Yarn Chicken

I had a serious game of yarn chicken going on with this hat, but I won in the end with nearly 12" of yarn left over.  

 I still have to weave in all the ends, but I like how it turned out.  Now comes the hard part:  deciding which yarn to cast on with next.  I think I'll do the old close my eyes and grab something and see what we come up with.

In other news, I tracked down my coworker and yes, he does still collect scrap metal.  However, we got distracted talking about Micah Parsons, and the Bills, and another coworker joined the conversation and we talked about Mississippi State upsetting Arizona State, and in all that, we never set up a time for him to come get it.  

I'll try to get up with him tomorrow and see when he wants to do that.  

In the meantime, I haven't heard back from either the tree guy or the plumber.  At this point, I really am beginning to think it's me.   I don't understand.  My money spends just as well as a man's, and I can't fathom what I might say that's turning them off.  Heck, I didn't even talk to the tree guy, just to his wife.  But in all fairness, she did say next week, not Monday specifically, so maybe he'll get up with me sometime this week. 

I don't know about the plumber.  I guess I'm just going to have to go to plumber school and take care of it myself, because I have had the most terrible luck finding one who will actually show up and do the job.  Oh, well.  Maybe I don't really need that one sink after all.  

And maybe the tree limbs won't fall out onto my head while I'm sitting at my fire pit.  

And maybe unicorns will show up farting rainbows and fairy dust and I'll win the lottery and sell this dump and move back to Texas.  

I give up.  I'm going to bed. 

Short Week

I had a very short work week this week, and can you believe it's already over?  

I'd thought I'd come home and mow this evening, but alas, we are done with our false fall and are back to the "Just kidding, here's some more summer" season of the year.  The heat index was 97° when I got home, so yeah, that's a no from me.  

Plan B was to mow later this evening when it cooled off a bit, but then I remembered football starts tonight!  Yes, the NFL season opens and who should be playing but the Micah Parson-less Dallas Cowboys.  We'll see how that goes.  

Personally, I have mixed feelings about that trade.  I mean, he was an outstanding edge rusher, but he could be a bit childish at times.  Besides, if this new guy can stop the run, that's something they desperately need.  

But I digress...

Plan C is to mow tomorrow, but the temps are supposed to hit the upper 90s -- and those are actual temps not heat indices, so mowing might just have to wait until another day...like Saturday, when the temps aren't supposed to get out of the 70s.

Speaking of the yard, imagine my surprise when I opened the back door to let the cat out and saw this little feller.  

I'd seen him in the woods from time to time, but this was the first time I've seen him out in the open like this.  The poor thing flew into a blind panic as soon as it saw me and kept crashing into the fence trying to run back into the safety of the trees.  He eventually found his way out through the hole left when I had that little tree cut out.  The whole time, I kept wondering where his mother was.  

In other news, a few days ago I had the oddest thing happen when I was making coffee.  The whole pod exploded and sprayed coffee and grounds all over my kitchen.  I've never had that happen before.  I've had them not drain right and the water squirts out of the top, but I've never had the whole top of my coffee maker blow open.  

I've got a can of regular coffee grounds that I've been using, and though my maker has the little basket thing, it's such a pain to clean the old grounds out of it.  I thought to myself, "Somebody ought to make disposable filters to fit these things."  Then I realized..."This is America.  Somebody probably already has." 

Naturally, I hopped onto Amazon and found them right away.  

They're made for Keurig, and are a little small for my Mainstays coffee maker, but I think they'll work.  

Since I was ordering anyway, I tossed this little guy into the basket with them.  

The plan is to hang him on the fence in my garden spot, and the little lamp lights up.  It's solar powered, so there's no batteries involved.  I can't wait to see him all lit up...I've got to find a spot to hang him in the meantime until I get the garden all set up.  

 And finally, we have a couple of new supervisor trainees out at work, and one of them just seemed so familiar to me.  I was sure I'd seen him before.  I thought maybe he worked out there before, but I wasn't sure.  

Then it hit me.  He's Mr. Morton!  

Who is Mr. Morton?  He's the subject of the sentence, and what the predicate says, he does.  

He he he...

Overdid It

I think I overdid things these last few days.  My back hurts so bad -- so bad I couldn't sleep last night.  I think I got about 2 hours, and even when sleeping I could still feel the muscle spasms so it wasn't a good, deep sleep.  Yes, I tried everything I could think of to relive my pain.  I took Tylenol, I used muscle cream, I tried stretching and massaging, I put on one of those lidocaine patches.  Nothing worked.  I was in agony all night long. 

Then, all day at work, every time I moved my arm wrong, another spasm.  They were so bad at one point, I seriously thought about clocking out and coming home.  I didn't, though.  I toughed it out and finished the work day.

After I got home, I didn't do anything.  Well, I did my few little outside chores -- watering the plants, checking the feeders, scattering corn for the deer and whatever else eats corn.  Then I came inside and sat with a heating pad on my back for the rest of the day.  Except for the hot shower I took. 

I have to remember that I'm not 20 any more.  That's the thing about getting older.  I still feel 20 on the inside, until I try to act 20 and my 60 year old body says, "Not so fast."  

