Weekend Update

I completed watching the series Friday Night Lights on Saturday morning.  I do think the series ended on a great note for everyone.  Sure I would like to see a revival of the show but I don’t know how you’d pickup because the fact is everyone moves on after high school is done.  The people at those institutions of learning change and faces/names are forgotten [unless you did something extraordinary and even then with some time all memories fade].

I was successful at being lazy on Saturday and stuck close to home.  I did pick up the mail, grabbed some cat food and hit up Denny’s for a burger [always full of grease] served pipping hot with pockets of grease to burn your mouth, but it sure was good.  My stomach wasn’t terribly happy with me after I finished that burger and I didn’t feel the best. 

Took care of my silly report at work and a few other things that needed to be done.  Watched my first college football game, I was interested in a specific player who was unfortunately on the sideline for the entire game.  However, I got a few peeks.  Plus saw other hot guys and learned some interesting names I never thought I would ever see.  I was late to the party but it was already on DVR and when the game went long I just skipped to live TV.  It was a bit painful to sit through commercials but I knew the outcome of the game wasn’t going to be in favor of the player’s team I was tuned into watch.  I don’t fully understand football and don’t know that I ever will.  I do understand what a field goal & touch down are, so at least it’s not a total loss. 

Scheduled the last of my vacation and I’m taking the full week of Christmas plus the Friday before.  I also have a half day to burn as well and not sure when I will take that but I won’t leave anything on the table, trust me.  My colleagues made it difficult to schedule anything before that but it sounds like a great time to take a week off.  Not sure what exactly I will do outside of be lazy but I could get a full time job being lazy, I am really good at it. 

Grabbed breakfast out early this chilly Sunday morning.  I was surprised but my mower guy was here before I woke up at 7a and his racket didn’t wake me at all.  He moved a fallen small tree branch and that is what caused me to notice.  The grass really isn’t growing much and I suspect that could easily be the last cut of the season but we will see.  On my way to the grocery store I saw a long time crush of mine driving.  Of course he is straight, married and has a family plus he’s at least 15 years younger than me.  He always seems so fully of life & happy.  Jealous?  Yeah I am.  I’d like to be that happy and I think I was at one time but took it for granted. 

Anyway, grabbed some food for the week for me & Gator.  Then off to hit up the gas pump and finally back home.  All by 9:30a.  I was happy to get ahead of the crazy people.  The only motivation I had was to get Water for Gator.  They have been sold out when I go later in the morning and she only drinks purified bottled water.  I made that conversion years ago and saw a drastic improvement in all of my cats, so I figure might as well keep it up. 

Night 1 of Halloween is done here.  My house is dark and I honestly didn’t see any kids out for the brief time I was by the window.  I’ve got one neighbor who went all out to decorate their house and I’ve been waiting to see what it looked like at night.  They finally turned it on last night.  I suspect it will be on again tonight and then taken down this week.  

The Gator is crowing because I have been down here for a couple hours.  I was catching up on a few things.  I still need to clean upstairs, give Gator her fluids, put away the laundry and then I am all set to go back to being lazy.  I’ve got plenty of TV to consume. 

On a final note.  I was all set to dump my current cell carrier for Mint because they are way cheaper and I get the same service for less.  However, my current carrier has built in call control to their network and if you block someone the phone never rings and the person isn’t sent to voicemail the call on their end just hangs up.  They try again and again but the result is the same and eventually they realize you’ve blocked them.  I couldn’t get the same thing with Mint.  All of the 3rd party apps I tried send calls to voice mail.  If I block someone I don’t want to hear from them and certainly don’t want to give them the ability to leave a voice mail.  At least I know Mint can always be an option as long as I am willing to give up the call control but for now I think I will stay put.  It was an interesting experiment.  Ever since I did this my social media is littered with ads from other carriers that say they are the cheapest and I should switch to them.  Funny how that just happened out of no where.  Sort of like when I joined a class action lawsuit against Apple that my last device suddenly developed a bad battery out of no where.  Never did get any money out of that, in fact that is the whole reason I had to upgrade last year. 

