All Ready

Nobody told me there'd be crochet!  

In this emotional support chicken I'm using, they didn't tell me there'd be crochet!  

OK, full disclosure, I didn't have to use crochet to sew the two tail pieces together, but I thought it would look better than a whip stitch seam, since the pattern said it's going to be visible on the outside of the piece. 

Still, I hope that will be all the crochet, because that little bit reminded me why I dislike it so.  And with the crochet out of the way, the rest of the chicken is moving right along. 

I know it doesn't look much like a chicken now, but it will.  Those six pointy bits will all be sewn together to make three tail feathers.  What I'm working on now is the back.  

In the midst of all that, I cast on a hat to take with me to the mechanic shop tomorrow.

Then I went out and cleaned out my car.  It wasn't that bad, but the floorboards needed a good vacuuming, and the trash bag needed emptying.  So, I'm all ready for them to look at it now that I don't look like a total slob.  Not that they'd much care, but I do.  

I have a wee bit of a confession.  I always a touch paranoid that I'll get all the way up there and they won't find anything wrong with it, so they'll think I'm crazy.  But if there's nothing wrong, why do I keep getting a puddle in my carport?  Granted, it's not very big, but still, I want to get a handle on it before it becomes something serious. 

Oh, and I finished another noxious chore this morning.  I did my taxes.  Ugh, but it looks like I'm going to get $864 back, between state and federal.  With that in mind, I went a head and ordered a mini greenhouse with the heat mat and grow lights.  I think I'm going to clean off a spot on the kitchen cabinet to put it, since I finally gave up on building my gingerbread house and put it into the pantry for next Christmas.  

It may be a little stale, but I still should be able to build it, right?  And that's the fun of them, isn't it?  

Heck, I may get a wild hair and build it in July.  You never know...

What Else?

If you've been anywhere on Facebook, Instagram, or any knitting website here lately, no doubt you've seen that emotional support chicken that's been all the rage here lately.  A few of my friends have made them, and yesterday, I decided I needed me one of those emotional support chickens for myself.  So, last night I got the pattern and this afternoon I cast on the first tail piece. 

It doesn't much look like a chicken yet, but it will.  Mine is going to be blue with kind of a dusty pink for the contrast color. I'll probably use some buttons for the eyes instead of regular stuffed animal eyes.  I'll have to go buy some more polyester fiberfill, too, because I gave all mine away when I was cleaning out my craft supplies a couple of years ago. 

In other less pleasant news, a few days ago, I noticed a puddle in my carport under my car.  It's right under my passenger side rear wheel well.  I ignored it, hoping it was a freak thing, but nope.  Whatever is dripping is still dripping.  The silver lining is that now you can schedule an appointment on the website, so that's a big relief for an introvert such as myself. 

And that's what I did when I got home from work today.  I guess I'll be sitting at the car shop Monday afternoon.  I'm going to cast on another hat to take with me, instead of trying to follow the pattern for my chicken.  Hats are pretty mindless at this point. 

I hope it's something pretty simple and inexpensive to fix, if anything for a car can be inexpensive. 

Speaking of, I ran across an article about Dave Ramsey on ...I think it was MSN.  I was checking on a weather alert, and saw the headline, so I opened the article and read it.  I'm sure you've heard of Dave Ramsey, the financial guru everyone seems to love so much.  Everyone but me, it seems. 

I have never felt his financial advice was very realistic, or as I like to jokingly say, "he gives financial advice for people rich enough not to need financial advice."  Usually, one of the first things he says to do is pay off your credit cards, which is something I can agree with.  That's about it, though. 

Next thing is to save 3-6 months of expenses in an interest bearing savings account.  This is where I stumble, because I've been working on this one for 30 years, and still haven't gotten there.  Every time I get a little money put by, something happens and I need to use it.  

Now, here is where he starts to get really unrealistic.  He says not to buy a new car until you have a net worth of $1,000,000.  A million dollars.  He wants you to be a millionaire before you buy a new car.  Hun, if you're a millionaire, you do not need financial advice!  

Anyway, the reason he gives is that new cars depreciate in value and you'll never be able to sell it for what you paid for it.  But what he doesn't seem to get is that here in the real world, ordinary people don't buy cars as an investment property.  We buy them to have reliable transportation.  I was 50 years old before I ever bought a new car, and if I'd known then what I know now, I'd have done it a whole lot sooner. 

Sure, it  has depreciated, but not having to put it into the shop every other week just to keep it running like I've had to do with every used car I've ever gotten has more than made up for that.   Having a car I can depend on is worth more than whatever the resale value would be. 

The last piece of financial advice he gives is to save up and pay cash for your house.  Seriously?   If you can pay cash for a house, then you're rich enough not to need financial advice. Oh, but he says if you need to carry a mortgage, then get one you can pay of with a 15 year, fixed rate mortgage where your payments are 20% of your take home pay.  

