Prime Day

I spent way too much money on Amazon.  OK, one of the things I bought was a new pair of work jeans, because some of my older ones are getting pretty ratty, even though they weren't on a Prime Day deal.  I was shocked at how expensive they've become.  Fortunately, they had a coupon offer so I only paid $37 instead of $57, but let's just say I hope they last a long, long time.  

The other things I bought were for my garden, and I'll show you those when they get here.  I am still planning on doing a vlog, if I can ever get my act together and get it done. 

As if that weren't enough -- spending, I mean -- my sister contacted me this afternoon because my mother still doesn't have a headstone on her grave.  It had never occurred to me that she hadn't gotten one, because she had done the whole pre-paid funeral thing and had even planned her own service.  I guess I'd thought that would have been included, so I didn't think about it. Anyway, sis wants to get one, and has contacted us all to see if we would split the cost.  Of course, I said I would.  Eh, I can live without a dryer for a few more weeks.  But then, I kinda made that decision when I ordered four new raised beds on Prime Day deals...oops, I guess I spoiled the surprise, didn't I?  Sorry 'bout that. 

I am wondering though if when I reconnected the dryer after disconnected the generator after the ice storm, I messed something up, but I don't think so.  If I'd done that, I would think it wouldn't have taken 6 months to start tripping.  It's probably just the motor is old. Or the rollers and bearings are worn out.  

In other news, this morning at work, Cuz got all the brazers together and gave us a good chewing out because our production has dropped here lately.  I just wish I could make them understand that we can't braze if we don't have parts, or if those parts are wrong and we're spending half our day walking over to tubing putting in a re-work.  So here's the deal, if they'd keep up their end of the bargain, we would get them more headers than they know what to do with.  

Their end of the bargain is this: 

1)  There must be completed orders available to be brazed at all times.  If any brazer has to pick up a broom, or find something else to do because there's no work, the deal is off.

 

2)  The orders must have the correct number of parts in them.  If it is a 12 piece order, there must be 12 of each part -- not 11, not 13.  TWELVE.  If there are too few, then I have to stop doing my job, step away from my stand, and walk over to tubing to order a rework.  Then I'll have to go back to tubing sometime later and get the part I ordered.  When I'm doing that, I'm not brazing.  If there are too many parts, I have to stop doing my job and fill out a scrap ticket, then track down a supervisor and a group leader to get it signed twice, and finally, walk over to the scrap area to put it into the bin over there.  While I'm doing that, I'm not brazing. If any brazer has to either order a part or write a scrap ticket because they can't make tubing count their parts, the deal is off. 

3)  The parts tubing sends to the brazers must be correct, that is per print.  When I have to stop doing my job, step away from my stand, and walk over to tubing to order a re-work because management didn't make them  do a first piece inspection, that's time I'm not brazing.  Every minute I spend beating an adapter tube into place, or stretching one, or re-rounding the ends with my needle nose pliers, that's time I'm not doing MY job.  Every time I have to scrap and reorder a leg because it was smashed flat in the machine and the operator sent it down the line anyway, that's time I'm not brazing.  If I have to re-round the holes in the headers because they have burrs, or simply weren't re-rounded, that's time I'm not brazing. If any brazer at any time has to reorder a part because it wasn't done per print, or has to take time to manipulate that part to make it fit the jig, or do anything that should have been done before the part left the tubing department, the deal is off. 

Point is, they can't just stand there and yell at us if you're not willing to give us the management support we need to be successful at our jobs.  Well, they can, but they'd just be wasting their breath.  Someone is going to have to actually solve these problems, or nothing will change. That's the main problem out there.  They're looking for scapegoats, not solutions.  

Wow, I didn't really mean to get off onto that rant, but it's just so frustrating.  Especially when you've been told that management considers your department low priority, but still expect you to put out nit-picky perfect parts with the jacked up garbage that tubing sends us.  

I can't wait to get out of that toxic cesspool, I'm telling you.  

How's about let's end this post with something more pleasant, shall we?  My knitting progress:

 Yarn:  Euphoria Knits

Colorway:  I don't know, the label is illegible

Pattern:  Sockhead

Needles:  US 2.5 / 3 mm

And my new favorite song:  

Whatever my lot -- even if it is a frustrating dead end job in a toxic work place -- you are still my God.  

It is well...

What A Week

How did April go by so fast?  Seems like just yesterday, it was April Fool's Day,  and I still feel like it's March.   Yet, in a few hours it will be May.  But I'm not going to post that meme.  IYKYK

I meant to post yesterday, but I got home from work, turned on the TV to watch the latest episode of NCIS....and about halfway into the episode, the internet dropped.  Then it came back.  Then it dropped again.   It was out so long that time, I gave up and put in a DVD of Keeping Up Appearances.  

I watched one episode of that, and the internet came back up, so I turned NCIS back on...aaaand the electricity went out.  Only for a minute, but by that time, I was so fed up, I just went to bed.  

