Our Pretend Thanksgiving

I got up early yesterday and spend all morning cooking and prepping and getting everything ready for our pretend Thanksgiving.  The turkey was done and out of the oven, and the casseroles were put together and ready to go into the oven when the kids got here, and Cody said, "Let's go get pizza."

Back into the refrigerator went the turkey and casseroles, and we went and got pizza.  

I wish he'd told me before I did all that cooking.  Oh well, that was just less prep for me to do today -- which was when we had our dinner and did everything one would normally do on Thanksgiving day except watch the parade.  We ate, watched football, and even watched Miracle On 34th Street -- which is a family tradition to watch on Thanksgiving day.   The kids even put up my Christmas tree and outside lights, but I'm going to leave the rest of my Fall decor up until next weekend. 

I let them do most of the work, and told Cody, "Yes, you do have to hang the Dallas Cowboys ornaments!", which he was not happy about, but did it anyway.  I hung my new family ornament myself, though.  

I'm telling you, it sure goes a lot faster when you have help, and someone tall to put the angel on top.  

Shortly after that, they packed up their stuff and most of the leftovers, and went home, and though I love having the kids around, it's nice to have my house back. 

So, the whole reason they wanted to come this weekend was to go to the tree lighting on the square.  They'd come to the one in 2021, and that's also the last time I went.  They didn't have one in 2022, and last year they had to postpone it due to the threat of severe weather.  I don't remember, but I know I didn't go because of having to work the next day.  Anyway...

Man, I don't know what has happened, but it was nothing like it used to be.  There wasn't even a tree!  This is the one from last year, and they for some reason, didn't even put it up. 

And they didn't put up the Merry Christmas candy canes, 

or the light tunnel, 

or a fraction of the stuff they normally put out.  Not only that, nobody showed up.  I mean, outside of the entertainers' families, there were very few people there.    We thought that maybe the reason nobody was there was that they were all at the football game where the local high school team won and is headed to the state championship. But even so, they could have scheduled the Lighting for Saturday.  

Whatever the reason, it just wasn't the same as when Brennan said my town reminded her of Stars Hollow.  From the Gilmore Girls, for those of you who haven't seen that show.   We did go on a carriage ride this time, which was nice.  They just went around the square, but it's the first time I'd been in a carriage since I was in Florence, Italy.  Other than that, it wasn't much to brag about. 

They had the praise band from Christ Community Church sing a few songs -- and at least what they sang were Christmas songs.  When they were done, there was a band called Slash perform, and they were pretty awful. 

I hadn't wanted to say it, but Cody mentioned that their timing was off and they needed some ear training.  Not only that, they were very loud -- which I'm sure went over well with people in nearby neighborhoods who might be wanting to put their young children to bed -- and didn't sing anything Christmassy.  OK, they sang Run Run Reindeer, and Santa Looks A Lot Like Daddy, but mostly what they sang was Southern Rock and Country.  We didn't even stay for the whole thing.  

Brennan was looking at her phone, and I was reading my book on my Kindle app, when suddenly I said, "I'm about ready to go," and we went.  

The only redeeming thing about the night was I got a new book out of the Little Free Library.  

I won't keep this one after I've read it, but will put it back into the LFL.  

One last thing, after we ate, we went to Walmart and bought stuff to make S'mores, then when we got back, Cody and I put my fire pit together. 

And let me tell you something, it's a nice fire pit, but I'm sure glad I got it on clearance, because I don't think it's worth $200.  

Cody kept insisting on putting that grill on there, even though we weren't planning on cooking hamburgers or anything.  I'll pull it off next time I use it. 

Anyway, by the time we got home from that thing on the square, I was so cold I made us all hot chocolate and told them they could do S'mores, but I was staying inside where it was warm.  I guess they didn't want to do it without me, because they stayed inside, too and we watched the first half of the extended edition of Lord Of The Rings. 

Then we all went to bed. 

This morning, I moved the fire pit up onto the back porch, thinking it would be better protected from rusting if it weren't directly on the ground.  I'm planning on getting some of the patio paving stone thingies that I'd mentioned a few weeks ago and building me a little patio.  

If I can ever get my act together enough to do it, that is. 

