Farewell, 2015

2015, I'm kinda glad to see you go.  But as with your previous counterparts, you taught me a lot this year.  You showed me how strong I was, and then later on, you showed me how not so strong I was. 

The end of February, you showed me that I could be stronger than I ever thought I could be when The Old Man had his emergency quadruple by-pass surgery.  I knew I had it in me down deep, but you showed me how truly strong I was.  On that night in the emergency room, I truly felt all alone - my best friend in the world was 500 miles away on a business trip, and my two cousins who are like brother and sister were in California and Alabama.  So it was up to me.  And thanks to my upbringing and the good Lord, I exhibited some super-hero type strength dealing with everything.  

Then later on in the late fall, you showed me that it was OK not to be all that strong.  During some very tough times at work, you showed me that I wasn't made of metal.  You also gave me an annoying recurring case of the hives, but I'm working on getting rid of that along with a lot of stress. 

I can't honestly say I'm sorry to see you go, 2015, because it was a pretty rough year all in all, but thanks for teaching me some things while you were here. 

Something You Don't Hear Every Day

Said by The Old Man moments ago, and I quote:

"That's damned good tequila." 

I try, Dad.  I try. 

We Made It In The National News!!!

Chain-reaction brawls involving up to 2,000 people erupted in one of Kentucky's largest malls Saturday night, forcing the entire mall and businesses in the surrounding area to shut down, police said.

The hours-long chaos at Mall St. Matthews began about 7 p.m. ET when the six St. Matthews police officers assigned to the mall for the holiday season began responding to "disturbances," said Officer Dennis McDonald, a police spokesman.

"As they were responding to those disturbances, others were breaking out. ... Disturbances started to feed on themselves." McDonald said. "They were just overwhelmed with a number of calls for service and reports of disorder."

The officers on duty at the mall called for backup, and 50 officers from five different agencies responded, according to police.

"It was a series of brawls" involving 1,000 to 2,000 people ages 13 to their early 20s, McDonald said, adding that "the entire mall" was affected.

About 8 p.m., authorities started to advise stores in the mall to close their doors, but those involved in the brawls were refusing to leave. "Businesses were in the process of closing their doors, steel grates, and you had juveniles that were not allowing businesses to close up — [they were] climbing on the grates," McDonald said.

"This was a riot," McDonald added. "It was crazy."

Police received reports of shots fired within and outside the mall, but investigators haven't confirmed those reports, McDonald said.

Restaurants and shops surrounding the mall also closed their doors as the teens and young adults flooded out, McDonald said.

"It took about an hour and a half, close to two hours, before things were calm," McDonald said. Officers "maintained a presence" until 1 a.m., McDonald said, adding: "We're all tired."

But no one was arrested, and only minor injuries were reported, McDonald said. No officers were injured.
"Our officers, they showed great restraint," McDonald said. "Officers were focused on dispersing crowds and keeping them moving."

McDonald said investigators haven't determined what sparked the outbreak of violence, but they don't believe it was planned.

Mall St. Matthews didn't immediately respond to a request for comment from NBC News. McDonald said he hadn't heard that the mall would remain closed Sunday.

St. Matthews, a suburb of about 18,000 people outside of Louisville, is a normally quiet city that sees no more than two murders a year, McDonald said. "I've been a police officer 33 years, and I haven't ever seen anything like this before," he said. "We always plan for worst-case scenario, but this exceeded that."

All I will say is the parents need to have more control over their kids.  I don't have kids, but  I am going on record and saying this is the parents' fault.

Forty Days and Forty Nights, Minus Six

Our Forty Days and Forty Nights of rain is starting on its sixty day/night.  Since I got my new windshield wiper motor on the 23rd, it's rained every day/night, including the 23rd, since.  And we've got one more day/night in store for even more rain. 

I don't even need to tell you that this rain makes for crazy days at work; especially for City Sales and and employees needing to buy pumps for their basements.  

All I know is I am looking forward to this big storm front finally moving out of the Ohio Valley.

