TWELVE Tuesday Thoughts

 Here we go with 10, no TWELVE thoughts on a Tuesday... 

1. So this is some 6 months in for teleworking for me. By this time, I am having to tell myself... it is going to be alright.

2. My supervisor was talking about returning to work next year. LAWD help me... Jesus take the wheel. 

3. I cannot STAND commercials that have people snoring in them. It is worse than the dragging of fingernails down a blackboard. Ugh.

4. I have some oranges sitting out on my counter. That doesn't sound strange. Let me be more specific: I have some oranges that have been sitting out on my counter for three months, and there is not a speck of mold on them. Who knows what the heck is sprayed on them to keep them looking super fresh. Ugh.

5. Sister Callie Jo and Big Mitch have decided, since I am always home, that I am a prop. They will run up on me and just lay on me for no reason. 

6. The fourth and final quarter of the year is coming up. I must sit down and make some goals... financial, spiritual, mental and physical. 

7. I talked to a neighbor today. She told me about a nearby house. which is now a drug house, looks like. They are super loud, arguing and stuff like that. That is all I notice, and that is rare. Gone are the days when there was just super loud music. Now they just off the chain. Once a week, I am uttering "Why is that chick down the street always fighting with her man?" 

*LadyLee stays out of the way*

For the most part, I would say it is quiet around her 98% of the time. And I am good with that. 

8. The ai.rbn.b next door has calmed down considerably. I barely notice if anyone is there. Turns out the neighbors had a talk with the homeowner. He must've threatened his tenants.

9. What is up with our beloved president and his taxes? And I was just telling a friend a few months ago, that somebody need to drop them taxes in the mailbox to all the major newspapers. SOMEBODY got them taxes laying around. And boy oh boy, somebody did. WOW. Prez is getting over, ain't he?

10. The debate comes on tonight. I MIGHT watch it. I am not sure. I may just wake up and watch the highlights in the morning. I just want Biden to do well and show no mercy, man. SOOO sick and tired of these elections. Ugh. 

11. And can I tell you I am tired of these doggone political commercials? It's like they beat me over the head with them. The ones that really get me are the ones with female voiceovers. They speak in low docile tones, all scary and shit. It's like they are saying... White people, be afraid... the brown people are coming to get you.

12. I am doing the early voting, specifically down in East Point. There will be no confusions down in the hood. You vote, then get out of here. Look for your keys down in your purse on your way out to your car. Just move on. 

And I am down for that. 

Looka there, as my Grandma always said.  I got in TWELVE Tuesday thoughts. Oh joy!! 

I tell you, 2020 is a year we will all look back. This is one for the ages here.

Have a happy Tuesday... on purpose. 

Friday Freestyles

This has been such an odd couple of weeks. 

Blogger changed a bunch of little stuff and I had a little trouble accessing my site. So I have to just use a computer I don't like using to post anything. And that is fine. With all that's going on, I rather have that problem than anything else. Ugh. 

Man... The Notorious RBG has departed this earth! Wow. 

I was sitting in my living room chair when they announced it. I yelled an expletive that I am more than sure could be heard up and down my street. 

She tried her best to hold on, but couldn't. So, an administration that has been dragging its feet on everything, now is moving fast to replace her. Funny how fast one can move when one is motivated. 

And with that said, the Covid-19 still roams amongst us. Ugh. I am not sure when this will end. I have been teleworking (if you can call it that) for a little over six months. I am past numb now. I am just day by day, and hoping we can return to normal soon enough. 

I had a dentist appointment this week, and I don't think I'd been out of the house to go anywhere since September 6th. I was so happy to see my dentist. I wanted to ask him, "Can I work here once a week, and just take out trash and sweep?" LOL

I want so much just to get back to a sense of normal, where I have some type of routine and the like.  I never thought I would even feel that way. And I have to, at the same time, remind myself that people have lost family and friends to this virus. So me feeling the way I feel about my situation is a small thing. I know that. I am allowing myself to feel, and I work on just trying to encourage myself. And I am making sure to open up and talk about my feelings when I can. And journaling everyday helps a whole lot, more than I would ever know.

