Happy BelatedNational Coffee Day

TWIT and I would like to wish you, faithful readers, a happy belated National Coffee Day.  Things were so busy and crazy at work, that I didn't even have time to get a cup of coffee on National Coffee Day.  I promise I will make it up for it t morrow.

Link Of The Week

We got our flu shots last week at work, just like we’ve done for every year that I can remember at Zoeller.  It’s an awesome perk of working there – we get our flu shots for free, and don’t have to worry with filing it with our insurance company.  All we do is just show up and get our shots.  But I digress.

The annual flu shots are a sobering reminder that we are on the doorstep of the flu season.  Stay informed this year, by visiting http://www.everydayhealth.com/flu/map/?xid=aol_rss. Just enter your zip code and you can find out info on the flu outbreak in your area. 

Security Tip Saturday

I belong to a Facebook group that is made up of people from my part of town (the good ole PRP area). This week, someone posted pictures of two guys panhandling in one of our shopping center parking lots.  Others chimed in, posting their pictures of these two guys, who evidently were asking for handouts all day long.  As you can imagine, this prompted a very lengthy discussion about how we work hard for our money and shouldn't have to deal with these two guys asking for money.  Someone finally posted a helpful post - she posted a phone number for LMPD (Louisville Metro Police Department) and urged people to call the next time they saw these guys or others panhandling in parking lots or elsewhere. 

The Security Tip is to take a few seconds and Google "non-emergency police department phone number" for the city you live in, and program the number in your cell phone.  The next time you see people panhandling, call the non-emergency number and let the police handle it. 

As always, be safe and secure. 

Flashback Friday

It's been a rough week for all things electronic and mechanical at The Compound.  First of all, the tiller crapped out a few days ago; something happened to the pulley and it keeps breaking belts. Yes, belts, as in plural.  Then this afternoon, the desktop computer decided that it would no longer recognize the mouse.  

I sure Dad is thinking back to the time when farm equipment was a heck of a lot easier to work on.  And I'm thinking back to the early days of computers when I could put the boot disk in and in a couple of minutes I would be up and running.  Today, not so much. 

Not Sure How To Categorize This

For the past few days, I've been mad about something, and have been wanting to pick a fight.  I was one step away from picking said fight tonight, when the person I wanted to fight stepped up and apologized about something.  I had to quickly back down, because honestly I was one step away from calling her out and cutting her out of my life.  

I thank the Lord for the way He moves in our lives.  That's about all I can say.  

Post Birthday Celebrations

It's the day after my sweet mother's 80th birthday, and we're still celebrating.  It's been an awesome, beautiful week to be on vacation, and I have a few more days left to celebrate, and that's what I intend to do.

Happy Birthday, Mom

TWIT would like to wish my sweet mother a very happy 80th birthday today.  And those of you that know her can vouch that she sure doesn't look or act like she's 80.  She goes more and does more than a lot of women half her age; once again, if you know her, you know that's the gospel truth.  

Happy birthday, Mom. 

Security Tip Monday

Once again, I witnessed an act of carelessness that made me cringe.  Last night, I stopped at Kroger's to pick up a few things, and noticed a couple shopping in the same aisle as me.  Let me interject that the woman was sporting what appeared to be a freshly-cut femmullet.  But I digress.  The woman's large purse was sitting in the "child section" (for lack of a better phrase) of the grocery cart, and it was wide open.  You could clearly see her iPhone and wallet in plain view.  She was about five or six yards from the cart, as was her husband in the opposite direction; nobody was keeping an eye on her purse because they were too busy yelling back and forth about their shopping list.  Someone could have easily walked up and grabbed her phone and wallet without either of them noticing it.  

My advice is for women to not even take a purse with them to the store, and if you do, keep it with you at all times.  

Just Proving A Point

This morning on the way to church, I stopped at the same ATM I stopped at yesterday just to prove my point.  I got out $20, and after I took my twenty dollar bill, I sat there a few seconds and then the same message popped up like yesterday when I pulled up, asking I wanted to complete another transaction.  I pressed "Yes" and then all it asked me was what type of transaction I wanted - withdrawal or deposit, and then from where/to where.  It didn't ask for me to put in my PIN number again. So once again, anyone could have cleaned that person's checking out.  And like I said yesterday, the machine takes a picture just as the person is entering their PIN number.  If I'd been a punk ass and cleared out their checking account, maybe the bank might have gotten my license plate number or a good picture of me on their security cameras in the parking lot, but you never know. 

Let me stress again to that we can't be too careful these days. 

