Hallelujah, Take Two

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

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

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

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

But enough about that...

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Hallelujah!

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

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

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

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

Eh, I'll get it done this weekend. 

Well, Dang It!

I got up this morning, thinking about all the work that needs to be done around the house:  mowing, laundry, dishes...and that's just the every day stuff.  But I'm so tired, and, well, dang it, this is supposed to be my day of rest!  I'm going to rest, by golly!

But alas, I couldn't relax with all that work hanging over my head, so I did the laundry.  I changed the sheets.  I washed the dishes.  I fed the animals -- including four snakes.

And I mowed.  The whole yard.  I even started trying to clean up the mess Tomato Man left when he abandoned his tomato patch.  Alas, the grass and weeds kept clogging up my mower, so I put it off until later.  I think I'm going to have to cut it with the weedeater first, then mow it.  I need to do the weedeating anyway before my spider lilies make their appearance.

It was hot out there, I'm telling ya.  H.O.T.  It was up to 96, with a heat index of 106 by the time I was done.  Needless to say, I took lots of cool down breaks, and I drank about a gallon of water.  It was during one of those cool down breaks I started pulling all that English Ivy off my bricks.

I'd been planning on doing it for a while, but just hadn't gotten around to it.  I do like ivy, but it was getting to the point it was taking over everything.  Plus, with the guy coming to paint my eaves next month, it really does damage your paint job.  I didn't want to pay all that money for new paint and stuff, only to have ivy ruin it. Thus, the ivy had to go.

I think the next step will be to hire someone to power wash the little bits of roots and things off my bricks, but I already think the house looks better just with what I've pulled off.

Speaking of bricks, I'm still plugging away at my fireplace.  Fire box.  Wood burner....oh, whatever the dumb thing is called.

As I predicted, this back corner is proving to be the troublesome spot.

It's just because it's hard to reach, but I'll get it eventually.  The rest of it is nearly finished.  I have to get all the little loose bits scrubbed off, then strip the base.  During one of my cool down breaks from mowing, I put a little stripper on one of the bricks on the base.  Once I'd scraped off the three -- yes three-- layers of paint, I found these lovely red bricks.

Why on earth someone would want to cover that up is beyond me.  But then, I've always liked the simplest approach.

For a moment, it threw a monkey wrench into my plans, but I thought better of it.  I think I'm still going to paint the whole thing light gray.  That corner is kind of dark anyway, and I think the red would make it too dark.  Light gray, on the other hand, might lighten it up a bit.  I actually didn't have a problem with the bricks being painted white.  It was just that the paint job looked so gloppy.

Well, Cody is going to be with me for a few more days.  He still hasn't heard back from the apartment people about getting his name put on the lease.  He's going to room with his friend Tristan, but the managers have to add Cody's name to the lease before they'll let him move in.  He's a little frustrated by that, as he will be working the 4:00 AM shift at Wal-mart.  He's for sure not going to want to make that 2 hour drive that early in the morning.  Hopefully the apartment people will get back with him tomorrow, and he can go ahead and get moved in up there soon.

I'll feel better, too, about him not having to make that long commute every day.

Just Like That

Just like that, we are back to working 6 days a week.  Well, for this weekend, at least. I'm not complaining. My bank account was looking a little pale.

Cody is coming home tomorrow to pack up the rest of his stuff, then he'll be moving on up to Collierville on Saturday afternoon. I'll miss him, but I'll be glad to have my house back.

Speaking of, a few weeks ago, I contacted someone about replacing the rotten wood in my eaves, and painting them. He came out today and gave me an estimate. When he told me how much it would be, I was squealing, because it was a whole lot less than I was thinking. He told me to go pick out what color paint I want and let him know.

That's where you come in.

I was thinking a dark brown would go nicely with my bricks.

On the other hand, I'm open to suggestions.

Oh, he also said he'd paint the ceiling of my car port and porch a light blue. It looks real nice, and helps keep the dirt dobbers away. That's good. I got a lot of dirt dobbers.

While I was looking for that picture, I found this one.

This is what that pile of wood looked like when I started. It's all gone now.  Cut up and stacked and ready for winter.

Now if it would just stop being hot...

