My Weblog

The Gift of today.........

Mr. Fixit2 just called and rescheduled our 9AM stucco appointment for tomorrow morning. I'm happy. That frees up my morning and I'd like to hit the ground running. I'm just a little sorry I got up 2 hours early to be ready when he got here. Oh, well, that probably means an afternoon nap, a much enjoyed luxury!

Today I am finally going to get a haircut. I had wanted to do this last week but just didn't push it through. And I'll finally be hitting Trader Joe's for quickie things to eat on work nights. (They're in the same strip mall) I just don't have the oomph to stand in the kitchen and cook something after I've stood for hours and hours at work. I worked the last two nights. The first night, I drove through McDonalds. Seven dollars for one non-nutritious dinner is not in my budget! Last night, dinner was a grilled cheese sandwich. I'm thinking neither of those is very nutritious, right? I'm not a big fan of pre-made food but I think buying it at Trader Joe's may be better than buying it elsewhere. I have bought things at TJs I didn't like, but I don't seem to find a lot there that has nasty ingredients. That's a big consideration for me............

I also want to fill the van's gas tank and go to the bank and deposit my paycheck. That will take care of the errands for today.

Trying to think about what else I need to get done during this 3-day break, I want to take one of my vacuum cleaners in for service. I have two vacuum cleaners that are worth servicing. The Dyson has a problem with the latch that releases the standup part. So, it doesn't move when you're trying to push it. Instead, it stands straight up which is useless. The other vacuum, a Simplicity, sounds like it's going to explode. I don't know what's causing the noise, but it's a bit scary. Ultimately, they both need serviced. I think the best plan is to drag the Dyson in for service first. I can continue using the noisy Simplicity for a week or two til the Dyson is fixed. Then I can switch off and use the Dyson while the Simplicity is serviced. 

I think that's ALL the errands. I may hit a thrift store along the way. I would like some long sleeved shirts to wear to work, either alone or layered over tee shirts.I think I have enough sweaters and sweatshirts for when it's really winter around here, but very little for the not quite warm enough weather we're experiencing now. I spend a LOT of time at work, right in line with a huge a/c duct. I don't know if they are just circulating the cold air from outside or still using the a/c, but it gets pretty chilly standing under that thing for hours this time of year. 

The kitchen could use a little attention, but, all in all, it's not bad. I could stand to do some dusting in the living room and some straightening/decluttering in the dining room. This room could use a LOT of help! I will continue working at vacuuming and washing hard floors. It's a mess when the dog hair accumulates and I don't want to let that happen again. 

I will try to get at least one of these shades hemmed and the velcro attached to the remaining 3 sides of whichever shade I hem. That way, at least one will be done. I want these things finished. Unfortunately, before I can do much, I have to stop and read the instruction book for the new machine..............

If I concentrate on all that for 3 days, this place ought to be in better shape by Thursday when I go back to work............right? Please say yes, LOL.

Alright, I'm going to look for something warmer to wear over my tee shirt and then head out on my haircut/grocery shopping/banking/gasoline expedition. BE BLESSED today!

 

Not your run-of-the-mill day.........

Busy. Yes, we were. At least up until somewhere around 6PM. Then it slowed down some.

One weird happening: I had an older couple come up to my register. They had quite a large order. The order included 15 gift cards. According to the lady, these were to be her Christmas gifts this year. I rang them up and rang up everything else and processed her credit card payment. The actual receipt printed out just as it should, but the "activation" print outs for the gift cards did not go well. For some reason, my printer just stopped printing midway through printing those. In fact, midway printing one of them as well. That is NOT how things are supposed to work and I had no clue what to do to remedy the situation. So, I called the head cashier. Thank God the two good head cashiers were on during an overlapping period of their two shifts. The guy head cashier came over and he decided the best thing was to refund the charges for all the gift cards and start again. So, he had to do the refunds because that is something I have not yet been taught to do. He refunded the charges for the cards. Then he went and got "fresh" cards off the rack in all the same amounts, etc., and rang them up again. And, once again, all of the activation stuff would not print! So, he refunded all the charges again, one by one. We decided maybe the system was balking at ringing so many at once. So, we decided to process about half of them at a time. This time he used the same physical cards and processed 7 of them again. And every one of them declined! 

By that time, he was out of ideas. He ended up suggesting that the couple come back in a day or two and try again, processing just a few of the purchases at a time. 

In the meantime, these folks waited there by my register for a LONG time. I'd say 15-20 minutes, at least. We talked a bit. It became clear that they are quite wealthy. Like millionaires wealthy. And, though he is 79 and she is 80 something, they are "newlyweds". They met because they are both patrons of a symphony orchestra. They were incredibly patient. I couldn't believe they didn't get disgusted with us and go off in a huff. We laughed and joked and they planned a trip to the movies when they left us. It could have been a truly nasty experience; it was anything but because these two were such sweethearts.

