Wow..That's Nippy

If the blast of cold air that slapped me in the face as I walked out the door this morning didn't wake me up, then I don't know what will. It's a might bit chilly, but then again it is fall. I'm all set to extend my summer a week longer starting Friday. It's still in the 90's in Arizona. I'm just not ready for this cold quite yet. Fall means yard clean up, and our yard is already full of leaves. Next thing you know it'll be snowing and Christmas will be right around the corner.
Speaking of snow, it appears to have snowed shingle grit in my attic. We stupidly did not cover the things in our attic prior to doing the roof. I went up to get a suitcase and saw the mess. This will need to wait until another date to clean. I need to find a smaller shop vac and get up there and clean the mess. Funny thing was when I told Barney about it he had this strange look on his face. The look that I've become to know. The look that said "Oops, I probably should have know that it would be a mess." I have to admit that the thought of covering things up or moving them never entered my mind. I was telling one of the guys at work about it and he got this look of panic on his face. He just had his roof done and like us never moved anything. My stuff at least is in totes and bags. He said his stuff is just sitting in open boxes. It's nice to know that someone has a lot more work ahead of them then I do.

How does the state loose 15,000 DNA samples from felons? Is someone going to be on the chopping block for this? Is this an inside job? Why is Steven Avery back in court? A mistrial because a juror was dismissed? And you have to feel a little sorry for the guy who's truck got sucked up in the sink hole and then on top of it some degenerates rob his truck. It was a bad day for him.

I made a wrong number call from my cell the other day and rather than hang up when I got the voice mail I left a quick message apologizing for the wrong number call. I though it was the polite thing to do and I knew that if I didn't someone would call me back anyway. Two days later (last night) I get a call "Who dis"
me: who are you calling
"Dis number be on my phone. I wanna know who dis is"
I then explain that it was called in error and I had left a voice mail apologizing
"I don't got no voice mail, and if I did I not fixin to check it"
me: okay then..sorry.
I looked at the number and knew it was the one I called in error. 1/2 hour later I get another call and look at the caller ID first and it was the same number again.
"yeah, who dis, yall left me a voice mail"
me: Seriously?I just talked to you and told you it was a mistake. I just hung up rather than to through the ordeal again.
Geeze..you make one little mistake.

note: "dis" does not show up in spell check.

The Roof...The Roof

I could see them from the corner. Two men working on our roof. As I pulled up I saw my loyal handymen. My husband & brother Ben were laboring away. Communicating in the way they do : a grunt or a nod. Wasting no time on small talk. They had time for a quick wave to me and then continued on with their task.
A few minutes later I received a call from the roofers cell phone. They were in need of water and a few hammers. Granted these guys are right above me and they call. I could hear them talking from my kitchen. I handed up the water and then went on the search for the hammers. Of course they were not in the garage where I was told they were so I ventured into the workshop. Norm would be embarrassed to view my husbands workshop. I think it's more like a junk collecting area. But I managed to locate the hammers. I was shocked to find them hanging on a hook and not thrown in a drawer.
I prepared dinner which they declined as they wanted to keep working. In the words of Ben "I'm not coming down until dusk". Threw up some more water and had to leave to pick up Dylan from football practice. We got back around 7:30 and they were still up there. I had to make the call. "Come down now. You can't possibly see anything." There were a few grunts and I was asked to pass up a flood light. This project was done for the night.
I went inside for a minute and upon returning saw the two old men, who five minutes ago were moving around on the roof like 20 year olds, but were now struggling to walk and groaning. "I think it's time to start calling workers to do these big projects. It's getting to hard on you guys" was my comment. Before I could even get it out I got the evil eye from both of them. I guess it's just not proper to tell the manly men that they just aren't as flexible as they were 10 years ago. I have proof of this now after attempting to sleep between Barney's groans every time he moved. The good part is they got a chunk done and my son will be around to help tonight. The bad part is they are about 1/2 done. I need to stay away from the scene because I don't like to see them hurting. I'm pretty sure that by Sunday we'll need to rent wheelchairs for the Breast Cancer Walk.
Needless to say "They are both my hero's".

1-2

Dylan's football team is off to quite a rough start. After winning the first game of the season they have lost the last two. Dylan seems to have shrunk during the off season. On his baseball team he's of the average height and weight. Get him out on the football field and he's one of the smallest on the team. He's on the front line of the defense and always seems to be up against some giant kid. Somehow he does manage to squeak through and make some good tackles. Not sure what was up with the play calling last night, but I'm not the coach, so I'll leave that at that. Once again I have to stay down field of the other grandfather for fear of speaking my mind on his constant yelling. Point blank-he needs to watch the game, not one person. He needs to leave the coaching to the coach's and he needs to quiet himself when around the refs. It would be most embarrassing to Dylan to have one of his family members kicked out of a game. We're there for support and the fun of it, not to condemn every play called or question every blatant penalty.

