I Did It

I did it.  I got up this morning and it was a bit nippy outside, 

so I broke down and turned on the central heat.  Mmm, gotta love that first heat smell.  

I thought about building a little fire in my wood stove, but I realized I hadn't brought any firewood up to the house.  Besides, I'd brought my plants inside, just in case, 

and my stove was serving as a plant stand. 

I'll need to clean out this corner before I bring them in for the winter, 

but it's supposed to warm up again after this weekend, so I'm going to be putting them back outside for a while anyway.  I might go ahead and make the cacti a place inside and just leave them be.   I've read that once they set buds, moving them can make them drop those buds, so I don't want to move them any more than I absolutely have to.  

I did it.  I think I finally found the sweet spot for my bluebonnets.  

I've never seen them growing this big and healthy looking.  Kindly ignore the weeds.  I'm weeding a bit, but am a bit paranoid about disturbing the roots of the ones I want to keep -- namely the bluebonnets.  I'm hoping they'll re-seed themselves and make a stand, but even if they don't, now I know where to plant them in the future. 

I did it.  I cast on another hat. 

I'm making good progress, but this cold weather has my hands aching.  I guess I need to find some of those compression gloves to wear while I knit.  I used to have some, but don't know what happened to them.  

I did it.  I decided I wasn't going to be a nasty slob any more on these days off, so I got up and brushed both my teeth and hair, ate oatmeal for breakfast.  I'm determined to maintain healthy hygiene habits, even on the days I don't intend to go anywhere. 

I did it.  I said I would and I did.  I went to the lake and walked the circle on the South side of the spillway.   I did two laps, which is just over a mile.  I kind of wanted to do more, but my toes were freezing and I didn't want to overdo the first time out.  

I was a bit bummed, because I was only able to get one route badge for Pokémon Go, instead of two.  For some reason, the first one didn't go through.  I'm planning on going again tomorrow, too, so maybe I'll get it figured out then.  I used to do it last year all the time.    

Here are the pics, so it did happen. 

These trees full of egrets reminded me of Christmas trees. 

And look, a speed bump.  You'll all be pleased to know I did not trip over this one.  

I did it.  I got one of the boxes I was sorting repacked and back into the shed.  I'd found a couple of afghans out in the shed that I wanted to try to fit into the same box with the baby clothes.  I brought them in and washed them, but even using my space bags, I could only fit one.  I put the other one on top of the storage cabinet, also sealed in a space bag.  Hopefully, that will keep the dampness out.  

I did it.  I ordered an extension ladder from Amazon.  It's supposed to arrive next weekend sometime, so maybe I can get up and run that brush through my chimney a couple of times.  Then I'll be able to mark that one off my to-do list. 

And finally, one thing I didn't do was get any trick - or - treaters.  The city council or chamber of commerce, I don't remember which, said to do Halloween last night so people can go to the football game.  I still have enough candy just in case someone comes tonight, though. 

Remember when Halloween was October 31, no if, ands or buts?  We need to get back to that.  We do not need, however, to get back to putting up Christmas trees on Christmas Eve.  November 1 is a little too early for me, but I need more than a week with mine.   I'll probably put my tree up the 21st, since Thanksgiving is so late this year. 

By the way, I need to nag Cody and Brennan to see what their plans are, so I'll know what to do.  If I leave it up to them, they won't tell me anything until Wednesday night...

Schadenfreude

 Do you see this?  Do you know what it is?

You local folks might not recognize it, because it's been so long since we've seen it, but that there is blue sky.  No clouds.  No rain.  No gloominess.  Just clear blue beauty. 

On a similar note, I stepped on the scale this morning and didn't like what I saw.  I know part of the problem is most likely the pumpkin spice coffee creamer and the nog, but that's not the only problem.  Last year, I got up every weekend and went walking, either at the lake or the Lee Tartt Nature Preserve.  This year, I haven't gone a single time.  

Oh, sure, I walked the trails at the Mounds when I went up to Batesville, but that was just once.  I'm determined to get up and go in the morning, and go walking -- probably out at the lake because the trails at the nature preserve will be muddy from the recent rains.  

I'll let you know how that works out. 

In other news, we have a new brazer out at the plant.  She's not new new, because she was on second shift until they closed it down earlier this year, and I'll tell you the truth, I already didn't really like her.  

When she was on second shift, she worked at the brazing stand right next to mine.  If the day shift brazer left something on her stand that she didn't want to do, she'd just put it into a bin and put it over on my stand.  I'd come in sometimes and find two or three orders stacked up on my table -- and that's not including what I'd left on my stand. 

