Still Thinking About Those Doves and Some New Sheets

I'm still trying to wrap my head around the whole mourning dove hunting season and the idea of eating them, because why else would you hunt them? I don't think you would have them stuffed and mounted like a deer or a fish. I'm guessing that if I were served dove and didn't know what it was (not like picky eater me would actually eat anything that I didn't know what it was, but anyway) it would probably taste okay. Unless they serve it with their feet attached like that one commercial where the woman is looking up a recipe for some kind of bird but decides it's too much work or something and then they get into their new car and go to a restaurant where they are served the same birds as in the recipe with their legs sticking straight up into the air, and GAG!

I am looking at the doves at the bird feeder in a whole new light, though.

They are kind of fat (and probably quite juicy) from all the bird seed they eat.

I am going to go buy some new sheets for Keith's bed today. We have had the same set of sheets on that bed for I don't know how long, probably at least five years, and they are getting rather threadbare. I've never really liked the sheets anyway, because the bottom sheet is very hard to get onto the thick mattress and despite my attempts to mark the top and bottom ends of the sheet with a sharpie, every single time EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. I go to put the sheet on the bed I always have it going the wrong way and get totally frustrated. I bought a set of sheets for my bed that ACTUALLY HAVE TAGS that tell you which is the top and bottom and which are the sides and why doesn't every sheet manufacturer put those tags on the sheets? Plus they have two rows of elastic and slip right onto the mattress with no tugging, pulling, and frustration.

I asked Keith what color he would like and he jokingly said pink, so maybe I will get him hot pink sheets today. But, maybe not, I'll just go with blue or beige or something equally boring.

Keith is in Fresno today where they will be taking their skills test on switching and a bunch of other stuff having to do with train cars and all that. He was doing a little better these past few weeks, but still very anxious and nervous and all. They had a meeting at the yard yesterday to go over this week's training and he came home before leaving for Fresno with a new 'I think I've finally got my head out of my you know what and am feeling much better about this job' attitude. Maybe it was hooking up with his fellow trainees or the pep talk they all got or the realization that there are 9 other guys going through the same thing and they seem to be doing okay, but something seems to have turned his head around and maybe he will settle down and actually make it through all this. And lose some of that anxiety on the way.

He was also told to stop worrying about there not being enough work (which was a HUGE worry for him) because his class is in the perfect position to take over for guys that are retiring or going elsewhere and and none of them should have to worry about chasing work or going out of state because there is no work here. So, big sigh of relief and hopefully he will pass his skills test today.

More About Boils and Some About the Weather

It's feeling much better today. So far anyway. No, I didn't put bacon on it but did get some neosporin gel that also has a pain reliever in it and also put some good old fashioned petroleum jelly based balm on all the irritated areas around it. We will see how it goes after I actually get dressed and maybe do some walking around housework type stuff and maybe even get the lawn mowed.

Yesterday the high was only 90 and that was only for about 5 minutes. Only 90 in August is very very unusual for us around here. It's almost cool enough for a sweater first thing in the morning. Feels wonderful! We may luck out this summer and break a record for the least number of over 100 degree days. It's nice not to turn on the a/c first thing, too, but to actually open up a window instead. Well, nice except for the fact that someone down the street has a leaf blower going and the air smells of onions. Must be onion harvesting time.

Keith has been gone on the road quite a bit this week and the novelty has quickly worn off for him. He got home yesterday morning and didn't think they would get called again until this morning so he didn't get enough sleep yesterday and just as he was thinking of going to bed at 9pm the phone rang. So, off he had to go again on only about 4 hours sleep. Lesson learned, go to bed as quickly as possible after you get home from a trip. He is still worried about whether or not he can actually do this job and hears stories of guys who work hard but then get fired for some rule infraction and then starts to worry about doing something wrong and getting fired. It's frustrating because after listening for so many years about how badly he wanted to work for the railroad, now that he has the job it isn't quite what he expected and who knows if he will stick with it. Sigh...

Anyway, nothing much else is going on. Yesterday I actually took a nap because I was just feeling so tired and not all that well, but me and naps just don't go together and I usually wake up feeling worse than before the nap. So, I try not to nap. That morning I had gotten woken up right after 5 am with a bad cramp in my calf so last night took a potassium pill and put some muscle relaxing activon stuff on my leg before going to bed because I was so fearful of having another cramp (painful!) that I was afraid I wouldn't sleep well. The potassium/activon seemed to do the trick and I slept well and feel a lot more rested today. Ready to go mow the lawn maybe!

