Ticket Rant

Who would have guessed that you can get a ticket for something that is not even illegal?  I wouldn't have, but I managed it on Friday night.

Talking on your cell phone while driving is NOT illegal in Michigan.  Granted, it can be a distraction, but no more so than having a conversation with someone sitting in the car with you.  I do not agree with the degree of distraction that people claim cell phones to be.  Cell phones have become a scapegoat/excuse for poor driving skills and the craziness is getting out of hand.  I reiterate: talking on the phone while driving is NOT illegal in Michigan.

Yet somehow I managed to get pulled over AND TICKETED for driving while talking on my cell phone.  How is this possible?  Easy.  Find another excuse for the traffic stop and the officer's ass is covered as far as a bogus stop is concerned.  And my stop was certainly bogus.

I was driving South on US 127 and near the Alma/M-46 interchange.  I slowed down for those exit/entrance ramps due to some traffic there - I'd rather be going a little slower when people are getting off/on the highway and I can't get over into another lane to give them extra room.  When the traffic behind me cleared, I moved into the left-hand lane so that the lane closest to the exit and entrance ramps would be available to those who needed it - and there were people doing both.  After getting past the ramps and when it was clear, I moved back into the right-hand lane.  I did not use my blinker to signal these lane changes, admittedly because I was talking to Laura on my phone and did not have a free hand for the blinker lever.  I did, however, look in my mirrors and over my shoulder to make certain that my path was clear - I did not cut anyone off nor did I cause a traffic hazard.  As I am returning to full highway speed, Jon notices a State Police car next to us.  This SP car was going faster than I was and pulled almost past me, and Jon saw him looking over at me (I was still on the phone).  Suddenly, the SP car slammed on his brakes and flipped his red light on to pull me over.  I told Laura, "I'm getting pulled over - here, talk to Jon," and handed the phone off to him.  Then I said, "I don't know what's going on, it's not like I'm speeding.  I'm not even quite back up to the speed limit yet."

When the officer came up to the car and asked if I knew why he pulled me over, I honestly was able to say that no, I didn't know.  He proceeded to say that it was because I failed to signal my lane changes.  SAY WHAT?!?!?!  Suffice it to say, I was stunned.  He got my license, proof of insurance, and registration, and asked for Jon's license, and went back to his car.  He was there for a while, and when he came back he gave me a ticket for failing to signal a lane change!  He claimed he cut me a break by only writing for one violation, since I had twice changed lanes without signaling.  I was stunned.  STUNNED.  I have a clean driving record.  I have not even been pulled over for so much as a headlight out in over a year, and have had no tickets in almost nine years.  And I get ticketed for not using my BLINKER?  SERIOUSLY?  And this only after he had pulled up next to me and saw me talking on the phone?  I smell a rat.  A dirty, stinky, wanting-to-send-a-message State Police rat.

Don't get me wrong.  I have nothing but respect for police officers at all levels.  With the number of people in my family who are members of the police force, I would be crazy to have anything BUT respect for the police.  But let's get this straight - you blatantly lie to me, I lose all respect for you.  So by claiming that he pulled me over simply because of the blinker, that particular officer lost all respect I may have had for him.  To me, he became nothing but a jerk throwing his power around, and that is disgusting.

If it were really all about the blinker, he never would have pulled up next to me to know that I was on my phone while driving.  If it were really all about the blinker, I would have seen that flashing red light in my rear-view mirror first, not just to my left in my peripheral vision (since he was still next to me when he turned it on).  And, let's face it, if it were really all about the blinker, chances are good I would have gotten a simple warning rather than a ticket that will cost me about $150.

I have a week to decide whether or not to fight the ticket.....

Review: The Grapes of Wrath

The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Some may question my choice of three stars for this book. After all, it is a classic, and a good book in its own right. However, that doesn't mean that I personally think "it was amazing" (5 stars) or that I "really liked it" (4 stars). I just "liked it" - hence the three stars - based on Goodreads star descriptions.

