A Prius is not a regular car May 28, 2009
Posted by walterknitty in Uncategorized.1 comment so far
It’s been a rough week in my personal life. But today, is a need to know if any of you ever drive a Prius.
The law firm has their own car (how nice is that). They have either a 2008 or 2009 Prius. I drove it for the first time a couple of months ago and get to drive it again tomorrow. I dont have a car and rarely drive so driving can be a bit of a harrowing experience, especially if there is a lot of traffic. Thankfully, I’m taking it at 10 tomorrow morning so there shouldnt be too much traffic in town.
Now, a Prius is not like a regular car. First off, there is no key. Yup, you heard me right. There. Is. No. Key. There is a fob you stick in the dashboard. The fob just sits there. You cant turn it. There is a power button on the dashboard. Push it twice to turn the car on. The shifter to take the car out of park and put it in drive is not where you think it would be. Where you think it would be is actually the windshield wiper control. To the right of the steering wheel is a knob that has drive, reverse, and neutral. Park is not an option. To put the car in park you have to find the button with the big “P”. Right now, I dont remember where it is. It’s somewhere on the dash. Maybe tomorrow, after my morning driving experience, I’ll let you know where it is.
The car makes no noise when you start it. The last time I drove it, I sat in the car for a couple of minutes because I didnt know if it was on. Seriously, it’s that quiet. Once you push the power button twice, it does turn the car on and it is ready to drive. All the lights on the dash come on, the radio comes on, and the display screen comes on. The display screen is kind of neat. There is a camera in the back of the car. When you back up it shows what is behind you on the screen. I’m 5′2″. This is good for me because sometimes I have a hard time seeing over the back seat and out the window.
This car, surprisingly, has a lot of get up and go. If you press on the gas, the car does respond. I’ve only owned 2 cars. A 1985 Honda Civic, and a 1990 Toyota Tercel. Neither of these had much get up and go. The Civic had a lot of personality. She loved jazz and hated Tool. Hawkeye was driving her (he always drove her hard. She was an old girl), listening to Tool. I had a cd player installed in the car where the face would flip up. The cd started skipping then the face flipped up and wouldnt come out. It was several minutes before the face came down and the cd came out. She wasn’t happy with his selection of music. Her name was Beulah and I’ll have to do a post about her. The Prius does not have a personality or a gender. I dont think it’s old enough. Anyway, the Prius does have a lot of get up and go, and responds well with little pressure on the gas pedal.
So there you have it. If you ever drive a Prius, just remember it’s not like a regular car. And remembering these simple tips will make a professional out of you.
All signed up May 26, 2009
Posted by walterknitty in Uncategorized.add a comment
I registered for the Sock Summit today. I’m taking 3, 3 hour classes:
Dont Knock Knee Socks
Paint Your Toes: Stranded colour knitting for socks
Knitting Happily Ever After: Ergonomics for Knitters
In fall, winter, and spring I’d rather wear knee socks instead of tights or panty hose. Sometimes when I knit I get sore so an ergonomics class sounded like a good idea. Maybe then I will learn not to bunch up my left shoulder when I K2tog.
Thank You Mom and Dad for sending me my birthday gift early.
Service Announcement May 21, 2009
Posted by walterknitty in Life Lessons.2 comments
There has been a big upheaval in my personal life this week, so blogging is going to be sporadic for a little while. Sorry, I’m not in much of a place to go into details right now. I still have a job, a place to live, the naughty cat, and the garden. Some changes are for the worse, some are for the better. This change falls into the latter category. It is definitely a change for the better but, with all big changes, until things sort themselves out and get back in place again, it’s stressful.
No pictures for a while unless I can borrow a camera.
M. took me out last night for some much needed talk and drinks. I’ve known M. as long as I’ve known Donna, I met him through Donna. He and her husband at the time were in some of the same classes in college. M. is my gay boyfriend.
We’ve been asked if we’re brother and sister (you’ll see why in the picture. That’ll have to be later, when I have my own computer. The one at work is being dumb) and right now, he’s being a big brother for me. Sometimes it’s nice to have an older brother. Last night we went to Crush for drinks and Skip-Bo.
Saturday I leave for the beach to get some much needed quality time with Donna. She may not be my biological Mom, but right now, I couldnt ask for more. Work gave me Tuesday off (I work with some really awesome and understanding people) I may not be back till then. Unless I can borrow a camera to take some photos. The coast here is wonderful.
