Days Six And Seven

 Today is Sunday, the day of rest.  But history is still history, even on Sunday, so here is Day Six Of The Siege. 

And since 1836 was a Leap year, here is Day Seven:

Tuckered On Day Five

 I'm what you call tuckered.

These last 8 days have made for one long work week, but at last it's over and I have a day off tomorrow.  I was talking to one of my coworkers and I said I hadn't signed up to work this Sunday.  She replied, "It doesn't start until next Sunday."  Um, good thing I didn't try to sign up!

I blame sleep deprivation. 

Oh, and by the way, I called it.  Remember when they kept shutting down tubing and sub-brazing and sending all of us to the back because they needed people on the line?  What did I say?  Do you remember?

I said, "You watch, in a couple of weeks, they'll be up here wanting to know why they don't have headers, but they aren't getting sympathy from me."  Well, guess what happened today?

If you said the supervisors were up in sub brazing wanting to know why they don't have headers, give yourself a cookie.  I mean, what did they think would happen?  

Anyway, I've got Sunday off, and maybe things will get back to normal soon.  Schedule wise, I mean.  Not much is normal out at my place of employment.  

OK, moving right along...I showed you a photo of my sock yarn blanket a few days ago, but did you know I have two?  Yep, I started one that is supposed to be for my sister.  At the rate it's going, she may be in the nursing home before she gets it, but here, for your viewing pleasure, is a photo of her blanket. 

One of these days, both blankets will be finished, and then we will have a great celebration.  Oh, by the way, I do have a third blanket out there somewhere....But right now, I don't know where it is.  

And finally, it's Day Five Of The Siege.  

Short Post On Day Four

I'm afraid you're going to get a short post today.  Having that one less hour in the afternoon really makes things feel rushed, and I don't want to be rushed when I get home from work.  I want to sit down and relax a bit.  I'm sure before it's all over, they'll have us on 10 hour shifts, too.  That'll probably come sooner than later, as the lines have completely caught up with the sub brazing.  And yet, they're still trying to come get people to work in the back.  Group Leader Shark said, "They've got this whole big training center.  Why aren't they training people to braze?"  

I don't know, but they've finally hired a new Big Man Up Front.  They say he used to work out there before, but I don't remember him.   

In other news, group leader was back at work today, and he has a heck of a black eye.  Some of the other sub brazers and I were trying to look at him, but looking like we weren't trying to look at him.  He caught us looking, stood there for a minute looking back at us, then said, "All y'all's headers are leaking!" and walked on. Most of us just laughed, but one lady got really upset.

"He said my headers were leaking!" she said, running to the computer to check the leak rate board.  "They don't have anything written down, but he said they were leaking."  

I said, "Don't listen to him.  He's just running his mouth like he always does.  That's why he got punched in the face in the first place!"  

Yesterday afternoon, I finally managed to get out and get a good look at my spider lilies.  

They're toast.  You know it had to be cold, as those things are really hardy.  Oh, don't worry, they're not dead.  They'll be back next fall.  They may not be as big or as vibrant, but they will come back.  My roses were bitten pretty hard by the ice, too.  I'm going to have to get out and cut the dead parts out sometime after this rain stops.  

But look!  Here's a bit of good news.

 

I've got daffodils coming up!  And if you look closely, you can see the day lilies peeking out of the ground, too.  Monday is the first day of spring...meteorological spring, that is, and for once, I'm actually ready for it.  Not looking forward to summer, but I think I've had enough cold for a while.  

And finally, this is, of course, Day Four Of The Siege.  

A Bit Of Excitement On Day Three

 I'm starting to really regret mentioning that work has been a bit dull a few weeks ago.  I think I jinxed myself.  So what happened today?  I'll tell you.

There I was at work, just a working away, when I heard a commotion.  Everyone began walking towards the commotion, craning their necks, and asking, "What's going on?"  It didn't take long before the story came out.

It all started yesterday with a disagreement between and employee and his group leader, and ended up with some aggressive behavior on the part of the employee.  The employee was supposedly reported, but nothing was done about it.  

Shortly after 10:00 this morning, it all came to a head.  I don't really know all the details, but blood was drawn.  Literally.  Some people say the employee hit the group leader with a stick.  Others say he hit him with his fist.  Either way, he opened a big gash on the group leader's head, and he was bleeding like a stuck pig.  

The commotion we heard was them walking the employee out...followed shortly by one of the supervisors taking out after him, and a maintenance man trying to hold the supervisor back.  Someone said that supervisor was kin to the group leader, which is why he was so upset.  Before it was all over, the police were involved.

