Chicken eyes

After ripping open about 10 boxes I remembered I had put a box of embroidery thread and a needle case in my suitcase for my Pittsburgh trip. These were the ends I wrapped on cardboards because I just couldn't toss them out. There was enough colors to finish this chicken block. Many people use black to out line but I've always liked using matching thread to draw the eye to the block rather then the out line.

I kept looking at the block. The chicken didn't look back at me. I tried to picture the chicken's I had in Lancaster. It seemed to me that the chicken eye was the first thing you noticed when you looked at one. I had to google it to see if my memory was right.

For now I used a red button I found in a drawer but I need to get some yellow/orange buttons.

I want to reply to my friend Sherry. When we lived in Western Pa., it was country. Less then 70 people lived there. We didn't lock the door, remove the keys from the car or lawn tractor and never felt unsafe. When we lived in Lancaster it was considered City even though there were many farms. We lived with an open door, keys were never removed from the cars, tractors or lawn tractors and we felt very safe.

I have to give Texas an A+ for the way they handled the problem they ended up with. I never heard them mention that after they opened their arms to help the people who were effected by Katrina that they ended up with criminals, low life and people who felt they were "owed" a life. They are still suffering from the decent thing they did for these people. The ones who left after the money from the government stopped, went home. The criminals who got on those planes are still here. They have no intention of going back to a State that might find out they had been in jail when the storm hit. What makes it worse is the criminals who come across the border from Mexico. They opened their arms to the Katrina criminals. The police are left to deal with the street crime. From what I'm told by the few who own homes here, is this neighborhood was a family place until Fema put up trailors on the empty ground behind the houses. The home owners had to put bars on the windows, get an alarm system, buy guns, put lots of outside lights up, buy pitbulls and still these criminals broke down doors, stole cars, raped and even killed. Texas invited them to come here. They have taken it like you would expect a Texan to do. They could have whined to the rest of the states. Many States would have whined, but not Texas. Even on the outside edge in the best of neighborhood's where we were going to buy the house, you see bars on the windows of the houses. San Antonio is just to close to the Mexican border. I will feel bad when we leave. I loved it here until we found ourself under attack.

As far as Dave's job goes. When you are leaving, you don't quit the job you have when there are no jobs to be had. You put up with it and hope you are not responsible for a mistake, hope you don't fall asleep at the wheel on the way home. Many States have introduced bills to cover mandatory working hours but none have been voted on yet, except for nurses. Dave has written a letter to Boeings own department of employee relations which is being worked on right now. He was told yesterday that the mandatory hours are being addressed and a new policy will be put in place. Right now they could demand they work round the clock so it has to be addressed. Even when he leaves it will be on his mind that these huge flying machines are over all of our heads, our families travel on them. A responsible employee doesn't just walk away and forget what he's seen. When you see employee's sleeping on lunch break instead of eating you know the work they are doing is under stress and certainly not their best.

Dave spent his first week at Boeing learning their policies. The written policy might be in place in Seattle, Washington where there is a union, but in Texas, none of the written policies are being followed. The employee's are clearly abused. They hired the best. Even some men from Nasa. None of these men or woman have ever worked under these conditions. Many contractors are in fear because if they don't do what they are told, they will be fired and there just isn't any jobs waiting for them. These teams of people did not cause Boeing to fall behind on delivery of the planes, but they are the ones who are now being pushed to produce, no matter how they have to do it.

Anyway, I'm Dave's Mom. I am taking the mother part in this. I don't like seeing him drag himself in the door at midnight, fall into bed, only to drag himself to the table for breakfast before leaving to face another 12 hours without any relief.  We know how short life can be after we lost my son Mark at age 27. People need to have a life outside of work. People need to rest their minds and bodies. No company should ever take over the life a person, no job is worth that or any amount of money. I know he likes to have the extra money so he can treat me to things and send me off to Pittsburgh where I feel safe with my medical treatment, but I'd rather be scraping for a penny then looking at a flat screen TV or having a new sewing machine if it means seeing him being abused. I'm hoping for the center of the line where we can live okay and he still has time to enjoy life.