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.  

Yes, Another One

I'll tell you one thing, working hard makes you sleep good.  

That was probably the best night's sleep I've had in a long time.  That's what a good day's honest work gets you, and I'm talking about honest work -- not that stress filled frustrating mess we do out in that toxic plant I work in. 

So, other than watering my baby grass and filling the hummingbird feeders, and piddling just a bit in the yard, I pretty much took it easy today, other than finishing the hat I was working on, 

and casting on another one. 

This is the third and last skein of I Love This Yarn, and it goes by the rather unimaginative name of Green/Turquoise/Red.  

By the way, I've been watching Call The Midwife on Netflix, and I had completely forgotten about Jane.  Now I'm wondering what else I've forgotten from the first few seasons.  I've also been watching Band Of Brothers, and was pleasantly surprised to find the guy who plays Peter -- Chummy's husband -- is also in that.  As is Damien Lewis, and I'll watch anything with Damien Lewis in it.  

In other news, as you know, my twentieth blogiversary is coming up in November, and I've been thinking about it quite a bit.  About how much things have changed since I started -- and I'm not just talking about the blogging community.  

I'm talking about the world in general, and myself in particular.  I've never been particularly political on this blog, but back when I started, I felt we could have honest discussions about different world topics.  Nowadays, people have gotten so nasty and vicious, I don't even want to bring up current events.  I just don't have it in me to deal with the drama.  

Meaning, I don't want to deal with the drama.  Even from the so-called conservative side.   If you don't toe their line, you get called all kinds of names and told you're a mindless sheep.  But those people who mindlessly believe the memes and Rumble videos without verifying anything whatsoever are the real sheep.    

Oh, have you heard the latest kookoo bird conspiracy theory that's going around?  That Bill Gates was on Epstein island cloning thousands of human babies, and the whole pedophilia thing was just the cover story.  Indeed humans have been being cloned since 1854.  Yep, I saw those from two different people on social media just today, but don't you dare ask them for evidence!  We don't need no stinking evidence!  They're right just because they say so! 

Anyway, all of that is compounded by my own increasing reluctance to share my thoughts and feelings the way I used to.  I'm not sure why.  Maybe I'm just getting old and cranky.  Maybe it's because I no longer have family around and am feeling more and more isolated.  Maybe I've just decided that no one really cares any more. 

It's not just politics or serious topics.  It's the happy thoughts and good times, it's getting more and more difficult for me to share them on the blog.  Oh, I can mentally compose wonderfully thought provoking posts in my head, but when I sit down to type them out, I don't know.  It's just so hard.  Even typing this much out has been difficult for me.   

Well, I don't know where I'm going with this, but I do know it's almost time for me to go to bed.  It's back to work in the morning. 

Goodnight, Gentle Reader -- those of you who have made it this far. 

Item #1

Item number 1 on my to do list has been crossed off, which was to get the fence around my garden spot completed.  And the way that happened is as follows.  

This morning, the cat did not let me sleep in, but sounded her kitty alarm outside my bedroom door at 4:30.  On the other hand, I usually get up at 3:30, so in a way, she did.  She just didn't let me sleep as late as I wanted to.  

Anyway, I spent a slightly less leisurely morning than yesterday, because I had to run into town and and get a couple more gallons of stain. Apparently, Saturday morning is the time to go to Walmart, because there was hardly anyone there.  I practically had the store to myself.  

You'd be proud of me.  I got what I went for and only what I went for -- which was the two gallons of stain plus a new bag of deer corn.  I felt it would be easier to get it today than to try to wrestle it through the store in a buggy full of groceries.  

But that's neither here nor there. 

Oh, and while I was in the store, I saw Supervisor Greenjeans, and that reminded me that I keep forgetting to tell you he quit out at the plant.  He's going to another plant in the area, from what I've heard, it's the same place The Warden went.  You know it's bad out there when you can't even keep your management, not to mention your HR people.  

But let's not talk about that.  Not today. 

