Dang it!

I forgot batteries. 

My telescope requires 8 AA batteries to power the motor thing.  The one that moves it around.  I'd checked my cabinet and I didn't have enough, so I was intending to buy some when I went to the store yesterday.  

I had them on my list.  They were the very first item on my list.  The very first item!  And I walked right out of the store without them. 

We had some severe weather come through during the wee smalls Friday morning.  It didn't last too long, but I'm telling you, one of those thunder claps nearly had me coming out of the bed.  And that was after coughing my head off half the night because I'm too stubborn to take my allergy medicine.  

I was so tired all day yesterday, I almost felt sick.  I felt a little better after eating lunch, but by the time the work day was done, and I went into town on my weekly shopping run, I just wanted to get in and out as quickly as possible.  I should have gotten the batteries first, but I didn't.  I told myself I'd get them when I went to check out, since the battery display is right up there by the checkouts, but I walked right past them.   

I blame sleep deprivation.

Then today, I spent ten minutes hunting for a brazing jig that was already on my stand.  I looked everywhere for it -- through all the jig racks, on the other brazers' stands.  I couldn't find it anywhere.  My coworker finally asked, "Becky, what are you looking for?"  I told her, and she said, "It's in the [parts bin]".  The one I'd just gotten from the conveyer.  The one that was already on my stand. 

Yeah, I'm going to plead the Fifth on that one.  

It isn't just me, either.  The other day, one of the third shift brazers caught the dust in his fan on fire.  He was freaking out, and another, more experienced brazer told him to just turn the fan on, and it'll put the fire out.  He said, "Oh, I forgot that was a fan."  

But I digress...where was I?

Oh, yes, batteries.  I completely forgot to buy batteries.  I need them for my telescope, to power the motor thing that turns it and stuff.  No matter.  I'd just run to the Dollar General store on the corner (of Papermill Rd and 51 Highway, for you local folks) after work and get some.  

Just past the turn I needed to make to get onto on Papermill Rd -- you know, to go to the dollar store -- I remembered, "Oh, I was supposed to turn there."  

Say it with me now, sleep deprivation...

It wasn't too big a deal, I just had to take the long way around, but I made it there eventually.  I bought my batteries, and after a quick bite of supper, I put my telescope together and got the batteries into the power pack.   I opened the phone app and was able to get it connected to the telescope's wifi network, and played with it a little bit, figuring out how to move the telescope using the arrows on the app.  That is totally cool.  No more manually trying to find what I want to look at, then getting frustrated when the telescope moves!  I just tap the appropriate arrow, and the scope moves itself!  

Now, I just have to wait until it gets dark to get it aligned to the sky map in the app....So, here I sit, twiddling my thumbs impatiently and watching history documentaries on Trvl Channel.  

via GIPHY

Oh, and I almost forgot.  The telescope has a thing I can attach my phone to it and take photos!  Woo hoo!  I need to figure that out, since the moon will still be mostly full tonight. 

In the meantime, I think I'll go practice my piano a bit.  

Cool Points

   Before we get into that, first I have to show you the new piece of equipment I got for my bug out bag.  

 

And what is that nondescript black box? It's a solar powered phone charger.  But wait, there's more!  It's also got a compass, and some super bright LED lights.  I'd been thinking about getting something like this ever since my power was out for several days after the Easter Storms of 2020.  I mean, yes, I was taking my phone to work and charging it there, but what if I didn't have that option?  And what with gas prices these days, the last thing I want to do is to sit there idling in my car so my phone can charge.  Thus, a solar powered charger.  

Also, before I continue, dare I hope I have solved my plumbing problem?  I flushed it out really well last Friday, and a week later, it's still clear.  I think that's the longest it's gone since the problem started.  This time, instead of just putting the Drain King right inside the cleanout, I shoved it way down as far as I could get it to go before turning it on.  Maybe that's what it needed.  Keep your fingers crossed.  

Finally, we get to the Cool Points.  What are Cool Points?  Well, they are a way to show appreciation to your employees.  Lots of companies use them, and the one I work for is no exception.  The downside to this is, it is next to impossible for shop floor employees to get Cool Points.  Oh, your front office people get them every time they turn around but us peons?  Nope.  

Heh, last year, I even went to a vaccine information presentation, just to get the Cool Points they promised us.  And the free breakfast.  But mostly the Cool Points. 

And the free breakfast...

OK, moving right along.  

I've been saving mine up for eleven years now.  Eleven years.  And I still didn't have enough to get anything decent...until I got all those points from my Supervisor the other day.  Which I totally deserved.  For brazing 500 units by myself.  Doing a two person job.  Singlehandedly. 

The other day, one of my coworkers and I were talking about redeeming ours.  I'd been wondering if they had gift cards you could redeem your points for.  I looked on the Celebrate Cool website, and yes, they did, but they were to places like Macy's and stuff.  We were saying, we don't need a Macy's card.  Give us something useful, like a gas card or a grocery card. 

However, while looking around on the site, I finally found something worth redeeming my points for.  I waffled for a few moments, then added it to my cart.  

It arrived today.  

(Yes the photo is upside down.  It was easier to flip the photo over than the box.  That thing is heavy!)