Nonsense Post

My day started early.

I mean, my day always starts early, but today started earlier than normal.  I awoke at 1:00 AM to answer nature, and wouldn't you know it, I couldn't go back to sleep.  I dozed a little, but real sleep eluded me.  I briefly considered calling in sick and just sleeping, but no  -- I need the money too badly.  I dragged my weary body out of bed and took myself to work

Where I found my B shift counterpart had left me a round of my favorite early morning game:  Guess The Unlabeled Order.

Yep, there were parts set up on my stand, but I had no idea what they were or what order they went to.  He'd left me no pick list, no note on the schedule, no component tickets...nothing.  I didn't even know which line the order was for.

I took a large swig of coffee, did a quick bit of sleuthing -- which included at least one dumpster dive -- and figured out what the order was.  Long years of playing this game with B shift has quite sharpened my deductive reasoning skills.  Alas, that was the high point of my day.

Oh, I didn't have a bad day.  I just didn't have an interesting day.  Nothing exciting nor untoward happened, and I plodded through the day sleepy as heck, but I made it.

As an aside, does anyone know how to hide the hit counter on Blogger?  Seems here lately, I've gotten too caught up in how many hits my post get, and as a result, I've kind of lost my focus on what I want my blog to be.  Back in what I consider my glory days of blogging, I imagined myself sitting down with a friend the evenings and chatting about how my day went.  My thoughts, my feelings, my frustrations -- what have you.

Once Blogger put up the page views on the dashboard, I became overly concerned with the number of hits I was getting.  I began to write what I thought would get me the most hits, instead of carrying on a conversation with a friend.  I tell myself I'm not going to care, but when I see those numbers, I do care.  I ask myself, "Why didn't this post get as many hits as that post?  What was wrong with it?"

That's where my mind goes.  If a post doesn't get as many hits, I assume something is wrong with it.  I think if I can avoid seeing those hit counters, I might get back to writing from the heart, and I think my blog will be better for it.   If I can get over being addicted to those numbers...

And here I sit, fighting the urge to rush back to the dashboard to see how many hits this post has gotten -- even before I've published it.

Fnally, anyone need some kacki pants?  Somebody here in town is selling a pair.  Or maybe they're selling Jackie pants.  I'm not sure.  Are you?

Wicked

I'd had a blog post for you yesterday, but we had some mighty wicked storms blow through last night. It got pretty hairy there for a while.  I mean, really hairy.  Some of that thunder even made me jump.

I got to work this morning, and a coworker told me there had been a tornado in the town just 30 miles up the road.  I haven't found any confirmation of a touchdown, but I did find where the warning had been issued.

Cody had spent the night in Collierville, because he had a late shift at Home Depot, then had his orientation at Wal-Mart this morning.  Instead of driving two hours home, then two hours straight back up there, he decided to stay with his friend -- the one he wants to get the apartment with.  Good thing, too.  If he'd come on home, he'd have been hitting Batesville just about the time that tornado warning was issued.

Warning.  Not watch.

Warning.  

I was still planning a blog post, despite the storms, but about the time I sat down to write it, my electricity went out.  I read my book for a minute, then not wanting to run my phone battery down, went into the dining room area and sat in front of my French doors watching the deer in the back yard.  There were 4 of them out there -- two does, plus the twins.  I still haven't seen a buck, but there's got to be one around here somewhere.  I mean, fawns don't spring from cabbage leaves, right?

I watched them -- and at this point, I'm thinking I need to name them -- until the Entergy truck showed up and spooked them.  So, I did what any red blooded American would do.  I went and sat in front of the other window and watched the lineman fix the power.

Somewhere along the way, I remembered what people used to do before Facebook.  They lived. 

The irony of that statement is that I was doing live updates on Facebook from my phone the whole time. But that's neither here nor there...the point still stands. 

By the time the electricity came back on, it was time for bed. And about the time I lay down in the bed, the storms started back up.  At least this time, the power stayed on.  Buuuut, when I got up this morning, the radio station was off the air.  I had to get ready for work in silence, which is weird, because I time my preparations by the radio show I listen to in the morning.  Without the Idiot History segment, and the Show Biz Quiz, I have no idea if I'm on schedule, or running behind, or what.

