For 10 Minutes, They Said

Hmmm, I read somewhere that if you aspire to be a writer, you should write for 10 minutes every day, even if you have nothing to say.  I'm thinking this might be one of those 10 minutes of gibberish posts. 

Remember when you were little and your mother told you things?  Words of wisdom, and the like.  Remember this one:

If you can't say anything nice, then don't say anything at all.

With that in mind, I will not be talking about work tonight, because if I did, I couldn't say anything nice, and too many bosses read my blog anyway, and if I said what I really wanted to, I'd probably end up getting fired.  We'll just leave it at it wasn't pretty and talk about more pleasant things, like my cat's poop.

In regards to that, there is good news and bad news.  The bad news is, she's still straining a bit.  The good news is, she seems to be going more frequently, and isn't dribbling as much blood afterwards as she used to.  It seems things are moving in the right direction.  Get it?  "Moving"  Ok, then, never mind.

The most exciting thing I did all day -- outside of work, which I'm not going to talk about-- is to pull the rest of my painter's tape off my living room walls.  Maybe this weekend I can get the trim painted.  Oh, wait, I volunteered to go to that place I'm not talking about tonight.  Every day.  Sunday, too.

Eh, it'll get done eventually.

Oh, here's something I can tell you about.  I'd meant to post things about my trip to Texas, but when I got back, I was so overwhelmed with homesickness I never got around to it.  Now that I'm a bit stronger, I can start talking about things.  Things like this:

These are my cousins' cattle.

Back when Harvey hit, they stood in water for over a week.  Even after the flood waters receded, their pasture was pretty much ruined.  It's starting to recover a bit, but the cousins are still supplementing them with hay.  Every day, James and I -- and Cody if he wasn't working -- would go out and give them a couple of bales of hay.

I think I found my dream job.  I love feeding livestock.  Even before I went into the Navy, I'd feed the chickens, or my uncle's goats, cattle, or whatever he had.  I could do that all day -- just going around feeding cattle for people...I told James if I lived there, I'd take over that job, just like I took over feeding the chickens all those years ago.

One day, after feeding, we had returned to the house, and I was standing in the car port just watching the woods.  Cousin Will drove by.

Now, Will is a distant cousin of mine, being a Winfree and all, but he is closer to Beverly on her dad's side.  Will's grandmother is Beverly's father's sister.  He's the one that got them out when they were flooded by the storm.

So anyway, I was standing in the carport watching the woods, when Will drove by.  He owns the pasture behind Beverly and James'.   He was towing a trailer with a half grown horse in it.  About that time, James walked up behind me.  "Who is that?" he asked.

"Little Will," I said.  "...And I'm just watching him like he's TV."

We watched him a few more minutes as he put his horse in the pasture. I said, "Actually, this is better than TV."  And I should probably quit calling him Little Will, since he's getting close to 50.

OK, that's about 10 minutes, and I can't think of anything else anyway, and I'm ready to go to bed.  So that's it for tonight.

Goodnight.

Sleep Deprivation

Hello sleep deprivation, my old friend.
I'm glad to have you back again...

For the last several weeks at work, I've been on the early morning clean up crew.  I'm trying to get on the early morning stand around and eat chips while playing on my phone crew, but apparently that one is fully staffed.  So, I'm on the early morning clean up crew.

Last week, I asked my group leader if we'll still be coming in early when we switch to the new schedule.  She said she was going to come in at 4:00, so I said, "Me, too!".

When that alarm went off at 2:45 this morning, it was definitely one of those what was I thinking? moments.  I lay there and seriously, albeit briefly, thought about resetting the alarm and going in with the regular shift.  Then I remembered how much credit card debt I still have, and dragged my weary bones out of bed and to work.

Where I spent 12 hours doing my best zombie impression.

At the end of the day, Group Leader came back around and told me Supervisor said to start coming in at 5:00 AM.  I was secretly relieved.  I can do 5:00.  Yay 5:00!

I'm still signing up to work the weekends, too.  I wonder how many people are going to show up Sunday.  I'd forgotten it was Super Bowl Sunday since I'm done with the NFL until someone said there probably won't be many people at work.    I also heard that several more people have quit.  They don't want to work the long hours, or the weekends all the time.  I'm just watching to see how it all turns out.

I was standing there at my stand, just a working away, when I mentally composed a limerick about how done I am with the NFL.  It is as follows:

I'm done with the NF of L
Until they get rid of Goodell
And do a haul - keeling
Of those who are kneeling
And Jerry Jones must go as well


But enough about those spoiled, whiny brats who want to protest the very country who made them millionaire celebrities....

I finished painting my walls yesterday.  I was going to start the trim this evening.  I wanted to do these two walls first, so I could move my furniture back into place.

However, I'm out of painter's tape.  No problem.  I'd just run to the store and get some.  But something inside me rebelled.

No!  No, dadgum it NO!  I'd been to that store 4 times last week and I'm not going again!  The trim will just have to wait until after Friday.

The next project will be to replace that felt thing on my dryer that keeps it from shrieking like a banshee when it's running.  Oh, it still works.  It dries the clothes.  It just shrieks like a banshee.  So, that's next.  And finally getting my bathroom sink unclogged.  And finishing the fireplace brick.  And getting the eaves repaired and painted.  Sigh, it's always something.

