Kick The Can Down The Road

I'm not talking about Congress and the debt ceiling, though that title is appropriate for that topic as well.  FWIW, what is even the point of having a debt ceiling if you are just going to raise it every time you want to spend more money?  One of these days, that debt is going to be called in...but that's a different subject for a different post.  Hold on to your butts is all I've got to say. 

No, I'm talking about the quality policy at work.  They very much have a kick the can down the road attitude when it comes to quality.  Take today, for example, but first let me give you some background information so this post will make more sense. 

This is an evaporator coil similar to what we make out there.  It's not one of ours; it's a random photo I copped off the internet.  

The part I make is that copper tube with all the little copper tubes coming out of it up at the top of the coil.  

Now, let me step outside of my story to comment on that brazing job.  That's awful.  I don't know why anyone would put that on their company's website.  Our worst sub-brazer does a much better job than that. It kind of makes me feel bad that I'm going to trash the quality at our plant. Not so bad that I won't do it, but still...

OK, back to my story.  The big tube is called a header or manifold.  The smaller tubes are called adapter tubes, or in the plant vernacular, legs.  This morning I received in my order a header that had not had any holes punched into it.  Yes, I understand that people make mistakes from time to time, but here is the thing.  

After the header leaves the punching machine, it gets end formed, spin closed, re-rounded, flo drilled, and then someone brazes the tap fitting into it.  It's not really necessary that you understand what all that means.   You only need to know that that header went through five additional processes and not one person noticed that it didn't have any holes in it.  Everyone who did anything else to that header just tossed it into the bin and sent it to the next work station.  Apparently, nobody even looked at it.

They just kicked the can down the road.

Moving right along...

In knitting news, I’m sitting here debating whether I have enough yarn for another headband…

I realize you have no perspective to show you how big that cake of yarn is, so just imagine it's the size of a large orange or small grapefruit.  Bigger than a baseball, but smaller than a softball. 

Maybe I have enough, maybe I don't.  I think I'm going to cast on anyway.  

I've never been known to back down from a game of yarn chicken. 

Ugh

 Ugh

That's the feeling I got this morning when that alarm went off at 2:45 after being able to sleep as long as I wanted to for four days.  I really really didn't want to get out of bed, but alas I have no sugar daddy to pay my bills, so out of bed I got and to work I went.  Where the day thankfully passed uneventfully.

Except when I over heard one coworker telling another that she heard on the news last night that Blue Bunny was going to be making a Dr Pepper flavored ice cream and it was supposed to start today. Oooooo, it was hard for me to bite my tongue, but I did.  They weren't talking to me, so I kept my nose in the middle of my face and out of their business.  See, I can be good.  

That's not all.  I was good again when I came home and instead of sitting down like I really wanted to, I grabbed my mini chainsaw and cleared another privet tree from my fence line. 

Slowly but surely, I'm making progress.  I've got this one, 

and this one to clear out and I'll be ready to call the surveyor. 

In other news, because Cody and Brennan were supposed to come by Saturday and get the bed from his room, I went ahead and ordered the one I want to put in there in its stead.  When I got to Amazon, I discovered the price had dropped significantly, so I was able to order a small dresser as well.  

The tracking number said it was going to be delivered yesterday, but I blew that off seeing as how it was a federal holiday and no mail would run.  Imagine my surprise when about 5:00 PM I heard a horn honk.  I looked out my front window and it was a USPS truck.  Dropping off a fairly large box. 

I was not expecting that!  I put on some music and got it put together fairly quickly, even though the assembly instructions left a lot to be desired.  As in, none of the parts were labeled, and there were no written instructions.  Just drawings.  Still, it wasn't that hard, and it came out nicely.  

 

Right now, I have it at the foot of the bed, 

but eventually it's going to go here, where this old computer desk is..  

