Hope everyone in the US got their fill of dogs and burgers and everyone else has a good weekend. 

Happy birthday America!
(running back outside to watch more fireworks in the rain)

I said I wasn't buying any more plants.  I said nothing other than fertilizer for the garden.   Took my sis to Spencer's lawn and garden today to pick up some Iron supplement for her plants.  I got my small bag yesterday.  They had a sale.  Pots.  Big pots.  Big foam pots for $1.00 a pop.  So I got all 8 they  had in stock.  How could I not?  I need more pots, not so much for this year, although I needed a bigger one for my one tomato, but next year and these are the size I was looking for, the smaller ones are about 15" and the larger are 2 foot pots.  Yay!  Then I had to get a spicy oregano plant.  I think I'll transplant the tomato into the smaller size pot (which is still bigger than what it's currently in) and put the oregano plants (got one as a gift) in the old tomato pot.  Now I'll have my spicy oregano that is soooooooo tasty.

I've put in several job applications lately, one to a job that I really want and can actually afford to take.  Sent in another late yesterday and got word back from them with a pre screening application to fill out.  Hope this one goes well.  The original starting salary is a bit lower than I can afford to make but ....... they say that if you pick up fast and have lots of experience, the pay goes up quick.  We'll see.  Fingers crossed for both jobs.  I just don't want to have to  miss out on any Viking activities for the rest of the summer but ........ work beckons. 

Yay!  Just got off the phone with CDLE.  I'm good for the next two weeks.  Finally.  What an exercise in frustration.

Still trying to get on and file my claim.  Still hitting redial and getting the busy.   Here's why.  www.denverpost.com/ci_12714117  I knew there was a big problem. 

"The time to complete Your Claim has expired

You have exceeded the time limit allowed to file your claim. Please note that the application must be completed within 12 hours of the time you started it Please exit and try again."

?????  What do they expect?  The system has been screwed since really early Sunday am.    So I will exit and try again.  And try to call.  And get the busy signal.  Did they transport this state to California or something in the middle of the night?   I need my rent money.

It's Monday am, I started this at about 7:00 and the system is STILL BUSY!!!   You still cannot get in on the phone.  I'm tellin' ya'.  They need to get their it people on this and figure out what went wrong.  There cannot be that many more people filing this week than two weeks ago.  There have been no more big layoff's announced.   I'm sure a few more people are out of work but enough to bog the system down for two days?  Oops.  Forgot.  The state only fixes their  'puters during office hours.  I want that IT job.

It's 10 pm,  CDLE let me get all the way to the last page and then I get this little message "We are unable to process your request at this time. This may be due to a higher volume of traffic.  Please wait a few minutes and try again. You can use the Back button on your browser to return to the previous page."  So ....... updated my nutrition and exercises for the day on SparkPeople while waiting to return to the previous page.   Played with Google a bit, still waiting.  I think I'm going to go to bed and try again first thing tomorrow am.  This is just insane.  They say you can apply by phone but the phone system's jammed as well. 

Tried yet again to file unemployment comp claim.  Spent 24 minutes this time.  Got all the way to the last page and ......... server crashed again.  Yikes!

I have been trying to file my unemployment claim for this two week period since 7:30 this morning.  The web site was down for about 4 hours this afternoon because of heavy volume.  This is sad.  So many people filing.  So ........ finally got to start filing.  On the last page.  Finally.  The site is so slow that it's not loading.  I've been waiting 20 minutes.  No joke.  I'm restarting the claim process to see if I can't get it accepted.  My grass is growing faster than these pages are loading.  Wah!

So I decide that because it's nice out and a bit cooler than usual for mid afternoon, I'll go out and take my daily walk.  I run a short errand and drive to the park to try out a new trail I find.  This is the trail I started the other day when the microburst hit.  I walked about half a mile, look up, and see clouds.  Thunder.  OK, maybe it will hold off. Get about 3/4 mile down the trail and ...... small drops.  Walk a bit further, still dripping but not hard.  Maybe I should turn back 'cause it could get nasty.  Well, it didn't but it didn't quit raining either.  Still raining a bit, just a nice summer afternoon thunderstorm and drizzle.  It just seems like the gods do not want me to hike that trail.  I did, as soon as I got home, dig the poncho out and it's sitting next to the door so if it rains next time I go for a hike, I can continue walking.

My lj friend emo_snal  has started a new community and challenge.  Called LJ shootout, it's modeled after the LJ idol but with pictures.  Check out his idea. emo-snal.livejournal.com/85058.html  Could be fun. 

