Weird Wednesday: Thursday edition

Before I get into the rest of the hospital drama, I should probably tell you that I am not normal.  Okay yeah, that's a given.  What I mean is that I don't react normally to man-made chemical pharmaceuticals.  And my reaction is not consistent.  Some things way over react, some just have other than normal reactions, and some things considered quite potent do not react on me at all.  I don't seem to have that problem with natural drugs, and my preference is to self medicate with weeds, teas, and sometimes alcohol for the most part.

Don't let me give you the wrong impression, it's not that I don't like a good buzz now and then ;)  I've just learned over the years that I can't trust what will happen if I simply follow the instructions when it comes to drugs.  For instance, Valium .. and cocaine (I grew up in the 60's, OF COURSE I experimented) have No. Effect. Whatsoever.  Nada ... zilch.  Some cold medicines, however (Sinutab anybody?) will knock me flat on my ass.  You would swear I was asleep, or unconscious.  I'm not though, I can hear everything going on around me ... I just can't respond.  And then there's aspirin.  I am the only person I know that it makes incredibly sleepy ... and some kinds of speed put me to sleep before they wire me up.

So yeah, the older and wiser me does not experiment much anymore.  In the rare event that I go to a doctor and he prescribes something new, I won't take it until I'm at home and don't have anything important to do, and even then only under controlled circumstances.

So when I wake up from the surgery on my knee, I find they have me on a morphine pump.  COOL!  I've heard all kinds of good things about morphine and I'm ready for a good time.  The day following the incident with the crazy cat lady I was in the room by myself.  I could handle that, no more buzzkill ... only I didn't feel buzzed at all.  It WORKED - it relieved the pain, but that was it, no buzz, no fun stuff and that was a tad disappointing after all the hype.

The next day, bright and early, in bopped a little woman that introduced herself as the physical therapist.  She said that today, I had to get up and walk!

WHAT?!!!  Are you NUTS?  What are they giving you? ... because it MUST be better than what they're giving me.  They just operated on that leg the day before yesterday.

She just grinned and said, Yep, she knew that, but I couldn't be released from the hospital until I could get around by myself.  Not to worry, I would have a walker and she would be right there with me.

OOOkay, If you say so.

So I get my hands up under me to push myself up to turn around and she reaches out, grabs my cast a little below the knee and YANKS it towards towards her trying to swing me around!  The same direction it broke in the first place!

The morphine didn't seem to help that pain much at all.  I roared in pain ... and the bitch started LAUGHING!  I went totally ballistic.  She was smart enough to stay out of my reach because I was struggling to get close enough to wallop her.  When I couldn't, I started throwing things but I didn't have a decent projectile ... Styrofoam cups, straws and magazines don't make very effective weapons and were all that I could reach.

You know, it's been 15 or 20 years since it happened, but to this day I can still hear that laugh, and I still get madder than hell at the thought of it.  She stood in the doorway for a bit, but finally left when it became apparent to her that I wasn't going to do anything but attack her if she came near me. 

The nurse came in and got me to calm down somewhat.  I told her she better not let that bitch come back into my room or somebody was going to get hurt.  She explained to me that I "had" to see her, that she was the head of the department of Physical Therapy and had to approve and sign the release before they could discharge me.  I didn't care who she was, I flat out told the nurse, if that bitch got within reaching distance I was going to rock her world.

They left me alone for a little while.  That afternoon the nurse comes in and says that I HAVE to be able to walk on my own to be released and that the Physical Therapist had to SEE it or she wouldn't release me.

Okay FINE then.  She could tell me what I need to do and then stand in the doorway and watch because if she came anywhere NEAR me I was going to deck her ... believe that!  I guess they took me at my word because a few minutes later there was a knock on my door.  I looked up and there, stopped at the door mind you,  are two of the biggest, baddest, bouncer looking fellas I'd ever laid eyes on ... dressed in white coats.  I'm telling you they were both at least three feet wide at the shoulders.