Yeah, even then you'd have to be ridiculously rich to be able to afford a home like that -- unless you're willing to live in a broken down shack.  My home wasn't that expensive as far as houses go, but still, there is no way I could afford to pay it off under those conditions.   I'd have to find a home for about $30-40k, and those aren't even worth living in. 

And finally, winter has come back for one last hurrah.  It's supposed to get down into the 20s tonight, and I'm thinking as soon as I publish this, I'm going to make me some hot chocolate. 

Stay warm, y'all!

Hit The Fan

It’s about to hit the fan out at work, I’m telling you. And yep, Demi-god is once again at the center of it. 

But first, I need to set the stage. 

Over in the sub-brazing department we have a big long table -- which is really a length of conveyor — that the parts stagers put bins on to get our orders together.  Once the orders are complete, she moves them to the completed orders area, and that's where the brazers pick them up.  We all have a little rolling table we use to get our orders, but Demi-god strong.  Demi-god no need table.  Demi-god pick up big orders with hands and carry to station. 

The thing about that is, our bins are pretty old, and most of them have gotten raggedy over the years.  Some of them don't even have bottoms in them, just a piece of cardboard that's been put inside to keep the parts from falling out.  One of these days, he's going to pick up one of those raggedy bins and the bottom is going to drop out and I'm going to laugh my butt off. 

But that's not what this story is about.  

Once we've gotten all of our parts out of the bins, we stack them under the conveyor so 1) they're not in the way and not a trip hazard, and 2) the parts stager can reach them from her side of the conveyor.  Well, today, Demi-god just dropped an empty bin in the aisle (so to speak) beside the conveyor and left it there.  Parts Stager saw him and went and said something to him.  

I'm assuming she was telling him to pick the bin up and put it away where it's supposed to go, but when she walked away, he gave her the dirtiest, ugliest glare behind her back and kept on doing what he was doing.  

After he'd walked by the bin twice and still didn't pick it up, a certain brazer who may or may not have been me needed to go answer nature's call.  And on the way to avail herself of the facilities, that brazer who may or may not have been me dropped a little bug in Group Leader Shark's ear about the bin still in the floor and the dirty look directed at Parts Stager.  

She went over there and made him pick the bin up, but he was not happy about it.  One of the brazers who definitely was not me said, "I'll be he can't wait to go tell his daddy about that!"  I mean, how dare we make him pick up after himself like that!  How dare we expect him to act like an adult!  How dare we expect him to follow the same rules as us mere mortals.  Don't we know we're supposed to let him do whatever he wants?  Because don't we know who his daddy is?????

But that's the problem.  He's so used to getting his own way on second shift and nobody standing up to him that he doesn't quite know how to handle being told no every once in a while.  Heck, it's probably the first time in his life anyone has ever told him no.  He's having a hard time adjusting to the fact that none of us are intimidated by either him or his daddy.  I've had run-ins with his daddy before.  If you want, you can read about one of them here:  Smart Mouth.

In other work related news, the plant has started playing this weird techno pop funky music periodically throughout the day.  It's awful.  Someone said it was supposed to motivate and inspire us, but all it's doing is annoying everyone.  I haven't talked to anyone who likes it.  Not one single person.  

Seriously, people, if you want to motivate and inspire us, how about you solving some of these problems we've been complaining about for literally decades?  That would motivate me a whole lot more than playing  that awful sounding crap all the time. 

I hope they get over it, because we already are. 

And finally, I was good when I went to the store.  I only bought two little boxes of chocolates.

They had more half price chocolate, but I resisted.  Really, I just wanted to get out of there.  

Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go get something nutritious to eat.  Man shall not live by sugar alone, you know. 

Laters. 

My Supervisor

I think I might have embarrassed my new supervisor this morning, though I didn't mean to.  See, what had happened was, yesterday I'd put in a vacation day.  Today when I got there, I went to the box and checked, and it had already been approved. 

If you've been reading my blog for any length of time, you know how big of a deal this is.  It's so nice to know that our vacation requests will be dealt with in a timely manner without having to nag and pester and worry and badger the supervisor, not to mention dealing with his attitude -  remember him throwing up his hands and saying, "More vacation days?"-- and knowing they still won't be approved until the last minute, if -- and that's a big if-- the day hadn't already filled up.  Oh, and I almost forgot having to justify to him why we wanted the day off in the first place, and if he didn't feel we had a good enough reason, he wouldn't approve it.  

That's why he got turned in to HR in the first place. 

As soon as I saw him, I called Supervisor over and said, "I just want you to know how much we appreciate you approving our vacation requests so quickly."  He kind of did the aww shucks thing, but seriously,  I wanted him to know how much it means to us after the absolute hell we've had to go through for the last year and a half.  

