Still alive, despite best efforts

G'day all!

I accidentally drove into a VW dealership's back car lot today. I sorta got lost looking for a place to turn around in. Yep, I am out on the road, a hazard to myself and everyone else. I don't know the rules, y'see, but that doesn't stop what appears to be half the population of Fort Collins from getting out on the roads themselves. I have the additional handicaps of not being familiar with the area AND not being used to this left hand drive bizzo (though I am getting better and rarely now flip on the wipers instead of the indicators, or as some people use them, confirmators). I am mighty glad that the brake pedal and the accelerator (gas pedal) are in the same arrangement as at home, otherwise I would've pranged the monster a gazillion times over so far.

My first port of call was, of course, a yarn shop! But alas they are closed on Mondays. Quite frankly I am not real sure of what day it is at the moment, nor the time so I was not really sure why they were shut until I counted days on my fingers. Is it only two days ago that we arrived? The days are much longer (about 8 hours as far as I can tell) than they were at home, it being the summer solstice not long ago here and the winter one back home.

I then trawled through Joann's and Michael's. Yep, I got to see me a whole lotta Lion Brand yarn. Yee-har! Just what I always wanted, specially that novelty yarn, like the stuff I either sold for $1 a ball or shoved into charity bins back home....

But I did nearly buy a ball of Sugar n Cream, but then came to my senses. I have to buy *nice* yarn as my first purchase in the USA!

I'll try MSK tomorrow, and maybe Lambspun too, but then the car goes back to whatever hell it came from. It is what Americans would call a small SUV, but trust me it is plenty larger than my old car - I reckon you could fit two of him in this one vehicle.

Plus we need our bicyclettes. It is stinking hot here - plenty hot for riding in - but without a car or a bike, we will be screwed with regard to getting food. I've checked out two places so far - one has new bikes and is considered the best bike shop in town, the other has recycled bikes. Most of the recycled bikes looked hardly any more used than mine (with about 100 hours of riding done and the nubby bits from the moulds on the tyres not yet all worn off). It is going to cost us about US800 to get bikes with all the tricksy bits (eg noice saddle for me, lifters on the pedals, panniers, etc). That is pretty painful on our lack of budget. Still, Nathan will get paid twice a month, which is handy. I had ideas that he would get paid monthly, and would've missed the pay cycle for the first month = two months without pay. Thank heavens that is not to be!

So tomorrow, I trawl around some more whilst I have vehicle, monster as it may be. I check out the bikes again. Then we will probably end up renting a car, but a smaller one that is noicer. That will help us check out places to live too. We know the area we want to be in.

BTW, I've started a new blog, Colorado(an) Dreaming. Once Nathan has his laptop (not his boss's old laptop) I can download photos and start showing the sights, and make up a nice header for the new blog.

Let the games begin!

anon!