Almost A Week

Wow, I can't believe it's been almost a week since I've posted.  Lots has happened since my supervisor stood in the department yelling at us, the main thing being that he got overridden by some higher up somewhere.  We were supposed to have started our 4AM to "Until I say you can leave" shifts Monday, but Group Leader Shark came around Saturday and told us all to come in at 5:00 instead.  

I swan, I wish they'd just pick a time and stick with it!  The buttons on my alarm clock are going to get worn out at this rate. 

Another big thing that happened Saturday was that sometime after lunch, I heard Not Cuz over in tubing chewing out Group Leader Shark.  I didn't hear the entire conversation, but what I did hear went something like, "What is this?  There are no headers!  There are no legs! What's up with that?"  Could it be that someone finally has the backbone to actually solve the problem -- which is tubing -- instead of just making the brazers their scapegoats?  We've been saying that for years.  We can't braze if we don't have any parts to braze.

There's more to it than that, too, in that tubing is constantly gaffing off what they should be doing on to the brazers.  I'll give you a real- life example from a couple of weeks ago.  

I had a 16 piece order I needed to braze.  The first thing wrong with it was that there were only 15 headers in the bin.  This should never, ever happen.  Each order of headers goes through nine processes before it even gets to the brazers.  They are

1.  Cut
2.  Bent
3.  Punched
4.  End Formed
5.  Spin Closed
6.  Re-rounded
7.  Flo-drilled
8.  Tap Fittings Brazed
9.  Parts Staged

Every order should be getting counted at every single one of those processes.  Everyone makes mistakes, or so our supervisors keep telling us, but that's why EVERYONE who handles those headers should be counting.  That way, if the cutter makes a mistake, it'll be caught by the bender, not the brazer.  If the puncher makes a mistake, it should be caught by the end former, not the brazer. 

They all should be counting, but they don't, because they don't want to, and if there are any mistakes, the brazer will catch it anyway. 

All that to say, I got an order that was one header short.  So, I walked away from my brazing stand and over to the dispatcher's desk in tubing to order another header.  I went back to my stand and continued working.  Sometime later, a person from the end of the header line in tubing came to me and said, "I messed this header up.  You need to go turn it in again."

Why me?  Why the brazer?  Couldn't she have turned it in?  After all, she is the one who messed it up.  Anyway, I walked away from my stand again and went back to the dispatcher's desk and ordered the header again. I went back to my stand and set up on another order while I waited for the part I needed.

That order had two adapter tubes that hadn't been bent.  So, I walked away from my stand -- again -- and went all the way to the other side of the tubing department where the machine that bends those particular parts is located and asked the lady that works there to bend the parts for me.  

While I was over there, the guy who runs the header cutter gestured to me, then handed me a straight tube of raw copper.  What am I supposed to do with a straight tube of raw copper?  I took the part and began walking towards the header line, when I noticed something wasn't quite right.  I checked the part, and sure enough, he'd cut it the wrong length.  I took it back to him and got him to cut me a tube of the correct length.  Then I had to go over to the header line and argue with them -- which I don't know why they're going to argue and give me attitude.  They're going to have to do the part anyway.   I left it with them, then finally went back to my stand and began working on my next order.

All of that took about 15-20 minutes to straighten out, and all of it -- ALL of it -- should never have fallen upon the brazer to do.   All we are supposed to do is stand there and braze.  How many headers could I have gotten brazed in the time it took me to get one header cut?  But now you understand why the powers that be don't want to fix tubing.  It's so much easier to just blame the brazers for our production being low.  

And now you understand why I'm so tired all the time. 

In other news, I finally got that dreaded colonoscopy done.  OK, it wasn't really that bad, or that dreaded.  Once we got the transportation issue resolved, everything went pretty smoothly.  Even the fasting part wasn't too bad.  Let me tell you something, though.  If you ever need to go on an all liquid diet, broth is your best friend, and jello runs a close second.  I'd boiled the turkey carcass down after Thanksgiving, so I had a lot of broth in my freezer.  The prep was pretty miserable, though.  I had to do the traditional prep where you drink the gallon of stuff and it makes you poop.  It didn't taste too bad, but by the time I was done, I was sick of chugging it all down.  