I attended a class yesterday that taught me not much more than I knew already. What I did learn is there are a lot of people in this company that cannot get past a start up screen, and they use computers every day. I think I will be seeking this further education on my own as this was a crash course (8 1/2 hours). I did get a book out of it though.

Sit By Me Drunk Girl

I must have a sign plastered somewhere on me that attracts stupid drunks. We went to the Brewer game yesterday and sat in the usual place we sit when my husband is awarded with tickets. Ten rows in back of the Brewers dug-out. Nice seats, but I'm ready to tell him to trade them next time. These are season tickets but we've yet to sit around the same people. I'm assuming the surrounding tickets are about the same (given out). Yet, it seems that every time we go I end up in front or back of some stupid drunk girl. Not funny drunk, annoying drunk. The one yesterday went as far as having her husband announce it was time to go. She started out okay, but then I think she felt obligated to purchase a beer from every vendor. I didn't need to know she had to use the potty. And why is it that the voice changed the drunker she got? It went from normal to high squealing baby talk. There was a couple sitting with them and from what I could pick up, it was a first date. The girl bailed around the 7th inning to join some friends. The drunk girl spent some time trying to text her but couldn't figure out the phone. Also in the 7th inning she asked her husband where JJ was and how come he didn't bat yet. I felt his pain as he shook his head and explained to her that he was no longer on the team. I give him credit for his patience while she rambled on about JJ.

I also noticed that every time we sit in these seats we spend a good majority of getting up to let people out. I don't mind passing beers down, or getting up here or there but seriously it was at least two times per inning. There was a group of woman that just couldn't all go at the same time. One would come back and the next would leave. I think they felt the need to guard their Doug Melvin bobble heads. These weren't people with kids, these were all grown adults. Around the 6th inning the man in back of me leans over and says "Do you realize that I have not had to get up for anyone yet"? He didn't want to trade seats with me.
I'm grateful for the tickets and enjoyed what I could see of the game and somehow managed to keep my cool. I tried to get Barney to move over to the aisle next to us as no one was sitting there but he wasn't budging-except to let people out.

I did have a little scare yesterday with a sore throat, but all seems well. It appears to be a slight sinus thing or hay fever. Should be easy to take care of with some allergy medicine and much needed rest.

Morning Shows

I caught parts of two morning shows on my way to work this morning. The topic of one of them was "If you live like a millionaire for a day what would you do". I thought about it for awhile and then wondered if I'd be able to keep what I purchased. The question was soon answered. Yes.
So then I figured that I'd want to purchase things that would not cost me any further money. Sure I could buy a mansion, but then I'd have to come up with the money at a future date to pay the upkeep and taxes. I could buy a few very expensive cars but I'd have to insure them after paying the initial premiums. After some thinking (on my level) I figured I'd pay off the debts of my family and closest friends, I'd invest some money, purchase clothing, any needed furniture, and then buy a slew of gift cards to be spent at a later date. Couldn't think of much else but it was all a spur of the moment thought.
The second show I caught after listening to Jason Aldeen sing to me about his "Big Green Tractor" was about ditching someone during a date. Either doing so or having it done to you. Some interesting calls came in but I don't think it brought the results they were looking for as it ended pretty quickly. I thought about this for a moment and since it's been 26 years since I've dated I had to dig deep into the memory bank. I recall being with some friends once and meeting this guy I had afterward tagged "The Butchers Son". We were at a local bar and one of my friends and I left with these guys (alcohol played a big part of the stupidity) and went to a few other bars. We were pretty stupid in not taking our own car. As the evening progressed she seemed to be doing fine with her guy but Butcher's Son was weirding me out. (His dad owned a butcher shop downtown and he worked for him). The topic of every conversation was something to do with being a butcher. I was sober enough to picture myself cut in pieces. At bar closing they decided to take the night further and go to a local greasy spoon for a great dining experience. I suggested going back to get our car. They were having no part of that and neither was she. We ended up at a Webbs back on our side of town. I seriously wanted out of this and was ready to just ditch the whole thing but didn't want to leave her with these two clowns. We walked into Webb's and I felt instant relief at spotting one of my male friends with his group. When the clowns hit the bathroom I grabbed my drunken friend and we bailed with my friend. They took us back to our car and as we were getting in the clown's pull up. Male friend steps up and asks "What are you doing with my wife" to butcher boy. Drunkin friend was whining all the way home. Stupid night.
Next morning show. What secret song is on your Ipod? Don't have one but it was interesting listening to some of the call ins. "Ben" seriously?