I'll have to ask Cody if he wants to take it to Jackson and to try to sell it, because he's already said he doesn't want it any more.  I'll bet he can get a better price for it than I can here. Or he may change his mind and decide to keep it now that he has a whole house to fill up.  

Well, yesterday was Memorial Day, and as per my usual, I spent the day watching military movies.  I finally broke down and ordered Saving Private Ryan, which arrived today. 

I've seen it before, and frankly wasn't all that impressed, but it seems to be the quintessential WWII movie, so I had to add it to my collection.  Maybe this weekend I can watch it again.  I might like it better this time around. 

While I was doing all that movie watching, I finished another hat. 

I like the way the colors spiraled on this one, instead of pooling.  Pretty cool. 

I wasn't sure if I had enough yarn for another hat, so I cast on a headband instead. 

This one I used an 88 stitch cast on, so it fits a bit more snugly.  I don't think it's quite wide enough, so next time, I'm going to do a few more short rows before starting my increases.  If you know the pattern, you know what I mean. 

And finally, I did some checking and I think I might be able to get away with using just my hot spot, as long as I don't stream.  I mean, I had to move a couple of my games from my Kindle to my phone, but for my usual internet use, I think my hotspot might be enough.  For now, at least.  My data starts over June 10, so I'll be better able to keep an eye on it.  Funny, since I upgraded my phone plan to unlimited, I'd completely forgotten what day everything starts over, since there was no longer any need to keep up with it. 

Speaking of streaming, I rented The Lost King on Amazon, about the woman finding Richard III in the parking lot.  It was so good, and I'm such a history geek, I might just buy it.  I'll have to buy the digital version, though, because the DVD is formatted only for European players.  

Eh, I'll hold off for a while and see if they release it in US format.  In the meantime, I need to go practice my piano. 

Laters

Memorial Day

The blog will be observing a moment of silence today as we remember those who gave their last full measure of devotion in service of their country.

Also I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send?  And who will go for us?" 

Then I said, "Here am I.  Send me."

Isaiah 6:8

 

As we honor their memory today, let us pledge that their lives, their sacrifices, their valor shall be justified and remembered for as long as God gives life to this nation. -- 

Ronald Reagan

Oops!

I had the strangest dream last night.  I dreamed a couple of retired coworkers had come back, and they were speaking to me in French.  I wonder why I dreamt that...

Now, if you're wondering why that's in italics up there, I'm about to tell you.  That was the first sentence of the post I was writing yesterday.  It wasn't until after I'd gotten into bed that I realized I'd never actually finished and published said post.  So, you get it today. 

I mean, it's not like you missed any earth shattering events or anything.  I was just going to tell you about cleaning the whole house and then Cody and Brennan didn't even show up.  They were moving to Jackson, and were going to stop by and pick up the bed from Cody's room to take with them, but they didn't.  I guess they got a late start and time got away from them.  Still, it would have been nice for them to let me know. 

In other news, I'm slowly getting accustomed to living without internet again, though I have been going through something like withdrawal.  The bad news is, I've already blown through most of my hotspot data.  Cody told me not to stream over it, and I hadn't intended to.  It's why I bought that connector thing after all. It's just that the convenience of connecting the ROKU and having it all right there was too great a temptation.  So, yesterday, right after I got the alert, I disconnected the ROKU completely to remove that temptation, and am streaming solely with my phone's data until such a time as I can get internet again.  

I also did some poking around to see if there were any cheaper options available, but there isn't anything but Sparklight where I live.  ATT Fiber, Verizon, T-Moble, Xfinity ...none are available here. I even thought about getting a big old antenna, but by the time I pay for that and for someone to install it, well, that would eat into the budget I've saved up to get my fences replaced.  I mean, it would use up the entire cost of hiring a surveyor, so I'll just hold off for now.  

