The Weirdos

I don't know what had that cat set off last night, but she yowled all night long.  And I do mean all...night...long.  I don't know if she saw something outside, or if she was just lonely, but I didn't get any sleep.  My allergist told me not to let cats sleep in the bed with me, but we may have to make an exception until this one gets settled in a bit more. 

Needless to say, between that and work, I'm a bit tuckered.  I was thisclose to calling in this morning, and staying home, but I didn't.  Not long into my day, I was already regretting that decision.  

I hadn't even clocked in yet when one of the other brazers told me that an assembly line group leader had come up front and asked her who brazed for such and such line.  Coworker told him, "Well, Becky and some other people."   He replied, "Where is Becky?  Why isn't Becky brazing?  That line doesn't have the first header!"  I hadn't even gotten there yet!  Now, he probably didn't mean it the way it sounded, but I was tired and cranky enough I took it exactly how it sounded.  

I told Coworker, "My shift doesn't start until 6:00!  If he needs something, he needs to talk to third shift group leader!"  Just for clarification, day shift starts at 6:00, but some of us are going in an hour early.  That means there is a bit of overlap between third and day shifts. Well, third shift group leader overheard me, and came down and said to me, "The reason you don't have any headers is..."  

I said, "I understand that, believe me.  I wasn't saying that because I thought it was your fault.  But my shift starts at 6:00.  This is your shift.  If someone needs something, I'm going to refer him to you as the group leader.  I was not in any way trying to blame you, because I know we're all up here doing the best we can."  

A few minutes later, I decided I needed to go tell Group Leader Shark about that conversation, mainly because I didn't want her to hear about it from someone else.  Now, it was never my intention to get Assembly Line Group Leader into trouble.  Not at all.  That was just a perk. 

Let me step out of my story for a moment to tell you I have never in my life seen someone who so perfectly embodied a Shakespearean quote:

Group Leader Shark may be petite, but she's mighty fierce.  There's a reason she has that nick-name, and that's for sure. 

OK, back to my story.  I told Group Leader Shark about the conversation I'd had with Third Shift Group Leader, but she focused with laser like intensity on the fact that Assembly Line Group Leader had come to sub-brazing when she's told him time and time again not to.  She called him to her desk...and I wish you could have seen it;  this tiny, barely 5' tall woman shaking her finger at a 6'2" man saying, "Don't be coming up here any more!"

I wish I could say that was all the excitement for the day, but you know how the infomercials say, "But wait!  There's more!"

But wait!  There's More!

I was back at my stand just a working away, when one of the other brazers called me over to her stand.  She was pointing at something, and I still hadn't had my coffee, so I didn't know what she was saying.  Finally, she said, "The regulator!"  Oh...she was trying to show me that the gas regulator was dropping the gas pressure when she lifted her brazing tip.  I mentioned that a coworker who has been brazing for 35 years has been telling them for weeks that the regulator is bad, but they don't want to listen to him.  They're trying to say he doesn't know what he's talking about, even though he has been brazing since before Brazing Boss was even born.  

At this point, the third shift brazer working opposite of her and had been staring at us the whole time, ripped off her mask and yelled at me, "Do you have something to say to me?"  Uh, wut?

Sigh...Why do I always attract the weirdos?  

Keeping my cool, I replied, "We were talking about the regulator."  

She snapped, "You'd better keep it that way!"  

Why on earth would she think we would be wanting to say anything to her?  I mostly avoid her completely, because she has one of the ugliest spirits I've ever encountered.  Turning back to my friend without responding, we finished our conversation, and I went back to brazing.  I minute or two later, my friend walked over to me and asked, "If I told Group Leader Shark what that girl said, would it be tattling?"  "Nope," I replied.  And that's exactly what we did. 

She was not happy, I can tell you that.  Group Leader Shark and third shift group leader called her over, and I don't know what they said, but this girl got so irate, they had to call the supervisors to get in on the conversation. 

And the rest of the day passed mostly without incident.  Unless you count the parts stager picking up some hot headers and putting them back down right quick because he had the wrong gloves on.  Which I found to be way more amusing than I should have.  But I still told him which kind of gloves to go get so he wouldn't get burned. 

