Thursday This n That

I could've sworn today was Friday.  Bummer.

Long ago, I was a serious Negative Nelly.  And an unpleasant person to be around.  I wasn't happy unless I could find something to bitch about.  One day, way back in college, a co-worker and semi-friend gave me a wake up call.  He told me I'd never get anywhere if I didn't change my attitude.  With way more words and in his pervasive jokester way.  I looked at myself and my life, where I was and where I wanted to be, and l changed my attitude.  Oh, I still get cases of the negatives from time to time... who doesn't?  But I am a way happier person.  Now, there's a negative person in the building where I work.  Not a co-worker, but I see her from time to time and it seems like she's always bitching about something.  I see a bit of my old self in her and I don't like it.  I'm using it, though, to make sure I stay on a more positive track.  

Toxic people... Ugh.  They aren't who the mainstream want you to believe they are.  

Anyway, let's be happy.  Let's be positive.  Spread that shit everywhere.  I think the next time I encounter the negative, I'm going to positive all over it.  Say 'isn't it a BEE YOU TEE FULL day?'.  Or something.  I have to work on my delivery.  

Hubs is driving me to work today so he can take my car in to get the new squeaky brakes replaced by newer not-squeaky brakes.  Warranty work.  Yay.  And thus will end the brakes saga that's been going on for-EVER.  (Okay, so mainly just a lot of this year.  It just feels like forever.  First, the old brakes squealed because they were going bad.  Then the new brakes squeaked because they weren't adjusted right, supposedly.  Now, they just squeak because they were manufactured with a flaw.  Derp.)   Anyway, three cheers for Hubs!  And fingers crossed the mechanics get it right this time.

I don't have to pack a lunch today because the office is buying lunch.  Yay.  I guess it's a kind of thank you for the good job we're doing.  

It's finally cool enough for me to wear all the old work clothes that have been hanging in my closet for ages.  Yesterday, I pulled out a sport jacket (blazer?) that I didn't even remember owning.  Once I brushed the dust off the shoulders, it was quite nice.  Just your basic black blazer.   I also have one in dark blue with burgundy accents.  And a gray one.  And a black one with light nubbies.  And a tan and black one that's done in a very tiny plaid.  Dude, I was all about the blazers 20 years ago.  Thank goodness they're back in fashion.  I'd wear them even if they weren't, though.  They're my style.  But the 20-yr-old in the office assures me they're very cute, so I'm hip.  Or 'gooch', as the kids these days are saying.

Okay, it's 7 o'clock here, which means I should probably get moving in a workerly direction.  Have a great day.  And remember to stay positive!

Sunday Update - Week 34?

The internet is telling me last week was number 34.  I'm not sure I believe it, but eh, whatever.  Can you believe that August is almost over?  Yeeps.  Not much of note happened this week, but I figured I'd better do an update.  Let's see if I can make your trip here worthwhile with some semi-interesting stuff...  

It's been over two months since I wrote any fiction.  That almost feels like an introduction to a addict support group.  "Hi, my name is BE and it's been over two months since I wrote fiction."  At which point everyone would say 'Hi, BE.'  Except it wasn't an addiction and I didn't need a support group because I was doing it.  I might need a support group for not doing it.  'Writers Not Writing Anonymous' or something.  It kinda feels like I cut off an appendage.  I get phantom pains to write, but when I reach out for the ability, it's not there.

Whoa, that was disturbing.  :shudder:

Anyway, I read a great book this past week.  Visit yesterday's post to see what it was and a link to click.  

Yesterday, I made coffee cake.  It was my usual recipe, but I added applesauce to the batter and then dribbled applesauce over the top.  It turned out pretty damned good, if I do say so myself.  Today, I need to make granola bars because Hubs is out.

Speaking of Hubs, he's been working on my car.  This week, he took it to get the oil changed and he put two new tires on the back.  He also picked up the parts to fix my windshield washer - a new tank and a new pump.  Yesterday, the poor man spent 6 hours putting those suckers in.  In 90+ heat.  And during the test phase, we discovered it wasn't just the tank and the pump... the hose leaks, too.  He'll need to order that and go through the process of taking the front of my car apart again.  For now, duct tape is doing the job and my pump squirts liquid up onto the windshield again.  Yay.  Well, for now, my car will be put back together and driveable so I can get to work tomorrow.

