Musings on a Small Life

Nicki got his fur in a flap over another cat on the other side of the fence, just a short time ago.     Trouble is, Derry tends to lose fur when Nicki gets all territorial and aggressive. Fortunately not today. Here's the visitor:    Love the warning sign on the utility box behind my fence...I'm not inclined to open it, thanks.   Her name is Carla and she was adopted last summer from our shelter. I chatted with her human, he lives just below me, has been here for years. Lived with his mother until she passed away a couple of years ago, I'm sure a mercy for all concerned. He used to feed the neighbourhood and roaming cats because his mother wouldn't let him have one of his own. He's probably in his 40s, this man, and though he owns and drives a car and works, there's something "off" about him, which is obvious right away. No idea what and it really doesn't matter. I asked him if Carla was deaf, but he says she's not. He...

To follow up to last week's events....We had a staff meeting today and our boss told us that it was an issue of scope of responsibility for that role, with neither side backing down. The administration's method of resolving it was what transpired a week ago. The position will not be filled, which is just as interesting, IMO, as the actual event. I have no further information and won't ever. But somehow it doesn't surprise me that a strong-willed woman would come out on the losing end in this kind of political game with the traditional male powers-that-be. On the flip side, I can very much see that she could have stepped on a lot of toes, gender issues aside. So, onwards and upwards. Or maybe that's more "keep your head down and don't make waves."   Purrs from the boys and peace from me.

Someone at work, one of our now-former group members, sent this to me yesterday: I so badly wanted to tack it up on the outside of my cubicle, but given what took place last week, thought better of it. It's tacked up on the inside , though. However, I came across this just a few minutes ago, and sent it on to the former co-worker, as a follow-up: Heh heh. Brilliant. It's tacked up beside the first. May you eat, but not be eaten, today. :-D

We celebrated Derry's 6th birthday yesterday, over at the boys' blog. A fun cyber party, one of several around the CB on Monday. The real celebration was far tamer--it was so hot and muggy that Derry didn't even want to go out (or stay out, when I pushed him out the door) yesterday afternoon. Early in the AM, while still relatively cool: He got a little nip "pillow" before I left for work, and was having a great time with it, until Nicki came along and decided he'd beat up on the birthday boy (nip makes Nicki mean, as most of you know). Derry got another nip toy, a wool fish, when I got home (Nicki was outside):      After about two minutes of being outside: Let me back in, human! I'd rather hang out here, thanks, the floor is cooler.   Finally, much later in the evening, he was happy to go out and chill in his red/pink chair. I hope he appreciated that I stayed up till almost 9PM, way past my bedtime, just so he (okay, and Ni...

I've been watching coverage of the extensive and devastating flooding in parts of Alberta, the likes of which Canada seldom sees. And that's had me wondering what I'd do if something happened here (not likely a flood of that magnitude, but other disasters are possible) and I had only 10 or 15 minutes to get out. With that in mind, I dug out my largest knapsack (will carry a laptop) and have put in 24 cans of cat food, a few other cat supplies, some basic first aid supplies, two litres of water, a few pairs of undies and socks, toiletries. And that's all I can heft onto my back. It's heavy . I still have a few other things to add, like dry cat food, copies of important documents, etc, and a change of clothes, but my thought of actually taking my laptop has been nixed. As is the idea of somehow carrying a litter box and a bit of litter. I'd have more than I could easily manage just with that backpack and two cat carriers. I'm curious to kn...

I won't go into all the details, but yesterday morning our unit was called into a meeting with one of the other units that form our larger umbrella group. We were asked, by the second-in-command of the entire organization, to wait in the room until my boss's boss had left the building. (In other words, was escorted out.) I have no further information at all. But all of us, including my boss, had our jaws hanging open to the floor. Only one person from our larger group knew beforehand (this person's second-in-command). It can only fall into one of three categories: unethical/criminal, personal or political. My boss now knows but can't disclose the information, other higher-ups know but can't disclose what happened. I can't imagine this person being unethical in any way, shape or form after 20+ years here, but stranger things have happened. And I can't imagine it would merely be a matter of not liking the work being done or how it was being done, or eve...

Okay, I don't feel "magnificent," and I don't think of Mondays as being "magnificent" either, but maybe if I say it enough.... On the plus side, I got the big, sucky project finished last Thursday, and sent out to the departments. Yay! The one due this Friday is almost complete, just needs a few more figures checked/rechecked and I'll be done. Fingers crossed. Then it's on to projects #3, #4, and #5. Summer always is my busiest time, actually from May through October. The weekend was uneventful, typical busy day on Saturday, with the running around, housework, etc. Same old. The neighbour boy was "on fire" Saturday afternoon. The father was gone all afternoon/evening and the kid had the mother of all meltdowns, the likes of which I haven't heard in at least a couple of months. Fun times. Today, when I woke up, I told myself (trying to look on the bright side), that I'm one day closer to either them moving or me ...