I'm still hoping things will pick up soon and I can get my internet re-installed, but that is perhaps a vain hope.  Normally, I'd be working 60 hours per week right now, but we're doing good if we get 40.  When they announced that Friday would be a day off without pay, well, that's when I took the leap and cut off my net. I'm kind of hoping we'd get a bump in sales from them rebuilding all these houses destroyed by the tornadoes this year, but so far that hasn't happened. 

One silver lining is that I've re-discovered DVDs.  I've got quite a collection, because I always wanted to have my shows in hard copy, rather than strictly digital.  I'm watching movies I haven't seen in years due to being too lazy to walk the 10 feet across the room to put the disc in.  

Friday I watched Air Force One, and being the dork that I am, I had to point out all the times the movie defied the laws of physics...

Yesterday I started my Memorial Day movie marathon with The Field Of Lost Shoes, during which I finished this hat.

This morning I got up and watched The Greatest Story Ever Told on my phone.  It's a good movie with lots of big name stars --NCIS fans may recognize Judas --, but it is long.  So long, I got this much of this hat knit. 

The only other exciting thing that happened is that the cat brought two voles into my house.  One got behind the washing machine and I haven't seen it since, but the other one I was able to chase out into the middle of the room and stomp it to death.  

And finally, I got my Missing Man place set up.

I put a slice of lemon out, too, but didn't take another photo, so you'll just have to accept it's there.  And Old Glory is finally back out on the front of the house, where it belongs.  

Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got a hat to finish.

Shutdown

Well, we had another shutdown day at work today, which means a very long weekend for me, since Monday is Memorial Day.  I decided to spend today doing yard work, and that's exactly what I did.  

When I was in Walmart yesterday, I saw that they had gotten some more topsoil in stock, so first thing I did this morning was run in and pick up a few bags. Now that I'm no longer washing all my soil down the sewer line -- thanks to an unscrupulous plumber -- I'm finally about to get this hole filled in.  

All I've got left to do is to convince the cat it isn't a litterbox...and maybe sprinkle some grass seed over it.  

While I was doing that, I noticed that one of the legs of my planter seemed to be sinking down a bit.  I guess it was a bit soft right there, so I got some of the old stepping stones I'd pulled up from beside my car port and set it up onto them.  

Alas, in shifting the planter, one of the legs split.  Thank goodness for Gorilla Glue and C clamps.  

It's still not level, but at least I feel better that it's not going to fall into a giant sink hole. 

The rest of the day was spent mowing and just doing general cleaning up.  I won't be able to move tomorrow, but at least the yard is done.  I even mowed behind the fence.  It always looks so nice back there when it's cut.  Then I got all the branches and things I'd been trimming and hauled them out behind the fence to make a brush pile for the wild critters. 

I'm not quite sure why I took a picture of it, because it doesn't really look like much, but there it is.  That tire was already there when I moved in.  I thought about moving it, but some creatures might use it for shelter -- like snakes and such.  Besides, I don't know where I'd move it to, since I can't put it into the garbage.  

A bit of good news, though.  Remember that photo from my last blog where it looks like a whole bunch of brush and junk growing where I said I was going to clean it all up?  You can go back and look if you need to.  I'll wait....

Are you back?  OK, well the good news is, while I was in the back, I discovered that it's really only about three small privet trees that's making all that mess. It shouldn't be as hard to clean up as I'd feared.  Then I can call the surveyor, and the Fence Guys.  Yes, that is the name of their business.  The Fence Guys.  I've wanted a privacy fence ever since I've moved here, so I can go piddle in my back yard without having to feel like I'm being watched and judged.  

And I have some very judgy neighbors....

Speaking of judgy, hello my old  judgy friend.  So judgy you make me itch every time I touch you. 

It blows my mind that Brennan didn't even know how to identify poison ivy.  Cody and I showed it to her last fall when we went to the old fort out at the lake.  As sensitive as I am to it, I learned to identify it at a very early age -- but then, I grew up in the woods of Southeast Texas, not big city Memphis. 

