Ten, no, THIRTEEN Thoughts... On a Thursday.

Whelp! I should be posting 50 times per day, since I am stuck off in the house. LOL. At least I can do a Ten Thursday Thoughts.

1. ALL we are talking about is that daggone coronavirus. I wish we would call it what it is, though: SARS-Covid-19.

2. The coronaviruses are a family of viruses, ranging from the common cold to the flu to the MERS and the H1N1, and so on and so on. I think that they just call the current virus by the common name because it is a whole word.

3. This whole thing continues to boggle my mind. Completely boggle it. Feels like we were just screaming Happy New Year!! Now this. Who woulda' known?

4. My Pastor said at the beginning of the year, around New Years, or maybe even at the Watch night service, that this would be a year of clarity. Boy oh boy, who woulda thought it would all go in this direction?

5. So there is a rule now that you cannot congregate in large crowds. This means no movie theaters, and no restaurant shopping, and no church. This seems to be the new way of life for the moment, and although I ain't the most social chick on the planet, I KNOW this is jacking up some of you "When we party, we party hearty" people. Hate it for ya'll.

6. With that said, I attend a big church, and it was odd to turn on Bible study and see my pastor just preaching to an empty church. He says he is going to obey the new rules put in place. My sister lives in the city (South Fulton), and it is the first spot around here to have a curfew put in place (9 pm- 7 pm).

7. But it was a good message, a message on fear. That is needed at this time.

8. I consider myself a member of the virtual church. So all this was fine by me. But I am so accustomed to hearing handclaps and people hollering "Halleluyah" and "Amen" and "That's right, Pastor!" None of that occurred. Just a good simple message about fear. Lot's of scripture in the Bible about fear. Good to get a good primer on it.

9. I miss my workplace friends, and friends in general. And I have only been home for two whole days!

10. One good thing.  The great Tayari Jones taught me about Whatsapp, and we can talk to each other via video. This is EXTREMELY helpful. Made my day. We live a couple of miles from each other. So much easier to just go over to her house, but alas... the circumstances of the day has everyone inside.

11. Funniest thing that happened during this time. Last week, me and Tayari were on her front stoop bartering items. I traded her four lemons and a two pound bag of rice for a digital thermometer. That was a great trade. I know people rolling by were thinking... what are they doing?  Earlier that week, I took her some rubbing alcohol. Who knew these things would be so hard to fine. Rice is hard to find. Alcohol is hard to fine.

12. Let's not even talk about the toilet paper crisis... One of my coworkers, a non-melaninated youngster who just started working there, was out of paper and could not find any. I told her I had extra.

She was like... oh my, thanks for thinking about me. So I had to treat her like family.

"Should I treat her like family?" I asked a nearby employee, a sister...
"Yeah," the sista said.
"You sure?"
She nodded.
I turned to the employee and said "Look here girl, you gonna take this toilet paper, or I'ma bust you upside your head!"
She bowed her head and said, "Okay."

That's right. You gonna take this toilet paper.

13. I was walking around the house counting rolls of toiler paper (I'd been buying it over the past three weeks), and found I had forty rolls... and that's outside the 4 pack of angel soft triple roll I gave her.

HUMPH.  Who woulda thought toilet paper would disappear off the face of the earth like this!!!??

Twelve Thursday Thoughts: The Hostage Edition (Humph)

HAPPY NEW YEARS TO YA!!

Welcome BACK to Thursday Thoughts....

And yes, you read that title right. 'Tis the HOSTAGE EDITION.

And this is how I am looking right now.

Frickin' annoyed about being held hostage.

So here we go.

1. Yes, this is the Hostage Edition. Why? Because over 800,000 government employees are being held hostage by this GUB'MENT SHUTDOWN.

2. I have worked for our beloved gub'ment for over 20 years. That is a long long time. Yes, this is considered a job for life at times, but then you have this monkey wrench called the Gub'ment shutdown. Sigh. And this is the third one this year.

3. I hear that I am not affected about it, since I am paid differently than other gub'ment employees. So I should get a check every other Friday.

4. But one of my coworkers, who was in our current group during out last shutdown (I was not), said 'Sure, they say that, but they messed everything up. We still didn't get paid!"

5. Humph.

6. So I have had to come up with a plan. It will be the same one I had during the 2013 shutdown: cut myself a living expenses check once a week. That works well enough.

7. Everybody gets reimbursed after this is over, and it comes along with a sad sack apology along the lines of "We are so sorry you had to go through this."

8. Humph.

9. In other news, I had to have my house appraised yesterday. Yo, I did not want to come out of my pocket with the money for that. During a shutdown, extra ish like that is magnified. I could have used those monies for something else. But I have to appeal my taxes and it is best to go before the appeals board next week with a good thorough professional appraisal in hand rather than my Good Book of Cuss. ("Ya'll some bustas, trying to charge me all this money for property taxes. #%^&@!!!!)

10. I also got my hospital bill in the mail. The total charges were around $21,000. Now they know they didn't do that much over 6 days. I needed some concierge and limousine service for all that. THANK GOD FOR INSURANCE. And thank goodness for my health savings account. I saw a ton of money getting dumped into my regular bank account from that, and I thought "Oh my, the hospital bills must be hitting my account." So I just used that money to pay the hospital bill, which was a few percent.

11. The last time I was in the hospital was 17 years ago. The bill was $18,000. I was charged $100. And I remember being upset about that, because it messed with my budget. Sigh. Thank God for insurance. And thank goodness for growth. I am older and wiser now. I will not moan and groan about any bill I have to pay. I just thank God in advance that a way will be made... because I have ALWAYS seen a way made.

