Friday, September 25, 2015

kittehs to my emotional rescue


me: So- here is an odd request. Would you make one of your goofy faces and send it to me? I need a laugh and that will help.
me: Seriously.
me: It is just insane sometimes the things that can make me desperately miss my mother.
me: Just insane.
me: Like the movie The Intern. That should be safe, right? Apparently not.
me: Insane.
bfe: Oh, gawd, don't you just love them!
bfe: But you don't need some emoticon! What you need are...cats! I have two here for you:

bfe: That's the Tess!


me: Lol! How on Earth did you get her to consent to that shot? Beautiful.

bfe: Awwww, it's the Chlo!

bfe: Chlo always takes a good pic. She's always putting her paw on her hips and making a duck face. That's Chlo.
me: I guess that's how Michelle Pfeiffer got started. :)
bfe: Was there something wrong with the movie? We are thinking about seeing it this weekend.
me: I think it was very good. It was the unconditional support of Ben for Jules that just clicked on a switch in my head. I don't know that i have it under wraps yet, but i am better.
bfe: Well, you will be better after this...

me: ha ha ha :-). THAT was priceless, and you can tell her i said so.
bfe: I was scratching her neck and I think you can see the smile on her face!
me: Most def. Thanks. Got to go. Sandy is in the Story Slam and it's starting.
bfe: Have a good night Faustina, and when you go to bed, have sweet dreams.

Tuesday, September 22, 2015

oh, about the car...


Note: The above photo is from one of my older posts. Why is it here?
Because I like the message.
(smile)

Almost a month has passed since my younger brother commented about the state of my car. I should have addressed the issue earlier, but... well, you know. I've been a bit distracted since the car accident.
Here's what he wrote in that August 25th letter.

"Just a note to say hi and i love you! Again, i am so glad that you are not hurt from the accident.
I must say that i was a little surprised when i read in your letter that the value of your car is only $900.
Not that having a $900 car is a bad thing. But depending on a $900 car for all the traveling that you do seems just a bit risky. Please make sure that you stay safe, okay? Thanks. I really love you so do be careful! - Cool. :-)
"

What a sweet thing for him to say!
Truly, I was touched that he should worry so.
I had intended to write to reassure him about the car, but one thing came up after another. While I was waiting for something noteworthy, time passed.

Today, just a few minutes ago, I finally rectified that.
Here's my message to him.

"I do appreciate you being concerned about my car. Trust me, I keep up with the maintenance on it, especially oil changes, brakes, and tires.
Cosmetic things, like how it looks, really aren't the things that get you from Point A to Point B.
Like people and books, the outside isn't anywhere near as important as the contents.
"

Now, let's see if I can catch the mailman.
Bye!

Monday, September 21, 2015

swinging to a new world



Truth takes a long time to be accepted.

It is our responsibility to raise children who will make the world a little less cruel and heartless.

The problem is, children learn best by emulating the words and actions of their parents and other adults in their lives.

How are children going to make the world less cruel and heartless if their teachers do not show them?

Truly, it is our responsibility to raise children who see us making the world less cruel and heartless.

Saturday, September 19, 2015

fishing line


My first niece's husband, Jason, had sent a photo of their foster son proudly holding a fish.
The conversation was cute, as you can see for yourself.


him: Little bream R caught all by himself at the Cub Scout rally we had today.

me: Cool! What bait?

him: We were just using nightcrawlers.

me: Ew - squishy. :-)

him: LOL. Well the fish like them. We either use those or Georgia Reds half the time.

me: Yeah, that's why i don't fish. Squishy bait. Ugh. Glad y'all had fun!

him: Lol. I know it was fun though texting u about bait. :-)

Thursday, September 17, 2015

shortest. job. ever.



It was the shortest, and strangest, period of employment I have ever had.
No, I was not employed at the lingerie store.
I had been hired as an inspector by a vacation rental agency.
Today was my final day.
Let me tell you how it all began.

