Flippity Flop

For those who don't live in Florida, I'm going to let you in on a little secret.  It's hot.  And not just 98 during the daytime kind of hot.  Unlike the Northern states, the temperature doesn't let up at night.  I remember one year at summer camp where it was 85 degrees in the middle of the night.  If we were lucky it would dip down to 82 degrees some nights.

For reference, I want to bring up the HBO show Dexter.  It took place in Miami.  I know a lot of people think that all the girls running around in tank tops/bikini tops/short shorts and flip flops were just eye candy.  Well, that's how Miami really is.  The girls really dress that way for a reason  It's hot.  Dang hot.  Africa hot.  You have to wear light and small clothing due to how hot it is.  And not just T-shirts and shorts.  A good pair of flip flops are considered daily wear in Florida.  My point being that a good pair of flip flops are not just summer wear, but can be used year round.

Due to how much use my flip flops get, I just wore out my last two pair.  So it was time to get new ones.  Luckily, I managed to snag exactly the kind I wanted that were made by one of my favorite brands, OP or Ocean Pacific.

Back in the late 80's/early 90's surf wear was all the rage, and I really dug Ocean Pacific's clothing.  Back in the 80's I had a few brightly colored shirts of theirs.  So when I spotted this pair of flip flops, I instantly knew I had to have them.  It may take a little while to break them in, but even new, they are really comfy.  I hope to log many miles in them.

Angel's Trumpet, Part 3, The Squeaky Wheel

To understand this post a little better you might want to read the first two posts about the Angel's Trumpet I wrote.

Part 1.

http://angjellockheart.blogspot.com/2014/05/im-not-sure-how-i-feel-about-angels.html

Part 2.

http://angjellockheart.blogspot.com/2015/05/the-angels-trumpet-plant-in-my-yard-is.html

Well, posting on the internet has done what a years' worth of bitching has not.  The Angel's Trumpet plant, tree has been cut back.  So now I can mow under it.  Not to mention that the grass underneath it can actually start to grow.

Here's the pictures.

So now I can get back to mowing without getting repeatedly smacked in the head by this dang tree.  Now I will concentrate on all the other plants in the yard that want to cut me up when I mow. 

And now that I know bitching on the internet will get things done, I will try it more in the future.

The Angel's Trumpet Plant In My Yard Is Mocking Me

I have written about this particular plant before.  Read this to understand where I am coming from.

http://angjellockheart.blogspot.com/2014/05/im-not-sure-how-i-feel-about-angels.html

The problem with this particular plant is that, it is becoming a tree.  And it's not exactly supposed to do that.  Even Wikipedia says it's a plant.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brugmansia

I wrote the first blog one year and nineteen days ago.  The main problem I have with this particular plant is that, it's more like a tree, and it is getting in the way of my mowing.  I know you are thinking, "Well dumbass, get a pair of trimmers and trim that thing."  Well, I've brought that up, and I was told I wasn't allowed to cut it. 

I was told I had to wait for it to free back during the winter.  Now if you notice the dates of these two blogs you will have noticed that winter came and went, and the plant (now as big as a tree) did not freeze back.  It got bigger.  Much bigger.

Here's a far away shot of it, so you can see how big it is next to the old oak tree.

Again, I know you might be thinking, "Well, that's not that big."  That's when I say, "Yes, but it's a plant.  Not a tree."

Here's what it looks like when you stand underneath it.

Here are some of the dying flowers on it.

Again, normally I really could not care about this stupid plant, but....

1.  It's gotten out of control.  What was supposed to be a plant has become a tree.
2.  I can't mow near it without it trying to decapitate me.
3.  It laughs in the face of being frozen.
4.  I am not allowed to cut it back. 
5.  I'm still afraid that the stupid kids in the neighborhood are going to try and get high off the flowers and end up killing themselves.  Really, who decided to plant this thing here?

One of these days something is going to have to be done about it.  And I will be there when that happens.

Salvage Day: The Best Day There Is

So for the last year I have been working as a maintenance man.  Actually, I am the low rung on the maintenance ladder, a Porter.  That means I usually deal with garbage, other people's garbage.

