Stoked!

 It finally happened!  

Last night, I was washing dishes and I just happened to glance out my kitchen window.  There were a couple of deer behind the fence, and as I was watching, one of them walked over and drank out of the trough!  

And yes, I got ridiculously excited over that. 

The good news is, my mosquito bits came in today, so I can treat the water in the aforementioned trough.  

It specifically says it's safe for animal troughs and plants, so I can use it in the bucket I collect water for Marty Mac in as well.  

Later that evening, I stepped outside to see the SuperBlueMoon before I went to bed.  I saw it peeking between the trees, but didn't stay up late enough for it to clear the tree line.  It was a work night after all.  But it was still up when I got up for work this morning, so I was able to get a good look at it then.  

Then I had to come back inside because it was ....cold... out there.  OK, it was only 65°, but compared to 107°, that is cold.  

I got ready, then went on in to work and made it through the last day for the week.  What with Monday being a holiday, I've got a four day weekend to look forward to.  I think later today, once it cools off a bit, I'm going to get the mowing taken care of and get that out of the way.  

Oh, and I broke my weedeater.  Not really, but it's broken.  One of the gas lines from the tank to the engine has broken.  It shouldn't been too hard to replace it, but I'm thinking about getting rid of it and getting an electric one.  Mainly because the gas powered one is just so heavy.  I don't know.  I'll think about it and decide before next spring. 

The bad news is, the cat has taken to chewing on the corners of my piano books.  

Which means I have to put them back in the box I've been keeping them in after every practice.  When the books aren't there, she chews on the music rack.  I don't know what's gotten in to her.  It's not like she doesn't have plenty of toys. Plus, she got a whole pack of new toys in the surprise parcel yesterday, and she's thoroughly enjoyed playing with them. 

I guess I'd better get out and start on that yard.  It's been three weeks since I've mowed, so the grass is ---well, it's going to be tough, let's just say.  But I'll have it out of the way for the rest of my long weekend, so there's my motivation.

Laters. 

Surprise!

One more day!  One day more until I'm off for four days.  I'm already working on my to-do list for the weekend, so I can get busy ignoring it.  I'll tell you one thing, I'm planning on going somewhere and recording another vlog for you -- if I can pry my hiney out of the chair, that is.  

Let me tell you something, this weather has been so nice here lately.  I stepped outside this morning and it was only 67.  I got confused and frightened there for a moment, thinking I'd gone through a wormhole to somewhere up north, but no....It really was just that cool.  Frankly, I can't wait until it's like that all the time. 

In other news, Idalia made landfall early this morning.  I overheard a conversation about it between two of my coworkers that went something like this:

Coworker #1:  That hurricane came ashore about 8:00.

Coworker #2:  But it's only 7:30!

Coworker #1:  Florida is an hour ahead of us!

Coworker #2:  But wouldn't that make it 6:00?  

 OK, moving right along....

Some months ago, I jokingly posted on Facebook that I was going to start a YouTube channel where I opened surprise parcels, and that if anyone wanted to send me a surprise parcel, I'd film myself opening it.  I did get one a few weeks after that, but it turned out to be yarn I'd ordered and had forgotten about.  

Today, when I got home from work, there was a box waiting in my carport.  I thought it was the new work jeans I'd ordered, which confused me because they're not supposed to arrive until tomorrow.  However, when I saw the return address, and who it was from, I squealed like a girl.

Someone had taken me seriously and sent me a surprise parcel!  True to my word, I filmed myself opening it. Here for your viewing pleasure, is that video: 

If anyone else wants to send me a surprise parcel, we can do this all again.  

Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got to go browse knitting patterns.  I've got a huge cake of yarn to use up!  Heck, I may even make something for myself. 

For a change.   

Rain!

Sweet, blessed rain for nearly four hours yesterday.  The slow, drizzly kind of rain that soaks in, too.  Look!  We even got enough to leave a puddle in my driveway!