The Election is around 40 days away. People get mad, but I been telling folk that there is no way that the current president is going to leave office. He's just not going to do it. He is going to scrap the whole thing, and we just have to deal with it. I think he will stay in until his death. And the punk azz congress won't do a thing about it. That is what we get. I will vote, nevertheless.

I think things will get a little crazier with all this before it gets better. I am so thankful for my no news weekends. I may have to extend that into the weekdays. This is messing with my peace of mind.

Song of the Week. I have been watching the New Edition Biopic. That has to be the best series I have seen in a while. So I am posting my last favorite song by them, and two songs I liked back in 1983.  

Those guys have had a great career, with all its ups and downs in tow. 

That is it for me. The weekend is nigh. Not sure what that means. But I am just happy to see another weekend. That is how I have been approaching it... on purpose. 

Wordless Wednesday: Scoot Booty... Nephew Justin!!

What's with the Weather?!? Part II

So a couple of weeks ago, I was perplexed over this complicated hurricane map.

Two hurricanes doing something crazy like crossing up paths or something. It was just odd, as I don't remember anything like that jumping off before

Now this week, look what's happening.

FIVE hurricanes coming our way. FIVE.

Sally, Paulette, Rene, Teddy and Vicky.

It's like a whole family of hurricanes just decided to get together and roll out. All at once.

Oh my. I don't even know what to say or how to feel about this.

This weather.

It's too much.
Sally makes landfall tomorrow. Hopefully some of these hurricanes will fizzle out in the Atlantic Ocean, because we just can't handle all of this.

What's with this Weather!?!

One of the best things I do for myself on the weekend is to not watch much news. None of the weekend news shows that come on Sunday mornings, none of that if I can help it.

But I watch the evening news shows, like World News Tonight.

My big thing right now besides the pandemic is... what in the world is going on with the weather!!??

So I snapped this picture off my TV screen last week...

That is San Francisco. Just RED. And that is in the morning. They were told to turn on their high beams and go slow. Yo, how about I don't even go out that day. Cancel doctor appointments, tennis appointments. All that. What in the hell is that? Literally!

Then this graphic just really messed me up.

Nearly 15,000 firefighters? Oh my.

But what really help me understand the scope of it all was the map of fire locations on the west coast:

Now, I thought there was just one fire, like, over in California. I didn't know that there were too many to count, all up and down the west coast. That is almost too much to take in. No wonder there are so many firefighters involved. My goodness. Whole communities are burnt out carcasses of themselves.

Now, one of my favorite authors took a photo of her car in the morning. I think she lives in Los Angeles, which is nowhere near the fires. And even with that said, there is plenty ash on her car.

That is CRAZY. And just imagine the respiratory issues that are being aggravated and that will produce issues. Ugh.

Over thirty people have died in the fires, and a lot of people are missing. That makes it even more exasperating.

This has been on my mind heavy, and I sure included them on my prayer list. I wish that they could get some of this rain we've been getting. That would at least help.

Sigh.

Friday Freestyle: 9-11 Editon

Friday is here.

This week went by super fast. Which is really a good thing, since I am sitting at home. I am attending a conference right now, which is holding about 50% of my interest, if that. I am picking up little nuggets of information here and there. Nothing mind blowing. Right now it is just something to do, I suppose.

Today is 9-11, the anniversary of perhaps one of the most tragic events in the history of our country. (And I am speaking modern history within the last 50 years or thereabout). I tell you right now, I am SHOCKED that such an occurrence has not happened on that scale multiple times in our country since then. Just shocked. So at the same time, I am so thankful that we have been relatively safe from such large scale tragedy of that type.

