Friday, May 31, 2024

Upson Downs

One great up of the day was a meeting with the latest local grandchild, six weeks old and totally wonderful. 

She, her mom and Poppop Gary were driving by me on the street when he called  Liz, here! BABY! stopped the car and I stopped what I was doing and ran to admire. Such a beautiful little girl.  She was not pleased about the car stopping though, not having it!  Terrific lungs.

The Friday knitting group was fun as always, 




talk ranging over stealth art, firing people, MandM's latest release, grandchildren, vaxes,  car crashes, hoopla,  hybrid cars, all carefully nontopical. Blessedly politics-free zone. Knitting and crocheting were mentioned too.

On the way home I had a down. Chugging along at 41 in what I thought was a 40 zone. The friendly third grader in a police cruiser who pulled me over disagreed. Apparently I blew through a 25 mph zone. He was nice, friendly, agreed a lot of people do it, checked my deets, said just remember and don't speed along there.  No ticket, phew. That could have been very expensive. 

One one hand maybe it's a badge of honor to be speeding at this vintage. I wasn't on a skateboard though. On the other hand there's that vertiginous drop in the gut when you see the flashing lights. 

Living to speed another day!

And while that was happening, this was happening about a mile away 


Happy day everyone, if you speed try not to get caught. And if you see a bear keep driving.




34 comments:

  1. That teddy bear scarf is a stunner. I won't be caught speeding or stopping for the bear.

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    1. Cross stitch, so much cross stitch! I steer clear of bears.

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  2. Black bear was here this morning, 4 doors down from me. Took her bird feeder down. Close to a school, I made an FYI call to the police. When the new rule began a few years ago to separate compost garbage from other trash, the bears moved in.

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    1. This is the time of year we see them, young males looking for new territory. People are more sensible than they used to be about coexisting. They're only passing through.

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  3. Glad you got away consequence-free from your criminal activity!

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  4. Speeder- you are so lucky!! The police here love to give tickets and do so frequently, joyfully. Pretty sure they have a quota. I love the "no politics" zone, not sure I would be able to comply, but that sounds most relaxing!

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    1. I think ticketing is a sign of doing their job, sigh. Maybe they can get credit for stops and warnings! The group simply has an unspoken sense that it's a time for quiet fun chat, which we don't get elsewhere.

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  5. You reprobate, you. Policemen are so much younger these days . . .

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  6. So wonderful to get to see the latest local grandchild and to admire her lungs. I have never received warnings (only tickets).

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    1. I usually get a ticket, but it's been years, largely because I drive so little.

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  7. It’s been a long time since I got “caught “ speeding.
    I have to be very careful because my car is very quiet so it speeds up quickly before I realise it.
    Some beautiful work being made in your group

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    1. I'm sure I've speeded, but not got caught.

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  8. I got a speeding ticket in New Brunswick a couple of years ago, and the cop wasn’t quite so kind. When I told people at the B&B about it they told me that I had been caught as a notorious local speed trap. Tourist revenue they call the fines. No bears though. I would have preferred a bear.

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    1. Yes, it pays to know your territory, for speeding and bears.

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  9. I was also let off my last infraction.

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    1. Do you think it's the geezer effect? I do!

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  10. Glad you avoided the ticket and the bear!

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    1. So am I. Maybe I should have said I was speeding away from the bear.

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  11. You law-breaker, you! My car has a nifty little app that shows me what the speed limit is on whatever portion of a road I'm driving on. The grandsons noticed this and then spent the rest of the drive telling me if I was going even one mile over. Harrumph! But no speeding tickets for me. I do not enjoy interactions with the police. I do, however, love interactions with babies.
    That is indeed a lot of cross stitch.

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    1. I could have used that app. The road I was on has four or five different speed limits, and who knows where they start and stop.
      You'd have loved our new baby! Such a beauty.

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  12. Such a scofflaw! Glad you got off with a warning. I'm adding Inadvertent Speeding Tickets to my list of things that help offset the occasional twinge of needing a vehicle and not having one.

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    1. Yeah, such an outlaw. I really wonder how you manage though. I wouldn't mind avoiding the expense of a car, I must admit.

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  13. I have been stopped more times than I should admit to for speeding, only one ticket. The last time I played the old lady card to the child cop and got out of it with a warning. That was years ago and I wasn't all that old. But, grey hair and glasses, you know.... Gary sounds like he's right back at it, good news!

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    1. You have the additional advantage of speaking like a local. With a lot of officers, a foreign accent is a strike against. Ask me how I know this.

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  14. I've been very careful not to get stopped since I lost my glasses in 2017 and never replaced them. I figured I could claim contacts. anyway new glasses now but still don't want to get stopped. the last time I got stopped was for speeding through a neighborhood on my way to my house after leaving FEMA (after the house flooded) the officer asked how I was today. gave him a long frustrating speech about dealing with FEMA and ended up with 'and that's the short version'. he didn't give me a ticket, just told me to slow down.

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  15. I know that gut-dropping feeling! Our new 20 mph zones are very hard to keep to. And what a talented group you knitters are, and how lovely to see a young baby. I do miss them.

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    1. I think most of us are pushovers for tiny babies! even people who aren't fans of children in general. The group has an array of talents in various media, also interesting topics to talk about.

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  16. Speeding, cute babies, bears and off scot free. You lead a charmed life...

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    1. All in all, it was a pretty good few days, yes.

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  17. Around here you really have to watch your speed if it's the last week of the month because they need to meet their monthly quota of fines. Recently they've lowered the in-town speed limit to 40 (from 50) and it's so hard to abide by it. There are a few streets where it's still 50 so we really have to watch. Touch wood, I've only been pulled over a couple times, which is a wonder since I usually am speeding by a little.

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    1. Yes, I had thought about end of the month.

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