Weird happening #2:  In the middle of this comedy, I looked up and saw a familiar face. Thankfully, the person to whom it belonged did not see me. I don't bear him any ill will at this point in my life, but I wouldn't want to waste any time exchanging pleasantries with him either. This is the guy my daughter nicknamed "The Lump". When asked about the nickname she'd given him, she told me she'd named him that because "he was just another lump in the living room". 

He was a mess when we met. He was recently divorced. According to him, his ex was an "it's all about me" person who wore combat boots. He was a pretty easy going guy. He had taken a back seat, so to speak. Her career took them to London. In the process he gave up his career and became a stay-at-home Dad. And then she dumped him. I was next on the list and I was an unknown to him. I don't own any combat boots and it's not "all about me". I think he just had no clue what to make of me. We dated for almost 2 years and then I learned he was cheating on me with another woman. He subsequently married the other woman whom I later met. He had returned to what was familiar. She was cut from the same cloth as his ex-wife. I was shocked at the way she treated him and he took it.........

So, I looked up and there he was. He looked healthier today than he did 20 years ago. He used to have really dark circles around his eyes and those are gone. He's also lost weight. He was diagnosed with sleep apnea and I think getting that treated has a been good for him and probably saved his life. He had a woman with him, not wife #2. I don't know, but I'd guess this one was different. She seemed to be following him around rather than leading him around by the nose. Perhaps he's finally gotten enough of that type of woman or at least developed enough to skills to recognize one of those and avoid her. 

At the time, I was VERY unhappy to discover the "cheating". I could care less about that now, except that I have pretty much no respect for the man as a result of it. Honesty, integrity, trustworthiness are big deals with me. So, I am glad I was spared the need to engage him in conversation for even 5 minutes. I was happy when I saw him leaving the store, new woman following several steps behind.

So, it was an eventful day. I have the next 3 days off and I will now try to see what I can accomplish in these 3 days to improve things around here.

Another day, another dollar

I went to the bank yesterday and withdrew the cash from my paycheck. I'll tell you that it's smaller than the last few by a lot of $$$. Due to the reduced hours........... But, I have had more time to get things done around here so it's all good. Besides, I've finally deposited all of the tax season money that was left so that will cushion the blow.

Theoretically, Mr. Fixit2 was supposed to come over yesterday after work and finish up the stucco and caulk on the area we fixed the other night. However, I screwed up. I thought I was getting off at 4PM which was also the time he got off. No, I actually worked til 8. So, we rescheduled for 9AM Monday. Next I will need to buy paint........... Have you priced paint lately? It's really expensive these days! 

I will need to get some paint on the "new" wood ASAP. I think the next priority will be to get to the areas that are peeling. Once I've taken care of those, I'll try to work my way across the front of the house and then on around. I'll be doing trim work first. Not sure how I will finance a paint sprayer (which will be needed for the main body of the house) AND paint with my reduced paycheck, but I'll have to find a way. 

I've picked the colors for the exterior. I've chosen a kind of dark, murky brown for the trim and the same murky brown in a much lighter shade (I want to call it "oyster") for the main part of the house. The front door of the house, the decorative shutters, etc., will be a softened grayed turquoise. By "murky" I mean grayed, muted, by the way. I think it will be pretty and a big change from my current red, country blue, and white. I'll be re-watching a series of "how to paint the exterior of your house from start to finish" you tube videos before I jump in. 

I used the new garden cart for it's intended purpose last night, finally. I hand carried in two 3-gallon bottles of water in so that I could get to the dog food bag. It was a little unwieldy getting the dog food bag in the cart. I had to reach across the cart to tug on that bag. But, it plopped right in and I pulled the cart right on into the house. SO much more efficient than making multiple trips with my bucket! I'm thrilled.

Not a whole lot going on around here except for work today. I'm doing a 6-hour shift. I spent substantial time in Lumber last night. It was, of course, boring, but I had time to check next week's schedule which is really helpful. 

I am feeling for the head cashiers these days. They are operating with a lot less help than usual due to the reduced hours. But they are still under pressure to keep the lines at the registers short. Not too sure those two things go together, particularly in that, with more staff, the head cashiers (at least 2 of the 3) always have looked busy. Anyway, the moment a 3rd party walks up to our registers, we're supposed to call for someone to open another register. I think the hope in doing that is to make the point that the front end is really short staffed. This is going to be hard for me. Remember me? I'm the one that used to face lines at 7-11 all the way to the back of the store and just keep plugging along til I could get them all taken care of because there was no one to call for back up. But, in that calling for back up is the party line, I'll try to follow it......... Maybe management needs to face the fact that you can't eat your cake and keep it too.

Well, that's all I have for now. YOU be BLESSED today. I KNOW I am!

 

 

Mysterious ways..........

I admit it. I have had moments of doubt. I've looked at some of the "smear campaign" stuff and wondered. And then I've prayed. I want to vote for God's candidate. And then I go back and look at the issues. And my questions are resolved. 

