Musings on a Small Life

Recently I discovered cute/fun/happy pet news on mnn.com and yesterday's post is too sweet: http://www.mnn.com/family/pets/stories/lessons-in-cuddling-pit-bulls-and-tabby-cat-show-us-how-its-done The pet section is worth book-marking, if you're not familiar with it. My own two cuties were bookends yesterday evening: They had quite the adventure, too, with a new-to-us black (? it was dark by then) cat hanging around the fence and then walking all around the top, repeatedly. I managed to get Derry inside before Nicki went postal...and oh, you should have heard Nicki! The howling, while he was still outside. I predict a highly stressful spring and summer, with everyone's roaming cats hanging around on or near the fence. $1200 of incurred debt back in June 2010 to allow the cats to go outside safely and this is what happens. It wouldn't be an issue if Nicki weren't so aggressive, if he didn't turn on Derry to redirect that aggression.  :-( Have I ...

To be ranted at and blamed by a procrastinating "co-worker" (not really a direct co-worker anymore) for something I did correctly and for a delay in his receiving something that had nothing whatsoever to do with me. I walked out of his office yesterday while he was still frothing at me because I couldn't stand it. It was a simple matter to fix and he could have done it himself if he had read his email. And when his latest $975 toy showed up a short time later (thank heavens our department isn't paying for it), I stuck my head in his office and said, "You''re welcome." I ought to have asked for an apology for speaking to me that way, as he sure as hell doesn't speak in that manner to anyone else here. Last year at this time, in another procrastinating panic, he loudly and unkindly told me to "Shut up!" and I carried that through the entire holiday. I won't carry this little thing through my holiday this year, however, because he just...

We had an obligatory potluck at work today, not just our unit, but the main department, of which we're but one small division. I couldn't think of a good reason to get out of it, though two of my co-workers had training that kept them away. Lucky them. Well, the food was good. Of course I cheated and picked up a fruit/yogurt tray. Everyone should know by now that I don't do food prep. I don't do it for myself (unless I absolutely have to), I don't do it for guests--not even family members, and I certainly don't do it for work colleagues. I Googled the origins of the phrase. Didn't realize it originated in the late 16th century. http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/1426/whats-the-origin-of-potluck The term potluck comes from the traditional practice (not that it's entirely unknown among us moderns) of never throwing anything away. Meal leftovers would be put into a pot and kept warm, and could be used to feed people on short notice. This pra...