Happy Sunday, I Mean Monday

Monday for you,but it's Sunday for me.  Back to the old grind tomorrow. Sorry,  I was really stressed last Friday. However, Friday and Saturday went better.  I passed my test on Saturday with a 100%.  Saturday night we had potluck at work and Duane made his chili for me take in.  Several said, "It's the best chili I've ever had."  "This chili is the bomb, man." "That chili was totally awesome."  Now, you wish you could have some of his chili too.

Funny thing:

D: You can take the chili in to share with all your friends.

Me: They are not my friends, they're my co-workers.  A little closer than acquaintances, but still the hand is held up.  No, closer than this.

D: Yeah, I get it.

Me:  Now, my blog readers in various far away places.  They're my best buddies.  (I held my arms wide like group hug.)

(Duane bought me this rose plant today.)

Tomorrow, we start training on the phones taking real calls.  Every time I think about that, I get a little sick.  I might have passed the test, but I feel totally unprepared.  Oh well, it's training.  What's the worst that can happen than the customer (a stranger) thinks I'm an idiot.  The trainer says we get to be a superhero, solving peoples problems every day.  I didn't tell her I'm already Superwoman, as I'm posing as a mild mannered knitter.  Even if my cape is a little crooked and I have a run in my tights.

Phrases I've picked up this week,  At the end of the day. You only know what you know. Whatever that looks like for you.  My personal favorite said by the lady sitting next to me, "Every time I see that Powerpoint screen, I die a little inside."

Baby sweater and hat is mailed off with a gift card for my daughter today.  She should get it by Wednesday, in time for her to get what she needs before she goes to the hospital on Friday.  It was asked if it bothers me that I won't be there.  Yes, it does.  I'm trying not to think about it.  I can't buy a plane ticket and even if I could, I can't miss a day of work until after Saturday.  Emotional button switched to the off position.

I'll post the lousy picture I took of the hat sweater at the post office.  I was still knitting on the hat while my friend was driving us to various stores.  Right down to the wire, that's me.  Hopefully, by Saturday, or maybe sooner I can steal pictures of the baby off the other grandma's FB page.  Hopefully the baby will be wearing the hat.  Then we can all go "Awww" from a distance.

The birds will have a surprise for you tomorrow.  No not more eggs or baby birds.

Thanks for dropping by and reading my crazy ramblings.  You all are the best.

Fiber Arts Friday

Not much progress on the knitting front.  Really, not much progress on any front.

This is how far I got on the sleeve at Duane's Dr.'s appointment this morning.   I don't know if I thought I was some sort of a speed knitter or I thought I would be spending the day there, as I believed that I could finish the sleeves this morning.  It ended up almost being the latter, but I was so annoyed with all the inconsiderate delays of our time, I couldn't concentrate on knitting.  Hopefully, I can get the sleeves finished and a hat by Monday, so I can mail it off to my daughter in time before the 7th.  That's when she goes in for a c-section.

I thought about posting pictures of the stuff I wish I could be working on.  Fun for you, maybe, but torture for me and I'm going through enough torture.

Just color me annoyed right today.  Two more shifts to go and then I have two days off.  I will get through it. (Trying to convince myself.)  Training is getting on my last nerve as the class is very laid back and many of my fellow trainees take advantage by talking while we're trying to learn and constantly go off topic.  The trainer is trying to keep it fun, but I'm not finding it very fun as I'm there to try to learn my job.  I will get through it.

Some people are over-sharing their personal information during class.  Annoying.  Some things I just don't care to know about.  Yes, I share my personal story on this here blog, but you choose to come read about it. Which I'm amazed and humbled at those of you who stop by.   Plus, I don't have to look at you for eight hours a day at my work.  There are things I will share with everyone around the globe, but however, not with my co-workers. Funny, isn't it.

Not much chance of them wanting to read my blog.  None of them do crafty things and they think I'm weird.

Duane says not worry that most of the learning takes place on the floor when I'm taking calls.  But, I want to learn what I need to learn now, and not after I'm on the phone with a customer sounding like a babbling idiot.  I will get through.  Two more nights of classroom, then we start on the phone training on Tuesday night.  I will get through.  It will get easier at some point.  Did I convince you?  Yeah, I'm still working on convincing me.

P.S. Hopefully this post made some sense.  I've had less than five hours of sleep and I'm off to work in a half hour.  PRAY. FOR. ME. .

P.P.S.  Thanks for stopping by and reading my incoherent ramblings.

Stop by Fiber Arts Friday, they probably have better stuff.

Second Verse Same As The First

Second day same as the first day, except I got a ride and didn't take the bus. Oh and no snake sightings. Damn.  More corporate speak, Power Points, high energy trainer and me yawning my head off by eight pm.

