Only At ADP

 Only at ADP do they schedule a tornado drill right in the middle of a hurricane.  

But that's exactly what they did.  They scheduled a tornado drill right in the middle of a hurricane.  Oh, and let's not forget the whole global pandemic thing going on, too.  

So, there I was at work, just a working away, in the middle of a hurricane, mind you, when suddenly the tornado sirens started going off, and the supervisors started yelling, "Go to the shelters!"  Then came the screaming and the running...

And the safety guy gets on the intercom and told us it was just a drill.  Could have mentioned that a bit sooner, doncha think????   

Anyway, we go to the shelters, and due to COVID protocols, they won't let us in, because there's no way we could stay 6 feet apart and all.  Good thing it wasn't a real tornado, then, huh?  Funny, if they were that concerned about us social distancing, they wouldn't be funneling 150 employees into the cage* at the end of the shift.  But I digress...

We milled around in the middle of the plant for a few moments, unable to actually go into the tornado shelters, wondering what was the point of even having a drill if we couldn't do the drill, then they gave the all clear and we went back to work.  And the day just went down hill from there. 

Actually, the day started off pretty low, and I have the cat to thank for that. Normally, she sleeps outside...or roams all night, I don't know which, but last night, due to the storm, I made her stay in the house.  She did not like that one little bit, and let me know in no uncertain terms that she did not like it.  All...night....long...So, I was tired to begin my day.  Tonight is going to be just as bad, because that storm seems to have stalled.  It doesn't look like it's moved but about 20 miles in the last 4 hours.  

Fortunately, the track shifted East again, and we're missing the worst of it.  

We've got a bit of upper level winds and some heavy rain, but not nearly as bad as it could have been. 

Then after work, I had a dentist appointment to get one of these broken teeth extracted.  What was left of it, that is.  He also looked at the other one, and said right away that it was something I'd have to go to an oral surgeon for.   That means I'll have to find an oral surgeon who can get me in before November, and won't require IV sedation.  

And that was my day...

But there are some positive happenings.  I'd meant to share this yesterday, but after finding the baby squirrel and taking him to the rescue place, the post just got a bit away from me, so I'm sharing it today.  

I have a new toy!  

One of the YouTube channels I follow, Learn Piano with Jazer Lee, did a video recently on metronomes.  This is one thing I have trouble with, staying in rhythm.  I've always played more by feel, than by counting, which I know I shouldn't do.  It may be OK with folk music, or improvisations, but there's no way I'm going to improve a piece by Beethoven or Bach.  Or even Mozart.    

I've tried to play with the metronome built into my keyboard, but am finding it very difficult to stay with the beat.  I'm not sure what it is, but I can't seem to pay attention to the ticking of the metronome and the music I'm trying to play at the same time.  If I turn the sound on the metronome up, it's distracting, but if I turn it down enough so that it's not a distraction, I can't hear it over the music.  The only way I've been able to play is to turn the metronome on, count with it a few moments, then turn it off and keep counting.  However, this doesn't stop me from speeding up as I'm playing.  

What to do?  What to do?

Well, Mr. Lee told a story about a student he was teaching who could not stay on beat, no matter what he tried.  They tried the metronome, and it didn't work for him, either.  In a flash of inspiration, Mr. Lee started tapping the student on the shoulder in time with the beat, and suddenly, he got it!  He was playing at tempo!

The whole point of that story was to introduce a metronome that you can wear.  It's the Soundbrenner Pulse, and that's what it does.  Instead of a ticking sound, it produces a vibration similar to your phone vibration.  I knew I needed to have one, and if you clicked on the link in the description, you'd get a 20% discount.  

It arrived Saturday, and to kind of get the feel of using it, I went all the way back to the beginning of my Michael Aaron course, and played through the primer. 

I still have to pay attention, but I think it's going to be a great help.  The cat, however, was unimpressed.  How do I know?  She turned the keyboard off while I was playing. 

That's some pretty harsh criticism, that is!

*The cage being the colloquial term we use for the turnstiles in front of the employee entrance/exit, because it really does look like a cage. 

Change Of Plans

I'd had a post all planned out for you today.  It was about the hurricane and all.  I'd even started typing out my rough draft -- which I've left below.  But as happens so many times, life had other ideas. 

I'd gotten up early this morning, let the dog out, and tried to get the cat in.  She was acting strangely, and kept running over to sniff at something beside the house.  I walked out there to look, but as it was still dark, I didn't see anything.  The cat was still very interested in that spot, so I got a flashlight and went back out, and there it was.  She'd killed another critter.  I'd thought it was a possum at first, but after the sun came up, I saw it was a baby squirrel.  