As soon as I got home, I put my painting clothes on and went outside and got the first coat finished, which didn't take long.  I'd gotten most of it done yesterday before I ran out of stain.   The can said to let the stain dry 2-4 hours before applying a second coat, , and while I was waiting, I put the second coat on the parts I'd painted yesterday.  

Then I came inside and watched Kansas State vs. Iowa State, until it was time to go put the second coat on the rest. I knew that would put me outside in the heat of the day, and briefly thought about putting it off until tomorrow, but I was already getting sore, and wanted Sunday to recover from all of this ...doing stuff.   So I put on my big girl draws and got 'er done. 

And there it is.  My fence with two coats of stain on it. 

Doesn't it look nice?  I think so, but then I am a bit biased. 

I tell you what, this thing made it so much easier to pour the stain into the paint sprayer.  

I had forgotten I even had it, but found it out in my shed a few days ago.  Not sure what it's called, but it snaps onto your paint can and voila, you have a little spout to pour your paint with.  It's even got a little cap on the spout so your paint doesn't dry out.  Pretty clever, if you ask me. 

So, that was what I'd intended to get done this weekend, but since I had some stain left over, I said to myself, "Self, you might as well use it" and that's exactly what I did.  I had enough to put a first coat on two more sections of fence.  

I'm eventually going to get the whole fence painted, but the rest will have to wait until it cools off some -- and I mean later this fall.  

By the time I was finished, I was wringing wet with sweat.  Even my braid and ponytail holder was sopping.  

The next thing I will have to do is get the spot leveled and smoothed out a bit, so I can start putting my beds together.  I'm starting to get excited about this, can you tell?  I'm thinking about doing a vlog, but I won't be able to post the link on FB if I do.  For some reason, they don't like my garden vlogs and always delete those posts, claiming I'm trying to get clicks or likes in a deceptive way. 

Someone tell me, what's so deceptive about herbs and vegetables?  

And finally, progress is being made on the latest hat as well. 

 I'm liking this Hobby Lobby yarn.  I can't wait until the store in Batesville opens up. 

Now if you'll excuse me, I've got to go.  There's a couple of games coming on in just a few minutes, and I'll need the computer to watch them both. 

Football is back, baby!

It Has Begun

What has begun?  Why, my annual Fall three day weekends, of course!  

I don't usually start until after Labor Day, but I had a couple of extra PTO/ETO days, so I'm starting early this year.  I mean, not extra days.  I still haven 25 PTO and 3 ETO days.  I just meant I had some I didn't yet use, and my company has a use them or lose them policy, so I had to put them in sometime.  

I chose this time.  Hey, it's as good a time as any.  

As usual, I have a long list of things I'm wanting to get done during these days off, but most of them involve me making phone calls, and we all know how much I love doing that, so we'll just have to see how that goes.  I will be sure to keep you in the loop on everything. 

All that aside, the nicest thing about these days off is not having to get up and rush to get somewhere.  Like work, for instance.  I can sit and savor my morning cup of coffee in the peace and quiet.  I don't even turn on the TV or radio.  I just sit and enjoy the quiet.  

This morning, it was even cool enough for me to open my French doors and let some fresh air into the house.  It didn't last long, though, as it warmed up pretty quickly once the sun came up, but before it got too hot, I was able to get this entire side of my fence painted. 

And I know I keep saying paint, but it's actually a waterproofing stain.  

It's just easier to say paint. 

I finally broke out that paint sprayer I'd bought just for this purpose, and after a bit of time getting to know each other, we came to a truce and really got to rolling.  It went sooo much faster than using a paintbrush -- though I did use a brush to smooth out some of the glumpier spots.  It's going to take two coats, but I think the second coat will go much faster and use much less of the stain as the first coat did.  I'm telling you, that wood was thirsty!  The paint was soaking in almost as fast as I could apply it.  

I got that first side done, then took a little break.  It was already hot in the sun, but in the shade it was still cool enough to go sit in one of my chairs by the fire pit -- though not cool enough for a fire -- and this thing came and kept me company.  

