Dear Coworker

Dear Coworker,

That sink is there for us to wash our hands in,

not for your fat behind to sit in.

Now, thanks to you, we are down to two working sinks in that bathroom.

Next time you want to sit somewhere, plunk your gigantic behind in a chair.  It's what they're built for.

Thank you.

That is all.

No Ramen Yet

Well, it looks like I might need to hold off on stocking up on Ramen noodles for a bit longer.  Yep, we're working this weekend, Friday and Saturday.  I think I was just about the only person in the plant who was excited about that.  Edna told me to wipe that stupid grin off my face, right before she tried to choke me.  I'm never going to complain about overtime.  I'm too broke.

I won't mentioned this particular coworker's name, but she once told me, "I don't worry about the money.  I know God's going to take care of me."  Hmmm, did you ever stop to think that maybe, just maybe, the way he is taking care of you is by providing those extra hours? 

I know I sure need the extra hours, what with all the money I've spent this week, like, say... my shutters which arrived last night.

I thought they'd already be there when I got home, so I was planning on starting to prime them, but they arrived so late I was already getting ready for bed.

The first thing I did after taking a set out of the box was to run out and hold it up next to that questionable space between the front door and the window.  It fit, but just barely.

All day at work today, I was telling myself, "Yeah!  I'm going to go home and start priming those shutters!  I'm going to get at least one set done today!  Yeah, I'm going to clean out a space in my shop and get them primed!  I really am."  After work, I rushed home...and sat. 

That's it, I just sat.  In my chair.  All evening. 

I took just enough time to run out and take the above pictures, then I sat for the rest of the day.

OK, I fed the deer and the hummingbirds first, then I sat.  In my chair...

Speaking of hummingbirds, Monday one of my coworkers stopped me in the aisle and said he'd seen the video I'd posted on Facebook.  It's the same one I posted in my blog Sunday.  He showed it to his granddaughter, who was spending the weekend with him, and she thought it was pretty cool.

Some time after that, they were in the back yard, and he saw a hummingbird.  He loaded the girl up into his truck, and off to Wal-mart they went to buy a feeder.  Not ten minutes after they got home and got the feeder filled and hung, it was swarming with hummingbirds. 

"Here they come, Papa!" said the little girl. 

He he, I get to be an enabler for once!

To The Next Generation

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

So that we may never forget.

Sick Of Bricks

The weirdest thing happened to me last night.  See, I've been working on these fireplace bricks off and on all weekend.  Last night, I was laying in bed, thinking about how I was going to start stripping the base today.  You know how you can kind of see things in your mind?  I was seeing that corner of the room, and Squeaky walked through the doorway and went towards the kitchen.

Sigh, I miss my kitty.

Just one thing, I'm not one to anthropomorphize my animals.  I don't believe it was her "spirit" coming back to comfort me.  It was all in my mind.  My subconscious was wishing she were still here.  That's all.

Now, about those bricks, I'm about sick of 'em, I'm tellin' ya.  I think that paint is multiplying while I'm not looking.  Seems the more I scrub off, the more there is.  I am so ready to be finished with this project.

I don't know how well you can see, but if you look on the right side of this photo,  those things that look like hairs, that's the paint peeling out from those grooves in the bricks.  Getting all those off is what is taking so long. 

I've wondered would it look so bad if I just left them, and called it a design element.  But no, after all this effort, I want to do the job right.  I am making progress, just not as quickly as I'd hoped.  I'd wanted to get finished this weekend, but I'm not there yet.  That back corner is proving to be a problem, because it's so hard to reach.  I can't reach it with my right hand because of the angle, and I can't get good leverage with my left hand.

I have gotten to the point where I've started stripping the base.

I'm starting to think they used some sort of steel infused paint.  It took three applications of stripper and about 30 minutes with the wire brush to get these bricks this clean.  The good news is, once I get that top layer off-- you know, the one that's peeling off in large rubbery chunks -- it gets much easier to do the three underneath layers.  Yes, I said three.  Two white layers, then a black layer, then another white layer.  THAT'S why it's taking so long, and using so much stripper.