Heh, when we went out to eat last weekend after the wedding rehearsal, Scott, Paula, Cody and I were talking about hurricanes, and tornadoes, and running up on alligators and such.  Brennan was looking slightly horrified, but this is just what we talk about.  

And finally, I keep forgetting to tell you about the new book I started reading over a week ago.  

Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep, by Philip K. Dick. 

It's kind of funny, because it was published in 1968, and they talk about 2019 and 2021 like they're some futuristic world with flying cars and androids and stuff.  And yet, they apparently still use typewriters and carbon paper.  Anyway, it's OK, but a bit slow.  I'm hoping it picks up soon, or it's going to be very tedious to read. 

Sore!

 I am so sore today!  I mean, seriously sore.  Between driving Sunday, mowing Monday, and yesterday...well, yesterday I started to clear this mess up.

I'm going to need to get it all out of the way before I call the surveyor and the Fence Guys, so I got out my mini chainsaw and started hacking away at it.  

Cutting it down is kinda fun.  Hauling it all way...not so much.  

I made a good start on it, but by this morning, my arms were so sore, I couldn't even hang up my brazing tip at work.  Seriously, I had to kind of brace my arm against my side and hitch my hip up to get my hand high enough to reach the hanger.  Fortunately, as the day went on, the soreness eased and I feel much better now.  

Still, all that said, I decided I'd take a break today and just rest.  I'll get back to it over the long weekend.  By the way, I was still curious about the property lines, so I got out my paperwork from the sale -- of the house, I mean -- and it said something about a stake at the Northeast corner being the boundary marker for my property, then giving the measurements for my lot from that stake.  

When I got home from work this afternoon, I went looking for said stake.  And guess what I found.  

I don't know about you, but that looks an awful lot like a boundary marker to me.  And it is right at the Northeast corner of my fence.  Furthermore, when I squatted down beside it and looked, it was a straight shot right beside the fence, right out to the utility pole.  Just like I thought. Of course, I will confirm with a surveyor before replacing the fence, but I'm 99% sure I now know where the property line is. 

Oh, and yes, that is the cat in the background. 

In other news, I didn't take a whole lot of photos of Cody and Brennan's wedding, but I got a few of the cake cutting. This one is my favorite. 

They did not do the cake smashing in the face thing, and I'm glad of that.  To me, it's disrespectful and demeaning.  

Moving right along, someone at work keeps putting some prototype parts into the scrap bin.  Yesterday, I saw that someone had gotten them out of the scrap, then put them on a table with the following note.  Yes, you'll have to tilt your head sideways, because I was trying to take the photo on the sly and didn't get the camera rotated.  

We are doomed, I tell you.  Society is doomed. 

And finally, remember how I said I wasn't going to complain about quality any more?  Well, I lied.  Today I got a bin of parts that were all scratched and scraped up. They made me cringe, but still, I gritted my teeth and carried on....until I got to this one.   

Do you see it?  You may have to blow the photo up a bit, but look carefully at that small vertical line right in the bend.  Can you tell what it is?  Yep, it's a flipping hole in the copper.  

Bypassing Group Leader Shark -- who would have just yelled at me and told me to re-order another one-- I went straight to Supervisor Jeramy -- who was filling in for our regular supervisor today.  I told him, "I know I said I wasn't going to complain about quality in this place any more," and he kind of chuckled.  "But I can't just let this one go.  It's too much, and I had to say something."  

He took the part, and later I saw them discussing it at their 9:30 meeting, but I don't think he quite got what the point was.  They seemed to be talking about why the machine did that and how to fix it.  However, the point was that a part with a hole in it should never have made it all the way to the brazers in the first place.  The machine operator should have #1, noticed that something was scratching up all the parts, and #2, noticed a bleeping HOLE in a part.  

That's the whole problem with that place.  It has too much of a kick the can down the road attitude with it comes to quality.   Say, for example, you have a sewer line break and it's dumping raw sewage into the river.  What do you do?  Do you run down to the mouth of the river and try to catch the sewage, or do you repair the sewer line?  You fix the problem at the source.   That's what they don't seem to want to do. 