I needed that sleep, too, because Tuesday night, we had some pretty loud thunderstorms come through.  Those weren't so bad, but then the phone started ringing off the hook.  A while back, I'd signed up with the county EMA office to get weather alerts, and that was what I was getting....just not for MY county.  I was getting them for Hinds county, for Holmes county, for Attala county, Yalobusha county, Lafayette county, Humphreys county, Panola county, Oktibbeha county, Coahoma county, Tunica county, Calhoun county, Pontotoc county -- every county BUT Grenada county.  

I finally blocked that number just so it would stop ringing and I could get some sleep.  I think I'm going to sign up for local meterologist Matt Laubhan's Weather Call thingy.  It's only $15 per year.  I can spring for that, and delete a lot of the other weather alert apps I have. 

Well, turn them off at least.  I won't delete a weather app.  

Since it appears we're done with rain for a few days -- by the way, we got 1.4" over the last three days, but it's still not enough to alleviate the drought conditions -- I stepped out before work this morning and took the Walmart sacks off of my baby tomatoes so they can get full sun.  

They are all doing very well, even the tiniest baby tomato.  

This is the biggest one, and probably tomorrow, I'll snip off those bottom leaves, then give it a few days to heal and add more dirt to the cup. 

That's another one of those things I learned from YouTube -- to let the wound heal before putting it into dirt.  Maybe it's not necessary, but it doesn't seem like it would hurt, so I'm going to do it.

Good news!  I don't know if you can see it in this photo, but my baby rosemary is putting out new growth!  Maybe it's going to survive after all!

In other news, I went to the store today instead of tomorrow and decided to treat myself to some fancy soup. 

I had intended to make two meals out of this, but it was so good, I ate the whole thing.  

Look what else I found:  

Reduced sodium beans and rice!  I'd made some a few weeks ago, but it was just so salty I could hardly eat it.  I don't like salt.  Weird, I know, but that's just who I am.  It's supposed to get cold again this weekend, so this will be a perfect meal for a chilly day.  Oh, and I bought smoked sausage to put into it.  

After I'd eaten my soup, I finally got my new flag hung up. 

And I totally stole this AI generated image from social media, because it's awesome. 

 Finally, in memory of David Allen Coe:  

Good News!

Good news!  The county is finally getting the debris from the ice storm cleaned up on my road!  Woo Hoo!  It's only been two months, but to be fair, there was a lot of debris from that storm.  

It's going to feel kind of weird to be able to drive straight down the road, instead of weaving my way around fallen branches and stuff.  Well, it is a narrow road -- barely over one lane wide.  But we like it that way.

Except when it's blocked by storm debris...or the garbage truck. 

In other news, I'm sure you'll all be pleased to know that I made it into town and put the book I just finished back into the Little Free Library, and look what I found to replace it!

Funny thing is, I almost bought this one for my Kindle over the weekend, but backed out at the last minute.  Good thing, because now I don't need to.  This one ought to read up a lot quicker than the last one did, then I'll take it back for someone else to enjoy. 

By the way, Edna, I finally made it to The Nest Egg, but the yarn was already gone.  Oh well, it's my own fault.  I should have gone that very first day.  

Since I was in town, I briefly thought about running to Walmart and picking up a few more bags of garden soil, but I didn't.  I came home and watched the next two episodes of The Faithful: Women Of The Bible, and knit on a sock yarn hat instead. 

Here's a fun fact for you.  My mother wanted to spell my name Rebekah, like in the Bible, but talked herself out of it at the last minute.  She spelled it that way anyway, up until I started first grade, then figured she ought to spell it like it was on my birth certificate.  After I was grown, I had considered a few times going down and getting it legally changed to that spelling, but never got around to it.  I suppose I still could, but there just doesn't seem to be any point at this age. 

More bad news, that stray tom cat came into the yard and attacked the Incarnation of Evil again yesterday.  He mauled that same leg joint that she was still slightly limping on from the last time he got her.  This time, I was able to make it out into the yard in time to give him a good, hard kick, so maybe he'll think twice before coming back.  

There is no animal control out in the county, just in case you were wondering.  We have to take care of these things on our own.... 

And finally, I get the strangest earworms sometimes.  For instance, this was today's:

Don't ask.  Even I don't know. 

I've long since given up trying to find an explanation for such things. 

Got Away

Yesterday’s post completely got away from me, and I ended up not talking about half of the stuff I wanted to tell you about. 

For example, I was going to tell you that I used my new Dutch oven to make some red beans and rice, but not from scratch.  A while back, I'd bought some of those boxed mixes for Jambalaya --Tony Chachere's, Zatarain's and the like --to see if any of them were any good.  To be honest, I wasn't impressed.  They were all way too salty for my tastes. 

But I also bought a box of red beans and rice, which is what I made Sunday in my Dutch oven.  That turned out pretty good, even though my beans were a bit crunchy.  Overall, though, I'd say it was a success.  

