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Oh my aching..........

neck, shoulders, arms, back, hips, legs, and feet. Yeah, I'm not having my best ever day. I was scheduled for a 5-hour shift today. I only worked 4 hours and then asked to come home early. They had me on "my favorite register" all night. No trip to Lumber for me. Additionally, my breathing was hard tonight.

Yesterday I spent hours cutting up all the beef roasts I had in the freezer into bite-sized pieces. I came to one conclusion--I HAVE to get a new knife before I try that again. I used the two knives I thought would be the sharpest/best but I sawed away on that meat for hours. I pushed on until, when I finally finished, it was quite late. At that point I had to go ahead with the canning process or squeeze all my jars into the fridge until tomorrow. Then I would have had to let them sit on the counter for hours to come up to room temperature before I could begin the canning process. I pushed ahead and it was a little after 2AM when I finally turned the heat off under the canner. I knew it would take 45 minutes to an hour before it cooled down enough to open. So, I went to bed. I woke up around 4:15 AM and stumbled to the kitchen to rescue those jars. I was shocked. The burner had been off for over 2 hours but the contents of the jars were still boiling.

As a result of all that hard work, I have jars and jars of roast beef to add to my stash. Later they will be turned into beef enchiladas, beef with broccoli, or beef and noodles in pretty much the time it takes to heat the meat through. And in the meantime, there's a bit more room in the freezer.

By the time I got all that meat cut up, my right arm, my neck, my upper back and both hands hurt like the dickens. I admit to doing something I've only ever done once or twice in my life. Before I went to bed, I took a muscle relaxer as a preventative. I was convinced that at the least I would wake up with my neck all out of whack. I am sore from end to end, but thankfully no muscle spams. I guess my preventative measure worked.............

I wonder..............

s I often do, I've been watching old World War 2 movies. Right now the movie I'm watching is a 1944 number called Winged Victory. They just showed everyone gathered for some goofy talent show the men put on for Christmas Day. It got me to thinking about my father. You know, most WW2 vets just didn't talk much about what happened "over there". As a young man, my father took voice lessons. And he played the piano by ear so if he heard a song once, he could play it. I couldn't help but wonder if he ever participated in anything like that "talent" show. Surely he would have been an asset if he had. Of course, he never said anything.........I know that he was in the Navy. Went thru college in ROTC. I know his specialty was sonar. I also know he spent several weeks on a French ship. They tried to teach him French at mealtimes. If he didn't ask for a particular food or implement in French, he didn't get it. The idea I get is that whenever he had any free time he went home. No matter how hard I try, I just can't get a mental picture of him participating or even watching something like that "talent" show. From what I know of him, it seems entirely out of character, although my mother said he liked to kid around early in their marriage. He lost that somewhere along the way.............

Tomorrow will be a canning day here. I've pulled all the various beef roasts out of the freezer and,  by tomorrow evening, all that meat will be in jars. I had thought about canning up some strawberry jam from some strawberries I have in the freezer til I realized I still have more than half a dozen jars on the shelf from the last time I did that. Maybe next time I am in the mood I'll make some strawberry pie filling instead. That would be good to have on the shelf, right<I also still have some turkey to get into jars. But that is a massive project and best left til it's cold outside. Thatway, I can do part of the work on one day and part the next, putting the turkey into cold storage overnight if I need to.

What just happened?

Yesterday I took my van to Meineke for an oil change. Because the van is old and because it is precious to me, I let them talk me into their priciest package. I asked them to bring me home which they did (they're only 5 blocks away). I waited all afternoon for a call saying they were coming to get me so I could pay them and take the van. No call. I waited and waited. Finally I went back on their website to discover they close at 6PM. It was already a little after 6. When 8PM arrived I figured they were not running late to finish up last night. Just a few minutes ago, the phone rang. I really could not understand what the guy said--it sounded like he was gargling into the phone. Then, a few minutes later, the doorbell rang and the guy at the door handed me my key and said I don't owe them anything. I did NOT pay them yesterday.