I'd gone down Sunday and stayed with Cody and Brennan, which was the most convenient for all involved, but in a way, I wished I was home for all that...pooping.  Then Monday, Brennan drove me to the GI place since it was her regular day off.   Once we got there, everything went off without a hitch, and after it was over, Brennan took me to her favorite coffee place and bought me a S'mores frappe.  It was delicious.  

I'd planned on coming back Monday evening,  but both of the kids urged me to stay one more night, because they'd told me not to drive until the next day.  I'd thought I would be clear headed enough but realized I was still slurring my words pretty badly, so I took the better part of valor and did as they asked.

Anyway, we went back to their house and hung around watching TV until Cody got off work, then we went out to eat.  I know I'm going to lose my Texan card over this, but the last few times I've gone to Whataburger, I've been pretty disappointed.  The patty is thin and overcooked, and pretty dry.  After we ate, we went to Academy, then to Dick's.  Brennan had seen a jumpsuit she really liked and wanted to get it, but after seeing the price, she decided to order it off Amazon.  

Then we went to Hobby Lobby and spent about an hour in there, just looking at stuff.  I was pretty tired by then, so we just went by Kroger then back to their house. 

Tuesday morning I got up, called in to work and used an emergency vacation day, and came on home.  The plan was to fix my lawnmower, but when I got out and got my ratchet set out, I discovered the tools I needed were missing.  In fact, most of the set is missing, which is to be expected after having had it for some 32 years.  I'll just buy a new one when I go into town Friday.  

Instead, I ground and began drying some more herbs, and took it easy for the rest of the day, watching TV and knitting yet another hat. 

This morning, I was back to work, where my coworker told me that if I hadn't shown up today, she was going to put out an APB on me.  But when I told her where I'd been, she totally didn't blame me for taking the extra day. 

Now, if you'll excuse me, I greatly overestimated the amount of Jello I would need while on my liquid died, so I think I'll go have some now. 

Laters.

Personal Organizer

 I think I need a personal organizer. 

Not for my stuff.  It's pretty well organized -- except for that one room, that is.  

No, I need a personal organizer for all the stuff I need to get done.  Oh, I have good intentions.  I'll be standing there at work thinking to myself, "When I get off, I'm going to call the surveyor.  I'm going to call the landscaper.  I'm going to call the fence people.  I'm going to do so much stuff."  

But when I get home, I'm so hot and tired, all I really want to do is sit.  Just sit.  

I did the same thing today.  I had every intention of at least calling the surveyor, since everything I need done depends on knowing exactly where my property lines are, but here it sit.  In front of the TV.  Doing nothing. 

If only I had someone like a personal organizer who could get all of this...stuff...organized for me, I might be able to get some of it done. 

OK, moving right along.  Yesterday I got out my new piano book and started looking through it, and lo and behold, I discovered it has QR codes.  

You can scan the one on each page of the book, and it takes you to a video lesson of what is on that page. 

They also have what they call play along audio, that you can play the piece with the instructor, but you can adjust the speed faster or slower as needed.  I almost wish I'd found this course first, but of course, I've already bought all three books of the Alfred's, so I'm going to keep plugging away at it as well. 

In fact, I'm almost ready to record a couple of songs for you.  Maybe I can get to that this weekend.  

And finally, a little sad news.  Cody had to lay his beloved ball python Monty to rest today. 

He's had him since he was 12, so the snake had lived a good, long life.  

All of mine are still kicking.  

So to speak. 

They're snakes.  

They don't have feet.   

To kick with...

I think that means it's time for me to get ready for bed. 

G'night.  

Impulses and Seeds

I hope I didn't make a mistake and jump the gun a bit.  See, I'd been hardening off my new plants over the last few days, and I'd been leaving them out until around 4:00 PM.  They seemed to be doing fine, so this afternoon, I went ahead and planted them into their permanent homes.  

Now my little raised bed herb gardens are complete.  In this section we have Lemon Thyme, Greek Oregano, Orange Mint, and Sweet Mint.

In this section, Lemon Verbena, Lemon Balm, Peppermint, and Italian Parsley.

And in this section, we have Cilantro, Rosemary, French Tarragon, and Sweet Basil. 

That's all the herbs I'm going to have this year.  