Demons in your hair May 19, 2009
Posted by walterknitty in Random Conversations.1 comment so far
We didnt get all our mail at the law firm this morning. I was standing across the street from the post office next to a lady wearing a bright red hat. She said:
“The Devil likes blonds the best. He can put demons in your hair because it is so light coloured. Blonds have the most trouble with the Devil.”
Insanity in Iowa May 18, 2009
Posted by walterknitty in Economy.add a comment
I’m from a fairly small town in Eastern Iowa. There are only about 20,000 or so people who live there, it’s the largest city in the county, and the county is all farm county. Take a drive out to the North End of town, keep going, and you’ll see nothing but farms in about 5 minutes.
It’s not Mayberry. There are murders and thefts. My Dad had his boat motor stolen when I was a kid, the police didnt think it was a big deal, my Dad did most of the work to get it back. The neighbour kid got into the garage, took it, and sold it. Down the street from where I had my first apartment (about 4 blocks or so) a girl was murdered by her ex-boyfriend. It was pretty gristly. When I walked by the house on my way to school, after the murder, I swore I could hear her scream. Overall though, it’s the kind of place where you can walk from one of town to the other in the middle of the night and not have to worry. That’s what makes this so unusual:
An armed man is in custody after taking two hostages Sunday night at a Clinton grocery store.
This is the second hostage situation in a month. The last one was at the Workforce Development building. A man went in with a gun, took his wife hostage, held her and other people in the building hostage for 6 hours, before shooting himself.
Even though there have been some murders, it doesnt happen often. I lived in Clinton until I was 19 and moved to a different city, but made the 2 hour trek nearly every weekend for 2 years. Hostage situations?! As far as I know, was not a hostage situation when I lived there, and hasnt been one (let alone two in about a month) since I left.
BTW, this is the 3rd hostage situation this year. The first was in January and was resolved with no loss of life.
I find these developments very disturbing.
Clinton has been an economically depressed area for a long time. Since I was a kid. There are some factory jobs (Ralston Purina 3M, ADM), but mostly retail jobs, and unless you want to farm, there is little else. My parents have owned their home for nearly 16 years. Before the housing market crashed, their home only increased in value by about 20,000$. Even for Iowa, Clinton Co. is economically depressed.
Areas like Clinton, areas that are already economically depressed, dont see much in the way of economic progress when times are good. Now, when the economy has been on the brink of collapse, and is still fragile, areas like Clinton disproportionately, feel the squeeze.
Clinton is full of people just making ends meet. Even in an economically depressed area, minimum wage, doesnt pay the bills. In a family that is already just making ends meet, the loss of a job or a cut in hours, can be devastating. All of a sudden, you’re totally screwed. A person who feels trapped under a load of stress and pressure can do crazy things.
I have no idea how sound the 3 men in the news stories were to begin with. For all I know, they could have been totally nuts and some small thing, like having crunchy peanut butter, set them off. All I know is with the economy the way it is, fear around keeping or loosing a job, generalized anxiety about the economy, families under strain . . . Sometimes something’s gotta give. I just hope this is not going to become a trend.
Saturday Bus Awsomeness May 16, 2009
Posted by walterknitty in Uncategorized.add a comment
It’s a beautiful day and because you never know how long it’ll last (it’s not the 4th of July yet) we walked to downtown, had lunch, and took the bus home. On the way home, there was a young woman on the bus with a fussy, hungry baby. She threw a blanket over her shoulder and proceeded to breast feed her little one right there. The best part? No one on the bus batted an eye or said anything.
How cool is that?
Seen This? May 15, 2009
Posted by walterknitty in Music, Politics.add a comment
This is something I saw on Rachel Maddow (one of the smartest women on TV. Rhodes Scholar, got her PhD in Political Science from Oxford), it’s so interesting, I thought I’d include it here. It’s called Auto-Tune the News. Human creativity never ceases to amaze.
Finally Finished May 15, 2009
Posted by walterknitty in Fingers Crossed, Gardening.add a comment
The garden is finally finished. The last 2 tomatoes, green beans, and hot pepper went in today. Unfortunately, the hot pepper I had already started fell out of the window. I didnt notice it until I came home from work and it was beyond dead.
No, I dont have screens in my windows. The only window that has a screen is the one in the bathroom. The other 3 windows are about 2 feet, or so, wide and maybe 3ish feet tall if not a little taller. Besides, it’s Oregon which means, we dont have mosquitoes, biting flies, or gnat problems (sorry if this makes anyone jealous) and if any bugs do fly in it’s Claire’s job to catch and eat them. Her track record isnt so great, maybe about 60%. She looses interest after a while. Do you know how nice it is to be able to be outside in the summer and not have to worry about getting eaten alive by mosquitoes? In Iowa, they dont care if you are wearing some kind of repellent. They still think you are a tasty, moving snack.