While I was cuddling the heating pad, I knocked another item off of my agenda.  I enrolled my 401(k) into a managed account.  You know, the one where you pay the company to manage your money for a fee which is a percentage of the money they make for you.   I'd been wanting to do it for a while, because I don't know what I'm doing, and I'm getting too close to retirement to cover my eyes and hope for the best.

I probably should have done it from the beginning, but I wanted to be a cheapskate.  What prompted this sudden change?  I got my social security statement yesterday, and realized I would not have enough money to live the way I want to in my retirement.  I've never been a real big spender, but I do want to travel.  

My dream vacation is to take an American history tour and visit places like Lexington and Concord, Independence Hall, Mount Vernon and Monticello, Boston, the Plymouth Colony, and all of the important sites in our nation's history.  I want to see the Grand Canyon, Mount Rushmore, Yosemite, and Yellowstone.  I want to go back to The Alamo, and to go visit my sister in Alaska.  

I would love to take one of those train tours.  I think that would be so fun!  Anyone want to come with? 

Besides that, I want to get this house fixed up, and my ultimate dream is to move back home to Texas.  That may end up being a pipe dream, though, because I don't want to be so far away from Cody.  On the other hand, I only see him two or three times a year anyway, even though he's two hours down the road from me...

In other news,  Stalker is getting himself in trouble out at work.  Not with management, mind you, just with everyone else.  I swan the management has blinders on when it comes to him and to Inspector Gadget as well, for that matter.  

Seriously, if you don't want them in the front office and prototype shop, what on earth makes you think we want them out there with us?  

Anyway, we have a brand new brazing trainee in the department.  I mean, like he's been brazing for less than two weeks.  Yesterday, Stalker went over to his stand and started getting in trainee's face telling him his headers were no good, and that he was burning them.  I didn't hear him personally, but the brazer who works right beside the trainee told what Stalker had said, saying "There is no reason to talk to someone like that!"  

Today, Stalker was over there again, and the brazing trainer was standing over near me. I told her, "Stalker yelled at him yesterday." 

"I know," the trainer replied, "That's why I'm over here.  I was so mad, if I go over there, I'm going to say something."  

She wasn't wrong.  I mean, the guy had made a rookie mistake, but he's doing really well for someone brand new to brazing.  I think Stalker was just trying to flex on the guy, but all he did was make himself look like...well, himself.  

And finally, here is hat progress, because photos always get more attention than just links.   

Now, I think I'll go get something to eat.  Don't know what yet, but it'll be something. 

Laters.

New Name

Supervisor Maxwell has a new nickname, and the way that happened is as follows.  

Ever since he took over the department, he's been called many things -- most of them not so nice.    Now, one of the things we sometimes call him is Michael Myers, after the guy from those horror films, because of the way he just stands there and stares.  It's downright creepy.  But today he got a new one that I can share with you.

There I was at work, just a working away, when I saw Supervisor Maxwell over in the area where we put our finished work.  He often goes over there and picks through the headers, looking for something he can write somebody up for.  Off in the distance, that is, right next to me, I hear a brazer say, "There goes Inspector Gadget at it again!"  

And I spent the day with the theme from Inspector Gadget stuck in my head. 

At least until it was replaced by The Scotsman Song.  

I suppose it could have been worse....

Speaking of work, they have us coming in at 6:00 now, and I hate going in at 6:00.  The parking lot is full and the ice machines are empty.  Moreover, you have to deal with the indignity of having the security guard inspect your lunch -- you know, just in case you are trying to sneak a weapon into the plant hidden inside your cottage cheese.  

On the other hand, I do enjoy sleeping that extra hour -- and I needed it this morning.  I did not sleep well at all Sunday night.  I lay there in bed thinking about that landscammer and what he'd done to my yard...and I know, I know, you're thinking, "Just get over it already!"  But I can't.  Every time I look out in my back yard and see the wreck he made of it, I get heartbroken all over.  

Maybe if I didn't have to see it every single day...But I was thinking, doing this myself with my roto tiller and wheelbarrow will take forever.  I may have to try to hire someone to come fix it -- and that brings its own set of risks, mainly that of being ripped off yet again.  

I don't know what it is about me, but I seem to invite scammers and con artists.  I feel like being a single woman has a great deal to do with it, but surely there is someone honest left in this world. 

In other news, the cold front came through this morning and we are now in False Fall.  It never got out of the 70s and it felt wonderful to spend an entire work day not sweating to death.   It won't last long, though.  We're supposed to be back up into the 90s by the end of next week.  Ah, well, I'll enjoy it while it lasts. 

And while it last, it'll be good knitting weather.  I'm loving how this latest hat is working up. 

And finally, while I was watering the baby grass, I managed to aggravate a very annoyed cicada. 

 And he let me know in no uncertain terms how upset he was.  Them buggers are loud.  

Duh...

There I was at work, bright and not so early this morning, just a working away when the powers that be descended on the sub-brazing madder'n a hornet, hooting and hollering that we'd only brazed 1400 headers yesterday. 

