My New Cool Android Phone

    So during a break we were talking about the weather, and speculating whether or not we would be working tomorrow because of the weather.  Well, I don't know if I have mentioned this before, but I am addicted to the weather reports since I started Flagging.  I check out different websites, and check the television and listen to radio reports.  I compare these reports, taking into consideration where they are reporting from thus making my own, personal prediction.  Soon I'll have charts and graphs...the works!  
     But at work I don't have a radio, or tv, so I rely on two apps I have on my cell phone.  Usually the guys on the crew just make fun of all the apps I have but today they were like, "Jody...what does your phone say about tomorrow's weather?"  And I was like, "Would that be the same phone you make fun of?"  They were like, "Hahaha, Yeah."  So I pulled up Accu Weather and Weather Bug...and they both said RAIN tomorrow.  70 and 80% rain.  Whoo hooo!  So we were all planning and plotting, scheming and hoping, and dreaming for a rain day.
    The next day is here, and I have on my rain coat, and my hood is up, and I am waiting for the sky to open up and torrents of rain to fall.  I am waiting for the gas company to call and say the day is a NO GO.  
     Do they call?  No.  
     Is there one drop of rain?  No.  
     Does the sun have the audacity to shine?  Yep.      
     So, my fancy-schmancy, awesome android phone, the pink one with the cool etchings like tattoos, and the bazillion apps was about as good as the wonderful, incredibly credible, Magic Eight Ball!!!!  I could have said, "Is it going to rain tomorrow?" and I'd flip that Magic Eight Ball and the murky answer window would say, "Without a doubt".  Or I could say, "Will we be working tomorrow?" It would reply, "My sources say no".  Even a "Reply hazy, try again" would be closer than my local meteorologists!!!  Ugh. Maybe, just maybe these weathermen are using the Magic Eight ball to predict the weather, and they make it look legit with their maps, and charts, and graphs......
     Magic Eight Ball, do our weathermen consult you for the daily weather?  Outlook not so good;  It is decidedly so;  Better not tell you now;  Very doubtful;  Yes - definitely; It is certain; Cannot predict now; Most likely.   
                                         There ya go.

Won't You Be My Neighbor?

     I've been working in the same neighborhood for weeks, and I enjoy the people here.  The nicest couple ever live on the corner, Bill and Joan.  Bill is retired, so he has tons of time to spend with his dog, a pointer, Bo.  Bo has endless energy...perhaps he's the dog that inspired the tee shirt that says things to do today:  let the dog out, let the dog in, let the dog out, let the dog in...  Seems to be the norm in their house!  

     Bill brings me coffee in the morning.  And they use half and half - What a treat!  Some mornings I don't know which is better, holding the warm coffee mug in my freezing hands or drinking the hot coffee.  Some mornings are sooo cold that I'd almost rather dip my fingers in the coffee than drink it!  But I haven't.  Yet.   He's a good guy. As long as he leaves out the arsenic, I'm a happy girl! 

     Joan still works as a teacher, so she's up and out of the house...and that leaves Bill, Bo and me! I would love these people to be my "real" neighbors.  (Won't you please, won't you please, please won't you be my neighbor?)
    Good conversation, happy people, hot java...life is good.

Got a Bee in My Bonnet

     I was chatting with a nice lady, Mary...she was up on her porch and I was, well, I was in the middle of the road.  It was such a nice chat, and there was no traffic, and the sun was shining, and there was no wind, and all of a sudden our little visit was crashed by a bee.  Not a little honey bee , or a hornet, or a yellow jacket, but a 50 pound bumble bee.  The ones that aren't supposed to fly because they're not aerodynamic but they don't know they're not supposed to fly, so they do.  Apparently this one wasn't watching where it was going and it flew into my hair.  Near the back of my neck.  And it was buzzing the buzz of horror.  And I started freaking out.  I was like, "OMG! Maaaary!  There is a bee in my hair!"  And I tried to flick it away, but I couldn't see it....and in a split second, like she was Super Speedy Woman, she was right next to me.  I was starting to strip because I thought the bee was in my hoodie, and she was like "Don't move, don't take off your beautiful green hard hat!!"  And she carefully picked the 50 pound bee out of my hair.  Just like that.  Then the bee made a graceful landing on the ground about 2 feet from where I was standing.  I was shaking like a leaf.  I needed some valium...just a little.  Then I thought it was hurt because it didn't move.       

     One of the guys came walking by and I was like, "Bill that bee was in my hair....Isn't it huge?  Don't kill it."  He said, "It was in your hair and you don't want me to kill it....?"  Well, it didn't sting me, and it could have.  Many times.  So I thought it should live.  Besides, I like bees.  This one was fuzzy, and if it didn't have a stinger, I would like to pet it.  Bill thinks I'm odd.

    It hung out with me for about a half hour, then it flew away.  So, after that I was highly suspicious of anything the buzzed and flew near me....maybe there was a memo out amongst the bees  that they should try to fly as close to me as they could just to see me freak....like playing chicken or something...They're all laughing, I just know it.  Bees have a strange sense of humor.

Musings of the Flag-Girl

     This can be a very lonely job.  When I'm not talking to my new neighborhood friends or directing traffic, there is loads of time to think about things.  Today I was thinking about drivers and roadwork, and here are a few questions I was kicking around in my head.

     People often try to drive through the cones that are set up.  More often than I had envisioned.  Sometimes there is even a "road closed" sign that sits amongst the cones and still people try to drive through.  Do they think that it means the road is closed to everyone BUT THEM?  I don't get it.

   Sometimes the road crew has a huge trench dug across the road, and there are lots of big construction vehicles sitting all over the road.  People still want to go through this closed road.  And sometimes they get mad at me because I tell them it's not possible to get from point A to point B today.  Sure, get mad at me...this WAS my idea, right?

