I Said to Myself and the Giraffe Around the Corner

 

Saturday, August 31, 2024

Today starts off with some work. I chose to head out and do some deliveries this morning, with the fun thought of ending the day with an Oregon Duck football game. Wow. Can't believe football season is here again, already. 

I ended the day early to ensure the game was on and I was ready to go. Pork chops, mashed spuds, stuffing, salad, fresh broccoli, and we're ready for some football! Let's play!

Oregon VS Idaho. Ducks versus the Vandals. Everyone was expecting such a high score for the Ducks, completely wiping out any chance the Vandals may have had. But no. Can we blame this on Mercury retrograde? I doubt it, but I would sure love to try. I say blame everything on Mercury. Why not? 

Overall the Ducks played decently, but the new guys on the team are many. They all still have to get used to each other, learning the strong spots of the fellow teammates and the weaker spots of some. Blending can be a process that takes time before they all run together, as one. As a well oiled machine, becoming the Ducks once again. Young team. Lots of growth ahead. 

Yes, there are a couple of players that we know well, such as Patrick Herbert and Jordan James among others, but overall the Ducks are playing with quite a few new players to the team. But that's okay. Oregon is known for using the first game or two of the season to get used to one another and then look out!

The Ducks did win with a 24 to 14 score, but things looked a bit shaky. The new quarterback, Dillon Gabriel or "Lefty" as I called him, seemed to have the skills but I think someone told him to play carefully. He was faulted by fans after the game for throwing the ball about 10 yards if even that and being a high school player. Well, let's give the man a chance. I believe he has what it takes, especially as his record boasts, but he needs to get comfortable and give it all he's got. Like I said, it will take time. It's a win and we appreciate all of those we can get! Go Ducks!

That was about the gist of our Saturday. A bit of work, a Duck game, and dinner, then off to bed for the old people. 

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Sunday, September 1, 2024

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Not much happened today either. Boring, slow day at home and thank the weekend Gods for that! I did work a bit but ended earlier than I was scheduled to. I did receive a promotion and moved up to "Platinum" delivery person now. Whatever that may mean. I have been reading that those who make it into the top tier can get earlier scheduling options than other delivery people and they can work any time they wish instead of waiting for it to look busy. That, and the most important accolade yet, you get higher paying jobs. So, bully for me. Either that or it's the color of the BS piling up. 

This means I will most likely get higher paying jobs, but that is inclusive of drives that are 14 miles long or have huge items that need to be taken to their permanent homes or will have catering orders that can take forever to load or unload. Lucky me. I am grateful that I received the promotion and the rewards that come with it, but we have to learn to take the bad with the good, don't we? 

I'm ready for what comes my way though. I will take the good with some bad. I've just made it through retrograde again, so I'm strong enough. So, I said to myself, I said, "Self?" (I knew it was me because I recognized my voice and I had on my underwear), "Today is going to be a good day! Come what may!" I guess it's all in the state of mind we are in. 

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Monday, September 2, 2024 (Labor Day)

Since my promotion came yesterday, I chose to work today. I began at 9:00 since I knew Terry would be outside reading and relaxing anyway. We made plans last night to go to Wildlife Safari, but I know that would be later on in the day. I pushed the lovely button to begin my day and within moments I had a good order. Off I went. 

I arrived at Lowe's Home Improvement and looked at the order. I was to pick up a box or "one large item" as it stated on the phone. Let's go see what I'm getting into now. 

There was a man stationed at the pickup desk as I rounded the corner. Showing him the customer number on the phone, I was ready to get this moving! He came back to me with a large cart with a huge box resting on it. What happened here? Oh, you best call me a truck driver if anyone expects that box to get to the customer. Nobody asked me if I drove a Monster Truck or semi to cart this thing to the address it goes to. Remember what I said about taking the good with the bad? Pfft. 

Now the Sportage is not a tiny car by any means. It is an SUV, or I guess what is called a Crossover vehicle now. But it's an automobile loaded down with lawn chairs, hats, jackets, grocery bags, and car washing items. Even if the car had a ton of space or if I was driving a U-Haul, there is no way I could lift that box containing a utility sink with pipes, a stand, and whatever else comes with those sinks. I stared at the man and he giggled. I guess the look on my face showed every thought I had sloshing around in my brain. Ah, it's too early in the morning for this shit and dang my expressive facial movements. I'm sure the look on my face was unprofessional.

So for the next 30 minutes I sat in the car, on the phone with driver support, explaining that I don't drive a semi. I don't know what they were thinking nor the customer when it came to leaving out the part that we need a truck to grab this order. Plus, you need to be a strong man or a burly woman to load this in and out of your Mack truck and that I am not.

