(Yes, I know, 2 posts in one day... but I just had to....)
I finally understand how to put the crib together!!!
The pictures the lady we bought the crib off of sent me aren't the most helpful at first glance. They do show the right order of operations, but not which hardware goes where too well. I finally figured out where all the pieces go and how they should be put together!
The only problem is... I can't do it by myself. I need another pair of hands to hold things.
Oh well, at least I know it can be done and that it is possible. Now to recruit someone to be my extra set of hands. If I'm in the right mood, Gak can help. If not... well.... it's best not to even think about how snippy I'd end up getting with him. It's not his fault, honest. It's all mine. I inherited Dad's temper for working with people on certian things. (But Mom's skill at handy work... not that Dad's not skilled, it's just that Mom will actually get to it and get it done with a minimum of fuss and frustration...) If you want to see something really scarry, you should have seen the night Dad tried (sucesfully eventually!) to tutor me in electronics the night before a physics exam in high school. Mom was smart and hid. Jon wasn't home. It did work... I got a 98% on the exam I think.
Anyhow, just needed to exclaim that I finally figured it out.
Peace to all and may you have many "lightbulb" moments!
Monday, March 31, 2008
Bits and Bobs
Sory about the 4-day absence. I just didn't have time on Friday and the weekend just disappeared.
Friday was Gak's last day at Game Stop. Saturday he started back at the UPS store. This meant he was home by 3:30. It was a great change. Friday night and most of Saturday I was in an unsettled, grumpy, tired, just not good mood. I tried not to take it out on Gak, but I failed. Miserably actually. I wish I could be better at not doing that. I'm sure he's tired of me apologizing for my bad behavior, and I really, truly do know better. I just can't seem to do what needs to be done. I could blame the hormones, and to a point that's true... but it's not the whole story. Oh well. I just have to work harder in the future. He deserves better than a cranky wife.
Sunday we had people over. Well, we thought we were going to have several people over at around 2. Well, Stuart showed up around 2:30 or 3 and Scott showed up around 4-ish. I felt bad because I was so tired, I just kinda hid in the bedroom most of the afternoon. It was OK though. Gak was walking Stu through Vampire creation. I wasn't sure I'd draw one up, but I did. We got to get about 10 minutes of play time in. We'll try and pick it up again in two weeks.
I was hoping to have enough people over to get the furniture put together, but that didn't happen either. The crib looks easy enough to put together, I just can't do it by myself and this is something Gak and I just shouldn't do together. We can do lots of things together, but putting together furniture and cooking are two things that we shouldn't attempt. Mostly thanks to my temper and Gak's "style", for lack of a better word, of doing things. It can, and does, get ugly fast. Therefore, we tend to avoid the situation if at all possible. I know the wardrobe will be easy enough to put together, it's from IKEA.
In other news, I still feel like I'm floundering at work. I can't seem to prioritize anything or get anything meaningful accomplished. I just feel like I'm chasing my tail in circles and I'm getting dizzy. And cute as a dizzy ratling may be, it's not very fun.
I had another doctor's appointment this morning. It went well. I actually lost 3 lbs, but there's no need to worry. Everything else is going well. I guess I'm having more better than worse days when it comes to eating.
Gak's knee on the other hand is getting worse. (I think the weather today had a bit to do with it though...) Since he didn't have to be in until 1-ish, he went with me to the appointment. (I'm glad he did. I know how much he loves to hear the heartbeat. I really do want him involved, this is his baby too!) While waiting for the doctor, his knee popped or went out about every third step he took. He said, yet again, that he was going to call the doctor when we got home. Well, I've heard that story before, so I took matters into my own hands. I called for him. He's got an appointment in the morning. I'm not sure what our family doc can do for him, but she can at least suggest a specialist if needs be or something to try in the mean time. We really don't need his knee to go out while he's walking around with Boo.
I have an asthma appointment on Thursday myself. It's been good so far, but I think we're heading into allergy season again. I'm over the cold, but I'm still way more congested than usual. It's all clear, thick viscous ick.
We also have an appointment at one of the daycare places we're looking at tomorrow morning as well. I'd like to get a couple of options from a couple of different places, so we can make a real decision. I've got to talk with my boss(es) and see if I can't work something out. With Gak's normal schedule, if I play my cards right and am able to take a slightly longer lunch, we could possibly only do 4 half-days of daycare. Gak will be able to watch Boo all morning, and then I'd be able to run home and drop them off where they need to be by the time Gak needs to go to work. We wouldn't even need a second car. The only times this could cause a problem is when Gak would have to work open to close when Mike's on vacation. This will be at least 3 weeks out of the year. I do have some volunteers to watch him, but I'd like to use them on an emergency or occasional basis. I'm sure this wouldn't cause problems and if I play my cards right, I may even be able to work half-days from home those days. Who knows. (Can you tell I'm really trying to figure out how to reduce the amount of time we have to have Boo in daycare? I know it's not a bad thing, but... they're not family and they're not me... I'm selfish and want my boy to myself!) I do know that by the time he's 2 or 3 we'll possibly end up with him in a full-day preschool situation. I saw how much good it did Zoe. She was so much more ready for school by the time she went to Kindergarten. I don't just mean the reading and writing thing, but in the social aspects. She was used to listening to other adults and knew how to play well with other kids who weren't family. That knowledge in and of itself is priceless. The being able to read and write well is a bonus. (Although, I hope Boo takes after me, I was reading quite well by the time I started Kindergarten, and within the first few months is when I started reading Nancy Drew books... handwriting on the other hand... is not the strong suit of either Gak or myself...)
Anyhow, I've got to wrap this up because I've got another meeting soon and I really need to try and figure out what's going on with a few of these requests before then.
Peace to all and may the pieces fall into place and the bad moods not last too long.
Friday was Gak's last day at Game Stop. Saturday he started back at the UPS store. This meant he was home by 3:30. It was a great change. Friday night and most of Saturday I was in an unsettled, grumpy, tired, just not good mood. I tried not to take it out on Gak, but I failed. Miserably actually. I wish I could be better at not doing that. I'm sure he's tired of me apologizing for my bad behavior, and I really, truly do know better. I just can't seem to do what needs to be done. I could blame the hormones, and to a point that's true... but it's not the whole story. Oh well. I just have to work harder in the future. He deserves better than a cranky wife.
Sunday we had people over. Well, we thought we were going to have several people over at around 2. Well, Stuart showed up around 2:30 or 3 and Scott showed up around 4-ish. I felt bad because I was so tired, I just kinda hid in the bedroom most of the afternoon. It was OK though. Gak was walking Stu through Vampire creation. I wasn't sure I'd draw one up, but I did. We got to get about 10 minutes of play time in. We'll try and pick it up again in two weeks.