How was your day? 

Have I Told You Lately

 how much I hate my job?  

There I was at work, just a working away, when I was approached by a coworker we affectionately refer to as Li'l Dorothy...because her name is Dorothy and she's petite.  She handed me a paper, explaining that the dispatcher had instructed her to bring it to me.  

I took the paper, looked at it, and hollered, "Whooooo!"

I turned the paper around and showed my coworkers, and they hollered, "Whooo!"  Up and down the line of brazing stands I walked, holding up the paper, and all who saw it cried out, "Whooo!" 

This caught the attention of the machine operators in tubing, who came over and asked what was that I had in my hand.  I turned the paper around and showed them, whereupon they all sang, "Whooo!"  

And what was on that piece of paper that made us all say, "Whooo!"?  The following words:

All production areas are off Saturday

A weekend!  A real weekend!  I immediately began making plans for my Saturday off.  The first thing I was going to do, of course, was to sleep later than 3:30 AM.  After a leisurely morning coffee, I'd get dressed and go buy what I needed to finish my flower bed, and I was going to mow the whole yard...

Alas, our joy was short lived.  

At the end of the day, one of my coworkers  walked up to me and said, "We're working Saturday."  WHAT????  Yep, she'd gotten a message from her husband that all component areas will be working.  She went and asked our supervisor, and he confirmed.  Why didn't they tell us?  Why didn't they put it on the notice?  He said they'd told all the group leaders.  So, why didn't Group Leader Shark say anything to us???

I asked a few more coworkers if they'd heard, and no, they were as surprised as I was.  Why didn't they say so up front?  Why did they get our hopes up, only to dash them like that?  I'll tell you.  Because they don't care sh*t about us.  We ain't nothing but dogs to them.  And they wonder why the turnover rate is so high.

As if that weren't enough, they've decided to up the starting wage to $13.50 per hour.  Sounds good, right?  Ah, but there's a catch.  If you make less than $13.50, you get bumped up to that amount.  If you make more than that already, well, sucks to be us.  If you're not maxed out, you'll get your piddling little $0.25 per hour annual raise.  If you are maxed out, well, really sucks to be us.  

And they can't seem to figure out why the turnover rate is so high!  Where is the incentive for company loyalty?  Someone who has been there 30 or 35 years ought to make more than someone just walking in the door.  And why would you have a salary max anyway?  Or a vacation max?  

Here's the deal, I'm maxed out on my salary.  No matter how much longer I work there, I'll never make any more than I'm making now.  I'm maxed out on my vacation time.  No matter how much longer I work there, I'll never have any more vacation days than I do now.  My pension -- because I'm one of the few who actually gets a pension -- was frozen years ago.  No matter how much longer I work there, I'll never make a penny more in my pension than I will if I retired right now.  Now, explain to me why I should stay there another 10-15-20 years?  

But there is a light at the end of the tunnel.  They're building a new factory in town, Milwaukee Tools.  People are already planning on applying there, and they haven't even started building the facility.  Some Front Office Guy was talking about it, and said, "We've got a core of employees who will never leave here.  They may pay a little bit more, but they're not as relaxed as we are out here."

I turned to my coworker and said, "I don't know what he's smoking, but I want some of it!"  That place is not relaxed.  It's the most stressful job I've had, and that includes my time in the military.  

I think tomorrow, I'm going to ask my group leader to move me to a machine.  For two reasons...1.  Because Brazing Boss has made brazing intolerable, as much as I loved brazing, I just can't stand it any more, and 2. I think being a machine operator will be a better job title to put onto my Milwaukee Tools application.  

I'll let you know how it goes. 

I Gardened!

 Just a little bit, though.  And I may not be through, either.  So, what did I do in the garden?

Well, first off, I made a little bed for my Bluebonnet seeds.  