Darn cat!  I was going to throw it over the back fence, then I heard it squeaking.  It was still alive!  My first thought was to put it out of its misery, as it was so young its eyes weren't even open, and the cat had chewed it up pretty badly.  But then, I though, "No!  I've got to at least try!"

I got onto FB, and posted in one of the local groups asking if there was a rehabber in the area.  One person responded, and directed me to a website called Central Mississippi Wildlife Rehabilitation.  I called them, and the person who answered told me there was someone closer to my area.  She gave me the number of Wild Again In Mississippi, Inc.  I called her, and made arrangements to bring the squirrel to her.  She told me to keep the baby warm, and instructed me to heat a bottle of water in the microwave and wrap it in a towel.  I was in the middle of doing that when I suddenly remembered, I had some of those chemical body warmers in my bug out bag!

See? I knew my obsession with collecting survival gear would come in handy some day. 

I activated one, wrapped it well, then put it into the box with the baby squirrel, and headed out to the rehab place.  

When I got there, I met a very nice lady named Estelle, who is a retired nurse turned wildlife rehabilitator, and is licensed by the state.  She let me name the squirrel, so naturally, being something of a bookworm myself, I chose the name Pattertwig -- even though he was a red squirrel, not a grey one...and lived in Narnia, not Mississippi...and could talk...

Anyway, I asked if I could take some photos, and Estelle gladly gave me permission, so here you go:

Giving Pattertwig a drink. 

He was very thirsty. 

She said straight up that given how many cat bites he had, it would be a miracle if he survived, but she would do everything she could for him.  I hope the little guy makes it. 

Batten down the hatches, she's gonna blow!

While we were all sleeping last night, Hurricane Ida strengthened into a category 4, and as of this writing, sits just 5 mph shy of being a cat 5.   By the way, I learned something new yesterday.  One of the many meteorologists I follow had posted that the more symmetrical a hurricane is, the more powerful it becomes.  That's why the big ones are all so picturesque.  

I'm in the cone this time, but by the time it gets here, she should have lost quite a bit of steam:

They're saying we could still have some rough winds and heavy rains, and to expect some power outages as well.  In the light of that, I got out and did a little hurricane prep yesterday evening, which  mostly consisted of bringing in the plants from the back porch,  

and taking my flags down -- just in case.   

Since my back porch was cleaned off anyway, I also drug out the old pressure washer and cleaned the moss off of my bricks.  It grew back, even though I sprayed those bricks down well with bleach water.

It's just so cool and damp in that spot, it's hard to keep them moss free. Then I turned the cat's outside shelter right side up, so she's not laying directly on the bricks, and made the lid the lid again.  I've got a couple of bricks on top of it, but I'm wondering if I should add a couple more, it being lightweight Styrofoam and all.  

And the final step in my storm prep was to light my Jim Cantore Candle. 

It smells pretty good, too. 

By the time I'd gotten back from the wildlife rehabber, I discovered -- well, I heard it on the radio in the car -- Ida had made landfall in Lousiane as a high end Category 4.  But on the way there and back, I saw truck after truck after truck headed South -- Linesmen, heavy equipment operators, even some army trucks.  

All going to help those affected by the storm.  Because this is America.

It's what we do.  

Numb

 Have you ever been so tired you just felt numb?  Not just mentally, but physically as well?  That's where I am all the time now.  I've been so tired for so long, I don't even remember what it's like not to be tired.  

This is why my piano practice is suffering.  I'm so tired it takes more energy than I have just to pick my arms up to play.   My friend at work told me to take a day off and take a break, but I can't do that until I figure out what we're going to have to do about this broken tooth.  If Dr.  Horan thinks he can extract it, then yes, but if I have to go to an oral surgeon, I'll have to get a point for that, because my days off are already scheduled.  Unless...I can get an appointment on a day I already have off.   But I hate using my vacation days for medical stuff.  What choice do I have, though?  

Other friends are telling me I need to quit that job, but not one of them has stepped up and volunteered to pay my bills so that I can.  Funny how that works, huh?

This morning, I had to go to the back breakroom to get ice, because the machine up front was empty, and I saw someone had put a black ribbon on Miss Nancy's office door. 

It was like a punch in the gut.  They had to move the maintenance man down to Jackson, where he is in ICU on a ventilator.  I haven't heard anything more about him. 

