It's A Trap!

Yes, it is, and it worked!  I caught two of the nasty little buggers in my mouse traps last night.

That's about the only good thing that happened, though.  Insomnia hit me, and hit me hard.  I tossed.  I turned.  I threw the covers off.  I pulled the covers back on.  I turned some more.  I tossed some more.  I finally fell asleep shortly after midnight, which isn't good when you get up at 3:00 AM.   I made it through the day, but felt like a walking zombie the whole time.

One good thing: while I was in the throes of my insomnia, I made my hotel reservations for this year's Fiber Fun In The 'Sip.  I booked a room at the same hotel I stayed in last year, and made reservations for two adults.  So, if anyone wants to go, but couldn't really afford to, you can bunk in with me.  I won't even ask for help with the room.  I mean, I won't turn it down if you offer, but that would be completely up to you. 

Like most knitters, I have eleventy billion sets of needles.  None of which I can find when I need them.  Last week, Knit Picks had their circular needles on sale for 30% off.  I picked up a couple more size 7s, and one more size 8. 

None of which I will be able to find when I need them.

While I was there, I grabbed a few balls of their neon colors for charity hats.

Just because homeless people are down on their luck doesn't mean they have to be drab.  I'm thinking these three colors might make a cool helix knit hat.  I'm thinking blue cuff, then add the yellow and pink for the body of the hat.  What do you think?  I think whoever gets that hat will definitely not be drab. 

I was scanning through my Facebook memories, and ran across this caption I had written about 4 years ago. 

Sometimes I do feel like giving up hope-- not of finding a man who will love me. There have been some of those. But of finding a man *I* can love. I've had crushes and infatuations before, but I've never felt that deep down, soul touching, can't live without him love. I live alone, and I have yet to meet the man who would make me want to change that. I'm turning 50 this year, and I fear I may be running out of time.

The photo it accompanied has apparently been deleted, so I have no idea what brought it on.  I can't really say anything regarding the way I feel about whatever it was has changed since then.  I still tell people I like living alone, and when I find a man I want to be with more than I want to be alone, I'll consider getting married again. 

On the other hand, I'm not getting any younger.  At my age, I don't expect to fall in love.  I'm too old for it.  It would be nice, however, like to find security.  Then again, I'm not ready to give up who I am just to have someone to cut the grass and change light bulbs. 

Eh, don't mind me.  That's just the sleep deprivation talking. 

Finally, if you come here from somewhere other than FB, Twitter, MeWe, or Instagram, you might want to bookmark the site.  I'm going to stop posting to so many sites, especially ones that don't drive traffic to the blog in the first place. 

Great News!

Judging by the amount of mouse poop I'm seeing lately, I'm discovering that the mere presence of a cat in the house is a discouragement to mice.  Now that I no longer have one, I'm definitely seeing more mouse signs than I have in the past.

I'd bought some of these Tomcat mouse baits -- shown on the left in the photograph below -- but my mice don't seem to be interested in them.  Indeed, they're leaving black jellybeans right next to it, as if to taunt me.

Giving up on them, I ordered some regular snap traps.  I bought a six pack, and set them all out in places I saw the most mouse droppings.   

I used peanut butter for bait, which has worked well for me in the past.  So we'll see...and yes, I did caution my hands.  I've got to find out how they're getting into the house in the first place.  The only place I can think of is around the dryer vent, or they're getting into the attic somehow.  I think I need to call an exterminator, but when would he come?  I'm always at work  -- and I do mean al.wa.ys. 

Not that I'm complaining, because I really need the money.  I'm so close to getting that credit card paid off I can taste it!  When I do, we're having a virtual party on the blog. 

That's not the great news I was alluding to in the title, though.  The great news is, Cody called me almost as soon as I got home from work.  He's pretty excited, because remember that job at the car dealership he applied for?  He had to take his car back in for something -- I don't even remember what he told me -- and the guy he talked to said that once you get to the point Cody is in the application process, i.e. background checks and references, you've pretty much got the job.  That'll be a heap sight better than the crappy job he's got now, which was better than the crappy job he had before.

He's slowly working his way up!  However, this car dealership is something he could earn a living at for the rest of his life if he wanted to.  He said they told him that the really good salesmen can earn up to $75K.  I so hope he gets the job.  He's a people person, so it'll be a good fit for him. 

I couldn't even sell Avon, me. 

Back To Work

Yep, all good things must come to an end, and so my long weekend did this morning, when the alarm began shrieking at 3:00 AM.  I sure did not want to get out of bed, but somebody has to feed all these animals.

Let me tell you, it was hot in the plant.  So hot.  It was so hot, I thought I was going to be sick for a while.  I went into the bathroom to try to cool off, and they didn't even have the air on in there.  It was like a little sauna.  After sitting for a moment, with sweat pouring off of me, I got up and went back out to my fan.

That right there is why I don't want to give up brazing.  At least I have a fan.  Lots of folks out there just have to suffer through the heat.

This is going to be short, because I really, really just want to go to bed.  I did want to show you what I worked on over the weekend.  First, I finished another hat.

At this rate, I might singlehandedly be able to fill my friend's blessing bags.  I cast on a new one, and knit a couple of rounds to establish the pattern, then decided to take a break from hat knitting to work on this scarf.

This was the scarf I started back in 2017, when I went to Missouri to watch the solar eclipse with my friend Peggy and her husband Ed.  I got to looking at it, though, and realized if I continued the pattern as is, my scarf would end up being about 20 feet long.  So, I did what any red blooded American would do.  I ripped it out and started over.