Security Tip Saturday

I went to the ATM machine this morning while running errands, and had to wait a couple of minutes for the car in front of me to finish his banking bidness.  When he left and I pulled up to the ATM, imagine my surprise when I saw that he had not finished his banking bidness; there on the ATM screen was the prompt asking "Do you want another transaction?"  Yep, the car pulled off without completing his ATM bidness.  If I had not been an honest, scrupulous person, I could have easily pressed the button that said "Yes" and could have drained the money from this person's checking account without getting caught.  The cameras in the ATM take a picture as soon as the debit/credit card is inserted, so there would not have been a picture of me making the other transaction.

I know we're all in a hurry to get somewhere, but when you're at the ATM, please wait and close out the transaction or else you could get your checking account drained. 

Hogzilla Update

The Old Man has had some sinus/allergy issues this week, and today is the first day he's felt like getting outside.  So today, he was on Hogzilla Patrol. He didn't have any sightings today, but My Sweet Mother spotted Hogzilla when she was doing her daily walk earlier this afternoon.

As of now, the plan is for The Old Man to keep a vigalent watch tomorrow as he has his trusty shotgun loaded and locked.

Trust me - Hogzilla will be subdued in the days ahead.

Farmtown 2014 Update

Dad had some sinus issues the past few days and was out of commission here at The Compound, but today, he was able to get outside and the last remaining tomato plant was taken down.  So as of now, all we have left are the sweet potatoes, and Mom's Mystery Peppers that are growing in her flower bed.

It was an awesome run for the tomatoes, and I think half of Jefferson County got a bag full. 

Sauerkraut Update

I'm not sure what has happened, but tonight we had to lug the heavy stone crock of sauerkraut out to the field and dump it out.  Like I said, I don't know what happened.  Every week I did what I was supposed to do -- I made sure there was water covering the kraut in the crock.  But tonight when I checked, it was just, ewwww.  That's about all I can say.

We learned some valuable lessons this summer.  The first being that we have no business making sauerkraut, especially since it cost me over two months of not being able to fully use my right hand after shredding the cabbage.  Second, why go through all of this trouble when we can buy the kraut ready to go.  

I don't think we'll make homemade kraut again, but I'm glad we had the experience.  I think. 

Farmtown 2014 Update

The mystery at The Compound has been solved.  We have a clear picture of what varmint has been eating the sweet potatoes and other plants:  it's none other than Hogzilla, the giant groundhog.  You can clearly see the big varmint feasting on the sweet potato plants.

To quote The Old Man just moments ago: "His days are numbered."

I can hear the shotgun shells being loaded and locked right now. 

Farmtown 2014 Update

Things can change pretty quickly here at The Compound.  Just when Dad said he was going to keep four of his prized tomato plants, today he decided differently.  He pulled up the remaining tomato plants, and as of tonight, we have one very healthy plant left.  I think he's tired of trying to give away tomatoes.

We still have the very healthy and plentiful sweet potato plants, and as I said the other day, they are looking like they will be as plentiful as the tomatoes.

And we still don't know what we're going to do, if anything, to try and rid ourselves of the giant skunk aka Skunkzilla.  And just yesterday afternoon when Mom was doing her daily walk, she spotted Hogzilla, the giant ground hog here at The Compound. 

I'm thinking we should try and get some of those reality show people to come here and catch those varmints.

Farmtown 2014 Update

We have another update from Farmtown.  We have a picture caught on the trail camera of the varmint that has been eating the beans, sweet potatoes, etc.  It's just what we suspected -- a big skunk.  We got a clear picutre of the varmint Thursday night. 

At least now we know what has been eating the garden. Now, we don't know how to catch it.

As always, I'll keep you posted.  Stay tuned.

Farmtown 2014 Update

After giving countless bags, baskets and boxes full of tomatoes to practically half of Jefferson County, the great tomato harvest at The Compound is drawing to a close.  As I type this, Dad is out in Farmtown tearing down some of the tomato plants.   He's still leaving the stronger, more-producing plants up, in hopes of picking some tomatoes in the weeks ahead but they're all winding down. 

Even though we lost half of the green beans thanks to a critter eating the tops of them, and we lost the squash plants due to bores, we still have had tons of tomatoes.  And the sweet potato crop is shaping up to be as plentiful as the tomatoes. 

I remember for the past two years, they've kept a few tomato plants up into the fall, and were still picking until we had a killing frost.  With as hearty as these tomato plants were this season, I'm thinking we can do the same this year.

As always, I'll keep you posted and will provide pictures. 

Flashback Friday

All week long, I've been quoting lines from "Pee Wee's Big Adventure".  

I had a rough week at work, at home, and elsewhere, and whenever I would quote a line from this movie, it would make me laugh.  Thank you, Pee Wee Herman for this awesome movie.  And thank you for making us laugh. 

It's A Better Day

Today has been better than yesterday was, thank goodness.  I don't feel as disgusted and as mad as I was yesterday, and there weren't a dozen problems attacking me at all levels today.  

