G. Knerd

(I thought I’d posted this from my phone last Thursday, but it turns out that I apparently only saved it.  Damn technology.)

Reading the directions is important.  It’s a life skill that I’ve only had spotty success with, both in knitting and in life.  In knitting, it usually manifests in me going off pattern within the first few inches – and, of course, I usually claim it’s actually on purpose.

In life, this failure to read directions often manifests in a vague sense of where I’m supposed to be and when I’m supposed to get there, without any clear understanding of how I’m going to make that happen or what exactly I’ll do once I get there.

Today, for example, I was really excited to be able to attend Ignite Seattle for the first time.  (Even if you can’t make it to an in-person Ignite, you should totally check out the videos on the site – they cover all kinds of topics, are usually funny, and are always limited to 5 minutes.)  I looked up where I needed to be, I looked up the start time, and I kind of ignored everything else.

Because I knew where and when I needed to be, I rushed over from work to get to the theater at 7.  I didn’t have a plan for dinner, but I figured I could have bar food since the theater had a bar.

First lesson: there’s a difference between liquids and foods, and bars are only guaranteed to have the former.

Once I got into the theater, I found a seat and started wondering when the festivities would start.  And kept wondering, until eventually someone got on the mike and announced that we were going to work on mouse trap-powered cars until 8:30.

I thought for sure that must be a mistake.  Surely he meant 7:30, meaning I’d only have to wait 15 minutes.

Nope, dead serious.  One hour of car building, fifteen minutes of car racing, and then the main event would begin.

Second lesson: when you see random posts about an ice-breaking activity to build mouse trap-powered cars before the talks, don’t assume “ice-breaker” means “quick”.  Apparently, some people are quite passionate about their mouse trap-powered car racing and can’t be rushed in the building thereof.

Luckily, I’ve at least learned enough to always have my go-everywhere, emergency socks with me.

It’s validating to know I can at least plan for emergencies like this.  Now if only I had some food…