I'd had a bit of extra edging that I'd bought a few years ago to make a stand alone bed.  I don't remember what I was going to plant in it, but it had sat unused ever since.  I'd used a couple of pieces just to mark where I'd planted my bluebonnet seeds then, just so I wouldn't accidentally weed them up.  I got the rest out of my shop, and made a slightly raised bed -- for better drainage, you know. 

This morning, I got the seeds out of the freezer and dropped them into boiling water.  Once they'd cooled, I scattered them about, poked them down into the soil, and hoped for the best.  I'll let you know how it goes.  Oh, and if you look carefully, you can just see the one little plant that re-seeded from last year's ...two that I had germinate.  

In the rest of the bed, the only thing I've planted so far is some portalucas.  

I might get some dwarf marigolds or something to put in beside them.  It would have to be something that doesn't grow very tall, as I don't want my moss rose to get overwhelmed. 

I had a bit of that fabric weed barrier stuff left over, so I put some of it down in the bare spots.  

It'll look much better once I get more mulch spread over it. That's about all I'm going to do for this year.  I might head up to Lowe's one day and see if I can get some hanging plants for my porch, but other than that, I'm done.   I wish I had time to have one of those nice, beautifully landscaped yards, but the factory kind of dominates my life right now.  I'm doing good to keep this one little bed in halfway decent shape.

Not to mention keeping up with the mowing...

Oh, and when I went to get my gardening tools out of the shed, I found a little bird's nest in my knee pad.

And look!  It's got a couple of little eggs in it!

I'm not sure what kind they are, though.  Maybe cardinal, but I'm not completely sure. I  didn't see hide nor hair --um, wing nor feather of the mother bird.  I hope I didn't scare her away for good.  

Not only that, a stray cat has had kittens in my pile of spare landscape timbers. 

I haven't seen the kittens, but I've heard them mewing.  If you know me at all, you know exactly what I did...I started feeding her.  I'm not sure who she belongs too, but she is skinny as a rail. Maybe when the kittens get old enough to be weaned, I'll call animal control.  Or maybe I'll just keep them all.  I'm way behind on becoming a crazy cat lady, after all. 

And finally, the sock knitting continues.  I've made it past the gusset decreases, and am in the home stretch now.  

Of course, I'll still need to do the second one...

Earth Day 2021

 

1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.4 And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.5 And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.6 And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.7 And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so.8 And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.9 And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so.10 And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good.11 And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so.12 And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good.13 And the evening and the morning were the third day.14 And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:15 And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so.16 And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also.17 And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth,18 And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good.19 And the evening and the morning were the fourth day.20 And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven.21 And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good.22 And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth.23 And the evening and the morning were the fifth day.24 And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so.25 And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good.26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.29 And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.30 And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so.31 And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

San Jacinto Day

After the fall of the Alamo, on March 6, 1836, the Texas Army, led by General Sam Houston, spent 6 weeks running from the relentless pursuit of General Antonio Lopez de Santa Ana.  On April 21, on the banks of the San Jacinto River, the decisive battle of the Texas Revolution was fought.

It lasted just 18 minutes, and culminated with the capture -- and surrender -- of Santa Ana.  Against all odds, the Texas Revolution was won, and Texas became an independent republic, until they joined the United States by treaty in 1845.

And this is the song those soldiers played as they marched into battle:



Some years later, the battle would be immortalized in a ballad by Mitch Torok.



The San Jacinto Monument:

Random Thoughts Of A Tuesday Afternoon

1.  There had been knitting going on.

See?  Evidence of such knitting exists.  It's been so long since I knit socks, I had to look up how to knit a heel flap and turn a heel.  But look it up I did, and on we go...

2.  The dog and the cat are slowly getting used to each other.  She passed Jesse in the hall this morning and didn't even hiss at him.  I call that a breakthrough.  

3.  He's still pretty nervous around her, though.  He is just now getting to the point where he'll come out of the bedroom to eat.  I'd even fed him in the bedroom for a bit, because he was obviously losing weight.  I dragged him out of the bedroom to the kitchen once, and he fought me every step of the way.  But now, he's laying beside my chair in the living room, the way he used to before we got a cat.  I call that a breakthrough.