I added three more repeats, and I think it'll do much better this way.

Shorter, wider scarves are the in thing these days.  Heh, at the rate I'm going, by the time I finish, long, skinny scarves will be back in style.

Ain't that the way of it?

Finally, my Memorial Day tradition is to watch war movies -- one from each major war the U.S. has fought in (except the Revolutionary War, which I commemorate on Independence Day), and this year was no exception.  In addition to my usual Lone Survivor, We Were Soldiers, and Taking Chance, I also watched 13 Hours this time around.

Because Chris, Sean, Glen, and Tyrone deserve to be remembered, too.

Never forget.

Memorial Day

Never Forget

Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying,

 "Whom shall I send?  And who will go for us?"

And I said, "Here am I.  Send me!"  

Isaiah 6:8

Sunday Hymns

I'm going to do something a little different this Sunday, tomorrow being Memorial Day and all.  The following songs aren't your typical Sunday Hymns, but I wanted to post them anyway. 

For those who never made it home.

Memorial Day Weekend

I know I said it yesterday, but it bears repeating.  Nothing destroys employee morale and company cohesiveness like a petty, spiteful, vindictive boss.  I won't go into any details, but Boss Hoss has lost the employees of this company. 

One of these days, I'm going to tell you the story of a good Boss Hoss.  He really stood up for me one time, and after that, I'd have run through brick walls if he'd asked me too.  Not now, though, because it's kind of long, and I'm late posting anyway. 

When I'd finally made it home from work, first thing I did was to set up my missing man plate. 

Now that it's in place, my Memorial Day weekend has begun.  And yes, I am aware my silverware is mismatched.  I need to get new silverware.  I just haven't done it yet. 

Now, let me tell you about something good.  I'd received a letter from my friend Cyndye, and in it, she sent me these: 

I can hear you from here.  "What the heck is that?" you are saying.  Well, I'll tell you.  They're bluebonnet seeds!  She's got some bluebonnets in her yard, and noticed some seeds laying on the stepping stones near her fish pond.  I'd mentioned in my last letter to her I'd found some at Wal-mart in the past, but they didn't have any this year.  My thoughtful friend scooped some up and sent them to me!  Thank you!!!

According to all the gardening sites, you're supposed to plant bluebonnets in the fall.  However, when I spread these out on a paper towel to dry, because I thought they looked a little damp in that baggie -- some of them had germinated already.  I found an empty pot in the shed and poked those seeds down into the soil.  We'll see how they do.  If they grow, I might transplant them later this year. 

I have an old fire pit behind the fence that I'm thinking about cleaning up and making it my bluebonnet bed.  It'll take a bit of doing, because the previous owners were burning garbage and stuff in it, but I think I can dig all that out and fill it in with top soil.  The hardest part will be dealing with the fire ants.  And the crawdads. 

And the dadgum chipmunks.  I was in Lowe's a couple of weeks ago, in the pest control section.  One of the employees asked if she could help me.  I told her I needed something to kill a chipmunk.  She said, "Kill a chipmunk?  We have things to trap them, but nothing that will kill them." 

I said, "I suppose I could trap it, then kill it later."  She just looked horrified, then walked off. 

Destructive little buggers, those chipmunks. 

Late, Short Post

It was hot again in the plant today.  It was so hot, I told my coworker, "If you walk by my stand and see a little puddle of what looks like milk, it's just me."  She said, "Maybe you'll stay frozen."  But I didn't.  I was sweating buckets before it was all over.  At least we got off at 2:00, because it's Friday.  After work, I had to run into town to pay my car insurance and close a bank account.  I was really surprised, because the bank just closed my account.  Not like the last bank, which tried to argue with me, and demanded to know why.  This one just said, "I can do that for you."  Handed me a slip and said the teller can give me my money.  That was it. 

The only reason I'd ever even opened that account was to have a place to cash checks.  Now that you can deposit checks on phone apps, that account became superfluous.  Besides, I'd really rather have my money in an interest bearing account, rather than one that charges me fees.  It was free when I first opened it, but over the last year or so, they've begun adding maintenance fees.  It was time for that to go.  So, I closed it. 

This post is going to be short, because I practiced my guitar a little longer than I usually do.  I finally reached the lesson on strumming patterns, and I was really getting into that.  I only stopped because my arms started getting sore. 

Now I know two strumming patterns, and two and a half chords.  That is, I know two chords, and one I can hit about half the time.  Those chords -- for those of you who know anything about guitars -- are Emin, Asus2, and A.  The A chord is the hardest one, because you have to cram three fingers into a single fret.  I'm trying to practice bouncing.  That's what the instructor calls it.  You make the chord, then pick your fingers up off the strings, and put them back down on the strings, making the chord.  It's kind of hard to explain, but he shows it in this video.



Today's lesson was on strumming.



I picked up the first two patterns pretty quickly, but that third one is throwing me for a loop!  I think I'm going to stick with the more basic ones for now.  I've got them, but still need to practice keeping my rhythm even.  I'll tell you one thing, though.  It's going a whole lot better this time around, with videos to follow instead of trying to pick it up from a book.  Having someone show you how it's supposed to look makes things so much easier to learn. 

I've got a half day of work tomorrow -- well, an 8 hour shift, I mean -- then the next lesson is an actual song!  Woo hoo!  Hmmm, I wonder if Cody has the weekend off, and if he's coming down.  I reckon I ought to ask before I go cooking ribs for one...