12. I am still on vacation. 2 weeks of "staycation" to be precise. I go back to work on Monday. Yes, I have to work, even if the gub'ment is shut down. My car will most likely be the only car in the parking lot. And that is alright. (Although I have been joking/threatening that I will park my car and then catch an Uber back home, lol).  I still have the hostage face, but I know that everything will be alright soon.

That is it for 12 Thursday Thoughts! I managed to get a lot of information in there, didn't I?

And that is good after not posting much. Hopefully I will do better! This was really good for my mental :)

Ten Thursday Thoughts!

1. I am SO glad today is Thursday. This has been a long long week.

2. My Lucy needed her 5000 mile service.  So of course she had a need of other stuff.

3. New radiator, new battery, new alternator, new timing belt, bunches of new hoses and belts. Yikes.

4. *ladylee transferring money out of savings so she can pay that car repair bill*

5. While my car was in the shop, I had a loaner. A black car just like my own.

6. Now while my car is whisper quiet, this loaner car was a bit loud. And loud in a way that you know some dudes had been working on the car. Let's just say if I wanted to do some Fast and Furious racing in the middle of the night, I could have... and I would've won the race.

7. It was odd riding in a black car with all black interior on a HOT day. That is just strange. It all felt hotter than it actually was.

8. There was a lovely Employee Appreciation ceremony today, complete with lunch. I was glad of that because I didn't pack my lunch toady.

9. I was a little thrown off this morning because my sister and the baby came over.  So of course I didn't make my lunch.

10. I didn't make my lunch because it was Justin's feeding time and I took the time to give him his bottle  instead.  That had  to be the highlight of my day! (Even though he was taking his sweet time with that bottle).

 

Ten (Plus) Thursday Thoughts

This week has flown by fast. I THINK it is Thursday. So I need to post.

I think.

So here are my immediate thoughts... On a Thursday.

1. I am not sure why I haven't blogged all week.

2. I think it is because we had that long holiday weekend.

3. I STILL don't know what day it is. But maybe I will get back on track.

4. I have been straight lazy all week. Not a good way to start the second half of the year.

5. I was SHOOK this morning when my phone rang at 6:34 am. Mind you, this was the HOME phone, which never rings.

6. So I amused myself and answered it. I was READY to go off on a telemarketer. READY.

7. Turns out there is a "boil water advisory" today, and my 'hood was a part of it.

8. Wow. So let's just say, it was some craziness getting ready for work this morning. And preparing my food.

9. It all had me in my feelings, looking and feeling like this:

Lips pursed. Hard stare. All of that. 


10. Occurrences like this make me think, though. What on earth would we do if our water systems were maliciously attacked? I hate to even think about it.

11. I only have 4 gallons of clean water at the house. One of those gallons was useful this a.m. But it makes  me believe that I need more.

12. I haven't even drank any water from the water fountain at work today, and I am out of my usual stash of bottled water at work. I am feeling a tad bit dehydrated, to say the least.

13. It makes me think that I need to bust out and buy some 5 gallon jars of water for the garage. Sigh.

That's it for my Ten Plus Thursday thoughts!!

Two Thursday Thoughts

A little something different for our Tuesday Thoughts.

Quotes!

Quote#1

Quote#2

TWO Thursday Thoughts

2 Thursday Thoughts.

(Yes. That is all I have time for).

1. My foot has FINALLY stopped hurting. Ugh. 

It's been close to 6 WEEKS since I stomped my toe - the toe next to the little toe - on the leg of the coffee table. It has been something else to try to get through. For a couple of weeks it was noticeably swollen before I could tell the swelling was going down.. I JUST started wearing regular sneakers on Monday. And I had a moment of trepidation about even trying to slide on a leather shoe. It feels so good to be wearing regular shoes.

I had a terrible time for a few days getting back and forth to work. It just hurt so bad to walk. My toe was swollen for 5 weeks. And I think the sprain was up to the middle part of my foot. That has never happened before.

I have always frowned when it's announced that an athlete is unable to play a game (football, basketball) because of a toe injury. My response has always been "You make 20 million dollars a year, and you are out of the game because of a hurt toe? Really?"

But now. I understand. I don't have turf toe, but any hard injury to the toe... be sure to sit down and let it heal. Please.  No sports, nothing. None of that!!  

2. My phone is on the blink. I got it wet this morning in the shower while trying to talk to my sister on speaker phone. Yes, it was stupid, but I think it was the steam, and not water.

Sigh.

I have a bunch of pictures that I hope I can save.  I don't know how that's going to work out.

The touchscreen isn't working.  So I am going to let it dry out in some rice overnight to see what happens.

This is bothersome because I, like most people, fool with my phone a lot. No, I'm not big on social media  (I tend to lurk and rarely post anything), but all of my phone numbers and pictures are in there. I have a few games going also. So it's going to be interesting over the next couple of days trying to figure out if I can save some things out of it. It's not a big deal to run and buy another phone. But it's a hassle. So hopefully, the phone will dry out and work properly (It's charging and I can receive calls, etc).

We will see.

But both of these "thoughts" have made me stop and ponder.

They really have.

With that said, that's it for my TWO Thursday thoughts.

TWO Thursday Thoughts

How about Two Thursday thoughts. TWO.

1. I am ready for this campaign to be over. I try to listen to both candidates, but right now, I'm just mentally tired.

However, I did see a flow chart that caught my attention. This makes as about as much sense as anything else.  

That explains the foolishness going on more than anything else.

Which brings me to Thursday Thought #2... Which also happens to be the Quote of the Week, and eerily related to what's been going on:


2. Quote of the Week.

Hmmm... sit and let that marinate.

Have a great evening..

Ten Thursday Thoughts... The Politics Edition

It's time for TEN Thursday thoughts. And this is the Politics edition. I could do 10,000 thoughts on this, but we will keep it light for now. I am sure that things are about to heat up.  And there will be MUCH more to say.