Did I just get a free oil change? I believe in Psalm 5:12. I remind the Lord daily that I walk in His favor because it says in the New Testament that I am the righteousness of Christ. However, I have to say I never expected Meineke to be an instrument of His favor. Glory be to God!

calculating

I just watched a lady make grape jelly. I've never made it. Here's why: Her ingredients were 1 64 oz bottle of 100% grape juice, 9 cups of sugar and 2 packs of sure jell. I did some research. At Smart & Final, the store brand of grape juice for 64 oz was $2.99. According to an equivalency chart online, 1 cup of sugar weighs 7 ounces. So, she is using 9 x 7 ounces of sugar which converts to 63 ounces. A 4 pound bag of sugar at 64 ounces costs $2.99. The Sure Jell sells for $2.79 a pack. So costs are $2.99+2.99+2.79+2.79=$11.56. A 30 oz jar of Welch's grape jelly costs $2.19. Her canning recipe resulted in 5 12 oz jars or 60 ounces. That's equivalent to 2 jars of Welch's or a total cost of $4.38. And she has to use gas or electricity to cook her jelly at some unknown cost.

Am I going to can my own grape jelly at a cost of $11.56+ when I can buy the same amount of jelly for $4.38? No, I am not! Sometimes it's all about what you don't can. A little knowledge of basic math helps.

Crazy Days

Worked the last two days. Day before yesterday I started in Lumber and then got moved up to "the middle" of the front end for the last 2+ hours of my shift. Towards the end, the Head Cashier stopped by. He told me the manager who is responsible for the Lumber area had complained about me. Supposedly he was unhappy that I was using their computers. He has hired some additional help down there and he wanted all the computers to be available for them. I was pretty shocked. I've always asked for permission to be over there and to use the computers. I thought about it overnight and decided to speak to that manager. I regard him as a friend and I couldn't imagine him not just speaking to me if I was causing a problem. Sure enough yesterday I was sent down there again. He was there and I asked to speak to him. I explained what was said to me and he just started shaking his head "no". I finally told him that I would hope he knew he could always come to me and that I was not the type to give him any lip. He denies he spoke to anyone and told me he has no problem if I am over there and using their computers. Somewhere in the middle of all that is truth. I just wish I knew what the truth really is.

At midnight last night a pronouncement from our governor went into effect requiring that everyone wear a mask when inside of a public place. I was told by the Head Cashier that the company intends to violate this order and just let customers roam the store without masks if they so desire. They know there will be fines to the store and they have decided to pay the fines rather than enforce the regulation. I would have no trouble believing that this was a decision made by our store manager because she's just that way. I am shocked the company HQ is taking the position. This type of regulation is in force in 15 or more states. I would think the penalties  would really cut into profits. The Governor made this a part of the health code, so violating it, legally, is equivalent to a restaurant allowing employees to cook and serve a customer's food. To me, it REALLY shows the company's attitude toward its employees. The sale from that customer who won't wear a mask is more important to the company than whether the employees live or die.

Finally, I had the customer we cashiers all dread yesterday. He wasted so much time for himself, the other customers, and for me. He arrived at the register with a pipe fitting with no price on it. I explained that I could not ring it up without an item number or UPC. He said he remembered exactly where he found it and all the pieces like that had no prices. He told me he didn't know what that particular piece was called and I didn't know so I couldn't look it up in the system. I was ready to call someone in plumbing to come look at it, go back to his department, find the part and call me with an item number but the customer said he'd go look. I made sure he knew I would need not just the price but a 5 or 6 digit item number. Sure enough he finally came back with the same exact part neatly enclosed in a plastic bag WITH both an item number and a scannable UPC. I totaled his order and requested payment. He produced a merchandise credit card of the type we give out when a customer returns an item without a receipt and we recognize the item as actually being store merchandise. It requires a drivers license at the time of issue and the employee explains it can only be redeemed with a driver's license match at purchase. He claimed it was in his car. So my other customers and I all stood there and waited while he went to his car. He finally returned with a passport and swore that was what was used to issue the credit in the first place. I then had to call the head cashier to find out how to jerryrig the system so he could use his $3.50 credit on his $9.00 order with a passport instead of a driver's license. Thank God the customers behind him were patient people and understood I was coping with the situation as best I could. I wanted to take his pipe fitting and hit him over the head with it as my line had grown impossibly long in this process and they were already calling for backup cashiers up front. There would be no one to call to come back me up. Frankly, the store would be better off if this customer takes his future business to the other guy's store..............

