Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Query

When did stupid become the new cool? 

We lament in despair over the state of our young people, yet for some reason, grown folks -- grown folks-- have decided it's cool to walk around talking like three year olds.

No wonder our kids are growing up morons. 

We should be setting the example. 

Or we have no right to criticize the kids. 

Monday, January 30, 2012

Lesson For The Day

When you look at someone and ask indignantly, "Don't you understand English?"  it's a good idea to first make sure that you were in fact speaking...um..English. 

Sheesh...

For your Music Monday, I bring you a little flashback. When I first got to Italy, I listened to Italian radio. No, I didn't understand any of the words, but I did like some of the songs. Believe it or not, I actually found one of my favorites on YouTube. I still don't know what it means, but here it is.

Sunday, January 29, 2012

Things That Make You Go Hmmmm

“You cannot legislate the poor into freedom by legislating the wealthy out of freedom. What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving. The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else. When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that my dear friend, is about the end of any nation. You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it.”
― Adrian Rogers



Saturday, January 28, 2012

An FO!

Or should that be a FO, since "FO" stands for finished object? Well, no matter. What we have here is a completed pair of socks.

This is my second pair of sport weight socks, knit in Knitpicks Stroll Sport in Buckskin.


They are a little tight on my toes, but as the blue pair grew after I washed them -- so much so that I can't even wear them any more-- I knit these a little small. As for the blue pair, I knit them toe up.  I'm thinking if I rip back the cuff and decrease to 48 stitches, then re-do them, they will fit better.  It may not look the coolest, but since I'm only wearing them to sleep in, it doesn't really matter.


A couple of weeks ago, I was watching A Pioneer Woman Cooks on food network.  She made a recipe she calls Spicy Pop Pulled Pork.  I made me some, today, except not spicy.  Mainly because I forgot to buy the chipotle peppers. What makes this recipe unique is that you pour cokes over the pork shoulder before you cook it.  Apparently, in Oklahoma, they call cokes pop-- which is how the recipe got its name.


Anyway, in the recipe, she said she uses Dr. Pepper.  That's what I used, and it gave the pork an oddly sweet taste.  Maybe if I'd remembered the chipotles, it would have offset the sweetness.  I don't know.  It tasted better when I mixed barbeque sauce into it.  I think next time I make it, I'm going to use Coke instead.  It's not as sweet. 

Brittani and I got out and walked the dogs today-- all except Jesse.  Once we got down to the dirt road, and let them all off the leash, you could tell Sadie and Zoe were having the time of their lives.  I don't think Zoe stopped running until we were half way back.  We took them down to the creek and they played and chased sticks and peed on stuff and smelled stuff and got in the water and everyone got along perfectly well and a good time was had by all.  On the way back, Sadie and Rylea walked right beside each other with nary a growl or a lip curl. 

But, an hour later, they were trying to eat me through the fence again.  I think being in such a small, confined space is stressful to them, so they react the only way they know how-- with aggressive behavior. 

Well, we'll work on that, too.

Friday, January 27, 2012

Long Week

This has been the longest week!  I think it's the first time I've actually worked a full 40 hour week since October.  I'm just not used to it.  I keep hoping to get some overtime, soon.  They say by the end of next month, we'll be working 6 days a week.  I hate the hours, but I sure could use the money.

I've still got a few weekends left.  I'd better enjoy them while I can.

Jake


Remember when I told you about my cousin's dogs a couple of weeks ago?  Well, today the guy that owns the house on the other side was in his yard and Sadie and Zoe went after him.  He scared them off with a shotgun, and by the time James got over there, Ronnie was still shaking like a leaf.

James told me later that the little old lady on the other side of him was in her yard one day.  When Sadie and Zoe saw her, they went crazy, barking and snarling and jumping at the fence.  Mrs. Woods started freaking out, shrieking and crying and stuff.  If they'd gotten out, they would have eaten her up with her acting like that.  If they'd bitten her, her son wouldn't have just fired a warning shot.

Sadie

Even me, when I come outside of my house, they still come after me.  It takes a minute, and they eventually calm down, but for that minute, they truly look scary, what with their teeth all out and everything.  They look for all the world that they are going to attack me.   

