Let Me Introduce You

To my new favorite t-shirt ever.

Yes, it was kind of expensive, but I really wanted it.   After looking at it for several weeks, I finally broke down and ordered it, and it arrived today.  In fact, I got the text saying it had been delivered, and actually put off a necessary errand to get home to it more quickly.

As soon as I took the picture, I promptly ran and put it on.  And almost as promptly, dropped a big glob of butter on it, leaving a greasy spot.  I wept and wailed, "Oh, my new shirt!  I've stained it already!"  And the shirt seemed to mock me.

But did you die?????

Sigh...

Let me also introduce you to what may be my new favorite movie:  Tombstone. 

I'd heard a lot about this one, and FB is replete with memes from it, but I'd never watched it.   A few weeks ago, I rented it from Amazon.  And watched it twice.  Then I knew I had to have it.  I found it on the $5 shelf at Wal-mart, and promptly tossed it into my basket.  A real one.  Not an online one.

The bad news is, I made it out of Wal-mart and realized I'd forgotten to buy a flag pole.  Hanging my new Texas flag will have to wait.

So will that hat that's been given me fits.  I just couldn't figure out the decreases, so I did what any red blooded American would do.  I tossed it across the room, cursing the day I was born, and cast on something else.

Yes, it is another hat, and I'll probably make a hurricane hat pattern.

One last thing before I go, I finally signed up for that Global Penpals site, but my profile isn't activated yet.  See, I got stuck on this one spot -- tell us a little about yourself.  It's like a horror movie for introverts.  I wonder if I could get away with just posting a link to the blog.

Now, if you will excuse me, I must go google how to get grease stains out of t shirts that mock their wearers.

No, I didn't die, but you might if you don't stop laughing!!!

Stupid shirt.

Back To Work

Boy, I did not want to go back to work today, but hey, somebody has to pay all these bills and feed all these animals, so back to work I went.  When I got there, my coworker asked how I was.  I told her I was good, and she said, "You're about to be better.  Stalker isn't going to be here the rest of the week."

Note that this is not the same coworker who was counting how many times she caught him staring at me.  Nor was it the coworker who'd said he'd parked his behind behind me all day long.  This was a completely different coworker.   That tells me it's pretty obvious to anyone who is even halfway paying attention.  It's a shame that it gets to this point, though, that I can't stand going to work because of him.  I get so sick of him just staring at me all day long.

Now, if I could knock him upside the head a couple of times, he'd learn to leave me alone.  It's these idiotic zero tolerance policies that empower bullies and make victims helpless.  As  Col Cooper once said,

"If violent crime is to be curbed, it is only the intended victim who can do it. The felon does not fear the police, and he fears neither judge nor jury. Therefore what he must be taught to fear is his victim"

Fits

You remember how I said I had a half day vacation today, and that I had a whole list of things I wanted to get done?  Yeah, as I was leaving work, I told my coworker, "I'm going to go sit in front of the TV and tell myself all the things I need to be doing." 

And that's pretty much what I did.  Oh, I got a few things done from my list.  I weeded my front flower bed, and dug the mud out of my water meter.  I usually have to do that around the end of the rainy season.  Last year, my neighbor said, "Why you doing that?  They don't even read those meters any more.  It's all electronic now."  I said, "Don't you ever have to shut off your water?  What if you bust a pipe?  I want to be able to get to my shut off valve if I need to."  He looked at me like I'd totally lost my mind.  More power to him, is all I have to say. 

Once I'd gotten those few things done, I spent most of the afternoon trying to figure out decreases for this hat, and they're giving me fits.

I'm trying to keep the pattern going as long as I can, but it's just not working.  I knit a hat in this pattern about 3 years ago, and liked the way the decreases turned out, but now for the life of me, I can't remember how I did them. 

You know what else is giving me fits?  My guitar.  I'm watching those videos on YouTube, and they make it look so easy.  I think my fingers are too short or something, because I can NOT make those chords.  Then there is the A chord, where you have to cram three fingers into one single fret.  It's easy to get frustrated and want to quit, and I'm almost at that point.  I was practicing today, and I said, "Hmmm, maybe I'll just go ahead and save up for that piano after all." 

But, I remembered I had a folding chair out in the shed, so I cleaned it up and brought it inside.  Now, at least I don't have to sit on the floor to play. 

While I was out in the shed, I dragged my ladder inside and pulled the cover off my kitchen light  the one that won't light any more. 