There was something else I wanted to tell you about, but right now, I can't remember what it was.  I didn't sleep well last night, and my brain is a bit numb.  

Not much else to talk about today.  I tried to take a few photos of the eclipse this morning while I was getting ready for work, but they didn't turn out too well.  

I kinda wish I'd taken a vacation day so I could have stayed home and watched the whole thing, but I didn't.  I've seen eclipses before, and unless it's a total solar eclipse, they all pretty much look the same. 

This is going to be short, because Group Leader Shark told me to come in at 4:00 AM tomorrow, so I'll need to be getting to bed soon.  By the way, they sent Inspector Gadget to the production side.  

They'd sent him back there Friday, but we all thought it was because only one supervisor had shown up.  But they sent him back there again yesterday, so I don't know what's going on.  Then this morning at the meeting, Group Leader Shark said Uncle Supervisor was going to be our supervisor for a while.  I hope it's a long while...

I did hear that Inspector Gadget was back there with his arms crossed and scowling at them, the way he did us.  

Finally, this song has been on my mind a lot lately. 

Man, I sure miss Toby.  He was a true American patriot. 

If you'll excuse me, I'm going to go raise a red solo cup to his memory. 

Cheers.

Whelming Flood Week

I can say without a doubt that this has definitely been one of those whelming flood weeks.  I had plans for the day, but when I got up, I said to myself, "Is it ok if I just sit and do nothing?"  

Sometimes you need a day to just sit and do nothing.

Alas, I did not sit and do nothing, because I'd already made an appointment to take The Incarnation of Evil to the vet for her shots and checkup.  She behaved much better than I expected her to, though I did warn the vet to be cautious.  Anyway, the cat got a clean bill of health, and the vet said her vomiting was most likely due to hairballs, since she couldn't find anything else wrong. 

We got home before 9:00 AM, and I wanted to piddle in the yard a bit, but it was already getting hot.  Instead, I sat in the shade and sifted some more of my dirt. There is something about a garden that is soothing to the soul.  At least until it gets too hot.  

Yep, we're back up into the mid to upper 90s again this week.  I thought maybe I'd get up early in the morning and run the roto-tiller a bit, but then I remembered that our town's annual Downtown Jubilee is tomorrow.  I always try to go to that one, then make it back home in time for the ball games.  

Speaking of dirt, I put my bird bath into the space I made for it and that's when I found out it wasn't my land that wasn't level at all.  It was the bird bath itself.  No big deal.  I just put a little more dirt on one side and checked the bowl until it was finally level.  Ish...

I still haven't seen any birds using it, though.  Oh well, maybe they're using it when I'm not looking.  We're still in drought conditions after all.  And while I'm thinking about it, I've seen hornets using my little bee pond, so at least something is getting some use out of it.  

On a brighter note, when I was getting the cat's carrier out of the closet this morning, I found this yarn set I'd bought years ago at Fiber Fun In The 'Sip.  

I'd bought it to make a hat with, but never got around to it.  She dyed these colors specifically to blend together, and I fell in love with the hat she'd had on display.  I think once I free up some needles -- read: finish one of the sock yarn hats I've already started-- I'll cast this one on next. 

In the meantime, the latest hat for the SCI is coming right along.  

This yarn is much nicer to work with, and I'll probably use it again going forward.  Red Heart has improved so much over the years, most of the newer stuff is a joy.  If you haven't used it in a while, give it a try.  You might just be surprised. 

On a less bright note, Charlie hadn't been gone a day when the scams started...

There are a whole lot more, but you get the idea...These people are just as vile as the ones who are celebrating his death.  Whether it's greed or pure hatred, this is truly evil.  

For what it's worth, I have been pleasantly surprised by how well known Charlie was.  I know I loved watching his videos on YouTube, and the way he'd debate anyone about literally anything.  I just re-watched one in which he was debating a young person on who was the GOAT of basketball -- Michael Jordan or LeBron James.  Even about basketball, Charlie knew his stuff, and of course he was right.  Jordan is the undisputed GOAT of that sport. 

As I said, I was surprised at the support from pages I certainly didn't expect it from, but it was this one, created by a Lord Of The Rings fanpage I follow that finally broke me. 

And finally, this is what I'd meant to post on September 10, before I heard the horrible news.  

Tuesday morning, I caught back up with my coworker and finished the conversation I'd started before we got distracted by football.  I told him I had some scrap metal and asked him if he wanted it.

"Yeah, I want it!"  he replied, so Wednesday after work, he ran by the house and picked it all up.  Now, he's got some scrap metal to sell, and I've gotten rid of a lot of junk.  It's a win-win.  

Even better, I can finally knock one thing off of my to-do list.  

And here is what that to-do list looks like now:

As I said earlier, I didn't get anything accomplished today, and I won't for the rest of today anyway.  I think I'm going to work on one of these hats I've got OTN right now.  

