Way out in the Middle of Nowhere

It has been my experience that everyone *should* spend at least a summer doing a stint in a factory.   Doesn't matter which one, but the time spent as a factory worker would make you a lot more aware of the world around you.   Why? Because I honestly don't think those people who work in the front office (lovingly termed the 'suits') know what is going on behind those production doors. Now in the last 40 years of my working life, I've spent about 18 or so of them in a factory setting of some sort.   From making food, to metal parts, to plastic trays, it's been made on a machine and my job has been to take what has been produced from that machine, put it in a box or a cart and move it away. My first job after high school of any note was at a factory that made plastic trays.   What was great about it was that the shifts were 4 hours long, and you got a break of 15 minutes.   Little did I know at the time, but that was not par for the course in a ...

We lost a goose last night. She got into the road and hit by a car. We noticed Penny dead in the road when we went to do night chores. Dave gathered her up and we put her in the yard so that the other geese could see she was dead. I have a theory that they accept the loss of a flock-mate better if they see the body. Penny was the gal that looked most like her Mom, Sissy. She will be missed. No amount of harassment and nothing short of a fricking 6' fence will keep those damned geese out of the road. They've got 30 acres of land behind that road ripe for the grazing, but they just wont.  stay.   out.      of.    the.   road. ~sigh~ I've been working on things to sell in my Etsy store: Things of interest I find in my trips to Goodwill, Vintage Patterns, Some Workbasket mags from the '50's. My decision right now is that attempting to get a job that would be able to work around the schedule here would be just as disastrous as before. EVEN THO...

(I apparently linked the photos to a place where they were removed, So I removed the photos. Sorry about that.) Yesterday, I made an offhand comment about an arrest photo of a woman who was arrested stealing over $250,000 from Wal Mart by returning stolen merchandise. My comment was that the news station should warn us before posting such pictures because to be honest...the woman was ugly. And that's where the cyber-bullying started. Five people decided that because they deemed me to be just as ugly as the woman in the photo, that it was acceptable to bully me. They decided that it was right, honest and holy to call me ugly...repeatedly and to my face.  Not only that, but because they deem me ugly, I should shut up and slink back into my ugly-hole. No worries, folks, I've got photos. I erased the last name of the offenders but kept their first names. I also would warn you that my usual penchant for cursing is in there as well. I don't pretend to be someone I'm no...

I'm in one of those moods where people who are over the age of 20 are pissing me off, so let me be brutally honest here. There are things we'd all love for you to know; * The concept that each and every person out there must agree, accept and embrace your life, lifestyle and thoughts as 100% awesome! is idiotic, and dangerous. My time in therapy taught me that if you want to lead a calm, depression-free life, you must let go this insane concept that you must love and embrace 100% all the people around you and conversely they must do the same to you. Give yourself freedom to not like  someone or their actions.  * Honestly, whatever you're wearing today, 99% of the people out there won't remember what you were wearing tomorrow unless it stood out in some way. And that's OK. Spending zillions of dollars you don't have to impress others is a waste of money. * Seriously, spending zillions of dollars you don't have trying to keep up with others you kn...

Ok, I'm not totally SURE that's the cold I have, but if it's not...it's pretending well. Last Tuesday night I went to bed feeling like I had a bad allergic reaction to something. It happens. I took a Benadry, Ibuprofen and Claritin and went to bed. I awoke feeling worse than I did before bed: Runny nose, all stuffed up, that feeling that you've been run over by a bus. Yeah, it was not fun. I took the day off from school, begged off my chores to Alex and just slept most of the day. A few days later I was better, but that cold has migrated to my lungs - my old, asthmatic lungs. I wake up, hork up some mucous, toke on my inhaler and get some coffee. So how does one cope with having a bad cold like this without having to go to the doctor? Well, over the counter meds and some good old-fashioned home remedies. OTC Meds: Mucinex DM - Well, any generic medicine containing Guaifenesin will work. My generic med has that and a decongestant. Now the caveat to taking G...