Those bulbs haven't been changed since I moved into this house, and it was one of the things I'd planned on doing today, but in the end, I didn't do anything that required me to go into town.  I decided all that stuff can wait until Friday, so I only have to make one trip. 

Going into town is not exactly on my list of favorite things to do, you know.

Well, I have to go back to work tomorrow.  I know my group leader will be glad.  When I told her I had a half day off, she said, "I'm going to cry." 

Wow, I feel so special. 

Sunshine

I've got a half day off of work tomorrow.  I've got a long list of things I want to get done on my half day of vacation.  Buy a flag pole and hang my new flag, which will require moving my house numbers, change the lights over my kitchen sink, get my folding chair in from the shed and cleaned off, close a bank account I no longer use...just for starters.  But, if I know me -- and I'm pretty sure I do by now -- I'll spend the afternoon sitting in front of the TV.  The good news is, we've got sun and NO RAIN in the forecast for the rest of the week.  The last time we had a whole week of no rain was January. 

January, people. 

January.

As I told Cody, I've had about enough water for a while.  He replied, "Yeah, I felt the same way after Harvey."  Just a reminder that no matter how bad I think I have it, there's always someone who's been dealt a worse hand. 

OK, onward...

Well, not so onward, as I can't think of a single thing to blog about.  I was going to tell you about all the musical instruments everyone else in my family plays, and I'm just over here going, "I can play the radio."  But by the time I got it all typed out, even I didn't want to read it.  So, I deleted it all.  I will say that I'm beginning to look forward to coming home and playing, whereas at one time I dreaded practicing.  That was back when Cody was little, and I had so much going on.  It just seemed to be one more chore to add to my already frazzled life, which is why I gave it up to begin with.  I thought it was lack of passion.  I'm thinking now it was lack of time and energy. 

I still want my piano, though. 

Finally, progress is being made on the hat. 

I'm almost to the point I'm going to have to figure out those crown decreases.  Eh, I'll do that tomorrow.  Now I think I'm going to go look up my next guitar lesson video. 

Laters. 

Ain't It Beautiful?

Remember the other day when I said I'd ordered a string winder for my guitar?  The one I bought was what Amazon calls an add on item.  If I understand right, you can add it on to an order of $25 or more and it'll ship for free.  Of course, I'm not going to pay $6.95 shipping for a $2.95 item, so naturally I did what any native born Texian would do.  I threw a new flag into my shopping cart.

It arrived today.  Ain't it just the most beautiful thing you've ever seen?

I still need to get a pole, but Walmart should have them, especially since it's getting close to July.  It also came with a sticker,

which will go on my car very soon.

And I ordered a spare set of bridge pins for my guitar, given my tendency to lose things.

For those of you not into guitarish things, bridge pins hold your strings in place on the opposite end from the tuners.  Like picks and strings, they are one of those things it's good to have extras of.

I tossed in an extra pack of wax beads for my stamps, just because I wanted it.

Not that I needed any more, because I still have plenty.  I just wanted some more. The irony is, everything I ordered to get free shipping has already arrived, and the one thing I really needed hasn't.  Go figure.

Now, about that guitar...I was watching this one guy on YouTube.  He had what I thought was going to be a video series of beginner lessons.  However, after watching lesson 1 -- which taught the two chords I know -- I looked all over his channel for lesson 2, but never found it.  I did a bit more searching and found a guy named Steve Stine.  He's got a playlist of beginner videos that are truly for beginners.  He's very thorough.  He teaches the names of the guitar parts, how to hold the guitar, how to put your fingers on the strings -- everything.  He is also short, sweet, and to the point.  One thing I really don't like is someone who makes a 20 minute video to teach a 30 second lesson.  Spare me all the yapping.  Just show me what I need to know.

Kind of like those recipes on blogs, where the author is going to tell you her entire life story before getting to the actual recipe.  Usually, by the time I'm done scrolling, I'm too tired to cook whatever it is I went there to get the recipe for.

Anyway, one of the guitar lessons is how to start strumming.  He suggests listening to songs and practicing strumming to the rhythm, just to get a feel for it.  You put your left hand on the strings to mute them, while strumming with your right.  He calls this scratching.  I did this for my practicing this afternoon.  And this was the song I chose:



Good thing I was home alone, because I was really getting into it.  If someone had walked in on me, they'd have thought I was on something.   Something not good.  Something very not good indeed.

