Without Excuse

They are therefore without excuse.  Romans 1:20

I did a little tidying up Saturday afternoon, and found all these different bug sprays.  Therefore I am without excuse -- and yet, I still go outside without it.  Go figure. 

I had a little pleasant surprise yesterday afternoon.  Cody and Brennan stopped by on the way to Memphis and visited a bit.  They couldn't stay long, but it was good to see them.  Cody has gotten into baking artisan bread and brought me a loaf. 

He tossed a bunch of different herbs into it, but I can't remember what all they were.  I could definitely taste rosemary, though.  It tasted pretty good, but I kept thinking it needed to be dunked into some soup.  Particularly tomato soup.  

Except that it's way too hot for soup.  It's way too hot for pretty much anything.  I was going to come home and get that box out of the shed and start putting some compost into it, but I didn't even do that.  I watered my basil, filled the bird bath and bee pond, then ran back inside into the air conditioning and watched three episodes of The X-Files.  

I also set up my DVR to record Shark Week, since I'm usually in bed by the time the good shows on.  The first episode they had on last night was Dancing With Sharks, and I know they must be trying to draw in new viewers, but really, we don't want that.  We want Dickie, and Tristan, and Paul, Craig, Neil, Kina, and of course, the Shark Week Goat:  Andy Casagrande.  

I've said it before, fewer celebrities, more science.  

So, anyway, I turned off Dancing With Sharks just as soon as I'd bound off the Baby Surprise Jacket. 

 I think I'm going to take a break from BSJs for a while, and work on hats.  I'm way behind on my charity knitting, so I need to get back to that.   

Later, though.  For now, I'm going to finish this episode of The X-Files, then go to bed.  That's one thing I hate about my job -- having to be there so early in the morning, which means that when everyone else is just getting started, I'm already heading for bed. 

Speaking of work, we have a new supervisor over our department.  They've put Uncle Supervisor up in sheet metal, and gave us one whose blog name will be Maxwell.  

If you work there, you'll get it. 

He's always been nice to me, but I've never worked under him since he's been made a supervisor.  But, as long as he approves my vacation day, one supervisor is as good as another.  

Just Popping In

 to let you know I'm still alive and breathing.  And watching Shark Week.  It's now day 4 of Shark Week and I haven't seen Andy Casagrande yet.  Who do I sue?  I've seen Paul, Dickie, Kina, and Craig, but not Andy.  It would be a shame to go through a whole Shark Week without Andy.  He's a living legend. 

There are still a few episodes I haven't watched, because when one gets up ridiculously early, one must also go to bed ridiculously early, so I DVR the shows that come on after my bedtime and watch them later.  

In the meantime, I finally found a temporary solution to leaving the cat out while I'm at work.  My biggest concern is her getting caught out in storms, and me not being there to let her in.  She's finding shelter somewhere, I'm sure, but I still worry.  So, this afternoon, I got this old Styrofoam cooler out of storage and cut a door in it for her.

FYI, Styrofoam makes a shockingly loud screech when you cut it with a knife.    

I used the cooler lid to make a bit of an overhang to help keep any rain out of it.  The bricks are on top because it is Styrofoam, after all, and very lightweight.  But, you can kind of see how thick it is, so it should be well insulated, even in winter.  Once she gets a bit more used to it, I'm going to try to fix some sort of flap over the door... maybe with an old tea towel or flannel pillowcase or something...to keep the heat in a bit more.  

When I showed it to her, she went right inside and explored.  However, by the time I got my camera out and turned on, she'd come back out, so you don't get a picture of her in her new house. 

If she uses it consistently, I may spring for one of the fancy ones at a later date.  They're pretty high dollar, though, so it'll have to wait.  

Finally, in knitting news, I finally cast on a new lace shawl.  

The pattern is Garden Party, and the yarn is Knit Picks Gloss Lace in Dandelion.  I'd knit one of these years ago, and gave it to my Aunt Martha -- for no reason other than I loved her and wanted her to have something pretty.  I'd always said I was going to make another one, but never did...until now.  

I even have a recipient in mind for it already.  I'm not saying anything other than...if I have your mailing address, it might just be you.  

And now, back to your regularly scheduled Shark Week.  

Shark Week

 

Blogging will be a bit sporadic this week while the candle and I watch Shark Week.  

Which is a fancy, cop-out excuse for I have a headache and don't feel like posting.  We are right in the middle of Sahara Dust season, and we're expecting a big wad of it by midweek.  I was hoping the rain would settle it, but apparently, it hasn't.

On the bright side, the dust has settled the tropics...for a bit.  

Hey, you take the good where you can find it.  

Not Eaten

No, I have not been eaten by a shark.  At least not yet.  I'm just worn out, and don't really feel like doing much.  Not even blogging.  The good news is, work seems to be slowing down a bit.  The plant only worked a partial shift today -- component areas and a few lines.  I didn't have to go in, due to my having taken vacation yesterday.  So, what have I been doing with my days off?

For the most part, I've just been relaxing and being lazy -- and watching Shark Week, of course.

