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Sunday, November 27, 2022

Holiday's over; back to work

Actually, that title is a joke. I wonder what most of the people here do all day. I wouldn't know what to do without work!


Someone sent me this cartoon; I wish I could remember and say thanks. Back in the day a Statie stopped me for "weaving". It was on Interstate 80 in Pennsylvania, between the last PA exit and the Ohio border. There is a series of low rolling hills in the median and a police car, or worse yet, a State Highway Patrol would use it for radar cover.

This incident was in my early days of exhibiting, and I drove a white panel van. I've come to learn this type of van was popular with drug transporters. Mine was full of totes with lids, holding all the weaving, plus 2x2 racks for display and more totes with "stuff" for the booth.

Nipping along at the speed limit, suddenly a flash of light blinded me. This man knew how to deflect it from the mirror into my eyes, from the windshield into my eyes. It was the most intense light I've ever encountered. Fortunately I had the road to myself at two or three in the morning, and when I could focus, I steered off the road.

The State Highway Patrol sauntered up and asked if I knew I was weaving. I answered that at the moment I was not. I asked to see his badge and ID, which he showed me through the window.  I displayed everything he requested the same way. He copied my info into a notebook and went back to his car to check it. 

When he returned he invited me to step out and come look at my plate with an expired sticker. He pushed the dumbest button. It was Memorial Day weekend. The plate expired on June 1st. The last thing I did the previous week was put on the new sticker and head for New York state. I held up the current registration, to which that little sticker is affixed, until removed and stuck on the plate.

There was more chat, in which I was invited several times to step out. Eventually he said I was getting a "warning for weaving". I would not lower the window for him, but did tell him to mail it. I encountered the officer one more time, but that's another whole story.

This was the mid nineties. I had a cell phone; one of the first on the road. When he came up I held it up for him to see and pointed to the screen, to which I had keyed 911. I said if I anticipated trouble, I would press send. He said, "Ma'am, I am 911" and I replied "There are bigger 911's than you!"

I've devoted so many paragraphs to this, here's one more. He shined that effing light into every window, looking at the sealed totes. "What's in the totes, Ma'am" 

"My stuff." My stuff took up an hour of his time not gaining access. The next time I was stopped, several years later, I cheerfully pulled lids and explained what they were looking at. That was the first weekend after 9/11 and every van (and auto) going to an art show in America was searched. 

My neighbors at one show made fountains. They took the precaution of switching out the red gasoline containers in which they carried the water to be pumped for bonafide blue water containers. They did have to empty them and find water inside the venue.

There's an old adventure for you!

I finished my red towels yesterday, and have the blue cobalt bobbins wound and ready to weave. There should be one more run of towels and then I'll have to warp again. Here's my shelf of towels. You can see them even better at everythingoldisnewagain.shop.

And, finally, my curtains came.


I like these. Dale is coming to put up the rods and help with a couple other tasks. I met Dale at Shelly's little celebration for earning her Master of Science, Nursing.(l).

All that's left to get is the cat. I met another resident who has an old cat, for the "good company." Her cat is a middle teen.

 


30 comments:

  1. You are a brave woman, standing down that cop like that! Good for you. I would have been weeping, I'm sure.
    Yes. Time to find your cat.

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    1. Before I began doing the shows alone I made myself some rules. One was never get out of the van for a policeman. Later I had to add, never give a policeman a reason to pull you over. Never brake when passing a policeman. I learned I could go nine miles over the posted speed on the interstate. Never push my luck on a local road. They had a good reason for the speed limit set.

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  2. Good for you for not having it with that officer. They should get more pushback from people who can.

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  3. Hari OM
    That's our Joanne!!! Love those drapes and can't wait to see the photos of them in situ - and the cat. YAM xx

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  4. So funny. I thought of you when I saw that cartoon in the New Yorker magazine.
    You showed amazing presence of mind with that cop. I never would have been so smart. And love the curtains!

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  5. That is the perfect cartoon for you, Joanne. You were such a fast thinker with that officer. How weird that he would pick on you. For goodness sakes! What the heck kind of contraband was he expecting to find? I love your curtains and amazed all the towels you've already completed.

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  6. The curtains are super! Well done you for not getting out of the van.

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  7. That's quite the "weaving" story! You got your tax dollars worth o' fun out of tormenting that highway cop, lol. And I love your new curtains -- very cool.

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  8. "I wouldn't know what to do without work!" I think people need something to keep their minds/bodies occupied. Once we've retired from our everyday jobs, it's great to own your own time, but a routine involving something accomplished is important (at least IMO). Luckily your weaving can continue to be an accomplishment as well as bring in added income. It's a win-win.