One last thing before I go:

Nothing destroys employee morale and company cohesiveness more than a petty, vindictive boss. 

And that's all I have to say about that. 

It's A Gift

It was hot in the plant today.  So hot.  Miserably hot.

How hot was it?  It was so hot, Boss Man and Supervisor were passing out electrolyte popsicles.

And get this, they let us eat them!  Yes, it was that hot.

When I'd finished mine, I decided to drink the little bit of melted juice that always collects in the bottom of the plastic.  Me, being...well, me, got about half of it into my mouth, and half of it down the front of my shirt.

Which made me gasp.
Which made me suck what little I'd gotten into my mouth down my trachea.
Which made me start coughing and choking to the point I nearly wet myself.
Which made my coworkers all stare and ask if I was OK.
Which made the entire situation instantly awkward.

Yep, that's me.  I can take a simple situation like eating a popsicle and turn it into something awkward.

It's a gift, I tell you.

A gift. 

Never Fail

Just when I think I don't have anything to blog about, my coworkers never fail.

Turns out, some people on second shift were running what amounts to a lunch counter in their work area.  They'd set up some Fry Daddy fryers and were cooking fish and hush puppies in the plant.  Apparently, they were making up fish plates and selling them.   According to plant scuttlebutt, at least two of them got fired -- maybe more.  I'll keep you apprised if I find out any more.

At least they weren't trying to make babies.  Yes, that has happened, too.

If that didn't brighten my day enough, I came home to watch last night's Lone Star Law, which I'd DVRed, and my favorite game warden was on it!  That would be Morgan Inman.

Kind of makes me want to go to Jasper county and fish without a license until he catches me.

But I wouldn't really do that.  It's against the law, you know.  And not good for the future of the sport.

And that's all I have to say about that.

Whelp, that's about it for today.  Really, my life has become very, very dull.  It's the busy season at work, so all I do is work.  I get up in the middle of the night, work, come home and go to bed, only to do it all over again the next day.  Oh, but while I was at work today, I came up with the opening to my autobiography, if I ever get it written.  That opening (subject to editing) is as follows:

I knew what kind of life I was going to live when I was about 4 years old.  I woke up in the middle of the night, needing to answer nature's call.  In my sleep addled state, I walked straight past the bathroom, and into the kitchen, and sat down in the garbage can.  

That's a true story, by the way.  The title of the book will be Imaginary Husbands Don't Cut Real Grass.  Watch for it.  It'll be a best seller.

via GIPHY

I'm Getting Old

So there I was, just a practicing away, when this happened.

Dang.

I sat there, just staring at it.  It looked so far away.   Down there.  On the floor. I wondered for a moment if I could somehow, somewhere find the energy to pick it up.  I strummed with my fingers for a bit, then stood up to get my pick.  At that moment,  I thought, "Well, I'm up.  Might as well put my guitar away." 

And that's how my guitar practice ended today.

Oh, there I go, showing off my Irish DNA again.  I hope you have your sunglasses on.  Or maybe a welding mask.

Anyway, I was practicing what Mr. Stine calls scratching.  It's where you mute your strings and just practice strumming to a song or something.  It's how you learn rhythm.  So, I'd gone to one of my playlists on YouTube looking for a song with a good, strong rhythm to practice to.  I found a couple, and went through them.

Somehow, I ended up watching a bunch of old '80s hair band videos.   There's a reason they call them hair bands.  It's another one of those What Were We Thinking? moments.  I must be getting old, because while I was sitting there watching Jon Bon Jovi, Motely Crue, and Styx prancing around the stage, all I could think of was,

I'd rather listen to my old white headed shanty men.

It's Monday, All Right

I knew right away what kind of day it was going to be almost as soon as I got to work.  I was taking some parts over to a line, when I hung my hiney on the corner of a buggy and ripped a gigantic hole in my jeans.

I probably should have come home and changed, but I am too close to another perfect attendance bonus.  Naturally, I did what any red-blooded American would do.  I grabbed some tape and taped the hole closed, just enough I could make it through the day without mooning the entire plant.  Honestly, I don't think anyone even noticed.

The rest of the day passed without incident.  I didn't even have to put up with my stalker, because Boss Man sent me to the line.  Well, really, he shut down about half the tubing/sub-brazing department because we are so far ahead.  They didn't even have any work in the schedule for us.  He let a lot of people go home, but when he said, "Who wants to stay?"  you know my hand was first up in the air.

I was supposed to go over and line braze, but when I got there, the group leader said he needed me to do a different job -- one that is totally unrelated to brazing.  So there was no reason for Stalker to even be over there.  It was so nice just to be able to work without being harassed.

By the way, Stalker almost got splatted today.  He rode his tricycle right out in front of a forklift.  Didn't even look.  I don't think he ever even knew how close he was to getting hit.  Of course, I wouldn't want him to get hurt -- too badly.  Just enough that he needs to take a few weeks off.  But not seriously.  Too seriously...

That was about it for my work day, unless you want to hear about the long, imaginary conversations I had with my imaginary boyfriend -- or rather my top contender for potential imaginary boyfriend, as I have yet to make an imaginary commitment to him -- in which we discussed two of my favorite topics:  Texas and history.  And he imaginary listened and his imaginary eyes didn't glaze over, because he's a bit of a history geek his own self.

In knitting news, the hat has become a hurricane hat.