Two of my nieces, one of my nephews, and two friends of mine already work at this establishment, in various capacities. One of my nieces had known of the need for inspectors. Inspectors are those people who check the properties after cleaning and prior to guests checking in. In other words, inspectors are the ones who check the work of the housekeepers and take care of any little things left to do.
Sweet! That definitely sounded like work I could handle, especially as I had heard my niece discuss it on several occasions. The hours sounded good to me and I could work part-time, so I submitted my resume online and waited to hear back.
Did I receive a phone call from a supervisor to arrange an interview? How about an official email message from the Human Resources department to request my presence?
No and no.
I received a text message query from my niece. On Wednesday, September 2, she asked, "Can you come for an interview tomorrow?"
Seriously.
I responded that I had car repairs already scheduled for that day and could not, but how about Tuesday? Would that work for the person in charge?
My niece responded that it would and that it was "more of a hiring than an interview."
Curiouser and curiouser.
On the designated day of September 8th, I arrived early, dressed for the interview. An hour later, I walked out with the Employee Handbook and a handshake. Success! The job required four days of training, with my first day scheduled for Friday, the 11th. Okay! First day of home games for the Sand Gnats at the Playoffs, but I would just plan to go straight to the stadium. No worries!
Still no "welcome to the team" official emails, no "glad to have you onboard" phone calls from the people in charge.
Odd, right?
Friday arrives and I'm there early, waiting for the trainer to come in. Meanwhile, her supervisor takes me to the supply room and shows me where things are. She also helps me set up my cleaning caddie and restocking bin, telling me she would make name labels for them later.
The trainer arrives and off we go, after pulling filters for the units we are to check. We gather linens at another location, then arrive at the first property to be checked. What chaos! Sand on the floor, sand on the counters, sand in the drawers, sand on the furniture. No hospital corners on the beds, missing hand towels on the sinks, soiled blankets and stained pillows in the closets.
Seriously, I thought it was left that way on purpose so I would see what was wrong with it. Surely the housekeeping staff was not that negligent... right?
On to the next property, a few blocks away. We had barely started when we were pulled off to check another property, not one on our agenda. Another callback, as it turned out. Then we returned to the interrupted inspection and finished it, moving on. We had a total of seven properties, ranging in size from four-bedroom houses to one-bedroom condos, that we were scheduled to inspect. We managed to finish five of them, as well as two that were not originally ours, and we cleaned two grills that had been missed by the housekeepers. Ugh. A very full day of trudging up and down stairs, up and down stairs, up and down stairs, with me in shoes that were totally wrong for the job.
Still, I made it to the ballgame just fine, so all was good. Then the Sand Gnats won the game - woohoo!
My next training day was Tuesday, the 15th. I arrived early, this time with a snack and a water bottle. You see, there is no stopping for meals, at least not with this trainer. On Tuesday, she had teased me about stopping for lunch after a particular property, then we had been called to another just as I had placed my order at the Arby's. I drank the soda and ate fries to the new property, then had to wait on the sandwich until later. And it was already after 3 pm! No breaks that first day, not even for the bathroom.
This second day for me was different, though. Two others, a husband and wife team, were now training with me. The trainer had brought water for them, but first teased them about stopping for lunch, with no lunch ever happening. I guess that is part of the teaching process.
We did take a bathroom break, after the other woman asked if we could, after five hours of work.
That Tuesday was not a particularly good day for us. We were scheduled to inspect five properties. We only were able to do three of them and they were all callbacks. That means we had essentially wasted our time for eight hours.
Very frustrating for all of us.
To top things off, I was wearing new sneakers and wasn't very comfortable with them. I tripped on the last step while going up the exterior flight of steps, ending up sprawled on the porch, right in front of the other three. The trainer freaked out. I was okay, I really was, but she was totally freaked out.
The third training day for me was today. I was joined, once more, by the couple who were training and we had all brought drinks and snacks with us. Well, we had snacks; I was almost running late and had left my bottle of water in my car. No time to retrieve it!
Before we could even leave the office, the trainer and I had to go up to Human Resources. Why? The trainer had noted my fall on the steps and an accident report had to be filled out. Apparently, this was the first time the trainer had ever had to do such a thing.
I showed them the small bruise on my knee, signed off that I was fine, and we were finally on our way to the ten properties of the day.
That's right: ten properties to inspect.
With a trainer in a bad mood.
The very first one was a HUGE house! Dirty grill, dirty sheets in the master bedroom, broken furniture on the porch - nothing that improved her mood. I found a dirty paper plate and wad of tinfoil in a planter that someone had used as a trashcan. No telling how long that had languished. The trainer graced me with a "Good work, Tina." She even said it twice! Okay, definite progress!
It was a callback, so we documented all that needed to be done, then went to our next property. Just a few minor touch-ups and we proceeded along. Honestly, we had a much better day and even managed to cross off eight of the properties assigned to us! The guy bumped his head twice, once on the tailgate of her van and once on the underside of an exterior stairwell at one of the properties, so the trainer will get more experience with writing accident reports. But not on me! I was going up and down stairs with nary a problem!
The last property we inspected was mine, too. That means, I acted as lead person, checking for any errors left behind by the housekeepers. It was a three-story house, too, and I did really well with it! I even found a scummy shower curtain liner (and had the trainer's help changing it out) and an earring under one of the beds!
But by that time, the trainer was hurrying me along. "Nancy needs to talk with us, we need to hurry up." "Nancy is waiting for us, we need to get back to the office." "We need to go to the office before Nancy leaves."
O-kay. But first, let's finish this property, right?
So, we get back to the office. The trainer goes to talk with Nancy first, then I got called in and the trainer left. Doors were closed.
That can't be good, I thought. I wondered if this was also about the trip on the stairs on Tuesday.
No.
This was about me getting fired for "not enough attention to detail". Say what? This had been a stellar day for me! I had even won praise from the trainer at two of the properties!
I think my getting let go had more to do with the fall up the step than on my "skillset" for the job of inspector.
At least they're going to keep my resume on file in case they have any openings that would better fit my skills.
But I won't be holding my breath.