All the while I was thinking, "You sent half the department (and I'm including the tubing side in this) home at noon, most of the rest home at 1:00 and you're wondering why we didn't get that many headers done?  What did you think would happen????"  I rolled my eyes -- a common occurrence out there-- and went back to work. 

It wasn't long at all before Supervisor Maxwell was in the department yelling about how the lines were down needing headers, and all God's sub-brazers said, "Well, DUH!"  

Needless to say, we did not go home at noon today.  Or 1:00...well, most of us.  Group Leader Shark did come around at five minutes until 1:00 and asked if we wanted to go.  I said, "If you asked 30 minutes ago, maybe I would, but I done got 2:00 in my head, so I might as well stay."  In the end, Demi-god was the only one who left early.  

But I'm getting ahead of myself...shortly after Maxwell was freaking out over the lack of headers, I saw him and Junior deep in conversation.  One of the other plant employees told me that was why he'd been kicked out of his former supervisory position -- because he was messing up over there.  Now he's messing up over here.  I hate to say it, but some people just aren't cut out to be supervisors. 

At least now I know why Uncle Supervisor, when I was teasing him about abandoning us, chuckled and said, "I won't be for long."  

On a similar note, when I was fixing my oatmeal this morning, I noticed that my milk was starting to smell a little sus.  With that in mind, I went ahead and did my shopping after work.  Since I have been doing so well in keeping my glucose under control, I decided to treat myself and bought....bananas!

You thought I was going to say candy, didn't you?  Nope, although I will probably buy some candy corn before it's all over with.  And I was tempted by the pumpkin cake roll, but that didn't last long when I saw the price of it.  Nearly $6...yeah, I didn't want it that badly.  

I left the cake and the candy corn for another day, and came on home where I watered the baby grass, filled the hummingbird feeders, and sat in the air conditioning for the rest of the day. 

 I've been watching a documentary on Netflix about Warren Jeffs and the FLDS church.  Back in the day, I watched a movie on TV called Child Bride of Short Creek.  It was about the polygamist cult that lived there in Short Creek, and it is almost eerie how similar it is to what was going on in real life.  The only problem was the movie came out some 20ish years before Jeffs got there.  

In the documentary, they kept saying Warren Jeffs did this, and Warren Jeffs did that, and I was thinking, "That was just like the movie!"  At one point, I wondered if Jeffs had actually seen the movie and was patterning his cult after it. 

No matter, it's still a fascinating documentary to watch if you have Netflix.  

Rumors

 As it happens, those rumors turned out to be true.  

They did a layoff on second shift last night and shut down all of the assembly lines.  All of the temps were laid off, and some of the full time employees -- those with 8 or more attendance points.  They will only be running a few areas for the time being.  My guess is those will be sheet metal and maybe fin press.  Everything else on second shift is done for the time being, even tubing and sub-brazing.  

That in itself is a blessing in a way.  At least we won't have to come into a disaster area and literally put our department back together every morning.  How we leave it is how we come in to it -- and I'm perfectly OK with that. 

But we'll have to remember to turn our fans off at night -- because they use sooo much electricity, you know.  Heh, Stalker walked around just before end of shift, hollering, "Make sure you turn your fans off!  We can't pay the light bill as it is!"  

Someone who will remain unnamed but may or may not have been me said loudly to no one in particular, "If they'd get rid of all of those buddy hires, they could..." 

OK, moving right along, guess what happened right after I posted yesterday?  Go on, guess!  OK, I'll tell you.  It rained!!!!

Yep, you read that right.  We got nearly 7/10" of rain, which brings us to a total of 1" for the month of August.  Still well below average, but it's better than none.  Unfortunately, that means my red clay was too mucky to do any work in the yard this afternoon, so I came inside and watched Orphan Train on Fawsome.  I loved that movie when I was a kid, unfortunately the video quality was very poor.  I keep trying to remember if it looked that bad on TV.  It was made in 1979, but still...

When that was over, I turned over to Netflix and watched the documentary on the old TV show The Biggest Loser.  I used to watch that show all the time, and even back then, I knew it was setting the contestants up for failure.  They kept them isolated, they fed them, they worked them out for hours a day, but they never taught them real world skills on how to eat right and exercise without someone standing over them.  

And they never addressed the underlying emotional issues that these people were using food to self-medicate in the first place.  Most of them, as soon as they got off of the show, they started gaining their weight back.  One of the guys in this documentary is bigger than he was when he first started the show. 

If you have Netflix, I recommend this one. 

And finally, when I was watering my grass seeds, I found three cicada shells lined up on my fire pit and tried to take some artsy-fartsy photos of them.  I think this one turned out the best, but I've included the others for your enjoyment. 

This was complicated by the fact that the sun was so bright I couldn't really see what I was shooting. 

Ah, well, that's how it is sometimes. 

Whaaa?

There I was at work, just a working away, when along about 1:00 PM Group Leader Shark walked by and said, "Becky, do you want to leave?"

"Yeah, I'll leave," I immediately replied.

"Whaaaa?"  She said.  "I wasn't expecting that!"

"Call it the Supervisor Maxwell effect," I responded, as I began gathering my stuff up to put it all away.  The brazer who works just across from me looked over and with an air of incredulity asked, "Are you going home???"  

