Spain!!!

Today has been hard as I didn't get a lot of sleep last night which always throws me more then most people. I had a big meeting this morning with a bunch of big-wigs in suits which is draining, fun, but draining. It's Friday and I've been suffering from a mild case of burn-out at work. So coming back to the office later this morning, and being tired, I was all for winding down for a relaxing weekend. And then.... I bought tickets to go to Madrid for a week and a half. Crazy!



This afternoon, I've been checking out where to travel and get the good deals. I think perhaps Portugal might be part of the visit. I'm all excited and giddy. I think half the fun of trips is the planning and figuring out where to go.

It's a last minute thing. A friend is going to a wedding in Madrid at the end of next month. I happened to mention I've had the itch to travel recently (it's been over a year and a half since I've last left the country). The friend wanted company traveling. I wanted to travel. I was hoping to do something last minute like this last year with another friend. It seemed like it all fell into place. So I did it. Not really part of the financial tract I had budgeted for myself. But these opportunities don't come around often. Hopefully we'll be able to stay with friends to help defray some of the costs. But regardless, I love traveling to a place where you know the people who live there. You get to really visit the place. Not as a tourist but as someone who lives there.



So, in exactly four weeks from yesterday, I'm going to be on a red-eye heading to Madrid. The tickets are bought and I'm locked in. I feel all cosmopolitan - getting to just up and leave town. I'm really excited. I didn't realize how much I needed something like this. Don't get me wrong, I've really enjoyed my summer, hanging out with family and friends. But sometimes you just need to get out, get away from it all for awhile. Plus the person I'm traveling with, although similar in some ways, is very different then me. And although we've technically known each other for over a year (we have a mutual friend that goes back 10+ years), we've only started to hang out recently. It should yield to some interesting travel. Best case scenario, it's amazing. Worst case, it's horrible, which frankly makes some of the best tales to tell over a glass of wine with friends (Dublin is an example, although not miserable, some good tales in how it wasn't such a great trip from the college days).



In my search for what we could possible do when we're not in Madrid, I've been finding it's actually cheaper to stay up in the glacier mountains of Portugal then on the beach towns. The downside is that you need a car to get there which can be pricy. The upside, driving in another country is always super fun (I wish I got a chance to drive when I was in India. I was just itching to join in with folks who were more intune with my preferences for driving then back here in the states, so rule abiding. I have a hard time with stop signs and speed limits. They're not always properly allocated.) Frankly I'm up for anywhere. We've been kicking around Portugal, northern Morrocco, some islands in the Mediterranian, southern France, maybe even Cairo - although I think that's too far, and that's all within the last day. I think it'll be Portugal in the end. But you never know.

Knitting Styles

I don't know about you, but I'm a proud knitter. The only places I feel reserved about my knitting are in meetings with clients and on first dates (sometimes second and third dates too, depends on the boy). Otherwise, I'll pull out the knitting. I knit on the bus, on the subway, outside waiting for someone, inside waiting for someone, in staff meetings, anytime I have time to kill. I generally always carry knitting with me. You never know when the elevator will break down and you'll get trapped (which makes me think I should start carrying around some food too, just in case, maybe some water as well).



Now, I know I'm not that unusual. Knitting in public has become a lot more acceptable these days. I come across someone else knitting out in public about once a month. It helps that I use public transportation so am exposed to alot more knitters. Well, yesterday, my bus arrives, I board and sit down behind this lady who is knitting two socks at the same time, toe up. It was interesting to watch as this is something I've been wanting to try, using the magic loop approach. She made it look quite simple. I pull out my knitting, something basic that I've got completely memorzied and am even starting to get bored with. Well, I start to knit, while watching the woman in front of me knit.



Long story short, this doesn't really work well for me. The whole time, I don't think the lady knew there was someone knitting behind her. My problem was that she knit at a completely different pace which threw my plodding knitting style off kilter. What I realized is that I really do have a slow knitting style. I know I do. But I'm most often aware of my actual knitting when I'm teaching it to friends who are learning, and are much much slower. They're beginners after all. Thinking of my more experience knitting friends, they use a similar style. You see, I use my right hand to knit. This person (and others), use their right finger. Sometimes the pointer. This lady was using her middle finger to move the yarn. I've tried doing this before, but it's really hard to break old habits and I never really got the hang of it.