Saturday, September 12, 2015

bereft of Sand Gnats


"Stale pastry is hollow succor to a man bereft of ostrich."
Sheldon spoke those words to Penny on "The Big Bang Theory". She had brought leftover cheesecake to cheer him up after some of his imaginary stuff had been stolen online.
I totally understand his loss.
The Savannah Sand Gnats have been stolen away, hijacked to Columbia, South Carolina, after twenty years, by a gingerbread man chasing capital.
At least the name stays here.
But not the ball club.
Tonight was the very last game.
An amazing summer of incredible games led to an assured berth in the South Atlantic League Championship Play-Offs. Last night's second game had them tied with the Asheville Tourists, forcing a third game.
Tonight, after a valiant effort, the Sand Gnats have fielded their last ball, swung their last bat, thrown their last pitch in this seaport town.
I sat in my car and cried for thirty minutes after the game.
More tears will soon fall.
I am so going to miss being part of their cheering crowd.
I am so going to miss my boys of summer.

Friday, September 4, 2015

schrodinger's master cylinder


Yesterday, a new master cylinder was installed in my car.
This is the second one since the accident.
The first was installed about three weeks ago. I had noticed a clicking sound when I depressed the clutch, but I had thought maybe it was from the master cylinder wearing in.
I was wrong.
That was not normal.
I had called Dixie Motors about it and they had asked that I bring it back and they would replace it for me.
Apparently, master cylinders are like Schrodinger's cat. In short, you don't know if the one in the box is "alive" or "dead" until you install it and see if (and how) it works.
Rats.
Let's hope this one is alive.

