thought that the white was just sunlight streaking on the sock, and thought, gee, the she’s really being sensitive about the pooling, I can’t see it at all. Then I realized that’s not sunlight. The pattern is delightful, though.
Concerning rude seatmates, when their arms invade your space, if you can, lay your head on their arm, as if you are going to sleep. Or put on headphones and hum or sing softly to yourself. I guarantee they will straighten up, or at least pull away from you somewhat.
Wow, what a crappy weekend. I’m just re-knitting cables that I cabled any-which-way for no reason that I can fathom.
I’m very very proud of you for not using your knitting needles to express why he should stay in his own personal space rather than yours.
Stories like this make me wish I could send you my grammy’s refrigerator cookies.
Sorry for the sucky weekend — if karma is valid, though, you should be in for a really good streak!
Yeah! What is the problem with some people?? I mean, when I’m angry I don’t take it out of other people’s property!! I just get mad at my cat for messing with my knitting. Hope you feel better soon, Stephanie.
Hmmmmmm… tough day? Week?
Holy Crap!!! I thought the pooling was a really weird shadow from the airplane window.
Another airplane option is that if it’s not totally full, you could ask the attendent if you could be reseated. Granted it’s vexing to reward jerks for their bad behavior, but at least you wouldn’t have had to spend the flight dealing with it.
And I hear your pain on airport food. FWIW, there’s a not just acceptable but really good Mexican restaurant at the DFW (Dallas-Fort Worth) airport which is worth checking out if you happen to be there- Pappasito’s Cantina.
I totally sympathize! Airport food is so limited, especially veg options! I, too, have trouble talking to rude fellow passengers, let along telling them off! We’ve all been there with the pooling sock. And my car was smashed and grabbed a few years back, at a dog park of all places! (sorry about all the exclam points, couldn’t help myself)
Here’s to a more chipper tomorrow! 🙂
Oh honey. I’m so sorry.
Hmmm…eight to ten sharp points in your possession and he had the nerve to take up your space????????
Times like those are when I make sure to visit dailykitten.com. Sometimes a little cute goes a long way.
And I’ll just echo all the other posters who offer that there’s something wonky going on in the universe. Everyone I know is bat-shite crazy right now or someone in their family is, or they’ve had something completely uncontrollable happen that’s made them shake their fist at the universe.
Samoas are available in Canada as No Name Caramel Coconut cookies. And they’re only$2 and available year round. When I discovered them I couldn’t belive my eyes!
We experienced a smash and grab when we were on the way to SS09, our GPS (Maggie)gone…all my knitting stuff for sock summit…gone…I feel your pain. A salad by definition shouldn’t include meat. Hope the rest of your week is brilliant.
I totally understand the problem on the plane. Unfortunately for me, the one that hogs my space is my beloved. Fortunately, he usually travels first class while I’m crammed into the back with all the prolatariat.
As for Daniel, always, always remove or hide things like gps, ipods, etc. But you probably already know that.
Too bad about the extra damage. Totally sucks.
Sock Camp must have been even more wonderful than you suggested for The Universe Seeking Balance (a principle to which I know you subscribe) to require QUITE such a smackdown of suckosity.
Or …
Maybe you have now prepaid for some glorious bliss which trembles yet under the event-horizon. Buy a lottery ticker.
And buy some cookies. Damn.
Ah, yes, we learned our lesson the hard way — NEVER leave your GPS in the car and don’t even leave the GPS holder out in plain site. The GPS is replaceable, but it’s a royal pain to be vacuuming out glass for months afterward.
Okay, was the guy in the seat next to you “normal size”? You know what I mean? Airlines are charging large passengers extra money because they don’t fit in the standard seat space. I swear, the most I’ve ever had my space invaded was by “normal-sized” guys who do exactly what you describe. No one is charging them extra.
But hey, on the bright side, at least he did’t fall asleep whilst resting his head on your shoulder, leaving a little drop of drool on your jacket! (seriously, that’s happened to me)
ticket
OMG – next time that happens to me on a plane trip (and it always seems to happen), I’m going to think of the comment made by Sprite’s friend, above, and crack up laughing. Then the guy – yes, usually a man for some reason – will look at me funny, and I’ll start laughing harder, tears running down my face, holding myself to keep from peeing my pants! Then he’ll nervously look away and cross his space-hogging legs and arms, and maybe even ask to be seated elsewhere. Problem solved!
Even if not, and knowing that this doesn’t help the non-vegetarian salads, the vandalism, pooling, or dearth of cookies, perhaps you’ll think of Sprite’s friend’s comment, too, and laugh a little yourself. If not today, then maybe tomorrow.
Or the next time some boogery guy acts like he owns the whole plane . . . .
Mercury will continue to be retrograde through the 23rd of this month. Bummer.
Majorly sucky. I hate it when it all comes at once like that. There’s just nothing good about that. I often find that the only way to recover is to take a walk and then to read or watch something seriously funny. Maybe some Wodehouse? Or Monty Python? Or Pearl-McPhee? (sorry… 🙂 )
It’s nearly time for your afternoon tea, so I am wishing you a soothing time (with chocolate, perhaps. That always makes my day better.) Maybe something a bit stronger to add to the tea would help. Wish there were better ways to get over these type of days. I hope tomorrow goes better for you.
Once upon a time I came home from teaching a spinning workshop and was much too tired at the end of the long drive to bother unloading the car. I should have known all those boxes in the back would prove irresistable to theives. They did break the door lock to get in, but they obviously weren’t spinners and had no idea of the value of the stuff they decided wasn’t worth stealing. Carding machines, a wool picker, and pounds of luxury fibers — cashmere, yak down, silk, cashgora… I’ve always wondered what their reaction was when they ripped open the box with the wool combs.
Hope this week goes much better for you.
Sorry you’re having one of those moments, too.
I’ve got a package of maple creme cookies that are wonderful. I gave up sugar for Lent, so they’re just sitting in the cupboard. If you lived nearby, i’d be glad to give them to you.
I would have said something to the guy on the plane. Then again, i’ve always been a blurter. Not all it’s cracked up to be, because you often become a scapegoat.
I liked your socks, and i’ve had pooling occur before in my knitting life. But i’m only a beginner knitter, maybe advanced beginner now, so pooling doesn’t bother my sensibilities the way it might when i can make something requiring guage and have it come out okay.
I really wish i lived close enough to give you the bag of cookies.
Holy crap I thought that was the sunlight too! I really thought you were freaking out over nothing! I have also had my car broken into…which is such a violation! Both times they didn’t take anything of value, just broke stuff…stupid thieves!
I REALLY like the socks. I realize this is of no importance since you are the one making them but they are really gorgeous. I’m so sorry about the car. There is little more annoying than someone harming you for no reason at all and very little gain for them. I might go with the “struggling” thing but most of the time, it’s just a dismal person. Look in the mirror and be glad that you are who you are and that you don’t have their life….
I feel bad for the big guy in the airline seat next to me. I am 5’1 on a good day, and of a normal weight. You’re within your rights to say something to him, but that would mean he’d have his knees in his throat. Really, we should all complain to the airlines for making us sit in such cramped spaces, considering how much money we pay to fly.
As for airport food, I resent paying up to triple the amount I would pay if I ate outside of the airport, so I bring food either from home, or I stop at a drive-thru somewhere.
I like the “off with their heads” approach to thieves, who not only steal my stuff but also cause unnecessary destruction when they do.
But I saved all my go-to cuss words for the worst offense: unwanted pooling in the sock, causing you to have to re-knit. Knitting gives me such calm that it’s a wonder that it can give me the greatest frustration! It shouldn’t be allowed! Here’s to a better tomorrow!
Stephanie, at the risk of seeming like the devil’s advocate, what was it about this man that froze your tongue? You might have laughingly said to him, “Excuse me, I believe it’s my turn for the armrest.” And, as someone else suggested, you could have bent over and moved your yarn bag twenty times during the flight, indicating in a passive way that his foot was in the wrong place, but really, why not just explain to him that he needed to remove his foot because it’s on your knitting bag? Many men are just completely clueless to their offensive behavior and need only to be informed of their trespassing. Of course, he could’ve been a jerk, but I’m sure you would’ve put him in his place. For instance, you might ask him, “I can see you’re acting like a jerk. Just wondering, what is the psychological payoff for you?”
Ouch. I spent Sunday snaking pipes. After 9 hours, they are still clogged. Time for a plumber. And then the teenager decided he has the worst life in the entire world and needed to walk away, not return calls/texts until he got last and generally act like a clogged pipe. In fact, as a make that comparison, that may be exactly what the problem is. All of this interfered with the far more urgent and desired plan of finishing a baby blanket for a girl coming in one week (+/- nature’s plan).
I hope, when you go on your literal walk, you can find a nice vegetarian salad. And a pint. I didn’t know you were a vegetarian. Huh, not sure how I missed that.
I’m sorry you had such a rough weekend, and I hope that tomorrow finds you in a happier place, without the need for pharmaceutical intervention (but maybe a bit of wine would help?).