The Morals Lecture

As kids most of us sometime or another have had "The Lecture". My dad was good at giving them and believe it or not had a way of getting through. Maybe it was the honesty, as he would use himself as an example. Of course some were far fetched, but he never put on a front. Dad wasn't afraid to tell us what he did as a kid. He also wasn't afraid to tell us of the punishment he received either. Maybe that was the part that made us listen carefully. We may have been just a bit afraid of the punishment. We weren't perfect kids, but my parents had a pretty good hold on it.
I went through the same thing when my kids were of age. Tried to be honest, tried to listen and punished when needed. There were lectures and examples used. I called upon my dad for advice a few times and between his chuckles, he was always able to offer some useful advice. I was able to make it through their teenage years without to many problems. It was a sigh of relief.
But it didn't end there. I have a pretty good relationship with my kids and am able to talk openly with them. I'm grateful for that. I've kept my nose out of the raising of their children because from what I can see they're doing a good job.
My daughter has recently moved back home and along with her came "Bella" her dog, which I'm not letting go when she leaves. We also now have the twins (11 year old girls) a few nights a week. The girls are beginning to develop their own personalities and starting to branch out on their own. Along with that comes the fights. My daughter does a pretty good job of handling things, but the other night I was asked to talk to them. "What!" "Grandparents aren't supposed to lecture" was my first thought. "I'm done with this". Then I remember calling on my dad, and figured this must be part of the duty. It turned out that it wasn't a lecture, just a talk. A talk about making choices, fighting with each other, and walking away from situations that you know are not going to turn out well. This was over dinner, and as I began to talk to them I noticed that they were both staring at me with somewhat wide eyes. Neither of them were eating. I had to stop and lighten it up a little before I burst into laughter. This seemed to ease the frightening looks on their faces. We were warned as kids not to be bad in front of our Grandparents. I spent some time being frightened of my grandfather who turned out to be one of the most understanding and funniest people I have ever known. I have now mentioned to both my children that their kids need to be normal in front of us. I'm not feeling to good about them ever having to be afraid of their grandparents. Besides, if they act up I may take a trip down memory lane and go for the old "you're grounded".

The Early Birds Gets Squat

After a week of relaxation it was back to work yesterday. No big shock that not much has changed. My current boss has "a new appreciation for me". I stood and listened as he told me his woes of waking up before the crack of dawn , how tired he was and what a headache he had the entire week. He claims he never really knew what I did. I think what he was trying to say is that he never took the time to see what I do. He had an easy week, only one line running. Usually I work my lunch around the line running and yesterday for the first time since March he came out to the line at 12:30 to see if I wanted to go to lunch. By George I think he's got it now.

So I'm on my way to work this morning doing a little over 60 on the freeway when I get passed by a fellow co-worker. I start work any where from 5- 5:30 (depending on how motivated I am). The operators don't start until 7. He reminds me of a sinister cartoon character driving like a madman to beat everyone else to work. I had a good chuckle as he sped past. I punched in 2 minutes after him and when I walked through the break room there he was with the newspaper all spread out and his coffee in hand. I have worked with this guy for close to 9 years now and still can't figure him out. He will be at work 1 1/2 hours prior to his start time. He needs to sit and read the paper, bang around in the kitchen, check his email, bang around in the kitchen some more and re-read the paper. Right now him and I are the only ones here and I can hear the cabinet doors banging. Not sure what he's always looking for.

The testing that I came in early to do isn't where it's supposed to be. I love getting a call as I'm leaving asking if I can test something right away in the morning. I get in, there is nothing here and no email or voice mail. I did take the effort to go look for the samples with no luck.

We did manage to make it home from vacation in time for Dylan's first football game of the season. They started out a little shaky but managed to win. One of his grandfathers drives me nuts at his baseball games with his yelling and now I have another season of football to sit through. I had a short fuse on Saturday and after listening to this 350 lb. guy screaming "Get him, get him" over and over again I moved. This helped for two minutes until he followed the team down the sidelines. Barney's got it on tape and I told him to make him a copy so he could hear himself. His wife doesn't come to the games because she said he drives her nuts. If I didn't love Dylan so much I'd opt to go sit on the other side so I wouldn't have to listen to him. The things I endure for my kids and grand kids.

1.3 million

24 hours from now we will be heading out for five days of camping. This may mark the longest camping trip since back in the day when we'd take the kids to the Dells area for a week. We always found things to do there and fought through some nasty storms. In the end it was always a good time.

Today is the day to pack and do all the last minute things required. I've already made several trips to the store to assure I have everything. In the end there will be something forgotten.

We went to a friends 50th birthday celebration last night. The first leg of this celebration was an "All you can eat taco, and all you can drink Margarita cruise". Since I've never been on the Milwaukee river before I found the cruise to be very interesting. Saw a whole different side of Milwaukee. They've done a nice job making the area look good. We saw a sign on the outside of one building listing the condo's at $320,000 to 1.3 million. I think I may, just out of curiosity go check them out. I am very interested to see what the difference in them is. The cruise was nice, never got to the taco bar but had a few Margarita's.

Then it was on to the friends house for a pretty low key party. I guess 830 at night is kinda late for some folks. It was there that I got the story on two couples who were supposed to be on the cruise. One couple apparently has a knack for running late, and threw away $50.00 by doing so. Another couple who talked it up and had big plans just never showed. I find it frustrating that people RSVP "wouldn't miss it, what can I bring" or just flat out never respond. I more so felt bad as the person who's birthday it was goes out of her way to make sure other people's birthdays are special. In the end I guess those who really appreciate her friendship were there.

Well I hear the rustling of the rest of the family, and I promised to make eggs and sausage so it's off I go to Grandma duty.

Hiding Out At Work

I usually don't like working on Fridays, and today's not any different. I'm here because I have to be and because I don't want to be at home. Around 9am men should be arriving at my house to aid in the pouring of the patio next to the new porch/sun room. For the past week Barney, with the help of Ben, has been preparing for the pouring. Several trips to the garden center have been made for stone, several trips to the dump have been made to dispose of the stone and dirt dug out to make the patio, and several trips have been made to the local hardware store for items needed for the construction of the patio. As of yesterday the cement was ordered and paid for. It all sounds like it's going smoothly. But wait! Something will go wrong. There will either be not enough cement, a broken window, or an (knock on wood) injury of some kind.

It's not that I have no faith. Barney does good work. But something out of his control always goes wrong. This is why I want to be at work. I do not want to hear "Oh Dear" coming from the driveway. This could only mean that I am needed to do something. Most likely write a check for additional cement or find a band aid or something of the sort. I shall remain in my safe harbor until 1:30. It's the best place for me. Completely out of the way.

This is my last day before a week long vacation. It's been over a year since I took an entire week of vacation. I plan to use the weekend to catch up on things around the house and pack. As of Monday I plan to get to my destination , set up and plop in my chair with a beverage of choice until Tuesday. I just need a day to have nothing on my mind, and nothing to do. Hopefully one of my friends will give me a jab every once in a while to ensure I'm not in some other world.

You Gotta Have Money To Get That

Today's breaking news...MJ was a pothead. No big surprise there. Police found several bags of it lying around his house. Comments were made about how in California you can have pot for medicinal reasons. I'm sure that's why he had it, right? But then again superstars can get just about anything they want.
Why do people worship weirdos? How do seedy characters become Superstars? Superstars can completely disobey any laws and walk away a few dollars shorter , a jail term cut down and a slap on the hand. Do a few community service things and make a commercial or two and you're done. Michael Vick for example. The country goes nuts when he's found guilty of his dog thing. He received a standing ovation in the Eagles game last night. The crowd went wild. He's back on top again.
Not let's get to the Mayor beater pleading not guilty on all counts. What irked me on this entire issue was his mother and brother getting on TV saying that if it wasn't the Mayor he would walk away with a slap on the hand. "The Mayor should not have stepped in, it wasn't his business" are the words that came out of his brothers mouth. What???. Yes we all say stupid things sometimes, but come on. This idiot is going at his child and child's grandmother. Defenseless people. He's in a rage. The Mayor did something that not to many people would do. He came to the defense of this woman and he attempted to subdue this guy. He's left with the scars of aiding someone. The guy is claiming to be bi-polar and was off his medication. He is now going for medical evaluation. "It's not him that beat the Mayor. He wouldn't do something like that. " Well buddy, the police have a record on you that's a mile long dating back to the late 90's when you were a teen. Is this another case of "he slipped through the cracks as a teen". No one wants to see another child's Daddy going to jail, but personal responsibility needs to be taken for what was done. Mayor or not, he beat someone and shouldn't have.
Superstar?? Who cares. MJ was wrong for a long time. A Good Father?? A good father doesn't leave pot laying around the house and have access to the drugs that killed him. So the doctor's probably going to spend some time in jail. Good. He's just as guilty. He let money do the talking. Once again , time to take responsibility for your actions.

Whoops There It Goes

Ever drive to work and then wonder how you got there? Actually when I missed my exit is when I came back to reality. I just wonder how far I would have gone or where I was going? Somewhere north which is not really my dream destination.
The past few days, at my normal exit, I've seen a sheriff sitting on the exit ramp. Not sure if he's napping or hanging out waiting for ramp speeders. Today I saw one on my not normal exit. I drive past (at the speed limit of course) and then notice he puts on his lights and starts to take off. As I did nothing wrong I wasn't nervous. He then pulled around me and pulled the car in front of me over. This person wasn't speeding either. I'm just a little stumped as to why the exit ramp. Maybe a speed trap that's radioed ahead, or maybe a seat belt violation?
At any rate, I'm fully awake now and ready for another fun filled day!.

Those Are Some Fighting Words

I'm making history! Never has a QA person worked out on the lines before. They would come out for samples and maybe take over for a few minutes while someone ran to the bathroom or moved a pallet, but they've never actually worked the line for any amount of time. Yesterday started an argument between my boss and an Engineer/Production Manager. Two lines were scheuled to run this week. In the past when this has been done, one line would shut down for break and lunch. This really does a number on production numbers and scrap. Yesterday I was aksed to help out during breaks. I took a look at my work load and decided I could help. It's only two people and breaks are 10 minutes. Not a problem. So I thought. The two ten minute breaks turned into me being on the line for 40 minutes. In the mean time the other line is paging me for a sample check. This doesn't shut a line down, but if there is a problem there could be a ton of scrap. When this was over and I was caught up I explained to the PM that I could not be away from my job for that long. He agreed.

Two hours later I get a page asking for help during lunch. I talked to my boss and we decided that he could cover for me. Both of us assumed that this was a one day thing. Once again the 40 minutes I should have been out there turned into 1 1/2 hours. I guess their breaks are no longer being monitored. Once again caught up I took my lunch at 1:30.

I have just come from the morning meeting where the PM announced that I'd be breaking people out again. Huh? He must have seen the confused look on my face and asked me if I had talked to my boss. Sure I did, and my boss said "They will have to learn to get along without you. They have had approval for an additional person since you came to QA. They're not hiring anyone because with you helping them out it makes their numbers look good". He went on to say that he'd come out and help out this week as needed, but this was it! He's becoming a little bit assertive which is a good thing. I will do what I can to stay out of the manager's war. The good part was the PM (unaware of my boss's presence) says to me "What does your boss do all day? I always see him just sitting at his desk. Maybe he should come out and help". His face was a little red upon seeing the presence of my boss. I walked away because this was no longer my fight.

On a lighter note, I have a walking partner again! My daugher has taken up residence in our home (for the time being) and used to be my walking partner prior to her moving out. It sure makes the time go by and the walk not be so boring when you're with someone else.

Welfare Cornpie

I discovered this weekend that I now have a hippie grand-daughter. Or at least a wanna be. It seems her father purchased her a headband and upon putting it on declared that she is now a hippie. We had a little fun with her when she announced her hippie name was Marigold Moonflower (I think). We were warned however that this hippie had a "dark side".

I did have some worries about taking 3 kid camping. I wondered how I would amuse them for 2 days but my worries were none as they did great. I was amazed at how well they behaved and that I only had to step in once to stop a short lived argument. The good thing is, they all still get along good. The sad thing is that I know this won't last forever. By next year there could be some issues with spending that much time together. Until then I will take what I can get.

The park itself was nice. Funny that less then 1 mile away was a fully stocked BP gas station, but the park itself was quite and private. The rangers are of a different breed from where we've visited before. Maybe you could classify them as "high end Rangers". They were all older then the normal rookie Rangers we see at other parks. I came to the conclusion that they place the older, ready for retirement, Rangers at the less maintenance Parks and stick the rookies at the high maintenance parks. Kind of equal to a Police Officer close to retirement that gets a desk job.
We also usually stake camp close to a bathroom, whether it be pit toilets or flushers. This time all we had to go by was a park map, so back in February we booked what we though were sites close to a bathroom. They were close if you took the path through the woods. We were slightly downhill from the bathrooms so either way you went, path or road, you ended up walking uphill on the way back. I tried the path at 4am and was a little nervous about creatures popping out at me but then realized that this area was a little less rural then we are used to. I'm sure the raccoons had little condo's set up somewhere, but we never saw evidence of them the entire weekend. All in all the trip was good.