"We're from Physical Therapy, can we come in?"

I started laughing, I couldn't help it.  They had sent in the goon squad for little ol' me ;) "So, you must be Attila and Hun?"

"We heard you had a problem with our boss."

Well, yeah ... and I proceeded to tell them the whole story.

"So you don't have a problem with what you have to do?  You're not going to get violent with us?"

No!  I have a problem with people in the healing professions, who are supposed to have some compassion, hurting me and thinking that it's funny.

So they brought the walker over to the bed, and came to the side with my good leg.  Thank you! at least they weren't dumber than a box of rocks.  They let me get turned around myself.  I put my hand on the walker and they helped me slide forward and off the bed.  When my feet hit the floor I stood up  ... and the whole room went TILT!

Remember the morphine that didn't make me feel buzzed?  Well, apparently that was because I wasn't moving.  But this wasn't "buzzed".  This shot way past that ... straight to "copped the spins and hugged the toilet".  It was not a good feeling, not even a little.

I took my couple of steps, which is all they wanted to start with anyways, then got back in bed feeling very ill.  Told the nurses I wanted OFF that morphine pump!  Okay, they would switch me to Demoral by mouth.  It seemed okay at first, at least I wasn't feeling sick.

The next day my (ex)husband calls.  He was working in the next town and they had a Taco Bell there.  I LOVE Taco Bell, and they didn't have one in the town we lived in so I didn't get it very often.  I'd been complaining because the hospital food sucked, so he wanted to know if I'd like him to bring me Taco Bell when he came up that evening.  HELL YEAH!  I was primed by the time he got there, I'd been anticipating that yumminess all day long.  Didn't even try to eat my hospital dinner, I had the good stuff coming.

When he walked in the door he had a BURGER KING bag in his hand!!!  and I blew a gasket.  No, I didn't yell at him ... I wasn't mad.  I bawled.  Big, giant crocodile tears.  Total hysteria.  You would have thought I had just lost my best friend.  He didn't understand what the big deal was *rolls eyes* but as far as I was concerned the world was coming to an end.

The following day he told me that the nurses had reported that I had sat up in my hospital bed all night with my imaginary phone dispatching fire trucks.  That, coupled with the previous days hysteria made me refuse any more Demoral also.  Imagine that LOL.

Attila and Hun came in every day for PT until I was out of there.  They were big and looked scary, but were really a couple of teddy bears ... very nice and considerate and they convinced that evil little twit they worked for that she didn't need to come back in and see me.  Good thing too, because I'd have probably left the hospital in hand cuffs on my way to jail.

On release day, after the Doc said I could go we waited ... and waited ... and waited some more.  The nurses said they had to do some kind of paperwork and were waiting for them to bring a wheelchair up.  I had crutches by this time and was getting handy with them.  After waiting a couple of hours I was done.  I looked at the husband and said "Get the suitcase!".
"What are you going to do, we have to wait for ..."

"I'm going home ... you coming?"

"But they said ..."

I was already out the door.  As I crutch past the nurses station one says,

"We're still waiting for ... "

"I'm done waiting.  I'm going HOME".

"You can't just leave, we have to ..."

"Watch me"

"But you have to go down in a wheelchair ... hospital regulations"

"Then you damn well better get it here before I get to that elevator, because I'm GOING home ... and I'm going now."

And do you know a miracle occurred!  The wheelchair beat me to the elevator, funny how that worked.  All in all, I doubt the hospital staff would tell you I was the best patient they ever had.  But hey, I least I kept them entertained while I was there.

Deadlines and Priorities or Calling all Rabbits

This weeks edition of Weird Wednesday has been postponed until Thursday.  It's mostly written, but you know I need visual aids ;)  so I will get it up for you tomorrow.  Promise.

What was so important that I didn't get it finished for today?

I made the ornaments I promised Rabbit for the kids he's helping, and there just wasn't time enough for both. They are finished Rabbit!  I'll get them to the Post Office and tomorrow they will be on the way to you!