4.  Sometimes I feel like I'm being pulled in a million different directions.  Work, the cat, the dog, the blog, my piano lessons, mowing...the weight loss program.  When you work 10 hours a day, six days a week, it leaves precious little time to do anything else, yet I have all these other things I need to be doing also.  I need a break. If the blogging gets scarce for a while, you'll know why. 

5.  As if I didn't have enough demands on my time, I went and bought a new game. 

It popped up in an e-mail as an Amazon daily deal...or something.  I don't remember what.  But it was 60% off, marked down from $30 to $10.  After reading some of the reviews I saw that you can play it as a solitaire game, so on a whim, I picked it up.  I haven't played it yet.  I haven't had time. It's supposed to be raining Saturday, so maybe I'll play my game instead of mowing. 

6.  Cody and I used to play games all the time when he was little, but he would get so ugly if he lost.  I finally told him, "I don't want to play with you any more.  It's just not fun."  So, we stopped.  I still have all the games, and even buy new ones occasionally.  Maybe someday, I'll have a game playing buddy once again. 

7.  Speaking of Cody, he has a new job.  He's in customer service at a sporting goods equipment company.  I think he'd applied to that company when he first moved up to Memphis, but they said he didn't have enough sales experience.  Apparently he does now. 

8.  I'm so tired, I forgot what I was going to tell you next.  

9.  I still haven't planted my bluebonnet seeds.  We've got one more cold spell coming in tonight, so maybe after it warms up again, I can get them into the ground.  My friend Ronnie told me to freeze the seeds, then drop them into boiling water to crack the shells.  The last seeds I got, I scuffed them with a fingernail file, but still, only two germinated.  I think I'll try Ronnie's suggestion this time, and see if it works better. 

10.  I guess that's it for today.  Laters....

Patriot's Day

 Concord Hymn

By Ralph Waldo Emerson

By the rude bridge that arched the flood,
Their flag to April's breeze unfurled,

Here once the embattled farmers stood

And fired the shot heard round the world.

The foe long since in silence slept,

Alike the conqueror silent sleeps;

And time the ruined bridge has swept

Down the dark stream which seaward creeps. 

On this green bank, by this soft stream

We set today a votive stone,

That memory may their deeds redeem

When, like our sires, our sons are gone. 

Spirit who made their heroes dare,

To die and leave their children free,

Bid time and nature gently spare,

The shaft we raise to them and thee.

Could It Be?

There I was at work, just a working away, when Some Front Office Guy (formerly known as The Boss Who Must Not Be Named) walked by and asked, "Are you sorry you lost your Stalker?"  

Because yes!  Stalker started his new job yesterday!  At long last he is gone!  Could it be that after ten long, interminable years, I'm finally free of his harassment forever?  I certainly hope and pray it's so!

So I said, "Child please!  I was singing Glory, Glory Hallelujah!  all day long yesterday!"

The department has seemed so much calmer and more relaxed without him there.  But I am wondering how long he's going to last in the lab, since they didn't really want him either.  He thinks everyone out there is so in love with him, but he'd totally delusional about that.  The only one who loved him is that one front office guy who pulled some strings and got Stalker the job in violation of company policy in the first place.  Only he's not there to cover Stalker's butt any more.  Man, I wish I could be a fly on that wall. 

By the way, one of the brazers went home feeling sick last Friday.  Today, I found out she has the COVID again.  She's already had it once, so that was a bit of a shocker. 

Well, I've had my new cat for two weeks now, and she finally seems to have settled in to her new home -- so much so, I felt it was time to move her out of Cody's room.  I bought her a little automatic feeder and put it into the utility room.  

Kindly ignore my unmopped floor.  Trust me, when you work ten hours a day, six days a week standing in a factory, the last thing you want to do when you get home is mop.  

After I took the picture, I remember I'd also bought one of those vinyl mats to put her bowls on.  And I'm not going to take another one.  Which reminds me, I desperately need a new camera.  But that's a different post for a different day...So, I figured the auto feeder will be good for when we go to Texas next month for my mother's memorial service.  We'll only be gone a couple of days, and that will be  plenty of food to hold her.  I'll still have to board Jesse, though.  