This book is definitely worth reading. Somehow I never had to read it for school, which is probably just as well since many of the books I read as school assignments during my 6th-12th grade years were not books I paid much attention to - only enough to pass the test and/or write a paper about it. Some of those books are books that I have subsequently gone back to read again, others I have happily left behind. This book, while often taught in schools, is one that for me does not hold the taint of "required reading" and I was therefore able to enjoy it.

I have never known the kind of poverty described in this book. I have often been poor, at times have gone without enough to eat and frequently wore hand-me-downs that had been through four previous owners, and I have even been homeless for a short time. But those hardships pale in comparison to the abject poverty of the Joad family. This book definitely gave me a new appreciation for how much we did have - even when we thought we had nothing.



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Review: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


It took me a bit to get into this book, and there were times that I thought of putting it down for a while and finishing it later. Admittedly, part of the reason I kept on with it was that, as a paperback, it was easy to transport (I carried it in my purse). I'm glad I stuck with it - it was a good book. I am looking forward to reading the next one once I can get it.



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Thinking About The Grocery Game

I have heard many people commenting on the Grocery Game, mostly saying how much they love it.  So I decided to look into it, and discovered quite quickly that it is not for me - at least, not until I have more money to spend.  How's that for a paradox?  Something that is supposed to help you save money on your groceries is something that is (at this time) prohibitively expensive for me.  I'm all about saving money, and the Grocery Game is supposed to help me do so.  However, after a free four-week trial, I'm expected to pay $10+ every 8 weeks for this service.  Which, granted, isn't much.  But from everything I hear and read about the Grocery Game, I can save myself the money and do what I've always done - check the sales ads myself and clip the coupons I get in the mail and in the Sunday paper.  The only thing I cannot do is print out internet coupons (we discovered that the coupon printer we had to download and install and that is required to print out online coupons was also installing spyware on our computer).  Honestly, though, missing out on online coupons does not bother me, since 90% of the ones I would use are the exact same ones that come in the Sunday paper.  I don't purchase enough of any one thing to need multiple coupons for it, so missing out on a duplicate is not the end of the world.

Review: Shakespeare's Counselor

Shakespeare's Counselor by Charlaine Harris

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I liked this book, and the series. I am very disappointed that this is the end of the series, though. Just when it seemed like Lily was really & truly starting to heal emotionally as well as physically - the series is over. Oh well. Not my decision to make, nor my story to write.



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Review: Sizzling Sixteen

Sizzling Sixteen by Janet Evanovich

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Maybe I'm expecting too much, but these later books in the series are not as good as they used to be. Too much is explained that we should already know (just how often do we need to be told that Lula is a plus-size woman who wears size-small clothes? or that Ranger is mysterious and super-sexy? or that Stephanie can't decide between two men? or that Vinnie is a sleazeball?). It takes up space in the book, yes. But being given everyone's specifics in the first few chapters of each book is getting old - and it's the same reason I stopped reading the Baby-Sitters Club series as a young teen. Too much repetition insults the intelligence of your readership.

There were some moments of humor - which redeemed the book somewhat (hence the fourth star - I came very close to giving it three). Someone who hasn't read the rest of the series would probably find this book very entertaining.



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Review: Plum Lovin'

Plum Lovin' by Janet Evanovich

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This is a quick read. These "between the numbers" books are a lot of fun (and fluff). I read this one in an afternoon.



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Review: Dead in the Family

Dead in the Family by Charlaine Harris

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I'll admit that I was surprised to find this book at the library. I hadn't been paying enough attention to know that another Sookie Stackhouse novel had been released. Big excitement in my little world.
That said, the book needed something else. It either needed to be longer (to fully develop more of the plot points) or have fewer side stories. Pick something to focus on - be it the conflict now that the Weres have "come out" or Eric's history (or Bill's), or Sookie's relationship with Hunter, or the Faery stuff - any of those could have been a main plotpoint with the others as side notes. Instead, we have all of these things competing for status as the "main" storyline.