Now, I can understand their disbelief, because I don't turn down overtime, and I don't leave early.  Usually.  But today, I just wasn't feeling it, so when GLS asked, it hit me and I eagerly said I would.  

"Anything to get away from Supervisor Maxwell!"  I told the other brazer, and out the door I ran so fast I sucked half the equipment in the plant out into the parking lot in my wake.  

OK, not really, but you get the idea.  

But I did leave so fast I didn't bother to go answer nature, and that was the first thing I did when I got home.  Then I went outside and watered my baby grass, and started sifting rocks out of some dirt.  Yes, it was hot out there, but I said I'd just work for a few minutes.  

Oh a whim, I pulled up the weather app and saw that it said it feels like 105°.  "It sure does!" I said to no one in particular, and went inside for a moment to cool off.  Once I'd stopped sweating and rehydrated, I went back out and managed to scrape the dirt away from the bottom of two sections of my fence, except for right around the posts.  

 It wasn't as difficult as I thought it would be, so maybe tomorrow I can get the rest of it done.  Then I'll have to wash the dirt off and let it dry really well so I can paint it -- maybe next weekend.   We'll have to see what the weather does.  We're supposed to be back in the upper 90s early next week.  

I am so ready for summer to be over.  

A Very Special Monday

Today is Monday.

But it’s not just any Monday. It’s a very special Monday. 

Why? 

Because it’s the first Monday of my last full work week of the year!  Yep, that's right.  Starting next Friday, August 22, I'll have three day weekends for the rest of 2025.  

I do this every year -- save up my vacation days and take them every Friday, but usually I don't start until after Labor Day.  This year, I had a couple of extra days, plus I was about to max out my ETO, so I'm starting a bit early.  I'm not complaining.  Not one bit. 

On a similar note, rumor is going around the plant that they've shut down production on second shift.  They supposedly had a big meeting last week, and Group Leader Shark keeps saying Supervisor Maxwell will update us on what was said, but so far he hasn't said a word. 

They did let us go home at 2:00 today, so I went back and worked on clearing the rest of that detritus from the tree that I'd had cut down.  Things were going just swimmingly until I decided to try to cut my arm off with the mini chainsaw. 

I didn't do a very good job of it, and once I'd come inside and cleaned it up a bit, I saw t'was but a scratch.  I slapped a bandaid on it, went back outside, and finished what I'd started.  Behold, no more brush pile in my back yard!

I still have a few more of the thicker bits of wood left to cut up, women's size 9 croc knockoff included for scale, 

but the chainsaw was getting a bit grabby, which usually means the battery is starting to run down.  So I took the better part of valor and left them for another day.  I also have these bigger pieces of the trunk to cut up -- again women's size 9 crock knockoff included for scale -- but I'm going to have to fire up the big chainsaw to get those done. 

The last thing I did was to toss the smaller branches into the brush pile in the woods and rake up the leaves into the compost pile I'd already started with the ground ivy I've been pulling up.  Women's size 9...well, you get the idea by now. 

At this rate, I'm going to need a bigger compost bin. 

In a bit of sad news, something has been disturbing the rocks in my bee pond.  I've noticed every afternoon when I go to refill it, the rocks are all bunched together.  I'm not sure what is going on, but today I made the decision to take my fancy rocks out and put rocks from the driveway back in.  

It's not as pretty, but I doubt the bees will mind. 

And finally, I'm sure you'll all be relieved to know that Demi-god's swamp-@$$ is much better today.  He made sure to tell us, so I'm making sure to tell you. 

After that, I got nothing.  

Sorcery

I walked into work not so bright, but very very early this morning, and right away I noticed something odd.  Very odd.  The air felt different.  It felt....cold.  

Sure enough, when I got to my work area, the little thermometer I keep on my stand said 71°.  

I quickly checked the calendar on my phone to make sure I hadn't walked through a time warp and ended up in January, but no.  It was still August.  What is this sorcery?

Seriously, I thought it was some sort of fluke, but no, the temperature never got above 83° for the entire day.  I'm telling you, work goes so much better when you're not absolutely miserable.  I just wish the upper management realized that as well.  

OK, moving right along, since Sunday is supposed to be a day of rest, that is pretty much what I did yesterday.  I watched a few of my DVRed Shark Week shows while knitting on a hat, 

and behold, the finished object.  

I caked up the rest of the yarn and I think I have enough for another hat.  

I realized after the fact that I didn't include anything to give you a sense of scale, since I don't have any bananas around at the moment.  

The only other things I did yesterday was to scoop up some more of that dirt and fill in a little bit of this tire track -- you know the ones that are 4" deep in my front yard. 

And I planted a little more grass seed in a new spot. 

 I hope this stuff grows.  The package says to water it twice a day, but that isn't going to happen.  I already get up at 2:30 AM, I'm not getting up any earlier than that just to water some grass.  

And finally, Facebook is at its suckyness again.  This afternoon, I got a notification that two of my photos had been removed for -- get this -- child sexual exploitation.  