That was all I heard about it.  I did see some of the first responders taking the group leader to the first aid room, but didn't see him again.  I'm guessing they sent him on to the hospital for stitches.  If I hear any more, I'll be sure to keep you updated.

In the meantime, they announced today that we are going to start voluntary shifts on Sundays to help us get caught up.  I didn't sign up for this week, because I worked last Sunday, but I'll probably be working a few of them.  They're going to pay us double time, provided we hadn't missed any time during the week leading up to that Sunday. 

Someone said, "I can't believe they're making us work Sundays!  That's probably why that guy went nuts!   People are just tired!"

My response:

1.  Sunday's are voluntary.  If you don't want to work, don't sign up.

2.  Why are you tired?  You just had a whole week off because of the ice storm!  

Speaking of storms, we're supposed to get some pretty bad ones rolling through here tonight, so I need to get off of here and go get a shower before they get here...

And all the while, never forgetting it is the Third Day Of The Seige.

Random Thoughts Of Day Two

 1.  Slowly but surely, I'm getting things put back together after the ice storm.  I had to run into town after work, and though I was able to get everything I needed, the shelves were pretty bare.  There was very little bread, and no birdseed!  I had to get them a fruit and nut treat, just to have something to put into their feeders.  Maybe by next week, they'll have some in.

2.  I got a Valentine card from my cousin Monday.  It had been postmarked Feb 10, so I guess it got stuck in the ice for a bit.  

3.  I still have no idea what day it is.  Since I went to the store, it feels like Friday, but I know it's not.  Hang on...let me check...OK, it's Wednesday.  I do know it's Day Two of the Siege, and on this day, Col. William Barrett Travis wrote his famous Victory Or Death letter.

4.  The text of that letter is as follows:

Commandancy of the Alamo
Bexar, Feby. 24th, 1836

To the People of Texas & all Americans in the World--
Fellow Citizens and Compatriots--

I am besieged by a thousand or more of the Mexicans under Santa Anna--I have sustained a continual Bombardment & cannonade for 24 hours & have not lost a man--The enemy has demanded a surrender at discretion, otherwise the garrison are to be put to the sword, if the fort is taken--I have answered the demand with a cannon shot, & our flag still waves proudly from the walls--I shall never surrender or retreat. Then, I call on you in the name of Liberty, of patriotism & everything dear to the American character, to come to our aid with all despatch--The enemy is receiving reinforcements daily & will no doubt increase to three or four thousand in four or five days. If this call is neglected, I am determined to sustain myself as long as possible & die like a soldier who never forgets what is due to his own honor & that of his country--Victory or Death.

William Barret Travis Lt. Col. comdt.

P.S. The Lord is on our side--When the enemy appeared in sight we had not three bushels of corn--We have since found in deserted houses 80 or 90 bushels, and got into the walls 20 or 30 head of Beeves--

                                                Travis


5.  

6.  I had a lot of stuff I was going to talk about, but now that I'm sitting in front of my computer, I can't think of a thing.  So, I guess that's it for today.  

Day 1

 I am so confused.  Having last week off, and then starting this work week on a Saturday has me so mixed up.  I don't know what day it is...but I do know one thing.  

It's Day One of The Seige.  

In other news, yeah, I know I'm getting older.  Yeah, despite what some of you may think, I do know that as you get older, your metabolism slows and that makes it easier for you to gain weight, even without increasing your eating.  Over the last two or three years, I've watched mine creep higher and higher.

I've tried the various apps like Sparkpeople and MyFitnessPal, but the problem with them is I just get tired of having to keep track of what I'm eating all the time.  I stick with them a few weeks, then think, "Ugh, I just don't want to record all those calories today", and I skip a day.  Soon, one day becomes two, then three, then I just quit altogether.  

I'd been seeing the ads for Noom.  They say it's a completely different approach, which uses psychology to change the way you think about food.  It's supposed to work long term, instead of  just yo-yoing up and down the scale.  I put out the question of Facebook, and got a variety of answers.  Some people loved it, others not so much.  One thing I did notice was the ones who loved the program lean towards extroversion.  The ones who hated it lean toward introversion.  

Me, I'm an introvert, and based on their comments, I didn't feel the program would be right for me.  Then there was the cost.  The ads say a four month program with Noom costs about as much as a new pair of shoes.  I don't know where those people shop for shoes, but I've never paid that much for a pair!  Whoo-wee!

I figured I'd just keep on trying on my own, buuuut... as happenstance would have it, I got a card in the mail today about a program called Naturally Slim.  And the best part of that is, the company is going to cover the costs.  

