Back To The Grindstone

Years ago, I used to have a coworker who when the end of lunch buzzer went off would slap her hands on the table and say, "Whelp, back to the grindstone" every day.  That's kind of how I felt this morning when I had to go back to work.  Boy, did I not want to do that, but somebody's got to pay the bills around here, so out of bed I got and off to work I went. 

Where I found the plant in total chaos.  They'd removed the wall between the front and the back, and had shifted all of the brazing stands around.  Now, you would think it would be common sense to put the same desk by the stand it was with before the moved it, but noooooo.  Apparently they were just plunking any old desk any old where.  

It wouldn't have been such a big deal except that we had all left our tools in our desks...because they'd taken our lockers away already.  Anyway, I was looking for my desk and Group Leader Shark was yelling at me about it for some reason, and I was trying to calmly explain that I needed to find it to get my tools, and she just snapped and started screaming at me.  

"They're back there!" she snapped.  

"That's all you had to say!"  I replied, and I went and got my tools.  I don't know why she has to be that way, but she did it again later.  I was looking for the parts stager to find out where she wanted us to put our completed orders, and Group Leader Shark yelled, "Put them over there!"  On the conveyors.  "Just plunk them down any old where?"  I asked.  But later on, I found the parts stager and asked her, and eventually we got a system worked out.  

The rest of the day passed largely without incident, except that they hadn't even hooked our computer up.  We couldn't even clock in on it, and had to go halfway across the plant to find a computer to clock in.  They called IT out and it took them until about 9:30 to get everything back up and running.   They were having to run cables and hook things up in the connection box thingy on the wall and everything.  

They also had some contractors in the plant taking down all the old A/C units, most of which never worked in the first place.  They pulled down one big piece of duct work and boy howdy there was so much dirt up in there!  Demi-god told me he thought a raccoon had fallen out.  Then he told me his wife wants a baby raccoon as a pet.  He'd tried to catch her one, but the mama raccoon bowed up on him and started growling, so he decided to leave that one alone.  

She also wants a skunk, which make good pets as long as you don't make them feel threatened.  By the way, I think I must have hit a skunk this morning, because boy was that smell strong as I was driving down the highway. 

Anyway, the long workday finally ended, and I came home to wait on the clean up man...who never showed up. Shame, because he had such a good reputation.  At this point, I'm beginning to think it's something about me.  Heck, I even tried to hire someone through Angi a few years ago, and they said they couldn't help me.  I'm going to try to stay positive, though, and hope he just got hung up on another job, but if he doesn't come within the next couple of days, I guess I'll try to find someone else to come get this junk.  Still, it's hard not to get discouraged. 

While I was waiting, I knit a few rounds on my latest sailor hat. 

Yarn:  Hobby Lobby I Love This Yarn

Colorway:  Songbird Stripe

Pattern:  Basic Beanie

Needles:  US 8 / 5 mm

You know, this colorway is called Songbird Stripe, but I'm not seeing songbird in this.  I'm seeing some sort of Native American woven basket pattern.  But that's just me.  You might see something totally different. 

And finally, I think I have this jelly making thing down.  

The jar on the left is from the first batch I made -- the one where I chopped the peppers by hand.  You can see they're all kind of floating at the top.  The middle jar is from the second batch.  I'd chopped the peppers in the food processor, but didn't drain them before I made the jelly.  It looks better, but most of the peppers are still clustered towards the top.  The jar on the right, I chopped the peppers in the food processor and then let them drain overnight, and I think it turned out so much better.  The color is better, the peppers are more evenly distributed, and I sound like a total dork, don't I?  

OK, I'll let you go for now.  But I am kind of proud of that pepper jelly. 

Just in case you couldn't tell.