Elevator Problems, Knitting Progress

Our elevator is out of order - literally, as you can see by the picture. The whole thing started early last week and they had a planned finish-date of last Friday. Tomorrow will be, of course, two weeks. This is a shot from our front door. What used to be a welcoming, "Let me take you to the ground floor, Andy," has turned into, "Five flights of stairs to your left, sucker."

I'm not a complainer. I thought, A week? I can do that. Now I'm really ready for the elevator to be fixed. One day I was up and down the stairs five times - each. We have a couple on the fourth floor who have written a couple of letters complaining about the elevator and how it is inconveniencing them and making the husband change his travel plans so that the wife won't be left alone to deal with the stairs and their twins.

In New York, I lived in a building that was so completely sans elevator that no one even thought about it. I carried tons of stuff up three flights of stairs and barely thought about it. Once I got used to a "lift," it feels like a big let down every time I realize that I have to climb the stairs. (Pardon the pun.)

The workmen being out there reminds me of when we had new flooring put in the logeerkamer (read: spare room) and the kitchen. We had a couple of workmen in and they were there for a couple of hours doing this and that. They seemed a bit huffy when they left and Fred asked me if I had offered them coffee or tea. I said, "Coffee or tea? No." He suggested that my not offering a refreshing beverage might have caused the attitude.

Perhaps my Southern hospitality should have kicked in, but I didn't think that two workmen would expect a cup of joe. I certainly wouldn't expect it. Of course every time you walk into an office, for an interview or a meeting here, you're asked, "Kopje koffie of thee?" So I should have done the math. Oh well. Lesson learned.

In other news...

I am almost finished with my latest pair of socks. These are the socks that I am making so that I can see if "two socks on a magic loops" works for me. I would say that it does, although Fabienne thinks that it's actually quicker to do the socks one at a time. I like having both socks almost finished as opposed to what I would have without this method, which is probably about the same amount knitting, but wouldn't feel the same. Here's a snap of the socks this morning.
During choir the other night, I became obsessed with a sweater that I want to make. Mostly it was the yarn, the same tweed I used to make my fingerless gloves that I loves. Problem is that I have a few UnFinished Objects (UFOs - aren't knitters clever?) that I need to clear out before I start on the sweater.

In still other news, I am procrastinating studying for my upcoming classes. I'll do that now.