By the way, apparently I have the gene that makes you not like Cilantro.  I'd let Brennan cut some to take to her bearded dragon -- and for them to eat themselves if they want-- and while we were doing that, I asked her if it smelled OK to her, because it smells like stinkbugs to me.  She smelled it and said it was OK, so this afternoon, when I was cutting some to dry on impulse, I tasted some and nope, it tasted as bad as it smelled.  I'll be saving that for the kids. 

Then I told her to get some sweet basil, too, and she was like, not sure how to cut it, so I said, "Do you want me to do it?"  She handed me the scissors and I whacked a couple of big sprigs of it, and she said, "OH!"  I guess she doesn't realize how aggressively you can harvest herbs.  

By the way, they'd come to cook me dinner for Mother's Day, which is why they were here cutting herbs.  Cody made something he called pasta jambalaya -- which is like regular jambalaya, but made with spaghetti instead of rice.  It was really, really good, and I enjoyed visiting with the kids, even though they didn't stay long.  

In other, somewhat related news, this sunflower has a couple of buds on it now. 

As does this one. 

There had to be at least four different varieties of seeds in those little packets they were handing out.  I'm going to try to save some and plant them again next year. 

Speaking of seeds, I've been able to collect a few from my Bachelor's Button. 

I'm only getting them from the plant nearest the carport -- the one that's so big and bushy.  I want the ones in the actual flower bed to seed where they are.  I'd put little baggies around some of the wilting blooms, but then I accidentally figured out I could just kind of roll them between my fingers and the seeds would fall out by themselves.  I figure by the time this plant dies back, I ought to have a good bit of seeds there. 

In other news, I'm not sure what I was thinking, but a week or so ago one of the piano teachers I follow on YouTube made a video about how to thrive as a self-taught student.  In the video, he recommended getting a good course book, and suggested two that he really liked.  One is the Alfred's All-In-One that I'm already doing, and the other is called Adult Piano Adventures.  

I don't know why, because I'm not usually one given to impulsive purchases, but I went all the way back to a level one beginner book...and bought it. 

I haven't started yet, but will probably do so here in a little bit.  Meanwhile, I'm still working through the Alfred's Level 2 that I've been doing for what seems like forever now.   I have a piece I'm working on that I want to play for you, so I bought....this microphone for my phone. 

The piano teacher also recommended getting a phone mike to improve the quality of your recordings, and to be honest, I'd never liked the way my songs sounded when I videoed myself playing.  The tone didn't sound right.  It was harsh and brassy.  I'm hoping having these mikes will help.  Plus, if I ever get around to making more vlogs, they'll help with that. 

The last thing that arrived was my replacement lawnmower pull cord.  

I was going to come home and see if I could figure out how to replace it, but it's been raining off and on all day, so I'm putting that off until -- probably the weekend.  

And finally, I finally heard from the Diabetes Solutions place, and we have an appointment scheduled for next Wednesday.  Alas, it's going to be over Zoom, which I'm not thrilled about, but I guess it's better than having to show up in person.  

I'll let you know how it goes. 

Christmas Mayhem

It almost felt a bit weird this morning, getting up and not adding a new figure to my advent poster, but then, once Jesus is here, you don't need anything more.  

We had a good, if quiet Christmas -- as much as anything is quiet when Cody is around.  The kids came up Christmas Eve, getting here around 2.  The first thing I did when they got here was to give Brennan her birthday present.  "I didn't forget your birthday, "I told her.  "I just had the wrong date."    I'd given her the Irish Hiking scarf and matching hat, I'd knit, and told her that since she was now a part of my family, she had to have something hand knit.  "You knit this???"  Brennan exclaimed.  I think she liked it. 

After a bite of chicken Alfredo for lunch, we settled in to watch A Christmas Story Christmas, but ended up talking so much we didn't really pay attention.  

We hadn't gotten very far into the movie when I asked Cody what time he wanted to open gifts.  He said, "We're here, and the gifts are here.   Might as well do it now."  And that's exactly what we did.   Afterwards, we laid out all our stuff for our traditional loot pictures -- which my dad had always made us do when I was a kid.   These two pictures are Cody and Brennan's stuff.  

They seemed very taken with the home grown and dried herbs from my garden, and opened each bottle and sniffed them.  Before they even got the lids back on the jars, Cody was already figuring out how he could use them when cooking.  Or making tea.  And Cody loved his wireless meat thermometer.  