If you get that reference, we can be friends.  If you don't, we can still be friends.  You'll just be confused a lot.  Oh, and speaking of, Cody's roommate loves the Jayne hat.  Cody sent me a picture of him wearing it.  So, that's cool. 

That's it for now.  I know this post is kind of short, but I have a letter I need to finish so I can get it into the mail tomorrow. 

Goodnight.

Mother's Day

Look who surprised me by showing up to take me out to dinner this Mother's Day.

Before we went out to eat, we drove out to check on the emergency spillway.  He hadn't been down since before we'd had all this rain, and I wanted him to see how high the water had gotten.  His first view of the lake, and he said, "Wow!"  I told him to park in that little park at the end of the dam, near the visitor's center.  He just kept saying, "Wow" over and over.  Then we walked over to the emergency spillway.

What with the rain we've had just since I posted two short days ago, it is now in full bore overflow.



There were lots of people out there today.  Some even brought picnic lunches.  Everyone was videoing and talking about the water.  I saw several people I know, both at the spillway and in the restaurant.  Funny, Cody was telling me about this YouTube show that is a sequel to the Karate Kid movies.  He said Johnny and Daniel keep bumping into each other, just out on the street and stuff, and fussed about how unlikely that is to happen in a city of 14 million people. 

I said, "Here in Grenada, every where you go, you're going to see someone you know."  Small town life, eh? 

But I digress.  Watching the water go over, every so often you could see fish getting caught in the current and being washed down the ramp.  I managed to catch one in this video.



I mean, catch on video.  Not literally catch, but we did see one guy down at the bottom bow fishing.  I never saw if he caught anything.  Seeing those fish, I said, "I need to get me a new fishing license!"

We were getting hungry by that time, so I said, "Let's go get something to eat."

On the way into town, we ran by the boat ramp, which is now completely under water.

Again, Cody said, "Wow."  I showed him that little beach I used to take him to when he was young.  I stepped out of the car for a moment to take a picture, and Cody got out and carefully locked the door.  I busted out laughing.  He said, "What?"  I said, "You locked the door and my window is wide open."

When we got back into the car, he rolled up my window, and locked it, so I couldn't roll it back down.  He said, "Whenever any of my friends get into my car, and try to roll the window down, I'm going to have to tell them, 'Sorry, my mother ruined it for everyone.'"

Oh, and he bought himself a new car.  He really needed one, too, as his old one was just about falling apart.  It's a 2016 Toyota Corolla.  I think that's what it was.  He also left the car lot with a job application.  If he were to get that one, he'd get a base salary of roughly $40K, plus commission.  He's about sick of his current job.  He says it's not the work, it's the management.  Boy, I know how that is!

I like the actual work I do.  It's the toxic environment -- mostly caused by poor management -- I can't stand.

Anyway, we were out at the lake, by the spillway, when Cody looked around, sighed, and said, "I can see myself moving back here in 20 - 30 years."  He grew up here.  It's home to him.  I said, "I totally understand.  I'm still trying to get back to Texas."  Which segues nicely into our Sunday, well, it's not quite a hymn, but it fits in with the theme of Mother's Day, and going back home.



Oh, and Cody said, "My plan is to become rich, then I'll move you back to Texas." 

I'll take it.  Any way I can get it, I want to go home. 

Finally, before he left to go back to Memphis, and I saw him off with our standard, "Drive fast and take chances," Cody played my guitar a little bit.  It sounds a lot better when he does it, but then he knows how to play. 

Not Sunday

The alarm went off way too early this morning.  I quickly hit the snooze button to silence it, wondering why I hadn't turned it off before I went to bed.  That's when it hit me.  It's not Sunday.

Dang it!

Yep, I had to get up and go to work this morning.  When they put the notice up, people were asking how they could make us work on Mother's Day weekend.  And again, I'm like, "Don't act like you've never worked here before!"  When have we ever gotten Mother's Day weekend off?  Maybe once or twice when work was slow, but we usually work this weekend.  Heh, I remember the first year I worked there, and I said something about having to work Mother's Day weekend.  One of my coworkers said, "Well, not everyone has children."  I said, "Yeah, but everyone has a mother."  She said, "I suppose that's true."

You suppose?  And just where did you come from?  Did aliens drop you under a cabbage leaf or something?