It's a really simple pattern, and it looks nice.

Well, this is going to be short, as I still need to find time to practice my guitar...and it's already my bedtime, so I'd better get going.

Sunday Hymn

If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land. 

2 Chronicles 7:14

I can think of no other verse nor hymn more appropriate for this week than this one.  

Forgive us Oh, Lord, and heal our land.  

This is our prayer.    

What Was I Thinking?

As you may know, it's rained a lot this spring.  I mean a lot.  Because of this, I haven't been able to mow in about 3 weeks.  I really, really needed to cut my grass.  After I got off work, I did just that.  Let me tell you, it was hot out there.  It was so hot, the lawnmower kept overheating, and I'd have to stop and let it cool off.

That I may have been cooling myself off in the process is beside the point.

It was on one of these cool down breaks I checked the temp.

What was I thinking????  Oh, yeah, I was thinking it's supposed to rain again tomorrow.  I couldn't let the grass grow another week, or I might need a sherpa to navigate my yard.  Therefore, I soldiered on.

Y'all would be proud of me, though.  See, I was cutting out behind my chicken-less chicken coops when I ran over a stump I'd forgotten about.  It was completely covered in Creeping Charlie.  I hit it so hard, I bent the lawnmower blade.

Luckily, I had an extra blade I'd bought on clearance a couple of years ago.  I got in there and I changed that lawnmower blade out all by myself.  I must have done a good job, because it didn't fly off and cut my legs off when I started the mower back up. 

In the midst of all this mowing, I also did laundry.  I checked my new t-shirt for washing instructions and found this: 

I must be careful when wearing it, because I'd hate to be overcome by a platypus. 

Let Me Introduce You

To my new favorite t-shirt ever.

Yes, it was kind of expensive, but I really wanted it.   After looking at it for several weeks, I finally broke down and ordered it, and it arrived today.  In fact, I got the text saying it had been delivered, and actually put off a necessary errand to get home to it more quickly.

As soon as I took the picture, I promptly ran and put it on.  And almost as promptly, dropped a big glob of butter on it, leaving a greasy spot.  I wept and wailed, "Oh, my new shirt!  I've stained it already!"  And the shirt seemed to mock me.

But did you die?????

Sigh...

Let me also introduce you to what may be my new favorite movie:  Tombstone. 

I'd heard a lot about this one, and FB is replete with memes from it, but I'd never watched it.   A few weeks ago, I rented it from Amazon.  And watched it twice.  Then I knew I had to have it.  I found it on the $5 shelf at Wal-mart, and promptly tossed it into my basket.  A real one.  Not an online one.

The bad news is, I made it out of Wal-mart and realized I'd forgotten to buy a flag pole.  Hanging my new Texas flag will have to wait.

So will that hat that's been given me fits.  I just couldn't figure out the decreases, so I did what any red blooded American would do.  I tossed it across the room, cursing the day I was born, and cast on something else.

Yes, it is another hat, and I'll probably make a hurricane hat pattern.

One last thing before I go, I finally signed up for that Global Penpals site, but my profile isn't activated yet.  See, I got stuck on this one spot -- tell us a little about yourself.  It's like a horror movie for introverts.  I wonder if I could get away with just posting a link to the blog.

Now, if you will excuse me, I must go google how to get grease stains out of t shirts that mock their wearers.

No, I didn't die, but you might if you don't stop laughing!!!

Stupid shirt.

Back To Work

Boy, I did not want to go back to work today, but hey, somebody has to pay all these bills and feed all these animals, so back to work I went.  When I got there, my coworker asked how I was.  I told her I was good, and she said, "You're about to be better.  Stalker isn't going to be here the rest of the week."

Note that this is not the same coworker who was counting how many times she caught him staring at me.  Nor was it the coworker who'd said he'd parked his behind behind me all day long.  This was a completely different coworker.   That tells me it's pretty obvious to anyone who is even halfway paying attention.  It's a shame that it gets to this point, though, that I can't stand going to work because of him.  I get so sick of him just staring at me all day long.

Now, if I could knock him upside the head a couple of times, he'd learn to leave me alone.  It's these idiotic zero tolerance policies that empower bullies and make victims helpless.  As  Col Cooper once said,

"If violent crime is to be curbed, it is only the intended victim who can do it. The felon does not fear the police, and he fears neither judge nor jury. Therefore what he must be taught to fear is his victim"

Fits

You remember how I said I had a half day vacation today, and that I had a whole list of things I wanted to get done?  Yeah, as I was leaving work, I told my coworker, "I'm going to go sit in front of the TV and tell myself all the things I need to be doing." 

And that's pretty much what I did.  Oh, I got a few things done from my list.  I weeded my front flower bed, and dug the mud out of my water meter.  I usually have to do that around the end of the rainy season.  Last year, my neighbor said, "Why you doing that?  They don't even read those meters any more.  It's all electronic now."  I said, "Don't you ever have to shut off your water?  What if you bust a pipe?  I want to be able to get to my shut off valve if I need to."  He looked at me like I'd totally lost my mind.  More power to him, is all I have to say. 

Once I'd gotten those few things done, I spent most of the afternoon trying to figure out decreases for this hat, and they're giving me fits.

I'm trying to keep the pattern going as long as I can, but it's just not working.  I knit a hat in this pattern about 3 years ago, and liked the way the decreases turned out, but now for the life of me, I can't remember how I did them. 