I remember where I was. I have been on my job for 19 years now, and I had only been on this job for about three weeks when the Towers fell. I was at a conference. I cannot remember the name of the conference. It was in Denver, Colorado, and it was work-related.

I remember for a few days prior, this overwhelming sense of foreboding. (I have been trying to think of a word to describe what I was feeling... "foreboding" is the word for it). Something was wrong. And I automatically thought that I shouldn't fly to Denver, but that wasn't it. I flew there, made it there safely, and attended my first day of meetings. And a day later, on a Tuesday morning, when those jets hit those towers, I heard loud and clear on the inside... that was what's wrong.

I have not felt that way about anything sense then. It may be that my mind and heart are so cluttered, that I don't get quiet enough to hear much of anything. I don't know. I just know, if I don't have to feel that way ever again, fine by me. FINE.

What I do understand now is one thing, and it has been the subject of many a food-for-thought on this blog over the past 15 years:

Not only is the tragedy immediately devastating, but the long term residual effects of it are devastating, even much so.

Residual effects.

The residue of what is left behind after the clean up is over.

The mental residual effects. The mental residue.

That is what we are living in now... the residual effects of 9-11. 

And we will soon be hopefully living with the residual effects, the residue, of the coronavirus...

And we will survive it all.

Believe that.

Amen.

Ten Tuesday Thoughts

I don't even know that I have enough thoughts for my 10 Tuesday Thoughts. But let me see if I can try.

1. I signed up for a food methods conference a couple of months ago. I was good with it as long as it is virtual.  And it is.

2. I thought that this conference would be from September 8 through September 11th... something close to that. Why is this conference lasting from the 8th to the 24th? O_O

3. And it is one of those conferences that does not contain that much interesting chemistry. Sigh.

4. What I learned today: there is some type of test in development for detection the C-19 virus on surfaces. And that the coatings on bags and containers used to hold food, etc., can leach out! Hmm.

5. Otherwise, this has all barely held my attention. Sigh.  And I am still stuck on having to deal with this until September 24th. Ugh.

6. I hate to admit this, but I struggle with foreign accents, so some of these talks have been O_o. I do what I can just to concentrate and pick up on some important points. I hate to admit that, but it is what it is.

7. We are closing in on the 6 month mark of not going in to work, but just teleworking. There are some who are bored, and going in voluntarily. Not me. No way. Might touch the wrong thing, and end up looking crazy. They still don't have a good plan in place. As of now, I am just being safe and staying home.

8. My supervisor told me during my review that I need to display more confidence. I took that as him wanting me to get caught up in the male diva BS that goes on in our group. Sorry sir, I am not a costar in the reality show.

9. I told someone, I speak up/suggest/volunteer once... I speak up/suggest/volunteer twice.. that is it. If you ignore me, I am done. Ladylee's goal is not to get stressed out and drawn into the drama. Too many times I have been kicked to the curb in my workgroup. At this point, I just need my paycheck every two weeks.  Please and thank you.

10.  My favorite retort:  "Man, I ain't got time for this craziness... I'm trying to write some stories."

Somebody said they were going to get me a shirt with that printed on it. LOL

11.  In my group, whoever controls and manipulates management pretty much runs things. I have no ambition of controlling and/or manipulating anyone. I don't have the energy to work Jedi mind tricks on people, and I just honestly don't care. And I consider all of that type of behavior as a sign of low self esteem when one has to do all this plotting and backbiting and throwing people under the bus. It is also a sign of some deep rooted problems going on behind the velvet curtain of one's life.

That may not be the case. That is just the way I see it.

Not sure why I should be expending that much energy... That does not make me "confident". No sir.

12. The Michael Cohen book comes out today. You know there has to be some truths in there because there was an effort to shut him up. The same thing happened with the president's niece, etc. Hmm.  Y'all read that and let me know what's up.

As my grandmother use to say... "Looka there, looka there."

I came up with MORE than ten thoughts. So happy for that.

Have a great week! On purpose!