Which leaves me with the question? Should I spend more time and really commit to learning the more professional, efficient style of knitting? Or I'm just find with the style I'm using now? I'm more a process knitter than a product knitter. But it'd be great to whip things out faster. More knitting can be done. And sometimes, if I knit for really long stretches, my hand cramps up (although usually my left), would this help? I don't know, will have to sleep on it.

Ebay and Yarn

I have to preface this post that I've been unundated with friends having babies this year (or will be). I just made the list and well, it's daunting, especially as I want to knit something for all of them. And when I say knit, I don't necessarily mean everyone is getting a sweater (the Pea Pod pattern is my fall back). But still, it's a lot to do. The list is interesting as everyone seems to have their own month (I'm not 100% sure on some of the dates, so am keeping it vague):

• February: Olive (Matt and Kirsten)
• May: Duncan (Emilia and Fred)
• June: Stella (John and Kara)
• July: Manny (Sam and Rebecca)
• August: Olea (Jake and Kate)
• October: TBD (Kevin and Susanna)
• December: Hulk (Cece and Aaron)

In case you're counting, that's seven! babies. Crazy!! I'm happy for everyone, but it's been quite a year (or I guess last year was quite the year if you know what I mean).



So that being said, looking at my yarn stash, I started to get a little worried. I've realized I really shouldn't be knitting with 100% wool as most parents I can imagine don't want garments that need to be hand washed. Well, long story short, I've turned to ebay. I've not had success in the past of finding good deals on line there. You do initially, but then the market place brings the price up to the going rates - no deals to be had once shippng factors in. Well, this time, I'm looking at cotton/cotton blends which aren't quite as popular. And success! I just successfully purchased the following. On a sad note I lost out on some really nice blue yarn, but no worries. Blue is so over rated. Initially, I was attracted to the green cone yarn, but then from the same seller, I found the other yarn two bags of yarn. Below are about 24.5 balls of Brown Sheep Cotton Fine yarn in a beautiful Salmon Red, Oriental Jade and Lime Green. The nice thing is I previewed the colors at my local store and they're all good.



And the nice thing is she combined shipping so the total came to, drumroll please, $35.77. That works out to $1.46 a ball (in the store they go for $4.50). Pretty good deal. I'm excited. It's my first yarn purchase on ebay. I have several patterns in mind to get started on once it arrives. The yarn is sport weight I think, which means for some patterns I'll double the yarn. But it looks like it will all work out. Which is good as I have seven babies to knit for and I have only 1/4 of a project done. (Not a 1/4 of all the projects. No, I only have just started one. I might be doomed). So wish me well as I knit and knit and knit. The only consolidating thing I have are that babies are small and their garmets are therefore small as well. The trick will be if I can make 7 garmets out of the yarn above. Fingers crossed, and I'll report later (perhaps).

Pounce Smackdown

Because I'm such a "fungi", I sometimes organize fun events at lunch for work. Today we just finished our first Pounce Smackdown that resulted when people kept inquiring about a game some of us play here. I figured it would be easier to teach en masse. I realized that since I taught the game to some of my loyal readers, they might enjoy recap I just sent out. Plus it lets me remember the event. Enjoy!



Added later: I've been getting responses from the recap, but one in particular I wanted to share. Someone said that they were really happy they got to work with me. How sweet!




The first GRT Pounce Smackdown proved very eventful! Returning to the arena were two veterans, Suzanne and Dawn. (On a side note, Dawn is the GRTer who brought the wonderful game east). They were joined by five up and coming pouncers: Siobhan, Chris, Susan, Aaron and Annie. The new comers took to the game like fish in water and were up and running by the end of the first trial game. After breaking for a bountiful salad, the group of seven rejoined with Paul looking on and providing distracting questions to all during the various rounds.



Chris started strong, proving young blood (and coming from the generation of computer games) an advantage. He called pounce on the first two games but had the first one stolen by veteran Suzanne – showing that experience sometimes (but not always) trumps youth. It was suggested that pounce become one means of interviewing potential interns to test their ability at multi-tasking and being able to bear stressful events. The various game playing personalities began to emerge as people warmed to the game. All picked up the game really quickly. Swearing was kept to a minimum. Only three level two words were noted. Although at a heated point in one of the rounds, Aaron did lose his chair from underneath him. The pounce regulatory committee is looking into the matter. They will be ruling on the inclusion or ban of wheelie chairs for future games. It was noted that certain individuals resembled the unique playing style of retired veteran pounce player, Noah. His unique thud will live eternally in pounce history.



