Before you yell at me, and I know some of you want to for whatever reason, this stuff is not the run amok bamboo. My mother had the run amok bamboo, and she needed a panda to get rid of it, not to mention that it invaded her neighbor's backyard. He was living in assisted care, and the house was empty, soooo, yeah. No one came around and saw the nightmare his yard had become. She's a crap neighbor.


I planted clumping bamboo AND I told my neighbors so they wouldn't lose their collective ish when they saw the plants in my yard. Chainlink fence = nosy people = need for bamboo. Both neighbors live across the street from me, and no one's property abuts mine.

Now that we've gotten *that* out of the way...

Why is wheat growing in the middle of one of the plants? WHEAT!?

Thank you.



Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 06/20/2020 07:20PM by Beth.

Because. Agriculture.

:)


PS: Where'd your mom get a panda?

from Panda Express

Heh to both of you!

And will four 10ft pieces of rebar fit in a Mazda 3S (2011)? Why don't any of my neighbors that I know drive trucks?

Why do I always spill milk when I'm pouring it?

Why do random people who want something from me always say they've lost their ID? I'm not a bar. There's no need to know their names.

Why did someone leave wet boxers in my yard? (They got wet because s/he fell in the river, but still. Take that mess with you.)

Why did I find a pair of mismatched women's shoes on the sidewalk out front?

Why were there a bunch of rose petals scattered on my walk? I don't have roses. My nearby neighbors don't have roses. BUT, I think I know the answer to this one. Late one night last week, someone drove into a light pole and woke me up. The light pole was way far away - across and down the street. Anyway, BOOM! Dog goes nuts, and I'm like, "Hell. What now? Lava-lava or jeans? Jeans."

I grab my big ass bop-people-over-their-heads flashlight and my dog and get as close to them as I can while in my yard and assess the damage. Thank whomever for collapsing light poles. I yell, "Is anybody hurt? Need an ambulance?" They're like, "No, we're okay." And I thought, "No. You really aren't," but I was like, okay.

The next day rose petals were scattered all over the walk. Okay then. I looked over at what remained of the light pole. It had an upside down safety cone on it.

Later, I looked at the safety cone, and I saw nearby a giant bush that might be roses. Maybe. But it was a bigass bush. Like a hedge bush. The flowers were close to the same color, and I thought, "Well, that's nice. Sure they yanked a bunch of flowers from that person's gigantic rose bush, if that's what it is, but after you've knocked over a light pole, rose thievery is no big deal."



Edited 5 time(s). Last edit at 06/20/2020 08:33PM by Beth.

Aliens, I think it’s aliens.

The new meds have opened up new Windows to look out haven't they?

Are you sure it is wheat and not just common tares or darnel?

Bamboo and wheat are both grasses. They'll get along just fine.

What you do is get a lot of crickets--enough for a plague---to eat the wheat. All the while you have to stand watch and shoo away the seagulls or it won't work.

Can't beat the wheat!

Beats me.

I love beets.

You wanna bet?

And I really, really need a truck. 10' of rebar will *not* fit in a beat up 2011 Mazda 3S. The S means *nothing*. It's not super, and it's not sporty.

I reserved a freakin monster pickup on Enterprise's website because "[Th]ey'll pick you up!" Apparently they didn't pick up any trucks. I'll be tooling about in a Suburban. A Suburban. I'm going to drive to friggin' Home Depot, after they pick me up[!] and try to charge me Suburban rates instead of Monster Truck rates, which are much lower because IDK? Shouldn't Monster Trucks command the highest rate? It's not just a truck; it's a monster!

Glad the West Coast doesn't believe in parallel parking.

Birds could have dropped kernels. Could have been some mixed in with what you planted. A neighbor screwing with your mind?

Or - Just maybe... Nephite Grainary secretly on your property?

Don't know if you got your rebar yet, but doesn't Home Depot deliver or at least have pickups to rent?

The HDs in Olympia do.

It was in a city lot.

tumwater asked some sensible questions. The answers are not sensible because Centralia/Chehalis (AKA "The Twin Cities), is Centralia/Chehalis.

We don't have a Target.

As much as I complain about C/C, neighbors, and random weirdness, I try to stop and take stock of these facts:

1. I am mentally ill. It's a serious condition that will never be cured. I think I've come to terms with that. When the meds poop out, like I know they will, I'll keep trying to get myself straight.

