Cayennes!

I am sure you will all be pleased to know I made it to work this morning with my driver's license and debit card safely in my pocket.  So after what felt like an interminable day at work, I went to Walmart and did the shopping I didn't do yesterday.  

Walmart, as expected, was an absolute madhouse, but I made it through and came on home.  It was while I was in line, having already loaded my stuff onto the conveyor that I realized I'd forgotten to get extra jalapenos.   Oh, well...I'll start fermenting what I have and get some next week.  I did find the peppercorns I needed for my banana pepper pickles that I made last week -- without the peppercorns because I didn't want to make an extra trip into town to get them. 

So, I come on home, do three loads of laundry, and as if that weren't enough after a 9 hour shift in the factory, I decided to mow.  I'm telling ya, it's been so dry here, and the mower kicked up so much dust I must have swallowed at least a pound of it.  But at least I got it done and don't have that chore hanging over my head for the rest of the weekend.  

And by rest of the weekend, I mean Sunday. 

Speaking of peppers, I got three of my cayenne peppers strung and hung up to start drying.  

And I got a good bit of seeds out of the remnants of the sunflower I cut yesterday. 

 I need to get something onto the rest of them to protect them until their seeds develop.  Maybe I'll get to that tomorrow. 

Friday

"I'm already exhausted, and the day hasn't even started yet!" I said to the cat just before leaving for work. 

Along about 8:00, I discovered just how exhausted I'd been when I realized I left everything at home -- and by everything, I mean my driver's license, debit card, money, pocket knife, lip balm, and everything else I usually keep in my pockets, including the little stack of quarters I like to jingle just like my daddy did. 

I briefly thought about going into Walmart and doing my weekly shopping anyway and seeing if I could figure out how to pay by scanning the QR code, but quickly decided against that.  I didn't want to be in the checkout line with a buggy full of stuff, a line of grumpy customers behind me, and no back up way to pay as I tried to figure out new technology.  

I'm a Boom -A-Ludd, remember.  

I said to myself, "I'll just run by the house and pick up my stuff, then go to the store," even though I knew this was a dangerous proposition.  The danger lies in the fact that once I get home, I won't want to leave the house again-- which is exactly what happened.  

"Eh," I said, "There's nothing I need that can't wait until tomorrow."  

So, here I sit, watching Shark Week instead of doing my shopping.  By the way, I had an idea while I was standing there at work about what to do with my jalapeño peppers, so I snuck out a quick text to Cody, "Can you pickle jalapeño peppers?"  

He replied in the affirmative, so I think I'm going to pick up a few to supplement the ones I've grown and will try that.   

On a similar note, I thing I'm going to start fermenting my tabasco peppers this weekend in preparation for making sauce, and my cayenne are starting to ripen.  

The plan with them all along has been to string and dry them, so I guess I'd better dig out a needle and some thread.

As I was walking around my back yard checking on my growing things, I discovered that something had decided to help itself to one of my sunflowers. 

I'd planned on giving it a few more days so the rest of the seeds could develop, but after seeing the carnage, I figured I'd better cut my losses and thus I cut the flower.  I'll let it dry overnight and harvest the rest of the seeds tomorrow.  Now I'm thinking I'd better put the cheesecloth back onto the flowers in the front yard so something doesn't get them as well. 

I'll try to get that done tomorrow after work.

Speaking of work, you know that one line that has been getting off at 1:00 all week long?  Well, today they had to stay until 3:00, oh, and they did get their numbers*, but I'm sure that's just a coincidence, right?  

And finally, for today's meme debunkeration, hurricanes tend to generally follow the same track across the U.S., depending on what point along the Gulf Coast they make landfall.  It has more to do with pressure systems and weather patterns and has absolutely nothing to do with the eclipse.   

Seriously, go check out the tracks from hurricanes during years there wasn't an eclipse, and you'll see what I mean. 

Sorry all you conspiracy theorists, but you're really really reaching with this one. 

* "get their numbers" is plant vernacular for meeting their production quota.  

A New Thing

Apparently they're trying this new thing out at work...to....I don't know what they're trying to do.  Right now, it's only on one line -- as far as I know--, and I don't know if they're going to make it plant wide or not.  

So what is this new thing, you ask?  Well, I'll tell you. 

