So Much To Do

I have so much stuff I need to be doing, and so little desire to do any of it.  

Seriously, I keep thinking of everything I should be getting done, and yet, here I sit in front of the TV.  Not doing anything.  

Well, unless you count doing the laundry, including folding and putting it away, sweeping, vacuuming, dusting, washing dishes, changing the sheets -- all normal every day stuff. 

What I did do was to cast on two --yes two -- new hats.

I cast on the hat on the right first with the last of that Red Heart I've been knitting with lately.  I'm pretty sure I've got enough left to make another youth/child sized hat.  I got like 2 1/2 inches into it when a new to me pattern popped up on Pinterest.  It was so simple, yet cute, I just had to cast it on, too, using some Knit Picks Brava I had laying around.  The pattern is called the Brandye Beanie, from the Knots Of Love website.   They have lots of cute patterns -- for both knit and crochet hats -- available for free if you're using them for charity, or a small donation if you want them for personal use.  

I wanted to print the pattern out, but my printer was being a butt.  My magenta cartridge is out of ink, and my stupid printer won't let me print anything at all if one of the cartridges is empty.  Not even in black and white.  Not even with me using many, many unwholesome words for which I had to repent.  In the end, since it's such a simple pattern, I just took a photo of my computer screen with my phone and am referring to that when I need to.  

Take that, stupid printer!  

...I say as I sneak onto Amazon to order a printer cartridge...

Wonder Of Wonders

 Miracle of miracles, they fixed the sink!

About an hour after I showed that photo to Boss of Bosses, wonder of wonders maintenance was in the bathroom unclogging the sinks -- including the one that's been clogged up for months on end.  I guess you just need to squeak in front of the right oil can. 

By the way, I took this photo before the cleaning crew came in for their afternoon cleaning session.  It doesn't always look like this.  But at least we can use it again.  No progress on the front bathroom, though.  

Anyway, we had this weekend off again.  Word around the plant is that they can't get the steel we need to make our parts.  Last weekend, I'd said I needed to get better about doing things during the week instead of saving everything up for the weekend.  Monday, I came home and got my mini chainsaw out, and cut a few more things up.  I cut down one more privet from my fence line, then finished cutting up these branches. 

Tuesday, I came home and ... sat in front of the TV.   Wednesday, I came home and decided we'd wait until fall comes to do this doing stuff during the week nonsense.  Seriously, five minutes out in this heat and humidity, and I look like I've got a haystack on my head.

I think I'll stay inside and knit instead.  Speaking of knitting, I finished the hat I was working on.  

I still don't like the way it striped, but I doubt a kid would care, or even notice for that matter.  

And speaking of cooler weather, look what I found in the store Friday!

Oh, it's on, y'all!  Not only that, we're finally getting a break from this heat next weekend.  Highs in the upper 80s instead of the upper 90s!  I can't wait!  

In other news, you'd be proud of me because after weeks on end of blabbering about it, I finally got my butt in gear and went down to the Farmer's Market yesterday!  Yay for me!

I have to admit I was a bit disappointed in the produce, but I don't mean to say that in a blaming sort of way.  The farmers have been struggling in this drought, too.  All of the produce was so small, but the tomatoes I got made good sammiches.  That's all I got, though, was tomatoes.  Vegetable wise, I mean. 

I also stopped by Miss TT's booth and picked up some new jars of muscadine jelly and Indian plum jelly. 

Funny thing, my Scottish was showing a bit when I picked up the Indian Plum jelly and said, "I've never heard of Indian plums.  I'll have to try this."  If you're Scottish, you'll get it.  If not, there's no explaining it. 

And of course, I couldn't leave Miss TT's without getting some of her old fashioned tea cakes. 

I know, I know.  There are plenty of tea cake recipes out there, but those would require me to bake them.   A whole recipe of them.  Which I would then eat.  Aaaaand you get where this is going.  

OK, moving right along.  I picked up these stickers at Walmart Friday on impulse.   