That was always my worry.  If they did bite somebody, they'd probably end up being destroyed because they've shown a history of aggressive behavior, and Mike and Dennise would be fined or worse.

They're not really bad dogs.  I think they're insecure.  They're in a new place, surrounded by strange people and strange dogs.  They've always been inside dogs, now they're kept in a pen in the back yard.  The pen is too small for one dog of that size, much less two.  They're used to having walls around them.  Now everything is wide open. I think they must constantly feel like they're having to look over their shoulders, so to speak.  It's made them aggressive.  Kind of an "I'm going to get you before you get me" thing.

I don't know what's going to happen in all of this.  I did tell Dennise that I would start walking them when I walk mine and Jake in the evenings.  Maybe that'll help. 

I don't know, but it sure won't hurt.

Thursday, January 26, 2012

Yay!

No doggie do in the floor when I got home this evening.  Jesse must be feeling better.   That's about the only good thing that happened today.


Well, I went in to get my prescription for my Nasacort and they told me it was going to be $102.  I asked for the generic, and they said that was the generic.  I think I'll just do without.  People want to blame "greedy" pharmaceutical companies for the reason drugs cost so much, but really, they only make about 2% profit.  Most of the costs go to a) research, and b) beggars, illegals, and other bums and mooches who just don't want to pay for their medicine.  Somebody's got to pay for it, and that somebody is you and me.

So I left the medicine there and just came on home. 

I watched this show on CBS.com called Undercover Boss.  I've only seen one episode, though this is the second season.  It was pretty good.  I wish one of our bosses-- and I mean the way high ups-- would go undercover at our plant.  Boy, would it be an eye opener for them.  There is so much wrong at that place, I don't even know where to begin. 

A couple of years ago, they sent an engineer out from Dallas to fix things.  He told me that things were going to start being done right.  I said, "Forgive my skepticism, but I've been hearing that for 15 years and nothing has changed."  He stayed for about a year (flying back and forth from Dallas), and came back about six months later.  By that time, everything was right back to the way it was when he got there. 

Part of the problem is, when they send bad parts to the assembly lines, we're not allowed to reject them.  They claim that they don't want to waste all that copper, so we just have to make them work.  All that does is remove accountability from the component areas.  When they know they don't have to do things right, then they do just enough to get by.  If they know they're short on parts, they don't re-order them.  So we have to do it.  If a part gets smashed or dented in a machine, they just toss it in the bin and send it on to the line with the rest of the parts.  So we have to go order a replacement. 

Howard is going to get all in a tizzy because someone pulls his gloves off 30 seconds before the lunch buzzer goes off, but we waste way more time wrestling with bad parts. 

And I won't even get into the harassment, favoritism, and the selective enforcement of the rules. 

Not tonight, at least.

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

No WIPs This Wednesday

Yes, I know it's Wednesday, and the day I normally post my WIP update.  However, since my knitting mojo seems to be somewhere in Barbados, I haven't really finished anything since last week. 

Something has Jesse's tummy upset.  He's been off his feed and today has had diarrhea.  I think it's all related to getting his heartworms treated, because since we did that, he's had lots of accidents in the house.  That's why I've put him back into his kennel while I'm at work.  I'm hoping it'll all clear up in a couple of weeks.

Anyway, he had diarrhea this morning on the carpet, and again in his kennel while I was at work.  So, after cleaning the carpet-- including shampooing it-- cleaning out the kennel and bathing Jesse, since he'd gotten it all over himself, I'm just too tired to knit. 

So in lieu of a WIP update, I give you this:

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

A First

If you've read my blog for any length of time, you'll know that strange dreams are par for the course around here.

From undead husbands, to the undead who wish to be my husband, to baby airplanes, and everything inbetween, I've had them all.

But I think this is a first, even for me.

Last night, I dreamed of a chupacabra.

My boyfriend -- amazing in itself since I don't have one-- came to my apartment (huh?)  All excited because he and his buddy had found signs of chupacabras.  They were going to go out the next day and see if they could find one. 

But I could see what was going to happen-- it was like watching the previews of the next episode of a television series.  I could see that the chupacabra was going to rip my boyfriend apart and eat him. 

Sigh, is it any wonder I always wake up tired.