Priorities folks.  Christmas for the kiddies is much more important than one little blog post.  Well, it's not so "little" actually.  That's part of the reason it's not finished, but it will be ...

Tomorrow
Tomorrow
There's always Tomorrow
It's only a day away.

Annie ... oh yeah right, I mean
Peace,
Sally 

Adrift

 Dragonflight

 Like a leaf
floating along on an afternoon breeze
or a ship
adrift on an open sea

Nothing to hold me ...
No one to claim me

Not quite lost
but without a map or compass
I have no destination
and there's no place I belong

Now you see me, now you don't
fading into the shadows
like a dream upon awakening
Is it real, or is it Memorex

The sound of the never ending goodbye
that is the soundtrack of my life
Cues up once again
and falls on deaf ears

Come to the Dark Side

Midnight Passage

Thematic Photographic 126 Dark  for more Night photos click the button

I am definitely a night owl type, but you wouldn't know it from my photos.  My best night shots were taken at the fair and included in the It's Electric set.  Most of my night photos never see the light of day.  I have standards and they don't meet them.  When I like a particular composition or appeal, such as the above photo, I will work with it in a photo editing program (I usually use PhotoFiltre, which is a free download) until I can make "art" out of it.

I know I need to use a tripod at night.  But I rarely have a photo session planned out to that degree.  Someday I will make time to learn all the proper settings, but right now it's pretty much hit or miss ... mostly miss ;)  I especially love Moon shots.  Carmi's got a wonderful one up at the link.  I have only ONE showing craters and all but it was taken in the middle of the day.  I do have one shot of a full moon ... it was my first so don't judge it too harshly.

 

My Night to Howl

It's very dark I know, but I really like the ambiance in this one.   It was take with my first digital camera, a little point and shoot that didn't have a lot of features, but it took good pictures and was great for learning on.  It lasted about a year.  I think I just wore it out ;)

Starry Starry Night 

This one was what I call a happy accident.  It was taken from a moving car (I wasn't driving) while exiting the Festival of Lights on John's Island.   The movement was the reason for the seeming multiple exposures.  I think it was a combination of the movement and the darkness that kept the structures that held these lights from showing.  Some of the stars were blinking, and with the longer shutter speed they faded to almost ghostly apparitions in a similar way to Max's staged ghost shot was done ... which, btw, he has up for this theme.  Y'all should go check it out, it's very cool.

Speaking of Max, I've included this next shot for him, and the Gearheads and any other car lovers among us.

A Night on Charles Towne

This beauty was parked at the curb at Forrest Gump's one night when I was downtown.  Charleston is ALWAYS a photo shoot for me, so of course I had my camera.  I don't know what kind she is or anything (my kind of geek is directed other ways) but I'm sure one of our motor heads can tell us ;)

That that's all I got folks.  

Weird Wednesday: The Mustang Sally way

 

 You know, when I started doing Weird Wednesdays I was absolutely SURE that Wednesdays only rolled around once every week.  So why does it feel like it gets here every 3 or 4 days now?  I don't know but maybe it has something to do with my taking 3 day weekends and just subtracting them from the rest of the week like they don't exist ... ya think?

While I've been playing catch up here, I've gotten really lax about responding to comments.  I apologize for that.  I just haven't MADE the time and I need to.  Life does get busy, but comments are one of the very best parts of blogging.  It means a lot to me that you all take the time to read my stuff and look at my pictures, and the comments are what lets me know that you do.  I want to take a minute here and thank you all for being such a great audience, and letting me know that SOMEBODY hears me.  In real life I sometimes feel like my voice is ... invisible.  (Yes, I know.  I sometimes mix metaphors too, and sometimes I make up my own words to boot.)

This week I reached a milestone in the great blogging experiment.  My posse (that's right, I'm not the Pied Piper and YOU are not rats - I don't have followers, I have a posse) reached the magic number of 50 and I think that calls for a celebration.  Yep, that's right BLOG PARTY woo hoo!!!  Open bar ... virtual drinks are on the house.  What's your pleasure?  

