Gas Pump Miracles
3:45 p.m. - 2003-02-21


I am exhausted. I took the BART into Oakland to go to Stitches. This year I did not have to hurry home to pick anyone up at school so I took my time and went to all the booths in the Market. I got a few patterns and some big whopper weaving needles, and then I walked around that area of Oakland where they were having a street fair or farmer's market. The buildings are all fixed up and very turn of the century. I had lunch in a cafe, very yuppie et al, but I enjoyed it. I like going out on my own and trying new things. Then I took BART home. I sat next to a black guy in some kind of uniform, who slept the whole way. He looked like a really nice family kind of guy, tired from working all night. Made me think about my Dad when he worked nights, and I would only see him on the weekends.

Once I got to my town, I had to walk all the way home. By the time I got here I was really tired. Today is my weight lifting day, so I did that in the morning before I left, and then I must have walked for three miles. This weight lifting (strength training it is called) is interesting because you can see changes fairly quickly. Good thing I sort of like it because I will be doing it the rest of my life, to keep my bones strong (unless I drop a barbell on them and break something). Speaking of which, there is an exercise I saw in one of my books, which requires you to lie on an exercise bench, and dangle a heavy dumbell behind your head. Then you hold the dumbell right over your face at considerable height. If I did this exercise regularly, it would lead to reconstructive surgery.

Tonight I am supposed to drive into Walnut Creek and pick him up, and then go out to dinner. Darsey at work has let me borrow the CD Meet The Parents, which we have never seen, so we will come back and watch that. Then I have two more days off! Darsey was all concerned when I told her I was going to a conference in Oakland; she asked if my husband was going with me, as if a woman alone would be attacked in mid-day by the unruly hoards. It is actually better to take BART in than to drive, because "things happen" in the Marriott parking lot, and your car may come out a little the worse for wear. Or so the knitty ladies say.

Jason had a scary adventure this last weekend. He and Evan were going to go to Pleasanton for some Expo or other, and Jason thought he would gas up the car before he went. Something was wrong with the gas pump, so he had to fiddle with it, and he put his wallet on top of it to free both hands (basic mistake). As soon as he got the gas going, some lady came up and said "Oh, you have a new Siena, can I look at it?" and of course, being a man, he had to show off his car. When he got to the show with Evan, he was going to pay the admission for all of them, and you guessed it, no wallet. This is a really stressful thing, as Melissa can tell you. He told them he would be back in an hour or so, and blitzed back to the gas station. No, they didn't know anything about a wallet. He went home, all dejected, ready to start making calls to all the credit card places etc. But there was a message on his machine! Some really nice young guy had found the wallet and taken it home with him, and called to tell him everything was there, and he could get it in the afternoon. Jason went to the show, and then went to pick up his wallet, bringing the guy a giant box of chocolates as a thank you, which the guy said his girl friend would love. So there you have it, hope for the future of the human race.