Monday, January 23, 2012

Music Monday

When I first moved here, I wasn't really used to dealing with tornadoes. Hurricanes yes, but not tornadoes.

Now, some 18 years later, I'm still not used to dealing with tornadoes.

And it has already started. Last night, storms ripped through the South, killing at least two people in Alabama.

When I first moved here, I wasn't really used to dealing with tornadoes. Every little storm, I'd be running over to Beverly and James' house in a near panic.

Then one day, it occurred to me. Nothing is going to happen to me that is not part of God's plan for my life.

Now I'm no longer afraid. Oh, I take reasonable precautions, but I'm not scared any more.

Because I know he holds my future, and no one can snatch me out of his hands.

Sunday, January 22, 2012

The Great Washing Machine Quest

Despite it being chilly and damp yesterday, I needed a new washing machine. So I got up bright and early and set out on the Great Washing Machine quest.

Well, it wasn't much of a quest, since I knew exactly where I was going to go. Lowe's in Batesville.

About halfway there, I remembered that I'd forgotten to get a new allergy protector thing for my mattress-- because the old one had gotten shredded when the old washer gave up the ghost-- so my first stop was at Wal-mart. I got into the store, and was wandering around with my buggy, when I realized that I couldn't remember what I'd stopped there for.

I wandered around a bit more until I remembered what I wanted to buy, then it was on to Lowe's.   I had looked online and found a washing machine that I liked, but when I got there, they didn't have that one in that store.  Instead, they had this one:


It's a Maytag, and probably a better machine than the one I was looking at anyway.  It's got four temperature settings


and four water level settings


and all these different cycles.


It's got a series of lights that shows you where it is in the cycle.  The only thing is, you can't start your tub filling with water until after you close the lid.  Then it locks and you can't open it at all, unless you pause the cycle.  And since you can't open the lid, it's got a built in fabric softener dispenser that you can turn off if you're not using fabric softener.


I spent all day today catching up on my laundry, including all the bedding that Jesse peed on.  It is so much quieter than my old machine, though the first few times it ran, it scared Jesse when the water came on. 

Speaking of dogs, we've come to a tentative truce with the dogs next door.  I'd made friends with them, and so had Jesse.  Rylea was still picking fights with them, though.  I suggested that we just put them all out in the yard and let them fight it out. This afternoon, that's exactly what I did.  Sadie was trying to make friends, and it's Rylea who gets all bowed up and starts acting aggressive.  I let them fuss for a while, then said, "that's enough".  We walked around the yard a bit, until Jesse started getting too excited and I had to put him back inside. 

In the meantime, Squeaky has developed quite a fondness for the space heater in the snake room. 


"I wubs you, warm fing", she says. 

Friday, January 20, 2012

Can I Curl Up And Whimper Now?

OK, so I come home after a particularly odious day at work -- which does not really figure into this story-- to find that Jesse had, yes really, jumped up right in the middle of my bed and peed.  Seriously.  In my bed

Boy, he's lucky I just spent all that money getting his heartworms cleared up or he might not have seen the light of another morning.  So out comes the dog crate again, and off comes the bedding.  Everything. 

I'm just glad I had one of those big plastic bags on my mattress, for allergies, you know.  It kept the mattress from getting soaked. 

I ran one load through the washer, but midway through the second load, I hear a huge crash.  It sounded like the washer had fallen over.  It hadn't fallen over, but the drain hose had come loose and water was coming out of the bottom and flooding my kitchen floor.

Now, under normal circumstances, I'm just about the biggest hermit on the planet.  If the phone rings twice in the same week, I complain that it's "ringing off the hook".  And no one ever comes to my house.  Ever. 

But the minute my washer breaks and water starts going everywhere, the phone rings and someone knocks on the door.  At almost exactly the same time.  On top of that, all the water I'd drank at work decided at that very moment it just had to come out.  Right then.  Figures.

How in the world does everything know to happen all at the same time? 

I called James and he came over after he got off work, looked at my washer, and pronounced it dead.  So, tomorrow I'm off to buy a new washer, which I can't really afford.  But I gotta have one.  A couple of people have suggested Lowe's.  The closest one is in Batesville, so I reckon I'll drive up there and see what they have.  I could order one online and have it delivered, but I want to see if they have any closeout specials or anything like that. 