Not sure I was ever capable of lifting a lot of weight, even though I could hold my own. Hay bales were thrown here and there for a horse once in a while with no issue, but now? I'm lucky if I don't do a face plant with my ankle still in its condition. Grateful to stand upright at this point. Put weight on the front end and this body is going over. No question about it. 

People on the other end of the phone line understood. They gave me half the pay for at least attempting and sent the order off to someone else to do. I guess I might have to become a weight lifter then if this is the way things are going to go. 

Returning home again, I saw that the day was running slow, so I shut it all down. The bathroom needed a good scrubbing, so a bucket of bleach water, some gloves, and off I went. Bathroom finished and we went to the Wildlife Safari in Winston. Besides, the bathroom needs to air out since it now smells like a swimming pool. 

We began the "safari" with a trip to the camel run. Only they weren't running. Heck, we had to check to see if they were breathing. Nothing from them today, that's for sure. But the poor guys do work all week in giving people rides, so I guess they deserve the holiday off as well as we do. 

Around the bend, we caught glimpses of a giraffe, the Watusi cattle, the zebras, and a few other animals that we have captured so many times before. 

Tibetan yak. All they do is stand there and yak, yak, yak according to my sweet man. 

Watusi cattle. 

Our lovely giraffes. One of our favorite animals at Wildlife Safari. 

The ducks and geese were having a great day on the pond. Little duck butts were seen above the surface of the water, putting them at an angle to feed on culinary treasures they find below. 

Terry stopped the car so I could get a photo of the baby bison, but as soon as we stopped, the mother jumped up and walked in front of the calf. She wanted nothing to do with us and somehow, in an argument over the picture taking ordeal, I think she would win. I would receive a sound butt whooping. No, thanks. 

Directly across the street were the big, husky guys. I don't think they wanted to give us a kiss on the cheek either. Those parents all mean business when it comes to the babies. This one was standing in the roadway, not looking happy. Actually, he looked rather bored to be honest. 

This supersized bull was the largest of all of them. He is an animal I don't want to mess with. Terry snapped the photo, and then we drove off to the lion cage, as I believe we stood a better chance of survival there. 

This picture screams fall to me. The straw-like grasses in the background help with that feeling. Beautiful guy! Terry was able to get a great shot of him from his side of the car, as the buck was curled up in the field on his side.  

A number of fallow deer were begging visitors for food today. Most of them were lying in the shade, keeping cool. It was a fairly cool, mild day today, so I was surprised at how many creatures were finding shade to nap in.

As we made our way through the park, colorful leaves highlighted the closeness of fall. 

Mom was collecting the food and the fawn was picking up any leftovers mom and others might have dropped. I love the baby fallow deer. They are so tiny!

Around the bend, another fallow deer was napping in the shade of a tree alongside the road. What a grand rack this guy carries!

Such beautiful creatures. I love them all. 

I mentioned to Terry that we had not seen our favorite animal, the "guano." As guano came out of my mouth, something didn't sound correct in that word. As Terry burst into laughter, my brain caught on to what I had come out of my mouth. Terry then asked if I really wanted to hunt for bat shit. No, not really.  

Okay. The man now has a pay back for the restaurant at the coast and for the Arby's ordeal of trying to feed my lunch to another woman. I really wanted to see my guanacos is what I meant to say. 

Gorgeous, adorable little guanacos. Those camelids that have the cutest faces and love to come up to your car window to say hello to you while you're waiting for traffic to move. How can you not miss these faces? Nothing this visit. Maybe next time. 

We also missed out on the hippos. I love to get them while they lie up to their eyeballs in a muddy, murky pond. 

It's not like we won't go back soon, I'm sure. Still, I would love to see them again. Those adorable faces are missed! Rhinos spent their day way up on the hill, out of range to get a good photo of them. I could see large rhino butts under the trees on the hill, but their faces were planted in the grasses as they snoozed away the afternoon.

We were able to get a video of two giraffes mirroring each other along an upper and lower set of paths. 

Move along now. Nothing to see here but a bear taking his bath. Those fences make it difficult to get a great shot or a decent video, but here it is anyway. 

That was our trip through the park again. Some of our favorites were not available to see this time, but we will see them once again. Until next time, and until next post, take care of yourselves! Hope you all had a wonderful holiday weekend. I know Terry did. He had another day off this week, leaving only two days to work. Lucky man. 

Take care and thank you for reading the blog. 

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