I Remember. Do You?

Tell it to your children, and let your children tell it to their children, and their children to the next generation.  -- Joel 1 : 3

So that we may never forget.

Amazing

 It's amazing how much you can get accomplished having just one extra day off.  I won't go into all the sordid details of my housework, but I got a lot done over the Labor Day holiday.  Alas, it's not to be this coming weekend.  They've already put the schedule out for Saturday.  Sigh, we just can't get a break, can we?

Except that I can.  Thanks to judicious scheduling of my vacation days, this will be my last Saturday for the year -- unless I choose to come back and work one.  I'd started back during the last recession, when we were working 24 and 32 hour weeks, so I started saving my vacation days to make up those hours.  I got kind of spoiled having those long weekends every Fall, so I kept on doing it even after the recession ended and we were working full 40 hour weeks again. 

Frankly, I'll be glad when work slows down some.  Don't get me wrong, I love the paychecks I get with all this overtime, but boy these long, long hours are wearying.  It feels like you don't have time to do anything.  By the time you get home, eat a little bit, take a bath, it's time for bed.  That's why you didn't get a post yesterday. 

I was going to post.  Really I was, but there is activity in the tropics.  Any time there is activity in the tropics, I have to watch the governor's press conferences to hear MEMA director Greg Michel give his report on the activity in the tropics.  I like Director Michel.  He is very no nonsense and to the point.  He's like:

This is what's happening.

This is what we're going to do about it.

This is how much it will cost.

This is who you need to contact to get it done.

And this concludes my report. 

By the way, if you want to follow a really good weather man on Facebook, look up Scot Pilie'.  He's out of New Orleans and gives a lot of information on hurricanes and such. 

But I digress...so, there I was watching the press conference and they were talking about changes to the DMVs that will make it faster and easier to get your driver's license renewed, including a line cam, so you can go to the website and see how long the line is before you go all the way down there, plus they're adding the ability to make an appointment ahead of time.  Of course, you can still get your license  renewed online.  That hasn't changed.  This isn't state wide yet, but is currently limited to certain areas so they can work the bugs out.  They hope to have it rolled out state wide by sometime next month (if I remember right.)

They also said that firearms permit renewals will be mail in only.  He said there's no need to go down and get fingerprinted again for renewals, because you did that the first time, so they are eliminating that step.  All you have to do now is mail in your renewal application and fee, and they'll mail your permit back.  And first time firearms permits are no longer limited to Wednesdays.  You can go in any day of the week. But double check me on that, in case I'm telling you wrong. 

I'd only just got finished watching that when the daughter in law of my across the street neighbor messaged me and asked me to keep an eye out on him.  He's got dementia, and it's started to really progress in recent days.  They've had to disable his truck so he couldn't drive any more, and they also  have home caregivers coming in a few times a week.  She was concerned that he might call someone to try to fix his truck, thinking it was just broken down or something, so she asked me to let her know if I see someone over there working on his truck.  I said I'd help when I could, but I felt kind of bad, because I'm still up at the plant 11 hours a day.  

After all that, had just enough time to practice my piano and go to bed, so you didn't get a blog.  I was going to tell you that despite having to go back to work, it was still a good day, because my stalker wasn't there.  It's always a good day when he's not there. 

The day was made even better, because when I got home, I had a bottle of invisible ink waiting for me!

Thanks to my friend and enabler Kristine, I suddenly realized I really needed some invisible ink.  Naturally, I did what any red blooded American would do.  I got on Amazon and ordered some.  And of course, invisible ink isn't any good without an ultraviolet light with which to read it. 

Just a word of caution, however, make sure your fountain pen is completely clean before you fill it with this ink.  I thought my pen was, but alas, it had just enough black ink left in it to ruin the glow in the dark properties of my UV ink. 

On the other hand, if you dip a cotton swab into the ink bottle, then turn on your UV light, you will practically blind yourself.  Ask me how I know.  

The long and the short of it is, if you end up receiving a blank piece of paper in the mail....it just might not be blank after all...

Well, I got brave and put up a bunch of unbreakable decorations up on my mantle.

Can you see my Uncle Si tea glass back there?  Normally I use a glass vase for those flowers, but I didn't want to risk it being the mantle isn't actually attached to anything.  

The only thing I'm not sure about is those two plates.  I like the way they look, but for the last several years, I'd been putting them on this shelf, behind these decorations. 

I'm debating on whether to move them back or not, since the shelf looks kind of empty now, and finding something else to put on the mantle.  Or maybe I could find some other sort of back drop for the shelf, and leaving the plates on the mantle.  I don't know.  I'll look next time I go into the store. 

That's about it for tonight.  It's almost my bedtime and I still haven't practiced my piano.  Sigh, I hate feeling so rushed all the time.  Maybe it's time I started looking for a new job -- one that didn't drive us into the ground like a bunch of dogs.  

I Only Wanted A Mantle

 And the saga continues...

First, a bit of backstory or those of you who may be new to the blog and my boring life.  Five years ago, I bought me a new house.  I knew it was a fixer upper when I bought it, and I wish I'd been in a financial position at that time to mortgage enough extra to completely remodel it.  Alas, I only got the mortgage by the skin of my teeth as it was.  I've been trying to do some work on it, but mostly it's been cosmetic -- painting and the like. 

One of those cosmetic things was to strip all the thick, sticky, gloppy paint off of my fireplace and re-paint it.   Part of that process included pulling the mantle down and stripping it as well.  I'm not sure what kind of paint the previous owners used, but everything I put on those mantles stuck.  The paint was thick and rubbery, and when I was stripping the mantle, it peeled off in huge sheets.  

The mantle was easy enough to pull off, as it was only attached to the wall with four or five large nails, driven in at an angle.  It's proven much more difficult to put back up.  

A couple of years ago, I'd bought some blind shelf brackets, and Cody put up half of my mantle.  That's when we discovered we couldn't use those brackets with the mantle I have, because the corners are mitered.  He said he was going to buy more wood and build me an all new mantle, but he never did.  Last Fall, I asked him if he was still going to do that, or should I just hire someone.  He said he still intended to, but again, he hasn't done it. 

As it happens, I was going to put out my fall decorations this weekend, and I decided that by golly, I was tired of waiting.  I got the bright idea that I could use masonry screws and just screw the wood into the bricks themselves.  Well, I was aiming for the mortar between the bricks.  Turns out, that wasn't such a bright idea after all.  All that happened was the mortar crumbled and the mantle fell off anyway. 

It was at this moment, I sat down and had a bit of a meltdown.  Not a total meltdown, but well... I expressed some frustration.  

A few moments later, I got out of the chair and set the mantle into place, weighing it down with some bricks I'd found in the back yard, and began trying to think of a solution.  

I thought about driving wood screws through them, but after the previous owner and Cody had both driven nails/screws into the studs, I didn't think it would be too stable.  Too many holes in the studs.

For now, it's going to stay just like it is. Those pavers are pretty heavy, and they are keeping the boards surprisingly stable.  I wouldn't risk putting anything fragile or valuable on them, but they'll hold some leafy garland and maybe a Styrofoam pumpkin or two.  Lightweight stuff. 

But it got me to thinking...what if I got some construction adhesive and glued the board to the bricks, then used this old bit of framing as trim?

I wish I had a table saw.  Then I could rip it length wise and it would look so much better.  It's a bit wide as it is.  

I know some of you probably choked when I mentioned construction adhesive, but whatever I do will be a temporary fix anyway.  When I get the house remodeled, I want to pull that whole thing down and replace it.  I don't like the bricks that are there in the first place, and want to put a different kind -- I'm thinking the smooth ones that make up the base there.  If I can get them colored a very light gray, they might look like stones.  That's the look I was going for when I painted the bricks that are there, but that paint dried a lot darker than I thought it would.  I'm not going to go back and re-do it, though.  It'll just have to stay as it is. 

Speaking of dark, I love the dark walnut stain I put on the boards, but I'm debating anyway about sanding it down and re-staining it a lighter color, since that's a very dark corner anyway.   I keep going back and forth.  Half the time, I think it looks fine the way it is; the other half I'm thinking, "No, it'll look better lighter."  I can't make up my mind.

I'll probably just leave it as it is for now. 

While we're dreaming, even though the stove I have is a good one, I'd really like to have one that you can see the flames through the doors, like this one.

It'll add a real ambiance to that corner.

The only other thing I did was to drag my fall decorations from the shed into the house. 

You would know, the box with the fall stuff was on the very bottom of the stack. 

Heh, if that's not a metaphor for my life, I don't know what is. 

Random Thoughts Of A Wednesday Evening

 1.  I was thisclose to calling in this morning and telling them I needed to take a day off for personal reasons.  Those reasons being I am tired and need a day off.  I didn't, though.  I dragged my wearing body out of bed and went on to work, hoping beyond hope that they would give us Saturday off for the Labor Day weekend. 

2.  I recently finished another hat.  I just haven't taken the time to blog and show it to you. 

The yarn is Caron Simply Soft in the Gold Ombre colorway.  I'm getting the urge to knit something besides hats all the time, but what with these long hours we're working, I simply don't have the mojo for that. 

3.  I seem to have lost my blogging mojo, also.  I seem to have lost a lot of mojo for a lot of things.  Knitting, letter writing, even piano playing to an extent.  I feel like I'm just existing these days.  I feel it's all I can do at this point -- just try to make it through each day as it comes.  

4.  They didn't, by the way.  Give us Saturday off, that is. 

5.  My twins are growing up.

One is a little buck and one is a doe.  I occasionally see the grown does, but that's about it.  I don't know if the others have just wandered off, or what.  I rarely see any other bucks but this little one.  It's been fun watching his antlers grow.  He should be shedding his velvet some time this month.  I can't wait to see that!

6.  Happy first day of fall, y'all!  A day late.  Oh, yes it is.  September 1 is the first day of meteorological fall.  Astronomical fall starts after the Autumnal Equinox on September 22, however, since I observe the meteorological calendar, I'm going to start putting out my fall decorations this weekend.  Well, I'll drag the box in from the shed, at least.  I don't know how much else will get done, but it's a start. 

7.  This is my life.  Every day.

See him back there?  Standing there.  Staring...OK, he turned his head when he saw me with the camera, but that's him.  Stalker.  I can't even get away from him in my dreams.  Last night, I dreamed that Cody and I had gone to Texas.  We were staying with my cousins, Bev and James.  Cody and I were going to go somewhere, when Stalker stormed into Beverly's kitchen, demanding to know why I was with another man.  Bev told him, "That's her son!"  Stalker muttered something I couldn't quite make out, and Bev repeated, "That is her son, and my grandson, and how dare you make such an implication!"  

8.  Cody isn't her grandson, by the way.  Bev's mom and my dad were siblings , and Cody knows the relationship.  However, he's the same age as some of her grandkids, and they all grew up together.  He really thinks of them more as grandparents than first cousins once removed.  

9. One of my coworkers said The Boss Who Must Not Be Named had told her that a lot of people will be out Saturday.  She said, "If they already know a lot of people will be out, why did they even schedule us to work?"  I replied, "You must be new here."  

10.  Another one of my coworkers -- not Stalker-- came up to me and said, "Hey, sexy bearded dude!"  I said, "It could be worse.  I could be ugly bearded dude."  He came back with, "It could be even worse than that.  You could be ugly bearded annoying dude!"  Gee, I wonder who he could have meant when he said that?

11.  This morning, I asked about my coworker who fell out last week.  The one who tested positive.  Her friend told me she hadn't spoken to her since Saturday, but she was not having a good day then.  They were have a very hard time keeping her blood pressure regulated.  

12.  Since we spoke last, we've had two new tropical storms develop -- Nana and Omar.  Omar is dying, but Nana is expected to become a hurricane later tonight.  She isn't supposed to be a threat to the U.S., but will cross over the narrowest part of Central America and move into the Pacific.  Kind of the opposite of what Cristobal did.  

13.  I finally broke down and took an allergy pill.  I hate taking them because they make me so dry, but it was bad to the point I couldn't breathe.  I'm already feeling much better.  My chest has loosened up and it's much easier to breathe, now.  

14.  I guess that's it for now.  Goodnight, all!

And Then There Were None

 Whelp, the last supervisor standing has fallen.  No, he doesn't have the corona, as far as I know, but he's been put into quarantine, along with Group Leader Shark.  He was the last supervisor left -- at least on day shift -- who hadn't been put into quarantine at least once.  And the way it happened is as follows. 

A couple of days ago, one of the ladies over in tubing fell out.  Now, in the interest of full disclosure, I didn't see any of this happen.  Another coworker told me about it after the fact.  Anyway, she fell out.  I don't know if she lost consciousness completely, but when they -- and by "they" I mean the first responders --got her up, she'd pooped on herself.  That is never good. 

Word came back Friday that she'd tested positive, so some of those who'd rendered first aid to her went into quarantine.  I'm not sure why all of them didn't go, but I guess the safety people felt they didn't need to.  

By the way, because the plant is so far out, and ambulance service here in town is iffy at best, we have our own team of EMTs on site.  They are usually supervisors and group leaders who've been through the training and can render first aid until the ambulance gets there.  Which sometimes takes 30 minutes or more.  

You know, or maybe you don't if you're new to this blog, it's been a tradition in my family for years to get a new ornament for our Christmas tree every year.  Sometimes, it's just a random ornament that I liked, but frequently, I try to get something that represented a significant event that occurred during the year.  This being the year of the plague, how could I resist?

It'll be perfect for 2020!  

Speaking of Christmas, my laptop speakers aren't working correctly.  I'm a bit aggravated about that, because my laptop is less than a year old.  They'll get loud, then cut out, then get loud again.  Cody thinks it might be a driver issue, but I'm thinking it might be a loose wire or something.  I've had some external laptop speakers for about ten-ish years, and the sound is just fine when I plug them in, so I'm not sure it's a driver.  And usually, getting any work done on a cheap laptop isn't worth the cost.  

Since it happened a few weeks ago, I've been using my external speakers, but as I said before, I've had them for ten-ish years, and after using them for so long, my they've have given up the ghost.  I watch a lot of videos on my laptop, so naturally, I did what any red blooded American would do.  I went onto Amazon and ordered some new speakers.

 

They are quite a bit bigger than I thought they'd be, but they've got a good sound.  Since I'm still streaming church, I'll have no problem hearing the sermon now. 

After I placed my order, I got a bit of a surprise.  See this book?  

Yeah, I thought it was in the Save For Later section of my cart.  Apparently it wasn't.  I now have a whole book of Christmas music.  It's a little too advanced for where I am in my piano lessons, but hopefully, by next year, I can play some songs from it. 

I'll let you know how that goes.  

And finally, it looks like my family all escaped any serious damage from hurricane  Laura.  Power is still out in many places, and my brother said he's not going home until the power is back on.  The good news is, the cattle are all OK.  I was more worried about them, because there was no way to evacuate them.  They were just stuck riding the storm out.  

The really exciting news is, President Trump, Governor Abbot, and Senator Cruz were all in my hometown!  I don't care what your politics are, I think that's pretty cool.  

Brief

 This is going to be a brief post, because I've been neglecting my piano to keep the blog updated.  Oh, I've been practicing, but not like I should.  I'm just dropping in to let you know that my hometown was spared the full wrath of Laura. 

Lake Charles, Louisiana took the worst of it, but still, once again Jesus arose and rebuked the wind, and though the damage is great, it's not nearly as bad as it could have been.  I'm not going to post a bunch of photos, because if you want to see them, there are plenty to be found online.  I did want to show you this one.  To me, this is probably the most worrisome.

This is the Isle of Capri riverboat casino, which broke loose from its moorings and struck the Lake Charles Bridge.  They're saying it's stuck there.  The truly worrisome part is, that bridge has already been declared unsound by structural engineers.  We don't even drive over it any more...except when Cody and I are talking about rice dryers and he misses the loop...then you pray the whole way over it, "Please don't collapse today."  

Before I go, just one thing more.  My new mask was a big hit at work. 

I think Stalker was a bit jealous.  Why?  Because today, I had a better beard than he does.  

He he he.   

The Whelming Flood

 My concern finally got the better of me, so this morning, I tracked down one of the supervisors and asked him how Other Boss was doing.  He told me Other Boss is doing better.  He'd been very sick for a while, but seems to have turned a corner.   His wife, on the other hand, has been put into hospice care.  She is not expected to survive.   

Also, remember my friend's pastor who died last week?  This morning, she told me his wife has also died.  Both died of COVID.

Of course, the big news of the day is the monster storm bearing down on the Texas and Louisiana coast. 

Heh, you know you're a weather geek when the first thing you do after you wake up is to grab your phone and check the status of the hurricane.  I can neither confirm nor deny that that is exactly what I did this morning.  Just in case you're living under a rock and haven't heard, Laura strengthened to a Category 2 overnight, and as of this writing, sits at a strong Category 4.  Her sustained winds are at 150 MPH -- only 7 miles shy of a Category 5.  The National Hurricane Center is saying she will produce an "unsurvivable" storm surge.  

I've never in my life heard of that, but it's what they're saying.  It's so bad, the National Weather Service in Lake Charles, LA evacuated.  It's so bad, my baby brother Scott and his wife have evacuated.  He's never evacuated from a hurricane in his life, so you know it's serious.  Beverly and James have also evacuated.  Beverly told me, "We're getting too old to ride this stuff out."  

By the way, The Jim is in my hometown.  

I feel a lot better knowing my family and most of my friends have turned tail and run.  And there is no shame at all in fleeing before a storm of this magnitude. It is the better part of valor, you know.   

Discretion.  

 

Hurricanes and Soup

I finally heard back from the produce company.  They apologized for taking so long, and explained that their e-mail isn't checked regularly.  No matter.  They said they don't deliver to private residences, only to food banks and churches.  So, apparently, someone at a local church wanted to give me a gift.  Good thing, because I'd already eaten the tomatoes.  I also used some of the potatoes to make soup.  

Now, when I make soup, I don't use a recipe.  I start with chicken broth, then just throw stuff in until it's done.  The problem with that is when I make a really good soup, I can't remember how I did it, so I can't make it again.  And this soup was really good, too.  But I can't remember how I made it.  Bummer. 

In other news, I got an unexpected couple of hours off of work today.  They didn't have any work for us to do, so they sent most of the sub-brazers home at 10:30.  After standing around doing nothing for several hours, they powers that be finally threw in the towel and sent the rest of us home at 2:30.  

So, what did I do with my extra hour and a half?  Was I productive?  Did I get some necessary chores done?  Did I even perform such a simple task as folding the laundry?  No.  I made some mac and cheese and watched Dr. Pimple Popper.

I don't recommend that if you have a weak stomach. 

I have a valid excuse, though.  It was raining.  I'm not completely sure, but I think it's something Marco dragged along behind him.  There wasn't any wind, just a slow and steady rain.  I'm not even mad, and my yard is very glad to get a drink.  Me, I just hope it settles some of this dust down.

I probably ought to point out that this isn't Sahara dust. That's long since gone.  This is just dust from not having any significant rain in about 6 weeks. It's pretty bad.  My poor supervisor's eyes were so swollen from it, he couldn't even come to work yesterday.  

All I could say once again was,  may the odds be ever in your favor. 

And finally, Laura's track has shifted westward again.  

We'll probably still get some wind and rain, but yes, my poor hometown is likely to take a direct hit. Again.  

Oh Christ, whose voice the waters heard

And hushed their raging at thy word

Who walked upon the foaming deep

And calm amidst its rage did sleep

Oh hear us when we cry to thee

For those in peril from the sea.

Fizzled

Looks like we got a little bit of a break weatherwise, as it seems Marco has fizzled.  He's made landfall as barely a tropical storm, but is still causing flooding along the coast.  

However, Laura still presents a bit of a threat.  Quite a bit of a threat, as a matter of fact.

She is expected to strengthen into a category 2 hurricane before making landfall.  As of right now, we're still in the cone, even though she'll probably be weakened back to a tropical storm before she gets here.  

Hard to say for sure, as she seems to be dancing a jig over Cuba.  I do hope we get some rain from her.  It's been so dry here lately that my grass is dying.  On the bright side, that means I haven't had to mow as much.  

By the way, if any of my friends down south need a place to evacuate to, my door is open to you and to your pets.  We might end up having a dog fight or two, but we'll get through it.  Also, I have plenty of clean, unused disposable masks if you need one.  I won't shame you or call you a sheep for wearing one, as some people will.  Nor will I shame you for not wearing one.  It's your choice, and I'll respect whichever one you make. 

While we're on the subject, remember back on August 3 when all those people at work had been diagnosed with COVID?  They're all back, except for one.  I mentioned to my coworker, "I'm getting really concerned about Other Boss."  She said, "They said he's not doing well, nor his wife, either."  

"His wife has the COVID, too?"  I said.  "Yep," my coworker said, "and neither one of them are doing well."  So, if you wouldn't mind, lift them up in your prayers, please.  I've already lost two coworkers and an old friend to this horrible virus that some of you still insist is fake.  I don't want to lose anyone else.