 

 

Hard day

I took my grandkids out for ice cream. Then I took them back to son-in-law's house and told them, son-in-law, and his lady good bye. It's like losing a piece of myself. I was there when DGS was born. I was watching the two grandsons when DGD was born. My son-in-law joined my family in 2005. He and my daughter parted ways years ago, but he's never been anything but kind to me. In fact he's gone out of his way to be good to me on occasion. His fiance' has been equally kind. It certainly goes against the stereotype, a man and his new fiance' welcoming his ex-mother-in-law into their home, but that's what they've done.

The kids fly back to northern CA day after tomorrow. Son-in-law moves to Washington state (thank God, not Seattle) the following day. His fiance' will be here a while longer finishing packing up the house and awaiting its sale. When I drove up to the house, there was a Pod in the driveway and I had a hard time containing my tears. Son-in-law is not a blood relative, of course. And any time we've spent together in a long time has been limited to my picking up, visiting with, or dropping off the kids. It's not like we socialized. But, when he married my daughter, he became my son. I don't know any other way to treat him that is acceptable to God. He is the father of my grandchildren. I know that the whole divorce thing was hard fought. She wanted what she felt she was entitled to and he wanted something else. I tried hard not to be involved in all that and I really do not know the particulars. I thought that was between the two of them and I've never felt it was acceptable for mothers to interfere. I've been on the receiving end of that kind of interference and it wasn't pleasant, or Godly. 

His fiance' is much loved by the kiddos and I have great faith in the judgment of those kids. I highly doubt they'd be hanging all over her, unbidden, unless they felt comfortable doing it. That speaks well of her. She has always treated me as though it were perfectly normal for me to be there. Given the circumstances, I'd say that's pretty remarkable. I was pleased and flattered today when she made a special point of showing me her wedding gown. The dress is lovely and she'll be a beautiful bride. As long as they love each other and those kids, that's all that matters.

So, anyway, the question remains whether I will ever see my grandchildren again in this life.............

What a Day and things learned

Work today was overwhelming. We were busy as all get out and shorthanded. It was so bad we had reinforcements from the install office and from the paint department and we were still lined up a mile deep. I was assigned to work along side a trainee just starting out on the register which meant he was slower than most of us and had lots of questions/problems. So, I was pulled between trying to deal with the mob of customers and trying to help him out (as quickly as possible). I wouldn't have bet you a nickel that my heart rate was below 100bpm. 

I spent the whole shift on my feet in the front end. By quitting time my feet and my back were screaming and I had hardly had time for more than a sip of water in 5 hours. I couldn't wait to get out of there. However, my joy was interrupted when I stepped outside--summer has really come to the desert. The thermometer on the van said it was 106 outside. No doubt it was hotter than that in the van. I had the a/c in the van going at top speed and was barely comfortable when I finally got home. And to make it worse, I had to make stops at two different banks on the way home. At least, the drive-thru ATMs are covered so there is some refuge from the relentless sun. That's not too much comfort when you have to open the window and get smacked in the face with that hot air. I should have filled the van up with gasoline, but I just couldn't face it in the heat.

I have been setting the thermostat at 83 when I leave home. I'm going to have to stop that. It took 2 hours to get the house down to 82. I can exist, barely, at 80, but hotter than that is hard on me. I tried to lie down with the fan blowing on me and even that wasn't enough. I think I'm going to have to set that thermostat at 81 during the hottest days. I hate to do that because of the power bill, but not having my heart quit on me is important............

