Can You Hear Us Now?

There I was at work, just a working away, keeping my head down and minding my own business when suddenly I heard a blood curdling scream coming from the direction of the automatic brazers.  We all ran over like lemmings to see what was going on, and it was a terrible terrible thing. 

First, you need a little explanation to understand what was going on.  In order to get the parts from the component areas -- tubing, fin press, sheet metal, etc -- they are loaded onto buggies, which can be connected together and are then pulled by what we call a tugger.  

With me so far?  

OK, so there was a man who was hooking up a buggy full of parts to the end of a train of buggies, only the tugger driver didn't wait for him to get clear of the line of buggies.  She just jumped up onto the tugger and started driving while he was still in front of the last buggy, and she ran over the man.  

He was laying in the floor screaming, and one of the maintenance guys named Derek ran over and quite literally turned into the Incredible Hulk, and lifted that entire buggy full of parts off the man so the others who were there could pull him out.  I don't know how badly hurt the man is, but he was sitting up and talking as they wheeled him to First Aid.  

Once we figured out what had happened and that the guy would be OK, I turned to a couple of my coworkers and said, "I don't mean no harm..."

Ever notice that when someone says they don't mean any harm, they're about to say something harmful.  And yes, I know it's a double negative.  I was speaking vernacular.  I do that in real life, you know.

But I digress...

I turned to my coworkers and said, "I don't mean no harm, but That Driver should never have been on a tugger in the first place."  They all agreed with me on that point.  Then, we all began wondering how HRH will take this out on the rest of us.  What will they take away from us now? 

That's the thing.  As much as they hoot and holler about safety, it isn't really that much of a priority for them.   They care about giving the appearance of caring about safety, but they don't care that much about making the plant a safe place to work.   I'll give you an example.

Over in the sub-brazing area, we have conveyors where we put our completed orders.  Back when they first put them out there, they were about 3" higher than the highest our little rolling tables would raise up to, which meant we had to pick up all those heavy bins of parts.   We have been begging for years for them to lower them, but they wouldn't do it.  I know for a fact, at least four maintenance request were submitted, but they were all rejected because someone named Lee Jackson -- whoever that is-- said he didn't think it was that big of a deal, and he wasn't going to do it.  Lower the conveyors, I mean. 

We finally got them lowered about a month ago, but I had to go all the way to the head of the safety department to get it done.   I told him about all the maintenance orders, and he said, "You didn't tell me!"  But I shouldn't have had to.  ANY time an employee brings up a safety concern, it should be taken seriously and dealt with right away.  

I heard from multiple sources that a lot of people have complained about that particular tugger driver, but nobody did anything about it, and today it could very well have cost a man his life.  So to those members of management who don't want to listen...

CAN YOU HEAR US NOW??????

In more pleasant news, my mysterious package that Amazon felt it had to hide for privacy has arrived, so I can show you what it is.  A new weedeater!

This one is battery operated and sooo much lighter that my old gas powered one.  I've already put one of the batteries onto the charger, but it won't be done before I go to bed tonight.  I'll probably just unplug the whole thing and finish it tomorrow.  

Funny thing, the UPS delivery guy rang my doorbell, which he doesn't usually do.  I thought maybe I'd need to sign for the package or something, so I went out there and he just wanted to ask about my snakes. He remembered when I lived on Riverdale Road and had the snakes and my dogs.  I told him the dogs have died, but I still have four of the snakes.  He was amazed that they are 21 years old.  

He asked if I had anything new, and I said just the cat.  I told him I'd gotten her when the man across the street died, and he said, "Oh, yeah, that's {So and so's} dad, and he called his daughter in law's name.  

And I'm thinking, isn't that life in a small town? 

And finally, the landscaper I reached out to messaged me back last night after I'd gone to bed.  In a strange stroke of luck, I just happened to be beset with insomnia, so I picked up my phone and there the message was.  He said he'd come by today and we could talk about what I want done, but so far, he's been a no-show.  

I'm not giving up just yet, though.  It rained pretty hard last night, so it might have gotten him a bit behind.  But keep your fingers crossed.  I'm anxious to get started with my herb gardens!

That Was Interesting

After a night that seemed way too short, my alarm went off way too early this morning.   As is my habit, I lay in bed for a couple of minutes debating whether to get up and go to work or just lay in bed.  Alas, bills still need to be paid, so up I got and began to get ready for my day.  

Just before leaving the house, I had a couple of seconds to spare, so I hopped onto Facebook to check in with my friends who live there, and that's when I saw the post from Grenada EMA.  It would seem that sometime during the night, a truck had rolled over on I-55 and spilled a bunch of hazardous material.  I'm not sure what it was the truck was carrying, but they had to call the MDOT hazmat team in to clear it up.  