ADP has us running around in the Gulf Of Mexico trying to scoop up turds, while completely ignoring the raw sewage that is still pouring into the river. 

And I realize I probably could have come up with a better metaphor, but you get my point. 

I guess that's all I have for today.  I think I'll go take a hot shower and go to bed early.  Is 5:30 too early for bed?  Imma say no...

Laters.

Back To The Grindstone

Boy, I did not want to go back to work yesterday, but somebody's got to pay these bills around here and I don't see this cat rushing out to get a job. 

As if that weren't enough, I decided to come home and mow my back yard.  It was quite a job, too, but I got 'er done.  

I even managed to leave a few large patches of clover for the bees. 

I'd originally planned on mowing it all down, but as I got closer, I saw several bees buzzing around the flowers, so I decided to leave it.  For the bees, you know. 

Speaking of mowing, there seems to be a bit of confusion with the new neighbor where the property line actually is. 

When I bought the house, I was told that this utility pole marked the property boundary. 

And that those crepe myrtle trees were on the neighbor's property.  The line ran to just outside this chicken coop.

I've used those markers to mow for the last 7.5 years, but apparently the new neighbor disagrees.  I tried to pull up the map from the county tax assessor's office, but I can't zoom in to find a good, clear view of where they have the lines.  I'm not completely sure that map is 100% accurate anyway, since it shows my western fence about 3' over into the other neighbor's yard.  It looks like I might have to get a surveyor out here to mark the property lines.  

It's probably a good idea to do that anyway, since I want to replace my fence.  I need to make sure I've got my fence right on the property lines, and it's not over on the neighbor's side.  On either side.  And I'm thinking of going with a privacy fence this time, at least on the sides with neighbors.  

By the way, our local Walmart doesn't have the new Dr Pepper flavored Blue Bell, or at least they didn't have any in stock when I went Sunday.  I consoled myself with a new plant for my herb garden.  This is pineapple sage. 

Now I just need to get some sort of parsley, and I'll have the whole Scarborough Fair. 

Have I ever mentioned how much I hate my job?  I swear it's the most unorganized, unprofessional place on the face of the earth.  Let me just tell you what nonsense they came up with today.  They've been having this big push to reduce scrap, only the way they want to do it is by creating more scrap. 

I'll give you an example.  Let's say we have a large order, and so we divide it up between two brazers.  Now let's say that brazer A has 5 extra of part #1, and brazer B is five parts short of part #1.  Can Brazer A just hand her extra parts to brazer B?  That's what you would do in a world that made sense, but we work at ADP.  What we have to do is that brazer A has to scrap her parts, and brazer B has to re-order five more.  Even though they're the same part and go to the same order. 

Is that not the most idiotic thing you've ever heard?  

But wait, there's more.  This afternoon, I actually got yelled at because I didn't want to use bad parts.  In what sane world do you get reprimanded for caring about quality?  Unfortunately, I work at bizzaro world.  I'm seriously considering filing my retirement papers and just getting out of there. 

Alas, I can't do that, though, because I still have bills to pay.  I'll tell you one thing, though.  I'm not going to care one whit about quality out there any more.  Whatever garbage I get from tubing is getting brazed up and sent to the line just as I got them. 

Apparently, that's the way they want it. 

And finally, it's been almost a week since I've cut off my internet, and so far, I'm doing just fine.  Funny, when I told my sister in law I'd done that, she looked shocked and appalled and exclaimed, "How do you live?"  

Well, the way we lived before the internet became widely available, for one...

Wedding Weekend

Well, I'm back.