I think we got some more today, because there were puddles in the parking lot after work that hadn't been there this morning.  Of course, the downside to that is I'm going to have to mow again, but that's a small price to pay for rain, isn't it?  

Even so, it was a good day to watch TV and knit.  Yesterday, I mean.  Today I was at work. 

I finished a headband, 

then cast on another one, but decided I didn't really want to knit another headband, so I set it aside and cast on a hat instead. 

I like the headbands because they're quick and easy, but knitting hats is really where my heart is.  In fact, I need to go ahead and box some of the ones I've already finished up and send them off to that Seaman's Church Ministry thing, so they'll have them in plenty of time to make up the ditty bags for Christmas.   I just need to find a box.  

By the way, I had to order a new pair of work jeans and that broke my heart!  They've gotten so expensive these days -- just like everything else.  I was going to order two pair, but at that price ($40 each), I'm going to have to spread that purchase out a bit more.  

I just wish they would tell us what's going on out at work.  I keep hearing they're finally going to combine the shifts, and just run one for the foreseeable future.  If they do that, it might help prevent these long shutdowns we keep having, so that'll help quite a lot.  The downside is, I might get moved to the assembly line.  Group Leader Shark came through the department and asked who all could line braze.  Now, the thing is, all of them can except maybe two people, but most of them lied and said they couldn't so they wouldn't get moved. 

 I think they should move them anyway.  I mean, I didn't know how to line braze when they first started making me do it.  I tried to tell them I wasn't trained, and they just said, "Oh, yes you are!"  Seriously?  Do you really think I'm so stupid I don't even know what jobs I've been trained to do?  

Of course they think that.  We're just a bunch of uneducated, inbred, toothless hicks, aren't we?  The thing is, I've never been treated like an idiot by a smart person.  It's always the stupid ones treating me like I'm stupid.  That goes for work, internet, and pretty much anywhere else, for that matter.  

But enough about that...

I don't really mind line brazing.  It's a lot less stressful than sub brazing, but I wouldn't want to do it full time, mainly because the component areas get much more overtime than the assembly areas.  However, since nobody is getting any overtime right now (except sheet metal), I don't suppose it very much matters.  And there is the added bonus that the assembly areas are air conditioned, whereas the component areas aren't.  

And finally, one of the sub-brazers has COVID again.  We were all wondering where she was this morning, and we found out a few hours later when the first aid lady came out and asked where her work area was, mispronouncing her name in the process.  Then she had the cleaning crew come over and disinfect the area.  

"Does she?"  We asked.

"She does," the first aid lady said. 

It makes me wonder, though.  I fell absolutely terrible last week.  I never ran fever or anything, I just felt awful.  I chalked it up to exhaustion from the trip to Missouri combined with heat stress from the plant, but now I'm wondering if that's all it was.  

Eh, it probably was.  Heat exhaustion, I mean.  

I'm sure that's what it was.  

Have I mentioned that I'm so ready for Fall?  

Monday

 It's supposed to break on Monday, they say.  This heat.  It's supposed to break on Monday. 

There are a lot of us who can't wait.  This is what was on my back patio yesterday when I got home. 

They took pity on us at at work and let us leave early, and for once, I didn't argue with them.  After surviving the week we'd just had, I decided to reward myself with a little treat.  

Then, because I didn't want it to be lonely, I got my pumpkin soap dispenser and put it out in the kitchen, even though it's only got plain soap in it. 

What good are Fall decorations without Fall smells, so I picked this up as well. 

I was a bit bummed that I couldn't find just the refills in this scent, because I've got tons of the warmers.  I started not to even get it, but I really liked the scent, so I splurged just a bit. 

As for today, it only got to 102°, but that was still enough to make me stay inside and huddle in the air conditioning.  

It wasn't enough to make me not drink coffee, though. 

I don't think it'll ever be that hot. It was pumpkin spice coffee, so there is that.   

I know, I know, it's not Fall yet.  Not until next Friday, but still...since I was on a roll, so to speak, I went ahead and hung one of my wreaths on the front door. 

