Saturday, November 29, 2008

"Black Friday"

Naturally I worked Thursday night, which of course leads into Friday morning. I have never gone shopping on "Black Friday" as large crowds are not my thing, much less large crowds of intense, sometimes crazy people looking to save $5 on something meaningless!! Thursday night I did not do my usual job. Instead I was put in charge of a group of people to help set up blitz merchandise. Blitz merchandise are the products that are only out for those 5am-11am sales. It's craziness! Our action alleys are cleared and the blitz merchandise is rolled out and we had maps of where stuff needed to be staged. It was an intense shift since I was given responsibility for not just myself but for several other people- I didn't have the luxury of just following orders. I guess that's a positive thing... We had aisles roped off and people were already standing in front of what they wanted by 3am! At 5am I had to work in the toy action alley. Terrific! (sarcasm) The crowd was insane!! You literally could not move at times and our wal-mart is out in the country! (a New York associate was trampled to death) Some people were nice, but some were quite rude! I helped one lady and wheel-chair bound husband locate the tv they wanted (via our map). About an hour later she found me, got right in my face and was very, very ugly! She said "YOU, told me the tv was in site to store and when I finally got up there I was told it was not in this area!!" I took out my map and looked again, the emerson tv she wanted was listed in site to store. I bit my tongue and politely told her "Ma'am the map says site to store and unless I personally put my hands on the product when it came out, all I have to go by is the map". I grew tired of people thinking that just because I work there I am going to magically know right where everything that just got pulled to the floor 2 hours ago is!! I was thankful I only had from 5-7am to deal with that! There is a reason I work in the back! LOL! Customers can be so incredibly rude and disrespectful and because they're customers they can be that way! Bull shit- that sucks! Rude is rude customer or not! I could never work the front end! At least not work it and enjoy it. I'm glad I have the position I have. I am swamped with work every night, move around and lift stuff for 8 hours non-stop. Especially in pets and chemicals. Chemicals is heavy stuff- cases of laundry soap and bleach is quite the work out after a pick list of 50 items or so and then binning of that many or more in the morning (overstock). And of course pets requires the slinging of bags from 5-50lbs. I'd be a bit bored up front and the time would drag. Different strokes for different folks. Many associates would never think of working as physically hard as I do, but it's what I enjoy.
We had a nice thanksgiving. It was just our family. We basically ate all day. I buy lots of things to make "grazing food" along with a ham. Then we have our turkey and fixin's around 6pm.
I have more to write, but need to get dinner made. More tomorrow.

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Job Security

So I heard today that another store is about down the drain... Seems VA based Circuit City is filing for bankruptcy. Now more than ever am I glad that we depend on a military income to keep this family sheltered and fed! And to have our second income come from an over-night job at wal-mart... As I mentioned before the local wal-mart did indeed cut back on the daytime hours, but almost 100% left the overnight associates hours alone. My new position as 3rd shift in stock is going well. ICS, as it's called, is a fairly overwhelming job since this store has been "allowed" to acquire back stock that's just simply out of control! We have bins and steels that are 100% full. The paper dept. is an entire trailer that's backed into the building, and there are 3 trailers of housewares and domestics that are outside, as is the toy trailer... We (me and one other associate, or just me or just him) are expected to do several hundred "picks" a night, plus re-bin all the over stock... Hopefully this new system will cut down on the over-stock- but right now it's simply too much! For a week 4 of the dept. managers were working nights along with Sayed and I. We had about 47%. The following Saturday when it was only Sayed and I we had 41%! LOL! Dept managers..... they aren't used to real work. I'm sorry, but 3rd shift is what holds that store together! We walk into in that backroom at 10:00 with crap everywhere and the freight that's put out on the floor that has to go up (or binned- which is mine and Sayed's job after 3am when the pick lists go out of the system). This is why I have job security. Wal-mart is never going to cut 3rd shift- we are invaluable. We are the backbone of the company! If it's not on the floor, customers can't buy it! My job can be a little overwhelming, but I do like it and to work for a company that has job security... that in it's self, says something....

New Faces

My new Dorper girls plus the Dorper ram, Ram-bo (I am not responsible for that name) I've had for almost 3 years now- since he was about the new girls size!