A brand new telescope!  I got it out and put together, then took it outside to try to align the viewfinder.  Thing.  Whatever it's called. 

It says to focus on an object at least 1/4 mile away, but there are too many trees around here.  I tried to focus on some of the farthest trees I could see, but I don't know if they're far enough away.  I think I got it aligned, but I don't know for sure.  There is a second alignment you have to do after dark, but we haven't gotten there yet.  

The description said it's powerful enough to see the rings of Saturn and the Great Red Spot of Jupiter.  We shall see.  Best of all, it has an app where you can find what you want to look at on the app, and the telescope will automatically turn to it!  No more frustrating twisting and turning and trying to get that raggedy old tripod to stay put.

Now for the bad news....I go to bed before the sun does.  Sigh...I don't know when I'm going to be able to use it. Hopefully the severe weather will pass by Saturday night and I can get out and do some stargazing.  

For now, it's safely tucked into the snake room.  

And this, folks, is why I don't want daylight saving time to be made permanent.  Only in the deepest winter would I be able to get out and use my new scope. 

The only downside is that it's heavy, and doesn't come with a carrying case, so it's not very transportable. But hey, for a free telescope, it's pretty darn OK. 

I ain't complaining. 

Only, now I'm totally out of Cool Points.  I guess it'll be eleven more years before I can get anything else, huh?

Random Thoughts Of A Wednesday Evening

 1.  I don't know what those folks are doing up in there on third shift.  This morning, I walked into the bathroom and in the trash can, I saw this:

and in the toilet...

What on earth is that?  

2.  Society is doomed, I tell you.  Doomed.

3.  The Dallas Cowboys have traded Amari Cooper and signed Michael Gallup to a $62 million contract.  This is why they don't win Super Bowls!  They have a history of spending big money on mediocre players.  The name Miles Austin ring a bell?  

4.  My cousin Chris sent me this photo.  

Someone he knows was cleaning out his grandmother's and found it.  I'm pretty sure this is my Pappaw's brother, Uncle Charlie.  Beverly would know right away.  She's the one who had all these old family photos.  It would be interesting to know how this person's grandma knew Uncle Charlie, as well.  

4.  I came home to dog poop on the floor.  Lovely.  I don't get mad at Jesse when he has an accident.  That's a long time to ask him to hold it.  I just clean it up and go on, but it's part of the reason why I probably won't get another dog.  It's just not fair to him.  

5.  Will this nuclear war involve running?  Because if it involves running, I'm pretty much just going to have to fry. 

6.  The government is talking about making Daylight Saving Time permanent.  I hate that idea.  Most of the people I've talked to hate the idea as well.  Yes, we'd all love to stop changing the clocks, but if you're going to make anything permanent, it should be Standard time.  Frankly, I like it getting darker earlier in the evening, and I'm sure parents would feel much better if their kids aren't standing out in the dark waiting for the bus in the mornings.

7.  I canceled my FrendlyTV.  I know it's not much, but all those nickles and dimes add up.  What with prices the way they are and getting worse, I have to trim where I can.  I'm canceling all the stuff I don't use regularly, and even some of the stuff I do, like the Not The Bee website.  I even canceled my Ancestry.com membership.  I can't see paying $198 per year in these times for something I rarely go on.  I'll still be able to see my tree, but I won't be able to research anything, or add to it.  Maybe when things pick up again, I'll reactivate it.  In the meantime, I'll just look at my brother's tree. 

8.  It's almost bed time, and I have to practice my piano yet, so I guess that's it for today. 

9.  Except for one more thing.  Remember the headers I talked about yesterday?  The ones that had been brazed wrong?  Yep.  Sure enough, there I was at work, just a working away, when the assembly line group leader came walking up to brazing with a box of...you guessed it, headers that had been brazed wrong.  Beats me why they didn't just let us fix them as soon as I'd spotted the error, but hey, that's my place of employment for you. 

10.  Now, I really am going to go practice my piano.  Laters. 

Is that????

 The nice thing about long weekends is getting to sleep somewhat normal hours, and waking up when your body is ready.  The downside to long weekends is that when they're over, getting up at 2:45 again is downright brutal.   They say you should wake up at the same time every day, even on your days off.  "They" being so called sleep experts. 

I'm saying, that ain't gonna happen.  I'm not getting up at 2:45 unless I absolutely have to -- or there's a major astronomical event.  Either will do...Today was a day when I absolutely had to get up at 2:45.  Bummer. 

I knew right away what kind of day today is going to be when I walked out the door and left my coffee in the coffeemaker.  Sigh...I hadn't left the house yet, so I was able to go back and get it, but it set the tone for the day. 

I get to work, and there is nothing ready for us to do.  Nothing.  I clean up for a while...I check what's on the line...I go put in my vacation days for my oral surgery -- which got approved, by the way, so we're all set -- I go to the bathroom...

Where I see this: 

A suspiciously yellow tinted puddle on the floor.  It's not the first time, either.  And always right there in front of the mirror.  So what's going on on third shift?  Are they peeing on the floor? 

Given some of the other stuff that goes on late at night, I wouldn't put it past them. 

The part stagers finally get an order ready for me to braze...aaaand one of the adapter tubes is bent wrong.  I mean, they're always wrong, but this one was so wrong, I couldn't use it at all.  