That's it for now.  I'll get the rest of the Fall stuff out next weekend over Labor Day.   There was a rumor going around the plant that we were going to be off all next week, but that turned out not to be true.  There is another rumor that we'll get next Friday off, but I have vacation for that day anyway, so I'd have gotten it off anyway.  In fact, I've worked my last Friday for the year, since I normally save all my vacation to get these long Fall weekends.  

I'd gotten into that habit during the last recession, when we worked 4 days a week for the latter half of the year.  I kind of got spoiled to having three day weekends, so now I do it on purpose. 

While I was huddling in the air conditioning all day, I finished another hat.

This one is knit with Knit Picks Brava in the Freesia color way. 

And I watched Notre Dame vs. Navy.  I had to turn my Peacock back on to get the game, which was a bit of a bummer.  I'm going to have to figure out how to watch CBS Sportsnetwork to get the rest of the games.  I'm trying to figure out if I can get it with a Paramount + subscription, but I can't find that info anywhere.  I may try the free week, just to see.  

If anyone has Paramount +, let me know, OK?  

Dear Coworker

A few weeks ago, my pastor told a story about his mother, who has been a widow for 20 something years.  She said she'd kept an old pair of her late husband's draws, and when she started thinking she might want to get married again, she'd take those draws out and throw them into the floor and leave them there.  After about 4 days of walking around those draws in the floor, she'd gotten over it.  The whole ide of getting married again, I mean. 

That being said, thank you for reminding me day

after day, 

after day,

after day 

after day, 

after day, 

after day

after day, 

why I chose not to ever get married again.  

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to once again clean up your mess off of my station so I can start my work day.  

Thank you.

That is all.  

I Almost Didn’t

 I almost didn’t go to work today. 

Oh, nothing is wrong.  I was just laying there in bed this morning, thinking about how miserably hot it is in the plant, and I came thisclose to calling in and staying in the air conditioning all day.  But then I thought, "It's still going to be hot tomorrow, too", so out of bed I got and in to work I went. 

And it ended up being just as hot and miserable as I'd expected it to be.  

The good news is, there is relief in sight.  The heat is supposed to break Monday, and the temps will only be in the low 90s instead of the low 100s.  It will be such a relief!

In other news, I've recently started playing Pokémon Go again.   It was meant to encourage me to start walking more, but alas, it's been too hot.  Maybe when it cools off some.  But for now, I'm pretty much limited to catching Pokémon in the parking lot at work, and in Walmart.  

I've got a couple of friends who send me postcards -- and I mean in the game, not in real life-- and I send them postcards back.  I'm pretty sure they're both getting tired of getting Grenada Airfield Hangar postcards, but those are what I have the most of.  Probably since the airport is right across the street from the plant.  

So, yesterday after work, I drove out to the lake to see if I could get any different postcards to send. I did find a few, but what I found in abundance was....Pokestops!  And Gyms, which I don't even know what to do with, but there were at least three.   Plus about ten Pokestops.  That little picnic area next to the Visitor's Center (for you local folks) had four of them by itself.  And there was one at the old Civil War fort, plus two at the spillway, and one at the entrance to the Hasserway Wetlands Management area...

I was able to spin them all without even getting out of the car!  They must have added all of them since I stopped playing a while back, because I was sure they weren't there before. And I didn't even go across the dam and to the north abutment area.  There might even be more up there.  

After a pleasant drive around the lake, I came home to find a surprise in my mailbox.  I mean, a real surprise, not a package I ordered from Amazon.  And what was this surprise?  It was a letter from an old pen pal in Maine!  I hadn't heard from her in ages, and thought she'd ghosted me, so that really was a surprise.  I'll right her back this weekend, when I'm huddling in the air conditioning. 

Because that's all I plan on doing until the heat breaks.  

I Hadn’t Planned

I hadn't planned on going to the store after work yesterday.