My dad once said, "This home ownership stuff is for the birds."

I'm beginning to think he had a point.

Alternate Schedule

Yesterday was the first day of the much ballyhooed Alternate Schedule.  I'd volunteered to go in, and my supervisor told me I'd be working on Line 1.

I got there bright and early, and reported to my assigned work area.  Line 1 Group Leader asked if I knew how to put on labels.  I said, "Not really", because I couldn't remember if I'd ever done that before.  Then she asked if I could put on tie bars.

Oh, yeah, I can put some tie bars.

So there I was at work, just a working away, happily putting on tie bars, when Group Leader called me over, telling me C Shift Production Supervisor wanted to move me somewhere to braze.  I gathered up my things and went over to see where he wanted me.  He said, "I'm not having you putting on tie bars all day!"

At last!  Someone who recognizes my skills as a brazer!  My own Group Leader will move me off my stand and have me do menial work that anyone off the street can do.  You'd think she thought I couldn't braze at all -- yet she refuses to move me off her line...but that's a different story for a different day.

C Shift Prod Sup sent me over to line 7 to line braze. There I was at work, just a working away, happily line brazing on line 7,  when line 7 Supervisor called me over. "I'd rather have you sub-brazing," he said.  All righty, then.

A few hours later, there I was at work, just a working away, happily sub brazing on line 7 when I noticed three boss-type personages deep in conversation.  Suddenly, one of them turned to me and said, "Can't you braze nuts?"

"Yeah," I said.

"Go braze nuts," he said.

And that's where I spent the rest of my day.  I'm telling ya, after working with C shift tubing department for a day, I'm starting to understand why we never had any work ready when they were on the night shift.  There was a whole lotta nothing going on over there.  It took them 12 hours to do about 4 hours worth of work.  I didn't braze a whole heck of a lot of work, because there wasn't a whole heck of a lot of work to braze.  I don't mind going where you need me, but sheesh, at least need me where you send me!

Sometime during the day, one of my coworkers asked me if I was working Sunday.  I told him I hadn't signed up, so no.  He said he hadn't either, but they'd asked him to come in because -- as he put it -- "people was quittin' like crazy."  Later, I went and asked one of the regular C shift people if a lot of people had quit.  She said they had, and a lot more was going to quit.  To make matters worse, the day care that was supposed to open at 4:30 to accommodate our new hours wasn't open.  There were people up there waiting to drop off their kids, and no one was there.  I don't know what happened with that.

I waited all day to see if anyone would ask me to come in, but nobody did, so I came home and started priming.  I tried to move Rylea's love seat into the kitchen/dining area so she could still sleep on it while I'm painting, but I couldn't get it through the door.  I said to myself, "Self, you got it in this room, there must be a way to get it out."  Except that the way I got it into the room has moved back to Texas.

Rylea spent all day walking around the house moping and groaning, but she'll live through it.

"No, I won't," she said. 

But she did. 

Once I got all the furniture out, I started priming.  I did two walls, then decided I was way to tired to keep going, and went to bed.

I got up ridiculously early this morning, and finished priming.  It was at this point when I began to think that primer gray was such a lovely color maybe I should leave it that way.  You'll be happy to know I didn't.  I finished painting it, except the trim. 

By the time I was done with that, I was wiped out.  I took a shower -- because I got as much paint on myself as I did on the walls -- and now I'm just sitting. 

That's all I'm going to do for the rest of the day. 

Murphy's Week

Boy am I glad I bought that Swiffer Wet Jet.

That's exactly what I said to myself when I got home and saw what was waiting for me in the floor.   It was one of the dogs this time, so it was a big pile.  "Boy, am I glad I bought that Swiffer Wet Jet."  A few squirts, a few swishes, and we have a clean floor once again.

And the mayhem at work continues.  I'm starting to think this is some sort of initiation process or something.  I told my coworker that all this trouble we've been having is God's way of telling us he doesn't want us to go to the new schedule.  But to the new schedule we are going, despite the fact that 99.9% of the employees hate it.  We've already had a couple of people quit over it -- one girl stating that she didn't want to work all those long hours, and another stating she didn't want to work the weekend shift. 

After all this time, I'm used to it, me. 

I was determined to come home this afternoon and start priming my walls.   I didn't make it that far.  I got the taping done, but that's about it.

There wasn't really a whole lot that needed taped at this point, since I'm going to prime the trim as well. 

Right now, I'm torn.  Part of me wants to go ahead and get this done.  Then there is this other part of me that says, "You need to sleep some time."  I signed up to work Saturday, but not Sunday, so maybe I can do it then. 

Speaking of sleep, I remembered to put my nightgown on last night, so yay me! 

As tired as I am, that's something to be proud of.

Tuesday Mayhem

I had a post for you last night.

Oh, it was a wonderful post.  You would have laughed.  You would have cried.  It would have moved you.

So, what happened to last night's wonderful post that would have made you laugh, would have made you cry, and would have moved you?  It didn't get written.

I was so tired when I got home, I just sat in the chair thinking, "I really need to write this wonderful post that will make people laugh, and will make people cry, and will move people."   I think I might have watched NCIS, but I'm not entirely sure.  I finally said to myself, "Eh, forget it.  I'm going to bed."

And to bed I went. 