Yeah, I'm dumfounded, too.  They won't show me the photos they removed, and I can't even imagine anything I may have posted that is even remotely close to that, so I appealed.  They did not restore my photo, so I have no idea how I may have violated community standards.

This is why Facebook is a dying site.   The young people aren't getting on it, and the older folks aren't getting on as much because it just isn't fun any more the way it used to be.  

If it weren't for the storm chasers and meteorologists I follow, I'd probably leave the site altogether. 

But I'll still post links to my blog.  The ones Facebook doesn't remove as spam, at least. 

Wonder Of Wonders

Wonder of wonders, we have tomorrow off, y'all!  I couldn't believe it.  Heh, Group Leader Shark announced it in the morning meeting Thursday, and immediately one of the other brazers shouted, "No backsies!  You said it and no backsies!"  Which seemed a lot funnier at the time, now that I think about it. 

But there were no backsies and yes, we do have tomorrow off.  Even more, they let us go home at 2:00 today.  The first thing I did was to run home and grab the gas can...OK, the first thing I did was run home and run to the bathroom.  THEN I grabbed the gas can and went to The Ol' Corner Store first.  

Would you believe it, they still don't have modern gas pumps?  No card swipers, or chips, or anything.  So, I pulled out as fast as I pulled in and went to Mr. Monroe's, and wonder of wonders, the pump I went to actually worked!  That gas station has always been a bit of a hit or miss kind of thing.  

Anyway, I filled up the can with the intention of mowing later on today, but as it happens I will not in fact be mowing later on today.  And why?  Because wonder of wonders IT'S RAINING!!!  It's been raining for about an hour or so as I write this, which is probably more rain than we got in all of July.  So, I'll take it. 

Instead, I stayed inside and watched a few more Ryan Trahan videos, then I realized, hey, I can go back and watch the rest of season 9 of The X-Files -- which I'd skipped to watch the reboot seasons, when Mulder came back.  So, I did that, and knit a bit on the charity hat. 

I'm really liking the way these colors are knitting up.  I might have to get some more of this yarn when the Hobby Lobby in Batesville opens.  I'm not exactly sure when that will be.  I'd heard October, but I don't know for sure. 

But before it started raining, what I had intended to do was to get the front yard mowed, then spread some of this EZSeed in the bare spots I left in the back yard when I pulled up all that ground ivy. 

I may do that here in a little bit, after the rain stops, and I'll try to get the yard mowed tomorrow.  We're supposed to have a brief break in the heat, then it'll get hot again.  Still, any break is a relief after this last week.   This was Tuesday, and check out that heat index. 

I'd intended to blog that day, but never got around to it.  

This has been such a rough week at work, that blogging just didn't happen.  It seemed that every single order I got had something wrong with it, and the frustrating part is that those who could do something about it don't seem to care.   I had one order a few days ago that every single adapter tube was bent wrong.  Every single one.  

I showed the order to Group Leader Shark, but if the parts were done on second shift, there really isn't anything she can do about it. But it's been like that all week.  Yesterday, I had an order that two of the four adapter tubes were wrong, and today I got one that three out of the four were wrong.  When I showed that one to GLS, I seriously thought she was going to cry.  

She's as frustrated as we are, but as I said, all she can do is talk to the group leader on second shift.  If second shift GL isn't going to make her people do right, then all we can do is re-do all of those parts.  

Gee, if only we had an upper management who would give us the support we need to be successful at our jobs.  

On a similar note, change the phrase "answering an email" to "making a phone call" and this is me to a T. 

I've got so many phone calls I need to make, and so many phone calls I'm just not making. 

Maybe next week...Speaking of, I just realized that thanks to judicious scheduling of my vacation days, I only have two more Fridays to work this year!  Woo Hoo!  Maybe I can make some of those phone calls then.  

Now, wouldn't that be a wonder...

Of wonders.

Without Excuse

They are therefore without excuse.  Romans 1:20

I did a little tidying up Saturday afternoon, and found all these different bug sprays.  Therefore I am without excuse -- and yet, I still go outside without it.  Go figure. 

I had a little pleasant surprise yesterday afternoon.  Cody and Brennan stopped by on the way to Memphis and visited a bit.  They couldn't stay long, but it was good to see them.  Cody has gotten into baking artisan bread and brought me a loaf. 

He tossed a bunch of different herbs into it, but I can't remember what all they were.  I could definitely taste rosemary, though.  It tasted pretty good, but I kept thinking it needed to be dunked into some soup.  Particularly tomato soup.  

Except that it's way too hot for soup.  It's way too hot for pretty much anything.  I was going to come home and get that box out of the shed and start putting some compost into it, but I didn't even do that.  I watered my basil, filled the bird bath and bee pond, then ran back inside into the air conditioning and watched three episodes of The X-Files.  

I also set up my DVR to record Shark Week, since I'm usually in bed by the time the good shows on.  The first episode they had on last night was Dancing With Sharks, and I know they must be trying to draw in new viewers, but really, we don't want that.  We want Dickie, and Tristan, and Paul, Craig, Neil, Kina, and of course, the Shark Week Goat:  Andy Casagrande.  

I've said it before, fewer celebrities, more science.  