But there is hope.  Dr. Byers of the health department says hospitalizations are starting to level off -- but cautions us to remember that two days does not a trend make.  The governor said in his last press conference that if our surge follows the same pattern as other surges he's studied in the U.K, Israel, Missour-uh, and Arkansas, new cases will drop off as quickly as they spiked.  

I so hope this is almost over.  I'm getting pretty weary of watching people I care about suffer and die from this thing.  

The only other thing I have to share with you this evening is my Lantanas. 

I didn't realize until I'd uploaded the picture that it's not focused, but you're just going to have to live with it.  I'm too tired to go take another one. 

And finally, I leave you with hat progress:

Oh, and I almost forgot, we've got a hurricane coming.

They've just announced it's strengthened into Tropical Storm Ida, and is expected to make landfall as cat 2 or 3 hurricane by early next week.  Looks like I'm finally going to get to light my candle after all.

Third Time's A Charm

 You know what they say, the third time is a charm.  And just so...

Once I'd gotten to the end of the most recent chart on the Garden Party shawl, 

and decided to set it aside for a while and cast on a hat for my cousin.  She's got cancer and has lost all of her hair.  Because, you know, chemo does that to you.  She's got a wig and a ball cap, but I thought she might want something a bit warmer for the winter.  Sure, she could go buy one, but where's the love in that?  

So, I cast one on for her.  I'd found a couple of partial balls of Knit Picks Felici, and it's so soft, I thought it would be perfect.  The only issue was finding a pattern.  I looked around some, but didn't really find anything I like.  I found a pattern that recommended a 216 stitch cast on, and I'm like ... Who are they knitting caps for?  Elephants? 

In the absence of a good pattern, I did what any red blooded knitter would do.  I decided to wing it.  First try, I cast on 120 stitches, but after a couple of rounds, I felt like it would be too tight.  I tried again, intending to cast on 160 stitches.  Unfortunately, I miscounted and ended up with a 192 stitch cast on.  Aaand we're back to knitting hats for elephants.  And blaming sleep deprivation...

 I ripped again, and this time, I cast on 144.  

And it was just right.  Snug, but not too tight.  

Well, there has been some bad news out at work -- for second and third shifts, that is.  Remember a few weeks ago I told you they were getting a $2 per hour shift differential?  Turns out the Big Man Up Front made that announcement without checking with company headquarters first,  and they denied it.  There has been, according to one supervisor, a "mass exodus" from those shifts. 

Yesterday, they sent out a memo, and apparently someone finally realized that they're not going to be competitive in the job market if they don't offer competitive wages, especially with Milwaukee Tools opening up some time next year.  I hear they pay really well.  Anyway, the memo said every employee will be getting a $2 per hour raise, effective this week.  

Naturally, given what had happened the last time, we were all a bit dubious...but Particularly Outspoken Employee caught The Big Man Up Front and asked him if it was legit.  He said it was, but we're still not too sure, especially since Supervisor told us they hadn't said anything about it to him.  I guess if it shows up in our paychecks, we'll believe it then.  

 More bad news, I tried to call the oral surgeon to set up my appointment to get my broken teeth extracted, and the soonest they can get me in is November 3.  I called my regular dentist back, and we discussed things a bit.  He consulted with the other dentist, and we decided he's going to extract the easier one Monday, then we'll have to see.  I'm going to let him look at the other one and evaluate in person if he thinks he can get it out.  If not, I'll have to go to an oral surgeon in Oxford or maybe Jackson.  Buuut, if they only have to do one tooth, they might not want to sedate me and Cody won't have to waste a day off driving me.  Let's hope...

And finally, I lost another coworker to COVID.  She and her sister both had it. Sometime yesterday, the sister called Miss Nancy to check on her, and she didn't answer the phone.  So, the sister went to Miss Nancy's house and found her in the bed, passed away.  

They had to put the maintenance man on a ventilator over the weekend, as well.  I don't know if he finally consented, or if he got so sick he didn't have a choice.  They say he's in bad shape.  

As if that weren't enough, Beverly's great grandson Cory has it, too.  

If you've a mind to, lift these people up in your prayers, please. 

Bleh...

 Bleh...

I don't know what's wrong with me -- I mean, other than being completely and utterly exhausted.  But then, I'm like that at this point every year.  I think it's worse this year, because so many people have quit out at the plant, and they can't seem to find any new hires to take their places.  Hmmm, can't imagine why.  All that means to me is we're probably not going to get any Saturdays of, unless you have vacation, like I do.  

Still, I feel like all the life has gone out of me.  I don't want to do anything but sit. I'm even having to make myself practice my piano.  I just don't have any energy, and what little energy I do have is usually spent letting something with fur either in or out, then back in, then back out, ad infinitum.  As if that weren't enough, the cat decided to wake me up at 3:30 this morning.  I put her back out, but after an hour of tossing and turning, unable to get back to sleep, I got on up and started my day.  