Sending you happy, woolly thoughts…
I totally agree on the salad. I have never had soup in the six and a half years I’ve been in Wisconsin. All the salads here have chunks of meat in it. Same with cheese trays….blech!
I’m sorry! All those things suck a lot. Esp the car. And the sock.
Big hugs from DC.
It sounds like a nice long walk (that includes a purchase of cookies) is in order, followed by a nice big cup of tea.
We once had a really stupid thief who tried to pry open the passenger window with a crowbar — all in an attempt to steal our pull-out radio (remember those) that was not even in the car. He was just too stupid to realize that we left the car doors unlocked just so the car wouldn’t be vandalized. Thief got $0; cost us $2,000.
I’m a firm believer in the rule of threes, bad things always happen in threes. You’ve got the salad, the arse in the seat next to you, and the smash and dash. Since you’ve now had your three, you should be in for some good luck now.
Yarn falls under the preview of the Yarn Gods & doesn’t count in the rule of 3s. The sock was probably cosmic balance for all the good stuff at Sock Camp. Be grateful that a sock was all the payment the Yarn Gods wanted, last time I got dinged an entire sweater, twice.
~ K.
When I first read the yarn color, I thought it said “vasectomy.” Hope the day gets better. Mean people suck.
Well that just sounds suck-tastic! If I had some cookies I’d send them to you. (but really I would probably just eat them but I would think about you while eating them, would that help?)
Suckage, complete and total suckage. BadMannersPlaneGuy might be the most annoying, frankly, because he made the choice to take advantage of you with you right there in front of him. Grrr. Have a better week.
I understand about the guy using your space on the place. Mostly it’s guys, and I think mostly they do it because people let them get away with it!
Once I had a middle-of-three seat in coach, with a momma on the aisle and her 2-yr-old at the window. They wanted it that way on purpose, she told me rather snootily. But the kid climbed on me and kicked me, and she fed him sticky snacks which he got on my clothes. After a half hour of this, I called the flight attendant and explained the problem, and asked if there was an empty seat I could move to. She came back a minute later and told me to collect my things and come with her. She seated me in first class and handed me a glass of wine, then told me to lean out and look back toward my former seat. The momma was glaring angrily at me! When we landed I began to get off, but the attendant got me another glass of wine (hey, I wasn’t driving!) and told me to wait till everyone else was off, because I had a three-hour layover. Pretty soon momma and the kid shuffled past me as I reclined in first class, drinking my wine. Boy, was she mad!
I am soo soo sorry about the theft and vandalism. If you have no problems sending a stranger an address, I’ll make you some lovely chocolate chip cookies and send them on (I do use real butter, though so if you don’t eat butter…). If that doesn’t appeal, I can make oatmeal raisin or peanut butter… Lemme know. And I really really do hope your day/week gets better. Sorry about Daniel. My husband named our GSP Daniel (because of the Christmas song that Tony Bennett sings and at the end he says “Take me home, Ralph”) and I am so very very attached. I would love to send you cookies if you need them. You just let me know. :o)
I’ll tell you what I tell all of my friends (and me) when we are having that day – crunchy food and Lamaze breathing solves alot of it. Tortilla chips and salsa. Then Heee-heee-hooo….heee-heee-hooo…heee-heee-hooo.
Really. Try it. You’ll be surprised.
Crappity crap! If you ever figure out why you don’t confront rude people, let me know. I have the same affliction and don’t understand myself at all.
I really love the way STR pools for me on certain patterns. It makes me curious when I knit a sock from the club kits and I get zigzaggy colour stacking while the pattern shows stripey-ness, but it’s kinda fun!
If I were you, I’d work on solving the issues on your list from the bottom up. Cookies first.
And I usually suffer in silence when someone wrongs me but the knitting bag? I totally would have told him to move the worthless section of his hide that was causing possible damage to my property and was also icking me out. But of course I would have said “I’m sorry but you have my foot on my bag and I have some very expensive wooden knitting needles in there that I really can’t afford to have broken.” And if he wouldn’t move, I’d be in that bag every fifteen seconds for something that I ‘needed’ until he got the point. I also would have kept bumping his arm pretty hard because I’m not a skinny gal and I can’t afford to give up any space on a plane…
At least Daniel was useful. My friend’s car was broken into, and all they took was the User’s Manual. Not the CDs, not the took kit, just the manual for the car. I know the dealer charges an arm and a leg for replacements, but, jeez, that’s what the internet’s for!
Sorry you’re having a crappy day/weekend! Things can only get better, right? Right?
Some days you’re the dog, some days you’re the hydrant. I’ll hope for you, more dog days.
And I thought that the neighbor that is being forcefully evicted egging our house was bad!
Now that all the bad stuff is past, ON TO THE GOOD STUFF! I hope it comes in bushelfuls for you!!
One of the secretaries at my brother-in-law’s office hid her kid’s Christmas gifts in the trunk of her car. When it was in the park-n-ride lot, someone broke in and stole them all. Then, just to prove that he was indeed, a complete asshole, he left a note. “Merry Christmas”
Hugs, love and cookies
xxx
Bummer about the car vandalism!
And I know what you mean about the airplane seating. I once ended up in the center seat – a man asked me to switch with him because it was better for him to be in my aisle seat. Why did I fall for that? Then he and the man in the window seat proceeded to heatedly argue politics across my face/space for two hours. Sigh. I know better.
If it helps? Many years ago, before every car came with an alarm, someone smashed my window to steal the red nylon zipper bag on the front passenger seat containing cassette tapes.
I hadn’t thought about stashing it because I was just running back into my workplace for a few minutes, and it was daytime.
The door wasn’t locked. Yes, they didn’t try the handle.
And?
They completely ignored the six pack of beer sitting on the back seat.
I will pay for postage for that sock yarn – Srsly. It reminds me of a pinto pony – I love it!
salad – agreed, that’s just nuts.
car – ooh, bummer, same happened here a few weeks back. I feel your pain.
airplane seat – I’m about to fly to Mumbai, coach. Again, I feel your pain.
sock – okay, I looked at that picture and for the longest time was confused: how can I see how it’s pooling when there’s that bright sun streak across it in the picture??? oh. (I think I’m already jet-lagged).
I’m a lawyer so I obviously have some aggression, but you don’t have to say anything on an airplane to a space hog, you get up to go to the bathroom and you step on his leg. You have knitting needles, you “slip” he gets poked. It’s your space, you paid for it. Frankly, your solution is better, say something politely, my way is more fun.
Also, cool pattern. I, too, thought it was a light reflection at first.
Yeah, put me down as one of the folk who couldn’t see the pooling in the sock picture to start with.
Sorry to hear about the other stuff. Sometimes life just sucks – no, hang on, much as I want to love all the rest of the human race, sometimes people suck.
And the salad thing is just stoopid. (But I am thankful I’m an omnivore…Once, in Paris, I had a salad where you couldn’t see green for all the ham and eggs on top. It was delicious.)
Mercury is in retrograde, that is my explanation and I’m sticking with it. I agrre with the sharp knitting needle stab for your seatmate. I am flying in 2 weeks can’t wait to see what the seat gods have in store for me.
I once had my car broken into buy a “considerate thief”. They broke the small back side window out to reach the lock instead of one of the bigger windows. THey even swept the broken glass into a pile. Unfortunately, the little back windows had a special glaze on them that made them 5xs more expensive to replace… go figure
You were on a plane with sharp pointy objects and couldn’t reclaim your personal space from Mr. Spacehog? You are Canadian. I mean that in a good way, but really, without even threatening, I bet you could have managed to sort of wave them around some while talking until he was scooched over onto at least his seat, if not the one on the other side of him.
I wrote a post awhile back about Sprawl (intrusions into one’s personal space by strangers) and still haven’t figured out the most effective way to deal with it. Like you, I’ve tried aiming several rounds of seething hostility at the offenders, with exactly the same outcome. I’m a little inspired by Sprite’s friend, though.
I’m sorry. All I can offer you is my good thoughts. And maybe some cookies if I had your mailing address. But they wouldn’t arrive by tomorrow. And you promised to be chipper tomorrow. So I think the cookies would be an exercise is futility.
May bear hugs and back rubs come your way.
Sorry about Daniel’s abduction. My pet airport food peeve has to do with all foods having some sort of dairy product in/on it. (I have wicked allergies) I carry my own stuff to eat these days but with long layovers, missed flights, etc, last week’s travels turned pretty ugly. Bet that salad you couldn’t eat also had cheese on it!
If only I could send cookies through the interwebs.
I’m positive that guy sat beside me on a flight from Moncton-Ottawa one time and his three brothers sit like that on the commuter bus every morning taking up two seats, wouldn’t want to squash the package!
Regarding the sock, I too thought it was light and shadow!
Like so many, I thought it was a streak of sunlight on the sock, and took me several moments to realize that was not the case. Bummer….
And like you, I tend to suffer in silence, as I have an unhealthy dislike/fear/phobia of/with conflict (even if it’s only potential); I know I will die of a stress-related illness because of that!