So, anyway, I turned off Dancing With Sharks just as soon as I'd bound off the Baby Surprise Jacket. 

 I think I'm going to take a break from BSJs for a while, and work on hats.  I'm way behind on my charity knitting, so I need to get back to that.   

Later, though.  For now, I'm going to finish this episode of The X-Files, then go to bed.  That's one thing I hate about my job -- having to be there so early in the morning, which means that when everyone else is just getting started, I'm already heading for bed. 

Speaking of work, we have a new supervisor over our department.  They've put Uncle Supervisor up in sheet metal, and gave us one whose blog name will be Maxwell.  

If you work there, you'll get it. 

He's always been nice to me, but I've never worked under him since he's been made a supervisor.  But, as long as he approves my vacation day, one supervisor is as good as another.  

Forty Seven Years

Today was the longest, most miserable day I've dealt with in a long long time.  At one point, I looked up at the clock and exclaimed, "It's not even 9:00 yet!  Feels like I've been her for forty seven years today."  I think having the day off tomorrow ...well, it certainly didn't help the day go by any faster.  

Not to mention, we're going to be under a heat warning for the next several days at least.  Heh, my coworker asked me what my thermometer said, and I told her 92°.  She replied, "It's 93° outside, so we may as well be outside."  At least outside we'd have fresh air instead of the filthy pollution we have to breathe inside the plant. 

Then, when the second person in two days fell out, they finally decided to pass out water and the little Gatorade packets they keep for the people up in the front office -- you know, where they have air conditioning.  They used to pass out Gatorade all the time, but stopped because we had water and didn't need it.  Or so they said.  

I was going to come home and mow, but as of this writing, it's still too hot.  What I did instead was to put together my last Prime Day purchase which finally arrived.   Can you tell what it is?

It's a thatching rake!  I'd bought it to clear away the ground ivy, which is a highly invasive species and is absolutely taking over my yard.  I'd been pulling it up by hand, but that takes forever and is very hard on my back.  I thought this would make an easier job of it, and boy did it ever!

Here:  I took a before photo. 

And after literally 30 seconds of work, all of that ground ivy is cleared away. 

It was so easy to use, too.  Next I tried it on a spot where the ivy is very thick, and after about a minute, I got all of this up.  

Feet included for scale, because I had to cut way down on my banana consumption due to the insulin resistance.   This might possibly be the best investment I've made in a long time. 

After coming inside to cool off for a bit, the last thing I did was to fill the pedestal of my new bird bath with rocks and put fresh water into it.  Now I'm just waiting for the birds to find it. 

And to finish this up with a bit of good news, I found Major Dad on Tubi.  I used to love that show, so if you'll excuse me, I'm off to binge.

Laters.  

Into A Fight

There I was at work on Monday, just a working away when Group Leader Shark came up behind me, called my name, and said, "4:00 in the morning!"  

OK.  

A few minutes after that, she asked me if I could stay over that day.  OK, I didn't really want to, but I said I would.  So, I stayed until 3:00, clocked out, and drove all of the way into town to mail the baby sweater-- only to find that the post office wasn't even open.  Apparently, nobody had shown up for work that morning. 

"Your tax dollars at work," I grumbled as I headed home, baby sweater still in hand. 

Once I got back home, I began second guessing myself.  "Did I switch the clock from clock in to clock out before I scanned my badge?"  I couldn't remember...No big deal.  Even if I hadn't clocked out correctly, Uncle Supervisor will fix it, so I wasn't worried.  

Tuesday morning, I got to work not so bright but very very early and scanned my badge at the time clock.  Now, when you normally clock in, the screen will show your name along with the name of your department and the department number.  If you're already clocked in and scan your badge again, it'll just say "Clocked in".  

And that's what it said when I clocked in yesterday.  Just clocked in.  

"Oh," I said to myself, "I must not have clocked out yesterday after all."  I clocked out, then clocked back in...and it just said clocked in.  Hmmm...

I went to another time clock and repeated the whole process:  I clocked out, then clocked in again.  This time, it did right and the screen showed my department name and number just like it was supposed to.   Great.  Confident that I'd clocked in correctly, I went on to my stand and went about my day. 

Sometime later, I walked up to Uncle Supervisor's desk to talk to him about what I'd done.   He saw me coming and gestured me over.  

"Did you get into a fight with the time clock this morning?"  He asked.  

I laughed and replied, "Yes, I did."  I explained to him what had happened, then said, "I was literally just coming up here to talk to you about this!"  We both had a good chuckle and the day went on from there.  

Alas, at the morning meeting, Group Leader Shark told us we're all going to be staying over until 3:00 for the foreseeable future -- with some of us still coming in at 4:00, so expect blogging to be sporadic for the next week or so.

In other news, last time it rained -- which was last Friday -- I looked out my front window and saw a little bird bathing in the puddle in my driveway.  Now, I've been wanting a birdbath for a while now, but seeing that bird in the puddle and knowing I'm going to be filling said puddle in pretty soon, I realized I needed to get one sooner rather than later.  