"I've been wanting one of these!" he said.  I got him a slightly better one -- read, higher rated-- than the one I got, because I figure he'll use his more.   Well, they both seemed to really like all their gifts. 

This is my pile of loot, and I'm sure you will all be pleased to know that they mystery of who sent the Texas-opoly game has been solved. 

It was indeed from my younger brother.  And look-- a yarn bowl!  Brennan was so excited for me to open that one, and Cody said, "It wasn't on your list, but she saw it and knew you would like it."  And I do!  I had to hurry up and finish the hat I'd already cast on, 

so I could wind the rest of that skein into a ball and use the bowl.

BTW, that is the Call The Midwife Christmas special I'm watching in that photo.   My other gifts include a new hoodie from Grunt Style that I've been wanting for ages.  Just before Christmas, they had a sale and had it marked down quite a bit, so I screen shotted the ad and sent it to Cody, along with the size I wanted.   I also got a baby Yoda (Grogu) Funko, and the complete Tenth Doctor on DVD from my older brother and his family, and the Texas neon sign is a total surprise from an old school mate of mine.  She just up and sent it without warning.  The house shoes, book, and new baking pans are from my sister and her family.  

We visited a little more, and laid out our Christmas Eve snack spread, and after we were thoroughly stuffed with sugar, we went out to look at lights, with the town square being our first stop.  I hadn't planned on getting out of the car, but Brennan wanted to take some photos in front of the trees, so there I was, walking around the town square in Christmas Eve in my pajama pants.  

  

Fortunately, except for us, the square was pretty much deserted.  I took a bunch more pictures, but won't post them all here.  They'll be on my Facebook album eventually.  We drove around for a while looking at lights, and I told Brennan, "You've now seen pretty much the whole of Grenada."  

Christmas morning, Cody and Brennan had a bit of a lie-in, and were actually still in bed when Bren's mother and sister both texted, saying "Where are you?"  They had to jump out of bed, scarf down a bite of breakfast, and hit the road in a hurry.  They'd invited me to come, but I couldn't think of anything more awkward than sitting around at Christmas with a bunch of people I don't know, so I spend a quiet day at home watching movies and knitting. 

BTW, and they decided to take the gingerbread house kits home with them and do them there, because they didn't really have a safe way to take them in their car.  I was a bit bummed, but totally understood.  I wouldn't want them to slam on the brakes somewhere and end up covered in gingerbread and icing.  I told them I wanted pictures, though, so hopefully I can see them.  

Brennan had logged me in to her Apple TV account so I could watch Silo, based on the Wool books by  Hugh Howey.  I'm going to have to re-read those, because I sure don't remember every other word in the books being an obscenity.    Is it any wonder people are getting fed up with Hollywood?

Today, I got up and decided it would be vacuum sealing day, and before it was all said and done, I got five dozen cookies sealed and frozen.  Cody and Brennan took a lot with them, as well, but I still have plenty to eat between now and New Year's Day. 

Then I sealed up 2 1/2 dozen sausage balls in packs of six-- because that's about how many I can eat in one sitting.  

And lastly, I started sealing up some of the fudge and freezing it. 

There is still quite a bit left, so I may freeze more of it before it's all over.  

It was at about this point I realized my milk had begun to smell funny, so I ran into town to pick up a fresh gallon, and hit the clearance sales while I was at it.  Despite having enough wrapping paper to last the next 10 years, I chose three new rolls. 

Non-snowman themed paper, so next year, I'll have a little more variety.   

A bit of good news, I'd been looking at this all season long, debating on whether to buy it or not but never did.  There just happened to be one left, marked down to half price, so I got it!  

The last thing I got -- other than some candy and mixed nuts, and I needed those mixed nuts, because Cody picked through and ate all the Brazil nuts and walnuts, was this Snoopy mug and glass set.  

I haven't decided whether to put it back as a gift for next year, or to keep it myself.   It will probably end up being a gift.  I think Brennan would like it.   Speaking of, I got a bit tickled at her when Cody was eating my mixed nuts, she said she'd never seen nuts still in the shells and didn't know what any of them were. 

The last thing I bought of note was a metal bucket to keep my birdseed in.  

