Growth Despite the Odds

    At my job, on the south side of the building, there is a plant growing out of the top of the gutter. I have watched this plant thrive despite being in the full sun and exposed to all the elements that Florida weather can throw at it. Now, to some, this may not seem extraordinary, but to me, it shows just how resilient a thing can be, despite not having the most basic of life-inducing elements. Soil is where most plants grow, whether it is in the ground, a planter, or box, most plants require the nutrients from soil to survive.  

    Last year, I saw the first part of its growth popping over the top of the roof and thought that it was on the roof. At first, I thought that there was no way that a plant could survive for long up there. The sheer force of the water flowing down the gutter would most certainly wash it away with the next big storm. This little guy stands about 4 feet tall now. 

Plant growing out of a gutter atop a 40ft tall building.

    Through a cold winter and a blazing hot summer, this plant has not only survived but thrived. It has grown, despite not having a food source besides the sun and rain. It has flourished and flowered. Where did it get its strength? Makes you wonder, doesn't it?

Way up there!

    Maybe its sole purpose is to remind me that I am stronger than I think. That, despite the challenges, I too can flourish with what looks and feels like very little nutrient. You can too. 

Hump-Day Interruptions

     What is it with this place and people interrupting me on my lunch break? We have this Field Service guy that I swear cannot help himself but annoy the crap out of me when he comes to the shop. The biggest annoyance is when I'm on my lunch break. I like to sit out by the loading dock, soak up some sunshine, and enjoy a little quiet time on my lunch break (yes, I live in Florida; no, the heat doesn't bother me). This guy has 3 other places he could park to load up parts for the next day or unload cores & things of the such, but he has to park right next to the dock. So, that's not a big deal, I can usually ignore almost anything that is going on around me if it's not in my face. But he makes a point of talking to me constantly when he's here. Asking me questions. Griping about his job. Yadda. Yadda. Yadda. I flat out told him more than once, "I'm on my lunch break, I don't care", and yet he still tries to jaw my ear off. Like, DUDE! Take a freakin break! Leave me alone! The utterly hilarious part is I can do my best to ignore him, not look at him, not acknowledge him, and he will still try to talk my ear off for as long as I'm out there.

    Take today for example. I had about 5 minutes left on my break so I wandered outside for a little Vitamin D & he is out there already. Now, when I walked out the door, I was on my phone, scrolling, mindless drivel to waste some time. I never looked up from my phone, and yet, he was talking to me from the moment he saw me (I have excellent peripheral vision). He asked me if we had any trash bags that he could use to cover some boxes in the bed of his truck & without looking up, I said, "yep, they're where they always are, in (warehouse guy’s desk)". He goes over there & picks up a new roll of bags & asks me if he can open it up. Dude, the company pays for them, I don't care if you take the whole roll, just leave me alone!

    
Am I supposed to keep that smiling customer service face on all day long even when I'm not on the clock? I can't. My time is my time. My time is when I get to fully be me & some days that means that I am a little witchy. Am I wrong here? 

What drives violence?

 Ocala, FL Headline in the Orlando Centinel Newspaper: Police & Community leaders working to address a recent rash of gun violence.

Now, I take some offense to this headline. Mostly because there has been a rash of violence where guns weren't used, but that hasn't made the news. Why does it take using a firearm to get their attention? Is gun violence somehow worse than any other violence? I would say not! Violence, of any kind, is illegal and should be frowned upon by all. Why aren't they calling attention to Domestic Violence or Road Rage incidents as often as they do guns? There are more instances of road rage every day than there is "gun violence". Why aren't we educating the communities about driving courteously? Domestic Violence occurs in households day and night across the world. Why aren't we calling more attention to the plight of those affected by domestic violence? 

Why is gun violence more important when any kind of violence, using any kind or type of weapon, albeit a gun, knife, degradation, or vehicular. They are all just as worthy of our full attention. Are you paying attention yet? 

It all boils down to politics. Somebody decided that they didn't like guns because "guns can kill people". No. Just, no. Guns don't kill people. Bad people kill people. If someone wanted to kill you and they didn't have access to a gun, they could use a knife, a rock(you know, like how Cain killed his brother Abel in the Old Testament), fire, a vehicle, electricity, chainsaw, ax, hatchet, plane, train, pills, poison, and the list goes on and on. 

Guns are not the problem. What we have is a HEART PROBLEM! Too many people with bad hearts. Maybe they haven't heard the gospel. Maybe they weren't raised to treat others with respect. Maybe they grew up around violence and that is all they know. Whatever the case may be, it still boils down to being a heart problem. Discord in the hearts of people, children, adults, legal guardians, it all gets passed down from one generation to the next. 

It really is sad to watch a country that I used to love 'till death do us part' fall into the hands of political activists that want to strip us "law-abiding citizens" of our constitutional, and God-given, rights. 

There's just something about Monday

 Monday, July 26, 2021

I am just not feeling it today. And by “it”, I mean my drive to do any school work. 