Hope you have enjoyed your weekend, the fall weather, perhaps something pumpkin and certainly time off to rest & recharge for what I am sure will be another interesting week ahead.  Stay warm and safe.  Talk again soon!

No change

Yesterday I heard back from my doctor and as I suspected his medical opinion will not change because my employer changed my job description.  Since the only reason HR said that I needed to return to the office was to manage hardware that was formerly in my job description, it doesn’t sound like there is truly a need for me to go back to the office, other than the fact that by in large everyone else has.  My request now moves to management and it will be up to them if I have a mandate to return.  I am optimistic because I have the support of my manager but it’s his boss that will actually have the final say in the matter.  I am back to waiting for a final determination.

What is really frustrating here is that on one hand my employer says we want to help you but then their last interaction with my doctor said we want him back in the office, please make it so.  If you truly wanted to help me you wouldn’t have forced the issue with my doctor but rather just took his original medical opinion, and granted the accommodation.  I do realize that there was no end date on the accommodation and that is what they were looking for but I really think they could have handled it differently.  The battle has not been lost yet but the odds I would say are less in my favor given that my doctor has said it was okay for me to return 2 days a week.  This is just a bit out of control and a mess, but I’ve been through a lot worse. 

In other news I am on a 7 day trial at no cost with Mint Mobile.  I went the eSim route which is an electronic SIM that is sent to your device.  My phone now sees 2 phone lines and I can toggle between them at will or I can turn one of them off.  When calls come in there is either a P meaning the call came from the primary line of a S which means the call is coming from the secondary line.  Tempting as it is to keep both phone lines I only really need 1.  My present carrier angered me and was inflexible on rates.  Mint mobile piggy backs off of TMOBILE and I happen to have decent coverage in my area from them.  Verizon has the best coverage in my area but major carriers all have one thing in common they charge way too much and give as little as they can to the consumer.  Mint discounts the rates and you can buy in for up to 12 months at the introductory rate.  The thing I don’t know is what the price will be after the introductory rate is over.  This could turn out to be a big smoke and mirror show.  The main two reasons why I have kept my present carrier is that my home phone and mobile phone are tied to one voice mail box and they also have great incoming call protection that permits me to block people at will, but I pay extra for that.  If I do wind up switching to Mint or another carrier I would have to find an app to manage call control and as for voice mail I’d have to live with having 2 separate mailboxes, not that I get many calls in the first place.  The end game here is to reduce my monthly cost without having to sacrifice on quality of service.  I’m sure Mint will be heavily campaigning to get me to switch.  The real challenge will be how coverage is when I leave home. 

I am into Season 4 of Friday Night Lights.  One more season after this and I am done.  Heard the announcement yesterday that in a couple week Tiger King 2 will be out and I am looking forward to watching that.  Not much else going on right now.  Hoping for a peaceful weekend. 

Thanks for stopping by, hope all is well in your world.  Talk with you again soon. 

Better than I thought

I had my meeting with HR and things went better than I thought they would.  They are actually still willing to work with me.  I got the physical requirement they cited to my doctor removed from my job description because it doesn’t apply to me.  Now I am back in my doctors hands seeing if he will change his medical opinion.  If yes then I am good.  If no then we go down another avenue.  I really thought I was going to be told it’s time to come back. Fingers crossed that this works out for the best for me.  I do know that eventually it will be time to come back but I honestly don’t feel safe right now, even with all of the safety measures that my employer has put in place. 

Still caught up watching Friday Night Lights.  I did some research and found that this actually used to be a weekly show on NBC.  I am glad that I don’t have to wait a week to watch an episode I can binge at my hearts desire and there are no commercials.  I don’t know and don’t want to know how this all comes to an end but I read that each character is done justice with their send off.  It’s nice to watch the boys in and out of their uniforms – that’s the reason this is of interest to me. I am also vested in the characters and want to see how things work out.