I was up and getting ready for work this morning when I realized I'd forgotten to put my nightgown on.  I was still in the clothes I put on when I got home yesterday.   Yes, I was that tired.    I'd also forgotten to turn the heater down and lock the back door.  Yeah, I'm thankful for good neighbors.

The reason I was so tired is that Mayhem was still wreaking havoc on the plant.  I won't go into all the gory details like I would have had I gotten the wonderful post that would have made you laugh, would have made you cry, and would have moved you written last night, but let's just say it wasn't pretty.

The Reader's Digest condensed version is:  one of our Vitally Important machines was broken down and thus another Vitally Important machine had to do double duty.  However, one Vitally Important machine cannot make as many Vitally Important parts as two Vitally Important machines can, so we all ended up getting in a bind by the end of the day.  Being in a bind means I had to seriously scramble to keep up with the line, then I had to stay late to make sure there were some Vitally Important parts on the line for second shift.

At long last, the day was over and I came home. 

And I discovered Squeaky was having a bad day.  She's an old cat.  She's 17, which is great-grandma in cat age.  She has good days and bad days.  On a good day, there is no puke, pee, or poop on the floor.  Let's just say, yesterday was not a good day.

Today when I got off, I ran by the store and bought a Swiffer Wet Jet.

Why, oh, why have I never had one of these?  It is so much easier than having to lug the mop bucket out every time I need to clean up after an animal. 

If you ain't got one, I recommend you get one. 

Now, I'm going to bed.  Hopefully, I'll remember to put my nightgown on this time. 

Monday Mayhem

The mayhem hit full force the moment I walked in the door, and not just the usual pig sty that the previous shift had left in my work area.  That's an every day thing.

No, it was much more than that.

The other brazer hadn't shown up, so I was over there by myself.  The first thing I had to deal with was an order that the shift we aren't allowed to hold accountable for anything had brazed up wrong.  I had to straighten that out before I could even begin my own work, so I was behind from the get go.

Then, every single order I tried to braze had at least one adapter tube either bent wrong, or missing, or the wrong adapter tube had been pulled-- and don't mean one single leg.  I mean the entire order was wrong.  There was a point in my day in which I had 4 different orders sitting on the floor waiting for parts to be re-done.

As if that weren't trouble enough, I tried to hang up my brazing tip, and the thingy that is supposed to make the fire stop burning didn't make the fire stop burning.  I called Supervisor and showed him.  He shook his head and said, "You're being a lot of trouble today."

I said, "I know.  Maybe I should just go back home."

He laughed.  I didn't.

Since the other brazer hadn't come in, I just hopped on over to her stand and finished the day out there.  Shortly after lunch, I finally got an order that seemed to be all there and all correct.  Aaaand, the electricity on my stand went out.  It was a circuit breaker -- which tripped three more times before the day was over -- each time requiring a maintenance man to reset it.

By then, I was sure this guy was running around the plant somewhere.

To add injury to insult, a few weeks ago, I bought some new work boots.  I'd been wearing them around the house and today I decided they were broken in enough to wear to work.

I decided wrong.

By the end of the day, my feet hurt so bad, all I wanted to do was shuck those boots and sit down.  But I didn't.  I actually went into town and bought my paint.

Then I came home and ate half a bag of Hershey's kisses for supper.

Because it's just been that kind of a day.

Overthinking

I'm an introvert.

And like most introverts, I'm prone to overthinking things.  Case in point, I had a dentist appointment last week for my 6 month cleaning and check up.  This was my first appointment since I had my crowns done.  I seriously overthought things.  I worried and fretted and stewed so much over what my regular dentist would say about me having the crowns done that I very nearly postponed the appointment. 

It was all for nothing.  The only thing my dentist said was, "They sure look better than all those fillings." 

I had planned to go buy my paint today, so I can get my living room painted.  The introvert in me seriously overthought the whole paint buying process.  So much so that I tossed and turned until well after midnight last night.  The only way I managed to shut off my brain was to concentrate very hard on my breathing. 

In....out...deep breath...with my stomach...fill my lungs...expel the air...and so on and so forth until I eventually fell asleep.  Then I woke up twice from nightmares, before waking up for the day at 3:30.  Needless to say, I'm a bit tired today. 

And again, all that worrying was for naught, because I didn't even go get my paint.  I made the mistake of coming home first.  Just for a minute, I told myself.  I'll just change clothes and get something to eat, I told myself.  Then I'll get up and go to the hardware store, I told myself.   

Maybe I'll go tomorrow, I told myself.

What I did instead was to get my wood putty out and fill in some of the larger and more obvious holes in the paneling. 

I touched these up after taking the picture, and I'll sand them smooth before priming the walls.  Which may or may not happen tomorrow. 

Then I sat down and colored a page in my Introvert Activity Book,

but I didn't try to label it.  If I did, they'd all say SLEEP!!!!

And hopefully no nightmares tonight.

Sorcery

I got up this morning, and is my custom, checked the weather on my phone app.  It read 7'.  My app usually reads a degree or two higher than the actual temp, so I'm guessing it was actually around 5'.  I don't care where you live, that there is cold.

Just for curiosity's sake, I flipped over and checked the temperature in Fairbanks, Alaska, where my sister lives.  Then I checked Orange and El Paso.  I couldn't believe what I saw, so I switched to a list view.

What strange sorcery is this?