Like I said, I'll be so glad when it's over and done. 

You know, I'm starting to wonder if this whole thing was another DIY job.  It just doesn't seem like it was done by a professional bricklayer.  If you could see it in person, you'd know what I meant.

Anyway, let's talk about something a little more fun:  knitting.  I finished another hat for my friend's blessing bags, getting a head start on next year.

I started my sister in law's hat.

I'm simulating bulky weight by knitting with two strands, using a size 10 needle for the ribbing.  I'm going to do the body in size 11s, but I don't have any.  I had to order some from Knit Picks.  While I was there, I ordered some more bulky weight yarn.

It was on clearance.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Lord Love Her

My sister in law Paula, Lord love her, always asks me for hand knit hats for Christmas.  Hat knitting is right up my alley anyway, so it's never a problem to make one for her.  This year, she sent me this picture, with the hint that it would make a nice Christmas present for someone's sister in law.

After searching all over the internet, I only found one place that sold this yarn, and it was kind of expensive.  After careful consideration, I decided this specific yarn was out of my budget.  Well, not so much that I couldn't afford it, but rather I decided it cost more than it was worth -- plus the shipping cost more than the yarn itself did.  So, I did what any red-blooded American would do.

I found similar colors in a more poor-folk friendly yarn.

I can get several hats out of this, or maybe a matching scarf for my sister in law.  We shall see. 

As promised, I got out this morning and clawed up the roots left in my wildflower bed.

It looks a lot better now.  I still haven't seen any more spider lilies, other than the two that showed up a few days ago.  What has showed up are migrating humming birds.  I usually have two or three locals that hang around all summer long, but the last couple of days, I've been seeing a dozen or more.



I figure I'm a way station on their journey South.  I'm going to put out another feeder for the rest of the season.  I had several feeders, but they've all cracked, or developed leaks, or whatever, so I ordered a new one off Amazon.  It will get here Monday -- which is sooner than I would have gone back into town anyway. 

Funny thing, I was sitting in my living room floor, filming that through the front door when the mail came.  I was concentrating on the hummingbirds, so I didn't even see the truck pull up.  The carrier put my package of yarn beside the door, then knocked on it with her scan gun. 

Then I had to go change my pants. 

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have knitting to knit and football to watch. 

Mostly Lazy Day

I woke up way too early this morning for it being a day off and all, and couldn't get back to sleep.  Along about 5:00 AM, I finally gave up and got out of bed to begin what turned out to be a very lazy day. 

And what did I do on my very lazy day?  I'll tell you.  Not much. 

After running by the bank to pay my house note, I went on to the store.  You'd be proud of me.  I remembered to take my color card in with me.  Alas, I found no paint to match it.  I found this primer that is pretty close, but no actual paint. 

Since it is so close to my trim color, I thought about just priming my shutters, then putting a clear coat over it. I didn't think it would be that noticeable from the street, but I decided not to do that.

In the end, I decided I'd just use the paint I picked out for my eaves.  At least it'll match, and if I'm careful, the brush marks won't be too visible.  Well, they won't be visible from the street anyway, but I'm kind of particular about how I do things.

By the way, I texted the contractor a picture of the card with the name of the color I want, and he said he might be able to start on my house this coming week!  Woo hoo!  I'm so excited!  This house has looked so rough for so long, and I feel like I'm finally beginning to make some progress on getting it spruced up. 

While I was in the paint department, I picked up a can of light gray semi-gloss for my bricks.

I'd bought some paint a while ago, but when I tested small spot, I thought it was too dark for that corner.  This shade is quite a bit lighter, so I hope it works.  If it doesn't, I'll go with a light beige.  I really wanted the bricks to be gray, so it would look like stone.  If I turned the lights out and used a lot of imagination, that is.