Instead of boring you to death with how I spend my afternoon/evenings and to distract you from the lack of any fibery content, I'm going to tell you a funny story.  I'm full of them.  Duane's heard all my stories hundreds of times.  Of course, we're together every day for nine years.  He tells me I need to get new stories.  Which I do, but then I tell him and then they're old by the next day, week, month, year.  So, I'm going to write them to you, to distract you from the fact that I'm seriously lacking the fiber content.  He will come by and read them.  So, actually, I'm retelling them to him too. That cracks me up. (Sorry, easily amused today. Corporate speak frying the brain cells.)

Anyway, we put this feeder up finally over the weekend.  We've had it for almost a year.  But I kept loosing the box of nectar or the feeder.  Yesterday, I noticed the hummers have found my feeder.  First two zoomed by my head and went for the feeder and zoomed off.  Then another one, zoom off.  Then another came and hovered around the bush near by.  I grabbed the camera, came back out and he seemed to have left.  Then suddenly he came up over the over side of the bush, seemed to look at me then went to the feeder.  I actually got a picture of him.  That's not the funny story.

Back in 99, I lived in a complex that was set in the woods.  Out back, I had a small wooden deck about 4 feet by 6 which I decorated with assorted plants, just like here.  A beautiful Blue Girl tea tree rose, (I won't tell the story about that plant because it ended in tears) a huge hibiscus, jasmine, gardenia, assorted hanging baskets and window boxes set on the wooden ledges.

One evening, after dinner, I'm out there watering my plants and talking to my neighbor who sitting on her deck enjoying my flowers.  She's severely allergic to flowers, but her deck was a safe enough distance that she enjoyed mine.  I walked out into the grassy area about six or ten feet away from my deck to admire the flowers, when I heard an awful loud, really loud buzzing in my ear.  Then I felt a sharp poke in the side of my head.

Oh my goodness, that a huge freaking BEE!  Side note, I'm really allergic to bees.  I might be all cool walking by a snake at night, but let me see a bee and I become an Olympic tri-athlete in a hurry.  Well, I'm running around, swatting at my head, "Shouting, it's a huge bee!  Help!! I'm being attacked by a mammoth bee!!"  That damn thing was chasing me, poking me in the head.

My neighbor is doubled over, shaking, she was laughing so hard. Tears running down her face. She said she almost wet herself watching me running around, slapping my head, waving my arms around, screaming like a crazy person.  She shouts, "Stop! It's just a hummingbird!"

I stopped, but that thing was still attacking me.  I'm still waving my arms around my head to get it to stop.  Back then, I had really dark red hair.  The sun had shone on my hair just right and it thought I was probably the biggest, tastiest flower it ever saw.   Many nights after that, I swear those little buggers were just waiting on me to come out.  Three or four of them, felt like a swarm, dive bombing me in the head.  I would have to run back inside and tie something around my head for protection.  I actually thought of sticking a cooking pot on my head for a protection helmet.

So why am I now trying to attract them to my patio?  You might have noticed in previous pictures of me on this here blog, my hair is no longer a bright, dark red.  Mostly it is various shades of grey and the rest the Tucson sun has bleached blonde.  I hope, I'm no longer a target.  I really do love hummingbirds, just not when they're attacking me.

The north western hummingbirds migrate this way in the winter, so I'm researching on how to attract them.  Thus I have a sad little hibiscus and some butterfly bush seedlings.  One site I read said, they drink the nectar to give them energy to catch bugs, their main meal.  To think of them as flying fly catchers.  That's another thing I don't like about it here.  It doesn't get very cold, so we have houseflies year round.  I tempted to invite the hummers inside for a real meal. Anything that eats bugs is a great friend to me.  I also got excited when I saw a tiny lizard hanging out in my planter.  Bug Eater!  He was gone when I came back with the camera.

To answer a question, Teresa asked about my new job.  What will my job be?  Well, I'm working for an international call center and their client is a national pharmacy chain that I'll be taking their phone calls and servicing their customers.  They make it seem like it has to be all top secret so that's all I'll say.  Except, we are supposed to promote the company for new hires.  If you  apply and put my name as a referrer, I get bonuses after you have worked there for various increments of time.  They have locations around the country US, plus various other countries and a work at home department (your computer and internet connection have to meet their requirements) (obviously mine did not).  So if you're interested, send me an e-mail and I'll tell you how to apply.

 It's said that you really have to work hard at getting fired from this company.  However, being seen on carpet with a cell phone or any recording device out and that's immediate termination.  We were all joking about taking a picture of the trainer standing by the pharmacy logo sign and posting it to Facebook. The trainer was mostly joking about it saying, you'll get us all fired.  I thought about "getting Dooced" just for saying I work there on this blog. For those that don't know, she's a now famous blogger for getting fired for blogging about her job.  Except since that's been done before, so chances are highly unlikely that I get rich and famous for being fired.