I built up the fire, made some coffee, and snuggled in for a long day of HULU and knitting.  I'll tell you one thing, when I get to the point where I can do a complete remodel of this house, I'm definitely going to go with the spray foam insulation.  I'd decided that before.  This cold has just confirmed that this will be the right choice.

It has the added benefit of better soundproofing, too.

Other than that, there really isn't much to talk about.  The roads were still pretty icy, so I didn't try to go anywhere.  I spent the day switching back and forth between Stargate SG-1 and ER on HULU, and knitting on Kyle's blanket.

The good news is, I don't have to go to jury duty tomorrow.  The bad news is, I do have to go back to work, so I'll just leave you with this shot of a snowy sunrise.

You know, if someone could photoshop those electric lines out, that'd be a right pretty picture.

Snow Day For Real

I got up bright and early this morning, and since I didn't have to go to jury duty, I headed on in to work.  As I predicted, half the plant didn't show up.  Normally, we run 6 lines this time of year (with a 7th opening up for peak season).  Shortly after the shift started, they shut down two lines, and sent us over to fill in the empty spaces on the other four lines.

There I was, over on line 7, just a working away, when around 8:30ish, the line 7 group leader came over, got her stuff, and left.  She said the roads were getting bad, and she wasn't staying.  By 9:00, another 20 or 30 people had left and they had to shut down two more lines.

And still, more and more people were leaving.  By 10:00, they threw in the towel, called us all together and said, "Go home, and don't come back until Thursday."  So I got a snow day after all.  Two, in fact.  I guess since it's not supposed to get above freezing until sometime Thursday, they figured the roads wouldn't be clear by tomorrow.  The good news is, they aren't going to give us an absence for today or tomorrow, and we won't lose our holiday pay for Monday.  I did use some vacation time so I'll still get paid. 

Hey, I'm not going to complain.

OK, I'm going to complain just a little bit.  With this extra day and a half off, I'm kinda wishing I'd gone ahead and gone to the store yesterday and bought my paint.  I could get this living room done and all my furniture back into place.  On the other hand, painting works better when it's warmer out, so it's probably better to wait until the weekend, when it's supposed to be back up into the 60s. 

I made it home just fine, thankful all the while that I live so close to the plant, and saw that the birds have discovered the new feeder. 

Yay!  I got out and scattered a bunch more birdseed for them, then scattered more around the other feeder, and said to myself, "Self, might as well lug some more wood up to the house while I'm out here."  That's exactly what I did.

Once back inside, I snuggled down with a nice toasty fire, knitting, and a mug of hot coffee.  I was watching more Stargate SG-1, but my HULU app crashed and for some reason, my Fire Stick opened Pandora.  Seriously, on its own.  It just switched from HULU to Pandora, which was still on my Christmas station.  So, I listened to Christmas music for a while.  I guess with the snow and all, the universe decided I needed to be festive once more. 

Squeaky has rediscovered her cat bed. 

She gets out of it as soon as I walk into the room.  I guess she doesn't want me to know she likes it. 

Ungrateful beast.

BTW, I bought her some Meow Mix single serving cups.  The directions say to feed her 6 - 10 per day.  Is it just me, but if you have to feed her six of them, it isn't single serving, is it? 

Snow Day

I get a snow day tomorrow!

They cancelled my jury duty due to impending inclement weather.   I have to call Wednesday night to see if I have to report for Thursday, but tomorrow and Wednesday I am off.

I still have to go to work though.  They don't cancel that for anything.  If it gets as bad as they're saying, half the plant won't show up.

Speaking of, I went out today while it was relatively warm to fill up the wood box -- so I won't have to do it when I get home tomorrow, you know.  Throughout the year, I pick up the twigs and stuff in my yard and store them in one of the old chicken coops.  They make great fire starters.  I was out there getting some to bring in, and I picked this stick up three times.

And the ice block it rode in on.

I can be a bit slow at times.  I'm also predicting it'll be a while before that ice block melts.

The only other thing I did today, besides folding laundry and watching Stargate SG-1 on HULU,  was to finish sanding the paneling in my living room.  I even sanded the baseboards, molding, and door/window frames.  Then I got a damp cloth and wiped the dust off, so it's all ready to be primed.

Once I'd done with that, I went out to the shed and dug out my painting supplies to see if I had a drop cloth and rollers.  I did, but by then I was too tired to prime.  I still have to go into town and buy my paint anyway.  As soon as I find the notebook I wrote down my color choices in, that is.

As for SG-1, I've seen a few episodes here and there, but I'd never seen the entire series.  I'm liking it so far.

Looks like I've got something new to geek out about.

The South

I live in the South.  At least, I thought I did.

Yep, it's cold again.  Last week, it was colder in Houston than in most of Scandanavia,  Moscow, and Iceland. 

Texas forgot how to be Texas.  Heck, the entire South has forgotten how to be the South.  It's even colder this week.  What's more, today is the third day in a row it has snowed.  It's been tiny, dry flakes with very little accumulation, but it's still snow.  This was my back yard when I got home Friday evening.

I know it's not a lot, but this is Mississippi, not Montana.

It's been so cold, I put out a second feeder for the birds.

There is a hook hanging under the eave of my shop, so I put it up there.  I hope the birds find it.  I had a finch feeder there for years, but they never ate from it.  I finally took it down and threw all the seed onto the ground.  That's funny, because when I lived just a mile from here, the finches would swarm that feeder.  Here, I haven't seen a one in the two years I've lived here.