Work is work.  Busy busy.  I'm still liking it for the most part.  There are a couple people I could live without, but I don't deal with them that often, so it's no big deal.  The owner seems like a good guy, and the four I have to deal with every day are good people, too.  The worst part is sitting like 90% of the time.  The 5% I spent standing ain't so good on the body either.  I need more motion in my day.  As soon as the weather cools down, I'm going to try walking on my lunch half-hour.  Fifteen minutes to eat and 15 minutes to walk.  We'll see how it goes.

Meanwhile, to try and ameliorate the ouchies caused by sitting too much, I ordered a gel chair cushion.  It's supposed to be delivered tomorrow.  Keep your fingers crossed.

This week, I discovered I've lost 10 pounds since I started work.  It's gotta be due to the whole not grazing all day thing, since I am definitely not getting any exercise.  Weight: 171.6.  That's the lowest I've been in like over 10 years.  A pound lower than the start of 'rona when I stressed so bad I dropped a bunch of weight.  I gained all that back.  Let's see if I can keep this off.  

Let's see... what else...   The fawns are getting bigger and their spots are starting to fade a bit.  We saw Chester Chipmunk and he looks well.  My gardens are toast.  Everyone in my family is doing well, as far as I know.  

Oh, one last thing...  I went to Wallyworld yesterday.  Lucky for me, I didn't need that much stuff.  And I still paid $48 total.  The price of damn near everything had jumped.  TP was up $2 from the last time I bought it.  $12+ for a 12 pack of Great Value when it was $10+.  Under Trump, the same toilet paper was $6+.  Doubled in under 2 years.  Thanks, Creepy Joe, you rat bastard.  

And that's it.  How was your week?  How's life in general treating you these days?

Sunday Update - Week 31?

Sorry I'm late.  I don't really have anything to talk about.  It was a week.  It was busy at work and veggie at home.  (More of both in the coming week.)

I read one book and DNF'd several others.  I didn't bake anything.  I didn't do much in the way of activity and I only lost two tenths of a pound.  (Which I probably gained back after yesterday's see-food-eat-it festivities.)  We did just get back from a walk, so that's something.

If you missed it, I finally got my squeaky brakes fixed.  The silence is wonderful.

There's a doe around here with three fawns following her.  Not sure whether she had triplets or adopted some other doe's baby.  One is decidedly bigger than the other two.  We had a mama raccoon stop by this morning with three babies.  (It's not the same raccoon who came by with 4 the other day.  This mama is noticeably smaller.)  Someone ran over a copper head near the house.  :shudder:  Then this morning, we saw a dead Rough Green Snake (I assume it was this and not the smooth, because the smooth kind hasn't been seen in MO in a long time.  I did not touch it to verify my assumption) in the road. Bummer for that one because they aren't venomous and they eat bugs.

Other than that, it's been pretty quiet here.  Keeping my head down and working for the most part.  

How are things in your world?

Thurs... err... Friday This n That

I totally brainfarted yesterday.  As in, I can't believe I missed Thursday and now it's Friday.  :shrug:

Hubs was doing this thing where he'd compare old pictures of various coastal places today versus way back when.  Take the Statue of Liberty, for instance.  Now... Then... count the bricks on the seawall from water level to the top.  Same same.  I did the beaches at Normandy.  Same same.  He found a site that was saying that this was no way to dispute the rising-sea-level' claim because the two pictures probably weren't taken at the same tidal point or some such crap.  My point was and is that we have documented 'experts' saying in the 1970s that certain places would be underwater by now and there is no tangible, objective, visual evidence of the water level even being higher.  Don't believe me, go look for pics yourself.  

