No rest for the wicked

Autumn Fairy by Amy Brown.  Isn't she gorgeous?

I guess this must be true because it seems all we do is work, if not at our workplace it’s around the house,  It’s been a tough week at week with long hours and demanding customers.  The next few days we have off but will be moving everything out of the master bedroom and closet so we can have tile installed.  The tile installer comes Wed and Thurs.  We’ve wanted to do this a long time and finally found a tile that will match what we put in this house back in 2004 when it was built.

At least on the bright side, there’s no alarm clock tomorrow.  Yippee!  Perhaps after this project we’ll be glad to get back to work.  I doubt it, but maybe.

We aren’t handing out any candy this year.  We need to rest while we can.  There’s never enough of that lately.  Kids always seem to collect enough anyway after roaming through the neighborhood.

Clip art

However, I’m aware it’s Halloween and my thoughts will be there some of the time.  If you’d like to read about how this holiday originally started please click here.  I researched this a few years ago and posted it.  I’m always curious about things.  Some of you will probably be surprised that most of the holidays we celebrate today actually started out as pagan festivals in ancient times.  Sometimes I’m amazed at how many people really get into this holiday, especially where I live.  The religious are so strict here.

Be careful out there

We had a new family move in down the block a few months ago and they have at least a dozen giant sized “blow up” Halloween toys decorating their lawn.  I’m be glad to see those put away until next year.

Have a safe Halloween everyone. 

More eye surgery is in my future

Yes, it’s true.  It seems like we’ve really been dealing with a lot of eye issues around here.  Hubby just had cataract surgery in both eyes and is still recovering from that.  I had both my eyes done in July 2016.

 Illustrations from Pinterest

I also have a dry eye problem that I’ve been suffering with for probably five years.  I thought I had finally found the right combination of eye drops and here we go again.  I have a different eye problem now and this one will require surgery.  Hmmm…My bottom eyelids have turned slightly outward so they won’t hold any eye drops (or regular eye lubrication) so I have to have them tacked up.  I see a specialist the middle of November.  She lives in Seattle and only comes here to this office once a month.  I expect I won’t have this surgery until December or January.  I’m going to be putting up with this a lot longer than I want to.  But I’m trying my best to do my daily activities and not let this set me back.

I’m not looking forward to having surgery but I really have to get rid of my drippy eyes.  The right one is worse than the left one.  It’s very hard to work in this condition because my eyes get so full of liquid that I can’t see until it falls down my cheek, drips on the floor, or I wipe my eyes every few minutes.  If I’m working this entails changing gloves, so it’s not unusual to go through a whole box of gloves during my shift at work.

I need to talk to this specialist before I learn any more about this procedure, but I do know she’ll do both eyes so they match each other.  From the way I understand it, my eyes will be slanted for a couple of months afterward until the surgery relaxes.  That’s really all I know at this time except it’s supposed to stop them from dripping all over the place all the time.  I’m all for that no matter how I look afterward as long as I can see and get rid of this constant wiping of my eyes.  All my pockets contain Kleenex, napkins, or pieces of toilet tissue, or paper towels.  I have to be prepared 24/7.  It’ll be a blessing to be rid of this once and for all.  But of course, I’ll do my due diligence and ask a million questions beforehand.  There will be more updates on this situation later.

Smarty Pants

Yes, this is a brand of vitamin that we sell at work, but this story is about my cat.

 Raven taking in the breeze in the kitchen window.  We don't get to open them much around here.

My little Raven is too smart for his own good sometimes.  This cat loves to eat rubber bands, so I have to always think like a cat around here and put things up that could become cat toys.  This is easy since I’ve been doing it for years but sometimes things still get left in a cat’s reach that shouldn’t have.

I had to take a fat, blue rubber band away from him tonight.  I’m not sure how it ended up on the floor, but he had it and was playing with it.  I have a small, square open box that I put rubber bands in on the panty shelf because they come in handy.  I think I figured out how the rubber bands are ending up on my pantry floor.  Once this cat gets an idea in his head, he won’t let it rest until he can accomplish what he has in mind.  I was putting things away and found him up on the pantry shelf fishing rubber bands out of that container.  I was shocked.  He always figures out a way to go someplace.  I think he probably climbed up on the cat food bucket and then started on the shelving until he reached his destination.  Little rascal.  It was funny and I wished I had a picture.

In the end, I had to take his prize away from him and give him a squeeze and hug instead.

Changes

clipart

This is a scary word, isn’t it?  But most of us are used to changes happening in life and have seen a few if we’ve lived very long.  Sometimes they can leave us stunned and surprised, or sometimes filled with sorrow even though it’s expected.  The problem with the unexpected is we don’t know when that ax will fall, or the shoe will drop.