Since I was out there anyway, I grabbed my camera and took some pictures of the siding on my shed.  This right here is just a shot showing where the siding has rotted through.

And another picture of rotten and bowed siding.

And of course, all over the side of the shop are these tiny little holes where it looked like the kids shot it with a pellet gun or something.

I want to get all this siding replaced, and it needs a new roof, too.  The good news is, the framing doesn't look to be in too bad a shape, other than all the myriad nail holes in it.  So, siding replaced and new roof to make it weather proof, and we'll finish the inside later.

That'll come down the road a piece.  Maybe this summer I can save up enough to get it done -- if I can finagle enough overtime out of the plant, that is.  In the meantime, I decided to take a break from bricking on this cold, snowy long weekend to start prepping my living room to be painted.  This mostly involves lightly sanding the paneling to get the shiny finish off.

There are two schools of thought about this.  Some websites say it doesn't need to be done.  Others say it does.  Me, I'm thinking it worked well in my bedroom, so I'm going to go ahead and do it in here, too.

It's not too hard, just light sanding to roughen up that top layer so the primer and paint will stick better.  As of today, I've gotten two walls done.  I'll get the other two tomorrow, since we have MLK day off at work.

The only snag I ran in to -- literally -- came when I was sanding the door frames.   Yep, you guessed it.  Protruding nails.  Why it's so hard just to nail them flush is beyond me, but there they are.

I was aggravated, because they ripped holes in my brand new sanding sponge.   A few taps with a hammer fixed that problem, and I carried on.  BTW, I haven't filled in any nail holes in the walls.  I'm going to take Supervisor Ronny's advice and put a coat of Kilz on before I paint it.  He said the primer will help fill in those holes, so I'm going to prime first.  Once the primer dries, I'll see if any holes are still very noticeable, then I'll fill them in and touch up the primer before painting.

The next step will be moving all this furniture.  Ugh...

I'll move the two cabinets on either side into the hall, but just slide the entertainment center out into the middle of the room, so I can watch TV while I'm taking breaks.  I'll probably just leave it there until I get the room painted.

Oh, and let me show you this.

My third grade teacher, Mrs. Matthews, took up painting after she retired from teaching.  She remembered me.  I've heard tell she remembered every single student she ever taught, which is saying something, because she taught for a long, long time.

Anyway, like I said, she remembered me, and before she passed away a few years back, she gave Beverly this painting to give to me.  Now, that is something I will treasure forever.

And I'm so glad it didn't get ruined in the hurricane.

Changes

Last night, as I was getting ready for bed, I noticed Squeaky.  She was begging for food, which she didn't get, by the way.  But I saw her.  I really saw her.  Guys, she looks sooo much better since I switched her to canned food.  Her eyes are bright.  She seems to be putting on weight.  Even her fur looks whiter, and it looks like she's grooming herself again. 

The best part is, when I was cleaning up an accident she had on the floor, her poop was a whole lot softer and wetter looking than it has been.  Gross, I know, but as long as my kitty feels better, you're going to hear about it.  If I'd known canned food would be this good for her, I'd have switched her years ago.  I kind of feel bad now that I didn't.

Back about 4 years ago, my friend Kyle asked me to knit him a black and gold blanket.  Steelers colors, you know.  After a couple of false starts, I settled on this mitered square pattern.

I worked on it for a while, then in the chaos of having to find a house, buy it, and move into it, the blanket got put on the back burner.  I was thinking about it at work today for whatever reason, and decided to dig it out and work on it some more.  The bad part about it is, I couldn't remember how many stitches I cast on, which was easy to fix by counting, or what size needles I used. 

I checked back through the blog, and didn't record the specs either.  I think it was size 8, and that's what I'm going with.  I'll do one square, then check the gauge.  If it's the same, I'll know I was right. BTW, I sent this picture to Kyle, and he approves. 

It appears that the plant in its infinite wisdom has decided to go ahead and switch to the alternate schedule, despite the protestations of most employees.  One member of the ADP management team allegedly responded, "Well, if they don't like it, they can just get another job."

THAT, my friends, in a nutshell is why they have such trouble attracting and retaining quality employees. 

Oh, and we got a new human resources director.  Is it bad that the first thing I thought when I read the notice was, "I wonder how long this one will last?" 

On that note, I think I'll go have a hot bath then spend some quality time with my Introvert Activity Book.  I need some introverting after that news. 

Introvert Mad Libs

"You never want to go out," complained Becky.
"True," I admitted.
"Well, tonight, you're coming!"  I sighed and put down So Rare A Gift.  I Wasn't sure what to wear, so I just put on a purple bra. 
"How does this look?" I asked.
"Punctual.  Now come on, let's go!"

We took a TARDIS downtown.  I hoped we were going to Jenny Leigh's, but instead we ended up at a club called Waffled Panayiota.  Country music fulled the night air, and I felt a little  rage.  I noticed a hot dog cart across the street, and figured the night wouldn't be a total loss if I at least got a chili dog with hot fudge.  I ordered two, but my friend didn't want one.  Actually she seemed a little embarrassed that I was eating a chili dog in line.