As a result, the northbound land was shut down and all northbound traffic was diverted through town...

MDOT had originally said it would take until 2:00 PM to get it all cleared up, but when I got off work, and checked their FB page, they'd extended that until further notice.  I guess the rain was hampering their efforts.  I briefly considered postponing my shopping trip until tomorrow, but thought, "Nah, I'll go ahead and get it done."  And that's exactly what I did. 

The southbound lane of the highway was still supposed to be open, but I decided to drive up through town anyway, just to see what was happening there. 

It was a mess, I'm telling you.  It was so bad, they had the police out there in a couple of spots directing traffic.  Once I got past South street -- for you local folks -- it got a lot better....until I got to the other end of South street.  It was pretty congested there, even with the police directing traffic, but I made it on in to Walmart, which was miraculously almost deserted.  

I did my little bit of shopping, then because the highway was still closed, I had to take a few creative long-cuts, so to speak.  I drove all the way through town, then turned at the Cross Country Seeds -- for you local folks-- drove through the Square, then took the back way around to Air Industrial Park and made my way home from there.  

I had the thought that it probably actually took me longer to drive all that way than to just fight the traffic, but as I was turning from Riverdale Road -- for you local folks-- onto 51 Highway, I looked down at the 4-way stop, and seeing what a mess it still was down there, I decided I made the right call after all.

Sometimes it helps to know all the back roads. 

You know, for such a small town, we sure do have a lot of excitement around here. 

And that was it for today, unless you count me finally getting a new rain bucket so I can get my stock pot washed and put back into the cabinet...

UPDATE:  I've just read that they have one lane of the highway open now, but it will probably take them several days to completely clean up whatever it was that spilled.  They still haven't told us that. 

I Remembered!

 So, yesterday when I said I had something else to tell you that I couldn't remember, but would as soon as I published the post?  I was right. 

I was going to tell you about a new app I found called Zoom Earth.  It's kind of like Google Earth, but it's only satellite images.  Weather satellites, I mean.  Of the entire Earth, up to the Arctic Circle and down to the Antarctic Circle, that is.  

I've been totally geeking out over this, which should be no surprise to anyone who actually knows me. 

I also remembered another thing I was going to tell you, and that is that they had another layoff out at the plant.  They got 11 people off of day shift, and some from second shift, but I don't know how many.  Still not a single supervisor or front office person, though.  At this rate, soon they'll have more supervisors than employees.  

On the other hand, if those supervisors are under contract, they might not be able to just lay them off like that, or they'd risk getting sued for breach of contract.  

While we're on the subject, it was brought to my attention that some people might have family obligations, and that's why they are mad about having to switch shifts.  I do realize that, and we'd talked about it at work yesterday, but it just didn't seem to fit the flow of the blog post, so I left it out. 

I totally understand where they'd be coming from, because I remember having to scramble to find childcare when Cody was little, and how hard it was to find affordable, yet reliable babysitters.  It literally makes me sick to my stomach to think of some of the people I let watch him, but at the time, I had no choice. 

One time, when Cody was 2, the production manager we had at the time decided he was going to combine the shifts for Fall slowdown, and he'd let us know when it was supposed to start when he decided it was supposed to start.  Suddenly, I had to find day shift childcare, which was no easy feat.  I found a local day care, explained to the owner the situation, and fortunately, she was very accommodating.  I told her they probably wouldn't tell us until the day before, so I might not be able to give her any notice.  I might just show up one morning and say, "Here we are."  

That's pretty much exactly what happened.  He told us the Friday before, "Start coming in on day shift Monday."  Aaaand, ten days later, he decided it wasn't working and sent us all back to second shift.  Sigh...

I told the day care owner what had happened, apologized profusely, but she understood.  She could have made me pay out the contract, but again, she was very accommodating.  Alas, however, I was left scrambling to find child care again.  

So, yeah, I totally get how that could cause problems for people with small kids.  

And finally, I've been meaning to take photos of this mural someone painted downtown.  I think I may have posted them a while back, but for those of you who may be new to the blog, here they are again. 

I think it's pretty cool. 

Downtown Jubilee

This is something I look forward to every year, our Downtown Jubilee on the square, and this year was no different.  What was different about this year is that I actually got there early enough to sign up for a swamp tour.  Usually, I'm too late and all the tours fill up, but this year, I made it a point to get there bright and early, and got a spot.  