Despite my fatigue, I did get a few things done on my one lonely day off.  My big project for the weekend, besides normal chores, that is, was to get another shelf cleaned off for my pantry area.

I'm not sure how many more shelves I'm going to turn into pantry space.  We'll just have to play it by ear.  I know I want to put by some more canned goods, but right now, I'm not sure how much I want to stock up on. 

I also hung my hummingbird feeder back up.  I'd taken it down a while back, because the birds didn't seem to be feeding from it, and the ants were getting into it.  Fall migration should be starting soon, if it hasn't already, and they'll want some energy.  At least they can have some, even if I don't. 

My other big project was to put down some grub killing stuff in my yard.  

I got two bags of it, because I'll want to put some out in the spring as well.  I'd bought the stuff last week, but decided to wait until after the girl had come to mow to put it out.  It was raining Monday, so she didn't come until Tuesday.  It was raining when I got off Wednesday and Thursday, so those days were out.  Friday is payday errand day, and I was too tired after I got home to fool with it, so Saturday it was.  

That ended up being good timing, because it rained Saturday night, and the stuff got soaked in really well.  This morning, the cat killed a mole.  Not a vole, but an honest to goodness mole.  I'm guessing it was above ground looking for something to eat, because this stuff kills their food source.  I don't care why.  One less mole is one less thing digging up my yard. 

I'll even let the cat off the hook for napping in my microwave stand.

And in Cody's computer desk...

By the way, that model steamboat behind the cat is one my dad put together.  For some reason, my mother thought I needed to have it, so she sent it to me several years ago.  It's getting more and more broken up, but I can't bring myself to toss it. Same with the RC sailboat I started building back when I was in the Navy.  I don't even know where the rest of the parts are, but I can't bring myself to throw it out.  I keep saying one day I'll finish it.  After 30 years, I know better, but I still can't get rid of it. 

Now, I know some of you are going to be hooting and hollering that Fall doesn't start until September 22, but I observe meteorological seasons in addition to astronomical ones.  That means, for me, Fall starts next Wednesday.  So, no it is not too early to put out my new decoration. 

I don't usually buy new things until after I've gotten all the stuff I already have put out, but that little jug was just so cute, I couldn't resist.  Add a few autumn leaf picks from the craft department, and voila' -- instant decoration. Oh, and look what else I did:

Yes, I wrapped the first Christmas present!  I bought this one several weeks ago, I just hadn't gotten around to wrapping it.   I've got another one ready to wrap, but I don't have the right sized box for it.  I think I might do the giant gift bag thing for that one.  That way, if I have to mail it, it'll be a lot easier to stuff into a shipping box in a bag.  

I'll have to get with Cody and see if he wants to go to Texas this year or not.  It'll all depend on his work schedule, I guess.   

Bad News & More Bad News

 Let's start with the bad news first.  

There are so many new COVID cases out at the plant it's not even funny.  Today I found out one of the maintenance men is in the hospital, and not doing well at all.  The doctors want to put him onto a ventilator, but he's refusing.  I hope he pulls though, but they're saying he's in bad, bad shape.  That breaks my heart, because he is such a nice man.  He's one of the few out there that you can call for help, and he won't give you attitude.  

His wife has it, too, and I was told she pulled out all her IVs and stuff and walked out of the hospital.  Don't know how true that is, but the one who told me is pretty reliable. 

Things are so bad here, we've gone back to greeting each other by saying, "May the odds be ever in your favor."  And I've learned how to play the mockingjay whistle on my Kalimba. 

I have a mockingjay pin I bought from my friend Leann's store.  I feel like I need to start wearing it.      

Now for the more bad news, I went to the dentist Thursday for the first time in a year.  My last appointment was scheduled for the day the ice storm hit back in February, so I'd postponed it.  I decided to move it all the way back to August, in hopes that the whole COVID thing would be settled down by then.  Boy, did I call that wrong. 

Anyway, I don't remember if I told you, but I'd broken off another molar not too long ago.  We'd expected that, because it's one I'd had crowned way back when I was 19, and it was doing what the dentist called "ditching out".  He said it would break off, and at this point, there was nothing we could do to stop it.  After discussing it with him, we've decided to get the roots to that one, and the molar I'd broken off a couple of years ago extracted and start all over on my lower partial.  Because this one is broken off right at the gum line, he wants to send me to an oral surgeon to have it done.  And because the oral surgeon is going to want to do the IV sedation, I had to call Cody and ask him how hard it would be to get a day off.  He talked to his supervisor and said it wouldn't be a problem, so that is all set.  

