It's almost been a month again. I've been working and studying, and bored to death with the studying part. It's been getting hotter and hotter like a tea kettle on high, and we're at the boiling point now, just screaming our little heads off about how we're drenched in sweat and miserable. It's been over one hundred degrees for almost a week now, and the forecast says it won't let up for at least two more weeks. Hopefully they've got that wrong, but by the way its going I doubt it. I have sunburns on tomatoes and peppers...I didn't know that could happen, and sunspots on some of the plants. My potatoes are very unhappy in their pots now, I'm just trying to keep them alive to get a few potatoes from them! They're smaller and more yellow than in the pictures I previously posted. I have been able to enjoy some cucumbers, and the tomatoes are beginning to turn. My herbs seen to be doing great, but even my cosmos are singing a sad tune. One of my pumpkin vines has come back and another is still struggling, trying to make its connections strong with the ground. Hopefully, the vineborers leave them alone the rest of the summer, but that might be wishful thinking.
So I sit here in my computer room, sweating because I have to turn my AC up to at least 85 to keep it from disastrous self-destruction, with a high powered fan blowing hot air on me. My dog sits on my lap and I can feel the sweat accumulating under her from my legs against my capris. I attribute the afternoon nap I took for nearly two hours on the fact that is hot, that's my story and I'm sticking to it. Luckily, Zach and I got up and ran this morning when it was only 82 degrees!
I'm enjoying the new computer Zach built me for my graduation, it's really nice, and great to have my very own! Work has been good, I'm not sure what I will be doing between when my training term ends and when I get the news that I am licensed, but I guess I'll figure it out here in a couple days!
Today, this new grocery, Fresh Market, opened up. It was busy, as was to be expected...and most people were good natured. I can't say as much about my cashier. She wasn't the kind of offensive that offends you right away, but more after you've been home awhile and your brain has a chance to untangle and understand her little jabs. Which, of course, is more bothersome because what are you really going to do, march back in there and point a finger? Probably not. I'll just have to let it go, she'd probably been there all day having to deal with customers, and she might not have had much experience at that. So, they don't have a belt, you just have a little ledge, and she's suppose to unload your cart for you as she's scanning the produce, but I thought I'd help her out and place a few items on the ledge. She was annoyed by this and in a condescending manner, like she was talking to either a three year old or (unfortunately for our elders) an eighty year old with that fake high pitched voice, said thanks and that I didn't have to do that. Okay, I'll stop. Then she asked me if this was my first time at one of their stores, and I hadn't even realized they'd existed before they came to this corner to habitate the old Borders, so I told her no. She could have said welcome, but instead she kept talking in that abnoxious voice where she was talking to me in tender words that they had an elite list of customers to whom they'd mailed invitations to come that day. That's one of those things I don't get on the scene, because it never occurs to me that a person can be so sly and malicious. Or just an idiot. I'm not sure I'll go back. That's not all, and there were some things she said that were harmless and maybe borderline nice without sounding like a puppet's facade, but she wasn't a great actress and you could tell. I just wish I could be more upfront with people when its happening to me and stand up for myself then, instead of feeling miserable about it later. Maybe there is a survey on the receipt I can do...that would make me feel a bit better than even venting here. I should keep this in mind for my own customer service and try not to make people feel this way. I wouldn't want to make a patient feel like they were mentally inept, socially inept, or just beneath me, that's not why I'm there. I'm there to make people feel well again...not worse. The key to that is to be genuine.
Well, we lost a tree in that storm I talked about last time, and we have massive 200lb logs that need splitting now! They're pretty impressive. The tree was about thirty seasons old based on the number of rings at its base. It was dying though, and suffered a fatal injury. He was rotted half way through the trunk when they took him down. We also had the arborists clean up a couple of our trees by the garage for us, which made them look very tall and majestic even. It seemed to be a good thing.
I almost forgot to mention that I've started taking belly dancing classes with Trisha! They're a lot of fun, and so challenging! To shake this and hold that still while keeping the beat in threes with your fingers and twos with your hips is insane! Sorry for all the exclams, but for real! Some one let me borrow a scarf and shimmie belt scarf (it makes noise) last class, which made it all the more fun. I just had to mention it. It's pretty neat.
While I've been really focusing on my studies this week, everything else has fallen away in importance, and the house is such a mess! I guess that is a never ending story though...things always moving toward chaos. As Porky Pig always said, "That's all folks!"