1.  So it is official now: President Obama has endorsed Hills...



2. He said a lot in those 3 minutes. Pretty clean and to the point. But what he really said is...

Let's get in Formation.

Plain and simple.

*cues up Beyonce's "Formation"*

3.  That goes out to everyone, especially Bernie Sanders. He's starting to look like a bitter crochety old man. And even with that said, I would vote for him if he was the nominee. But that's not the case. So get out the way, Sir, so they can take care of Trump.

4. Trump... I don't know what to say about him. And I try to listen to each candidate as much as I can.  I want to hear some logic and policy, you know. But I have decided that he is STRAIGHT illiterate. My 6-year-old nephew has a better grasp of grammar and vocabulary than he does.

5. Ya'll still need to help me understand that inane Trump slogan.

6. Let's just say this: America is already great. And if you don't think it is, stretch out your faith and call those things that are not as though they are. And it shall come to pass. Amen.

7. Hillary Clinton gave an exceptional foreign policy speech last week... then she dragged Trump's azz. And rightfully so.



8. Trump messed up when he tripped out on that American judge, who is of Mexican ancestry, who is over that fraud case.  Trump got his own folks looking at him like O_o.

(And notice how I, as a person of intelligence, worded the judge's ethnicity. Now ya'll go explain that to Trump.)


9. Trump needs to be handled like a teenage boy. But I think it may be too late. He's like a teenager who has been allowed to do his own thing for a minute, but when you try to reel him in or advise him, he goes apeshit.  Not a good look. I still think we haven't scraped the bottom of the barrel when it comes to Trump. What reckless thing will he say or do next?

10. The Republicans slip is showing. And their stockings have runs in the them. Many of them.

That's it for my Ten Thursday Thoughts!

Oh the DRAMA this election season will bring...

But remember, we will have a new President Elect in less than 5 months.  Not long now.

Thursday Thoughts

Man oh man, is it Thursday already?

This week has been a straight blur. How about TWO Thursday Thoughts? Or should I do TWENTY-THREE Thursday Thoughts?

O_O

I do suppose I have that much on my mind.

But I will stick with the TWO Thursday Thoughts.

Vacation is OVER. So... there was a knock at my door the other day.  I live deep in the hood so I go to the door and holler

"WHO IS IT???!!!!!??"

(And I yell it in a deep voice. I sounded like I had a gun in one hand and a baseball bat in the other)

"It's Wayne," I heard from the other side of the door.

I smiled like I had just won the lotto.  I threw the door open.

"Wayne!" I yelled. "It's you, Wayne!"

"Yes," he replied with a smile. "I'm back from vacation now."

"Yeah, I heard about this vacation," I said, my eyebrow raised.

Vacation. Yeah, vacation.

In other words, this is the brotha who cuts my grass in the summers. His 'vacation' was some jail time. He'd been gone some 9 months or so. This meant I struggled with raking my own leaves. I began cutting my own grass, until some joker came down the street wanting to cut it. (I'd seen him cutting other folks grass, so he could cut mine.

That joker was charging $40 every two weeks.

Wayne charges $15 every two weeks. And he did a GOOD job.

The other joker did alright. But I wasn't satisfied. It looked like Callie Jo and Mitch had cut my grass. And he wouldn't cut hedges.

Wayne does it all: cut hedges, mows that grass, cleans out all the brush.  He uses all my equipment. Whatever, man. Just don't steal nothing out of my garage.

GLORY. His vacation is OVER. GLORY!!!

*church shouts on my front porch*

I paid him $25. 

Glad he is back from vacation.

He needs not go on vacation EVER again.

Series of the Week. I really shouldn't be talking about a "Series of the Week". It's not like there are many I like. Maybe a series of the month. I don't know.

Now I enjoyed Underground. I wrote about that last week. That was phenomenal, absolutely the best series I've ever seen.

I came across one that is also great. Can't stand up to Underground, but I have peeped the 8 episode series twice. And I have watched it only because it was free in my Amazon Prime.

Humans. A British-American drama. That may be the reason I haven't heard of it.

It was one of those days where it was raining and I didn't want to go out so I decided to watch the first episode.  It wouldn't hurt, especially since it is part of my prime.

That was a weekend, and I finished it that weekend. What a good show.

The series takes place some time in the future when every one has an android robot. And it is common thing to have one. It's like having a car. And these androids are amazing: they cook, they clean the house, they will drive you wherever you need to go, they will help you with your physical therapy needs, they take care of your children, etc.

They are well programmed machines who look human.

The conflict/plot line of the movie is that there is a set of androids with a conscience. So they feel. They get angry, they feel pain, they get happy, they get violent, etc. And they have to hide it.

This causes a bunch of confusement. And there are people trying to catch up with them. And no, they don't want to be caught. They ain't about that life, man.  The hell with that!

This is another series that had me all weepy, and pissed, and laughing. That makes it a good one. And it is  one of those that I can watch over and over and see something new.

Definitely worth a watch.

So there are my TWO Tuesday Thoughts.

That wasn't so bad, was it?

Ten Thursdeay Thoughts

Here we go with thoughts on a Thursday!

1.  I have a bad habit of leaving my car in drive when I park my car. The only reason I know this is because when I go to crank up the car, nothing happens. Thank goodness for the emergency parking brake is on. Car won't move with that on.

2.  This weather is disturbing me deeply. I am a little lost with this hot one week, cold the next week.

3.  I need a better AC system for my house. Mine feels like it's about to go out. I am NOT trying to deal with a hot house.

4.  I cut grass this weekend. I have a yard full of dandelion weeds.


Here's a picture I stopped to take in the midst of cutting the yard. 