Well, I still have to call and make an appointment, but I'm going to wait until Monday afternoon or Tuesday to do that, to give my dentist time to call and make the referral.  

As if that weren't bad enough, I have a top tooth with a cavity.  He showed me the x-ray, and that cavity is deep.  I mean really deep.  He wants to send me down to a specialist in Jackson to see if anything can be done, but reading his tone and body language, I really believe he doesn't think the tooth can be saved.  It hasn't abscessed yet, so there is that.  I'm going to hang on to it as long as I can, but eventually, I'll lose that tooth as well.

So, that's how my week went.  How was yours?

Dear Place Of Employment

 The very fact that you sent one of your HR workers out to the shop floor with a styrofoam cup and a candy bar in her hand to throw our cups into the trash and tell us they're not allowed tells me everything I need to know about your water-in-clear-cups and no-food-on-the-shop-floor policies.

It's not about safety.  

It's not about hygiene.  

It's not about cleanliness.

It's about you reminding us that you think we're beneath you.

But then, we knew that already.  That's why you can't get people to show up to work.  That's why your turnover rate is so very, very high.  

No, I do not thank you.

But that is all. 

Another One

There I was at work, just a working away, when right before lunchtime, there was a commotion in the plant.  "What's going on?" I asked.  That's when I saw him.   The cleaning man with his little bottle of spray disinfectant.  

One of my particularly outspoken coworkers stopped and asked him where they'd sent him to spray.  He told her, and my first thought was my good friend who works over there, where he said he'd been spraying.  I messaged her and asked if she was OK, and told her I'd seen the man with the spray bottle.  She replied that it wasn't her.  She was fine.  

Shortly after I got home, another coworker messaged me and told me who it was.  But still, that's three in three days.  Just at the plant.  The health department puts out daily reports, and statewide, we're averaging 3000-4000 cases per day.  I won't post the stats here, but you can easily find them on the Health Department website.  In fact, if you're into stats and charts and things, they've got a ton of interesting information on the site.  

In other news, they had a meeting for those who weren't here the day they put us on water restrictions.  I sure wish I could have gone to that meeting, just for the show.  Why?  Because a Particularly Outspoken Coworker was in that meeting.  If we scared the HR lady the first time, whoooo boy!  Well, it was even better than I'd anticipated, because there was only one of the HR people in this meeting.  Particularly Outspoken Coworker said, "Are you here by yourself?  Because I'm fixing to wear you out!"  That, my friends, is exactly what she did. She raked that poor girl over the coals!  She fussed about the water rations, about them not having a sanitizing crew any more, about the stupid clear backpacks we have to carry...Rumor has it, that HR person was about to cry.  

I'll bet it was glorious to behold!

After work, I'd planned on spreading some grub killer on my yard, but didn't quite get to it.  I'd bought it Friday, but decided to wait until the girl came and cut my grass.  She couldn't come Monday because it was raining, but she was able to make it Tuesday.  OK, I'll spread it Tuesday when I get home.  

Alas, it was raining Tuesday afternoon.  It had pretty much stopped by the time I got home, but I decided to wait until today...only....

it came an absolute gully washer.  Nope, won't be no insecticide spread today.  

I came home and practiced my piano instead.  I've decided to set aside my Schaum and Aaron books until I've finished the Alfred's book ...again.  Reason being, I'm finding myself playing super fast, rushing to get through all the songs I'm working on in the limited amount of time I have.  Once I'm done with Alfred's level one, I'll go back and start Schaum and Aaron over, and work my way through them.

Honestly, I don't know if I'm going to stick through the whole Schaum course.  Reason being...well, look at this.

That's the Schaum on the left, Alfred's in the middle, and Aaron on the right.  Do you see how much smaller the music is in the Schaum?  They put a note in the front of the book that they'd consulted an eye specialist who told them using smaller music will sharpen a child's visual acuity.  Maybe they believed that back in 1945 when the first edition of this was printed.  Even so, once you've passed 40 years old, your visual acuity is beyond sharpening. 

It's hard to see, and these are simple songs.  I can't imagine trying to play some of the more complex stuff.  I have two levels I already bought (but I didn't buy the primer), so we'll see how it goes by the time I get to the end of those.  

I'll let you know, but now, I'm going to try to get to bed early.  

Stop laughing.  I really am. 

Stop that laughing!  

Before I go, just one last song:

I Remembered!