Nevertheless, I made it to work on time, and after a long, hot day, came home to no water.  Sigh...Seems I can't win for losing.

My first thought was "Ack!  Leak!"  I ran out and checked my meter.  Nope, it wasn't moving.  It was something with the water company.  I checked to see if they'd made any announcements or anything, but they hadn't -- at least, not that I could find. I came back inside, suddenly feeling like I was absolutely dying of thirst.  Why, I don't know.  I had plenty of stuff to drink, but somehow knowing the water is off made me feel like I was lost in a desert.  "Water!  Water!" I cry as I crawl across the hot dry sand.

Pulled from my reverie by Jesse barking like a crazy dog, I looked out the window and saw my across the street neighbor checking his meter.  I stepped outside to ask if his water was off, too and let him know it wasn't just him.  He was as relieved as I was.  "I thought I had a leak," he said. 

We hung around chatting for a moment about the storm.

It got rough last night.

    Them trees was just a twisting.

 I heard there was a tornado up in Batesville.

     I wonder if the storm damaged something at the water office.

We visited another minute or two, then I came back inside, and was able to take a shower, albeit a low pressure one.  At least I got the day's grime and sweat off my body.  So, that's where we stand right now.  Maybe by tomorrow, they'll have the water fixed. 

The only question which remains is, what was I going to blog about last night before the storms hit?  Well, mostly I was going to show you this beautiful card my dear, dear friend Sue sent me.

Inside was a very sweet message of sympathy for my loss of my kitty.  I can neither confirm nor deny, that I may or may not have....aw, heck, I choked up.  Tears were shed. 

And I thanked my Heavenly Father for sending me such wonderful, thoughtful friends.

How did I get to be so lucky?

At The Weekend

Good news!  Cody has gotten a full time job!  Wal-mart called him yesterday, and he goes in for his orientation Tuesday.  They will give him some sort of letter of intent to hire, and he can show that to the apartment people in order to secure a lease.  He says he'll be moving up there probably next week.  He says that two hour commute is killing him on gas money, so he wants to move as soon as possible.  So, yay for that. 

The bad news is, if things go the way he wants them to, he won't be here to take care of the dogs while I go to Fiber Fun In The 'Sip, so I'll still have to board them.  I'd even thought about changing my hotel reservation and staying until Sunday, but that's a no-go now.  The cost of boarding them would have more than paid for one more night in the hotel.  Now that they've cut back on the overtime, I don't want to have to pay for both.  From here on out, it's going to be tight for a while.

Unless the rumors are true.  Those rumors say we may go back to working a few weekends starting next month.

See, this new plant manager that came back in January was going to make some big changes.  They were going to rearrange everything and completely change our manufacturing processes.  But when a tornado hit the Marshalltown, Iowa plant last month, everything changed.  The costs of rebuilding that one has sucked up all the funding for our changes.  They're now saying, "Maybe next year."  In a way, I'm glad, because we will still be getting overtime for one more year.



So, what else is has been going on?  Mostly this.

I've gotten most of that old thick, gloppy paint off of the bricks.  Now, for the most part, I just have to clean up the little bits left over.   I'm wondering how clean it has to be before I can prime it.  I know all the loose bits have to be off, but how much will the primer cover otherwise?  I mean, are these bricks clean enough, or do I need to scrub all that paint off?

That is the question.  I don't think that small amount of paint will be a problem, but I've never tried to paint brick before, so I don't really know.  I may prime a small area and see.

I still have to get this part behind the heater.

Then, of course, clean up and strip the base.

That should be much easier, though, since the bricks are smooth.  That's been the hardest part of cleaning the other bricks, getting it out of all those little grooves.  Sometimes I wonder if that's why the previous owner had put such thick layers of paint on.  Were they trying to smooth out the grooves?  I don't know, but that's not how you do it.

When I do the complete remodel of this area, I want to replace those bricks completely.  I'm sure a contractor can find smooth brick that are gray in color.  It'll be the closest I can afford to a stone fireplace, which is what I've always wanted.

I finally pulled that hideous plastic slip cover off the sofa, and replaced it with a slightly less hideous fabric one.

