Petey lived through storm!

These photos taken during the thunderstorm. Too bad I don't have a video camera. My poor little dog dislikes thunder (I don't like it either because it means lightning hit somewhere) . His beanie-babe bird, which he holds in this mouth, is his best friend during the whole ordeal. As you can see Shadow (the black dog) doesn't give two hoots on what is happening.

Kirk and I try to calm him down but it is easier to wait out the storm.

Gee...It's Hot!

I use to like the heat. Not sure if this is an age issue or not but, it is darn hot here.

The grass is brown. Will not be driving my favorite ride (lawnmower) in the near future. The weeds are the only things that give any colour and yet they are not growing real fast.

I'm sure I mentioned this last year and I'll say it again. "It is hotter here than Florida."

Sure, we are suppose to get some rain this evening. Every other rain forecast has missed us so we will wait and see.

Better get back to cutting aluminum. Break is over.

Addictive

This facebook is consuming a lot of my time.

It is a sharing of friends and acquaintances personal photographs. It seems there is not much dialogue. Plenty of short comments about the Who, What, When, Where and sometimes Why the picture was taken.

The safety aspect of facebook is no one can copy the pictures without permission as compared to this blog. This is good. Only your accepted friends can view your pictures.

Guess I don't worry much about that. Or maybe I don't I have anything to hide. (not that anyone is hiding anything) It has to do with privacy and still connect via the www.

So, for my friends and anyone else reading this blog - in order to see more of our boring life you'll have to register with facebook. Besides, you might find it surprising how many of your friends are already there. I was!

No Pressure!

I've been warned many times - "we (Tim Hortons) are busy in the summer!" Tomorrow is the first day of summer. Oh, I can't wait.

To top things off, I'm scheduled to work the first long weekend of the summer - July 1. The good part is - it is only from 7 am to 12 - five full hours of stress. The better part is, I have the rest of the day to appreciate peace and quite as Kirk stated he is taking that day off. No cutting or welding is going to happen on July 1. No noise, no customers, everyone should be off doing their thing for the weekend. Kirk is not going fishing because the beach and water will be covered with people. He may just catch up on reading the instruction manual to his fish-finder. That is a task all to it self.

Or, we may just Hot-tub all day long. (sure hope it is a nice day)

Farmers feed Cities

There are many factors that affect the outcome of a crop. I seems to me the farmer definitely has a rough job. (so I better stop whining about mine)

The farmer working the land behind our home is starting over again, according to his conversation with Kirk, he still has time. So, as you can see from the pictures I took, the dust is flying again. Oh well, life is a test. I'll clean windows next month.

He started last evening and worked through the night. Not sure when he gets any sleep because he is back, as I write, working on the next phase of the planting process.

Dry Clyde, Dry Forest

The comment we made regularly while living in Clyde NC - "we live in dry Clyde". We said this for two reasons. The area would not sell alcohol and the rain always went around us.

For days now we have been waiting for some rain. The forecast called for rain. Well it did. But, not on our property. I was returning home from Watford which is only 20 minutes south of us. I drove through a thunderstorm that made me nervous with a downpour of rain that almost caused me to stop because I couldn't see. There are huge puddles on the side of the road in the town of Forest which is only 1 mile away from our home. I get to the house and it is dry as a bone. Go figure.

I will have to water my sad looking tomato plants. I better invest in a water hose.

What a day!

Sorry to keep dwelling on my meager job at Tim Hortons but it is an experience, I can't truly understand or explain. I keep wanting to come up with excuses like age, hearing, eyesight, and short memory for my incompetence. The mind is saying "you can do this". Then things start going wrong around me with all sorts of distractions. This is when I just want to throw up my arms and leave, I don't, telling myself it is not about me but to try to do your best for others. (Life is a test)

The scare today; a young pregnant co-worker slipped and fell. We all could tell she was hurt badly. The closest to her rushed to her aid as the rest of us try to concentrate on waiting on customers who are unaware of the situation. Multi-tasking was put to the test. I was filling a 7 cup coffee order while being interrupted by an impatient customer wanting his prepared bagel. The bagel-prep person had gone to her aid.

To really top things off, at the same time of the fall, this is unbelievable, someone had a bad case of diarrhea and left a trail through the store front to the restroom. I now have the next customer in front of me saying "are you going to do something about this?" while she is impatiently wanting her order to be filled by me. I almost asked, "what do you want me to do first, Clean up the crap or fill your order?"

I was saved. It was time for my break. When they say "break" - you go. I was gone. Yes, someone was immediately designated clean-up crew. He didn't like it!

Do I really need this job?

Canada Day is July 1

This is for my friends in the south. Actually, most of my blog is for my southern friends. The following is from another site. I just copied and paste. I did have to look up "deke" and attached link because I didn't know what "deke" meant or "bunnyhugs" for that matter. I know "double double" because I work a Tim Hortons!

Canadian-speak, eh?
Around the world Canadians are known for adding “eh” to the ends of our sentences. But that’s not the only vocabulary we’re known for. Did you know that we’re also famous for ordering our coffee “double double”? And for coming up with the term “Hoser”, not to mention the “Two-Four” when referring to a case of beer? And in case you ever try to do this in another country, only Canadians know how to “deke” each other out.
We wear toques on our heads, use serviettes when we eat, and if you’re in Saskatchewan, wear “bunnyhugs” instead of hooded sweatshirts.

Fish & chips for dinner!

Kirk had a great day fishing. Yes, we had fish for dinner. Kirk and his native friend caught 30 fish. I didn't get the exact brake-down on who caught the most but it didn't matter Kirk came home with 4, just for dinner. (he is getting the hang of it - don't bring home any more than we can eat.)