Whew! All this talk of moving has made Cutie tired.  She crawled into her little house and took a nap. 

While I was in the store -- I was there getting my oil changed -- I wandered into the garden center.  These last couple of years, I just haven't been that much into planting my flower beds.  I think it's the long, long hours catching up to me, and I'm not getting any younger, you know.  But look!  They actually had bluebonnet seeds this year!

I don't think I'm going to plant them in the same place as the others, though.  I've discovered my yard slopes wrong, both in the front and back.  The yards slope towards the house, so any time it rains, the water collects right there -- where I've got stuff planted.  If I ever win the lottery, I'm going to hire some landscapers to fix that.  Right...

So, now I'm trying to decide if I want to build a flower bed out of some of the plastic edging I still have, or maybe paint an old tire.  The other option would be to dig out that old fire pit behind the fence and fill it with garden soil.  I think that might work out best, because it's already there, and would have good drainage.  It would be a lot of work though, because I'd have to dig out all the ashes and garbage, and other crap the previous owners burned in there. 

The biggest problem is, the time of year I want to get out and do this kind of stuff is also the time of year when the plant is driving us into the ground like dogs.  

Let's end with a little good news.  It's been a month since I started my weight loss program, and I've lost 10 lbs.  Yay, me!

I Took A Risk

So, what has happened since last I blogged?  Let's see...  We had some severe weather.  Then we had some more severe weather...That's the last time I hope for something exciting to happen!  

Tuesday night, we had some storms blow through, but at least my power didn't go out...until it did. Yeah...it went out sometime between 1:30 and 2:00 AM Wednesday morning, and my first thought was, "Boy, I hope it's not out for 4 days this time!"  It wasn't. 

I tried to go back to sleep, but I couldn't drop off for wondering if the electricity would come back on before I had to get up and get ready for work.  It didn't.  I lay there debating whether I should use that as and excuse and just call in sick for the day.  I didn't.  

In the end, I told myself not to throw away a whole day's pay just because I didn't want to get ready in the dark.  After all, I've done it before, more than once, so I got up and dressed by lantern light and went on in to work. 

Some of my coworkers and I were talking about the storm, and I said, "Yeah, and we get to do it all over again tomorrow!"  Which would be yesterday as you are reading this. Before I left, I reminded my coworker, "Cyn!  Don't forget!  Storms tonight".  She said, "Nope!  I don't believe it!"  

Whether she believed it or not, the storms came through, right on schedule.  I'm telling ya, when that wind hit, it hit hard.  It made the cat bow up and start hissing!  It got a bit rough there, but it got really rough down south.  The hail was unreal!  This is just one of the many pictures sent in to the meteorologists I follow.  

 As I lay there in bed, listening to the wind blow, I said to myself, "If my electricity goes out again -- for the second time this week-- I'm definitely going to call in this time!"  But it didn't, so I didn't.  

Anyway, after the winds hit and the cat bowed up and started hissing, she went into hiding, and I couldn't find her anywhere.  Normally, I shut her up in Cody's room at night, but since she was nowhere to be found, I just left the door open.  She eventually came out, and other than yowling outside my bedroom door a few times, she did really well overnight.  Not only that, she seemed a lot less clingy when I got up for work.  On the strength of that, I took a risk and left her out while I went to work.  And by "out" I mean, not shut in Cody's room.  Not outside.  I'm still not quite brave enough to let her go outside.  

The house was still standing, and the dog was still living when I got home, so it appears the days of shutting her in the bedroom are over.  I know she'll be glad of that.  She's finally starting to feel at home here.  I just hate that she has to stay by herself so much.  She's used to having someone around all the time, and what with me working these 10 hour shifts...

Speaking of work, there I was at work, just a working away when the familiar cry came, "Garbage!"  As is our custom, all the sub-brazers grabbed their little garbage cans and went to empty them into the dumpster while the garbageman was in our area.  All except Stalker.  He dumped his garbage into the cardboard bin.  Then we all stood there laughing at him while he had to clean it out.  