And I’ve had my car broken into 3 different times, and it always sucks to have your personal space violated…..
Hope the stars align properly again soon, as I know I’m feeling off-kilter at the moment too (though not to the same degree as you)….
How about a glass of wine with those cookies?
This too shall pass…
Just thinking, why are there not two armrests to each seat on an airplane? Obviously, you can’t share one, and each person has two arms. Course this is why I don’t fly if I can drive. I like a good foot at least of personal space, and even if everyone was small and fit in their allotted space it would still not be enough.
I thought the pooling was glare on my screen. 🙂
So why not tell us how you REALLY feel about the space-guy, the salad and the pooling? No, wait, tell us what you really think about the guy and the salad and tell Tina about the pooling!
I just found out what animal product is used in many vanilla flavorings (labelled as “natural flavoring”). I may never eat ice cream again.
The airlines want to charge us fat people more money to fly because they say we can’t fit in our seat but what do they do about someone like that who just takes the space because they want it?
P.S. I may be wide but I would NEVER stick my elbow in someone else’s ribs or put my foot in their foot space and especially not on anyone’s bag! WTF?
SO sorry about your vandalism. We’ve been exceptionally lucky with our thieves. One of them dismantled our entire built-in system, TV included, neater than my husband works. They left me the wire nuts in a dish. If a chair hadn’t been out of place I wouldn’t have known anyone had been in the house.
Also, I absolutely detest pooling in my knitting and so I had given up buying varigated yarns. But I just caught an old clip of Eunny Jang on the web about how to avoid pooling. Knit with two skeins at the same time (colors deliberately offset) or from both ends of one large skein. Every other round should do it. I only rip back once. Okay, I’m mellowing. MAYBE twice. After that the pattern/yarn gets trashed. This may open up some new purchasing options for me. Oh, she also suggests adding your own solid color every other row to really make it your own. Sounds do-able.
I’m glad it’s not just me pissed off about the lack of vegetable only salads around these days. Nothing irks me more than having to settle for an airport Starbucks Chicken Caesar and sitting there for 10 minutes picking off all the gross chicken to get at the lettuce and stuff I want/can eat. I now feel less alone in the world of salad related issues…
Balls to the rest of it too.
Do you hear that chime? That means it’s Beer O’clock. Have one for the crankiness and another one for good measure.
Whoa. That is some crazy pooling. At first, I thought you had taken a bad picture and there was a lot of glare in the photo.
What does it say about me that the main thing I come away with from your post on various and diverse topics is – “Whoa. Crazy pooling.” ?
Have a better day tomorrow!! 🙂
I have those days also. It’s ok. Karma will get them all back eventually:) Thank you for the show off sock pattern. I am trying my first toe up socks as we speak. Heavy sigh. My grandmother told me it would all come out in the warsh. I hope she is right:)
So sorry to hear that your car was vandalized! I’m afraid I can’t be as kind as you. I don’t think that struggling gives a person reason to steal.
i once famously was forced to have an apple and a jack and coke for lunch at the airport because there were no damn vegetarian salads. the apple was for the hunger, and the jack and coke was for the anger. i recommend it!
Oh Stephanie, you deserve something really fun, funny and wonderful. Wine, good chocolate, good movie and cashmere? I also find that sometimes it is just necessary to break something–find an old, sent from a florist vase that you have too many of and can’t bring yourself to get rid of because you surely will use it for something some day, and go outside and smash the hell out of it. Beats kicking the car or grousing at the husband… (I also have to thank Sprite and Kay for their stories. I almost wet my pants laughing. Made my day, at least…)
Chocalate & beer for you! And sharp pointy needles to those who take up more than their share of the space. It might be worth while to cough, sneeze and politely say “I hope I’m not contagious.”
What a supremely bad time you’ve had of it:( I’ve suffered with the airport food, space issues and pooled knitting but not a wrecked car and certainly not all at the same time. I would suggest buying a lottery ticket right about now-your luck has got to change!
OK that is total crap. All of it.
I’m not a vegetarian but not even a simple garden salad?
Elbows?! I probably wouldn’t have said anything. Just more likely to hold up my knitting acting as if to examining it and say oops as I knock his elbow off my space. But the foot on the knitting bag! No way buster! He was probably hungover.
Knitting sock you don’t like just kept you from poking annoying elbow/foot man with your knitting needles in my opinion.
Daniel gone?! Hopefully since you have the serial# they can track him down.
No cookies! Yep I would need to take a walk too.
Tomorrow will be better.
1. I really like your pooled sock. I think it looks cool. Don’t tear it out, start a trend!
2. So sorry about your car and loss of personal space/dignity. What crummy people are out there!
3. Everyone is in trouble with airport food these days. Airlines generally don’t serve food anymore, either. Many times people do not have time to get anything to eat when switching planes. It is a food desert in airports. David Lebovitz (the chef) wrote a blog about this-only his subject was why airports should provide food that shows local cuisine. He lives in Paris and was feeling deprived at the airport there. (Talk about living the good life.) It is an interesting read, though.
4. Spring and summer are on the way. Cheer up!
You had a rough few days, so you need to
1. Count your blessings, including getting your work done for the Sock Summit. It sounds like that part of the trip was great.
2. Get your car fixed, and treat yourself to a new GPS. They have so many improved models out there. This sounds like an insurance matter.
3. Be kind to yourself. You deserve it.
And your MRI? Sorry things are rotten for you just now. Hope you find some spring flowers and cookies/chocolate/coffee/beer/other good stuff in your life soon. And REALLY hope the MRI is clear, or shows something easily resolved.
1. May I suggest a smoothie instead? Also when in Denver I could get a salad that wasn’t pre-packaged so could have been had without chicken etc. So chicken-less salads do exist in airports just maybe not the one you were in. Sorry. DIA is really one of the best airports for food options I’ve been through. Not that I travel that much.
2.You paid for a certain amount of space. Ask for him to pay you rent for the space of yours he’s occupying or ask the stewardess to re-seat one of you. Jeesh the guy is clueless and rude.
3. You are Canadian and it goes against how you were raised. Remind yourself that you are paying for a certain amount of space. Ask politely for your portion.
4.You got into the zone and were more concerned about the seatmate issues. It happens. Glad you decided to send it to the pond. You’ll be back on the knit horse in no time and April socks will be finished on time.
5.(+4b) ugh. “Razemtazemfrazengaber.” (Old cartoon Snidely Whiplash’s dog.) Having read Twitter I know you have the serial number so Daniel may yet come home. Sorry it was a rotten end to a wonderful time at camp.
I think Rams has the right of it with the universe re-balancing. Things will get more stable going forward. Hugs and Happy Knitting, Alice
Condolences on all your tribulations. Years ago, I used to take the radio out of my car so it wouldn’t be broken into. Someone broke into the condo and stole it! We considered putting a “no radio” sign in the condo window. The silver lining was that my husband sang to me instead. On the way to the beach, he could sing all of “The Music Man.” I would never have known he could do that. Hard to see where your silver lining will be but you will find it. I love the sock, too.
……recalculating. I’ll miss him too.
I completely understand about the airline seat issue – men seem to feel like their dangly bits are prone to suffocation, and so like to give them much room to breathe.
Part of the problem now is the airline seats themselves – I am admittedly overweight for a female my height, and it’s mostly riding on hips and butt, but I am not heavier than your average male, nor am I wider. I just had a flight where I was seated next to another woman and no matter what we tried, we were up against each other for the full flight. (we kept apologizing to each other). So, if two people who are space-conscious can’t manage to remain within their seat space…then how are we ever going to cope with the Sprawly McSprawlers?
Now that you have vented, I hope you are able to now walk away from it.
There, there.
I got nuthin’ better.
I’m totally not above being passive aggressive with rude people, especially on a plane! I would say something about the bag though, polite, but I would say it. “Excuse me, sir, but my snake….” The other thing about people like this is, being the narcissists that they are, they get pleasure out of getting away with being rude. I wouldn’t give them the satisfaction. Rudeness can be an act of aggression, I would use a rule of 3. 1st offense, ignore; 2nd offense, think about and plan for 3rd; 3rd offense, act. Even if it’s passive, they’ll get the message. They know all about being passive aggressive. It’s their stock in trade. The weird thing about bullies is, they’ll respect you more for standing up to them! Weird but true. They will also then leave you alone and go pick on someone else! Or pout in their seat because they’re not having fun anymore. Oh, well.
Thanks for being the peace you/we want to see in this world.
Wow I totally thought the white in the sock was a huge glare. It was like one of those Magic Eye pictures where I had to stare at it for ages for the lightbulb to go off that THAT was the pooling. Durr.
Thank you for having a worser day than me. It makes mine seem less bad. And, thank you for saying it all out loud.
Well, at least the last one is something you can do something about! Go out for your walk. Walk directly to the closest bakery/market/grocery. Buy some cookies!
re #2: I think I flew back with him from Calgary in March. I have never seen someone, especially a guy, sit sideways with his leg under him and lean over with his Blackberry in my face before, let alone on an airplane!