On a similar note, it seems the Demi-god of Brazing is figuring out things in sub-brazing might not be quite so easy as he thought it'd be.  They've already made him start filling out the paper work, which he didn't like.  He kind of rolled his eyes and said, "Y'all are still doing that?"  Yep, and you have to as well. 

But the biggie is that he's having to go by the schedule instead of picking and choosing the big orders of easy work.  When he came up there yesterday, he was walking up and down the line -- meaning the conveyor where the parts stagers put our orders together and get them ready for us to braze -- looking for an order he wanted to do.  The parts stager saw him doing that, and told him how she lines the orders up and how we know which orders come next, etc., etc.  

Well, I guess he thought those rules don't apply to him, because today we caught him once again picking and choosing which orders he wanted to do.  After he'd skipped an order and picked an easier one, one of the brazers stopped him and told him the order he'd skipped needs to be done next.  He told her he could do anything, but she made him put back the order he'd gotten and get the one that comes next according to the schedule.  He was not happy about that.  But he did it.   That's going to be a big adjustment for him, because he's used to getting his way all the time, because "Don't you know who my daddy is?"

He still isn't using the purge gas, though, which is another bone of contention with us.  As much as that quality guy bullied is over that gas, for him to stand there and watch Demi-god not using it and not say a word about it...let's just say, nobody is happy about that, especially the brazer quality guy picked on so much -- to the point of getting into her face and screaming at her to use that gas.  BTW, I told her if she wanted to turn him in to HR, I'd stand up for her, but she never did.  Turn him in, I mean.    

Heh, just wait until he finds out he's got to write his own scrap tickets now. 

OK, moving right along.  Today is half priced chocolate day, but I decided to forgo going to the store.  I'll just wait until my regular shopping day tomorrow and see if they have any left.  I don't really need that much sugar anyway.  

I came on home and went to check the bluebonnets.  I have nine little plants that survived the freeze, and this is the strongest one. 

These are the ones I planted last September.  

By the way, I looked on Amazon and found a seed starting kit for a whole lot less than the one on Burpee.  It's got a seed starting tray, a warming mat, and a grow light, and is about half the price of the other one.  

I still don't know where I'd put it.  Maybe if I can find a reliable electrician and get the outlets in my shed fixed, I can put it out there.  I really want to get the whole thing torn down and re-built.  I just can't afford it.  Not to mention the contractors around here will rip off a single woman in a heartbeat -- IF they show up at all.  The few who do seem to be trustworthy are way out of my budget.

Sigh, why couldn't I have been born rich instead of a side show freak?  

Saturday

 Guess what we're doing this weekend?  

If you said "Working Saturday," congratulations!  You win!  No prizes except for bragging rights.  I'm having a bit of mixed feelings about this.  I know my bank account will love the overtime paycheck, but I kind of got spoiled to having weekends off.  This will be the first one we've worked in over a year. 

But at least things are looking up out there.  Business-wise, I mean. 

By the way, sub brazing is saved!  That's right!  They moved his high and holiness "Don't you know who my daddy is?" the demi-god of brazing back up into the department, because he can braze 500 headers a day, don'tcha know.  Yeah, the rest of us could get a lot more done if we didn't have to do all that extra stuff that he apparently doesn't have to do-- you know like use the purge gas, put a brazer number on our headers, fill out all that paperwork, go by the schedule instead of picking out the big orders of easy work, help tubing set up their machines, ordering and hunting down partials, brazing our rod ends together instead of tossing them into the garbage, and oh, yeah, fill out our scrap tickets...

In other news, man was the fog thick this morning when I was going to work.  It was so thick at times I couldn't even see the road.  I was praying I was still on it at times, and thankfully, I made it to the plant safely.  By the time work was done, it was absolutely gorgeous outside, and warm enough I was able to open my French Doors and let some fresh air into my house.   By Sunday, it's supposed to be back down into the 20s again.  Springtime in the South...

Then I walked out to check on my bluebonnets and noticed some of the daffodils I'd transplanted to that same spot were coming up.   They're kind of hard to see in this photo, but they are there. 

I didn't want anything to impede their growth, so I took the chicken wire off, mostly so I could move the 4 X 4s and bricks holding it into place.  I guess the few bluebonnets that have survived the winter will just have to fend for themselves.  Maybe they'll be able to hide in all the weeds.  I stubbornly scattered a couple of packets of seeds out there a few days ago, but so far, haven't seen any new seedlings coming up.  

Burpee has a little mini greenhouse with a grow light, that I have no idea where I'll even put it, but I really really want it.  Maybe if I ever get my taxes done, I'll have enough to buy it.  I'm not sure what I'll do with it, but I want it.  

Speaking of surviving the winter, look at this!  My lemon thyme is putting out new leaves!

Now I need to get out there and trim away all the dead stuff, which I might do right after I finish this post.  

Right now, it looks like that thyme is the only thing that made it, but I'm going to wait a few more weeks to see if anything else puts out new growth before ripping it all out and buying new stuff.      