I was kind of hesitant about signing up, because I don't really know what all it entails, but the card had been delayed by the ice storm, and the sign up period was almost closed.  So, I bit the bullet and submitted my application.  It'll be a couple of weeks before I'll know if I'm approved, so I'll let you know.

Saturday Stuff

At long last, the plant opened back up for business today.  I debated back and forth about whether to even try to go to work this morning, given the state of my road is still pretty icy.

I stood there for a long time looking out the window, then said, "What the heck, I'm going to work."  So I got dressed and went on in.  I figured getting off my own road would be the hardest part -- and I was not wrong.  Enough people had driven done it yesterday and cut ruts into the slush that I wasn't worried about sliding off into the ditch.  No, the part I was concerned about was having to stop end of the road, and not being able to get going again due to the ice.  I pictured myself sitting there spinning my wheels...

Fortunately, there was no traffic on the highway -- 51 for you local folks -- so that potential disaster was averted.  As I figured, the highway was clear of snow and ice, and traveling was easy, until I got to the road I normally turn on to get to the plant.  That would be Riverdale Rd for you local folks.  I could see it was still pretty slushy, and didn't even bother trying to drive down it.  I drove on down to the next road -- Papermill Road for you local folks-- and turned there.  

It was pretty clear as well, and I had no trouble -- until I got to the road in front of the plant.  Air Industrial Park for you local folks.  It was horrible.  It was almost as bad as my own road.  But I took things slowly and carefully, and made it safely to work.

They'd hired someone to come in and clear the parking lot, but I could still see how icy it was where I normally park, so I decided to park in the first row, closest to the employee entrance.  I told a couple of coworkers what I'd done, and said, "I'll bet you anything at the end of the day, I'm going to be wandering all over the parking lot, not remembering where I'd parked."  

As I predicted, half the employees didn't show up.  I expect it'll be the same tomorrow, too.  We only had 6 brazers there, and unfortunately, one of them was my Stalker.  But the big news is we have a new supervisor.  Our previous supervisor has moved to second shift, and our new supervisor has come from the engineering department.  Or product development.  I'm not completely sure.  

When they told me who it was, all I could think of was, "God help us, we're in the hands of engineers."

I knew him pretty well from when I used to be an auditor some 20 years ago, but I don't know how he'll be as a supervisor.  I guess we'll see.  

On the way home, I drove down Riverdale Road, just to see what shape it was in.  And the shape it was in is bad.  In the morning, I'm not even going to try it.  I'll just take Papermill Road again.    

But the good news was, by the time I got home, my outside faucets had thawed.  I'd gone out to drip them Monday evening, only I was too late.  They'd already frozen.  I was worried about my pipes bursting, but it doesn't look like they did.  I turned them on, and they've got good pressure, so I'm taking that as a sign.

Now that Icemageddon 2021 is over, and things are settling down some, I'll stop boring you with my weather reports.  Maybe something actually interesting will happen for me to blog about. 

Who knows?  We're heading into tornado season...wait, that's weather, too...

Nevermind.  

Back To Work Tomorrow

 Well, it's back to work tomorrow...maybe.  

It got up above freezing today, for the first time since Sunday.  

But, it wasn't enough to completely melt the sleet and ice on my road.  

I mean, it melted some, and got really slushy, but it's supposed to get back down into the teens tonight.  It'll be a solid sheet of ice in the morning.  I'm debating on whether to even try to drive down it. I'm sure the roads in town are fine, but those of us in the county aren't so lucky.   I know several coworkers have already said they're not going to be there, point or no point.  I'm not worried about getting a point.  I'm more concerned about being able to pay my bills.  We've already missed 4 days pay.  I don't know if I can afford to miss too much more.  

I think if I can get up this slight incline, I ought to be able to get out just fine: 

I know it doesn't look like much, but it doesn't really take much to get stuck.  I'll just have to see how slick it is in the morning, then make the call.  If I can make it to the highway, I should be good from there on in to the plant.  They've changed our work hours so that we go in at 8:00 in the morning, so at least the sun will be up.  It won't be warm enough that any of this has begun to thaw, though.  I went out this afternoon and turned my car around, so that if I do go to work, I won't have to try to back out onto that icy road.  

Tomorrow it's supposed to get into the upper 40s, so we ought to be good for Sunday, and on into next week.

By the way, I did try to make snow ice cream with sleet.  It didn't work out so well.  It just tasted like sweetened milk with little crunchy bits in it.  Not very appetizing.  At all. 

In other news, I've sort of hit a slump with my piano playing.  I'm still practicing every day, but I'm having to make myself.  I suppose it's normal with anything to go through these ups and downs.  So, to try to reignite the passion, I'm listening to the guys who inspired me to start playing in the first place.  That would be The Piano Guys.  