Anyway, so many people were out, they had to shut down a line, and ended up sending most of tubing and sub-brazing home at 9:00.  I got five hours of overtime, and still had nearly a whole day off!  Yay for going in at 4:00 AM!  Wait...no...not yay.  4:00 AM is never a yay moment.  Unless you are going back to bed after answering nature, that is.

There wasn't much I could do with my day, since it rained nearly all day long.  Yes, again.  I did a buttload of laundry, wondering all the while how one single woman can dirty so many clothes.  Especially since I'll wear my t-shirts several days in a row, because I only wear them 2 or so hours a day.  If they don't smell, I'm just as likely to put them back on the next day.  That's probably more information than you needed (or wanted) to know, but there it is.  I am who I am, and I'm too old to change now.

So says the one who is trying to learn a musical instrument in her 50s.  Oh, well.

Speaking of said musical instrument, I changed out three of my guitar strings and needed to take a break, as I think turning those tuners has kicked my tendinitis into high gear.  I promptly got on Amazon ordered one of those string winder things I'd seen in the YouTube videos I watched.   That'll make it a whole lot easier next time I need to change a string. 

I've finally decided what pattern I want to make my next hat in.  I've done this one before.  I adapted it from a sock pattern, but am still working out the kinks in the decreases.

I'd actually done one with decreases I ended up liking, but didn't write it down, so I'm back to square one, since I can't remember squat.  If I figure it out, I'll be sure to write it down this time. 

Finally, Edna was thrilled to see her name in the blog yesterday.  She gushed and gushed about it this morning at work.  Of course, I didn't hear a word she was saying, but I stood there smiling and nodding anyway.  Like I usually do when people are talking to me.  Then she said, "You really ought to write a book."

Awww, gee...Not sure what I would write about, but Edna says she really likes the way I word things.  Maybe if I ever get a life worth writing about,  Imaginary Husbands Don't Cut Real Grass could become a thing after all!

It's Getting Bad Out There

Guess what it's doing? Go on, guess.  I betcha can't.  Betcha...

If you said raining, give yourself a cookie.  I recommend the new Oreo Dark Chocolate.  Those are delicious.

So, yeah, it's been raining for two days, and we still have one more to go.  After work, I went out to the lake to check on the emergency spillway, and there it is.

I parked in that little park beside the visitor's center (for those of you who are from here), and walked across the road.   The water is right there, I'm telling you.

You can kind of see the sheen of it going over in this picture.

And you can see a little better how close it is to going over here.



For those of you not from here, this is not the regular outlet channel.  That is way high, as well.  I probably should have taken a picture of that one, too, but I didn't.  This is the emergency overflow channel.

By the way, remember when I said this is a small town and you have to take your entertainment where you can?  Yep, I wasn't the only one out there.

The two men on the right were talking about back in the day.  I stopped to listen a moment, before going back to my car.  I even had a couple of coworkers tell me to take pictures when I mentioned that I was going to drvie by after work.  It's pretty much the hot topic of the day.  Month...year...

On the way back to my car, I shot this short video showing the current.



It was raining the whole time I was out there.  I had planned on waiting until tomorrow to go do my weekly shopping so I wouldn't have to get out into the rain, but after getting drenched at the spillway, I said to myself, "Well, I'm already wet.  Might as well go and get that out of the way."  And that's exactly what I did.

On the way home, I looked out at that cotton field by Dollar General, at the Papermill Road exit (for those of you who know the area), and it was flooded again.  I remarked, "He might as well plant rice there this year."  It's going to be a rough year for farmers all along the Mississippi River valley.  I read this morning about a levee breaching somewhere in Iowa.  I don't rightly remember where, though.

The good news is, I had electricity when I got home.  Yesterday, I didn't.

I’ll take “People who aren’t appreciated nearly enough” for $1000, Alex.

The answer is, They keep you turned on.

What are electricity people?

I sat there for a moment, not knowing what to do with myself.  I thought, "I'm hungry, I'll cook...dang it!   No problem, I'll just microwave...dang it!"  I couldn't even make myself a sandwich, because I didn't want to open the refrigerator any more than absolutely necessary.  The power had been out since 9-ish that morning, and I didn't want to let any of the cold out.  Thank goodness for that can of Vienna sausages in the cabinet.