Rain Rain Go Away, Please

For those in the Ohio Valley that wanted a white Christmas, they were very SOL.  On Christmas Day, the temps were in the low 60's and rainy.  On the day after Christmas (Boxing Day for our Canadian faithful readers), the temps were in the low 60's with even more rain.  Today, the high temp was 71 and we had even more rain.  And more rain is in the forecast for tonight and all day tomorrow.  At the rate we're going, this could turn out to be another day like we had in April with flooding and tons of road closures. 

Needless to say, I am not looking forward to the drive to work tomorrow. 

2015 Christmas Price Index

Happy Christmas Eve

I apologize for not posting yesterday.  It was a very cray cray day.  Work was insanely busy, and then when I finally made it home after waiting for an hour at the repair shop to get a new rear wiper motor in the Blazer (an awesome Christmas present from the 'Rents), we had to deal with big storms moving through the area.  But I digress.

Christmas isn't Christmas until we've all listened to the Sweeney Sisters sing their awesome Bell Medley.  You can listen and watch it here: http://www.purpleclover.com/video/3262-sweeney-sisters-bells-medley/#

Hogzilla Update

Breaking News from The Compound:

We are very, very happy to report that the elusive and pesky Hogzilla was captured earlier this afternoon. We're resetting the traps just in case but The Old Man thinks this was THE Hogzilla.

This was a group effort: our friend  Lil J who gave us his trapping knowledge, and my Sweet Mother, who went out by the barn and scared Hogzilla so he would run toward one of his many holes where one of the traps was set. And we can't forget PS and his vigilance in his surveillance of Hogzilla. 

Needless to say, the Old Man said this was the best Christmas present he could get.

Welcome Winter

Today is the winter solstice, and if you didn't know better you'd swear it was spring. As I post this, it's raining and 59.  They're calling for record high temps and 4-6 inches of rain by this time next Monday.  Everybody I talk to is trying to not let the warm temps and rain spoil their Christmas.  We all just need to keep in mind that the temperature has nothing to do with the true meaning of Christmas.

Link Of The Week

If you know me at all, you already know I love cheese.  I love nachos at the ball park, queso in Crock Pots at office/home parties, plates of sliced cheese, festive cheese balls, etc.  But I digress.

If you like cheese as much as I do, then please visit http://www.cheeserank.com and enjoy all of the cheesiness.  The website most definitely gets a two thumbs up from TWIT. 

I'm Wrappin' Puddin

Today was the annual Neighborhood Christmas Store at church.  This year, 136 kids were signed up.  Members brought in toys for the kids, and while the kids made some crafts, had a party with all kinds of treats, visited with Santa and got to pick out a present for their parents, the parents were in the other building picking out toys for their kids.  Once the parents picked out the toys, they came to the Wrapping Room, where me and 9 other wrappers were busy . . . yep, you guessed it - wrapping.  

I'm pretty sure that none of you faithful readers know this, but yours truly is one of the best wrappers in these here parts.  In fact, I've had friends bring their presents to me to wrap for them.  I can't help it if I have mad wrapping skillz.  This morning, I wrapped quite an assortment of off-shaped things -- a few basketballs, a football, construction worker dress-up set (including a construction worker's hat), a pretty big plastic tool-box containing all kinds of Crayons and such, and a teddy bear, just to name some of the odd-shaped items.  And I am proud to say I wrapped them well. 

Flashback Friday

Today was the last day of school for the kids before their Christmas break.  But it's sad to say that the kids today couldn't celebrate Christmas Break.  They had to celebrate Winter Party or something equally politically correct. 

Back in the day, we lived for this Friday.  The "room mothers" would bring homemade cupcakes and Kool-Aid to each class, and the PTA would give each kid a big plastic stocking filled with the awesome ribbon candy.  And each student would also get a cool candy cane-shaped pencil.  But I digress.

Like I said, we all lived for this Friday.  In addition to the stuff the PTA and room mothers would give us, all of the students would bring a present and we would all exchange.  I don't have a confirmation on this, but I'm pretty sure that this doesn't happen anymore in the JCPS schools.  