But I didn't buy them this time.  They're running rampant in a friend's yard and they said "come and get 'em".  So I did.  Mugwort, horehound, and spearmint.  Planted them around the front porch near the water spigot.  That way I won't have to water them separately.   They looked pretty wilty from the short ride home but I put them in the ground along with a few handfulls of manure and compost.  It rained some last night and today they look much happier.  The mint is still looking shocky but I put additional soil and compost around it just a bit ago so it should come around.  I have  peppermint in the garden as well as on the side of the house where the "flower" bed is.  Actually, it's not much of a bed, just a row of iris that don't bloom but get huge (except for one beautiful plant).  The rose that I didn't know was there is starting to really grow now, it's a bit over a foot high after a really rocky start.  Maybe if I mulch better and water it more in winter it will grow bigger next  year.  The original canes are pretty well gone but the new starts are healthy.  Now I have to prune the ficus in the bathroom.  It was about 6 feet tall when I got it last winter.  Apparently it likes being right under the skylight 'cause the branches are inching their way up.  I didn't realize they ever got so tall.  I've usually let ficus just branch out but my friend pruned it so it's more tree like now.  I'm hoping the mugwort and horehound spread, and the mint as well.  That way I can prune herbs and not mow lawn. LOL 

Apparently what we experienced was a microburst.  It did a pretty fair amount of damage in the surrounding areas as well.
www.kktv.com/home/headlines/49227117.html
Complete with video of the damage.  You can also click the links and read and see the story about the bear that was captured this morning.  He'll be taken at least 100 miles away from town so he can establish a new territory away from town and people.

I've had a semi productive day today.  Went out in the yard to do something or another and noticed that I needed to tie plants up again.  They apparently  like the Miracle Grow 'cause they're growing.  I tied up Saturday and the tomatoes are really doing well.  The fava beans not quite so healthy but still growing and blooming.  I saw blooms on all three tomatoes so soon ...... soon.  Fresh 'maters.  Went over to a friend's house and pilfered horehound, mugwort, and spearmint.  Was hoping it would rain but not.   It blew over here.  Of course it rained and hailed where I was taking my walk, just a few miles down the road.  The boy called and asked if I was inside, they had some major wind damage at his friend's house, which is about 2 miles away.  One huge branch down in their yard and the next door neighbor had a tall pine tree get ganked out of the ground by the roots.  I got soaked to the skin, had to come home, shower, and change everything from the skin out.  Also tossed it in the wash 'cause it was raining so hard that the mud was splashing up onto my clothes.  All we got was some branches blown down.  No rain.  Rats.  Must water now.  And rake later to get up the small branches and twigs that blew down.  Seriously glad that I'd tied up plants earlier, they would have suffered in the high wind.  As it was, I didn't move my little bonsai and it got knocked down so I had to replant it and bring it in.  Poor baby.  Now to take a tramadol and crash for a few hours.  Hopefully my back will feel better when I get up.

It's a horrible picture.  I couldn't stop shaking and didn't want to run into the house and get the tripod because I'd miss him.



Little coon at my fence.  I think they  just dig in the trash with the cats.  He wasn't too spooked by me standing there taking pictures after I turned off the flash.  Of course he wouldn't come in further either.  I think they have a den behind the fence.   They're in the yard every  night.

I've been putting in job applications but not seriously searching until about 2 weeks ago.  Of course.  Must.  Now on the emergency extension of my unemployment and even if you get called in for the initial interview, it takes at least a month to get a job around here.  Sooooooooo my friend and former co worker (who is also looking for work again) tells me that the company that we wanted to go work for a year and a half ago when this whole mess started out is hiring.  Yes!!!! Finally!!!  The pay is not as good as the last job but they do offer overtime and good incentives.  I mean good incentives.  And insurance.  I can see a real MD again.  Naturally, I hopped online and applied yesterday.  I dropped every name I knew to get that job.   I really want it.  It's semi what I'm used to doing and the job is not 20 miles away up on the north side where all the phone jobs are now.  It's extremely hard to apply there, not that the application process is hard but that they do not advertise openings.  If you happen to get lucky enough to hear of one, you have to apply immediately because they usually only hire once a year and the application section of the website is open usually less than a week.  So wish me and my friend good luck. I need a job and to get one working for a good company is really a bonus. I don't care that I will have to work late evenings or overnights (which is fine by me) and holidays and weekends.  I can retire in 3 years.  Also, after the first 6 months, I can request the odd day off for events.

In other news, went to see the clinic today.  My kidney function is still down but better than it was.  They can't decide if the pain I'm getting in my lower back is kidney pain or back pain.  Could  be both at once.   They're still requesting a lower GI ultrasound and back x-rays.  Because these are not "normal" tests, they have to get them passed on by the board and then solicit funds to pay for the tests.  It could be months.  I got on the waiting list for the dental clinic that's attached to the medical clinic in February and am still waiting to see a dentist.  Can you believe it?  Good thing I got my income tax back and got that mess taken care of, the infection I had from my teeth would have killed me months ago.

To keep an eye on the speedometer.  Got clocked doing 48 in a 35 mph zone so I now have a ticket I can't afford.  I will go to court on this one, they'll lower my points and I can make payments on the fine.  I really did not need that ticket.  I really need to watch the speedometer closer though.  

Stevie also forgot .  He forgot to show up in court Thursday for sentencing so the police payed the house a visit yesterday early evening looking for him.  He's not here anymore and they pretty much figured but this is their last known address. 

I watered and fertalized on Sunday.  Here's  my Datura plant on Thursday.  As you can see, there is a big flower bud developing.



( Watch it bloom! )