My Big Adventure

Well, my biggish adventure, I guess.  If going to Batesville could be considered that.   I'd been looking forward to it all week, and today was finally the day.  

I hit the road bright and early this morning right after breakfast and headed north.  The road trip passed without incident and my first stop was Walmart.  I debated on even going there, but decided to check and see if they had some of the things my local store doesn't carry any more. 

They didn't, so I went to the garden center to get some of the garden soil that is on clearance, only it isn't on clearance at the Batesville store.  Just at the local one.  Weird. I passed on paying full price, then headed to Lowe's.

Except that I somehow got stuck in the wrong lane and ended up back on the highway.  No problem, I'd planned on going to the Mounds anyway, so I made that my second stop instead of my last.  I was very excited to see that the pavilion is finished, 

but the museum wasn't open yet.  

I got close enough to peek through the windows and there wasn't even anything inside yet.  I hope they get it fixed up soon.  I'd love to know more about the history of the area.  For example, there is a sign on one of the trails that says South Village.  

OK, but what is it?  What did they find there that made them think there had been a village in that spot?  Pottery shards?  Remnants of fires?  Shelters?  What else?  What did they know about the people who lived there back in the day?  All they have now is that one little sign by the parking lot, but it doesn't say much. 

Anyway, I was only mildly disappointed, but had a nice walk around the trails, stopping only briefly to take a photo of the Tallahatchie River.  

By that time, I had already worked up a pretty good sweat, so I headed back to the car and back to Batesville I went.  I stopped by Lowe's to use their facilities and look at dishwashers.  I've been wanting a new one ever since I moved into this house, and a couple of years ago the hose that goes to the top rack came loose so it's not useable.  The motor still works, but from everything I've read, it would cost nearly as much to get it reattached as it would to buy a new one.  But since it's just me, I didn't see the need.   I only use a few dishes and it's no trouble at all to wash them by hand.  Still, it would be nice to have a working dishwasher again -- especially one that the previous owner's grandkids didn't pick all of the icons off so I actually know what the buttons do.  

I found a couple that I liked, but didn't buy them.  I'm thinking I might order one off the website so I can make sure they'll deliver it on a day I can be home.  

A quick trip through their garden center, and finally I was off to Hobby Lobby!  It was the only store that was open in that new shopping center, and it was pretty crowded.  The good news is, everything was on sale for the grand opening.  I was so tempted, but I was good in the end.  I only bought a new Thanksgiving platter, 

which is plastic, so I can't break it.  Probably.  Maybe...

Heh, when I went to the dentist, I was showing her photos in my phone of some of the hats I'd knit and ran across the one where I'd tried to cut my arm off with the chainsaw.  She laughed and said, "You sound just like me!"  The point is, never underestimate how clumsy I can be. 

I also bought five skeins of yarn for charity hats, and that was all.  

In case you can't read the labels, they are from left to right:  Kaleidoscope, Green/Turquoise/Red, 

Sunset, Plums, and Painted Canyon.  I can't wait to cast on with them!  I think Kaleidoscope will be first.  Or Painted Canyon.  Or maybe I'll find some extra needles and cast on both. 

The only other thing I did today was to get out and scrap some of that red clay garbage off of my spider lilies.  I'd noticed that in some spots, it was so thick that the leaves were struggling to break through. 

 I think that -- combined with an extremely dry summer -- may be why they did so poorly this year.  So, I got the clay scraped back to what appears to be regular dirt, so maybe they'll come on here in a bit.  I probably ought to water them a bit, too, since we've hardly gotten any rain here lately.   They're pretty tough, though so they'll be OK in the end. 

And if not, I can always thin some of the bulbs from the back end of the yard and transplant them.  They probably need it anyway. 

But for now, I've got to get off of here and knit like the wind!

Weekend Mode

The plant had a good day today.  A really good day -- as far as production goes, I mean.  

At the end of shift, group leaders and supervisors all over were getting onto the intercom and giving shoutouts to their departments.  Congratulations.  Great Job.  All except for one....

Someone turned around and told Inspector Gadget that we deserved a shout out, too, but he said no.  "That's unprofessional," he sneeringly informed us.  

Oh, come on!  We tried to persuade him.  We ran 2760 headers today -- 660 more than our daily goal.  That deserves some recognition.   Nope, he insisted.  It's unprofessional.  

"It's not unprofessional to recognize your employees when they do an outstanding job!"  I told him, but still he refused us any sort of accolade.  

And he wonders why no one respects him...

After work, I had to go to the dentist for my 6 month cleaning and check up, and for once, I had a good report.  I'd have gotten out of there faster, but the hygienist and I only see each other twice a year.  We had a lot of catching up to do.  She's about to become a first time grandma, and I showed her the hat and sweater set I'd made for my nephew's baby.  