She likes laying by the chair while I'm sitting in it.  I don't know why.  In the house, she always wants to sit on my lap.  

Oh, and I finally found her brush, so maybe I can brush her more regularly and cut down on some of the hairballs, because yes, I came home yesterday and she'd gakked one up right in the middle of my bed...again.  Sigh, I'm glad I dug out the old spare comforter that was Jesse's bed and put it on top of my good bedding.  It's much easier to wash, and until we get this thing figured out, I suspect I'll be doing a lot more of that. 

It was an absolutely beautiful morning, just right for being outside, and if that tree in the neighbor's yard hadn't blown over a couple of months ago, I might have stayed out there for a lot longer.  Without that tree, my back yard gets much less shade.    

As it was, I came back into the air conditioning for a while, and after a quick bite of lunch, it was time to get back at it.  Painting the fence,  I mean, and I got this much done before I ran out of paint. 

But by that time, I was too sweaty and frizzy headed to want to get dressed and go into town to get more, so I'll get up and go in the morning.  I might even run by the farmer's market on the way.  Or I might not.  I might want to get to the store and get back home before the first football game comes on.

Because, yes, college football starts tomorrow!  There are only a few games, and none of my teams are playing, but I'll probably still watch.  Better enjoy that stuff before it's gone because NIL is ruining college football.  

I said what I said. 

By the way, they're still predicting False Fall next week, and I'm so looking forward to it.  I know it's only for a few days, but I'll take whatever I can get!

In other news, I've started watching Mr. Let's Play Piano Methods' videos again, because I was feeling kind of lost.  I'm still working my way through Alfred's All-In-One Level 2, and as you can expect, the songs are getting a bit more advanced.  Really, the things Mr. Methods does the most is to suggest different fingering, but he also points out tricky spots and explains a bit of theory -- though at this point there isn't much that hasn't already been covered.  

Still, I'm hoping that watching his videos will light the spark again, and I'll feel more motivated to practice. 

Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to get off of here and watch Leann's newest flosstube.  I usually watch YouTube on my computer, because I don't have to deal with ad breaks every five seconds. 

Laters. 

Rain!

 We're getting rain!  I hope it keeps it up.  My poor grass is plumb crunchy when I walk across it.  Well, except for the baby grass, which I water daily, I mean.  

Before the rain began, I was able to get my mini-chainsaw out and cut up the rest of the branches of that tree I had cut down -- the ones that were small enough for it, I mean.  I still have three chunks, but I think I'll have to break out the big chainsaw for those.  And I'm sure you'll all be please to know I did not try to cut my arm off this time.  I'd even brought home an old pair of protective sleeves and wore them, just in case. 

Unfortunately, all the rain did was make it muggier, but look at next week!  

Yeah, it may just be false fall, but I'll take it!  I'm so ready for a day when I can open the doors and windows and let some fresh air into this house, not to mention sitting outside in my chair by my fire pit.  Heck, if next Friday holds true, I might even put a li'l fire in it. 

In a bit of depressing news, our little town took quite a hit this morning when they announced that the paper mill would be closing next month.  It may not have been the biggest employer, but it was the heart of our community -- in the sense that it was sort of the dream job.  They paid well, and they treated their employees with dignity and respect, unlike my current employer.  

Not much else to talk about today.  In fact, I wasn't even going to blog, but I got so excited about the rain I just had to tell you.  Now, I think I'll go....I don't know.  I'll go do something. 

Laters. 

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.  

Did I?

There I was at work, just a working away, when Group Leader Shark walked by and told the three of us who come in at 4:00 to leave at noon.  She didn't get any argument from me, nor did she when she told us to start coming in at 5:00 in the morning.   

You know how I'm always complaining that I never have enough time to do what needs to be done?  What with this extra couple of hours off, you'd think I'd have taken advantage of it and got something done, but did I?  Noooo...