Although their Fight Song is my favorite, it was actually this one that caused me to do more than just wish I could play.  

I really need to look  on their website and see if they have any arrangements for beginners... 

 

Snow Day Part....What Day Is It Anyway?

This week has kind of felt like the week between Christmas and New Year's Day.  I have no idea what day it is, or why I'm here.  I'm fat, lazy, and eating the last of my stash of Christmas candy.  Heck, I even dug out my Christmas music books and have been playing Christmas songs on the piano.  The biggest difference is that I'm not getting paid for this week...Oh, well, can't win them all.  

We're going to have tomorrow off as well, as it's still not supposed to get above freezing today, and the roads will still be pretty icy.  As it stands now, the plant is opening back up Saturday, but I'll wager about half the employees won't show up.  I do know one thing, though.   I'm getting mighty tired of being a part of these major historical events.

Here's a bit of good news: my deer showed up looking for something to eat.  

I hadn't seen them in several days, since before the cold and sleet started.  I was poking up my fire, and just happened to look out the French doors and saw about 6 of them out there.  I hurried out and threw some corn over the back fence for them -- which naturally scared them off -- but they came back after a few minutes.  Heh, I haven't been able to fill the squirrel feeder, because the gate in the back fence is frozen shut, so I've just been tossing their corn over the back fence.  They haven't complained.  

The bad news is, I'm now completely out of corn, and almost out of bird seed.  I'll run in Saturday after work and get some more, provided the roads are clear by then.  They should be, because it's supposed to get up to 45' and be sunny all day. 

For now, I found a canister of steel cut oats I'd bought years ago -- before I even moved into this house, that's how long ago it was.  I'd bought them because steel cut was all the rage at the time, but I didn't like them.  They tasted OK, but I didn't like the texture.  It just doesn't seem right to be eating crunchy oatmeal.  Anyway, I kept telling myself I needed to eat them up, but I never did.  I tossed them out for the birds to eat, so I'll have a little bit of bird seed to scatter tomorrow at least. 

Oh, I'm sure you will all be pleased to know my experiment with drying firewood in the oven worked a treat.  I put some into the wood stove this morning, and they lit right up.  No smoking, no sizzling.  Just a clean, hot fire. I wouldn't recommending drying a whole cord this way, though, but it'll get you out of a bind if need be.  

One thing this storm has done is it's really made me miss my DSLR camera.  I was walking around trying to take artsy fartsy photos of the ice with my point-and-shoot and my phone, and they just weren't getting the job done to my satisfaction.  I'm not going to post them all here, but I will show you this one I took of icicles on my house.   

And lastly, I found that knitting pattern I was looking for, and cast on a scarf.  It took two or three tries to get the kinks worked out, but I think it's going to be fine.  

This is after two repeats, and I'm sure the pattern will show up better once I get farther along.  

I'll be sure to keep you posted. 

Snow Day Part 3

 And yes, I already know there will be a snow day part 4.  The Boss Who  Must Not Be Named posted this on his timeline this morning:  

The way it's coming down out there right now, I wouldn't be surprised if we got Friday off as well.  The ice is starting to build up a bit, and I've got icicles forming on my eaves.  Buuut, it's supposed to get up to 34' tomorrow, so we shall see.  It will all depend on the road conditions.  As much as I've enjoyed this unexpected vacation, I'm not going to enjoy the paycheck that accompanies it.  Thank goodness for savings accounts, is all I've got to say. 

Anyway, as I said, it's snow day part three...with no snow.  Yep, all of that is still sleet. 

We got a little bitty bit of snow, but it didn't last long.  I put out my bowls anyway to catch some of it.  I'm wondering if anyone has ever tried to make sleet ice cream, because it looks like that's what I'm going to have to do.  

I was trying to hold off building a fire today, because of my wood being green and all, but I got tired of being cold.  I went out and split down one of the huge chunks of old wood I have and put it into my stove.  It was enough to last through the day.  

Then I took some of the green wood those people tried to pass off as seasoned and dried it in my oven.  Yes, I did research how to do that.  I didn't just chunk a chunk of wood into the oven and hope for the best.  I'll let you know tomorrow how well it works.  

By the way, if you have not watched A Map Of Tiny Perfect Things on Prime, go watch it.  You will not regret it.  I was pleasantly surprised, as most new movies seem to be little more than an attempt to see how much obscene language they can cram into a two hour period.  This one wasn't.  It actually had a story line, and only a couple of curse words.  

Here's a happy coincidence.  Look at what my sight reading exercise for this week is titled:

Fitting, don't you think?  

Naturally, along with all this sleeting and movie watching, there has been knitting.  I've put a few more squares into blanket #2.