I hadn't planned on doing anything but coming home and sitting in the air conditioning.  I'm still pretty run down from my whirlwind trip to Missouri, you know.  Alas, all that changed when I broke the zipper on my lunch box, so I had to run in and buy a new one so I didn't drop bits of my lunch all the way across the parking lot. 

While I was there, I went ahead and picked up....a water trough for the wild critters. 

It didn't say how much water it holds, but just eyeballing it, I'd say about 10 gallons.  I put it out behind the fence and quickly got it filled up.   I even found a piece of 1 x 4 just the right size to put into it, you know, in case a squirrel falls in or something.  

It'll have something to climb on to and won't be stuck and drown.  I'm going to leave the small water bowl out there, too, for the birds.  

That brings us to today.  I'd planned on doing all sorts of things after work today.  I was going to go top up my gas tank, and maybe drive out to the lake and see if there were any different kinds of Pokémon out there, and ...whatever.  But it got so hot inside the plant, 

 (yes that is my work area), that by the time I got off, all I wanted to do was to come home.  I was feeling positively sick.  I mean that literally.  Weak, shaky, nauseated -- all the classic symptoms of heat exhaustion.  

As if that weren't enough, I hardly slept at all last night.  The electricity went off around 12:30, so no air conditioning, and the cat went on one of her night long yowling binges.  So yeah, I'm a bit tuckered. 

It was a tree limb, by the way.  That caused the power outage.  It was back on before time to get up and get ready for work, though it did go back off briefly while I was brushing my teeth.  Only about 5 minutes that time, but it was pitch black during those minutes.  That was fun.  

I'd also planned on telling you a bit more about the wedding, but that's not going to happen today.  I'll get to it when this heat breaks.  Until then, that's it for now.  

Worn Out, But In A Good Way

I am absolutely knackered, but for once, it's from something good.  Yep, this was the weekend of my oldest nephew's wedding, and even though it was going to be a long, long, loooong drive, I was determined to go.  So I did. 

Suzette, as always, accompanied me.  

For those of you who may be new to the blog and don't know the story of Suzette, I had a dear, dear friend named Suzie, who left us in 2020.  Suzie had multiple health issues, which meant she couldn't do all the travelling she wanted to do.  She was in end stage kidney failure and had to stay tied to that dialysis clinic -- among other things.  I won't get into all her personal business here, but that's the long and the short of it. 

A while back, she'd lamented that she missed going to fiber festivals and such, so at the last Fiber Fun In The 'Sip -- in 2019, before the pandemic -- I'd fixed her up a little gift bag with fun stuff I'd bought there.  It had yarn, and stitch markers, kudzu soap, and this little alpaca, plus a few more things.  After Suzie passed away, the alpaca was the only thing I asked to have back.  I named her Suzette, and now she goes with me on all the trips Suzie was unable to take.  

If you follow me on Facebook or Instagram, you've no doubt seen all the photos we take together, but here are a few for your enjoyment.  At the Arkansas welcome center, and at the Tennessee welcome center. 

I'll talk more about the wedding itself later, but for now, let me just say it was so good to see my sister and her family again.  It's been far too long, especially my nephew Nate, whom I haven't seen since he was 12.  He wasn't able to come to my mother's memorial in '21, because he couldn't get off work.  Anyway, he told me he was so excited when my sister told him I was coming, and all my nephews seemed happy to see me.  I sure wish they lived closer.  I wish all my family were closer. 

But that's another post for another day. 

Right now, let's talk about the trip up there.  That was exciting.  See, when I was plotting my trip on Maps, I thought I'd chosen the route that goes through Little Rock, but apparently, I didn't. Apparently, I chose the route that goes straight up through the middle of Arkansas...through the middle of nowhere.   

You know, Arkansas' nickname is The Natural State, and they aren't kidding.  It's full of hills and valleys and beautiful scenery, but it's an absolute bear to drive through.  Two lanes, the whole way, up and down, back and forth, and ... it was like driving on a roller coaster, and I'm not kidding about that.   I halfway expected to see a loop-de-loop in the road.   Beautiful scenery notwithstanding, I did not enjoy that drive at all. 