If the line doesn't meet its production goal by 1:00, they get to go home early.  

Let me say that again for those of you who are as dumfounded as I am.

If the assembly line doesn't meet its production goal by 1:00, they get to go home early.  

They get to go home early. 

Excuse me, what?????

If they don't meet their production goals, they get rewarded by getting off early -- and since they came in at 5:00, they'll still get 8 hours.  Who on Earth thought that that would be a good idea?

If you are going to reward non-productivity, then don't you dare stand there and act all surprised when productivity drops.  What did you think would happen?????

I don't understand that place.  I do not understand that place at all.  

So Shines A Good Deed

 Only I didn't do one.  A good deed, I mean.  I just like the way it sounds when Willy Wonka says it.  The Gene Wilder version, not the Johnny Depp version which I have never seen. 

What I did do was to sell one of my old aquariums.  I was cruising Facebook yesterday evening checking on hurricane damage in my hometown and surrounding area when I saw a post in one of the local groups.  A girl was looking for a tank for her bearded dragon.  I messaged her and told her I had an old 40 gallon, and quoted her a price. 

She said she'd take it, and offered me an extra $10 to bring it to her, so right after work that's exactly what I did.  We ran into a little snag when I couldn't remember my Paypal password, so we had to use CashApp.  I'd downloaded it last year, but had never used it, so it was actually her friend who took both of our phones and did the transaction for us.  

I'm such a Luddite.  And a Boomer at that.  I'm a Boom-a-Ludd!  

Don't ask.  Even I don't know...

Nevertheless, the money changed hands -- or phones, rather -- and the girl's bearded dragon will soon have a roomy new home.  

Since I had to drive through the lake to deliver the tank, I stopped and dropped off a Pokemon in a gym at the basketball courts.  Apparently, I'm on Team Mystic, so I can just put one into a gym controlled by my team without having to battle anything, which is good.  I'm still figuring out this whole gym thing, but apparently you have to put Pokemon into them to earn coins -- or else spend real money, which isn't going to happen. 

Oh, and for those of you who may be wondering, no I didn't drive literally through the lake.  That's just a local colloquialism for driving though the area controlled and maintained by the Corps Of Engineers.  

And finally, this is Shark Week, and I've been so busy these last couple of days, I've hardly been able to watch any episodes, so I think I'll get off here and do just that. 

Laters.

Back To Work

Unfortunately, no I don't.  As they say, all good things must come to an end, and my long weekend was no exception.  It was back to work today and boy, I sure didn't want to go, but somebody has to pay the bills around here, so out of bed I got and off to work I went. 

Shortly before 9:00 AM, I bumped into Safety Guy, and since the opportunity had presented itself, I asked him if they were going to be handing out Gatorade this year.  He said, "No, but I've ordered some sticks."  

Sticks?  It took me a minute, but I figured out that he meant popsicles.  That means I'll have to change my call-up song from MARLIN WITH THE GATORADE to Paaaahhhsickles!  No matter.  They both work. 

I replied, "Good, because it's 96° in my work area!"  Except that it wasn't today, because it was cloudy all day.  It only got up to 92°.

Anyway, Safety Guy said, "Oh, I know.  I've been monitoring it."  Then he told me that only three of the A/C units in the front of the plant were working.  He'd had two different companies out here working on them,  and "Honestly, I don't think there's anyone in the area that knows how to work on something this big."  But he'd put in a call to a consultant from -- I don't remember where he said the guy was from, but they're affiliated with Lennox.  He ought to know what to do, because all our units are Lennox units.

"That's not a very good sales pitch!"  I said.  

He kind of laughed, and replied, "No, it's not."  Then he had to go to a meeting and I had to go check on the hurricane, which made landfall about the time I was getting to work this morning.   

Ain't that just my luck?  A hurricane is making landfall and I'm stuck at work.  *Pout*

I had several of my SETX -- that's SETX, not sext-- friends keeping me updated, and so far, all of them are OK.  I know a couple who have lost electricity, but for the most part, they are good.   

The storm has already moved past them, and we're possibly going to get some rain from it tomorrow.  We could use it.  We're not in drought conditions just yet, but we're getting there.  

In other news, I cast on a new hat yesterday.  