My pretty geese. They're Toulouse X Embden. Not sure that I have a gander in the group. The above looks like it might be, but it is also what a female Dewlap Toulouse looks like.

Yes, that is a cat snacking on chicken food!
Rhode Islands are such pretty birds!
Mr. Kat-King-Cole

The chicken pen and coop that'a built right onto the barn. Guess the coop needs a new coat of paint! The 2 doors on the front open up for easy cleaning and egg grabbing.










Monday, November 10, 2008

Good News

Just had to mention that the other day when I woke up the sofa full of clean clothes were folded, the living room was picked up, and the dishwasher was running. :-) Ben came to realize I need their help and got the boys to understand as well.

Also, the All Hands Ceremony for NRD Richmond was fun. (NRD is Naval Recruiting District) Ben works at the MEPS center at Fort Lee. MEPS is where the recruiters send their applicants for all the processing. At the banquet Ben was awarded Support Staff Member Of The Year and along with that a Navy Achievement Metal (NAM). Richmond (for the 1st time) won the Eastern (there's only east and west) Large District of The Year- beating out cities like Atlanta, Philadelphia, etc. All these things are huge "boxes checked" for becoming Chief next spring. So many things will change for us and Ben once he has made Chief. Naturally it's more base pay, the retirement doesn't even compare, and he can stay in over 20 if he chooses (enlisted have to retire at year 20). But more importantly will be the level of respect he will have at work and the type of jobs he will carry. The time he has spent at MEPS has been a huge career boost- it really gave him the chance to stand out and shine as an individual. The 3 year rotation will be up in July and he will be back to a carrier- most likely.

I Love Fall!

It has really been cooling off at night (it's been in the mid 30s on my way home from work), but it's been beautiful during the day. We did have a couple days of rain, but given the lack of it that we had this summer, no one complains much. The trees right now are at about their peak of color and are so pretty... I love this time of year. It stinks the sun goes down so early, but such it is.

Ella was here yesterday to work Mary Jane. They are really becoming a nice team and MJ is really listening. They are about passed the "lie down" struggle. Ella now understands that she is to ask her to lie down, and only once. If she does not get a nice stop, then she is to go to MaryJane and make it known that not stopping when asked will not be tolerated. She used be a little unsure of how much correction to use. I said she needs to give you that "oh I'm sorry" body language. She only had to walk to her a couple times last night, and Mary was giving her the correct signals very easily. I hate listening to people yell their stop commands- especially since when they're yelled they are usually not being obeyed anyway... Sometimes it's good to help someone, as I'm now very aware of my own occasional habit of raising my voice instead of just calmly going to the dog and reminding him quietly (but with authority) that he must listen. (this is what I've been taught- but sometimes I forget...) This is something I especially have to remember with Toss, as he is a very intense dog who only gets more intense if I get verbally overbearing. Today I caught myself loudly saying his name (which did nothing) as he pushed thru his stop on a drive. I went to him about 3 different times during his session and after each time I did he would give many solid stops on the first, quiet stop command- much more effective.
Toss is really coming on and I think 2009 will be a good year to start hitting a good number of trials with him. He's becoming quite reliable. He's an awesome driving dog and typically has a nice outrun. He can slightly slice and rush the lift sometimes and rattle his sheep. He needs some long outruns where I can stop him right before the lift, let him relax for 3 seconds, and then re-direct. He rushes because he's insecure, so letting him take a breath and get his head helps him. He doesn't have enough eye that I worry he'll become sticky. We did something similar with Cruz a couple years ago. He would leave my feet just hell-bent and only thinking about getting them to my feet and would slice and rush the top. It was interesting because a few times we let him just "sneak" off to collect sheep and he was pretty as a picture because he was relaxed and thinking! But send him and all he could think about was how fast can I do this. So we started stopping him a couple times during the outrun. I'd stop him, let him take a breath and would usually tell him to get back. This is when he made the biggest improvements with his outrun.
I traded my woolie ewes for 6 Dorper ewe-lambs and they're just what Gwen needs IMO. Of course they are light, so there's not a lot pushing, more just steering (but they do stop if the dog gets too far off), but the steering has to be in little steps. Her and I went all the way back to fenceline fetches today. I had to use the fence to keep some sense of handler/sheep balance, as they are not at all drawn to me yet. It was a very good session for her. She started out zooming from 10:00 to 2:00 at a hundred miles an hour. (before we got to the fence) Rather than fussing at her, I just let her figure out that was foolish (and a lot of work) and sure enough in a couple minutes she settled down. She was doing quite well with small flanks followed by a stop and walk-up- she was getting back up and moving foward quite willingly. She has to figure out for herself that she has gears! She will and I think these lambs will help teach her how to be subtle. She has nice stock sense, so she should learn some things by simply working the quick, jerky moving lambs. She's young, keen, biddable, very natural and intense- she is a go-getter and no-quitter. :-) I have 3 more lambs on hold from another lady not too far from here, they're Dorpers as well. I won't have any lambs this spring. I'll have to take some pictures of my new girls tomorrow.
Deal was a good girl today after she settled down with the new group. She needed to be reminded that stop means stop and a drive flank means a flank, not 2 steps in first- but other than that she did very nicely. We penned the group she worked. She did a very good job holding her side and reading the situtation- thus doing quite a lot without commands. I personally see no harm in letting a dog use his own brain when he knows what the job is. That is what my "Ol' Man" (Cruz) does so amazingly. How quick he figures out what's going and then how well he does what's needed- it's mind blowing really. It's priceless and on a real farm I can only imagine how invaluable that would be! Cruz was good today too. We tried shedding and it was interesting to say the least! LOL! We also worked the free-standing chute which was fun. I love new sheep when they know zippo! They aren't crazy lambs, running like the wind and slamming into things- but they certainly don't know what's what yet. They're funny because sometimes they will let the dog get really close and sometimes they move quite quickly with the dog way off. They will never be worked roughly or unfairly, so they should grow up to be very nice ladies.
Ella let Wren go around the geese in the round pen when she was here on Sunday. She did fine, she looks as though she will be quite a nice dog. She reminds of Cruz when he first started even though he was an adult. We need to get the lambs more settled and handler drawn before the pups work them. It's good timing for me as I might be tempted to push too much on them over the winter. 11 months seems old enough, but it's really not. They just are not mentally mature enough. I'd rather wait a bit longer so they are mature enough to figure a lot of things out for themselves. Surely I want to see some natural ability by now (and they have it), but to actually expect them to handle training pressure is asking too much- I'm only recently coming to figure this out... (knowledgeable people have been telling me this for years...) I like finding little made up chores for them to do at this age. People with real farms always have plenty of little short tasks for new blood. I have to make up some little things most of the time- things that they can use their own young brains to figure out what they need to do, things that are always close at hand.
I almost pulled my entry from the Long Shot trial, but didn't. I really am looking forward to running at a new trial, and at one I've heard such good things about. I know a few people that are going to the Nov. trial so I'm looking forward to hearing how it went.

Friday, November 7, 2008

What's it all for?