It was a really nice wedding, and I'll tell you all about it later.  I'm still processing it all at the moment.  I was instructed to take lots of pictures, and I'm sorry to disappoint anyone, but I hardly took any.  I'm hoping I'll get to at least see the professional photos they took -- and they took a lot.  That was the most tedious and exhausting part, but they'll be glad they have all those memories to look back on.  

Let me just say, when you are driving and stop to get gas...or whatever else you need to do, your GPS will freak out on you.  It'll also freak out if you change your mind halfway through the route and decide to go a different way.  

I took some unplanned detours, but then my GPS and I had a long talk about her job performance, and things got a lot better between us.  Once she got her act together, I found my way to everywhere I needed to go. And that's all I have to say about that.  

Even so, I got there in plenty of time for the rehearsal Friday evening.  I was worried that I'd be underdressed, because I wore jeans and my work boots. 

I'd planned on wearing my walking shoes, but at the last minute, I put these on.  They're already broken in and comfortable.  As it happens, I worried for nothing, as there were several people there in shorts and tennis shoes.  And one who kept falling asleep...complete with audible snoring. 

Heh, that's Henry, one of Cody's oldest and best friends and the groomsman.  Cody's roommate Tristan was best man.  Oh, and I now owe Henry a Jayne hat.  Fortunately, I've got one already complete except for the pompom.  I'll try to get it done so I can send it with Cody and Brennan when they move to Jackson next weekend.  And Cody's other old friend Dijuan was there, too.  He's been to the house a few times when he and Cody were roommates down in Jackson.  He's excited that Cody's moving back down there.  

After the rehearsal, we all went out to eat at a Mexican restaurant, and that's where my brother Scott and his wife joined us.  It was good to see them again, but I hate that no one else from our family was able to be there.  After dinner, which Brennan's parents generously paid for everyone, it was on to the hotel where my TV greeted me by name. 

Cool, and just a little bit creepy.  What I liked about this hotel was that I didn't have to talk to anyone.  I could check in through the app, unlock my door with my phone, and even check out through the app.  No awkward small talk at all.  The downside is that I was on the first floor, right next to the ice machine, so it was pretty noisy all night.  

The next morning, Scott, Paula, and I had breakfast and a nice long visit at the hotel, then we went shopping, but not together.  They went to a mall, but I went to Hobby Lobby, Barnes & Noble, and a few other stores  It was mostly window shopping, because the only thing I bought was three skeins of yarn from Hobby Lobby.

They had so many beautiful colorways it was hard for me to decide.  These were the three I liked best, but only by the slimmest of margins. 

While I was out shopping, I went into a Bed, Bath, & Beyond to see if I could pick up anything on clearance -- since they're going out of business -- but even on sale, their stuff was too pricy for my budget.  I was hoping to get some hand towels for my bathrooms, but I just can't pay $16 for one single hand towel -- and that was after a 20% discount was applied. 

Needless to say, I passed on those towels and walked out of that store empty handed.  It wasn't much longer before I was tired and went back to the hotel to rest until time for the wedding.  I wish I'd known they had a HDMI hookup built right into the wall, and I'd have brought my cable.  I could have hooked my phone up to their TV and watched my own shows instead of their limited selection.  I mean, they had Netflix and Prime already on the TV, but you had to enter your own log-in credentials.  I didn't want to do that over unsecured wi-fi, so I just searched for some Absolute History videos on YouTube and watched those and knitted on a hat, but not this one.

This is one I finished Thursday, but didn't realize until today I'd never showed it to you. 

That's about all I have for you today.  I have more to tell you, but it's going to have to wait as this post is already long enough, and I'm tired.  Eventually, I'll get you all caught up, but for now, I want to relax and enjoy the rest of my weekend.  

No More Net

I had taken the day off to get ready to go up to Memphis for this wedding, and I had to go into town anyway, so I finally dragged that heavy entertainment center out away from the wall and unhooked my internet modem.  

I'm sure I'm going to be paying for that tomorrow.  I mean, moving that heavy entertainment center, not unhooking the modem.  