Bouncin' Barb at This and That was lucky number 50.  Being unemployed and penniless and also unsponsored by the corporate world I don't have much in the prize department to give away.  However, I will be making some handmade Christmas ornaments here real soon so Barb, if you will email me your snail mail address I will be happy to send one to you.

For the rest of you I have virtual hugs, and if there's anything you wonder about, or anything particular thing you'd like to see 'pictured' (ah ah, now get your mind out of the gutter - there will be no porn here) I promise I will answer each and every comment, and if there are photo requests there will be a post for them. 

I see the soft shell turtle in my Sepia post was as new to some of you as it was to me.   I would have included the color version that "Pickles" said she'd like to see but due to the sandy bottom and the water it was almost sepia to begin with.  Amber asked if I had an underwater camera.  No, I don't.  The water wasn't very deep in this shot, maybe 2 or 3 feet.  I took the picture from the riverbank.  And no Bruce, no sepia spider ;) but I have a special spider shot I'm saving just for you.

As for weirdness, let's see ... yesterday morning I played do it yourself dentistry.  I have been cursed with the teeth of a crackhead although that's never been my vice.  What few teeth I have left snap, crackle and break off at the gum line.  One of them decided it was time to abscess.  I have no money for a dentist to begin with.  Certainly not for him to write a perscription for anti-biotics I have anyways and lance the gum.  So I did it myself (Hey, when something hurts that bad you can't even feel the hot needle .. really)  So you see, sometimes I can provide my own weirdness.

That's it for now, party down my posse, and next week I'll return you to your regularly scheduled programming.

Not as Old as I Look

So okay, it's a silly title but what do you expect and 5:30 in the AM when I've gotten all caught up in reading your blogs all night.  I promised you a Sepia post and you shall have it.

 

Thematic Photographic 125 Sepia see more at Carmi's site 

So why do I not feel the same way about Sepia, as I do about Black and White Photography?  I really don't know the answer to that question.  Maybe it's because the brown tones are warmer than the gray ones ... or maybe it's because the photography world doesn't try to cram it down my throat.  I'm contrary that way.  Sepia doesn't look 'dead' to me ... it just looks old.  For antiques (and ghost towns, you really should pop over and check out some of the other links, great photos this week!) sepia just fits in a way nothing else does.  It's also a great treatment for old timey dress up shots (like those you see at the mall and at festivals).  

In the case of the above shot, in addition to the subject matter, it greatly helped with the lighting problems this shot had.  I did do this from other angles where the lighting wasn't so harsh and those I left in full color.  I liked this shot both ways.

 

This shot is not very old at all 'though it looks like it might be.  Admittedly the subject may be ... but it was taken just a few years ago in a museum at the Lighthouse some of you will remember I posted called "Bright Eye".  I love this shot in color, but it makes me feel like I've stepped back in time in Sepia.

 

This picture of a soft shelled  turtle (the first I'd ever seen) was taken at the Edisto River not far from here.  Yes that turtle is underwater, that is sand on it's back ... they're shy and camouflage themselves pretty well.  With that sandy river bottom it didn't have much color anyway so I opted for the sepia treatment, it wasn't much of a stretch. 

And that's it for this time folks, a girl has to sleep sometime.  'Night y'all.

  

 

Come and get your Bloglove on!

I've had a hectic week.  Out of town company, holiday dinner - twice, trying (and failing) to catch up from my down time LAST week all having me playing catch-up STILL.  Then, when I finally thought I'd get this posted last night, I spilled iced tea on my desk and it got all up in my mouse and it wouldn't work right (seems to be all dried out and operating today) But I'll just keep plugging away at it until I get it, so don't give up on me.

Ckrets is likely thinking I'm totally unappreciative, as it's been a week or two since she notified me but nothing could be further from the truth.  I all bouncy and excited over the fact that she gave me this ...