I've said it before and I'll say it again. I've found some of the stuff Trump has said to be disgusting. I'm not shocked. The truth is that humans, without God, are evil. Unless you can find someone to run for office who has faithfully served God every day of his/her life, you are going to find something unsavory in their past. I have my past and you have yours. Can you look back at who you once were and point a proud finger at ALL of your words, attitudes, and behaviors back there when you were a different you? I can certainly find some stuff that I don't want talked about in my past!

I would like to ask: how can a woman, any woman, know what is truly said in a men's locker room? If men have even the poorest of manners, they won't talk that way around you, any more than they would talk that way around their mothers and sisters! And, because they know it would upset you and they know you'll keep asking questions til they finally admit they've said some of those things themselves, they'll never admit they've heard such things in the locker room. I worked in an all male office. And my work space was around a corner from "the guys". I was "out of sight, out of mind". And, yes, they really do talk that way. Example (cleaned up for tender ears): In an adjoining office, there was a woman who has quite obese. She worked on the phone a lot and she acted/sounded sexy. And guys would come into that office looking for her because of how she sounded and because of the things she said on the phone. There was a big discussion one day of what it would be like to go to bed with her--how it had to be like having sex on a water bed because she was so fat. Now, this was in a government office, not in a locker room and today's women would apparently faint away if they heard this kind of talk. But, it's real. Yes, they really DO talk that way. They may have enough respect for their own wives not to talk that way about them, but other women? Yes, that's the way they talk. Don't be so stupidly naive!

But I heard a prophecy around New Year's Day, 2016. It said that God was raising up a new thing, something that was going to change everything for this country. I believe that "new thing" is embodied in Trump/Pence. We have seen the ways in which Hillary Clinton operates. There is dirt and filth and lies and cheating and treachery and maybe even treason wherever you look. She has been embroiled in unethical behavior since the days of Watergate! Good Lord. Watergate happened just after I was old enough to vote! There's nothing "new" about Hillary Clinton or the way she operates. All I see is old school Tammany Hall politics. Dirty, dirty politics. Cheating--using a "Foundation" to build personal wealth, to pay her daughter an exorbitant salary, to peddle political influence, to take care of cronies. Lying--"I did not send or receive any classified material". Stealing--Leaving the White House with tens of thousands dollars of taxpayer owned furniture the last time around. And there is so much more I could list. Mostly, I am sickened by the dirty politics, by the misdirection (he has ties to Russia when it's really her own staff that has ties to Russia), and so on. 

Trump has not failed to return the Clinton campaign's salvos. And he's said exactly how he feels about what's been said about and done to him. And, at least it's honest. And he's said things about the political campaign/situation none of us want to hear and time and time again what he's said has proven, hours, days, weeks, months later to be absolutely true. And I find his rhetoric sometimes shocking. But I am big enough and brave enough to handle shocking. I am not willing to handle lies. I'll take honest any day of the week. He has more determination and energy than I can even imagine. He has no real profit motive. He doesn't need to be president to be powerful--he is already powerful in his own right. He doesn't need to be president to be remembered--he will leave Trump companies and assets all over the world when he dies. He doesn't need to be president to prove he can be successful--he already IS successful. I cannot understand why a man would allow himself to be dragged through the muck and mire at this stage of his life unless he really believed he could make some much needed change to the way the US government does "business". 

Anyway, I watched a video clip this morning of Trump speaking to Israelis. And promising to stand by them. And tears came to my eyes. And I remembered that God said in His Word that He would bless those that bless Israel and he would curse those that curse Israel. And, so, I believe that, once again, America WILL be great--for as long as she stands with Israel. 

Because I have read my Bible, more than once, I believe that if Hillary Clinton is elected, we will be ushering in the very end of the end times. Violence will continue around the world. Violence will get worse in America. And, we Christians will see persecution we've never even imagined. With Trump, maybe we gain a few more years to see our friends and loved ones saved.

We Christians have often said "God doesn't use the qualified; He qualifies those that are useful." Paul on the Damascus road on the way to kill Christians. Gideon hiding on the threshing room floor. Moses, a murderer. David, a boy with a slingshot. And on and on........... 

There is one thing I think Hillary got right. I read part of her speech to a group of Wall Street businessmen. She said she'd like to see more businessmen run for office. She said they were wealthy and could not be bought. And she pointed to Trump as someone she'd like to see run for president, somewhere in the future. Finally, something she got right......

 

 

Kind of cool.......

Because I have been guilty of mixing up my work schedules, I am now fishing them out of wherever they might be hiding and hanging them on the top part of the computer desk weekly. I stopped to really look at it yesterday. Today I am on my 3rd day off of 3 in a row. I work tomorrow and Sunday. Then I get 3 days off in a row again! Whoopee! 

