A Day Without

Apparently, today was another one of those worldwide protest thingies that have been happening a lot lately.  This one was called A Day Without Women. 

I chose to participate.

I got up bright and early and told my dogs they would have to spend this day without me.  I was going to get up and go to work, because I'm an adult, and that's what adults do. 

Jesse was not pleased by this.

"You gon' spend the day wifout me?" he said. 

That was almost enough to change my mind, but alas, I have bills to pay and dogs that need to be fed. so I took my woman self to work.  It wasn't long before I began to regret that decision.  The purpose of this women's strike was to show the world how important women are -- as if the world didn't already know that.  My work decided that today was going to be the day to show me that the plant can't seem to get along without me, and they did so by calling my name a bazillion times. 

Instead of A Day Without Women, my day should have been called A Day My Coworkers Couldn't Scratch Their Own Bums Without Calling Becky's Name.   Every. Time. I. Turned. Around. Someone else was calling my name.  Seriously.  Every five minutes.  Asking me about this.  Asking me about that.  Wanting me to do this.  Wanting me to figure out that.  Wanting me, calling me, worrying me to death. 

Nag, nag, nag, all. day. long.  And most of what they were asking me about didn't even have anything to do with my job, which is brazing.  Seriously, why are you asking me about a delta plate?  I don't have anything to do with those, so why would you think I would know?  But ask they did. 



In fact, work was so mayhemic that at one point, that I checked my calendar to make sure it wasn't really Thor's Day. 

Thor...Loki...mayhem...you know the drill.  Unless you aren't up on your Norse mythology.  Then you don't know the drill.  Someday, I'll explain it.  But not today.  Which is Woden's Day.  Not Thor's Day. 

Be that as it may, the mayhem finally stopped when the shift ended.  Then I came home and ate half a bag of chocolate chips.

Now, that's what I call a woman's day celebration.  

A Different Kind Of Mayhem

Thor's Day mayhem took on a different flavor this week, what with winter storm Thor arriving during the night.

Am I the only one who takes great delight in the coincidence that winter storm Thor arrived on Thor's Day?

Of course, for some of you, Thor didn't arrive on Thor's day, so...well, never mind.

Folks, that ain't snow.  It's sleet.  And ice.  But the expected 1/4 - 1/2 inch of ice accumulation didn't happen, and thankfully, the power never went out.  Once the sleeting stopped and the sun came out, the roads cleared up as well.  I shouldn't have any problem getting to work in the morning.

When I got up this morning, the back door was frozen shut.  The doorknob was so coated with ice that I couldn't turn it and open the door.  No problem, I'd just let the dogs out the front door.  Problem, Jesse doesn't like the front door.  He's a strange, neurotic dog, that one.

It took some doing, but I eventually got him outside.

After they'd attended their morning business, they were scratching at the door to come back inside.  Only, they were scratching at the back door.  You know, the one that was frozen shut.  I went to the front door and called them.  Rylea came right around and inside, but Jesse stayed on the back steps looking expectantly at the door.  No matter how many times I called him, he didn't budge.

Sigh, sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do.  I bundled up and went out to get him.  I led him around to the front door, only he ran completely around the house and right back to the back door.  That dog!  Back around the house I went.  This time, I took him by the collar and led him to the front door.

It took some doing, but I eventually got him inside.

Anyway, Rylea did not like this kind of stuff on the ground.  Here we have her growling at the sleet.  If you look closely, you can see her hackles are raised. 

While I was laughing at Rylea, I noticed that the bird feeder had iced over.  The poor little birds were trying to find seeds on the ground, to no avail.

I quickly rectified that by scattering a bunch of bird seed around so that they could get to it.

The cat and I enjoyed watching all the little birds, through the window, of course.

Final tally, this is how much sleet was piled up on my back step this morning, before the sun came out and started melting it all away. 

And the sun did come out eventually, and it warmed up enough that much of the sleet melted away.  At least the roads seem to be clear now, and I should have no problem getting to work in the morning. 

Frustrated

I hadn't planned on going anywhere today.  I hadn't planned on going anywhere until Sunday, really, though there was the possibility of needing milk before then.  Other than that, I would have been perfectly content to sit at home for the next three days.

But somehow, being without a vehicle, knowing that I can't go anywhere has left me feeling trapped and restless.

The bad news is, it's probably going to be next week before I get my Jimmy back.  I'm seriously considering renting a car, even though I can't really afford it.  The worse news is, I left my work ID and safety glasses in Jackson.  In the Jimmy.  I'd thought about getting them out, but in all the hoopla, it completely slipped my mind. 

Oh, I can still go to work.  I'll just have to go to HR and get a new badge, then get Supervisor Ronnie to fix my clock in time.  He'll laugh, but that's OK. If it weren't for Will saying something, I'd have left my tool bag in there, too.

I'll have to bum a ride.  To work, that is.  Since half the plant drives right by my house, that shouldn't be too much of a problem.  I just don't like feeling like I'm imposing on people. 

As if all that weren't enough, to add insult to injury, I was letting the dogs out this morning, and the door knob fell apart in my hand.  I managed to jury rig it back together so that I can get in and out that door, but I don't know how long it will hold.  And since I am vehicle-less, I can't just run to the hardware store and get a new one.   I do have another door, but I don't like using it because it sticks.  Just one more thing I need to get fixed. 

It's times like this that I think maybe I need to break down and find me a man to take care of all this stuff so I could just stay home and cook.  I'd feed him good, too.  The trick would be finding one I didn't end up wanting to strangle after the first month.  So, I'll just keep taking care of things myself. 

Other than fretting over my car and rebuilding a doorknob, I spent the day getting everything ready for tomorrow.  It's just going to be me and Cody, but we are still going to have a good Thanksgiving.  I put all my casseroles together, so that all I have to do in the morning is bake them.

And I baked a pumpkin pie.

I was going to do a sweet potato pie, too, but I decided that one pie would be enough. 

Now I need to get to bed so I don't sleep through the parade tomorrow.  Yes, I still watch the parade.  I never miss it. 

Before I go, here is my new favorite Christmas song: