Just Puttering About

Being busy with my new job, I've slacked on getting out for my regular daily walks.  However, yesterday afternoon I did just that and it felt good.

Since it was a warm day, and I was all sweaty from the walk, I decided to putter around the yard for an hour or so.  I grabbed the ole shovel and turned the dirt in my two raised bed, see below.  I tilled the winter rye I planted in the fall, weeds that had started to pop and lingering fall leaves.  All under ground now to decay and add nutrients to the soil ahead of planting season.

As you can see my garlic is coming along nicely too -

 

I'm already mulling what veggies to plant this season and where.  I can hardly wait!

It's Them, NOT You!

New Adventure; A Career Change

I've been a bit preoccupied lately, hence the lull in postings.

My post-corporate world career has taken a sharp right turn, hold on!

I was looking for a change and on a whim applied online with the United States Postal Service.  Lo and behold it's official, I am now a sworn in federal employee with the title of "Rural Carrier Associate (RCA)".  A part time position and one that is used to fill in when regular carriers have scheduled days off or take vacation days.

I will be working out of the Millis, MA post office, pictured below, which currently has (13) mail routes.  So, although a part time position, I've been assured that there are plenty of hours available to keep me busy working 40+ hours a week.

I didn't realize how much preparation goes into working for the post office after being hired - Two days of orientation held at the main postal facility in Boston's South Station.  One day at the postal driving academy in Boston South Station, to learn how to drive the mail truck, also known as the Grumman Long Live Vehicle (LLV). One day of "shadowing", which was to sit in a jump seat in the back of an LLV with a Millis postal carrier as they did their route and delivered mail. Then four days at the RCA post academy in Shrewsbury, MA to learn the ins and outs and responsibilities of being a mail carrier.

With all that completed and behind me, my first official day in the Millis PO was Monday, March 24th.  I'm paired up with a mentor for the foreseeable future to learn more about the day to day tasks of the job and to get familiar with the site and fellow carriers.  This mentors route, route 008, delivers to the town of Norfolk, MA and has 536 stops (mailboxes and some businesses)!

Seems I'm picking things up rather quickly and as a reward I was given the below LLV this past Saturday and tasked with delivering the mail to the back quarter of route 008 SOLO!

 

Although, I am still as green as green can be, the one thing I will say is that having only done this for a few short weeks, I have a new appreciation for what mail carriers do!  It's really a dirty, thankless job and one that honestly doesn't reward the folks nearly enough.

I'm thankful for the opportunity and will give it my best effort.

#Blessed

My (Neighbors) Feathered Friends

Yup, pure envy in this picture!

My back neighbor has six chickens and they've been out and about with the warmer weather we've been having.

I sure do miss having them and the fresh eggs.  Perhaps, I'll get a couple one of these days.  We'll see.

My Happy Place!

The view of my house from my neighbors yard -

She'll be hard to see from this vantage point once the leaves come out.

The Epitome of Laziness

Back around mid February, 13ish or so, we had a snow and ice storm that was pretty bad for a week or two following.  The temperatures dropped and everything turned into an ice skating rink, it was treacherous.

I've posted several stories in the past about my lazy neighbors, well here's another example to help illustrate how lazy and inconsiderate people can be.

The first pic below, which I took on March 8 upon returning from my walk, shows how the neighbors were too lazy to actually shovel a path to their mailbox, both for themselves to get the mail and for the postal carrier to deliver it.  I would see them literally need to climb the mounded snow and ice around the box to fetch their mail.  The postal carrier ultimately was able to put the mail in the box with little troubles, so and not that I'm wishing this on them, but the laziness of the homeowners might ultimately be their "downfall" and they'd have no one to blame but themselves.

Now fast forward to March 9 when the below two pics were taken.  As you can see the snow has all melted and is gone but the neighbors mailbox has since fallen over. Seems something hit it, as the base of the hollow aluminum post is damaged and dented.  Perhaps, the sidewalk plow hit it but who knows.

It is Sunday, March 23 as I write this and I want to point out that the mailbox below IS IN THE SAME SPOT IT WAS BACK ON THE 8th!!  You'd of thought they would have at least moved if out of the way and to the side of the sidewalk but NOPE!  Seems they can't be bothered.

Being lazy is one thing and if their laziness only effect them then fine.  However, their laziness is also being inconsiderate and causing a potential hazard for the folks that use the sidewalk every day!