You all know I'm a nut for World War 2 history. I've learned the National Archives has a multitude of films on youtube--everything from how to build a bomb shelter in your basement to WW2 training films. I watched one tonight called The True Glory. I never knew that the US flew some congressmen to Germany to see recently liberated concentration camps. They showed some scenes of Bergen-Belsen which were pretty graphic. I'm pretty sure even the politicos mouths were tightly shut on viewing scenes like that in real life. They talked about how they had planned for and expected to face pockets of resistance fighters among the civilian population when Germany was taken. They showed the ruins of one German city and quoted one German woman, speaking to a British soldier, who, when looking at the ruins of the town that had been her home, said "All this could have avoided if you'd just given up in 1940." I don't think she had figured it all out just then................

I had two uncles who were in the Army in WW2. Each of them was part of a force that liberated a concentration camp. (I don't know which ones--according to this National Archives film there were 460 of them scattered around Germany). I always look for them in the actual film footage though I've never spotted either of them. One of the two was a big guy, a rough, tough macho man sort. I remember overhearing, probably in the late 50's, his wife telling my mother that this big guy still had nightmares about that camp and frequently woke up shouting and crying........

Well, I am off to bed. The house is finally cool enough to make that possible.

 

One of those days

I started my workday in Lumber. But, we were busy and they were short on the front end. That meant long lines up there and, consequently, a steady stream of customers headed my way. The first trouble I encountered was occasioned by our "loader". that's the guy whose job is to help customers load their stuff and to collect carts from all over the parking lot, bring them in, and "sanitize" them. If I had perfectly normal feet and legs, you still couldn't pay me enough to do his job. He's out in the sun in the summer, in the cold in the winter, and cruising for a hernia or back injury every time he has to help lift something heavy. He doesn't seem to like me much. He never responds whether it's me saying hello on my way in to work or me saying "Thanks" when he comes to help one of my customers.

In any case, I'd barely made it to Lumber when he rolled a cart with some plywood and lumber out of the store with a middle-aged couple in tow. They'd placed the order online, but needed his help to collect it and load it. Apparently, he rolled the cart outside and then told the gentleman he really didn't want to work today and besides he had other things to do. Then he walked away leaving them to load sheets of plywood themselves. The wife came back into the store and told me what was said and asked me if I could find someone to help load the plywood as it was too heavy for her to help her husband. I called and called and finally the loader returned and did what he should have done in the first place. Then the wife came back in and asked to talk to a manager. I, of course, apologized on behalf of the store and told her I'd never heard of him doing such a thing in the 4 years I'd worked there. I called up front and was told the Manager on Duty was running a register. By that time the lady had calmed down. I promised her faithfully I would let the store manager know what had happened. Oy! I made the call and reported it. I don't know where it went from there...........

Just a few minutes later I had a woman walk up and ask about having some wood cut. Well, first problem, I didn't have anyone to help her. I asked her exactly what she wanted cut and it was Lumber. We don't cut Lumber. We only cut plywood. This is because of the nature of the saw. It breaks down when used on 2 x 4s and such. I explained all this to her and told her employees were under instruction to follow this rule. Nevertheless, she asked me to call someone to the saw. I put out the call, hoping someone from another department or one of the managers would come to help. Apparently no one came. I am at the front of the store and the saw is by the rear wall so there is no way for me to monitor that. After a while she comes back up and now she is mad because they've been waiting and no one has come. She tells me she is not getting good customer service and she wants me to call a manager. At this point, we dredged up a couple of male managers and one came down to talk to these people. When she complained that there was no one to help her, he told her the employee scheduled this morning had called out sick. Then he told her again what I had told her, that we don't cut Lumber, just plywood. Except that he said "sheets of plywood". Finally that seemed to make a glimmer of light in her brain. Then he told me I failed to tell her "sheets of plywood" and that was the problem.........BUT, we only sell "sheets of plywood". We have no other kind of plywood in the store...............Anyway, they wandered away and after a while came back down to check out. Of course, I could not let my amusement show but they had found the world's smallest hand saw, more on the order of hacksaw size, and apparently intended to cut two inch thick boards with that. I'm thinking that might have been fun to watch................

