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November 21, 2005
fiasco 
Sometimes I just wonder if I am bringing my own black cloud with me, and that I am the force that is ruining things. Sometimes.
While there were parts of the weekend that were fun, let's just say the the majority of it was a fiasco. And not my fault! The things I wanted and needed to get done, like buying out all the dairy products in the tri-county area, and doing a huge amount of work-work, were not to be.
The weekend was very cold. One thing I learned is that I need some more cold weather scooter gear.
Wearing a buff under my helmet as a balaclava helped keep my head and face warm, but not as well as wool would have. My groovy reflective silver scooter scarf: not terribly warm. My scooter hoodie is very warm, if I remember to zip the pit vents. But cold air still pours up the sleeves. And my dorky is0toner driving gloves are okay for short distances, not okay for longer ones. My legs: frozen. Even with wearing long underwear under jeans. Though my feet were warm in smartw8l socks and short clogboots.
After a long fiascolike ride through the wilds of Clark County, Washington, I was really happy to go into the new neighborhood yarn store and imagine all the warm woolen things I could make. The error of my ways has been revealed. Yeah, all those funky fuzzy shiny non-wools are fun, but wool, damn: it stretches, it warms, and some of them even don't itch. It's the original sports fabric.
I'd love to figure out the psychology of stores that you love to visit. I mean, of course, it's got to have items you like looking at. But, why are some yarn shops so appealing, and some others, with the same stock, so underwhelming? All I know is that I really liked this new yarn store. The owner was friendly and enthusiastic, the stock was beautiful, and there were chairs and a couch just begging to be sat upon. The place was the opposite of spare, but even full of people, I didn't feel claustrophobic.
...
I had planned that I'd ride the bicycle in today. Then, I went outside and saw that there wasn't even a block's visibility, and there was ice on the ground. I still need to figure out what to wear as well so I'm not freezing the whole way.
Posted at November 21, 2005
Comments
You and me both gotta figure out this cold-weather scootering thing, though I may have cried wolf a bit too soon as it's going to be 75 degrees most of this week in my neck of the woods.
Knit a warm cozy for the neighbor dog!
Posted by: Megan at November 22, 2005 6:17 AM
Sorry to hear that your weekend was no fun. Sounds like a great yarn store. I need to go a-yarning. I ride my bicycle in the cold, which is probably a lot different than riding a scooter in the cold, but maybe this will be useful. I wear hiking boots with thick socks when I ride in the winter. If it's super cold, I put plastic bags over the socks before putting on my boots. Got me through winter commuting in Boston. Brr!
Posted by: Liz at November 22, 2005 7:06 AM
There are two stores that I would have moved to a desert island with me if I could only have two stores there (ok, that's wierd but go with it).
There was a very old Army Surplus/Hardware store in downtown Schenectady called Wallace Armor. It had creaky old wooden floors and an upstairs loft, and this funky metal track running all through the store. When you bought something, they sent the money up the track to a room upstairs, and then they would make up the receipt and send the change back down on the track. It was really cool.
The other store is an old used book store in the upstairs of an old office building in Ann Arbor. Its kinda dusty and dark, and has a very high cieling inside. The books are stacked so high on the shelves, you need a big ladder to get up to the top. Shelves and cases filled with old musty books. So very cool.
Posted by: Jon in Michigan at November 22, 2005 7:23 AM