Tomorrow will be a better day.  I'm sure of it. Even if it isn't...

First Friday Off

Well, the rain put a damper -- he he-- on my plans for the day, but we needed it so badly, I'm not complaining.   And it's rained pretty much all day, too-- a slow, drizzly rain that really soaks into the ground.  

Instead of painting the fence and mowing the yard, or going walking down at the lake, I stayed inside and watched Merlin, Vera, and Father Brown Mysteries while finishing a letter to my Australian pen pal and knitting on a hat.   

Probably a good thing, because I had some headers yesterday at work that were so awful my whole back and arms are extremely sore.  It was a big order too, and there is that one parts stager who won't split an order to save her soul.  She doesn't like doing all that counting, she says, so she won't divide it up no matter how difficult the parts or how big the order.  We just have to deal with it. 

Speaking of work, it seems to me that they are going out of their way to make our jobs difficult.   The latest thing now is that we can no longer type our employee number into the computer when we're confirming our work.  We've done it for years -- ever since they installed this new system.  It's easy and convenient, since our hands are already on the keypad.  But no, now we have to stop what we're doing, dig out our badges, and scan them.  The real question is why?  What was so wrong with us typing our clock numbers in?  

What was so wrong with me carrying my 54 oz Bubba Keg, for that matter?  Way back in the day, I filled that thing up once every morning, and it lasted me all day -- except for the very hottest days of summer.  Now, with that stupid clear cup we have to carry, I have to go refill it five or six times per day.  That's the trade off.  It's either the big mugs, or employees walking to the ice machine multiple times a day.  

I still don't understand that one.

In other news, a few years ago, I was listening to the radio while I was getting ready for work, and some girl on there was saying that country music is biased against women, because women don't get as much air time as men do.  

Seriously?  The genre that was pretty much founded by a mother and her three daughters biased against women?  The genre of Loretta Lynn?  Of Tammy Wynette and Tanya Tucker?  Of Crystal Gale?  Of Reba, Trisha, Barbara Mandrell, and The Judds?

The genre of Patsty Cline and of course the Queen, Dolly Parton?  

"Maybe if you'd make better music, you'd get more air time," I said to the radio that morning, then went on about my day and forgot the conversation..

Until I was driving to work one more and Delta Dawn came on the radio.

They don't make songs like that any more.  

Maybe if they did, they'd get more air time.  

It's Alive!

Life!  Life!  I have given my creation liiiiiife!  

OK, they weren't exactly my creation, and I had very little to do with them being alive, but my seeds are germinating!  It would seem planting them at the proper depth is actually quite important.  I still haven't figured out why some of the cells are drying out so much faster than others, though. But I hope to get a few viable plants out of these anyway.  

By the way, the eggshells seem to be doing the trick with the ones already in the flower bed. They're not looking any worse, and I'm hopeful they'll recover in time.  

The only other new thing garden wise is I found some cilantro for the herb garden.  

Cody and Brennan requested some of that, along with Italian Parsley.  They actually had some at Walmart, but it didn't look too good, so I'm going to wait until next week to see if they get some more in.  I'd thought about running up to Batesville to see what they have up there, but when I saw the forecast, I reconsidered.  

Yep, it's rained on and off all day long, and is supposed to rain all the night through.  It was the perfect day to sit inside and knit.  I got a good deal done on my next hat for the Seaman's Church Institute.  

I decided I'd also cast on a scarf, too.  It's their pattern, available on their website.  

 I probably won't do too many scarves, as the hats knit up so much faster, but I've been wanting to do at least one for a while now.   It's a very simple pattern, good for mindless knitting.  

And finally, I've always been a morning person, but not this much morning.  You know you get up early when waking up at 4:00 AM feels like sleeping in.  

My next job will definitely have normal human being hours.  

Happy St. Patrick's Day

 On this Saint Patrick's Day, I present to you a few of my favorite traditional Irish songs, and one that's not so traditional.  

That's it for today.  Have a great day with your family.  

Here We Go

 Well, I did it.  I dragged that cross stitch out and worked on it a bit. 

The first thing I did was to make myself a working copy of the pattern, because the first one I'd made wasn't in color, for one thing, and some of the symbols didn't show up a all.  I don't know why,  It's always a good idea to make a working copy, just in case.  

Then I had to go get my regular magnifying glass, because when I put on the reading glasses I had, nothing was in focus.  I had to hold the work right up to my face, which was too close to be practical.  I think I have some around here that are a different magnification, so I'll try to find them to see if they work any better.  

Anyway, I worked on it for about an hour while streaming the church service, and when that was over, I put the cross stitch aside and picked up my knitting. 

I got super excited when I saw the movie The Lost King was up on Hulu, so naturally I had to watch it.  It's about them finding Richard III in a car park in Leicester back in 2012-ish.  I remember back when that happened, too.  I was totally geeking out about it.  