I was hoping to have enough people over to get the furniture put together, but that didn't happen either. The crib looks easy enough to put together, I just can't do it by myself and this is something Gak and I just shouldn't do together. We can do lots of things together, but putting together furniture and cooking are two things that we shouldn't attempt. Mostly thanks to my temper and Gak's "style", for lack of a better word, of doing things. It can, and does, get ugly fast. Therefore, we tend to avoid the situation if at all possible. I know the wardrobe will be easy enough to put together, it's from IKEA.
In other news, I still feel like I'm floundering at work. I can't seem to prioritize anything or get anything meaningful accomplished. I just feel like I'm chasing my tail in circles and I'm getting dizzy. And cute as a dizzy ratling may be, it's not very fun.
I had another doctor's appointment this morning. It went well. I actually lost 3 lbs, but there's no need to worry. Everything else is going well. I guess I'm having more better than worse days when it comes to eating.
Gak's knee on the other hand is getting worse. (I think the weather today had a bit to do with it though...) Since he didn't have to be in until 1-ish, he went with me to the appointment. (I'm glad he did. I know how much he loves to hear the heartbeat. I really do want him involved, this is his baby too!) While waiting for the doctor, his knee popped or went out about every third step he took. He said, yet again, that he was going to call the doctor when we got home. Well, I've heard that story before, so I took matters into my own hands. I called for him. He's got an appointment in the morning. I'm not sure what our family doc can do for him, but she can at least suggest a specialist if needs be or something to try in the mean time. We really don't need his knee to go out while he's walking around with Boo.
I have an asthma appointment on Thursday myself. It's been good so far, but I think we're heading into allergy season again. I'm over the cold, but I'm still way more congested than usual. It's all clear, thick viscous ick.
We also have an appointment at one of the daycare places we're looking at tomorrow morning as well. I'd like to get a couple of options from a couple of different places, so we can make a real decision. I've got to talk with my boss(es) and see if I can't work something out. With Gak's normal schedule, if I play my cards right and am able to take a slightly longer lunch, we could possibly only do 4 half-days of daycare. Gak will be able to watch Boo all morning, and then I'd be able to run home and drop them off where they need to be by the time Gak needs to go to work. We wouldn't even need a second car. The only times this could cause a problem is when Gak would have to work open to close when Mike's on vacation. This will be at least 3 weeks out of the year. I do have some volunteers to watch him, but I'd like to use them on an emergency or occasional basis. I'm sure this wouldn't cause problems and if I play my cards right, I may even be able to work half-days from home those days. Who knows. (Can you tell I'm really trying to figure out how to reduce the amount of time we have to have Boo in daycare? I know it's not a bad thing, but... they're not family and they're not me... I'm selfish and want my boy to myself!) I do know that by the time he's 2 or 3 we'll possibly end up with him in a full-day preschool situation. I saw how much good it did Zoe. She was so much more ready for school by the time she went to Kindergarten. I don't just mean the reading and writing thing, but in the social aspects. She was used to listening to other adults and knew how to play well with other kids who weren't family. That knowledge in and of itself is priceless. The being able to read and write well is a bonus. (Although, I hope Boo takes after me, I was reading quite well by the time I started Kindergarten, and within the first few months is when I started reading Nancy Drew books... handwriting on the other hand... is not the strong suit of either Gak or myself...)
Anyhow, I've got to wrap this up because I've got another meeting soon and I really need to try and figure out what's going on with a few of these requests before then.
Peace to all and may the pieces fall into place and the bad moods not last too long.
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Tolerance
Ok. I've got something that's been bugging me for almost a day now.
I need to give a little background that I haven't shared, because it was work related and not really much of my business. Other than the fact that it affected one of my friends here at the office. It's the reason that Al was "forced" into retiring a year or so earlier than he planned. There was a woman working in the department after I moved to training. Well, apparently she took Al's personality personally and was claiming harassment. Anyone who actually knows Al, knows he's harmless. He loves life and is a happy-go-lucky kind of person.
Anyhow, this person recently left the company, and I'm back in my old cube because she's no longer here. Someone at lunch yesterday asked me if I knew anything about the why's and how's of her leaving. I have no clue. I was sitting upstairs at the time and unless someone actually tells me, I have no idea what goes on in other parts of the building. I made the comment to the two ladies who were sitting in the lunchroom that I didn't know what happened to the other person and that my first response upon knowing she'd left was wanting Al back.
Well, the one who didn't ask me if I knew what had happened started going off about how inappropriate he is and how obnoxious he is.
I just stood there and shook my head for a moment and then extricated myself from the room. Like I said, Al has been known to say some things that aren't exactly "sensitive" and could would say things just to get a reaction out of certain people in the building, but only in fun. He never meant any harm by it, was never that "scary old guy". Occasionally he fell into that category of harmless "dirty old man", but never anything harmful. My reaction to her was; but he's a very good worker. And it's true. He's never treated the customers anything other than well. If he's made a mistake, he'll fix it. He gets his job done, and usually done right. He's friendly and willing to help just about anyone. So what if he occasionally makes an obnoxious statement? If you knew him, you knew he didn't really believe a lot of it. A lot of it came from being in the Army or a cop for many, many years. (And besides, he is an equal opportunity offender, he'll pick on just about any group out there...)
Her reaction still bothers me. What in the world ever happened to tolerance? What ever happened to being able to enjoy people for who they are? I guess I should have expected that kind of reaction from her, she's a bit of a sour person to begin with and a lawyer type to boot. As you've seen, I try and stay out of politics and social commentary. I just had to get this off my chest though. I mean, I don't want to get rid of people just because they're cranky all the time, or they don't agree with my political/religious/social views. I try and see their side and only feel the need to "do something" about it if they're a potential danger to myself, themselves or others. If that makes me a tree-hugging, hippy, peace loving liberal, than so be it. (I've been called worse.) I try and keep a fairly moderate and somewhat realistic view on the world, but I really am an optimist at heart.
Anyhow, I'd best get back to work. I just needed to get that gripe off my chest. I still wish that Al was back. He brought a lot of life to this office and did a lot of work.
Peace to all and may we accept people for who they are, as they are and remember that life is too serious to take seriously.
p.s. Sorry if this rambled a bit, but that's how it sat in my brain...
I need to give a little background that I haven't shared, because it was work related and not really much of my business. Other than the fact that it affected one of my friends here at the office. It's the reason that Al was "forced" into retiring a year or so earlier than he planned. There was a woman working in the department after I moved to training. Well, apparently she took Al's personality personally and was claiming harassment. Anyone who actually knows Al, knows he's harmless. He loves life and is a happy-go-lucky kind of person.