I'm still trying to wrap up the one big project due at the end of the week. I've got most of it done, and it's with my boss now, waiting for his review, corrections, edits, etc. So if it's not done by Friday, at least I won't be the hold-up.   So yesterday was a mere one-glass (of wine) day, and I think today will be about the same. It's an improvement! Oh, by the way, I had my gas and water meters replaced a week ago, by random selection (definitely not by my choice). When I was doing laundry in the basement on Saturday, I noticed a small pool of water accumulating below the pipes of the water meter. Hey, great job, huh? The guys came back early this morning to fix whatever it is they did wrong the first time--the younger of the two was the same, but the older man wasn't. Probably a good thing, I hope he has more job experience and that the leak is resolved. Purrs from the boys and peace from me.   Oh, which reminds me: Derry and Ni...

Yeah, the day was that good. You know I prefer the hard stuff to wine, but today I stopped on the way home for a bottle of white, figured it would easier on the middle-aged tummy than liquor right now. I get frustrated at work with the politics and the crap that comes down from the administration, but it's not often that I want to tear my hair out over the actual work . But today was one of those days. And if it weren't for the fact that I need a good, full-time job with benefits, I'd have chucked it. Enough said. Pour me glass #3, please.   Purrs from the boys (who are sleeping blissfully, lucky creatures) and peace from me.

Yep, I did it again, but at least this time it was by phone, and to a questionable company. Back story: I've owned this townhouse for 13 years. It was empty for a year or more before my ex and I bought the place, and it was a rental before that. (All the units in the complex were rentals.) The person who rented this unit, 14+ years ago , obviously didn't pay any bills, because for all these years I've been sending back first bills, and then collection notices, with "unknown, no such person here for X years" scrawled across the envelopes. More recently (the past year or so), I've been getting constant, almost daily, calls for this person from a U.S.-based collections agency. It's gotten to the point that I now keep my answering machine turned off, because I can't stand it. Of course they call because my phone number is associated with his last known address. Never mind that I've had this phone number for 17 years, ever since moving to this ...

I posted this on the Fuzzy Tales blog already, but am so shocked and disgusted that I wanted to post here too. The estimate for Derry's straightforward, "easy" cleaning, of course. Click to enlarge. This is why people don't take their pets to the vet. They simply can't afford to. I called the clinic and very nicely (really) said I just couldn't swing this, that it was over half my monthly income (the high estimate definitely is) and that it was a huge increase from last year's $600 or so for Nicki. I asked if they had payment plans, but they don't.  I've been with that clinic since 2007, I've dropped over $10K there since February 2009, most of it as incurred debt. I absolutely cannot express how disgusted I am. Even if Derry had no injections and no extractions (which he ought not to have), that would knock off only about $100. I don't know if the clinic that neutered, and then took, Toby would be any better. All ...

I took a half-day yesterday, so I could get home and give the "boys" lunch before taking Derry to his vet appointment . When the bus got up to the shopping centre transfer point, there was a large area cordoned off, outside one of the banks, police everywhere, but nothing dire happening. Turns out that around 7AM yesterday someone was passing by the bank and discovered a package with wires and pipes sticking out of it, sitting on a radiator. So....Since our city doesn't have a bomb squad, apparently the OPP (Ontario Provincial Police) sent in the nearest squad, from a neighbouring town. Robot and all. The package eventually was detonated and didn't appear to contain any explosive material, but of course it's still under investigation. One hopes that the bank's security cameras caught someone leaving the package. Who knew things could get so "exciting" in our little city? And I missed it all by about 45 minutes, as by the time my bus ...

I always feel a bit of a pang when June arrives, because the summer Solstice will be here in three weeks, and then we'll start to lose daylight again. Most people are so excited for the arrival of summer, but to me it means the downward slide into winter. But never mind that right now. Right now I'm going to enjoy the evening as best I can. ***  This is not in my garden, it's along the side of another unit. Anyone know what it is? I haven't a clue. *** Obviously, I'm connected to the internet at home again. It was all systems go when I got home from work on Thursday, so I called the cable company to cancel the service call. However, the actual local tech called me a few minutes after I hung up, said he'd been out in the afternoon. He asked if the grass had been cut recently. Yes, I said, on Tuesday, the day I developed the problem. And yes , people, I thought of a severed wire along the side of my unit, and had checked, but the cable s...