Because I thought they were cute.  Now I just need to find a new pen pal and I can start using them, since all my old ones have stopped writing. 

 

And finally, I made my hotel reservations for Fiber Fun In The Sip.  I went ahead and booked Thursday night and Friday night.  I did get the fully refundable rooms, so I can cancel if I need to.  Now, I just have to call the vet and get Jesse's hotel booked, and we'll  be all set. 

I'm not taking any classes this year, so I'll be there Friday and Saturday just to hang out.  I hope to see you there -- some of you, at least.  

Fixed It

 Yay!  They finally fixed that revolting sink in the women's bathroom at work! And the way that happened is as follows. 

There I was at work, just a working away, when my old supervisor came through the department. We bantered back and forth a bit...me teasing him about abandoning us, why they keep moving him, rumors going around the plant...him talking about it being his oldest daughter's birthday today ... you know, just stuff. 

Somehow, the conversation turned to the state of the women's bathrooms.  Not quite sure how that happened, but it did.  I pulled out my phone and showed him that photo of the sink.  You know, the one I posted yesterday...or day before, whenever I blogged last.  

He looked at it a moment, then said, "I double dog dare you to show that to The Big Man Up Front."  

"I ain't showing him nothing!"  I replied emphatically -- all pretense of correct grammar flying right out the window.  Metaphorically speaking, of course. 

"I'll show it to Boss of Bosses, but not to The Big Man Up Front."  Not like he'd care anyway.  Even so, a few minutes later, when Boss of Bosses walked by, I stopped him and said, "Do you have a minute?"  

I showed him the photo, and he got onto the radio and worked his magic.  I know, because the next time I had to go answer nature, I saw....

they'd covered it up with a trash bag.  Didn't fix it, but at least it's hidden -- sort of.  

Eh, it's something...I guess...

WIP Wednesday

But first, we are starting on week three of an open MTO on this sink.  

Want to start a pool on how long it takes for them to actually get around to fixing it?  Hey Dude!  If you're reading this, how long does an MTO have to stay open before it starts to get noticed?  Seriously, I grew up in a swamp, and this is revolting to me.  

All right, on to the main event...

My knitting mojo has been MIA here lately.  I don't know where it's run off to, but I do know it's not hiding under the couch.  It got so bad, I even dragged this old scarf out and worked a few rows on it.

I think I have a partially knit sock around here somewhere, too, and a half finished Garden Party Shawl that I just don't feel motivated to work on...but I did cast on -- yes, another hat.

This time I used a 72 stitch cast on, but it didn't stripe up any better than the 80 stitch cast on.   It looks like I will probably have enough yarn to knit one more youth/child size hat, and maybe even make some pompoms for them.  If I can find my pompom making things, that is. 

Speaking of knitting the class schedule for Fiber Fun In The 'Sip was released...I think it was yesterday or the day before.  Unfortunately, I didn't see any classes I was interested in, so I'm just going to go hang out.  I'm debating whether I want to go to Vicksburg on Thursday and spend the day touring the National Military Park and some of the other historical stuff, or just wait and drive over Friday morning.  I always say I'm going to go through the park after FFITS, but I never do.  Maybe this time, doing that first, I'll actually get it done. 

On the other hand, New Supervisor told us to start coming in at 5:00 instead of 4:00, because they're fussing about the overtime.  Plus, we're off again this Saturday.  What I'm hearing is that they're having trouble getting the steel we need to make our units, and that's why we've been off so much lately.  Not that I'm complaining, but when the overtime gets cut out, I need to start saving a bit more.  Or at least spend a bit less recklessly.  

After all, who do I think I am?  The government?  

Point is, going Thursday would require one more night in a hotel, and one more night of boarding for Jesse.  I'm thinking I should hang on to that money a bit longer...We'll see.  

And finally, yes, it's still July.  Yes, it's still in the upper 90s with heat indices in the 110+ range, but there is hope on the horizon.  Why?  Because look what showed up in the stores this week!

