Blueberry Picking

2115h
My colleague of strawberry and raspberry picking at two farms last year, and one this year, invited me to go blueberry picking today, a Saturday, as it is a day off from her horticulture classes. I hadn't been blueberry picking before, but it is decidedly cushy compared to strawberries. Blueberry picking has the attributes of stand-up picking and without the evasiveness of raspberries that grow behind leaf cover. I knew my colleague had excellent fine motor skills, backed up by her knitting and weaving hobbies, and was a decent berry picker except that she missed so many. But with blueberries, she outpicked me by almost 2:1, 60lb to my 33lb. At a pay rate of $1/lb, that adds up to a considerable difference in pay. But as I know my minders like to keep me as a klutz, I don't see berry picking as my future in any event. And sure enough, the perps made sure berries dropped from my hands or even powered them out of my hand by having them climb uphill (with no other imparted or evident energy forces), out of my hand and onto the ground. There was a border of fine wood chips at the base of the blueberry bushes so it was dificult to find dropped berries. And a grass border was between each row, making it positively cushy as what was underfoot.

And true to form, my attempt at sun tanning while picking was suddenly terminated at about 1200h (after about an hour of wearing my shorts) when picking was suddenly called off. The perps like me to only get a certain amount of sun exposure on my skin, so it seems that sun tanning is going to be limited this year. The perps have an abiding interest in Vitamin D research, skin color (melanin content) and the processes of its genesis as well as that of the physiological effects of Vitamin D. This has been the year of the most sun tanning I have done since 2004, so it seems they have decided to resume this particular research topic in substantially more detail. Hence the new "need" this year to get a base tan at the tanning salon.

And a visit to a local lake to have a post-berry picking swim. As my colleague has psoriasis, she doesn't do sunbathing, so it was more about being in the water than anything. This was the first allowed lake swim since 2004, so it must be an opportune time for the perps to re-test me on this activity.

And a stop at roadside market on the way to the swimming lake, which was a total clusterfuck of vehicles and personnel in the store. I was at this same location yesterday, as I did some driving for my mother, and "happened" to stop there, again, to a clusterfuck. More of the crossing paths they like me to do, though two days apart.

More games when I got back; laundering my clothes this time, as they had extra sand from the post berry picking beach visitation arrive on the clothes. Hence, they had some items get washed twice, and the towel only once as it somehow missed getting sand laden in the same laundry load. My running shoe footwear also got put in the same laundry load as it had some sand in them even if I did dump it all out and cleaned up my feet in the bathtub.

Then a forced nap between laundry loads, of about an hour. This then was the excuse the perps used to make me feel cognitively clobbered for the rest of the afternnoon and evening, a dull headache and muted thought with extra noisy ear-ringing, a constant noise now.

Then no more chicken in the fridge, which ordinarily been cause to make a Chicken Run visitation to the nearby supermarket, but as my shoes were still wet, I ate my sardine rations instead. Again, I don't know quite what the perps get from me eating sardines, but this one goes back to childhood.

Tonight, sudden vision perturbations, especially while reading the news of HP departing the consumer market and heading to the commercial sofware. Naturally, all WebOS afficianados are pissed, as are the Palm followers, me included. It seems they wanted to kill off WebOS and the shutdown of a premature Touchpad effort. There is no failure like a planned one, which are usually spectacular, e.g. $1.2 billion pissed away on the Palm acquisition of last year. This is reminiscent of the Flip aquisiton by Cisco, written off for a $530 million dollar bill.

08-21-2011
Yesterday's lake swim is still the deemed reason for having differential ear pressure, and feeling quite fogged from it. This was at breakfast, but in the following shower the ear pressure differential was allowed to be relieved and the results have persisted for the remainder of the day.

Back on laundry, this time bedsheets and towels. I see the towels are getting soiled in short order, as if were from farm work, but as I am not doing any, how is it that this identical crud is getting onto the towels? Not to mention that I come out of the shower clean, without any crud on me, and somehow this soil crud arrives on my towel just as I apply the towel to dry myself.

Enough to call this a posting and wrap it up, as I will be staying at the First Feral Family house tonight, and have limited web access there.