Yesterday was also a bit of a sad day. It marked one year since the passing of brother David. I think about him a lot and miss him terribly, but yesterday the thoughts were a little different. They say the hurt eventually goes away, I say it takes more than a year for sure. We took his girls to the spot they chose to lay their dad to rest and spent some time remembering his life and had some laughs and of course a good cry. In honor of him we ordered pizza from the place he worked and I then realized how much I'd go through for a sibling. I still don't like their pizza!

Weird Dream

I had a strange one last night and as the day progressed it even kind of scared me a little. Years ago my parents were friends with this couple and our families did a lot of things together. Some where along the line they had a falling out and the friendship ended. I would run into one of the girl that was my age at school and not to long ago found that she had worked with my husband.

In my dream last night I was sitting on my back porch and looked next door and saw them moving in. They were as I remembered them as a kid. None of the kids looked older and the parents still looked the same. I was a little stunned and wondered what happened to our neighbors. I then saw that they had moved a motor home into the backyard and were staying in it while their new house was being built.

I was puzzled as to how this was happening when all of a sudden my mother appears and says " Oh my gosh it's Bill & Iris, and all the kids". Huh? My mother takes off running across the yard and gives this woman a great big hug and they're chatting away like crazy. I wondered when the little rift got cleared up. I thought about the dream several times today and it just really had me stumped for some reason.

Tonight I'm on my weekly telephone call to my parents and the discussion turns to the possibility of them moving back up here. Dad is all for it, Mom makes excuses. I think Dad may win on this one because he told her she can stay down there but he's planning on looking for a home when they come up next spring. We're chatting away and she says "Gosh, I'm going to have to make all new friends." Then out of the blue comes "I wonder what Iris & Bill are up to". Did you ever just get that jolt that goes through your body? Eeriness? I have now brushed it off as coincidental.

I Can Do Without The Drama

I love my family. I would do just about anything for them and have. There are only a few things that I ask in return. Don't lie to me, don't take advantage of me and do not take anything from my house that does not belong to you. It's most likely that if you are down and out , maybe just lost a job, maybe just had a ton of crap happen to you that I will help you. But then at least show some effort that you are attempting to get your life back on order.

Several times over the past year I've been taken advantage of. #1 was purchasing an airline ticket for someone to fly back home after visiting her ill father. I was told this person was broke. So how do you purchase a $500.00 dog and a camper within a month of you getting back home? How do you not return the cash? Done. It will never happen again.

My brother, GOD rest his soul lived here and contributed in some way. Yes I bitched about his sloppy ways, but he went to work everyday. He tried to crawl out of his hole. I want to truly say he never lied to me not took a thing from my home.

Other family members that we had stay with us were good. Chico cut our grass, cooked, cleaned and contributed. Excellent tenant if he ever comes knocking on your door.

My younger sister stayed with us for her last year of college. Excellent tenant. She didn't cook but she did organize my can cupboards and was my walking buddy. She could come back.

The other sister was here several times and each time was working and did get out. She didn't cook and was a bit messy but she's changed. I'd have to think about the return.

Now we have the situation of her daughter, my niece. She took off 5 years ago for New York with a guy that was 15 years older than her. Toward the end of last year she bought a house. It was then that we may have gotten a small hint that she wasn't happy. She came in May for a week long visit and hooked up with a guy she's known for a while and has stayed in touch with. She returned to NY only to come back 3 weeks later for which we all though was another visit. She did not return. Over the past 3 months she has managed to not find a job, run up her credit cards, and not have a place to live. She's called several family members (including me) who have turned her down simply because she's with this guy who if someone kicked the crap out of him may come around. They got asked to leave his crack head mothers house and she went to stay with her mom. Things are strained there for many reasons. I received a call yesterday morning asking if she could come and do her laundry by me. I didn't see a problem. She calls back 5 minutes later and asks if he can also come. I sighed and told her that was fine but I didn't want him hanging out here. They show up, she has a suitcase (freaked me out) but then she begins pulling dirty clothes out of a duffel bag. Not one stitch of the clothes were hers. They sat here for 4 hours while she did his laundry. I tried to busy myself and not listen to their conversations but I heard a lot of excuses for why he isn't working. Dumb, flat-out lazy ass excuses. He tried to include me in the conversation by making the comment that it's so hard to find a good $10.00 or more an hour job. The older and somewhat wiser and been there came out in me. I told them both that you have to start somewhere. $30.00 a day in your pocket is better than nothing.
The story goes on.......