Even with these complaints - I loved this book. It took me only about a day to read it - despite having to work. :)



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It's Nice To Hear...

That I am appreciated.  A few days ago my boss volunteered to bring me some books to study so that I can take the exam to be a Licensed Pharmacy Technician.  I definitely told her yes - I would love to have the certification!  I'd also get letters after my name.  She said that I had been a huge help over the weekend when we were short-handed, and I definitely proved (to her at least) that I deserved to become certified.  I'm tempted to take the test without studying for it, since I have always tested well, but having some indicator of what may be on it and what to expect is probably a good idea, so I will get the books, and I may shell out the money for the practice tests.

Coasters

I wanted to make some coasters out of dishcloth cotton, because the purchased coasters that we already own were not quite up to the job in the current heat.  They'd keep the water off of the surface, but only until it pooled up enough to spill over the edge - something that was happening frequently even with my "thirsty" sandstone coasters.  So, I decided to make some coasters that could be used alone or in conjunction with another coaster.  The result is exactly what I wanted.

My set of four coasters

The only downside was that I ran out of yarn when I was working on the border of the last coaster, so that one has a different look.

Note the oddball border?

Wednesday? No WAY!

I could have sworn today was Monday.  Everything was crazy at work.  From someone oversleeping and being two hours late (no, it wasn't me!) to psycho patients blaming us for their doctors' apparent inability to call and refill their prescriptions.  The person being late threw off the day more than anyone would have guessed - we usually don't get that behind when someone calls in and is gone all day.  I can understand why some patients were upset - at one point our wait time was almost three hours.  But others - well, they had no call to be upset with us.  If your doctor is holding up the process, there's nothing your pharmacy can do!  Don't blame me just because I'm the one standing in front of you.  At no point during today did we ever truly catch up on our work.  We just did the best we could and sighed with relief when it was time to close down for the day.

SaraBella Mittens

I participated in NaKniMitMo this month.  NaKniMitMo is (inter)National Knitting Mittens Month.  I have had a wonderful time and learned a new knitting technique - cables!  This was also my first pair of mittens, but I wouldn't exactly call making mittens a technique.  It's just nice to know that I can do it.  The pattern I chose is called "Bella's Mittens" and was inspired by the mittens worn by the character Bella in the movie Twilight.  I named my personal pair "SaraBella Mittens" and I love how they came out.  These have been what I call a "free project" because I did not need to buy anything to make them.  The yarn was a Christmas gift, I already had the needles, and the pattern was free.  I love free projects!

Here is a picture of my mittens in progress:

Part Four is finally done!

Slowly but surely, I'm getting Concerto finished.  The rest of the group is finishing up part seven, but I've only just finished part four. I've been having trouble knitting recently - my Carpal Tunnel is acting up and I've honestly not been feeling much like knitting.  I think I may be spreading myself a tad thin, knit-wise, and after this KAL is over (and I finish my Nightsongs), I will wait a while before joining another big KAL.

Work could have something to do with it.  I recently changed positions at work and my new job, while interesting and a wonderful change of pace, is very exhausting and when I get home, I'm wiped out.

I recently started photo blogging again, my 365 blog is once again up & running.  It is linked to this blog through my profile, and new posts are automatically shared on Facebook.  I was thinking of doing NaNoWriMo this year, but with as drained as I've been feeling lately, I think I'm going to skip it and do it next year instead.

Concerto

I'm working on a KAL for a stole. The name of the stole is Concerto. The designer is working on another, larger, item that will be called Symphony. The joy of the KAL is that everyone participating is getting the pattern one section at a time. The first section had a lot of little daisies all over it:

Before even starting, I knit up this test swatch for practice. I also tried my hand at blocking, which is why it is pinned.
For acrylic yarn (which this is), blocking is very tricky. A process called "killing" is used. I was not a big fan of how the yarn looked after I killed it, so I'm not sure whether I'm going to attempt blocking of the finished project. I did like how the yarn felt, just not the look of it. I may choose to kill only the edges, to keep them from rolling.