My new Mr. Fixit, who shall be referred to as Mr. Fixit2 came yesterday. He got off work at 4 as predicted. He called me at 4:05 to tell me he was on his way. He arrived just at the moment I was headed outside to flag him down in case he missed the house. The wood on that southeast corner of the house is fixed. This guy moves! He has a mission and he's on it! I couldn't believe how quickly he got the job done. And it looks pretty good. It will need some caulk and or putty, but other than that, which is totally normal, it's great. He used the bench outside the front door as a surface on which to cut the wood. He actually moved it to use it, but faithfully put it back in place. He picked up the leftover bits of wood and stacked them. He did not throw empty cigarette packs or cigarette butts in my yard. He parked on the street so his truck did not leak oil on my driveway. I actually also had him tighten the bolts on the garden cart for me. I had tightened them as much as I could, but I'm not all that strong and I only had hand tools. His impact driver did quite the job. That thing will hold together for a long time. 

He will be back tomorrow after work to fix the stucco--can I just rave about how little damage was done to the stucco? I expected a much bigger problem than occurred. And tomorrow, after the stucco sets up, he'll caulk. All in all, I am very happy with the work done and with the clean up after. For what he did yesterday, he charged me $60. I thought that was a little steep, but the original Mr. Fixit would probably have charged me as much. He'd have taken longer and brought his son along to get in on the gravy train...... The good news is that I own stucco mix and he is donating the caulk.

Mr. Fixit2 does not want to do the hose bibs. To be totally honest, while I THINK they need work, I am not sure. It is possible the problem would be corrected with new hoses. So, maybe I'll watch for a sale on hoses and see if that works. Both of my hoses are old and could stand to be replaced. 

I did not get as much done yesterday as I'd wanted, but I didn't do too bad. Many floors are cleaner, including the hard floor in the kitchen. I sorted through more of the magazines in the "throne room". I got a massive amount of trash piled up at the curb in time for the crack 'o' dawn pickup. AND, I slept on a bed with sheets--clean sheets--last night. I also waded through a huge pile of mail and paid some bills.

I opted for 3 benefit packages. I signed up for the dental package, the vision package, and the life Insurance. My coverage is effective today. Oh, and today is also payday!

I am floored by the amount of "junk mail" I am receiving related to the election. There is one candidate who must be REALLY well funded as I had 3 or 4 different mailers from her. These days, in this current political climate, I think "democratic machine" or "pay for play" or whatever when a candidate can afford THAT MUCH advertising. I will not be voting for her.

Today, I primarily want to accomplish two things: 1) I want to get a haircut, and 2) I need to go to Trader Joe's. Since TJ's and Supercuts are in the same strip mall, it will be convenient.

I MIGHT decide to get really "fancy" in my bedroom and put the down comforter back on the bed, complete with duvet. We shall see. 

And, now that I know that garden cart isn't going to jiggle apart on me when I move it, I'll be dragging mucho stuff in from the van.

That's all, folks. YOU be BLESSED today.

Progress is being made.........

Well, I did not work til I dropped yesterday. I even accorded myself a nap. After all, what good is a day off if you can't steal a nap? But I made progress.

I hauled a bunch of trash to the curb. Trash day is at crack 'o' dawn tomorrow and I'm almost ready. Sadly, I filled another trash can last night, LOL, so I'll have to get that out. I also have a REALLY big box sitting around, waiting to go out. I know if I put it out early, it'll blow around.......... This is the box in which the garden cart was shipped and it is at least 8 inches longer than the garden cart, about 14 inches wider and more than double the depth of the cart. I could ship Parker to you if you wanted.......... Of course, I wouldn't, but I COULD.

I washed two loads of bed linens yesterday and then ended up sleeping "rough" last night. One of the items I washed was the featherbed cover. I thought I might faint of exhaustion before I got that darned cover back on that thing! And, don't fool yourself--a feather bed weighs a lot more than a down comforter! What a tussle that was! 

I hate doing the floor in the master bath. One of the reasons I dislike doing it SO MUCH is that there are all sorts of things that need to be moved before I can actually clean the floor. And they're not all lightweight either. Example: the magazine basket that is in there. Whew! that baby is HEAVY. I went through that last night, whilst enthroned, and got rid of an entire waste basket of stray papers. I receive a monthly magazine from the ministry I support. I put those in date order. It's time to move some of those elsewhere. Like maybe into a filing cabinet or, if I had one, one of those magazine storage systems. That will lighten the load and I will fight the very idea of doing the floor in there a lot less. 

I have been working on cleaning up after myself. I'm still not good at it, but I'm getting better. I cooked dinner last night and went to bed with a clean kitchen. Yay, me! Also, all the tools used to assemble the garden cart are back where they belong and all the trash (wrappings, packaging, etc.) has been carried outside to the trash bin. It's a process............and one I have to constantly issue reminders to myself to make happen.

I contacted the health insurance guy I met with last week. I am trying to set up an appointment for late tomorrow afternoon to get that done. It too will be a process (the actual introduction of "real" insurance into my life) and one to which I am not looking forward. God help me, I am almost certain to have to go fight with a new doctor..........I WILL NOT spend the next 6 months of my life taking needless tests just so he can bill somebody!

