Jeans and Sneakers

So I was at work, and it was same shit as usual.  Then the end of the day rolls around, and I had been talking to one of the guys there about the bike I rescued.  He wanted to see pictures, so I linked him, and he starts making jokes about the bike, which I could handle.  Then he asks me if my boyfriend would be getting a matching one so that we could go riding together.  I told him we’d probably go riding together, but he rides flatland.  Apparrently BOTH guys at work had no idea what that meant, because they kept joking about me and my  boyfriend, riding vintage schwinns around town.  And joking about how the word Schwinn looks funny and how I probably got a fake one.

How old are these guys?

One’s 22, the other is 24.  I’m 24.  My boyfriend’s 24.  I couldn’t have been more shocked to see people this age acting like this.  It’s one thing to pull someone’s leg, or joke with them and make fun of them in a joking way even, when you know them.  But these guys don’t know me.  They’ve never acted like they know me, they’ve never taken any kind of serious interest in getting to know me.  What the eff would possess them to make fun of my boyfriend, whom they’ve never met?  Seriously, these guys combined have less of a penis than my boyfriend.  I couldn’t even begin to tell you how not-manly they are, and have admitted to me to be.  And they’re going to start joking around about someone they don’t even know riding around on a bicycle that they obviously find “not-cool”?  Are we still in high school?

I could get over it if they were just (in their minds at least) making fun of me with the bike, because they’re too stupid to be able to appreciate something way before their time.  Fine, whatever.  But the fact that they brought Rob into it, really pisses me off.  One of them (the one my age, actually) even went so far as to suggest getting a tandem bicycle so that we could ride around town together.  The whole time putting that emphasis in his voice and laughing so that you could tell he obviously thought the idea was the gayest thing possible.

If I were a bigger girl, I would have ran my mouth.  But I’m little, and the job pays well, and I just sat there and tried to explain that my boyfriend has nothing to do with my bicycle, and that them bringing that up made absolutely no sense.

This type of shit is exactly the reason why I stopped going out, stopped meeting new people my age.  Older (mostly, and much younger, sometimes) people aren’t the type of close-minded asses who don’t know anything about anything and will sit there implying that something is wrong with you, or those close to you, because they can’t see things from any other point of view.

That’s what a lot of people on this stupid island are like, and that’s why I keep mostly to myself. (Thank god Rob found me.  :]  )
Not even two months in, and the old reasons are coming back.  Hopefully I can deal with these people long enough to pay off my debt and save up some cash.

P.S.-Knitting projects have come almost to a halt.  I got the needles that I ordered to try birch again, but apparrently I ordered the wrong ones.  And along with that order I had bought what was supposed to be black sock yarn for Rob, but it turns out Lorna’s Laces in Charcoal also has a deep blue and deep purple in them, so that sock yarn will go to me, and I ordered the needles and ACTUAL black sock yarn for Rob from another place that hopefully won’t take so long to ship.

I called my mom and told her that her present will be late, so I’m not worried about it anyway.

Sonnet is killing me with boredom.  It’s a beautiful sweater, but very boring.  I’m still on sleeve #1.  I’m trying to bust ass and get it done, but it’s hard when you don’t want to be knitting it. . .there are socks that want to be made!

My spinning wheel is on it’s way!!

And last but not least, the tires and chain for my EFFING AWESOME bicycle are also on their way.  :]

Remember that spinning wheel I wanted? Remember how I promised myself I’d buy it only *after* I paid off my debt? Well, some promises just HAVE to be broken. There’s a sale over at The Yarn Tree, 20% off on everything in the store until June 4th. . .including her spinning wheels. 20% off of the exact spinning wheel I wanted. . .there was no way I could let this deal pass. Rob drove me down there today after dinner with his parents and I bought one. But I didn’t know she didn’t have them in stock, still drop shipping to my house is only $5, and it should be here by the end of the week to early next week. Rock. I also bought some roving to play with.

Yesterday I did a lot, mowed the lawn, cleaned part of the house, started working on my bike, and bbqed. Got a little drunk, all in all, not a bad weekend. I’m bummed it’s over though.

Not much else to say atm.

What an odd musical. Amusing story though, and I did quite enjoy watching Angela Lansbury jig around the stage. :]

I finished the main body of Sonnet. I put the buttons on, grafted up the shoulder seams, and then knew it for certain. I knitted up the right side tighter than the left. When you put it on, it’s not too noticable, unless you yank on the side that’s already longer, then it’s pretty apparrent. :/ I’m not going to rip it back. It still looks pretty good.

I’m still waiting for the needles for my mom’s shawl, and trying to not pick up the Jaywalkers again.

Tomorrow’s Friday, and that’s a good thing. I’ve been really tired every morning this week, and I’m looking forward to the weekend, and the chance to sleep in.

Can we say NO PROGRESS?  I’ve wasted the past two nights trying to get started on Birch, only to totally rip the thing out and start over, TWICE.  The first time I tried it on my denise interchangeable needles, which I could see fairly quickly, wasn’t going to work.  The fine quality of KSH found every little nook and cranny it could to get stuck in these needles.  It was distracting enough for me to not be able to follow where I was in the pattern.  That was rip back #1.