When you raise the handle up, those little notches in the sides lock the lid into place, so wild critters can't get inside and eat up whatever is in there.  I'm going to get another one for the deer corn that I put into my squirrel feeders next time I go back.   That ought to keep the varmints out. 

Funny thing is, as I was standing in line to check out, a lady in the next line noticed the bucket and said she liked it.  I told her what it was for, and she then proceeded to tell me about every single mouse and rat her cats had killed in the last 27 years.  I was so glad when it was my turn to check out.

That's about it for today.  Now I need to go grab a quick shower, and watch the last version of A Christmas Carol that I haven't yet seen this year.  

Laters. 

Monkey Wrench

I had a post all planned out for you today about being thankful for the days when there doesn't seem to be anything to be thankful for.  It all started yesterday when James messaged me to wish me a happy birthday.  We chatted for a bit, and I asked him if he'd sold the house.  I knew he'd put it on the market a while back, but I was hoping he would change his mind and decide to keep it.  He didn't.  The house sold, and he's planning on moving to Tennessee in the spring to be closer to his granddaughters and some of the great grandkids.    

That just put me in a funk, because that house has been the gathering place since my aunt and uncle built it back in the 1980s.  Even though logically I knew I wouldn't be spending a whole heck of a lot of time there anymore anyway, I still hated to see it go.  I felt like I was losing a part of my youth.  So much of my childhood is gone...my grandparents' houses, my aunt's house in town, the schools I went to...

But there is always, always, always something to be thankful for, and your Thanksvember Twelfth was going to be a post about how the houses may be sold or even torn down, but the memories remain, and no one can take those away from me.   

Then, someone threw a monkey wrench into my plans.  I mean, Thanksvember Twelfth is still the same, but the post is going to be different because I got home this afternoon to find a card in my mailbox!  

It was a birthday card from my friend Kristine.  And accompanying the card was a package, and in that package was....

petit fours!  I have always wanted to try them ever since I was a kid and would see them in the Swiss Colony and Hickory Farms catalogues, but never have.  Several months ago, I mentioned it to Kristine in a casual conversation about how fascinated I'd been with them as a kid, and she remembered.  

Technically, I don't think these are actually petit fours, but I don't care.  They're close enough, and better yet, I HAVE BIRTHDAY CAKE!  

That brings us to Thanksvember Thirteenth:  Kristine told me that she'd intended to send them to me a while ago, but things went haywire with the sending.  Her words.  I don't think they went haywire at all.  I think God knew and arranged for them to arrive just when I would need them the most -- not the cakes, but the blessing of having a friend who not only remembered, but cared enough to send me a gift.  A friend like that is the best gift of all. 

In other, nonn -thanksvembery news -- my silver and blue wax beads arrived today, 

Now, I can finish making my wax seals and get my Christmas cards done.  But I'll talk more about that later. 

Two other things I ordered also arrived today.  My new Chosen calendar,

and my blended harmony of the Gospels book. 

The website description says:  Enter this new “harmony” of the gospel accounts: you’ll see the factual accounts of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John in one chronological story blended together. It will help you dig deeper to see how the different perspectives fit together into one amazing picture of Jesus.

And finally, for your bonus thanksvember, Cody had a tooth break this morning.  That's not something to be thankful for.  The thanksvember part is that he was able to find a dentist who could fit him in today.  He has now had his first root canal, and is sporting a temporary crown.  

That's about all I have for today.  I think I'm going to go take a quick shower, then knit for a bit. 

Laters.

Fun Fun

Today was the day  for our annual fire drill out at the factory, and let's just say, it did not go well.  What went wrong?

Well, first of all, any time the fire alarms go off, the turnstiles at the employee entrance are supposed to unlock and become free wheeling.  They did not.   I tried to go out one and it did not move.  Safety Man was out there and said, "It didn't work?"  I replied, "It didn't work!  It's supposed to be loose!"  He said, "That's why we have drills."  

All that aside, what it meant was that everyone had to go out the emergency exit on the side -- which would be a problem if the plant were operating fully staffed.  As it was, everyone made it out pretty quickly.  