And finally, I'm pondering the irony of them handing out a pamphlet on heart health encouraging us to maintain a healthy weight...with a bag of candy.  

That's ADP logic for you.  

Dear Coworker

More specifically, Dear Creepy Weirdo,

Don't think for one minute I don't see you leering at me every time you walk by.  Let me save you some time.  

Just give up already. 

Just give up.  You don't have a chance, not even a miniscule one, because I'm telling you right now, you can't handle this.

I'm not talking about my aging body.  No, what you can't handle is what goes on inside my head. 

Oh?  You disagree?  OK, then, here is your task.  

Write a thesis detailing the role Richard III played in the establishment of The United States Of America. 

No, no, no, no, no, wait.  I changed my mind.  Let's go with Henry VIII.  I mean, all Richard III did was die at the battle of Bosworth in 1485, losing the throne to Henry Tudor.  Henry VIII was much more involved, so let's focus on his role instead.

I'll leave the length of your paper up to you, but it should be well thought out and thoroughly researched.  Also, I want this paper sourced and referenced, but I want you to write about your own ideas, and not just give me something you've copied and pasted from the internet.  Finally, be prepared to defend your conclusions in oral arguments in front of a panel of ...one history geek.

That would be me. 

Oh, and you must use correct spelling and grammar.  

Once you've done all that, you still won't have a chance, but at least you'll know what it is you're trying to deal with. You see, these are the kinds of things I do for fun.  It's how I keep my mind occupied while working at my no-brainer job.  Sometimes, I even do it in French. 

Now, if you'll excuse me, The Bard is calling and I must go.  That's Shakespeare, by the way.  You know, just in case you didn't know... 

So, leave me alone.  Seriously. 

Thank you.

That is all. 

Here We Go

 Well, I did it.  I dragged that cross stitch out and worked on it a bit. 

The first thing I did was to make myself a working copy of the pattern, because the first one I'd made wasn't in color, for one thing, and some of the symbols didn't show up a all.  I don't know why,  It's always a good idea to make a working copy, just in case.  

Then I had to go get my regular magnifying glass, because when I put on the reading glasses I had, nothing was in focus.  I had to hold the work right up to my face, which was too close to be practical.  I think I have some around here that are a different magnification, so I'll try to find them to see if they work any better.  

Anyway, I worked on it for about an hour while streaming the church service, and when that was over, I put the cross stitch aside and picked up my knitting. 

I got super excited when I saw the movie The Lost King was up on Hulu, so naturally I had to watch it.  It's about them finding Richard III in a car park in Leicester back in 2012-ish.  I remember back when that happened, too.  I was totally geeking out about it.  

Back in the day, I watched a documentary about them finding him, but it's not available in the U.S. any more.  There are others I've found that I want to watch, but I can't find that first one any more.  I'd also watched this movie when it first became available to rent, and was so glad to see it's not up on Hulu.  

This is one I can see myself watching over and over.  And on that vein, let me just leave you with this:

Rainy Saturday

 It has rained all day long.  And I do mean all day long.  

The poor cat has been so bored and restless, frustrated that she can't go outside.  I'll open the French doors for her, then she'll yell at me because it's raining.  I keep trying to tell her I can't stop it from raining, but she doesn't believe me.  She did go out onto the carport for a few minutes, but that was it. 

For me, on the other hand, it was a good day to get crafty. I finished a hat, 

then cast on another. 

Oh, and I finished reading The Two Gentlemen Of Verona, so I looked it up on YouTube and watched that while I was knitting. 

Next up is Love's Labor Lost. Now that Crank Pot is retired, and I won't have to listen to her bellowing across the break area, reading might go just a little faster. Man, that woman is loud.  

Anyway, when I was in the store yesterday, I picked up a skein of sparkly blue yarn. 

I was hoping they'd get some of the Red Heart Metallic in, but after waiting nearly a month, I settled for the Mainstays instead.  Now I just need to find some patterns and get some stuff knitted up.  I'll bet both of my sisters in law will end up getting Christmas gifts from these two. 

Speaking of, did you know the Pioneer Woman has a yarn line out?  I vaguely remember hearing about it, but had forgotten until my friend Marcy mentioned it the other day.  I've checked the app and our Walmart apparently carries it, so I'll have to look for it next time I go into town.   I'll probably pick some up just to see how it knits up.  Red Heart has come out with a yarn that is dyed to crochet granny squares with, but naturally my first thought was to wonder how it works up into a hat.  Unfortunately, I haven't found any, so I couldn't tell you.  

I'm supposed to go to Jackson in a couple of weeks -- provided I'm not working -- so I'll look down there to see what they have.  I think they might have a Michael's or something down there, too, so I'll check that out, too. 

