An Embarrassing Story Of A Sewing Catastrophe

Tidbits

The question I was wondering about for the past 3 months
I’m never buying this stuff again
Yep, another embarrassing story
A new map!
The last days of fall

October 2022

Su	M	T	W	Th	F	S
25	26	27	28	29	30	10/1
2	3	4	5	6	7	8
9	10	11	12	13	14	15
16	17	18	19	20	21	22
23	24	25	26	27	28	29
30	31	11/1	2	3	4	5

Where In The World Was I?

Denver, CO

The Million-Dollar Question

So, I checked back on all my stuff that I have stored here in Denver and surprisingly… everything was… still there and exactly how I left it back in June.

Part of me was kinda looking forward to everything being stolen or destroyed so I could just collect my insurance check and be rid of the mental weight that all this crap has on me 😅

But alas, unfortunately not this time… 🤷‍♂️

MINUTES From Morning Coffee

This week has pretty much been all urban stealth camping, which has its pros and cons. For one, there’s always a layer of anxiety looking for a “good” spot to pull in for the night and being unsure if it’s too “unsightly.”

BUT on the other hand, I’ve been MINUTES… I’ve been BLOCKS from coffee shops every morning and wow am I grateful for that. To wake up, drive 2 minutes, and be right there ~~feeding my coffee addiction~~ having a sip of coffee is unreal. While I was living here in an apartment and even this summer’s road trip, it was quite common to drive at least 15 to 20 minutes *gasps* before that first sip of coffee. There have been many days this week where I showed up before these places even opened 🤯.

Perspective is real.

(☕️ The places I’m extra grateful for this week: Downpours Coffee, Queen City Collective Coffee, The Molecule Effect)

☀️ That Big Bright Thing

I’ve been experimenting with getting sunlight in my eyes for at least 5 minutes most mornings. It’s something Andrew Huberman, Ph.D. (neuroscientist at Stanford) is quite known for talking about to optimize health and sleep.

Link: https://hubermanlab.com/using-light-sunlight-blue-light-and-red-light-to-optimize-health/

Results? It’s hard to tell. I will say though, my sleep lately has been quite good. I think is also has to do with the cooling temperatures. Sleeping around 63º-65º under warm blankets has been 👌

Pre-Winter Projects

Aside from drinking coffee and staring directly into the sun (jk), I’ve been getting the ball rolling on some of the pre-winter projects I have set out for myself. I got a lot of the van re-organized, got some van maintenance done, ordered a bunch of stuff, picked back up my ski/winter clothes, and started updating my black-out window covers.

Oh and this isn’t a pre-winter project but I HAVE to include this somewhere. I picked up garlic-and-herb pizza dough at Trader Joe’s the other day and made the most IN-CREDIBLE pizza. The dough was so soft and flaky. I may never buy these pre-made, pre-flattened pizza doughs again.

(Toppings: pizza sauce; mozzarella, a touch of colby-jack; bell pepper, onion, mushroom, zucchini, artichoke hearts, tomato)

The Sewing Catastrophe

Here’s another embarrassing peek into my life 🤦‍♂️

A couple days ago I stopped by the public library because (incredibly) they had a sewing machine that you can use (for free!).

Let me set the scene… I spent hours, I’m talking HOURS, hand sewing a couple strips of black fabric over one of my front windshield covers. It was simply becoming unfeasible, actually, quite impossible, to think I would do the whole window cover (and then twice, for the other side) hand sewing.

So, I looked for a sewing machine to use. Understand that I have not used, touched, or even gazed my eyes upon a sewing machine (even online) in AT LEAST 5 years…

When I got to the library, I sat down at a sewing machine, and the friendly guy working there brought out some materials for me to use. Appearing as though I had everything together, we had a short little exchange before he walked off to help someone else.

I sat there for a couple seconds staring at this machine thinking, “okay… how do I do this again?”

I put some thread on the top and started maneuvering it around portions of the machine, following the little numbers, but then I got confused. I asked the guy for some help. He came over and said, “are you trying to thread the needle or to spin a bobbin?” I said confused… “Uh, either? 😅”. He showed me how to thread the needle and which was for spinning the bobbin, of which I affirmed, and then he walked away.

Almost immediately I fell into confusion again. It took a couple minutes before I finally got the needle threaded and then I started pressing the foot pedal to start sewing… but it wasn’t working…

I kept getting this error code on the machine every time I pressed the foot pedal. I swear I hit every single button on the machine trying to make it go away. Same error code.

I started sweating, fearing asking for help again. For some reason I had manufactured this facade that I knew what I was doing. I didn’t want to look dumb, like I’d never used a sewing machine before, I mean pshh come’on it’s a sewing machine, doesn’t everyone know how to use that? So instead of asking for help, to the friendly guy standing 5 feet away from me, walking around the room, I quickly whipped out my phone and turned to Google. I frantically searched for images and guides on what the heck this error code was. The more this guy walked around chatting with and helping the others in the room, the more embarrassed I became. After 10 minutes of searching and searching, still getting this error code, I gave in to the pressure and called the guy over again, trying to look collected.

He came over and immediately said, “yeah that means the sewing foot isn’t down” and flipped it down. Immediately, no error code anymore. I felt so embarrassed.

I started sewing, but now the thread wasn’t staying attached to the fabric. At this point there was no way I could ask for help again because surely he’d think I’m just faking it. He would for sure see under my mask and know that I really know nothing. I turned to my phone again, so totally embarrassed. After 15 minutes searching online for images, guides, and videos on how to start a sewing machine, I finally realized I needed a bobbin, that was why the thread wasn’t catching. One of these things that goes underneath the needle and needle foot thingy.

Ah, there are bobbins sitting right beside me in the materials the guy brought out, duh, of course. I put a bobbin in, weaved the thread around, then finally got the thread working.

At this point I felt better because things were at least working as expected. That said, I needed a bobbin of my own thread. I gave it a go but had to call the guy over again, there was no way I was figuring that out myself. At least I could mask my ignorance under an “intelligent” question like how I’d be able to use my own thread on a bobbin. He walked me through that before setting me off on my way again.

Finally (1 HOUR LATER), I was ready to start sewing 😎💪… 🤦‍♂️

This was such a “me” moment, completely afraid to ask for help, fearing looking dumb, like I didn’t know anything. As all of this was going on, I kept hearing this women sitting at another table trying to print stickers holding a mindset of a complete novice, with no shame asking for help every couple of minutes.

The stark contrast in mindset was quite enlightening… We’re just gonna leave it at that 😅

❄️ New Ski Resorts Google Map

This winter I have both Epic and Ikon Passes. Some resorts have unlimited access, others have only 7 days, and some have only 7 days combined at multiple resorts. It’s all confusing and hard to keep track of. So, being that I like maps and visuals, I created a new Google Map that lists all of the Epic & Ikon Passes in North America including any access restrictions. I’m excited to use it in the coming months!

Check it out under the resources tab, or at Ski Resorts Map (2022-2023).