Some days that's a harder question than others to answer. I'm feeling very "revamped" and I'm ready to get our slip sliding household back on track- in numerous ways. First off this house is going to basically be "gutted" of crap and clutter. I said to myself this afternoon I wish I could just pick up the house, tilt it on it's side so everything fell out, and "start over"! I'm determined to go thru room by room and get rid of anything that appears remotely useless. We have become collectors of stuff we don't really need, but for some reason are afraid to part with. I can no longer keep up with that much... well, shit! It's too much for one person and the 3 people I live with refuse to help me on a regular basis, so I need to make it so I can manage it alone! See no one here grew up with their mom working 40 hours a week nor did Ben have a 40 hr/wk wife- that's new, but the habits are old, and we all know how bad habits are... So that's step one.
Step two is taking a more assertive role with the money. I've come to the conclusion that we are both terrible and we need to work extremely hard for the next few years to get our debts paid off. We were "just" surviving without my paycheck in March, now in Nov. we are "just" surviving with my paycheck...hmmm... funny how that works right?? To my knowledge not much extra has been applied to debt since I started working. Ben did use 90% of his bonus to nearly pay off one of the two brand new 4 wheelers (which he bought on credit before I even got my first check!! I'm still not really over that foolishness). My check has only been going into checking to be spent... My next check will go into savings. I'm telling Ben my next 3 paychecks are going into savings and we are to do whatever we have to to get by with only his paychecks. If after 6 weeks it's clear we can't make it, whatever we've been short will go into checking- but not a dime more. Once a month the money in savings will go towards paying something off. That's my plan and sticking to it. My next step is to cash it and hide in a jar in the woods! LOL! It is afterall my check, and if I want to use it to pay only debt, then I think there should be zero argument about me claiming "my" money- it's not as though I'm saying it's "mine" so if I want to buy $100 jeans and $80 shoes I can... (we have never been a yours and mine marriage in regards to money). So serious debt paying down is step 2.
Step 3- The people in this house are going to start pitching in!! I cannot do 40 night-shift hours a week, the dogs, the other critters, the laundry, the dishes, the shopping, the cooking, the cleaning, and everything else that is required of me to keep 4 people straight! Minus going to school for the boys and going to work for Ben I am it!! It's killing me, and quite frankly you can tell I get zero help around here, and I am so over that! Now, they will all do projects or must do nows, but the the day to day maintenance- forget it!
Step 4- Keep inspired! Today I was inspired to start scaling down by the thought that it's really quite doable to become largely self sufficient. I ordered 2 books from booksamillion (from the bank account, not a card- yea for me- baby steps! LOL!) today. (I ordered two to get free shipping- it needed to be $25 or more and my order was $26.02!) One on small scale farming and one on self sufficient living- everything from vegetables to soap. Once I get the books I'm going to make a "in a year goal" in the sense of self sufficiency. I'd love to have the dogs back on a natural diet within a year (Cruz is the only one on it now) and not have to buy any vegetables next year, but I'm not sure if that's a doable first year- I know nothing about gardens- hence the book buying! I think I have also come to peace that the SE is now home. The thought of having a serious farm back in the mid-west makes me shiver... Not sure I'm tough enough anymore. I was looking at some places online today. Check this one out and take the virtual tour! OMG!!http://www.carolinafarms.com/ViewProperty.aspx?id=1501186&c=homes THIS is my home! With Ben being Chief and debt other than the house gone, this type of price range is very doable for us in 8 years. I wanna be a "poor farmer", self sufficient and content. I want to work hard on my own piece of land and simply make enough to continue to work hard on my own piece of land! I want to farm for real with cattle and sheep and have real work for my dogs, and probably never trial. I would love to host trials, I have visions of having a portion of the farm designed solely for herding trials, lessons, and clinics for both cattle and sheep. The above is my dream, and I think it's a very realistic dream, but only if Ben and I can get serious about this money hole we dug ourselves into- starting with our first set of furniture up until about a year ago we were dumb. Buy what we need and put the extra crap on a card... how stupid! :-( I hope we have been clear to our kids that is not the way to do it! Trust me they will get tired of hearing about it by the time they get that first credit card offer mailed to them!! Why do they do not teach kids about the true danger of credit debt in school? They should have a financial class from like 3rd grade on. Ben and I would be living high on the hog right now with both of us working if it weren't for the hundreds of dollars every 2 weeks that go out in credit bills!
Well, off it get some of my overhauling done!

Thursday, November 6, 2008

New Look and Taking The Plunge!