Did I go work in the yard?  Noooo (other than watering my baby grass, that is)

Did I give the house a good cleaning?  Nooooo

Did I make any of the myriad phone calls I need to make?  Of course not!  Don't be ridiculous!

No, I didn't do any of that.  Instead, I came home and sat in the chair in front of the TV.  Oh, but I did cast on a new hat for the Seaman's Church Institute, so there is that. 

At least it's something...  This is Hobby Lobby I Love This Yarn in blue camo stripe colorway.  

Since we'd gotten off early, I decided before I went home to run into town and put the book I'd just finished reading back into the Little Free Library on the square.  I thought briefly about running into Walmart and doing my weekly shopping, but I decided against that.  I've still got a couple days worth of milk and oatmeal left, so I'll go when those run out. 

Anyway, back in June I'd gone to the Farmer's Market one Saturday and checked to see what books were available, and I noticed that the door had broken off.  

I posted that photo in one of the local groups and asked if anyone knew who was in charge of maintenance, saying that I'd noticed the door was broken.  Very quickly, several people responded, including one man who volunteered to build and install a new door for free.  He'd even supply the materials.  

Well, today was the first time I've been to the square since then, and finally got to see the shiny new door.  

 Look!  You can see the book I put back on the far right.  

Next up, I'm going to be reading In The Hurricane's Eye, by Nathaniel Philbrick, which I also got from the Little Free Library some time back.  I figure it's about time I read it.  

I don't know if I'm going to put this one back or to keep it.  I'll decide after I've read it, but I've put many books into the LFL, so I figure I can keep one.

And finally, tomorrow is supposed to be the hottest day of the year, and they're saying it'll likely being the last really hot day.  They're saying we'll get a cool down the last week of August.  Oh, it'll still be hot.  Just not triple digit hot.

Me, I can't wait until it's cool enough to sit out in my chair by my fire pit and read my books out in the fresh air and sunshine.  

Soon...

All God's Creatures

There I was, sitting in my chair, minding my own business when I heard a commotion in the kitchen.  I went in to see what was going on, and found the cat was very interested in something hiding behind a cardboard box.  

"You didn't bring something into this house again, did you?" I asked as I moved the box to see what it was.  Much to my surprise, instead of a mouse or a vole, I found a little frog tangled up in what can only be described as a dust bunny.

Not sure what that says about the state of my house, but there it is.  Hey, when you work 11 hour shifts, some things just aren't that important. 

Back to the frog, I thought the little thing was dead because it looked so dried out, but still I picked him up, untangled him from the dust and hair, then took him outside and put him into the frog pond.  

I ran back into the house to get my phone, and by the time I got back outside, the little froggy was much perked up.  They don't drink, you know.  They absorb water through their skin.   In just that short amount of time, he had plumped back up and regained some of his strength. 

I went back inside for about 15 minutes, then checked again and he was gone, so I assume he went back to wherever he came from.  I hope he'll be OK.  We are all God's creatures, you know. 

Anyway, while I was out there, I went ahead and cleared most of the dirt away from the rest of the fence around the garden spot, until I ran into some fire ants and began seriously rethinking that all God's creatures thing... 

If fire ants don't exist in your world, get down on your knees right now and thank God above that you don't have to deal with them.  These things will latch on to you and literally curl their tiny bodies up with the effort of injecting their fiery venom into you.  God's creatures?  No!  More like spawn of Satan.  

Several bites and a good thick layer of Ivarest* later, I was back at it, and got the three sections on the west fence cleared. 

 I still need to wash that side, but the hard part is done, and maybe next weekend I can paint.  I know I keep saying it.  I'm just hoping that by saying it over and over, I'll be motivated to actually do it.  You'll all have to hold me accountable in any case. 

In other news, the house next door has finally sold after being on the market for over a year.  I haven't met the new neighbors, though I've heard it's a young couple.  There was an older man -- assume one of their dads -- mowing this morning when I was watering my baby grass.  He waved at me, and I waved back, but neither of us introduced ourselves. 