So, today, I have two primary goals. I want to research and sign up for whatever insurance I'm going to need/want through the company. I still know only one for sure--I'd be a fool to pass up $20000 worth of life insurance for $2 per pay period, so that's definitely a yes. I'll be working on this today, priority 1.

Priority 2 will be to get sheets on my bed and make it look pretty. You will not catch me sleeping on the bare feather bed cover tonight, wrapped in the wubbie. No sir. I will have sheets and pillowcases and all that "normal" stuff. 

Priority 3 will be to finish vacuuming this house. I am awash in black dog hair. I still shake my head in wonderment at the number of hairs that come off that dog in short periods of time. It is so bad that if I go just a few days without vacuuming, the spots where he lays start to look dirty on the carpet. They're not dirty--they're just a shade or two darker because of the dog hair.

Meanwhile, I've been backing up files. That's something I've neglected the last couple of months. Can I get 'em all copied? I kinda doubt it, but I'm gonna try. I've also unsubscribed to a bunch of stuff that's been hitting my e-mail, but I don't feel like I'm making much progress. I hate to say it, but one of the main culprits is Flylady. I don't mind when she sends out testimonials--the first time. But, when it gets to the point that I can tell you the contents of the e-mail without reading it, that's a few times too many. 

I had another "itchy" spell yesterday and I noticed substantial peeling during that. So, I pulled out the dry body brush and went over my legs and arms and chest. This has been going on, again, for about 10 months and I'm really tired of it. I hate looking at my arms and seeing dry, scaly skin. And, if I scratch it without thinking, I could easily end up in the middle of the store, looking very much like a snake shedding its skin. This is the primary reason I bought the body brush--to try to head off moments like that!

Sometime after 4 pm, the new handyman type guy will appear here. He will be replacing that rotted out wood that "decorates" the southeast corner of my house. It's not a big job and I already own the wood he'll need. I just want to see the quality of work and what the cost will be. If he's too expensive, this may be the only job he gets from me. I hope that unlike "Mr. Fixit" he cleans up whatever mess gets created in the process. That's a big deal to me as well. Particularly since at some point I may have to have him do some work inside. Mr. Fixit has left me with mountains of cleanup when he's done jobs around here.

Well, that's it for now. I'm going to get rolling. Mucho to be done. YOU be BLESSED today.

 

Three glorious days.........

One thing about this part time job--it REALLY makes me value my time at home! And, so, I am at the beginning of 3 glorious days off. 

I decided to try to handle this time a little differently. I decided to look at the 3 days as a block of time. I may or may not have enough oomph at the end of a 5 or 6 hour shift to accomplish anything when I get home, but when I have these blocks of time, there are things that are important for me to get done. And if I don't plan out what needs done and work away at the plan, I end up 3 days later with less done that I want to admit to.

So, during breaks and lunch yesterday, I sat with my new bullet journal and made a list of everything I need to get done over the next 3 days. I think this will help me be more productive. 

Once I rested a bit last night, I did get a few things done. I washed two loads of laundry and got both on the drying rack. Today I'll need to fold/hang/put them away, but they're washed and should be dry.

I also finally got the handle on that garden cart. I will be using that thing to haul stuff (water bottles and a BIG bag of dog food) in from the van today! I'm pretty excited about that! 

One of the most important things I want to accomplish during this 3-day period is to go through and make a decision with regard to the company's benefit plans. I will be grateful to have that decision made. I think, maybe, I can even get that done via computer from here. Oddly, I seem to be able to get to that particular part of the company's web site, even though I can't get into the part that would allow me to check my schedule. I KNOW I am going to elect the group life insurance; I THINK I am going to elect the vision coverage; I will not be using their health coverage.

It's sad. I waited expectantly for my eligibility for that health coverage. For me, it gives me pretty much nothing I need. I know my situation is different from most, but it still disappointed me. If that is what employer-required health coverage gives an employee under Obamacare, it seems pretty worthless. Sad to say, but that's my opinion. But, I will also be choosing a plan to supplement or replace my Medicare coverage and I expect that to fill the holes......

I will need to make a trip to Trader Joe's. I have a lot of "ingredients", but not much to just eat quickly. And, it's a reality that most nights when I get home from work, there is not enough left of me to cook something and then clean the kitchen. So, I will go to TJs and see what I can find there in the way of frozen stuff. My feeling is that their frozen entrees and such are way more healthy than what I can get at a "regular" grocery store.

My cooking plans for the next few days include eating some veggies (I own cabbage, zucchini, and summer squash) and making a big meatloaf. I will divide the meatloaf up into meal-sized portions and plop that in the freezer.

I do need to carry trash out of this house. Also, we had wind and rain the other day and my trash can blew over and bits of my trash went into the neighbor's yard. I need to get all that taken care of.