 In other other news, I had to run into town after work to pay a couple of bills and mail my sister's socks to her.  Now it's nearly bed time and I haven't even eaten anything this evening.  If you'll excuse me, I need to rectify both of those things. 

Right after I make a little extra donation to Texas Baptist Men.  

Laters. 

Score!

I have no idea what day it is.  Having those two days off of work has totally thrown me out of whack.  I have to keep reminding myself that it's Saturday.  Fortunately, I managed to remind myself in time to get down to the Farmer's Market on the square where I finally got Brennan's salsa.  

Since she liked it so much, I got her two of them. 

Not only that, but Bost Farms had some banana peppers. 

I'm not sure they were the same variety as what I'm growing, because they were huge.  Nevertheless, I mixed them in with mine and made two batches of pickled peppers this afternoon. 

 

The batch on the left are sweet pickles, and the ones on the right are garlic pickles.  I'll probably end up giving them as Christmas gifts. 

Not much else has gone on today, except for getting the back yard mowed.  I took care of that right after I got back from the Farmer's Market, and even though it wasn't that hot yet, the humidity was so high, I still ended up drenched with sweat.   So, I took a shower and stayed inside pretty much the rest of the day.  

I should probably show you the hat I finished last night, too. 

Since then, I've been working on the Seaman's scarf, but it's slow going. 

And now, here's something I haven't done in a long, long time.  I recorded a song for you on the piano.  Truth is, I don't really like how it sounds when I record myself, because my playing sounds stiff and uncomfortable -- if you know what I mean.  It's like I'm hyper aware that I'm recording myself, so I get nervous.  I can play a song note perfect a hundred times, but when I turn the camera on, it's like I've never seen the piece before.  Oh, well.  I hope you like it. 

And to take your mind off the mess you just heard, I call this one Summer Symphony.  It sure sounds better than the music I make. 

Marty Mac's Moment Of Triumph

Somehow, I ended up with a pretty big infestation of house flies in my kitchen a day or two ago.  I'm not sure where they're coming from, but they sure are annoying.  "Hmmm,"  I thought to myself.  "What can I do get rid of them besides slapping at them with a newspaper?  Wait!  I have a Fly Trap!  A Venus Fly Trap!"

Enter Marty Mac.

  

I set him on the kitchen windowsill yesterday morning, and by the time I got up today, he'd caught and began consuming six or seven of the little buggers.  I put him back outside and killed a few more of them myself, and that seems to have taken care of the problem.  Mostly...There are still a few flitting around, but nothing I can't handle. 

By the way, don't be concerned about how manky the water looks.  It's just algae and not harmful to the plant.  I clean it out every so often, but in this summer sun, it's not worth worrying about just to keep it clean. 

On a completely unrelated note, look at this!

Do you see that blue thing right up at the top of the screen cap?  Do you know what it is?  Yep, someone has finally put a Pokestop near my house!  It's actually within walking distance, and maybe that will convince me to walk a bit more.  It's kind of weird that it's in a cemetery, but hey, it beats having to drive all the way into town just to spin one.  

Well, I came to the conclusion that my cilantro plant was done for, so when I went into town today, I picked up a sage plant to replace it.  

It is now safely tucked into the raised bed where the cilantro used to be, but I didn't take an after photo.  Eh, you'll get one sooner or later.  I also saw that they had some Black Eyed Susans on clearance, so I picked up the healthiest looking one. 

I'm not sure where I'm going to put it yet.  I'd love to have a stand of them naturalize and maybe even spread to that field behind the fence.  I know deer don't seem to bother the ones that grow wild, so maybe they'll leave these alone.  

By the way, what will probably be the last sunflower has fully bloomed.   

I sure have enjoyed growing these, and will probably save some seeds to plant next year. 

In other news, I'm not sure what's been wrong with me this year, but Independence Day was just like Memorial Day here in the Fine Martial Household in that I just couldn't get into the mood to watch any of my traditional Independence Day Movies, including The Patriot.  The only one I watched was 1776.  I guess it's OK to skip a year, right?  

Even so, I got plenty of knitting done on my latest hat. 

I just found that they've put all 10 seasons of JAG up on Prime, so that's what I'm watching now.  I'd seen season 1, but the rest had to be bought.  Now that they're included, I know what I'll be binging for a while.  