All I could think of was, if I ask him to move over and he doesn’t like it, I have 4 hours to fly back with him doing heaven knows what the rest of the way, on the tiniest plane in the universe, and no spare seats! So, I didn’t say anything, but tried to subtely block him when he moved over. So he couldn’t move back. It didn’t work.
Doesn’t he know what that middle arm rest is for?
It’s a SPACER!
I just don’t get it!
I find when I’m being crowded on a plane that talking to myself loudly works. I say “He’s touching me! He’s touching me!”
It generally works.
Re the non-veggie salads (which is an outrage!): Not only do they have meat, they also have CHEESE. I eat meat. I love cheese. I do not, however, love them together. Would it be that hard for the salad bars to sell plain ol’ premade veggie salads and sell separate packets of cheese or meat to those who want them?
Some might say, So just don’t eat the meat. Nope.
We must be twins, separated @ birth…I could have sworn I wrote this post as it sounds just like me.
My car didn’t get broken in to, but just heard about the lie my Mother told about me…that has to be somewhere high on the suck barometer. I’m also vegetarian, so I know where you’re coming from.
Amen, sister friend, on the vegetarian salad. Re: the jerk next to you, he would have had my elbow in his ribcage, if that had been me, and then I would have apologised politely and profusely, in an effort to embarrass him into behaving better. You’re much too nice.
But the foot on YOUR KNITTING BAG? No no no no no!!! I’d have told him to move his foot off my bag and if he didn’t, he’d have gotten moved.
Bah, what a load of suck. Hopefully, it has run its course.
As for the socks, I <3 the parts that were not white, they looked fabulous! Could Tina dye you a skein of that colorway without white bits? Somehow I get the feeling you guys are tight like that. 🙂
I actually commend you for keeping your cool on the airplane – the foot on the knitting bag would have totally pushed me over the edge!
The guy on the plane, was he especially large? Should the airline have forced him to buy 2 seats? Was he trying to fit his extremely large self into a standard airline seat that is really only the size of a 15 year old anorexic girl?
Or was he just an average sized insensitive jerk? Sorry you had to go through that.
I once flew non-stop from San Francisco to Detroit with a 5 year old coloring with markers next to me. The coloring was fine. The kid was quiet and respectful. But everytime the kid pulled the cap off a marker, I got an elbow in my ribs. After a couple of hours of this, I was ready to go sit on the wing.
I am sorry for all the crap, but I am especially sorry that the gorgeous yarn has the white in it. I love the other colors, and the effect of that stitch pattern (fish scales?). But the white? It’s got to go…to the same place as the car smasher, and the non-vegetarian salads!
Well damn. I shall miss Daniel.
Ouch. What a weekend… hope your week goes a whole lot better!
(Also, seriously, no vegetarian salads? What goes through the brains of the people who package these things?)
Next time in YVR I recommend perhaps trying the vegetarian sushi option. In the past the little sushi place in the food court near the Bill Reid sculpture has had trays of veg sushi including a tofu skin pocket. I think you can even bring the soy sauce packets through security (but I don’t use them on the plane if I am not wearing dark clothes).
If you have more time, I think the noodle place can make fried veg noodles. Not hugely nutritious but may be satisfying.
St*rbucks also usually has a mozzarella tomato pesto sandwich.
Yes I feel your pain! Oh for the South Asian default veg menus, with non-veg as the option!
…scummy plane ride home, scummy sock yarn, scummy robber taking Daniel…just a scummy weekend all round.
Have a beer, and a tall wine glass filled to the brim, sit in a hot tub of bubble bath, and take a walk when ready.
Man, oh, man, I hate these days/weeks… About 5 years back our house was broken into about a week after some piano movers were here. We called the piano moving company and they did not return our calls. It was a Monday (can you tell how this was burned into my brain?), and I had gone to work with my horrible cold. All I wanted to do was come home and eat some soup and go to bed. And then my husband calls me… Turns out if you call the police to tell them you’ve had a burglar they tell you not to enter the house until they go through. Well, we had 3 dogs and 2 cats, and the burglar(s) had taken a whole bag of cat food from the garage and opened it in the middle of the floor to distract the dogs while they took all of our electronics. This did not set well with the dogs’ digestive systems, and the police trod through all of this through our whole house. The detective later told me I was lucky because there had been a rash of burglaries where the perpetrators had defecated in the middle of the victim’s bed. Okay, I guess we were lucky, but there was still excrement everywhere… But, hey, they were polite burglars. They took our CDs out of the CD player before they stole it… Oy vey. Jerks.
I feel for you, and hope a cookie fairy shows up at your house.
Hope tomorrow is better after you “let it go”.
Being born and raised in NJ I have no problem with a “HEY! Do you mind” Your just to Canadian nice.
Okay I’m a weird US American, But I like pooling. I think your socks looked really cool. It’s okay, though, that you don’t like it. 🙂
That has all the earmarks of a group of teenage vandals. This is more about braggadocio and lack of a moral compass, than needing money to survive.
Sorry to hear about this. Been there, survived that, bought the postcard and souvenir T-shirt to prove it.
When my father passed away in February, we inherited his GPS. We’ll never use it. Seriously. It’s not Daniel, but it’s all yours if you want it.
You could have nicknamed the socks Old Paint and presented them to someone who likes horses.
A present and a joke!
It all sucks here too. Tomorrow HAS to be better, dammit.
1. Check
2. Check
3. Me too.
4. (I like the pooling. Sorry.)
4 the Second. Rest in Peace, Daniel.
5. I would like to answer that question.
The person who did the gratuitous damage to your car did it because they are filled with frustration and rage. One is addicted to something because it seems to be ‘the solution’ and ‘make it better’. That is because the first time they used it, it worked. The trouble is twofold: Anytime one uses something outside to make one feel better inside, the next time it does not work as well. After several times one needs to use more to get the same results, which leads to violating one’s values to get what seems to be a solution. Also, any time one uses something outside to make oneself feel better inside, it is harder to solve the distress inside without using whatever one took. Because one can resolve their distress by getting what-ever-it-is outside, they do not develop patience, tolerance, persistence and other good qualities.
Cault between violating one’s values and feeling better, one invents excuses for one’s behaviour. So one winds up with the obsession that the only solution is to get a whole lot of what one took to feel better.
Towards the end, one is taking a whole lot of what seemed to be the solution and it isn’t working at all anymore, but one cannot accept that. It becomes patently obvious to everyone else, except ‘one’. One’s friends believe one is crazy, which causes intense lonelyness and fear.
This causes untold frustration, anger, and rage. Having too much anger inside, one dumps it on anything at all outside, just to relieve the pressure, which seems to work in the short term, but is actually a worsening negative cycle in the long term.
I feel sorry for one, but there is lots of help out there. (Don’t ask me how I know.) Sorry for abuse of your bandwidth.
I feel very sorry for you and your lovely car. I hope you have good insurance. I hope what I said helps extend your obvious loving kindness.
As the victim of no fewer than six car break ins, I feel your pain. In the last one, they smashed our window and stole Jack, our GPS. But Jack had broken the day before. So four our $500 replacement window, some crack addict probably got the crap beaten out of him by the person who paid $10 for a broken GPS. Karma is a bitch.
#6 often pisses me off.
As for number 1: Try having to eat gluten, soy and dairy free in an airport. I have to bring my own food for this reason, and sometimes the TSA folks get cranky about the consistency of my food and make me throw it away. I’m hypoglycemic, too, so that makes it really awesome.
And number 4 (the second number 4, and number 5): When I lived in San Francisco, we were broken into all the time. It turns out that the police don’t really enforce laws about people stealing things from your car – they focus on stuff that brings in revenue (parking tickets, mostly) and gang activity. I was livid when the cops wouldn’t even come out to see the damage and write a report about the theft. I had to submit a report online, and I know that report will only be filed, never read, never investigated. Grr.
Sorry for the sucky…no one deserves that.
We had our car broken into in January so I feel ur pain. Among the various things taken were a Shetland Pi Shawl that I was about 1/3 of the way through, the Fiddlehead Mitts I made my GF for Yule and EVERY SINGLE 3.75mm circ/dpn needle I owned as that was the size I was knitting the Pi Shawl with. The RNC officer asked what was stolen. When I said that there was about $150 in knitting needles, he said ” I beg ur pardon?” I told him again and said “I really like to knit!”.
I wish I could have seen the thief’s face when they were dumping my bag out for saleable items.
The socks look great. Why do worry so much about offending people who are offending us? Many years ago this guy sat down next to me on a train kept hitting me in the ribs so I elbowed him in the ribs. He stopped, saying alright, alright, he was trying to find something his plastic bag (why do people have crinkly noisy plastic bags on trains?) Anyway he takes of his jacket. It’s the fault of his jacket, he had all this padding in it, on the shoulders and elbows in the style of Michael Jackson!
Personal Space, especially on airplanes is a huge issue for me. As a small woman, it seems that (lets just face it), men in particular assume that just because you happened to have PAID for the entire seat and all the space within that seat and in front of that seat, you don’t really need it all.
