Bastard

M-effer. My entire post was erased, courtesy of a misplaced cursor.
My new bike has led to some less than appreciated remarks in the past couple of days. Monday night I was stopped at a stop sign on an incline, in a construction zone. I'm still getting used to this bike, which is completely different than my last bike, so I admit sometimes I have to stop and think about how to do something. So I'm at the stop sign, and there is a guy in pickup truck behind me, waiting for me to pull out. Again, I admit I had to figure out how to keep the bike up, without rolling back and be able to pull into nearly constant traffic. With my Ninja, I could put my legs vertically behind the pegs to hold the bike from rolling back but with this bike, all that is on the side is a screaming hot exhaust and the pegs are near the front tire, so I can't treat it like the other bike. Basically you have to find the balance on holding the brake, clutch and rolling on the throttle. (If I gave it too much gas, I was going to spin the rear tire, and likely end up with the bike on it's side as it was loose gravel on top of pavement) So while I'm trying to get the right balance, the guy (in his mid 50's-early 60s) pulls his truck up beside me and says "that's some bike, can you handle it?" PISSED ME OFF. But the ingrained politeness made me smile and say "guess we'll see" and pull away.
I was still pissed about it when I got home and told HG about it. HG says had it been him, he would have put the kick stand down, and got in the guys face. Although I am barely 5'2 so I doubt I would have been nearly as intimidating as HG is. HG tells me I need to fall more into the Harley attitude and start telling people to fuck off. While I think it would be fun to tell people to fuck off, when it fits the situation, I think I'm a bit too nice for it. When I do get to the point where I tell people to fuck off, I'm usually saying a lot of other things as well. Since then, I've thought of all sorts of snarky remarks in case I see this guy again, or run into a similar douchebag. My bike is big, it's heavy, and it's fast, but it is by no means impossible for a girl to ride it. If anything, it makes me want to more.
To top that off, a friend's mom sent me an email on one of my other sites saying that only men can drive Harley's because they are stronger and more knowledgeable, plus it's better if we are passengers so we can look out for our husbands (drivers). I can't figure out her tone, but I am hoping this is her being sarcastic, because that's complete bullshit. I can drive anything, I don't bend to 'men only' stereotypes, and have spent much of my life proving it. I can ride snowmobiles, 4 wheelers, dirt bikes and motorcycles. I've ridden and competed with guys, it's about skill not sex, fuckers. Evidently I'm still angry.
Screw it, I'm buying my nieces dirt bikes and four wheelers when they can walk.

Vroom Vroom

Well... it's been an exciting and tiresome weekend.
To begin with, remember this post about the bike I was dreaming about, but unsure I'd be able to handle? The local Harley dealership was having a huge sale on 2008 bikes, as they are beginning to receive the 2009 models, and HG suggested I drive thru. I did. Poor HG drives by in his car as I have a salesman pulling out a bike for me. HG stops immediately, probably afraid of what I would come home with (my Ninja I bought when HG was out of town). After checking out some used bikes, I returned to drool at this bike, I asked for some numbers, we negotiated (I got a serious friggin deal!) and now I am a proud owner of a sweeeeet 2008 Harley Night Rod. HG wasn't all that excited about it, as he didn't really care for the VRod's, but since I was headed to Mass, he had to drive it home for me... and now, he's a convert. I've been gone most of the weekend, and he's been on my bike while I've been away.

So due to the unexpected purchase of a new motorcycle I was delayed in leaving town for Boston. I met up with a friend in Boston around 10, we painted the town, drank our share and left Boston around 2-2:30am on Saturday. I had to take the long way home to drop of one of the girls, and ended up home around 6 am. It was a long night, I crashed out and slept until almost 9 am, then we were up running around to get the rest of the paper work back to the dealership. We met up with friends at a local bar around noon, and from there headed to the Harpoonfest. I'm not a beer fan, nor a BBQ, which is really what the fest is about, but it was fun to catch up with everyone. Having been up almost 40 hours straight, I was exhausted and although we had plans to drink with the boys from Ireland there was no way I could have physically handled it, so we didn't. I slept like a bear in hibernation, except that I had to be at class on Sunday at 7:30a and it was an hour away. I showed up on site at 7, being uncertain as to the actual location of class, only to find out it really wasn't until 8. I napped in the car, had my class and finally took my motorcycle test, which I passed. I don't know what the big deal is really, (except there is no way I could have taken the test on my new ride) seriously folks, you only need a license if you get pulled over (HG I bet you are loving that!).

I'm actually looking forward to going to work tomorrow, so I can finally get some rest.

SP12 package

I got a delivery today!


I didn't want to wait to get home to open the packages, so you are going to have to make due with my less stellar phone pictures.

SP12, Thank you so much for all the goodies! I can't wait to get into the sweaters!

Auto-pilot

Even autopilot fails sometimes.
As per my usual routine, I was up and at the gym by 5 a.m. I checked my phone and had a couple disconcerting voicemail that a friend had left shortly before 2 am. I was thinking about it, and trying to figure out what the circumstances behind those calls were while I worked out. I was still worrying about it when I finished up and hit the shower. I always look at the clock when I go into the gym bathroom to try to keep my time short to avoid having people waiting outside the door. Anyway, I was showered, dressed and walking out of the bathroom in about 15 minutes, which for me is quick. I momentarily forgot about the voicemail and was shocked at how speedy I was, when I realized why.
I never washed my hair.

Hey, at least I washed the sweat off.