And last, but certainly not least, what with Beryl crossing the Yucatan today and entering the Gulf, I felt it was time to dig the ol' Jim Cantore Repellent candle out.  

Hmmm, maybe I need to get my friend to pour some Reed Timmer The Weather GOAT candles, too...

I'm Free!

 I'm free!  I'm free!

Until Monday, at least, and I know it will go by so fast...

I don't really plan on doing anything -- well, except for pickling the sweet banana peppers I've already picked, if I can find some mustard seed.  Walmart didn't have any when I went yesterday.  I was going to go by a locally owned grocery store, Grocery Basket, after work today, but I was so hot and so tired I decided it could wait until Friday.  I'm even considering going up to Batesville, because sometimes their Walmart carries stuff ours doesn't.  Eh, we'll see. 

 So, I knew what kind of day it was going to be today even before the day started.  I was up way too early as usual, and had started getting ready for work.  I checked my blood sugar, and that's where the fun began.  See, my meter connects by Bluetooth to an app on my phone, so I had opened the app then went into my bathroom to check my sugar.  About that same time, I saw the cat walking into my bedroom -- where the phone was still on the charger.  When the app received the reading from the meter, it lets out some sort of little cartoony sounding laugh, and in my sleep deprived state, I ran into the bedroom accusing the cat of bringing in a mouse -- even knowing she hadn't been outside. 

Don't ask.  I've long since given up trying to find an explanation for such things. 

Speaking of, my fasting glucose was below 100 again, so I'm pretty happy about that.  I'd started eating my oatmeal breakfasts again, and it doesn't seem to have any negative effect, so I'm going to keep on eating it.  I'm sure chugging all that water to keep from dying of heat stroke at work is also helping.  It sure isn't hurting. 

In work news, this morning I called Uncle Supervisor over and we had a little chat.  I showed him how jacked up the adapter tubes were on the order I was working on, and said, "We have two options.  We can scrap all 144 of these parts and re-order them, and if we do that, chances are the replacements will be just like this.  Or we can stand here and beat them into place with a hammer, which really slows us down."  We talked about a few more issues, and I mentioned that for some reason, the people over in tubing can't seem to set up by looking at a blueprint.  We have to set the order up in a brazing jig and take it over to them so they can see what adjustments they need to make.  I said, "When we're over there doing that, we're not here brazing, and we've got supervisors yelling at us for not getting our numbers, but what are we supposed to do?"  He replied that he thought Group Leader Shark did that, and I said, "No, WE do it."  We conversed a bit more and I said, "You've got to help us out, here.  Please help us out!"  

I doubt it'll do any good, but as I told Uncle Supervisor, "I just want to feel like I'm being heard."  

And finally, last November, my sister ordered a Christmas gift for her daughter-in-law, but since that company didn't ship to Alaska, she had them send it to me.  Well, the delivery date kept getting delayed, and finally she got a message saying the item was probably lost.  She was disappointed, of course, but was able to get a refund. 

Well, look at what showed up in my mailbox today.

They definitely took a long winter's nap on their way here.  Oh well.  They're here now and will soon be on their way to Alaska and my sister's daughter in law can walk around on my nephew's face.  

That's about all I have for today, so I will leave you to it, while I go to bed.  

Goodnight, all. 

Rough Day

We woke up this morning to the news that Beryl had increased to a category 5 hurricane, but thankfully, wind shear is slowly weakening her. 

 However, they're now predicting her track will turn North once she crosses the Yucatan peninsula and enters the Bay of Campeche.  

And yes, in case you were wondering, I did fall asleep listening to Ryan Hall, Y'all last night.  

Other than that, it has been a rough day today.  Every single order I got had something wrong with it.  By the end of the day, I was hot, tired, and very very frustrated.  Then I had to go to Walmart.

But look, there is hope. 

I know, I know, some of you will say it's too early for Fall decorations to be out, but they aren't decorations.   They're craft supplies and it takes time to make stuff with them, so sit yo' self down and be quiet.  

For us Southerners -- and even some Northerners this year -- Fall colors bring hope that better times are ahead.  

We still don't have air in the plant, but they put up a handy dandy urine color chart in the bathrooms. 

