Ram on!

Episode 2 has arrived! Not without techical difficulties, however. I won't go into the details of my little Audacity meltdown with you, the episode is up, and if you listen, I know you'll feel like you were there, and it was actually your fingertips burried deep in Buddy's merino ram coat, not Knitty D's. I, however, was too busy drinking my wine to actually sink my manicured hands into Alfie or Buddies thick fleece (See picture below where I pretend to pet the ram).

Our weekend started with a trip to Commerce Bank. When Knitty D's mom was in town, they took their change, and hauled off to Penny Arcade at Commerce Bank. A light bulb went off - huh, I have change. A couple of years ago, or maybe five, I did scavenger around the house for change, and came up with like $200 in quarters - that change accompanied me to the black jack tables in Atlantic City. So, while I had never exchanged any of the change lying around my house - in TEN years - there weren't that many quarters - lot's of pennies - according to my receipt - $29.00 worth. So, first I tried to put all of the change in a jar. Not big enough. Then, I got a plastic bag. Not sturdy enough. So, then I got a big tote bag. Too heavy. Finally, I put the tote bag in a wheely suitcase, and planned to meet Knitty D at 5:30 at the bank.

Fortunately for me, my day ended early (i.e., I bagged the CLE at lunch and went shopping on N. 3rd Street), and my former roommate, Carla was in town for the day. It's ironic that Carla was in town, because in collecting my change, I noticed that there was a foreign coin here and there, Swiss francs, Italian lire - from my first trip to Switerzland four years ago. I assumed that Penny would just reject the foreign money, and continue sorting along nicely.

So, Carla and I wheeled my 75 lbs + suitcase of change to Devon, a restaurant with outdoor seating right on Rittenhouse Square. We ordered a bottle of wine, and waited for Knitty D. Knitty D called, I'm on my way - I dragged the wheely bag down the block to the Commerce Bank - and eek! Penny was broken. Drat. We dragged the bag, which by now was feeling somewhat like dragging a dead body, to the Woolmobile, and went to the Commerce Bank on Broad. Penny was waiting for us. As was Officer Livewell, one of Philadelphia's finest, assigned to the bank detail. As I opened the zipper of the wheely suitcase, and pulled out the tote bag filled with change, he clearly had this look on his face that said it all - "Women, sheesh." He hauled the bag up, and onto the counter, and started dumping the change into the sorter.
Not only had I not counted on the foreign money jamming up the machine, but, I certainly hadn't expected to find stitch markers of all things in the mix. Penny wasn't happy - I gave her indigestion. But, after a tweaking her, and changing her bags, she finished counting my change.

Back to the Wool Mobile, and we were off to Loop, and the Ram in the Van tour. Beer bottles, an exchange of small objects for money, garbage - these sights are all expected on South Street, but certainly not two rams penned in around a tree rooted in cement. While we were chatting with the rams for the podcast, at least a half a dozen cars slammed on their brakes - is that a sheep? what the f-? Chaos on South, but luckily, no carnage.
And, there was talk of carnage. While I was pretending to pet the ram, I was eavesdropping on the guy who owns Morehouse Farms talking to this couple, and he was telling them how they've had a problem with dead rams, and random killings on the farm. He then went on to tell them that they could only seek compensation from neighbors if they could prove the ram was killed by a dog - and he went on to describe the physical evidence you would find if it was a dog slaughter v. a coyote slaughter. Because I'm a sicko, I tried to spark conversation about that with Margarit Loher when I interviewed her.

Now, when we talked about naming the second episode of Knitty D and the City, the Simple Life, I never really saw any similarities between me and Paris Hilton. Surely, I am a brighter girl - I have a law degree, I have a conscience, I have the smarts - but, you're just going to have to listen to the interview, because I sound like a total dumb ass. Whatever, so I'll never make it on a farm . . . I can live with that.

And now, the dilemna - how much overlap between the podcast and the blog? Before I wrote the above, I mulled it over. If Harry Potter can have a book and a movie, and Superman can have a comic strip and a movie, and Little Stevie Van Zandt can be on the Sopranos, be in the E Street Band, have his own hideous clothing line, and his own talk radio show, I can have a blog and a podcast. However, I am going to save Sheep and Wool for the next post, to give whoever wants to a chance to listen to the podcast first. And, I definitely won't be revealing my stash, and future plans, until the end of the week.

Good things come to those who wait - and there are 16,000 yards to come . . .