You know what else is giving me fits?  My guitar.  I'm watching those videos on YouTube, and they make it look so easy.  I think my fingers are too short or something, because I can NOT make those chords.  Then there is the A chord, where you have to cram three fingers into one single fret.  It's easy to get frustrated and want to quit, and I'm almost at that point.  I was practicing today, and I said, "Hmmm, maybe I'll just go ahead and save up for that piano after all." 

But, I remembered I had a folding chair out in the shed, so I cleaned it up and brought it inside.  Now, at least I don't have to sit on the floor to play. 

While I was out in the shed, I dragged my ladder inside and pulled the cover off my kitchen light  the one that won't light any more. 

Those bulbs haven't been changed since I moved into this house, and it was one of the things I'd planned on doing today, but in the end, I didn't do anything that required me to go into town.  I decided all that stuff can wait until Friday, so I only have to make one trip. 

Going into town is not exactly on my list of favorite things to do, you know.

Well, I have to go back to work tomorrow.  I know my group leader will be glad.  When I told her I had a half day off, she said, "I'm going to cry." 

Wow, I feel so special. 

Sunshine

I've got a half day off of work tomorrow.  I've got a long list of things I want to get done on my half day of vacation.  Buy a flag pole and hang my new flag, which will require moving my house numbers, change the lights over my kitchen sink, get my folding chair in from the shed and cleaned off, close a bank account I no longer use...just for starters.  But, if I know me -- and I'm pretty sure I do by now -- I'll spend the afternoon sitting in front of the TV.  The good news is, we've got sun and NO RAIN in the forecast for the rest of the week.  The last time we had a whole week of no rain was January. 

January, people. 

January.

As I told Cody, I've had about enough water for a while.  He replied, "Yeah, I felt the same way after Harvey."  Just a reminder that no matter how bad I think I have it, there's always someone who's been dealt a worse hand. 

OK, onward...

Well, not so onward, as I can't think of a single thing to blog about.  I was going to tell you about all the musical instruments everyone else in my family plays, and I'm just over here going, "I can play the radio."  But by the time I got it all typed out, even I didn't want to read it.  So, I deleted it all.  I will say that I'm beginning to look forward to coming home and playing, whereas at one time I dreaded practicing.  That was back when Cody was little, and I had so much going on.  It just seemed to be one more chore to add to my already frazzled life, which is why I gave it up to begin with.  I thought it was lack of passion.  I'm thinking now it was lack of time and energy. 

I still want my piano, though. 

Finally, progress is being made on the hat. 

I'm almost to the point I'm going to have to figure out those crown decreases.  Eh, I'll do that tomorrow.  Now I think I'm going to go look up my next guitar lesson video. 

Laters. 

Ain't It Beautiful?

Remember the other day when I said I'd ordered a string winder for my guitar?  The one I bought was what Amazon calls an add on item.  If I understand right, you can add it on to an order of $25 or more and it'll ship for free.  Of course, I'm not going to pay $6.95 shipping for a $2.95 item, so naturally I did what any native born Texian would do.  I threw a new flag into my shopping cart.

It arrived today.  Ain't it just the most beautiful thing you've ever seen?

I still need to get a pole, but Walmart should have them, especially since it's getting close to July.  It also came with a sticker,

which will go on my car very soon.

And I ordered a spare set of bridge pins for my guitar, given my tendency to lose things.

For those of you not into guitarish things, bridge pins hold your strings in place on the opposite end from the tuners.  Like picks and strings, they are one of those things it's good to have extras of.

I tossed in an extra pack of wax beads for my stamps, just because I wanted it.

Not that I needed any more, because I still have plenty.  I just wanted some more. The irony is, everything I ordered to get free shipping has already arrived, and the one thing I really needed hasn't.  Go figure.

Now, about that guitar...I was watching this one guy on YouTube.  He had what I thought was going to be a video series of beginner lessons.  However, after watching lesson 1 -- which taught the two chords I know -- I looked all over his channel for lesson 2, but never found it.  I did a bit more searching and found a guy named Steve Stine.  He's got a playlist of beginner videos that are truly for beginners.  He's very thorough.  He teaches the names of the guitar parts, how to hold the guitar, how to put your fingers on the strings -- everything.  He is also short, sweet, and to the point.  One thing I really don't like is someone who makes a 20 minute video to teach a 30 second lesson.  Spare me all the yapping.  Just show me what I need to know.

Kind of like those recipes on blogs, where the author is going to tell you her entire life story before getting to the actual recipe.  Usually, by the time I'm done scrolling, I'm too tired to cook whatever it is I went there to get the recipe for.

Anyway, one of the guitar lessons is how to start strumming.  He suggests listening to songs and practicing strumming to the rhythm, just to get a feel for it.  You put your left hand on the strings to mute them, while strumming with your right.  He calls this scratching.  I did this for my practicing this afternoon.  And this was the song I chose:



Good thing I was home alone, because I was really getting into it.  If someone had walked in on me, they'd have thought I was on something.   Something not good.  Something very not good indeed.

If you get that reference, we can be friends.  If you don't, we can still be friends.  You'll just be confused a lot.  Oh, and speaking of, Cody's roommate loves the Jayne hat.  Cody sent me a picture of him wearing it.  So, that's cool. 

That's it for now.  I know this post is kind of short, but I have a letter I need to finish so I can get it into the mail tomorrow. 

Goodnight.

Mother's Day

Look who surprised me by showing up to take me out to dinner this Mother's Day.