How 'bout I cut that on Saturday, and the little flowers are already growing back. SIGH.

5.  My boss said use some Week and Feed on the lawn. I am afraid it may be too late for that, as it is getting hot outside and it can burn up the yard.. I will try it out in  the backyard, though. Lot's of shade back there.

6. I was feeling so good that I even cut back some tree limbs in the backyard. I don't have a picture of it, but the limbs would have covered the handle of the lawn mower above.

But look how green the grass is, though. Beautiful!! 

7. Back to the  limbs.  Like I said, the limbs were so long that they covered the lawn mower handles in the above picture. I had to duck to to try to cut the grass. And Lord help me if a snake would have fallen on my head.

There were a lot of berries on that tree.

I thought about chewing on one and seeing how it tastes. But I thought better of it all, since those berries might be poisonous like the nightlock berries in The Hunger Games. I don't want any parts of that.

I entertained thoughts of taking one in the house and feeding it to Sister Callie Jo. Those were fleeting thoughts, though.

8. The "bricking up" of the streets continues:

Hmm...  They need to sweep or shine this street. It looks like they are still working on it.  It's a long street, and they are bricking it up as far as the eye can see.  In the distance, there's a UPS truck, and he was struggling over some of the unfinished parts. Bro, I know you have to deliver the packages, but don't tare up the truck in the process. Wow.

9.  I am almost done with all my paperwork. Boy oh boy, it has been such a doozie for the past 3 months. I am pretty much exhausted. Crunching data is NO joke. I have even been crunching data in my dreams. Sigh.

10. When I'm done, I WILL be taking a week off. Maybe two weeks.

Not sure much time I'm taking off, but I told my boss...

"I'ma get ya'll back for this..."

I sure am.  I am taking OFF. When I break,  I'm  BREAK  hard.

Really though.

That's it for my Ten Thursday thoughts!

Two Thursday (Food For) Thoughts

It is Thursday...

I am happy for that, as tomorrow is Friday, and it's Pay Day. And this is public health service appreciation week or something like that. And it's "Get Moving" week. So I get an hour off this week for each.

*crickets*

So I'm leaving 2 hours early tomorrow. On Payday. GLORY!

Heck man, I might just take myself on in to work at 6 a.m. and leave at noon.

I don't know if I can do that. I have a meeting with my boss tomorrow, and I would hate for dude to want to meet with me at 3 'o clock in the afternoon. That would NOT be a good meeting.

LOL.

And there's a special birthday tomorrow. I won't talk about that today. You will see tomorrow. But I just wanted to post some food for thoughts.

1. I have been feeling under the weather for the better part of the year, but I feel a bit better now. Much of it came from working too much and fighting to balance the rest of my life, and all the anxiety that comes with that. But there is a point where I am usually feeling better, and I always look out for that point, and I make sure to write it down somewhere.

A couple of weeks ago, I needed to walk to the bank to cash some checks (escrow refund, over payment on credit cards, etc.). I have had these checks in my possession since January or so, and I didn't want them to go void on me or anything because I had waited around to cash them.

Now, the bank is a couple of short blocks walk from my job. I can stand on the loading dock and see the bank from my job. But I was so afraid, or apprehensive about walking down there. I thought I would just wear myself out. Or get confused and walk out into the street. Heck, I don't know. I just know I've felt worn out down to my bone marrow, and I didn't want to cause myself any trouble.

But I actually geared myself up to walk down to the bank last week. I didn't go to that particular one, but I have an account at the credit union a couple of blocks away, and I walked down there, and I did just fine.

It is such a little thing, but it meant much to me. I was thinking today that... gee, I didn't think to ask anyone to just walk with me. That would have been easy enough. But I guess I just wanted to feel some sense of independence or something.

I walked to the bank, cashed my checks, and went and sat down for a bite to eat nearby. I walked back to work and I felt just fine. That's how I knew I was on the upswing. And thank goodness for that.

2. Something remarkable happened to me in this time of racial tension, upheaval and unrest during this turbulent time in our country.

On Sunday, I went to the farmer's market over on the east side. This place is super crowded on the weekend, butt-to-butt and shoulder-to-shoulder like ladies night at the night club. Well, I'd dealt with the crowds and got my nice organic fruits and veggies and proceeded to the cashier.

When I finished up and left the market, it was raining cats and dogs and frogs. Just pouring down. And it was that type of rain where we ALL gonna just stand around and wait for the rain to stop, or at least calm down.

Well, the rain had calmed down some, and I decide to make a run for it. A few steps out into the light showers I heard someone say "I have you covered."

Well, I didn't too much turn around, as I knew they weren't talking to me. I was alone. But I looked over my shoulder when I heard the sound of footsteps in pace with my own, and there was this white lady trying to catch up with me, her arm stretched out, gripping the handle of her umbrella hard and trying her best to keep it over my head so I wouldn't get wet.

"Thank you," I said. "But I'm good."

"No, no," she said. "I have an umbrella, and I knew I could help someone."

She held her umbrella over my head while I put my groceries in the car. She told me to take my time, she was there to make sure I didn't get wet.

"Thank you," I said. "I will always remember this."

She made sure I got in the car and even took my cart and placed it in the cart return area.

All that without getting wet.

(I know what you're thinking: I had my purse on me at all times. And my RFID cards are protected in a bootleg foil slip. LOL).

That really meant much to me. My eyes were wet as I sat in the car getting ready to head home. Why? Because like I said, we are living in a volatile time. White folks hate black folks and vice versa. And here was someone who saw me braving the rain, and they were just doing a good deed for the day.