So, I got home from the store, and when I came inside, both dogs came bee-bopping out to greet me as they usually do.  Alas, Jesse had a passenger.  I quickly shooed him out into the back yard, along with the big, giant spider on his back.  I'm seriously wondering where that thing came from. 

You know, it's old weather lore that when spiders come into the house early, it'll be a hard winter.  That's the second enormous spider I've seen inside in three days  -- along with a myriad of smaller spiders. 

 Let's talk about something more pleasant than giant spiders.  Look at this!  I pulled up those weeds from my flower bed.  You know, where I'd planted the wildflower seeds that got taken over by grass.  You can see my zinnias now! 

I also found a toad.   Much nicer than a giant spider.

Post - Gordon

I woke up bright and early this morning to a driving rain, brought up on by Tropical Storm Gordon.  I listened attentively to the radio, hoping against all hope that work had been cancelled.  I should have known better.  If they made us work all the way through Hurricane Katrina, they weren't going to shut down the plant for a piddling little old tropical storm.  So off to work I went. 

Where I spent a relatively uneventful day railing against a job that kept me from watching the weather.  Don't those people know there was a storm out there!  I needed to be watching the wind blow, and tracking it on radar, and measuring rainfall! 

I am my father's daughter.  It made me long for a paper tracking chart I could hang on my bedroom wall, the way I did when I was a kid.  Yes, I had my own hurricane tracking charts!  I knew how to use them, too.  But that's another post for another day...

Back to Gordon.

By the time it was all said and done, we'd gotten 6.5 inches of rain, but not much else.  Some people in town lost power briefly, but it was quickly restored.  So far, I've only heard of one death from the storm. 

Now we wait with baited breath to see what Florence is up to.  And the two systems developing behind her. 

In the meantime, look who made their first appearance! 

It's kind of hard to tell from the pictures, but those are spider lilies poking their little heads up.  I've always called them harbingers of fall, and that they are.

That's about all I have for you tonight.  I just wanted to check in and let you know I'd weathered the storm. 

Gordon

Well, that rumor that we would be working this weekend turned out to be not true.   When they posted the work schedule, I said to my coworker, "Better start stocking up on Ramen noodles."  I'm even thinking about requesting to go to B shift.  They're still allowed to work their 12 hour shifts...

The big plans for the weekend is to finish getting all that old paint off my fireplace brick, and maybe start priming it.  I'm getting so excited that this project will finally be finished.  Oh, I still have to find the right color of paint.  I want a shade of light gray.  I'd bought some gray, but upon testing it, felt it as too dark.  So, it's back to the drawing board...

The big news today has been tropical storm Gordon.  I took this video right after I got home.



I'm not ashamed to admit, I went outside and stood in the wind, just to feel the Gulf on my face. 

However, it was during this tropical storm monitoring that I discovered my HULU subscription doesn't carry The Weather Channel.  I don't watch it a whole lot, but at times like this, it's nice to have it around. 

The worst of the storm is expected to pass to the west of us, but I brought my flag and my plants inside anyway. 

No sense in taking chances.

First Day Back

The first day back at work after a holiday weekend is always rough, and today was no exception.  It was made a smidge easier by the fact that it was only a 10 hour day instead of a 12 hour shift.  After said 10 hour shift, I had to run into town to pay a bill, and I thought since I was already in town, might as well go by Wal-mart and see if I could find a paint to match my trim.  Or what will be my trim once the guy paints it.

I got all the way there, and just as I pulled into the parking lot, it started to rain.  I made a mad dash to the door, and got all the way to the paint section before I realized, I'd left my card in the car.  Sigh...

I thought about going back out and getting it, then I thought about not going back out and getting it.  The shutters won't be here for another 10 days anyway.  I'm sure I'll be back at the store sometime before then.  Since I was there, I picked up another couple of cans of paint stripper to finish off my fire box.