Anyhow, this person recently left the company, and I'm back in my old cube because she's no longer here. Someone at lunch yesterday asked me if I knew anything about the why's and how's of her leaving. I have no clue. I was sitting upstairs at the time and unless someone actually tells me, I have no idea what goes on in other parts of the building. I made the comment to the two ladies who were sitting in the lunchroom that I didn't know what happened to the other person and that my first response upon knowing she'd left was wanting Al back.
Well, the one who didn't ask me if I knew what had happened started going off about how inappropriate he is and how obnoxious he is.
I just stood there and shook my head for a moment and then extricated myself from the room. Like I said, Al has been known to say some things that aren't exactly "sensitive" and could would say things just to get a reaction out of certain people in the building, but only in fun. He never meant any harm by it, was never that "scary old guy". Occasionally he fell into that category of harmless "dirty old man", but never anything harmful. My reaction to her was; but he's a very good worker. And it's true. He's never treated the customers anything other than well. If he's made a mistake, he'll fix it. He gets his job done, and usually done right. He's friendly and willing to help just about anyone. So what if he occasionally makes an obnoxious statement? If you knew him, you knew he didn't really believe a lot of it. A lot of it came from being in the Army or a cop for many, many years. (And besides, he is an equal opportunity offender, he'll pick on just about any group out there...)
Her reaction still bothers me. What in the world ever happened to tolerance? What ever happened to being able to enjoy people for who they are? I guess I should have expected that kind of reaction from her, she's a bit of a sour person to begin with and a lawyer type to boot. As you've seen, I try and stay out of politics and social commentary. I just had to get this off my chest though. I mean, I don't want to get rid of people just because they're cranky all the time, or they don't agree with my political/religious/social views. I try and see their side and only feel the need to "do something" about it if they're a potential danger to myself, themselves or others. If that makes me a tree-hugging, hippy, peace loving liberal, than so be it. (I've been called worse.) I try and keep a fairly moderate and somewhat realistic view on the world, but I really am an optimist at heart.
Anyhow, I'd best get back to work. I just needed to get that gripe off my chest. I still wish that Al was back. He brought a lot of life to this office and did a lot of work.
Peace to all and may we accept people for who they are, as they are and remember that life is too serious to take seriously.
p.s. Sorry if this rambled a bit, but that's how it sat in my brain...
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Happy Birthday! (and pictures...)
First off, I want to totally embarrass my Mom by telling her Happy 60th Birthday! in front of the entire world. (Aren't I an evil daughter?) I can't believe my mom is that old. She doesn't look or act that old.This is the newest picture I have of her. It was from our wedding almost 3 years ago now. (That in and of itself is a weird thought...) It's not a great picture of her, but it's the best of the recent ones. (No, I have no idea what that look on her face is for, I'm not sure if she was about to cry or laugh... or both...)
I also have a few other images to share today as well. (I'm bound and determined to have one post this month that doesn't deal almost exclusively with work or Boo...)
This is a bit of a sad picture. It's just a little snapshot of my last two plane tickets as a non-momma. I took this sitting and waiting for my flight in Minnesota. This was my last trip for work for a long time. Like I have said before, I'll miss it, but I am so looking forward to the new adventures my life will bring.
While we were waiting for the plane, Angel decided to steal my Chai and get some "work" done on my phone. It was just too cute to resist taking her picture. Of course, I did pay for letting her have that much sugar and tea first thing in the morning as she didn't sit still either flight. It was OK though. She's fun to travel with. Too bad this was her first and last trip for a while. She would have enjoyed some of it and Sam would have enjoyed sending someone else in his place.
I do have to mention Boo at least once in this post. I got a call from Gak yesterday when he was at the UPS store picking up a shift for Mike. He'd gotten our mail and my brother sent his nephew a package. It was addressed to Boo (care of Mom and Dad). That was a laugh by itself. In true Jon fashion though, the only thing that was in the package was a stuffed penicillin. Yes, that's right. My brother bought penicillin for his nephew. He told me he'd been looking for a stuffed toy for Boo, but didn't want anything cutsie and figured Gak and I would appreciate it. We do. I think it's great. (But then again, my degree is in biology, so I'm a bit of a geek to begin with...) I'd seen these Giant Microbes before, but could never decide which one to get. Now Boo has his very own!Well, I'm going to wrap it up here. I just wanted to finally share some pictures and announce to the world how happy I am to celebrate my mom's birthday. I love her very much and am so very glad we're as close as we are.
Peace to all and may you have fun things in your life!
Monday, March 24, 2008
Cash and Vegetables
I'm tired this morning. I didn't sleep well. It was an odd series of thoughts that were keeping me awake for most of the wee hours of the night.
One set of thoughts isn't that weird. Money was the root of the problem. I've done some recent budget analysis. I mean, I haven't gotten down to the nickles and dimes of it, but used the actual bill amounts (rounded to the next highest $10 for a little "cushion") for the known quantities, and the approximate averages for things like the utilities, gas for the car and groceries. We're surviving. We've even got our heads above water at the moment. If something like the air conditioner last summer happens again, we're toast. There are two things in the budget that are taking up way more of a percentage then they should be: eating out and credit card debt. The one, Gak and I can fix. The other, we'll just have to slog through for now.
We made some bad decisions in the past and were put in some tough spots that ended up costing us a lot more money than they should or could have. We've cleaned up our act, but we're going to be paying for our mistakes for many years yet. The good news is that my college loan should be paid off in the next 18 months, which will free up a little bit each month. The other good news is that we've got about 24 months left on the car payments, which will free up a sizable amount eventually.
I wish there were other places we could cut corners. We've got the cheapest cell plan available for how we use them, and looking at the other Verizon options for the land-line, we've got the best deal there too. We could get rid of the satellite TV, but with where we live, we can't even pick up the local stations without it, and I refuse to not be able to at least watch the local news or PBS. (Old downtown building, not antenna on the TV.) We could get rid of the Internet, but that's one expense neither of us are willing to give up. We only have 1 car, and with how tall Gak is, we can't downsize it reasonably. Our gas bill has been cut in half (or better) this winter with the new windows that were put in last February, and we're pretty good about not running things we don't need to be. Gak and I have already talked about our "hobby budgets" for yarn and Warhammer figures. Nothing new at this point for either of us.