Quick Weekend

Keith got home at about 8pm on Friday after getting on the wrong freeway and nearly ending up in Indio. He drove for about an hour before he finally figured out that it wasn't the way home. It quickly looked like a hurricane had hit after he brought in all his dirty clothes and new grip bag full of new equipment for work. Especially looking like a hurricane after he started unpacking all of his new gear to show me and piled up the dirty clothes by the washer.

He put on all his new gear to model it for us.

New hard hat with removable shields for different sorts of work, and according to the rules, you'd better have the correct face shield on for whatever work you are doing. New safety jacket with long sleeves that has to be worn at all times when welding. New gloves. New leather leg shields, something he's never had before but they keep your legs and boots from getting burnt by sparks.


This is the metal mesh face shield:


Nathan and William had stopped by and William does not want to be held by this monster looking man. Daddy! Save me!


We did a little shopping for travel sized toiletries and some more work shirts, got the second half of the new tires put on the car and had breakfast at Denny's while waiting for the tires. It worked out perfectly, Denny's is in the same parking lot as the tire store and they called to say they were done just as we were waiting for the check. We were debating on whether we should wait on the tires but they had ordered them for us special and were holding them for us and since he'll be doing a lot of traveling, better to make sure the tires are good.

We did his laundry and I actually made him dinner on Saturday which wasn't all that great but he didn't want to go out to eat since that's all he'd done all week even though I would have loved to go out to eat because I'm ready to go somewhere after being home alone all week.

Then on Sunday morning I had him show me how to use the new lawn mower so that I could mow the lawn while he's gone. Let me tell you, I would not want to be a gardener for a living- that is hard work! We have to weed whack all around the yard edges and the stepping stones first, then mow, and that weed whacker makes your arms hurt and then the lawn mower is kind of heavy and you have to watch out so that you don't run over the cord. But, I got the lawn mowed and was just finishing up when his work buddy drove up to pick him up and leave town again. It was so nice of him to offer to come by and get him so that I could have the car this week even though I can't really drive it anywhere until we get the window fixed. The window that is duct taped and cardboarded up until Wednesday when the part will be in and it will cost at least $500 to fix. Sigh.

Anyway, he's off again and it will be another kind of strange week here all by myself.

Oh, new cat post here: http://festivalofelines.blogspot.com/2011/04/snaggletooth.html

Well Whaddya Know!

After days and days of checking emails and not getting that email, after days and days of stressing and worrying, Keith finally got the final job offer from BNSF yesterday afternoon. And then we couldn't get the final offer letter to come up in the email so we had to call the help line and go into Internet Explorer to be able to read the letter. Internet Explorer? Who uses Internet Explorer these days? It's kind of like still being on My Space instead of Facebook.

But, anyway, he starts on March 28th, so at least he's got 3 weeks to give his notice and get himself together. The way BNSF works is you fill out all your paperwork online so he sat there for about 2 hours last night going through all the forms and dotting all the i's and crossing all the t's. He has to be down in Redlands near San Bernardino on Monday the 28th at 7:30 am. I'm assuming they will keep the training class down there for the first week and then something about going to Kansas for 2 weeks and then on from there. The training is rigorous with lots of testing and if you don't pass something you are given a second chance and if you don't pass again, it's back home you go. Kind of like American Idol. Then when you are all done training you still might not actually work, you have to kind of bid on your jobs and can be bumped by someone with more seniority at any time.

He's excited and also a little sick to his stomach.

Since it's a union job, the pay is $5.00 an hour more than what he's making now, the medical package costs $200.00 a month, right now we are paying about $260.00, so a little savings there. You don't have to pay social security taxes since the railroad has it's own retirement fund and we figured out that the percentage taken out for that will be about the same as what's coming out now between social security and his 401K. Hopefully he will be working out of Bakersfield so we'll save about $40.00 a week in gas costs, but who knows with that. Scary thing starting all over again.

I did find some pants over at the Goodwill yesterday, two pairs of capris for $2.50 each and one pair of jeans for $2.75. I looked around at some of the other clothes but most of what they had was pretty worn and pretty ugly, but at least I've got some pants that hopefully won't annoy me like my jeans from yesterday that are now in the trash can.