I just love awards, they give warm fuzzy feelings and make me feel all ooey gooey inside.  So THANK YOU CkretsGalore.  You can (and SHOULD) check her out at Kick Her Right In The Habit  She'll make you laugh (unless you're a stick in the mud, in which case you're probably not reading my blog) with her irreverent attitude, a bit cheeky, and maybe even a little twisted.  If you're reading this you'll like her ... trust me.

And now it's my turn to pass on some blog love.  Yay, I love to play Santa ;)  This one goes out to those that bring smile and laughter into my world.

Bruce at Just Another Day in Paradise and his dog Tucker, who daily never fail to bring a smile to my face.   Bruce grew up in the same world I did, although I'm not sure he's from this planet any more than I am ;)  He also has red hair (and the temper that comes with that) and now I find out he's a crazy magnet too.  Ya know Bruce?  They say like attracts like ... it might just be us, just sayin'.  Check out his blog ... it's all OVER the place and you'll like it (Tucker too).

And then there's Kara at Visions unto Myself  This chick could write stand up.  She's funny as hell and not too many people have discovered her yet ... but they will.  She's another who posts daily, unlike me who barely manages to squeak out two or three a week.  Follow her now and when she's rich and famous you'll be able to say "I knew her when ... "  and maybe she'll send us cookies, it could happen you know.

And check out this guy named Que at Dad By Trade He's working two jobs now so not posting as often but when he does ... well just let me say he had me in TEARS I was laughing so hard at his story about racing a bird down the road one day.

A Cappelli at This House gets Crazy at Three O'clock does fantastic illustrations to go along with her humorous tales.  She is another very talented undiscovered that I'm thankful that I happened upon (I think it was during Fickle Cattle's contest *shrug* but I could be wrong) I'm not generally the Mommy blog sort ... but her's is not the typical Mommy blog.  Her posts make me giggle ... like when she tells about how her daughter keeps the Tooth Fairy on a short leash.  Definitely worth reading.

And finally Pickles at Another Day of Crazy ;)  okay No, that's not her name ... but check out her profile picture.  She deserves this award for that alone, because it makes me laugh every time I see it.  She might rant a bit but retains her sense of humor,  and she just bought the COOLEST middle age crisis toy EVER!  Mmph Mmm ... nope, not going to tell you.  You'll have to go check it out for yourself ( and you guys will be sorry if you don't ... just sayin' )

There are others I would have passed this along to also, but they've already been awarded it (yup, I checked)  and five is a nice odd number so that's it until the next one.

I'll be back soon with my Sepia contributions for Thematic Photographic.  Also, I know now that it was the right thing to do to keep this blog anonymous ... yep, I'm feeling the need to vent my spleen.  So soon, my pretties, I will be back on a regular basis soon.

Weird Wednesday: Hospital Hijinks

One place that I almost always encounter weirdness is hospitals.  I don't suppose that's surprising to anybody here, because hospitals are strange places.  They keep you in bed 24/7 because you're supposed to be resting so you can heal, but then every time you drift off to sleep they wake you up.   I can't imagine a worse place to recover from anything.

It was late afternoon/early evening after the surgery to put my leg back together. If you missed the story of how I broke it you'll find it here.  Not long after I woke up they brought me a roommate.  Older lady, talkative ... and nutty as a fruitcake.  I was still under the influence of anesthesia, kind of in and out, so I thought at first it might just be that I was a bit confused and tried to reserve judgment.

As we were getting ready to call it a night I started getting a little concerned, as the little bit of woman was scurrying around the room tugging at pieces of furniture and muttering to herself.  When I asked her what it was that she was trying to do, she explained that she was trying to bar the door so those nurses couldn't keep coming in there.  Now, I couldn't get out of bed at ALL yet at this point and I told her I NEEDED those nurses to be able to come in ... while casually trying to unobtrusively move my hand toward the call button.