My sister came to pick her up and his Grandma came to pick him up. I hugged my sister for not running either of them over. Off they went. My relief was short lived.
At 4:30 am my husband nudges me and hands me the phone. My sister is raving mad and proceeds to apologize up and down . Niece started a fight with her younger sister and was asked to leave. My sister goes out to her car this morning to go to work and finds niece in her car. They argue. My sister explains that she cannot sit in her car all day while she's at work. She explains that she cannot go back in the house as sister's boyfriend (who rents the apartment) is done with her. To make a really long story short.....
At 5am she was delivered to my doorstep by the police. I chat with them for a few minutes and ask them not to draw opinions when they remark that they could not believe my sister would not get her a hotel room. They leave.
I find niece out on my porch brooding. I sit and talk with her for 2 hours. I spill my pent up guts about the situation. I probe as to how she has not been able to find a job in 3 months. I mention that when I told her about a place that was hiring the day before she said "It's the weekend. I need to distress". She asks me if she could stay here. I mention that fact that she lied to me the day before and prior to that. I don't trust her in my house all day. My husband will divorce me if he comes home from work and finds the two of them lounging in my house. After two hours and a lot of talking I go back to bed.
At 10 am her knight in tarnished armor shows up (driven by grandma) and picks her up. My sister is worried about her but has washed her hands for right now. She has drained her financially and emotionally. This drama is not over...

Universal Sign is Understood

On my way home from work today I stopped to feed my nasty habit. There's a "Discount Cigarette" store close to my home. When I walked up to the store I noticed a sign that said "Under New Ownership". Would that mean that the turban man who ran it before was no longer there. He really did have discount cigarettes. I also noticed the door was locked. I started to walk away when a man opened the door and yelled that they were open. I've seen him in there before so I though he must not be the new owner.
I'm standing at the counter and he goes into a broken English speech about being the new owner and prices have gone down. I tell him the brand I want and hand him a coupon. $76.00 was the total. "What?" I say as I pull back my coupon. I then glance behind the counter at other brands of cigarettes and notice that they are all higher than normal. He mentions that taxes went up. I then nicely say "That's okay, that's way to expensive". I go on to mention that just the other day I bought a pack at Pick & Save for $5.45 and I had noticed their cartons were about $25.00 cheaper. This buffoon then rattles off something in his language and then says "No they're not cheaper". You can't come in here and say that so I sell them to you cheaper". I could feel my blood start to heat. First of all speak to me in English. Second of all do not call me a liar. I told him I'd got to Pick & Save and bring back the receipt (in English). He rattles something again in his language to another man behind the counter and I could totally tell he was talking about me and that did it.
I'm not real proud of this but in the famous words of the jailed "Chicago" women "He had it coming". I started to walk toward the door and he spewed out something else. At which point I proudly raised my middle finger and said "I bet we both understand what that means ass wipe".
Best part of this whole thing is that two customers walked out right behind me.
I hate that these people think they can mooch into our country and wiggle through the red tape of owning gas stations, doughnut shops and discount stores but then mark things up 50% more. New ownership my ass buddy. You just transferred it over to a family members name. I saw turban man in the back of the store when I left. Apparently he didn't have a clue of what was going on as he waved to me.
Hey, the moral of the story is simple. Quit smoking.
Ass wipe came up on my spell check.

Sometims You Just Have To....

This is the trophy presentation. The not so formal one. I couldn't get a clear shot of the more formal 2nd place. They played hard, and the best part was that the coach's all made them feel like winners. Good bunch of kids, good coaches and I was provided with awesome entertainment from May through August. Dylan hit a couple triples this season but last night he hit a solo home run that I think even shocked him. I saw him smile a little when he came up to bat again and the opposing coaches were waving everyone in the outfield to move back.

What to do now...well, it's on to football. I am so blessed to have a grandchild who is involved in the two sports I love. I thank GOD every time I'm sitting at a game that none of them play soccer.

Howling Dogs & Solicitors

I woke up at 4 am this morning with a throbbing headache. This was some sort of allergy symptom at it's finest. By 5 am the steaming shower and allergy relief tablets were not helping. I decided to make the call and stay home. I had the funny feeling that staying home wasn't going to be much better and I was correct. I had given in to the idea of any sleep until after 6:30 when Barney leaves for work. I knew his alarm clock would go off at least 3 times before he finally decided to start his day. I give him credit as he was pretty quiet. I think I finally dozed off around 7am. But not for long! At 8:20 my cell phone began to ring. I ignored a few calls and because of it being persistent finally got up and checked it out. Two from work which I called back and took care of, three relating to my mother-in-law. This is still going on and way to much to go into.