Yesterday evening was calm and I am hoping for the same tonight.  It would be great if this week totally worked out to be calm but that is probably asking for a bit much.  This morning was productive but very busy.  I worked up until noon and lost all concept of time.  I really enjoy when that happens it makes the day fly by. 

I slept okay but it did take a bit longer to get sleepy which was kind of a surprise because I was exhausted.  I had a nice shower and that dye shampoo is making a difference I see some sheen in my hair.  I think that it can only get better.  I don’t like to be tied to one shampoo or conditioner, I like a variety but stick with all professional stuff like Paul Mitchell, Matrix and Sebastian.  That does get on the pricy side but that’s how I grew up and once I went pro I never went back to drug store shampoo.

Had left over pizza last night and there is plenty more where that came from.  However, tonight it’s BBQ Burger & Mashed Potatoes from Stouffers.  Something new they came out with and it just looked too good to pass up, hope I made a smart choice.  I suppose I will know that soon enough. 

Hope that your Tuesday is going well.  Take care and I will talk with you again soon. 

Early Day

My insomnia wouldn’t permit me to sleep all night.  I’ve been up since 5a and thus far haven’t paused for a nap.  Considering that it’s late in the afternoon I have no plans now of napping because it for sure would mess up my sleep tonight. 

I got caught up to a point and have done what I feel like doing for today.  I am available for any hot button issues that come in, that’s part of being on-call.  My inbox clean up was mostly deleting the crap and filing other emails.  There was little that needed a response.  My big meeting with HR is scheduled for tomorrow, that’s awfully nice of them to give me a day to catch my breath before they kick me in the stomach.  At least I know what is coming if I didn’t have that doctors appointment I wouldn’t have a clue.  Everything happens for a reason. 

It was quite a stormy night and the wind has been blowing super hard.  I’ve got some twigs to pick up but nothing major, which is one of my fears.  As far as I know my subdivision didn’t have any damage but not everyone is able to say that. 

It was humid in here last night and this morning it cooled off and I had to kick the furnace back on to warm it up a bit.  Ms. Gator was uncomfortable and so was I.  I made up with her by feeding her lunch while she sat in her bed.  She wasn’t about to get up and move on her own considering the temperature.  I also gave her one of her favorite meals for a mid-afternoon snack, that really made her super happy. 

Monday is pretty well done in my book but I still have to ride it out because you never know what may or may not pop up.  Hope that your Monday has been good.  4 more days until the weekend.  Can’t believe that this is the last week of October.  I think that time from here will go much faster and we will be in January 2022 before you know it.  I’ll talk with you long before 2022 rolls around.  Take care and thanks for stopping by.  

Back to the fun

My little 4 day weekend is wrapping up.  I’ve done a lot of watching TV, very hooked on Friday Nights Lights on Netflix.  I am only on the 2nd season.  I made it to Sam’s yesterday and got a hell of a bargain.  2 Standard/Queen Serta Pillows for $10 total.  I am very happy with my purchase.  Target was selling pillows for $10 each and they weren’t name brand.  I made it for pizza yesterday and saw my favorite cute waiter.  Just when I thought he wasn’t there he walked through the door and that made the whole visit worth it. 

This morning I opted to stay home and eat breakfast here.  I was also super lazy and didn’t get to the store until 1:30p.  I’ve still got some house cleaning to take care of and Gator needs her fluids.  She was nice enough to cuddle up with me in bed this morning but she also woke me up at 2a and again at 7a. 

I don’t look forward to my meeting with HR or in fact Monday in general.  There is a lot of crap to clean up and it will be a hell of a day, hopefully that doesn’t set the tone for the week.  I am ready to be done with this week it’s also my late husbands birthday this week and a couple days later it’s my late mothers birthday.  October is a rough month in general add in the fact that I lost Marv last year and the fact that my Mom passed away a few years ago (that anniversary was last week) and it’s no wonder that I don’t like this month. 

I talked before about some dye shampoo for my hair.  I spent the $30 and got it.  Thus far after one application I don’t notice any difference.  I kind of think I wasted my money but it’s only $30 and if it doesn’t give me the results I am looking for I don’t have to buy it again.  I’ll try most anything (there are some exceptions) one time. 