Who ya gonna believe?  An expert or your own eyes?  ;o)

You may remember I got my brakes done a while back.  Well, something was hinky with the back set of new brakes.  It started out with a little thump and I took the car back over there and the dude told me it would stop after a while.  Well, it didn't.  It got worse.  I told Hubs, but apparently I didn't tell him hard enough.  Fast forward to Tuesday and Hubs hopped into the passenger seat while I drove us to go vote.  And he was all like WHOA, that's sounds bad.  Umm... yah.  We got home from voting and I went to work.  While I was at work, he called the mechanic and worked it out to bring my car in the next day.  He dropped me off at work and picked me up afterwards.  The damn brakes weren't set right.  The head mechanic apologized profusely.  Now it's fixed and my car doesn't make any untoward noises any longer.  Yay.  And the 6-7 weeks of noise didn't damage my new brakes.  Also yay.

Gas is down to $3.75/gal here.  I saw something on FB saying anyone who was grateful for a slight reduction in gas prices was an idiot because they went up so much that this little drop was nothing.  I beg to differ.  It's like when someone holds your head underwater for a length of time.  When they finally let you take a breath, you're grateful, even though you know they're going to shove your face back in the water again shortly.  And they know it.  

I took a trip down my last Walmart receipt.  It was not a pleasant trip.  The prices are totally jacked.  Take, for instance, vitamins.  Used to pay like $3-something for a small bottle of off-brand mens 50+ multi.  They didn't have any small bottles, so I got the larger one.  $12 and half or so.  And this was NOT four time more pills.  It was two times, so what, the small bottle is like $6-7 now?  Blerg.

I can't think of one thing that's better under this administration.  Seriously.  If you voted for this, slap yourself for me, will ya?

And on that note, that's probably enough out of me.  It's not time to get ready for work yet, but I've flapped my proverbial gums enough this morning.  What's on your this n that radar?  How's life in general?  I feel like we don't get to chat much anymore, so have at it.  

Thursday This n That

I hope this intermittent posting thing isn't messing people up.  I promise to try my best to be here Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday at least - no matter what else might be going on.  

Finally went blueberry picking.  The farm is like 13 miles from here, so it's not like I couldn't have zipped over there in the past 9 years.  Geez.  Anyway, we came back with a little under two and a half pounds of blueberries.  Yum.  I already made muffins.  Screwed them up enough that I won't post the recipe, but they're edible, so we're eating them.  Rookie mistake.  Derp.  

I have an interview tomorrow.  Wish me luck.

The neighbors put a little blow-up pool out yesterday so the kids could play.  I swear the girl was in it for hours.  Totally pruny, I bet.  I remember when we had a pool.  Vaguely.  It was an above-ground thing my father had gotten for cheap.  I'm not sure how long he left it up, but once we kids weren't keen on cleaning it, he took it down and there was a round dead patch in the lawn for the longest time.   Needless to say, if it gets any hotter, they may find me running across the lawns to bellyflop into their tiny pool.

Lumpy has twins.  Yay.  They're so tiny and so cute.  Aww.

I planted most of the seeds I had leftover from last year's container garden experiment.  The tomatoes are coming up now.  At least they were when I checked a few days ago.  With this heat... I dunno.  I'll be heading outside to water everything shortly.

Hubs is slowly working his way through the bag of carrots.  Go, Hubs!

If I get this job, Hubs will be taking over all my chores.  Except cooking.  I'm not prepared to let cooking go.  Oh, he'll have to do some.  Breakfast and lunch, and maybe things like granola bars, etc.  It's not that he can't cook.  Lord knows the man took care of himself for a great many years before we got married.  If he couldn't cook, he would've either starved or gone broke eating out.  It's just that it's my kitchen and I'm a control freak about my kitchen.  I'll get over it.

I'm also a control freak about my car.  Driving it, I mean.  Hubs takes care of the maintenance without my assistance.  I think it's a fear of something going wrong and if it happens, I want to be behind the wheel.  Probably comes from all the time I spent behind the wheel doing outside sales.  Hubs is a most excellent driver, too, by the way.  This is all on me.

Well, that's it for me today.  I'd better get to doin'.  Got anything on your this-n-that list today? 