There are several other major projects on my list, but I'm not going to list them all. One other thing I'm going to try to do is get back to work on these shades. I have 3 of them hanging up but they are not hemmed. Now that I have a new sewing machine, I no longer have an excuse for not completing those 3 and making the last two. To be honest, sitting here the other night when it was cold, windy, and rainy, I could feel the same old cold breezes leaking through the two "naked" windows. It MUST be time.

Anyway, that's it for now. I want to use this time wisely. YOU be BLESSED today. 

How come I can always think of the best answers after the event?

I worked an 8 hour shift today. Oh, Lordy........... It was the WORST day. We were all joking about whether or not there was a full moon. I had my nastiest customer ever. He accused me of being prejudiced against him, the first time I've been accused of that in my life as far as I know. Both yesterday and today, I had long lines of customers. Ordinarily, this summer, in the middle of the day when we were busiest, we'd have 3 registers open in the main part of the store, but right now we are down to 2. The customers were coming at me one right after another all day. Literally, at one point I wanted just long enough between customers to pop a lifesaver into my mouth, just in case my breath needed help. I didn't want to stuff one in my mouth right in front of a customer. I waited and waited, almost half an hour for just that long a break between customers.

If we have more than 3 customers in line, we're supposed to call for someone to open another line, so in addition to serving our customers, we need to keep an eye on the lines. And, of course, there are the problem cases. I am still floored by the number of people who will come dragging something to the register without checking whether or not there is a UPC on it. It has been more than 35 years now that UPC's have been the axis on which the retail world spins. WHAT do they expect when they get to the register? I am not allowed to leave my register. It's not like I can go check on the product for them. And just telling me the price doesn't help me at all--I need an item number. My only choice is to call the department in which the merchandise originated and try to find someone there who can go check the price for me. And, of course, the front end, where I work is not the only area where hours have been cut.......... 

There are folks who want to buy supplies for a tax exempt organization, but they don't know the exempt organization's tax exempt number. So, we have to look those up. There are folks who want to use the computer tracking system to keep track of their purchases but can't be bothered to carry their membership card. So, we have to look up their membership number for them. At least 70% of my customers don't read the message on the screen in big black letters on a white background "Slide for debit, insert chip for credit." They do it wrong before I can catch them and then have to do it all again. Many of the oldsters don't even know if their cards HAVE chips. Folks are in line, and I'm half done with their order when they decide they forgot to pick up a thingamajig and so run off into the bowels of the store to get one, while other customers (and I) stand there and wait. The list of things that take my time goes on and on. Some of them jerk their cards out of the chip slot too soon and that means we have to start over. All this stuff costs TIME and make the job more stressful and difficult.

So, today, swamped, pretty much all day long. Having to work an 8 hour shift (2nd in a row) and my body was protesting. And I am doing my best to be kind, patient, loving, decent to every customer. And today, I was accused of being prejudiced. That one cut and I think it is SO FAR off base and so unfair. My prejudice? I failed to greet a customer when it was his turn at the front of the line. Geez...... 

Of course, I apologized and stated that I would certainly never have done that intentionally. Then he said "maybe my skin is just not white enough for you". My guess is that he was Arabic, though maybe second generation with some mixed blood. It doesn't matter. I wasn't paying any attention to his race, religion, sexual orientation or any of that stuff. I was just trying to do the job the very best way I could. And I would certainly never intentionally ignore, or hurt, anyone.

I admit, that had me rattled and it had me rattled a lot. I tried to get myself settled down. I even made sure to pray about it when I got a moment alone in the van. But it didn't just vaporize from my consciousness. I chewed on that most of the rest of the day. Finally it hit me. Whatever my intentions were was not my problem. My problem was recognizing how that encounter was effecting me. It was distracting me from doing what I seek to do--loving on people. So, no matter how it was meant, by giving it place in my head, I was allowing it to disrupt me from my mission. It was being used as a tool against me by ole slewfoot. And, finally near the end of the day, I got back to thinking the thoughts I want to think when I'm there.

But that was not good enough for ole slewfoot. First, the card reader went down. Long line, of course........... The whole screen display went kerflooey. So, I moved from my usual machine to the one right next to it. That worked for a minute or two and the scan gun went. And there I was running around the front end of the store trying to find another scan gun that worked. All with a big ole long line at the registers, mind you........

Then the head cashier who has been so helpful came to me and asked me if I knew how to do a tax exempt sale. I said yes and he said "show me". So I did and I performed it flawlessly.

Then I got two young ladies through my line who were supposed to be buying some stuff for the School District--tax exempt, of course. And I did it flawlessly again. However, it did not go through. Now, not only had two machines quit on me, but the whole system was glitchy all day. We were unable to back out of the sale and do it again to fix whatever the problem was. So, I had to send them to customer service. Once some method of payment is tendered, the game is over; there's no changing it.

