Size matters?

These leaves are bigger than my whole face.  I am used to the cute little plant growing in a vase of water with roots and yellow streaked green decorating desktops and offices.  These things grow like they're fed Miracle Grow from Mars.  Liked the shadows and green mixed with fence line decaying beneath the foliage. 

Oddly October

It's been a very odd October already.  Technology is not my friend currently and I've crashed work programs right and left through no fault of mine.  Have been 'locked out' of my system 3 times in the past hour and half.  And it's only the 3rd!

Weird things with the full moon and the locals. I'll try to elaborate later.  Basically so bizarre I already booked Friday off as a vacation day by 10 am on Monday.  Little did I know how much I'd need it. 

I'll catch up with everyones blogs later.  Just if a giant mass of metal tears free from one of the many planes in the area and hurls towards earth know that I am probably under it or snapping pictures.  Nightmares of epic proportions last night and the night before - eerie odd.  Still can't shake the nightmare hangover.

Night Fading

As sun sets I tend to snap pictures.  The dance of light and shadows has always fascinated me.  This weekend had much in the way of 'real' weather and quite a bit of rain.  Rainbows and thunder clouds.  All catching my eye.

Went with a friend to hear a band up north a bit.  She didn't want to drive by herself and had been assured we'd have reserved seats.  Many decades ago I used to sing in bands and we called what we did "cover band" - which means we covered other songs done by some famous folks.  Now they call these bands "tribute bands" and they do the same thing but get more money at the door.  The band was good.  They did spot on Eagles.  Weirdly was the crowd.  Many men well into their 50s and 60s with 'dates' around 25 tops.  Some dang near had price tags on their tightly clad bods.  As the drinks flowed the woman were more touchie-feelie with the older men.  That or they were slipped a stray hundred. 

The promised table didn't happen which worked out better because the band was pretty loud.  We sat back at the bar and watched.  There wasn't really a dance floor but as the evening wore on more of the crowd spun around and jiggled on the thighs of their dates (a sort of 'pole' dancing if you get my drift). Was amusing. 

Yesterday talking to my folks my mom said her best friend (who is 90 years old) was fading.  Her heart is operating at half normal and her lungs simply aren't working well.  She's at a home with her equally failing husband and they both have hospice care coming in.  My mom is naturally upset. 

And so begins the week. 

Tis the Edge of the world as I know it

It was an intensely deeply layered storm with lightning crackling in between the layers.  I have a few better pictures but didn't get chance to upload them.

For all the clouds and thunder with lightning I was surprised that there wasn't much rain for my area.  See the streets are dry!  Impressive anyways.

Work is work like.  I need more three day weekends while getting paid for working a full week!

Suddenly September

The sun was rising and banked light on the clouds drifting inland.  I found it oddly spooky.  I think because it reminds me of fire and smoke. 

September is here and now that the holiday has passed there aren't any 'real' days off barring a hurricane or vacation day burned until November and the Thanksgiving four days off.  I already have my notion for the next book in my series currently running "The Pursuit" which is a bit of a spoiler title if you are currently following the work in Pikers.  But that more than likely will be my NaNoWriMo tale.  Then I can coast...ha...I amuse myself.  I am really not one to stop writing for very long.  Well except when it is over 90 degrees inside the house and a hundred out.  Heat and writing do not mix for me. 

Relatively quiet weekend for me personally.  One of my friends had too much drama.  Some of it was self-deluded sort of nonsense that shouldn't happen once you are over the age of 15 - but then I never was very good at being a 'girly girl' type.  If someone is making you unhappy LEAVE.  Don't allow your self to be dragged back time and time again.  That old expression "first time shame on you...second time shame on me" does apply.  A poorly delivered bad/good excuse once is part of learning curve.  A repeat means get off the road.  I never was one to work myself up over and over again.  Also, driving by an ex-partner's home or their ex's home is wrong.  My aunt - who I love madly - has been one of those women.  She doesn't trust her man or herself on choices and she'll drive miles off her beaten path to just see 'if' they are somewhere they shouldn't be.  "Drive by" tune from the band Train......

So we'll see how the rest of the week shapes up.

Updates and curiosities

Okay, let's see last we left chez Lydia it was roasting, cable-less and storm heading for doors....right?  Or maybe I forgot to blog it all.  That said here's the run down:

Wednesday Aug 22nd came home and a/c had died.  The landlord promised to have it fixed by Friday.  I was understanding that to be Friday the 24th...silly me.  After horrific nights of nearly no sleep and little relief I finally came home last night and it was 80 not 85 inside the house.  By morning it was 75!! Woohoo livable. 