I turned it back in to be redone, then walked over to the conveyor where we put our finished work to see how far ahead of the lines we are.  That's when I noticed that one of the orders brazed by third shift was wrong. 

As in brazed wrong.  As in brazed so wrong I don't see how they could have even fit it into the jig that way. I went over and told Group Leader Shark, and she told me the new policy is that we have to send them to the line anyway -- knowing that they're wrong -- and the line has to put in the rework order. 

I swear, the upper management must have late night meetings to think of what makes the most sense, so they can do the exact opposite.  

I went back to my stand and went back to work, but those wrong headers rankled me all morning, especially watching the parts stage load them onto the buggy and take them to the back.  But what could I do?  I'd already reported them, so there was nothing left for me to do but stand there and be rankled.  I told another brazer about them, and said, "I don't see why they won't let us go ahead and re-do them, since we're the ones that are going to have to re-do them anyway."  

They ended up shutting that line down, so I guess we'll find out tomorrow how that went.  

Oh, and by the way, we had six brazers out today.  Six.  That's half the department, and did we get any help?  Of course not!  

.

.

.

Three hours later...I was all done with my day, getting ready for bed, when I realized I'd never finished writing my blog post.  That means, instead of a nice, rewritten polished post with a tidy conclusion, you get abruptly cut off with a rough draft followed by a hearty good night.

Good night!

Be Proud Of Me

Be very proud of me.  Why? 

Because I made a phone call!  

The way that happened is as follows.  

I woke up this morning, with all three of the bad teeth hurting.  I'm not sure what was going on, but the pain was excruciating.  It was so bad at one point, I felt like I was going to throw up.  

"Please, God, make these teeth stop hurting!" I begged, but the teeth kept on hurting.  "Jesus," I said, "are you going to make these teeth hurt until I call the oral surgeon?"  

And he smiled and said, "Yep."  

Sigh, I guess it's my own fault.  After all, I'm the one who prayed for strength to make that phone call.  

Oh, all right!  I'll call him!  But can you at least ease the pain until I get home?  

God is faithful, and gradually, the toothaches subsided.  Shortly after the work day ended, I grabbed the phone before I could chicken out, and got my procedure scheduled.  It's not until May 18, but at least it's on the books.  Then I messaged Cody to see if he could get the time off to drive me, because I have to have a driver to get the IV sedation.  He said it shouldn't be a problem, neither should it be for me to get my vacation days scheduled.  I'm going to take the day of and the day after, since it's three teeth I'm getting pulled.  I kind of feel like I'll need that extra day to recover.  

Now, I just need to call the plumber.  

Wish me luck.  

This is going to be short tonight, because I didn't sleep well last night.  Add to that the time change, plus a busy day at work during which I had to pick up an order third shift started, and apparently didn't count because I spent the last hour of that order scrounging for parts just to find enough to get it finished -- all  while dealing with not one, but three toothaches, so I'll just leave you with this.  It's the funniest thing I've seen in a while: 

Snow Day, Lazy Day

 After waiting all winter long, after getting lots of sleet and ice, we finally got some snow.  Real snow!  Woo hoo!

It started Friday night, and by morning, we had a good little blanket of it.  Not enough for snow ice cream, but enough to make things beautiful for a moment. 

Since I'd gotten most of the household chores done on Friday, I decided I'd just be lazy and enjoy the snow.  And by "enjoy the snow" I mean looking at it through the window while drinking coffee in front of a nice fire in my wood stove. 

After getting out and taking some photos, that is. 

 Most of it had melted by noon, but it was nice while it lasted.  

By the way, the house across the street still hasn't sold, but I saw a realtor showing someone around it Thursday.  I have no idea what's going on with the house next door.  The For Sale sign is long gone, but there are absolutely no signs of life over there.  I guess he's just going to let it sit empty for now.  

Anyway, I spent my day watching TV, playing the piano, and knitting.  I got the sock heel turned and the gusset stitches picked up, which is my least favorite part of sock knitting. 

I'd balked so much about doing those, I knit another square into my sock yarn blanket.  I'm just having a hard time sitting still long enough to knit these days.  It seems there's always so much stuff I need to be doing, I can't relax enough to just sit and knit.  

Even now...I still have those two phone calls I need to make hanging over my head.  One to the plumber, and one to the oral surgeon.  I don't know why I get so blocked at the need to make phone calls, but I do.  And before you say anything, yes I've checked Angi's List, and Thumbtack.  There is no one local on either of those.  Well, there is one on Angi's List, but he never answered my phone calls when I did work up the strength to make them, so I'm not giving him my business now.  

Anyway, at this point, I'm pretty sure my PVC is cracked and mud is getting into my sewer lines, which is aggravating, because I'd just had it all replaced in 2015.  It cost me a pretty penny, too.  More than I can afford to pay right now, especially since I'm going to have to have oral surgery soon.  

Now, I'm depressed.  I need me some nanner puddin.  

A Day Off

I took a day off work today.  No particular reason.  I just wanted to have a day off.  We're all tired out there.  