2. I am a seriously mentally ill employed person. The longest I've held a job before this one was the six years I was in the Navy, and I wouldn't have been in there *that* long if I had been able to quit.

3. I am a seriously mentally ill employed person with a home. But for my supervisors' kindness, I would probably be back to where I was the day before I was hired: Homeless. When the meds poop out and I can't deal with life, they get it. I have them to thank for for me being a seriously mentally ill employed person with a home. Especially the one who told me about FMLA.

All of my complaints are total BS when I think about the hundreds of thousands of similarly situated people in this country who didn't get these breaks. My complaints are complete BS when I think about the billions of similarly situated people who are suffering, and all those who are not similarly situated yet suffer still. My complaints tend to be tongue-in-cheek stories about dumb stuff that happens in my otherwise boring life, and I don't think these stories rise to the level of what one would consider boredom relief.

Let's get to the complaining.

This is what I'm building: https://ladyleeshome.com/how-to-build-tomato-trellis-2/

(brb)



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/27/2020 04:32PM by Beth.

Beth,

You are mentally ill, to be sure, but brilliant, empathetic, and in fact a lot more stable than most people who don't have bipolar disorder. You and I know that literally less than 1% of the American populace could achieve what you have academically, in terms of published political and social commentary, and professionally. Moreover you are an excellent mother whose daughter seeks your support and guidance all the time, and you have helped a LOT of people over the years.

If you are the standard, the world needs way more mentally ill people. Never forget that.

LW

Thank you, LW. You are very kind.

I haven't read the chapter, "How To Appropriately Respond to a Compliment," yet.

So, keep complimenting me, and maybe I'll get the hang of it. Until then, your check is in the mail.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/28/2020 12:47AM by Beth.

It's not kind at all. It is a statement of fact.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/27/2020 11:31PM by caffiend.

I've been trying to find rebar since May maybe. Maybe April. Home Depot (HD), didn't have and in stock or otherwise, but Lowe's did. Plus Lowe's (is it a possessive? Not sure), will accept a veteran's discount *online* (take note, HD), and sometimes that discount will offset the delivery fee enough to buy stuff from Lowe's and have them bring it to C/C, because they only come down on Wednesdays because C/C.

So, in April or May, I was on Lowe's website looking for 10' rebar x4 and 5-6' t posts xI can't remember (I probably don't have enough), and some other things that won't fit in my car.

Lowe's and behold, they had what I wanted. I put that stuff into my cart with my nimble left index finger, made my bank account cry for mercy as I checked out, and I waited to hear which Wednesday they were heading from Olympia to C/C because C/C.

Olympia is about a 30-minute drive north of C/C, so it's not that big a deal if you have a truck. You can order your stuff and pick it up. I don't have a truck.

So, yippy skippy! Things are moving along nicely until Lowe's calls me and says, "Yeah. About that rebar..."

Ugh. I took delivery of the other stuff and tried to work out what I could use instead of rebar.

Last week I was on HD's website because I needed something or other and there it was: four 10' lengths of rebar. Right fucking on, because as of last week, I had not worked out the rebar replacement, and the tomatoes were like, "Hell-lo! Remember us? We were but seedlings in February, and you nurtured us until we became the awesome 24 (shurrup) plants that are now DYING because you haven't gotten your shit together."

So, hurrah! Ordered rebar before they went *poor* because that business is hella hard to find.

I have to go sell someone some ducks eggs (legal here - look it up), and get over my fear of not building a perfect tomato trellis with rebar, and just do the damn thing.

I'll be back.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/27/2020 06:27PM by Beth.

I give up. Of what use do you have for ten foot rebar ?

I have a bad feeling about this.

OK then

24 tomato plants? You've gone from a Philly girl to full on Eva Gabor/Green Acres. I've got some long poles and things into a sedan by wedging them in through the (drivers) back seat window and into the passenger seat. Check if HD has tie-on service.

Rose Petals 'cuz Gay Pride month. See also discarded underwear. Might explain discarded ladies shoes as well.

PS: I'll bet duck droppings make great guano, but do any neighbors have horses/cows? They'll probably be glad to get rid of the stuff.

A quick look at Home Depot ,Chehalis, WA web site, they have trucks of various sizes to help complete your project.

https://www.homedepot.com/l/Chehalis/WA/Chehalis/98532/4740/rentals

Thoughts and prayers for you in dealing with your various personal disorders.