I added a few rounds to this sock.  

And I spent a good deal of time trying to find a pattern for this yarn. 

Unsuccessfully, I might add.  I want to do a scarf with it.  It's single ply, so I don't think it would hold up as socks.  I have a pattern I made up a long time ago that I think might be a good one.  I just need to go find it.  Which I will do.  As soon as I've posted this.

Finally, a bit of bad news.  Cody lost his job.  He was working for a logistics company, and they have a mandatory sales quota that all employees have to meet, and he didn't.  He's updated his resume on Indeed, so let's hope he finds something soon.

On the bright side, he gets to enjoy the snow.  

Because they're getting real snow up in Memphis.  

Snow Day Part 2

 I'd spent all day yesterday debating about whether I should try to go to work today.  I didn't want to miss work, but the roads are still very slick and covered with a snow/sleet mixture. Fortunately, that decision was taken out of my hands.  I called the plant call-in line last night, and they'd closed for the day.  That really surprised me, as they don't usually care a whit about their employees' safety or health. 

So what did I do on my unexpected day off?  I sat huddled under a blanket watching TV and knitting.  That's what I did.  

Oh, and all that firewood I bought a couple of weeks ago?  Yeah, it's all green.  I can practically hear it sizzling when I put it into my stove.   I've managed to coax it into burning by using my hair dryer as a bellows, but it's been tough going. I'm just glad I haven't lost electricity, or I'd be in a real fix.  I'm not too worried about myself, as I've got plenty of blankets, and I still have that camp stove I could use to make hot drinks and stuff, but I'm not too sure how my snakes would fare.  As long as I can keep it above freezing in the house, they'll survive.  But they are all old, and it would be hard on them.  

We were expecting record low temperatures -- they'd even forecast us down to 3' at one time.  It didn't get down quite that cold, but this was close enough for my taste.  

One of the meteorologists I follow on FB posted a map showing the snow coverage today.  

Every state except Georgia, South Carolina, and Florida have at least a little snow on the ground.  Even Hawaii, as Mauna Kea is snow capped today.  You have to look closely at North Carolina, but they do have a couple of counties with snowfall.  

As I said, I stayed inside under a blanket for most of the day, but I did venture out to throw some more birdseed out.  I'm not even bothering with the feeders.  I'm just scattering it on top of the snow.  

And me, I had fun identifying the tracks in the snow.  Most of them were birds,

but I did see the ubiquitous squirrel tracks.  

We've got more snow headed our way tomorrow, but it's not supposed to get quite so cold.  I've already called the call-in line, and the plant will be shut down for at least one more day.  I'm hoping tomorrow, we get enough of the good snow I can make snow ice cream.  

I've already got my bowl washed and ready.  

Just in case.  

 

Snow Day

 Or a sleet day, rather.  

We didn't get much snow at all, not even enough to make snow ice cream.  I was so looking forward to snow ice cream.  No, all of this is sleet.

I'm just glad there was no ice, and we didn't lose power.  I mean, I've got plenty of firewood, but still...

Some people weren't so lucky.  They're having to do rolling blackouts in Texas, because the wind turbines are frozen up.  Here in Mississippi, down south, there are lots of folks with out power, due to ice buildup.   

I copped this photo off of the internet.  This is the Rainbow Bridge (on the left) and the Veteran's Memorial Bridge in Bridge City, Texas.  

Apparently, people are still trying to drive over them, judging by the tire tracks.  Me, I didn't even try to go anywhere today.  I stayed home, watched TV and knit a few more squares into blanket #2 -- the one that is supposed to be for my sister, if I ever get it finished.  

But look at this: 

That is one massive winter storm.  It's supposed to get even colder tonight.  So cold, a Cat 5 Gumbo Alert has been issued.

I'm considering calling in tomorrow, and just staying home again.  

Finally, remember I'd said I had something up my sleeve for today.  I was planning on live streaming my piano practice, but I didn't.  I remembered I'd asked about it before, and no one really seemed that interested except Kristine.  So, I didn't do it.  

I didn't want to bore you all.  

 

Liar

 Well, the plant made a liar out of me.  

I'd said just yesterday that nothing interesting has been happening, when what should the universe throw at me today? 

It all started when the computers kept going down.  Some people couldn't even clock in, and we couldn't confirm our completed work.  We kept having to go over and check, and when the computer was up, we'd shout, "KIT OUT!!"  And everyone in the department would rush over and confirm everything they'd done up to that point. 