Autumn is just around the corner.  I can't wait!

Up For Air

Just coming up for air, and to let you know I'm still alive.  I said blogging would be a bit sparse for a while, and I wasn't wrong about that.  I'm telling you, though, it's been nice not having that one more thing hanging over my head every day.  The upside is I got some good piano practices in this week.  Well, except for yesterday, but then things are always a bit hectic on Fridays what with running pay day errands and all.  Even so, I got a short practice in before the day was over -- mostly working on one of my Christmas songs I'm trying to memorize.  I've almost got it, but still have to check the music from time to time. 

I keep thinking I need to memorize more music, but by the time I get home from work, I'm just so tired.  

See, I knew you'd missed me complaining about how tired I am all the time, so I had to slip that one in.  On that same note, one of my coworkers  out of the blue walked over and asked me, "Doesn't anything on your body hurt?"  I replied, "There is nothing on my body that doesn't hurt!"  I mean, what good does complaining do anyway?  There are enough sour, bitter old hags out there without me becoming another one.  I prefer to look on the bright side of life. 

Speaking of bright, I finished the hat I was working on, and it is definitely...vibrant.  

I wish the yarn striped better, so the stripes weren't thick on one side and thin on the other. 

I have enough yarn for one more hat, and I'm thinking about casting on a child size next time, to see if the stripes end up more even.

On a similar note, my friend Leann was having an odd skein sale at her yarn shop, Forbidden Fiber.  She has some of the most gorgeous colors, so do check her yarn out.  She also has cross stitch kits and supplies for sale, but I can't see well enough to cross stitch any more, so I've left those alone.  Anyway, she'd had a bunch of colors where she only had one or two skeins left, and she put them on clearance.  I managed to pick up these two beauties for half price:

I'm thinking I might make a matching hat and scarf set with this.  I just need to go peruse patterns and find the right one. 

Abrupt change of subject, did anyone score any good Prime Day deals this time around?  I wasn't too thrilled with the offerings, but I did pick up this beauty:

It's one of those mini chain-saw pruner/trimmer things.  I've been wanting one for a while, and when I saw them on sale, I couldn't resist. 

It came with two fully charged batteries, plus a charger,  

an extra chain and screwdriver, 

and even gloves and safety glasses.

It all came in a fancy carrying case, which I can't quite figure out how to fit it all into.

I was going to wait until after work today to try it out, but I couldn't wait.  Eagerly, I ran outside and chopped down this privet that has been plaguing me ever since I moved into this house. 

Let me tell you, it was so much better than hacking away at it with a hand saw.  I got this far

and decided to stop for a while, because I kept hitting that fence pole.  I didn't want to mess up my new blade, so I chopped up some fallen limbs that had been laying around waiting to be cut into firewood.

Maybe I can get out in the morning before it gets too hot and chop some more stuff down.  As for now, I'm trying to wait until the heat index is below triple digits so I can get out and mow.  

The never ending story, eh?  

And finally, as if I didn't already have enough on my plate, I started the Spanish course on Duolingo.  I'd taken two years of it in high school, so this will be just a refresher for a while.  French is still the main language I'm working on, with Italian and Latin on the side.  

I must be a glutton for punishment.  

Or just flat out crazy, one.  

Don't answer that.  I'm not sure I want to know. 

Problem Solved!

I guess submitting those MTOs at work -- well, worked!   See what they did?

Yes, they taped up the sink!  I feel so much better about life now.  And the universe.  And everything. 

Extra points if you get that reference. 

OK, moving right along...

Look at this!  I've gotten almost everything marked off of my to-do list, except calling the plumber, of course.  

I got busy this weekend and got all of the snake tanks cleaned except Slider's.  He's my ball python.  I'd fed him last week, and since his meal is so very large, I decided to give him one more week to digest his rat before I disturbed him.  I'll clean his tank next weekend, and they'll all be good to go for a while.  