A few hours later, I had another tax exempt sale, this time to the local public bus transportation company. I tried to look up their tax exempt number under the organization's phone number. It gave me an error. The I went back to the same screen and entered the phone number AND the address of the company, and it gave me an error again. Now, logically, I know that bus company is a branch of government so, of course, it's tax exempt. And the two guys buying the stuff said it was tax exempt which made sense. But all I was getting on the searches were errors. I had to call the same head cashier over and we tried it again, this time no phone but with the address and that worked. So, I finished processing the sale. No problem. The system prints out two receipts for these transactions. One for the customer to sign and return to me and one for the customer to take with him. I handed him the one to sign and was reaching into my pocket with my right hand to pull out my pen so he could sign. With my left hand I was pulling the customer's copy off the machine to hand to him when he'd signed our copy. Up walks the head cashier who doesn't like me and says (loudly) "No, you're doing it wrong. He has to sign that one." Well, in reality it was she who was wrong. I knew he had to sign it and I knew I was in the process of pulling the pen from my pocket. I said so and she argued with me that I was doing it wrong. Well, I wasn't, but I had to either drop it or create a scene. 

Truthfully, I make enough errors on my own. I don't need someone coming along and telling me I'm doing it wrong when I'm not.

So, when it was finally time for me to go home, I did so gladly. I'm usually pretty tired and hurting when it's time to leave, but Tuesday was a particularly bad day.

Today was a short day

just 5 hours. Grateful for the 5 hours, but I was happy to head home. Tomorrow I work 8 hours. I'll need prayers.........

Today went well. The manager who has managed to "forget" me twice this month was there, but so was the capo. That helped keep things moving. 

I should tell you that I didn't go to work yesterday. I called to say I was sick. And, boy, was I sick. I was scheduled to leave home around 12:30 and just about 11 o'clock, my stomach exploded. Wow! I kept hoping it would improve, but when it was time to get into the car, I just didn't trust myself to make the trip without incident. I also have to say that a job where you are chained to a cash register is not ideal when you need the freedom to run to the restroom repeatedly on short notice. I was still feeling yucky at 1:30AM this morning, but once I got some sleep, I felt okay. I was concerned that calling in would be a bad thing as far as management is concerned. We are running short handed anyway, and it was a Saturday which tends to be a busy day. But it seemed to be okay. Thank the Lord.........

I now have a garden cart, all but the handle. I worked last night at making sure the wheels were properly attached and then I worked on tightening all the screws. I'm fairly sure I did not get the screws tightened as they should be, but I did the best I could. I doubt I'll get that handle attached til Wednesday which is my next day off. 

I decided to spend a few bucks and order one of those credit card holders that is supposed to be RFID safe. So many people go through my checkout line daily and I would have no way of telling if they were scanning my cards. Of course, they'd be pretty disappointed in that I really don't have credit cards, just debit cards. However, I want those protected as well. I don't carry a purse these days. I just slip the essentials (including cards) in my pocket and go. For $7 I can feel a little bit safer and that's a good thing. 

I thought I would spend a bit of time on my makeup routine. Just some notes for me..........

1) I start by cleaning my face. I use an olive oil-based cleanser. I like that it leaves my face make-up free but feeling soft.

2) These days I am using an olive oil-based moisturizer. I moisturize as quickly as I can after I rinse my face, while my face is still damp. I feel like that seals a bit of "mositure" in. Don't know if that's really true, but it seems to work for me.

3) For a while now, I've been using primer. That's pretty new for me, but I have areas of my face where I use a concealer and where I play with light to try to look a little bit younger. The primer helps the concealer to go on a little easier and smoother. I add it as soon as the moisturizer has been absorbed into the skin. I use it under my eyes and on the nasal/labial lines. I also have an area on my forehead that is a bit redder than the rest of my face. It's a birthmark. It's not red/red, but if I get upset or my blood pressure rises, it does darken/redden a bit. I want to be able to cover that up with ease.

4) There is a theory that you need to brighten/lighten the center of the face while leaving the edges darker. I use the concealer in the same areas where I use the primer, but I do wait for the primer to dry down. Lately, I've been using two shades of concealer and I like the effect better. I was using a light shade over the spot on my forehead, under my eyes and on the nasal labial lines. These days, I use a slightly darker shade over the under-eye circles and the lighter shade elsewhere. Years ago we used to refer to "raccoon eyes". This was an effect that came about with a very light concealer under the eyes. I want to avoid that. The slightly darker concealer used in this area seems to work better. For years, I applied concealer with my fingers. Lately, I've switched to a brush and I like that a lot better. Seems to do a much better job of blending it. I "clean the brush" by running it down the center of my nose.

5) I ALWAYS do my eyebrows. I read that doing the eyebrows takes 10 years off the face. I doubt that, but I do them anyway. I use the exact same product for my eyebrows as I use for my everyday eye shadow. I used an angled brush to apply it.