All that kind of set the tone for the day for me. Because they were short-handed up front, I worked like a demon in Lumber, taking on the overflow. Though there was a chair nearby, I am sure I didn't sit in it for more than ten minutes during the 2.5 hours I was down there. After I went to break, they stuck me on the busiest register in the store. I was so tired at quitting time I was about to start drooling. I guess there is some advantage to those masks we have to wear--they hide the drool!

My second hot date........

Picked up my beautiful granddaughter and we went to lunch. A very special thank you to a very special friend who gifted me with some $$$ for today's special lunch. We went the same place I went the other day with her brother. She's gotten to that "coltish" stage where she seems to have the longest legs. I can't figure out how that happened--her mother never quite made it to 5'3" and her dad is about 5'10". But she has long legs nevertheless. She has a relatively quiet demeanor and is well spoken (when she isn't nattering with her brother). She tells me her favorite subjects are reading and math. She has a new kitten. Apparently the family was fostering a family of kittens and decided to keep the runt of the litter. She says the kitten gets along well with their other cat and also with their dog. Their dog is a foundling which "followed my older grandson home" one day when they were still living here. As I recall, Mama wasn't too happy about having "Buddy" join the family, but apparently he's well in now. According to DGD, "Buddy" and the kitten can be found curled up together, sleeping. Hardly behavior one would expect from a street dog........

She says she no longer really cares about dolls much. She will work on Lego projects with her brother. I remember thinking my older grandson was a nut case for Legos, but now I realize he had a mild case compared to the younger one. Her favorite pass times are reading, and playing with the kitten and the dog. She is nowhere near as feisty as her mother was at that age. She says she wants to be a vet when she grows up. She hasn't decided whether she wants to specialize in small animals like dogs and cats or in large animals like cows and horses.

After I got home, I put the bucket and garden trowel to work. I moved several buckets of dirt back to the raised bed. Methinks Mr. Parker has been digging in there as there's a lot of dirt "missing" from the raised bed and a lot of rich looking dirt on the patio. I'm sure I'll end up gathering up all that dirt from the patio and putting it back where it belongs one of these days.

The temperature here topped 100 for the first time this year. We have temperatures over 100 in the forecast for the next 8 days. Ugh! Please pray for my air conditioner!

Another Hot Date

Today is the day I will take my granddaughter to lunch. I'm looking forward to that.

I have come to the conclusion that I wish I had fewer joints. You see, my body has discovered they exist and is beginning to use them against me. Every now and then I get a good twinge of pain in my ankles. Last night, my right wrist started hurting and it's still not "right". I feel like it would be better if I could find some sort of wide, tight band or wrap to add support. Guess I'll have to see what's out there.

I did an internet order yesterday from the store. Honestly, that way I get to use the young legs of the head cashiers to retrieve what I need instead of trying to do all the walking myself. I figure if that is a service that customers are afforded, and my money spends just as well as anyone's, I can avail myself of the service just like other customers. At first it seems funny to the head cashiers when they figure out they are processing an order from me. but, when I come limping into the store, hanging onto a shopping cart for balance, they see the sense in it. I had previously purchased some bags of dirt and discovered that the trowels and bucket I used to haul the dirt to where it needed to be had been victims of the theft that occurred to the contents of the van when it was stolen. So, before I went to work last night, I placed an order to replace them. I have almost 3 bags of garden soil in the back of the van which I've been hauling around because I needed those two items. Today I can begin the process of moving that soil outta there. I don't like driving around with extra weight in the van because I know it cuts into my gas mileage.

I also ordered a bra online. I have decided I've reached an age where underwires are doing more harm than good. So, although I like the style I've been wearing, I will soon own a wirefree bra.

Well, that's about it for now. Most likely I'll post more later.