Hat's Off

TWIT, the 'Rents and I would like to publicly thank our USPS delivery person, our UPS delivery person, and our Fed Ex delivery person.  Each of these awesome, hard-working people go above and beyond and deliver our packages directly to us instead of leaving them on the porch. They all will come up on the back porch, knock on the door, and wait till one of us comes to the door to get our package. 

We've had tons of reports in the past few weeks of low-life thugs stealing packages from people's doorsteps or porches.  That's almost as low as you can get.  But I want to thank our delivery people once again for going above and beyond.  You all rock. 

Christmas Vacation

I need a break, faithful readers, and I am taking a well-deserved vacation day tomorrow.  Some fun activities are planned with the 'Rents, and I am anticipating a fun-filled day.  I am looking forward to one day away from the company.  I've already told myself to not check work email tomorrow while I'm off.  And my team that works for me already knows not to email or text unless the company blew up, literally.   So this is a vacation day eve, and I am enjoying it already. 

We Need A Little Christmas

Most of the people that I talked to today were in a very grumpy mood. Not yours truly; I was in a pretty good mood for the most part, even though we had one major casualty in today's wind storm (we lost our beloved Mickey Mouse inflatable on the front porch).  But people are definitely in need of "a little Christmas." Or some cases, a lot of Christmas.

We Have Seen A Star In The . . . Southeast

We just got back to The Compound after spending the day at Dad's cousin's humongous farm down in Breckinridge County.  Unfortunately, I didn't get to drive the gigantic John Deere tractor again, but it was still a great day.  We had an awesome time visiting with family - laughing, telling stories, and just enjoying being together.  But I digress.

On the way down, I noticed barns with these very cool metal stars hanging on them.  Lo and behold, when we got to our kinfolk's place, they had one on their barn, too.  I asked them what the meaning or symbolism was. Dad's cousin shrugged his shoulders and said he didn't know.  His wife had the answer, however.  She said "They sell them at Tractor Supply."  Nuff said. 

I think I might have to get one for our little red barn.

What's Wrong WIth This Picture, Part 2

I just got home from three hour of running errands and grocery shopping.  The first thing I did when I arrived at The Compound is to walk in the house and flip the switch to a/c to get the effin humidity out of the air.  This is a record for us - the first time that the a/c has been on in December.  I'm pretty sure that I am not the only person that will have their a/c on this weekend. 

I am already looking forward to Monday when the temps are supposed to drop and we are supposed to have temps in the 40's. 

Update:
It's December 12, and we have the a/c on here at The Compound.  I don't know what else to say.

What's Wrong With This Picture

We had our annual company Christmas lunch and party today at work.  And coworkers like me who wore festive Christmas sweaters were hot as hell all day long.  I debated wearing it, knowing the temps would be in the upper 60's today, but it was a new sweater and it was cute and I wanted to wear it.  As I was driving home this afternoon, I even had the a/c on in my car.  That's just wrong for mid-December. And it's supposed to be even warmer tomorrow and Sunday.  

By this time last last year, we'd already had a couple of decent snows.  At the rate we're going, flowers and trees will be starting to bloom again. 

Company Christmas Party Review

Well, we didn't have a manager making it rain gift cards at our company Christmas party today, but it was great that the plant and office got to enjoy the party together.  

We can never lose sight of the camaraderie that we have developed between the plant and the office.  I love the time that I get to visit with my coworkers in the plant, and I hope that they feel that we are all one team, too.

Party Day Number Two

Today was the second day we've partied at the ZCO company this week.  The first party was on Tuesday.  It was a surprise brunch for a coworker celebrating 30 years of service at the company.  The brunch was awesome.  There were three different types of breakfast casseroles, not to mention one awesome hashbrown casserole.  

Today, the retirement part rocked as usual.  The company provided awesome chicken from our 'hood convenient store Better Way, and everyone that wanted to participate brought a side dish.  I brought my much-requested Cherry Fluff, and there was only about a cup or two left.  The food was great, and even more, it was great to get to visit with coworkers that I don't normally get to see.

Tomorrow will be our third party day of the week.   Stay tuned.

Bring On The Healing

My heart is heavy tonight with concern over a lot of friends who are in the hospital as we speak, and they are in need of some major healing. 

