Rollin’

Whether or not I wanted to, this week got rollin’ bright and early Monday.  I had a meeting in Auburn. A dam we fixed this summer has a leaking riser and a slipped principal spillway pipe.  Sometimes these things happen. It is mostly going to be warranty work, but we had to negotiate a few new components, and I had to concede to paying for some stuff.  Luckily it is easier to spend money when it isn’t mine.  Of course, it was nicer doing the work this summer. I don’t want to go stand on dams when it is cold outside.  This is the time of the year I am supposed to be holed up INSIDE the office!  

Colin and Cameron went to the Chief's vrs Commanders game on Monday night.  Cameron sent me some pictures.  Cameron is a lifelong Commanders fan.  He might have been heckled by a little kid at the game for his choice of shirt.  Colin probably heckled him as well, but would definitely defend him if things had gotten out of hand!  :)  

 

Weird story time.  After I got done with my meeting, I was so close to Topeka and I needed to pick up some paperwork, so I just ran into town.  I was feeling a little bit like a rebel and decided to go buy a couple more fish for my new tank.  Now, I was in a chain store (I’m not going to name it but you know the one - can’t tell if it is supposed to be mart or smart).  A young girl was helping me.  This manager comes storming out of nowhere. He is literally kicking stuff and yelling and slamming stuff around.  He demands that the employees all come to the registers. So the girl tells me she will be right back and she sort of scurries over there, but is in my sight.  This man is berating the employees and throwing an absolute jackass fit.  The people working look to me like 3 young girls and one older lady.  They all look embarrassed, and also like they were at a loss.  There were several customers in the store all of us staring in disbelief.  Some walked away, pretending not to see it. But I am just not wired like that.  All I could think was these are kids - probably college students.  It could have been Quincy standing there and I just could not see letting it go.  He was cussing and making a complete jerk of himself. So I walked up and said “with all due respect you need to calm the hell down.”   He looked sort of stunned, stomped over to an “employee only” door and kicked it open - hard. The door slammed into a wall and he disappeared. The girl scurried over and finished dipping up my fish.  Of course, me being me, I decided I better hang around to make sure he came out with a different attitude.  He did come out, and started stocking shelves like nothing happened. I walked around a couple of minutes and he comes up to me and apologizes.  He said he can’t get good help and that he’s the only one who works in that store and he’s just frustrated.  I suggested to him that he won’t be getting any kind of help at all when he throws such fits and I simply walked away.  If I was those people, I would not go back to work.  No minimum wage, crappy job is worth that sort of abuse.  I did purchase my fish. I had already made the girl dip them out.  

Funny story not related to grouchy store managers.  A couple weeks ago, you may remember Jim and I purchased 2 bichir dinosaurs.  They were in the tank and they disappeared.  I discovered there was no cap on the inlet of the filtration system and I was so upset.  I figured they had been sucked up and killed.  And I was pretty devastated at making such an error.  So yesterday, they had more of them, and we have fixed our issue, so I bought 2 more. Now these fish are similar to eels. They get to be around 2 feet long and you really need a fairly large tank to accommodate them.   They also like to have a friend, but you can easily get them overcrowded if you buy very many. Two is probably the limit for my tank.   I brought them home, floated them and then let them out.  They went to the bottom (they are bottom dwellers) and immediately started eating some dropped food.  And then I watched one of them promptly bury itself in the sand and I could not see him at all!  And then Jim pointed out that there was a lot of disturbance in the sand.  I now believe the first 2 are possibly alive but they are reclusive and nocturnal. I probably really messed up getting 2 more of them.  Oh well, they are ok for now. I’ll figure out what to do if I actually ever find them!  

Anyway it has been a Kansas shocker around here this week.  You know- the typical hey it’s 85 and sunny. Nope it’s 45 and raining with a stiff breeze out of the straight north and you should have known it was coming you stupid peasant.  Guess in addition to some painting this weekend, I will also be locating my winter clothes!  Zoey, we are discovering, hates the cold!  She goes outside and then within 2 seconds she is barking at the door.  You know who doesn't seem to care what temperature it is outside?  This girl!  My Maude.  She is such a great dog.  If I could get her to quit taking stuff off of Jim's desk and eating it, she would be darn near perfect!  

Seeing the forecast, I decided to clean out the rest of the garden.  I planted 25 sweet potato vines.  Something ate every single one of them.  Do you know what I discovered when I was out there?  There are 2 that came back from the devastation.  Of course, I am sure it is way too late to have sweet potatoes this year, but I am going to leave them and see if they come back next year.  I doubt they will, but it is worth a try!  I tried growing potatoes in feed sacks this year.  I had read it worked and you don't have to dig the potatoes, you just dump the sacks.  I dumped my sacks to find 1 small potato and 1 tiny potato.  Fail there I guess.  I love gardening.  I find it to be very relaxing and I love spending time outside in the sun.  What I do know is that if we have to rely on what I grow to survive, we will be in deep trouble! There is always next year to try again I guess.  I have bigger plans, more ideas and Jim is a willing participant in this part of my insanity, so a partner in crime!  I just hope we get a couple more warm days, as we are mulching and bedding things down for the winter.  This year's fertilization makes next year's garden better!  

The rain, wind and colder weather make me want to do more cooking and indoor projects.  I was making chicken and noodles last night, contemplating turning on the furnace.  I had to let the dogs inside in the middle of what I was doing, and then I had to pause for a moment to look at the sky!  It was weirdly beautiful and sparkly from the sun poking out in the rain.  I may cuss the cold, but I will always love where we live.  Nothing could ever be better.