HOT...HOT...HOT...

It has been a scorcher and today doesnt look any better. The weekend flew by like normal. Nothing exciting happened and wasnt in the mood to socialize, it was too hot to do anything. I closed all the blinds and turned on the ceiling fans to keep cool. It wasnt bad. I made sure the birds outside had plenty of water and food.

The temperature will be over a 100 the next few days and then we may get a break. The south wind has been blowing which makes the heat a little more tolerable. On days like this I have to water the hanging plants everyday and water the yard every other day. The yard is fescue so I try to keep it alive, it cant stand this heat.

I have had a abundance of birds lately. I have two birdbaths and the waterfall in the pond. I love birds but when it comes to starlings and grackles, give me a break. Those birds are so nasty. They can dirty up the birdbaths so quickly and eat me out of house and home. The other birds dont have a chance. The hummingbirds have been visiting the feeder more often here lately.

My niece had her baby boy last monday. He weighed in at 8# and 10 oz. He was big boy. He had a few complications later on in the week but he is doing better now. To me all babies look alike until they are about 3 months old then they get their own personalities. For some reason I cant get use to the crying.

Tonite is end of month at work. I have a few more extra duties on the last day of the month. I hope it all goes well. I just hope there isnt any drama at work today. I love my job but some of the people I work with can get on my nerves. I really dont care to listen to their family problems. Nobody wants to listen to mine so why should I listen to theirs. We have one girl at work that is all she talks about. Drama...Drama...Drama. She tries to impress those around her. I could care less.

I have a new penpal on the internet. He is pretty cool. His life is almost a mirror image of mine. He lives in Southampton. He has traveled a little more than I have. He has a job that keeps him busy 24/7. I gave up that kind of job years ago, it makes an old man out of ya. LOL I hope we keep in touch and become close friends. Most of these penpals last for about a month and then I dont hear from them anymore.

A couple of blogs I read are very interesting. Sounds like Homer had a great time in DC with Jimbo and Archerr. They sound like a great group to hang with. I wish I was more out going to enjoy things like that...

Wasted Time At Work...

This has been a sore subject with me. I read an article on AOL in salary.com and it just pissed me off. For one thing no one interviewed me on this subject. The average worker admits to squandering 1.86 hours per 8-hour workday not including lunch and scheduled break-times. It is calculated that employers spend $544 billion peryear on salaries for which real work is expected, but none is done.

Top Time-Wasting Activities

1. Surfing Internet (personal use) 52.%
2. Socializing with co-workers 26.3%
3. Running errands off-premises 7.6%
4. Spacing out 6.6%
5. Making personal phone calls 3.9%
6. Arriving late / Leaving early 2.9%
7. Applying for other jobs .7%

Companies assume that employees will waste 0.94 hours per day.

They never think of the time you have to put in getting ready to go to work , driving to work, leaving work, driving back home from work and then thinking about work at home. I have not found a job that a person works non stop every second of an 8 hour period. Sometimes at work we do have down time till we have the opportunity to work again. I think if I am at work on the premises, I am working and should get paid for it. I am getting paid for their convienence of being there. I work hard and very good at it. Yes I may have done some of the Time-wasting activities but I am THERE dang it and I dont think it is wasting time. Its more like occupying my mind with something else and not hating my job every second of the day. I have 600 hrs of sick leave and I still dont get any respect. I am never told how good a job I am doing. My employer expects me to do a good job or I wouldnt be there. So after things said "I am not wasting time at work"...

My Boys...

Stetson, Rowdy, Bubba

Cool Down...

Wow...did it get hot last week. Friday evening came a big change. The wind started blowing from the north and the temp was dropping. It was great when I got off of work friday nite. Saturday morning was 65 degrees and the high was 87. Now that was nice. Sunday was only 89 and it was still great.

The washer got fixed thursday. After waiting all day she finally showed up at 4:15p...I leave for work at 4:30p. Thank goodness it took 5 mins to fix and a $154.00 later. If she wasnt talking it could have taken her 3 mins to fix. So all day saturday I got caught up on the laundry.