By the time I had finished clearing the dirt away, the heat advisory had been issued, so I came inside and spent the rest of the day watching movies.  I watched A Knight's Tale -- the one with Heath Leger and Rufus Sewel.  I hadn't seen it in ages, and had forgotten how good it is.   Then I watched the live action Beauty And The Beast.  That's always been one of my favorite fairy tales, even though the Disney version is quite different from the original story.  

Ah well, that's Disney for you. 

Oh, and I finally finished reading The Ship Of Brides, by JoJo Moyes.  It ended up being pretty good -- at least the last few chapters or so.  But I should say the ending made it all worth it.  Next time I go into town, I'll put it back into the Little Free Library, probably the one on the square.   We have more than one here in this small town, but the one on the square is the one I usually go to.  I suppose I should probably visit some of the others, just to see what they have. 

By the way, I've decided to try something different.  Instead of going into town every Friday like I have been for years, I'm going to wait until I run out of something, then go do my weekly shopping.  I'm hoping doing it this way will cut down on the impulse buys.  

Now, if I could just stay off of Amazon...

*Ivarest -- a mixture of calamine and Benadryl.  I get it at Walmart, but it's probably available pretty much anywhere. 

Do You Remember?

Do you remember last summer when I bought my first box of Victor Allen's coffee?  It was so good, a few weeks later I bought two more boxes (plus a box of Maud's, but we won't talk about that)?   But wait, there's more!  A month after that, I bought yes, another box of Victor Allen's!  

Yeah....

At long last, I am pleased to report that earlier this week, I put the final pod of all of that coffee into my carousel, and you know what that meant.  Yep, I had to order another box!  

Just the one this time, though, and later on in November, I'll probably buy one of the holiday variety packs -- most likely the one with the hot chocolate in it, but I won't go absolutely crazy like I did last year.  

Since I was ordering anyway, I tossed my little hobbit hole into the cart.   

It's as cute as can be, and it's going to go right up in the front -- provided I can make what's in my head a reality.  That's the hard part.  I can think of cute stuff, I just can't make it look like that in real life.  

On a similar note, I went outside after work yesterday, and pulled the last of the dirt away from two sections of my fence, and this morning I washed them down really well with the hose. 

You would not believe how much dirt was on top of that bottom rail, but I got it all cleaned off. 

Oh, and just for clarification, when I say a section, I mean these parts between the posts. 

I did a little bit more this morning, and got that third sectioned cleaned and washed, but didn't take a picture.  It looks just the same as the rest.  Anyway,  I want to start in that corner where the fence meets the house, and once I can see the beds in the space, I will better be able to visualize how it's going to look once it's all done.  I hope to get it painted once this next heat wave passes -- maybe Friday.  

I thought I might work outside some more, but we're already under a heat advisory.  They're predicting triple digit temps by Tuesday -- and that's actual temps, not feels like temps.  Instead, I cut some more basil and made another batch of pesto.  I have enough pine nuts for one more batch,  so in a week or two, I'll make that and I'll be done with pesto for the year.  

I still have a packet and a half of basil seeds, so next year, I'll probably plant them as companion plants since the deer don't seem to like the odor of them.  I'll do some more research on that before spring comes, though. 

In other news, one of my neighbors had a yard sale this morning.  I told myself I wasn't going to go, but I changed my mind and walked down there anyway.  She had lots of jigsaw puzzles, but I didn't get any because I figured the Incarnation Of Evil wouldn't leave them in peace.  She also had pots and pans and various other things, but in the end, the only thing I got was this electric fake fireplace heater. 

They plugged it in and let me verify that it still worked, and even carried it back to the house for me.  The cat wasn't too sure about it, but I told her she'd like it more when it's cold outside and she has a nice warm place to snuggle up to. 

And finally, we have a hurricane.  Not just any hurricane, a major category 5 hurricane.  

Erin was just a tropical storm yesterday morning, and in just 24 hours, she's a Cat 5.  