Thursday This n That

I've been watching old reruns of the show EMERGENCY!  If you're not familiar with it, it's from the early '70s and it's about paramedics in LA.  I mean, there are doctors and a nurse that also feature prominently, plus firefighters in secondary roles, but the two main characters are paramedics.   John is a bachelor and kind of a goof, Roy is a family man and kind of a stabilizing influence.  (When I was a little girl, I LOVED this show, and I had a major tot crush on Johnny.)  Other than that, I don't know a damn thing about them and I'm happy with that.  It's got some tense moments and some light moments.  Not much that's too deep.  For the most part, it's one and done.  And every episode is encapsulated.  No long running side stories.  No deep backstory stuff that haunts the characters.  If it touches on an issue - like say child abuse - it says it's piece and then let's it go.  Hell, the other night, Johnny was run over by a drunk driver who fled the scene.  It was tense until he got out of surgery and then it was light.  One short offhand comment about 'the police got that guy who hit John' and they were done with it.  I'm enjoying the show mightily.  If you get FETV, it's on at 10pm Eastern - 9 Central, which means I'm staying up late these days.

Speaking of staying up late, I can't sleep anyway, so why not watch a little something amusing?

Another show I've been addicted to lately is MOM.  I'm not sure why.  It supposed to be a sitcom, but it is often not funny.  I mean, there are bits that are hilarious, but other bits that are heartrending.  It's a total change from Emergency!, let me tell ya.   

Yeah, I've been watching a lot of TV lately.  Part of the reason is that it keeps me away from the computer - which keeps me away from both current events and the need to smoke many many cigarettes.  The other part is it distracts me from all the other crap going on in the world.  Although, they do keep trying to insert irritating issue stuff in the commercials.  Thank goodness for mute, eh?

I spend a lot of time not leaving the house lately.  If I have to go someplace, I do it, so I'm not like a shut-in or anything, but I'm not inclined otherwise.  I keep meaning to go take a walk, but meh.  I have yardwork to do, too, but also meh.  I really need to break that cycle.  Unfortunately, it's raining.  AGAIN.  Enough with the rain already.  If this keeps up, it'll be the wettest month since we moved here.  We were just over 10 inches for the month before this latest batch of sky water.  And we still have 6 days left.  Blerg.

When I was at the mechanics getting my new brakes adjusted, I brought a book, but instead of reading, I spent the whole hour or so in deep conversation with the 2-yr-old daughter of the mechanic.  She was awesome.  I only understood about half of the words she was saying, but like I said, awesome.  Once she warmed up to me, she had to show me everything her mama had packed for her to play with.  And by the way, according to her, the cow says baa.  So does the sheep.  She really made my day.  And with the world taking a shit the way it is, it was nice to find a bright spot.  Thinking about her now still makes me grin.  

Anyway, that's it for me today.  Got anything on your end to yatter about?

Sunday Update - Week 20

Welcome to the Sunday Update, wherein I talk about all the stuffs that happened (or lack thereof) in my previous week.

I started out the week gangbusters on the writing and then life happened.  I did get about 4800 words out over 4 days.  Not my fastest, but it was something. Shroudlands 2 is now just over 16000 words.  

No editing.  No marketing.  And very little reading (hence the absence of a Reading Wrap-up again this week.)   The only baking I did was a batch of zucchini bread early in the week.  Coincidentally, that was the only day I got any exercise.  

We set up an appointment to get my brakes done on Friday.  Hubs followed me out in the Jeepster, we dropped off Cally Cavalier, and went home.  They figured about 5-6 hours.  It only took 4.  Yay.  We loaded back into the Jeepster and headed down the road to pick up my babycar.  Suddenly, there was a thunk and a clunk and the power steering on the Jeepster went out.  Now, there is NOWHERE to pull over here.  These highways do not have shoulders.  They have deep, jagged ditches and drop offs.  He wrestled with the car as we headed toward town.  The temp gauge shot right the hell up and we continued to limp along.  Another thunk and clunk. I saw something fly out from under the back of the Jeep.  Still moving, still overheating, he coaxed that old beast another couple miles until we reached the bank parking lot - the first safe place to stop, really.  We parked it and I went into the bank to make some calls.  The mechanic has no towing.  They have no one who can come get me to at least pick up Cally.  On the verge of calling for a tow, a nice man who'd overheard my saga says he can drive us to the mechanic.  Yay.  Long story shortened a bit, we got the car, we had the Jeep towed home, and all is well.  A pulley thing fell off (most likely due to a loose bolt), dropping the serpentine belt onto the highway.  We found the belt laying alongside the highway and picked it up.  We never did find the pulley thing.  It probably rolled into a ditch somewhere along the way.  Hubs can replace the pulley thing himself and the belt is fine.  Thankfully none of this was as bad as it could've been.  