Fixing the Car

I took my car out to my uncle's house to get it fixed today. He says he'll be done either Friday or Saturday. I'm very much looking forward to having my car back!!

On the trip out there, several things made me very nervous. One was that I could not wear my seat belt! It was stuck and would not come out more than a few inches. I held it across my body so I wouldn't get pulled over and ticketed for it, and after about 20 minutes it suddenly released, much to my relief!! I was able to fasten it and relax. Another worry was the lack of a driver's side-view mirror.I'm not sure about whether a side-view mirror is legally required on a vehicle, so I was very nervous the one time I passed a police car (especially since I had not yet been able to fasten my seat belt)! Luckily, my lack of a mirror was not very interesting to that particular officer.

The only other excitement in the trip was upon starting the car. The battery did not like sitting for 6.5 weeks and did not want to start the car (it was disconnected while sitting, but drained anyway). Jon hooked up the jumper cables to his car to get mine going, and at first nothing was happening. After a few minutes and still nothing, he double-checked all of the connections. One of the clips on his car was not connected well, and once he moved it, my car started right up!

Unconscious Mutterings

1. Disguised :: Costumed


2. Big wheel :: child's toy


3. Irritating :: Donkey (from Shrek)


4. Care :: giver


5. Grandpa :: mixed feelings


6. Shooting :: photography


7. Sunglasses :: always worn


8. Stampede :: herd


9. Painstakingly :: carefully


10. Terrible position :: rock & a hard place

Headache

Literally and figuratively.

The literal headache: I've had a headache that ranges anywhere from the moderate to severe range ever since my accident. Ibuprofen helps, but only a little. I'm also frequently dizzy as well as very unsure of where my feet are, which means that I move very slowly in an effort to stay upright. The pain in my neck and back is not what's keeping me from getting about well.

My doctor wants a CAT scan done, and it has taken seven days and miles of red tape to get it approved and scheduled. What a pain!! The only upside I can see of this portion of the ordeal is that I now know how to forward my calls from the house phone to my cell phone. I have done that quite frequently over the last week, although it appears that the one time I did not do it is the time that my doctor's office finally called - I missed an appointment this morning and had to reschedule for tomorrow.


Unfortunately, the car accident means that this cycle is a wash as far as TTC is concerned. The accident happened on CD11 during a cycle when I took 200mg Clomid from CD4-8. I have not been temping regularly at all since the accident, but I'm pretty sure that I have ovulated by now. This was my second of only three chances on this dose of Clomid before being sent to a specialist.

Car Accident

Saturday I was in a car accident. I was at fault, because I didn't see the other driver until the split-second before he hit me. I was turning left into a southbound lane and was hit by a northbound car. It was pouring down rain and the other driver did not have his lights on - though I got a rather close-up view of the headlight in that tiny moment before the collision. Neither of those things stopped me from getting a ticket for "failure to yield exiting a private drive" - where I'll come up with the money for that I don't know.
The accident could have been so much worse - thank God for a thick heavy door on my car!! As you can see, the side-view mirror is gone, as well as some trim on the rear quarter panel. The door has the worst of the damage - the front & rear quarter panels are dented but relatively intact. The window is gone in the door - it shattered and was all over me and spread out throughout the car - including along the back dash and in the pocket on the passenger side door.
I went directly to the ER via ambulance and was told that I have low back strain plus bumps & bruises and a few cuts. I see my PCP for a follow up on Wednesday. I'm hoping to start seeing a chiropractor later this week.