Or is it just that they don’t even notice that they are taking up BOTH ARM RESTS–theirs and mine. Do I not need an arm rest?? Do I want to sit for 4 hours with my elbows squished to my sides?? And the space under the seat in front of me–THAT’S ALL MINE.
Sadly, I’ve have never been able to tell a space hog to back off. I’m always afraid I’ll just sound petty and pissy.
I thought at first the picture of the sock had rays of sunlight shining on the sock…till you mentioned pooling and I had to look more closely. That is truly an interesting pooling situation. Can’t wait to see how you solve it!
So sorry about the rest of the stuff. Especially the salad. Can’t say I’m a vegetarian, but really? I have to totally agree that there should always be a vegetarian salad option!
For a split second, I though that giant white swash was a camera shadow. I had to look again to see that it was pooling. This is one reason why I stay away from stripey yarn. I hate pooling with a passion. A passion!
Sorry but you had me at Valenscummy.
Maybe think back and laugh at the truck vs. post incident or some other vehicular hilarity. I bet that was somewhat wretched at the time. Now it can be hilarious as time has passed.
(There is however no legitimate excuse for calling a yarn Valenscummy IMHO).
Enjoy the balmy weather and knit on!
I once sat next to a woman on a plane (her husband was in Business Class) and she kept putting her HUGE carry on bag under the seat in front on me so I couldn’t stretch my legs out at all. I didn’t say anything, just passively aggressively glared and slowly nudged it back into her space. Whenever I got up to go to the toilet the bag would be back in my space again! I could only assume that she was cranky that her husband didn’t/wouldn’t swop seats with her and so took it out on me. The next day I thought of loads of good things I could have said….
Oh, I feel you on airport food. Toronto is by far the WORST. The quality of our airport food is appalling, as are the prices. When I went through Vancouver airport and we had a nice sit down meal for a reasonable pub fare price, I was floored. Instead of the worst chicken ceaser salad I’d ever had for over 10$ at the Toronto airport, I had a great burger with sides at a sit down joint for the same in Vancouver.
I also tried the sushi joint in the Vancouver airport on the way back, and it was great! I am so jealous of the variety and quality and low pricing of the food in the Vancouver airport.
One of the many things I wish Toronto could do right…
Someone just stole my gps, too. I miss my James (yes, as in Bond…kids named him). I’m scared to get a new one. Silly, I know. I just don’t want to be a gps supermart b/c they stole it from my driveway. “Ok, here’s a newer model, want it?” Grrrrrr. Sorry for your loss, too!
May their hemerroids fall out – really badly. Twits. The pooling is trippy…it does look like a flash reflection. Great stitch though. Here’s to a smoother world soon.
I think you should have “accidently” poked your seat mate with your knitting needle. You carry pointy sticks. Sometimes you’ve got to use them.
My 30 year-old son announced that he lost his job today….again. And his girlfriend has dumped him. Parenting adults sucks big time. 🙁
I feel your pain about the cookies. Sometimes…if I have had a really bad day…my only consolation is cookies and beer.
I know you said you didn’t like the pooling, but I am kind of loving it. May have to knit that up hoping to get the same effect.
Three things: hot bath, cold beer, deep breath. Repeat as necessary.
I’ve had a vehicle vandalized before. A travel trailer, too. In each case, it was obvious that the dweebs responsible had done it for kicks. Nothing that could happen to any of them would make me feel the least bit sorry for them, dry-land shark attacks included.
As for the space-hog on the plane…ugh. I don’t say anything when I run into one of these, either. I DO go out of my way to make their incursions as uncomfortable as possible. And the one time somebody tried using my carry-on as a footrest, I unzipped it and turned it so that there was nowhere for a foot to rest but inside it. End of problem.
I think it is written somewhere that when one breaks into a car, one must smash more than necessary just to show that one is really serious. That’s what happened when someone broke into our car, too.
Today: Sucky
I hope it’s done for a long time.
Tomorrow: Chipper.
Cars broken into four times (but not in Eau Claire), stereo, stereo face plate stolen, cell phone and then the battery. It just makes you angry. I think the sock might just need to be knit and then take a dip in a dye pot to fix the pooling.
What a drag after such a wonderful time at Sock Camp. I used to drive a tiny hatchback with lots of large windows and no trunk. When I wanted to leave something in the car, I would cover it with whatever was at hand. This worked perfectly because it just looked like the car of a slob instead of something worth breaking into. When I finally replaced the car, I bought a length of cheap fleece the same charcol color as the new interior. It looks like I just threw it in the floor. This has worked just as well even though I have’nt slobed this car out.
dear yarn harlot; you have been working too much, flying too much, teaching too much. It is time for a well deserved holiday.
I Love that sock pattern and will make it mine soon. I know you’re having a crappy day, but all I can think about is Lorna’s laces Pearl yarn.. I swear if you look at it you will feel better. I need 5 or 6 skeins of it, and dammit, I don’t care how much it costs. Oh wait, this is not about me…Forget the cookies, go get wine!
I have to comment on the guy in the plane. We all know this would not be happening if he were seated next to another man. What IS it with some men that they find it necessary to prove their (alleged) virility by encroaching on a woman’s space? If you said something they would probably say, oh, they didn’t realize. HAH. Yes, they realize. I used to commute to work by bus and they do it on buses, too.
What a crummy weekend! I’m also vegetarian and have noticed a lot of pre-wrapped, non-veggie salad offerings in airports. I’m becoming more belligerent as I get older, and perhaps because I live in California I think it’s my God-given right to eat vegetarian! What is with this lack of choice? So sorry about your car. What an invasion of personal space all around for you!
Crap on a spatula. I suggest a glass of wine, a good dry red wine.
Hang in there and keep smiling,girlie! Things will get better. XOXO
I’m totally with you in all those. And now I want to write my own rant post too. 😉
I TOTALLY get you about the salads in airports. What in the name of commerce are they thinking?? Carnivores can eat burgers, sandwiches, chili dogs, cheesesteaks, you name it.
Give us the salads, at least.
I started that exact sock pattern two days ago! But I’m going to rip mine out also. It’s way too big. Bummer….
Here’s a hug. { }
yeah but if you had asked the guy to move over he would have told you he had a medical condition resulting from a hugly heroic act that saved a dozen small children and an endangered animal! and then you would have felt worse!! 🙂
mean spirited as I am…..
I don’t like butterbeans and I find bacon sprinkles alarming but I don’t expect a ring fence around them and a butterbean-free menu.
People taking your space on a plane – speak up… how do you think change happens.
Car insurance.
You have a blog to vent – good for you. and lots of lovely people to tell you how great you are… very lucky you.
Life could be a whole bunch worse.
Next time say ‘oh what a good way to get comfortable!’ and stick your feet on HIS stuff! You’re quite right, not being able to get a veggie salad is bonkers (carnivore though I am). At least you had the sense to rip back the pooling yarn… I knitted a whole sweater knowing that it was pooling and I hated it, never wore it, then accidentally felted it. Tomorrow is another day.
I’m there with you on all of these! I’m a short vegetarian — always get squeezed by big guys and never have the nerve to TELL them. If it’s bench seating that’s involved (like a sporting event), and everyone gets up, I sometimes sit quickly and take my part back. Sorry about your car 🙁
I was thinking you could put your foot on top of his, and if he was surprised, say, “Oh, heavens, I didn’t know your foot was on MY BAG.”
I’m so sorry. Sucks, sucks, sucks. Knit on, laugh with your DH, kids and knitting group, keep it together like always. We’re all with you!!
I’m sorry for the crappy crap crap that happened to your car. May Daniel never work correctly for whomever was a jerk enough to steal him! (When I worked at the craft store we would find that wedding stuff would be flinched, and hoped that on the “happy day” their cake would fall down… not very nice, but stealing wedding stuff-really!?!?!)
Airport food in the US generally sucks anyway. Once was late for a flight home, thought I’d go with no food beforehand, but the flight was delayed. Great! Went potty. While washing hands and combing hair after, someone walked behind me to the stalls, then walked out behind me, bypassing the sinks. Guess who was working at the nearest food sales point? Had a candy bar instead.
My husband understands when I say all men think they have basketballs between their legs and they think that entitles them to occupy more than their allotted space. Too freaking bad. You should have pushed the call button and pointed out that he wasn’t entitled to the space in front of YOUR seat. I was once going home on a red-eye with a bum shoulder. Made sure I put nothing under the seat in front of me so I’d have extra tossing-and-turning space. Woman wanted to put her third bag in that space. I said NO. So she then proceeded to put it in between her knees and the seat in front of her, with her coat kind of draped over it so the stew didn’t see, which is not by the rules either. I normally take aisle seats if I can get them, but hubby was with me, and he likes windows, so we had window and middle. But I got up several times that night. She was in the aisle seat. He-he.
You should have put your feet on his tray table since he was using your space. You’re small enough to be able to do that.
The car crap is enough to make you want them to bring back penal colonies.