While the power was out, I couldn't watch TV.  I couldn't get on the computer.  I couldn't do any of the things I normally do when I get home.  I read a bit, then practiced my guitar a bit, and said, "Hey, I'll look up the next chord on YouTube and learn...dang it!"

At least there was enough hot water for me to take a shower.  It's the little things.  The power finally came back on about 6ish, but by then, I didn't want to have to rush to get a blog post written and published before bed time.  I just caught up on Survivor and went on to bed.

By the way, I've gotten my new strings in, but I'll probably wait until tomorrow after work to change them.  I'm going to have to look that up on YouTube, too, to make sure I'm doing it right.  I'm hoping the extra light strings will be a little easier on my fingers.

Finally, a shout out to my buddy Edna.  She did sooo many parts for me yesterday, I know she was sick of seeing me coming.  When she brought me the last one, she straightened her hair and said, "Remember me in the blog."

Here you go, Ed.  Thanks for putting up with me!

Found It!

I found it!  I finally found my alto recorder!

The way I found it is as follows. 

Last weekend, I'd bought a new Vinca to replace the one that died.  Since it had rained all weekend, I hadn't gotten it into the ground yet.  I kept saying that I needed to, but I just didn't do it.

Since we're expecting more severe weather all weekend this weekend, after work, I said to myself, "Self, you need to get that there Vinca into the ground before that weather hits tonight."  So, that's exactly what I did.  It is now safely nestled in the bed with the other five Vincas.

Afterward, as I was putting my little trowel and gloves back up in the shed, I happened to glance into a plastic box of stuff I had stored out there, and there it was!  I got it out and brought it inside.  It needs a good cleaning, but at least I have it back now!  That doesn't mean I'm going to play it, but if I decide to take it back up, I'll know where it is. 

More good news, the mystery buds have begun to open.

I think this is a variety of Cosmos, but I'm not sure.  Cyndye, do you know?  Also, my roses have exploded into a riot of color.

I'm so glad.  I was getting kind of worried about them.  I was afraid I'd cut them back too hard last summer.  Glad to see I didn't mess them up too badly.

I got my pack of picks in the mail today.

As soon as I got my Vinca planted and a bite of supper et, I picked a pick from my pack of picks and picked my guitar for a few minutes.   It's still painful on my fingertips, but I was actually looking forward to getting home to play it.  I still need to learn another chord.  Maybe after I finish the new episode of Lone Star Law, I'll try to find the next video in that series of lessons I was using. 

Last but not least, I got me a new necklace.

The only thing is, I wish the chain was adjustable, as it is a little long for me.  Other than that, I love it. 

Now, about that episode of Lone Star Law, for some reason, my DVR didn't record it.  I checked my settings, and it's supposed to record all episodes of that show, both new ones and reruns.  I'm not sure what happened, but thank goodness for the Animal Planet Go app.  I was able to watch it anyway.  Alas, it didn't have any of my three favorite game wardens.  And who would those be? 

Why, Morgan Inman, Randolph McGee, and Mike Boone, of course. 

Maybe they'll be on next week.  It'll give me something to look forward to. 

One Of Those Days

Today was one of those days when I wish we could bring back flogging as an acceptable form of workplace discipline.  Why, you may ask?  Well, I'll tell you. 

Yesterday, Group Leader, several other employees and myself spent a couple of hours cleaning, organizing, and straightening up our work area.  It was all neat and organized.  Stuff was in the right place and everything. 

This morning, we walked in to a disaster area.  It looked like a tornado hit the place.  It's like, why do we even bother?

Sigh, at least I get to come home to a new season of Lone Star Law tonight.  Except that I'm going to have to DVR it and watch it tomorrow.  Because when you get up ridiculously early...well, you know the drill by now. 

I had to re-tune my guitar.  Or maybe I didn't get it tuned right in the first place.  Whatever, I had to re-tune it, because it had gotten out of tune again. Then I tried to play a few moments, just to toughen up my fingertips.  It still hurts pretty badly to play, but I can already feel the callouses forming. I'm getting pretty good at the two chords I know.  I think I'm ready to learn another one. 

What I'm not ready for is this: 

Nooooooo!  No!  No!  No! No!!!!

I guess summer is officially here.  Maybe not according to the calendar, but the temps have hit the 90s and the cotton is up.  That says summer in my book. 

I'm already counting down the days until Fall. 

Guitars And Stuff

Before I begin today's post, I just have one more thing to say about Saturday's debacle of a Kentucky Derby.  One of my friends who works in the racing business posted an article from some people who would know a whole lot more about it than I would. 