On an additional note, I have to take the car back to get a slight adjustment on the rear passenger brake cuz it makes a noise when the brakes are applied.  But only after the car has been driven for more than ten miles.  (I know this because we took the car back yesterday and it wasn't making the noise by the time we got to the mechanic, so we told them never mind and left, but it started up again by the time we'd gotten to our gas station for a fill-up* and smokes.  Derp.)

No, I am not interested in getting a new car.  We'll drive Cally and the Jeepster until they fall apart.  

Anyway, this past week also saw my birthday and our anniversary.  Birth-iversary or Anni-birthday, however you want to look at it.  We had cheesecake as a special thing on the anniversary (which doubled as birthday cake) and then bacon cheeseburgers for the special thing on my birthday.  Other than that, they were just regular days.  

And that's about it for my super-exciting life.  How was your week?

*Gas was $3.99 here yesterday.  $40 to fill my car, which still had about a third of a tank.  I've never spent $40 to fill any tank of any car I've ever owned.  =o\

Thursday This n That

I was reading about the Milgram experiment again this morning.  I find psychological stuff fascinating.  One thing I hadn't known about the experiment before was that Milgram had polled both psych students and colleagues beforehand about what they thought the results might be, and few of them guessed the truth.  In retrospect, and knowing what we know now, it's unsurprising to me that a majority of people would follow authority even against their own consciences.  

Just now, I was at a friend's blog talking about POV choices, and it reminded me of a tense-choice I made years ago.  I had originally written Wish in One Hand in third person with a totally different general storyline.  A whole novel, shitcanned in favor of a tense change.  In case you're not a writer, that's a LOT of work in the dumper there.  I think the first draft of that was like 236 pages.  Useless and doomed to sit forever in the labyrinth of my folder system.  

I took yesterday off.  Of like everything.  I watched TV and I ate.  Bacon cheeseburgers with french fries cooked in bacon grease and store-bought cheesecake.  Yum.

Oh, we did make the decision to bite the bullet, raid the savings, and schedule a full brake job on old Cally Cavalier.  In this super-hilly country, it's definitely necessary.  That's set for tomorrow.  I drop the car off in the morning and pick it up in the afternoon.  Time to dust off The Jeepster for a little shuttling work.  Thank goodness for the second vehicle or I'd be stuck sitting at either the shop or the bar down the highway a piece for 5-6 hours.  It's too far out in the middle of nowhere to walk anywhere else.  I could take a book, but sitting for that long on questionable seats would wreck me.

Cross your fingers for me.  This is an untried mechanic for us.  I mean, he came highly recommended by a guy who knows him and knows vehicles (a retired truck mechanic actually), but there's always a concern when dealing with any new [professional, doncha know.

I'll be sitting here tomorrow like a worried mama who's baby is in the hospital.  I've had Cally for 19 years now.  

I joked with Hubs yesterday that I'm going to name the new brakes Rover.  Cuz I could've used that money to get a dog.  We laughed and laughed.  LOL, I kill me.  And he might if I keep joking that way.  Ba dump bump... ting.

And on that note... What's on your this-n-that list today?

Thursday This n That

Still not dead.  