I hopped onto the Lowe's app and found one I liked.  It's cement and a good size, only they didn't have it in stock at the local store.  Well, the one up in Batesville I mean.  There was an option to have it shipped, but that option cost $80, or more than the birdbath itself costs.   No, thank you. 

I didn't see any other cement options in stock, so naturally I did what any red blooded American would do.  I got onto Amazon and ordered one.  It's resin instead of cement, but it'll do until I can find a cement one.    

Or maybe I'll just keep it.  I imagine it'll be easier to clean than a cement one anyway. 

I was supposed to fill the pedestal with rocks, sand, or gravel to help weigh it down, but that's going to have to wait until the weekend.  It's just too hot right now, and with me going in at 4:00, I'm already in bed by the time it cools off enough to do anything.  

I'll get out early Friday or Saturday morning and pick a bunch of rocks out of all that red clay and fill it with those.  It also came with some little stakes to help hold it down, but they're not very big.  When I go to Walmart next, I'll get some regular tent stakes and use them instead. 

The Incarnation of Evil says, "Just don't get any ideas about a cat bath..."  

 

JAG

JAG is back on Prime!!!  Hallelujah! I can finish watching it!  It even saved my spot, so I can pick up right where I left off. 

While we’re on the subject, I’m trying to finish The X-Files, but I’m struggling with it. It just isn’t the same without….um, a certain character. I won’t spoil it for anyone who hasn’t seen it yet, but it isn’t as good.

Oh, and I dropped Britbox again, at least for a while. I am going to miss Father Brown and Sister Boniface, but can’t see paying $9 per month just for those two shows. 

Even so, I'm glad for a bit of good news, even if it's something small like that.  It's been a very frustrating week at work, and it's only Wednesday.  I mean, it's the same old same old.  Every single order I've gotten today has had something wrong with it.  Every single order I've gotten this week has had something wrong with it.  

The frustrating part is that we can't get the support from upper management we need to be successful at our jobs.  Junior, for example, is nothing but an overgrown teenager who is more concerned with playing pranks on his employees than he is in solving the problems we have to deal with.  It's almost like they want us to fail.  

I didn't come here to complain -- again -- about my job, but I've been thinking lately.  I used to be able to write clever and entertaining posts about my work days.  No matter how bad things seemed, I was always able to find humor in the situation, and could come up with something people would want to read.  Not so any more.  

Things have gotten so bad out there, there is no humor to be found anywhere.  It's become a downright depressing place, and no matter how hard I try, I just can't come up with anything worth writing about.  And I can remember when readers were actually encouraging me to write a book.  

Nobody says that any more.  Nobody thinks that any more.  

I think I'm going to end this and go take a nice, hot shower.  But before I go, I had been saying I was going to switch my shopping day to Wednesday, but I'm finding that just isn't working out.  Reason being, is that the shelves are fairly empty, and I can't get what I need.  

I'm probably going to go back to shopping on Fridays, despite the place being a madhouse.  At least the shelves are stocked then.  But I did pick up a skein of that pink Bitty Stripes yarn.  

I guess I really ought to finish the BSJ I've already go on the needles, then, huh?  

Hello July

This week hasn't started off in the best way, at work, I mean.  It seems like every order I've gotten these last two days has had something wrong with it.  I swan I've spent more time re-ordering parts and writing scrap tickets than I have doing my actual job -- which is brazing.  

But, only two more days this week, then we have a four day weekend!  Hopefully.  I don't think they'll make us come in Saturday, but it's not out of the question.  They've done it before.  Keep your fingers crossed.  

I had intended to run by Walmart after work and pick up some bags of top soil to start filling in the huge ruts that landscaper left in my front yard, but by the time I got off, I just wanted to come home.   I also wanted to run by Tractor Supply to see if they had a dethatching tool, but that didn't happen, either.  Maybe tomorrow.  

I briefly thought about getting the roto tiller out, but didn't.  It's too hot for that.  I did get out and cut some more of that tree up, and I got almost all of it on my side of the fence.  

I need to move those two last pieces of the trunk, and at least it'll all be on my property. I want to try to mow back there behind the fence this weekend, because the ground ivy is taking over.  I know it's not my land, but I still try to get back there and keep it fairly neat during the summer.  

I had a bit of a sad moment when I was watering my basil and discovered that one of the plants had died suddenly. 

I'm not sure what happened.  It was fine just a couple of days ago.  Bummer, but it's not like I don't have plenty more.  In fact, I was thinking about making some more pesto this weekend, and maybe, when I get another ripe tomato, I'll make something like an ensalada caprese.  

That's a Caprese salad.  I didn't even know what one was until I was stationed in Italy, so the Italian phrase is the one that automatically comes to mind when I think of it.   

Oh, and I found a wine and spirits store across from the post office, so when I go to mail my great - nephew's sweater, I'll try to stop in and pick up some vodka for my extracts.  I've got plenty of mint, and I'm thinking about trying it with my lemon balm.  I watched a YouTube video a while back where a lady was talking about making bunches of different stuff with lemon balm, and I think extract was one of them.  I'll have to go find it again to be sure, and I'll be sure to let you know.  