So A&E essentially fired Phil Robertson, Patriarch of the Duck Commander/Buck Commander clan. Why? Because he spoke in an interview with GQ (why I have no idea) about his Christian beliefs and what the Bible teaches about the sin of homosexuality. aaand this is where I lose my last follower. But let me clarify another misconception about the Catholic Church: You can BE a homosexual and still belong to the church. You just can't practice homosexuality, which is considered a sin. What level of sin it is..I do not know, but the PRACTICE of it is the sin..not the being. There are millions of people out there that have the same opinions as Phil. I am one of them. He did put them out succinctly, albeit a bit more crass than I would. I'm not going to quote the whole article because most of the news outlets online have made sure that the first two paragraphs are alllllllllllll ooooovvvvvvvvvvvvver the place, but this is the paragraph that I remember the most: "Robertson rel...

Taken one morning on my way to school. This is the Rock River in Janesville on River Road.  It was a foggy morning and the water was very calm. School is progressing.  Financial Aid is not. The final word came down that I will not get any aid this semester. I'm $500 in the hole for Calc and if I drop the class they'll add another $700 to it. Damned if I do, Damned if I don't. And they won't let me register for classes until I pay the $500. My only course at this time is to pick up as much money as I can selling stuff that I don't need, selling plasma and keeping expenses low.  And Dave is digging into his 401(k).  I'm less than pissed that it needs to be done, but what can you do? I've also applied for a credit card to put the $500 tuition on. That way I can pay off minimums, STILL register for next semester and pay it off with my grants next semester. Still not happy about that either. On a MUCH funnier note - Dave and I watch Duck Dynasty. M...

Updates: 1. STILL fighting with school over financial aid.  Due to the fact that I dropped that Lit class, they've withdrawn my ability to get any loan. I'm 1 credit short of what they consider 'part time'. I had my advisor find another credit -working with the theater dept.- but they say it's too late. which brings me to: 2. Fighting with the UW about that stupid flipping book. At this point, their obsessive love of this book detailing the abuse of young girl is becoming hilariously ridiculous.  You mean to tell me that this is THE  definitive book on the African-American experience? This book is 40 years old! Try finding a book from THIS century! But still...I've got an interim director who just freaked when I told her that she was being insensitive by her vehement defense of this book. She STILL defends it! 3. I've got a Calc test today. Wish me luck. 4. I came home yesterday to find 3 dead geese lined up by the mailbox.  Someone had hit 3 of Mol...

Calculus is going decently.  I sit in the back of the class next to a young man who has had the pleasure of being in two classes with me. He reminds me much of my son, Alex but with ambition. So, Alex got discharged from the Marines for failing to meet their physical criteria.  Right now he's thinking that he'll spend 2 years copping a squat on my couch while going to community college.  Meh.  I'm still ticked about that, but apparently my prayers and my wishes will never be taken into play with his life. That's the way it goes, I guess. (I'd credit the photo, but I'm pretty sure it's from a meme generator.) Poultry is well, except for Daisy the Duck who got into a fight with like 1/2 the flock and was injured. Now there's a nice, melodic story about picking maggots out of wounds that I could share, but why? It's bad enough that I got to DO it. Suffice it to say she's healed from her external wounds, but will need another month conval...

I made a hex sign. Sometimes they are called a barn quilt, but I call it a hex sign.  When I get done putting that last layer of clear on it, I'll have Dave put it on the coop. Right now it's sitting propped up on the hedge in the front yard. The fun part is that 2/3 of the paint on this thing was free.  I had to pay for the quart of pumpkin, but the purple and cream were free quarts from Ace.  One day a year they have a free quart of paint in the color of your choice.  Dave came back with the cream, I went down for the purple. The design is called 'flying geese'. I thought it was appropriate. It was the first day we tried butchering ducks. Yeah, no more raising ducks for food. Next year it will be chickens. The ducks are too hard to butcher, pluck and dress. It takes about an hour a duck. School started.  I had two classes, Calculus and Multicultural Lit. The Lit class was an online class. I was in the process of gathing the reading materials, readin...