The other thing that kept me awake most of the night were vegetables. Or should I say, the lack of vegetables in my diet. I know I need to eat them. Not just for me, but for Boo. I've been trying for 32 years to overcome this. It's not that they don't look really good and yummy. It's that I can't stand the taste of them. The smells of most of them cooked even slightly makes me nauseous. This was a problem before I became pregnant. I mean, I can't even stand the smell of frozen corn warmed up with a little butter and salt. Corn isn't supposed to have a major odder... I mean, I put too many shredded carrots on my salad and it tastes like dirt. Carrots aren't supposed to taste like dirt. Celery shouldn't have a lot of flavor, but the only way I can eat it is to drown it in so much blue cheese dressing that any benefit is more than lost.
Another issue is texture. I can't stand mushy. Although, I do like mashed potatoes or sweet potatoes. If I'm careful, I can sneak a few cooked carrots mashed into my potatoes, or corn if I just swallow each bite whole. I can't get an entire serving into me this way, but I can get something. I love crunchy things, so you'd think raw veggies wouldn't be an issue. Well, like my example above with celery, I have to drown things in enough dressing that any benefit is lost, and again, I can't get an entire serving in me.
I've tried hiding veggies in things. I added some chopped frozen spinach (about as well drained as anyone can get it) to a chicken and alfredo dish. I couldn't stand it. All I could taste or smell was the spinach, and again, I didn't even put a full serving in. It looked beautiful. I really wish I'd liked it. I wanted to like it.
What's the flavor that gives me so much issue? I'm not sure I can explain. Taste is such an individual thing. First there's the smell, it's almost a taste that you get in the back of the mouth. Then there's the actual flavor. Sometimes it's dirt-like, sometimes it's bitter or even almost a sulphur taste. I really wish I knew how to get around this. So many more dishes would be available to eat. It would be so much more healthy. It would get Boo off to an even better start. The guilt and the questions of why kept running through my head keeping me awake.
But, yesterday was a good day over all. Gak actually had off. We lazed around most of the morning, and then got cleaned up and went to IKEA. Mom joined us, once I was able to get her good directions. It was a fun day. We went looking for a rocking chair and a wardrobe. We found the wardrobe. We found some lamps and some other really cool things that will make the room really look great including some lamps and a rug. Hopefully we'll get the wardrobe and the crib together soon. The lamps will have to wait until the walls get painted. I promise to share pictures as soon as I can.
We also got to have dinner at Mom and Dad's. It was nice to have dinner together. On the way home we stopped and caught up with Kat and Scott for a little bit.
Well, I'd best get my butt in gear and try to figure out the agenda for the rest of the week and get some kind of service work done before I get yelled at.
Peace to all and may you have restful nights and good days.
One set of thoughts isn't that weird. Money was the root of the problem. I've done some recent budget analysis. I mean, I haven't gotten down to the nickles and dimes of it, but used the actual bill amounts (rounded to the next highest $10 for a little "cushion") for the known quantities, and the approximate averages for things like the utilities, gas for the car and groceries. We're surviving. We've even got our heads above water at the moment. If something like the air conditioner last summer happens again, we're toast. There are two things in the budget that are taking up way more of a percentage then they should be: eating out and credit card debt. The one, Gak and I can fix. The other, we'll just have to slog through for now.
We made some bad decisions in the past and were put in some tough spots that ended up costing us a lot more money than they should or could have. We've cleaned up our act, but we're going to be paying for our mistakes for many years yet. The good news is that my college loan should be paid off in the next 18 months, which will free up a little bit each month. The other good news is that we've got about 24 months left on the car payments, which will free up a sizable amount eventually.
I wish there were other places we could cut corners. We've got the cheapest cell plan available for how we use them, and looking at the other Verizon options for the land-line, we've got the best deal there too. We could get rid of the satellite TV, but with where we live, we can't even pick up the local stations without it, and I refuse to not be able to at least watch the local news or PBS. (Old downtown building, not antenna on the TV.) We could get rid of the Internet, but that's one expense neither of us are willing to give up. We only have 1 car, and with how tall Gak is, we can't downsize it reasonably. Our gas bill has been cut in half (or better) this winter with the new windows that were put in last February, and we're pretty good about not running things we don't need to be. Gak and I have already talked about our "hobby budgets" for yarn and Warhammer figures. Nothing new at this point for either of us.
The other thing that kept me awake most of the night were vegetables. Or should I say, the lack of vegetables in my diet. I know I need to eat them. Not just for me, but for Boo. I've been trying for 32 years to overcome this. It's not that they don't look really good and yummy. It's that I can't stand the taste of them. The smells of most of them cooked even slightly makes me nauseous. This was a problem before I became pregnant. I mean, I can't even stand the smell of frozen corn warmed up with a little butter and salt. Corn isn't supposed to have a major odder... I mean, I put too many shredded carrots on my salad and it tastes like dirt. Carrots aren't supposed to taste like dirt. Celery shouldn't have a lot of flavor, but the only way I can eat it is to drown it in so much blue cheese dressing that any benefit is more than lost.
Another issue is texture. I can't stand mushy. Although, I do like mashed potatoes or sweet potatoes. If I'm careful, I can sneak a few cooked carrots mashed into my potatoes, or corn if I just swallow each bite whole. I can't get an entire serving into me this way, but I can get something. I love crunchy things, so you'd think raw veggies wouldn't be an issue. Well, like my example above with celery, I have to drown things in enough dressing that any benefit is lost, and again, I can't get an entire serving in me.
I've tried hiding veggies in things. I added some chopped frozen spinach (about as well drained as anyone can get it) to a chicken and alfredo dish. I couldn't stand it. All I could taste or smell was the spinach, and again, I didn't even put a full serving in. It looked beautiful. I really wish I'd liked it. I wanted to like it.
What's the flavor that gives me so much issue? I'm not sure I can explain. Taste is such an individual thing. First there's the smell, it's almost a taste that you get in the back of the mouth. Then there's the actual flavor. Sometimes it's dirt-like, sometimes it's bitter or even almost a sulphur taste. I really wish I knew how to get around this. So many more dishes would be available to eat. It would be so much more healthy. It would get Boo off to an even better start. The guilt and the questions of why kept running through my head keeping me awake.
But, yesterday was a good day over all. Gak actually had off. We lazed around most of the morning, and then got cleaned up and went to IKEA. Mom joined us, once I was able to get her good directions. It was a fun day. We went looking for a rocking chair and a wardrobe. We found the wardrobe. We found some lamps and some other really cool things that will make the room really look great including some lamps and a rug. Hopefully we'll get the wardrobe and the crib together soon. The lamps will have to wait until the walls get painted. I promise to share pictures as soon as I can.
We also got to have dinner at Mom and Dad's. It was nice to have dinner together. On the way home we stopped and caught up with Kat and Scott for a little bit.