I was so glad when I finally got to Missouri, and I could tell the moment I got there, because the roads were suddenly four lane, straight, and flat.  I pulled into the Mammoth Springs welcome center just to give my little car a break -- not to mention my nerves.  I'd have loved to stay longer, but I felt pressed for time as it was, so after a bit of a walkabout, it was back into the car and onto the road once more. 

The driving was much easier in Missouri, but I have to tell you about this one section of the road.  It was two lanes, out in the country, nothing but farms and fields and forests as far as the eye could see, when suddenly way out in the middle of nowhere, there was a roundabout.  

Yes, you read that right.  A roundabout!  In the middle of nowhere Missouri.  

Don't ask.  I have no idea. 

That drive felt like it took forever, but I finally made it to the hotel, and vowed that on the way back More Interstate, Less Arkansas.

On the way back, that's exactly what I did.  I cut up to I-70 to St. Louis, then got onto I-55, which is a straight shot all the way back to Grenada.  It was 80 miles longer, but with good roads and higher speed limits, it took the exact same amount of time to get home as it did to get to Warrensburg, MO.  

And I spend every minute of it being thankful for President Dwight David Eisenhower, who gave us that interstate highway system so many of us take for granted these days. 

Me, I'll never do that again. 

Never. 

Ever.  

Especially when driving through Arkansas. 

Surprise

I got quite the surprise last night, and the way that happened is as follows. 

Just before I went to bed, I’d been watching YouTube videos of that Tchaikovsky piece— you know, the one with the cannons.  I’d found one that was filmed somewhere in Spain, and they were using real cannons -- and those cannons were loud, even over my phone. And real bell towers, too, not just sound effects.  I watched that one and a few more, then went to bed and dreamed of cannons firing.

In my dream, one of those cannons was so loud, it woke me up, and when the next one fired, that’s when I realized those weren’t cannons.

It was thunder. 

That second thunderclap was so loud, it sounded like it was right over the house. Almost immediately, the power went off. 

I opened my Entergy app and checked the outage map. Sure enough my street was the only one without electricity. I reported the outage, then went into the other room to get the right kind of cable to hook my phone up to my power bank so it could finish charging.  

Now, before I continue, I have to give you a little set up to what happens next.  I don't normally allow the cat to sleep in my room with me.  If she would lay in the bed and sleep, it would be fine, but she doesn't.  She roams all over the bed, jumps on then jumps off, claws the carpet, kneads on the blanket, walks across my head, and knocks all my stuff off of the night stand.  

However, since thunderstorms freak her out a bit, I took pity on her last night and let her into the bedroom.  Wonder of wonders, she jumped up onto the bed, lay down beside me, and started purring.  

For about ten minutes, after which she gets up, casually walks to the edge of the bed, and flips my phone off on to the floor.  Sigh...

No, no, no, I can't have this, I said, and put the cat out of the bedroom.  I got back into bed and amazingly enough, managed to drift off to sleep, even with no air conditioning.  Before I fell asleep, I made a mental note of where all my lanterns are, just in case I had to get dressed in the dark this morning. 

I didn't, though, because about 3:30, the electricity came back on, and I woke up grateful for the linemen who get up in the middle of the night to fix our power.  After work, I checked my email and found:  

Yeah, I thought that thunder sounded mighty close!

So the surprise was that none of my weather apps showed any chance of storms or severe weather.  None of the local meteorologists were predicting severe weather.  One even said it'd be good sleeping weather. 

But weather does what weather wants, and there's no predicting it. 

Look What I Found!

Well, I finally got my act together enough to get Blaze's old tank cleaned out and hauled to the shed.  I was fretting the whole time, because I was sure I'd drop it and break it, but thankfully, I didn't.  It wasn't that heavy; it was just big and had no handles on it.  I'll confess that I cheated a bit and used the wheelbarrow for part of the journey, just to be on the safe side.  