I'll admit I kind of cheated when I crossed off "Clean Cody's room", because while technically true, all I did was shove all the stuff I'd dragged out of his closet into the snake/craft room until I can sort through it.  But hey!  It's not in Cody's bedroom floor any more, so I'm counting it.  As cleaning, I mean.  After all, isn't that what cleaning is?  Moving junk from one spot to another?  

In the midst of doing all that -- plus normal household chores (except mowing; it was hot and I didn't want to) -- I still managed to get most of a hat knit.

I'm about to start the crown decreases, and I'm thinking I might send this one to my Australian pen pal.  Out of all the pen pals I had, she's the only one who still writes semi-regularly.  I guess everyone else is too busy.  Anyway, I've been wanting to send her a hat for a while now, so I may just surprise her with this one.  

In other news, last week, I ordered some new devotional books, which arrived today.  

I'd already bought the Bible study books based on the episodes, but these are more of a daily devotion thing.  I'd gotten one from Walmart a while back called Grace For Today, but I never really got into it.  I'm not sure why, but it may have had something to do with the authors comparing seeking counseling to becoming an alcoholic or drug addict.  To cope with the difficulties of life, I mean.  That just didn't set well with me.  

We need to end the stigma regarding mental health, which is especially bad in the Christian community.  People need to understand that yes, you can love Jesus, and still be depressed, or be struggling with coping.  It doesn't mean you lack faith, or you don't truly believe.  I mean, would you say that about someone who got cancer?  Or had a heart attack?  Would you say, "If you were truly a Christian this wouldn't have happened because God would just take that tumor right out of you."?  Then why say it about invisible wounds?  

But I digress....

I'm really excited about starting these devotional books, because I have a feeling this one will be different. Why do I say that?  

Because of this:

I'm going to keep these by my chair, and read them as soon as I get home from work.  And I'm going to start as soon as I publish this post.  

The shop also had the set of five wristbands on sale 60% off, so I got a set of them, too. 

And, of course, every time you order, they send you a new Come And See sticker.  I need to figure out where to stick them.  I've already got one on my car, if you can see it under all the Sahara Dust. 

Why yes, yes I do need to wash my car.  I'll just add it to the list...

And finally, all these things that fell over are starting to grow upwards again.  

It appears they are Cosmos, just as I suspected. 

Now if you'll excuse me, my piano is calling and I must go. 

Laters

That Ought To Do It

I got to work bright and early yesterday morning, only to find they'd put new signs on the bathroom doors!

Yippee!  That ought to solve all our problems.  No, I don't know why it has a bar code on it.  What I do  know is that the sinks are still clogged up.  Group Leader Shark told me she put in the MTO for them, but I don't share Dude's optimism that they'll actually get fixed.  I've worked there too long, and have seen problems go for months, nay even years without ever getting resolved.  

You know, I work with some of the stupidest people on the face of the earth.  Oh, don't get me wrong, not everyone out there is stupid, but when it gets to the point you have to put instructions up on how to use the turnstiles...

I don't even want to know what led to this.  Wait, on second though, yes I do.  I'll bet it would make a great blog post. He he he...

In gardening news, I got home...um, I think it was Thursday evening...only to find all of my -- whatever these are -- had fallen over.  

That's it.  I'm done.  I'm not fooling with these things any more.  They'll stay where they lay.  I guess it doesn't matter, because in a couple more months, I'm going to dig the whole bed up to plant my bluebonnet seeds there.  Well, maybe not the whole bed, but a goodly sized chunk of it, at least.   Maybe once it cools off some, I can finally get that old fire pit dug up and make myself a permanent wildflower bed, or bluebonnet bed.  Or whatever.  I don't know.  

I'll figure it out eventually.  

In knitting knews, I finished the red hat I was working on.

It'll go into the gift drawer with the rest, and eventually a need will pop up.    I was thinking about seeing if I could hang them around the town square for the poor and homeless people in the area.  If the economy keeps going the way it is, there will be a lot of need for things like this soon.  