But now, I've got to go find my other set of sheets to put on the bed, and the old comforter (and hope the cat hasn't peed on it), so I can sleep tonight. 

Thursday, January 19, 2012

Long Day

We got to stay late at work yesterday, then had to go in early this morning, which made for a long day.  Add to that a strange restlessness that kept me up until after midnight, and waking up every hour to check and make sure I hadn't slept through the alarm, I'm one pooped puppy.  What made us aggravated is that when our own line is behind, we are told we can't work overtime, but when they want us to do another line's work, then that's OK.    It's enough to make you say, "aargh!" 


Then I get up, log into Facebook and find out that the fashion industry now considers a 6 to be a "plus" size.  Seriously?  Six is a plus size?  Don't our young girls have enough trouble with body image without being told that they must be emaciated to be considered beautiful?  According to the article, the average model today is 23% underweight.  That meets the body mass criteria as anorexic.  No wonder our girls are starving themselves to death.  It's enough to make you say, "aargh!" 

And you know what?  Men don't find that attractive.  Or as my friend the late Bubba Vance used to say, "Bones are for dogs." 

Speaking of dogs, Jesse is getting restless.  It was easy to keep him down the first few days when he wasn't feeling so hot.  Now that he's feeling better, he's wanting to get out and play.  He doesn't understand that he can't.  Sigh, three more weeks...

One last thing, I think I'm going to move to Crockett.  I hear the vet clinic there is awesome!

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

WIPS on Wednesday

I was dreaming of scrambled eggs.  A big ol' plate of scrambled eggs.  Truck stop scrambled eggs, cooked to perfection.  I didn't know what they were at first, until I took a bite of them. Scrambled eggs!  Ohh, they tasted so good!  I ate the whole plate full, and enjoyed every mouthfull. 

Then sent Cody out to buy a new bottle of Benadryl.  And woke up feeling like I wanted to cry.

Sigh...

So, let's move on to more pleasant topic-- knitting.  Yes, it's Wednesday again, and that means it's time for another WIP update.  I've spent most of this week trying diligently to cough up my lungs, so I didn't really get much accomplished.  I did get one project finished.

No, I didn't get my lungs coughed up.  I'm still working on that.



1.  Charity scarf-- Completed!


2.  Bubble Wrap sock:  Still languishing in the gloom of Second Sock Syndrome.



3.  Conwy sock:  Still languishing in the gloom of ...well, you can't call it SECOND sock syndrome because I haven't finished the first one.



4.  Traveling Roses Scarf: No progress this week.



5.  Arwen Wrap:  Still languishing in the gloom of Gakked Up Hairball Syndrome.



6.  Sport Weight Socks:  I finished the first one, and have the cuff of the second one done.  Currently working on the heel flap.



7.  Garter Rib Scarf:  This one has been my traveling project.  I  don't do a lot of traveling, which is why it is still not finished.   But I'm ready to get it done now.  The yarn is Knit Picks Imagination in Gingerbread House.



8.  The 2010 Anniversary Mystery Shawl.  Which I still haven't finished. 



9.  Followed closely by the 2011 Anniversary Mystery Shawl.  I detect a pattern here...



10.  A Sock:  What you don't see here is that Jesse got ahold of  the yarn cake and it is now a tangled mess.  At this point, it's  probably going to be easier to just rip and start over. 



11.  Fruit Of The Vine scarf:  I think the yarn is Knitpicks Gloss Lace, but I'm not really sure.  It was some I had left over from doing a larger project.  Still, I think there is enough to make a good size scarf here.



12.  Orkney Pi Shawl:  In Knitpicks Shimmer in Spice.  I actually paid for this pattern, so I'd better get this one done!+



13.  Another Charity Scarf:  This is yarn Kristen sent to me.  The only name on the label is Dardo. 




These next three are really more ongoing projects, so they don't really count as WIPs, but I'm showing you them anyway.

14.  Leper bandage: no progress





15 & 16.  The two sock yarn blankies. No progress



So, that was my knitting progress for the week.  Now, I need to go work on that lung coughing up thing some more.

Monday, January 16, 2012

A Whole Lot

of knitting going on.