Thought it'd be fun to change up the look of my blog. I think it's easier to read now. I went ahead and sent in my entry for the Long Shot Trial in December. Deal is entered in Ranch, Gwen in Pro Novice, and Cruz in... Open. The answer is "yes, I am terrified!"! We need to do it though, since Open the goal for me with all my dogs. I only want us to do our own personal best, I have no expectations for placing. I had Gwen entered in Nursery and then scratched it out. I need to keep her driving close at hand right now to keep her confidence up. She is on the right track and I don't want to push her... After being at this trial once, I'll know if I can put her in Nursery for the January trial. I'll also know if it's a field Toss can handle either ProNovice or Ranch. He is such a nice dog, but so intense and still needs to be fairly close at hand from time to time. He has been stellar lately though- as long as no one is in season anyway! Ella is going to run Mary Jane in Novice. There are still rumors of a cattle trial at Breezy Hill Farm over the winter... I'm in love with cattle work! I wish we could do more of it! It is so different. It's not easier or harder, but very different. The #1 difference is the behavior of cattle. They do not group like sheep. Keeping a group together can be quite a challenge, and keeping them together and putting them where you want them... that's a whole 'nother job! I do enjoy it greatly and Cruz in particular is wonderful. Last time at Carol's we had a heck of a time keeping "Sonny" from going back to the barn. He would drift back further and further because another steer was lagging way back and I kept sending Cruz to push him forward. We'd end up with 3 steers quite well spread apart in the field. Cruz wanted to go get Sonny and after sending him back to push forward the laggers, I finally decided to let my dog do what he thought best, as what I was doing wasn't working that great. Sure enough he was right, we needed to keep control of Sonny since he was the one going in the wrong direction! Leaving the other two to lag was fine, but leaving Sonny to walk (they cover some ground now!) towards the barn while he pushed the laggers wasn't such a good plan. Working cattle is constant work on the dog's part. With sheep there are moments of time where all the dog really has to do is keep doing what he's currently doing, or simply flick an eye, or take 2 steps one way or the other. Not the case with cattle- it's kinda like driving on a curvy, back road in a sloopy steering, stick shift, vs. the freeway in an expensive car. You are driving in both situations, but it's a lot more "doing" on the country road in the old pickup truck. I'm surely not putting sheep work down, (or simplifying it) only explaining the difference in my own words. Cattle will wear a dog out physically much sooner than sheep will. I wish I could work cattle more, as Gwen is more natural on them than sheep. She does not stick on cows. I think she is hardwired for cattle behavior- less following and more controlling at or towards the head. She loves to control her stock via flanking, and the dog has to do a lot of that with cattle- and do it quickly- another trait of hers. I've never seen a dog flank so fast (yet stay 100% square) and of course that isn't always want you want in sheep... Her flanks on sheep are generally "wayliedown" and "comeliedown". (or more often "waywalk"/"comewalk") She's doing well with the combination whistles and I can get smaller flanks. What saves her is that she is SO responsive and stops as fast as she flanks. I know I talk a lot about her wanting to come to their heads. Maybe it's because so far that's her only "hole". I need to get some videos of a few of my dogs. I don't even have any pictures of Cruz and Gwen on cattle...


I need to get outside and take of the other critters and then get myself ready for the All Hands Awards Ceremony tonight in Williamsburg. It's a Navy thing, a pretty big deal. I bought a new $150 dress (size 6- shamless grin!), shoes, the whole works... Might have to post some pictures over the weekend. Ben and the MEPS office he works at are both receiving awards tonight.

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

November Snap Shots

Gwenie moving the geese around.




Cruz moving the geese around for a photo shoot.









And somehow I ended up with a photo of Broc in this group!



What do Border Collies do for fun? RUN- and preferably along side a motor with 4 moving wheels!
Cruz

Jim is fast, fast, fast!

Toss loves to run full out with the 4 wheeler while carrying the big purple ball! That's Sly in the background. Note bucket, which was also being toted around.

Handsome Jim.

Cruz and Deal

Jim waiting for the bike to get in striking range.


Charlie on the bike, red-dog (aka Edge), Maddie, and Clare.

There's the strike!


Jim or Cruz? I think it's Cruz.


Jim, Maddie, and Sly.


Hot Dog- Broc.

5 minute breather! Charlie and Deal.

Mama and daughter, Deal and Kit. They sure are built the same.

Wayne joins in during break.


Kit


Deal


Kit

Deal.


Red-dog. Got tongue?


Silly boy Toss!


Dylan's dog, Broc. He's such a perfect dog. I believe he is LabXWalker. He has that deer-dog temperament, is very leggy and straight and cannot run without barking! He's just a big dork, and that's being said with affection. He is truly devoted to Dylan. Two of his full brothers used to live 2 houses up the road and they both looked like Labs. One has some white like Broc and the other was a darker "yellow" with no white and heavier bodied. They were free at the feedstore and few years ago...


Pretty girl Mary Jane. I need to start getting serious with her training. She's a very natural dog who wants to please.


Deal and Toss wonderin' when break is over!


Edge and Kit.


Edge and Mary Jane.


Toss (and his tongue)


Broc (and his tongue)


Gwen decided pools can be used year round even when it's 50 degrees! I guess the stock tank wasn't good enough!