But why am I going to Jackson?  Well, I'll tell you.  A week or so ago, I had an ad for a gem and mineral show pop up into my Facebook feed.  It's going to be at the fairgrounds down there, so I forwarded the ad to Cody and asked him if he thought Brennan would be interested in something like that.  She's a rock hound, you know.  About five minutes later, he messaged me back and said, "She's already buying tickets!"  Then they asked me if I wanted to come, and I know I need to get out of the house more, so I said I would.  

In other news, yesterday at work, my coworker and I were talking about the knitting book I let her borrow.  She hadn't looked into the bag until she got home, so she said, "I didn't know you put needles and yarn in there, too!"  I said, "Of course!  How are you going to learn to knit without needles and yarn?"  `She's going to try it, and I hope she sticks with it because it can be tricky at first.  At least she has me here to encourage her.  When I was wanting to learn to knit, all I heard was, "Knitting is too hard.  Just stick with crochet."  I'd have learned a whole lot sooner if someone -- anyone -- had said, "Try it and see" instead of discouraging me from even trying. 

Another coworker overheard us and we got to talking about crafty things.  She said she used to cross stitch until she hit that age where it got too hard to see it.  I said, "I'm right there with you!  I used to cross stitch, too, but now I can't see well enough."  

That's only partially true.  I can see if I take my prescription glasses off and wear magnifying glasses.  The only problem with that is, I can't see the TV, so that kind of puts a damper on cross stitching things.  I keep telling myself I need to listen to more podcasts or something that doesn't require me to see, and get some of my cross stitch projects done.  

With that in mind, I dug out one of my projects and...put it right back into the box I had it in. 

I found some podcasts on YouTube that are in Cajun French.  Maybe I should work on this for an hour a day while listening to those.  

Multitasking...kind of like trying to convince this cat it's still raining while blogging...

She keeps running to the door like she thinks it has stopped in the ten seconds since I opened the door the last time.

The Saga Continues

Remember back about two weeks ago when I said that Supervisor had told Group Leader Shark to tell Scrap Man to pick up our scrap and if Scrap Witch had a problem with it to refer her to him?  Yeah, turns out that was all a lie. 

And the way I found that out is as follows.

A couple of days ago, I had an adapter tube that had been smashed in the machine.  As is typical of tubing, instead of scrapping it and cutting a replacement, they just sent it on to the brazers anyway.   So, I took the bad part over to Group Leader Shark to get a scrap ticket, and she went off on me.  Started spouting a bunch of gibberish that I couldn't make heads nor tails of.  

I just stood there going, "What are you talking about?"  "What?"  "WHAT??"

In the midst of her inane babbling, I heard her say, "You know Scrap Man doesn't take the scrap out any more!"  No, I didn't know that.  Last I heard, he was supposed to start picking up our scrap again.  She said, "I know Pet Brazer told you that!  I saw her call you over there!"

I said, "Yeah, she told me that Scrap Man was going to start taking our scrap out again."  

Anyway, somewhere in all of that, I got the message that we were all supposed to be filling out our own scrap tickets all this time, only nobody but Pet Brazer knew anything about that. Group Leader Shark said, "I know you saw Scrap Witch over there sorting through the scrap!" and somehow I was supposed to get "fill out your own scrap tickets" from that.  From seeing Scrap Witch sorting the scrap, I mean.  She -- meaning Group Leader Shark -- said that Pet Brazer had been putting all her scrap into a little baggie and getting Dispatcher to print her out a scrap ticket every day, and she'd told us during the meeting she'd -- meaning Pet Brazer-- had with us that we were to do the same.  

Only Pet Brazer had never had any meeting with us.  "But I saw her call you over there!" insisted Group Leader Shark.  "Yeah," I said.  "That was when she told me Scrap Man was going to start taking our scrap out again!" 

We went round and round like that for a bit with GLS insisting we knew we were supposed to write our own scrap tickets -- but we didn't. 

Which brings us to today.  

I had a few extra parts from a couple of orders I'd done, so I kept them -- along with the parts tickets-- until the end of the day, when I took them to Dispatcher and asked how to do it.   "Do I have to write a separate scrap ticket for each one, or can I put them all in the same bag and just do one." 

He looked at me like he had no idea what I was talking about, scratched his head, then took the parts, set them to the side, and said, "We'll figure it out."   That was my first clue.  If Pet Brazer had been doing this every day the way Group Leader Shark said, wouldn't Dispatcher know how to do it already?  

Before the shift ended, I managed to catch Supervisor and tell him, "It can wait until Monday, but we have got to have a conversation about this scrap!" He said, "About who is picking it up?"  

"Nobody is picking it up!"  I replied.  Then I gave him the general rundown of what I just told you about, and said, "We need some clarification.  We need to know what to do and how to do it."  

So hopefully, we'll eventually get that sorted out, because something needs to be done.  