When we reached the door, the bouncer took one look at my R2D2 backpack and refused to let us enter.  I winked at my friend.  "No worries, I've got this."  I slipped the bouncer my remaining chili dog.  He shrugged and let us in.

"Come on, let's dance," said my friend, dragging me onto the dance floor.  Somewhere Over The Rainbow was playing, and I shyly began my signature move, the nae nae.  I started to get in my groove, and noticed a crowd was gathering around me.  They LOVED me!  Who knew this introvert had such a hidden talent?!

I attempted a double Yurchenko and, okay, it didn't go as planned, but the crowd was still smiling and taking video clips with their phones.   Maybe I'd become a wealthy internet sensation & retire on a private island full of dogs!

Just then, my friend yanked me off the dance floor.  "What are you DOING?" I protested.  "I had sick moves!"

"You looked sick all right,"  she agreed, pointing to a large chili smear on my butt.  I knew I should have stayed home.

I Got Sidetracked

I had plans.

I had big plans for the blog tonight.

I had big blog plans, you might say.

Alas, I got sidetracked by the Introvert Activity Book.

I colored this page while watching episodes of Cake Boss on HULU.

I like watching that show, but I doubt I'd ever order a cake from that place, for a couple of reasons.  For one, he uses a lot of wood and PVC in his cake structures.  I know some of the designs need support, but what bothers me is that he cuts the wood, then plunks the cake directly onto it, without so much as plastic wrap or foil covering it.  Same with the PVC.  He smushes the rice krispy treats or modeling chocolate directly onto the plastic -- again without even plastic wrap around it.  Um, ick. 

The second thing that bothers me about him is that when he delivers the cake, no matter what the occasion, he's always got to make himself the center of attention.  Hey, dude!  It's my occasion.  You just deliver the cake and leave.  You don't stand up and made a speech or whatever.  I don't care who you are.  I know it's part of the show, but still...

OK, back to my book.

How I spend my time...work takes up the biggest space, followed by sleep, Netflix, and scooping the cat pan.

I wrote a poem about solitude:

A Poem About Solitude

Finally home, finally alone
In solitude I sit.
Silence closes in
Like a warm blanket
Or an old friend.
A welcome respite from
The shrieking, screaming
Clanging, clamoring noise of the day.
Calm, comforting quiet
Soothes my deepest soul.


I still haven't managed to tear a page out, but look, the author gets it.

Maybe tomorrow...

Speaking of, my book has a mad lib thing in it.  I've posted the clues on my Facebook page and am getting my friends to add answers.  As soon as all the answers are filled in, I'll do the mad lib and post it here.  If you haven't given an answer yet, go over and fill one in! 

One answer per person please!!


Now, what I was going to do before I got sidetracked by my book is to start outlining the plans I have for flipping my house.  I was going to take pictures, and start describing what I wanted to do with the space, and as always, ask for input. 

To start, I need to get my shop rebuilt.  I was looking at some of the siding and it was all rotten, plus the roof leaks.  Well, not to start, because I've got to finish stripping and painting my bricks, and paint the living room. 

Yet, here I sit with my Introvert Activity book....

Introverting Away

I survived my first week back at work.

And I survived the cold.  Barely, but I did survive.  I woke up yesterday morning, and as is my custom, I checked the temperature.  It said 33' and I said, "Glory be!"  It was the first time in a week that the low hasn't been in the teens or 20s.  We'll have a few days of relatively warm weather, then it'll be back into the low 20s/high teens by the weekend. 

I spent my chilly weekend working on my Introvert Activity book.  I had planned on using my multi-colored disposable fountain pens to do the activities.

However, I quickly discovered that the ink bled through the pages too much, so I bought some colored pencils,

and have been happily introverting away ever since.  This book is so much fun.  It's got writing prompts

and things to make

and charts to color and label.

It's even got a handy dandy progress chart to keep track of which activities you've done.

If you are an introvert like me, I highly recommend this book.  I haven't yet done any of the ones that require you to cut stuff up.  Try as I might, I can't bring my self to tear pages out of a book.  I'm gonna do it, though.  Before it's all over, I will cut up those pages. 

Deep breaths...

OK, moving right along.  I finished another red hat over the weekend as well.  This is just a simple hat with a rolled brim. 

I've already sent off the ones for this year.  What I'm knitting now will go in next year's shipment.  This makes two, so far.  I'm making three sizes.  The large hats have a 64 stitch cast on.  The small ones are a 56 stitch cast on, and I'm making a preemie size with a 48 stitch cast on.  They're all done with worsted weight yarn and size 7 needles. 

I might do a few more of these with the rolled brim.  It's a whole lot easier than ribbing. 

On Second Thought

Turns out we're not working this Saturday after all.  As soon as they posted the schedule, Supervisor came to me and said, "They told me in that meeting...don't be mad at me, I didn't lie to you."  I don't blame him.  He was just repeating what he was told.  So, no overtime just yet.

On the bright side, the earrings that match my new necklace have arrived.

Now I can step out in style! Except I don't go out anyway, and have no sense of style....moving right along...

Also arriving today were the ink cartridges for the brass fountain pen Cody got me for Christmas.

When I opened up my pen to put a cartridge into it, I discovered it already had one!  How in the world did I miss that?  Said pen is now operational.  It could have been operational a week and a half ago, but nooooo.

