The Sun Is In My Eyes

So low, and straight in the window. Mustn't complain, it's cheerful.

It is Sunday, not that I observe a day of rest or anything, but I am going to waffle this morning rather than saying anything remotely profound. With any luck the gremlins will be over later, so it's not going to a be a work day as such, but I start my day here in my office every day as stuff happens overnight on eBay.

Today I got up to discover that somebody has bought ALL of my brontosaurus earrings. You can't explain stuff like that, and I don't ask why, I just say thank you and re-stock, but it does make me wonder - are they a club? I had a similar thing happen with tennis racket earrings last week, that one was easy to guess. Do you think this might be a student paleontologist buying gifts? We may never know.

This is one of the things I like best about what I do, I never know what is going to happen next. Keeps me on my toes, keeps life varied. As you know, I do get the occasional odd message. Had a lady this week telling me to send something by First Class mail. I explained that I was in Canada, so.....no can do. She replied that she sent First Class mail to Canada all the time. Which is great, but we can't do it the other way, there's no such thing. She was gracious about it, at least, but it was yet another reminder how perfectly intelligent, educated people assume things outside their own situation are going to be the same. There must be a name for this.

Of course the weather keeps us alert too, the forecasts are a waste of time, and the weather is being widely accused of having mood disorders. I assume this is a climate change symptom, but I don't recall the "change" supposed to be on a daily basis. On the other hand there is a long-standing saying around the Great Lakes that if you don't like the weather, wait ten minutes. So it may just be that. Certainly the blizzard in Owen Sound yesterday was "lake effect" because we drove out of it once we went uphill.

We have a funny thing here in dog dynamics. Pepper is our strictly outdoor dog/guard dog. He lives down at the barn. Every day Bowser goes to visit him, and they just hang out together. Obviously dogs don't talk, but they may as well be having a chat, the way they sit there. They are absolutely the best of friends. All of this is very nice. However, Pepper shares his food with Bowser. We would rather he ate it himself, not just because as an outdoor dog he needs the calories, but because Bowser is almost full grown, and really doesn't need the extra. He already weighs 140lbs, and we don't need this giant getting overweight in addition to his natural size. Pepper's attitude appears to be "Help yourself, they'll bring me more later". We tried not letting him go down there at all and they were BOTH miserable. So we tried feeding Pepper very early, and not letting Bowser visit him until the afternoon, but he'd saved him some........I don't want to reduce what we give Pepper. This is an ongoing thing.

Sally the Donkey has got very shaggy. Don't you love the way nature provides? We kept pigs into the winter once and they grew thick hairy coats too. Why don't I grow a fur coat in winter?

I started another blog, if anyone hasn't noticed yet. It's about gardening. The seeds are coming into the stores and it's making me impatient. I want to be out there planting. Can't do that for weeks and weeks. Friends in milder climates are talking about spring. I have two feet of snow and the only sign of spring here is udders enlarging on the sheep. We'll have lambs soon, but it's late this year. We normally have some by now. Fall was late, you see, and the girls don't go into oestrus until it cools off at night. So, bonking in October means lambs in March. We won't be selling them for Easter this year, that's for sure. Suits me, I get to keep them, grow them all summer and fill my freezer in the Fall. YES!

And there, dear reader, is Melanie's life right now, in hurry up and wait mode for just about everything. I have a midterm exam in one of my online courses this week (Genetics and Evolution) which I am going to fail, but I'll do it anyway. It doesn't matter that I fail. I won't fail any of the other courses. I'm in the 90s in all my other courses, it's just the math on this one causing me problems. I'm allowed 9 minutes per question, where I need about an hour, or possibly two, so I haven't got a hope. But I am still learning enough to make it worthwhile. And THAT is what it's all about, isn't it boys and girls. Just keep going. To prove I'm no coward I've signed up for 3 more genetics courses later in the year, hoping they are less math-heavy, but I'll plod on regardless anyway. It's always possible if I keep doing this for several years I may even get the hang of the math.

I had SEVERAL people, who shall remain nameless (but I'm married to one of them) tell me that while they understood how much I was enjoying these courses, as they don't count towards anything, it seemed like a bit of a waste of time. Obviously I disagree, how can learning be a waste of time? But I know what they meant. If I find it that easy, I should invest in real courses and get a degree.

But would I use it? I'm almost 51 years old. In 9 years time I qualify for free education, and everyone says "it's too late, you won't use it". Well, would I use it now? Seriously? Chances are, no, I wouldn't. Not even in academia. I'm far too set in my ways to adjust to the politics involved. So why pay? I do this for the love of learning. It's my leisure time. We are all allowed leisure time, aren't we? So there you are. STFU, I'm enjoying myself.

Oh, and Colleen? Martin LOVES that hat, he's out in it right now.