KM - I wish and pray for healing on your heart.  I pray for skill and wisdom from the surgeons that will work on your aorta tomorrow.

AK - I wish and pray for healing on your leg.  You are being prayed for by so many people right now, my friend.  We pray for skill of the orthopedic surgeons tomorrow as they work on your leg for the fourth time.  The recovery time isn't going to be as quick as you think, my friend.  But you've got a lot of people that have your back, and we will be with you every step through your recovery.

BJ - I wish and pray for relief from the pain from your three-month long bout of shingles.  I'm just thankful you had the vaccine, or else it would probably have been twice as rough. 

This makes me thankful that tonight, all I'm dealing with is some pain from ole Arthur.

This Day In Numbers

Number of steps taken according to my pedometer:  8746

Trips to the store: 3 (yes, 3) One before work, one after work, one a few minutes ago.

Phone calls from AT&T asking me to switch to U-Verse: 2

Pounds lost this week:  1.6

I'm sure there are more I could add but I'm tired. 

Trivia Update

I am very happy to report that tonight, Team Divas finally won first place again in the weekly trivia games.  It was a long time coming, after weeks of coming in second place.  But tonight Diva Stacy and I were on our A Game and it showed.  In fact, we were in first place after every round in tonight's games.  

We're not gloating all that much, considering all of the weeks that we either didn't win or came in second place.  But I will say that tonight, the two of us beat out four other teams that had 6 people on each team.  Nuff said.

The Heat Miser Is At It Again

It's the beginning of December, and Christmas is a few weeks away, and the forecast for this week is for temps to be in the 60's.  That's now how it's supposed to be in December.  I don't care if we're in the so-called South.  It's December and it's supposed to be cold, damnit. 

This time last year, we'd already had one decent snow on the books.  Right now, all we've had is a bunch of rain.  

Bring On The Snow (BOTS). 

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas

Yesterday and today, the elves here at The Compound (aka The Old Man and My Sweet Mother) were busy decorating the house for Christmas.  The tree is up and about 75% decorated, all of our angels and snowmen are placed throughout the house, the greenery is put up outside, and it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas. 

I dug out my Christmas sweaters and shirts this afternoon, and will start getting some use out of them, since there's only a four-week period to wear them during the year.  My Sweet Mother dug out her Christmas apparel, and all that is left is to find the Old Man's red sweater.  

Once we get some of my many nutcrackers out, I will be sure to take some pictures and post Christmas At The Compound. 

Happy Friday

Today was Distirbution Day, so it was a Happy Friday.   The work day wasn't too problematic, and I was able to leave at 2:50 - only 20 minutes later than I was supposed to leave.  That is a new record for me leaving on a Friday afternoon.

I feel a lot better than I did this time last night, thank goodness.  I hope this trend continues.

Thursday, Thursday

Today started out as a great day.  The morning went by great, the early afternoon went by great, and then things went south.

I apologize to my faithful readers that have stuck with me over the years.  I'm sure you're as tired as I am about reading post after post on what a crappy day I had. 

I can't promise that things will get better.  I just ask that you stick with me and skip over the un-interesting posts and read the TWIT cool, sarcastic or happy posts. 

Welcome, December

TWIT would like to welcome December, one of Puddin's favorite months of the year.  

It is a favorite because it's cold (and Puddin loves the cold), and because it has Christmas! 

 

So Much For Watching Grey's Anatomy

For the past couple of weeks, I've noticed a splinter or small metal shaving in my right pinkie finger.  I tried drawing salve at first, but it didn't help.  I just forgot about it until today when it became more noticeable.  I enlisted the help of the Steadiest Hands In The Office, and she and I went to the office of the head of Q.C. and used his lighted microscope to see the foreign objects.  The Steadiest Hands used one of my sewing kit needles sterilized in alcohol and tried to dig the object out but she stopped because in her sweet, sweet nature, she didn't want to hurt me.

Tonight after supper, I soaked my finger in warm Epsom salt for over a half an hour, and without the lighted microscope, I couldn't see the object, but I could still feel it.

Tomorrow, we will try the operation again.  Wish us luck.

As always, I'll keep you posted.