With that under belt I attempted to just laze on the couch. Took two more cold tablets and felt something must be breaking up as I'm doing a whole lot of nose blowing. Door bell rings...As the door was open and I was laying on the couch I couldn't very well ignore it. I figured I'd be fetching a ball. No, it was a girl selling carpet cleaning services. I pointed out the "No Soliciting" sign on the door and she tried to apologize in Spanish. "No" seemed to work just fine and she was on her way. Then off in the distance I heard a siren. So did the dog across the street as he began his howling. This continued on for about 10 minutes when his owner finally came out and brought him in the house.

I took a few more "mom" related calls and figured I'd give up on any more sleep. My headache turned into more of a frustration headache by now. Another ring of the door bell. There stands some buy who also, by the looks of him, could not read English. "No, I do not want any magazines". How do you send people out to sell things that cannot speak a word of English except "Please , look". I pointed to the sign again. He no speak English. I simply refuse to buy an additional sign for my door "No Solicitar". Maybe when I've finally had enough I will just hand write signs in various languages and post them up my front lawn like the old Burma Shave signs. I should be able to have my front door open.

50 Came & Went

My husband usually has a month long birthday celebration, but he's done now. Last week I had a 50th for him at our house for family. I figured he'd think it strange that none of our friends were there. He never asked so I felt no need to explain. Ben, Nannette and I had been planning a party for him with all our friends. He claims he didn't know but suspected something was up when he didn't receive a birthday card in the mail from a certain couple. I had to tell a few white lies this week in able to make things happen, but I have been forgiven.

The party went well. A big thanks to Ben & Nannette for the use of their house and all the hard work and effort they put into it. You guys are great! Also to everyone who attended and made this special to him. In his drunkenness (all the way home mind you) he said over and over again how perfect it was. How he got to see people that really mattered to him. Between the slurring I was able to make out that he really had a great time.

I'm going to jump on this and talk about the Watermelon. Nannette had received a phone call earlier in the day from an invitee that was going to be a little late. She had also mentioned that she'd been really busy and was going to bring a watermelon. Nannette got off the phone and repeated the conversation to me. We both commented that we hope she was going to cut it up first. When you have a crowd of people and a stock of food out for them your kitchen space is pretty well taken up . Now a bowl of cut up watermelon would have been great. No rind mess, no sloppy mess in the kitchen to clean up. We had enough to worry about. So when this couple appeared we saw no melon. I saw no bowl of cut up melon. I just figured she decided not to bring it. Little did we know until later that the whole melon had been deposited on her couch. By the time we saw it they were already gone. Nannette commented how the melon was left on her couch. We're wondering if she will be calling to come by and claim her melon.

All in all good party, great friends and a big thanks to all of you who made it happen. Slurry is doing good today. He slept until noonish and got up and consumed his big bowl of "build your own nachos".

There's Always Got to Be One......

Bitch in the crowd. Did I mention how happy I am to have landed this QC job? The grass is greener for now. Part of this job entails doing in-process checks of products run. The former QC girls would sit in the lab until someone called them. We do inspections after each pallet. Being that I am a former operator I know how it takes to produce a pallet therefore will usually be out on the line by the time the pallet is complete. If not I get a page. From nine out of 10 operators. From the operators that are aware of whats going on.

Then we have space cadet. Unaware or just not caring? I'd like to think that after being employed somewhere for 2 1/2 years you'd know the drill. The operators have to do a sample also and then hand it over to me. I'll go out for a sample and she will look at me like I'm crazy. I'll look at the operators inspection sheet and see that she's done her part and then will ask for the sample and be told "Oops, I think I tossed it". I refuse to dig through the garbage so will go get another sample only to get an eye roll and dirty look from her. Seriously, this girl thinks I'm going to dig for this. This is a case of stubborn meets stubborn . Today I'd had enough and told her that according to our SOP I should put the pallet on hold and she'd have to go through it roll by roll and make sure that all is well from my last inspection until the most recent sample. "Hmphhh" was what I got. She then tries to blame it on the rest of the people on the line by saying "They're not telling me we're on the last roll of the pallet". The pallet is 5 feet away from her. I couldn't stand there and not say anything that would have caused a ruckus so I walked away. I just wish I would have had a door to slam in her face.

All I keep saying over and over to myself is "Good things come to those who wait".