Yesterday, Hubs got the idea to cover the car ahead of the impending ice doom.  We used the boat cover (boat don't need it... it's in the garage with our Jeep).  While we were in the process of putting the cover on Cally Cavalier, a big blue RAV (Rural Assault Vehicle... looked like a little Humvee) pulled into the driveway.  She was looking for her little dog.  I recognized the car as one I'd seen parked in the newly-sold house here, so yay, met the new neighbor.  She seems nice.  Oh, and Hubs had to walk over to turn on the heater in the well house, so he stopped at her house to make sure she found her little dog.  She did.  Happy ending.  Yay.

Not sure yet if we got any ice yet, but we still have power, so yay.  We are as prepped for potential power outages as we can be at this point.  And Cally is about as wrapped against ice as we could make her.  Especially considering she's wearing a camouflage cover designed to be on a 15' boat.  I should take a pic of her in her new outfit.  (Yes, I talk about my car like it's a person.  I've had her longer than Hubs.)  

In the middle of the sleet-pounding we were taking yesterday, I looked out the window to see two deer standing in the woods, covered in white.  Poor babies.  Hubs went out to feed them.  He's such a nice guy.  He put out extra rations for the birds, too.  

Speaking of birds, we had a bunch of them hiding out on our covered porch during the worst of it.  Poor babies.  Winter is hard on animals, especially here where they aren't really used to it.  

Shit's happening in the world and I don't really want to talk about it.  Or think about it.  

I had to make a call to customer service for a nationally known company.  The gal I got barely spoke English.  Like I could understand maybe one in ten words out of her mouth.  I kept asking her to repeat stuff and she'd say it louder, but it was still mostly unintelligible.  It was like talking to a cricket on crack.  Chirp chirpchirpchirp CHIRP! CHIRPCHIRPCHIRPCHIRP.  I had called to ASK what would happen IF I closed my account - like timeframe and billing, etc.  Before I could figure out what she was saying, she closed my account.  I was all like 'NO NO NO', but it was already done.  Just as well, I guess.  I don't want to do business with a company like that anymore anyway.  The next call was to see if I could set up an account with a different company - now on super short notice so I don't have any break in services.  When the gal there answered the phone, I could've wept for joy because she spoke English.  She set me up and there's won't be any break.  Yay.  Would've sucked if she'd told me I had to wait a month.  

You know, I get why companies send their phone trees overseas.  But for pitysakes, find workers who can speak the language your customers use.  You wouldn't hire ME for a customer service line for Mexican customers, would you?  No habla.  (And no, the above cricket wasn't speaking Spanish.  It was just an example.)

I snagged a bucket of cheap ice cream the other day.  Neapolitan.  The last bucket the store had at a price I was willing to pay.  It's pretty tasty... but it has a weird after residue.  Like fat coating the roof of my mouth.  Sorry, that sounds gross.  But it's true.  I'll eat it all, of course, but I won't be buying that brand again.  Ever.

Okay, I should probably wander off to other parts of the web.  Have a great day.  And feel free to leave your this and that if you're so inclined.  

Thursday This n That

 The coffee maker I bought a month ago died.  It was a Toastmaster.  So, $15 down the drain.  Yesterday, I went to Wallyworld to get a new one.  They didn't have my usual Black & Decker model, so I picked up a Mr. Coffee.  And, of course, the less expensive models were all sold out, so I ended up with one that has more bells and whistles than we need.  (Literally on the bells... it chimes when the coffee's done.  As if we actually wait for the coffee to be done before we grab a cup.)  :shrug:  We have coffee.  That's all that matters.  And I really only spent $10 more than I would've.

You'd think with all the nifty things this coffee maker does, it would have a lighted clock.  But no.  And the clock is poorly designed because it's set back a little into the coffee maker and I have to lean over to look at it.  Thanks, Mr. Coffee.

In line at the Wallyworld, a masked-up woman rolled up behind me on one of their scooters - you know the ones the store provides - and she started bitching about how people weren't respecting the 6' social distancing.  She was about 3 feet away from me.  And every time I sidled away from her, she rolled closer.  Chattering away about her mother the nurse and the trials she's had to endure during her shopping experience.  I was pleasant and attentive, but eventually I had to turn my back on her and dealt with my purchases.  After I paid and put my stuff in my cart, I turned to tell her to have a Happy New Year and she said something like 'I'm glad I don't know you'.  Well, gee, the feeling is mutual, ya old bat.