Yesterday, the first order of business was to go to the dentist for my semi-annual cleaning and checkup.  We discussed getting implants for my recently broken tooth.  What Dr. Horan suggested was that I get an implant bridge.  See, I had some molars that my permanent teeth never came in, so my primary teeth never fell out.  When I was 19, my dentist pulled the primary teeth and gave me bridges in those spots.  I believe that's why I'm losing my molars now -- because of those bridges.

The problem is, once you lose a tooth, the bone in your jaw starts receding, and in those spots -- the ones where the tooth has been missing for 35 years -- doesn't have enough bone left for an implant.  We discussed some of the options -- trying to build the bone back up with a graft and what not, but he thinks doing an implant on either side and bridging the gap between would be the best bet.  He referred me to an oral surgeon who does a lot of implants.  I still have to call and make an appointment with her.

Yeah, you know me and phones.

It'll be October before I can get up there anyway, so I'll procrastinate until the last minute -- as usual.  BTW, he did not extract the root of my broken tooth, and I'm thinking he did it so the bone won't start deteriorating, since we're going to do implants. 

That was yesterday. 

This morning, the plan was to get up and go into town to do my business.  You know, shopping, payday errands and the like.  However, once I'd made the turn to get onto the access ramp to the highway, I discovered they had the whole road blocked.  No way to get onto the southbound lane, and no way to turn around and go back.  Well, no legal way at least. 

Gee, you could have let me know sometime before I got to the point of no return.

Not a big problem.  I'd just get on the Northbound side of the highway and get off at the Coffeeville exit.  Just a couple of miles up the road, and I needed to get gas anyway.  Alas, when I got up there, they had that exit closed as well.  I tried to get off, and the workers just kept waving me northward.  I had to go all the way to Tillatoba (ten miles further up, for you non local folks) to even find a place I could turn around.  I briefly considered going on up to Batesville, but I didn't really want to go that far today.

I turned around at Tillatoba, and got back onto the highway.  I got off at the Coffeeville exit on the Southbound side and thought, "While I'm here, might as well get gas."  That's exactly what I did. 

Once I'd finally made it into town, I ran my errands, then went on a bit of a spending spree.  See, the squirrels have found my bird feeders, and are emptying them out every day or two.  I figured, if you can't beat them, get them their own food.

Yes, I bought a squirrel feeder.

I hung it on the pecan tree just behind the fence, and filled it with loose corn, but so far, I haven't seen any squirrels feeding from it. 

I looked for some squirrel food -- which is just corn with peanuts and some other stuff added to it, but they were out, so I filled it with deer corn.  Hopefully, the squirrels will eat that, until I can get them some peanuts or something.  To complete the transition, I also bought what is supposed to be a squirrel proof bird feeder.

If anything heaver than a cardinal lands on those perches, the ports close and the squirrels can't get to the feed.  Eventually, they give up trying.  We shall see.

What got to me about it, though, were the instructions.  They said to hang the feeder away from trees or buildings, or anything a squirrel could jump onto it from, and to add a squirrel baffle.  What's the point of a "squirrel proof feeder" if you've got to do all that other stuff to keep them out?  I could have just bought the baffle and saved myself $20.  I hung my feeder on the hook under the eaves of my shed -- and moved the one that was there to a hook just outside my kitchen window.  Maybe I can watch birds while I'm washing dishes or whatever.

Speaking of, I was washing dishes, and saw one of my deer come out of the woods.  I've been seeing one of my big does these last few days.  I know she's got a fawn somewhere, because her bag is full.  I haven't seen the baby yet, though.  Buuuut, this deer wasn't her.  It was a little buck!  I think he is one of the fawns from last year.  He has antlers in velvet, and isn't a spike!  Yay! 

We are still under a supplemental feeding ban in my county, due to Chronic Wasting Disease, so I miss seeing my deer every day.  BTW, I tried to put the squirrel feeder high enough the deer couldn't reach it easily, but if some corn should just happen to spill on the ground, well, it'd be fair game,  wouldn't it?

The last things I bought on my spending spree were a book,

and some emergency blankets and panchos for my bug out bag.

They weren't but a couple of dollars each, so I grabbed extras, just in case. 

Now, if work really is starting to slow down for the fall, I'd probably better stop spending so much money. 

Got Christmas coming up and all. 

Shark Week

This is Shark Week. 

Everything is on hold for Shark Week.  The only thing I will be doing is shouting, "Get back in the cage, dummy!" at the T.V.  And going to work, of course.  Thanks to judicious use of vacation days, I'll only be working three days this week.  That'll give me plenty of time to catch up on DVRed Shark Week show. 

Oh, and some knitting may be in order.  Like yesterday, I finished my slouchy beanie.

Here we see Charlotte modeling it. 

It'll lie more smoothly once I've washed it.  I've already started casting on another one, but it probably won't be slouchy.  Just a regular beanie. 

BTW, I've seen Andy and Paul on new episodes, but have only seen Dickie on a re-run from last year.  Those are my three favorite Shark Week peeps. 

The good news is, Hulu has picked up Discovery Channel, so I didn't have to subscribe to DirecTV Now for a month just to watch.  I won't have to turn that service back on until late October, when Countdown To Christmas starts.

Now, if you'll excuse me, Andy awaits.