Spin

I couldn't possibly miss a chance to say this, everyone else has. (The "spin" put in those TV commercials in a swing state like Virginia is just amazing, btw, it lacks all relevance to reality...it's been an interesting experience, being in this state for this particular election.) If you live in the US and are a citizen:
PLEASE VOTE. Yes, you can!! *

This post is titled "spin" for more than a reason. First, my blog's called "yarn spinner" because, well, I spin yarn; I'm a handspinner. I even write about spinning, but I rarely get all technical, so if you're looking for that, alas, my blog isn't it. (I probably could get technical, I've won awards for my spinning, but, you know, I'm just not that excited about going that instructional routine in this venue; I think we often overthink things anyway, spinning can be intuitive if we allow it to be.)

I also spin a yarn or two--tell stories. For me, the title has a couple meanings. Yet, until last night, I never thought about the relevance of political spin...or....car spin.

Car spin. Yup. My cheerful yellowmobile (as my nephew calls it) Aztek has been making a moaning sound out of its back end that sounds like Moaning Myrtle from Harry Potter. My dad's an automotive engineer, so he got to the problem, found the service bulletin for this, and .... the way to fix it hardly passes the laugh test. We imagined how the GM engineer who dreamed this up must have been ribbed in the office for weeks. Basically, my car's rear differential needed more grease to be distributed to stop the moaning. (It's all wheel drive, and I mostly use the front differential for, say, road driving.) Without some fun ice/snow or off-road driving, that rear differential gets out of shape.
After a few other checks, the bulletin recommends:
1) Drive car for 20 minutes to warm it up.
2) Turn left in a tight circle for 5 minutes.
3) Turn right in a tight circle for 5 minutes.
4) Repeat #2 and 3.

My father and I did this last night. We predicted that I might ralph all over the place just riding in a car going in circles. We predicted it wouldn't fix things. In fact, for the first 10 minutes (#2 &3) the moaning continued, unabated. Then, as we continued to spin, around and around in a dark parking lot, no kidding, first the frequency changed and then poor Moaning Myrtle mostly disappeared, right back down into my rear differential where she belongs. A whole new kind of spinning, huh? (and no, I didn't get sick on my shoes... not once!)

In an attempt to restore comic relief, I thought I'd bring you that new form of spinning. No way I could do anything (like knit?) but concentrate on the road ahead while we did it, though.

*You may notice a subtle endorsement up there...yup, you heard it. I support the right of fiber arts bloggers to express themselves as they choose on their own blogs...politics, ideas, etc. That sometimes includes deleting inappropriate anonymous comments, as you notice I have to do every now and again. My blog is a place to visit with my friends--and if you choose to post, I invite you to use your name and join the conversation. In my cyber parlor, we're all sitting around with our tea and cakes, knitting needles or spinning wheels, and having a good chat. If you seek attention, negative posts won't get you very far here.