Your Friendly Neighborhood Copperhead

Last night my husband was leaving the house to run a quick errand when he and a couple of neighbors who were walking their dog discovered a young Copperhead snake in the street. My husband came back inside and grabbed an old pillowcase to snag the reptile and escort it safely to the woods on the other side of our development.  I was in agreement with the neighbors, who offered a shovel to kill the snake! Copperheads are the most common venomous snake in the Southeast, but thankfully they are supposed to be the least toxic of the species and bites are rarely fatal. Either way, I'd still rather not have one nearby!  I have two small dogs, and while the bite may not be fatal to a human, I imagine it probably would be to a 4 pound Chihuahua.  Besides, I don't want to get bitten by ANYTHING, whether it would kill me or not!


I have to admit though, that snake was actually quite pretty!  I thought at first that it was a rattlesnake because it kept shaking its tail the way rattlesnakes do.  But a friend of ours identified it for us when DH sent him pictures, which is how I know it's actually a Copperhead. This little guy kept striking at the sides of the pillowcase my husband had trapped him in, and you could see the venom soaking into the cloth.  Kind of scary and cool at the same time! I can't believe I was brave enough to hold the pillowcase open while DH took the photos! It looks pretty angry in this picture.  I guess it's not too happy with his temporary home.  But it sure beats the sharp end of a shovel, little guy.

 Snake Spit! Check out the little spots of venom that soaked through the pillowcase:

Oh, Blogger.

Oh, Blogger! What have you done to my dashboard?  It's hideous! :(

Here, Fishy, Fishy, Fishy!

I went out on the boat with some friends today to fish out in the ocean.  It was a banner day for fishing!  The weather was gorgeous, the seas were calm, and the fish were biting like nobody's business.  At one point I had two hooks on my pole and caught two fish at once!  Pam managed to do that almost every time she put her pole in the water.  She also caught a humongous Trigger fish!! (Makes me wonder what exactly she was using for bait. And where can I get some for next time?)  My DH even caught TWO sharks! Mostly we caught black sea bass, but there were a few pin fish, toad fish, lizard fish and flounders in the mix too. I caught my first flounder today!  It was almost a keeper too, but it was a half an inch too short. Rats! But wasn't it a beauty? My friend Shannon was kind enough to hold it for me while I snapped a picture.

Surviving the Battle

Well, I survived two whole weeks at my new job, and I'm still alive and kicking.  Not only that, but I'm not only allowed to come back this week, but I'm actually going to! So far the coworkers are all great, and the customers have been great too.  I haven't been given a hard time about anything, and I haven't even seen any of the customers give any of the other tellers a hard time.  When we get super busy and don't have enough help, the branch manager actually puts in a drawer and helps wait on customers.  Everyone helps everyone in this place.  It's a foreign feeling for me, but I adore it. Finally a company that treats all employees like equals!

We'll be swamped tomorrow with all the deposits from the businesses that were swamped with Spring Breakers and Easter vacationers this weekend! It's going to be a long, long day, but I'm sure I'll handle it with all the grace God has given me. Our head teller, who is also the woman who trained me, will be on vacation all week, so that will be an extra obstacle to work around.  But I imagine we'll all get along just fine.

I hope you all have had a wonderfully blessed Easter!

Missing in Action

Well I finally found a job!  Hooray!  Of course now that means I'll be neglecting my blog even more since I won't have a lot of time to dally on the computer.  But since I'll be working at a bank as a teller, and the busy summer season is coming upon us quickly I hope I'll get to see and hear some interesting stuff to report to my dear readers.

I don't suppose I'll be as relaxed on the job as LOL Cat over there.  But I can always hope. I've made it through my first week, so I'm off to a good start. I imagine it will be a battle not to put all the weight I lost back on.  They have chocolate and candy EVERYWHERE, and on Mondays and Fridays they put out plates of fresh bakery cookies and lemonade. I have yet to be able to resist! But I bought lots of healthier snacks today to keep at my teller window, so hopefully I won't be as tempted anymore.  I'm keeping my expectations low for now.  My track record with yumminess is not so stellar!

When Lightbulbs Attack!

Some friends and I were sitting around the kitchen table the other day, just minding our own business and having a nice chat.  Our calm, relaxed interlude was interrupted when one of the lightbulbs in the ceiling fan above us exploded. EXPLODED!  It rained glass shards down on me, littering the table, bench and floor with debris.  We looked up in shock and saw smoke wafting away from the remains of the bulb and filament that were still screwed into the socket. Good thing we hadn't started eating dinner yet, or all our food would have had to be tossed out.  Lots of tiny little slivers of glass can really ruin a good meal!


 

Never in my life have I seen a lightbulb explode. I've seen them blow out with a loud pop when you flip on the light switch, and sometimes smoke would fill the glass.  But this was the first time I've ever had one actually break the glass.  And it wasn't even right when we turned the light on.  It had been on for some time before it decided to give up the ghost.  That bulb must have been a little drama queen to feel the need to "go out with a bang" like that. I guess it preferred making a grand exit, like Dumbledore in "Harry Potter: The Order of the Phoenix".  Dumbledore's got style!  I love that scene. It makes the whole magician-disappearing-in-a-cloud-of-smoke routine look so five minutes ago. 

Wordless Wednesday: Cool Tree in 'Iao Valley State Park