So, when they shut down second shift, they'd had her parts staging at first, but we now have three brazers out on FMLA.  Last week, they moved this girl over to brazing until the others come back.  She keeps saying they moved her there permanently, but I'm sure she must have misunderstood them. 

Anyway, I've taken to calling her Smarty Pants, because she's got the attitude.  Very arrogant.  Very smug.  Very much a know-it-all, and a bit bossy.   And I'm like, "Yeah, I've been doing this job longer than you've been living, but go ahead and tell me how I'm supposed to be doing it."  

Then came this morning.  First of all, Inspector Gadget brought back one of her scrap tickets that she hadn't signed, nor put the reason code on them, and he made her re-do it.  Not 15 minutes later, he was over in the finished work area, picking through our finished work -- because he doesn't trust us to do our jobs without him micromanaging -- and sent back a bunch of her headers.  

She had both brazing trainers standing over her, and I overheard one of them telling her she needs to put her brazer number where it can be seen.  I noticed last week she was trying to hide it on the back to make her leak rate look better.   

I was good.  I kept my mouth shut and minded my own business, but what I was feeling was schadenfreude. 

And she left with a lot less smugness than she came in with this morning.  

OK, moving right along...I finally cast on a new hat this afternoon.  

And I got my little bowl of Halloween candy ready, just in case. 

Not that I ever have any trick or treaters, but you never know...

Hi Ho, Hi Ho

It's back to work I go.  Yes, all good things must come to an end, and my unexpected vacation did just that.  Not that I did anything but sit inside and watch it rain.  For five days...

It was raining when I left this morning.  It was raining when I got off work, and it's still raining.  But the good news is, the rain is supposed to move off in the overnight hours.  And here I am sounding like a TV weatherman...Oh, well, I am who I am.  

After lunch, Inspector Gadget was over in sub-brazing and I overheard him telling one of the brazers that it had gotten even colder outside since this morning.  I walked over to the computer to look at the little weather icon in the corner, which said 49°.   

One of the parts stagers was using the computer, and started to move away to let me do what I needed to do, but I stopped her.  "Oh, you're all right,"  I said.  "I'm just looking at that" pointing to the temperature "and wondering if it's lying to me."  She said no, it's cold out there.  She said she wanted her husband to have a fire going when she got home.  Yes, they have heat, but she wants a fire!

In the course of the conversation, I asked her who cleans her chimney.  She replied, "Nobody," explaining that they just use those creosote sweeping logs you can buy at the store.  Then she suggested I go ask one of the tap fitting brazers who cleans his.  When I did, he gave me the same response.  He uses those creosote sweeping logs, too, and said they work really well.  

They've both been in their houses a lot longer than I have, and if they haven't had any problems, I guess I won't, either.  I do have a big, long brush that the previous owners left in the shed.  I was going to take a photo of it when I got home, but...rain.  I've thought about getting up onto the roof myself and running that brush up and down my chimney a few times, just to make sure there are no obstructions or anything.  Alas, my ladder isn't tall enough to reach the roof.  

I might just have to buy myself an extension ladder.  I've been wanting one for a while now anyway, but couldn't really justify the expense, knowing I wouldn't use it all that much. Now I have a reason to need one. 

Even better, that's one less phone call I'll have to make.  And I got another lead on some firewood, while we were conversing.  The tap fitting brazer's son sells firewood, so he's going to talk to him for me and let me know.  If he comes through, that'll be yet another phone call I can mark off the list. 

By the way, I found out why we had an extra day off.  Inspector Gadget told us at the morning meeting that someone had made an error inputting the data from inventory, and it somehow screwed the whole system up.  They had to go back and re-do everything.  Demi-god's mother works in that department, and he said she'd logged in from home to check on things, and she's the one who discovered the mistake.  He said if she hadn't caught it when she did, we might have had to take today off, too. 

In the meeting, IG said we could put in a vacation day or ETO for yesterday, so I went and checked how many ETO hours I have left.  I was close to maxing out, so I put in 8 hours. Our ETO does roll over, but is capped at 24 hours, so I needed to use some anyway. 

Now, there's a rumor going around that they're going to shut down the plant Friday for Halloween.  I'm not sold on that one, especially since they're having a costume contest that day.  It makes me no nevermind, since I have a vacation day already approved. 

