Politics, cars, and knitting

I have to say, the direction that my country is headed in is absolutely astounding. I feel like it will take decades to undo the damage that has been done by our current administration. Take the Supreme Court's recent ruling on pay discrimination. (Not that this decision was the administration's doing directly, but two of the nine justices were appointed by Bush and therefore in on this decision...) Ignoring how pay inequalities usually occur (slowly over time), the court decided absurdly that one has to figure out that they're being discriminated against in the first place and file suit within six months of being given unequal pay. That is, the day you start getting paid unequally. Until we can openly know what our co-workers doing the same job are making, we have little protection under the law.

Suffice to say, the linked articles discuss the matter much better than I do.

In happier knitting-related news, I made yet another garterlac dishcloth.



Dishcloths never seem to photograph well, but I never bother to block them or anything; I'm going to be getting this guy wet and stretched out in no time, so why bother? I don't think I'll ever get tired of this pattern. It seems to knit up in no time. It's cute. It looks more complicated than it is. It's a good size. It shows off the Sugar 'n' Creme ombres nicely. I could go on.

I've also been trying to work on the UFOs in my stash. The exchecquered is coming along nicely, but as usual, dragging along slowly. I have, however, made remarkable progress on the interminable gray thing:



The miles of mock ribbing will really only equate to two balls of caron simply soft, but still. It's mock 1 x 1 ribbing. What is this gray object, you ask? I will show it off when I'm finished... hopefully soon.

I've also been commissioned by a coworker to make a beanie for him. He is a very large guy (a former football player), and says that many beanies are just too small for his head. This is exciting to me, somehow. It's rare that someone who isn't close to me takes such an interest in my work! I was going to use Lion Brand Wool-ease because it's washable and inexpensive... However, he wanted navy blue, and my local Michael's was out. Go figure. I'm going to check Joann tomorrow. My backup plan is Plymouth Encore from my LYS. Hopefully both backup plans don't fall through!



In other, sadder news, I'm starting to fear that my car's days are numbered. (Obviously the above photo is not my car but a stock photo; however, it looks just like that, down to the color!) A week ago, it started making a hideous noise. Steve's dad is extremely talented with all things mechanical (he builds custom motorcycles on the side!), and his prediction was either the serpentine belt or the air compressor. The diagnosis? Both, really. The belt needed changing and this was done, but did not fix the hideous noise. Therefore, no more AC for me until I get a nice, expensive repair done, if I do.

A new compressor would probably be about $400, which seems like a lot of money to put into a car equipped with a transmission that will likely die in another 13,000 miles or so. When that goes, that's it; that repair would run several thousands, more than the car would be worth.

I'm emotionally attached to it. It is, after all, my first car, which has been mine since I was fifteen.