Anyway, both of the knowledgeable men consulted agreed that Maximum Security should not have been disqualified.  If you want to read it, you can click this link:  Should Maximum Security Have Been Disqualified?  

And now, on to your regularly scheduled post for today.

I got really excited there for a moment.  Seems my city has finally entered the 21st century.  Yes, you can now pay your bills online -- water, trash pickup, and the like.  I got all set to do just that.  I entered my information and all, then I saw it.  A "processing fee".  Yeah, you can pay your bills on the website, but they're going to charge you extra to do it.  I know, I know, it's only $1.50, but it's the principle of the thing.  I'll just keep on driving by city hall to pay mine, thankyouverymuch. 

So, there I was at work, just a working away, when Stalker walks up behind me and says, "You recognize that guy over there?"  Truth is, I didn't at first.  After getting a good look, though, yeah!  It was a former Boss Man who'd come back for a visit.  Why, I don't know.  He's the only one who ever came back after leaving.   I waved at him, and he said, "Hey girl!  You still mean as ever?"  And I said, "You do remember me!"

He walked on, and a few minutes later current Boss Man drives by on his Blart-mobile.  He says, "Y'all don't get excited.  He's not coming back!"   That's what we call his little scooter thing, the Blart-mobile.  And nobody really wants Old Boss Man back anyway. 

OK, moving right along...

My cut finger still hurts, but I did try to play my guitar for a minute.  And only for a minute before saying, "That hurts too much."  And put the guitar aside for the day.  Cody told me to let my cut heal completely before trying to practice any more, but I didn't listen.  I decided I needed new strings.   I had to order them from Amazon, and they should be here by the end of the week.  I also ordered a pack of picks, mostly because I just like saying pack of picks.   I'm getting a pack of picks, so I can pick a pick out of the pack of picks to pick my guitar with.

Clearly, I don't get enough sleep.

I found a some videos on YouTube with tips for older beginners.  It's so much easier to learn as a child, because you don't have the responsibilities adults do.  One of the biggest tips -- well, the most useful for me, at least -- is to tell yourself to practice for 5 minutes a day.  He said it's better to play 5 minutes every day, than 30 minutes to an hour once a week.  He also said you can help toughen up your fingertips by digging your thumbnail into them while you're watching TV, or whatever.  I've been doing that -- skipping the cut one, of course.  He gave several tips, but the last one I'm going to share is this:  start with extra light strings.  I don't think that's what I have on my guitar.  Way back when I bought it 20 years ago, I didn't know any different.  I just used what came with the guitar.  The ones I ordered are extra light.  We'll see if that makes a difference.

Still haven't gotten the spiders out of it, though...

I was telling my coworker today that I'd taken the guitar back up.  I was hoping it would sort of dampen my desire to buy that piano, but so far, it's not working.  She said, "Yeah, I know you want that piano, because your face lights up every time you talk about it."  Truth is, if I had a spare $500 laying around, I'd have bought it already.  Seriously.  I've even considered selling some of my yarn to raise money for it.  Not that my yarn would fetch much, but every little bit helps. 

In knitting news, after I finished my washcloth last night, I cast on another one.  Just kidding.  I cast on a hat.

This colorway is called Country Rose.  I'm trying to get a few more feminine hats done.  I read somewhere that nearly 30% of homeless people are women, and just because they're homeless doesn't mean they don't want to feel pretty.  I might even try to knit a pattern in this one.  I mean a real pattern, not one I'm making up as I go along.

Last, but certainly not least, I found a new sea chanty.  It's not the best recording, but it's a really fun song. 



I'd found it once before, but lost it again.  Now it's safely ensconced in my Fisherman's Friends playlist. 

And I'm fixing to go safely ensconce myself in the bed. 

Goodnight.

Saturday Stuff and Sunday Hymn

So about yesterday -- I had planned on blogging.  Really, I did.  I got off work at 11:00 and thought briefly about running by the lake to check the emergency spillway. 

Hey, it's a small town.  You have to get your entertainment where you can find it. 

I didn't, though.  I came on home, ate lunch, piddled around a bit, then watched the Kentucky Derby.  After the travesty that was this year's Derby, by the time I'd stopped popping, I was put completely out of the blogging mood, so I just went to bed with the intention of catching you up today.