Heh, yesterday, I'd moved to another stand for a few moments.  The person who usually works there wasn't there, so I'd gotten on her stand to finish the order that was already set up.  My other coworker came over to me and said, "I just can't get it together today.  I saw you brazing on this stand, but I still thought to myself, 'Becky's been in the bathroom a long time.  This isn't like her.  I probably ought to go check on her." And a saw you on this stand!" We both had a good laugh over that.  But yeah, the long hours are starting to get to us.  Thus, the day off.

The plan for today was, well, first of all, to sleep past 2:45, and yes, that did happen. I slept until 4:30 and it felt wonderful. 

But what I'd actually hoped to accomplish was three things.

1) Get my taxes done. 

2) Call the plumber

3) Write a letter to my Australian pen pal.

Two of those three things happened.  I'll let you guess which one didn't get accomplished.  Here's a hint:  it involved a telephone. 

Even so, it was nice to have a relaxing day, though I had a hard time relaxing.  I kept feeling like I needed to be up and accomplishing something.  Nevertheless, that was my day. 

Moving onward, I bought some new daffodils. 

I know it's hard to see in the photo, but the cups have lovely little peach rims on them.  I couldn't resist.  I used to have some like this years ago, but they stopped coming up.  Most of my daffodils have.  This photo is from this year. 

Whereas four years ago at this time,  the bed looked something like this:  

I'm not sure what's going on there, but I'm thinking I may dig what's left up once they've done blooming and the leaves start to die back, and move them somewhere else.  This spot may just be a little too wet for them.  My yard doesn't have good drainage on this side of the house, so that may be what the problem is. 

You know, now that I think about it, that old fire pit would make a good daffodil bed, along with purple cone flowers and black eyed susans --provided I can keep them alive, that is.  And can get my act together enough to dig the trash out of it and fill it with good soil.  

Speaking of keeping things alive, my few remaining Bluebonnets are hanging in there.

As is the one in my bed.  And look, this looks like it just might be another one germinating:

It's too early to tell for sure, but we will keep an eye on it. 

Marty Mac is coming out of his dormancy and beginning to grow new traps.  It looks like he might be trying to grow a bloom, too!

You won't be able to see it in this photo, yet, but it's there.  I've been putting him out on the porch in the afternoons to get him hardened off, and probably after this next cold spell, I might leave him out for good.  Oh, and I almost forgot, I found a bachelor's button growing in my front flower bed.  

And lastly, in case you hadn't heard, you can now order  four more COVID tests from the post office.  Mine arrived today. 

Because my tax dollars paid for them, and by golly, I want them!

Heel Flap

 Well, now I'm confused.  I got home from work this evening, and checked my cleanout.  It's completely drained.  Not backed up at all.  I don't know what is going on.  I'll just have to keep an eye on it. I did call a plumber last night, but he never called me back.  That's how it is around here.  People just don't want to work.    

Next thing I need to do is find someone to bring me some dirt or sand so I can fill in some of these holes and low spots in my yard.  I think that will be this summer's project.  

Since today is a bit of a slow day news-wise, I thought I'd give you your next sock knitting lesson.  Just book mark it until you're ready to get there, or hit the label at the bottom of this post.  And remember, this is just how I do it.  There are many different ways, and none of them are wrong. 

OK, once you've gotten your sock leg knit to the length you want it,    

the next step is to knit a heel flap.  You should have an equal number of stitches on each of four needles. and each one should be 1/4 of your total number of cast on stitches.  For example, if you have a 72 stitch cast on, you should have 18 stitches on each needle.  

Knit across the stitches on Needle #1, then with the same needle, knit across the stitches on Needle #2.  You should have half of your stitches on one DPN, like so: 

For the moment, you will completely ignore the stitches on the other two needles.  Turn your work, so that the wrong side -- i.e. the inside of the sock -- is facing you.  Slip the first stitch, and purl across.  It should look something like this: 

On the next row, the right side row, slip the first stitch, and knit the second.  Continue slip 1 knit 1 across the row.  

Turn your work, slip one, then purl across.  Repeat these two rows for a total of 36 rows.  You should have 18 slipped stitches on each side of the heel flap. 

When it is done, it'll look something like this:

Congratulations!  You have now knit a heel flap.  In the next lesson, I'll show you how to work magic.  We're going to turn the heel.  

Until next time...

No Rest

 I had a blog post all planned out for you yesterday, but by the time I got home...well, let me start from the beginning.

There I was at work, just a working away, when Supervisor came to my stand and said, "I need you to go line braze on line 3."  

We had our usual argument about why is it always the same ones?  But he bribed me with Cool Points, so I headed back to line braze for the day.

Now, don't get me wrong.  I don't mind helping out, because I know what it's like to desperately need help but to not get it.  And I don't mind line brazing.  I'm actually better at that than sub brazing, so that's not the issue, either.  The problem I have is that there are 12 brazers over there, but only two ever get sent to line braze.  What about the other 10?  Why do they never have to go to the back?  It kind of feels not fair. 

I get back to line 3, and I hadn't even gotten my tip set, when they moved the other line brazer somewhere else. I had to do two people's jobs all day long.  As if that weren't enough, that line ran more than 500 units yesterday.  Normal is around 400.  And I had to hold that line up by myself.  All.  Day.  Long.  