Can you believe it?  I have only two days of work this week.  At least this weekend it won't be raining.  I hope.   I was getting a little stir crazy not being able to get out and work in my yard.  Don't get me wrong.  I like being at home, but I don't like feeling like I'm trapped at home.  

On a similar note, while I was trapped inside by all the rain, I finished the latest sailor hat. 

Yarn:  Hobby Lobby I Love This Yarn

Colorway:  Green/Turquoise/Red

Pattern:  Basic Beanie

Needles: US 8

I haven't cast on a new one yet.  What with the change in weather and all, my hands need a bit of a break.  

Here's something interesting.  While I was cleaning out those boxes, I found this hand written pattern. 

It appears to be a working copy of a sock pattern, but for the life of me, I can't remember which one it is or where it came from.  Anyone recognize it?  Anyone willing to knit it up and see if it looks familiar?  It is toe up construction, from what I can tell, but have no idea how many stitches it calls for.  

Hmmm, maybe it's a 64 stitch pattern adapted to be worked over 72 stitches. 

And finally, my shipment from Rodent Pro arrived today, and I once again have a freezer full of snake food.  

 That's just about all that's in there at the moment.  Well, except for those ribs.  And some frozen water just in case the electricity goes out.  And a whole lot of turkey broth that I need to do something with...Now that it's getting cold, I might get some out to have a hot drink in the evenings.  

That sounds like a plan to me!

Another Day...

Well, I ended up putting the blog back to the way it was before.  One of my readers mentioned that other than losing the background color, she couldn't tell anything was different.  I did some checking, and apparently the changes I'd made could only be seen if you read on a computer.  I know that most of you read on the phone, so I just undid everything.  

It wasn't that big of a deal anyway.  It just showed a few related posts at the bottom of each new post.  As I said, you'd have to be on a computer, and clicking to open each post individually anyway.  

As I was doing all of that fiddling, I happened to get onto the book of faces, and saw this post from my place of employment -- and not three days later, either. 

We got another unexpected day off.  I asked one of my friends what was going on, and she said the system was down.  We both assumed they meant the computer system, and now I'm wondering if that's why they gave us yesterday off, too, to upgrade the computer system.  Back in the day, they would have told us what was going on, but not any more.  These new bosses really treat us like dogs. 

By the way, I suppose you've heard of what they're calling the Mississippi Miracle.  If you haven't, I encourage you to go look into it, but basically it's when the schools went back to teaching phonics several years ago, fourth grade reading scores jumped from 50th to 6th.  Even other states have noticed.  

Why do I bring this up?  It's because when I run into someone particularly...um....slow... I've been calling that person a Pre-Miracle Mississippian.  Or just "Pre-Miracle" for short. 

Anyway, as soon as I'd confirmed that we indeed had another day off, I went out to the shed and got another box to go through.  

This one was much easier to go through and toss stuff.  Take that little stuffed animal, for instance.  It's much easier to put that into the give -away box so a child can love it instead of it being stuffed in a shed for decades.  

Then there was this t-shirt.  

I have no idea where I got it.  I don't remember it at all.  I've never been to Turkey -- and given that the name of the country is spelled the Turkish way rather than the English way, I'm sure that's where the shirt came from.  But I don't even know anyone who has been to Turkey.   Clearly it has no sentimental value, so I might as well take it out of the plastic and wear it. 

And when people ask me if I've been to Turkey, I'll say no.  And if they ask where I got the shirt, I'll say I have no idea.  It just showed up one day. 

This little booklet, on the other hand, I've been looking for it for ages.  

I'd taken it out of a magazine when I was a kid -- I think it was Woman's Day.  

Yes, I just googled it, and it was released in 1975, which would have made me 11.  That was a long time ago.  Truthfully, I'd thought it had gotten ruined in Hurricane Ike, and was looking for a copy of the poem online.   I couldn't find it anywhere, so I'm glad my copy turned up.  It's now safely tucked away in my copy of A Visit From St. Nicholas, which my mother read to us every Christmas Eve.

Well, not the actual book she read.  That one did get ruined in the hurricane, but I found a copy in a used book shop of the same edition.  

I'm rambling, so let's get back on track.  

I also found a couple of Cody's shirts.  

The little Pinocchio shirt my mother bought him when she went to Italy to visit my sister.  I'd given most of his kid clothes away, but kept this one as a memento.  I'm going to seal them in plastic bags to keep the damp out and put them in with my baby clothes.  