My first thought was, "Well, that escalated quickly."  

She's still expected to be a fish storm, though she will likely cause high winds and waves along the east coast.  

With that in mind, I think I'll go watch on of the documentaries on  Hurricane Katrina, which made landfall in Waveland, MS 20 years ago this month.  Oh, and if you're a weather geek like me and aren't watching the Discovery channel series In The Eye Of The Storm, you really should.  

It's good. 

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.  

And We're Off!

We're off again this Saturday.  

While I'm glad of the day off, it is a bit concerning that we're having so many weekends off this year.  Supervisor Maxwell keeps saying the work is there, so why aren't we working?  There is usually a Fall slowdown, but not until late September or early October.  

Anyway, my plan for the weekend is to try to get all of that red clay dirt away from my fence in the garden spot so I can get that fence painted.  Once that is done, I'll finally be able to get that spot leveled and maybe start putting my raised beds into place.  But it's still August after all, and it's still very hot.  

This afternoon we had a heat index of 106°, so I didn't do much outside other than water my plants and fill the deer trough and bird bath.  Oh, and I scattered the rest of that jug of grass seed in a couple more spots, but I didn't take pictures of them.  They just look like dirt at the moment, but I'll tell ya, that thatching rake I bought is great for scuffing up the surface of the ground for sowing seeds.  

I've said it before, and I'll say it again, that's quite possibly the best investment I've made as far as lawn and gardening tools.    

I think the other thing I'm going to do this weekend is to get all of my charity hats washed, tagged, and ready to send off to the Seaman's Church Institute.  In the meantime, I'm still knitting on the sock yarn hats.  

 Well, since I can't remember what else it was I wanted to talk about, I'll guess I'll end this for now.  I found Dinotopia on Prime, so I'm going to watch an episode before bed.  Cody loved that show when he was a kid.  

The Saga

The saga of the baby sweater is, yes, finally over!  

My sister went and picked up the package yesterday, but forgot to tell me until today.  I'm going to cut her a little slack, though, because she was a bit distracted...

by her first grandbaby, who made his appearance at 4:51 yesterday afternoon, weighing in at 7 lbs even and 19 inches long.   He looks so teeny in proud daddy's arms. 

 It'll be a minute before he grows into that sweater, I think.  My sister might be able to wear it in the mean time.  She's the short one...

In slightly less exciting news, here is an update on my little baby grass.    

The other patch isn't doing as well as this one.  I think I didn't scatter the seed thickly enough in that one.  I've still got half a jug of seed left, so I may put some more out there, but not today.  

I'd thought I might get out and work in the yard a bit this afternoon, but as the workday went on, I got more and more sore from yesterday's exertions.  Instead, I'm taking it easy this afternoon, knitting and catching up on more of my Shark Week shows.  

I haven't cast on anything new.  I'm working on some of my sock yarn hats that I've already got on the needles.  If they're going to be Christmas gifts, I'd better get them finished.  

And finally, this is where I tried to cut my arm off with the mini chainsaw.  

 'Tis but a scratch, but I think next time, I'll wear some of the protective arm sleeves they give us at work.  Oh, and I had leather gloves on, but the chain hit me right below the cuff.  

Still, it could have been so much worse.  

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.  

The Saga Continues

Just when you thought it was over, it's not over.  What am I talking about?  The saga of the baby sweater, of course.  

For those of you who don't know, my oldest nephew and his wife are expecting their first baby any day now.  Back when my sister first told me, I immediately whipped out a five hour baby sweater -- which in reality took way longer than just five hours.  

The knitting itself went pretty quickly, but as I hate seaming, the sweater sat untouched for a few weeks until I could work up the oomph to do the seams.  I finally got them done, but then ran into another snag, because I'd lost the buttons I'd bought for the sweater.  