In other work news, we had a big meeting yesterday, mostly about a new product line we're coming out with later this year and about changes to the handbook.  It's no big deal, just the same stuff we go over every year, but you know how people are.  As soon as the rumors of a meeting started going around, the rumors of another shutdown over spring break started as well.  I tried to tell them it's way too early to even know that, because spring break is still a month away.  Someone did ask about that in the meeting, and TBMOF said there won't be any shutdowns any time soon, because we have too much work.  In fact, he's talking about opening another line back up next month, and the possibility of us getting some overtime in the near future. 

I'm not ready to go back to working Saturdays, but my paycheck sure will be!  

And finally, today was our favorite Crank Pot's last day of work.  We had a retirement party for her with a huge cake.

I'm not sure what we will do without her.

Well, we still have Greedy Bess at least. Who didn't even seem to notice the knitting kit I'd put together for my coworker.  Bummer.  I wanted to tell her off so badly.  

Oh, and one last thing before I go.  I've got daffodils coming up!  Spring is on the way1

Dear Coworker

 If the stall door is standing wide open, and the stall is obviously empty, there is no need to bend over and see if you see feet.  There won't be any, because there is no one in there. 

Furthermore, there is also no need to stand there and knock on the wide open door of an empty stall.  No one is going to answer, because there is no one in there. 

While we're on the subject, don't flush brown paper towels.  All they do is clog up the toilets. 

Seriously. 

Thank you. 

That is all.

Don't Ask

A few nights ago, I woke up in the middle of the night frantic with worry, fretting myself into a frenzy because I had somehow gotten the idea that I'd mistakenly added transmission fluid to my car’s coolant reservoir.

Don't ask. Even I don't know.

How do these things get into my head?  Especially while I'm sleeping? 

The backstory is that when I went to Missouri last August for my nephew's wedding, I noticed my car was running a little hot.  It wasn't in the danger zone, but was a little hotter than normal.  I pulled in to the welcome center just over the Missouri border and let it cool off a bit, then went on my merry way.  It did fine the rest of the way there and back, so I think it was from all the going up and down and braking and speeding up through the hills of Arkansas -- not to mention the triple digit heat.  

After I got back home, I checked my coolant reservoir, and it was a bit low so the next time I was in town, I bought some antifreeze and topped it up. That was in late August or early September.  Six months (ish) ago.  Why I suddenly started worrying about it Monday night is quite beyond me.  

Eventually, I fell back asleep, but when I woke up to get ready for work Tuesday morning, that worry was still with me.  I don't know why.  I tried to reassure myself that I would never do anything so foolish, and if I had, surely by now it would have caused problems with my engine.  It is now Wednesday night, and I still can't shake the idea that I've put transmission fluid into my antifreeze reservoir. 

This is what it's like to live inside my head. 

OK, moving right along.  I was going to tell you something yesterday, but when the news of Toby Keith's death broke, pretty much my whole blog post went out the window.  I'm still bummed about that, by the way.  I actually had a Toby Keith playlist on YouTube.  He's the only non-Christian, non sea chanty singer that I did that for. Anyway...

Yesterday, one of the brazers had brought something to give to another coworker, and she had it in a bag.  She told me that as she walked past Greedy Bess's table, Greedy Bess nearly broke her neck trying to see what Brazer had in her hand.  Even after she walked over to her stand and set the item down on her table, Greedy Bess turned around, STOOD UP, and was craning her neck to try to see what that thing was.  (I don't know, by the way.  Brazer didn't tell me and it's none of my business anyway.)

Brazer and I have been talking lately about her wanting to learn to knit and crochet.  She was going to buy one of those learn-to-knit kits, but today I told her that I would look and see if I still had the book I'd learned from some 25 years ago.  

When I got home, I dug through my cabinet and found the book.  I got an old pair of Boye needles and a skein of yarn, then put it all into a project bag from FFITS.  

I'm going to take it to her tomorrow.  Is it wrong to hope Greedy Bess gets nosy so I can tell her off? 

Speaking of knitting, Walmart finally got some of that sparkly pink yarn in again, so I can work on my sister-in-law's gift.  Now, I just need to find some patterns. 

And finally, the song that started it all:

Spring Fever

You know, sitting in front of a cozy fire, wrapped in a blanket, with hot chocolate and a good book sounds wonderful in October and November.  By February, I'm over it. 

I'm pretty sure I've got a good case of spring fever, and I'm also pretty sure the way to get out of my funk is to get out of the house and do something.  Alas, it's the funk itself that prevents me from doing just that.  Every day after work, I tell myself I'm going to go to either the lake or to the Nature preserve and walk some of those trails, but I don't. 

Until today, that is.  I had to trick myself into doing it, though, by making myself go pay a bill at the office on the square, and then to tell myself, "Self, since you're here, you might as well go walk that last trail at Lee Tartt."

And that's exactly what I did. There are four trails out there, and I have at one time or another, walked three of them.  Today, I walked the last one.

I'm glad I did.  Though I'm tired, it was a nice little walk.  I saw a pinecone in its natural habitat. 