Thanks for dropping by and leaving a comment.  Hopefully my little story made you giggle or at least smile.  It's funnier when I tell it in person.

My Butt's A Draggin

Using this just for a nice picture.  Not like I can post a picture of work, or it will all end in tears.  Really it will.

First day went ok, kinda boring even though the trainer tried to make it fun.  Seriously, she must have had a serious caffeine overdose at some point in her life and has yet to come back down.

I think my trip to work might be more interesting than those eight and half hours of corporate brainwashing.  I don't think I mentioned this before, but that Thursday when I went in to do the paperwork and drug test, I met a classmate that lives on my side of town, only way far out.  I had mentioned I took the bus there, so when we left for the drug test she asked if she could give me a ride.  She's only lived here a few months, and was glad for some help to find the lab and I was glad for a ride.  I asked her if she would mind bringing me home at night so I wouldn't have to pay a cab and I would pitch in for gas.  Anyway, she gave her number but when I tried calling it I got a fast busy signal.  So, I hoped she would be there last night.

I don't know why I was so nervous about starting this job.  It got worse the closer the time came.  By the time I was sitting at the second bus stop, I was literally trembling like a dog sitting in the vets office.  It was twenty minutes til the next bus, so I knit and tried to figure it out.  Most of my jobs have been temp agency jobs because I liked it that way.  It couldn't be that it's a new situation. Agency work is all new situations, all the time.

Maybe it's because there have been so many changes this year, I feel like I'm spinning round and round. First Duane's changing work schedule, then the him in the hospital, then nursing home, finally back home, then the boarder, then no boarder, now a job with a changing schedule. Whew.  Did you see that? I just went spinning across the room like a top.

I looked at the time and it was a minute before the bus was to arrive, so I put the knitting away.  Checked the time again, a minute after.  Then I worried I was so deep in thought, did the bus pass right by me and I didn't notice?  So here I am checking time every 30 seconds, worrying about the bus.  It did finally show up seven minutes late.

When I got off the bus across town, I notice dark purple clouds with lightening over the mountains not far away.  We are surrounding by mountains.  Tucson is basically a basin.  A friend of friend is a pilot and I was told that he said when he lands in Tucson, he feels like he's being sucked into a black hole.  Not too far off, there buddy.

I wished I had the camera with me to take a picture of the rain coming down on the mountain. Very pretty when in a bus, on standing on my patio.  Except, I have to walk a little over a mile and I was worried about a downpour on me. Then having to sit soaking wet in the cold air conditioning for the next eight hours.  It's mostly open dessert on that side of town.   A sandstorm had kicked up which happens just before a rainstorm.  I had sand all blowing in my face during this long walk in the hot sun. But, I made it there, a little sandblasted and windblown but all parts were mostly dry and intact.  We could hear the downpour above about fifteen minutes after we were in the classroom.  Duane got tons of rain, a few hours later.

My new friend was there and she said she would give me a ride home.  Then the rest of the night was pretty much boring.  As I said, the trainer was over-enthusiastic.  Should she ever need a career change, I think she would make a great high impact aerobics instructor.  Even so, by nine I was yawning my head off.  By ten, I had a bad headache and my neck was getting painful.

The funniest part was when we were leaving.  As I mentioned, it's all open desert over there.  Duane has mentioned seeing critters, especially coming home at night or sundown.  I've always walked looking down at the ground, a good habit to have.  My new friend almost stepped on a snake walking through the parking lot. Within inches.  It was a little one, about two feet long.  I didn't hear any rattling, so I'm pretty sure it was a safe one.

I said, "Damn woman, you almost stepped on that snake."

She hadn't even noticed it and started screaming, "No, no!!!"

"Yes, you did. It's right there."

She's still screaming, "No, no!! I don't do snakes!! I hate this desert!!"

Then I said, "Damn, wish I had my camera with me.  A picture of that snake would have made great blog fodder."

She officially thinks I'm off my rocker.

I'm sorry, but I couldn't help laughing.  It was like that Richard Pryor skit with snake.



I'm sure you know how RP is, so if you're sensitive to strong language don't play it.

Duane has lectured me about the critters down here, so I know to look for and expect them.  Besides, if you freak out and scream, that only alerts them to the fact you are there.

Tonight is going to be rough.  I woke up at 7:30 this morning to my bedroom ceiling leaking.  It's not like before.  But damn, I don't need this crap.  I called the manager and he's away from the complex for a few hours before he can get here.  He's concerned about what's going on up there, because as of Monday he gave the lady above until October 1st to find a new place to live.

My new friend insisted on picking up on her way in, so no long bus ride and walk.  We have five days classroom time, then five days training out on the floor.  Then I will get my semi-regular schedule, which should start any where from ten to noon and I will have to transition to getting up about six am.  I think it's pretty stupid to have training so late in the day, when people are winding down and getting tired.

Thanks for stopping by and all your encouraging comments.