Well, I'd best get my butt in gear and try to figure out the agenda for the rest of the week and get some kind of service work done before I get yelled at.
Peace to all and may you have restful nights and good days.
Saturday, March 22, 2008
What Goes Around, Comes Around?
Well, it's been an interesting few days.
I spent most of yesterday fighting off a cold. Actually, I'm still fighting it, but feeling better, I just can't breathe right yet. (In reality, I started fighting this stupid thing Wednesday, but yesterday I was able to just wallow in it and not do much... No, I haven't taken anything for it, what I'm allowed to take doesn't do much for me on a good day...)
Gak had to work, of course. He was not looking forward to going in. Thursday, right after he clocked out, Tallon decided to rip him a new one, again, and this time in writing. The biggest complaint that Tallon had was that he delegated too much to the GAs (I thought that's what they were there for?) and that he didn't double check that they alphabetized the walls right... oh, yeah, and that he didn't dust behind the registers. Ok, so maybe he "gave" too much work to the GAs on occasion. But come on, most of the laundry list of "offenses" weren't anything worth writing up, alone or as a group. (Gak and I are both of the opinion that this was Tallon's way of getting back at Gak because Gak found an error in the books that was Tallon's fault and pointed it out to Tallon.)
Well, Gak left a bit early for work yesterday so he could get the mail. He ended up having lunch with Mike. Mike was complaining that none of the applicants he's received to replace the girl who replaced Gak back in September. (She suddenly moved out of state a few weeks back...) Gak was complaining about his job. Mike agrees with Gak and I that the store manager is full of bull. Mike actually offered Gak his old job back with a guaranteed (and with Mike it is) 30 hours a week and only a little less money an hour. Gak couldn't turn it down. He'd been promised 40 hours a week with GameStop, but hasn't seen it in months now. Also, with Mike he'll have a set schedule and we'll always get Saturday afternoon and Sunday together. Those make any small loss in pay worth it in my book. Sure, it would be nice to have the same, or more, money coming in, but right now a stable schedule is looking very nice.
This means we actually know how much day care we need to look for. With this schedule, we'll need 4 days a week. If we could actually afford a second car, we would only need 4 half-days, since Gak doesn't need to be in until 1:30 (I think...). But, now we know what we're looking for and can talk to a couple of places and get some prices. (I'm really not looking forward to that. I'm still trying to figure out where that money is going to come from. Probably the Yarn and Warhammer budgets. Oh well, I've got a bit of stash to work though...)
Gak gave his two weeks notice yesterday to Tallon. Today Tallon actually apologized. It doesn't mean anything, Gak's still going to work for Mike. Mike may be a hard-ass at times, but almost always about things that he needs to be, not just random. (I blame a lot of the issues with Tallon on the fact that he's young and just doesn't have the experience to know what's what and still takes everything personally when flaws are pointed out...)
So, it looks like both Gak and I are starting "new" jobs soon. I'm already trying to figure out exactly what my new job is and how everything fits together. Gak's got it much easier. He'll fit in almost right away, just a few things to remember. (He's been filling in from time to time since "leaving" in September...) I hope this truly is the best move for the family that we think it is. Even if it only keeps Gak from being cranky and pissy when he gets home from work, it may just be worth it.
Well, I've got to run to the grocery store before I pick up Gak from work. (I will not miss these late closing nights... the UPS store closes at 6:30.)
Peace to all and may there be good things in your life.
P.S. Happy Spring! (a little late...)
I spent most of yesterday fighting off a cold. Actually, I'm still fighting it, but feeling better, I just can't breathe right yet. (In reality, I started fighting this stupid thing Wednesday, but yesterday I was able to just wallow in it and not do much... No, I haven't taken anything for it, what I'm allowed to take doesn't do much for me on a good day...)
Gak had to work, of course. He was not looking forward to going in. Thursday, right after he clocked out, Tallon decided to rip him a new one, again, and this time in writing. The biggest complaint that Tallon had was that he delegated too much to the GAs (I thought that's what they were there for?) and that he didn't double check that they alphabetized the walls right... oh, yeah, and that he didn't dust behind the registers. Ok, so maybe he "gave" too much work to the GAs on occasion. But come on, most of the laundry list of "offenses" weren't anything worth writing up, alone or as a group. (Gak and I are both of the opinion that this was Tallon's way of getting back at Gak because Gak found an error in the books that was Tallon's fault and pointed it out to Tallon.)
Well, Gak left a bit early for work yesterday so he could get the mail. He ended up having lunch with Mike. Mike was complaining that none of the applicants he's received to replace the girl who replaced Gak back in September. (She suddenly moved out of state a few weeks back...) Gak was complaining about his job. Mike agrees with Gak and I that the store manager is full of bull. Mike actually offered Gak his old job back with a guaranteed (and with Mike it is) 30 hours a week and only a little less money an hour. Gak couldn't turn it down. He'd been promised 40 hours a week with GameStop, but hasn't seen it in months now. Also, with Mike he'll have a set schedule and we'll always get Saturday afternoon and Sunday together. Those make any small loss in pay worth it in my book. Sure, it would be nice to have the same, or more, money coming in, but right now a stable schedule is looking very nice.
This means we actually know how much day care we need to look for. With this schedule, we'll need 4 days a week. If we could actually afford a second car, we would only need 4 half-days, since Gak doesn't need to be in until 1:30 (I think...). But, now we know what we're looking for and can talk to a couple of places and get some prices. (I'm really not looking forward to that. I'm still trying to figure out where that money is going to come from. Probably the Yarn and Warhammer budgets. Oh well, I've got a bit of stash to work though...)
Gak gave his two weeks notice yesterday to Tallon. Today Tallon actually apologized. It doesn't mean anything, Gak's still going to work for Mike. Mike may be a hard-ass at times, but almost always about things that he needs to be, not just random. (I blame a lot of the issues with Tallon on the fact that he's young and just doesn't have the experience to know what's what and still takes everything personally when flaws are pointed out...)
So, it looks like both Gak and I are starting "new" jobs soon. I'm already trying to figure out exactly what my new job is and how everything fits together. Gak's got it much easier. He'll fit in almost right away, just a few things to remember. (He's been filling in from time to time since "leaving" in September...) I hope this truly is the best move for the family that we think it is. Even if it only keeps Gak from being cranky and pissy when he gets home from work, it may just be worth it.
Well, I've got to run to the grocery store before I pick up Gak from work. (I will not miss these late closing nights... the UPS store closes at 6:30.)
Peace to all and may there be good things in your life.
P.S. Happy Spring! (a little late...)