I asked Cody if he and Brennan wanted it, but he said no, so I guess I'll have to deal with the local marketplace group.  I won't be giving that one away, but I kind of will, because I'll sell it for pretty cheap.  No, I don't want to get more fish, either.  I'm tired of taking care of things.  I need to take care of myself for a while.  

All that to say, while I was doing that, I found a skein of Knit Picks Brava that I forgot I had, so naturally I cast on a new hat. 

Just as soon as I'd finished this one, that is. 

Which I did yesterday while re-watching an old favorite for the umpteenth time. 

This used to be part of Cody and my Saturday night routine, before he out grew watching British comedies with his mama.   I didn't have cable at the time, and this was before streaming became a thing, so the only channels we got with my little rabbit ears were PBS and NBC.  So, we sat and watched Keeping Up Appearances, followed by As Time Goes By, then whatever came on after that.  It could be Doctor Who, or The Vicar Of Dibley, or Fawlty Towers, or any number of comedies.  All that changed when Britbox and Acorn came out, and PBS lost their licensing for a lot of BBC shows.  I mean, you can still watch some BBC on PBS, but a lot of the old favorites are only available on streaming now.  Fortunately, I have these on DVD.  I'd forgotten how good the show is.  

In work news, today was another one of those days when it was hotter inside the plant

than it was outside. 

When it's hot like this, they pass out Gatorades after lunch.  Today, it was so hot, someone got onto the loudspeaker and said, "We need those Gatorades today!"  Sure enough, it wasn't long after that, here came Marlin and Bernard passing them out.  The good news is, we have a weak cold front pushing through the area, which is expected to drop the highs into the upper 80s for the next few days.  But then it'll get hot again -- just in time for my nephew's wedding.  At least theirs won't be outdoors.  

Speaking of, it's this weekend, and I'm at my I don't want to go!  I'm going to cancel and stay home! phase of the trip.  I won't, because I really want to see my sister and her family, but the introvert in me is seriously objecting to the whole thing.  I just wish Cody and Brennan were coming with me.  I don't know if they're even going to be able to go, but it would be fun if we could make a road trip out of it.  

And finally, it's almost bedtime here in the Fine Martial Household and I still haven't practiced my piano, so let me just leave you with this little bit of humor I found on Facebook:

P.S. Does anyone come here from MeWe?  I know I keep posting links to that site, but it feels like I'm shouting into an empty room.  If I'm not getting any traffic from there, I'm going to stop.

I’m Back

I know! I know! It’s been a while, hasn’t it?   I don't know if it was the heat, or lack of sleep, or general malaise, but I hadn't been feeling too well the last few days.  I was absolutely dragging. 

Wednesday was my last day of my AT&T month, and when I checked my hot spot usage, I had almost half of my data left.   Oh, boy, I can stream something!  Only, I felt so run down I couldn't even bring myself to get up and hook my Roku back up.  I just ended up watching -- whatever it was, I don't even remember-- on my phone as usual. 

Finally, Thursday night I got a halfway decent night's sleep and I feel so much better.  However, I can tell you that during all that bad feelingness, I was still able to knit a headband.

Then I cast on another hat.

I've had to back off of knitting a bit, because my hands have been really sore lately.  I'm not sure if it's from knitting, yard work, or work work, but it's been quite painful.  So, I'm mostly just watching Horrible Histories and playing Cross Stitch World on my Kindle. 

This morning, I got up and mowed early, thinking I could get the job done before it got too hot.  We're in a no-win situation down here in the south, I'm telling you the truth.  Maybe the temps were only in the upper 70s to low 80s, but with the humidity being 90+%, I was still drenched by the time I was done, and I didn't even do the back yard.  With those humidity levels, it's not sweat, it's condensation.  

Whatever it was, as soon as I finished, I came inside and washed it all off in the shower, and spent the rest of the day doing inside chores.  It finally made it up to 100°, but has since cooled off to 94°, but with the 65% humidity, that makes for a heat of 113°.  