Thursday, September 3, 2015

goodbye, dear Gnats


Admittedly, in years past, I have taken my boys of summer a little for granted, with spotty attendance for the home games.
Not so this year.
This was, after all, their last year here.
True, there will still be baseball at the stadium, but... it will not be the same, of course. "The same, but different", as one of my Lunch Ladies would say.
Last night was the final game of the season. Even though school has begun and I had lecture and lab responsibilities, I was there anyway, hoping to soak up those last innings. Turns out the field was too soggy for play, but I was still allowed to throw a first pitch. Hooray!

[This photo is from the Sand Gnats' facebook page.]

Sure, the Savannah Sand Gnats will be back for a Playoff game on the 11th, but that isn't part of the regular season. That's extra baseball because the boys have played so well this year. They won the first half of the SAL season in the Southern Division, with 39 wins out of 70 games played, guaranteeing them a slot in the Playoffs. (Amazingly, they've done that for five of the last six years.)
To top it off, they made an amazing comeback, including a 19-game winning streak, to also win the second half, with 44 wins (and a tied game) out of 65 games played. That bodes well for them becoming the SAL Champions once more.
How awesome that would be before they are forced to go to Columbia, SC! Up on top, with a BANG!, not a whimper.
However it may turn out, I have certainly enjoyed these twenty years in their company.
And these past five months especially, bittersweet as they may have been at times. I have had to concentrate only on the game at hand as I cheered them on. To allow my thoughts to wander to the finality ahead would have had me in tears at every game.
That's a lot of tears.
The first home game was back in April, ya know.
It's now September and there have been seventy-two home games, though some of those dates were rain-outs in other towns, leading to doubleheaders here. (The southeast has a bit of a rainy season in the summer.)
Again, that's a lot of tears.


Bill and I split the Season Tickets this year. Each of us had thirty home tickets. I gave him all of the Thirsty Thursday tickets and the "Bark in the Park" Sunday ones, too, for him and Tucker. He had all of the Dollar Monday games, too. That way, he had tickets to share with others! After all, who would use an $8 ticket when one buck is all that is needed?
(smile)
He got the Monday and Wednesday tickets for those nights in April, May, and August when I had class and lab. Plus, I gave him the June tickets for those travel days I had already planned to Alabama, North Carolina, and south Florida.
(By the way, I had deliberately chosen the dates in June to coincide with a minimal number of missed games. Planning is good!)


Like I said, we both had thirty home games, not including the two extra games which were played here for rain-outs elsewhere. All in all, there were twelve days that had doubleheaders, either here or away and only two games that did not get played, anywhere, because of rain.
That's pretty amazing, especially when you consider how much rain falls in July and August. I don't know if anyone has kept statistics on such things. I've only taken the time to tabulate it because it was the last summer at Grayson Stadium for my boys.
Bill and I actually made it to four games together this year! His work schedule tends to get in the way, but we hit the ground running for the very first game, and even made it to another game the next week in April! That was it until my birthday in May, when he sprang for box seats on the third base line. July 2 saw us together again, shouting encouragement and telling the Sand Gnats to "get a hit, hit, hit!" And we managed to get in one more time, just a few days ago, during a doubleheader against Augusta, when he joined me for the second game.
That's not to say I went solo to those other games. Oh, no! My first niece and her family joined me several times, as did my karaoke buddy, Sandy. There was even a night there with Live Out Loud!
And on those occasions when I did go stag to the game, I was never alone. I had the company of other regulars, like Mister Willie Smith, Bruce the Riverdog fan, the Tuten Boys (Jack and his dad), Fran Luce and her husband Jim, and, of course, the "Sweet Caroline" girls, Lauri and Lynn Engler. There were other regulars, too, like Candace and her dad, that I knew passing well.
I'm going to miss being with this crowd.
Some I will still see, but others are out of my regular loops. The only time I ever saw those folks was at the games.
Still, we will meet again. We have a Playoff game on the 11th, and perhaps another on the 12th.
I can hardly wait!