Before that, at the cash register was another old woman on a scooter and she got really shrill when the cashier handed her bills but no coins.  A while back, Wallyworld went to a system where they round up on the change so if you're due a quarter, they give you a dollar.  I tried helping out the nice cashier, and explaining it to the gal, but it only made her madder.  As she rolled off, heading toward the customer service counter to bitch some more, the cashier told me she was only really due 8 cents and got a whole dollar instead, so she wasn't sure where the problem lay.  Maybe the lady collects coins.  :shrug:

Needless to say, the world is more than a little nuts right now.  I didn't let any of it harsh my day.  Hell, I got the dirt I've been wanting to buy and a new coffee maker AND donuts, so it's all good.  

Since it was raining yesterday, the dirt is sitting on the front porch and will go into the bed today.  Yay.  I got three more bags of Black Cow composted manure and two bags of what they're calling 'compressed potting soil'.  Supposedly there are 2 cubic feet in each 1 cubic foot bag and it will expand once it's open.  If it does what it says, I'll have 7 cubic feet of dirt to add to the garden and that should do it.  We'll see.  

You should've seen my little Cavalier yesterday.  Four 50lb bags of corn, five bags of dirt, all in the back seat.  (I have to put heavy things in the back seat.  If I put them in the trunk, it feels like I'm driving down the road doing one big wheelie for 20+ miles.)  I was riding low that day, lemme tell ya.  

I think the neighbors are finally moving into their new house next door.  It's been over two years since they started the project, but then the King Flu hit and supplies got harder to get.  Anyway, it'll be nice.  I wonder if they'll let me play with their dog.  He's a cool dog - like redbone coonhound mixed with Afghan hound.  He's all legs.  What a cute puppy he was.  

Gah, I need a dog.

Anyway, that's probably enough out of me this morning.  What's on your this n that radar today?

Why I Forgot to Post Yesterday

Wow, I totally brainfarted out and missed yesterday entirely.  This is Tuesday, right?  Yep, my computer says it's Tuesday.  

I did remember it was Monday at some point yesterday because I called the office.  After that, yesterday was a blur.  I started out my blurry portion of the day by calling my usual tire shop to find out if they could get me in for replacement of my two front tires.  The only tires they had in my size were made by some company I'd never heard of that we discovered were located in China.  I called the other place - which is right across the street from the first place.  They had no tires in my size but they could order some and have them in later in the week.  And I'm all like 'I only have one day to get this done', thanked him, and hung up nicely.

So I called Wallyworld.  They only had two tires left in my size.  (It's a popular freakin' size, for pitysakes, so WTF?)  And they were a brand I have used before, albeit not the brand Hubs was hoping for.  I told the Wallyworld dude to hold on to them for me and I'd be there in 30 minutes.  (It was actually 45 because I forgot I needed to get dressed, too.)  Since I was already going to be there, getting tires put on the car, I told him I needed an oil change, too.  Saved myself another stop, so yay.

After I get there, I tell the guy again that I need two front tires.  He informs me that it's Wallyworld policy to never put new tires on the front.  The newest tires should be on the back.  Which is anti-intuitive considering my car is front wheel drive, and I told him so, but if I wanted these two on the front, I needed to sign a disclaimer holding W blameless.  Whatever.  Fine.  Put the new ones on the back and rotate the back to the front.  "That'll be $5 extra."  Fine.  Whatever.  And off I go to do some shopping while I wait.

After getting all my non-perishable goods... because I so did not need my ice cream melting while I waited for my car... I went back to the waiting area to sit and eat the breakfast sandwich I just bought.  I walk in and some other dude goes 'do you own the Cavalier?' and I'm all like 'yeah'.  Well, he informed me that because my back tires were old, they couldn't put them in the front because it's against W policy.  They'd be happy to put 4 new tires on.  (I bet they would.)  Or I could just put the new ones on the front and sign that damn thing.  Okay.  Fine.  WHATEVER.  Give me the damn form.