Thursday, March 20, 2008
More Odds and Ends
Just a bit of this and that this afternoon.
Baby class is interesting. I'm not sure how useful it will really be, especially with my breathing issues. Some of these are tough for me and the way my lungs don't work. It's not so much the pattern or the rhythm, it's the getting enough air and feeling like there's a small elephant on my chest. Hopefully I'll get this all figured out in the next 10 weeks (eek!). Of course, we still have no idea if we'll end up with a C-section or not, or if Boo will be here May 30th or later. Unless there's a medical emergency, I don't really want him early, as I think may 30th is early to begin with. I'm guessing the next 10 weeks will be a lot of "wait and see". Oh well.
In other baby news, I passed my 3-hour glucose test. I called for my results yesterday. According to the nurse, all my readings were "normal", whatever that means. I didn't get the numbers or if they were close to the cutoff, but I don't really care. Just so long as everything came back OK, I'm happy. I'm still trying to pay better attention to what I eat. I've been trying to this whole pregnancy, but I have some better days than others. I'm trying to have more better days than worse days. Hopefully tomorrow morning Gak and I will get the crib together. First we have to get it into the house. We haven't because the last several nights have been late. It shouldn't be too hard, but it will be nice to have it set up. Maybe Sunday if IKEA is open, we'll head down there and look at a few things. We will see. (Gak was supposed to have tomorrow off, but had the opportunity to pick up more hours and still have Sunday off... he went for more hours and I don't blame him.)
Work seems to be slowly sorting itself out. Next week is looking crazy. I've got one guy coming in from KC to do training. I've been asked to invite the new projects leader and new business leader as well. That's a little intimidating. I've got a bajilion things assigned to me for service. I'm trying to coordinate a few training sessions, and it's not going well, due to availability and having to go through someone to know people's availability. I've got someone coming up from VA (actually, he's here for other reasons...) who is going to try and help me do some stuff for the June regional (that I won't be teaching...). I've also got a process audit to do and a training quote I don't want to do as well. Like I said, it's a little crazy right this moment.
Well, with all the craziness, I'd best get back to work.
Peace to all and may work not be crazy and life treat you well.
Baby class is interesting. I'm not sure how useful it will really be, especially with my breathing issues. Some of these are tough for me and the way my lungs don't work. It's not so much the pattern or the rhythm, it's the getting enough air and feeling like there's a small elephant on my chest. Hopefully I'll get this all figured out in the next 10 weeks (eek!). Of course, we still have no idea if we'll end up with a C-section or not, or if Boo will be here May 30th or later. Unless there's a medical emergency, I don't really want him early, as I think may 30th is early to begin with. I'm guessing the next 10 weeks will be a lot of "wait and see". Oh well.
In other baby news, I passed my 3-hour glucose test. I called for my results yesterday. According to the nurse, all my readings were "normal", whatever that means. I didn't get the numbers or if they were close to the cutoff, but I don't really care. Just so long as everything came back OK, I'm happy. I'm still trying to pay better attention to what I eat. I've been trying to this whole pregnancy, but I have some better days than others. I'm trying to have more better days than worse days. Hopefully tomorrow morning Gak and I will get the crib together. First we have to get it into the house. We haven't because the last several nights have been late. It shouldn't be too hard, but it will be nice to have it set up. Maybe Sunday if IKEA is open, we'll head down there and look at a few things. We will see. (Gak was supposed to have tomorrow off, but had the opportunity to pick up more hours and still have Sunday off... he went for more hours and I don't blame him.)
Work seems to be slowly sorting itself out. Next week is looking crazy. I've got one guy coming in from KC to do training. I've been asked to invite the new projects leader and new business leader as well. That's a little intimidating. I've got a bajilion things assigned to me for service. I'm trying to coordinate a few training sessions, and it's not going well, due to availability and having to go through someone to know people's availability. I've got someone coming up from VA (actually, he's here for other reasons...) who is going to try and help me do some stuff for the June regional (that I won't be teaching...). I've also got a process audit to do and a training quote I don't want to do as well. Like I said, it's a little crazy right this moment.
Well, with all the craziness, I'd best get back to work.
Peace to all and may work not be crazy and life treat you well.
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Boo!
Well, I finally have the scans from the ultrasound and finally downloaded them from my email. Here's Boo! His nose looks a little smushed up against the wall, but I'm guessing that's due to perspective and all that fun stuff. That's actually his hand in front of his mouth. Such a cute little guy.I had a really wierd dream about the ultrasound a night or two before. I don't remember much of it, but I remember that Boo has the same brilliantly blue eyes as his Poppa and Granpa Jim. I hope that he does. I mean, I love my blue/gray eyes, but Gak's are so bright, just like his dad's. I really do miss my father-in-law. He was a great man with a huge heart.
Here's the other neat picture we got. Feet! Yes, it looks like he's going to have huge feet. Have you seen the size of Gak's gunboats? I know I'll be the shortest in the family in very short order, but that's OK.
I still didn't get around to taking a picture of the back of the truck. We still haven't gotten it unloaded either. Last night around 8 Andy came over to move the bed. We have a waterbed. Therefore, Gak and I couldn't just move it ourselves weeks ago and be done with it. It took a lot longer than expected because the pump was being slow for some reason. That's OK even though it was almost midnight when I got to bed. The bed has been moved, the curtains hung and we're ready to start moving stuff into Boo's room. Our landlady said she'd paint the room in mid-April or so. I'm excited about that. It was painted 2 years ago when we moved in, but I'll never turn down free labor or a fresh coat of paint.
Anyhow, I guess I should get to working. Hopefuly today will be productive. If not, there's always tomorrow. Tonight is our 3rd prepared childbirth class. It's been interesting. I'm not 100% sure how useful, but it's been interesting.
Peace to all and may the pieces start to come together.
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Ups and Downs
I really need to take a picture of the back of my truck when I get home. You should see all the stuff that's in there. And you'll fall over when I tell you Mom and I got it all for only $207. Yes, that's right, $207. No, I didn't forget a zero.
We got way more than I was expecting for way less. We still have plenty of money left in the furniture fund to get a nice closet and rocking chair or glider. Now to just find said items. This would require Gak and I to have time off at the same time. That's not been happening a lot lately. Hopefully we'll be able to. I think he might have Friday off. I know I do.
Anyhow, as much as I'd love to gloat and gush and go on and on about the finds from last night, that's only secondary.
I've been in this "new" job for about 2 days now. I'm lost. I can't focus. I feel like I've got about a million things to do, but can't, or don't know how to, do most of them. And the ones I can do, I can't focus on because I keep getting called away.