Even though I no longer have a cat to pee on it, it still needs protection from dog hair.  Thus, the slipcover.  Funny how such a simple thing seems to brighten up the whole room. Oh, and I gave it with a good spraying with Febreeze before replacing the cover.

It needed it.

Trust me on this one.

Last but not least, I finished the first of my new dishcloths. 

The yarn is Peaches and Creme, and the color is Floral Bouquet.  Not that it matters.  All that color will fade after a few washings anyway.  Just one of the things I don't like about knitting with cotton.

But it does make the best washcloths. 

Adjusting

Thank you all for your kind words of condolence and prayers about Squeaky.  They mean a lot to me. 

It's going to be a big adjustment not having her here.  It's been so long, it's hard to remember when she wasn't around...in fact, my very first blog post was a sketch of Squeaky, staring into that place only cats can see. 

There are reminders of her everywhere, but it's the little things...

Walking into the laundry room without climbing over the gate ...

Being able to leave the bathroom rug in the bathroom floor without it getting peed on...

Finally taking that hideous plastic slipcover off the couch...

Scrolling through my Facebook memories and realizing how many of my posts were about her...

Giggling over the very last picture I will ever take of her...

While I was looking through my blog for that photo I posted yesterday, I could see how much she'd declined just in the last few weeks.  Not too long ago, she started to show signs of being in pain, but as long as she was eating well, I felt like she would still be OK for a little while longer. 

About Saturday, or so, she went off her feed.  She'd done this before, but had always started eating again in a day or two.  This time, she didn't. 

When I got home from work yesterday, she had gotten so weak, she could barely walk across the kitchen floor.  That's when I finally made the call I'd been dreading for so long.

I said I wasn't going to cry, but I did.  I cried all the way to the vet office.  I cried in the room waiting for him to come in.  I cried all the way, as I drove home alone.  I tried to apologize to the veterinary assistant for crying, only she was crying, too. 

The only time I didn't cry was when I held my kitty, wrapped in her towel, and rocked her as the light left her eyes. 

My heart aches, but I know I did the right thing for her. 

Promise Kept

When I found you in my yard all those years ago as a kitten, you were in such poor health, I thought you would die.

I promised you that if you were going to die, at least you'd die warm, well fed, and in a safe place.

Today, I kept that promise.  You were warm.  You were safe.  And I held you until the last.

Good bye old girl.  I'll miss you. 

Squeaky

January 1, 2001 - August 14, 2018

He Didn't Get It

Cody came home last night and said he didn't get that job he'd wanted.  They felt he was not qualified enough to work in customer service.  He said, "Even though I spent a year helping people who were actually dying."  He was disappointed, but said the Wal-Mart up in Collierville had called him about working there.  It's not his first choice, or even his second, but hey, it's an income.

I asked him what had happened with the Fed Ex job.  He said they wouldn't hire people who didn't already live in Memphis.  That puts him in a bit of a catch 22.  The apartment complex won't lease to him until he's shown them three check stubs proving that he makes at least $1500 per month.  So, he can't get an apartment until he gets a job, and he can't get a job until he gets an apartment.  Well, not the job he wanted, that is.  I suggested he work at Wal-mart a few months, then move up there and re-apply to Fed Ex.  He said he might do that.  I haven't asked him if he's put his resume up on Glassdoor or Indeed.  Honestly, I just now thought about it. 

On the bright side, if he's still living with me at the end of next month, he can watch the dogs while I go to Fiber Fun In The 'Sip, and I won't have to pay for boarding.

Moving right along...

Since I got that pile of wood cleaned up, my next project is to clean up my fence line. 

The previous owners seemed to think that area right behind the fence was their own personal junk yard, so there is a lot of junk out there.  And most of it is just junk,

 but there are some wheels out there that look to be in pretty good shape.  They're either lawn mower wheels or 4 wheeler wheels, I can't tell.

I advertised it on the local Free-Bees group, but as usual, the people who said they wanted it never showed up.   There is a guy at work who picks up scrap metal and takes it back for recycling.  I'm going to ask him if he wants it.  The only down side is that he'll want me to clean it up and bring it to him.  That's not going to happen.  If he wants it, he can come get it.  If not, it's all going into the garbage can.