Or hopefully finish it off soon.  I've only got to tidy up this back corner,

and this part behind the wood box

and I'll be done.  Oh, and finish stripping the base, of course, but that shouldn't be nearly as much trouble, since they're smooth.  The paint should come off much easier.  It, like most other surfaces in this house, is peeling off in large sheets of thick, rubbery paint.

Fun times, fun times...

I got home from work to find a surprise in my mailbox.  OK, not so much a surprise, since I did order them, but I was surprised that they got here so quickly.  My friend Kristine -- the one doing the blessing bags for the homeless, for which I'm knitting copious amount of hats -- also has an ETSY shop, Stormy Blue, and makes candles, lip gloss, and soaps.

She recently put up four new Halloween scented candles.  These are two of them.

I haven't lit either of them yet, but Boomstick smells very interesting.  The descriptor says gunpowder and oiled wood.  The Camp Crystal Lake descriptor is even more interesting:  A walk in the woods and a campfire in the distance.

It's kind of hard to tell what they truly smell like until they're actually burning.  I got one last year, that when I smelled it in the jar, I thought "Ewww, this stinks!"  It smelled like bell pepper to me, but when I lit it, it smelled totally different.  It smells so good!

This is the first of her soaps I've tried.

Well, I haven't tried it yet, but maybe I will tomorrow.  It really smells intriguing.  But what does it smell like?  That's kind of indescribable.  The page says Cuban Cigars, cognac, and sea salt.  The sea salt is the only one of those things I have any experience in smelling to begin with, so I'm still a bit at a loss.

Anyway, I do encourage you to use the link above, and pop over to her shop.  Whatever you choose to buy, you won't be disappointed.

I can vouch for that.


Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go see what Gordon is up to...

A Day Of Rest

After yesterday's post went live, one of my faithful readers asked if I'd considered putting shutters on my house.  Of course, the answer is yes.  It's been on the list since I moved in.  I thought they'd look really cute on my house, and would increase the curb appeal.  I'd hesitated, though, because of this space between the front window and the door.

It's not a very big space, and I was afraid it would be too narrow for a shutter.  I put off getting them, thinking it would look dumb to have shutters on my other two windows, and not that big front one.

What with my friend's prompting, I finally said to myself, "Self, you need to get your tape measure out and settle this once and for all." And that's exactly what I did.  After I took the measurements, I got online and began searching for shutters that would fit that space.

Correction, shutters that would fit and that I could afford.  I was kind of surprised at how expensive they could be.  I saw some that cost nearly $500 a pair.  Yeah, that's not going to happen.  I kept on looking, and lo and behold, I found these that were the exact size I needed.  They are made of vinyl, and only $42 a pair.

The color even looked right.  I ran and grabbed my color card and held it up to the screen.  It was close, but not quite.  I wondered how obvious it would be if I hung them anyway.  While I was mulling it over, I glanced over at the left sidebar -- you know, where they have all the filters -- and saw the magic word "paintable".

I quickly applied the filter and look what popped up.

Yep, the exact same shutter, for the exact same price, only in a paintable vinyl.  I quickly ordered them.  They should get here in about 10 days, which will give me plenty of time to find someone to power wash my brick -- provided I don't procrastinate on that...

I got excited for a moment, because I'd already bought some primer for my bricks.  My inside bricks, not the house bricks.

However, when I checked the label, it didn't say for plastic or vinyl.  Next time I go to the store, I'll have to look for primer made for vinyls.  I'm also going to take my paint card and see if I can find a matching spray paint.  I think it'll be easier to spray paint it than to try to brush all those louvers.

Once that was done, I settled in for an afternoon of knitting and TV watching.  I worked on a charity hat for a bit, 

but it just wasn't doing it for me.  For the last two days, I've been hearing the blanket calling my name, so I got it out and cast on a new square.