But first, I was all set to brag on how well Jesse is doing.  He's starting to figure out how to ask to go outside when he needs to, you know, go.  So I was going to brag about that until he pooped in my kitchen floor.  Sigh, I just can't win.

Part of the problem is that Mike and Dennise have moved back in with Beverly and James.  They brought their dogs with them, and Jesse is scared to death of them.  I can't say as I blame him.  They are not friendly dogs.  They are Belgian Malinois and one of them is Jake's mother.  The other is his sister.

Now, I've seen dogs that bark at you.  I see that all the time, but I've never seen any that seem so vicious as these two.  They don't just bark-- they snarl and growl and show their teeth.  They've jumped on Rylea a couple of times already.  She ain't skeered of them, though, and she'll fight back for all that they are twice as big as she is and could really mess her up if they'd a mind to.  She'll still fight them.  I guess it's the houn' dog in her.

In all honesty, Rylea starts it as much as Sadie and Zoe do.  I can't really blame her.  This has been her yard all her life, and who are these strange dogs thinking they can come in and take over?

Dogs will be dogs, but when them two started coming after me, that's when I had to call and say, "You've got to do something about these dogs."  They've got a pen in the back yard, but they can't keep them inside it.  I was trying to walk my dogs, and they were up on my back steps, snarling and attacking-- they chewed the end of my stick off-- and they wouldn't let me out of the house.  That was just the last straw.  I'm not going to be captive inside my own house by these dogs. That's when I called James and told them what the dogs were doing.  I don't think they realized how vicious they were acting.

This afternoon, James took me out there and introduced me to them.  We played and loved and I threw sticks for them and everything seemed fine, but when I walked Jesse later on, they were jumping and snarling at the fence as bad as before. Still, if I can get leashes on them without them ripping my arm off and take them for a couple of nice, long walks, they'll be OK.  That's what they need most is exercise. 

So that was my adventure for the day.

Other than that, I've been knitting away.  I finished another blanket square last night.


This one is a simple garter rib.  That is K2 P2 across on the first row,  and knit across on the second.  Repeat until it is long enough.  I picked the garter rib because it doesn't pull in quite as much as plain ribbing, so it will be easier to get it to block to 6". 

And I finished this charity scarf. It is Bernat Boa, and will go to a cancer center.


I was going to clean snake tanks, but when I saw I was almost to the end of the scarf, I decided to knit instead. So I finished the scarf, and started on sport weight sock number two.


I got quite a ways with it while catching up on Once Upon A Time episodes.  It's a pretty interesting show, but I don't see it lasting more than a season or two.  They're going to have to resolve the story sooner or later.  If they drag it out too long, people will start losing interest.  I know I will.

Oh, and I realized that I'd never posted a picture of sport weight sock #1, which I finished a few days ago, so here you go:


And that was how I spent my holiday.

Sunday, January 15, 2012

Not Much Better

What I thought was allergies seems to have blown up into a full fledged chest cold.  Didn't make it to church this morning. 

I did get several inches knit on my charity scarf.  I'll try to have pictures tomorrow. 

Right now, it's time for another dose of The Green Elixer of Death, and bed. 

Saturday, January 14, 2012

Anyone Else?

I was having one of those strange dreams, you know the kind where you can't get your eyes open.

Please tell me I'm not the only one who has those.

I was walking down a corridor and out a door, and I couldn't get my eyes open.  Then I got into my car and was driving down the street, and I still couldn't get my eyes open.  I was struggling and struggling to get my eyes open, but I just couldn't.

I'm always very relieved to wake up and find that my eyes open quite easily.

That was the second time this morning that I woke up.  The dogs woke me up at 5 ish, so I walked and fed them, then went back to bed.

When I woke up the second time, I had a sore throat and a heavy chest--felt like the makings of a chest cold.  So, I didn't do anything today.  Just hung around the house and watched movies and football and knit.

Now it's bedtime and my chest and throat still hurt pretty badly.  If I don't make it to church, you'll know why.

Thursday, January 12, 2012

The Last Thing

is done!

When you adopt a shelter dog, usually there are health issues to deal with. They can range from relatively minor, to rather severe, depending on how long the dog was surviving on the street before animal control picked him up.