Despite the recent rains, the water level in the swamp is still very low. 

I want to go back in the spring, after everything starts greening up.  

 If I can make myself do it, that is. 

After a nice, leisurely walk, I came home wanting a hot shower, only to find I didn't have any water.  Given the plumbing issues I've had with this house, I'm a bit paranoid about things like that.  Turns out, the water company had cut the water off to repair an issue in the area.  It's back on now, but still...I spent the afternoon feeling like I wasn't doing anything but waiting...for the water to come back on. 

I think I'll be very much perked up after a nice hot shower. 

And finally, I don't usually get all emotional about celebrity deaths, but this one hits hard.  

Wherever you are tonight, raise up a red Solo cup and drink to his memory.  He was a true patriot, who loved this country and always supported our troops.  He was legend and will be sorely missed. 

Fair Winds and Following seas.  

Rest easy, Toby.  We have the watch.  

Blahs

I'm back!  

I've been doing pretty good at blogging so far this year, but sometimes you just need a break.  Seriously, there hasn't really been anything happening worth blogging about, not to mention I'm right in the middle of a case of winter blahs, and yes, it's raining again.   I'm trying really hard not to complain because most of the state is still under some level of drought, but I'm ready for some sunshine and warm weather -- when I will then complain about the heat. 

I was debating on whether to go up to Batesville yesterday and walk the trails at the Mounds, but I didn't.  Well, I was going to go see if they had any sweat jackets on clearance at their Walmart, since I didn't see any at our Walmart.  Walking the trails would have been a bonus.  I ended up ordering a jacket from Amazon, and staying home.  I'd said I'd go into town and walk the trails at the Lee Tartt Nature Preserve, but then it started raining before I managed to get myself down there, so that didn't happen either.  

In the end, all I did was sit in front of the TV and knit.  And what exactly did I knit?  Well, I'll tell you.  I finally finished this headband. 

 It's just a simple K2P2 ribbing, and ended up being right at 4" wide.  I'd said I was going to knit until I ran out of yarn, and I'd say I got pretty close.  This is all the yarn I had left.  Cat included for scale. 

And because she wouldn't get out of the chair.  But mostly for scale. 

Then I cast on and knit another hat.  

This one is definitely going into the charity drawer, probably to be sent to the Seaman's Church Institute next fall.  Then I cast on another one, again for the charity drawer. 

I'm done knitting hats for people at work.  The other day -- I think it was Thursday-- someone I don't even know approached me and asked what my name was. 

I told her and she just started gushing and fawning over the hat I'd knit for one of the brazers, and I'm smiling and thanking her, but silently thinking, "No, I'm not going to knit you one."  I'm sure that's what she was doing, schmoozing for me to knit her one for free.  You know what they say about hindsight, and if I'd known a year ago what I know now, I'd have never taken that box of hats and scarves up there. 

Speaking of work, I put in for a vacation day for April 8, and it was approved the very next day.  What a weight off our shoulders not to have to nag and badger and argue with a supervisor to get a day approved.  Company policy is if the day is available, the supervisor is supposed to approve it, no questions asked.  Old supervisor didn't do that.  It was a battle with him to get our days approved, and if he didn't feel we had a good enough reason, he'd often deny the day.  Even if he didn't, he gripe and complain about us taking our days.  I'm so glad that mess is over!  

But anyway, I took the day of the eclipse off, but haven't decided if I'm going to try to drive to Missouri to see it, or just watch it here.  I'm not in the path of totality, but it still ought to be pretty good coverage.  What I'm thinking is, I can drive up to Memphis on Sunday, go to the zoo, then spend the night there and drive on up to Missouri Monday morning.  It's only about a 2 hour drive.  Then after the eclipse, I'll just drive straight home and go back to work on Tuesday.  

I reckon I'd ought to look for a hotel, too.  Oh, and I'll need to remember to order some eclipse glasses, too.  

And finally, Supervisor told us Friday that he'd put in the MTO to get the conveyors where we put our finished work moved closer and lowered a bit.  He said they asked him why, and he said, "It doesn't matter why.  I want it done."  

That's more back bone than Old Supervisor ever showed.  Now if maintenance actually does it, that remains to be seen. 

Dear Place Of Employment

Because you don't seem to realize it, let me clue you into a little something. An inch is a standardized unit of measure. 

It does not lengthen or shorten depending on which machine you use to cut a part. 

By the same token, a degree is also a standardized unit of measure.  

It does not change depending upon which machine you bend the part on.   

Therefore, if you truly are making your parts to the specifications on the blueprint, it shouldn't matter which machine you make them on, and it should matter even less that you make parts for the same assembly on different machines. 

That means if we put the parts into a brazing jig and one is half an inch longer than the other five, you did something wrong.  That's not "just the way it is”, and it is not because you "mixed machines."  If you do them right, they'll be right. 

No matter which machine you use. 

