No Job?

I finally post here that I found a wonderful  job.  And yesterday something went wrong with the van.  It was serious enough that I called for a sub for the night.  I'm praying really really hard that it's something easy to fix.  Because if it's not, then I'm going to have to give up the job.

Really past annoyed with Murphy.  Well into the slow torturous painful death mentality with the issues that keep popping up to mess up our lives.

So praying for the car repair to be something inexpensive that we can do.  And for my peace of mind to come back.

A Job!

Of all the things to happen in the last few months, the most surprising one was that I found a job.  I found a job that my son can come to with me.  I'm self employed.  And when it comes down to the final numbers I'm only making about $170 a month. 

So why am I so happy?  Because that is allowing me to fix up the van.  And get new seeds.  And feel useful again.

I actually have more money to spend because a giant chunk of the expenses is mileage.  And right now the "extra" from mileage is going to do things on the van so that it can 1) survive the job and 2) live even longer than we originally thought.  In addition, those repairs and extras will help us in every day life.

A little bit more of the money is going to pay the bills so that they are at least a month in advance.  Right now two bills are that way.  By the end of the month at least one more, maybe two more bills will be that way.  And by the end of June all of the bills except rent should be at least one month out in advance, at the highest rate I get charged in the year.  Then I'll work on rent.  And then I'll go back through the rest and work them out to two months.

There is so much more going on as well.  I am going to make an effort to get on here regularly and get the blog caught up.

The garden is going in.  The weird conflict of winter and spring really delayed my plantings.  And I lost a few of the fruit shrubs, strawberries and the fig.

All in all, life is looking up.  And I'm so glad of it.

Mischief and Mayhem for the Office

I would say Altoids Tins but I'm using several different candy tins.

I have someone who is difficult to buy gifts for.  Or even make gifts for.  So this year I had the brainstorm to make him some office distractions that are hidden in Altoids Tins.  I went searching online.  After filtering out the thousands of survival tins, I only found a couple of good ideas.  Then my brother loaned me this book.
 
http://www.amazon.com/Mini-Weapons-Mass-Destruction-Implements/dp/1556529538/ref=la_B001IQZK50_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1386356830&sr=1-1

After reading it avidly, I went and raided the Dollar Tree which provided even more ideas.  And because I had a few ideas for ammo and building supplies.

These tins fall into either the mischief or the mayhem category.  I'll leave it up to you to decide.  And I'm quite sure that there are several industrious folks out there that can come up with more ideas.

BTW, I still not done.  I'm working on a crossbow, make your own darts, dissection set, and catapult next.  And a certain brother is getting the 2nd book in the series for Christmas.

This is the blow dart set in a Godiva Chocolate Pearls tin.  The blow tubes are reusable plastic straws cut down to fit the tin.  And the small plastic sections can join two of the tubes together to make a longer blow tube.  The main ammo is toothpicks with the cellophane flags.  There are also a few plastic darts that I added.  Honestly, the toothpicks fly better and farther.

This is a pure silly version of darts.  The tips are made of some really sticky tacky material that sticks to most things.  I had to cut them down so that they are short enough to fit into the tin.  And I'll be adding pieces of plastic so that he can cut new fins when the cheap ones fall off.

Tower Blocks for those moments when you need to keep your hands busy, and quiet.  Or to just bust the boredom for 15 minutes or so.

Bubble Wars.  An ump may be needed.  The one who gets hit with the least bubbles wins.  Or is it the one who gets hit with the most?  (I'm thinking about doing a version with no pop bubbles as well.)

Water Balloon Slingshot.  That is a carabiner, rubber band and a piece of scrap hose.  The ammo is the water beads sold for use in flower vases.  While I'm not a good shot anymore, I am enough of one to verify that those beads will splat and explode just like water balloons.  That vase on your desk would make a great disguise for a ton of readily available ammo.  Just fill it with fake flowers.  Or perhaps blow darts with fake flowers attached.

So, any additional ideas?  And suggestions for the ones I'm already working on?