I'd originally thought I'd make enough hats to use up all that cheap yarn, but I changed my mind.  It's really poor quality yarn.  Oh, it's soft enough, but it's not consistent in its thickness, ranging from worsted in some -- most -- spots, but dwindling all the way down to almost sock weight thin in other spots.  If it weren't for that, I'd really like it.   For now, I put the rest of the skein into the bag of leftover yarn I'm collecting for the children's department at church, and got this old partial skein out to knit another hat with it. 

I've knit two with this, and like the way they look.  I'm still plugging away at the scarf I'm working on as well, but I haven't taken a recent picture of it.  I will soon.  

Now for the bad news...or not so bad, depending on your point of view.  Blogging is about to become sparse again.  I've been taking a bit of a break from practicing the piano.  I've spent the last week just playing for fun, and have said that Monday is going to be day I get back to working on my lessons.  With that in mind, I just might not have the brain power or energy to practice and put up a blog post on the same day.

I've never been like some of these people, and can just sit down and type out a polished and engaging post.  I have to write, re-right, and re-re-write them to get something even passable, much less interesting and readable.  It's all very time consuming, and by the time I get home from work, I'm usually too hot and tired to care.  Thus, instead of a hastily scribbled post, you might not get anything fir a while.  

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm watching a documentary on Louis XIV on YouTube.  I'm trying to understand the French without reading the subtitles, but I'm not doing so well.  Eh, it's France French anyway, not Cajun.  

Similar, but the accent is different, and they speak a lot faster.  I need to finish here so I can concentrate.  

Laters.  

Whee!

 We are off this weekend! Whee!  I can't believe it!

That's two weekends in a row, and right in the middle of peak season at that.  It kinda makes me wonder what is wrong...

 I was going to come home and start cleaning snake tanks this afternoon, but since we have the weekend off, I may wait until Saturday to get started.  It doesn't really take that long to do them.  It's just overcoming the mental block that it needs to get done.  

As for today, there I was at work just a working away, when I was approached by someone from the engineering office -- who, for the purposes of this blog shall be known as Dude.  He told me he reads my blog, and usually enjoys it.  However, when he read yesterday's post about how disgusting our bathrooms are out there, he was appalled. First thing he did was to send a female employee into the front bathroom to check on the sinks there.  Then he came to me and asked me if I could turn in an MTO, which is a formal maintenance request.  

I scoffed and replied, "I'm a peon.  I can't do anything!"  

Dude laughed and told me that putting an MTO in is the best way to get maintenance to do anything, because it's not as easy for them to blow off a formal, written maintenance request.  He said when I see something that needs to be fixed, I should get Group Leader Shark or Supervisor to put one in.  If an MTO stays open too long, it starts to get attention.  At some point in the conversation, I just happened to mention that there are two sinks in the bathroom under the production office that are clogged up, so Dude told me to get Group Leader Shark to put in an MTO on them. 

We chatted a bit more about different things, and I brought up that they really need a bathroom back in the production area.  If someone from the RAH line -- which is at the very far end of the plant -- needs to go, he's got to walk half a mile to get to a bathroom.  

OK, that may be a slight exaggeration, but not much of one.  Once when I was down waiting on work, I tracked my steps from my brazing stand to the employee entrance, then to the far back wall, and back to my brazing stand.  According to my pedometer, that walk was right at half a mile.  He said they're still talking about building one back there.  They need to do more than just talk, though, because those people need a bathroom closer to where they work.  I'm not going to hold my breath on that, though.  I'm not even going to hold my breath on getting working sinks.  I've been there too long to trust that they will actually fix anything.  

After Dude had walked on, I went around and found Group Leader Shark, and said, "Dude told me to aske you to put in a MTO on the two clogged up sinks in this bathroom."

She said, "Why me?  Why can't he put one in?  Why do I have to do it?"  

I replied, "Because you're my group leader and I'm the one complaining about them."  