I had to leave work early today to meet the appraiser (we are trying to get an equity line of credit and it is almost as bad as trying to buy a house). 

Since I was home early, I went ahead and did 2 hours of school work before I even started supper. The hubby wasn’t home yet anyway. Plus, I do my best studying when it’s quiet. So, now I’m sitting here typing away on my laptop so that it LOOKS like I’m doing something when in reality, I’m just procrastinating. 

Do you ever feel just, blah? I am having trouble concentrating on this new class, but it’s not a boring class, I feel like it is almost a rehash of the last 2 classes I took. I’m also starting to rethink what my major is. Not because I don’t enjoy network administration, I’m just finding that the starting pay in my area for this job would be about a $5-10 pay cut from what I’m currently making. Now, I could make that work for a little while to get my foot in the door somewhere, but not for very long.

The company I currently work for is going through a “transformation” and it’s making me rethink my career choice and do I really want to keep following the path I am currently on, or should I make a change?

What I really need is ideas.  Do I have any original ideas? Not hardly. I know a lot of stuff about a lot of different things. Matter of fact, I have a lady that I used to work with that called me “Sleeper”, as in a sleeper car, only I have a brain full of odd and interesting factoids. While my brain does hold a massive amount of mostly useless information, I used to entertain her on a regular basis with information that she could easily “fact check” and not once was I wrong that I’m aware of. I grew up with a dad who taught me a lot of different things, from how to drive a tractor to repairing drywall. I had an interesting childhood. 

Maybe tomorrow I'll do better. I mean, 2 hours of studying isn't bad for a Monday, but I could do more and I just don't want to. 

Tattoos and scars are different things.

July 24th, 2021

Today I am going to get my memory tattoo for my Papa. His life was full of love and laughter and stories. One day, I'll share some of those stories with you,  but today is about creating a lifelong remembrance of the man, the myth, the legendary Mayor of Possum Hill. All he ever wanted to be was a cowboy and that is all he ever did. 

The blank canvas of my right arm, where this permanent reminder will rest.

That's my Papa on the right with Mr. Bill Roberts, author and illustrator of the book, All I Ever Wanted To Be Was A Cowboy. 

Gotta cool off before the big reveal.

My artist was Dave Draper and I went to Fat Kat's Artistry on the square in Ocala, Florida to get this done. Dave has been tattooing for many years & we had a wonderful conversation throughout the whole time I was there. 

Thanks Dave!

A perfect way to remember Papa.

The log is engraved with the time we were lucky enough to keep him here for, 1921-2020. In his paw is a Christmas tree, in memory of one of my favorite Papa-isms: "Merry Christmas Tree". 

Do you have thoughts or questions? Feel free to comment below!

Friday night...this week

Sitting here on the couch, watching Friday night Smackdown on Fox with my hubby and the dog. Of course, our dog has squeezed herself between the couch and ottoman so that she can be near us. I should probably be working on the paper that I have due on Sunday, but my eyes needed a break. 

 At work, I have to use Firefox, Internet Explorer, Chrome, and Edge to be able to use all of the programs that I am required to access. Now, some of those programs will work in multiple browsers, however, none of them are compatible with each other....hence the multi-browser tomfoolery that I have to deal with every day. I've grown accustomed to having 2 screens and 15 different programs open all day every day. For some, this would probably be an assault on the senses, for me, it's just another day at the office. 

 I started my college career after 20 years out of high school. I knew back then that I didn’t have the dedication to really apply myself, so I decided to wait until I was ready ( more about this later). Since I’ve started my college career, I learned about an app for the school that has created a space where students of this university from all across the United States can come together to collaborate. What I’ve noticed since first logging in is that college students of all ages are whiney little bitches.

Here are just a few of the things that people are complaining about on the school app today.

1)     Talking about “they took my financial aid money & didn’t give me anything back” --- girl that money is to pay for school, if there’s nothing left after paying for classes, they didn’t steal it, you just don’t get a refund!

2)     Got a girl on there the other day that was whining about being in a relationship where her partner doesn’t respect or support her. Girl, GET OUT or call somebody to help you if you can’t do it on your own, you don’t need people that don’t know you to tell you what to do. You need to “man up” and get your life straight. Quit blaming other people for your problems.

3)     My own observation from several posts: For the love of all that is holy…. instructors get 10 days to post grades. That’s right, TEN days past the final due date of the week to get assignments graded & those grades uploaded to the system. While we are on the subject of time-frames. Instructors have 48 hours, that is 2 FULL DAYS, to respond to an email, phone call, course message, or chat (if that’s what they use). Quit acting like they are ignoring you, they most likely have several hundred students spread across several classes, responding to even half of that amount of people within 48 hours takes time. Sometimes, lots of time, depending on the type of question & depth of answer. 

 Hello Everybody! Welcome to my first ever, official, online blog. I hope you enjoy this journey with me through the rantings about work, school, customers, and everyday life. I'll be talking about everything from dogs to scam artists, cars to coffee, alphabet soup to zebras in the wild. Check back often for the next installment of "What's happening today".