Truth is, that shed floods so much when it rains, I might as well be stacking my storage boxes out in the yard.  There is a mini-storage at the end of the road, so tomorrow after work, I might drive around it and see if I can find some contact information and rent one until I can get a better storage building put up.  Really, I'd rather get my attic finished and have some pull-down stairs installed so I can use it for storage.  But that would require finding a contractor I can trust, and I just don't think there is one in this town. 

The last thing I'm going is this art project from 8th grade.  

I made the copper pressed image, and my grandpa made the frame.  It hung in my dad's house until he died.  I need to do a minor repair, but I want to find somewhere to hang it up.  Probably in the kids' room.  It needs some decorations in there. 

Once I'd sorted through that box, I went and got another one, but it was all full of Cody's old toys.  I'm sure he won't want any of them, but I feel I need to check with him before I give them all away.  

And finally, today's meme:  

I'm telling you, I felt this to my soul.  I do so wish we could go back to when life was simpler -- and better. 

Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go heat up that can of chicken noodle soup that's been on my cabinet for nearly a week and have myself some supper.  Or a late lunch, rather...

Laters.

Changes

I made a change to my blog layout, but I want to see if you can notice it.  I think if you're on your phone, you'll have to go to the web version to see it, but the first person to pick up on this change gets a shout out on the blog. 

Not that that means anything, but still...

OK, I'll tell you.  I moved the big, long list of blog labels from the right sidebar to the bottom.  It won't make that much of a difference in the big picture,  but maybe every once in a while, you can scroll down to the bottom and read one of the popular posts, and remember when the blog was good, and right, and interesting.  

I need to figure out how to get it to highlight different posts, instead of the same ones over and over again.  If that's even possible.  I'm sure it is.  I've seen other bloggers do it.  But then, they were on other platforms, and Blogger is still stuck in the 20th century.  

Speaking of dull, I woke up to another drizzly, damp day, so needless to say I did not go up to Batesville, since I wouldn't be able to work outside anyway.  Instead, I decided to start sorting through some of the boxes I've had in storage for a decade.  

I'd seen a meme a while back that said if something has been in storage that long, you don't really need it.  I've got several boxes of stuff that I really need to go through and today seemed the perfect day to start.  Alas, as it happens, I did not toss out a bunch of stuff, because once I started digging into that box, I found it was mostly filled with baby clothes my mother and grandmother had made for me.  

There was a whole lot more than this, but I didn't take photos of all of it.  I couldn't bring myself to toss that stuff.  Cody and Brennan keep saying they don't want to have kids, but maybe someday I'll have a granddaughter I can pass these things on to.  Or at least a great niece.  

I did toss a lot of Cody's old schoolwork, but kept a few things as mementos.  And I tossed all of the old newspapers he'd gotten his pictures in.  I clipped the photos out, but tossed the rest of the paper.  Really, why did I need to keep the entire paper for just one photo of my son?

I've got several more boxes out there I plan on going through, but that was enough for today. 

In other news, even though it was still too wet to work in the actual garden, I got onto ChatGPT and after several adjustments, we came up with a layout that in close to what I want. 

It's still not perfect, in that the rectangles on the sides should all be attached to each other, but it's close enough to start planning.  In my final plan, there will also be two single beds enclosing the open end at the bottom, and a trellis connecting the two that I hope to grow muscadines on.  I wanted to add it to my drawing, but I needed a break from AI.  For some reason, it can't seem to understand evenly spaced.  

In the meantime, I finished a hat,

Yarn:  Hobby Lobby I Love This Yarn

Colorway: Royal Gorge

Pattern:  Basic Beanie

Needles:  US 8

and I cast on a new one.  

Yarn:  Hobby Lobby I Love This Yarn

Colorway:  Green/Turquiose/Red

Pattern:  Basic Beanie

Needles:  US 8

And finally, word on the street is that LSU is parting ways with Brian Kelly, and giving him a $50-ish million buyout.  If you ask me, this is one of the biggest problems in college football.  They give these coaches these massive contracts with huge buyouts, so they're either stuck with the coach, or out beaucoups of dollars.  The coach makes out loke a bandit, so why should he care about winning when he rakes in the cash either way?  

It's the same with NIL.  The kids don't care about loyalty to the school, or even winning any more.  They're just going to go to the school that offers them the most money.  

All this, and the colleges are whining about being strapped for cash.  What did they think would happen?  

But what do I know...I'm one of those old folks talking about the good ol' days, and wishing things would go back to the way they were before, when players were in it for the love of the game. 

Not the love of money. 