Back in the day, I watched a documentary about them finding him, but it's not available in the U.S. any more.  There are others I've found that I want to watch, but I can't find that first one any more.  I'd also watched this movie when it first became available to rent, and was so glad to see it's not up on Hulu.  

This is one I can see myself watching over and over.  And on that vein, let me just leave you with this:

First Day Back

Man, when that alarm went off at 4:30 this morning, I did not want to get out of bed.  It had been so nice to be able to go to bed when I was tired and get up when I woke up naturally, but that's all over now. Sigh...

OK, so yesterday when I was listening to those mix tapes, I ran across one that was -- less old than the others.  I mean, like 25 years old as opposed to 40.  Yeah, now that we've established that I'm old, let me get to the point.  I was popping those tapes into the player, just to see what they were since most of them weren't labeled, and I found one that was a recording of a CD I'd bought. 

Back before they had CD players in cars, this is how we had to listen to music, kids.  Well, I put the tape in and hit play, and the song started playing.  As soon as I heard it, I knew what it was.  I only listened for a few seconds, just long enough to identify the tape, then went on to the next one.

When I got into my car to go to work this morning, guess which song was playing -- on my MP3 player.  Yep, the same song that played on the tape for those few seconds.  Honest and for true.  Just in case you're wondering, it was this song.

But wait, there's more. 

Yes, that's not the only freaky coincidence that happened today.  Remember when I commented about the pen pal who said she was looking forward to many years of correspondence but never wrote back?  Guess what was in my mailbox when I got home from work?  Yep, a letter from her, and the first line was an apology for taking so long to write back.  Cool!  Now I have two letters to answer. 

I've got to get back to cleaning, but not today.  Today, I'm tahrd.  By the way, I ended up taking about 60 pencils to my coworker for her grandson to use in school.  I had no idea I had that many left from when Cody was in school.  What was I doing with so many pencils????  Her grandbaby is in second grade, so he ought to be set for a while.  

I guess that's it for today.  My brain is so tired I can't even thing of anything else to talk about.  Mainly because I stayed up and watched Sanditon on PBS last night.  Remember before streaming when we all used to watch the same thing at the same time?  Even though we weren't physically together, we still felt a sense of comradery from the shared experience.  

I miss those days.  

Spindletop

All this week, I've been telling myself that when I get home, I'm going to go for a walk.  Not far, just up and down the road.  And all this week, I haven't.  

Gone for a walk, that is.  

I get home and decide I'm just too tired, and I'll do it tomorrow.  Then tomorrow comes and I don't.  Go for a walk, I mean.  And I know you must be tired of reading my complaining about how tired I am.   All I have to say to that is, "Man, I need a nap." 

In other news, they've decided we need to wear steel toed boots to work now.  I'm not sure when it's supposed to start, but they announced it in a safety brief last fall.  What we were told is that it has always been Lennox policy (they're our parent company), and this is just to bring us in line with that.  We've really been supposed to be wearing them, but they just haven't enforced it.  Now they're going to. 

That's the official line.  What I think -- completely off the record, of course -- is that they're tired of seeing people wearing house shoes to work.  Seriously.  People are seriously wearing house shoes to the plant.  I saw someone last week walking down the aisle and out the door at the end of the shift, and she had moccasin style HOUSE SHOES on.  

They looked just like these:

A bit of good news before I go -- a new season of Kid's Baking Championship has started, and new seasons of All Creatures Great And Small and Miss Scarlet And The Duke are showing on PBS, so now I have some good shows to watch.  Yippee!  

And finally, I couldn't leave you without acknowledging this important day in Texas history, the discovery of oil at Spindletop.  

It was January 10, 1901....

The Lucas Gusher blew the cap off of oil production in Texas, and revolutionized the oil industry.

Prior to that, oil had been primarily used for lighting and lubrication, but the discovery of such a massive deposit made using it for fuel feasible for the first time.  The rest, as they say, is history. 

It also led to today's earworm, which I will now pass on to you.



You're welcome.

For more information, The Texas State Historical Association has a pretty good article:  Spindletop.

And also, Wikipedia.

Thursday Miscellany

 There I was at work, just a working away, when I had to go to the computer.  I don't even remember what for, but it doesn't matter.  On a whim, as I'm sometimes wont to do, I went to the company home page to see who had a birthday today, and that's when I saw it.  A name...Valkyrie.  

Someone had named her child Valkyrie.  She'd even spelled it correctly.  

Immediately, I had questions.  Who names a child Valkyrie?  I'm assuming it was a girl child, but was it?  Would someone have named a boy Valkyrie?  Did the mother even know what that name means?  Did she know what a Valkyrie is?  

Alas, none of those questions found answers, but what I did find was my earworm for the day...Wagner.  

That song always gives me a Fantasia like image of the Valkyrie flying from Odin's hall, on their way to do what Valkyrie do...

I so wanted to play it for the birthday...girl...or whatever, but nobody seemed to know who she was.  

Jesse would like you to know that he also has whiskers.