The day wasn't perfectly smooth; there were problems but they were manageable, unlike yesterday, that left me totally freaked out. 

I'm feeling stronger and more in control tonight than I was yesterday.  I hesitate to say things are back to normal.  Because we all know that "normal" is just a setting on a washing machine. 

I Just Wanna Be Mad For A While

As I type this post, I'm mad, and I deserve to be mad without having people tell me I shouldn't be mad.  As the country song says, "I just wanna be mad for a while."  Then I will get over it and move on.

A dozen things have gone wrong at The Compound, at work and all around me within the past twenty-four hours that has left me disgusted and mad. I've kept it all to myself because that's how I am.  But I've had my time to be mad and now I am getting over it and am moving on.  No, not everything that went wrong is fixed; some of the things will never be totally fixed, but I will just deal with them and move on. 

I'm hoping for a happier day tomorrow. 

I'm A Failure

For the past four weeks, I've been trying as hard as I can to tweak and adjust our trail camera to take pictures of the varmint that has been eating and destroying our garden.  But for some reason, I just can't do it.  I thought I had it adjusted when I spent time out there Thursday night, but there was nothing on the smart card tonight when we checked; and we know that we've all three plus a friend have been out in the garden and should have triggered the trail camera. 

I'm taking this to heart because I consider myself the technical guru here at The Compound.  And of course, others here are disppointed because the pictures of them and our friend posing in the garden didn't come through.

I'm not sure what else I can do.  I've put fresh batteries in it tonight, when I knew for sure the other batteries still had juice in them.  There's not much else I can do.  I just hope tonight's tweaking and adjustments will work.

Full Moon Monday

I didn't need the Farmer's Almanac or the calendar or the weatherazzi to tell me that tonight is the full moon; I could tell by everything that went on at work and at The Compound tonight.  That's all I can say about that.

Link Of The Week Update

A few weeks ago, I posted a link to the Wal-Mart Savings Catcher app/link, found at https://savingscatcher.walmart.com/.  It's available for iOS and Android.  If you're like me, I have not updated my iPhone to the new software, and the Savings Catcher app for iOS will not work on my iPhone using an older version of iOS.  But it did work fine on my Android LG phone.  Just wanted to make sure you had updated into.

Security Tip Saturday

A coworker gave me some recipes last week for some pasta sauces that use fresh tomatoes.  I was glad to get the copies of the recipes, but when I happened to look at the back of the pieces of paper, I noticed that he copied the recipes on the back side of some things he'd printed out from his online banking site.  One of the papers had to do with his account info for his online banking.  I was scared to death for him. There was his username, password and a link where to sign in - all in plain view.   I copied the recipes on my trusty Lexmark printer/copier and gave the originals back to him with a friendly warning to shred them immediately.  

So take a few minutes and shred or burn anything that you print out that has to do with your online banking, online shopping, or anything that has personal and confidential info on it.  

T.G.I.F.

I'm glad it's Friday, faithful readers.  That means that there are two whole days when I do not have to go to work.  I can use those two days to recoop and recover from a sinus infection that I am currently battling.  Most of the day it's felt like Jumbo the Elephant was standing on my head. 

I'm taking meds and am hoping for a quick, complete recovery in the days ahead.

As always, I'll keep you posted.

Thursday Updates

I'm not sure if it's allergies, sinus issues, or a summer cold, but I feel like shit today.  I didn't sleep at all last night because I was congested and couldn't breathe.  I'm wasn't totally sure what kind of meds to take today, so I continued taking my allergy meds along with a decongestant. 

I'm planning for a very early evening tonight.  I'm not sure how much of the First NFL Game of the Season I will be able to stay awake for, but I will try.  I'm getting ready to take my bath right now, so if I fall asleep while watching the game, all will be well.

Quote Of The Week

As said by yours truly, and I quote:

" ' Winging it' is not an emergency plan."

Something You Don't See Every Day

I was on my way home last night after visiting Diva Stacy, and stopped at our 'hood Krogers to pick up some ice cream, when I saw Something You Don't See Every Day.  It was about 8:45, and I noticed a woman in her 50's coming out of the store wearing her robe and house shoes.  I did a second glance, thinking it might have been a pool cover-up but no, it was definitely a robe that one would wear over pajamas or a night gown.  It was most definitely Something You Don't See Every Day.

Happy Labor Day

TWIT would like to wish everyone a very happy and safe Labor Day.  To all of those who labor, and that is all of us, we deserve a day off from laboring.  

I was excited about our holiday today, when someone kindly reminded me that this was out last work holiday until Thanksgiving.  Since that's the case, I believe another week of vacation is in my near future!