Man, I'm getting too old for this.  

By the time I got off, my arm was hurting so badly, I felt like I was going to throw up.  I felt so bad, I went to bed at just after 6:00.  That's why your post didn't get written. 

This morning, when Supervisor came around to give me my Cool Points, I said, "Do you know what they did to me?" and I told him what had happened.  He said, "Oh, we're not doing that!"  Then I said, "Go look up and see how many units line 3 ran yesterday.  I did that, all by myself."  Right away, he whipped out his little coupon book, and gave me some more Cool Points.  

Later on, Supervisor came back around and said he'd told Brazing Boss/Assembly Line Production Manager that he'd given me some more Cool Points, and BB/ALPM said, "Oh, thank God!  She was looking at me like she wanted to kill me!"  

Supervisor said, "I don't blame her after what you did! I'd have wanted to kill you, too!"

And that was that.  

Well, what I was going to tell you about was how there is no rest for the weary.  Even on the day of rest, you don't get to rest, because you've got to catch up on all the work you didn't have time to do while you were spending 60 hours a week in the factory.  That's what I did on my Sunday off.

Aside from the usual laundry and dishes, the first thing I did was to get out and weed what is going to be my little bluebonnet bed. 

It looks a lot better now.  Hopefully, I can keep up with the weeds, and it'll be a nice little bed for my few remaining bluebonnets. 

While I was out there weeding, I got to looking around at my yard and I said to myself, "Self, you ought to go get your lawn mower and cut these weeds down in your yard."  Then I said to myself, "Nah, I'm not going to do that."  But then I said to myself, "Yeah, I think I will go cut them weeds." So, I did.  Hopefully, I got them cut before they went to seed, but still, I have some weed control stuff I'm going to put down, probably next weekend.  Or the weekend after that.

In the midst of all that, on a whim, I pulled the cap off of my sewer cleanout, and bummer...it was clogged up again.  You know, a nagging little voice kept telling me all week that I needed to run that Drain King again, just to make sure I'd gotten the sewer really cleaned out, and hadn't just shoved the clog a bit further down the line.  But I didn't.  Sigh...

I got out my trusty Drain King, and hooked it up again.  I shoved it down into the sewer, and yes, I had to stick my hand down into the raw sewage to get it positioned properly.  But I figured, it was my sewage.  Any germs in it came out of me in the first place, so there you go. 

I turned it on, and let it run a good, long time this time.  After about 15 minutes, I checked the other cleanout, and water seemed to be flowing pretty freely.  I turned off the Drain King and removed it.  Once it was deflated and out of the pipe, all the water that had been upstream of that cleanout flowed right on down the line.  Hopefully, that means I got the clog cleared for good.  I'll just have to keep and eye on it, and if it keeps clogging up, I'll have to get a plumber to come out and cam the line to see what the problem is. 

Update:  I just went out and checked it, and it's clogged up again.  I guess I need to try to find a plumber who will actually show up.  Which requires finding one who will return calls first...Wish me luck. 

Finally, let's end on a bit of good news.  This little Christmas cactus seems to be getting a bit more green to it, so maybe it'll survive after all. 

Even if it doesn't, I still have some red blooms. Look!

Somehow, a sprig of the red cactus got planted with what I thought were all salmon blooms.  

It ought to be really interesting come fall. 

The Fall

 The blog will be observing a day of silence in memory of those brave men who fell 185 years ago today.

Remember them.  

 

This Cat Of Mine

 This cat of mine.  

She does more than just lay on the keyboard criticizing me.  She also hunts.  Then she brings me the things she's caught.  Some days, the things she's caught, that she brings into the house, to give to me....aren't dead.

Today was just such one day.  She brought ... I'm not even sure what it was.  It had a short tail like a vole, but it was huge -- almost rat sized.  She brought it into the house and let it go.  It promptly ran behind the love seat, and oh, boy!  I got to go rat hunting in my living room!  Yippee!

At least this one was too big to run behind the entertainment center.  I finally cornered it, and bludgeoned the thing to death with the butt of my BB gun.  The cat and I then had a long talk about her job performance.  

In other news, I got an email from Photobucket.  Apparently, they'd moved to a new server, or sold the site or something, and I needed to reactivate my account.  I did, even though I hadn't used Photobucket in so long, I'd plumb forgotten I even had an account.  

I also forgot I used to draw, and I wasn't half bad at it.  I could have been better, but I wasn't too bad.  In fact, the whole reason I started this blog way back in 2005 was to host my sketches.  It was originally titled Sketches And More, but I thought that was a dumb name.  Somewhere along the line, I hosted a contest to come up with a new one, and the winning entry was what is now the current name of the blog.  

It was meant to showcase my Fine art:

my Martial art:

(My sensei and I -- I'm pretty sure this is the day I got my black belt.)

and my Fiber art:

(Rona Shawl, pattern from Knit Picks -- which is apparently no longer available.  This was given to my sister for Christmas.)

It was kind of fun seeing things I'd completely forgotten about.  I might share more of it sometime in the future.  

The only other thing I did today was to start some of my wildflower seeds, but they don't look like anything yet.  I put seeds in 66 peat pellets, and still have a ton of them left.  Seeds,  I mean.  Not pellets.  I have an old tire in the shed which I've been thinking about turning into a planter for years.  Maybe this will be the year.  Maybe it won't.  