Rainy Day

It has rained off and on pretty much all day long, and I am not complaining about that one bit.  We desperately needed that rain, and the cooler temperatures that will be coming with it.  Between the chill in the air and cheesy Hallmark movies on the TV, I figured it was time to get my fake fireplace out to add to the holiday mood. 

It wasn't quite chilly enough to turn the heater part on, but I did enjoy the ambience from the fake flames.  And what could make that ambience better than knitting and a cat in your lap?

Here is a better photo of hat progress.  

Yarn:  Hobby Lobby I Love This  Yarn

Colorway:  Royal Gorge

Pattern:  Basic beanie pattern

Needles:  US 8

Speaking of, I'm mad at that cat right now.  I'd decided it was time to worm her again, so I mixed some of the stuff you can buy at Walmart into her food, and she refused to eat it.   I put it outside, and somewhere in the neighborhood is a stray cat who is now worm free.  Or a raccoon, or a possum.  I don't know.  Something out there got wormed. 

A while back, I'd bought her some of that Alaskan Salmon oil for cats, you know to help with the hairballs and stuff.  Cats are supposed to love fish, right?  Not this one.  She won't eat it, not even if I mix it with her regular food.  Sigh, and that stuff was expensive, too.  

While we're on the subject of feeding things, I just ordered approximately four years worth of snake food -- provided all of my snakes live another four years.   Just mice for the colubrids, though.  I've still got plenty of rats in the freezer.  That's what happens when you don't dig all the way to the bottom of your freezer and assume you're out, so you order more only to discover that you had some after all.   

I just went and counted, and I have 18 rats.  Since he only eats 4 times a year -- or less, if he refuses to eat -- that's 4 1/2 years worth of food for Slider, too.  

OK, moving right along. 

During a break in the rain, I was able to step outside and check the garden spot, and everything looks good.  

There were a few small puddles, but nothing to get seriously concerned about.  I can fill those in easily once it dries out a bit.  I don't want to go out there and leave huge footprints while it's still mucky.  

Now, the back of the house is a different story.  

 I need to get a qualified -- read: licensed and bonded -- dirt work person to take down that dam the land scammer built in my back yard. It's on the list, along with everything else I need to get done. 

And finally, Navy won yesterday and moved to 7-0 and somehow still aren't ranked in the AP poll.  They're the only undefeated team that still isn't ranked.  There are even several two loss teams that are ranked, but not undefeated Navy. 

Go figure...

As Promised

As promised, here is the photo of my latest finished sailor hat. 

The yarn in Hobby Lobby I Love This Yarn in the colorway Blue Camo.  The pattern is a basic beanie pattern knit on US 8 needles, with US 7 being used for the ribbing. 

And of course, I cast on another one right away.  

The yarn is Hobby Lobby I Love This Yarn in the colorway Royal Gorge.  Basic beanie pattern, size US 8 needles.  

In other news, I got up and went to the store this morning to do my weekly shopping, and came home disappointed.  I was going to get a couple more of those bags of garden soil I've been using, but every single bag I picked up was busted.  Sigh...

I got a couple of bags of the Miracle Gro topsoil instead, and that has just about filled one section of my beds.  I'm thinking I might run up to Batesville Monday, since we have that day off at work, and see if they have any left at their Walmart.  

"But why the rush?"  you may ask.  It's not like I can plant anything before Spring anyway.  

It's because I want to get at least my lemon balm and Rosemary settled in before the first freeze.  I'd also like to get my tarragon and oregano transplanted, if I can.  Still, the tarragon is in a pot, so I can bring it inside for the winter, and I don't want the oregano to feel left out.  

By the way, I asked Gemini how many lemon balm plants I can fit into that bed, and he said if I use the maximum spacing I can only fit two, but if I use the minimum spacing, I can get 8 in there.  I think I'll split the difference and plant six.  

Rosemary, on the other hand, can get quite large, and Gemini recommends only 3 plants in a bed this size.  ChatGPT only recommends two, so if I want to sell it in the farmer's market after I get the plants established, I may use an entire 8' bed and grow four of them.  Or maybe I'll use one of my 4' x 4' beds.  ChatGPT thinks that might be a better option, since I can fit four plants and they'll have more room to thrive.  I guess I ought to start figuring out where I want to put them, then.  

Speaking of thriving, look what I found! My Thanksgiving cacti are budding!  

 All four of them have buds, but these were the only ones big enough to actually see in a photo.  