I'd just walked over to the computer to see if it was up, and it wasn't.  On my way back to my stand, that's when I heard the screaming and saw the running.  "Smoke!" someone yelled.  "Smoke coming out of that striker!"  It took some doing, but I finally figured out which striker was smoking, because by then it had stopped.  I unplugged it, and Supervisor called maintenance, who came out and replaced it.  All was well once again.  

Shortly after lunch, I was just a brazing away, minding my own business, when I saw one of the brazers running.  I looked over and saw someone's fan was on fire.  I don't think it was the fan itself, but a piece of tissue or paper that had gotten caught in the wires.  They got that fire put out, and my first thought was, "Well, now I have something to blog about."    

And here I was telling you how dull things had been.

Speaking of, well not speaking of, but I couldn't think of another segue, the plant grapevine has it that Stalker isn't going to get that job he's been telling everyone he got.  Word is, the reason they took the brazing trainer job away from him in the first place is because he would spend all day hanging around in the lab, getting in their way, and generally making a nuisance of himself, instead of doing the job he was supposed to be doing in the first place.  At least that's the rumor.  The same grapevine is telling us that this is the reason he won't be getting that new job -- because the person over the lab didn't want him back there then, and doesn't want him back there now. 

We're all kind of bummed, because we were hoping he'd just go away.  

In other news, it took some doing -- OK, it took a LOT of doing -- but I finally got that gigantic chunk of wood split into three still somewhat sizeable pieces. Or, two sizeable pieces and one somewhat small piece, rather.

At least they'll fit into my wood burner now.  All I have left to split are these three pieces from the tree I had cut down, and I'll be done. 

It ain't happening today. Or probably not tomorrow, either, because I'm not sure I'll be able to move my arms after splitting that big chunk.  At least I've got plenty of wood now, because our forecast for the weekend hasn't changed much.

If anything, it's gotten worse.  Oh, and I did call and get my dentist appointment cancelled, so I don't have to do anything at all on Monday. 

But, I have something up my sleeve....If I can figure out how to get it done.  

You'll just have to wait and see.  

Bound To Happen

You knew it was bound to happen.  Yep, starting Thursday, the plant is back on 9 hour shifts.  Well, the assembly lines are.  Oh, you should have heard the hooting and hollering going on. And I was like, "Come on, man!  Don't act like you never worked here before!  We always do, you know...the thing!"

Except that they didn't put the sub-brazers on nine hours -- yet.  But they will, just as soon as they run out of headers.  I'll give it a week or two, then we'll all be on overtime hours.  I know I could use the money, but boy,  I'm getting too old for this. 

Not much else is going on around there, besides the ever present work, that is.  For some reason, work just doesn't seem as interesting as it used to be.  Rather, I don't think you would find it as interesting.  All the crazy stuff seems to happen on the assembly lines, and since they put the brazers back into our own work area, it's been a lot smoother sailing these last couple of years. Smooth sailing doesn't make for sensational writing.  

But look what we've got coming later this week.

I'm like, what?  I thought this was supposed to be the South!  At least it's not as bad as it was.  Yesterday they were predicting a low of 12 Sunday morning. Good thing I bought all that wood.  

That reminds me, I need to call and cancel my dentist appointment that I have on Monday.  I'm going to be sitting home with a nice warm fire, my knitting, and some hot tea.  

I might even stay home on Tuesday, too.   

Done For Now

I'm done with my blanket, for now at least.  I've knit a few more squares into it, and am going to put it away, until I get more yarn scraps.    

I still have a bit more of the yarn that my friend Leann sent me, but they're all blues and grays. 

Oh, don't get me wrong.  They're lovely blues and grays, and I'm definitely going to add them eventually.  I just feel like that top section is already a bit heavy on the blues, and I want to get a bit more of a variety in there.  I need more yellows, and some whites, too.  I don't want solid white, but stuff with a white base -- maybe with stripes or speckles in them.  

Anyway, that's it for that blanket for a bit.  I do have the other one I'm still working on.  It was supposed to be for my sister, and it may yet be.  At the rate I'm going, I'm going to have to send it to her nursing home!   

Well, I finally broke down and took the last of the Christmas decorations down.  

The mantle seems a bit forlorn without them, and I need to figure out something else to put up there.  Besides the bricks I mean.  If I could find a local contractor who would actually show up and do the job for which I hired him, I could get a new mantle built.  One that was attached, and not just held down by paving stones.  

Heh, I had to laugh at myself a bit, because when I was getting ready to compose this post, I transferred my photos from my memory card to my computer.  Somehow, I've ended up with about 7 folders with my photos in them.  I don't know how that happened, or what to do about it, other than just buy a new computer.  That's not an option since this one is only a year old.  