Back in May, when we were all home for my mother's memorial, I just happened to catch my nephew Paul teaching my nephew Joshua to throw a ball.  

It was a very sweet moment between cousins.  These are the times we miss, being so far apart as we are.  

In A Funk

 I've been in a bit of a funk this last week.  I mean, I always get in a funk for a bit when I come back from a trip home, but this time...it was so good to have all my family there -- except my oldest nephew, who couldn't get off work.  It was crowded, and loud, and busy, and even my introvert self didn't want the weekend to end.    

You know, one of the reasons I decided to take up the piano again (after one year of lessons in 5th grade) was because I'm the only one who doesn't play an instrument of some sort.  But I didn't really realize how very musically talented my family is until that Friday night.  Cody and Paul had brought their guitars, and we borrowed my cousin Judy's keyboard so they could practice the song they were going to sing at the memorial.

As soon as they got the keyboard set up, Russell started playing.  

When Russ finished, Paul started playing a song he's learning.

 then Andrew...even Joshua walked over and plinked a few keys.  On the other side of the room,  Paul and Cody began working up a song on their guitars, 

and as soon as one was put down, Yoke Wan picked it up and began entertaining the little girls, while Andrew played the keyboard.

As soon as Andrew got off the keyboard, Russell started playing again, this time with an audience of little girls

who, before it was all over, crawled up into his lap...and he let them!  

I never thought I'd see the day, but he's mellowing.  

And when it finally came time for the boys to practice their song, the whole family joined in.

It's such a good song, how could we not?  

All evening, it was one song after another.  It was loud, it was noisy, it was chaotic, and it was exactly what an evening with a family of musicians should be.   And I couldn't help but thinking as I sat there how much my mother would have loved it.  

Now, I want to make my sister move back from Alaska, and my brother move back from El Paso, and myself move back from Mississippi...Who knows when we'll all get together again?  

Anyway, I'll update you on what I've been doing since I got back another time.  I hope you've enjoyed our family jam session as much as I did.  Now, if you'll excuse me, I must go practice my piano, so maybe next time, I can join in!

Random Thoughts Of A Thursday Evening

1.  Well, it was bound to happen sooner or later.  Yep, that's right.  We're working this Saturday.  I sure was enjoying those long weekends, too.  But the paychecks will be nice.  j

2.  My stalker simply will not go away.  Every day, he comes out and stands in the doorway, just staring.  My friend said, "You know exactly who he misses."  Sigh, what do I have to do to get some peace?  

3.  FYI, just because the media buries a story does NOT make it a "conspiracy theory."  If someone with a real, actual conspiracy theory turns out to be correct, then, and only then, will I apologize.  

4.  I had a bunch of random stuff I was going to post, but right now, I can't remember a bit of it.  I'm still working on getting my photos and videos organized on FB, and I need to practice my piano, so this is going to be short anyway.

5. For those of you interested in such things, this was my mother's memorial service. The boys' quartet starts at 37:00. Andrew's piano solo starts at 43:00. Paul's solo is at 1:19. 

6.  I have no idea why that is different up there.  Number 5, I mean, but I'm too tired to fix it, so you'll just have to live with it.  It is what it is.  

7.  The cat spent the night outside last night.  Until about midnight, that is.  I got up to answer nature, and she'd finally come back home.  I let her in and gave her some cat food.  Didn't stop her from yowling all night, though. 

8.  You will not "upgrade the system" simply by copying and pasting a status.  

9.  I should be in bed by now, but I've still got too much to do, so I guess I'd better get to it.  Laters, and good night all. 

What Good Is It?

What good is it to have a day off when you wake up at 3:30 AM anyway?

Which reminds me, back in July when Cody and I went to Texas, my sister asked us when we would coming back East.  Cody told her he had to be at work at 6:45 Monday morning, so we'd be leaving Sunday.  She then asked me what time I had to to be back at work.  I said, "I go in at 4:30."    My sister said, "Oh, so you work nights?", and Cody replied, "No, the other 4:30."  "There's another one?" my sister said.  

But that's neither here nor there...As I was saying, I woke up at 3:30 this morning, and just laid there in the bed for two whole hours.  That part was nice, but when it became apparent I wasn't going to get back to sleep anytime soon, I got on up.  I spent most of the morning trying to overcome my inertia and get my in-town running done, which I finally did by promising myself I could spend he rest of the day doing nothing. 

And that's pretty much what I did.  While I was in town, I went ahead and bought most of what I will need for Thanksgiving dinner.  My reasoning was, I forgot something -- as I usually do -- I would have next week to go back and get it.  I think every single person in town must have had had the same idea, as the Walmart was an absolute madhouse.  I finally gave up and decided to leave.  I got half my stuff on the conveyor, and that's when it hit me.  I'd forgotten the fresh cranberries.  Cody loves fresh cranberry sauce, and it's so easy to make. 

Sigh...I'll guess I'll get them next week.

