Yarnivorous

G'day all! We are getting a taste of summer here in the Bay area. Oh boy! If you read all of this post, you will see it has addled my brain. I hope it doesn't addle yours too! We went for a walk to the library this afternoon, in the heat of the day. People have this weird idea that the hottest time of the day is when the sun is highest, just like there is some idea that the hottest weather should be around solstice, when the hottest (and the coldest) weather is usually around a month or so after solstice. Can I just say that where I've lived, the hottest parts of the day are the late afternoon, when the sun is slanting and everything's broiled for a good part of the day. Admittedly it was only about 33C but sheesh, it felt amazingly hot with the sun blasting down from a cloudless sky, the heat radiating off the concrete path.... (last time I remember heat like that off a road or path was the first time I went to Bobbin's Nest and it was a 100F day...) This week...

G'day all! At the moment I seem to be very wanty. I have a couple of theories about it - one is that DH has been sooooo busy working recently that I've not really seen a lot of him (yes he's often been home but that doesn't mean we can chat and given that he's been on the computer from 10 'til 10, or 11, every day recently and now is at a work love-in for three days...). The other is that well I don't have a car. I've chosen not to get a car cos a) they are expensive = I'd prefer to put the money on the mortgage and buy yarn on occasion and b) I am practising for when we simply cannot afford fuel and alternative transport sources are our options. When I say I don't have a car, people give me this funny look cos only poor people don't have cars, and even many of them still have a car. What sort of weirdo doesn't have a car in California? So I guess I want company and I want validation. And I'd like it if someone followed my lead....

G'day all! Another post! But a boring one for you. A good one for me! I've decided to have a running total of my weekly cycling/walking/PTing activities. So far since Saturday 2nd May, I have walked, cycled or ridden the bus/train for 173 kilometres! (That's just over 107 miles). Close to 20 of those miles were on the bike, 64 were on the Caltrain, 16 on the bus and the rest on foot. No wonder I want to have me a nice lie down and a bex! LOL (I'm not counting those trips where I've cadged a lift in a car but if I did, this week would have about 250 extra miles added to it.) Say that it costs 45c per mile to own a small car and put it on the road ( current US figures are 54.1c per mile). That is nearly $50 saved! (Admittedly my expenditure was hmm, $14.50 for the trains.) Woot for yarn/fleece money! Plus how much carbon didn't go into the atmosphere? Depending on the sort of car I might drive, a small or compact car, would emit about 0.6 to 0.9lb per ...

G'day all! This is something I've been thinking about for a while. This pic from Crazy Aunt Purl reminded me of it. I live in a car-centric place. Mebbe only Los Angeles is more car-centric than the San Francisco Bay area. Even with the Caltrain and the BART and the MUNI and all the various systems that run around the place, including the light rail that we catch quite a lot (particularly DH since it is a five minute walk to his work from the station). We don't have a car. We only hire a car when we want to go travelling to look around this place or when we need to go pick something up that is much too big for the bike (eg when we brought home the six foot tall shelving). You might be surprised by how much stuff I have brought home on my bike, both with and without the bike trailer. Recently I brought home the new vacuum cleaner in the bike trailer: (That is a picture of the Great White Hunter with her prey. The GWH must remember not to stick her chest out so much lest ...