With seven players, the games were quick paced and many piles were in play. Most often there were over a dozen piles on the table at a time. It was noted in the later games that not all piles were being cleared in a timely manner. At this time, this matter is being investigated by the pounce disciplinary committee. They will be reviewing tapes to identify the individual or individuals that were negligent in the matter and action will be taken accordingly.



By the third game, Siobhan, Annie and Susan had warmed up (although their heart beats were still above average), but they were no match for veteran Dawn. She went on to call pounce and win the third and fourth rounds. The fourth round proved to be a record breaking round for a table of seven ending in under two minutes*. Dawn pealed through her pounce pile, playing a total of 13 cards in a flurry of motion and catching all off guard, resulting in many with negative scores.



All in all, a great first game of the GRT Pounce Smackdown. It was noted that several GRTers were absent from the rounds but want to participate in future games. It is anticipated that the numbers will grow with the potential of an additional five or so individuals joining the ranks of the pouncers. The pounce organizing committee is meeting about expanding the quantity of decks and seating arrangements available as the current resources have been stretched to the limit. They are looking into arrangements for the potential of an unprecedented, record breaking 12 person pounce game!



Practice sessions will be occurring throughout the next several weeks at lunch and all are welcome to join. The communal cards are stored in the black storage cabinet by the copy machine. If you just learned the game, feel free to teach it to those who don’t know it. If you don’t know the game yet but are interested in playing, please feel free to join any game.



Thanks to all who participated, watched and supported the game with clean-up (especially whoever cleaned up my plate :). Please forward this message to interns who were not in recipient of this email. Until next time!

Happy Birthday to me.... kind of

So today is my half birthday. I know I'm in the age range where one doesn't generally celebrate such events and usually want to do the opposite and start skipping birthday's in an attempt to slow down time. But today I got a present.... kind of. I was in a car accident awhile back, Sunday 7/20 (that's not the present, I'm getting to it). Yet again my car was the only one damaged. (The first time was back in 1999 in SF - 6 car pile up. Barely a scratch on the other cars and mine looked like an accordian). And may I state for the record, I was not at fault, either time.

Well, this time I thought it might be the end for my little buddy. My little ol' red saturn has been with me for over 11 years, and I've known it for 14 years, since it's inception. The cost to fix it was potentially more then the car was worth which insurance companies don't like. Luckily, it all worked out and after a bit of delay, I was finally able to pick the car up this morning, on my half birthday (that was my present).

I don't know what I was expecting. Perhaps the trunk would still be leaky. Maybe they might have put the interior trunk lights back in this time, so you can see in the trunk when it's dark. I think I got the first. I didn't get the second. And I got something completely unexpected. Now, unfortunately I don't have any pictures so had to search the internet. Below is a picture of a car very similar to mine, before any body work.

One of the best parts of the car, the reason I was wanting to hold on to it (besides the gas milage - a wonderful mid-30s), was the bumbers. They just don't make them like that anymore. Good old rubber (maybe with a little plastic) bumpers. In my opinion bumpers are meant for bumping - hence the name. We all learned this at a young age at the local amusement park playing with bumper cars before we even had our liscences. Now a days, the car's look great, but not very functional. You graze another vehicle and you have damage that costs an arm (if not a leg) to bring back to pristine condition. My car, same grazing and nothing to show for it - it's rubber. It doesn't really scratch, not for the little day to day events.

So the surprise I had today upon being reunited this morning. I have to say it sill hasn't quite sunk in. But the bumper, the wonderful bumper... Well it's still rubber (with a little plastic), but it's not black anymore. It's grey. I'm not even sure it's dark grey. So my front looks like the picture above, and the back, well, it's grey. I'm thinking this is how they might have been able to work out not totaling the car. But still, it's grey. It doesn't really match. I mean the interior is grey so it matches that. But you can't see the interior when the car drives by. It looks like I have mismatched socks on. Needless to say, I'll never confuse which car is mine. You could say it looks quirky now. And really, the color doesn't effect the performance. But it's grey.

And the clincher. I was searching the internet for images to show the grey bumper on another version of the car (like a grey or teal version), and nothing. All the 1994 Saturn's were made with black bumpers from what I can tell in two minutes of searching. So I don't even know where they got the bumper. I guess it was special ordered. For me. On my half birthday.