That's what I was going to do this weekend.  However, I got up Friday and decided it was still too hot to do another big outside job.  What I did instead was to get back to bricking.

I've still got a long way to go, but I'm beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel.  I got most of this short side almost finished before I ran out of stripper.

The hardest part is going to be getting this back corner behind the stove. 

I'm hoping I can get it stripped, primed, and painted before Christmas, so I can put my mantle back up, and put my nativity on the mantle.  The first year I was in this house, I had that mantle decorated so nicely.  I want to get it back to looking good, instead of being just another half finished project. 

In the midst of all that, I got another hat done for my friend's blessing bags. 

I like the way that turned out.  I might just make one for myself. 

Last but not least. I gave Squeaky a bath, which she did not appreciate. 

I did it anyway. 

When we make that last trip to the vet-- which will be soon-- I don't want them to think I didn't take care of her. 

Lazy Day

Apparently, yesterday was National Lazy Day.  Who knew?

I decided to observe the day by being lazy.  After paying bills, grocery shopping, doing the laundry, washing the dishes, filling the bird feeders, and mowing the yard, that's exactly what I did.  Of course, by then it was bed time, so it didn't mean as much, but hey, I celebrated Lazy Day!

 I have at least three deer coming to feed, so while I was at the store, I bought them a salt lick.

I haven't seen them licking it yet, but that doesn't mean they haven't.  I finally managed to get a half- way decent picture of the twins.

It's the best I can do with my old point and shoot.

This afternoon, I was in my chair knitting, when Cody walked by and said, "You have a deer out there."

I threw my knitting into the air.  It landed, I know not where.  I dove my body out of my chair ...and that's where my rhyming abilities stop.  Reverting to prose...

I flew to the window and pressed my nose against the glass.  Sure enough, the big doe was out there eating.  Soon, a smaller deer came out of the woods.  Cody said he thought he saw some buttons on that one.  I said, "I'm blind as a bat.  I can't see anything.  Hey! I'm going to go order some binoculars!"

Away to my computer I flew, and began looking at binoculars.  It was then that I remembered somewhere in this house, I have a pair of my dad's binoculars.  I even thought I knew where they were.

Back to my bedroom I flew, and began dragging boxes out of the closet.  Oh, I found so many treasures!  I won't bore you with all of them, but here are a few I did want to show you.

I'd completely forgotten I had this.  It's my ET A School class photo.

The sad thing is, I only remember about half of these people.  I'm going to get my boot camp photo framed and hang them both up.  I'm not sure where, but I'm going to hang them up.

This is a fishing lure my dad made for me when I was about 3 or 4 years old.

I can't believe I still have it after all these years.  I don't think I ever caught a fish on it, though. 

And this...oh, this is probably the most prized possession I have.  My dad's cap gun. 

Some of you may remember the story of how my dad shot the chicken hawk.  If you haven't, click on through and read it. 

It's one of the favorite stories of my dad's childhood. 

I showed these treasures to Cody, who kept coming into my room every time I exclaimed, "Oh, LOOK!" then packed them carefully back into the box-- at the bottom of which I had found the sought after pair of binoculars-- then went back to the window and watched the deer until they had finished eating and went back into the woods. 

I still haven't found my old film camera, but at least now I know where it's not.

Done!

I am done cutting wood!  At least for the foreseeable future.

When Cody got home yesterday, I got him to stand that last big log on end. 

This morning, I got the ol' chainsaw and went out there and just started hacking away at it, cutting off chunks until it was small enough to handle.

It took some doing, a couple of breaks, and at least one unwholesome word directed at an uncooperative chainsaw  --for which I had to repent --, but I finally got it all cut up and stacked up. 

Maybe now my back will stop hurting so much.  And best of all, I have my yard back!  All of it this time. 

Before Cody left for his first shift at his new job -- which is really his old job, but at a different store in the same chain -- we were chatting in the living room, when Jesse started going absolutely crazy.  I hollered at him and said, "If you're barking at that cat again, I'm going to whoop you!"  Figuratively speaking of course.  I don't whoop my dogs. 

I looked out the window, and it wasn't that cat.  It was a deer.  A different deer, this one with two spotted fawns trailing behind her. 