I won't go into all the details -google it if you want to know -- but let me just say, The Kentucky Derby has officially lost all credibility and integrity.  I suppose the winners will now be chosen by who pitches the biggest temper tantrum, rather than by who crossed the finish line first.

If it had been the horse who got bumped that had filed the protest, that would be a different story.  But it wasn't.  It was a different horse, who was not interfered with in any way.  He was just looking for a cheap win.  Unfortunately, the race stewards gave in to his childish fit, and he got it.  I'm not trying to be an armchair quarterback, either.  I have a friend who actually works in the horse racing industry and she said, "Today was a black eye for horse racing."

If things keep going this way, all we'll have left is rodeo and sport fishing.  And that's all I have to say about that.


Now for a bit of good news, Supervisor wasn't at work yesterday, so no one got moved around.  So, yay for that.  The bad news is, it rained all day long.  And I do mean all...day...long.  But every cloud has a silver lining, and I found it.  All that rain means I didn't have to mow!  Woo Hoo!  I went outside this afternoon, and there is enough standing water I can't mow today, either.  It's the little things...

Since I couldn't mow, I finished up the hat I was knitting.

I totally made this pattern up, and I like the way the top turned out.

Then I broke out my new yarn and knit a washcloth. 

I also found a guitar tuner app and tried to tune my guitar.  It sounds better, but it's still not quite right.  I may need to replace the strings.  I'm going to see if Cody can do that for me whenever he comes down to pick up that Jayne hat. 

My practicing has hit a bit of a setback, though.  I broke a glass jar, and as careful as I was trying to be when I picked up the pieces, I still managed to cut my hand in two places.  They weren't bad cuts -- didn't even bleed, and I didn't discover the cuts until an hour or so later.  However, one of them is right on the tip of my finger.  Practicing hurts until you build up your calluses, and for the moment, it hurts even more.  I tried to practice, but only lasted a couple of minutes.  I'm still not sure I have the passion for the guitar I once thought I did.  We'll just see how it goes.

On the other hand, this morning, as I was watching my Contemporary Christian playlist on YouTube, one of the songs had the guitar chords showing on the video.  I saw one of the two chords I know, and shouted, "Hey!  I know that one!"   That's a good sign.

Your PSA for today:  when you drag in a clump of grassy mud on the bottom of your shoe, you should probably sweep it up right away, before you spot it out of the corner of your eye and think it's a giant spider in your kitchen floor and freak out.  Just a bit. 

My cousin James killed this hog in their front yard Thursday morning.

Texas:  a state so great the bacon comes to you! 

They're not going to cook it, though.  Big old boar hogs like that aren't really good for eating.  Tough and gamey. 

And now for the moment you've all been waiting for, the Sunday Hymn!  A lot of people make fun of Hillsong, but they do have some songs I like.  This is one of them.

A Lot Of Hours

You know you work a lot of hours when you refer to a 10 hour shift as "a short day."  We're only working 8 hours tomorrow.  I don't know what I'm going to do with myself getting off at noon.  I went on and did my shopping today, so I can come straight home and watch the Kentucky Derby -- and the 27 hours of extremely dull pre-race show they'll have on.  Or maybe I'll just skip that part and tune in closer to post time.

Alas, I don't have a derby hat, so I'll just have to do without.  Every year, I say I'm going to get one for next year, but then I never do.

Now for some bad news.  New Supervisor -- you know, the one we all liked -- has been moved to second shift for good.  Bummer.  The one we have now loves to move people around, and sees the sub- brazing department as nothing more than an extra floater pool.  One day, she moved 3 brazers out to the lines, even though we had two people out already.  That made us five brazers short that day.  Group Leader was not happy about that.

 Anyway, today, she sent me to help out on line 1.  Guess who followed me over there?  If you said my Stalker, give yourself a cookie.  Parked himself right behind me until Supervisor moved me back to sub-brazing, and put a more experienced aluminum brazer over there.  She said I was burning too much stuff up.  I tried to tell her I'd never gotten the hang of aluminum brazing.  I guess she thought I was joking.  Beats the heck out of me why they don't just train people to do those jobs rather than moving us all the time.

Let's move on to a few bits of good news.