Only disappointment was he didn't take any pictures. "You can send them out with a camera but, it doesn't mean they will use it. "

He was too busy studying his fish finder. His comment; I have a lot to learn!

Rubber Ducky

This is not important. It is just an observation of how products change over time.

Way back when, when we lived in NC I purchased rubber ducks for our hot tub. The reason I purchase Munchkin was; the label said the duck would stay upright 99% of the time. To our surprise it did during all the swirling and rough water of the hot tub. It gave us great hours of entertainment. (can you tell, it doesn't take much to keep us happy). We had 5 ducks and the goal was to count the number of times during our tub session our ducks would be in a row. Confirming we could "get our ducks in a row".

Since we have a new hot tub and I didn't move our ducks from NC. I purchased 3 new ones at Wal-mart just the other day. This time, the label didn't mention the upright guarantee. Sad to say something has changed. Sure it floats and says the water is hot! (we already know that) But, it is upright only 30% of the time. (Can you tell I have been studying this) I am disappointed, wrote to Munchkin but with no response to date.

Just when...

you think you have things figured out. Things change.

A co-worker commented on the fact, I seem more comfortable with the job. Surprise, I think their right.

It is amazing how fast things can change over night. Tim Hortons change the front end of the store. It looks great. Of course some customers like it and some don't. There you go.

We will adjust. But, I feel like I'm starting all over again. There you go.

Kirk is fishing, so I'm not planning dinner until he gets home. It could be fish! But, in the mean time the call came in. "When do you think you will have the next 15 steps done?" I hope he is enjoying his day because it will back to the grind tomorrow.

You deserve a break today!

Kirk is going fishing! Thursday is designated fishing day. I got called into work at Tim Hortons that day so I can't go.

Tomorrow we will have the first contract complete. 30 steps done and out of here. Next contract is 50 steps. I have a least half of the pieces already cut.

Kirk feels he needs a break. Besides, he has waited long enough to try out his fish finder. Even if he doesn't catch a thing it will be fun just playing with his new toy. It will be good for him to get off his feet for a day.

Weather forecast is good. Just hope the waters are calm. His boat can't handle rough water that is why he has it up for sale even though he really likes his boat. A Lund would be so much safer.

The Facebook Skit

Hooked on Facebook and yet this shows me we still should be careful with friend choices and contact information.

Beans sprouting - clean windows

We now see a light haze of green in the field. 50 acres of beans. Kirk teases the farmer saying "I love eating beans, I'll leave you a few".

Counting on the fact the crop is growing, dust created by farmers should be over. I finally cleaned most of the windows in the house. What a difference clean windows can make.

It brightens up your day.

Pretend fish?

I arrived home from a good day at work. It is a test of patience which is a virtue. I feel, I did well.


Upon arrival I found Kirk finally testing out his fish-finder. No, he is not fishing or even close to the lake. Apparently, this gadget has a simulation mode. We are pretending we see fish? OK, that works when you can't take the time to go fishing.


They say we go back to our youth. Well, "pretend fish" may be something Kirk did then and is doing now.


He earned it. He built 4 sets of steps today (minus the hand rails).


His leg is still badly swollen. Self diagnosis - the thinks he has gout (no more seafood).

Aluminum is here!

The delivery truck just left. We now have steps - some assembly required.

We now have all the material we ordered. It was rough unloading it since Kirk is feeling badly. But, you do what you gotta do.

Hopefully, tomorrow will be a better day. I'll just keep cutting, either way.

Dr. Appointment

Couldn't take it any more. I finally made a Dr. appointment for Kirk - June 25. Kirk won't go to the hospital so this was the best I could get him to agree upon.

He started out today feeling "OK". (that was his words) It wasn't long, it changed to bad, to worse.

A friend stopped by to drop off something to weld. He told Kirk his father has the same symptoms and it comes and goes every few weeks. He called it Norway Flu. They agreed it was bad.

What ever it is, we want it to go away.

Getting Hooked

OK, the statement is true, "you will get hooked on Facebook".

Found it amazing, in a matter of a few hours, I found many people I know, registered on Facebook.

It is something you have to check out for yourself. I'm on a roll now. This is cutting into my work time but I can't pull myself away from the computer.

(just click on the word Facebook it should take you to the tour. If interested, register from there)

Busy, less time to blog.

We are working at building as many steps as possible as fast as we can.


The down side - tired, sore and stressed out. There seems to be a direct relationship to the pace and Kirk's health. Today when I arrived home, Kirk was pulling his back on his traction machine. He spent the day bending metal with a strong young man helping. Guess it wasn't enough help.


Lately it seems, when he is tired and his back is bad he also gets a fever. I don't get it. But, rest, Advil, cup of tea and sleep is what we are going with as a remedy.


Yesterday, cutting metal for eight hours and then just before bedtime our sump pump breaking down. Of course it is raining buckets so we had to fix the situation immediately. Today, I arrived at Tim Hortons dead tired. Not sure if this is why I had my first good day at Timmy's. I just didn't care if anyone criticized or not. I just did my best and the day went well.


High point of the day. I was invited to meet for lunch with ex-IGA co-workers. Since I haven't been in a restaurant since May 16, 2006 this was a real treat from me. Truly enjoyed the visit and ate too much. (wish I could have taken pictures of us together)

Also, I was introduced to Facebook, which is something like a blog but you have to be invited by friends and register. Of course, I'm registered and online.

Just call me dusty

Cleaning the house is not one of my favorite jobs and yet I do like to have a clean house. There are times it just doesn't make sense to even try.

While the farmers are still working the land for planting there is no use to try to clean the house/windows.

I'm sure you are thinking I have too much time on my hands but it is amazing how fast I can find this stuff. The following is someone in the same situation and she put it on YouTube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UtW1_xZIWzY

I can relate.