Well, That Was Exciting

I almost made it.  Yesterday, I mean.  I almost made it out of the plant, but no...my supervisor stopped me and said, "Can you come in at 5:00 in the morning and work on [getting line 7 caught up]?"  

Tired as I was, I'm not one to turn down overtime, especially after I'd told him earlier in the day that I was trying to work as much as I could so I could actually afford to retire someday.  But that's a different conversation for a different day...

So, up I got bright and early this morning, and in to work I went.  It was just me and one other brazer who'd come in early.

When I got to the department, it looked like it had been hit by a tornado.  I mean, it usually does, but today it was worse than normal.  Nobody had put their work up, or cleaned up, or even confirmed their parts in the computer. 

After a brief moment of grumbling, I said -- more to myself than to anyone else -- "I wonder if they sent second shift home early or something?"  

My coworker heard me and replied, "Yeah, they did."  She then told me that her husband (who also works at the plant) had gotten a text from a friend of his who works on second shift.  Seems one of the big JP Hunt trucks had hit and destroyed a utility pole with a transformer, knocking out the electricity to the whole plant.  It was pretty obvious it wouldn't be a quick and easy fix, to they cut their losses and sent everyone home at 10:30 or so.  

She then told me that the electricity people were out there all night working to get the power restored, and didn't get it back on until about 3:00.  It's only a temporary fix, because they just rerouted the line to another utility pole.  They're still going to have to come back out and set a new pole, and put up a new transformer.  

After that, the rest of the day passed pretty much without incident, and the supervisor said we were caught up enough we didn't need to come in early tomorrow. 

In other news, I got a flyer in the mail today for that weight loss program I did a couple of years ago.  I'm thinking about going through it again, because I didn't do so well the first time.  I mean, I lost quite a bit of weight -- nearly 30 lbs -- but I started gaining it back even before I finished the program.  Now, I'm almost back up to what I was before.  

I just don't know, though.  The program didn't seem very realistic -- at least not for those of us who live in the real world. I suppose it's OK for people who sit at home all day and can drop everything and eat a meal when they reach level three, but for people who work and can just tell the boss, "Hey boss, I'm at level three hunger and need to go home and cook a meal", not so much. 

Besides that, I get tired of feeling like I'm obsessing over food all the time.  I get tired of having to pick and nibble when I want to just relax and enjoy my meal.  And after a 10 hour shift in the factory, I'm too tired to "walk the dog, even if you don't have one."  

I don't know.  Still, it's free, and better than nothing.  Maybe I will give it another shot. Maybe this time, I'll do better, and it'll stick.  

On a completely unrelated note, I started eating my gingerbread house.  When we were kids, we had a record telling the story of Hansel and Gretel.  When they found the house in the woods and started eating it, the old witch would say, "Nibble Nibble little mousey. Who is nibbling at my housey?"

Now, every time I take a bit of my gingerbread house, guess what runs through my brain...go on guess. 

And finally, I'm sure you will all be pleased to know that this cat of mine finally has a name.  Eve.  Or Evie.  

It's short for Evil Incarnate.  

"Yeah, you're going to pay for that one," she says.