And finally, the last few items from my little spending spree have arrived.  This first one needs no explanation:

And, of course, more new yarn.  

Here's a better shot of the minis.  They will be going into my sock yarn blankets.

The big hank will as well, once I've knit something from it, that is.  These are from my friend Leann's shop, Forbidden Fiber Co.  She has some beautiful colors.  Even the cat approves. 

That's about it for now, but I can tell you one thing, I will not be hoping for something more exciting to happen!  I've had about enough excitement for a while, thankyouverymuch. 

  

This Is My...

 Stalker came slinking back into work yesterday with his tail between his legs like a whipped dog.  And boy, did he have the attitude!  No matter, we were all laughing at him.  Hey, he shouldn't have gone around gloating about that job before he even knew if he had it or not.  That's all I have to say. 

As you probably know by now, I've rekindled my love affair with vinyl these last couple of years.  Vinyl is a living, breathing medium -- so much more alive than CDs or digital downloads.  Apparently, I'm not the only one who thinks so, as vinyl is making a comeback.  

You know, sometimes the old ways really are better.

Anyway, I've been trying to replace some of the old records we had when I was a child, that my brother said got ruined in Hurricane Ike.  I've already picked up several, and behind that cat is my latest addition to my collection. 

Hang on a minute....  

OK, here it is:

One of my childhood favorites.  It's not an original release, but a re-pressing of it.  I haven't listened to it yet.  Maybe over the weekend. 

I guess that's all for now.  Maybe something exciting will happen soon, and blogging will become interesting again.    

Crushing Disappointment

 Looks like Stalker might not have that new job after all.  

One of coworkers said he'd told her that the guy he was supposed to be working under in the lab told him it would be another week or so before he started.  Then he told another coworker that our boss -- our production manager -- told him he needed him over in sub-brazing for another week.  According to that coworker, Stalker got mad and stayed home today.  

In actuality, both of those statements are probably lies. That's his problem, he lies so much if he told me the sky is blue, I wouldn't believe him.  So, at this point, I don't really know what is going on.  I said I didn't understand why they're taking so long.  He could have started it a month ago.   We're speculating that the folks in the lab are trying to figure out a way not to give him the job.  They don't want him back there, but we don't want him out there with us, either. 

Sigh, I knew it was too good to be true.  But my other coworker says she hopes they don't give him that job, because he doesn't deserve it.  I replied, "Yeah, but at least he'll be away from us." 

In other news, Cutie seems to be settling in a bit more.  She still yowls almost nonstop in the mornings when I'm getting ready for work, but she's calmed down quite a bit from when I first got her.  She's even more relaxed around Jesse.  She still won't let him get too close, but this afternoon, they were in the same room and she didn't fluff out her tail or bow up at him.  We take small victories where we can.  

One thing I did for her was to get that old step I'd bought for Rylea -- and she never once used-- and put it in front of my non-opening French door.  

It gives her a little elevated area she can lay on and look out the window, plus she sharpens her claws on the carpeted bits.  At least now I don't feel like I wasted $65 on that thing.  She really is a sweet cat, but poor thing isn't used to being alone so much, what with me gone to the factory 10 hours every day.  She's used to having someone around all the time.  

Finally, I have a friend at work who paints.  I don't think he's ever had an art lesson.  He said it was something he was always interested in, so a couple of years ago, he just picked up and started painting. When he posted a picture of one of them, I thought it was so gorgeous I wanted to buy it.  Turns out, he is in the process of setting up an Etsy shop, so he was able to order me a print of it. It arrived today.

I think I might put this one into Cody's room, since it matches the hunting lodge theme I'm decorating it in.  On the other hand, I love it so much, I don't want to hide it away.  

On a whim -- and to help my friend out -- I got one, as well. 

I suggested he offer posters, also, to expand his customer base.  Not everyone would be able to drop that much money on stretched canvas prints, so a poster would offer more options.  (Truth is, if we hadn't gotten that third stimulus check, I wouldn't have been able to, either, but I figure it's best to use it to help some small businesses out.)

