It is a mystery

Last weekend, I got the dog fencing put up. I ran to so many places Sat morning, first tractor supply for poles and fencing. I got 5.5 ft heavy duty t-posts and 5 ft tall mesh wire fencing with 2inx4in holes because I was a little afraid of Mara trying to stick her face through bigger holes. I ended up getting three rolls of 100ft because I figured I could use the rest elsewhere. I also got socks because I was out and masonry twist ties for securing the fencing.

I also stopped by an estate sale on the way back which was a jackpot for things. There was so many tools and things in the garage and I picked up three hydraulic jacks, clippers, saws, a whole shoebox of hand tools, a double bay sink, three boxes of sewing thread and some other things for $80. So much stuff and some of it wasn't even out because there was so much stuff.

Finally got home and got to work. Drove poles into the ground which was remarkably easy but probably because it is a septic field that they put in. So level and no big rocks. Did one long side then decided to try putting up the fencing before I drove the rest of the poles. The roll of fencing was heavy and difficult to move but I was able to shuffle the roll along the ground while unrolling it. I tied it to each pole as I went so it could help stabilize the roll. I only dropped it once. It went smoother than I thought! I did end up with a headache so I quit after one long side.

Then Sunday, I got started around 9 and got the whole shebang completed by noon! I knew what I was doing and got it done! I'm not happy with the gates, which are just panels of the wire tied onto the poles but they work for now and in a few weeks I'll get some proper gates put up. Mara was unimpressed at first but she is liking it more, especially the early mornings I've had this week.



Tuesday, I graded potatoes for work. Lots of picking up and weighing baskets of potatoes. I really enjoy it because we also get to judge the potatoes. On my way home, I got a call from the shearer I'm working with, he had an opportunity to shear Wed morning, was I interested? Hell yes.

So Wed morning, I helped shear sheep! I sheared two small Icelandic sheep and then clipped the bellies of three other sheep. The belly cleanup was because they will lamb in January/February and by that time the fiber on the sheep will be really long and it can be difficult for the lambs to find udders. Didn't take too long and I can definitely see where I'm improving on equipment use and shearing. I can also see how to get better.

I moved furniture today for work. The office is moving and for some reason the basement office needed to be emptied soon so we pulled all the furniture out. My coworker wasn't going to move it to the new office but it was worth keeping so we put it in their garage.

Mara and I encountered turkeys on our evening walk today and Mara wanted to eat them so badly she was whining and barking and trying to bolt after them. We got through it okay but it must have been too much for her back legs because they were twitching after she calmed down. They've stopped twitching now and she's snoring.

I got tacos takeout for dinner and it was delicious. I'm also officially done with farm season 2022, no more trips to my parents for farm work. Good and bad. But definitely good for getting things done around here this weekend.

 I got groceries this morning because it was today or tomorrow since Lucy (dog I'm dogsitting) was almost out of food and there's a 30% chance of snow/rain wed night into thurs. I also was almost out of yogurt and while I totally want to make yogurt, right now it really won't work well because of the dog logistics.

This morning I hit snooze on my phone and Lucy moved around in her little dog bed and jingled her collar, which made Mara start moving around, who startled the cat who was standing on the couch with me and prompted her to try and leave via my computer which was on the coffee table. So I was suddenly blinded by my computer starting and seeing the cat in front of my face. 

Then I fed the dogs and the cat, starting with the dogs and then the cat harasses me for wet food the whole way, but she's fed in the living room and the dogs are fed in the kitchen. so many cat screams. 

Lucy is finally calming down whenever I come in the house or talk to her. I started giving her a lot of cheese yesterday and that helped a lot. She also discovered my heated blanket and likes that a lot. 

Mara is bemused constantly but she's being very good. Our morning walks are shorter because Lucy doesn't want to go for a walk with us because I'm still evil apparently and it's been so cold I don't want to have her sitting on the porch shivering. Then I do a long walk mid-day with just Mara to tire her out. Then go down to the house and let Lucy out, give her lots of cheese and just hang out so she wanders around and sniffs things. Then an evening walk where I walk Mara first, then we loop down to the house and let Lucy out for a bit. 

Good thing work isn't busy right now because I'm tired as heck. Other than attending a virtual conference this week.