She mentioned that she wanted to learn to knit, and I gave her some tips -- she's envious of my upcoming trip to Hobby Lobby, and I said that when she makes it up there, she could ask and see if they have knitting classes.  Long story slightly less long, we finally stopped yapping long enough to finish the appointment, and I decided since I was in town already, I might as well go by Walmart and get my shopping done. 

That chore completed, I came home and told the cat "Weekend mode has been activated!"  and I promptly sat down in front of the TV and cast on a hat using my new interchangeable needle set. 

Some weekend, huh?  

OK, the needles are really nice and knit very smoothly.  The only problem I have with them is that the shortest cable is about 6" longer than the Knit Picks fixed circular needles I'm accustomed to knitting hats with.  I think it'll be OK.  It'll just take some getting used to. 

Meanwhile, here is a progress photo of my Demeter sock yarn hat. 

 But now, I'm going to bed, because I've got a busy day tomorrow.  

I'm going to Hobby Lobby!!!

Respect

Well, here it is, October 1 and haven't gotten anything done off of my to do list.  Except for getting the scrap metal picked up, that is, and I did call a plumber and a tree guy, neither of whom called me back.

I've been trying since then to work up the gumption to call another plumber and another tree guy.   And someone to break up that old slab where the dog kennel was.  Of course, it doesn't help that we're in the just kidding here's some more summer season of the year, and it's back up into the 90s outside.  

Right now, I'm so ready for fall and cooler weather, I don't even want to be out in it.  The heat, I mean.  Which means, the yard.  I did get out and piddle a little bit this afternoon, but didn't stay out long.  I didn't want my hair to get all sweaty. 

Apropos of nothing, I got onto FB this morning while I was eating my breakfast and the first thing I saw was a post from one of my friends.  Then I had to  scroll through twenty three -- twenty three-- ads to get to another post from a friend, or even a page I liked.  This is why FB is a dying platform.  It used to be fun, but I hardly ever post there any more except links to the blog.  

So, I piddled in the yard a bit, then came inside and finished the latest charity hat. 

 The next one I cast on will be with my new needles, because I've had the things for...I don't even know how long, and I haven't used them yet.  I really need to.  I paid too much for them to sit around collecting dust. 

And finally, before I go, let's talk a little bit about respect.  

Respect is something that must be earned, not demanded of others -- especially not from those to whom you show no respect.   It has to go both ways.

So if you insist on talking to your employees like they're children, and treating them like they're stupid, and nit-picking through their work like you don't think they know how to do their jobs, then you have no right to expect anyone to respect you.  

Treat your employees like you think they are worthy of respect, and you may just find you'll earn the respect you so desperately crave. 

Best Day Ever!!

 I got to work not so bright, but not as early as usual — they have us coming in at 6:00 for the time being— went through the indignity of having the security guard check my cottage cheese then picked up my other bag, and proceeded on into the plant…

Where I was met by a fellow employee who said, “Did you hear your stalker got fired?”

“What?” I exclaimed standing there in a state of disbelief, not sure I heard her correctly. 

She called his name and said, “Isn’t he your stalker? He got fired yesterday.” He and three others, she said.  I'll get to them in a minute.

Giving a loud whoop of joy, I hurried to the sub brazing area, and called to another coworker, "Is it true??”

She laughed and assured me it was and this is the best day of my life!  Well, of my work life at the plant, I mean.

And now we are so happy, we do the dance of joy!!

via GIFER

I'm telling you, it was so nice to work without feeling like I had to keep looking over my shoulder, and knowing that now that he's no longer an employee, I'll actually be allowed to defend myself against him should the need arise.  That, to me, was the most frustrating part -- knowing that I could have put a stop to his harassment years ago, but it would have cost me my job, not him.  It wasn't just me, either.  Since he got hired, there has been a steady stream of women going up to HR to complain about him.  

Probably the worst thing I'd heard of him doing, and I heard this from multiple women, was that when he was the brazing trainer, he'd threaten to fail them unless they gave him a little something something first. Then there was how he'd stand right behind women and rub his front against their backs...and film black women's behinds...the way he'd stick his leg way up in the air and wave his junk at people (that one you'd have to see to believe)....I could go on, but you get the idea.

All of that is over now.  Still, there is a part of me that can't completely relax, knowing that he'd been fired once before and his ...um...special friend, yeah, let's call him that ...his special friend in the front office made them give him his job back -- then got rid of the HR director who dared fire his buddy.  Even though that special friend is no longer working there, I can somehow see him calling them up and demanding they give Stalker his job back.  But maybe not...I'll get to that in a minute. 