On a similar note, the rain started around 4:30, but so far, all we've had is a light drizzle.  That's exactly what we need, being as it's been so very dry this summer.  The ground needs time to absorb the rain.  

You know, when I moved into this house, a lot of the things the previous owners did had me shaking my head, but one thing they did right was to put some good insulation in here.  As chilly as it's been these last few days, this was the first morning it even got down below 70° inside the house.   

Or maybe this is normal.  I don't know,  because I haven't lived in an actual house since I got out of the Navy.  Until I bought this one in 2015, I mean.  I reckon a house would be much tighter than a trailer house, which is what I lived in for the first 20 years. 

The other thing I was disappointed in at the store was that I was going to buy some Halloween candy, just in case I get a trick -or - treater.  I haven't had one since I moved into this house, but I'd hate for one to come and I didn't have anything to give him.  That happened one year when I still lived on Riverdale Road, and I felt so bad. 

Anyway, I usually buy the individually wrapped Reese's cups, and a bag of the Hershey's miniatures with the four different kinds.  Alas, they didn't have the smaller bags of the Hershey's, and I wasn't about to buy the $15 bag.  I had to pass on those, and got a bag of the mini 3 Musketeers instead.  

And finally, I found a recipe on Facebook (I know, I know) and it looked pretty good, so I decided to try it.  It's a cheese dip, that's basically Ro-tel, but you also add a block of cream cheese and a can of cream of mushroom soup.  It was pretty good, but I don't think Cody likes mushrooms, so I probably won't make it for them.  Or I'll make it and regular Ro-tel, so they'll have options. 

I'm trying to find more savory snacks for the holidays, since we all need to eat less sugar.  

Now, I'm hungry, so I'm going to go get me some soup for supper.  Lobster bisque, from the deli section at Walmart.  

Laters. 

Almost There

I'm almost there.  Almost to the crown decreases on this hat, but I didn't want to wait until I'd finished to show you. 

You'll get the finished object photo sometime tomorrow.  And I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who compliments me on my hats, but I have to confess that the yarn does all the work.  It's dyed to stripe that way.  Makes my job a whole lot easier, and the knitting mindless enough I can do it while watching TV, yes even football. 

Speaking of football, I ran across this graphic a few days ago. 

Full disclosure, I haven't gone back through all the games and counted how many times Arch has been  hit, so I can't verify its veracity, but what I've seen watching the games, it's been a lot.  He can't be who he needs to be when he's running for his life every play.  He doesn't have time to go through his progressions, and even when he doesn't get hit, it seems like he expects to, therefore rushes and misses his throws.  

I'd lay odds he'd be a totally different quarterback if he'd had the O-line Quin Ewers had last year. 

Enough football talk, on to more exciting things.  

Did I really just say that???

Wow...

But OK, here we go.  I hadn't planned on getting up and working in the garden spot this morning, but as I was enjoying my cup of coffee and folding laundry, I said to myself, "Self, you really ought to get out there and do some work in that garden spot before the rain comes tomorrow."  So I listened to myself and did just that.

I even got the ol' roto-tiller and knocked the high spots down a bit. 

 Then I spread a little dirt in the low spots, and it is finally starting to look like I want it to look.  I'll have to wait until the rain settles things, then re-evaluate, but I think we are just about go for starting to add the rest of the raised beds.  

I'll just have to figure out what to do with all the extra red clay I scraped out of the spot.  

I'll do that later.  Right now, I'm going to go finish that hat. 

Laters. 

Inventory

It was inventory day out at work, and as usual, it was a completely unorganized cluster.  A big part of the problem is that they just throw these people out there with no training or instruction and are like, "Figure it out, but don't you dare make a mistake."  

It doesn't help that they put you in an area that you don't even work in.  I did the delta plate area, and what do I know about those?  Nothing.  Beats me why they don't just put those who work in sheet metal into the sheet metal areas.  Things would go so much more smoothly if they did. 

I swan I think they have meetings to find out the easiest and most efficient way to do things, then do the exact opposite.  It's very frustrating to people like me, who just want to get it done and go. 

Be that as it may, the day finally ended, and right after work, I ran into Walmart to get some more dirt for my garden beds.  Unfortunately, that entire pallet of clearance dirt sold out between Saturday and today.  I had to get the smaller bags of non-clearance dirt, but no matter.  My beds are just that much closer to being filled. 