The doe came and sniffed where the corn was, but I hadn't put any out yet today.  I usually put it out when I get home from work, and the deer will soon get used to my schedule. 

So, now, about Cody....his friend that lives in Collierville works for -- um...some company.  Cody said it's in distribution of sports equipment or something like that.  He'd told Cody they were hiring, so Cody put in an application last night.  His friend checked with HR this morning and they've already taken his application back.  Whatever that means. 

What I hope it means is that he'll get the job.  He said that they'll give him a typing test, and if he passes, he can get into the e-mail department.  I'm assuming that's in customer service.  I think he'll do well in that, because unlike his mother, he's a real people person.  The best part is, he'll start off making more money than I make after 23 years in my current position. 

Back in May, I got my cable cut off and subscribed to Hulu with live TV.  The weird thing is, they were showing me commercials from Oklahoma.  Tulsa hospitals, Oklahoma politicians, car dealerships, etc.  When Cody came in last night and logged on to my wi-fi, the whole internet went berserk. 

That's a Viking word, by the way...

As I was saying, the whole internet went berserk.  My Roku kept crashing, my Fire couldn't connect, even my laptop lost the signal.  I reset my modem and that seems to have solved the problem.  Only now, on my Hulu, I'm getting commercials from Tennessee.  I'm not sure how they determine my location. 

It certainly isn't from my zip code on their website, because I'm still not getting commercials from Mississippi. 

A Fortuitous Turn Of Events

I woke up bright and early this morning, and started getting ready for work.  When I turned on my water to wash my face, alas, I had no water pressure. My first thought was I'd better go out and check my meter.  Now, the last time this happened, I'd thought something was wrong at the water office and I blew it off. That evening, I came home from work to a busted pipe, a flooded yard, and a $165 water bill -- not to mention a $250 plumber bill. 

So, there I was at 3:00 AM in the yard, in my nightgown, checking my water meter with a flashlight.

Funny how things work out.  A few weeks ago, I -- for some reason unbeknownst to me -- had looked into my meter box.  It was so full of dirt and mud I couldn't even see my shut off valve.  It was completely buried.  I couldn't have shut off my water if my life depended on it.  When I took my vacation last week -- you know, when I was supposed to have gotten my tooth pulled --I got out there with my trowel and dug all that mud out. 

While I was doing that, one of my neighbors walked by and said, "You know they don't even read those meters any more.  Remember when they came out and put those new meters on?  Now they just drive by and stick a wand out and read it that way." 


I said, "That must have been before I moved here."

He said, "Nooooo...." 

I didn't know what he was talking about, because I still had the same old meter that had been here since I moved in.  I just kept on digging and soon had my shut-off valve free of the mud. 

Which brings me back to this morning...3:00 AM...in my nightgown...all prepared to shut off my water, only my meter wasn't moving.  Good news, the problem was on their side.  I finished getting ready for work, and left right on time.   I passed the water office on the way to the plant, and sure enough, the men and the trucks were out there, fixing whatever had gone wrong.  I came home to a fully pressured water once again.

The good news is, Cody made it here safe and sound.  He is still working for Home Depot, but they let him transfer to a store up in Collierville.  He'll be commuting -- yes 98 miles every working day-- until he can get a second job and get a place up there.  His first day is tomorrow.  Yes, tomorrow. 

In a fortuitous turn of events, I just happen to have a vacation day tomorrow. 

I don't know what that has to do with Cody's new job, but there it is.  And this picture doesn't have anything to do with anything, but I need a photo to pin it. 

So there it is.

She Came Back

There I was, just a watching TV, when Jesse started going crazy.  I looked out the window, and there she was.  My deer.

She was nibbling up the corn I'd spread for her.

I stood there at my French doors and watched her for a long time, taking lots of pictures with my point and shoot.

I also snapped a couple of the birds at the feeders,

and a squirrel in the yard. 

Wishing all the while I had a better camera. 

But better cameras are expensive, and I've got too much work that still needs to be done on this house. 

So, I just do the best I can with the camera I have.

And I wonder how some of you manage to get such good pictures with your phones. 

Because I sure can't. 

Do they still make film?  Off to research...