One thing I am asked to do is clean out apartments after people have left.  I have had some in horrible condition.  I've seen some in okay condition.  But never have I found one in acceptable condition.  That's due to them not needing me if it's clean.  I get called in when it looks like a hurricane hit the apartment.

So today I really got to have fun.  The apartment is on the second floor.  So I end up walking up and down steps for half the day.  Most of the garbage was already bagged.  I just had to move the garbage outside the door, down the steps, to the golf cart, and drop it off at the compactor.  Since the cart only holds so much garbage I ended up making something like eight trips. 

The one good thing about being the clean out guy is that, the spoils go to you.  If you see something you like, you can salvage it.  Since it's going in the trash anyway, they are completely okay with you taking things you might like.

So I was able to salvage a few things. 

1.  A half full (not half empty) bucket of exterior satin (somewhat blaze) orange paint.

2.   Some lavender soap for Mom.  She loves the soap.  Just can't get enough of it.  So I figured soap in a package couldn't possibly go bad, so I brought it home, and she loves it.

3.  This really fancy looking clock.  I just didn't have the heart to throw it out.  I figure there's a use for it around here somewhere.

4.  Then I noticed what might be the strangest thing that was left behind.  A pair of old fashioned tea pots. 

Of course, I knew they couldn't be real silver.  No one would be crazy enough to leave real silver teapots behind.  That's when I turned it over and noticed this:

That my friends, is tarnish.  Silver tarnish.  That comes on a silver teapot.  Well, now I am really surprised.  I do admit, that I'm sure they aren't solid silver as that kind of silverware is usually marked on the bottom.  These don't have any such markings.  But I am at least pretty sure that they are silver plated.  So that's not too bad. 

Dad was joking with me about having a yard sale, but I think Mom is in love with the tea pots.  The soap was meant for her.  And I'm sure she will find a place for the clock.

As for the paint?  Well, it can be used for a few things.  Namely for painting parts of our tree stands.  It can also be used to paint parts of Dad's trailer.  The trailer is supposed to be painted red some time, but it may look good with orange highlights.  That will help people see it on the road. 

So I had a good salvage day.  Again, one person's skipped apartment is a clean-out dude's treasure.

Beyonce, I Hate To Break It To You, But....

So I was minding my own business in my living room, when a family member played a song I had never heard before.  This is not unusual since I don't listen to Top 40, there a ton of songs that are popular that I have never heard.  Anyway, my family member was going to see "Pitch Perfect 2" and wanted to know all the songs they were singing.  So she looked them up on Youtube to listen to them.

The song I had heard about, but had actually never heard was Beyoncé's "Run The World (Girls)."  This is the song:

For those who are unfamiliar with Beyoncé, here she is:

Also, this:

But I digress.  The main point of the song was that girls rule the world.

My first thought was that song was pretty disingenuous.  I mean, it seems like it's just pandering to 10 year old girls, if not an outright lie.

That got me to thinking.  If she was being more truthful, you know who she would say runs the world?  Old white men.

I mean, isn't this part of the problem in raising kids these days?  We have helicopter parents who have their little Prince and Princesses who think they are the center of the universe.  So then you have a song that reinforces that by telling a bunch of pre-teen girls they run the world.  That's just setting them up for failure when they realize they are going to get paid 77 cents on the dollar that men do.

You know who else I am told runs the world?  The Jews.

Ah yes, the Jews.  Responsible for everything going wrong for the past 6000 years.  For such a small percentage of the population they sure seem to get a lot of flak.  But they can't be worse than, the worst of the bunch.  The bunch that really controls the world.  That of course goes to The Illuminati.

Ah yes, the Illuminati.  I have written about them before.  Take a peek here:

http://angjellockheart.blogspot.com/2014/01/satanic-dancing-and-illuminati.html

I still haven't quite figured out what they are trying to do, but I am 77% sure that they control something in some way.  What it is, I have no idea.  But my main point is, it's better that Beyoncé let girls know that the Illuminati run the world much more than girls ever will. 

Although I will say that the Illuminati obviously don't have control over the Top 40.  Otherwise, crap like this wouldn't make it on the charts.