I will probably buy a few more bags when I go back Saturday to do my weekly shopping.  I'd thought about doing it today, but Thursdays are absolutely crazy in Walmart.  I think everyone in town goes Thursdays to avoid the Friday madhouse.  Which makes Thursday a madhouse...

So, I just got my dirt and came on home.  I want to see how much it compresses with the rain we're expecting this weekend, so I'll know exactly how much more I need for each bed.   Since these will be for perennial herbs, I want to get it as full as necessary before planting.  The beds I'm going to use for annuals -- like my tomatoes and peppers -- I'll be able to add more dirt until it's completely full, so I'll be able to use compost in them.  I can always add more as the compost compresses.  

And I still need to get the center taken down a bit, being that it's still pretty high.  I guess I need to break down and get ahold of a dirt guy, only...as deep as my feet are sinking into that muck, I'd be afraid to drive heavy equipment in that spot.  

Oh, and I thought maybe if I put my phone call list on my refrigerator where I can see it every day might help me get things done.  Keeping it on my phone just makes it easier to ignore. 

In other news, I filled my bird feeder and hung it back onto the shepherd's hook, and said hook has stayed pretty straight and sturdy. 

 I'll give it a few more weeks before I take up the tie-downs. Maybe I'll leave them tied all winter, just to make sure it's all good and settled in.  

I guess that's it for today.  I'm going to get off of here and watch some Heartland and do some knitting. 

Laters. 

A Semi-expected Half Day Off

There was a rumor going around the plant this morning that we'd all be getting off at 11:00 or 12:00 today because of inventory tomorrow.  However, at the morning meeting, Inspector Gadget dispelled that rumor by telling us we would be working all day, until 2:00.  

Along about 10:00, that very same Inspector Gadget came around and told us all to go home at 11:00.  He didn't have to tell me twice.  Truth is, we were about the last ones to leave.  The lines started leaving shortly after 9:00.  Not to worry, it's always this way during inventory week. 

Things get weird during inventory week.  Oh, and funny thing, I was talking to Demi-god yesterday, and he didn't believe me that we used to go in at 5:00 AM and would sometimes have to stay until 8:00 or 9:00 at night.  I told him it was true, and to just ask his daddy.  This morning, I bumped into the two of them in the main break room, and said, "Hey Chris, tell him how inventory used to be.  He doesn't believe me."  That was all it took.  He went on an absolute tirade, telling Demi-god that they had to stay even longer than we did, and sometimes he didn't get out of there until midnight.  

They used to buy us pizza for lunch, too, but stopped because people were stealing the pizzas.  Yep, they'd go into the break room and get a whole stack of pizzas and go put them out into their cars.  Then there wouldn't be enough for the rest of us.  You know, the honest ones.  

It being a beautiful day, when I got home, I put a little fire in the fire pit, made myself a sandwich and had a picnic in the back yard. 

For dessert, yes I even went there. 

I was good, though.  I only had one.  Truth is, I was a bit disappointed in these marshmallows.  They've got a bit of chocolate in the middle, but it doesn't melt enough for my tastes. I think I'll put them into some hot chocolate instead, then buy some regular marshmallows for toasting. 

Speaking of, I might have a lead on some firewood.  Demi-god and I were chatting a bit this morning before shift started, and he said something about them cutting out all of the overtime and how tight it's making things around his house.  He's trying to support a wife and two kids on his one salary.  

Anyway, in the course of the conversation he said, "If things get much worse, me and my dad might have to sell some firewood to make up the difference."  

"Oooh, I need some firewood," I said right away.  I told him I have slightly less than a face cord left, but I'll need some more before it's all over, so if they do decide to sell firewood, to hit me up.  I'll buy some. 

By the way, I probably ought to give Demi-god a new blog nickname.  See, when he first came back to sub-brazing, he was bragging about how many headers he could do in a day, and acting like he was the best brazer that ever lived, and that he was the only one who knew anything about brazing, blah, blah, blah.  So, I started calling him the Demi-god of brazing, since that's what he seemed to think he was.  After a few months on the shift that actually has to follow the schedule and do the orders the line needs rather than skipping down and picking all the big orders of easy parts, his attitude has mellowed quite a bit.  Now, he's the one that complains the most about second shift. 

Well, not now because we don't have a second shift, but you know what I mean.   

Anyway, after I'd finished my lunch, I decided to get the two bags of garden soil that have been riding around in my car for nearly a week out and put them into my raised beds.   Between those, and the two I'd bought previously, I was able to get all four sections half way full. 

This is how much one bag was able to fill the bed.  Well, one section of one of the beds.  