My pastor always says look out for little expressions of God's love and thoughts toward you. They are happening all the time. And that is one of the little expressions of God's love towards me. I always make sure to be still and ponder on it for a moment. And just earlier that moment, I groaned in sadness after watching some black/white conflict issues on the news that morning. And that which happened that afternoon was God saying There is still some good in the world.

Yes there is.

It was good that I could walk to the bank by myself. I take that type of thing for granted, but that day I didn't.

It was good that I was shielded from the rain.  I won't take that for granted either.

Those are my Two Thursday (Food For) Thoughts. I have more, but those two will do on this cold ATLien night.

They are simple thoughts, but sometimes the simple can be complex.

And sometimes such simple thoughts can afford an abundance of hope.

And these days, I need all the hope I can get.

Three Thursday Thoughts... The Lemonade Edition

It is Thursday...

And this week has gone by a bit fast.

I'm not mad about it. It's a good thing, because I'm ready for the weekend.

But since it Thursdays it is time for some thoughts... Just three of them though. All have to do with Lemonade.

1. So Beyonce dropped a surprise album. I'm not a big fan of Beyonce. I'm more of a fan of the old Destiny's Child.

But I noticed some show called Lemonade was coming on HBO. And sense HBO was free over the weekend, I was going to get all I could out of it.  Plus, Game of Thrones was coming on, too.

I had no idea what it was about, but it was Beyonce's new visual album.

5 minutes into the show, I picked up the phone and called LadyTee.

'Yo, are you watching this?"
"No," she said. "I don't have the free HBO this weekend."
"This is CRAZY,"  I said.

Crazy, meaning crazy in a good way, that is.

I thought it was GREAT. It was very dark. And I like dark. I didn't care for some of the trap music, but I loved the country song and the overall theme. And it was a concept album, and those are my favorite.

I'm not a Beyonce fan, but this showed some growth.  I remember telling someone that Beyonce is getting older and I want to see some GROWTH. And I don't care for her music, as I don't want to hear the same ol' ish over and over again and again.

And that I saw. Good for her. One of the better CDs I've heard this year. 

2. Prince is gone. I am still waiting for this to be a joke. It is good that Beyonce came out with a new project. And this meme that's been floating around sums up my feelings best:

3. This little girl has her own lemonade business.

I don't know who she is. I need to look it, though. I'm going up to Whole Foods this week. If I see it in the store, I will buy it all... and give them away. I want her to do well.

I WISH I would've had my own business when I was that age.

I know my church's elementary and high school has a business element to it, where the children are required to have their own business and they are paired with an entrepreneur. And by 12th grade, they are required to have a profitable business. I think they want them to have that mentality at an early age.

I wonder where I would be if I had an entrepreneur spirit/mentality at such an early age?

I've done good for myself, I know. But to be business minded since elementary school... man, the possibilities.

I can't wait to see what the smiling little chocolate girl in the picture above grows up to be in 20 years.  I wonder what she will grow up to do in this world.

Only time will tell.

*ladylee sips lemonade on a hot spring day*

Ten Thursday Thoughts

I am not posting regularly, because I am so busy. But I can AT LEAST kick out some thoughts, right?

1. We have had fairly nice weather this week. It feels good to open the sunroof, let down the windows and let the wind blow through my hair.

2. Lucy Jr (My lexus) had a problem this week: whenever the car heated up, and I was at a stop sign, I would smell what I thought was oil burning. So I thought I had a leak.

3. I thought this because Pam has had a leak for 8 years, and I just make sure to regularly check oil  and add oil when needed. Normally I wouldn't care about a leak, but I would feel bad if Lucy Jr.'s engine blew up because of something serious. I really like that car.

4. So yesterday I took her in to be checked. It turned out that I'd run over a plastic grocery bag an it stuck to the exhaust pipe... and it is melting off when the car heats up. They pulled off what they could, but it has to just burn off. This means I have to deal with these noxious fumes. Yuck.

5. I don't recycle much, but that makes me want to recycle. It makes a strong case for it.

6. Yesterday was LadyTee's birthday.  Happy Birthday LadyTee!
 
That picture is probably 10 years old. I can tell because my grass doesn't look that good  anymore.

She still looks the same, though! The big 48 looks good on you, LadyTee.

We have been best friends close to 38 years. That is a long long time. 

7. This was the first year in the past 15 years or so that we haven't spent our birthdays together. It is due to me having these hard work hours right now. I can't even take off if I really need to, for fear of falling way behind. It pisses me off.

8. But when I get that "pissed off" feeling, I think of what The Cowgirl Cre says...

"These some good azz jobs!"

Yes they are. We have to remind ourselves of that because we are around a bunch of serial complainers... they too, having these same "good azz jobs".

9.  I also spend a good amount of time thinking about something my Grandfather said some 20 years ago.  Here's the convo.

"How's school, Lee?!"
"It's alright," I said.

I then went on to complain about how difficult it was. He sat quietly and listened, a frown clouding his face.

Then he said,"Your grandmama didn't get down on her knees and clean white peoples floors for $3 a day and cab fare so you could sit up here and whine and complain."

That shut me up right there. And when I get to whining, albeit to myself, his words come to mind.  Quickly and sharply.

And I shut up. 

10. Additionally, one of my rule is s in affect:  However much time I spend complaining, I BEST spend twice as much time in thanksgiving and gratitude.

I picked that rule up from reading the book of Psalms, as I noticed an interesting trend. David would wail about something, then spend time in gratitude and thanksgiving and praise. If he didn't have anything to be grateful for in his own life, he was grateful for something good that happened in the life of his ancestors.

Amen.

That is it for ten Thursday thoughts.

Have a good evening!

Ten Thursday Thoughts

1. I have not been able to post, and it is irking the cheese out of me.

2. I have had silly computer problems in the evening. I don't feel like fighting with my laptop, and I get sleepy and I decide to go to bed instead.