And to April Zvan above – your beloved needs a whack upside the head (or a Gibbs slap from NCIS) if he’s in first while you’re in cattle car.
Socks – that pattern almost looks like it is designed to pool. The problem is the light/dark contrast in the yarn. Sorry – but that’s how it looks to me. But you didn’t need that on top of all the rest.
I’m sorry you’ve had such a bad time lately. Your life has been a roller coaster recently–huge exhilarating highs then big nasty thumps. It seems to me that the wonderful parts are your contributions to the lives of others and the low points are what other people put out into the world. (Well, except for the lack of cookies.) Those poor schmucks have a poor karmic balance and probably a destructive support network, exactly opposite of what you have. Poor them, lucky you. I hope all of our support helps you to trudge through this.
I never used to understand what your problem with pooling was. Looking at that sock…I see it now. FROG!
Bummer on the PO’d weekend. Well, if things happen in threes, it looks like you’ve gotten in your bad stuff over with for a while. At least no one died, although the dude putting a foot on your knitting bag should at least suffer from leg cramps for a few weeks.
No vegetarian salad? Wierd, and I’m not a vegetarian. Are salad dressing’s vegetarian? I though quite a few use some animal-based ingredients.
I think the sock looks pretty cool… like vinyl scales. I have some green/brown/tan yarn I’m going to try with that pattern to see if I can get mine to look like scales. My 11 year old would LOVE scaly ski socks… Thanks for the pointer!
To JustGail – I don’t think there normally are animal ingredients in salad dressing beyond perhaps something dairy or eggy, unless they’ve added bacon.
However, many restaurants use chicken stock in all kinds of things, even when cooking rice. Many people don’t know that, and may prefer not to know…
Hope Tuesday is better.
It is appalling the lack of ability of get food that (a) has no meat; and (b) why must everything have cheese slathered on it? I mean, I like cheese, just not on everything.
I would have behaved same way on the plane, though I would like to think I am getting bolder. Once had a guy on the commuter train try to grope me when I was in college, and I just kept turning my body. Young and dumb then –
Some people are just rude. Now in theaters they warn you to turn off the texting as well — I had Kevin Kline’s dying scene in Cyrano ruined when a teen’s phone lit up from a text.
Sorry for the “I feel your pain” rant.
I am an unabashed carnivore and would probably eat people if the cattle/swine/poultry supply were to dry up. But I completely agree-you should be able to get a vegetarian salad anywhere, anytime. Too bad you couldn’t have said something to the guy next to you. You’ll have to work on that Stephanie. After all, he didn’t mind offending you or making you uncomfortable, did he? No reason you shoud be overly nice and not rock the boat…Sometimes we need to make folks aware that the rest of us have feelings, too (as well as a sense of personal space).
Yikkers….I’m not saying the gods are picking on you but yikkers. You have every right to feel a little cranky, dear.
Funny – I read your post too fast and thought you were knitting Vasectomy socks.
Plane rides can be…trying. Unless you are in First Class, those seats force you to be right smack in someone else’s physical boundaries. I flew once with a VERY rude young couple who hogged everything until they fell asleep. I had the window seat and it gave me an indecent amount of pleasure to wake them up (twice) to “answer the call of nature”. I have a bladder like steel but they didn’t need to know that….>;-) Revenge can be very sweet.
I like the pooling in the socks, it remindes me of moire (sp?) patterns.
And I’m not as understanding about theft. I can understand crimes of passion and stupid mistakes but theft is a deliberate, premeditated decision. The thief seems to think that “you have something I want so I’ll just take it” is an acceptable way to live and I vehemently disagree! Two things in life can make me rage:
1. Technology that will not perform the function for which it was allegedly designed. That can make me fume, swear, throw the item in question!
2. Theives.
That’s it. Teen anger? Nah. Rude clerks? Slay them with sarcasm. Bad driver? A couple of comments about the wisdom of giving idiots weapons/cars and I’m fine but the two items above cause me to lose my sanity.
I salute you for your equanimity!
I kept looking at the sock wondering why it was not pleasing and finally caught on that I was NOT seeing a ray of sunshine across it. Ah, well. It made a great photo for the blog, could that be why you kept knitting?
I always, whenever possible, get an aisle seat, and I defend my underseat space with a vengeance, although nicely.
And thank goodness for insurance.
Crappy food in airports .. I got nothing
And I agree the pooling sucks, but thanks for the link to the pattern. I love it!
Oh wow, that all sucks. Just sucks.
The plane socks are going to be halfsize,due to all the tension and hate you were feeling while knitting them. Frog’em.
I had my car smashed last week too in St. John’s, and all they got was a bag of dirty work clothes. No fun at all.
Ouch! I can sympathize about the car. Someone did that same thing to my van a number of years back — smashed ALL 8 windows. And to add insult to injury, they took NOTHING.
My sympathies on the damage to the car and the loss of Daniel.
Wow, that does sound like a bad weekend. Nothing surprises me about airport “food”, but no vegetarian salads is kind of a stretch. Who knew?
As for the guy next to you, my patented Glare of Death seems to work most of the time, otherwise, I’d just ask him to move it. I know, I know, we women are socialized to not make trouble; it’s hard to break that conditioning. I suppose next time, you could “accidentally” stab him with a needle.
I saw that picture after reading you’d started the sock on the plane and thought,”Wow, the sun must have been really bright coming through the plane’s window.” Wasn’t until I read the next para that I realized that was YARN mucking with your head, not beautiful rays of sunshine on sock.
I get the irritating car stuff…my daughter had her car stolen (recovered, fortunately) and it was just some dudes goofing off. She knew it was dudes, because they shoved her stash of tampons into the cd slot and left all the totally cute shoes in the backseat. How annoying. Someone should loosen the screws on their skateboards and see how they feel about that.
The yarn in that sock is pooling in such a way as to create an optical illusion where I thought that the white was reflected light, and it made the whole thing look very two-dimensional. It took a long time for me to realize that it wasn’t really a gag picture of a sock that you’d printed out and shoved needles through. I genuinely couldn’t tell it really was yarn.
You: 3. Me. Why didn’t I say something? Why am I so timid when someone’s jerking me around? I could have politely asked him to move.
Me: I am exactly the same way. I wish every day that I could be more assertive. I think that I would love to be more like Harry Potter. He’s got just the right attitude.
Some people just really suck. I hope that you have a better day tomorrow.
Time for a quick trip to your happy place.
Sorry about all these things — they’d be turning my lips inside out if they were on my plate. Not that I don’t have plenty on my own plate, but that’s another story.
Yep, I’m beginning to believe the saying: If it isn’t one thing, it’s your Mother! Goes right along with: Youth is wasted on the young. I’m old enough and maybe wise enough now to have tasted and chew on both of these thoughts.
Sure hope your Tuesday is a different day. A better day. Go ahead and brush and saddle this horse and plan for a ride. You deserve it!
sorry about the car – I really hope insurance covers it –
plane ride home this week – sat next to – right next to – a periodontist student on the airplane – who was preparing a Powerpoint – of disgusting rotting teeth and mouths – the airplane was dark – the computer screen was bright –
I was proud of myself for not throwing up – I closed my eyes and turned away.
Great pattern and most of the color is good but that white has to go. Was it a mistake? Salad should be just vegetables; have the meat for purchase if you want on the side.
I love the pooling look. Tired of stripes sometimes.
Until I actually clicked the link and looked at the colorway in the skein, I mistook the white pooling in the sock for patches of sunlight. That is some pretty amazing pooling. It looks as though that sock could look pretty fabulous in a more subtly heathered yarn, though (such as the one shown on the pattern page).
I’m sorry you’re cranky. I myself am having trouble communicating today. I blame Mercury, even if it’s not officially retrograde at the moment.
As far as #3 goes, I think most people would react the way you did & that guy was counting on the fact that most people are too polite to call him on his rude behavior. It’s not possible that he could be intruding into your personal
space to the extent that you could actually feel his elbow in your ribs without realizing he was doing so. Nor could he put his foot (feet?) under the seat in front of you by accident. He was rude & counted on your being intimidated by his effrontery (as most women anyway would be).
Well, I saw this on 4/12. I hope you’re feeling better today. Sometimes it just seems like every yucky thing piles up at once.
I hope today was better for you and you should always have cookies available when ever you need them.
In Austin, TX there is a company that delivers cookies to your door, still hot from the oven. All cities should have this service, at least for emergencies. It’s awesome.
I have that pattern marked for some crazy pooling yarn in my stash. Now I wonder how it’ll turn out… As for the rest of the crapfest, it is not fair! And, I blame it all on men. Some man probably decided we all need meat in airport salads, and some man probably broke into your car. And (if it was my house) a man probably ate all the cookies. Hope today is much better.
Sorry to hear the crumminess. Really sorry to hear that you had no cookies to help soothe the crumminess.
Hope you found cookies – and beer. (Though not necessarily together. They talk about ‘food pairings’. Not sure I’d want to go there on this combo.)