Who knows?  

That's about all I have for today, so here is your Texas History moment, for Day 12 Of The Siege.  

Windfall

 I got me a bit of a windfall today.  And the manner in which this came about is as follows.  

The plant fed us lunch.  They do this from time to time -- mostly to try to make us forget how horrible a place it is to work.  Anyway, today's lunch was catered by a local business called Small Time Hot Dogs. 

Folks, I'm here to tell you, if you're ever in Mississippi and see that Small Time Hot Dogs Truck, stop and get you one.  Do not pass GO, do not collect $200,  Just stop and get you one.  Or two.  Or twelve.  They are that good.  

I went in and got my plate, and they usually put two hot dogs on each one.  Today was no different.  The plan was to have one for lunch, and save the other for supper.  I was in the break area, happily eating my hot dog, when I heard a voice behind me call, "Anybody want a chili cheese dog?  Anyone?"  Turning around, I stuck my hand in the air and said, "I'll take it."  

My coworker brought me the hot dog, and I thanked her profusely.  About that time, another coworker sitting at the next table said, "I should have given you my hot dogs, too."  She explained that she'd forgotten they were going to feed us, and had ordered a hamburger  She went and got the hot dogs, but really wanted to eat her hamburger.  I replied, "I surely would have appreciated it."  

Then she said, "They're right over there on my work station.  Go on and get them."  So, I did.  

And that, Gentle Reader, is how I ended up with five meals out of one (including today's lunch).  In these uncertain times, you don't turn down free food.  Three of the leftover hotdogs are now wrapped and tucked safely into my freezer, and the fourth is in my refrigerator, and will probably be my supper tomorrow. 

Not only that, something just hit me.  I mean, just now, as I was typing this.  

This morning, I hadn't slept well, and 2:45 came mighty early.  I was tired, worn out, frustrated.  Almost on the verge of tears.  Feeling so alone in the world.   

There was a song playing on the radio ( I keep it on K-LOVE).  This one:

In a moment of near blasphemy, I told the radio, "Unless your Jesus can pay my bills, I don't want to hear about him."  

I immediately repented, and we (me and my Jesus) had a moment.  He understands exhaustion.  After all, he was once so tired, he slept through a storm on the Sea of Galilee.  I went on about my day, not thinking much more on it.  Until I was typing this blog post up and I realized what my Jesus had done for me.

My Jesus just gave me a week's worth of suppers.  With all the condiments included.  So, in a way, he did pay my bills for me.  

I feel both very grateful and very humble at the same time, and very much ashamed of my outburst this morning.

Now I get it.  Now I truly get Romans 5:8.  

In other news, after much soul searching and pondering, I've come to the conclusion that maybe I'm just too far North to successfully grown bluebonnets.  Looking at the map, if I head straight West as the crow flies, I will end up in southern Oklahoma.  Just across the Red River. But Oklahoma nonetheless.  I don't know.  

I've also come to the conclusion that I am incredibly stubborn.  Why do I say this?  Because I bought four, yes, four more packets of Bluebonnet seeds.

I'm going to save these and plant them in September, because that's when the wild ones tend to germinate.  Every year, I'd always thought to myself sometime in early September, "Man, I should have bought some bluebonnet seeds and saved them," but I never had.  Well, now I have.  We'll see if that makes a difference. 

As if that weren't proof enough that I just can't seem to learn, I also bought a packet of wildflower seeds.  

I'm going to recycle those peat pellets in which the bluebonnet seeds didn't germinate and plant these in them.  I might even dig out that old fire pit and make a flower bed out of it after all.

Because, yes, I am that stubborn. 

And finally, it's Day 11 of the Siege.  

I Could Cry

I could just cry. 

I came home from work this afternoon, and more of my little bluebonnet seedlings have died.  

I'm heartbroken.  I'd had such high hopes, but it looks like out of 72 peat pellets, it looks like I might get 4-6 surviving plants.  It seems it's just not my lot to have any bluebonnets.  I keep on planting them, and they keep on dying.  Maybe I should just give up.

At least the one in my flower bed is holding its own. 

No buds yet, but it hasn't died, either.  So there is that.  I just can't seem to grow anything from seeds.  Not even wildflowers.  I can't even tell you how many packets of wildflower seeds I've planted and none of them have grown.  I don't know what I'm doing wrong.  I think I'm just going to give up on all of it.  

All of it.  

I'd still  been thinking about turning that old fire pit into a flower bed, but at this point, I'm so discouraged, I think I'll just pull the whole thing up and do away with it.  I'm tired of mowing around it anyway.  

Moving right along...

There I was at work, just a working away, when the maintenance man came around and told everyone they'd be shutting down the power again.  This was yesterday, by the way.  At first, the brazing trainer told us to go outside and stand by the fence, but Group Leader Shark came right behind her and told us to clock out.  Then people started asking, "Do we go home?"  

Um, yes.  Once I'm clocked out, I'm on my own time.  I'm not staying up at the plant on my own time!  