Then I tried it on my good old hand-me-down aluminum 8 straights.  They’re about 14″ long.  Nowhere on that pattern does it say you have to knit on circulars, so what the heck, I gave it a go.  Might have worked out too, if the points were a little bit sharper to get under those stitches, and if I weren’t so used to working on teeny tiny short needles. . .the long length was so awkward that it was yet another distraction.  This time I got to row 5 I think before messing up beyond the hope of “It’ll get lost in the pattern!” and ripped it back.

I’ve read the comments on Fig and Plum’s posts when she was having troubles starting out on Birch.  (Which, btw, that such a talented knitter also had issues with this, makes me feel immeasurably better) Then the hunt was on.  Since I’ve wasted I don’t even know how much yarn, trying to get this started, (I could rip everything back up until the cast on row.  Then the yarn REFUSED to come out of it’s little knots and loops.  I tried everything, but in the end, just ended up lopping it off.) I had to find a place that had suitable needles, and another ball of KSH in the right color (What’s a dye lot?)  (I’m kidding, I know what they are, but at this point, I couldn’t care less about trying to match dye lots on a lace shawl).

I was getting pretty frustrated, and had stayed up later than I had planned, when I finally found a place that had both.  I ordered another ball, and some Addi Naturas.  I also ordered some Stitch Marker rings, in hopes of helping me keep track of where I am in the pattern.  (That was the hardest part for me, and boy did it come as a surprise!)  And because I’m an addict, I bought a skein of Lorna’s Laces in Charcoal (edit: I just realized that I’d need two skeins to make a pair of socks, and called to add another to the order, and they said it’s going out today, since they’re in Nevada), so two skeins of Lorna’s Laces in Charcoal to finally make Rob a pair of socks.

BTW, I ordered from Jimmy Beans Wool, and I’m linking them, because they are so awesome.

It’s Wednesday.  The roomate is STILL not out yet.  Though Rob tells me that he was here this morning (first time since Sunday) to pick up some more stuff.  I had a convo this morning with Bay about how I should just man up (ha ha) and tell him that if his stuff isn’t gone by Friday, it will be.  I kind of lost my steam after Rob told me that he picked up some stuff today though.  I really hate confrontations (call me chicken) and tend to lean towards “well at least. . .”  :[

Work is ok.  I get so bored during the day even when I have stuff to do sometimes.  It’s not the worst job I’ve ever had, but I still wake up in the morning wishing I could sleep in.  That’s probably not ever going to go away.  :[

So yesterday, just like every Sunday, Rob and I went to his parent’s house for dinner.  But this time. . .as we pulled up to their house, this was waiting for me outside:

Ok.  So maybe she wasn’t waiting for *me*.  Maybe Rob’s parent’s neighbors felt like doing a little spring cleaning, and were THROWING OUT THIS BEAUTIFUL BICYCLE.  The picture doesn’t do it justice.  You have no idea what kind of awesome color green this bike is.  That’s ok though.  I have more pictures.

So the entire time we spent at Rob’s parents, I was thinking about this bike, and how I’m going to restore it.  Because, although it’s in really good condition for being almost 35 years old, there’s still some rust, there’s nicks and scrapes in the paint, and some of the decals are mostly rubbed off.

The handlebars, fenders, and wheels are a little rusty.  Rob says he needs to take apart the coaster hub in the back wheel because it’s not working properly.  This is the kind of bike where you backpedal to brake.  It needs new tires and tubes, a new chain, and a whole lot of love.  I believe I can recondition the leather of the seat, because aside from a little flaked paint, it’s in really good condition.  I might end up re-cushioning it, but I haven’t sat on it yet, so I’m not sure if I will.

The handlebar grips have green sparkles in them.  And they’re actually in pretty good condition too.

I found a place where I can get replacements, and might get another pair, just in case these don’t want to come off, or if they get messed up or something.  I joined a Schwinn Bicycle forum, and found all sorts of nifty things, like a place that matched the original paint colors, so if I need to, I can repaint the dope green color.  I looked up how to paint on leather, and what kind of paint to use, and was happy to find that I can actually use the same exact paint I use to paint the StatYous I make.  I can’t wait to make this bike as beautiful as it originally was.  I’ve got to take her apart, but first I want to take good pictures of it, showing where exactly all of the decals are.  What a steal.  I don’t care if I spend as much money on fixing her up as I would buying a new or used one. . .it’s all about the experience you get, and the satisfaction in the end when you see what you’ve accomplished.

And in taking on accomplishments. . .my Rowan book is here.  I’ve started to cast on Birch, but it’s slow going.  My arms are all weak because earlier today I started up our new weed wacker for the first time, and attacked our lawn.  Now my arms are all gimpy.  IT sucks because I need steady hands for this lace cast on in this yarn with plastic needles.  And casting on so many stitches!!  I wonder if I’ll get the cast on done tonight!

My reservations are made for the Bed and Breakfast up in Rhinebeck.  Come October, I’m going to the Sheep and Wool Festival!!  YAY!  And what’s better, even though it’s more expensive, the room we were going to reserve was taken, leaving only the most expensive, and the cheapest rooms left.  We got the one with the jaccuzzi!!  WOO HOOOOO!!  I can’t wait until October!!  The only thing is, the owner is looking to sell her B&B as a turnkey business.  She took our reservations, and is hoping to sell to someone else who will keep the inn going, but she admitted that someone might just buy it as a house, in which case, she’ll let me know and try to help me find other accomodations.  I hope that doesn’t happen.

I’m off to knit!