So, I was getting ready to blog, and was looking all over for my pictures, and couldn't find them.  I looked everywhere -- through all those folders with no luck, getting more frustrated by the moment.  I finally found them.  Do you want to know where they were?  

They were under the wrong year.  One day last week, my date became ..not set.  I'm not sure how that happened, but it did.  Seems when I'd set it again, I put the year back to 2020.  It has since been rectified.  

We for sure don't want to go through that year again!   

I Said I'd Do Better

I said I'd do better with my blogging, but alas, I have not done better with my blogging.  When was the last time I wrote a post?  I don't even remember...

Oh, I've had things to say.  I just haven't had the heart to say them.  It's been a real challenge since I lost my friend Suzie last April.  She was the one I was blogging to.  When I'd get stuck, or couldn't think of anything to say, I ask myself, "Now, if Suzie and I were sitting down having tea at the end of the day, what would I tell her?"  And like magic, the words would come.  

I keep telling myself I need to find another semi-imaginary friend to talk to, but nobody could take Suzie's place.  

Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go cry for a minute...

Ok, I'm back.  Thank you for your indulgence. 

Night before last, I decided I wanted to start reading my new book, Up From Slavery, by Booker T. Washington. 

I tried.  I really did, but dadgum that is some tiny print in that book. 

Roku remote included for scale.  For those of you who may not have a Roku remote, it measures in at 6", including the little tag at the end.  My old eyes can't take that!  Someone suggested a magnifying page, but as it happens, the Kindle copy of the book was only 60 cents.  I bought it instead, and will relegate the hard back copy to my library.  

In the meantime, let me tell you a story from my Navy days.  

Back when I was in the Navy, stationed in Naples, Italy, I used to hang out at the enlisted club on country music nights.  We only had one enlisted club, and they played a different genre of music every night.  Which genre depended a lot on who was DJ, because they had to supply their own music.  

I had my little gang of friends I hung out with.  Most of them were normal, decent people.  There were two, however, that...well, weren't quite right in the head, you might say.  One evening, they were out trying to line dance to a song.  The dance they were doing didn't fit the rhythm of the song at all, but they were trying to force it to.  

About half way through, another friend turned around and said, "Those two could foul up a wet dream."  

Only he didn't say foul, but I am trying to keep this a mostly G rated blog.  I'll just let you use your imagination as to what he really did say. 

You want to know who else can foul up a wet dream?

My place of employment!!

It's never really been a good place to work, but here these last couple of years, it's almost become unbearable.  I'll be so glad when I can finally get out of there for good. 

So, this week, one of the supervisors has decided to shut down the component areas, and send almost everyone who works in those departments to the production side.  You know as well as I do what's going to happen.  Next week, they'll all be up in the front hooting and hollering about not having any headers, and they're going to be standing over us trying to rush us.  And I'm going to look at them and say, "I got no sympathy for you."  You shut down the component areas.  What did you think would happen?  

You know who else I got no sympathy for?  Our parts stager.  Why?  I'm glad you asked.  Back in the day, the plant had bought several adult sized tricycles for the parts stagers, maintenance men, and anyone else who needed to cover long distances in the course of the day.  Last summer, we got a new parts stager, whose job it is to take the completed headers and florators back to the production lines.  That young man rode that bike so hard, he tore the thing up.  It is now sitting back in the maintenance department, completely unable to be ridden.  I don't even know if they're going to bother fixing it, because he'll just tear it up again.

Anyway, I was back on line 4, line brazing, when the parts stager came back toting a big bin of parts.  They were heavy, and he was grumbling, and throwing things around, fussing and cussing.  And me, I was laughing at him.  If he hadn't have torn that bike up, he wouldn't have to be toting those heavy bins of parts back to the lines by hand. 

It was schadenfreude I was experiencing.  That's what that was. 

In weather news, they're predicting snow again for next Monday.  Not this coming Monday, but the 15th.  I hope it does snow, because I have a vacation day already scheduled.  I took it for a dentist appointment, which I think I'm going to cancel.  I'm going to use COVID as an excuse, but really, I just don't want to go. 

Even if it doesn't snow, it's still going to be bone chillingly cold.  A perfect day to sit in front of the fire.

Now that I have wood, I can do just that. 

As I Suspected

 The firewood guy shorted me. 

I got out and finished stacking my wood after work today, because it's supposed to rain tomorrow.  Once I'd gotten all done, that's when I saw it.  Yep, they shorted me.  For it to be a full face cord, the stack would have to be the same size as that sheet of OSB behind it.  As you can see, it's not even close.  And those few pieces on the end were wood I already had, so what they brought me was really short. 