Ironically enough, this is the second time I've been in a serious accident less than a week before we're supposed to go visit Bree & Geoff, and during the month of August. The last time was four years ago right before Ren Fest - this time we're supposed to go to the Dream Cruise.

Busy Hands

I've been working on making a pair of socks this month as part of a Knit-A-Long (KAL) on Ravelry. I'm enjoying it a lot, but my hands are not. I have Carpal Tunnel in my right hand, and it has definitely been flaring lately with all the knitting I've been doing. However, I don't feel like I can stop because I have to finish my entire pair of socks by July 31st to be eligible for the contest portion of the KAL. If it's possible to win something that I can't afford to buy - especially when I had no start-up cost for this particular project (I already had the yarn I'm using, and the needles, and I checked the book out of the library for free, so this truly feels like a freebie project) - I'm going to do everything I can to qualify.
One thing that has surprised me though - even though I have flares every night that I knit (the severity depends on how much I've knit that day), the flares are not as bad as I had expected them to be, and my hand has yet to flare while I'm knitting (which is something I've struggled with in the past). I had expected to have the opposite problem due to how much smaller the needles are than what I typically use. These are teeny tiny needles (and for the next pair I'll use smaller ones yet); I need a pretty cramped grip just to hold them, which usually leads to flaring. The only thing I can come up with is that the project is so much lighter in weight than what I'm used to that my grip isn't as tight as it usually would be to hold the project up while working it. Also with my awareness of the problem, I am forcing myself to take breaks at least once an hour. Watching a recorded program on the DVR while knitting helps - every time there is a commercial I let go of the knitting to fast-forward back to the show, giving my hands a quick break multiple times in an hour long program.

Partially finished first sock

Next month I am planning to attempt TWO pairs of socks. One pair will be for my sister Laura and will be in shades of brown (her choice - she's already purchased the yarn). The other pair will be for me and will be in either blues or greens, maybe both depending on what I can find/afford. Double the chances in the contest, but also double the amount of knitting required and double the amount of stress on my hand.

Hot Hot Hot

My word, it has been hotter than hot here the past few days!! The last two days in a row we had temps in the mid-90s plus high humidity. That makes for some pretty unbearable times when you have no a/c - which is the case for me at home, in the car, and at work, so pretty much all the time.
Yesterday I managed to run errands and enjoyed going in to the a/c zones of the store and the library. Today I was not so lucky - today I had to work. At one point (around 6pm) I got an outdoor thermometer off of the shelf and brought it out to our work area. Within 10 minutes it was reading 92 degrees (in the shade). Someone got the idea to put it out in the sun to see how much hotter it was out there. Set it down on the cement slab and within 5 minutes it had maxed out at over 120 degrees. Is it any wonder that very little physical work was done today? Thankfully there was little enough to do that nobody really complained about us lazing around.

I still have my sunscreen/sunblock issue. Every one I use reacts badly with my sweat and turns my clothes orange. It's nothing that is visible on my skin, and on a dark shirt it does not show, but I should not have to choose between spending the entire summer in dark clothes, ruining everything I wear, or getting sunburned every day. This is extremely frustrating. Even more frustrating is that the sunscreen seems to hold on to my skin longer than one would expect. I wore sunscreen YESTERDAY but did not apply TODAY. However, the shirt I wore TODAY is the one that got orange sunscreen stains on it. The one from yesterday is fine. I don't know why that is, but that's the status. Tomorrow I will need sunscreen again, but tomorrow I will be wearing a swimsuit and I don't care if that gets stained by my sunscreen. In this case, I'd rather have a stained swimsuit than a painful sunburn across my back and shoulders.
I can't help but wonder if it's related somehow to having had my gallbladder out last summer. I never had a problem with it before last July, around the same time I started having the really bad painful gallstone attacks. I had my gallbladder out in August, and didn't need/use sunscreen the rest of the season. Now this year I am completely without a gallbladder, and I'm still having the problem. Maybe it's a coincidence, but maybe it's not. Hard to say.