As I mentioned earlier, there were three others fired as well.  Junior is one of them, and quite frankly, that's a relief, too.  He was more interested in playing childish pranks than in running the plant.  Not only that, I was getting mighty tired of hearing about how they do things in Japan.  

 The third guy worked back in quality, and though he did have a shop floor nickname, I had taken to just calling him Nasty Man.  He got this nickname because every time there is food involved -- like the anniversary dinners, the veteran's dinner, or a leadership conference -- he shows up and eats.  Once he's done eating, he'll pull out his napkin and blow his nose...sitting there at the table, with people around him still eating.  That's just nasty. 

The fourth guy was a front office employee, and I never had any problem with him, but didn't really deal with him much.  

Now, the story on the shop floor is that they are trying to cut overhead, and had offered all four of them different positions which came with a significant reduction in pay, and all four refused, preferring to be dismissed rather than take a pay cut.  If that is the case, nobody can really demand that Stalker be given his job back, what with him choosing to leave.  

I'm not completely sold on that theory, though.  I think if they had given them that choice, at least one of them would have taken it.  I can't see all four refusing a pay cut.  One or two, maybe, but not all four.  I'm thinking they were looking for an excuse to get rid of them, so they just let them all go. 

I wonder if the new boss had something to do with it.  I know he's not there yet, but he'd still have access to plant information.  Maybe he sees what we've been saying for years, that the plant is top heavy with management.  

Seriously, it ran so much more smoothly out there when we had one production manager, not four, and one supervisor per shift, not seven or eight.  I can see them needing two supervisors per shift with the way they have it set up now, one for production and one for components, but we sure don't need as many as we have. 

Speaking of, some of us were talking this morning and someone who shall remain nameless mentioned that Inspector Gadget needs to follow those other four right out the door.  When they keep moving someone from job to job to job to job because he can't do any of them, it's time to either put him on a machine or put him out the door. 

And there you have it.  That was my exciting news for today.  I need to go start trying to calm myself down now, or I'll never get to sleep tonight.  I think I'll start with a hot shower, followed by the newest episode of Halloween Wars and some knitting.  That ought to do it.  

Laters...

It’s Open!!

It's open!  The Hobby Lobby in Batesville is finally open!  

I know what I'm going to be doing this weekend.  

via GIFER

It'll be so nice to have an honest to goodness craft store nearby without having to drive 100 miles to go to Jackson or Memphis.  

You know what else was nice?  Inspector Gadget wasn't there today, and things ran so smoothly.  You know it's bad when the department runs better when the supervisor isn't there.   On a similar note, this popped up in my Facebook feed.  

Cody says we need to give him some grace, but it's been four years.  How much grace should he get?  To be honest, I'd be willing to extend him much more grace if it weren't for those temper tantrums he pitches in the press conferences.  

Speaking of grace, I do think we should extend some to Matt Eberflus.  I mean, he'd built his entire defense around Micah Parsons, then Jerry trades his cornerstone a week before the season starts.  Now he has to build a whole new defense at the drop of a hat. 

OK, there is a bit of speculation there on my part, but that's about how it seems. 

I had more to talk about, but I ...mostly...stayed up to watch the ball game last night and I'm a bit tuckered.  The serious talk will have to wait for another post.  I'll just leave you with this blast from the past.  

 Anybody else remember making these?  I'm going to go get some paper and try one!

I Did It

I finally did it.  I've been putting it off for a couple of weeks now, but yesterday evening, I finally did it after I'd done everything I could think of to put it off...

I finished this hat...

(The yarn is Forbidden Fiber Co in the colorway Toasted Marshmallow.)

I knit a few rounds on the latest charity hat...

(The yarn is Red Heart in the Neon Stripe colorway.)

I even got a new hank of yarn out of the closet and caked it up...

The yarn is Euphoria Knits, which I picked up at Fiber Fun In The 'Sip a few years ago.  I'll just let you figure out what this colorway is:  

But finally, I could ignore it no more.  The Demeter collection, which I also bought at FFITS, was calling my name, and it had gotten rather loud these last few days. 

Before I could stop myself again, I grabbed the pack, ripped it open, and pulled out the darkest color.   I quickly caked it up and cast on a new hat. 

The yarn is Jem Lux Fibers, the Demeter collection, and this colorway is called Heart of Demeter. 

Once I'd done that and knit a few rounds, I could almost hear the yarn breathing a sigh of relief, and everything around it relaxed a bit.  A lot, actually.  So much so that this morning, I took the yarn outside and knit in my chair while listening to the sounds of the birds singing and the breeze blowing. 

