Since Jack can be quite bold at time, I thought it might be a good idea to find some supplies to make the trip easier on both of us. So I dragged the b/f to PetsMart this afternoon. Found a carrier that should work nicely. Also found some product called Calm Down, an herbal supplicant to keep him, shall we say, sedated. $10, but quite possibly worth every penny.

Okay. I thought it was about time that you saw Jack. This is the little butterball himself.

Something to Look Forward to

We took Jack out for a drive this morning.

He's always looking outside longingly and meowing when we leave. Plus, we'll be moving in roughly 3 weeks, so we thought it would be a good idea to log in some road miles with the kitty.

The verdict?

He hated. Heart-wrenching meows that sounded like an animal dying. When he wasn't hiding behind my legs or between the seat and the door, he was on my lap with his head buried under my arm. It's going to be a long, long drive.

Hmmm...I Don't Know How I feel About This

You are Rerun!


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Sloop John B Day

Here's a sampling of my day to give you an idea of how it went.

Left alone to man the office, I have a guy come in pretty upset. He wants to speak to Employee #1 or #2. I explain that neither of them are in the office and offer to take a message. This would not do.

"What's #1's cell phone number?"

"I'm sorry. I can't give out that number."

"What?!?!?!?!" That can't be. Who do I call to get it?"

"I'm sorry. #1's the only one I can get permission from."

Angry mumbling. So being polite and trying to help, I offer...

"Let me try to catch #1 on #1's cell."

This was well received. So I call #1 who tells me,

"I don't deal with that. Talk to #3."

I should add that #1 was cranky that I called. So I tell the visitor this, informing him that I am allowed to give him #3's number. He's irate. He doesn't want to talk to #3. He's talked to #3. #3's no help. #3's useless. Blah, blah, blah. Whine, whine, whine.

"I'm sorry. #1 said #3 is the one you need to talk to."

So being the helpful person that I am, I take the initiative, calling #3, who doesn't answer, and leave a message.

"Well can't you call #2?"

Well with honeyed tones like that, how could I resist?

"Sure."

I pick up the phone, only to have 2 other lines flash with incoming calls. So I work my receptionist magic, and on busy days, it is magic. All the while directing the delivery guy who has now walked in.

When the phones and deliveries are taken care of, I return the task of calling #2 at which Mr. Attitude, in a tone more befitting a friend, says,

"Oh, I don't envy you. It's gotta be insane (as in busy) around here. Having to deal with all the people coming in. I don't know how you do it."

Imagine if you will, me sitting at my receptionist's desk, with a stunned, mental, "Oh my God." Followed immediately with a mental, "It'd be great if I didn't have to deal with jacka$$e$ like you."

I smile politely and start dialing. #2, much to my delight, doesn't answer so I leave a message.

Confident that I have done everything I can and more than this guy deserves, I offer to pass along his business card to #3 and to have #3 contact him. Handing me his card, he includes two coupons for business. Apparently he has recognized his a$$like behavior and is trying to make nice.

"Oh, thanks, but I don't need these. I'm moving out of the area shortly."

You are not my friend. You act like jerk and no amount of kindness is going to change the fact that you thought you were justified in trying to bully me. You failed now get out of my office. Go wait for your phone call and try to act more professional in the future.

Thank God my mouth filter was in full working order and the only things that got out of my mouth were the things in quotation marks. At least some of us know how to behave professionally.

GRRRR!!!!!!

Okay. I'm watching the presidential debate. Or at least I'm trying to. I'll admit that I get frustrated and turn the channel.

Bush just answered the question on what he would tell a person who just lost their job overseas. He went into improving education. Ewww, I'm piping mad. Not even going into my issues with his education policies, here's my quick venting with his "education" answer.

1. He stressed improving education for kids earlier in the school system it is "too late." Excuse me, but bulls***. I've volunteered in adult literacy. There is no "too late." It can be difficult for adult learners so early intervention is great, but if you look at adults and tell them it is "too late" you only perpetuate the problem.
2. Education does not guarantee a job. I have a B.A. from a prestigious private university and an M.S. that I obtained with a 4.0 and unanimous support of my professors for pursuing a doctorate. When I moved to California, I was unemployed for 5 months. I'm not even terribly picky. The problem is, I have to earn a respectable pay to cover the over $400 a month that I am paying in student loans each month. Education guarantees nothing.