The Tigerella isnt so lonely anymore. It sits next to a Green Zebra now and they can do their tomato thing. I am worried about one tomato though, the Orange Fleshed Purple Smudge. I forgot to water it right away this morning, since it was sunny and sitting in the window, it didnt take long for it to get really droopy. I soaked it and let it sit in the sink where it was cool. Hopefully, the shock of being re-potted wont be too much for it. Now, it’s just a matter of waiting. It’s supposed to be very nice for the next few days. Sunny and in the 70’s. Maybe, it’ll be enough for the seeds I planted last week to stick their heads out. Everything else looks good. The spinach has new growth, the carrots are getting their carrot leaves, marigolds are getting their marigold leaves, herbs are taking off, lettuce is growing away. Lettuce is ridiculously easy to grow. Now, it’s just a matter of waiting, watering, feeding when the need arrives, picking off dead leaves, some pruning, etc. That, and a lot of hope that everything will grow, be happy, healthy, and plentiful.
While everything is grown from seed, I did have a moment of weakness today when picking up tomato cages. Petunias are beautiful, so many bright colours, and most of all, I love their sweet smell.
Yea! May 14, 2009
Posted by walterknitty in D'oh, Knitting.add a comment
I called my parents last night because there was something I wanted to ask them for. This doesnt happen often and it’s not what you may think. The Sock Summit is in August, right after my birthday. Registration is supposed to open sometime later this month. I’d like to take 3, 3 hour classes at 70$ each, and asked if they’d pay for it as my birthday gift. They usually send money anyway. They said if that’s what I’m into and what I want they’ll do it. My Mom sounded like she thought it was weird, Dad’s attitude was “okay, whatever. The socks you made for your Mom were really neat”
They are not often so agreeable. So, um, Yea! I have a list of classes I’d ike to take and some alternates if the classes I’d like get full before I can register. There are some 1 hour classes on the list too, just in case.
In other knitting news, the Palmoa top got completely frogged yesterday. For some reason I had trouble counting to 5 and 7 and thought my shoulders were going to start at the elbows. At least yarn is forgiving, not like sewing.
More dirt tonight, more dirt tomorrow (I can only carry one bag at a time on the bus) and the rest of the garden goes in tomorrow. Two tomatoes, hot pepper, green beans, and maybe some more sunflowers.
Guilty Pleasure May 12, 2009
Posted by walterknitty in Food.2 comments
I love bread. I can see why the French called bread “the staff of life”. There is a big difference between the sandwich bread we buy at the supermarket and hand made bread from a traditional speciality bakery. Pearl Bakery is currently my favourite bakery in Portland. Their multi-grain batard makes an excellent garlic bread. It’s chewy and full of flax seeds, millet, poppy seeds, etc. Their ciabatta is light and airy, full of holes, is wonderful warm and plain. Their walnut levain is much the same. Wonderful warm and plain (yes, without butter).
My absolute favourite though would have to be their fig/anise panini. The first time I had one of these little rolls I thought I’d died and gone to bread heaven. The only bread experience that surpasses that was in San Francisco a little more than a year ago. I was visiting a friend and we went to Tartine at 5PM to get their bread just as it was coming out of the oven. That was the best bread I’ve had in my short life. If you ever make it to San Francisco, please, do yourself a favour and go to Tartine. Their pastry counter is visually stunning, it was so pretty I couldnt decide what to get. They are more tasty than you’d expect. Go back at 5 and get bread fresh out of the oven. Ask the girl or boy at the counter to cut a chunk off for you. You will not regret it.
Pearl Bakery is nearly as good. Some of the best bread in Portland. Dont listen to what anyone says about Saint Honore, they are over rated. Pearl Bakery’s loaves are a little on the spendy side (4-5$), but they freeze exceptionally well. Just wrap in a couple layers of tinfoil and put it in plastic. I usually make a loaf last 2 weeks that way.
Yes, I can make bread. I could choose to make bread once a week if I wanted to. Let’s chalk it up to me being lazy. Besides, it’ll eventually be summer here and I’m too lazy to be stuck at home for several hours tending to rising dough. That’s more for winter when it’s raining like the dickens, or getting snowed in for a week. It’s Portland. They dont know how to handle 8 inches of snow.
There is nothing in the world like good bread. Nothing satisfies the same way. It is the “staff of life”