Good news!  Walmart finally got some deer corn back in stock, so I was able to fill up my squirrel feeder.  I've still got to find some way to hang my birdfeeder back up, since I pulled the post out of the ground last spring.  It wasn't in but 18" and the spot where it was had gotten so muddy, it was about to fall over anyway.  I'm thinking about getting one of those shepherd's crooks you can stick into the ground, but I'm not completely sold on that idea.  I'm more likely going to wait until it cools off a bit, then just dig a deeper hole for the post I already have.  

And finally, well, this needs no explanation:

See?  It's totally accurate.  And yes, I do do this to mine. 

 Oh, and one more thing, I got sick and tired of the little monster digging her claws into me, so this afternoon, I held her down and trimmed them off.  She didn't like it, but I don't like gouges in my legs, so we're even.  

OK, I'm done here for today.  Laters. 

Golly What A Day

Just when I was moaning that life is dull and repetitious, oo dah lolly...well, let me just tell you about my day.  First up, I get to work and find someone has left an absolute mess in my work area.  

I guarantee it wasn't like that when I left yesterday.  And look at the far right of that photo.  That is my brazing stand.  Do you see what is missing?  Now, I know if you don't work there, you won't know what is supposed to be on said stand, so I'll tell you.   What's missing is my parts trays.  

But, but, but, aren't those your parts trays there on top of that cardboard box?  Nope.  Those are someone else's parts trays.  I found mine over on station #5, despite having that giant #7 on them. 

 Now, don't get me wrong, coming in to a disaster area is an every day thing out there, because we don't dare complain about their precious second shift -- who, by the way, can complain as much as they want about us, but Heaven forbid we say anything even the slightest bit negative about them.  

But today, well, I'd had enough.  I went upstairs and got Baby Boss* and asked him to come to my stand.  I showed him the mess, and said, "This is an every day thing."  Really, it's not fair to me that I should have to spend the first 15 minutes of my day cleaning up somebody else's mess before I can even start doing my own job. Baby Boss said he'd talk to the guy, but I'm not holding my breath that he's suddenly going to start cleaning up.

It just aggravates me that he doesn't even work on my stand, yet he leaves my stand a mess every day.  I feel sorry for his poor wife.  She must not do anything all day but follow him around picking up his socks and drawers.  

That taken care of, I began my work day.  A few hours later, I was just working away, minding my own business when I heard a commotion at the end of the row of brazing stands. I looked down there and saw one of the parts stagers kind of hunched over, and two other employees standing next to her.  

Thinking she was sick or something, I started walking down there to see if she was OK, and I heard another brazer say, "You must stink or something."  

About that time, the parts stager looked up and saw me.  She said, "Becky is this you?"  I still didn't know what what was going on, so I thought she might have thought I'd farted or something -- until I heard someone say the word spider.   

All three of the people appeared to be looking at the floor, so naturally I thought they'd seen a spider and needed me to come kill it, since I'm the unofficial department bug squasher.  When I got down there, though, one of the ladies said the spider was ON her -- meaning the parts stager.  I walked around behind her, and saw it crawling in her hair, only it wasn't a spider.  It was a deer fly.  

Coworker #2 swatted at the fly, and it flew out of Parts stager's hair and landed on top of her head, on her bandana.  "It's on your head!" coworker #2 said, and slapped at it again.  She didn't do anything but scare it off.  "It flew over there!" someone yelled.  I went over there, and saw the deer fly -- on Parts Stager's face.  

Really.  It was on her cheek.  Finally!  I had my chance!  I reared back and hauled off and slapped the mess out of Parts Stager's face.  

OK, not really.  I did pop the bug just hard enough to knock it off onto the floor, but not hard enough to hurt Parts Stager.  Once the bug was on the floor, I stomped on it and squished it into oblivion.  

We all had a good laugh about that, then it was back to work.  

But wait, there's more!  

We'd had some pretty good storms roll through this morning, bring with them much needed rain. 