Speaking of, next week is inventory at work.  It's usually the last week of October, but what with the pandemic and the embezzling boss and all, they postponed it for a month.  People who aren't working will have a three day work week.  Those of us who will be working it, will be working it.  At least they've moved me back into my own work area.  I mean, I'll be inventorying where I work.  In the supermarket area.  These last few years, they've had me in the stock room.  I don't know anything about the stock room, and drain pans and cartons and stuff.  I know adapter tubes and headers, so I'm glad of that. 

But I digress...I got the necessary chores taken care of and spent the rest of the day knitting and watching Christmas movies, and cookie baking shows on Food Network. 

I've gotten a couple more pattern repeats finished on my sock. 

I was in such a Christmassy mood here lately, I'd thought I would make my dad's fruitcakes this weekend, but wonder of wonders, Walmart was out of fruitcake mix.  I mean, who the heck buys fruitcake mix?  Besides me, that is. 

I tried to shake it off, but the Christmas mood simply would not be denied, so I got my Christmas cards out and addressed them.  By the way, the offer is still on the table.  If you want a card,  message me your address, and I'll add you to my list.  

Just for future reference, this was the gas price on Tuesday: 

And finally, my white headed shanty men liked my comment!  

I feel like I've made the big time now.

Oh, and if you were wondering, here is the video I commented on.  

Worried Over Nothing

Well, this was the big weekend.  My son finally brought home a girlfriend for me to meet.  I was surprisingly nervous about this -- imagining the worse scenarios possible.  What if she didn't like me?  Or worse, what if I didn't like her?  It's obvious Cody is very much in love with her, so what would I do then?  

Turns out all my worrying was -- as it so often is -- much ado about nothing, because she is absolutely precious.  She was pretty quiet at first, but Cody told me that was because she was nervous.  "She normally talks more than this, but she's nervous," he said.  I assured her that we're just ordinary people here, and she soon relaxed a bit.

They got here right about lunch time, so we took Brennan on a little tour around down, starting with a trip across the levee.  We thought about going to the visitor's center, but it was closed due to COVID, so we didn't.  We pulled into the little picnic area right beside it, got out and looked at the water.  I mentioned if it hadn't been rainy, we could have gotten our food and had on a picnic. 

But we still showed her around -- the boat landing, and the little beach I used to take Cody to when he was young.  Somewhere in the conversation, I asked if she was an outdoorsy person.  She said, "I'm from Memphis, so no."  Naturally, all that did was make me want to take her home to Texas and show her the swamps, and bayous, and woods I grew up in.  

After we'd gotten our lunch, we went home and started watching cheesy Hallmark romance movies, but ended up switching to Firefly when Cody told me she'd never watched it.  I asked him if he wanted to start at the beginning, but he said skip straight to the cunning hat episode, so we did.  And of course, I told her she couldn't be one of us unless she had a Jayne hat.  

I don't think she really liked it, but she was a good sport and put it on.  At least long enough for me to get a picture.  

After that, Cody wanted to watch It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown.  Can you believe she'd never seen it?  That blew my mind!  How on earth do you grow up in the United States Of America without ever seeing Great Pumpkin?  Now, I'm wondering if she'd ever seen A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving or A Charlie Brown Christmas.  I get the feeling she's been pretty sheltered, but I didn't ask her too many questions.  She was already nervous about meeting me.  I didn't want her to feel like I was giving her the third degree.  

But I feel like we've got a whole new world we can show her.  

All in all, it was a nice visit.  But the weirdest part of the whole day was this...when I first woke up, this song was running through my head. 

I have no idea what they're saying, though, because it's in Irish.  If you couldn't tell...

And finally, I lost another acquaintance to COVID.  He'd worked out at the plant several years ago --  I think he was in IT, but I don't remember for sure.  I do remember he was a really nice man.  I hadn't seen him in years, but I'm still very sad to hear of his passing.  

Someone told me his wife, who still works out there with us, also tested positive, but I don't know for sure.  

Just keep the family in your prayers, if you would.  I know they'd appreciate it. 

Spindletop

It was January 10, 1901....

The Lucas Gusher blew the cap off of oil production in Texas, and revolutionized the oil industry.

Prior to that, oil had been primarily used for lighting and lubrication, but the discovery of such a massive deposit made using it for fuel feasible for the first time.  The rest, as they say, is history. 

It also led to today's earworm, which I will now pass on to you.



You're welcome.

For more information, The Texas State Historical Association has a pretty good article:  Spindletop.

And also, Wikipedia.

Constitution Day

And the fun just never ends.  Here is your TMI warning.  If you're squeamish, you might want to skip the next few paragraphs.

There I was at work, just a working away, when I heard nature's call.  I went to the bathroom to answer said call, and after making a rather sizable deposit into the porcelain bank, got up and turned around to flush.  Only the toilet wouldn't flush. 