Before we went out to eat, we drove out to check on the emergency spillway.  He hadn't been down since before we'd had all this rain, and I wanted him to see how high the water had gotten.  His first view of the lake, and he said, "Wow!"  I told him to park in that little park at the end of the dam, near the visitor's center.  He just kept saying, "Wow" over and over.  Then we walked over to the emergency spillway.

What with the rain we've had just since I posted two short days ago, it is now in full bore overflow.



There were lots of people out there today.  Some even brought picnic lunches.  Everyone was videoing and talking about the water.  I saw several people I know, both at the spillway and in the restaurant.  Funny, Cody was telling me about this YouTube show that is a sequel to the Karate Kid movies.  He said Johnny and Daniel keep bumping into each other, just out on the street and stuff, and fussed about how unlikely that is to happen in a city of 14 million people. 

I said, "Here in Grenada, every where you go, you're going to see someone you know."  Small town life, eh? 

But I digress.  Watching the water go over, every so often you could see fish getting caught in the current and being washed down the ramp.  I managed to catch one in this video.



I mean, catch on video.  Not literally catch, but we did see one guy down at the bottom bow fishing.  I never saw if he caught anything.  Seeing those fish, I said, "I need to get me a new fishing license!"

We were getting hungry by that time, so I said, "Let's go get something to eat."

On the way into town, we ran by the boat ramp, which is now completely under water.

Again, Cody said, "Wow."  I showed him that little beach I used to take him to when he was young.  I stepped out of the car for a moment to take a picture, and Cody got out and carefully locked the door.  I busted out laughing.  He said, "What?"  I said, "You locked the door and my window is wide open."

When we got back into the car, he rolled up my window, and locked it, so I couldn't roll it back down.  He said, "Whenever any of my friends get into my car, and try to roll the window down, I'm going to have to tell them, 'Sorry, my mother ruined it for everyone.'"

Oh, and he bought himself a new car.  He really needed one, too, as his old one was just about falling apart.  It's a 2016 Toyota Corolla.  I think that's what it was.  He also left the car lot with a job application.  If he were to get that one, he'd get a base salary of roughly $40K, plus commission.  He's about sick of his current job.  He says it's not the work, it's the management.  Boy, I know how that is!

I like the actual work I do.  It's the toxic environment -- mostly caused by poor management -- I can't stand.

Anyway, we were out at the lake, by the spillway, when Cody looked around, sighed, and said, "I can see myself moving back here in 20 - 30 years."  He grew up here.  It's home to him.  I said, "I totally understand.  I'm still trying to get back to Texas."  Which segues nicely into our Sunday, well, it's not quite a hymn, but it fits in with the theme of Mother's Day, and going back home.



Oh, and Cody said, "My plan is to become rich, then I'll move you back to Texas." 

I'll take it.  Any way I can get it, I want to go home. 

Finally, before he left to go back to Memphis, and I saw him off with our standard, "Drive fast and take chances," Cody played my guitar a little bit.  It sounds a lot better when he does it, but then he knows how to play. 

Not Sunday

The alarm went off way too early this morning.  I quickly hit the snooze button to silence it, wondering why I hadn't turned it off before I went to bed.  That's when it hit me.  It's not Sunday.

Dang it!

Yep, I had to get up and go to work this morning.  When they put the notice up, people were asking how they could make us work on Mother's Day weekend.  And again, I'm like, "Don't act like you've never worked here before!"  When have we ever gotten Mother's Day weekend off?  Maybe once or twice when work was slow, but we usually work this weekend.  Heh, I remember the first year I worked there, and I said something about having to work Mother's Day weekend.  One of my coworkers said, "Well, not everyone has children."  I said, "Yeah, but everyone has a mother."  She said, "I suppose that's true."

You suppose?  And just where did you come from?  Did aliens drop you under a cabbage leaf or something?

Anyway, so many people were out, they had to shut down a line, and ended up sending most of tubing and sub-brazing home at 9:00.  I got five hours of overtime, and still had nearly a whole day off!  Yay for going in at 4:00 AM!  Wait...no...not yay.  4:00 AM is never a yay moment.  Unless you are going back to bed after answering nature, that is.

There wasn't much I could do with my day, since it rained nearly all day long.  Yes, again.  I did a buttload of laundry, wondering all the while how one single woman can dirty so many clothes.  Especially since I'll wear my t-shirts several days in a row, because I only wear them 2 or so hours a day.  If they don't smell, I'm just as likely to put them back on the next day.  That's probably more information than you needed (or wanted) to know, but there it is.  I am who I am, and I'm too old to change now.

So says the one who is trying to learn a musical instrument in her 50s.  Oh, well.

Speaking of said musical instrument, I changed out three of my guitar strings and needed to take a break, as I think turning those tuners has kicked my tendinitis into high gear.  I promptly got on Amazon ordered one of those string winder things I'd seen in the YouTube videos I watched.   That'll make it a whole lot easier next time I need to change a string. 

I've finally decided what pattern I want to make my next hat in.  I've done this one before.  I adapted it from a sock pattern, but am still working out the kinks in the decreases.

I'd actually done one with decreases I ended up liking, but didn't write it down, so I'm back to square one, since I can't remember squat.  If I figure it out, I'll be sure to write it down this time. 

Finally, Edna was thrilled to see her name in the blog yesterday.  She gushed and gushed about it this morning at work.  Of course, I didn't hear a word she was saying, but I stood there smiling and nodding anyway.  Like I usually do when people are talking to me.  Then she said, "You really ought to write a book."