My supervisor likes to start the day by calling, "HEY TUBING!  Hoo -de -hoo!" and we all call "Hoo - de - hoo!" back.  However, here lately, we've just been saying, "May the odds be ever in your favor."  

I think that's going to be my motto for the rest of the year...

Just When You Thought

 Just when you thought 2020 couldn't get any weirder...

And what would be causing Jim such consternation?  Maybe because he doesn't quite know where to go.

Honestly, this is the most exciting thing that has happened here lately.  Well, except for that whole global pandemic thing, that is.  

So, we've got Laura to the East and Marco to the West, and I'm stuck in the middle...of Laura's track.  If they both develop into hurricanes, it will be the first time in recorded history that there have been two hurricanes in the Gulf at the same time.  I'm totally geeking out on this.  

On a completely unrelated note, I seem to have acquired a new nickname at work -- The Weather Channel.  All righty then...

I've been meaning to blog.  Really, I have.  I've even started writing posts, but then decided you didn't really want to hear about my dentist appointment...or getting my light fixture replaced.  If I thought you did, I'd have told you that I went to my semi-annual cleaning and checkup last week.  I had to get my temperature checked, then go through a screening thing.  You know, answer questions like, "Have you been exposed to anyone with Covid?"  Etc.  Etc.  Once I'd done that, the hygienist gave me a squirt of hand sanitizer, and some sort of disinfectant with which to rinse my mouth out.  About that time, she just sort of wilted and said, "I know, I know, but this is the only way they'd let us open back up."  

Other than that, the checkup went OK.  Except that I'm about to lose another tooth.  Not right away, but soon.  It's one I've had a crown on since I was 19.  I had a root canal, and the crown replaced back in '07 which extended the life of the tooth for quite a few years, but alas, nothing lasts forever.  The dentist showed me the x-ray, and said it's doing something called ditching out.  He also said some other stuff in dentistese which I didn't really understand. The long and the short of it is, at this point there's nothing he can do about it.  It will eventually weaken and break off, but since I've already had the root canal, it shouldn't cause me any real discomfort.  

The plan is still to get implants, but stuff keeps happening...an unexpected expense here, a global pandemic there...

The good news is, in the midst of our yapping -- because when you only see each other once a year you have a lot of catching up to do -- the hygienist mentioned that she and her daughter want to learn to knit.  I said I could teach them, but the issue for both of us is finding the time.  I referred her to the Knitting Help website, and she wrote down the URL, sooo, welcome to the dark side, Jennifer!

Speaking of knitting...

Despite the long, long hours we're working, I've managed to knit part of a hat.  

It's so hard to find time to do all the things I used to enjoy, like knitting.  And blogging.  You know...  living.  But they've cut our hours back at work.  Instead of working 11 1/2 hours, we're now working 10 1/2 hours.  Yippee...

But hey, it's a start.  

Didn't Last Long

 I mentioned the other day that they'd banned people from eating on the shop floor at work.  I don't mean literally on the floor, but you know...out while we're working.  So, yesterday about 6:30, I happened to glance over, and there was Stalker, mask pulled down below his chin, stuffing a sausage biscuit into his mouth.  

"Well, look who thinks he's special," I muttered to my coworker.  Then I had to correct myself, "I can't really say anything, because if I hadn't forgotten my breakfast at home, I'd be doing the exact same thing."  

I can neither confirm nor deny that this morning I may or may not have done something that could possibly resemble an activity that appears to be similar to eating my breakfast on the shop floor.  And that's all I have to say about that.

Looky, over here!  Let me show you my new shirt:

Now, there is debate in some of the Texas groups on how to count generations.  Some say you count from the first ancestor who moved to Texas.  Others say it's the first ancestor born in Texas.  The opinion seems to be about 50/50 split.  Me, I chose to count from the first ancestor who moved to Texas, since he was there before the Revolution. That would be William Abraham Winfree.  

While I was checking on Ancestry.com, I realized something fascinating.  Abraham -- as we in the family call him -- was born in Louisiana in 1802, when it was still part of France.  It became part of the American territories when Napoleon sold it to the United States in 1803 as The Louisiana Purchase, and became a state in 1812.  In 1830, Abraham moved his family to Texas, when it was still part of Mexico.  He remained there until his death in 1865.  During that time, Texas became an independent republic, a part of the United States, then part of the Confederate States Of America, and back to being part of the U.S. at the end of the Civil War. 