She said she couldn't help it, that every time those nurses came in during the night they left the door open so that all those cats could sneak into our room, and she just couldn't deal with all those cats crawling all over her all night long.  Then she started muttering to herself again and continued dragging things toward the door.  Oooh kay .. CATS!  Evil, sneaky attack cats that have hypnotized the nurses to do their bidding.

Now I am starting to panic and punching that button repeatedly.  A nurse finally answers,

"Did you need something?"

"Um, you'd better get in here before the barricade is complete"  I  squeaked, trying to be quiet about it, but there was no need to worry, my roomie was totally engrossed in her efforts to save us from the coming cat invasion.







It was the first time I had ever seen an immediate response to a nurses call button, and it was a good thing too 'cause I was fixing to go off on a nut myself.  Suddenly the room was filled with hospital personnel (who, strangely enough, were catless) who quickly and calmly put everything back in place and whisked my roomie off to the psyche ward.

If you are a regular reader of my Weird Wednesday posts, you might get the idea that I am some sort of magnet for 'crazy'.  I cannot argue with that assessment.  I don't know why it is, but if there is a loony tune anywhere within a mile of me they will find me and try to make me a part of their sing-a-long.



I'd like to tell you that the rest of that hospital stay was uneventful, even boring ... but it wasn't.  I think though, that I'd better save the story of Attila and Hun and the Demerol induced hallucinations for another episode of Weird Wednesday.  Come back next week, same bat time, same bat channel.

Midnight Double Feature: It's Electric

Many of you will remember that I, um .... kinda 'missed' the Electric theme last week.  Part of the problem was that I wanted to take new photos for it, rather than dig through my stash, because the County Fair was in town.  I took me a bit to get them processed because I was jonesing on vegetables joining the 21st century.  All of the shots I'm going to share are from last week except one. 

There are lots of reasons people go to the fair.  The rides, the animals, the crafty competitions, the atmosphere ... but here in the south there is one reason that surpasses all the others.  It's the food!

Elephant Ears, Turkey Drumsticks, Funnel Cakes, Foot Long Corn Dogs, people come to the fair to eat ... and they spend a fortune doing it.

That's not to take away from the whole "Bright lights, big city" aspect however.  It is an 'electrifying' atmosphere.

There's just that something about all the lights, and the colors, and the sounds ... that nothing else ever quite measures up to.  The very air is charged with excitement.

And oh yeah, did I mention there were rides?

And with that I'll say good night leaving you with this last shot taken a couple of years ago.  I couldn't not include it because it's one of  my very favorite shots ... and the first one I thought of when I saw the 'electric' theme and the one that inspired this entire post ...

Good night Gracie.

Be sure to catch tonight's first feature "Candid" the post immediately preceding this one *wink*

Midnight Double Feature: Candid

 

 Thematic Photographic 124 for more Candid photos press the (very cool!) button

 

People are not my favorite subjects but when I do take their photos it is almost always candid shots that I choose.  I'm not a big fan of posed pictures, I like a natural look.  With my blog being anonymous, however, I thought it would be hard to come up with more than a couple shots of strangers ... HA!  Should have known better I suppose :)

Kids are always fun to photograph, and fairs and festivals provide ample "oh how cute" moments.  I tend to grab those without even thinking about it.

 The first two were taken at the Maritime Festival in Charleston, although they call it something different now.  I've actually missed it the last couple of years partly because of the name change.  I love sailboats of all kinds, and the big ships are just awesome.  This shot is from the Azalea Festival here in Summerville.

I would have told you I didn't have many shots of adults (except family of course) but turns out I would have been lying.  Seems I have a penchant for snapping shots of people while their working.  This was one of the pirate dudes at the Maritime Festival caught on a coffee break.

A broom maker at the Azalea Festival.  Very cool booth, they make natural brooms, right there at the festival.  Some have short, crooked handles ... very Harry Potterish. 

This artist, from the same festival (although this one was taken this year) didn't seem to be distracted by the crowd in the least.  Very focused.