Oh dear. Sorry about your troubles, but I have to agree on all your points — they are worth getting pissed off about. Memories of a long train ride in Italy with the guy facing me, squishing both his feet into my seat. Nice and relaxing — for him! Never again. Congratulations on your ISBN.
Words cannot express how much I needed and enjoyed reading your blog today so I will just say,”Thank you,Stephanie!”
I normally travel with my daughter, so I’m guaranteed a lovely seatmate (except if I get up to use the washroom, she scoots over into MY window seat while I’m gone.)And I tell her exactly what I think of that. But if it were a stranger jerking me around, I wouldn’t say a word. Warm cookies are an absolute necessity for all the things that piss us off, and you definitely deserved some. I do like the stitch pattern in your sock. Do try again with a different yarn.
Totally with you on 2 & 3.
Must admit that I have strayed from you and been spending too much time on FB. So happy to be back, though I kept having the urge to hit “Like” several times to things you wrote…
I actually thought that the sun was shining on the sock until I looked closely. That’s some dramatic pooling! Sorry about all the suck-y stuff, ditto the bug and windshield comment
I totally thought that the color was vasectomy. LONG day. lol
I’m sorry to hear that you had to deal with such poop, but tomorrow is another day!
I’m so sorry these things happened to you. For the space stealer, sometimes I “accidentally” fall into his space and then immediately grab the elbow rest for myself. Your poor car! There are jerks and creeps around and a lot of them don’t get the beatings they deserve.
I’m so sorry this stuff happened to you.
Darling, two words for your terrible no good very bad week:
Hothead Paisan
She’s a “homicidal lesbian terrorist” who avenges the victims of patriarchy and racism. Created by Dianne DiMassa, Hothead (in one of many instances) freaks out on a guy who, like your nasty plane man, has some issues with sharing a park bench with a woman. So Hothead, um, takes care of it.
I’m sure that she’d take care of car vandals too!
Wow, that is a lot of crap to get hit with at one time. I agree that you’ve paid your karmic dues ahead pretty significantly.
I think a beverage might have “accidentally” landed in the passenger’s lap or shoe. And even though I’m not a vegetarian, you are completely right about the salad.
Thanks for showing us the sock anyhow. I love the pattern, so it’s going onto my someday list.
To the prissysister: the beverage would have had to have landed in his lap. HIs shoe was on the knitting bag. No choice there. 🙂
a) thought the sock looked great. b) I’m so sorry about your car. c) I hate antivegetarians. I remember one day asking in a bakery for something vegie and being offered chicken. I nearly ripped the poor woman’s head off and used it as a basketball d) you could have told him you had really sharp pointy needles in the bag and he should probably move his foot for his own personal safety. Tomorrow will be better.
Ya know what bugs me? When you show some knitters massive ugly pooling like that, and they go, “Oh I like it. It looks really cool when your sock has streaks of white smeared randomly across a color pattern.” No. It doesn’t. It looks ugly. Have you ever seen knitwear for sale in stores that has streaks and globs of colors randomly scattered on it? No. You haven’t. Because no one would buy it if it looked like that. Because it looks ugly.
I’m sorry your sock turned out ugly. But pretending that ugly looks good isn’t gonna fix it.
I NEVER SAY ANYTHING TO THE HORRIBLE PEOPLE THAT TAKE THE ARMRESTS AND 1/2 MY SEAT ON THE PLANE, BUT I SECRETLY HOPE THAT SOMEDAY THEY’RE NEXT TO A PERSON WHO SMELLS FUNNY!
The next time your neighbour takes up your seat space, ask him if he’d like to switch since he seems to like your place more than his own !
hoping tomorrow is spectacularly better for you!
quick question: what type of sock needles did you take on the plane? I’m flying Air Canada soon, and am wanting to take along my first sock, which is “in progress.” I’d cry of they made me ditch it due to the wrong needles!
I hate to add to your list, but somehow this post evaded Google Reader. The last one I see is Yarncaching. I’m sorry. I’d send you cookies if I could.
So sorry you are having so many things go wrong at the same time. I know it can be frustrating but remember its a time for growth as well. Maybe you need to be the one to write a letter to the airport and tell that you and others would appreciate more options in the food area. Also next time use your voice to take your power back from those that are imposing on you and your personal space. Be nice but firm! =) On another note I have to get a kit to make that tulip baby sweater!! You had to show it and now it is haunting me in my sleep so I will have to purchase one! So thanks for passing on the sweater bug! =) Have a super day!
::shoves vegetarian cookies through the interwebs::
Something else I thought of Steph…maybe next time with your pooling problem, you could try to over dye the whole sock(s). It might turn out pretty cool, especially with what looks like a white pool, but I can’t tell if that is the sun or not!
Wow, just a quick look at the picture made me think that the white part was actually sunlight on the sock! Maybe that’s just wishful thinking about sunshine coming from Minnesota 🙂
Yup, I thought it was sunlight until I looked at the yarn online! I wish someone would work up a formula for which space-dyed yarns work well with socks and which will pool.
About those salads though – as someone who has to eat wheat and gluten free, but does eat chicken and fish, I am grateful for those salads that provide protein. I get really tired of dragging granola bars on flights and then not having any protein to balance the carbs.
Oh, please keep kind of an eye out around your house. These “people” that took Daniel, now have your home address if you have “Home” programmed in.
It has been a problem for a while now.
As far as salad goes, WTF?!?! Isn’t salad supposed to be vegetarian? The term salad kind of screams vegetarian…people should sell a pack of chicken/ham/tuna on the side if someone wants to add meat to their salad.
I’m not sure what one would do with that yarn altho it is beautiful on the skein. Some skeins are meant to be decorative items, I believe. Can’t wait to see what pattern you so decide to use with it!
Don’t know how you put up with all the travel issues!!!!!!
We went out for my husband’s birthday on Monday and came back to the car to find our passenger side window smashed and our GPS stolen, too! I’m sure the guy who did it was having a much rougher night than we ever are, but man, it was a crappy way to end a birthday celebration.
My cure for bad seatmate on the airplane is to get up and use the restroom a lot.
One last comment: Why don’t you fly business class? Then you will have a lot more room, and less stress. You are flying out for business, and should be able to write off the whole thing on your taxes, at least in the US.
You probably think that is frivolous, but reconsider: In the great scheme of things, it won’t break you and will make it easier for you to function. Besides, we all know that you are capable and fit. You don’t need to prove anything to anyone.
Considering how long the flight is from coast to coast, you should pamper yourself a little and upgrade. Just think of all of the things you do for others (specifically your children and other family memebers). For once, give yourself a little present of tranquility when you fly.
Be kind to your self.
Also, regarding the socks: I like the pooling in them, but how likely is it that the other sock will pool also? If it will pool, then go for it. I bet any younger, non-conformist person would like those.
I used to be pretty tolerant of space-hogging men*. Now I say, “Excuse me, sir. If you don’t STOP TOUCHING ME, i will assume you are TRYING TO COP A FEEL and SUE YOU FOR SEXUAL ASSAULT.”
My stepfather’s a little too touchy-feely, so I now have NO tolerance for that sh**.
(*It’s always men, thus far in my experience.)
Sorry about the car. Been there, done that, feel your pain. *hug*
Forget the cookies—it’s time for a cold beer.
I hate being vandalized. I resorted to putting a mickie with rum in my back seat. Trouble was it was laced with a strong laxative.(the kind they use pre-colonoscopy) Justice was served again and again I suspect, after I came out one morning to find it gone.
I am just finishing some socks that I don’t like. Decided as I turned the second heel that they will be my spa socks that I wear at night with slippery foot lotion. Finishing them was like being in prison. Don’t go to prison. Get some different yarn for your April socks. You deserve it.
I was once on a plane and the guy in front of me laid his seat back as far as it would go – into my lap. I peered around the seat and said “hello” and he shouted and set the seat back up. Honestly, I’m not that ugly.
I agree with the person who said you should upgrade when you fly.
Your books and your work have greatly enhanced my life and my knitting. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart.
Rude man on airplane – this man was not just rude – he was sexually harassing you. If you are too shy to tell the man to move, next time use the call button and ask the flight attendant to ask the man to behave. That is the flight attendant’s job. Or just spill coffee on him – he’ll get the message.
I must need new glasses. I actually thought the difference in colour was caused by a very brilliant shaft of sunlight-ugh! Must make an appointment soon.
For the folks who think Stephanie should just upgrade her seat…being able to deduct expenses on your taxes (if -and it’s a big if- Canadian tax law is the same as the US), that doesn’t make the extra cost of the upgrade ‘free’. Deducting expenses means you *don’t pay tax on them*. So if my tax rate is 20%, and I deduct a plane flight as a business expense, I get to not pay 20% of the cost of the flight in taxes. 80% of the cost (whether it’s a cheap seat or an expensive one) still comes out of my pocket.
I’m a lot taller than Stephanie, and personally, I am not willing to pay hundreds of dollars extra to get a few more inches of space, even on a long flight.
The people who fly business class are either well-off enough to pay a premium (this group does not include most writers, even successful ones), or they are business travelers where their employer pays the whole cost of the flight. Since they’re spending their company’s money and not their own, they don’t care about the cost. It’s not at all the same for self-employed people like Stephanie.