She said, "But he's a supervisor!  He's an engineering supervisor!  But I'll do it.  I got you.  I'll put them in."

I went back to my stand and told my friend, "Now I'm kind of afraid to ask her to put an MTO in to get latches on the stall doors..."  She kind of scares me a little...

But the whole point is, maybe we'll finally get some of these issues with the bathrooms fixed, now that I know how to get someone's attention. 

It's because I said I had no problem peeing in the woods, isn't it?  I'll bet that's it.

I think from now on, I'm going to lead with that.  

Nastiness

 If you've been reading my blog for any length of time, you'll already know we have some nasty-@$$ bathrooms at work.  I mean, seriously disgusting -- and this is coming from someone who has no problem peeing in the woods.  Which is probably more information than you wanted to know, but what can I say?  I am who I am.  

So, there I was at work, just a working away, when I felt nature calling.  I went into the bathroom closest to my work area only to discover that the stalls were all full.  Instead of waiting, I chose to go up to the front bathroom -- the one by the main breakroom, for those of you who know the place.  I dread going up there because it's downright revolting.  It always stinks, and there is only one -- yes one -- working sink.  There is a second sink, but water barely trickles out of it.  Two more sinks don't work at all, and one is completely missing.  As in, not there at all. As in, has been taken out and never replaced.  

I did my business, washed my hands in the only available sink, and was walking back to my work area when I saw one of my friends coming up the aisle.  She gestured to me to come over, and said, "Since you're always talking about the restrooms in here, I have something to show you."  

She pulled out her phone and showed me a video she'd taken yesterday of the ladies' room up in the front office.  As the camera panned the room, I kept seeing little black specks on the floor.  "What the heck is that?"  I wondered.  "Did someone poop on the floor?"  Then she zoomed in and I saw what it was:  roaches.  Everywhere.  

Roaches!

There had to have been at least 20 of them, all over that bathroom.  That's got to be some sort of health code violation.  We chatted a minute about all the health and safety violations out there, and she said, "How do they keep getting away with it?"

Well, there are two reasons.  One is that no one reports them.  Oh, we have in the past, but nothing is ever done about it, which brings me to the second and probably most important reason --  they budget for fines.  To them, it's just cheaper just to pay OSHA's fines than to spend what it would take to make the place OSHA compliant.  

Take the sub-brazing department, for example.  The brazing stands are way too close together, and it  isn't safe.  Don't believe me?  Look at this.

Do you know what this is?  If you don't, I'll tell you.  This big metal box looking thing is my brazing neighbor's striker -- where she lights her tip...you know, the tip that burns at 1500+ degrees.

And right there, two inches away, is my table.  

My table, where I do all my paperwork, look at prints, enter my orders in my log book.  Yeah, that table. There is no way this is even remotely safe.  

I pointed it out the the Big Man Up Front once and his response was, "But you're not wearing a mask."  That was back at the beginning of the pandemic, before he had made masks mandatory in the plant.  I said, "As soon as you explain to me how a mask will keep my head from catching on fire, I'll put one on."  He didn't like that, but didn't do anything to resolve the issue.  The safety people came out, looked, then shrugged and walked away without doing anything.  

Because it's cheaper to pay OSHA fines than to make the plant OSHA compliant...

Anybody want to volunteer to pay my bills so I can quit? 

On a brighter note, I got one more thing marked off my list of things I was going to do over my long weekend.  The last couple of months, I've been going over my data on my phone every single month.  I don't know what was different, because I'd seldom gone over before -- except when we went to Texas  but I expect to go over then.  I switched a bunch of my apps to wi-fi only, and started putting my phone into airplane mode when I wasn't actually using it, but I was still going over. Finally, I decided I'd had enough.  There is no point in having that fancy new phone if I can't even use it because of my limited data plan.  Besides, I'd had the same plan for 20 years.  It was time to update it anyway.

And that, Gentle Reader, is what I did when I got home this evening.  I got a premium plan with unlimited talk, text, and data, plus a 50g mobile hotspot.  It may be more than I actually need, but hey, no more having to ration my data.  

Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go turn back on everything I had turned off on my phone...to try to save data, you know.

Laters. 

P.S.  Still haven't called the plumber. 

Back To Work

 Man, that long weekend sure went by fast!  

When that alarm went off at 2:45 this morning, I seriously considered calling in and taking one more day, but that would have cost me my holiday pay.  So up I got and off to work I went.  Where the day seemed to last forever.  There were a couple of moments I actually had to check the second hand on the clock to make sure it was moving.  

At long last, the day finally ended, whereupon I came home and did not call the plumber.  Sigh...

But I came home to a pleasant surprise.  

My mystery plants are blooming!  I've got this one bloom open, and several more buds forming.  Whee!  I guess threatening to throw them into the compost pile worked. 

Here is another surprise.  Marty Mac caught himself a daddy longlegs. 

It's kind of freaky with all the legs hanging out like that, but still cool.  

Other than that, I really don't have much to tell you.  Oh, I just remembered!  It looks like they're going to have classes at Fiber Fun In The 'Sip after all!  They don't have anything listed on the website yet, but I'll check back in a couple of days.  Registration is supposed to open on July 9, so I'll probably have to wait until then.  Maybe they'll have a class on needle felting, and I can finally figure out how to use that kit my sister gave me for Christmas.  Of course, that won't put more hours in the day -- which is my most significant hold-up right now -- but still... I'm starting to get excited about it now that I know there'll be classes. 

And hanging out with the gang again will be the best part.  It's been way too long. 

Hasn't it, Ladies? 

Independence Day

 *This post was originally published July 4, 2009.  I've gained many new readers since then, and felt it was time for a rerun.  Ignore the green background.  I didn't feel like going through all the trouble of reformatting it. 

The Declaration Of Independence

WHEN in the Course blah blah blah

WE hold these Truths to be self evident, that all Men are created equal blah blah Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.

Blah blah blah blah blah blah blah (lots of blahs)

pledge our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.

John Hancock.



So what the heck is that? I'll tell you. That is the version of The Declaration Of Independence that most Americans know. Those are just about the only parts they remember. That's too bad, because there amongst all those blahs are some true gems--our real National Treasure.

Let me share with you some of my favorite parts of The Declaration that most people don't know are there, hidden among the blahs.

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them to another, and to assume among the powers of the Earth the separate and equal station to which the laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them,

The laws of Nature, and of Nature's God. From the very beginning, America seems to have been ordained by God. Even before the founding fathers appealed to him, even before the pilgrims came seeking the freedom to worship as they saw fit. All the way back to Cristobol Colombus, who took the name Christopher, which means Christ Bearer, later in life--when he decided to sail West instead of East, because he believed that is the direction God wanted him to go, God has had his hand on this country. Our forefathers believed it. Benjamin Franklin said, "I have lived, Sir, a long time and the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth -- that God governs in the affairs of men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without His notice, is it probable that an entire empire can rise without His aid?"

A decent respect to the opinions of Mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impell them to the separation.

I like this line. I just do. Our forefathers believed in the utmost courtesy. That is something that has been lost in the whiny, selfish, perpetual teenage American citizen of today. It's something we need to get back to. Courtesy. If it was good enough for Thomas Jefferson, it ought to be good enough for the rest of us.

We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men.

Rights don't come from government. They come from God. Governments are there to secure them, not grant them and certainly not to take them away.

That when any government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it, and institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles, and organizing its powers in such form as to them shall seem most likely to affect their safety and happiness.

It is a God given right for a people to set up the government that best keeps their safety and happiness secure. If it isn't working, it is their right to change it.

But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, persuing invariably the same object, evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty to throw off such government, and provide new guards for their future security.

It is the duty of the citizen to be involved. It is the duty of the citizen to keep the government in check. It is the duty of every American to be responsible for himself and his family, and not allow the government control over every aspect of his life--even if it means he has to work to rpovide for his family, and buy his own health insurance.

