The Rain In Spain Falls Mainly On The Plain

Is it really quitting today?  This morning the weatherman said the rain was gone, except for a couple of pop-up showers along the Pitt County/Beaufort County lines.  I promptly looked out the window to see it was raining still.  I do NOT live along the Pitt/Beaufort county line.  There's still a light mist outside.  We really needed the rain, but this much rain was insane!  I don't know the exact amount, but last I heard it was about 15 and a half inches over the last two days.  I can't help but wonder if any of the cotton crops have been, or will be, ruined by this much rain.  Jacksonville got several inches more, and I heard that Wilmington got well over 22 inches!  My chickens weren't in standing water.  The land is fairly high back there, but the poor things were certainly standing in mud.  One of my roosters, a white silkie, died.  No clue why, except I assume between the cool temps and the rain he may have gotten pneumonia or something to that effect.  I'll have to check them again this evening.  Mike will check them today.

I tried to get rid of a few of them.  I put an ad in the Carolina Bargain Trader, but I only got one phone call.  A lady called, who said her husband told her to call.  She wanted to discuss it with him and call back.  She never called back.  I may have to feed them through the winter, then take them to auction.  C'est la vie.  Oh, and I just sent in another ad to find homes for these kittens.  I have five that need homes.  Otherwise, I'll have to take them to the pound and hope Saving Graces For Felines will pick them up.

Well, I start my new job on Monday, October 13th.  At least I think I do.  My new boss called me last Friday and offered me the job then went on vacation.  To my knowledge he'll be returning to work on Monday.  My current boss didn't give a counter offer.  I really didn't think he would.  It was just too big of a difference.  My current position was posted in the company, and on the company web site (http://www.airgas.com/) and within two days I've heard that they've received over 40 applications.  The position is posted for 10 days, so I can only imagine how many apps there will be! 

So I will be working for Airgas National Carbonation.

I'm sort of looking forward to the change.  Thanks for all the well-wishes.  And thanks for the offer of a good meal, Jim.  How can I get in touch?  It's strange to think I will be driving a truck, especially for what they offered.  No, I will NOT be getting rich.  I don't even buy enough lottery tickets to get rich.  In fact, playing the lottery for me is a rare occasion.  But I digress.  But the difference in pay was worth moving out of the office.  At least, I think....I hope.  (I'm gritting my teeth!) 

Now this is not my truck.  But I will have one similar to it.  I know a couple of the guys I will be working with, and they're pretty cool.  But for now, the suspense is killing me!!

Trapped

I couldn't think of what to post about.  My brain was getting fried from the thinkin'.  But I was reading on other blogs about wanting fall to get here.  And that got me to thinking.  I thought about a number of things, but mostly why we are always in a hurry.  Today, we are living in a "give-it-to-me-right-now" society.

As a kid, we only had a house phone.  But today I can't make the short drive to work without seeing gads of people yakking on their cell phones.  And it is my deepest belief that they make the roads more dangerous.  What are they talking about, anyway, that can't wait till they get to a stopping point?  Not that I am opposed to cell phones.  Not by any means.  I have one myself.  I just don't use it when I am driving.  If I think it's important I pull over. 

As a kid I recall having only four channels.  We had ABC, NBC, CBS, and if we were lucky we had PBS.  And usually we had to go outside to adjust the antenna just to get a somewhat clear picture.  Now, everyone has to have the works.  Full cable with all 58 of the movie channels.  I saw a commercial the other day for a sattelite tv provider advertising over 200 channels, plus all the movie channels free from some period of time.  I have cable tv, but it's just basic tv.  No DVR, no special channel to show you what's coming on at 3 a.m.  Just about 50 or 60 channels.  And the funny thing is there's rarely anything worth watching.  Some channels even play daily marathons of sitcoms and other programs I never even cared for anyway.  And what's with paying for channels I don't EVER watch.  I don't watch Spanish channels.  I know a little Spanish, but not nearly enough to understand a tv program.  Give me the good old days when after school meant going outside to play till dinner time.  Then settling down to watch a good family movie together.  Cartoons were for Saturday morning only.  Now, there's 24 hour cartoon channels, albeit, some of them are a bit racey for kids in my opinion.

And what's up with microwaves?  We have one.  We use it for popcorn, warming water for tea and such, reheating leftovers.  But who wants an entire meal that's been pre-cooked and frozed, then thawed and recooked in a micorwave?  I used to eat them.  But that was when I had a job that only gave me 30 minutes for lunch.  Is it so important that you rush a crazy meal together like that so you can go watch a program you're not really that interested in?

Do people ever have family time any more?  We didn't really eat at the dining room table when I was a kid.  But there's a good reason.  It wasn't big enough.  Dinner was usually at my grandparent's house, as the lived less than a mile away.  So dinner was usually for aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents.  So we got our plates and ate where we plopped.  But it was never alone in front of a tv or in the bed room.  It was often we family in the living room, maybe with a football game on.  Or on the porch with cousins.  But family interaction was key.  I know of a family nearby me that rarely even spends time together.  The two children, late teens maybe early 20's, are wrapped up in their own goings-on, the wife has a second part time job and is often not home till 9 p.m. and the husband works full time, but runs around on his free time with "his" projects.  I thought "HOW SAD!"