For those of you who don't know the story, this swamp is right downtown, just off the town square.  Several years ago, the city was going to have it clear cut and sell the lumber, but a group of citizens got together and raised enough money to buy the trees, so to speak, and saved the swamp.   I've said for years  one day I'd go down there and walk the trails, but I never managed to pry myself out of the chair and leave the house, so I was glad to get to go today. 

At first, I thought it was just going to be myself and one other lady, but at the last minute, a whole bunch of high school kids climbed onto the wagon.    Turns out they were a group of JROTC students, and I ws surprised at how much they were getting into the tour, and nature and all. 

One of the tour guides pointed out a cypress sapling and was telling them how they have to be on dry land to germinate, but that one would probably drown when the water rose again.  The kids were very upset over that, so they named the little tree Nature Reese's and the guide dug it up and transplanted it to a bit of higher ground.  Maybe it'll live.  

On the way back to the square, the guide was quizzing them on what they'd learned, and they remembered quite a lot, so I was impressed.  

While all this was going on, I was talking to the other tour guide, telling her I'd grown up in the swamps of Southeast Texas, and this was a bit like coming home.  

She was trying really hard to get me involved in the Friends of Chakchiuma Swamp group.  I don't know about that, but I definitely need to go back more often.  They are building another new walking trail that will open next month, so I might try to go to that when they have the grand opening. 

Plus, there is a Pokestop there, so I can get my friend a different postcard every once in a while. 

After the tour, I spent a few moments browsing the vendor booths, and bought a few things which I can't show you because they'll be Christmas presents.  I can show you this one, which I had thought to give as a Christmas gift, but decided to keep it for myself. 

I was a bit disappointed that they didn't have the car show this year, but they had plenty of vendor booths. 

And lots of bouncy houses and games for the kids. 

And massively overpriced food.  I debated on getting a funnel cake, but in the end, I didn't.  I told one of my friends who I ran in to out there, "I'll pay a little extra for these handmade crafts and things, but I'm not paying $7 for a glass of tea."  

Afterwards, I watched the cornhole tournament for a bit, 

then came on home and watched football for the rest of the day.  I didn't get to see any of my teams, but there was still plenty to watch.  Oh, and due to the conference realignments and new contracts and whatever, the Big 10 gets Gary this year. *Chuckles evilly*

If you know, you know....

Random Thoughts While I Watch Football

1.  I got up this morning and went to our town's 18th annual Downtown Jubilee.  I didn't stay long, because Alabama vs. Texas kicked off at 11:00.  I always like going to that one, because it's not as hot as Thunder On Water in June.  They had the usual food and craft booths, but the only thing I bought was a wind chime. 

I'd been wanting one of these kinds for ages -- the kind that sound like the bell on a buoy -- but hadn't even gotten one.  This one was a good price, and I like the tone of it.  I tried to get a video, but it didn't work out.  

2.  The guy selling those had lots of metalwork signs and things, but I didn't get any of them. 

I wanted the USN anchor at the bottom, and the circular one in the middle, but the vendor had a strict cash only policy, and I just didn't have enough cash on hand to get either of those.  I sure didn't have enough to get the signs and the windchime, even though I thought the prices were very reasonable for handmade goods.

3.  One of the maintenance men came to work Thursday with a t-shirt that read "I'm only here because you broke something".  

4.  A few weeks ago, we had some very important visitors come to the plant.  Watching all the front office people fussing and fretting about it like they were, I turned to my coworker and said, "I wonder what's got them all pooping their pants like that."  She replied, "We've got company coming next week."  I said, "Oh, I know that.  But who is it that's coming?  Queen Elizabeth?"  

5.  I missed the Harvest Moon rise last night because of the cloud cover.  I was hoping it would clear off today, so I would see it tonight, but it doesn't look like that's going to happen.  It's been drizzly and rainy since about noon yesterday.  It's good in a way, because I put some of my Scott's Turf builder down yesterday morning, and it needed to be watered in. This long, slow rain we've been getting is just perfect for that. 

6.  The car show at the Downtown Jubilee was kind of thin this year, but they still had some nice cars.  I think this one was my favorite. 

7.  By the way, if I use half a blog post to tell you that Jesse is doing much better, then you ask in a comment if Jesse is doing any better, that's a sure sign you don't actually read my blog.  

8.  A few weeks ago, when we were having all those heavy, driving rains, I moved my Whatever cacti into the carport so they wouldn't be beaten into mush.   They look so much better here than they have in years!

A couple of the leaves look a bit sunburned, but overall, they look so much healthier.  I think I might put them here next spring instead of by my back door.  I'll have to keep an eye on it to make sure it's not getting too much direct sunlight, but for now, I'm leaving them here. 