So, yeah, I definitely won't be buying from them again.  Even though it was a really good price for a face cord -- if it had actually been a face cord, that is.  Oh, and look at this:

They left this one huge chunk of wood that I don't think would fit inside my heater.  Even if it fit through the opening, it would be way too heavy for me to put it in there, since the door is on one end.  

I tried to split it, but this is as far as I got.  I swung that sledge hammer until my arms were noodles, but had to put it away for the day.  I'll try again tomorrow, if it's not raining when I get home. 

All in all, thought, it's good that I have a supply of wood, because it's supposed to get cold next week.  They're even predicting snow for Thursday!  With my luck, though, all we'll get is rain.  Cold, wet, bone chilling rain.  

In other news, I'm having to take a bit of a break from piano practice.  You see, I decided like a dummy to wash my coffee maker.  You know, the one that uses the pods.  Yeah, I forgot about the little stabby thing in the bottom, and completely stabby thinged my finger. 

Yes, it's a bit painful.  I'm still trying to play through my songs once or twice each, but I'm not going to be doing a full practice until this heals.  Oh, and for those of you interested, one of the shanty groups I follow is doing a community thing.  You can get the details here:

It would be so cool to see some of my friends in this video.  Me, I'm too much of a Luddite to even know where to begin.  They even want ASL people to do it, so if you know someone who knows sign language, by all means share it with them. 

Miffed

 Well, firewood guy finally showed up last night -- after 5 hours.  

It was sometime after 7:00, and I was already getting ready for bed.  Hey, when you get up ridiculously early, you also go to bed ridiculously early.   

Nevertheless, he finally arrived.  I told him I'd about given up on him, and he replied that he has a lot going on.  Yeah?  Well, did you ever think that I might have a lot going on, too?  Maybe I had stuff to do, but couldn't get it done because I'd spent five hours waiting on you to show up?  So, I was already a bit aggravated, but then....Oh, wait, I have to lead this in properly: 

But wait, there's more!  

When I messaged them in the Facebook marketplace about buying the wood, I specifically asked if they would accept a Paypal transfer for payment.  They said yes, that was fine.  See?  I even screenshotted it: 

When they got here, I asked again, just to be sure.  "You said Paypal was OK, right?"  She again said yes, and even wrote down her email address for me.  I came inside, logged into my Paypal account, then went back outside to double check the amount.  That's when they said, "No, we won't take Paypal.  We want cash only."  

Seriously???  Why did you say Paypal was OK if you only wanted cash?????

I told them, "I don't have that much cash on hand" and said that if they'd told me yesterday they would only take cash, I could have run into town and gotten some.  But I didn't, because they'd said Paypal was OK.  That's when I said it's either Paypal, or I could write them a check.  He said, "But where would I get it cashed?"

Ummmm at a BANK.  He said they didn't have a bank.  They did all their finances online -- which really makes me wonder why they wouldn't take a Paypal transfer.  Anyway, by this point, I was so miffed, I was thisclose to telling them to take the wood back and I'd buy it from someone else.  But in the end, they accepted a check -- after I told him how to do a mobile deposit on his Wells Fargo app -- and I got my wood.  I didn't even have them stack it.  I told him to throw it in a pile on the ground and I'd stack it later.  I just wanted them to go away, and I'm not going to do business with them any more.  At least that's over with...or is it?

But wait, there's more!

I don't think they brought me a full face cord.  A face cord is 8' x 4'. Now, I haven't finished stacking it yet, but right now, it looks like it's only going to measure 6' x 3'.  

Is there no one honest left in this world?  

In other news, Stalker is going around telling everyone he got a new job in the prototype shop.  Nobody believes him, though, because 90% of what comes out of that man's mouth is a lie.  Besides, if he has a new job, why is he still on his brazing stand?  We're all secretly hoping it's true,  just so he'll go away. 

He wasn't there today, and everyone in the whole department seemed so much more relaxed.  

And finally, they're predicting snow for next Thursday.  I guess it's a good thing I got that wood, then, eh?  

What I Hate

You know what I hate?  I'll tell you what I hate. 

I hate waiting for people.  That's what I hate. 

Yeah, I'd found someone local selling firewood, so I messaged them and said I wanted to buy some.  Sure, they replied, and asked for my address.  They said they'd have it here after 2:00 PM, which is when I get off work. 

It is now after 2:00 PM, and no firewood.  It is now after 3:00 PM, and no firewood.  It is also after 4:00 PM and will soon be after 5:00 PM, and still no firewood.   

When they said after 2:00 PM, I didn't know they meant 3 + hours after 2:00. 

I'm bummed, because I really wanted to sit in front of a nice, warm fire with my new book.

Sigh, is there anyone left a body can depend on?