Last night after I went to bed, I remembered what else it was I was going to tell you in yesterday's blog.  I figured I'd probably forget by morning, though, so I didn't think too much about it. 

This morning, I remembered what else it was I was going to tell you in yesterday's blog.  Oh, boy!  I'll type out a rough draft just as soon as I get ready for work.

By the time I got ready for work, I'd forgotten again.  Sigh...

So, let's talk about something I do remember:  knitting.   I'm slowly but surely making progress on my Garden Party shawl. 

I'd have probably made more progress if I hadn't had to keep ripping out, but we're getting there. I've also cast on something new.

Can you guess what it is?  You'll see soon enough.  

In piano news, I was watching one of the videos from Mr. Let's Play Piano, and he said something so profound.  He said, "The point is not to zoom through the book as fast as you can."  He said if you like a song, go back and play it as much as you want.  Music is meant to be enjoyed.  

With that in mind, I went back and marked some of my favorite songs from the Alfred's Level One book with sticky notes, so I can play them over and over again.  

I'm almost through with this book -- again.  I just wish I weren't so tired all the time.  

There's been something going around the plant, besides COVID, I mean.  A couple of the brazers on B shift were throwing up last week.  I'm not, but I am wondering if I've picked up what they had.  I'm not nauseated or running fever or anything.  I just feel run down and lacking in energy. 

Speaking of COVID, I'm guessing there was another case in the plant today.  Like I've said before, they don't tell us any more.  The only way we know is when we see the cleaning man go by with his little bottle of disinfectant spray.  I don't know where he went with it, but I saw him go by.  

Well, I'm trying to be interesting and all, but it just isn't happening.  

I'm blaming sleep deprivation -- which I'm blaming on the cat.  I tried to let her stay inside last night, but it didn't work.  Along about 9:30, she started yowling and didn't stop until I'd put her outside.  Maybe one day she'll settle down enough I can leave her inside.  

Oh, and one thing I forgot to tell you.  All my snakes have had birthdays this year.  I don't remember their hatch dates, though.  I just remember the latest one was in August, so they're all a year older, which makes Blaze 16, and Onyx, Snow, Sunset, and Slider are all 17 years old. 

Happy Birthday to all my slithery critters!  

Oh!  I remembered what it was I'd wanted to tell you!  I've joined Bloglovin, so if you're on there, I have a follow button in the right sidebar.  You can also follow me on Feedly, if you're so inclined.  

That said, good night all.  I'm going to bed. 

Monday Miscellany

I'm still tired, by the way.  

I was thisclose to calling in and just taking a day off, but I didn't.  Funny, because another one of the brazers told me the same thing.  She'd actually gotten back into bed...then got back up and came on in to work.  Probably a good thing, because five brazers were out today, and a sixth left at lunch.   

I'd told her I used to do that all the time, but the older I get, the harder it is for me to take a break, even though that one day off isn't enough to get rested up.  Especially because I have to spend that day catching up on all the chores I didn't have time to do during these long, long work weeks. 

 

In other news, I've mentioned before that COVID is hitting Mississippi pretty hard here lately.  Dr. Dobbs said it was like getting hit by a tsunami.  He health department puts out the numbers on their website every day, but today, the local hospital put out their numbers:

As for Jackson, I'd mentioned in my last post they'd set up a field hospital in the parking garage down there, and they'd applied for the Navy Hospital Ship Comfort to come.  That request was denied by the federal government.  However, another request made to the private sector was not.  

Franklin Graham and Samaritan's Purse arrived yesterday with their mobile field hospital and began setting up.  

Thank you, Samaritan's Purse, and thank you Franklin Graham!  The Governor thanks you, too. 

I guess that's about it for today.  I had a bunch more stuff I'd wanted to talk about, but right now, I can't think of any of it.  That seems to be a pattern here lately.

I'm blaming sleep deprivation.  

Because usually it is sleep deprivation.  

That's my story, and I'm sticking to it. 

Beyond Tired

I'm tired.  No, I'm beyond tired.  We all are out there.  A couple of days ago, I overheard a coworker telling someone, "I'm so exhausted.  That's why I wasn't here Monday, I am just exhausted."  Later that day, another coworker told me she'd missed a day, because she went to bed at 6:00 and didn't wake up until after noon the next day.  "I guess my body needed that rest."  

That being said, I don't plan on doing anything -- much -- this weekend except knitting and playing on my new Kalimba.