After searching the whole house over multiple times, I finally found them down between the cushions of my recliner -- where I had also already looked, but hadn't shoved my hand down deeply enough -- sewed them on, then got it all packaged up and ready to mail.  The next day after work, I went to the post office...and it was closed because apparently nobody had shown up to work that morning. It would be four days before I went back into town and finally got the package mailed. 

It was supposed to arrive at my sister's P.O. box in five days, but when that day came and went and my sister still hadn't acknowledged it, I checked the tracking number.  It was still in Colorado.  Why?  Your tax dollars at work. 

I checked again the next day, and the sweater had made it to Seattle, WA, but spent three days wandering around Washington state before finally making it to Alaska.  Whew!  It was finally over.  

Or so I'd thought. 

A few days went by, and my sister still hadn't acknowledged the gift, but I didn't think too much about it.  Someone would pick it up soon.  I checked again yesterday morning, and they still hadn't picked it up -- and by that time, it had been sitting in the post office for a week.  

I'd wanted it to be a surprise, but at that point, I thought it was best to say, "HEY!  GO GET YOUR PACKAGE!", and that's exactly what I did.  I texted my sister and told her it was there, and she replied that they'd been crazy busy and no one had gone to pick up the mail, but she'd make sure someone would get it Monday.  I just hope the post office doesn't decide to return it before they get there!  

Hopefully, she'll get it tomorrow, and then the saga will finally be over.  And I can relax again. 

In other news, I'd decided not to get the roto tiller out today, but it just wouldn't stop calling my name.  I tried to ignore it, reminding said tiller that this was the day of rest, but it was very persistent, so I gave in and started breaking up some of the high spots the landscammer left in my back yard. 

I know it's hard to tell from this photo, but this is one of those high spots.  I've also decided that the other landscaper has forgotten me, so I'm going to have to do this the hard way.  It's going to take forever, but I want to get it done before the grass spreads too far, since grass tends to wind around the axle of the tiller.  

So I broke up a small area, then started sifting the dirt, and putting some of it into the ruts the landscammer left with his skid steer.  You know, the ones he didn't fill in because I didn't tell him they were a problem.

But Becky, why don't you just scoot the dirt over into the ruts?  Why do you have to sift it first?

Well, I'll tell you.  I think this landscammer got that dirt from a garbage dump.  Not only is it full of rocks -- which I don't want in my yard anyway -- I've picked so much trash out of it, like water bottles, broken pieces of PVC, and even bits of broken glass.  Not only that, the dirt smells like something dead.  I'd been accusing the cat of leaving a dead animal in the yard, but I never found one, so I can only conclude it's the dirt.  I don't know why on earth he would think anyone would want that mess in her yard.  

Not to mention, I never told him to spread dirt in the back.  He was supposed to spread dirt in the front -- which he did not do.  In a way, I'm glad, because I sure wouldn't want this mess in my front yard.  I mean, I don't want it in the back, either, but at least I can hide the back from nosy neighbors. 

Once the weather starts cooling off a bit, I'll be able to make more progress, but right now it's still too hot to be outside very long.  Before I put the roto tiller back up, just for funsies I went over the garden spot once. 

 There is something almost theraputic about running a roto tiller.  Just not through red clay...

That red clay, when it's dry it's hard as a rock, but when it's wet, it's an absolute gummy mess.  I was going to go over it twice -- once North to South, then again East to West, but by the time I got done with the first time, I was bushed.  

So I came inside, took a shower and caught up on Marcy's and Leann's latest flosstubes. 

I might cast on another hat here in a bit, but my hands have been so sore this last week, I haven't even felt like knitting.  Or writing letters, but it's OK.  I'll get both done sooner or later. 

And finally, I keep forgetting to tell you, I finished reading the second book of The Pendragon Cycle, Merlin, by Stephen R. Lawhead, and started the third one, Arthur.  I'm also finally past the halfway point in Ship Of Brides, by Jojo Moyes.  It's an OK book, but not really my style.  Still, I'm determined to finish it. 

In fact, I think I'll get off of here and go read another chapter. 

Laters.