This is nifty.  The box fits perfectly into the brass tin the pen comes in.

Almost as if it were made for it. 

The last thing I ordered with my Christmas money was this.

It was supposed to arrive on January 2 -- World Introvert Day -- which I thought was neat, but it didn't get here until today.  It's filled with all sorts of activities for introverts.  I'm going to get started on mine here in a little bit.

I know this is short, and probably incomprehensible, but I'm really sleepy.  I'm going to bed early tonight.

And I hope I can fall asleep this time around.

Wednesday Whimsy

I'd gone back to the maintenance department for a minute, and as I was coming out, I bumped into Edna's husband. 

"Where is your house?" he asked without preamble. 

Now normally, such a question out of the blue would be strange, or even slightly disturbing.  In this case, knowing the backstory makes it all make sense.  See, back before Christmas, Edna decided to surprise me by showing up at my house and putting up my outside lights for me.  However, Edna went down the wrong road.  By the time she figured that out and *ahem* messaged me, I'd already gotten the lights up. 

I guess Reuben's curiosity got the better of him, so he asked.  I told him what street I live on, and he said, "Oh, I know where that is.  So-and-So used to live on that road." 

"And I'm living in So-and-So's house," I replied.  Yep, the name he called was the previous owner of my house!  I explained to him that after So-and-So's widow decided to move closer to her son, I'd bought the house.  He knew exactly where it was, because the previous owners used to attend the same church as Edna and Reuben. 

Sometime later, I had to go to tubing, and stopped by Edna's machine.  I told her about my conversation with Reuben, and she said, "Oh!  I didn't know it was So-and-So's house!  No wonder there's so much weird stuff in it."  I guess the previous owner's reputation preceded him. 

I thought that was a nifty coincidence.  Now they know where I live, and any time they want to come -- say, mow the yard or cut up firewood or something, I certainly won't turn them away. 

The good news is, getting back into a routine seems to have eased my homesickness a bit.  Yesterday was the first day I haven't bawled like a baby since I got back.  I did tear up just a bit, but I didn't completely break down.  And I'm starting to get excited about remodeling my house again, only this time, it's with an eye to selling it instead of staying it it.  For example, I'm not a big fan of open concept, but it's all the rage these days.  That means, when it comes time to remodel, I'm going to go in that direction.  The bad news is, I've still got that huge credit card bill to pay off before I can even think of doing any major renovations on the house. 

The good news is, Supervisor told me this morning that we are already scheduled to work every Saturday this month.  "Good!" I said.  "My checking account is starting to squeak, it's so tight." 

In other news, Squeaky is completely on wet food now.  I'd had some of each -- dry and wet food -- out for her and was letting her eat what she wanted.  All evening yesterday, I watched her straining to poop, so before bed, I took all the dry food up.  The stuff I soaked in chicken broth is her only option at the moment.  Next time I go to the store, I'm going to get some regular canned cat food and start mixing that in with what I already have.  If she doesn't get any better in a few days, I'll carry her on in to the vet. 

The bad news is, she has decided she doesn't like her new bed any more.  I think I've figured out why.  When I had the Christmas tree up, I'd had to slide Rylea's love seat over a bit to make room for it.  Where it was made a sort of concealed, almost cave-like space around the bed.  Now that the tree is down, that space is gone.  I guess the bed is too out in the open for her now.  She hasn't been in it since I scooted the love seat back into it's regular spot. 

I've got a large cardboard box that I think I'm going to try to make a sort of screen around the bed for her, and see if she likes that. 

And lastly, the first of the things I ordered with my Christmas money has arrived: 

I might have to switch out the chain, since that one is so very thin, and I don't want to lose this.  Other than that, it's perfect. 

First Day Back

The first day back at work after a holiday is always rough.  It's hard getting up at 4:30 after being able to sleep as late as I want for the last two weeks.  As if that weren't enough, I battled a wicked case of insomnia last night, so I'm running on about 4 hours sleep.

I watched the first half of the Sugar Bowl, then turned the TV off and went to bed.  I might as well have stayed up and watched the whole thing, because the game was over before I fell asleep.  I was laying there tossing and turning, and thought, "Hmmm, I'll just check the score on my phone."  I did.  Then tossed and turned some more, and thought, "Let me just check that score on my phone."  And so it went until after midnight, and Alabama was headed to the National Championship game.

Want to hear something funny, and a bit ironic?  Back in 2011, two teams from the same conference were chosen to play in the BCS National Championship game.  The college football world was livid, and the resulting outcry completely blew up the entire BCS system.  They changed everything and instituted a playoff.  Four teams are chosen to play in two bowl games.  The winners play in the national championship game.  A committee of 13 men choose which four teams will play.   I wondered how that was any better than the previous system.  Still, it was what everyone wanted.  It would make things more fair, they said, so they wouldn't be favoring one conference, they said.

Yesterday, the Georgia Bulldogs -- from the SEC East-- defeated the Oklahoma Sooners in the Rose Bowl.  They earned their spot in the title game.

Yesterday, the Alabama Crimson Tide -- from the SEC West -- defeated the Clemson Tigers in the Sugar Bowl.  They earned their spot in the title game.

Yep, you read that right.  Once again, two teams from the same conference will be playing for the national championship.  That's the irony.