Awww, gee...Not sure what I would write about, but Edna says she really likes the way I word things.  Maybe if I ever get a life worth writing about,  Imaginary Husbands Don't Cut Real Grass could become a thing after all!

It's Getting Bad Out There

Guess what it's doing? Go on, guess.  I betcha can't.  Betcha...

If you said raining, give yourself a cookie.  I recommend the new Oreo Dark Chocolate.  Those are delicious.

So, yeah, it's been raining for two days, and we still have one more to go.  After work, I went out to the lake to check on the emergency spillway, and there it is.

I parked in that little park beside the visitor's center (for those of you who are from here), and walked across the road.   The water is right there, I'm telling you.

You can kind of see the sheen of it going over in this picture.

And you can see a little better how close it is to going over here.



For those of you not from here, this is not the regular outlet channel.  That is way high, as well.  I probably should have taken a picture of that one, too, but I didn't.  This is the emergency overflow channel.

By the way, remember when I said this is a small town and you have to take your entertainment where you can?  Yep, I wasn't the only one out there.

The two men on the right were talking about back in the day.  I stopped to listen a moment, before going back to my car.  I even had a couple of coworkers tell me to take pictures when I mentioned that I was going to drvie by after work.  It's pretty much the hot topic of the day.  Month...year...

On the way back to my car, I shot this short video showing the current.



It was raining the whole time I was out there.  I had planned on waiting until tomorrow to go do my weekly shopping so I wouldn't have to get out into the rain, but after getting drenched at the spillway, I said to myself, "Well, I'm already wet.  Might as well go and get that out of the way."  And that's exactly what I did.

On the way home, I looked out at that cotton field by Dollar General, at the Papermill Road exit (for those of you who know the area), and it was flooded again.  I remarked, "He might as well plant rice there this year."  It's going to be a rough year for farmers all along the Mississippi River valley.  I read this morning about a levee breaching somewhere in Iowa.  I don't rightly remember where, though.

The good news is, I had electricity when I got home.  Yesterday, I didn't.

I’ll take “People who aren’t appreciated nearly enough” for $1000, Alex.

The answer is, They keep you turned on.

What are electricity people?

I sat there for a moment, not knowing what to do with myself.  I thought, "I'm hungry, I'll cook...dang it!   No problem, I'll just microwave...dang it!"  I couldn't even make myself a sandwich, because I didn't want to open the refrigerator any more than absolutely necessary.  The power had been out since 9-ish that morning, and I didn't want to let any of the cold out.  Thank goodness for that can of Vienna sausages in the cabinet.

While the power was out, I couldn't watch TV.  I couldn't get on the computer.  I couldn't do any of the things I normally do when I get home.  I read a bit, then practiced my guitar a bit, and said, "Hey, I'll look up the next chord on YouTube and learn...dang it!"

At least there was enough hot water for me to take a shower.  It's the little things.  The power finally came back on about 6ish, but by then, I didn't want to have to rush to get a blog post written and published before bed time.  I just caught up on Survivor and went on to bed.

By the way, I've gotten my new strings in, but I'll probably wait until tomorrow after work to change them.  I'm going to have to look that up on YouTube, too, to make sure I'm doing it right.  I'm hoping the extra light strings will be a little easier on my fingers.

Finally, a shout out to my buddy Edna.  She did sooo many parts for me yesterday, I know she was sick of seeing me coming.  When she brought me the last one, she straightened her hair and said, "Remember me in the blog."

Here you go, Ed.  Thanks for putting up with me!

Found It!

I found it!  I finally found my alto recorder!

The way I found it is as follows. 

Last weekend, I'd bought a new Vinca to replace the one that died.  Since it had rained all weekend, I hadn't gotten it into the ground yet.  I kept saying that I needed to, but I just didn't do it.

Since we're expecting more severe weather all weekend this weekend, after work, I said to myself, "Self, you need to get that there Vinca into the ground before that weather hits tonight."  So, that's exactly what I did.  It is now safely nestled in the bed with the other five Vincas.

Afterward, as I was putting my little trowel and gloves back up in the shed, I happened to glance into a plastic box of stuff I had stored out there, and there it was!  I got it out and brought it inside.  It needs a good cleaning, but at least I have it back now!  That doesn't mean I'm going to play it, but if I decide to take it back up, I'll know where it is. 

More good news, the mystery buds have begun to open.

I think this is a variety of Cosmos, but I'm not sure.  Cyndye, do you know?  Also, my roses have exploded into a riot of color.

I'm so glad.  I was getting kind of worried about them.  I was afraid I'd cut them back too hard last summer.  Glad to see I didn't mess them up too badly.

I got my pack of picks in the mail today.

As soon as I got my Vinca planted and a bite of supper et, I picked a pick from my pack of picks and picked my guitar for a few minutes.   It's still painful on my fingertips, but I was actually looking forward to getting home to play it.  I still need to learn another chord.  Maybe after I finish the new episode of Lone Star Law, I'll try to find the next video in that series of lessons I was using. 

Last but not least, I got me a new necklace.

The only thing is, I wish the chain was adjustable, as it is a little long for me.  Other than that, I love it. 

Now, about that episode of Lone Star Law, for some reason, my DVR didn't record it.  I checked my settings, and it's supposed to record all episodes of that show, both new ones and reruns.  I'm not sure what happened, but thank goodness for the Animal Planet Go app.  I was able to watch it anyway.  Alas, it didn't have any of my three favorite game wardens.  And who would those be? 