I knew the minute I saw Jesse that he was in pretty bad shape.  I knew that it would take time and money to get him back into good health.  I also knew I couldn't just walk away and leave him there.

I knew he was mine.  From the moment I saw him.  I knew he was meant to be mine. 

So I adopted him.  Before I even took him home for the first time, we went straight to the vet and began the long, slow process of making him healthy again.  We started with shots and worming.  Then came neutering.  All the while working on getting weight put on him.

At long last, we came to the final step in the process-- getting his heartworms cleared up.  We did that this week.  It was not without aggravation, though. 

Remember the fiasco over the medicine?  Well, as if that weren't trouble enough, they were supposed to call me when they got some in.  They didn't.  I waited and waited, and waited.  Finally, I called them to check, and "Oh, yes, we've got some in."  I nearly went off again, but I managed to keep my anger in check.  At least they had the medicine now, and we could get this done. 

He spent the night Tuesday, and I picked him up yesterday.  Only now, he's got to stay confined for a month.  It'll take that long for his body to break down and absorb the dead worms.  Until that's done, if he gets excited and gets his heart pumping, one of the worms could dislodge and enter his bloodstream.  That could cause major problems.  I reckon it would be like having a massive clot in there.

Is there such a thing as a dead heartworm embolism? 

Let's not find out.

In the meantime, he's going to act like he doesn't feel well.  He may develop a cough, and has to take steroids to help with any inflammation.  On the other hand, I was pleased to see his weight up to 58 lbs.  He's not fat, either.  To me, that just shows how excruciatingly emaciated he was when I first got him--14 lbs lighter. 

And he's just the sweetest thing.  Mommy nubs her tweet widdle piddy wub dub dub...


Um, *ahem*  The canine in question has been a pleasing addition to our family unit.

Wubby dub. 

Dub, dub. 

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

WIPS on Wednesday

Where, oh where has my knitting mojo gone?  Where, oh where has it gone?

I just haven't had the inclination to knit much this week, but I did make minor progress on a couple of projects.  And I finished a hat.  Which I've already shown you, but I had to add the completed photo to the list before deleting the entry.

So, without further ado, here is the WIP up date for this week.

1.  Charity scarf-- I didn't think I'd knit that much on this one, but when I got it out to take the photo, I realized I'd done more than I thought.


2.  Bubble Wrap sock:  Still languishing in the gloom of Second Sock Syndrome.


3.  Conwy sock:  Still languishing in the gloom of ...well, you can't call it SECOND sock syndrome because I haven't finished the first one.



4.  Traveling Roses Scarf:  Knit about 4 rows this week.


5.  Arwen Wrap:  Still languishing in the gloom of Gakked Up Hairball Syndrome.


6.  Hurricane Hat:  Completed! 


7.  Sport Weight Sock:  Got quite a few rounds knit on this one.  About another inch, and I can start the toe decreases.


8.  Garter Rib Scarf:  This one has been my traveling project.  I don't do a lot of traveling, which is why it is still not finished.  But I'm ready to get it done now.  The yarn is Knit Picks Imagination in Gingerbread House.


9.  The 2010 Anniversary Mystery Shawl.  Which I still haven't finished. 


10.  Followed closely by the 2011 Anniversary Mystery Shawl.  I detect a pattern here...


11.  A Sock:  What you don't see here is that Jesse got ahold of the yarn cake and it is now a tangled mess.  At this point, it's probably going to be easier to just rip and start over. 


12.  Fruit Of The Vine scarf:  I think the yarn is Knitpicks Gloss Lace, but I'm not really sure.  It was some I had left over from doing a larger project.  Still, I think there is enough to make a good size scarf here.


13.  Orkney Pi Shawl:  In Knitpicks Shimmer in Spice.  I actually paid for this pattern, so I'd better get this one done!+


14.  Another Charity Scarf:  This is yarn Kristen sent to me.  The only name on the label is Dardo. 



These next three are really more ongoing projects, so they don't really count as WIPs, but I'm showing you them anyway.

15.  Leper bandage: no progress


16 & 17.  The two sock yarn blankies. No progress


So that's this week's WIP update.  Tune in next week for more wandering down WIP Way.

Like that?  I just made it up.