Landing Like A Stone

It has been such an eventful day. From the airport to taxis to textbooks I am so glad this day only happens once a semester. The good news is I have had a lot of knitting time, from The Song Remains The Same last night to the airport I have managed to snag a good amount of stitches.

So, to the beginning of the day. The morning went well, not forgetting anything and getting to the gate with about an hour to spare. The TSA probably thought I wasn't a big threat and decided not to even bother actually looking at my id which made things go faster. Boarding went well even with a B boarding group ticket. Of which I was lucky to get after I totally forgot to check in, and only remembered after almost 12 hours had elapsed. The flight attendants were nice and LOVED Pavonis, so that made the beginning of the flight nice. Where it started to get hairy was when we got a bit of turbulence and then we landed. I think that a stone falling at terminal velocity would have had a softer landing. Then as we were taxing to the gate the landing gear screamed louder than a pep rally. And at select parts throughout the flight the plane would start to make sounds rather akin to the electric screwdriver, except louder and much more unnerving.

So after that harrowing experience, I thought that the taxi ride to the dorms would be a piece of cake, I mean how bad can one day of travel get? I was wrong. My driver was a real creeper. He smelled really funny, and had no clue where we were going. Thank goodness for GPS. I never thought I could be more grateful to see the image of the 40 year old Moody Towers rising up in front of me. It would have helped if Garmin would have taken a more well known route, that way I could help guide the driver in, but in all honesty I don't think it would have helped much. I really don't think the elevator went all the way to the top. But, again, glass half full being that he stopped in a parking lot to punch in the address into the GPS.

Now we get to the part of the post where my day once again brightens. So my second task for the day was to get the rest of my books. I needed three more, I knew what I needed, I just needed to find them. One of them I knew I needed new, but the other 2 I could, and should buy used. So I walked into the campus bookstore and totally struck out. I was expecting that so I wasn't too surprised. And one of the books was sold out, so no purchases there. So I walked down the street to Textbook Brokers. I knew that they got much more used books, since they buy back for more money. I get up to the desk and ask for a used research methods book and totally struck out, it was still cheaper new though. Geology, used book with my name on it. Family studies, have to buy new, no surprise there. So being ever concerned with the price and not just whipping out the charge card, I was able to get the clerk to knock ten bucks off the geol book and, get this, guarantee that if I sell the methods book back, they will give me half back. Without that guarantee I would have been lucky to get a $20 back on a $126 book. So I thought that was pretty sweet. But wait, it gets better. As I was deliberating, the guy behind me asks if I was taking geology, seeing the book in my stack, and I answered yes, 1333. So he offers me his. The clerk at this point was really nice and buts in asking what he was asking for it, and this is the best part, he says nothing, completely and absolutely free. I could have been knocked down by a feather. I met him in the lobby of his building, he gave me the book and a few pointers on the class, and I walked out with more than a hundred dollars in my pocket.

So, knitting wise, I have now finished a pair of socks. Which came with it's own panic. I was in the middle of the bind off when I had to board, so shoving it in my backpack, I board and pull it back out along with the shawl before shoving the backpack in the overhead bin. Well what I didn't realize was that when the sock came back out, I left one of the needles in my backpack. So I finish the bind off, figuring that the needle was in the backpack. So during takeoff I finish binding out and shove it into the seat pocket. Then once we landed, I grabbed my backpack and I drop one of the needles into the bottom of the pocket. Fishing in the seat back pocket with a backpack on your lap, computer bag at your feet and two people next to you getting rather anxious to go creates a bit of a problem. Naturally I can't find it, and give up, resigning myself to a set of 3 size 2 needles when I see one on the floor. And instead of being glad and racing off the plane a happy knitter, my mind jumps to the conclusion that due to the position on the floor it was the needle that was left in the backpack. So I resist the urge to tear my backpack apart searching to find out and wait till I get back to the dorm to frantically search. And guess what? Murphy showed up and the last needle was all the way in the bottom.

The shawl got a good amount of work done on it though. I good half a repeat was finished, and with lace in turbulence, I find that good progress. Pictures will be coming soon, I promise, I kinda want to go to bed now, so they will have to wait.

A lot of re-moving in got done today, which is a feat since this was the stuff that came off the plane, not including the stuff in bins and on shelves in the closet. So tomorrow will be filled with tinkering. Move this, rearrange that, reorganize, and such. So have a nice long weekend everyone, and I'll see ya on the flipside.