Most normal homeowners would have brought this mailbox up to the house by now but not these POS.

Thankfully, the postal carrier doesn't deliver their mail, rather he drives on by, which means a reward for laziness requires the homeowners need to drive to the Franklin post office to pick up their mail each day.  I guess they're okay with that.

I write this because I struggle with how people can be so frick'n lazy, selfish and inconsiderate.

Powerful And SO True...

It's Blooming Time!

Must be spring as my snowdrops and crocus are in full bloom, with my tulips, daffodils and hyacinth's poking through the soil and on their way!

A Screw Loose!

I will NOT ever watch the new Netflix series Zero Day for one simply reason - Robert DeNiro, or any other of his films, just saying!

He's an extreme left-wing liberal big mouth, in my opinion.  Once he stepped up on his soapbox and began preaching and tell us his thoughts and opinions, and making a complete fool of himself he lost me as a fan! 

I mean honestly, who in their right minds listens to and follow these "famous" people nut jobs - well except the other extreme left-wing leaning, wacky POS nutjobs?  Their thoughts and opinions have NO more value than everyone else's, SO please keep them to yourselves!

No, piss off!

Level 9, Welcome!

I received my American Red Cross 9-gallon pin today!

The discrepancy with the donor app has also been fixed.

It's official, I'm in the 9-gallon club, with (73) lifetime donations to date...and climbing.

My next donation appointment is May 29!

#Blessed

Wakey Wakey!

Good news, all (33) cloves of garlic that I planted in the fall are poking through!

In the past when I planted my fall garlic they all typically started poking through before the frost and cold weather set in but NOT this past fall, so I was concerned.

Out puttering in the yard yesterday and I was super pleased to see each and everyone of the plants making their move!

String Them Along

I'm trying some new with my two bird houses this spring, see below.

There is always a battle between my beloved Eastern Bluebirds and the dreaded, annoying Sparrow to determine who gets to claim these bird houses as home.

What I've been doing, which is so counter productive, is I block the holes.  However, I only do this when the sparrow have taken over but inevitably it also prevents the bluebirds from moving in too.

I recently read on one of the social media apps that hanging string like I've done below wards off sparrow and most birds, as they flap their wings as they approach and enter the hole.  However, bluebirds do not, rather they swoop in with their wings closed.

Remember you can't believe everything you read on social media, so we'll see if there's any validity to this approach.  I'm not sure if I've installed the string properly but I'll keep a close eye and adjust if I need to.  At the end of the day, if this approach deters the sparrow I'll consider it a win.  I loath those god awful, noise and messy birds, GRRR!

Yes Goosebumps and Tears...

Boston Day 3

I spent another full day, UGH, in Boston this past Thursday.

Good news, I wasn't expected until 10:45AM, so I didn't need to get up at the ass-crack of dawn and rush to the train.  I got into the city about an hour before my appointment and since it was a nippy but beautiful day I just walked, a Forest Gump kinda walk, just killing time.

I came across a couple of these odd, huge pink inflatables; one in a tree in the PO Square common and the second, pervertedly peering into a building on Congress street.  Seems these balloon are called "Mr. Pink 3" and is part of art of the Boston Winteractive outdoor art exhibition.

Mr. Pink 3 ("Monsieur Rose")

The brown building behind Mr. Pink 2 is where I had been working for the past~7-years -

I used to work in this building pre 2018, which is literally across PO Square Commons from the building referenced and pictured above -

Took my lunch break on this swinging bench and almost didn't make it back in time, HAHA! Slowly swaying back and fourth in the sun just about put me to sleep.  I need one of these at the house - 

This is a medium Dunkin Donuts coffee.  I remember, "back in the day" maybe late 80's, early 90's, when this was called "The Big Gulp" and cost only $0.95 cents.  The coffee pictured below cost me $3.91 in South Station, Boston, OMG - 

Looking for train and track number on the South Station big board, along with many of the other commuters and travelers -

Taking the commuter rail into and out of the city makes a long day even longer and adds 2-hours to my day, GRRR

Boston Here I Come!

Seems like it was only yesterday that I was taking the MBTA commuter rail into Boston for my full-time job.  I got to relive this wonderful <not so much> experience, as I've spent the last couple of days in Boston.

I can honestly tell you that I do NOT miss it!  The hour train ride in and the hour train ride out is exhausting; the whole process is actually.

I was expecting much more volume on the train too but, nope, it wasn't bad at all.