3. My laptop is NOT acting all janky tonight! Glory!!!

4. Every night I've been writing in my journal that I want to get to work "dirt early" this week. That means around 6:00 am. Or even 7:00 am.

5. Is that working out? No. Because when it is dark outside, it is nighttime. I don't care if it is 6:00am-7:00am. If it is dark outside, it is not morning.

6. Tomorrow is not only Friday, but it is payday. That already means that the blinds of my mind are already half closed. My paydays are not good and productive workdays.

7. This mindset is not a good thing, as I have a TON of stuff to do tomorrow.

8. Can you believe that January is almost over? So that means that we only have 11 months left to get it all done. All of it. Whatever "it" is.

9. I am tired of these debates. I can't tell if this is serious or some awful reality show. Whatever it is, it is awful.

10. Questions of the week: Do we really want Trump to be president? Do we really want to hear and see his Don Rickles/Rodney Dangerfield shtick act for the next 4 to 8 years?

I don't. All I know is that I am going to miss President Obama. Really.


That's it for my Ten Thursday Thoughts.

Not much substance today.

Heck man, I just wanted to post.

Ten Thursday Night Thoughts

1. This week has gone by in a whirlwind. Usually I am happy about that, but I have not been able to log any time in the laboratory.

2. Why have I not been able to log any time in the lab? It's because I'm trying to do a very complicated travel authorization. We have a new system for doing this and it's giving everybody problems.

3. I do what I can and keep it moving.  Not my fault that the system is janky. I've been hung up on trying to explain why I need a rental car, because the taxi fees are around $250-$400. Lord have mercy. No one wants to believe me. I think I proved it all today. (Glory!)

4. I am learning that it is NOT a good idea to try to travel after the holidays. Everybody is still trying to get back in the groove. Including myself.

5. I've eaten pretty clean this week. Lots of fruit and vegetables, lots of leafy greens. I am very much proud of myself for doing so. Lady M brought me a few ounces of homemade beer cheese potato soup. And then came the Cowgirl Cre with a plate full of gyro meat and salad. Ugh!  (I enjoyed the soup and the few slivers of meat I snatched from Cowgirl Cre's salad).

6. I still have to work on my water intake, though. Sigh. But I've been drinking a lot of hisbicus and roasted dandelion tea, though. And it's been giving my kidneys the business, lol.

7. I haven't been watching much news. I feel a little smarter and brighter due to that.

8. One night, I didn't turn on the TV at all. I listened to the radio. That was an awesome night. I really felt smarter and brighter that night.

9. Lucy Jr. was running rough on the way home. This means I have an ignition coil failure. This wasn't in my plans for tomorrow. Not at all.

10. I will take her in to get repaired first thing in the morning to the Lexus shop I like. If I have to wait more than an hour, I will just call Uber and take that to work. Uber is the BOMB. Whoever thought of it is a GENIUS!

Ha! That was a FAST 5 minute Ten Thursday night thoughts! I think I have 20 or 30 more thoughts to lay out.

But I won't put you through that.

Assuredly not!

Ten Thursday Thoughts

It is not only the last day of the year, it's the last Thursday of the year!

And how can I leave this year of 2015 behind without doing a Ten Thursday Thoughts.

Here we go:

1. I am sick of all this rain. 

2. Worse yet, I don't know whether it's going to rain that day or not. It all feels so haphazard.

3. Nevertheless, in the midst of all my irritation, I always say a thank you... "Thank you Lord for watering the earth."

4. My sister said last night that she misses the rain. It only rains hard a couple of times a year in her new city. There has been some light rain, but she completely misses it, as it rains at night. She only knows it rained from the sand spots on the cars. 

5. It rains so rarely there that there is no need for a drainage system. "Water be everywhere if it rain hard," she said. But it evaporates quickly.

6. I want to go see Star Wars today. But I want to see the IMAX 3D show. There was a 9:00 am showing this morning. I couldn't think to get up that early and go anywhere. The only way I would do that is if I am going to work, Sunday morning church, or to the doctor. 

7. I have to make a run to the Wal-mart. I hope it's not shoulder to shoulder crowded.

8. I am thinking about my New Years dinner. I will not be doing the traditional collard greens and black eye pea dinner. I am thinking about making sauteed kale and sweet potatoes, and lentils. That's different.

9. I may also fry up so fish.  I bought some croaker on last Thursday. It is in the fridge. I hope it's still fresh.  

10. This has been a phenomenal year, and I have a couple of food-for thought posts coming later today. 

That was a QUICK Ten Thursday Thoughts! Only took 8 minutes. 

That is what I call fast. Do you realize how many posts I would get done if they took 8 minutes apiece? Wow.

This is the last day of the year. 

Make it a GREAT one. 

On purpose! 

Twelve Thursday Thoughts... The Christmas Eve Edition

'Tis Christmas Eve! And I am happy for it.

Mostly because I am enjoying just being off. Although I am thinking about work. Sigh.

Work will have to wait.

Right now, I need to do my twelve Thursday thoughts. Some of these are Christmas related, most are not. But that's good. They are thoughts, right off the top of my mind.

1. I had a house guest overnight... Serenity23. She was traveling from Charlotte to her hometown in Lousiana, and I am a midpoint stop. I was happy to have her. Next best thing to having my sister here. Although she wouldn't allow me to cook for them. (Humph). But it was cool just having her here, as she has never been to my house. (This made me nervous, as I am not fabulous like her. I live like a squatter).

We didn't talk much, as she was on a mission, but just seeing her bought a tear or two to my eyes. Seeing her felt like God's Christmas gift to ME. Thank you, Lord. You know what I need and when I need it.

She left earlier today. Safe travels, OldGirl!