I guess they figured that since it was almost quitting time, there wasn't any sense having us just standing around with no power for the last hour of the day.  Whatever the reason, I had a whole extra hour at home.   What did I do with that extra hour?  I practiced my piano.  A real practice, too, not just a hurried rush-through, which is all I can usually do this time of year.  I actually did some Hannon's too, then played my lesson music without feeling like I needed to rush.  It was so nice. 

This morning, I got up at 2:45 and went on in to work at 4:00, as per my usual.   There, I was greeted at the door by third shift supervisor, saying, "You can't come in until 5:00."  The power was still out, and he said the maintenance men were coming in at 4:30 to start turning it all back on.  Being that I only live 5 minutes from the plant, naturally, I did what any red blooded American would do.  I went back home and cooked myself a regular breakfast, which I then ate leisurely with a cup of hot coffee.  

I'm telling you, you feel so much better with some actual nutrition in your body than when you're trying to work 7 hours with nothing but water to fuel your body. 

I went back to work an hour later, and after a few moments, the power came back and we were able to work.  They sent the assembly lines home at 9:00, but guess who had to stay day long?  Yep.  I was so hoping they'd let us go early, too, but no...At least we got a little bit ahead.  For now. 

And finally...It's day 10 of the siege:

Independence Day

*Note:  Today's video is at the bottom, and a personal note below that.  

The Unanimous Declaration of Independence made by the Delegates of the People of Texas in General Convention at the Town of Washington on the 2nd day of March 1836;

When a government has ceased to protect the lives, liberty and property of the people, from whom its legitimate powers are derived, and for the advancement of whose happiness it was instituted, and so far from being a guarantee for the enjoyment of those inestimable and inalienable rights, becomes an instrument in the hands of evil rulers for their oppression.

When the Federal Republican Constitution of their country, which they have sworn to support, no longer has a substantial existence, and the whole nature of their government has been forcibly changed, without their consent, from a restricted federative republic, composed of sovereign states, to a consolidated central military despotism, in which every interest is disregarded but that of the army and the priesthood, both the eternal enemies of civil liberty, the ever ready minions of power, and the usual instruments of tyrants.

When, long after the spirit of the constitution has departed, moderation is at length so far lost by those in power, that even the semblance of freedom is removed, and the forms themselves of the constitution discontinued, and so far from their petitions and remonstrances being regarded, the agents who bear them are thrown into dungeons, and mercenary armies sent forth to force a new government upon them at the point of the bayonet.

When, in consequence of such acts of malfeasance and abdication on the part of the government, anarchy prevails, and civil society is dissolved into its original elements. In such a crisis, the first law of nature, the right of self-preservation, the inherent and inalienable rights of the people to appeal to first principles, and take their political affairs into their own hands in extreme cases, enjoins it as a right towards themselves, and a sacred obligation to their posterity, to abolish such government, and create another in its stead, calculated to rescue them from impending dangers, and to secure their future welfare and happiness.

Nations, as well as individuals, are amenable for their acts to the public opinion of mankind. A statement of a part of our grievances is therefore submitted to an impartial world, in justification of the hazardous but unavoidable step now taken, of severing our political connection with the Mexican people, and assuming an independent attitude among the nations of the earth.

The Mexican government, by its colonization laws, invited and induced the Anglo-American population of Texas to colonize its wilderness under the pledged faith of a written constitution, that they should continue to enjoy that constitutional liberty and republican government to which they had been habituated in the land of their birth, the United States of America.

In this expectation they have been cruelly disappointed, inasmuch as the Mexican nation has acquiesced in the late changes made in the government by General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, who having overturned the constitution of his country, now offers us the cruel alternative, either to abandon our homes, acquired by so many privations, or submit to the most intolerable of all tyranny, the combined despotism of the sword and the priesthood.

It has sacrificed our welfare to the state of Coahuila, by which our interests have been continually depressed through a jealous and partial course of legislation, carried on at a far distant seat of government, by a hostile majority, in an unknown tongue, and this too, notwithstanding we have petitioned in the humblest terms for the establishment of a separate state government, and have, in accordance with the provisions of the national constitution, presented to the general Congress a republican constitution, which was, without just cause, contemptuously rejected.

It incarcerated in a dungeon, for a long time, one of our citizens, for no other cause but a zealous endeavor to procure the acceptance of our constitution, and the establishment of a state government.
It has failed and refused to secure, on a firm basis, the right of trial by jury, that palladium of civil liberty, and only safe guarantee for the life, liberty, and property of the citizen.

It has failed to establish any public system of education, although possessed of almost boundless resources, (the public domain,) and although it is an axiom in political science, that unless a people are educated and enlightened, it is idle to expect the continuance of civil liberty, or the capacity for self government.

It has suffered the military commandants, stationed among us, to exercise arbitrary acts of oppression and tyrrany, thus trampling upon the most sacred rights of the citizens, and rendering the military superior to the civil power.

It has dissolved, by force of arms, the state Congress of Coahuila and Texas, and obliged our representatives to fly for their lives from the seat of government, thus depriving us of the fundamental political right of representation.

It has demanded the surrender of a number of our citizens, and ordered military detachments to seize and carry them into the Interior for trial, in contempt of the civil authorities, and in defiance of the laws and the constitution.