I've been assigned 10 service requests. Only 1 can I possibly work on right now. But I can't get into that computer because someone else is. You see, I can't dial out because I don't have a license for the modem server. (That should be fixed tomorrow). 9 out of the 10 need me to be able to dial a modem. The last one I can hook up through a KVM switch, which I'm still trying to figure out, but the one I need is being used by someone else. Of course, I am expected to know a lot of this already (which I don't) and because a few people are out, I can't just monopolize someone for a few hours. Yet again, I so wish Al was still here, he always had time to help me out.
The other problem is the new way that requests are being done. We used to use Lotus Notes. It was a little slow, a little clunky, but you could find everything you need, see all the notes that previous people had made and could make as many notes as you needed. This new system is just plain murder. The only remote advantage it has is that it's connected to all of corporate. I can't find anything, you can't just open up the request and see all previous work and notes laid out nice and neat and I can't get the email attachments to open up for me either.
I finally have it to the point where I can at least access it and get to stuff. Unfortunately, I'm going to have to do this again in a week or two when I get my new laptop. (I think this is part of my productivity issue... I just don't feel like tackling it right now when I've got to do all this crapola again in a few days...)
Oh well, I wanted this. I'll figure it all out and get back into the swing of things soon enough. I think what annoys me the most is that over half the things I'm supposed to be working on aren't very well documented and from back in oh... December. (I know... they aren't the oldest requests in there, but still, it's been an entire quarter!) I guess I was spoiled by the fact that I, and the others that used to fill in the requests used to give lots of details. I feel like I have to call each of these customers to get what the real issue is, as what's in the request is pretty vague. I feel kinda embarrassed to call up these people and say "I was assigned this job, but because of the way the system is set up, I have no idea what's already been done on this or what you're actually after". Not very professional in the least. (Not to mention that at least two of them are for customers I don't like or get along with.... oh well.)
Well, I'd best try and figure out some plan of attack. I've got a cranky conference call tomorrow with a PIMA sales guy, training to figure out for someone from ISG coming here next week, what to do about the June seminar and try and understand the calls that have been assigned to me. They shouldn't be hard, if I could just have all the info in one place!
(And to top it off, I've had a minor headache all afternoon.... Here's hoping it goes away soon. And I'm still waiting to hear back confirmation from Kat or Andy about tonight... grrrrr.....)
Peace to all and may you have major windfalls and only minor annoyances.
We got way more than I was expecting for way less. We still have plenty of money left in the furniture fund to get a nice closet and rocking chair or glider. Now to just find said items. This would require Gak and I to have time off at the same time. That's not been happening a lot lately. Hopefully we'll be able to. I think he might have Friday off. I know I do.
Anyhow, as much as I'd love to gloat and gush and go on and on about the finds from last night, that's only secondary.
I've been in this "new" job for about 2 days now. I'm lost. I can't focus. I feel like I've got about a million things to do, but can't, or don't know how to, do most of them. And the ones I can do, I can't focus on because I keep getting called away.
I've been assigned 10 service requests. Only 1 can I possibly work on right now. But I can't get into that computer because someone else is. You see, I can't dial out because I don't have a license for the modem server. (That should be fixed tomorrow). 9 out of the 10 need me to be able to dial a modem. The last one I can hook up through a KVM switch, which I'm still trying to figure out, but the one I need is being used by someone else. Of course, I am expected to know a lot of this already (which I don't) and because a few people are out, I can't just monopolize someone for a few hours. Yet again, I so wish Al was still here, he always had time to help me out.
The other problem is the new way that requests are being done. We used to use Lotus Notes. It was a little slow, a little clunky, but you could find everything you need, see all the notes that previous people had made and could make as many notes as you needed. This new system is just plain murder. The only remote advantage it has is that it's connected to all of corporate. I can't find anything, you can't just open up the request and see all previous work and notes laid out nice and neat and I can't get the email attachments to open up for me either.
I finally have it to the point where I can at least access it and get to stuff. Unfortunately, I'm going to have to do this again in a week or two when I get my new laptop. (I think this is part of my productivity issue... I just don't feel like tackling it right now when I've got to do all this crapola again in a few days...)
Oh well, I wanted this. I'll figure it all out and get back into the swing of things soon enough. I think what annoys me the most is that over half the things I'm supposed to be working on aren't very well documented and from back in oh... December. (I know... they aren't the oldest requests in there, but still, it's been an entire quarter!) I guess I was spoiled by the fact that I, and the others that used to fill in the requests used to give lots of details. I feel like I have to call each of these customers to get what the real issue is, as what's in the request is pretty vague. I feel kinda embarrassed to call up these people and say "I was assigned this job, but because of the way the system is set up, I have no idea what's already been done on this or what you're actually after". Not very professional in the least. (Not to mention that at least two of them are for customers I don't like or get along with.... oh well.)
Well, I'd best try and figure out some plan of attack. I've got a cranky conference call tomorrow with a PIMA sales guy, training to figure out for someone from ISG coming here next week, what to do about the June seminar and try and understand the calls that have been assigned to me. They shouldn't be hard, if I could just have all the info in one place!
(And to top it off, I've had a minor headache all afternoon.... Here's hoping it goes away soon. And I'm still waiting to hear back confirmation from Kat or Andy about tonight... grrrrr.....)
Peace to all and may you have major windfalls and only minor annoyances.
Monday, March 17, 2008
Sunday Sundries
Yesterday was a good day, with an interesting end.
Mom came up yesterday, getting here around 11:30 or so. We were going to go to the Allentown Art Museum in the "tradition" that has developed for her birthday. (It started several years ago now when a neat exhibit at the little gallery at my college was going on over her birthday. We've seen several interesting exhibits this way.) Well, we fiddled around the house for a bit. I showed her how to get her pictures off her camera (hopefully). She volunteered to take the mystery project home to finish the last seam for me today. We did a few other odds and ends and then got going. We stopped for lunch before going to the museum and it took a bit longer than we expected.
We never did make it to the museum. Between Allentown roads, Google Maps directions not being quite right and mom's sense of direction (or lack there of...) we drove around in circles for a few and decided to call it quits. I was fine with this. As much as I would have enjoyed the museum, I'm not sure either one of us were totally into it yesterday.
Instead we went shopping.
There's a neat little outdoor shopping area (where the new movie theater is) that's got some interesting higher end shops and stuff. We went to L.L. Bean. We wandered around a few other stores. We went into one baby store and had to try very hard not to faint looking at the prices. We went next door to that store to A Child's Place. They had lots and lots of cute things. Of course, there are many, many more cute things for girls than boys, but that's OK. We did find two adorable little sun hats that we just had to buy. (They were less than $5 each...) I figure this would be a good thing to pick up since it will be summer when he's born and if his skin is anything like his Poppa's.... I don't need a sunburned baby.