Yay, us! 

The best news is, there is only one more day of work, then we're off for a four day weekend!  Even yay-er us!

One more thing, the cat is almost back to her normal self, but she's still moving just a bit slower than normal.  She ought to be as ornery as ever soon. 

I Meant To Blog

I meant to blog yesterday.  Really, I did.  I'd even planned on doing a vlog, but you know what they say about best laid plans. 

It all started when I decided to mow before it got too hot.  I didn't make it.   

I only mowed the front and side yards, but by the time I finished the heat index was 106, and my arms and legs were jelly.  I put the mower away, came inside, and chugged three glasses of water.  Then I took a shower and sat in front of the TV for the rest of my supposed day of rest. 

Oh, and I should probably mention that I had to fix the lawnmower again before I even started.  The thing that turns when you pull the rope had slipped out of place, so I had to take the cover off and re-seat it.  It wasn't too difficult to do, just frustrating.  And I should also mention that I lost one of the bolts and muttered, "I'm about to say a few unwholesome words..."  I never did find that bolt, and the unwholesome words stayed in my mind, but the lawnmower started just fine, so I'm not going to worry too much about it. 

Anyway, I'd planned on doing a quick vlog after mowing I was drenched in sweat, so I didn't.  You get still photos instead.  Probably the biggest thing is that I cut the Cilantro completely back.  

I left a little bit of the stems to see if it would come back, and if so, maybe I could keep up with it this time.  I also saved the seeds, and am going to google what to do with them.  By the way, the granules in that photo are some Repels-All.  Something has been getting into my beds and digging holes.  So far, whatever it is hasn't actually dug anything up, but why take chances?  

I was also going to talk about my big sunflowers -- two of which have started to wilt already.  

The third one is behind Old Glory, and it was the first to bloom and the most wilted.  I think these are the ones that make the good eating seeds.  To bad I'm not big on sunflower seeds...I may try to save them and send them to Nate and Grace for Christmas.  Hmmm....

And this, the last one to germinate, has finally bloomed. 

It's pretty, but I prefer the yellow ones to the red ones.  

In other news, the cat came in gimping yesterday morning.  I checked her over as well as I could -- or as well as she would let me, rather-- and didn't see any signs of obvious injury, so I just left her alone to sleep it off. Which is pretty much all she did all day long.  She seems to be feeling much better today, so it appears a trip to the vet won't be necessary.   

I reckon she got into a fight with one of the strays around here, though I would have thought she'd have more wounds if that were so.  I just hope she didn't try to jump that racoon.  That thing would tear her up.  

On the weather front, hurricane Beryl is now a Category 4 -- and possibly even Category 5 storm.  

She is headed for the Gulf, but is currently forecast to make landfall in Mexico.  Still, it might be wise to dig out the old Jim Cantore Repellent candle -- just in case.   This would be the first time since 2021 I've had to light it.  In the meantime, Tropical Storm Chris formed and dissipated and no one even noticed.  Poor Chris...

And finally, there has been knitting.   I've been making progress on the Seaman's Scarf, but grew tired of working on it. 

So, naturally, I cast on another hat.   

I got this much knit while watching the season 4 finale of The Chosen.  And if you'll excuse me, I think I'll knit some more before I go to bed. 

Laters. 

Red Wings

The blog will be observing a day of silence for those brave men who lost their lives June 28, 2005 during Operation Red Wings.

Never forget them.

LT Michael P. Murphy

ST2 Matthew Axelson

GM2 Danny Dietz

FTC Jacques J. Fontan

RMCS Daniel R. Healy

LCDR Erik S. Kristensen

ET1 Jeffery A. Lucas

LT Michael M. McGreevy, Jr.

QM2 James E. Suh

HM1 Jeffrey S. Taylor

MM2 Shane E. Patton

SSG Shamus O. Goare

CWO3 Corey J. Goodnature

SGT Kip A. Jacoby

SFC Marcus V. Muralles

MSG James W. Ponder III

MAJ Stephen C. Reich

SFC Michael L. Russell

CWO4 Chris J. Scherkenbach

Tell it to your children, and let your children tell it to the next generation, and their children to the next generation.  --Joel 1 : 3

So that we may never forget.