So, he lived in five different countries and never traveled more than 200 miles from his birthplace.  (He did live in the U.S. three different times, but I only counted it as one country.) I think that's pretty cool. 

Since masks are still required at work, I threw this one into the shopping cart, so I could rep the great state of Texas in style. 

The good news is, Mississippi's rolling 7 day average of new cases is slowly but surely decreasing.  The bad news is, I now know more about leading indicators and lagging indicators and rolling averages than I ever wanted to.  The more bad news is, according to state health officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs, 11 hospitals in the state still have zero ICU beds available.  That was from Friday's press conference, I believe... or Saturday's.  The days are all running together.  They didn't do one today, so I don't know the current status. 

The latest group of quarantined people are all back at work -- including the ones who actually had COVID -- except for one.  We were talking about him just this afternoon.  "Other Boss must be really sick, because he's still not back.  He got it at the same time as Kitter and Assembly Line Group Leader, and they're both back already."  That's when my coworker told me her pastor in is intensive care on a ventilator.  He's not doing well.  

Keep him in your prayers, please, if you're so inclined.  

UPDATE: I just found out my friend's pastor has passed away.  Please remember his family during this difficult time.

Random Thoughts Of A Sunday Evening.

 1.  I had a long weekend this weekend.  And by long weekend, I meant what would be a normal weekend for everyone else.  And what did I do on my long weekend?  Well, I slept past 3:30 for starters.  And it felt wonderful.  But it's all over now.  Back to getting up at 3:30.

2.  Apparently, I'm not the only one who doesn't want to go to work, because they're having to bribe people to come in.

3.  It makes me wonder if they'll ever figure out that the way to get people to come to work is to make your work place somewhere people would want to come to.  That place isn't.  I hate that job.  Everybody I know hates that job.  One of these days, I'm going to decide I'm fed up enough, and I'm just going to quit.  

4.  I was out mowing yesterday, when I saw this:  

It isn't one of mine.  I saw it coming out of one of the chipmunk holes.  I hope it likes eating them, because I'm about sick of them tearing up my yard.  I wonder how many are out there, because I've already killed 5.  

5.  I've been so depressed and discouraged about the crap going on at work, I bought me a new piano book.  I said I wasn't going to get any more, but here it is...

6.  After having done it for 25 years, the Big Man Up Front has decided it's not safe for us to be eating lunch in our work areas due to the coronavirus.  It's much safer to cram us all into that dinky little break room.  Yeah, that makes so much more sense. 

7.  I guess I need to break down and find me a feller.  But you can't get very far on those dating sites if you put that you're just looking for someone to pay your bills and stay out of your life otherwise. 

8.  I'd gotten with a local contractor to paint and hang shutters on the front of my house.  That was a month ago.  I guess he's blown me off, because he's on Facebook accepting other jobs, when he hasn't even done the one I hired him for.  Are there any honest contractors in this town?  Because I'm getting tired of getting blown off, or ripped off.  

9.  All you men out there who own your own businesses, whether it be lawn care, auto mechanic, contracting, plumbing, or whatever, just remember this, your daughters are watching you. You are teaching them that the way you treat female clients is how they can expect to be treated by the men in their future. So, before you laugh about how you ripped off that woman who needed her house painted, or that you gave her a quote for a small job that is three times what you would a male client because "she's just a dumb female and won't know any better", or charge her for an auto repair that you didn't even do, or just not even bother to show up to give her a quote on cutting her grass, think to yourself, "Would I want someone treating MY daughter this way?"  Because you are teaching them what is acceptable behavior towards them.  

10.  I was going to tell you all about the flying trip Cody and I took to Texas last month, then I realized there wasn't all that much to tell.  All I did was take pictures of bridges.  While Cody drove.   Eh, I'll tell you about it another day. 

11.  Right now, I'm going to bed.  

Feels Like Christmas

There I was at work, just a working away, when my coworker bopped up to me and said, "Becky, do you know we're off Saturday?"

"Yes!" I replied, deciding not to press the issue. 