Oh, and look who came back.

He kept a pretty close eye on me, but I was able to sneak a photo before he flew away.  

Speaking of, I took up the hummingbird feeder that was in the back yard and brought it inside.  I'll wash it really well then store it away until spring.  I've left the one in the front yard for now, but I believe the heaviest wave of migration is past me.  Since the hummingbirds have gone south, I'll hang a suet feeder on that shepherd's hook for the time being. 

Before I forget again, my new neighbors have Halloween decorations out, and they're so cute.  I want to walk over and take pictures of them, but feel like that would be weird.  I hope they decorate for Christmas, too.  I'd love to decorate, but I don't have sense enough to make it look nice.  I don't want it to look like Christmas threw up in my yard, so I usually just stick with a wreath on the door and a string of lights across the front of the house.  

On a similar note, did you know Santa has started a podcast?  Yep, you can find it here:  Santa Has A Podcast. 

And another thing I keep forgetting to tell you is that we're getting a new Big Man Up Front.  Group Leader Shark said he'd be here in two weeks, but it was a week ago that she told us that, so I'm thinking next week sometime.  This will be the fifth plant manager we've had since Chris Taylor resigned in 2018.  You know there is something seriously wrong within the company when you go through that many in such a short time. 

No word on the new HR director, though, and to be honest, I've lost track of how many of those we've gone through in the last 10 years.  At least seven...and I feel like I'm forgetting someone.  Oh, well...

Me, I'm just trying to hang in there until I can retire...

LOOKIT!!

Do you see what I see?????

Do you see it?  Yes!  That there is a bird on my bird bath!!  OK, he was drinking instead of bathing, but still, it's a bird!  On my birdbath!!  A mockingbird to be specific.  But, but, but that's not the point.  The point is there is a bird on my birdbath!  Maybe they're starting to find it.  

Does this mean I'm officially old now?  

By the way, one of my projects this fall is going to be to dig up those shepherd's hooks and straighten them up a bit.  I plan on using some of that red clay to fill the holes in this time, so maybe they'll stay upright better.  

My other projects for today were to move the compost bin and tumbler off of the slab that used to be the old dog kennel. 

I want to try to get someone out to break it up, pull up the remnants of the fence posts, and haul it all off.  

I feel like I almost got a bit of a bait and switch with the fencing company I hired, because I'd researched them and saw heavy equipment on their website and FB pages.  Even when the man came out to measure and give me the quote, I told him I wanted this all removed, and he said, "Yes, Ma'am."  I took that to mean he was going to do it.  It wasn't until after he'd put in the new fence that he told me he didn't have access to the equipment so he couldn't remove it.  Apparently, the company had sub-contracted my job to someone else.  

Why can't people just be honest?  If he'd said so up front, I could have gotten someone to pull all of that up before he put the new fence in.  Anyway, I'm going to try to work up the gumption to post that in one of the local groups and see if I can get someone out here to do that job, and also to pull up the short bit of fence between the house and the shed.  

The other project was to get my flag holder replaced.  I'd noticed a few weeks ago that the old one had cracked -  it was plastic and had just worn out.   The next time I'd gone to the store, I sprang for one of the aluminum ones, and this morning, I finally got around to replacing it. 

I'll need to find someone with man muscles to get that bottom screw all the way in, but it's pretty sturdy even with it hanging out half an inch.  Nevertheless, Old Glory is back in her rightful place, 

and I have a spare hanger, just in case.   I'd had a Texas flag hanging there in the past, but until I can find one that doesn't fade after a month, I'll leave it empty for now. 

Whelp, I have to get off of here because Navy and LSU  play at the same time, and I'm going to need my computer to watch one of those games.

Laters. 

Relaxing

Well, I made progress on both of my hats, but that's about all I did today. 

I take these long weekends every year, and have such a hard time relaxing on my days off because I always feel like I should be accomplishing something.  I have so much I need to be doing, and yet none of it is getting done.  I know some of you are thinking, "You deserve a day to do whatever you want," but I can't enjoy the day with so much hanging over my head.  

OK, now I've had my minute of moaning, let's get on with the rest of the post.  

I got out yesterday evening and mowed the entire yard -- front and back -- for what I hope will be the last time of the year.  I may need to knock it down one more time before it's all over, but growth should be slowing down here soon.  

This morning, I got out and did the weedeating, then sifted some rocks out of my dirt and finished filling in two of the ruts in the front yard. 

Since I was already drenched in sweat -- it wasn't that hot, but the humidity was so dagone high, I was ... um... condensating -- I got my dirt rake out and shuffled the dirt around in my garden spot a bit. 

It's almost ready to start putting the raised beds in, but it still seems just a bit high in the middle, so I'm going to work with it a bit more before I do. 

The most amazing day, it didn't even get out of the 80s, and I was able to sit outside in my chair and read a bit once I was done working.  It was warm, but there was just enough of a breeze to keep it from being too hot. 

I'd thought about driving up to Batesville and going to the Walmart up there, but I didn't.  I may go tomorrow morning, since none of the ball games I want to watch start until 2:30 -- and yes, Texas, LSU, and Navy all play at the same time again.  

I swan someone is out to sabotage me. 

Anyway, the reason I want to drive up there is that our Walmart has gotten so bad ever since Jim Legge died, I can't find anything I normally buy.  The protein bars I get, the sugar free candy I like, even the water flavor drops I prefer, they don't have them any more.  Maybe they will have them up in the Batesville store.  Or maybe not, and I'll have to swap brands once again. 

I'm getting mighty tired of doing that. 

And finally, I'm still holding my Robert Redford movie marathon.  Well, I guess it's not a marathon since I'm not watching all of his movies -- just the ones I liked.  I watched Jeremiah Johnson and The Horse Whisperer last weekend, and today I found The Electric Horseman on a streaming website and watched it.  I still haven't dragged out my extension cord to see if my VCR still works, though, so The Sting will have to wait. 

Not only that, it'll have to wait because I'm watching The Last Of The Mohicans right now.  The one with Daniel Day Lewis.  I haven't seen it in ages, so I'm going to get off of here and pay attention to it.  As much as one can pay attention while knitting.  

At least hats are pretty mindless. 

An Unexpected Hour...And A Half

There I was at work, not working away because once again, we didn't have any work, when I turned to my coworker and said, "You know, if he tried to send me home early, I wouldn't argue with him."  He being Inspector Gadget, of course. 

Sure enough, about 30 minutes later, Inspector Gadget came around and asked people if they wanted to go home, and is not my custom, I immediately accepted.  I may regret it on payday, but it was worth it today. 

That was about 12:30, so what did I do with my extra hour and a half?  I'll tell you.  I worked in the yard a bit, sifting some more dirt and almost got this 4" deep tire track filled in. 

I've got about a foot or so to go, and this one will be done.   That will make it so much easier to mow, which I will need to do at least once more this year before it's all said and done.  And look at this, the first track is just about covered over with grass. 

I'm thinking maybe next year, I can try again with another landscaper.  Hopefully, I can find one who will 1) actually show up, and 2) knows what he's doing.  I would so love to have a nice front yard some day.  

Anyway, I worked until my hair started getting sweaty, then came inside and watched TV for the rest of the day.  I sometimes feel like my hair runs my life.  It's so long and so thick, I can't wash it every day or it will never dry.  So, on non-hair washing days, I have to be careful not to get it too sweaty, and on hair washing days, I can't really do a lot, because I have to wash it early enough that it at least somewhat dried before I go to bed.  I'm seriously thinking about getting it all chopped off.  

That would be weird, too, at least to me.  Except for a few years in Jr High and when I was in the Navy, I've always had long hair.  I'm over that, now.  The only thing about having short hair is that you have to keep up with keeping it trimmed.  That requires appointments, and those require phone calls, and we all know how I feel about those. 

Here's a bit of good news, it looks like some of my bluebonnet seeds are germinating!  

I wasn't too sure if any of them were still viable, since they'd been in the freezer so long, but it looks like I might get at least some of them to grow.  Now, if they survive the winter and actually bloom, that will be another thing, but where there's life, there's hope.  

Speaking of growing, my chrysanthemum is full of blooms.  

What I did not do -- and this should come as no surprise to anyone who knows me -- is to make any of the phone calls I needed to. 

Yeah, yeah, I know....

I really need to at least get the tree guy out here.  The local storm chaser said that because we haven't had any hurricanes in the gulf this year to draw off the heat, the water is much warmer than normal, so he's expect fall tornado season to be particularly sporty this year.  Yippee...

Finished Object

I got to work bright and early this morning, and one of my coworkers who is also a Cowboys fan walks up to me and says, "Please pray for my Cowboys!"  

I laughed and said, ".....there really aren't any words...."  

We chatted a minute more, and I asked him, "Do you think Jadeveon Clowney will make a difference?"  On the defense, for those of you who don't follow football.  My coworker didn't even know they'd signed him, so I said, "Yep, Jerry signed him last Monday."  

My coworker said, "Isn't he a bit past his prime?"  And I replied, "You know who wasn't past his prime?  MICAH PARSONS!"  And with that mic drop, I walked on to my work area and began my day. 

On a similar note, it would seem that we are down a security guard.  We'd always had the one at the gate, but for this last year, HRH* had hired one to drive around the parking lot all day.  Now, our parking lot isn't much bigger than a couple of football fields, so we were wondering why we needed someone to patrol it, but there he was.  He'd drive around all day long, then drive over to the distribution center and drive around there for a while...

I noticed last week I hadn't seen him all week, so I guess his contract ran out and they declined to renew it.  I asked a couple of the other brazers if they'd seen him and they hadn't either.  One of them told me, "They said she was wasting a lot of money"  -- meaning HRH.  I don't know, but I wonder if that's why the fired her.  I replied, "Just because she's afraid of her own shadow doesn't mean the rest of us have to live that way, too."  

I expect the ones checking lunch boxes will be the next to go once their contract expires.  

In knitting news, I finished this hat while I was watching Charlie Kirk's memorial yesterday. 

Then, instead of casting on a new one, I picked this WIP up and worked on it some more. 

Once the service was over, I switched over to Prime and watched a documentary on Flat Earthers while casting on a new charity hat. 

It's called Behind The Curve.  The documentary, not the hat.  The hat is Neon Stripe.  Be that as it may, I found the documentary to be quite interesting -- especially the experiments they did to try to prove the earth is flat, but kept proving it wasn't instead.  

My question is why?  I mean, why would every government on the face of the earth since the ancient Greeks and Phoenicians make up a lie that the earth is a globe if it isn't?  How would they possibly benefit from that?  What's in it for them that would make all that time and expense worth it?  

Speaking of conspiracy theories, have you heard the latest?  Apparently, Melania Trump is really Princess Diana.  Seriously, where do they come up with this stuff?  

Moving right along, we finally got some rain last night, which made the arrival of my new boots quite timely indeed. 

They're really comfortable, and sparkly.  Alas, too sparkly, because I don't want to get them muddy.  Eh, I will eventually.  By the way, if you're into such things, this is how many ant bites I got on my feet over the weekend. 

I really, really don't like fire ants.  Have I ever mentioned that? 

 *HRH -- The human resource director from Hell. 

Little Demons

There I was, in the car on the way to Walmart, because I've decided to go do my shopping on Saturday mornings when I have them off.  It's a good time to go, as Walmart is practically deserted at this time.  Anyway, I was almost there -- getting off the highway at exit 206 for you local folks -- when I remembered.  "Dang it!  I forgot to eat breakfast again!"  

I seem to do this quite often, forget to eat breakfast, but only on my days off.  On work days, I eat when I'm getting ready, but when I have the day off, I don't eat until I actually get hungry.  Normally, it's not a problem, but you know what they say:  never go shopping when you're hungry.  Because you tend to buy a  bunch of stuff you don't need and isn't really that good for you anyway.  

I was almost good.  I only bought this:

I'd been eyeing them for a while, but they're nearly $6, so I wasn't going to buy one.  Today, I gave in.  Hmmm, I wonder how well they freeze?  I think I'll try it.  I'll slice it up and wrap and freeze the individual slices. 

Then, as I was pulling into the Walmart parking lot, I said to myself, "I have GOT to get that front flower bed dug up and those bluebonnet seeds planted."  It's been on the list for a while, but I keep getting busy and forgetting to do it.  Funny thing, I pulled out my phone to open my shopping list, and there it was-- the reminder I'd put into my phone to get them planted.  

As soon as I got home and got the groceries put up, I ate a bite of breakfast -- well, brunch at this point -- and did just that. First thing was to get the roto tiller out and break it all up a bit. 

Then I put my fake stone garden edging back out, because I'd taken it up when I thought the landscammer was a landscaper and had told him to level my front yard and fill in the low spots.  Which he didn't do.

Then I added a bit of potting soil and mixed that in, and finally got the seed packets out of the freezer and scattered them into the bed.  A good watering, and now we wait...

My sharp eyed readers may have noticed that Mr. Mater was not in his accustomed spot on the porch, and that's because I decided it was time for him to go to that great compost pile in the sky.  He was still alive, but wasn't producing tomatoes any more, and you know what Jesus said about plants that don't produce fruit.   

Farewell, Mr. Mater, and thank you for all of the sammiches.  It won't be much longer before the sweet banana and basil plants join him.  

Once he was gone, I sifted the potting soil from his bucket back into my big bin of dirt, and it was full of fire ants. Between those and the ones I kept getting into while I was prepping the bluebonnet bed, I was totally eaten up and by that time, I was ready to soak my entire yard in gasoline and burn them all to the ground.  

I didn't, of course, because that would be silly.  And dangerous.  But boy did I want to.  Instead, I put a good sprinkling of my diatomaceous earth on top of them, 

and that sent their little demonic selves back to Hell from whence they came.  

I'm not a fan of fire ants.  Can you tell?

Naturally, the first thing I did after taking some allergy meds, was to get on Amazon and order some rubber boots.  Knock off Crocs do not protect your feet from those little monsters, and I don't necessarily want to put on my work boots to work in the yard.  I keep saying I'm going to buy some locally, but I usually remember after I've left the store.  

On a similar note, we didn't get any rain out of yesterday's storms.  It all went south of where I live.  Oh, well, our next chance of rain is Wednesday.   Maybe we'll get some then.  

For now, I have to get off of here, because it's time for football. 

Laters.

Not Quite Nothing

OK, I was going to get on here and blog about how I'd spent another whole Friday doing absolutely nothing, but I realized that wasn't quite true.  I didn't do a little something, just not what I'd wanted to do, which was to make a couple of phone calls. 

I have figured out that this is a three fold problem  One, I don't like to make phone calls anyway being an introvert.  Two, I don't like people at my house.  It feels like they're violating my sanctuary.  I won't call it my safe space, because when I hear that phrase I think tornado shelter.  And three, I don't trust myself to make good decisions when it comes to hiring people, based on my past history.  

So, now I've identified the problem.  Maybe I can work on overcoming it.   Add to that the fact that nothing I need done is super urgent, and I'm a terrible procrastinator anyway.  For example, one of the things on my list is to get in touch with someone about buying firewood.  That's not super urgent, because I still have about half a face cord left from the last time I bought some -- and that's not even counting the tree I had cut down earlier this year.  Add to that, I probably won't even burn what I have a whole lot because I bought that space heater at my neighbor's garage sale a few weeks ago...

But I guess you don't really want to hear about my to-do list, do you?  I'm sure you're asking, then what did you do today?  Well, they're predicting the chance of scattered showers this evening, so I got out the old roto-tiller and went over the garden spot a few times. 

It's looking better, but there are still a few high spots I need to level out.  I want to see how much it compacts after a good rain or two.   I'll probably go over it again a few times, just for the heck of it.  I've said it before, and I'll say it again, there's something very theraputic about tilling the soil.  

Before I came in, I got a bucket full of dirt and put it into this low spot where I'd had some plumbing work done.  You know, that the landscammer was supposed to fill in, but didn't. 

I'll probably have to add a bit more once this settles, but I'll have plenty of dirt, that's for sure. 

Oh, and by the way, remember when I put all that ant stuff down last weekend?  Yeah, I walked out this morning and found four new hills in my front yard. 

 That white powder is a different kind of ant poison.  But anyway, I'll have to try again in the spring, and maybe eventually I'll get rid of the little demon spawns.  Maybe I'll set my spreader to a higher number, even though I had it on what the bag said to.  

After that, I came inside, took a shower and watched a few Robert Redford movies -- The Horse Whisperer and Jeremiah Johnson to start with, both on Tubi.  I found my VHS of The Sting, but remembered I'd unplugged my VCR because I didn't have enough outlets in my power strip.  If I can find an extension cord long enough, I'll plug it in just long enough to watch my movie. 

In work news, Inspector Gadget really stepped in it yesterday.  I was so mad when I got home, I couldn't even post.  Really, it's no so much anger as pure frustration.  That place sets you up to fail, then wants to yell at you for doing exactly that.

See, yesterday was one of those days when most of us stood around all day waiting for work to come out of tubing.  The orders were trickling down the line one at a time, and we brazers couldn't do anything but take turns getting them, while everyone else had to stand there and wait. 

This went on all day long, and finally it was almost the end of the shift.  Suddenly, Inspector Gadget shows up and starts getting orders together and telling us to come set up on them.  Everybody got mad at this, and it isn't so much that he was passing out orders, it was where was he five hours ago?  Why wasn't he worried about us being out of work at 10:00?  At 11:00?   Why did he wait until fifteen minutes until time to go to suddenly become concerned?  

These are the kind of things that drive your employees nuts and result in higher turnover rates.  My question is, and I think I've asked this before on the blog, if they didn't want him in the front office, what on earth makes them think we want him on the shop floor?  

Alls I know is, they're going to have to do something, before he completely destroys what little morale we have out there. 

Rough Day

Following a largely sleepless night last night, today was a rough day all around.  It seems like all the parts I got were bad -- not bad enough to get re-cut, but just bad enough to make my job a struggle.  All day long.  I told my coworker, "I'm not going to be able to move my hands tomorrow!" after I saw her over at her stand shaking her own hands.  

Beats the heck out of me.  Group Leader Shark stands up every day in our morning meeting and says to do our first piece inspections, but apparently the ones who do adapter tubes don't seem to think she's talking to them.  Especially that one... as soon as we see that one clock number on the parts ticket, we know right away those parts are going to be wrong. 

As much as we complain, they won't do anything about it.  Well, nothing but blame the brazers for being too slow.  On the other hand, if they employees won't take pride in doing a good job, there really isn't that much anyone can do about it.  It's not like GLS can stand over each of them all day.  Not that she would, anyway.

Even so, I think next time I get some parts that are as far off as the ones I had today, I'm going to take them to Inspector Gadget and say, "YOU go explain to [Forrestina Gumpette] what a 90° bend is!"

As if that weren't enough, my nose picked today to ooze.  All day long.  Man, I got so tired of it, I told my coworker I was going to come home and cut my nose off, so if you see me walking around tomorrow with no nose, you'll know why. 

On a similar note, I spent the entire day trying to psych myself up to call another tree company, but before the work day even ended, I felt my resolve weakening, and you guessed it.  I didn't make the call.  I don't understand why this is so difficult.  I mean, I'm an introvert and we hate the telephone anyway, but it still shouldn't be this hard to pick up the phone and call someone.  

Oh, and in fairness, I went to the 811 website to request a scan, but it said not to do it more than 10 days ahead of time, so I just left it for now.  Because I still have to call the surveyor, then decide if I'm going to use the same fencing company, and I'll probably have to hire someone to grind the stumps in the fence line -- and that brings us back to making phone calls and one of those will have to be to a tree service.  

Sigh...

To lighten things up a bit, here is a pretty picture I lifted from the interwebs.  I'd give due credit if I knew who took it.  

And finally, today is September 17, and we all know what that means.  At least, my readers do!  It's Constitution Day.  In honor of that, here is a classic Schoolhouse Rock.  

By the way, to this day, I cannot recite the Preamble without singing it.  And in the spirit of it being Constitution Day, I signed up for PragerU's course on understanding the Constitution, so I'm going to get off of here, take a quick shower, then do lesson 1. 

Laters. 

Rain!

Rain!  We got rain!  Lovely rain!  Between last night and today's showers, we got 1.75" of the stuff, and I can hear my grass sighing with relief.  Even better, I was able to collect almost a gallon for Marty Mac, so that's one less gallon of distilled water I'll have to buy.  I just hope it settles whatever it is that has my allergies all stirred up.

Then I came home to a new season of Halloween Baking Championship on the TV.  So, all of the phone calls I'd planned to make but knew I wouldn't didn't get made.  Plus, the rain gave me an excuse not to get out and work in the yard, so there I sat.  Watching my cooking show and ... doing nothing. 

That reminds me, I watch a lot of British TV and British content creators on YouTube, and they're always talking about beans on toast.  Apparently, that's some sort of British staple, and it put me in mind to try it.  I don't have the Heinz beans you're supposed to use, and am not going to pay to have a can of beans imported from England, so I got out some Van Camps Pork n Beans.  

And they've been sitting on my cabinet for nearly a week, now.  

I'd have to dig out my toaster oven to make the toast, or else make pan fried toast.  That kind of made me want to buy a new air fryer, but the oven type, not the basket type I currently have.  I feel like I could use it for so much more, including things I have to use the big oven for now. But as I said, I really need to cut back on my spending since we're not getting as much overtime right now, so I reckon I'll just dig the old toaster oven out and use it. 

I wish I had more cabinet space so I could leave it out all the time, but my kitchen isn't laid out very well.  If I'm ever able to get it remodeled, that's definitely something I'm going to take into consideration. 

In other news, I suppose by now you've all heard of the death of Robert Redford.  I swan every girl in my junior high had a crush on him back in the day.  I wanted to come home and watch The Sting, but couldn't find it streaming anywhere.  I may find it when I have more time to look.  Or I may have to dig out my old VHS and play it in my VCR, provided the VCR still works.  I haven't used it in ages.  

If it doesn't, I have The Horse Whisperer on DVD.  I thought I had Out Of Africa, too, but if I do, it's on VHS and I'll have to dig through the old tapes to find it.   

Anyway, since I couldn't find any of the movies I wanted to watch available to stream, I got my old Alfred's level one piano book and played The Entertainer.  I was a bit rusty, but I made it through.  That was always a fun song to play.  

In knitting news, I've decided to finish this hat before I cast on anything new, so here is a progress photo. 

 Oh, and I meant a sock yarn hat.  My charity hats will definitely be happening.