 Yes, I broke down and bought myself a Kalimba.  I hadn't planned on getting one just yet.  I was going to put it on my Christmas list, but then Amazon had a daily deal on this one:

It was 25%  off, so I hit that Buy With 1-Click button.  It includes a waterproof, shockproof case, 

which, if you know me at all, is a good thing. 

Inside that case is this:

My kalimba!  It's not really that red, though.  The camera flash did some weird things to the color.  It's  mahogany. Now I need to learn to read Kalimba tabs. They're not the same as guitar tabs.  

I've already found several YouTube channels with tutorials, so I'm good to go there. 

Speaking of going, third shift is going to be in trouble pretty soon. They've always had a problem with absenteeism.  We tried to warn them, but they just wouldn't listen.  It's like countries trying socialism.  "It'll work this time.  For reals."  But it never does.  A couple of times, they had so many people out, they had to shut down the one, yes one, count it one line they run on third and send the few who did show up home.  Well, word has it, when that $2.00 shift differential didn't show up on their paychecks yesterday, a lot of them walked out.  I don't know if they came back or not. 

I do know one of the brazers on second shift quit.  She said, "It's hot in here, and now they want to tell me what I can eat and drink?  Forget this place."   OK, I translated what she really said into family friendly.  This is a PG raged blog, after all.  Point is, people are still quitting because of them putting us on water rations.  But they're still so obtuse they can't figure out why the turnover rate is so high... go figure. 

And now, for some more bad news.  We've had several new cases of COVID in the plant during this Delta surge.  I don't know who all they are, because they don't tell us any more.  We only know when we see the man with his little spray bottle of disinfectant walk out onto the floor.  Yesterday, as I was waiting to clock out, I saw him in my department, spraying down a few machines.  I asked a coworker, "Who's got the COVID?"  She said, "It must be [So-and-so], because she said she was feeling bad and left."  It was nice of them to tell us, wasn't it?  

I'm telling ya, Mississippi is getting slammed by this Delta variant -- or as Dr. Dobbs said, "We got hit by a tsunami."  They've had to convert a parking garage down in Jackson into a COVID ward, but the biggest issue is lack of staffing.  There are two floors in the local hospital that have been closed down for years.  The problem is, you can't just flip the lights on and stick patients in the beds without adequate staff to care for them.  They've sent out requests for medical staff to be temporarily assigned here, but I don't know how that's going to work.  The Governor and Dr. Dobbs talked about it in yesterday's press conference, but I didn't completely follow all the ins and outs of how it's going to work.

They also put in a request for the Navy hospital ship Comfort to come, but that was denied by the federal government.  The Governor didn't say why.  

Heh, there was one reporter who kept badgering Gov to institute a state wide mask mandate, and Tate said repeatedly it's not going to happen.  He got a bit irked at one point, because he said, "I'll get back to you, and if you would stop interrupting these other people, we'll get through this a whole lot quicker."  

Don't underestimate the Tater Tot.  Dude's got stones.

Anyway, he repeatedly said no to mask mandates, vaccine mandates, and vaccine passports.  Someone asked him why he wouldn't issue a state wide vaccine mandate and he said, "What makes me think I'm so much smarter than you that I should make your medical decisions for you?*"  Someone else wanted him to issue a mask mandate for schools, but he wouldn't do it.  He said, "You should go down to your local school board and make your case to them.  If they won't mandate them, then you're free to put a mask on your child yourself.*"  

Dr. Dobbs said that this variant is affecting younger people more so than the original virus, but kids are still the lowest risk group.  For most of them, this will be little more than a bad case of the sniffles.  

Back to the Governor, the reporters kept asking him what if scenarios, and Tate said he wasn't going to get into hypotheticals.  They still kept badgering him, until at one point, he laughed and said, "Y'all are going down some silly rabbit holes now!"  

His prepared remarks are a bit stiff, but it's really fun to watch him when he gets to the Q&A with the reporters.  

And lastly, I finally gave up on my MyPillow.  I was determined to learn to sleep on it, but after some 8-ish months, it just wasn't happening. I got up in the middle of the night one night and got my old pillow out of the closet...and slept better than I have in a long, long time.  Then I bought a new pillow.  

A super cheap $3 pillow that sleeps so much better.  Then I got a throw pillow for my chair. 

Because 'Murica!  That's why. 

*Quotes from the press conference are paraphrased due to my bad memory, but are as close as I remember them.  

  

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Gods Of The Copybook Headings

 The Gods Of The Copybook Headings

As I pass through my incarnations in every age and race

I Make my proper prostrations to the Gods of the Market-Place

Peering through reverent fingers I watch them flourish and fall,

And the Gods of the Copybook Headings, I notice, outlast them all.

