Down To Earth

As I'm sure you know, the big story of the day was the astronauts of Artemis II returning to Earth, or coming down to Earth, as it were.  Of course I was there to watch it, and I vividly remember my dad calling my older brother and I in to watch Neil Armstrong take the first step onto the moon's surface back in 1969.  

I'm so glad they timed things so that I could be home and able to see it.  I miss so much having to work so much. 

Speaking of work, today was one of those golly what a day days.  I only had two orders all day long that was bigger than a 12 piece.  I spent more time setting up, breaking down, and doing paperwork --oh, the paperwork!-- than I did actually working.  And I'm telling you what, when it takes longer to do all of the associated paper work than it does to braze an order, you are burdening your employees with too much paperwork.  And so much of it is completely unnecessary.  

I mean, if it were that important, they'd have been making us do it from the beginning instead of waiting 30 years to decide it was so urgent, right?  

Oh, and funny thing...well, I think it's funny.  Back on Wednesday, I had a rather large order that had been split among three brazers.  I had two adapter tubes that I was 20 parts short on my third.  I asked the other two brazers if they had any extras, and both said no.  So I went over to tubing and ordered them.  

I waited and waited and waited, and when I finally got my parts, they had been done wrong.  I took them back to the person who'd bent them and she said, "Well, I didn't do the first ones, so I didn't know."  Um, what?  It shouldn't matter who did the first ones, or what machine they'd been done on.  If you do your first piece inspection -- like you're supposed to, but never do-- your parts would have been right. 

So I waited and waited and waited and waited and waited... and finally got the parts right before the shift ended.  After 2 1/2 hours.  And the really funny part is, that machine operator hasn't been back since.  

What's really, really funny is that right about the time I got my rework and went back to my stand, I saw one of the other brazers bagging up a bunch of extra parts to scrap.  The exact same amount of the exact same parts I needed. 

What's really, really, really funny is that I had gotten another order to work on while I was waiting for my rework, and three of the adapters on that order were bent wrong...And they wonder why we get so frustrated.  There's a duh moment if ever there was one. 

In better news, I bought the second set of companion plants for my tomato bed -- marigolds!  

They are supposed to keep nematodes, hornworms, aphids, thrips, and a whole host of damaging insects away from your plants.  Alas, slugs love marigolds, so I'll have to keep them well dusted with diatomaceous earth for their own protection.  

I probably should have waited until the tomatoes were ready to plant, but they were so gorgeous I couldn't resist.  I was going to buy some tomato cages, too, but decided the ones at Walmart were way too short.  They barely came up to my waist, and most tomato plants can get several feet high.  Roma are supposed to grow from 4-5'.  Instead, I ordered a modular set from Amazon.  It comes in a pack of six, but you're supposed to be able to interchange the parts and customize your supports.  I should be able to put them together so that I get four taller cages instead of six shorter one.  

They're supposed to get here Tuesday, and I'll be able to assemble them and put them where the tomatoes will actually be planted when it's time, and then I'll be able to gauge where the marigolds and basil plants need to be.  

OK, enough about that.  

When I went out to check my garden this evening, I noticed two more of my little seedlings had sprouted, but I also figured out I had a problem.  Every video I've watched on growing plants from seed has suggested watering from the bottom.  This has many benefits, but mostly because it encourages the plants roots to grow deep.  

Alas, since I moved the cups to the raised bed, there really wasn't a way to bottom water my little tomatoes.  Then I had an idea.  I've got several of these little macaroni salad containers that I keep around in case Cody and Brennan want to take leftovers home after Thanksgiving or Christmas. 

They were just the right size and fit under the protective cloches just fine. 

I set the seed cups to one side, just to make it easier to fill the containers with the garden hose.  And yes, I'd poked drainage holes in the cups before I put the seeds into them.  

Speaking of seeds, look at this!  I'm finally getting some action in the bed where I planted the bachelor's button seeds. 

I hope these are actually the seeds I planted, and not just some random stuff that's growing.  I think it is, because there are too many of them to just be random.  Even the beds that have been out there since last fall don't have this many plants growing in them. 

The last thing I did garden wise was to buy two bags of topsoil and spread them into the bed I'd put all the sticks and stuff into. 

My reasoning was that it would help the beds retain heat and the stuff underneath would compost faster.  As it breaks down, I'll add more dirt to them, but for now, that's all I'm going to do. 

Now, if you'll excuse me, the astronauts are about to come out of the capsule, and I need to go watch, so I'll just leave you with this bit of humor, which is even funnier because it's true. 

 Laters.