Then I headed into town to get my business tended to.  First stop, the Sparklight office.  I handed over the modem and my most recent bill, telling the lady behind the counter that I needed to cancel my service.  When she asked the reason for cancellation, I shrugged and said, "I'm having to cut corners."  

"That's understandable," she replied, then proceeded to turn off my internet.  She said I'd get one more bill and I confirmed that it would still be autodrafted from my account.  She said, "I can do that if you'd like", and I replied that yes, I would.  So, that's all set up, and once that last payment is made, I'm done with Sparklight -- at least for now.  

I'm hoping, maybe in vain, that things will get better and I can get internet once again.  But for now, it's must my phone and its hotspot.  So far, we're doing OK, though I seem to be going through a bit of withdrawal, which I'm sure is all in my mind.  I mean, I've got my computer and tablet connected to the hotspot, and I've got my little adapter thing I bought a few weeks ago connected to my TV.  I know how to hook my ROKU up to the hotspot as well, but as long as I'm not needing to use my phone, I can stream whatever I'm watching over my data and save the hotspot bandwidth, at least until I can see how much of it I'm going to need to use in a month.  

As I've said before, I'm sure it'll be OK, because my hotspot is what my internet used to be when I first moved into this house. 

In a bit of a serendipitous moment, when I started my car this morning, the little oil change light came on in my car.  Good thing I was going to Walmart anyway, so I zipped on into the automotive center and got that taken care of while I was doing my shopping.  I had to pick up some new hose and a slip to wear under my dress.  I know hose isn't a thing any more, but it's an outdoor wedding.  I don't want to blind anyone with the glare of the sun shining off my Irish DNA.  I was looking for a new bra, too, but didn't find one I liked that came in my size.  I'll just have to wear the old one, then maybe I'll order a new one online -- just to have a dressier bra.  Normally, I wear sports bras to work...not that you need to know that, but there it is. 

Naturally, since I was at Walmart, I had to go into the garden center to see what else they had.  I still haven't found any lemon verbena, so I picked up some lemon balm instead. 

I also picked up some sweet mint.  I'd seen it last week and almost bought it then, but I didn't.  After spending the last several days wishing I had, today I made that wish come true. 

I'm going to grow this one in a container, as mint tends to be quite prolific.  I've also moved my peppermint plant into a container, 

because it already was beginning to take over the raised bed -- the same way the spearmint is taking over my yard.  But it does smell good when I mow it down.  

I guess I'd better get off of here and start packing for my trip this weekend -- starting with finding something to pack my stuff in, since I forgot I'd thrown out the old gym bag I've used for the last 20 years.  

Laters. 

Miss Becky Has...

 A couple of weeks ago, my coworker and I were talking -- just chatting about what we're doing to try to get healthier.  We'd mentioned that we've both started making infused water again, and swapped recipes.  Somewhere in that conversation, I mentioned that I had mint growing in my back yard, and that I'd bring her some.  

The next day, I did just that.  That evening, she was at home adding the mint to her pitcher of infused water when her 8 year old grandson came in and asked what that stuff was.  

"It's mint,"  my coworker replied.  

"Where did you get that?" the grandbaby asked, and my friend said, "Miss Becky brought it to me." 

With a deep sigh, he said, "Miss Becky has everything!"  

That really tickles me.  

Fast forward to this past Sunday.  My coworker was at her aunt's house celebrating Mother's Day, and the aunt was showing off her herb garden.  She was talking about having problems with it (though I don't know what those problems were) when the little boy spoke up and said, "Excuse me, you should ask Miss Becky.  She has everything!"  

Speaking of, my lavender blooms are starting to open. 

And my wild onion is about to bloom as well.

I'm thinking I'm going to move this one out of the raised bed and put it into a separate container.  Pot.  Whatever.  I just need to get out into my shed and see what pots I have out there.  I may also end up moving my peppermint into a separate container as well, just so it doesn't take over my raised bed. 