That's when my other coworker cut in and said, "Becky's the one who brought the paper around!"  

The first coworker said, "I didn't know!  I'm just so excited!  It feels like Christmas!" 

By now, you're probably wondering which issue I decided not to press.  To tell you that, we'll have to back up about 15 minutes...

I was walking past the group leader's desk returning a brazing jig to the rack, when the dispatcher handed me a piece of paper.  And on that piece of paper were the most wonderful words I'd ever seen:  

 ALL PRODUCTION AREAS ARE OFF SATURDAY.

Completely forgetting the jig that was still in my hand, I ran back to the sub brazing area, waving the paper around, calling, "WOOOO!  WOOOO!"  showing all my coworkers before hanging it up on the post beside the computer.  

So, yes, I did know we are off Saturday.  I'm not sure if it's because work may be slowing down -- it is   getting to be late summer after all -- or if someone finally convinced The Big Man Up Front that we need a break.  We've been working long, long hours these last few weeks.  We're all tired.  I can't remember the last time I was this absolutely worn out.  One of my coworkers -- who shall remain nameless -- told me he fell asleep on the toilet last night.  I told him I could have lived the rest of my life without knowing that.  He said he'd fallen asleep, then fell off the toilet, and his girlfriend called "Are you all right?" and he said he was just getting into the shower...

Kind of reminds me of the time in Navy boot camp when I fell asleep standing at parade rest.  But that's another story for another post.  

I have no idea what I'm going to do with my day off, other than sleep past 3:30 AM, but I'm sure I'll find something.  Maybe I'll catch up with all the blogging I've been wanting to do but have been too tired to.  Do, I mean.  Blog...whatever. 

A couple of weeks ago, I did some science.  I'd seen a video on Facebook in which a man grew some bacteria cultures in Petri dishes.  I found it fascinating, and said to myself, "Self, I'd like to find me some of them there Petri dishes and try that for my own self."  Naturally, I did what any red blooded American would do.  

I got onto Amazon and found some.  Then I did science.  

Now, the caveat is, these dishes are designed for kids to do science projects, so the agar is less toxic than the stuff you'd find in a professional medical or scientific lab.  That also means it's less conducive to bacteria growth, but they worked well enough, and it was fun doing it.  

I knew wearing a mask would catch the crap you cough out of your mouth, but I wanted to see if there was a significant difference in the types of masks.  I used three:  a home made mask my friend Mary Ellen sent me, a store bought mask from Walmart, and a surgical mask they gave me at work. 

Then, just because all the Facebook memes are mocking them, I also decided to test a doubled up bandana. 

I put on each type of mask and coughed twice into a petri dish held about 12 inches from my face.  The second caveat is, I don't have an incubator.  I put the dishes on top of Sunny's tank in the snake room, and closed the A/C vent. Even doing that, I couldn't quite get the room up to the 85-100' temp they recommend.  The best I could do on a consistent basis was 78.  I sure didn't want to turn on the space heater.  Not in the middle of a Mississippi summer.  I was afraid I'd roast my snakes.  

After a week, I checked the dishes and there was virtually no bacteria growth in any of them.  

And here we come to the third caveat.  If I'd had more sense, I would have taken the photos on a dark colored, non reflective surface instead of on the snake room floor.  Obviously, I didn't have more sense.

The reflection washes out the surface of the agar, so you can't really see anything.  You'll just have to take my word that there were only one or two very small spots of bacteria growth on them.  By the way, I did do a control, but as I said, the reflection washed out the few small spots of bacteria growth.  It wasn't a lot, but it was significantly more than with any of the masks. 

Since I had a couple of dishes left over, I took the opportunity to do some more tests.  I already showed you the swab I took of Jesse's mouth. None of the rest were very significant, but this one.  I've got some bad news for those of you who like hand sanitizer.    First off, I coughed directly into my hand, and took a swab without any sort of washing or sanitizing as a control.  

Then, I coughed into my hand, and used the hand sanitizer as directed.  This particular brand is 70% alcohol, and I rubbed it into my hands for 30 seconds. 

As you can see, using hand sanitizer is better than nothing, but there is still plenty of bacteria growth.  Now, I wish I'd had another dish to compare sanitizer to washing with regular soap and water.  Maybe I'll order some more and do even more science. 

Later, though.  Right now I'm going to bed. 

Goodnight.