Anyway, as soon as he sets up his Etsy shop, I'll be sure to link it here on the blog.  

Resurrection Sunday

 

Christ the Lord is ris’n today, Alleluia!
Sons of men and angels say, Alleluia!
Raise your joys and triumphs high, Alleluia!
Sing, ye heav’ns, and earth, reply, Alleluia!

Lives again our glorious King, Alleluia!
Where, O death, is now thy sting? Alleluia!
Once He died our souls to save, Alleluia!
Where thy victory, O grave? Alleluia!

Love’s redeeming work is done, Alleluia!
Fought the fight, the battle won, Alleluia!
Death in vain forbids His rise, Alleluia!
Christ hath opened paradise, Alleluia!

Soar we now where Christ hath led, Alleluia!
Foll’wing our exalted Head, Alleluia!
Made like Him, like Him we rise, Alleluia!
Ours the cross, the grave, the skies, Alleluia!

More New Things

 Well, Stalker starts his new job Monday, and we'll all be glad to be rid of him.  When my coworker told me, she grinned from ear to ear, and clapped her hands like a little girl on Christmas morning.  He calls her Mary-Lou, and it makes her so mad.  "That's not my name!" she says.  

I finally managed to piece together the whole story, because last I'd heard, they hadn't given him the job.  Turns out, only two people had even applied, and they'd given the job to the other person.  Unfortunately, his supervisor wouldn't let him accept it.  She said he's too valuable and she just can't give him up.  Curious, I walked back to see what it was he did that was so vital she couldn't train someone else to do it.  Do you know what he was doing? 

He was taking the completed units off the assembly line, and stacking them on the pallet so they could be loaded on to the truck and shipped out.  Anyone can do that.  But what really gets me is, she had to sign the application before he could even turn it in to HR.  Unless they changed things since I last applied for a job out there, that is.  So, why did she sign the application in the first place, if she wasn't going to let him accept the job?  

Anyway, she didn't release him, so Stalker got the job by default.  I don't think it's going to go well, as he is lazy and doesn't want to work, for one thing, and they don't want him back there, for another.  It'll be interesting to watch.  Even so, I'm glad he's going away, and there will be two, yes two, count them, TWO cinder block walls between me and his constant staring.  

In other news, two more of my small business purchases arrived since last I blogged.  The first was the other skein of yarn I'd ordered from Ravenswood Fibers.  I was a bit concerned because they'd arrived in envelopes.  Flat envelopes. 

Really flat envelopes. 

I had a moment of panic when the first one arrived, wondering if I'd been ripped off.  There couldn't possible be 400 meters of yarn in there, could there?  Turns out there was.

She'd vacuum sealed the skeins, which makes sense, since she had to pay international shipping from Canada.  Once I'd cut the package open and hanked the yarn, it looked just fine. 

OK, maybe not so fine, because my hanks tend to look like a snake having a seizure.  But the yarn is beautiful.  She has some gorgeous colorways, and I love the way she posts the picture which inspired her.  Do go check her out, if you're in the market for some beautiful yarn. 

Wonder of wonders, they gave us today off at work.  They carried around a piece of paper asking for volunteers, and didn't get a single one -- at least not from my department.  I've spent most of today --after doing chores -- watching TV and trying to get this cat feeling more at home here.  After yowling most of the morning, she finally settled in for a long afternoon nap.  She's still hissing at Jesse, though, so we're not quite there, yet. 

Oh, and on a wild hair, I decided to dye Easter Eggs.  

I still had some old dye from way back in the day when I decided to try dying my own yarn.  I went through Walmart and bought up all the dye kits on clearance, so I had a bunch of it.  I even sent some to a friend who wanted to try dying as well.  And I've still got more, so if you want some, just let me know and I'll send it on to you.

2020 -- A Year In Memes: March

 I'd originally planned on doing a year in review type of post at the end of December, but I didn't.  I couldn't seem to motivate myself to sort through all the memes I'd saved.  When they started popping up in my FB memories, I said to myself, "Self, why don't you post all those memes now? "

And with that, I present to you the first of a series:  A Year In Memes:  March.