2. I just got a recorded call reminding me that I have an appointment at the breast clinic on Monday. My oh my. I have visions of myself holding up my arms and having my breast examined. This is all so strange. I hope I don't need a mammogram. Oh my.

Merry Christmas to me.

3. I will add this to my goals list for my 10 day vacation period, this breast exam stuff.   The list isn't long, but it's a good one. It is something important that all women over the age of 40 need to do.

4. I want to read 2 books during this time off. The book I'm reading this week is The Man Curse by Raqiyah Mays. This is a great book and I have had to force myself to put it down so I can get some other things done. I was looking for a breezy fiction read, but this book is haunting me, hitting a little too close to home concerning my relationship, or lack thereof with my mother. I can tell I will be thinking about this book long after I have read the last word.

5. I don't have much of an appetite. I am eating, but I have pretty much skipped dinner the last two days. I wonder what that is about?

6. I will be glad when the day comes when everything doesn't have to be about Donald Trump. It is like having to watch or listen to a 7th grader. Lord help us if he becomes our President and I have to listen to him complain and listen to him insult people for the next 8 years.

7. "Let's take our country back!! Let's make America great again!"

Such interesting slogans, but what do they really mean. Sounds like some very scary dog whistling going on.

8. Back before my sister left, I was afraid I was going to have the worst holiday season. I already don't like the holiday season anyway because of the materialism. But my sister and I have spent our holidays together over the past 10 years, I suppose. Just me and her. So I was a bit antsy. But then I realized how selfish I was being. And I can't be that way.  And my holiday season has been just fine. Fun, relaxing and most of all, positive.

I am learning the actual thing and the fear of the actual thing are two different things. When I spent time dealing with the fear of not having my sister around for the holidays, I spent time dealing with the root of the problem: the fear. I have no fear of being without my sister for the holidays... therefore my holidays are pretty happy ones. Does that make sense?

9. Speaking of my sister, I spoke with her for about an hour today on facebook messenger. (Did you know that you can call or do video chats for free? Wow). She is spending the Christmas holidays in Dubai. She split the hotel cost with another teacher. They were going to go clubbing this evening, but she looked up the club and it's not her thang. I told her that she won't find her type of music anywhere, as EMF is the club music of choice. Plus the place is a haven for prostitutes, and I know she ain't down for that. Her teacher pal went there with his boys. She called me instead. And I am glad of that. Always good to talk to my sister, even though it was 1 am at the time. (4 pm for me!)

I am interested to know how the guys liked that club, lol.

10. Sister Callie Jo and Mitch are a nervous wreck. Sister Callie don't like people (except for my sister), and it wrecked her nerves for other people to be in the house. (I rarely have people over).  I am JUST now seeing her late this afternoon, as she's been hidding out in the boxsprings of my bed. I could hear her maneuvering around under the bed while I was trying to sleep.

Mitch tried to hang, but Serenity's boys chased him all around the living room and kitchen, he had that look of "To hell with all this. They tryna kill me."

Needless to say, he hid out with Callie Jo. He slept on the bed this morning, thoug. Callie stayed hidden.

"Callie, I know you under that bed with your legs crossed 'cause you gotta pee! You better go do your business while everybody is sleep!"

It was great fun to watch. Wish I had a video of it all, lol.

11. I am going to spend the day with LadyTee and her family tomorrow. They are doing absolutely nothing. I plan to throw on some sweats and go do absolutely nothing with them. They have been cooking all day. Let's just say I'm going to make sure to take a few choice pieces of tupperware with me. I will be loading up some of that good traditional food because you know I'm not going to cook it.

12. I will get up on Christmas morning and do what I've always done on Christmas morning: bake cookies. I will do it while I watch a movie. I think I will do it while I do my morning journalling. We will see.

Nope. Why break tradition? I will watch a movie.

Those are my 12 Christmas thoughts. I have so many more! I will save them for another day: )

FOUR Thursday Thoughts (Workplace Edition)

More thoughts. On a Thursday, no less.  Four thoughts... how random is that?

1. So... I am in charge of my group, the beloved Tob.acco group today.

*LadyLee jumps up from cubicle and struts with the hard dap down the cubicle area...then dances like she's going down the soul train line*

"Check it out, ya'll," I holler, my hands raised in victory. "We not working in the lab today. We're gonna work it all out and have a 4 hour meeting at the Piedmont Park, down by the pool area, down by the swings!"

One of my coworkers peered at me curiously. "Send an email," he said.

Uh, I see how folks are.  They want a paper trail. Not gonna happen.


2. I have a bunch of maintenance to do today. Oil changes, column changes, etc. I made sure to wear clothes that I can get good and dirty.  Oil always gets past my lab coat for some reason.


3. I have been working on reports for 3 weeks. My boss, who is new said something special. "I really like the way you write."   That make me smile big like Celie. I am glad of that. It is hard switching between technical scientific writing and creative writing. There have been times that I have read some of my workplace writing and said "Gee, this reads like a story."

Let's just say I enjoy creative writing more. Sigh.


4. There is some mention that we may start analyzing marij.uana. My eyes glazed over and I got the shakes thinking about it.  I told my boss, "Look here, man... I use to smoke weed. Ain't smoked in 20 years, but ain't no WAY I'm gonna work with weed. No way!"

Oh how folks laugh. Oh how folks laugh every time I say this.

It ain't funny.  Can't they see the fear in my eyes?

I'd be like Pookie from New Jack City.

Swap out the crack pipe for a fat blunt and that's me.

Sigh.

ONE Thursday Thought (While Laying Across the Bed)

I've been doing 10 Tuesday Thoughts and 10 Thursday Thoughts for awhile. 

How about ONE Thursday Thought... easy enough.

