Memorial Day

People complain about the commercialization of Christmas.

No, ANYTHING that can be monetized on has been commercialized.

My work will be swamped today, and people will be screaming because we’re out of patio furniture, lawn mowers, and (of all things) outdoor trash cans.  

What can you see from your window?
I can’t see anything from mine
Flags on the side of the highway
And scripture on grocery store signs
Maybe eighteen was too early
Maybe thirty or forty is too
Did you get your chance to make peace with the man
Before he sent down his angels for you?

Mamas and grandmamas love you
‘Cause that’s all they know how to do
You never planned on the bombs in the sand
Or sleeping in your dress blues

Your wife said this all would be funny
When you came back home in a week
You’d turn twenty-two and we’d celebrate you
In a bar or a tent by the creek
Your baby would just about be here
Your very last tour would be up
But you won’t be back. They’re all dressing in black
Drinking sweet tea in styrofoam cups

Mamas and grandmamas love you
American boys hate to lose
You never planned on the bombs in the sand
Or sleeping in your dress blues

Now the high school gymnasium’s ready
Full of flowers and old legionnaires
Nobody showed up to protest
They just sniffle and stare
But there’s red, white, and blue in the rafters
And there’s silent old men from the corps
What did they say when they shipped you away
To give all in some God awful war?

Nobody here could forget you
You showed us what we had to lose
You never planned on the bombs in the sand
Or sleeping in your dress blues

No, no you never planned on the bombs in the sand
Or sleeping in your dress blues
You never planned on the bombs in the sand
Or sleeping in your dress blues

or if you prefer:

Lay me down in the cold cold ground
Where before many more have gone
Lay me down in the cold cold ground
Where before many more have gone

When they come I will stand my ground
Stand my ground I’ll not be afraid

Thoughts of home take away my fear
Sweat and blood hide my veil of tears

Once a year say a prayer for me
Close your eyes and remember me

Never more shall I see the sun
For I fell to a Germans gun

Lay me down in the cold cold ground
Where before many more have gone
Lay me down in the cold cold ground
Where before many more have gone

Where before many more have gone

In memory of Sgt. Charles Stuart MacKenzie
Seaforth Highlanders
Who along with many others gave up his life so that we can live free. We will remember them


whats going on in stores by me

First up:

Took that screenshot off the HD website this morning. Hope you weren’t planning on building anything this year.

We’re selling lawn mowers faster than we can get them in, again. Walk behind or rider, doesn’t matter, chances are good we don’t have it in stock.

Powered and unpowered outdoor tools are in short supply, there’s holes in all the bays where we can’t get things, despite corporate throwing as many trucks as they could at us for the holiday weekend.

Patio furniture is D.O.N.E. We can get in TWO sets, and some odds and ends, and that’s it. And when I check online to look at other sets everything is out of stock.

Already seeing shortages in garden hoses and hose supplies.

Pool chemicals are almost non-existent. We got in a pallet of liquid chlorine on Friday, and by 4pm Saturday it was half gone.

SO FAR outdoor patio and wall block seems to be ok, but that season has barely started too, so we’ll see.

I will say, I saw my first case of 409 Multi-surface cleaner this week, haven’t seen that in over a year. Looking closer at the packaging I realized 409 is owned by Clorox, which explains why it wasn’t been a high priority thing this past year.

We still can’t get in toilet bowl cleaners on any sort of regular basis, and neither can either of the grocery stores I regularly shop at.

Paper products appear to have mostly recovered. There’s still random stuff missing, but you’ll only notice if you’re looking for that specialty thing.

Cat food is still quite short, as is some lines of kitty litter all the sudden.

The grocery store had whole wheat flour for the first time, I don’t know, months?, a year? this week. It was store brand, but they had it.

Sugar prices are through the roof, and its suddenly cheaper to buy some random brand of sugar I’ve never heard of instead of the store brand.

Bread yeast is in stock, but only in either packets, or as jars of “bread machine” yeast.

There’ve been no overt holes on the shelves, but if you’re looking for an odd list of specialty products, or specific products in specific sizes they’re often still not there.


Chainmaille

trying to learn a new to me weave, and flub it rather drastically

And as I’m sitting there contemplating that flub, my husband leans over my shoulder and says “I bet you could put a D20 in that…..”

Turns out I can repeat said flub too

I did eventually manage to make the weave I was trying for at least….


Let me count the ways you’re a scammer

1: says he got my email from a mailing list, except, that email is never used on mailing lists

2: then proceeds to make it clear he actually did look at my site

3: “you TOTALLY want to link to my site right? Your readers will LUV this topic thats COMPLETELY unrelated to anything you’ve ever posted about!”

4: “my mommy says I’m the best and I know you’ll agree if you’d just click through my spam link so I can get clicks!!”

5: random reference to “wife’s dressing room”

6: “if you share my link on your blog you’ll be like a hero or something!”

7: really dumbly fake foreign sounding name

8: sends repeated emails each trying a different version of the tactic, cause obviously I’ll change my mind THIS time