Why I'm Not Ready for Motherhood

I consider our cat, Jack, to be me my barometer on my readiness for motherhood. Most mornings it's usually that I can't take his meowing when I leave. I feel so guilty for leaving him alone.

Sunday was a whole different animal. There was kitty vomit. Lots of it.

I rounded him up and put him in the bathroom until I knew the coast was clear while the b/f and I proceeded with the clean up. Nothing too painful. Twenty minutes later. Jack was back in my arms getting his tummy rubbed.

Monday morning, the boyfriend advises me on his way out to work (before I was even awake) to be careful where I step. Jack left surprises overnight.

Luckily, I didn't encounter any.

I get home from work later that day to discover that the cat knocked over the bathroom trashcan. The b/f came home soon after and told me what he found that morning. We put two and two together and discovered Jack was a poo eater. Granted, I would never let a child eat poo, but my "Ewww!" tolerance level isn't up to snuff for kids.

When Not to Shop at a Small Local Business

I'm all for shopping at local businesses, especially when my hometown is down to one grocery store. The next closest place to do grocery shopping is at a Super Wal-Mart in a town 30 minutes away (they have lost all their other grocers.)

One of the things that has helped this particular grocery store is their movie rental department, it too being the only place to rent a movie in town. So Tuesday morning my mom called in to reserve a copy of Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11. When she later called to follow up on it, she found out that they weren't going to carry it, at all. Bear in mind, the movie didn't come to this small, Republican town's movie theaters either.

My mom, my brother, and myself are angry about this. They are all for boycotting this business because of management's decision not to give people an opportunity to decide for themselves whether to watch this movie. I'm encouraging my mom to write a letter to the editor of the local newspaper and to the owner. I think they need to feel it in their pocket to reconsider.

The toughest opponent my mom has in her boycott is my dad. He's a staunch supporter of local business. He refuses to shop elsewhere. So my mom informed him that Saturday when he goes to do the grocery store, he's going alone and without a list from her. He can "figure it out." I predict he spend a small fortune on crap they don't need.

A Surprise Ending

I dreamt last night that I was at work. Instead of my usual receptionist duties, I was out working with people resolving problems. As my day wound down, I started reflecting on the hit-and-miss of it, trying to decide what to blog about regarding it. When I woke up, I couldn't believe that the dream seemed so real that I was actually reflecting on blogging it like it had been a real day at work. Though oddly enough, I can't really remember many of details of the dream now itself.

Countdowns

I'm happy to report that Misc Karen has reached a milestone, its first 1000 hits. After my first few months of blogging, I thought it would take a few years to get a thousand hits. It's even more amazing considering how inconsistent I have been about blogging (more on that in a moment.) To all of my regular readers, I say "Thanks!" Especially to those of you who linked Misc Karen.

As for the blog, I've started drafting a few longer essays and have been thinking about tons of material to write about in general. Like the day last week that started with me getting pulled over for the first time (which fortunately ended with the officer realizing that he had pulled over the wrong vehicle) and ended with me being locked out of the apartment and missing the first debate as a result.

If i'm not actually writing much, it's because I'm thinking of another countdown, moving. The b/f's current project at work should be over at month's end which means we should be moving shortly thereafter. We are not exactly sure when and have no clue where we be going next. As a result, I need to give notice on my job with my last day being October 29th. Not know where (or when I will know where) we will be living next, I can't exactly start hunting for the next job. It took me 5 months to get my current job. I cannot afford another 5 months of unemployment and I really need a job with health benefits. And there are a litany of worries that I have about job hunting that I won't go into now because I wan't to be able to sleep tonight.

The other kicker is that I won't be able to vote as I don't know where I'll be living and will most likely be in the middle of moving cross country on election day. So those of you who can vote need to vote for those of us who can't.

So the end of October/beginning of November, I won't be blogging while I'm without internet access. On the bright side, all the free time and stress of unemployment should lead to some great blog entries.

And on a completely different tangent, my parting words for this entry are for my beloved Fighting Irish. If you fire Willingham you will never get a penny of donations from this alum.