6) I use eye shadow, but only in the creases and up to the bottom of the brow bone. My eyelids are "sagging". It makes no sense to use eye shadow on the lower part of my lids as it wouldn't be seen anyway.

7) I use a powder eye shadow I bought at Ulta. That stuff lasts for years--a sign of a decent quality eye shadow. It's also REALLY blendable. It's a brown with a tiny bit of a reddish tint in it. It seems to be a very workable shade for me for everyday. I sometimes wear a berry shade of eye shadow. It's dark, a purple with some red in it. And every now and then, I'll use a charcoal eye shadow. No matter what, from the crease up to the bottom of the brow bone.

8) I've been alternating between a dark brown liquid eye liner and a Smashbox liner that is a bit darker. Whichever one of these I choose, I do not do "wings". I do use whichever to do a very light and tight "smudge" under the eyelashes. 

9) I've been using a bronzer as my blush. It's a cheapie I bought at K-mart and it works well. I also kind of do a bit of contouring with it in that I apply it in the area where one might contour to make the face look thinner. I do not have the guts to use a brown contour like some folks do..........

10) For the summer, I've given up foundation altogether. I only needed one day being assigned to Outside Lawn and Garden to conclude that foundation was a bad idea. I use a makeup brush and fluff a powder on. It seems to help blend in the bronzer and even out my skin tones, so I'm happy with it. I may go back to foundation for the winter. We'll see......

11) I use that same eye shadow to run a very light line just under the pink part of my lower lip. It seems to make my lips look fuller and it's a whole lot cheaper than botox. Also less risky. I don't want to go out into the world looking like my lips lost a battle with a wasp's nest. 

12) Right now I am using a very natural shade of lipstick. It's called Sugar Plum by L'Oreal and I really like it a lot.

13) I wear dark framed glasses. It seems to me that people see the dark frames and those dark frames against the dark circles under my eyes work like a charm. The frames definitely seem to make the dark circles almost disappear in contrast. 

14) Most days I don't bother with mascara. I never thought I'd say THAT! Sometimes I will use the tip of the mascara brush and just lightly run it over my bottom lashes. That's it for 9 out of 10 days!

I can usually get through all this in about 15 minutes, from cleansing my face to walking out of the bathroom, ready to roll. At my age, I'm pretty well convinced it's ridiculous to spend a lot of time on makeup. It helps, if only with my confidence level, but it doesn't help that much, LOL!!!!!!!!!1

I found a website I'm checking out. It costs the same as Netflix on a monthly basis, but it has family or Christian movies. I doubt most of these movies have any awards to their credit--can you see Hollywood awarding an Oscar to a Christian movie? I can't. I'm on my 2nd movie. I'll try to remember to update on how I like the website. If you want to try it out for yourself, it's called PureFlix and they're giving a 30-day free trial.

That's all I have for now. I have to head to bed soon as I'll have to try to get up REALLY early. I hope you had a SUPER Lord's Day..........

Getting it going.........

I've been up for a while but I'm just now getting myself together to face the day. It takes a while these days, LOL.

I work today, from early afternoon to evening. Today we're facing a high of 89 degrees, but it was 57 degrees when I got up, and, even now, it's only 67 degrees. But, one shirt should be sufficient today, right? I was actually just a little chilly standing under my favorite a/c vent at work yesterday. That's a first..........

I got the phone number last night of someone that does "fixit" work. I'm fairly certain he'll do good work. I don't know about his prices yet........ Truth is, I've lost "Mr. Fixit's" phone number. And I haven't looked too hard to find it  I figure sooner or later he'll call me. By then, hopefully I will have been able to try this other guy and I can make a decision on whether or not Mr. Fixit is coming back...........

I've finally declared the "garden" defunct. It was a total failure and I do mean "Total". Of course, it might have done better if Parker hadn't eaten the tops off the tomato and pepper plants. But, soon, I will have my first raised garden bed. Should go better once I have a better place to plant.

The "garden cart" finally has wheels. I still need to attach the "tongue"/handle. That should be easy enough, just one long screw and one nut. That will be the last step and the last screw in the pack. Whew! It's always worrisome when you have parts left over. The final step will be to turn that thing on it's side and tighten all the screws. NOT looking forward to that as it promises to be heavy work just turning the thing. I think I am going to do that before I attach the handle. I don't need to be struggling with the weight of an extra piece of steel. 

I don't quite know what to make of it, but I was exhausted when I got home last night. I accomplished pretty much NOTHING. For whatever reason, when I left the store, my back was hurting worse than usual. That was part of it. Also, I decided about halfway through my shift that I was dehydrated. I drained my water bottle over the next 2.5 hours and that helped, but still not enough. I've been keeping an eye on my fingertips lately. When I'm dehydrated, they literally shrivel as though I've had my hands in water for a long time. 

As of now, not much new to report. Maybe I'll check back later. No page today either. I've been sifting through photos, looking for what I want to scrap next.........YOU be BLESSED today!