Perhaps it's you who should be getting your act together. 

Thank you.

That is all. 

That's What I'm Talking About!

Now, that's what I'm talking about!  

After weeks of ice, rain, and dreariness, today was just what I needed.  It was even warm enough after work that I was able to open the French doors and windows and get some fresh air into the house.  I almost --almost -- went to the Lee Tartt Nature preserve after work to walk some trails, but I didn't.  

I came home instead and piddled a bit in the back yard because it was too nice to stay inside.  I even got the ladder out and raked some of the leaves and sticks off of the top of my old chicken coops, then added all of that to my compost pile.  The big one, not the tumbler.  I'll probably hold off on adding stuff to the tumbler until it gets warmer outside.  

It was even warm enough I put all my plants out onto the back porch for some fresh air and sunshine.  It's not supposed to dip below freezing again for at least a week, so I might just leave them all out there.  I'm sure they're about starved for light about now. 

I really need to get someone out to tear all that down and re-build it.  I've been saying for a while that I wanted to turn it all into an open porch type thing, but the trick around here is finding someone who is both trustworthy and affordable.  The ones I can afford can't be trusted, and the ones who can be trusted I can't afford.  And yes, I do know this from experience. 

In other news, I got to work bright and early this morning and noticed one of the sub-brazers wasn't there.  Another brazer told me she had a knot -- and I'm assuming she was talking about a knotted up muscle -- somewhere in her neck or shoulder area that had been hurting her so badly she was literally crying yesterday.  She'd said she might go to the doctor about it, so maybe that's where she was today. 

Anyway, I told the girl I was talking to about how I'd almost gone home myself yesterday, because my back was hurting so badly I thought I was going to throw up.  She mentioned a shoulder and arm that was hurting, and another brazer came over and we all stood there talking about our aches and pains, and sharing stretches and such to try to help ease them. 

Yes, the topic of those Salon Pas type pads did come up.  I've already added them to my shopping list, but I'm telling you, I sure was wishing I had some Saturday night when I was in such pain.  The issue of how to put them onto my own back came up and my one coworker said, "You can bring them up here and [Other Coworker] will put them on for you!''

I guess when you work with people that long, they really do become family.  

The rest of the day passed largely without incident.  Though my back was still spasming, and the arm swinging thing does seem to help, the spasms seemed less intense than they have been, and didn't seem to last as long, so maybe my muscles are toughening up.  That's the whole issue, I think.  Between Christmas break and the ice storm, we'd all became couch potatoes.   Now that we're back at work, we're having to use muscles that had turned to mush during all that time off. 

Another thing I thought of was that it's been so cold in there lately --usually around 64-65 in the mornings -- and with a fan blowing on me all the time to boot, I haven't wanted to drink any water, because I've just been too cold.  I think I've let myself get too dehydrated, so I've been making a concerted effort to drink more water despite it being freezing at my work station.  

By the way, I think I know why Old Supervisor might have gotten fired.  I think he pointed out.  This is just speculation on my part, though.  I know he was salaried, but they're still expected to show up at work on time.  Old Supervisor came in late every single day.  They'd already talked to him once about it, and for the next week, he came in on time.  The week after that, he was back to his old ways -- not coming in until 15-20 minutes after the start of the shift.  As I said, it's just speculation, but it does make sense. 

New Supervisor, who will from this point on be known simply as Supervisor, came over today and asked why the conveyors were we put our finished work are so far away.   They used to be a lot closer until one of the production managers decided we didn't need such long conveyors and took half of them away.  I also saw him measuring how high our rolling tables go and comparing them to how high the conveyors are.  

Maybe he wants to try to move them closer and lower them, and to that I say, good luck. We've been begging them to lower those things ever since they put them up.  Gung Ho (remember him?) even put in a work order, but the man over maintenance said he wasn't going to do it because he didn't consider it that big of a deal.  Tell that to all of us women who have to pick those heavy bins up all day every day. 

But that's their attitude towards safety out there.  They don't care about employee safety.  They just care about giving the appearance of caring about employee safety out there.  If they really cared, a lot of things would be different. 

Same thing with quality.  They were out there complaining about our leak rate going up here lately, but they don't want to hear that it's because we've gotten a lot of oily and greasy parts.  That would require that they actually solve a problem, and Lord knows that's the last thing they want to do.  Heh, before the ice storm Old Supervisor actually came out and asked me if I'd noticed it was harder to get the rod to melt with it being so cold outside. 

You'd be proud of me, I was good.  I didn't mention that our brazing rod melts at 1425° degrees Fahrenheit, so I don't think it being 65° in the plant instead of 95° would make a hill of beans difference.  I just said no, and pointed out the oil all over the header that turns into a sticky brown gunk when it dries, but they aren't going to do anything about that, because that would require them to fix something over in Tubing.  And that would take effort and it's so much easier just to scream at the brazers.

How long until I can retire?