This weekend was another lonely weekend. Man...I wish good things would start happening. I am so pissed at my neighbors, I am stuck in a rut at work, my family is boring except for my niece, she is 9 months pregnant. And I heard today she started going into labor, so any day now. I ran out of money working on the house, now I have to save again for next spring on projects I want done. I stopped watching the news, stopped reading the newspaper. I see tragedy all around. If its not the heat, tsunamis, earthquakes, gangs, gas prices, layoffs, wars, killings of some sort, fires, or rain...its the neighbors letting their dogs crap in my yard or the kids playing in my pond. They have yards of their own and more room...WHY MINE??? The chiropractor is doing such a good job that I have to sit up straight now. I cant slouch or get comfortable on the couch because it is uncomfortable. No pain just uncomfortable.

A new week is starting and I cant wait. Dont know why. Maybe fun and exciting will happen...

Sinus pain...

It is very HOT here. I just came in from watering the hanging plants, filling the birdbaths and feeding the birds. The A/C and ceiling fans have been working overtime for the past couple of days. Early last week we got five inches of rain. Now it is very hot, around 101 with a heat index of about 110. We have a problem with humidity which makes it very hot and sticky. And to top it all off my sinus decided to act up. I havent had this problem in a couple of years. So the medication I had for this expired. I guess I will go and get something for it.

Last week at work was total hell after the upgrade last weekend. I did get some overtime. Hopefully this week will go a bit smoother since we got all the bugs worked out of the system.

Saturday and Sunday I had to go to my brothers house and feed his fish. His girls have one fish, a betta. Its name is Fishy. So while I was there I washed my jeans since my washer broke down last week. The repairman will be here thursday to fix it. I love his house. I want to move so bad. I dislike my neighbors because they still let their dogs crap in my yard. And the man across the street is crazy. He walks around the street talking to himself. He checks his mailbox at least 4 times a day. While I was at my brothers there is a new housing addition that has some really nice houses. One house I like is next to the golf course. The house is kinda rustic looking. So I took a pic of it to dream...

Dog days of Summer...

Another holiday week has passed. Besides smashing my thumb, losing my holiday pay because of overtime, watering the heck out of my lawn, the neighbors pit jumping the fence to crap in my yard, using almost a tank of gas, and visiting my first chiropractic session, I think all went well. And the only time I heard from the jerk was last tuesday, I guess he found another playmate.

The weather hasnt been bad at all, the temps have been around the upper 80s during the day. We just need a little more rain. My grass is still green but I think my petunias in the flower boxes are spent. Probably need to put something else in them. The bird feeders have been busy also. There have been several Goldfinches and Housefinches, I enjoy listening to them the most. The Robins and Catbird are always bathing in the waterfall or birdbath. The Chickadees bath in the wet shrubs when I water the lawn. They are funny to watch. There are always Morning Doves under the finch feeders. And we cant forget about the squirrels. They are funny to watch also.

Fourth of July nite I sat on the porch and watched the fireworks all around me. I could see the fireworks at the lake from my house. They were pretty good. This way I dont have to fight the traffic and also have my beer, just a couple. It was fun except, just wish I had someone to share it with.

I have had a problem with my back and neck. This is a first for me, especially my back. I have had a neck problem since my wreck in '87, nothing major just some discomfort once in a while. My sister suggested I go to her chiropractor. She has been going for years. She has had four hip replacements. She keeps wearing them out. The chemo she received years ago destroyed her hip joints, so that is the reason for the replacements. So I decided to go last friday. He took some xrays before starting. He manipulated my back and neck. Yes it did hurt a little but man I can tell you the rest of the day was great. I felt so good. I have another appointment today. He is going into a little more detail with the xrays and other things.

And this is a historic moment on my blog. I have had my first comment. Three cheers for me. And of course it had to be one of the cutest bloggers on the internet, another three cheers for me...

My First plane trip...

This is my first plane ride as co-pilot on a Cessna Citation at 24840 ft. This ride was awesome.

Whats the deal...

