Dammit Doll Day

When my kids were here they went on a little field trip to the city of Hermann and perused some of the antique and novelty shops. There are wineries and breweries, too. While in a little shop they spied this doll and decided it was just the doll for me. I think it looks a little like a voo-doo doll and wondered where the hat pins were to stick it with.

Then I read the label on the front. I couldn't get a clear shot, but it says:

Whenever things don't go so well
And you want to hit the wall and yell
Here's a little Dammit Doll,
That you can't do without.
Just grasp it firmly by the legs
And find a place to slam it.
And as you whack the stuffing out
Yell "Dammit!Dammit!Dammit!"

Yesterday was a Dammit Doll Day ....... so is today. The temperature is in the triple digits. No relief in sight. No rain in sight. I creep out into the early morning heat to get as much done as I can before I am held captive to the cool confines of the store. Or, it should be cool. It would be cool. If people would come in and close the door. Instead they like to stand in the open door and carry on conversations. Not just kids, in fact the kids are better than the adults about coming in and closing the door.

Not only does the temperature rise, but so does my blood pressure as I think about the electricity bill I am going to have. We have three soda machines, or pop machines, or coke machines ....... depending on where you are from. The one in the store has the glass door. I am not sure just how many people are aware of this, but you can see through the glass. The same thing you see when you open the door, you can look at through the glass. The other two are can dispensing machines, that you can deposit coins or dollars into and recieve a a cold can of your choice of beverage.

I try to keep a decent selection in those, so that one may be able to get a cold drink even when the office is closed for the evening. One machine belongs to Dr. Pepper and one belongs to us. In the event of a malfunction on the Dr. Pepper machine, I need only call the distributor for repair. I will confess that I don't always buy product from the distributor, as I find better deals at the grocery, but I am careful to use only the product that is distributed by that company.

The machine I own has a Pepsi logo on it and I  stock what I choose in that one, I do, after all own it and therefore have no allegiance to Pepsi. I do stock Pepsi, but I also put Coke in it.
One of the machines went down two days ago, just guess which one. Mine.


So, as the sun was setting and the temperature had cooled down to 90, I was about the business of unloading that machine in order to relocate the cans to other machines. I had already decided that cold cereal was going to be okay for supper and as dark was approaching I was in a hurry to get my task done. I took some empty Coke crates out with me and then looked for a place to set them that would eliminate the need for me to bend over and over as I stacked the cans.

There was nothing close enough and I decided to just hold the crate up by pushing it up against the machine with my belly as I used both hands to load the cans. You already know what happened, don't you? Yes, you do. It was almost full when it slipped and fell on the cement sidewalk where three cans exploded.

It was three cans of Coke. No diet, lots of sugar, sticky, sticky sugar. The cans spewed everywhere.  The inside of the machine the window of the building, and mostly me. My legs were dripping and my shoes were full. Up my nose and in my face. My hair, even my bra was soaked. Undaunted I picked up the surviving cans and dripped my way onto the freshly mopped store floor where I proceeded to wipe down the cans before filling the inside cooler. I had mopped earlier thinking I was getting a jump on my days chores ............

I brought in two more crates of the sticky cans before calling it a night and showering, thinking things would be better in the new light of day. I was wrong. I have a small window of opportunity to get things done on weekend days. Friday is always hectic as I ready for the weekend traffic. I had a plan as I left the building and headed out to get the sprinklers going.

I bought some of those hose repair kits. You know the ones with the tube thing that goes into each piece of broken hose. I wanted to retrieve my 100' hose and put a shorter length on a garden that was closer to the hydrant. I carefully cut the damaged piece off the hose and with much effort shoved the tube connector into the ends of the hoses and then tightened the things with the screws that would hold it all together.

Simple, right? I made the length too short. I remembered that I had a 10' hose and went to get it. I hooked it all up, only to discover that the 10' hose was leaking where it attached to the hydrant. I still had another repair kit and, as the temperature was climbing into the 90's again, I went and grabbed another end of hosing and attached it to the leaky hose .......... only to discover that I now had a hose with two female ends. It takes a lot of hand strength to put those connectors in. I just threw it down and gave up.


The Dammit Doll has had quite the workout.
 

On a lighter note ........ I miss Kyra. She is a good cat lover. I think Little Martha misses her, too.

Gavin, too. I miss him, but Wall-E has been going through Gavin withdrawal. Doesn't help that this cat gets more attention than him. He does not like Little Martha ..... at all.