Week 13: Pancakes and Squirrels

So I decided to make some pancakes this morning!  Complete with cinnamon! 

So I make mini pancakes.  I am not sure how I started that tradition, but it has stuck and each time I make them I make them small.  I also like peanut butter with mine.  They were, in a word, delicious!

Photography wise, the squirrels decided to give me quite a treat this week and be very photogenic.  I already put this shot out but thought I should put it in the blog:

By far a favorite shot of mine.  This was also a favorite:

Sometimes they run away, then other times they are curious as to who the human is with this big thing in his hand! 

And lastly on the photography front, our photography groups theme this week was unlucky for some and so:

You probably know snake eyes, but the cards are known as the Dead Man's Hand, made famous by Wild Bill Hickock.  I love the fact that the group is a mix of variety and creativity.  No 2 pictures are alike so you get to see a plethora of options!  I have Photoshop ideas stacking up but I am still working so weekends I balance between rest, date night, and creativity (including blog). 

So our county has gone under a Stay Home, Work Safe Guideline.  My job is considered essential and so I am still working as long as the work comes in.  Not complaining considering how many people are out of work.  Ginger and I have been staying safe and other than my allergies acting up because of all the pollen around (everything is yellow green) we are healthy as can be.  Since Ginger's medicine change back to her normal dose she has been doing fantastic.  She went 3 days without an anxiety attack last week and they are occuring less frequently now. That said, being an extrovert this lock down has really not been her favorite thing in the world.  She would love to go to a place to sit down to eat and socialize.  I have tried to adjust where I am during the week to try and get home at lunch so she can go get the lunch and bring it back for us.  As long as I am not spending all day at Hideaway Lake like the past couple of weeks, then I can usually get home.  We are taking precautions at work just to make sure we are safe.

Wednesday morning I had a heart to heart talk with my boss.  It was time and circumstances had gotten to the point that I needed to tell him some things.  I had one of his contractors try to get me to either get a huge raise or quit and work for myself so I could give him work (his exact words were you can do the estimates, I can do the rest).  This happens a lot.   I was a captive audience since I had to take the contractor into Hideaway because I have a license and the contractor didn't.   On top of that the same person painted one day and then dropped the painting onto me after having done a horrible job with an inferior paint.  So I was left trying to fix what he did (and you want me to quit and give you work after the work I just saw!?!).  After a couple of trips out there it was determined the paint needed to be changed (something I suggested early) because you could not touch up with a paint that changed sheens every time you used it and was like glue even with penetrol.  And then you tell me someone else is going to paint it.    I was furious.  So you left me to fix it because you didn't want to change paints and then you did and I was left out when the paint you were using I have experience with.  On top of that then you use a different spray tip than the one you told me to use?  So Wednesday morning I went in to clear the air, get things off my chest.  And I am glad I did.  He was taken aback at what exactly I had been going through.  He learned the state of his team.  It was a good meeting and he stepped up.  He actually took the lead on the Hideaway job and did most of the painting himself.   And then one of our guys who works Saturday did some painting then.  And hopefully we go in Monday and things go smoothly.  I can paint and I can paint well.  I even bought two new professional brushes just to prove it was not the equipment.  So now the air is cleared.  He was going to talk with the contractor about what he did, that is fine with me now.  I have this says, when the pain of change is less than the pain of staying the same, you change.  I changed.  This has done nothing to change my long term plans, but let me say this.  I have no desire to compete with my boss by opening up my own remodeling company.    Now going into another field, that is a different story. 

So we will see if the stay at home order works.  People here have been doing just what they want to do, but if Saturday is any indication, it may be working.  Home Depot is only letting 100 people in at a time and that place was packed Saturday.  Luckily all I needed I got to last me for a while. 

Thanks for listening and reading the blog.  Hope everyone is staying safe and socially distant.   Everyone stay safe and I am going to continue to take pictures and blog.  Now it is time to get into the studio and do some practicing with pours!

Baa