I also got a stern warning that my oil was low when I pulled in.  Like not registering on the dipstick low.  Which is kind of impossible since Hubs just checked that and he doesn't let my car get low on oil and it doesn't leak oil - it just burns it faster than a new car, so he adds it when necessary.  

After I finish my sandwich, I reach for my phone to call Hubs and let him know where I am in the process only to find that my phone is not in my pocket.  It's not in my purse either.  Heavy sigh and big hopes that nothing goes wrong between W and home.  (I didn't lose it.  It was on the charger when I got home.)

So, I finally get it all done and am free to go on about my merry way.  I pull around to the front of the store, go in and get my ice cream, produce, and other refrigerated items.  Go through the same cashier.  "Miss me?" I said and she laughed.  Vicky's awesome.  

I leave there with my stuffs and head for the feed store.  When I pull up in front of the warehouse doors, I can see there might be like 4 bags of whole corn left.  I'm not so lucky.  In the store, the manager is helping another customer, so the secondary dude who loads feed into cars tells me in a snotty voice that they're out of whole corn.  If I'd been there Wednesday night, they had some.  If I'd been there Thursday... or Friday... or even Saturday morning... they had some.  He seemed almost gleeful that I'd missed the boat.  I should've told the manager to fire the dude.  Anyway, the manager finally gets done with the other customer and I ask him if they have corn chops in stock.  (Same stuff, only chopped up instead of whole and about 30c more a 50 lb bag.)  He says sure.  I get 4 of those suckers and head out to where the primary feed loading dude can put the bags in my car.  Primary dude is awesome. 

Two and a half hours from the time I left, I'm home.  But my brain is fried.  

So that's why I forgot to post yesterday.

Thursday This n That

I got distracted by the urge to write this morning... I know, I never write in the morning, but the bug hit me hard.  And thus, I forgot to post this earlier.  Whoops.

I'm beginning to feel slighted.  Facebook has this 'extremist warning' thing going around and I didn't get one.  Plus, there's this page a friend of mine followed and she got a warning about their content, but I followed the same page after she mentioned it and didn't get a warning there either.  Am I not a big enough person to worry about?  Am I not extreme enough?  Or is it because they're already watching me?  

Why do my fingers keep wanting to put a T at the end of any word that ends in 'ough'?  Hey, fingers, enought is not a word.  Neither is althought.  Stop it.

Tuesday, Hubs and I went to the big city... well, the nearby small unincorporated town anyway... so he could get a haircut and I could post some flyers for something we're selling.  I stopped in to a couple of stores I hadn't been in before.  One of them was the evil fishing store.  Found out they have new owners and aren't evil anymore.  Yay for them.  I'm still sticking with my regular place, though.  Sorry.  The other was the local gun store.  SO PRETTY!  I do love guns.  I wish I could afford to bring them all home with me.  Anyway, the store was awesome and the owner was a hoot.  After I picked Hubs up from the barber, I took him back to the store.  He has a happy now, too.  

Tuesday was a busy day for me.  South in the morning for deer feed and some groceries.  North in the afternoon for Hubs' haircut.  I don't usually do both trips in the same day, but I was in the mood, so we went north.  It's nice to get out for a drive with Hubs.  Even if it's like 90+ degrees out.  

My old car doesn't like it when I have the AC on, especially going up hills.  And we live in a hilly area, so my entire drives are either bake or spend an inordinate amount of time turning the AC off and on and off and on.  Uphill off, downhill on.  Sometimes I'd rather just bake.

This week had a weird holiday thing going on.  Sunday was the holiday, but the government made Monday the holiday so its workers could get a day off because boo-hoo the real holiday fell on a day they already had off.  Umm, suck it up.  Anyway...  Usually with holidays our trash service is pushed back a day, so we didn't put the trash out to the curb the night before regular pickup morning.  Unfortunately, the trash service must've been on the regular holiday and not the government holiday because the truck went zooming by the house on the regular day for pick-up.  Dang it.  And wouldn't you know it, we actually had a full receptacle this week because of the sorting and shredding I did over the weekend.  Derp.

And that's it for me.  What's up with you?