This is not the best picture I ever took.  The light was bad, the background BUSY, but I really liked the whole 'street musician' concept.  Heavily edited to try to make up for it's faults, but I wasn't talented enough to be able to get rid of the sign in the background.  I think it may have been taken in Florida, but I really don't remember.  I included it for Bruce of JADIP who had a street gig for awhile, and now has a really cool blog you might want to check out.

Last, but not least in this series, is a shot taken at a Pow Wow held at the Fairgrounds here in Ladson.  It's titled "We the people" (I wonder how many will see what I saw in this shot). 












That's it for the first show, second feature coming right up

Weird Wednesday: Restaraunt Raunch

Okay,  I'm a few minutes late ... so shoot me ;)

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away ... I was young and waited tables for a coffee shop in California.  We used to run a nightly dinner special and on Monday it was Chicken.  It came with soup and salad, 1/2 a chicken fried, choice of potato, and  a dessert (rice pudding) ... all for the ridiculously low price (even back then) of $1.49.  No, that is not a typo. I really did meant one dollar and forty-nine cents.

This attracted the size crowd you might imagine, a good portion of them being senior citizens. Most weeks the line of people waiting to be seated would go out the door and wrap all the way around the building.  Although typically that kind of wait would make for some very grouchy customers, we were generally forgiven because of the low cost. 

It wasn't only this restaurant's specials that were cheap.  The entire organization was, and while we rarely ran out of food, other essential things ... like clean silverware ... were another story.  It was a decent sized place, 6 sections of tables and a double counter that usually counted as one section, but on "Chicken night" it was two.  You see each counter had 10 seats and it was impossible for one person to handle both "well" when we were that crowded. 

Nobody liked to work counter on Mondays because it was extremely fast-paced.  The counter didn't get seated by the hostess after the table was cleaned.  Oh no, one got up another sat down.  You cleaned the preceding mess as quickly as you could get to it, and the customers usually already knew what they wanted to order.  I didn't mind because I was very good at my job and with that quick turnover I would make a pile of money.

One night the person scheduled to work back counter called in sick and the manager, who we'll call Prick, didn't bother to try and call anyone in to cover the shift because "Well Sally's working front counter, she can handle both".  No, it wasn't a back handed compliment, he knew exactly the kind of hell he was putting me into.  He didn't like me ... and since he was going home, it wasn't his problem. 

It started out okay, my first batch of people spaced themselves out well enough that things were moving like clockwork.   I was congratulating myself on how smoothly things were going on the way to pick up my last dinner for that round of customers, but when I turned back around my stomach dropped ... 17 people stood up and left at the same time.  Just as quickly 17 more sat down. 

There's no way to know exactly what order they sat down in.  I just started at one end, cleaned the places and took 4 orders at a time, got them started with soup and salad, then took the next 4 orders until I got through it.  Now by this time we had started running out of clean silverware.  I had gotten about halfway down the 2nd counter when a man at the end of the first counter who I had, only minutes before, just served his soup and salad starts yelling

"Miss, Miss!"

I looked up as he says,

 "Do you think I could get a fork to eat my salad with?"  (The soup had been served with a soup spoon on the plate, hence the delay.)

Cringing at my rookie mistake, I immediately stopped what I'm doing and said,

"Oh, I am so sorry Sir, I must have forgotten your place setting". 

I ran over to the silverware station under the counter and reached down to find NO silverware, only napkins.    

"No, No, all I need right now is a fork so I don't have to eat with my fingers" his voice dripping with sarcasm.

I rushed over to another station where there were knives, but nothing else.

"When I finish my salad, maybe then you could see fit to bring me a napkin so I can wipe my mouth."

I went out on the floor to yet another silver station,  to find only spoons.

"When my dinner arrives I'll need a knife to butter my roll" 

"Look that's enough, I'm getting it"

"And I'd like a spoon by the time my dessert gets here."