It was a beautiful day on Monday, so an outside lunch was in order, as well as taking in some people watching!  South Station, the commuter rail hub, is pictured below -

AHH, Regina Pizzeria I missed you SO SO MUCH and SO darn good -

I did my best to start and stop my Strava app in an effort to capture all the walking I got in and the below is what was logged.  However, I did do quite a bit more walking than what's showing -

Hoping Thursday is the last day I need to go in.  It's too darn expensive to park, purchase the rail ticket and eat in the city...

Speaks Volumes!

What a worthless bunch of hypocrites, SHAME on them!

You just can't make this shit up, appalling really!

Being Lazy Doesn't Pay...

The same windstorm we had throughout the day yesterday claimed the neighbors pool, flipped it right over!

Now, understand that my neighbors appear to be very lazy and most definitely not the outdoorsy type, nor big on doing typical lawn care, yard maintenance nor pool maintenance.

The pool survived last winter, which surprised me. This past fall it appeared that they drained the pool but did not winterize it and certainly opted to NOT even bother to cover it for some reason, so I'm not surprised it ended up like this.

It's unfortunate really but comical at the same time. 

You know the ole saying, "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure"...

Leaning Over

Had a bit of excitement there this afternoon, a BIG dead tree blew over onto the electrical wires and dangling over the roadway!

It's been incredibly windy today, with super strong gusts and this tree fell victim to it all.

Surprisingly, we never lost power or any services, and truth be told it's been a nice several hours with NO vehicle traffic speeding up and down the street since it's been closed.

All in all a pretty good response to get this resolved.

BFF's

Frick and Frack!

These two get along and are fine together, perhaps even 'bonded' but Trixie is the one in charge.  Basically, she tolerates Oliver and will let him know when it crosses the line.

That being said, he is forever sitting and watching over Trixie when she's sleeping.  Sometimes playfully waiting to pounce but mostly it seems like he's concerned and keeping a close eye on her -

Wicked smaht these two, taking advantage of and lounging in the sun -

Me on the other hand, well lets just say that I am NOT a cat person AND I'm tired of searching each room in the house every morning, like hunting eggs on Easter morning, with fingers crossed hoping they're all cat vomit free, GRRR. Despise finding signs of him up on the counter, DOUBLE GRRR (if I ever catching him, OY VEY) and being unable to have house plants because he eats them, ASS!

Fairly certain that come the warmer weather, which is right around the corner, Oliver is going to become a full time outdoor cat, HOORAY!!

Use It Wisely!

Don't sweat the small things. Stay the course...

Let The Game Begin!

Well, it's that time of the year when the day are longer, the weather starts to warm and we're in the homestretch to spring.

With these changes also comes the awakening of both the Boxelder Bugs and the dreaded Stink bugs. These pesky insects start stirring and randomly appearing in the house - not an onslaught but rather one here and one there. More annoying than anything else.

But with it also comes time for "water' sports!

"Water" sports, as defined by me, is where the emerging critters are gently gathered and tossed into the commode 🚽, see below, then used as targets 🎯, wink wink.

Now I'm not saying this is a gender specific sport, heaven forbids no! However, I would imagine that males have a far easier time at this game, but ALL are invited to play!

Ready! Set! Unzip...

Never Stopped Caring...

Aww, How (Cute) Accurate!

How true is this?!

A Time Gone By

Going through some old paperwork of my folks, I came across the below November 1977 Singer special event advertisements, which are in very good condition.

Suppose the prices listed were considered expensive back then.  Interestingly, I did a "Singer sewing machine" search on Amazon and the returned results show similar prices, see below.  However, I suspect the ones made back in the day were made with solid pieces and parts that lasted versus today's models are made with plastics and much less reliable -

FYI - Amazon returned results for "Singer sewing machines" -

Here are a couple of cash register receipts from the Singer Sewing Machine Company from back in 1955 and 1956.  I'm guessing these were receipts for a new sewing machine that my mother bought at that time. Although, I am confused at the name that's written on each but the address, 24 Staniford Street in Boston, is where my mom's family lived at that time.

I still have my mothers Singer sewing machine here at my place and it still works perfectly -

 

Here is a current map of 24 Staniford street today.  I'm guessing the old apartment building is long gone, having been replaced with something more modern and with more capacity.  Perhaps, when the weather warms come spring I'll take a ride into Boston one day and walk around this area to get a lay of the land - 

If we could only go back in time...