As Cody once said when he was still little, "It's getting to be knitting season."  Heh, around here, it's always knitting season, but during the summer, it's little stuff like hats and scarves.  Once it gets to be towards fall and winter, the bigger projects start coming out of hibernation. 

One last thing before I stop boring you.  I bought some new daffodil bulbs. 

I'm thinking about planting them on the North side of my house-- interspersed among my spider lilies.  Now, I just need to wait for the aforementioned spider lilies to show themselves.  Then it'll be fall for sure.

Fall Is Here!

Today is the first day of September, therefore the first day of Fall. 

No, no, you may argue.  Fall doesn't start until the Autumnal Equinox on the 22nd.   True, if you follow the astronomical calendar.  Me, I like to follow the meteorological calendar, which means today is the first day of Fall.  Early this morning, it was cool enough that I was able to open my French doors and let the dogs come and go as they pleased.  It didn't last long, as the day got warm  mighty quickly.  Eventually, it got up into the 90s, but the air has that Fall feel to it.  So much so, I got out a wreath and hung it on my front door.

For those of you who haven't already figured it out, Fall is my favorite time of year.  The colors.  The smells.  Football.  The all too brief respite from the relentless summer heat.  I love everything about it.  I got so excited about its arrival, I couldn't help myself.  I ran into Cody's room and dug out all my fall scented wax melts.  And since I can never do anything halfway, bought some new ones. 

I bought this candle, too, but it was kind of a disappointment. 

It doesn't really smell like anything at all.  I mean, it smells good when you stick your nose right down into the jar, but not so much when it's burning.  I won't buy an other one. 

The other thing I did this morning was to open up my little sample of paint and paint a bit of my eaves. Technically, these aren't the eaves.  They are called something else, but I don't know what.   Yes, I know I could google it, but I'm not going to get pedantic about it.

I was going to paint a larger section right there, but alas, I'm too short.  That was as high as I could comfortably reach. But it's enough to see that the color I chose really does work.

Then I said to myself, "Self, since you've got the ladder out already, might as well get some more of that ivy off the bricks."

And one more thing before putting the ladder away.  I finally got my new flag pole up.  The one I bought a month ago. 

The old one had gotten bent in a storm.  It still worked, but didn't really look too good.  This new one is bigger around, and feels heavier.  It should stand up to our Southern spring storms.  That's why it took so long to hang it -- I had to replace the bracket, too. 

I spent the rest of the day watching football -- with a bit of a break to do the mowing.  Speaking of watching, the first game of the season was Thursday night.  I was watching, and it was getting late.  I wanted to go lay down in my bed and finish watching it there.  Alas, it would seem my Fire Stick has completely given up the ghost.  I tried and tried, and couldn't get it to do anything.    It wouldn't load any apps.  My phone app couldn't connect (the remote having blown up years ago).  Nothing worked. 

I did the next best thing.  I watched the game on my Fire Tablet, until I fell asleep. 

Yesterday, whilst doing my in town errands, I went and bought myself another Roku. 

I hooked it up last night, linked it to my account, and started adding my channels.  I got my five favorites downloaded, then turned the TV off and went to sleep, thinking I'd add the rest today. 

When I turned it on this morning to finish, lo and behold, sometime during the night, my new Roku had synced to my account and everything was already there. 

Ain't technology grand? 

Hallelujah, Take Two

We have the weekend off!  The whole weekend -- Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday -- what with Monday being a holiday and all.  Oh, you should have heard the cheering and whooping when they posted that.  It's been a long, hard summer, and we've worked a lot of hours.  We're all ready for a break.  Of course, the downside to that is they've cut all the extra overtime.  I'm back to 10 hour shifts instead of 12. 

The upside to that is I get to sleep in until 4:30 every morning.  So, yay!  But my paychecks will be much, much smaller, so boo to that.