By this time I'm on my way to the last place we store silverware and I've totally lost my sense of humor.

"Shut it Bud"

I finally get there and LO!   There is the fork I need. As I reach for it, his voice rises

"Some waitresses are so FUCKING stupid they can't even bring you utensils to eat with"

I. AM. LIVID. at this point.  I gathered the whole handful of silver into a big wad, and from halfway across the restaurant I THREW it at him and pointed at the door,

"GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY RESTAURANT!"

... and when I did, every person seated at the back counter stood up and applauded!  He left and I just stood there shaking, trying desparately not to cry (when I am very angry my eyes want to leak).  A very sweet little old man came over, put his arm around me and said "Honey, why don't you go in the back for a minute and compose yourself, have yourself a smoke.  Go on, we can wait" and shoo'd me off.  And I went, because if I'd have tried to talk at that moment, the tears would have exploded.

I got to the back room, took a couple drags off a cigarette, then took a deep breath and then went to find Bosley, the night Manager.  When I found him, he took one look at my face and in a quiet, comforting voice said, 

"Now Sally, I know you're mad at Prick but if you walk out now you won't be paying him back, it won't hurt him at all.  It's me and these girls that are here that will have to deal with it."

"I'm not walking out Bosley, but when you hear what I did, you're going to have to fire me"

"Why, what happened?"

When I finished the story he started  ... LAUGHING!

"I'm not going to fire you, now go wash your face and get back out there okay?"

Bosley was the coolest boss EVER.  We called him Bosley because he was like a cross between Tom Bosley (the dad in the TV show Eight is Enough) and the character Bosley from Charlie's Angels.  I don't even remember his real name. 

I made great tips that night but the best one was from that same little old man who said,

"If anybody ever talks to you like that again Honey,  you just 'accidentally' trip and dump an entire pot of hot coffee in his lap."

Okay fine, I can do Black and White

 

 Thematic Photographic 123 see more of Black and White at Written Ink

Yes I can, but it might not be exactly what you would expect ;)  I've never understood the artistic fascination with Black and White photography.  Yes, yes there is the drama and all, and that can but used quite well for effect occasionally (and it has it's use in portraits), but it more often just sucks all the life out of a subject in my humble opinion.  It tends to aggravate me when someone take a nature photo, most especially flowers, and then tries to tell me how much more artistic it is in black and white.  WHAT?!!! I think not. 

So yeah I'm a color girl, but I also take my photography seriously and because of the "black and white is the art form" mentality I've been forced to dabble my toe in the waters if I want to be taken seriously as a photographer.  I love how wide open Carmi is about interpretations of a theme.  Although I actually said "Ugh!" when I saw this weeks theme (sorry Carmi, it was just a knee jerk reaction for me) I knew that I would have plenty of leeway to offer up my own quirky version.  So I should just shaddup already and show you the pictures huh?

 

Sacred Geometry 

I do, of course have some traditional examples.  This abstract was taken of a sculpture in Washington DC a couple of years ago.

And yes, here again we have the obligatory spider shot ;)  presented here with the black and white being the spider's color ...

... and again here where the silhouette just begged for the conversion.  I was doing spooky Halloween shots when I was first learning about photo editing.

 

For something completely different I have this photo of a mime who posed for me at a festival in North Charleston. 

 

And to prove I do actually understand about 'drama' I offer this rather different view of a passion flower.  I do wish you could see this without the black frame my blog automatically puts around photos.  It's best on a white background. 

And that's it for today's show.  I am back, and with a vengeance.  I have lots to share that I put off last week while lost on the farm.  I actually have some photos I went out and took for the electric theme that I missed last week.  I'll probably share them anyways soon as they were taken at the County Fair here.  Tomorrow is Weird Wednesday already, and I have a few more things I'd like to get in here.   I'm trying to catch up on y'alls blogs too ... plus I found a few new ones with the guest posting gig.  OH my yes, and a warm and hearty welcome to you new folks, jump right on in ... the waters fine.