First, I'm sleeping better since I turned on my central air.  I know my electric bill might make me choke, since I'm used to these low winter time bills, but still.  Sleep is everything.  Because when you sleep, you dream, and sometimes when you dream, you dream of your imaginary boyfriend -- or at least a contender to become your new imaginary boyfriend, since you can't even seem to make imaginary commitments.  Sigh...something about a bunch of fish in a wooden barrel of full of ice.  Don't ask.  Even I don't know.

Better news, Cody messaged me and asked if I had an extra Jayne hat.  He said his roommate saw his and thought it was cool.  Now he wants one for himself.  I replied in the affirmative, and he said he'll come down his next weekend off and get it.  I don't know when that'll be, because he's working a lot of overtime now, too.

I then mentioned I'm thinking about taking up my guitar again, and the following conversation ensued:

I asked if he had a tuner, and he said there are decent apps out there, so that'll be my project for the weekend:  tuning my guitar and figuring out how to get the spiders out.  They're tiny spiders, but they still have 16 knees.  Each.  And that's just creepy.

Lastly, I was in Walmart, and I went down the yarn aisle.  My old washcloths are starting to get a bit bedraggled, and I need to knit some new ones.  I just happened to find these two colors, which perfectly match my bathroom.

I just might take a break from charity hat knitting to get that done.

One thing about getting off at 2:00 instead of 4:00, I feel like it's about 9:30.  It's 6:45 PM Central time, as I type this.  But I feel like I should have been in bed two hours ago.  The good thing about that is, I might actually get some reading done before I fall asleep with the book on my face.

Heh...

All Good Things

They say all good things must come to an end, and so it was today at work.  

Stalker was back.  Sigh.  I knew it couldn't last forever, but it could have at least lasted the rest of the week.  Or month.  Or year.  Or my career...But no....The good news is I slept a lot better last night.  No dreams about my stalker.  Alas, no dreams about shantymen, either.  Eh, can't win 'em all. 

After finishing my blog post yesterday, I was going to go read my book a little bit before turning out the light, but all I got through was the blurb about the first illustration.  Granted, it was two pages long, but still...I tried to start the first chapter, but my old eyes kept blurring, then drifting closed.  I quickly gave up, and just went on to sleep.  

I still haven't found my alto recorder, though.  

I'm still debating on buying a piano, too.  I mean, it's a lot of money for the one I want, and I can't help but think about that old guitar in the closet.  I bought it years ago to learn how to play, and haven't touched it since Cody started kindergarten.  Maybe I should get it out and try again before buying a piano.  

Maybe it'll go better this time around with some YouTube videos to follow.  That is, if I can somehow find time to practice between all these 12 hour shifts I work.  

I'll let you know how it goes. 

In other news, I found a website that you can sign up to get pen pals from all over the world.  I mean, there are lots of them, but the one I bookmarked, Global Penfriends, seems to have pretty strict security standards.  According to their statement, they're going to make sure you are who you say you are before letting you get someone's home address.  I haven't signed up yet.  I'm still debating whether I want to.  I mean, I kind of do, but I'm still kind of not sure.  What if nobody wants to write to me?  

Finally, I'm going to be posting this notice every so often, just to make sure everyone sees it.  I blog nearly every day, but FB often won't show my post in your feed.  If you're not seeing it, either go directly to my FB page, or book mark the blog web site.  

Not that I'm groveling for attention, but I'm kind of groveling for attention.  

Day Two

Last night was another one of those nights.  I spent most of it tossing and turning, with a few short naps in between.  It was during one of those naps that I dreamed about Port Isaac's Fisherman's Friends, and my stalker.

The best of one world, and the worst of another.  In the same dream.  In my head.

There was also some severe weather.  Or an alligator.  Or something. 

Then I woke up in a blind panic because I couldn't find my alto recorder.  I found my two soprano recorders,

but couldn't find my alto.  Not sure what that says about me, but there it is.  I've long since given up trying to find an explanation for such things.

Then I had to go to work, on very little sleep.  About half an hour into my shift, my coworker says, "Two days without your stalker?"  To which I replied, "SHHHHHHH!!!! You'll jinx it!"  But she didn't.  I had a second day of peace.  We all did.

Other than it being hot in the plant.  I'm so not ready for this.

This is going to be short, because I'm tired and my brain isn't functioning.  I'm about to head into the bath, then hit the hay.

Hay!  Get it?  Hay?  Never mind....

Goodnight, all.

Oh!  I saw another rose breasted grosbeak this evening.  Just for a moment, but he was there!  Woo Hoo!