A Prince, whose Character is thus marked by every act which may define a tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Now, this doesn't limit itself to royalty. There are certain people in this country who may think themselves American Royalty, and want to rule with an iron hand. These people are unfit to lead a free people.

And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.

See, this is the thing. Fifty six men signed the Declaration of Independence, but it was nothing more than a piece of paper until they backed it up with their blood. And it wasn't just them. Every man who fought. Every woman who watched her husband, her son, go off to fight, knowing that they might not come home again. Patrick Henry summed up their feelings best when he said, "Give me liberty, or give me death!" Our forefathers believed in liberty enough to die for it. Do we?

Do we?

Lazy Day

Today has been an absolutely lazy day -- or as we said back in the day, a day of rest. 

All I did was watch TV and eat.  Oh, yeah, and knit.  I did knit.  I knit quite a bit at that. 

I got this far on my third attempt and final attempt at this scarf, 

when I had to set it aside for a bit.  I'd gotten so involved in the TV shows I was watching that I kept messing up, so I switched to this hat for a while. 

This is Mainstay acrylic yarn from Walmart.  It's very soft, but the twist is so inconsistent it's not worth how cheap it is.  I'd bought it to knit charity hats with a while back, and it's been marinating in my stash ever since.  Well, I'd knit one hat from it, but that's it.  I've got enough yarn for two or three more hats, but once I've used it up, I won't buy it again.  

By the way, I found one of my Independence Day movies on Disney + -- which I still have because I haven't figured out how to unbundle it from my Hulu Live -- so I watched that one.  I've spent most of the day watching Chicago PD and Chicago Fire.  I'm trying to watch them in order of release date because they all overlap a bit.  When I get to it, I'll bring Chicago Med into the mix as well.  They'd all been in my watch list for ages, and now that I've started, I can see why they're so popular.  

And finally, the America moment for today.  Normally, I don't like too much styling of our national anthem, but this one...this one rocks.   

P.S.  I think I'm going to delete the Grammarly app.  Unless they've seriously changed the rules of grammar since I was in school, Grammarly doesn't know them.  It keeps trying to correct things that are already correct.  

Whelp, I Did It

 Whelp, I did it.  

I ripped out that scarf -- again -- and cast it on ... um...again. 

I'd decided it was just too wide after all.  The first time, I'd cast on 56 stitches.  The second time, it was 76, so this time I split the difference and cast on 68.  I think I've finally got it right.   At least, it had better be right, because I don't think my yarn will hold up to yet another trip to the frog pond.  

But the good news is I finished the hat!

Into the gift drawer it will go, and I'll cast on another one here in a little bit.  

I wish I had something more exciting to tell you, but there really hasn't been much going on today, unless you want to hear about me shampooing the carpet or washing the bedding.  Jesse hates bedding washing day, by the way -- which is different from my normal weekly sheet change.  Bedding washing day is when I strip and wash everything, including the mattress pad and comforters.  It usually takes most of the day to get it all washed and dried, and during that time, Jesse isn't allowed in the bedroom.  

He doesn't like being kept out of the bedroom, even though when I'm home he lays by my chair most of the time anyway.  Even so, he's always glad when I tell him I'm done and he can go get back on the bed again.  

Other than that, I haven't done anything but sit inside watching it...RAIN!!!  Yes, we are getting rain!  So much rain, it left a puddle in my driveway!

We have a long way to go before we're out of drought conditions, but any rain is better than no rain.  

By the way, I was a bit bummed, I was going to start watching my 4th Of July movies today, but alas, none of them are on any of my streaming services, which means I'm going to have to get out of my chair, tromp all the way across my living room, and put the DVDs into the player one by one.  

First-world problems, eh?  

And finally, your America moment for today -- an oldie but a goodie:

(Ignore the fact that it is America-hating Stephen Colbert saying it.  Even a stopped clock is right twice a day.)