And finally, it was announced last night that local meteorologist Matt Laubhan has left the TV station to start his own weather media company.  Page.  Whatever it is, he's doing it.  

I'm wondering if nearly getting laid off a few months ago had something to do with that. 

Yeah, the Allen Media Group owns the WTVA station, and they were going to lay off all local meteorologists and broadcast a feed from The Weather Channel in Atlanta instead.  Local outcry was so great that they backed off, but still.  Maybe it shook him up, or maybe he just wants to do his own thing without being restricted to the ...what is it, four minutes they get during a news broadcast.  

It's still in development, but he has a web page up (linked above) and a new app:  Mississippi Live Weather, which I've already downloaded.  Independent meteorologists are becoming much more of a thing lately.  Think Ryan Hall, Max Velocity, and the like.  

Well, just add Matt to this list now, too.  If I'm not mistaken, Gabe Mahner is going to join him, so yay.  We can look forward to more great moments like this.

Whoever said weather was dull has never been around weather people. 

Now, if you'll excuse me, it's past my bedtime and I don't even have the coffee pot fixed for in the morning, so I've got to run. 

Good night. 

Goodbye June

I'm sore.  From using my new tiller over the weekend.  Oh, I knew I'd be sore in my arms and shoulders, and maybe across my back, but I never expected my stomach and ribs to be sore, too.    It's good exercise, I tell ya. 

That being said, I did not come home this afternoon and run the tiller.  It's too hot.  Instead, I spent about 15 minutes working on cutting up that tree I'd had cut down. It's slow going, but I'm making progress.  Not as quickly as I'd like, again because of the heat.  I just can't stay out in it like I used to.  

After that, I picked my next ripe tomato and had a tomato and pesto sammich.  It was a smaller tomato, so I was only able to get one sandwich out of it, but it was so good.  Then I finished the charity hat I'd started...Saturday, I think.  I don't remember. 

 Knitting is something I've also had to slow down at, because my hands get sore if I do too much at a time.  I think that's one reason I like knitting hats so much.  They're quick and easy -- and very forgiving.  Even if your gauge is off, or you cast on the wrong number of stitches, it's still going to fit someone's head.  

In work news, rumor going around the plant now is that The Warden is leaving to go to another company here in town.  They're expanding their operations and adding some 400 jobs.  I guess he's going to be one of them.  

You know your plant has problems when the employee turnover rate is high, but when you've been through five different plant managers in the last seven years...well, something is definitely rotten in Denmark. We've gone through just as many Human Resources directors.  

What with all these new factories opening up here in the next few years, somebody needs to figure out something, or that place will go out of business.  I just hope they last until I can retire.  

Now if you'll excuse me, I found one of my favorite old TV shows on the Roku channel, and I'm going to go watch a few episodes.  

Simon & Simon, just in case you were wondering. 

Laters. 

It's Official

They finally posted the weekend work schedule, and it's official.  The lines are going to be off.  Of course, the notice always says "Component Areas:  See Your Supervisor", but I'm pretty sure we'll be off, too.  At least, sub-brazing will, because our numbers are pretty good.   I know the fin press and autobrazer will be working, and probably sheet metal, too.  I guess Uncle Supervisor will tell us tomorrow. 

What I've heard is that they need to cut the water off to the back of the plant so they can run the plumbing for the new bathrooms they're building back there, but that's just rumor so take it for what it's worth. 

With that in mind, I went ahead and did my shopping today, so tomorrow I can come home and put my tiller together without having to worry about errands and such-like.  While I was there, I bought myself a new food processor.  

To be honest, this one wasn't my first choice.  I'd looked through the Walmart app and picked one out that was a three cup, but I couldn't find it anywhere.  The app said it was in stock, but I didn't even see a spot on the shelf for it, so I went to my second choice.  Eh, it's a bit bigger than I'd wanted, but it'll do. 

Now, the next time I want to make pesto, I'll be all set.  I just need a week or two for my basil to catch up. 

I also bought another skein of that Red Heart Bitty Stripes in the Crayon Box colorway, since I used most of the last one knitting the baby surprise jacket.  I won't post a photo.  If you want to see what it looks like, just scroll back a post or two. Though I'm tempted to knit another baby sweater, this one is intended for charity hats. 

On the other hand, maybe I will knit another baby sweater -- to have on hand for future great nieces and nephews, you know.  

OK, I'm back after a quick break.  I hadn't intended to put my tiller together until tomorrow, but wanted to check the packing list to make sure I had all the parts.  Once I got it all out of the box, it took only five minutes to put it together.  

And there it is. 

 

I won't try it out until tomorrow, because a) I've already taken my shower for the day, and b) it rained while I was putting it together.  Not a lot, but enough to make the dirt just a bit muddy.  Hopefully it'll be dry by tomorrow afternoon.  

And finally, I keep forgetting to tell you Stalker fired a second brazer last week, and he is plumb thrilled about it.  He's been walking around in a ...um...state of excitement...ever since.  So to speak.  Alas, that was before HRH left and The Warden announced he was leaving.  

Now Stalker seems nervous.  Without the buddy system protecting him, his job might be the next one on the chopping block.  

We can hope, at least.