Murphy's Day

Today was one of those days I call a Murphy's Day.  

You've heard of Murphy's Law, haven't you?  

Nothing is as easy as it looks

Everything takes longer than you think

And whatever can go wrong, will. 

Yep, it was that kind of day.   Whatever could go wrong, did.  Incomplete orders, lazy people in tubing (here's a hint:  I shouldn't have to wait 6 hours to get two adapter tubes), parts smashed in the machine but sent to the brazers anyway --because of the lazy people in tubing, parts bent wrong...you know, the usual everyday stuff we deal with.  

But here is the kicker.  I got an order and went to the computer to run out a print, only I kept getting an error message.  I walked around to the dispatcher's desk, only he wasn't there.  He was off doing what he calls his rounds.  So, I started looking for Group Leader Shark and couldn't find her anywhere.  

I waited and waited, and finally the dispatcher came back to the department.  I took him my pick list and explained the problem.  He said, "I'll see what I can do."  After a few moments, he came around the corner and said, "I'm going to have to go up front to get a print."  To the front office, he meant.  

Again, I waited and waited and waited.  I thought about setting that order aside and getting something else to do, but there wasn't anything else that was ready.  Then I thought about sending a search party after Dispatcher, thinking he must have gotten lost on the way there and back again. 

He he he...

After about 20 minutes, he finally came back with my print, then explained that this particular print hadn't been released to the shop floor yet.  I'm wondering why they are expecting us to run stuff that hasn't even been released, but then, they expect us to run stuff when they won't buy us the jigs for it, so I shouldn't be surprised at that.   So what they had to do was send an e-mail to someone in India  --India -- then wait for that person to release the print so he could get me a copy.  

Sometimes I think they have meetings to try to find the easiest and most efficient way to do things, then do the exact opposite.  And they wonder why we can't run 4500 units per day like we used to.  Go figure. 

By the way, rumors are swirling around the shop floor that the new boss will be resigning just as soon as he's worked long enough to get his signing bonus.  I mean, it's not like he does anything but wander around with a blank look on his face anyway.  If the boss doesn't even care, why should I? 

OK, moving right along...

Yesterday evening, I was watching a video on YouTube, where a guy does scientific experiments with gardening.  It's a very interesting channel.  

The one I watched was an experiment to see if a fan really does benefit your seedlings.  It's about 20 minutes long, so if you don't want to watch the whole thing, I'll summarize it below.  

So, in the experiment, he sets up four different environments, in which the plants, soil, and watering were all identical.  The only difference was the fan setup.  

Environment #1 had no fan at all.  It was the control.  

Environment #2 had a fan blowing directly down from above, set to turn on for 30 minutes and off for 30 minutes, then off completely while the grow light was off. 

Environment #3 had an oscillating fan set to turn on and off with the grow light. 

Environment #4 had a non-oscillating fan blowing directly on the seedlings at all times that the grow light was on. 

The results he came up with were that the plants in environments # 3 and #4 were much smaller and stubbier than the other two, and I was all set to run and turn my fan off of my seedlings.  However, in his conclusion, he realized that the fans were probably drying out his seed cells, and didn't think to give them extra water.  

Not only that, but people in the comments were saying that the fans aren't to make the plants grow bigger, but do have benefits.  One of those is that it's to prepare them for life outside in the natural, which is almost always stirring.  

Every Southerner knows that if your air is completely still, there's a big storm on the way.  

Anyway, you can go read the comments if you're interested, but I think I'll keep my fan on at least during the day.  

And finally, a bit of good news, I have a bluebonnet blooming!

And just look at that foliage!  I've never had plants grow that big or that healthy looking.  I think from now on, this will be my dedicated bluebonnet bed.  

If I can't move back to Texas, at least I can have a little Texas here.