yet another reason to hate public transportation

Oh, I was ripping mad to see this article today:

Wireless Services Launched in Subway’s Core

Like it wasn't bad enough to have to have half of my train ride (the trolley/above-ground part) taken up having to listen to obnoxious, loud, totally unnecessary phone conversations, now I also have to deal with those people underground, too?!? It used to be somewhat justified when we'd hit Fenway and I'd know that the obnoxious person talking loudly into their cell phone with no regard whatsoever for those around him having to listen to him talk about the latest rash on his ass or how his girlfriend's mother wouldn't take the money he wanted to pay her (because these conversations really must be pressing and got done now) was going to be cut off midsentence when the train went underground...I thoroughly enjoyed gloating while those people would yell a few last "hello?"s into their phone before getting frustrated and hanging up. Of course, I'd rather not have to deal with them at all, but I figured there really was no way to cut off cell phone reception above-ground.

And don't even try to tell me it's for safety's sake - even the MTBA doesn't attempt that. They fully admit that they already had a safety system in place, and that the reason they are wiring the tunnels is so that people can do business. ARGH! The last thing I want is to have to listen to some jerkoff in a tie yell at his suppliers about how they aren't getting enough toilet paper in their warehouse. Or something. I hate hate hate being stuck in enclosed areas, being forced to listen to people's phone conversations. I think it is perhaps one of the rudest things in the world, to subject people to listening to your half of a telephone conversation. I get so angry at those assholes who think the world revolves around them, that I'm at some points close to causing them bodily harm just to get them to realize that there - wow! - might actually be other people in their vicinity who don't want to hear all about their incredibly fascinating lives.

And does the MBTA really want to be implicit in murder, now? I highly doubt they could also afford that, on top of all of the other things they really need to fix (for starters: the old trolley cars, the leaks in the station roofs, their card system...those would have been good things to invest their money in!). I'm livid that they decided to spend money on wiring the underground areas for wireless phone access when they could have done so many more productive & wonderful things. Instead, they just subject me to more talkative assholes. Ugh. Thanks a billion, T.

miniature fo

[Cross-posted from SPK]


sweater ornament

Here's just a little sample of my holiday knitting, for now. I've got pictures of most of the gifts, but not all of them (one still has to be blocked! although it was luckily knit in time, anyway), and I want to wait until I can do a comprehensive post of all of them...all 3.5 of them, really. There wasn't as much holiday knitting to do this year as I had thought, especially because the majority of the pieces I had finished well before the holiday (some by March or so!). But I of course had a few things to finish (including final touches on the early ones) right at the finish line.

I hope to get started on next year's presents early again this year. We'll have to see. I have already found one present, but I haven't been inspired by any other patterns yet - and usually, I prefer to see a pattern and think "that looks like something [insertnamehere] would love", much like shopping, rather than think that I really ought to make this person a scarf and that person a hat, and I have to search out a suitable-enough pattern.

Okay, enough talking from me! I will just add that I knit the sweater ornament from some Claudia Handpainted Yarn that is much like KPPPM, because I picked it up on a whim when I was out shopping for the latter. The pattern was this one, knit with these same modifications (see sweater #2). I will be knitting another for my other sister soon. It's a lovely, lightning-fast little knit - I knit it all up on the train ride home from work on the Friday before Christmas. It was inspired by a sweater-and-booties ornament set that my grandmother once knit for my father - I hope to enhance my sisters' collections soon with some more miniature knitted goods. Socks would be fun. xo

so true.

metalgirl...to the rescue?

Was there an eclipse of the sun that happened recently, that I wasn't aware of? Because I'm pretty sure that I've recently acquired a new superpower. Of course, I don't yet know the full extent of my power, nor do I have control over it, as it's still new to me. But I'm really, really good at breaking through solid metal...inadvertently, of course. For now.

First, right before Thanksgiving, it was my cane - yes, it is wooden, but it was not the wood part that broke. Nope, the actual screw that held the 2 pieces together snapped clean in two. I reached down to tighthen the connection one morning (sometimes the head unscrews a bit from the base), and it came apart in my hands. The cut was smooth, and seemed unnatural.

The second time was this morning, when I was on my way out the door (and I left early, both because of the inclement weather and because this is Meetings Week at work). I stopped at the mailbox to post a couple of letters, and when I turned around, I felt something snap and go flying...turns out my awesome messenger bag, which I've been using 24/7 since I got it, decided it couldn't handle the stress anymore: the bottom of one of the metal buckles holding the strap to the bag simply snapped off. It's irreparable! Not to mention seriously uncanny.

So maybe this does mean I have special powers? That, or I just overuse the things I own. =\

Hey: save MetalGirl, save the world. Hah! xo