Musings on a Small Life

Remember that book title? And the ending to it -- "and it's all small stuff." At least that's how I think it went. There was a woman on the bus going home yesterday, whom I'd not seen in quite some months. She lives in the townhouse complex below mine, is retired, has grown kids. I asked if she was getting ready for the holidays (she had a shopping bag in hand) and she said she wasn't sure what she'd be doing this year, because her husband died suddenly in the spring. She took him to the hospital on April 30th and five hours later he was dead, utterly unexpectedly. They had just bought a trailer (to camp, for the summer) and he was looking forward to enjoying their retirement together. You know, she calls me by name, but I can't for the life of me think what her name is, if I ever knew it at all. She said she had been at the hospital, getting the paperwork in order to volunteer, because she didn't want to sit home all winter lo...

So we had an update meeting at work yesterday. Our little office falls under the umbrella of a larger planning department now, and the head of the entire thing (my director's boss) wants us all to be 14 f***ing happy campers in one work space. We knew she wanted this when her role was created last year (restructuring...you know, the kind of stuff that goes on so the top people can pretend they're doing something useful). But it fell by the wayside, with other matters taking priority. Not so in 2013. But oh, apparently there will be no reduction in space, compared to what we have now. The enormous irony? My employer paid millions upon millions of dollars to move all the top-level admin departments into this building--it was completely renovated, top to bottom, and looks quite nice, actually. And where are they possibly looking to move us all? Back to our old 1960s-1970s building, in one of the grungy suites that currently is occupied by another depar...

The finished tree, with a paucity of lights: It looks the same every year. I'm actually tired of the craft-type ornaments and rustic/country look, but whatever. Maybe next year I'll pick up a few new (unbreakable) ornaments, as well as replace the lights entirely. It remains to be seen if the boys will leave the tree alone when I'm not around, of course. Yesterday Nicki already was "taste-testing" the light bulbs. They did well last year, though, mostly left the tree alone. ****** Managed to get a "monkey off my back" this morning--i.e. finally catch up on my "exciting" fall/winter course data entry. The partial stack of appointment papers was several inches deep, which might not seem like a lot, but sure as heck was. I was back-logged because of other higher priority projects. I won't promise to get them all filed this week, but they'll be filed before we break for Christmas. ****** As for the home situation...I'm...

Just because you buy a set of indoor lights, the exact style as your existing ones, and supposedly the same "warm white" colour, does not mean they will be the same colour when, after three tries, you get them arranged on the tree and plug them in. In fact, the new "warm white" colour can be quite different from the older "warm white" colour. And one more note: Just don't even attempt this without copious quantities of alcohol or chocolate--neither of which I have on hand. *Headdesk* Okay, this is turning into an all-day process.... ****** BTW, last night the doorbell rang--twice--around 7PM. I thought I'd have a heart attack, my heart was pounding so loudly in my chest, because I couldn't think who else it would be except the unstable neighbour coming to rant about something else. I didn't answer the door. As it turned out, it was another neighbour who wanted to borrow my driveway for a few hours. I know this bec...

When I took my curtains down yesterday, along with the rod, etc., I thought it would be a great idea to throw them in the washer. They had been put up new out of the package, back in the spring, I think.  Anyway, I threw them into the dryer afterward, on delicate...and they shrunk 7 inches! They used to sit on the floor and now look at them! Argghh! I'm not that fond of the traditional look of them, but they're hidden tab panels, well made and were about $6 per panel some years ago (never opened, just tucked away for later use). And I had to go and shrink them. LOL. Anyway, here are some before pics of the window and patio door:   Very early yesterday, getting ready for the replacement:  There might be a cat behind the sheet....  Derry's hiding under the table. He and Nicki had fun, before I locked them up (separately). During the process: The first old door pane is out.  There goes the second pane.  Empty hole ...

It's all done, looks terrific. But of course the neighbour had a melt down with me, mostly over the stuff from 6 months ago (our May holiday weekend). I've apprised the property management company and condo board president of this morning's tirade, and just sent them an update, for the record: Just a follow-up to my earlier email, once more for the record. Of course the neighbour had to confront me again (at  unit #17), very upset about what happened 6 months ago, still on about that, telling me I should have told her about the work today (thought it was part of the condo regs to let other owners/tenants know). She said something of her son's (I think a framed baptismal certificate) broke, but when I offered to pay for it, and suggested she just take a pic, she refused. (She said nothing about this in the morning, then had said nothing had broken.) She said at one point she was going to call Sue (property manager admin person) and I encouraged her to do...