One of my coworkers and I were talking about how people from the assembly lines come over to the sub assembly area and just grab any old bin full of headers that look like they fit instead of checking the pick list for the order number.  That's how they end up losing orders, or not having enough headers to finish -- or whatever.  Back when I was still on the line, we had a guy -- a temp-- who would pick up a header assembly, hold it up in front of the unit, and if it looked like it fit, on it went -- whether it was the right one or not.  I mentioned him in our conversation, and my coworker said, "If you can't be bothered to look at the paper, you don't need to be working here."

My response was, "Yeah, but the flip side of that is, if you're only going to pay temps $8 an hour, you kind of have to take what you can get."  I've said it before, and I'll keep on saying it, you aren't going to attract good workers if the best you can offer them is a beans and rice existence. 

But enough about that...

Since I have a four day weekend, just what do I plan on doing on my days off?  Well, I'll tell you.  I have a list -- which I really need to write down, lest I forget something.  The first thing on that list, I got up and did this morning, and that was to clean up that mess that is Tomato Man's abandoned patch. 

I'd started trying to mow it last week, but kept having to stop and clear the grass out of my mower discharge every two to three feet.  Yes, I said feet.  This morning, I fired up the old weedeater and knocked the worst of it down.

It was then that I discovered, not only had Tomato Man abandoned his tomato plants, he'd also planted cantaloupes, which he also abandoned.

If I'd known he had those out there, I might have taken care of them.  But then, probably not.  Like I said, if I'd wanted a garden, I'd have planted one of my own.

After I knocked the worst of it down with the weedeater, I got out the old lawn mower and cut the rest.  I had to raise my mower deck to the highest setting to start with, then I lowered it and made a second pass.  It looks so much better now.

If he doesn't come back and get those tomato cages by say, February or March, I'm going to offer them up in the local freebies group. Or maybe to my coworker who recycles scrap metal.  Either way, he is not planting anything there next year. 

By the time I was done, I was thoroughly drenched in sweat, and my hair was totally curly.  I came in and took a shower, then headed into town to do my in-town business.  My first stop was the paint store my contractor uses  --Ohlis Paint on Sunset, for those of you familiar with the area.  Very nice people.  Very courteous service.   

I was browsing the paint cards, and as soon as I saw this one, I snatched up and said, "Ooooh, I love that!"  I didn't even look at any more cards.  I just knew this was the color I wanted.  However, I did ask for a sample, just to make sure it looks OK with my bricks.  I'd hate to have Mr. Allbritton do the whole house, then discover that the colors didn't work together.

As soon as I got home, I ran out and held the card up to my bricks, and I do think they work well together.

Kindly ignore that hideous foam sealer around my windows.  I'd meant to trim that off, but just haven't gotten around to it.  It's on the list. 

Also kindly ignore my cruddy bricks.  Getting them washed is also on the list. 

Cody ran by after he'd gotten off work to start hauling his stuff up to his new apartment.  He likes that color, too. Probably in the morning, I'll drag the old ladder out and paint a bit of the eaves, so I can see it on a larger scale, but barring any unexpected hideousness, this is the color I'm going to go with. 

Oh, and I must remember to measure my windows for shutters...

Hallelujah!

Cody finally got into his apartment!  His name is on the lease, and he has his own key.  Hallelujah!  No more two hour commute!  I know he's grown, but I'm still his mother.  I never slept well until he'd made it home at night.   He's still got to find time to come get the rest of his stuff, and working two jobs, that won't be easy.  If they give us this weekend off, I may just pack up his clothes and his computer and take them up to him.

Speaking of weekends, having those few long ones really spoiled me.  Not having those days off this time, I've been really dragging the last couple of days.  I'd intended to post yesterday, but before I knew it, it was time to get ready for bed, and I was just too tired.

There were a lot of things I intended to do yesterday, but didn't.  For example, I was going to get out and do the weedeating -- particularly on that abandoned tomato patch.  However, when I saw this:

I said, "Yeah, that's not going to happen."  And for those of you who speak Celsius, here is your translation:

Eh, I'll get it done this weekend.