Just before lunch, I had just put a jig back into the rack, when a very loud clap of thunder came.  Off in the distance, I heard at least one person scream.  That's how loud it was.  But that's not the fun part.  Right in front of my face as I was walking back to my stand was some sort of breaker box.  I think it controls the phone lines and computer connections, but I'm not completely sure.  Anyway, when that lightning struck, I saw sparks come out of that breaker box. 

I'm totally not kidding.  

Maintenance came out and checked things out, and apparently everything was OK, but it was still kind of freaky.  Thankfully, the rest of the day passed without incident. 

After work, I ran by and voted in the primary.

At long last, I arrived home to find in my mailbox....Christmas stickers!

And more Christmas stickers!

It seems the wax seals I normally use have been getting pulled off of the envelopes thanks to our wonderful postal system.  I think this year, I'm going to put the wax seals on the inside of the card, and use these stickers to decorate the envelopes.  

Oh, and if you're not on my Christmas card list and want to be added, just message me your address and I'll be happy to add you -- even if you don't feel like you can send a card back.  Don't let that stop you.  I'll still send you one. 

Whelp, that's about it for today.  I know you're probably thinking "Isn't that enough?"  I know one thing, for sure....it'll be a long while before I complain about my life being dull again.  

*I call him Baby Boss because he looks so young for his age. He's actually in his 30s, but if you didn't know that, you'd think he was 16. 

Smile

Monday, Monday...and that's all I have to say about that.  

Today started off with a big disappointment.  We'd been so certain they'd moved our supervisor to second shift, but no.  There he was this morning, late as usual, but still there. 

"I can't believe they haven't gotten rid of him yet," my coworker who shall remain nameless said. 

"No," I replied.  "They only get rid of the good supervisors.  They'll keep this one until the end of time.  Jesus will come back and he'll still be standing right there!"  

The good news is, it's been cloudy and rainy most of the day, so it didn't get as hot in the plant as it has been -- only 94° at my work area today instead of last week's 98°.  So that's a relief.   

Even better, I got home and found a surprise in my mailbox!  

It's from my friend Kristine, who has been on vacation.  Just a simple thing, but it brought a smile to my face.  Thank you, Kristine!  

She mentioned how hard it is to find postcards these days, and she's not wrong.  Back when I was going to send some to my overseas pen pals, I looked all over town and couldn't find a single postcard.  I ended up having to order some on Amazon.  What's more, I had to get a pack of 20 -- two packs to be exact, with two different designs-- so now I have a bunch of leftover postcards.  Hmmmm, I probably ought to send some out and surprise people with them.  

Not much else has gone on since last we spoke.  Or rather, since last I typed and you read.  I did get a few more herbs ground and bottled. 

I'm going to have to slow down for a while and give my herbs a chance to grow again.  I've cut them back pretty hard, plus the heat has been really tough on some of them.  Still, there's a long while yet in the growing season; first frost doesn't usually come until November, so I ought to be able to harvest enough for a few Christmas gifts, plus tea for me.  

Also, I finished a hat.   

Then I knit another hat.  No they are not the same hat.  Just out of the same yarn.  

Oh, I forgot to mentioned, the second book of the Whimbrel House series was on Kindle Daily deals a few days ago, so I got it and started reading it.  I'm only 20% in, but it's pretty good so far.  I'm still reading the Variant series as well.  

Completely changing the subject, not being able to afford groceries last week has led me to discover some stuff in my freezer that probably should have been tossed a long time ago.  I found some hot dogs from 2021, and though they probably would have been safe to eat, they were so freezer burned they wouldn't have tasted very good.  I also found three -- yes three-- rotisserie chickens from Walmart.  I have one thawing out now, and will make chicken salad when I get home tomorrow.  I really need to be more diligent in turning over my frozen foods.  

And finally, we got a little rain yesterday, and I got so excited, I videoed it. 

Now, if you'll excuse me, I really must go practice my piano.  I've gotten a bit lax lately and need to get back into the discipline of regular practice.  

Laters.