My old Singer

Let me share a little bit about my job. First of all I am working in the largest manufacturing plant in our city. It is our largest local employer and most of the people who live in this area, want to be employed at this plant. When I interviewed and was hired to work here, I was expecting to run some kind of machine or equipment. Or I thought I might be a fork-lift driver or work on an assembly line of some kind - because after all this is a manufacturing plant. But guess what my job is? I am operating a sewing machine! Yes, a 1955 Singer. I am sewing parts that go on other parts. Except for a brief time in 7th or 8th grade when I was forced to participate in a home economics class, I have never sewed anything in my life.

So here I am, everyday going to work on my sewing machine. I am the only person who is operating the old Singer. As far as I know there is only one. I now know how to change the bobbin -I am not sure if I am using the correct word here - the person who has been training me is very hard to hear and to make it worse she uses alot of slang that I don't understand - I can sew a very straight line and am also pretty darn fast!

This is not going to be my permanent position, I could very well end up running a machine or on an assembly line. But for now I am sewing away and can't help but think that God has got one hell of a sense of humor!

Lack of Power

I know that this is going to sound lame considering what the poor people in Texas are going through but.......... we got hit with the last remnants of Ike last night. And boy what a wind storm!

Our electricity went out (in the second quarter of the Browns vs Steelers game DAMN IT) and stayed out all night. That has never happened to us for that length of time. Has it happened to my family who all live in the country? Yes, many, many times. But not to us city dwellers.

At first it was exciting (except for missing the Browns vs Steelers) but quickly became a pain in the ass.

We had our air on because it was a stifling 80 degrees with 91% humidity, so that was the first thing we missed when the lights went out. Then of course the bedrooms are upstairs and it was hot up there without the air or even a fan on.

I was sure I would wake when the power came back on so I could set my alarm for work, but that never happened and I woke up at 6:45. I am scheduled to start work at 7:00.

But really,that didn't matter because I could not get my car out of the garage anyway! We have no man door in the garage, so we have a key to release the door when the power goes out. But since we have never had to use it since getting the electric door openers quite a long time ago, I could not find the key.

And the phone is electric and we have no cell phone ( what can I say? we are old and stubborn and see no need for it?) so I couldn't call anyone for a ride. And I couldn't call my boss to explain why I was going to be late.

The electricity came back on at 8:30 this morning. I arrived at work at 9:30.

The GF slept peacefully through the night and was early for work today. She works second shift.....

Rainy Saturday

Today has been a good day. It's been raining lightly all day but is warm, so the windows are open and a slight breeze is coming in. So even though the rain blew our plans to golf today, the GF and I have made the most of it.

We took a short ride to a local apple farm and purchased a couple baskets of freshly picked apples. The area we drove to has one farm and grape vineyard after another. We had our choice of produce stands to stop at. Peaches, apples, tomatoes, corn....... it's all out!

We stopped at a bar/restaurant in the country for lunch. The food was great, the service was good, the prices reasonable. We left full and happy.

We took a short nap after we got home. And there is not much better than napping on a rainy Saturday afternoon.

I baked an apple cake - not sure what the name of the cake is. It just came out of the oven and is cooling. So now the house smells like apple cake and fresh rain.

I am working tomorrow, but not even the thought of having my weekend cut short can ruin the good day we're having today!

Blank Looks

I want to post more often, but I find myself looking at the blank "post" page with a blank brain until I give up and go read other fun blogs. I can't think of anything worthwhile to write. There is nothing happening right now (not that I'm unhappy about that).

My work life has started to become routine. I have a fairly mindless job; but it pays very well and has great benefits.

My home life has been calm. I still like the GF and she still likes me. Our cat is spoiled and spends her days sleeping, eating, and getting petted.

My family is the same, with the exception of an upcoming surgery for my brother. He has been fighting cancer and hopefully the surgery (Sept 8) will be successful and he will be able to get back to some kind of normalcy. I have not blogged about this because it's all very scary and hard to know what I'm feeling about it from one minute to the next. Might be a topic in the future?

So, no news is good news? Maybe I'll be able to stop going blank when I try to post in the near future............it could happen............