Sunday Aug 26th as the tropical storm Isaac approached the cable decided to die right before the 8 am update.  Thankfully my Internet was up so I was able to check in the Weather Channel for news.  I found out in the middle of the night that my 'smart phone' had a feature that gave horribly loud alerts letting me know of weather problems.  Damn near gave me a heart attack when it went off.  But it did let me know that tornado warning in my area along with flooding and severe weather.  And mid o'dark the fire station had another alarm going off for everyone to panic.

I already knew the weather.  What with the lightning illuminating the entire sky at the same time as the thunder boomed out.  I found out yesterday that one of my friend's house was struck by lightning.  Fried the power in his home and his 50 inch TV.  His daughter a teenage was NOT happy nor was his girlfriend.  He just shrugged and drank beer for three days in the heat. 

Cable is free in my place because of an association thing. Eventually they came out after missing two appointment times.  They sweetly offered a $50 rebate and I kinda bit off their head saying that doesn't mean anything to me.  The guy showed up Wednesday and fixed it.   He also pulled the power lines up from where they were hanging and fixed them higher.  Another little bit of chaos from storm was the swaying of the lines tore free from roof line and the power company doesn't want to fix.  They claim it is landlords responsibility because the power pole is in the backyard common area. 

Monday was nearly at work when the emergency hot line finally said we had day off.  I'd been calling it on and off since 6.  I didn't see anyway they would have us work with all the flooding and storm damage.  So I naturally went back home and still no a/c but got to meet some poor dude who was stuck telling my landlord the cost (that was the 2nd one I met ...I don't know how many quotes he got til he caved).

Happy news on Wednesday one of the gals that was temp to perm was let go.  She was NOT a nice person so that was very good news.  One of my co-workers actually jumped in the air and clicked her feet together (she turns 60 in Dec and it was a sight!) for joy.  Not a single tear shed.  Karma is a bitch and so am I but I actually hadn't said a word about her to anyone higher up because I didn't think it was my place as she didn't do much for me.  The one time she tried to get nasty with me I gave her a lovely searing glance and she kind of sucked up to me ever after...funny that 'evil eye' works.

Yesterday early morning walk before dawn break I got to watch a bat collecting bugs overhead.  I cheered that as good omen cause mosquitoes carry stuff.  Then oddly on the way home I witnessed a man getting 'serviced' near as I could figure on the sidewalk by a ...can't say what but rhymes with slut...oh wait...that's it...on her knees between his thighs with head bobbing. During rush hour.  Okay bats to blow....jobs?  Is that crazy or what?

So that pretty much brings the basics up to date.  How you all doing?

Tropical Storm Isaac moved on

Poor Louisiana folks.  They didn't get the nasty back side of the tropical storm Isaac like we did here but instead it decided to become a baby hurricane (category one as of 6 am).  That means sustained winds of over 70 miles per hour. 

Okay, here's a little perspective on that sort of wind, as a kid my dad firmly believed in the old 4 window a/c.  Drove the car fast on the way to Las Vegas (family out there) with windows down and me clinging to the back of his headrest watching the speedometer spin higher. 

The road from Los Angeles to Las Vegas back in the day used to be an epic ride.  Long stretches of nothingness with rolling roadway.  There were exciting dips and places where those Detroit steel monster cars actually 'caught air'.  No seat belt laws and mom puffing away on her menthol cigarettes trying to put her foot through the floorboard in front of her looking for a brake pedal.  Cut to the flora and fauna in the desert.  There is dry brush that become 'tumble weeds' that us kids were supposed to watch out for.  Not because we couldn't entertain ourselves but because they scraped the paint job and mom would get a tad upset when dad swerved to avoid one.  There were tons of bugs.  The windshield was a vast graveyard of wings and legs and assorted colorful spatters.  Also Monarch Butterflies.  Enter my experience with massive sustained winds.  When driving well over the posted speed limit and the windows all down there was definitely a sustained wind of at least 70 miles per hour.  You have any idea what it feels like when a Monarch Butterfly hits your cheek bone?  Not good.  I was bruised for a while and never got a motorcycle just for that reason.  My cheek was the windshield and that butterfly didn't finish its journey.

Cut back to Louisiana.  Now imagine all that sort of wind blowing for three to four hours with driving rains and flora and fauna airborne!  The only upside is we need rain in middle America.  I hope everyone is doing well with the latest weather path!