It has made piratical attacks upon our commerce, by commissioning foreign desperadoes, and authorizing them to seize our vessels, and convey the property of our citizens to far distant ports for confiscation.

It denies us the right of worshipping the Almighty according to the dictates of our own conscience, by the support of a national religion, calculated to promote the temporal interest of its human functionaries, rather than the glory of the true and living God.

It has demanded us to deliver up our arms, which are essential to our defence, the rightful property of freemen, and formidable only to tyrannical governments.

It has invaded our country both by sea and by land, with intent to lay waste our territory, and drive us from our homes; and has now a large mercenary army advancing, to carry on against us a war of extermination.

It has, through its emissaries, incited the merciless savage, with the tomahawk and scalping knife, to massacre the inhabitants of our defenseless frontiers.

It hath been, during the whole time of our connection with it, the contemptible sport and victim of successive military revolutions, and hath continually exhibited every characteristic of a weak, corrupt, and tyrranical government.

These, and other grievances, were patiently borne by the people of Texas, untill they reached that point at which forbearance ceases to be a virtue. We then took up arms in defence of the national constitution. We appealed to our Mexican brethren for assistance. Our appeal has been made in vain. Though months have elapsed, no sympathetic response has yet been heard from the Interior.

We are, therefore, forced to the melancholy conclusion, that the Mexican people have acquiesced in the destruction of their liberty, and the substitution therfor of a military government; that they are unfit to be free, and incapable of self government.

The necessity of self-preservation, therefore, now decrees our eternal political separation.
We, therefore, the delegates with plenary powers of the people of Texas, in solemn convention assembled, appealing to a candid world for the necessities of our condition, do hereby resolve and declare, that our political connection with the Mexican nation has forever ended, and that the people of Texas do now constitute a free, Sovereign, and independent republic, and are fully invested with all the rights and attributes which properly belong to independent nations; and, conscious of the rectitude of our intentions, we fearlessly and confidently commit the issue to the decision of the Supreme arbiter of the destinies of nations.

[Signed, in the order shown on the handwritten document]

John S. D. Byrom
Francis Ruis
J. Antonio Navarro
Jesse B. Badgett
Wm D. Lacy
William Menifee
Jn. Fisher
Matthew Caldwell
William Motley
Lorenzo de Zavala
Stephen H. Everett
George W. Smyth
Elijah Stapp
Claiborne West
Wm. B. Scates
M. B. Menard
A. B. Hardin
J. W. Bunton
Thos. J. Gazley
R. M. Coleman
Sterling C. Robertson
Richard Ellis, President
of the Convention and Delegate
from Red River
James Collinsworth
Edwin Waller
Asa Brigham
Charles B. Stewart
Thomas Barnett
Geo. C. Childress
Bailey Hardeman
Rob. Potter
Thomas Jefferson Rusk
Chas. S. Taylor
John S. Roberts
Robert Hamilton
Collin McKinney
Albert H. Latimer
James Power
Sam Houston
David Thomas
Edwd. Conrad
Martin Parmer
Edwin O. Legrand
Stephen W. Blount
Jms. Gaines
Wm. Clark, Jr.
Sydney O. Pennington
Wm. Carrol Crawford
Jno. Turner
Benj. Briggs Goodrich
G. W. Barnett
James G. Swisher
Jesse Grimes
S. Rhoads Fisher
John W. Moore
John W. Bower
Saml. A. Maverick (from Bejar)
Sam P. Carson
A. Briscoe
J. B. Woods
H. S. Kimble, Secretary





Personal note:  When you scroll through the names of the signers of the Declaration, you will come across a man called Claiborne West.  I'm told the vote which elected him to be the delegate was held on my great-great-great grandfather William Abraham Winfree's farm.  

William Abraham Winfree settled in Texas in 1830, and received his official land grant in 1831.  So, yes, I've had ancestors in Texas from when it was still part of Mexico.

Spring!

 Happy first day of Spring!

Meteorological Spring, that is.  And in honor of the occasion, I've got my first daffodil blooming!

Sorry about my phone's shadow.  I tried every which way to take the picture without getting it in there, but just couldn't do it.   To make up for that slight, here is a jonquil, too. 

It's the only one I've got blooming, but hey, we take what we can get.    

Today was an absolutely gorgeous day, totally befitting the first day of Spring.  After work, I got out into the shed and got that old baker's rack out and put it onto the front porch.  All my babies are right at home on it. 

While I was doing that, I noticed some of my bluebonnet seedlings had roots growing out through the bottoms of their peat pellets and they looked like they were starting to dry out.  I got a little of my Miracle Gro sphagnum moss and put it into the bottom of the box.  

I dampened the moss just a teeny bit, then nestled the peat pellets down into it, making sure the roots were covered. Hopefully, that will keep the roots from dying, and maybe perk some of the struggling ones a bit.  We shall see. 

And now, since 1836 was a leap year and 2022 isn't,  you get an extra Texas History moment today.  Just pretend it's February 29 for two minutes:

And here is your Texas History moment for March 1st:

I reckon that's it for today.  Unfortunately, nothing exciting is happening in my world right now, so the blog is a bit dull.  

Unless you want to hear me gripe about work, I mean.  And I'm just not up for that today.  

Maybe tomorrow...