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  9. You certainly accomplish a lot of weaving! I can find all sorts of ways to waste time! I am not as productive as you. I have started volunteering and I like to take walks so that can help fill my time.
    I would not be bold with a policeman at all!

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  10. You dealt with the cop in a stellar manner. Love it. Keeping busy is best and will continue to serve you well. Beth helping with meds is great. The new towels are fantastic. I hope you find a cat by Christmas.

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    1. It could be longer than that. I need everything, plus a $250 cat deposit.

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  11. I can just see you refusing to open your door! I have not been stopped since I was on my way home after a visit to my Dad. I was speeding, 84, to be precise and I was exhausted. I thought I had set the cruise for 74 and the trooper actually believed me and didn't ticket me for that. It was proof of insurance he got me for and maybe my attitude (?). I was exhausted and he was on the passenger side. I told him to look in the glove compartment since he was closer than me. He didn't and he gave me the ticket. This was when HeWho still towed and he took care of it with no fine since he knew all the troopers. Good for you, though! I was so close to home and I had seen the trooper before when he made a routine drive through my park, so I felt okay opening the window and I had my husband on the phone. I would never open my vehicle up to a stranger, either. I may be old but I ain't stupid!

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  12. I love the "there are bigger 911s than you"! Police who intimidate women on their own are lower than low. Good on you for standing up to him.
    Your curtains are gorgeous. I can see Australia!!
    I hope the cat hunt has started in earnest.
    -Caro

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  13. I love your new curtains, you can see 'the world' just by looking at your window :)
    I wonder how many other women driving alone got pulled over by that officer and hope none of them got out of their cars either!

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  14. I like how you handled that encounter! I'm not very brave when faced with authority. Love the curtains!!

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  15. I'm afraid I would have folded at the first word from the officer.

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  16. You handled things very well like you were used to the routine!

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  17. I really love your spunk. My son got stopped for speeding. My daughter was in the car with him (she had fallen asleep), and they were on their way back from New York City. The police officer asked Dylan if he knew how fast he was driving. Dylan apologized. The cop took his license and registration and casually asked, "Where are you coming from?" Dylan said, "We went to New York City." The cop asked how long they'd stayed, and he said, "Just the day." At that point, Cara woke up as the cop asked what they'd done. Dylan says, "In the strangest creaky from sleep voice ever, Cara pipes up and says, 'We got S'mac.'" The officer shown his light over to Cara and said, "WHAT?" Smack is a street term for heroin. It is also a restaurant in NYC that serves nothing but macaroni and cheese. Dylan showed him the styrofoam containers. He always tells the story ending it with "and this is WHY Cara is never again allowed to speak if I am pulled over by the police.'

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  18. Close the curtains on the world…..you can hold it in your hands as you do so. They are great….and like Caro - sparklingmerlot (who lives just down the road from me) I can see our Wide Brown Land ( from Dorothea Mackellar’s famous poem “My Country”)

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  19. Those towels look like a lot of hard work. There was only once when I got picked up by the police, I think you are very brave to face the man out.

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  20. Just imagine if you had been black, with that attitude. Especially a black guy with dreadlocks. You would have been dead.

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    1. This was another life time, David. Thirty years ago. We both were respectful, but firm. He started it; he blinded me for five to ten seconds. If there had been another car on the road I could easily have hit it.

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  21. Interesting story, Joanne. It pays to be cautious!

    Love the curtains…your window to the world.

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  22. Back then it was easier to stand up to a cop. I imagine if you tried that now the story would have a different ending. During my river guide days on the way back from a 3 day paddle in Big Bend I was driving the van pulling a loaded 16 canoe trailer while everyone else was in an exhausted sleep in the back of the van and around midnight somewhere around Del Rio I got pulled over by the Highway Patrol I guess. Anyway, they were suspicious, looking for illegals. Shined their light in the van at the sleeping guides, climbed up and all over the trailer looking in the canoes and then let me go.

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  23. This post tells another story about the brave woman you are.

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  24. No wonder you were weaving, being blinded like that! He was definitely the irresponsible one!
    I wonder what the other residents do too. Retired is a state of mind for some people...and a waste of abilities!!

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  25. That encounter with the 911 guy sounds like he was just trying to throw his weight around. But you obviously held your ground and put him in his place.

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  26. My brother had the ability to talk his way out of speeding tickets, which he got when riding his motorcycle. I do not have that gene, it's unfortunate.

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