Saturday Stories - Jobs 03-05-16

Over the years Diane had a lot of different jobs, starting with ironing men’s dress shirts for 20cents each and, of course, baby sitting.  She wasn’t very good at the latter job and once poured a glass of water over the head of a recalcitrant boy child of about 9years.  She did not sit for that family anymore – even if they had asked her! 

As an adult she worked for a temporary agency that sent workers out on jobs to replace someone who was ill or the company just needed extra help.  The job operating different types of copying machines was interesting, but the guys had a great laugh at referring to me as the Reproduction Clerk.  Sexual harassment on the job was common then.  One fascinating job was working on an assembly line.  This was in the Vietnam era and Hyland Labs packaged testing materials and first aid materials to be dropped from helicopters in the battle zones. There was a layer of foam that fit exactly over the tops of the items inside. The exterior packaging was two layers of heavy cardboard and about a 3” layer of Styrofoam.  Diane started out on the line, putting square things in square holes and round things in round holes.  There were ladies on the line who had been doing this job for twenty years or more.  The things were different and the holes were different shapes, but it was a monotonous job.  After about two weeks Diane told the supervisor she didn’t think she was suited to the job.  He offered her training on the labeling machine, which sounded interesting.  At first it was, but it too was a monotonous job.  By the time she left the company she could work all the machines on the line and they offered her a full time job.  Diane declined, she knew she wasn’t cut out for that kind of work. 

She continued with the temporary company and did a lot of interesting jobs over the next three years.  It was nice to be able to not work for a few days or a week, but the drawback was there were no benefits, she had to work enough to pay for her own health insurance.  So, she went to work full time w/benefits for an aerospace company.

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Friday Feet 03-04-16

This little guy might grow into these one day.

What is with the colored shoes these days?  I saw a man in a business suit with bright red shoes!

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Wordless Wednesday on a Thursday! 03-03-16

 

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A Resting Day 03-02-16

How can it be March already?  I have no idea what happened to January and February!  Guess that is a characteristic of "maturing", as I hear it from many of my equally "mature" friends. 

 

Today was a day of rest.  I took naps, read, processed my e-mails, took out the trash and took some more naps and read some more.  The Book Group book for March  is "Behind the Shattered Glass" a mystery by Tasha Alexander.  It is a series that takes place in turn of the 20th Century England and this is about the fifth book in the series.   If I enjoy it I will certainly have to go back and read all of the previous books.  So many books to read, so little time.  Tomorrow I need to get busy and get organized - although that word alone is scary.  Getting organized means getting rid of "stuff" and I'm not very good at that.

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Modern Quilting 03-01-16

I drove down to SDiego this afternoon to have dinner with the art quilt group and attend a guild that had a speaker about modern quilting.  I didn't get much out of it, she was not a good speaker and her visuals were poor.  What I learned is that there are no rules (except for 1/4"seams).  Some quilts are based on traditional patterns, some on spontaneous piecing, some are planned out by the maker, some come from actual patterns in books.  I don't think there are many common characteristics.  Maybe lots of open background, no boarders, solid color fabrics; but those don't always apply.  One of the group brought half a dozen books about modern quilting and shared them with the art quilt  group.  I found the pictures covered a wide spectrum of design, most had nothing in common except perhaps a lot of background.  It gives space for dense quilting which seems to be another characteristic of what is referred to as "Modern Quilting". 

I drove home after the meeting and arrived in my garage at 10:34pm - exactly an hour and a half after leaving the meeting place.  Little traffic, construction only lowered the lanes to two, and I was able to "fly" home.  Time for bed. 

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Driving Home 02-29-16

It was a seven hour drive today, including one pit-stop, a gas fill up and an hour and a half to drive the 1/2 hour drive from Pasadena to the 57Fwy.  The traffic was light until Pasadena and there was only one construction project which wasn't much of a hold up.  The sky was blue, as I went south the hills and fields went from very green to mostly brown.  Rain is predicted for the weekend - but we will believe it when we see it!  The hold up east of Pasadena was a multi-car accident which included a motor home over the side, requiring a crane on the roadway to haul it out.  So, three right hand lanes were closed.  The traffic was mostly stop with a short "go" in between.  Gr-r-r-r. When I finally reached home I unloaded part of the car and then took a nap which gave me a second wind.  Now it is all unloaded - but not all put away.  That is the downside of traveling - coming home to unload, put things in their place, go through the mail and do the laundry!   But it was worth it - a fine trip.

After driving across the fertile valley from Mary's the road goes up over Pacheco Pass (elevation 1,368 feet) a winding, but well designed climb.

  

At the top there is a stretch of flat road where trucks stop to test their brakes.  Once over the top the highway winds down around the large San Luis Reservoir which isn't very full right now and hasn't been for five or six years.   

I turned south onto I-5 and discovered that I had missed the almond trees full bloom - I should have driven up on I-5 instead of 101.  See how white it is under the trees; looks like snow.  But it is the fallen petals of the almond flowers.

It is really obvious in this picture.

On the east side of the highway the land stretches out flat to the foot hills of the Sierra.  Lots of farming and cattle and sheep raising. 

While to the west side the almond groves continue for miles.

Finally we are out of the farmed area and the raw land is carpeted with a yellow flower I cannot identify, spread out between the sagebrush.  The coastal mountains are just shadows in the distance. 

 

And then I am on the 210 Fwy going east from Pasadena.  I was very familiar with the Honda in front of me as we crept along for miles.   See that strange brown thing in the 2nd lane over?

It is a truck full of irrigation pipes.  Seems like a heavy load.  It also was around for miles!

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Wild Flowers Blooming 02-28-16

Mary was at the hospital with Joe all day, so I decided to drive over to Pacific Grove again and see who I could see at the opening day at Empty Spools Seminars.  First I stopped at Back Porch Fabrics to view Melinda Bula's quilts hanging in the classroom.  WOW!  They are gorgeous.  Fused applique (lots of flowers), thread painting and dense quilting.  Very bright and cheerful.  Then I went on to Asilomar and ran into Sherry and Nancy and Gayle and Suzanne and Carolie and Sue and....!  Nancy's wonderful appliqued quilts are hanging in Merrill Hall as she is the Featured Artist this session.  Check out the tiny hand quilting.   It was just about time for the classes to start when I left to drive home.  The traffic was like any Sunday - lots of people returning from their weekend in Monterey/Pacific Grove/Carmel and 156 is packed, but it moved along slowly.  Just got to Mary's when the Oscar's started (I think) so we watched them off and on before and after dinner.  Those were some gowns - lots of bare skin and some of the outfits were not very flattering.  Oh well, it is fun to see all that glitz and glamour.

 

Although they have had more rain up here than where I live in SCalifornia, this is not going to be a bounteous Spring.  There were a few wild flowers in bloom.

 

There is oxalis, early harbinger of Spring.

 

This is some kind of mint. 

 

The wild flags were out in a small patch near Stuck-Ups.

 

Such a graceful classic shape.

 

The calla lilies are wild around this area.  They used to be planted, but now they have become so intrusive that many people pull them out with the weeds. 

 

 Of course, there is wild mustard along the roadsides and in fallow fields.

Some places it is so tall it blocks the view of the countryside.

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