That means it might not be as expensive to fill all of my raised beds as I'd originally thought -- especially if I can keep getting soil on clearance.  I think tomorrow after inventory, I'll run into town and get two more bags and finish filling at least two sections. 

I'd thought about trying to get the garden spot leveled a bit more, but the red clay was still too mucky to work with, so that'll have to wait for another day.  Instead, I sat down in my chair and enjoyed the beautiful day just a bit longer. 

 And finally, my car must have heard me griping because my low tire pressure light finally went out.  OK, OK, I know.  Sometimes you just have to drive it around a bit for the sensor to sense and set itself. Or whatever it does.  

Now, if you'll excuse me, there's a mug of hot chocolate calling my name.  With a stuffed marshmallow in it. 

Laters.

Random Thoughts Of A Tuesday Evening

1.  I was not expecting it to rain today, so that early morning storm caught me a bit by surprise.  When I'd checked my weather app yesterday, there weren't any significant chances until the weekend, but lo and behold, we got a good little bit of rain today.  

2.  I snuck over to the computer and checked the radar, and the entire south was clear, except that one little bitty storm right over us.  I'm not complaining, though.  I was able to collect some more water for Marty Mac, but wasn't able to work in the garden spot.  It was still too mucky. 

3.  Here is hat progress.  

4.  I went outside last night to see if I could see that comet, but I couldn't.  I guess there are too many trees in the way. 

5.  Well, it looks like we're getting the entire week of Thanksgiving off, which really isn't that uncommon.  November and December are our slowest months, and despite the short memories of some of my coworkers, we get Thanksgiving week relatively often.

6.  We've also got a day off Monday, but instead of just saying it's a shutdown day, they're trying to make it look like some sort of reward.  As in, "We really appreciate all of your hard work, so to show our appreciation, we're going to take a day's pay away from you."  Did they really think we wouldn't notice what they're doing?  That's what they think of us out there.

7.  Just for fun:

8.  My car is driving me nuts.  The low tire pressure light keeps coming on, but when I check them manually, the pressure is fine.  I think the sensor needs to be re-set.  I just haven't had time to dig into it.  OK, that's not totally true.  I could find the time, it's just not that big a deal. 

9.  It's been getting chilly in the mornings here lately.  Not chilly enough to drag out the space heater, and certainly not chilly enough to turn on the central heat, but chilly enough for me to put on some flannel pants. All that to say, I really need to call a chimney sweep and get my chimney cleaned.  But that requires a phone call, and we all know how I feel about those...

10.  I keep forgetting to tell you, we had a fire drill two weeks ago out at work.  So, there I was walking through the parking lot, looking for the sign where my department is supposed to muster, and the next thing I know, I'm laying on the ground.  I'd tripped over one of the speed bumps.  

It's funny now, but wasn't at the time.  Heh, one of my coworkers said she saw my hair flying, and thought it was a bird until she saw me getting back up.  Anyway, I got a pretty good case of road rash on my knee and a nice little bruise that's finally turning yellow. 

 Anyway, that coworker tattled on me to Group Leader Shark who made me go to first aid.  This is the crazy part, the first aid lady said I didn't need to write an incident report because it happened in the parking lot.   She gave me a couple of Band-Aids for my bloody knee, but not even any antibiotic ointment or anything.  

I guess she didn't want to interrupt her lunch.  

I went back out to my department and told GLS, and she couldn't believe it either.  She said, "Ain't the parking lot part of company property?"  I guess not.  Good thing I wasn't as badly hurt as the lady who actually broke her leg tripping over a speed bump. 

11.  Inventory is Thursday, so those who don't have to work are getting a really long weekend.  I'm thinking I need to do something, depending on what the weather does.  I just found out there is a fossil park up near the Tupelo area where you can hunt for fossils.  It's free and open to the public.  I'm thinking about going up there.  Or maybe I'll go to the Memphis Zoo now that the National Guard is up there and I can get to the zoo without worrying about getting shot on the way. 

12.  Nog has hit the stores, and surprisingly doesn't affect my blood sugar that much.  I guess the protein from the eggs helps to counteract the sugar in it.  Now affecting my waistline is a completely different matter. 

13.  I stepped outside again to see if I could see the comet, but I couldn't.  They're saying it'll be visible until the end of the month, so I'll keep trying. 

14.  That's about it for tonight.  I'm going to go make me some popcorn and watch ....  something.  I don't know what, but I'll find something. 

15.  Laters.