What you are looking at is the rash that comes with Poison Ivy. It's on pretty much the upper 1/2 of my body; flank, arms, chest, neck and ears.  Thankfully my face and hair have been spared as well as my legs.  It itches something fierce. I mean more than anything has ever itched in my life! How does this train your concentration? Well, I had a Trigonometry final yesterday. I've spent the last week working on reviewing all I've learned over the last 6 weeks with a less than stellar results. It's hard to concentrate on formulas that have the same variables but in different areas when you really just want to scratch ...pretty much everything on the top 1/2 of your bod. Calamine lotion works to a point, and there is no way I can have splotches of the stuff on while in public.  People are waaay to judgmental and hypersensitive to anything that smacks of being less than 100% perfect.  I've stayed home for the most part, trying to study and rest. My final was as...

I was relating how my Dad gave me advice some 20+ years ago.  He said, "Brenda, not everything needs to be a fight. Sometimes it's just better if you'd shut up." Interesting advice, but it has an interesting story behind it. (The picture has noting to do with the story, but I have to add them because I like pictures.  This is Tigger, my kitty) Back some 20 years ago, I was on welfare, getting Section 8 housing after that SOB of a Father to my son left us high and dry before I was even showing.  What do you do when 1/2 of the parental units bails on you? You go on welfare and work your ass out of that situation.  Well, Alex was less than 1 year old, and Section 8 will not allow you to be living in a 1 bedroom apartment with a child. You need 2 bedrooms, so I needed to move. I found an apartment on the other side of town in an 8 unit building; upstairs and to the right.  It'll do and Section 8 approved it. Only after that did I find out that the Landlord o...

"   Man it's hot. It's like Africa hot. Tarzan couldn't take this kind of hot." - Eugene in 'Biloxi Blues' It's going to be another hot week here.   Anything that can hold enough water + a duck or goose is used to keep them cool.  Here we have Molly's babies in a Tupperware cake carrier and a heated dog bowl.  Don't worry, it's not like cake ever makes it out of the pan, even.  12 hours and it's all gone.  There's never a need for cake carrier. I needed to keep the big pool out of commission until these little blighters can get out of it safely, but I still needed to keep everyone cool. So I am using litter pans, dog bowls and even the plastic drawers out of one of those cheap plastic dressers as mini pools.  Eh, Dave's gotta clean that one out anyways.  It was the back end of the duck pen when they were inside in the laundry room.  Now they are big enough to be outside.  I finally had to suck it up and clean up and ...

Sissy likes to chew on my hair, even in winter.  She finds a lock sticking out of my hat and chews on it.  Well, in order to do so she has to be on my lap, so I let her up and she chews and I tell her how she's a good goosie and such. Last night I was telling tall tales of this thing called 'spring'.   When the snow melts and green, tasty grass grows as far as the eye can see.  Where good goosies can go and graze on the fresh grass and even snag those tasty chicory blossoms.  Oh, remember those days, Sissy!? This morning is desolate, windy, freeze-your-ass-off cold and nothing but that flipping snow.  This is a view from the garage which has been turned into a shelter for the animals.  The door is left open, fresh food and water are laid out, and a layer of straw sits on the floor.  It gives a wind break from the freezing flipping wind. It's supposed to be my "Spring Break' here.  Spring Break my ass! It's snowing! It's freezing! I'm...

Here it is, March 6th and we've gotten another foot of snow.  What is there to say? Nothing positive, I tell you that! I swear I've missed more School this semester than....ever.  You blink and it snows again.  As I take another toke off my inhaler because I just came in from spending another hour on that flipping snowblower....let me tell you what I'm knitting: Tumbling Bunnies is by Julie Tarsha are these cute little stuffed things with feet and socks! I started Alfred yesterday and yes, he needs another leg.  They are fiddly and tough on your hands if  you knit them on size one needles.  My recommendation is yarn and needles that will give you a tight knit on something larger than size 3 needles.