I’m sorry about your bad luck. With regards to the rude seat mate, I probably would have leaned toward him, made eye contact and asked, “Do you have enough room? Do you need me to put the armrest down for you? Can I move my bag over?” Maybe that would have embarrassed him into being polite. Actually, I probably would have done what you did, nothing. Re: the vandalism/theft, I have had a car stolen (before I made the first payment and I had no theft insurance), and had a new white car grafittied with black spray paint. People can really suck. I too can understand theft better than destructive behavior just for spite. Maybe people who have no talents and don’t know how to leave a positive mark on the world sometimes would rather leave a negative mark than feel invisible.
One last word on upgrading: It is a purely personal choice. Dealing with rude, close-in seatmates seems to be VERY upsetting to YH. I was just pointing out that upgrading is a good alternative if she wants to spend the money. The cost is not a total loss if she writes it off of her taxes. If she considers avoiding major drama and unwanted personal touching for several hours followed by being traumatized for a day or so, to be more imporant than money, then she has the choice. There is nothing wrong with choosing to upgrade. She does not need our validation to do this.
For the guy who was hogging your space. I would have NOT eaten, which I’m not sure if you did, let your stomach growl then turn to the guy and say something like, “Sorry. I don’t think the double stuff burrito agreed with me. My stomach is kind of working out which way to toss it out and so I just wanted to warn you just in case there’s a little pffff sound. It’s me.” Then sit back, continue knitting and watch him adjust himself accordingly in a measure of voluntary action to avoid being any closer to you than he had to.
My aunt taught me how to deal with people who were invading my personal space.
WOW Some of the people who left comments must have been cranky, too. Amuses me when people feel they have to give advice to a post like this. Maybe my take on it is off, but it just seems YH was being rhetoric; therefore, not asking for advice.
Daughter who is a vegetarian (aka one who does not eat anything that had a face so as not to confuse those who think the only food vegetarians eat are vegetables) who asked last night if I had a Canadian daughter, because she so got what YH was posting about, especially the vegetarian salad.
Lighten up, People, and see the humor of the post.
And Stephanie….Hope this is a better day. Love your blog.
I can really relate to your plane experience. Just finished a great book that addresses some of those issues: “When the Body Says No” by Gabor Mate. He talks about the importance of assertiveness and feeling/expressing anger, among other things. I highly recommend it.
I’ve noticed that men seem to take up more space than they need, while we women tend to take up less. It’s time for us to take back some of our space.
Love your blog. I’m reading my way through it from start to finish.
Ugh. It is always bad when even the knitting is frustrating. Sneezing, general boogerdom and such sometimes works on a plane. Did you try long pulls from your yarn ball stretching under his nose? Most people who invade MY “personal space bubble” I have found, do not have any idea what personal space is. I have a generous idea of what personal space I claim as my own, yet live with two children, a husband and a dog who all find it an exciting and satisfying challenge to violate.
And on the salad front, I will go as far as to say that cheese should be held to the side as well. What cheese grows in a garden (salad)?
I once inadvertently found a solution to airplane seatmates. I get terribly motion sick and dramanine doesn’t always work. I once asked my seatmates if they needed their barfbags and if not, could I have them? This was back when there were sometimes empty seats on planes. Within a few minutes I had the row to myself. Lovely.
I very much agree with you about the salad. However, the pooling of thesock looked cool
Sorry to hear about your day and your poor car. Look up you could have been mugged which is ALOT worse. Cars can be fixed. I enjoy your blog and what you are knitting. I can’t believe you are sooo fast. Awesome!! Take a deep breath and have a DRINK!!!
You might not remember but Daniel is something we had in common which is why I feel your grief. I don’t know what would happen if I were forced to have a Lee or someone else leading me in the right direction. Chin up, it will always get better 🙂
i actually didn’t read this post – well, not all of it – cuz i’m still catching up on past posts. i am in april of 2005. I wanted you to know i was ROFL at your trip to miss-ipi. I have family there and I don’t understand them either. but they are nice.
i caught a glimpse of this post. i’ll probably have something to say about it in six years.
Keep the faith!
Oh, that is some serious pooling on the sock. I’m really sorry that the last several hours have been just cr@ppy. I think some extra dark chocolate and nice cabernet will help. Or some extra salty beer nuts and lots of dark beer
Stephanie, you really are too nice. The schmuck on the plane would have been very politely asked by me to move his feet off of my property. And that my ribs, while well padded, are not part of the arm-rest. Very politely, in case the issue has to do with prosthetic limbs and such, but the point needed to be made. I have a Quebecoise great aunt that is a nun and has been for 60 years. She sure doesn’t put up with that sort of thing, and she really should be a saint…just saying…but it will get better really soon.
Hugs. Because you deserve them.
That’s super sucky. I am telepathically sending you coffee…and wine and chocolate to round it out. Hope your days are getting better now.
It sucks when yarn doesn’t look the way you think it should when you are knitting a sock. i hope you are able to work it out. Are you ok? Havent heard from you in um… awhile. Getting concerned.
I just had to tap the guy in front of me on the shoulder and tell him to raise his seat as we were about to take off. My husband shrugged when I complained to him about it. I am proud of myself for sticking up for those two inches of my space! And all you people who ignore the all electronics off instructions–grow the eff up and turn off your damn devices. Grr, flying.
extreme listing you’ve get
You know, there are times when long sharp knitting needles have their place — and on a plane with an obnoxious man in the next seat is a perfect time for them being in your hands.
I agree on salads. I don’t understand either why someone feels it’s so necessary to ruin a perfectly good salad by plopping some pieces dead animal on it, or something that came out the end of a chicken. Heed the advice of Gloria Swanson and bring your own meals to public functions in a paper bag (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gloria_Swanson#Personal_life). That’s the only way to guarantee a real vegetable salad.
I think you have worked off your Karma — this time.
I sat next to that same guy on a different flight from Ontario to No. Cal. I got precariously close to stabbing him with my circs…
Hope things are looking better for you, Steph!
I get so mad when I order a garden salad and it comes covered in shredded cheese. Since when did cheese start growing in a garden!!!!!
Try finding something to eat in an airport that’s vegan… I’ve learned to travel with extra food just in case of an extended layover. Have had way too many of those jerky seat mates too. Flying used to be really fun… until I started doing it constantly.
the salad thing bothers me all the time! everyone’s like “what do vegetarians eat- salad?” but no- at pretty much every restaurant, you have to specifically ask them to take off the meat in order to make it vegetarian! it’s a SALAD!!! I’m also allergic to nuts and those have become quite popular on salad. so now I have to order something like “the chicken pecan salad with no chicken or pecans, please” and I’m the one who sounds like a freak.
OMG! I am sorry to hear about your car. That sucks hardcore.
One morning I was going to work and I left the house to find our car up on milk crates and rocks (taken from the garden) and all 4 wheels gone. Police came and were like “You should have had tire locks” I almost lost it on the police man, so my fiance stuffed me back inside the house. So we got a rental car. 4 days after finding our car up on milk crates I go to take the rental to work and what do I find? Rental up on milk crates and all the tires gone….Yes. 2 times in 5 days. Called the police again and you know what they said “Why didnt you get wheel locks and can we check your basement”…I was l.i.v.i.d. yeah I always get wheel locks on rentals and YES COME AND CHECK THE BASEMENT! AHHH.
I took pics because no one at work would have believed me. Sometimes people really suck.
I am a bit bipolar when it comes to the “meat-V-salad” case. I have tried the vegetarian route. I made it for 6 months. Then I was at a family event where the main course was pastrami on rye! I couldn’t hold back as they slow cooked it for 4 hours (ever wafting through the corridors). i had no place to hide. Finally I caved in and acted like a cave-MAN and ate the largest pastrami on rye that I could without knitting two pieces of bread for each side of the sandwich. After that, the rest is well trying to say the least. Congrats to you all who are vegan. Maybe I will get there someday?:)
I would have quietly threatened the seat hog with a double point. “See these? They could go right through the arm you keep shoving into my seat. I could pin you you your own, if you’d like.’ Then give him the big evil grin that comes from not being able to find anything to eat 🙁
I hope the rest of your week goes much better, filled with knitting, good tea, and cookies.
I hope things go your way soon! It’s often for me life’s little irritations that make me so darn grumpy!
In the sock picture, I thought at first that was sunlight across the middle. That is some vicious pooling! Even worse than a pair I made that had me giggling every time I looked at them, because seriously? Both socks pooled, but in different ways. Yarn has a mind of its own, all right.
As for flying, that sort of thing is why I’m taking the train from Boston to Washington next month. Give me elbow room, and freedom to stand! Flying isn’t even a little bit fun anymore.
At first glance, I thought there was sun shining on the sock, then I realized it was the white parts of the yarn pooling. whoa. That is some pooling.
Sorry you’re having a crappy day. I hope your walk is a nice one and cheers you up a bit. Stop for a beer on the way home!