Well, I broke down and mowed the yard yesterday.  Half of it, that is.  I mowed the front and side yards, and it's a good thing I did.  Along about 12:30 last night, the storms rolled through.  Let me tell you, that thunder was loud.  It sounded like someone was firing a canon off outside my window.  I'm not sure how much rain we got, because I still haven't replaced my rain gauge.  The weather app on my phone says .3", but I believe it was more than that judging by the size of the puddle in my driveway and the sogginess of my front yard.    

And finally, just so this post isn't a total waste of your time, here is a progress update on my latest hat:

This will be the last hat I can get out of this skein of yarn, so that's that for self striping.  

And that's that for this post.  

Later, peeps. 

Coming Together.

The plan was to come home and mow this afternoon, and my yard desperately needs it, but I decided it was just too hot and I'm getting too old for all this nonsense.  So I just watered my plants and came inside into the air conditioning.  

That's the problem when you have to go to work in the middle of the night.  By the time it cools off enough to work outside, it's already way past my bed time.  When one gets up ridiculously early, one must also go to bed ridiculously early.  

Speaking of work, when it takes longer to explain to your supervisor just what the problem with your parts are and why they aren't right than it does just to fix it yourself, you might need a new supervisor.  Then you tell your supervisor, "You know, they've got this big push going to reduce scrap. Wouldn't it make more sense for them (tubing) to do the parts right the first time instead of us constantly having to scrap them and getting them recut?"  

And your supervisor scratches his head and says, "Yeah, I don't know why they do that."

You're the supervisor, Dude!  You go over there and make them do it right the first time!

Part of the problem is they've got people in tubing that don't even know how to check the parts to see if they're right or wrong.  They just call up the program, hit start, and whatever comes out is what they send to us, and the first indication they have that it isn't right is when we try to put it into a brazing jig and it doesn't fit.  As if that weren't bad enough, you can't just go over there and tell them, "Hey, these were wrong.  Can you re-cut them please?"  Because they don't know how to read a print or check the parts, they're just as likely to re-cut them wrong, you have to take the whole jig over there so they can see what adjustments they need to make to the parts, and while we're over in tubing holding the machine operator's hand, we're not getting our own work done, and if we don't get enough work done, they yell at us, telling us we're not producing enough. 

But that's just life in an unorganized, poorly managed factory.  And it's hot, too.  

On a more pleasant note, things are finally coming together for Cody's wedding.  Look what arrived today!  

 

My yellow dress!  I've got a little jacket to wear over it, but I'm kind of on the fence about that, because it's white. 

I know you're not supposed to wear white to a wedding, but is all white taboo?  Even a little lace jacket thing like this?   I asked Brennan if the dress was OK, and it's got bride approval.  Even better, it's got functional pockets!  Woo Hoo!  Pockets!  

I still have to decide what to do with this mess on my head -- also known as my hair.  My conundrum was that I'd stopped dying it last Fall, mainly because I was tired of doing it.  I actually like my gray coming through, but I don't want to go to the wedding with half gray/half blond hair.  

I hadn't wanted to dye it again and have to start over with letting it grow out.  This afternoon, I found a solution on Amazon -- what they call demi-permanent hair dye.  I guess that's supposed to sound fancier than temporary.  Anyway, it's supposed to fade after 20 or so washes.  It's supposed to arrive Wednesday, and I hope I don't make a right royal mess of my hair.  

I'm just trying not to be an embarrassment to my son, and I'll be glad when the whole thing is over and done with. 

On a completely unrelated note, what do you do when it's raining and you're at work and left your raincoat at home?  You make your own, of course!

And finally, I'd posted this on my Facebook a few days ago, noting that they'd left one monarch out.  Props to whoever knew which one it was. 

Apparently, no one did, because I never got an answer.  I'll give you a few days, and if you still haven't figured it out, I'll tell you who got omitted from this song.