We were living in trees when they met us. They showed us each in turn

That Water would certainly wet us, as Fire would certainly burn:

But we found them lacking in Uplift, Vision and Breadth of Mind,

So we left them to teach the Gorillas while we followed the March of Mankind

We moved as the Spirit listed. They never altered their pace,

Being neither cloud nor wind-borne like the Gods of the Market-Place.

But they always caught up with our progress, and presently word would come

That a tribe had been wiped off its icefield, or the lights had gone out in Rome.

With the Hopes that our World is build on they were utterly out of touch

They denied that the Moon was Stilton; they denied she was even Dutch

They denied that Wishes were Horses; they denied that a Pig had Wings.

So we worshipped the Gods of the Market Who promised these beautiful things.

When the Cambrian measures were forming, They promised perpetual peace.

They swore, if we gave them our weapons, that the wars of the tribes would cease.

But when we disarmed They sold us and delivered us bound to our foe,

And the Gods of the Copybook Headings said:  "Stick to the Devil you know." 

On the first Feminian Sandstones we were promised the Fuller Life

(Which started by loving our neighbor and ended by loving his wife)

Till our women had no more children and the men lost reason and faith,

And the Gods of the Copybook Headings said: "The Wages of Sin is Death." 

In the Carboniferous Epoch we were promised abundance for all,

By robbing selected Peter to pay for collective Paul;

But though we had plenty of money, there was nothing our money could buy,

And the Gods of the Copybook Headings said: "If you don't work, you die."

Then the Gods of the Market tumbled, and their smoothed-tongued wizards withdrew,

And the hearts of the meanest were humbled and began to believe it was true

That All is not Gold that Glitters, and Two and Two make Four--

And the Gods of the Copybook Headings limped up to explain it once more. 

As it will be in the future, it was at the birth of Man--

There are only four things certain since Social Progress began--

That the Dog returns to his Vomit and the Sow returns to her Mire,

And teh burnt Fool's bandaged finger goes wabbling back to the Fire--

And that after this is accomplished, and the brave new world begins

When all men are paid for existing and no man must pay for his sins

As surely as Water will wet us, as surely as Fire will burn

The Gods of the Copybook Headings, with terror and slaughter return!

Rudyard Kipling

 *Note:  all photos taken at the local Walmart within the last two weeks. 

            

Ooo Dah Lolly

 Golly what a day...

It all started Sunday night, as I was cleaning up the kitchen.  I went to put something back into the cabinet under the sink, when I noticed all of the old Coke bottles I'd saved from years ago had been knocked over.  I didn't think too much of it, because the cat likes to roam around under there.  

When I started standing them back up, well....

Apparently, at night, the mice had been getting bits of cat food and stashing them in these bottles.  Three bottles, to be exact.  Full of cat food. No wonder the cat was so obsessed with that cabinet.  

I emptied out the bottles, washed them, and set a mouse trap where they had been.  Yesterday morning, I checked it as soon as I got up, and I'd caught a mouse.  I took it outside and tossed it over the back fence, then re-set the trap.  I continued on getting ready for work, and just before I left, I saw the cat was trying to get into the cabinet again.  I fussed at her, but she would not be deterred. 

I didn't want her to get her foot caught in the mousetrap, then be stuck there and in pain for the whole day until I got home from work, so I decided to trip the trap ...he he he...trip the trap....  Don't ask.  Even I don't know.  

But when I opened the cabinet door, the trap wasn't where I'd put it.  Huh?  I eventually found it.  It had been tripped again, and in just that short amount of time, I'd caught another mouse.  I took that mouse out and tossed it over the back fence as well, then sat down with the cat for a few moments, and had a long discussion about her job performance. 

On to work I went, where the day past mostly uneventfully.  I'm finding a perverse sense of joy in the knowledge that they haven't been able to run a full shift since they put us all on water rations. So many people have quit that they don't have the manpower to run all the lines, and can't seem to hire anyone, either.  Well, gee...what did you think would happen?  It's already a horrible place to work, and you want to take away the last teensy shred of morale we have out there? 

The long day finally ended, and I ...got stuck at the railroad track.  

Seriously, Mr. Train Driver?  You couldn't have stopped 20 feet sooner?  But no...you had to block the road.  He sat there for about 10 minutes, then finally started moving.  It was a long train, but eventually I saw the last car approaching.  I put my car into gear, getting ready to finish my drive home, when he stopped again.

Seriously?  Seriously????

Sigh....

On the bright side, look at what I found in the store Friday!

My favorite time of the year is almost here!