Why, Morgan Inman, Randolph McGee, and Mike Boone, of course. 

Maybe they'll be on next week.  It'll give me something to look forward to. 

One Of Those Days

Today was one of those days when I wish we could bring back flogging as an acceptable form of workplace discipline.  Why, you may ask?  Well, I'll tell you. 

Yesterday, Group Leader, several other employees and myself spent a couple of hours cleaning, organizing, and straightening up our work area.  It was all neat and organized.  Stuff was in the right place and everything. 

This morning, we walked in to a disaster area.  It looked like a tornado hit the place.  It's like, why do we even bother?

Sigh, at least I get to come home to a new season of Lone Star Law tonight.  Except that I'm going to have to DVR it and watch it tomorrow.  Because when you get up ridiculously early...well, you know the drill by now. 

I had to re-tune my guitar.  Or maybe I didn't get it tuned right in the first place.  Whatever, I had to re-tune it, because it had gotten out of tune again. Then I tried to play a few moments, just to toughen up my fingertips.  It still hurts pretty badly to play, but I can already feel the callouses forming. I'm getting pretty good at the two chords I know.  I think I'm ready to learn another one. 

What I'm not ready for is this: 

Nooooooo!  No!  No!  No! No!!!!

I guess summer is officially here.  Maybe not according to the calendar, but the temps have hit the 90s and the cotton is up.  That says summer in my book. 

I'm already counting down the days until Fall. 

Guitars And Stuff

Before I begin today's post, I just have one more thing to say about Saturday's debacle of a Kentucky Derby.  One of my friends who works in the racing business posted an article from some people who would know a whole lot more about it than I would. 

Anyway, both of the knowledgeable men consulted agreed that Maximum Security should not have been disqualified.  If you want to read it, you can click this link:  Should Maximum Security Have Been Disqualified?  

And now, on to your regularly scheduled post for today.

I got really excited there for a moment.  Seems my city has finally entered the 21st century.  Yes, you can now pay your bills online -- water, trash pickup, and the like.  I got all set to do just that.  I entered my information and all, then I saw it.  A "processing fee".  Yeah, you can pay your bills on the website, but they're going to charge you extra to do it.  I know, I know, it's only $1.50, but it's the principle of the thing.  I'll just keep on driving by city hall to pay mine, thankyouverymuch. 

So, there I was at work, just a working away, when Stalker walks up behind me and says, "You recognize that guy over there?"  Truth is, I didn't at first.  After getting a good look, though, yeah!  It was a former Boss Man who'd come back for a visit.  Why, I don't know.  He's the only one who ever came back after leaving.   I waved at him, and he said, "Hey girl!  You still mean as ever?"  And I said, "You do remember me!"

He walked on, and a few minutes later current Boss Man drives by on his Blart-mobile.  He says, "Y'all don't get excited.  He's not coming back!"   That's what we call his little scooter thing, the Blart-mobile.  And nobody really wants Old Boss Man back anyway. 

OK, moving right along...

My cut finger still hurts, but I did try to play my guitar for a minute.  And only for a minute before saying, "That hurts too much."  And put the guitar aside for the day.  Cody told me to let my cut heal completely before trying to practice any more, but I didn't listen.  I decided I needed new strings.   I had to order them from Amazon, and they should be here by the end of the week.  I also ordered a pack of picks, mostly because I just like saying pack of picks.   I'm getting a pack of picks, so I can pick a pick out of the pack of picks to pick my guitar with.

Clearly, I don't get enough sleep.

I found a some videos on YouTube with tips for older beginners.  It's so much easier to learn as a child, because you don't have the responsibilities adults do.  One of the biggest tips -- well, the most useful for me, at least -- is to tell yourself to practice for 5 minutes a day.  He said it's better to play 5 minutes every day, than 30 minutes to an hour once a week.  He also said you can help toughen up your fingertips by digging your thumbnail into them while you're watching TV, or whatever.  I've been doing that -- skipping the cut one, of course.  He gave several tips, but the last one I'm going to share is this:  start with extra light strings.  I don't think that's what I have on my guitar.  Way back when I bought it 20 years ago, I didn't know any different.  I just used what came with the guitar.  The ones I ordered are extra light.  We'll see if that makes a difference.

Still haven't gotten the spiders out of it, though...

I was telling my coworker today that I'd taken the guitar back up.  I was hoping it would sort of dampen my desire to buy that piano, but so far, it's not working.  She said, "Yeah, I know you want that piano, because your face lights up every time you talk about it."  Truth is, if I had a spare $500 laying around, I'd have bought it already.  Seriously.  I've even considered selling some of my yarn to raise money for it.  Not that my yarn would fetch much, but every little bit helps. 

In knitting news, after I finished my washcloth last night, I cast on another one.  Just kidding.  I cast on a hat.

This colorway is called Country Rose.  I'm trying to get a few more feminine hats done.  I read somewhere that nearly 30% of homeless people are women, and just because they're homeless doesn't mean they don't want to feel pretty.  I might even try to knit a pattern in this one.  I mean a real pattern, not one I'm making up as I go along.

Last, but certainly not least, I found a new sea chanty.  It's not the best recording, but it's a really fun song. 



I'd found it once before, but lost it again.  Now it's safely ensconced in my Fisherman's Friends playlist. 

And I'm fixing to go safely ensconce myself in the bed. 

Goodnight.