Have been talking to the other technicians about duties and promotions and things. All three of us have greatly expanded out duties to the point where we are basically doing a different job but we haven't been paid for that job. So I have my performance review soon and I fully plan to push for the title change (and increase in pay) for all three of us. It literally only puts us up a pay band so the increase is a dollar or two an hour more but it's something! I've been chatting with the other techs and the specialists we support have been very encouraging and feel it is the right thing for the team to do. The big part will be the inertia and pushing the team leads to actually make it happen further up the chain. Biggest thing I think will be a push point is that the equivalent team across the state brings in their techs at the higher position.  

I've been watching a lot of olympics right now. The women's tournament is one of the first events of the olympics and there's been 2-4 games a night with the only ones watchable at 8am for me. But the replays are very good and I've spent a lot of time catching up. Plus I've fit in a little bit of watching snowboarding and figure skating. Mostly hockey though. Fun games, especially Group B! I'm currently watching the USA-Canada game that was at 11pm last night (no spoilers!)

Got a couple of sidejob plans done that I was worried about, I'm going to try and get another one or two done this week because I had three more requests come in yesterday. 

 I'd gotten one email pretty much the whole morning, left right after lunch to go pickup some fun stuff and drop off some donate stuff and suddenly everyone is emailing and I got an actual phone call. 

How do people know exactly when I'm away from the apartment

 I'm listening to a recording of a talk and one of the presenters is big in the niche industry subject and she's very clearly knowledgeable and very charming and charismatic

she annoys the hell out of me

I don't get it and clearly other people like her just fine, I've never even had a conversation with her but she just grates on me. I'm reading the transcript and took my earbuds out.

 I think I'm going to take all next week off work. I have Thursday and Friday off anyway and I am really not feeling work right now. Apparently, it is much more difficult to focus on work when you aren't at your desk. Whoda thunk

 The tropical storm is just starting to move through our area, mostly just the extended arm and it is raining pretty decently right now. Winds aren't supposed to be here until afternoon. It is cool for once and we turned off the AC and opened the windows. Sounds of rain are nice. Predicted cone looks like its going to roll right over our area but it seems to be losing power. 

I texted a friend down in MD, checking in on them. They've got power outages but seem okay so far. 

I'm working from home today because I think everyone in my industry is. Chatting with people yesterday sounded like everyone was scrambling to get stuff done before the storm. The amount of rain we're going to get means it will be a few days before it's dry enough to get into the fields. I get to go into the field tomorrow to count thrips on onions, which will be a delight I'm sure. 

We were scrambling to harvest watermelons from our variety trial yesterday. That just means I came home with four large watermelon halves (we did taste and brix tests but you only need one half for that and the other gets photographed and then we take them home.) and three small round watermelons. I ate so much watermelon yesterday. I fear a little for my digestive system. We've got another harvest of them on Friday, which means another taste test :)

 I'm 99% packed up with stuff I need for this weekend and it's in my truck. The only things left to load are: tray of pepper plants, cooler with cold food, dog, me. 

But I'm waiting to see if my boss gets back soon enough to work on a project before I leave. I kinda doubt it. He has to go to two farms where they LOVE to talk to him. So. You know. But we'll see. I'm game to work on the project if he leaves early enough but it's the early enough that's the problem. 

In other news, it's amazing how much shit you need for three days camping.

 Just gave an hour presentation on how to livestream to my coworkers so how's that for weird knowledge coming in useful for my job

 I'm desperately hoping Jade hasn't infected me with her sinus cold thingy that she's currently sick with. I have the slightest pressure in one ear, my face feels a little tight and I was sneezing a little bit this afternoon. Today is Thursday. Saturday I'm supposed to drive down to the whale game. Tuesday and wednesday, work is running a whole fucking conference and I have to be there. 

Bad timing. Worst timing. If I get sick tomorrow, I have to spend the weekend resting up for the conference, no game for me. It's the last whale game of the season near me. 

It seems like a two or three day thing since she's most of the way recovered but ugh. Horrible timing. I just want to do fun things before the gross things like the conference. 

 Coworkers are asking for things that are urgent due to a meeting on Tuesday but not getting me the things to complete said things in time. I literally can't make the printer go faster and I'm not staying late to print things tonight, which it HAS to get done today because monday I'm getting said printed things bound at another location. IT HAS TO BE DONE TODAY AND I STILL DON'T HAVE THE FILES

Inching closer and closer to fuck this and fuck you