It's all underway...and I just had the next door neighbour wife over, all upset I didn't give her advanced warning, claiming that all of her son's toys fell off his shelf with the vibration of the contractor's power tools. The contractor doesn't believe it, because he's working below my windows and their unit is set back from mine (looking at the back). I asked the whacko wife if anything was broken (no, but his Lego fell apart or something), apologized, said I thought about leaving a note, but then since I hadn't seen her in two months, wasn't even sure if she was around much. She went on about how "picky" I am about noise (if she knew I "video" their fights she'd freak), kept saying she'd have given me notice of work going on, etc. My god, people...

Not that long after my last post, actually. In the middle of a load, of course. No agitating or spinning, though fortunately the tub still drained. So I have a repairman coming out this afternoon to take a look, and if it's less than a couple of hundred dollars, I'll get it fixed. Might be something simple. It's a 12-year old mechanical, top-loading Kenmore 90 series washer. Sturdy, never a problem until now. I'd like to get a few more years out of it, but if I can't, I can't.  Nicki will want to be front and centre helping, of course, and Derry will be hiding under my bed, in terror. Fun times, eh? And tomorrow's the big day--the patio door and window replacement. Cross your fingers, please, that it all gets done properly in one day. BTW, I've already told the fridge (out loud), which is the same age, that it is not allowed to give out this year or early next.  But the little piece of cheesecake I saw on sale in the grocery store, a...

If those who post on the CB can't already figure out I'm in a funk, then yep, I'm in a funk. Not wanting to post on the boys' blog or comment, blah blah. I always retreat, feel like quitting blogging altogether, when I get like this. Whatever. This too shall pass and all. And by "funk" I don't mean suicidal. I mean a funk . Anyway. So, Friday at work, we were debating the merits of angry mushrooms, not to be confused with any other type of mushroom. One of the department heads (we share space with two other units) recently had gone to Japan on a business trip and brought back some treats: Someone thought the mushroom (above, on the box cover, at the right) looked angry. And who'd want to eat an angry mushroom? But upon closer inspection it was decided that the poor mushroom was just straining under the weight of the double layer of chocolate it was holding up. Or perhaps it was constipated. Note below that the actual treats have o...

"Mr. Peanuts" is coming around again, or more likely, just showing up again in the early mornings, when I put Toby's breakfast out.   He's squinting from the flash (this AM). This was after he polished off Toby's canned food. (Because Toby has a nibble while I'm outside, then hangs around the back, either by or on my fence until I come out again to give him some attention.) The last time I saw Mr. Peanuts he was quite slender and essentially a kitten. Now you can see his unneutered male face and heavy body. Likely he's more  of a "Mr. Walnuts" now. ::Sigh:: He still dashes off when I come out, but doesn't go far. Maybe at some point I'll be able to get him and have him snipped. I really have no idea if he "belongs" with any (irresponsible) human or if he's on his own. Hey, Tobes, you missed your breakfast. (I gave him another can, of course.) And this was Toby yesterday morning, on my fence. (Flash off, he...

I'm sorry, Old Kitty , but I've succumbed to the Dark Side of reading at last: I bought myself a Kobo Touch yesterday! (And yes, Mom, I'm on the "buy now, pay later" plan, but will be able to pay for it at the end of the month.) I dithered for quite a while, wanting a Kindle because I've done my book buying mostly at Amazon.ca for years now and love their selection and their prices, better than Chapters/Indigo, which sells the Kobo. However, I have a number of EPUBs on my laptop, and only recently discovered I could transfer them to a Kobo. And I could, if I wished, borrow e-books from the library with my Kobo. So that clinched it for me and I now have a plain black e-reader. No cover, that will be for Christmas.  :-) I would have liked the new Kobo Glo, I think, but this will do nicely to get my feet wet. Oh, and I think that besides a cover of some sort (and there's a wide range of styles, colours and prices), I'll get one ...

I'll give you a hint: I was on the bus, coming home late this morning. First time this had happened to the driver. No bus, passenger, driver, or train crossing barrier was harmed during the snapping of this pic.  :-D Ah, every day's an adventure! P.S. And if it's still not clear...That's the track crossing barrier on top of the bus roof. LOL.

Why, oh, why do Fridays have to be crazy, hair-pulling stupid (me, others) work days?  Really, in an ideal world, Fridays would be calm and stress-free, would ease one into the weekend on a happy, upbeat note. Not rile one up or cause one to want to punch someone in the face. That would be our smarmy, bull-sh*tting, ex-politician condo property manager who heads up "the worst property management company in the city," according to the lawyer who drew up the purchase papers for the previous neighbour. Every single time I email with that man about something, I allow all my buttons to be pushed and end up frustrated beyond belief. I'm sure he's quite entertaining, and of course charming, in a social setting, but every time he either opens his mouth or emails regarding business, he dishes out so much cr*p you need a backhoe to dig yourself out from under it. Grrrrr. And if I get one more stupid work-related email today, I think I'll scream. Out loud. ...