SP12 W7

1) What is(are) your favorite place(s) to knit?
I’m a big fan of my living room but also the White River Yarns.


2) What supplies (beside yarn & needles) make the setting perfect for knitting?
My living room is comfy, with room to put my knitting down, and of course the big TV to knit along to. (The downside is that sometimes I get into the movie, and forget where/what I am knitting. Then not so conducive to good knitting)
The LYS has bright lighting, soft music in the back ground, no TV, husband, or pet distraction and someone there who always knows how to fix what I broke :-)

SP 12, Week 6

I've been slacking on the weekly questions a bit....

Week 6: What is your favorite type of project to take along on holiday/vacation?
I don't make adult sized anything, so almost always I can take whatever I'm working on. I prefer something easy or at least something that if I put down, don't have to mark every single stitch.

So, I've been stalking my downstream pal on her blog and Ravelry trying to find other clues on things to get her, and realized that I hadn't updated anything for my upstream pal... Here are some FAQ on Ravelry:

*I love tea and hot cocoa. I'm not a big coffee drinker (which mystifies my husband since I'm Colombian :-p)
*I don't eat meat, I do eat eggs and dairy though....hmmm cheese. I'm not allergic to any foods, but I like food to have labels because my husband is allergic to tree nuts (and I like to share) (well, sometimes) (Okay so I don't like to share my chocolate, but I'll share other treats)
*I love homemade goodies, food or crafts. I have limited (cough *no* cough) artistic abilities, so I enjoy other's. But please for the love of every knitting Deity, do not send me anything with clowns. Clowns do not evoke loving childhood memories and smiles, no they make me want to run and scream and hide. And if I'm hiding, I need to have my knitting ready to go so at least warn me before you send me anything scary!
*Stupid jokes make me laugh the hardest
*I really do listen to almost everything, music wise not so much instructions though ;-p

Ok, I've run out of memory in my head, and I'm starving.....
buh bye.

knitable

I brought my un-seamed sweater with me to my local yarn shop, and to my surprise the seaming wasn't that bad! Lois (the owner) found this great seaming technique for the lace so it was almost undetectable where the seam was, and let me practice on some practice pieces before starting on my sweater... it was easy peasy and now all that is left is for me to weave in the ends. I hate seaming so it was a pleasant surprise for it to go so smoothly last night. Lois even showed me another seaming method that might inspire me to dig out the old baby wrap sweater that was finished, but needed seaming... I say might, don't hold me to it.

SP12 Week 5 questions:
1) Where is your favorite place to go for vacation/holiday? I've been lucky and had very few "bad" vacations. I spent some time in Arizona a few years ago, and loved it. I also frequent the Coast for weekend getaways, as it's close and inexpensive. My other favorite was the Dominican. Loved every moment of it, and would go back in a heart beat.

2) Where is one place you’d like to go? Only one... oh man that's hard. This year, for various reason, it's Prince Edward Island. See, told you I'm relatively easy to please.

Hahah.. I bet my husband's laughing now!

Happy 4th

I finished the cotton February baby sweater, done with the cotton yarn originally planned for my sis-n-l's wrap sweater that went no where. I just need to do the finish work of sewing in the seams.... my least favorite part. I think I am going to need a little guidance on the sewing in the sleeves since it will be the first time I've done it on a lace pattern.

Here are some snap shots of the local fireworks... you'll notice we were near the power lines, I was just too lazy to get out of my chair and move, so the power lines will have to do.

Back to enjoying the weekend, hope you have a great one!

What a sad world we live in

There are days where I feel like there is nothing sacred in this world, and those days have become more and more frequent. I live in an area that I like to think is pretty insulated from violence and crime, an area that as a child forced me to find my own activities like building tree forts, or pretending to build a big dam on a river and watch matchstick boats we pieced together blow apart, or where I could leave my house in the morning and find my own entertainment for the entire day outside to come home at dinner and not have my parents freaked out. Those days are gone. I talk about how much I love kids, but am not so sure that I want any... all the hazards that are out there now that were not when I was a kid scare the hell out of me, and worry me even more about having kids. What kind of world are we living in now, where kids can't walk a mile down the road from there house without being killed? Or where you have to pass thru metal detectors just to go to school? What the hell is going on, seriously, where so-called parents think it's okay to put a baby in a microwave or in a dog kennel "for their safety", or sexually molest a baby that can't even crawl yet, or your son, daughter or any kid for that matter. How have we gotten to this point where it seems the moral compass in so many people is completely non-existent? Is it destined to only get worst?
Locally, a 12 year old girl was reported missing last week. They just found her body near her sexual predator uncle's house. The details coming out report that the uncle, who had been charged & convicted of kidnapping and sexual assault of an 18 yo back in 1993 and required to go thru sexual predator counseling or whatever the fuck you want to call all while still molesting little girls, was involved in a sex ring and is being held in connection with her death and kidnapping. Also involved was her former step-father. I can't even begin to explain the rage I feel, nor can I even begin to understand what her family is feeling right now. I know the old adage that "an eye for an eye only leads to more blindness", but right now I hope these two guys go to jail and are repetitively sodomized and beaten before being killed because they deserve nothing better. I think people can be rehabilitated from some things, sure you can learn to live without drugs and alcohol, but can you really rehabilitate someone prone to violence? And it is violence, I know there are people who say that molesters/rapist aren't violent offenders per-say, but I call that bullshit. It is violence, maybe you aren't beating or killing them, but you are taking their life and there is no way around that.
The world has gone crazy, and I'm no sure that it's anything that can be 'fixed'.