Putting on my Grumpy Old Woman Pants
Last week I headed to the Broadway bus stop as normal to catch a bus to work. I work in East Sydney, so ideally I catch a 461, 480, or 483, all of which turn at Park Street and drop me off 100m from my office. (You’ll recall that I was bummed when the route was initially cancelled and then overjoyed when it started up again.) The problem is that the Broadway bus stop gets really congested in the mornings, and sometimes you’ve got a good half a dozen full buses pulled up along the block while empty ones sail past. That’s fine with the ones going to Circular Quay; there’s another George Street bus practically every minute. But the Domain buses are few and far between. If you miss one, you can be waiting 15 minutes for the next to arrive. So yeah, there was an incident with a 480 driver that pushed me over the edge, and I sent in an official complaint:

I am absolutely fed up with drivers on the 461 and 480 routes not stopping for passengers at Broadway. I understand that it is a busy stop in the mornings, and it wouldn’t be a problem if I were just going down George Street. There are loads of George Street buses. However, there aren’t a lot if buses that go to the Domain, which is where I’m going. If I miss one, I have to wait some time for the next to come along.

This morning, I was waiting at the stop when a 480 pulled up in a crowd of other buses. It was 5 buses from the stop. I started (literally) running to it and could see a few people getting off. In the 10 seconds it took me to get to the bus, the driver SHUT THE DOORS and started to pull out. I waved my arms and yelled ‘Whoa! Whoa!” Yje driver looked directly at me and continued to pull into traffic and drive away. No one waiting at the Broadway stop had any chance of getting on. I understand that drivers don’t want to stop for a long time, but pulling up half a block from the actual stop for just 10 seconds – on a route that doesn’t run very often – is completely unacceptable. How is anyone at Broadway meant to get on?

Interestingly, the exact same thing happened 10 minutes later with a 461 bus. Luckily this time I was still halfway up the block where he stopped, so I managed to get on. But no one waiting at the actual stop would’ve made it.

Apologies for the typos; I was furiously tapping it out on the iPhone the whole way to work. I got an immediate canned response saying they’d look into it, and I wasn’t hopeful that anything would come of it. However, today I got an actual response back!

Kristine, I can only apologise for what happened to you at Broadway. Again notices will be posted telling drivers to head to the top of the bus stop. The driver on this occasion has been identified and will be spoken to.

It’s not much, but I’ll take it.

THE SPELLING?
I stopped at the butcher tonight to pick up a couple steaks for dinner. While the nice butcher man was serving me, some female butcher (who looked like she might be a college student) must have overheard me.

Her: Oh wow, are you from America?
Me: *reluctantly* Yeah. Originally.
Her: Originally?
Me: Yeah. I’m Australian now too.
Her: Oh! Well, how long have you been here?
Me: About eight years.
Her: Wow. Do you like it?
Me: *struggling to maintain composure* Yeah. Obviously.
Her: Is it really different here from where you lived in the States?
Me: *lying now* Not really. It’s pretty much the same.
Her: Oh! But the SPELLING is all different!
Me: *finally glaring* I’M. REALLY. GOOD. AT. SPELLING.

That was the dumbest conversation I’ve had in a loooong time. “Do you like it?” AFTER EIGHT YEARS?? It was like every stupid “you’re a foreigner” conversation I’ve ever had, all rolled into one. I really hate it. It suddenly makes me aware of being different. Most of the time I don’t even think about it, but these idiots always make me feel like an outsider.

Do other animals keep pets? This AskMeFi question was fascinating. I made the Snook watch all of those YouTube videos. The one with Koko the gorilla and her kitten All Ball nearly made me cry! I also really liked the elephant with a pet dog.

The Hunt for Gollum
Holy crap. If you are/were a Lord of the Rings fan, you MUST go watch The Hunt for Gollum. This independent, fan-made film takes place in the interval between Bilbo’s birthday party and when Gandalf returns to send Frodo away from the Shire with the Ring. (It’s evidently drawn from the LotR appendices.) It’s amazingly well-done. This isn’t fan-fic; the people who made this are talented filmmakers who know what they are doing. It’s over 40 minutes long, but it doesn’t feel like it. We were both really impressed with it.

Auto-Meme Generator. I sent Rodd that link today and he is now literally crying with laughter beside me. I think it’s something you have to be familiar with 4chan to appreciate.

The Snook just sent me a link to this YouTube video featuring Richie Eisler, who – in addition to being like the 6th best inline skater in the world – also WORKS IN RODD’S OFFICE. Craziness, huh?

Me: “You know how in Unbreakable, Samuel L Jackson’s guy theorizes that because he’s so fragile and vulnerable, there must exist somebody who’s the opposite so that the universe remains balanced? Based on that theory and this film clip, Richie Eisler is therefore my nemesis as far as agility and balance are concerned.”

Cousin Jenny pointed out in her Twitter feed that our area of Indiana is featured in The New York Times today. Cool! It sounds like the writer is really pushing the “Amish country as tourist destination” angle, which is probably a good thing. With the RV industry in tatters, tourism is one of the last things the area has going for it. I’m amused by the writer’s attempt to describe chicken-and-noodles though. Some kind of “deconstructed pot pie”? *snort*

How silk is made. Wow, the cocoons look like packing peanuts! (Apologies to the vegan knitters. I know several knitters who refuse to knit with silk. That’s their choice. Me, I like the feel of a little silk in a wool blend. The 100% silk yarns that I’ve felt haven’t really appealed to me. Too squeaky.)

Weekend Update: So what did I do, other than sleep through social engagements? I taught a knitting class! The girls at Morris & Sons contacted me a few weeks ago and asked me to fill in on their upcoming “Sock Workshop” series. The first of three sessions was Sunday morning. I had two hours to teach 9 women (most of whom had never knit a sock before) how to use the Magic Loop technique. (I managed to convince a few of them to use two circulars instead, which I vastly prefer.) They did pretty well! Seven of them got the gist of it quickly and got going on their homework. (They’re meant to knit the leg of the sock this week so we can turn the heel next Sunday.) The other two ladies had a little more trouble. One was really trying, but she just consistently got confused as to which needle she was knitting from. Towards the end she was starting to get it. I kept telling her it would “click” with practice. In contrast though, the last lady was kind of negative. There always seems to be one in every class. She seemed to have made her mind up already that she was too stupid to do it, and she constantly commented on it throughout the class. “Oh, I’m going to need a rest after this – my brain just can’t take it!” At one point, she thrust her knitting at me and said, “Here, count this to make sure I have the right number of stitches.” I tried to stay cool. She was obviously insecure and lacked confidence in herself. On some level, she thought it was easier to put herself down and tell us all that she was stupid rather than to try and fail. I tried to be understanding. But MAN, IT DRIVES ME CRAZY. I just don’t get that mindset! I talked about it with the Snook afterwards, and we both agreed that it’s something you tend to see more with women than men. (He actually thinks it’s part of the reason that more women don’t pursue science degrees.) Something happens to us and we get afraid to learn something new for fear we won’t be good at it. It’s sad to see, and difficult to try to deal with as a teacher. I’m not sure how she’s going to fare when we have to turn the heel next week… Any ideas or suggestions?

I am somewhat enamored of the idea of making my own cheese.