I stood there holding the handle down, wiggling it, pushing it sideways -- all the tricks, but only a trickle of water was coming out.  I heard someone come out of the next stall and say, "That one won't hardly flush."  Someone else down the way said, "This one won't either."  I said, "Ain't none of them flushing." 

And yes, I know some of you who'd like to flush that grammar.  But, I feel it's important when I'm with other people to speak in the vernacular.  Yeah...I'm pleading the 5th on that one. 

Back to my story...I stood there wiggling and pushing on the handle until the bank finally accepted my deposit  -- albeit slowly.  I came out of the stall and walked over to the sink to wash my hands.  Aaaand, you guessed it.  No water.  Well, just a trickle.  I managed to get my hands somewhat clean, and as I left the bathroom to go back to my work area, some men came out of their bathroom talking about no water in theirs either.

I decided I probably ought to let someone know, so I went and found my supervisor and reported the problem.  She said, "Oh, yeah, I forgot to tell y'all."  Turns out there was a leak somewhere, and the city had to cut the water off to fix it.  Then I said something you should probably never ever say to your employer under any circumstances, but I said it anyway. 

"Gee, I wish I'd known that before I did what I did into that toilet." 

And that was my excitement for the day.  The water was only off for about an hour or so, but the next time I went to...you know, go...I flushed before hand just to be sure. 



OK, you squeamish people can pick up reading now.  Only there isn't really that much else to tell. 

Unless you want to hear about how I honored Constitution Day, by teaching my imaginary boyfriend -- who is English, by the way-- the School House Rock song.



To this day, I cannot recite The Preamble without singing. 

I've got to go in early tomorrow for my health screening.  I'd scheduled my time for  5:15, back when we were still coming in at 5:00.  Yeah, that worked out well. 

Sunday Hymn

And now, we conclude 'Murica week with one of my favorite patriotic songs -- America The Beautiful.



When you've finished enjoying that version, check out this newly released version.  It's a bit too stylized for my taste, but it is the Navy Band.



Say it with me now:


'Murica!!

The Last Piece

There were rumors going around the plant that they were going to let us go at lunch.  Alas, that's all it turned out to be, a rumor.  They made us work every last minute of that final, interminable shift before our holiday.  But the final interminable shift finally terminated, and I'm free until Monday.

The last piece of my musical puzzle has arrived.  I finally have a real piano bench, and just in time for my long weekend, too.

It's a bit smaller than I'd thought, but it'll do for now.  It's better than that folding chair, for sure.  The bench is just a wee bit higher than the chair was, so I'll have to get used to the new positioning.  And as usual, because I'm short, my feet don't quite sit flat on the ground.  Yay.

Short people problems, eh?

Still, I'm finally starting to feel like a real musician.

Just not when playing the guitar.  Which is still the bane of my existence.

Let's change the subject, shall we?

I've mentioned before, my job is kind of a no-brainer.  That, coupled with a 12 hour shift, gives me lots of time for my mind to wander.  Sometimes it wanders to places I don't necessarily want it to go...like when we had to dance in P.E. class in school.  Yeah.

Did y'all do that too, or was it just us?

Well, one of the dances I just could not get the hang of was the polka.  The poor girl I was paired with and I neither one ever got that dance down.  Other pairs were whirling around the gym, and we were just struggling -- stomping on each other's feet, losing our place, and not having any rhythm.  That, of course, it put me in mind of this song.



I don't know about New York girls, but this Texas girl sure couldn't dance the polka.

Y'all probably have figured out by now, I'm a big fan of these white headed shanty men, and their token toy boy.  I just love listening to everything they sing.

Now, when most people are a fan of someone, whether it's a singer/singing group, an actor, an athlete, or Dan Crenshaw, there's certain things fans tend to do.  They follow someone on Twitter or Instagram.  Like their Facebook page, and comment on their posts.  They book mark the person's web page, and maybe send a message or a fan e-mail.  Maybe even write an old fashioned fan letter by snail mail.  You attend their concerts or games, watch their movies.  Go to cons, or charity events.  Take selfies, and ask for autographs...whatever.  That's what normal people do.

Me, on the other hand, I'm a dork.  I don't do any of those things.  So, what do I do?

I add their village to my weather app.

Sigh...

Just shoot me now.  Somebody.  Just.  Shoot.  Me.  Now.

And look at this, when I'm seriously fan girling, I can put it into Celcius.

So I can see the weather the way they would. 

What can I say?  I'm a dork, and dorks gotta dork.

Oh, and by the way, my older brother in El Paso may have the highest actual temperature, but they only have 11% humidity.

Me with my 54% humidity, I have the highest "Feels Like" temp of all the ones I ...um...follow.

On the Weather Channel App.  Not Facebook.  Not Twitter or Instagram.  The WEATHER CHANNEL APP.  

*Sniff*  My father would be so proud.  *Sniff*


And for your 'Murica moment of the day, I bring back this old classic.




Say it with me now:

'Murica!!