We finally get out into the parking lot and head to our evacuation area, only to find our sign been moved and nobody knew where it was.  We went to where it was last year, and it wasn't there.  We went to where it had been two years ago, and it wasn't there, either.  We wandered around the parking lot a bit asking "Where are we supposed to go?" until we finally found our sign...only to discover there was huge pile of broken glass in front of it which we had to carefully pick our way through to get to it.  

Nevertheless, we persevered and made it to our evacuation area, and our supervisor was supposed to make sure everyone in the department had made it out of the building.  Only he didn't.  Someone asked him if he'd counted us, and he replied, "I see everyone!" Only he hadn't seen everyone, because Mrs. G hadn't made it out there yet.  She has a bad knee and can't walk very fast.  If it had been a real fire, we'd put her on a buggy and wheel her out, but for just a drill we were concerned we'd get in trouble if we did that. 

Then the fire department came and said we'd passed, and we wondered how in the world we did passed with so much going wrong, but they said with flying colors, and the fire drill ended, and back to work we all went.  

We hadn't even made it back to the department yet when one of the lines was calling for parts -- which we didn't have because one of the machines was down and we were way behind on work all day long.  Line 2 was on our backs all day long, and what was tubing sending us?  Parts for the RAH line.  Which was wayyyy ahead.  So far ahead, in fact, that we ran out of space to put our completed work.  

Throw way too big of a dose of my Stalker into the mix, and that makes for a fun filled day at the factory.  Kind of apropos that I'm currently reading Shakespeare's A Comedy Of Errors...

How was your day?

In a bit of better news, Cody and Brennan got a new kitten yesterday, or as Cody calls him, a little claw monster.  He's six months old and they've named him Finley. 

Finley likes to watch TV.  

Finley is going to be fun, I can tell already.

Eclipse

Did you get to see the eclipse today?  I sort of did. 

See, since it was only going to be 60% totality here, I decided not to buy any eclipse glasses -- a decision I would come to regret.  Once it started, I realized I wanted to see it after all.  Alas, that was not to be, since I couldn't find the glasses I'd bought for the one in 2017.  I tore up my house, but I'm pretty sure I tossed them shortly after that eclipse. 

So, I did the next best thing.  I made a pinhole viewer with a paper plate and a piece of cardboard.  It worked pretty well. 

Holding the paper plate, the cardboard, and my phone at the same time in order to take the photo worked less well, but sometimes you just gotta do what you gotta do.  Since I didn't have glasses, I didn't stay outside to watch the whole thing.  I just walked out and checked on it periodically, but I did notice the light got a bit softer.  

I'll be sure to have some glasses for next year's total eclipse.  I was hoping I could drive up to Missouri and be in the path of totality again, but I'm not sure that's going to work out.  I'd planned on driving up to Memphis and staying with Cody and Brennan, then it's only about a 2 hour drive from there to Jackson, MO where my friend Peggy lives.  I'd watch the eclipse, then drive on home afterwards.  

When Cody and Brennan moved to Jackson, MS, that kind of threw a monkey wrench in those plans.  I'll have to keep an eye out and see if I can get a hotel room, though I'm hearing they're all pretty much booked up already.  Heck, it's only 4 hours...

OK, in other news, I finally got out and moved my little flag pole to the front post on my car port.  

The previous owners had put it on the second post -- not sure why.  I've been saying for a while now I was going to move it and I finally did.  Now  it's much more visible from the street, and I can get flags for all seasons top put out there.  Heh, the one I have now I found out in the woods after a pretty strong windstorm three or four years ago.  Nobody on the street claimed it, so there's no telling where it came from. 

While I was piddling around outside, I found a second little spider lily bravely blooming.  

I found this, too, but I'm not sure exactly what it is.  It's a daisy fleabane, which is a surprise because  I thought those only bloomed in the spring. 

The only other thing I did was to try to start digging a hole to re-set the pole I hang my bird feeder on, but I didn't get very far.  As I suspected, the ground was hard as a rock.  I'll have to find somewhere else to hang the feeder for the time being, or just scatter the seed on the ground.  

And finally, I've cast on a bright orange hat this time. 

The yarn is Red Heart and the colorway is Pumpkin.  Knitting is going pretty slowly, as my right wrist and thumb are very sore.  I'm not sure what I did to them, but I'm taking it a bit easy until they start feeling better. 

Oh, and one more thing, happy 30th birthday to this little man!