I got hubby from his cataract surgery on Monday.  When he was settled, I went to get a prescription at the pharmacy in our workplace.  I was met by fellow coworkers who were in different states of grief, anger, sorrow, or disbelief, as they all related to me that our beloved boss of seventeen years had been fired that very morning.  I was shocked too, although I expected this for quite a while now because there was a real personality conflict between her and the new regional manager that had been brewing going on two years.  I probably spent way too much time consoling employees, but this was a big deal and still is.  No one’s job is safe at this point and everyone there is on egg shells and, of course, wondering what we can do to reverse the situation.  I couldn’t help but wonder if the regional manager took the coward’s way out and informed our boss by email, or text, because it was her day off.  I prefer to think he met her someplace and discussed this face-to-face.  But I’m sure we’ll never know all these details.

 It's hard to stay quiet when your insides are screaming at the injustice of recent events.

Right now we're all looking for the positive and hoping we'll find it.

 

One gal was to the point of tears because this boss was like a second mother to her.  Our boss was strict but fair in her dealings with us.  She knew all of us so well without us having to tell her this or that.  I feel so bad that she’s gone when she needs this job to survive.  As we all know it’s hard for older workers to get hired at companies.  Of course I was ready to go home and throw things, or step out into the desert for a good scream.  I believe it’ll be quite a while before everyone is over this.  It’s not going to help matters that we’ll all be seeing way too much of the regional manager in the coming days and weeks.  My gut feeling is that he’ll eventually bring in an outsider to manage us, but we’ll see.  The job is supposedly open to anyone who wishes to apply.

 I guess this is our dear boss now.  She had a contagious laugh and now all that is gone.

 

So work has lost its pizazz and fun in the blink of an eye.  Now it’s just a job like any other.  Go there, put in your time, mind your own business, be acutely aware of protocol and get your paycheck, nothing more.  Before we were always family, but all of us still respected the boss and were eager to abide by her rules and do the job to the best of our abilities for her.  I’m sure before all this over; we’ll be losing more of our “work family” by either them resigning, or given their walking papers.

 I do believe in karma so it may take a while, but Karma will step in eventually and make amends in some way.  The way people are treated is important so we should do our best to remember that at all times.

 

I don’t know what the future holds for any of us.  I’m still working there, so I can’t give any more details than that at this time.  At some upcoming time I intend to write about my experiences doing this job.  I think it would make fascinating reading for some of you that have no idea what this kind of work is like.

A rare opportunity

Every now and then something comes along that I can add to my bucket list.  Last Thursday such an opportunity arose. 

 A town in Westworld

 

I don’t know if many of you are aware that countless westerns have been filmed in the area where I live.  It’s rugged and wild with a lot of scenery that would lend itself to western programs and movies.  A casting call has gone out for paid extras the producers need for background people for some episodes of an HBO TV series called Westworld starring Anthony Hopkins.  They pay you for being bystanders, feed you and also supply your costume of 1890’s apparel.  “Where do I sign up?”  I asked when I found out about this from a friend at work who does food demos with me.  Why not?  This would certainly be an experience to remember and something I’ve never done before.

The town of Westworld

Thursday night I decided to check with my old friend Google to find out more about this show as I don’t have HBO on my channel list for TV.  Maybe some of you have seen this television show.  For the ones who haven’t, it’s a western sci-fi, drama, adventure series.  Adults can go to a theme park where they can act out their fantasies of being the characters they want to be from the 1800’s.  The amusement park caters to adults with dark desires.  There is sex and violence that goes along with that.  Or people can be gunslingers in the artificial Wild West that is populated by androids.  Anthony Hopkins plays Dr. Robert Ford, the creative director of Westworld.

 Actors/Actresses in Westworld

 

What a crazy concept for a show, but that kind of fits into what I expect from Anthony Hopkins.  So I’m in, why not?  I sure don’t have the chance of being picked if I don’t apply.  And what a great experience this would be, if I get picked out of the hundreds I’m sure will apply.

 Actor in Westworld

 

I had to write a letter sending information about me, sizes for clothing and shoes and current photos.  They want all ages of women and men, but the women have to have long hair so they’ll fit into the time period. 

 Actor/Actress in Westworld

 

Now several people from my work applied.  We don’t know yet where the filming will take place, but I’m hoping its Snow Canyon State Park because it’s only about a two miles from my house.  They filmed many John Wayne westerns there.  But it could also be Kanab because lots of western TV series from the 1950’s and 1960’s were filmed there.  If that’s the place I hope they bus us there and we’re not expected to drive there daily for filming.  That’s several hours from my house, plus I need new tires on my car.  If several of us at work get on, I’m sure we’ll carpool.  In any case, I’m not worrying about this now.  There’s a slim chance I’ll be selected anyway, depending on how many people apply.

The filming for season 3 is supposed to start soon.  The article said mid to late October, so I imagine I’ll find out pretty quick.  Stay tuned for an update on this.

If you’d like to watch the trailer for season 1, click here.

All photos courtesy of HBO for season 1.