So, here's the funny part.  As soon as I got home from work, I turned on the TV and some guy was ranting about how unfair the playoff system was because it was biased and favored certain conferences.  But, wait, isn't this what you all wanted?  Maybe you should listen to me and dispense with the national championship altogether.  The college football world is too big and too diverse for there to ever be a level playing field.   What they need to do is reduce the number of bowl games so that playing in one means something once again.  The Sugar Bowl, The Cotton Bowl, The Orange Bowl, The Rose Bowl...let them mean something again.  And for Heaven's sake, stop making every team that breaks even bowl eligible!  A team should at least have a winning record to play in a bowl.  Maybe that's just me, though.

Enough football talk...

This morning, I walked down to my supervisor's desk to give him a heads up that I have jury duty coming up.  He said he'd gotten summoned, too.  He's got to go next week, though.  I'm going the week after.  He told me it was the first time he'd been summoned to jury duty in 14 years.  I just went


via GIPHY

Fourteen years!  I've been summoned three times in the last five years alone.  The first time, I didn't have to go.  That was for Federal court and they wanted me to go to a town 90 miles away.  Greenville, for you local peeps.  I wrote on the card you fill out and send in that I didn't have a reliable vehicle (which I didn't at the time), and they excused me.

Supervisor said his wife is like me.  Every time she turns around, she's getting another summons.  Ah, well, that's life in the big city.

Well, I'm going to head for bed and try to get some sleep tonight.  Good night, Gentle Reader.


Oh, and I almost forgot Squeaky's birthday!  Happy 17th Old Girl!

Happy New Year!

May your 2018 be filled with blessings.

I apologize that there hasn't been any blogging lately.  I didn't mean to leave you hanging.  I have lots to tell you, and had every intention of posting as soon as I got home, but I've been having a rough time here lately.  I'll be straight with you, I have never in my life been as homesick as I have been these last 5 days since I got back from Texas.  Not when I went to college.  Not when I joined the Navy.  Not even when I was living half way around the world in a country that doesn't speak English. 

All I've wanted to do since I walked in to this house that no longer feels like home is pack everything up and go back to Texas.  The plans I had for remodeling and fixing the place up, I no longer care about.  I just want to sell the place and move home.  The only problem with that is 1) it takes money to move halfway across the country, and 2) I have no money.  Truth be told, ever since Cody moved there last July, I've had no reason to stay.  Other than that whole being broke thing. 

I'm remembering why I don't go home more often.  It's too hard to come back here. 

That being said, my goal for 2018 is to get this blasted credit card paid off so I can begin to work on getting myself into a position where it is financially feasible for me to move.  I would have had it nearly completely paid off in 2017 if I hadn't had all that dental work done.  That just about doubled my debt.  That's also why I volunteered for all that overtime.  Now, with this new schedule, I don't know if I'll be able to get any overtime at all. 

I know, they said they were going to postpone going to the new work schedule, but I saw the staffing agency the plant uses is advertising for jobs for the weekend shift.  From that, I gather they are still planning on going to it.  However, I figure with it being a weekend only shift, they'll have a lot of both absenteeism and turnover.  I'm going to talk to the C shift Prod Sup and volunteer to come in as a floater.  Maybe I can get a few hours that way.  If not, I'll have to break down and get a second job.  I've been trying to avoid it, but with this new schedule, it might not be helped. 

Some of you may be wondering how I managed to get so deeply into debt in the first place.  Well, I'll tell you.  Back in 2006, when I bought my new trailer house, I had to run plumbing lines and electrical lines and stuff.  I put that on the credit card, plus a few new pieces of furniture.  I didn't think anything about it, because at the time, we were working 6 days a week all year round.  I figured I'd have it paid off within a year. 

The very next week, they put us on 4 day (32 hour) work weeks.  I still didn't think too much about it.  I figured it was just a slump, and things would be back to normal the next year.  Little did I know it would be 9 years -- nine years-- before we would work a whole year without dropping to 3 or 4 day weeks for at least part of the year.  And the debt just kept on piling up. 

Anyway...

Christmas was good.  It was great to see the family again, and I'll be posting more about that later.  We did have a tragedy.  My cousin Jimmy -- he's Beverly and James' oldest -- had to take his wife Regina to the emergency room.  They thought she had the flu, and she just kept getting sicker and sicker.  They finally took her to the hospital on Christmas Eve, where she was admitted with double pneumonia.  We all thought she would be fine, but on the night of the 26th, she coded.  They said it was a blood clot. 

They had to shock her three times to get her heart going, and then they put her on life support.  Two days and two EEGs later, she still had minimal brain activity, and the machines were turned off.  It was all very sudden, and we are still reeling from it.  I think that might have something to do with my malaise this last week as well. 

And the icing on the cake:  I came home to find a jury summons waiting on me.

I swear, some people go their whole lives and never get summoned to jury duty.  I get pegged every 12 - 18 months. 

Now, just so I can end this post on a positive note, here are my Christmas presents from my sister. 

And this is what I got in Texas.

That thing in the tin is a brass fountain pen from my son.  The mug, ammo, and money are from Beverly and James.  I also got money from both of my brothers and my mother.  I ordered some stuff with it, and when it gets here, I'll show it to you. 

Well, it's back to work tomorrow.  Maybe if I can keep busy, I won't have time to sit around and dwell on how much I want to be home. 

Home as in Texas, that is.