I guess this is the place to vent. Well I havent received the status of overly read blog yet and it doesnt look like I may achieve that but any how I carry on. But I can say that a Genius of a Man has read one of my posts and I am honored, it did brighten my day. For some reason my posts take several days to apply, dont know why but who cares. Its a holiday weekend again, well sort of, I do work monday and off again tuesday. I should have taken a vacation day. What can I say, I am a workaholic. I am dedicated to my job. I know, sick me. This may be a long post and if you make it to the end, you are bored as I am. One of these months or years I will post everything exciting.

You know I dont have a problem with dogs, I use to have two adorable Ladies. The younger one passed away last november, a day after my birthday. Goldie was a cocker spaniel mix, 14 years old. Yentl, passed away last january, was a german shepherd chow mix, a beautiful dog, was 18 years old. They are both sitting on a shelf because I couldnt bare them being buried or dumped in a land fill. I bought this house because it was partially landscaped and at my age I couldnt wait to see plants grow. I have fescue sod that was installed, a 11 x 14 foot pond with a 4 foot waterfall that pumps 4500 gph. I have numerous plants around the pond which takes up most of the front yard. I mow when the grass gets half inch taller than it should be. I am the only one on the block that has installed water sprinklers so my grass IS the greenist. When I mow I sweep the driveway and curb to get rid of the debris. Ok, I am a little anal with the yard. I have bird and squirrel feeders in the front and back yard. I love animals and the way the birds sing. Usually all the chatter is coming from my yard. I love it... Because of the yard lites, pump in the pond, and watering continuously, my utility bill is up there. What can I say the utility company loves me. And that isnt including the time I put into it, planting, weeding, mowing, weed eating, winterizing and other numerous things I do. I LOVE doing this plus people like looking at it. This is where the problem comes in. You know I have never really noticed things when I was renting but since I am buying I see alot. All the houses around me are rentals or leases except the one next to me, the east side. She is the sweetest. But the rest, let me tell ya... When I moved in I had a problem with kids playing in my yard and pond. What was the deal...they had a yard too and it was bigger. I couldnt never figure out for the longest time why I had so many toads in my pond. You know toads breed in ponds but then they move on to moist vegetation, not water. Well I found out the neighbor on the other side with the 4 kids was putting toads in my pond when they found one. Well they would get caught in the skimmer and pump and die, the toads, not the kids. Well the people across the street would throw trash and cig butts in my yard from their car. And the neighbor behind me wouldnt never mow their yard. Well...All these people have moved. Now I have a new bunch of problems... The neighbor on the west side had a cat, lets say I ended up with the cat. And they have two kids, very annoying. They will not stay out of my fountain and driving their bikes in the yard. Now they have a dog, a pitbull. It jumps my fence to chase the squirrels and birds and dump in my yard. They have to chase this dog all over the neighborhood. The neighbor behind them have three dogs, bark all the time. And the neighbor two houses down behind me have a black german shepherd that barks all the time, it knows when I open my back door. The neighbor across the street from me has two dogs, barks all the time at the squirrels and people passing by. And also he walks his dogs in MY yard to take a dump. The neighbor next to them have two dogs. And would you believe those dogs come to my yard and to take a dump. One nite I was sitting on my porch listening to the dogs bark when he let his dogs out and of course here they come, he was standing in the middle of street waiting for them when I coughed, and then he hollered at his dogs to get back in his yard. I was mowing my yard friday when she let her dogs out and I turned around with the mower when her dog was pissing on my flowers, not 4 feet in front of the mower. She was bouncing over there to get her dog. I just stood there in shock. And of course we cant forget when the neighbor down the street great dane came and swam in my pond. The dog died two days later. I found this out from the neighbor who has the pitbull. The neighbor, that has the pitbull, behind them has relatives that bring 10 pitbulls to visit on weekends. That is a grand party of barking. And today, two houses east of me, had relatives come in with 3 dogs. And of course they are running up and down the street stopping to piss on my plants. AND would you believe all of these people have fenced in backyards. What is the deal...why my frickin yard. I work so hard in my yard to make it look nice. They usually pay someone to mow their yards because they are too lazy to do it themselves. I am living in the wrong neighborhood. I was born to live next to the golf course. I drive over there and see how beautful their yards are and the curbs are even clean. Man I wish I lived there...