     Spinning your wheels and peeling out is very mature.  Be my guest and drive your truck into the trench.  Or a bulldozer.  Or the other big dozers and diggers that I have no idea what they're called.  Just not the crew...They're off limits.  Anyway, I am very impressed.  Oooooh.

     When people speed by and scream (bad things) I can't understand them.  They need to enunciate.

     I know "sign language" too.

    


   

Dogs And Their People

     This neighborhood has the best-walked dogs in the country!  It's great!  I've met a whole new cast of characters for my novel.  Did you ever see that tee shirt that says careful, or you'll end up in my novel?  I'm just saying....

     So here is who I've met:  There's Princess with her guy, Rob.  Princess is a rescue (Yay, Rob!)  She's a corgi-something mix...what a sweetie!  Rob said she came with the name Princess, and they thought she could keep it.  Nice people.

     And there's Tank, and his people Peg, Brian and Tim....Tim got Tank for his old girlfriend, and Tank is with them.  Hmmm... anyway these are great people.  Tank is a lab-boxer-pit bull mix, and is sweet and gorgeous.  He's also amazing off the leash!  They have told me that if I ever needed anything I could just ask...cool!  So, I got to talking with Peg, who is a teacher, and she's going to keep her eye on the bulletin board at school and let me know if any openings come about.  Ooh, I hope, I hope, I hope!  That's not such a big favor, is it?

     I met a gorgeous Springer Spaniel, whose name is NOT Daniel.  (I once had a dream that I owned a Spaniel named Daniel, and my brother, Daniel, was very amused.)  This Spaniel walks quite nicely.  I like that in a dog.  I was so taken with this beautiful dog, that I have forgotten his name and the names of his people.  They'll be by again, and I'll find out who they are!

     Then there was the dachshund named Schatz, from a long line of dachshunds with very German names!  It was fun talking to Schatz's owner...poor little Schatz takes about eight steps to her owner's one step!  That's a long walk!

     These are really happy dogs! (I kept typing 'dog' as 'god' ... freudian, or what?  You know how I really feel about dogs!)

  

Rain, Rain, Go Away.....

    Rain is ugly when you're standing in the middle of the road.  I'm back at the job site with Crew A.  They are talking to me, a little bit, today. 

    I am silently thanking Barbara for the bright orange rain suit.  I look like a cone in the road, but as she said, "The cars will see ya!"  (They'll see me from the International Space Station!)  It's a steady rain, and I am not happy.  I'm sure my boots are going to be all spotted and ugly from the rain, and I am going to be waterlogged by the time the day is over.  Why don't they send us all home?!?!?  There were other rainy days when we didn't work.  Why are we working today!?!?  Ugh. 

    My gloves are soaked and heavy...my fingers are getting prune-y.  I'm cold.  I'm hungry.  My feet hurt.  I am so unhappy, did I mention that? There's nothing fun or funny about today.

    We worked 8 1/2 hours...it felt like eternity.  I go home tired, wet, cranky, and sleep the sleep of the dead until the alarm wakes me at 5:20 the next day.

Crew B

     As much as Crew A ignored me, Crew B wanted to talk to me.  I can't remember being so popular!  Joseph was laughing at me.  We got our assigned spots - I was near the town, between a park with a gazebo and a restaurant, while Joseph was in a more remote spot. Little did I know how few cars I was going to see! Both Joseph and I had to close the street because the crew was making it impossible for traffic to get through.
   One of my girlfriends (Margaret) lives nearby and I quickly called her and told her I was in her neighborhood.  She had to walk over to Curves and she'd stop by on her way.  I was talking to one of the women in the area (Sue) when Margaret came by.  She knew Sue (it's a small world, well, at least a small town), and we had a nice chat!  This was a cute little place! 
    I met the son of the woman (Lucie) who owned the restaurant, and he was a cute kid about 24 or so.  A while later his mom came out and said, "Alex says you're a teacher"...this got conversation going and she later sent Alex out to give me a soda.  Alex, the soda boy, bring me Pepsi, bring me joy.....Every time either one would come out of the restaurant to go to their home, a few doors down, they would talk with me.  Nice, friendly people!
    There was also Suzanne, who was one busy chick!  I met her when she was coming back from a run, and she asked how I knew all the moms in the neighborhood.  I told her that I only previously knew Margaret, and the others I had just met today.  We laughed about how I am so "social"!  She had to get ready to go out to work.  The day went quickly (Yes, there were cars to re-route) and before I knew it, she was home and I spent a few minutes talking to her when she got back from work and was waiting for her cute boyfriend to pick her up for a weekend of biking and hiking!
    The way people were coming and going it felt like a play, where maybe I was the narrator, getting the pertinent information from the cast of characters that would be important later on in the play!  LOL  This is possibly the nicest neighborhood ever!
    During the time I was meeting the people in the neighborhood and redirection traffic, guys from the crew would come by on their way to get coffee or food from a mini-mart.  They would ask if I was married, or if I had kids, and how old my kids are.  Little by little they were getting all the information on me that they were interested in.  Or they would come up with a bottle of water, making sure I wasn't fainting!  Word travels fast! 
     At the end of the day we were waiting for our crew chief, and Joseph had gone home because he had had little sleep the night before.  A few guys were hanging around and one of the guys asked if I drank, and I said no.  And he said, "Everybody has to eat, and I'd like to take you out to dinner."  I laughed and asked him if he was married (yes) and if he had kids (yes) then I said, "What is wrong with this picture?"  He gave me his phone number and told me I could think about it (PS, guys, a diamond is "think about things").  Jokingly I said,"Did you write this out after you gave me water at lunchtime and we talked?" and he said, "No, I wrote it out after I met you this morning."  As funny (and wrong) as this is to me, it's still flattering.