9.  Please tell me I'm not the only one who sees the irony in a Dentist office having a bowl of candy on its table. 

10.  That's it for today.  I've got football to watch, and I need my computer to do so.  I'll catch you later.  

Y'all Would Be Proud

 Y'all would be proud of me.  Why?  Because my little town had a Christmas tree lighting this evening.  

What's so great about that?  Lots of towns have tree lightings.  

Yeah, but I went.  Did you hear me?  I went! To something that required me to leave the house!  I don't  like doing things that require me to leave the house.  Even when we're not in the middle of a global pandemic. 

I debated all day about whether I really even wanted to go or not, but in the end, I decided I'd regret it if I didn't. So I got dressed, turned off the football game, and went to the tree lighting. 

First thing I did when I got there was to go into the Merry Makers Market.  That was a bit of a disappointment, especially since it cost $3 just to get into the door.  It was supposed to be craft booth, where people sell stuff they made, but there were only about 6 vendors in there.  I picked up a couple of ornaments -- which I highly doubt were handmade -- but I didn't see anything else I absolutely had to have.

The rest of the evening was filled with music and...well, that's about it.  Just music.  Well, mostly music.  They had the police, fire department, sheriff, and ambulances drive their vehicles around the square with lights and sirens blazing. 

Oh, and there was a horse drawn carriage that I didn't get a picture of.  I wanted to ride, but the line was very long, so I opted out.  

I have no earthly idea why they lopped the top of the tree off.  It's not under any power lines or anything, but there it is. 

Walking around the square, I discovered my town has a little free library.  Me, I'm such a dork, I had to straighten up the books inside.  

I might even have a few books I could donate to it.  

There was more singing, 

and finally it was time to light the tree.

As I was standing there taking pictures of the tree, 

a lady told me, "If you go over there and take a picture, the streetlight makes the perfect tree topper."  So, I walked over to 'over there' and sure enough, it made the perfect star.  

I didn't stay long after they lit the tree, because I was cold and hungry, and hadn't fed my dogs.  But it was a nice little outing.

  

Finally!

It would seem my little town has finally gotten a community Christmas tree on the square.

Funny, I was watching all these cheesy Hallmark movies and one day I said to myself, "Self, why doesn't this town have a tree lighting thing?"  Even the tiniest town in these movies have a tree.  Why doesn't this one?  In all the years I've lived here, all they've had are these little buildings they put out every year.  They are darling, but not the same as a tree.

Even funnier, every year I say I'm going to stop and take pictures of them, but I never have.  Until today.  I was driving in to do my weekly shopping, and decided to take the long way around and see the new tree.  While I was there, I finally stopped and took pictures of the buildings.  After 25 years, the job is done!

A little house,

a church,

and another -- I guess it's a house or a shop.  I don't really know.  I also don't know who made them.  They've been here longer than I have.  By the way, that's not all of them.  There are about seven all together, but I thought I'd save some for a later post.

And here is a picture of our tree:

Yeah, it's a little skimpy on the lights and decorations, but it was kind of a last minute thing.  I'm sure they'll add to it if they keep on putting one up, which I hope they do.  I didn't go to the lighting ceremony, because they had it on Monday night.  I guess they don't realize people have to get up and go to work in the mornings.  Then again, I haven't been to the parade since Cody graduated and is no longer marching in the band, so maybe I wouldn't.  I really do need to get out and do more of these community things...

Anyway, someone posted a video of it on the local FB page, and there was this one lady who kept shouting, "Oh, it's so beautiful!"  After about the 5th time she said it, I began to wonder if the tourism commission paid her to.

And finally, my dear, dear wonderful friend Kristine sent me a Christmas present.  I almost didn't open it, though.  My first thought was to wrap it and save it for Christmas morning.  But then I thought, what if she sent me some Christmas scented candles?  I'd better look and see...and sure enough,

I'd been hoarding the candles I bought last year like a miser...no, wait, I've been hoarding them like a Scrooge -- got to get into the season and all -- but as soon as I opened them, I ran and lit last year's Gaudete and have been burning it ever since.  The whole house smells like frankincense and myrrh. The one in the middle is her new scent, specially made for this year.  It smells so good, too!  Do go by and give her shop a look see:  Stormy Blue.  You won't regret it.

And as is her custom, she included some other little things she thought I might like.

The chocolate didn't last long, and I'm fixing to go in and brew a cup of the tea.  I'm sure it's good, too.

Oh, and one more thing.  Another mysterious box arrived from Amazon, which I didn't order.  I wrapped the whole box and put it under the tree.  I'm going to laugh if I open one of these packages on Christmas morning and it ends up being my vitamins. 

I'll be sure to post if it happens.