The interesting part was after dinner. Actually, it was almost bed time.
I told you that our upstairs neighbors were moving out. Well, they're gone and our landlady has rented the place to a 20-year-old and her 3-week-old baby. (I haven't met them, but Gak has run into them...)
I ended up having to do laundry last night since I couldn't do it Saturday and Gak couldn't on Friday because he got called into work. I went after dinner and then after the laundry was done, stopped by the grocery store to pick up milk (again) and a few odds and ends to get us through the next few days.
If you haven't been to our place, you don't realize how the building is set up. The building is on a center island where Broad Street goes past it in one way on each side. Well, in order to park next to the "front" door, I have to go up the block, go through the turnaround and back down half the block. Well, on my way up the block, I pass a cop car with his headlights on, but no cop inside. Whatever. It's not all that uncommon to see cops on this block, especially as we're right across the street from the burrough hall and police station. Well, I round the block and there's another cop getting into a car and pulling away. They were right in front of my house! I ended up parking a few spots further down than usual. There happened to be a cop standing there when I got out of the car.
I said "good evening" and start towards my door. He asks If I live there. "Yes."
"Does anyone else live there?"
"My husband and I live on the 2nd floor and there are some new tenants on the 3rd floor." I explain that I haven't met them yet because I'd been out of town. And that no, the doorbells don't always work.
He asks if he can come up, and I gladly say "sure!". (Why would I stop a cop from coming into the building? I knew he wasn't there for Gak or me, and I really don't need to get in the way...)
Well, Gak overhears a little bit of conversation when he goes down to get the laundry out of the truck. They were looking for someone and she said that he'd gone out jogging. (At 9:30pm?)
Anyhow, we end up getting stopped by our landlady on our way out the door this morning. She was asking us to keep an eye out for our new neighbor. She'd warned the tenant about she'll evict her with no compunctions, even with a new baby, for a single rules infraction. Our landlady will gladly give you a chance to get on your feet, but not at the expense of her building or laws being broken. (I agree... I'll help you out, but not if you're going to get me into big trouble.) She was interested to hear about the cop showing up. I didn't even think to call her last night, even though I probably should have. She told us to let her know if anything like this happens again. And I will.
So, there was an interesting twist to the end of yesterday.
I also got to talk to my brother for a bit over the X-box. That was kind of odd. Really cool, but odd. He seems to be doing well, but getting sick of interviewing. He hopes to have a couple of offers by the end of the week. I wish him well.
Well, I've really got to get back to work now, but wanted to share the oddness that was last night.
Peace to all and may your mysteries be solved.
Mom came up yesterday, getting here around 11:30 or so. We were going to go to the Allentown Art Museum in the "tradition" that has developed for her birthday. (It started several years ago now when a neat exhibit at the little gallery at my college was going on over her birthday. We've seen several interesting exhibits this way.) Well, we fiddled around the house for a bit. I showed her how to get her pictures off her camera (hopefully). She volunteered to take the mystery project home to finish the last seam for me today. We did a few other odds and ends and then got going. We stopped for lunch before going to the museum and it took a bit longer than we expected.
We never did make it to the museum. Between Allentown roads, Google Maps directions not being quite right and mom's sense of direction (or lack there of...) we drove around in circles for a few and decided to call it quits. I was fine with this. As much as I would have enjoyed the museum, I'm not sure either one of us were totally into it yesterday.
Instead we went shopping.
There's a neat little outdoor shopping area (where the new movie theater is) that's got some interesting higher end shops and stuff. We went to L.L. Bean. We wandered around a few other stores. We went into one baby store and had to try very hard not to faint looking at the prices. We went next door to that store to A Child's Place. They had lots and lots of cute things. Of course, there are many, many more cute things for girls than boys, but that's OK. We did find two adorable little sun hats that we just had to buy. (They were less than $5 each...) I figure this would be a good thing to pick up since it will be summer when he's born and if his skin is anything like his Poppa's.... I don't need a sunburned baby.
The interesting part was after dinner. Actually, it was almost bed time.
I told you that our upstairs neighbors were moving out. Well, they're gone and our landlady has rented the place to a 20-year-old and her 3-week-old baby. (I haven't met them, but Gak has run into them...)
I ended up having to do laundry last night since I couldn't do it Saturday and Gak couldn't on Friday because he got called into work. I went after dinner and then after the laundry was done, stopped by the grocery store to pick up milk (again) and a few odds and ends to get us through the next few days.
If you haven't been to our place, you don't realize how the building is set up. The building is on a center island where Broad Street goes past it in one way on each side. Well, in order to park next to the "front" door, I have to go up the block, go through the turnaround and back down half the block. Well, on my way up the block, I pass a cop car with his headlights on, but no cop inside. Whatever. It's not all that uncommon to see cops on this block, especially as we're right across the street from the burrough hall and police station. Well, I round the block and there's another cop getting into a car and pulling away. They were right in front of my house! I ended up parking a few spots further down than usual. There happened to be a cop standing there when I got out of the car.
I said "good evening" and start towards my door. He asks If I live there. "Yes."
"Does anyone else live there?"
"My husband and I live on the 2nd floor and there are some new tenants on the 3rd floor." I explain that I haven't met them yet because I'd been out of town. And that no, the doorbells don't always work.
He asks if he can come up, and I gladly say "sure!". (Why would I stop a cop from coming into the building? I knew he wasn't there for Gak or me, and I really don't need to get in the way...)
Well, Gak overhears a little bit of conversation when he goes down to get the laundry out of the truck. They were looking for someone and she said that he'd gone out jogging. (At 9:30pm?)
Anyhow, we end up getting stopped by our landlady on our way out the door this morning. She was asking us to keep an eye out for our new neighbor. She'd warned the tenant about she'll evict her with no compunctions, even with a new baby, for a single rules infraction. Our landlady will gladly give you a chance to get on your feet, but not at the expense of her building or laws being broken. (I agree... I'll help you out, but not if you're going to get me into big trouble.) She was interested to hear about the cop showing up. I didn't even think to call her last night, even though I probably should have. She told us to let her know if anything like this happens again. And I will.
So, there was an interesting twist to the end of yesterday.
I also got to talk to my brother for a bit over the X-box. That was kind of odd. Really cool, but odd. He seems to be doing well, but getting sick of interviewing. He hopes to have a couple of offers by the end of the week. I wish him well.
Well, I've really got to get back to work now, but wanted to share the oddness that was last night.
Peace to all and may your mysteries be solved.
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