Some times Mike and I will play with the dogs in the yard, mess with the chickens on weekends, have a cigarette on the porch in the evening with drinks.  With all of today's technology we stuck in a speed trap.  I was (am) a big fan of the country group Alabama.  One of my fav songs of theirs goes something like this:

I'm in a hurry to get things done

I rush and rush till life's no fun

All I gotta do is live and die

But I'm in a hurry and don't know why

I love the summer time.  It's my favorite season.  I enjoy spring and fall, as well.  I'm not big on winter, but I still see the wonders and beauty of that cold, short-day season.  The snow is beautiful and the cold restarts life.  This morning as I was backing out of the drive way I noticed the little maple tree I planted last year was just starting to turn red.  Maples are so pretty this time of year.  I bet Joanna @ Boonedocks Wilcox is getting a beautiful show right about now.  It won't be long before there's frost on the pumpkin.  Why not take a look around.  See the wonders of what God has given us.  Tell your spouse, partner, children, parents, you love them.  Take a moment before you leave for work or school to breathe in the cool, crisp morning air.  Do some cloud watching.  Plant some flowers or a tree.  Savor the taste or your coffee, your meal, your dessert.  Bake a cake.  Make life fun.

Catching Up A Bit

Hey everybody!  It's me, Randy!  Remember me?  Yeah, I'm still busy as usual.  Hurricane Earl came by, but I didn't even notice, really.  We had a little rain and a few good, hard gusty winds around 2 a.m. or so, but I slept right through it.  Actually I got up around 1 a.m and again around 3 a.m., just my usual waking up.  It drives me crazy, actually, but that's a whole other post.  But I didn't really hear any rain or wind.  The chickens were all fine this morning, and the three baby pigeons were okay.  One of the pigeons has feathered out, and I think will be a pretty white color.  The other two were born yesterday and the day before.  They're still pretty tiny.  But we survived Earl just fine.  We were lucky, really.  If that thing had come straight onto land, we'd have been hurting in a bad way.  Hope you faired well, Linda, by the way.

I have also applied for another job, within the same company of course.  I don't think it's the ideal job by any means.  And it will certainly mean more hours, and being on call every other weekend.  But it also means a good bit more money.  My boss was NOT happy about it at all, either.  But it was either this, or take a second job.  I had a second job at one time.  I was working 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., going home to change and maybe grab a bite to eat, then going to my second job to work from 6 p.m. to 12:30 a.m.  I was getting home at 1 a.m. and getting back up at 6 a.m. to get ready for my day job.  I felt like I was staying at a motel rather than my home.  I really didn't want to do that again.  I explained that to my boss, who incidentally, put in my annual review that he'd recommend me for a management job.  But that sort of job may be available in 6 months or 10 years.  It's a gamble really.  I am hoping that he will make it worth my while to stay rather than change divisions.  My new job would be delivering liquid carbon dioxide to customers.  That's going from a cushy office job to working a truck in the field.  Sounds pretty dumb, doesn't it?  I think it does.  I'm afraid it could be a dead end job.  But my dad said it would be wise to go where the money is.  And not to hesitate to take a job elsewhere if that was where the money was.  But being a loyal employee and a hustler at getting the job done, even if it is more work than there's time for, it's a tough call.  I haven't had my inteview yet, but I have heard from a couple of guys in the CO2 division that the job is mine if I want it.  It certainly makes for restless nights.  It also means that blogging could very well have to go away, at least for a while.  I don't want that either, but I suppose we will have to see what comes of it all.

Anyhow, my aunt is coming to visit from Texas.  She lives in Temple, Texas and is going to New York to visit some long time friends of hers.  But she is stopping here in North Carolina to visit her sister for a few days.  She'll be here on Wednesday, the 8th, through Monday the 13th.  I'm taking Friday off to spend a three day weekend with her.  She was like another grandmother to me growing up.  She's my great aunt, my grandmother's sister.  My grandmother passed away in 1998, so she's really the only "grandmother" I have now.  I haven't seen her in five years, so it should be a nice visit.

I want to thank each of you for your words of encouragement on my last post.  Sometimes life just gets a bit confusing.  It reminds me of when I was driving a 18-wheeler with my brother.  I think we were in Alabama or Arkansas when our directions said to "turn at the light".  My brother got so angry and frustrated.  Do we turn left or do we turn right?  He turned left, and it was the wrong way.  We then had to find a place to turn around and go the other direction.  If you know anything about 18-wheelers, they are notorious for not being able to turn around very easily, especially in the city.  I'm hoping that if I'm not going in the right direction I will be able to turn things around fairly easily.  Hey Ho! as John would say.

Moonday

Whew!  Been busy with work.  Sometimes I think they are trying to kill me! Anyway, I'm not gonna use today's post as a complaining platform.  I had some pics of the moon I've been saving to share, but it seems that's the blog theme lately.  I've noticed several of you have been posting pics of the moon.  Of course, mine are not as good as some of yours, but they were really experimental pics.  I had to delete some because the moon looked more like a loaf of bread.  So, without further adieu, here's my moon.

And that's my magnificent moon! 

Thanks for the thoughts and concerns.  All is okay, and I will keep you posted!!

HAPPY CINCO DE MAYO!  MARGARITAS ARE ON ME!!