I was laying across the bed on Tuesday afternoon watching the news. I was trying to get myself together because I was a little throwed off because of my work schedule that day. I usually work from 10 to 7, but that day, I'd work from 7:30 to 4.  I had some training in the lab, and out of courtesy, I like to keep the schedule of whoever is training me.  So when I do that, I am a little lost when I get home.I was home some 3 hours early, and I was sleepy. I figured if I could lay down for half an hour, I could think about what I wanted to do for the evening.

Someone was outside revving a car.  I wouldn't normally pay much attention to such noise, but it was so loud

that it shook my whole house. It was annoying, especially when that someone is leaning on the gas every five minutes. I got up and looked out the window. A couple of brothers were working on an old orange truck. They were revving it up to test their workmanship, I suppose. It was annoying.

I thought about what my best friend LadyTee does whenever there's an ruckus outside her house.

"I call the police," she always says. "I don't dial 911, but I dial the police station directly. I keep that number written down."

"You can do that?" I asked.

"Yes. Call them directly. And I act like I'm an old white woman. I always say 'These nigras, I mean, these black people is out here fighting, and I can't find my medicine.' Then I just hang up the phone."

Every time she says this, it sends me into a fit of giggles.

LadyTee nods, her face serious. "That's what I do, girl. The police come screeching around the corner real fast. Bet the guys won't be out there fighting no more. Bet they won't be out there bouncing that basketball at two in the morning no more either."

LadyTee does not like noise. At all. 

I lay across my bed, listening to the hard rev of the truck engine. My house shakes like crazy. I thought about calling the police and following LadyTee's intstructions.

But...

I realized I couldn't do that.

I imagined my calling the police, and the police screeching in their cars around the corner with sirens blaring.

And instead of yelling at the men to knock off the noise, they'd jump out their cars and shoot them dead. No questions asked.

And then it would be all over the news: two unarmed black men working on a truck shot dead by police officers. My 911 call would be played over and over in a continuous loop. The loved ones would be on the news, crying over the loss of those they loved. The news reporters would go look up these men jail or prison records and lay that out for all to judge and see. The opposition would  be standing up there talking about "Well if they hadn't been out there revving up that truck, none of this would have ever happened!"

And there I would be, laying across the bed much as I had been on that particular day of my 911 call, watching the news and feeling guilty because my being annoyed by something as simple as car engine noise turned into something unnecessary and tragic.

Sigh.

There use to be a time that the police would just come around and quiet things down. Now you have to think twice, for something as little as a missing plate or a failure to signal can be lead to your death.

Now... the news has me all shook. Subconciously. 

There are thousands of traffic stops daily all over this country, with the overwhelming vast majority of them being uneventful. After all, who reports on the uneventful? The uneventful is normal. No news there, keep it moving. I've gotten tickets and everything was professional. I've gotten tickets from rowdy or disgruntled cops, and I've just channeled my inner slave, and go into slave mode. No protest because this dude is about to snap for real.

And the cops in my zone are nice enough. We have lots of women cops, and they have always been helpful. I guess it helps that half the zone was fired and jailed a couple of decades ago for some shadiness in the community. They are on their best behavior.  They've even been at neighborhood meetings giving updates from time to time.

While laying across the bed, I closed my eyes so tight that it hurt. We're living in a different time now. Unless I'm in dire need or my life is being threatened, I'm not calling the police. I can stand a little noise. Patience will have to prevail this day.

The guys were finished with the truck before nightfall. I imagined them being happy about it. "Thanks for your help, bruh," one says to another, "because you know I wasn't bout to put this truck in the shop! My cousin said I could have it if I could get it fixed. I knew you could get it just right.'"

All ended well. As it should. They had a fixed truck. I had my peaceful neighborhood back.

Confusion and tragedy averted.

Thank goodness for that.

Ten Thursday Thoughts

Time for a few thoughts...

1. I am NOT happy that the 2016 presidential race has begun. Commercials are already starting up. Sigh. So I have to deal with my brain being bombarded with this nonsense for the next 1.5 years. Ugh.

2. I went to Whole Foods last night.  I eat way to much perishable stuff. I would love to be like some folk and go to the grocery store every two weeks. But right now, once a week will  do.

3.  Traffic has been horrific in the ATL for the past few days. I need to leave 10 minutes earlier for work. And lots of new skyscraper condos are going up around my job. This means I have to sit and wait while a random cement truck moves out of the way. Sigh.

4. I need to drink more water! I need to get back up to my 3/4ths gallon per day!

5.  Work is a bit slow and boring right now. I am sharing some equipment with someone else, and it is affording me an opportunity to work on my patience skills (and I do need to work on that. Harder).

6. Lunch today: a huge salad and a side order of blackened shrimp. I wish I would've taken a picture.. I have the 'itis now after eating what felt like 1/2 pound of baby green lettuces.

7. Aunt Flo showed  up today. 10 days early. I have NO idea what that's about. O_o. Maybe it's the seasons changing. I don't know. We will see how I feel next week. Maybe I should write this stuff down somewhere and track it.  Man.  I hope this doesn't mean I am about to go through "The change".  (Yes this is all TMI).

8. I need a nap. Especially with the cool and dreary weather in the ATL. I should be at home.  In my bed. Dozing on and off as I watch Maury... or Jerry Springer.

9. Some cat chewed one of the earbuds wires of my wireless headphones.  I looked into the eyes of both Callie and Mitch and I couldn't tell who did it. I think it was Mitch, as he likes to chew on the ear pieces of my eyeglasses. So I can't fuss at them. I will learn to put my $89 headphones up before I go to bed. Sigh.

10. I already bought another pair of headphones. They were $62. They are not as nice as the $89 headphones. Same brand, one level down. I will treat these new ones like they cost $89, though. Believe that.