Let's just list the crap pile that was my week. They are in no particular order of crapitude but some are worse than others. 1. I can't wear my wedding & engagement ring because I bashed my hand against something doing chores and bruised my finger. Every time I put the rings on I get a burning pain.  Great.   2. My Hubby got his hours cut, again. Now he's down to 30 and we're scrambling to cut budget and/or make up the loss in funds.  3. Which leads me selling plasma. I'm all-around healthy, so it's not all that difficult. I DID find the 4 hours spent there yesterday and the 30 mile round trip to home and back to get a marriage certificate to prove I changed my name to be almost too much to endure. And all that for 20 bucks.......... 4. I was sitting down in the garage on a bale of straw cleaning the fog off my glasses when my left  lens fell off into a pile of straw.   Think of it as trying to find a needle in a haystack, blind.   We h...

I'm on that quest to cleanse my soul, so here's another chunk of miasma for you: I've learned not to like people these days. And as each day progresses on, I dislike people more.  It's gotten to the point where I just don't want  to be around others. People have become nothing more than hateful, spiteful, narcissistic asshats. Hell, Even my In-Laws' refuse to behave for two fucking days. They have to make my Christmas *just that more horrible* because some person on TV told them to hate their own kid. Their own child! Someone they've known since birth!  Their ability to be swayed into thinking the worst of their Son simply because someone on TV told them so, shows how really moronic they are. That concept in itself shows me how shallow their real intelligence is.  It's superficial, meant to dupe others into giving them respect, but not an iota of respect is shown the other way.  And they are not the only one; millions do that every day.  Pe...

This is a long post, filled with cursing, ranting and bile.  I apologize to anyone not in my family.  For those, let me say that Christmas was ruined again, this time it is solely the fault of my Brother In Law, Dan. Readers Digest Version: I invited Dave's family for a celebration here on Saturday.  They intended on spending the weekend here. Everything was going great until about 10 pm when my Brother In Law deliberately started a political fight with my husband. This escalated into a whole family fight. In the end, my Father In Law decided they weren't welcome, shoved every one into the van and took off.  Despite all efforts to make them calm down, they refused. Mostly because my Brother In Law would not shut is mouth. David and I are now disowned by that side of the family and will never see them again. For those of you who still think Christmas is a beautiful, wondrous time of year, please stop reading now, because your life does not need this. ...

Usually I don't throw down the pre-Christmas rant until closer to the actual day, but what the Hell.  According to the Mayans we'll be dead by then. In 2007, I made all my Christmas gifts.   In fact I spun and knit two of them from soft wool and gave them to my Mother and Mother-In-Law.  So lets roll on some photos, shall we? This one actually was taken before I washed it. The color changes were actually *dirt*. It came out snowy white with green glass beads on it.  I gave it to m Mother In Law. She folded it, put it away and I've never seen it again.  She said it would make a lovely table runner.  *facepalm* it's a STOLE! Onto #2: My Mother's shawl, Mystic Waters I think it was called.  Also spun from Targhee, with no beads. My Mom doesn't do that frou frou.  She opened it, Dad said, "Oh look, it's an old lady shawl!" and that was it. Mom keeps it on the back of her chair in the sewing room.  Hey, at least SHE didn't throw it out...

Reality is what hits us every day.  Sometimes we accept it, grasp whatever bits of goodness come out and move on. The people who deal with reality every day will tell you that sometimes the hard parts are unbearable, but must be done. We've been dealing with reality a lot here: Alex gets a job, but it's 45 miles away.  $40 bucks every two days to fill up the car so he can go to his job.  Which means $50 to fill up the van every 2 1/2 days to get both Dave and I to work and school.  $180.00 per week IN GAS.  Reality sucks, my friend. And today I get to finish my chem lab early, drive back home, disarticulate a deer and put what large pieces we have in the freezer to butcher later after I drive back to school at $4 in gas  to take an Algebra quiz. If we don't get this deer butchered, the meat will rot and we'll be eating chicken all winter long.   Reality is we cannot afford to waste meat, nor buy it from the store.  My Brother In Law offered u...