Their website lies and has since I moved here. All they ever have is a flatbed. You get allllll excited because it looks like things have changed and they have a van or something. You call, and they're like, "Nope. Been trying to get that off the [local] website for years. We have a flatbed... ."

Beth-

Do you live on a 'kinda' island? U said no abutting property owners, all are across the street.

If U have .05, will Lucy's booth be of assistance?


Oh, your question: Here's my best reply/response.

a bird or birdies pooped seeds near your bamboo, and while U weren't looking, they decided to multiply.

Yup, that's it.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/27/2020 08:51PM by GNPE.

I'm a mulcher. I'm no bagger unless absolutely necessary. I mow tall grass with abandon and dare it to clog the mower!

So today I'm mowing along, doot dee doot, mowing the lawn, mowing the lawn (think like "Shakin' the tree"; and if you haven't seen "Cool Hand Luke," STOP READING and watch it RIGHT NOW), and [internal monologue time, or is it dialogue?] I don't remember the grass just sort of flopping over like that, and it looks kind of fine and pretty like amber waves of... . damn

Duck feed. The ducks not only build tilth, they have turned every. single. area. that gets sunlight into a field. Sunbreak? Mini field. Of grain. Fertilized by their poop.



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 06/28/2020 12:57AM by Beth.

So right now I'm in a lot of pain, and I'm going to take some Tylenol and hope I'm not getting a shot of Tramadol tomorrow.

The trellis is up, but the strings aren't done, then I have to mulch. I did the poor person version of mulching. (I'm working with sod.)

I turned over a row of sod, just threw it in the trench upside down, watered the hell out of it, covered the trench with cardboard, covered cardboard with well-composted [HAHAHAHAHAHA] duck bedding, covered that with 24 wall o waters (this is all mid April), let the walloH20 warm up the ground for a few days, and I had my plants in the ground in mid-April. ETA over here: Our last frost is the last week of May. Maybe. Maybe not. Maters like ~50º even at night. Our temp fluctuates too much to expect them to get through <50ºF nights. Hell - I have the heat on right now! crazyassweather

ETA: My point is that I want to reply to everyone, but I think I'm going to be laid up real soon. I'm glad the t-things aren't tall because the only thing I can think of that jacked up my back would be that pile driver thing.



Edited 7 time(s). Last edit at 06/28/2020 12:59AM by Beth.

And I have to say, trucks are pretty baller.

I dated a man who was from a teeny town in the Midwest. I went to visit. It's small.

Anyway, this man 1. convinced me to go camping and 2. convinced me to drive his beat up Silverado on 101 South. We were coming home from some nature-camping-no-toilet place near a dormant volcano in CA. (Putting a toilet seat on something doesn't make it a freakin' toilet. It's only something with a toilet seat on it.)

So, yeah. He's tired [lies!] and can't possibly drive anymore without killing us all and "Bethie - you have to drive the truck." Having to choose between a hole in the ground for peeing and killing us in the truck, I chose the truck.

(Someone in my town has the same truck. It's brown and tan. I wonder if [xxx] still has his.)

So I get in the truck and I'm like, "Ohhhhh, I can see errrything. Look at those silly people down there. Ha!" Baller.

A soon as I got in the Suburban, I was like, "Baller."

It's good that I have it anyway, because the ducks need new kiddie pools, and I put cracks in the ones I bought last year when I wedged them into my car. It was embarrassing. I was at Ace Hardware or something like that, and I was the only in the parking lot who what? That's right, who didn't have a truck.

And really. I need a truck sometimes. Plywood? Need a truck. Framing and all that jazz? Need a truck.

I'm thinking about car-sharing a truck. It's not a thing here, but enough of us are driving mini-cars that it might be.

I also thought about buying a farm truck (yes, that is a thing), but I know I'd get pulled over, assuming I made it five feet from my house.

So, yeah. Trucks are baller.

I was coming back from HD *and* the feed store, like I could shop at both places in one trip, and some asshole in front of me made a left without signaling, and I didn't see any brake lights. So this person makes that left, and I'm driving at a safe distance especially because I'm driving a heavy ass vehicle, and you have to watch out for people do that kind of crap. Didn't even bother with arm waving signaling stuff.

I got to honk my loud truck horn (short blast - I don't get carried away), and go Philly on them about using their bleeping turn signal and blah blah and I could because I was waaaay up high, ballin in a giant motorcoach.



Edited 9 time(s). Last edit at 06/28/2020 01:04AM by Beth.