Not exactly sure why but it took an extra day for my lab results to come back.  Everything looks good and my A1C is totally in control.  I am looking forward to getting the Colo guard test results back and hoping for a clean bill of health there.

I do have more time off in my future, I still have 45 hours to burn before the year is over with and I am contemplating taking that time towards the end of the year.  I had planned on taking it next month but my co-worker is going to be out and I don’t think there is any way our boss would approve of both of us being out at the same time unless it was unplanned. 

Well off to climb the stairs and clean the house.  Then watching some more TV with the Gator and wrapping up the evening before Monday arrives and rears it’s ugly head.  I’ll make it but I am sure that I will have more than one moment when I want to scream.  Here’s hoping that Monday leaves as fast as it arrives. 

Thanks for stopping by, I hope that your doing well and ready for the Fall Weather.  I’ve turned the furnace on because it gets really cold here at night and I am tired of waking up freezing.  I know Ms. Gator appreciates it as well.  Take care and we will talk again soon.  

Good News

I saw that HR reached out and scheduled a meeting with me.  I suppose it’s probably for Monday but I didn’t bother to check.  I was just skimming mail for important things.  Knowing what is coming, I reached out to my boss who is always surprised as hell when I call on my day off.  He told me that he would permit me to continue working from home.  This is an unofficial arrangement and if word gets back to HR then were both probably in some hot water.  However, part of the benefits of being salaried was that you can work remote.  I really wish I would have gone this route from the start.  I don’t know how long this will last but I do know that eventually it will come to an end and I am prepared for that but it will take some adjustments on my part. 

I had a sleepless night.  Gator woke me up at 2a and my brain switched on I wasn’t able to go back to sleep for several hours.  Then when I got there someone wanted to be chatty.  I don’t know how I managed to function this morning but I made it out the door and was super early to get my oil changed.  All went well.  I wasn’t prepared for the large price tag of an oil change I figured since I wasn’t going to the dealer that it would be cheaper.  Of course my vehicle has to use more than the allotted oil so I had to pay for extra oil and it’s synthetic so that makes the price go up a bit more.  I saved a whopping $5 from going to the dealer and they would have rotated the tires. 

I got some great breakfast – some great eggs & sausage with French toast covered in Nutella.  I couldn’t finish it all and brought most of it back home.  I’ll have it tomorrow for breakfast and I am sure it will be just as good.  The sausage was the best part it had a kick to it but wasn’t hot.  It’s tough to find sausage like that in a restaurant.

Supper was Manicotti and a Cannoli.  I got a nice drive out of it as well.  I made a few stops along the way to day and got most of what I needed to done.  I did save something for tomorrow.  I really want to be in front of my computer but instead I am sitting using a laptop on the couch next to Gator.  She’s missed me all day and I figured why not give her some attention.  I accidentally skipped her pill last night and that is part of the reason why she woke me up.  Not that she looks forward to taking her medicine. 

We got a really good nap in after breakfast was done.  She let me hold her paw as we both fell into a nice relaxing slumber.  It’s those moments that I truly cherish and enjoy. She’s got a tough exterior but she lets me inside once an a while to express her love and appreciation for me.  Most of the time she just meows out orders.  I am so glad that she is here and I am still hoping for 2 more years with her but I will take every second that I can get because I don’t loose sight of the fact that tomorrow isn’t promised to anyone. 

Back to Netflix.  I am wrapped up in Friday Night Lights it’s a movie but is chopped and edited as a mini series.  It’s pretty good thus far and I am anxious to see how things play out. 

Here’s to the weekend may it be long, relaxing and enjoyable.  I have chatted with my colleague and know that Monday is going to suck for multiple reasons.  There is the fact that I need to play catch up, a few meetings and then I am on-call.  Lump in the interaction with HR and wow it’s like a giant shit sandwich.  At least I will be dealing with all of this from the comfort of my own home so I suppose that is the upside.  I enjoy my job but this whole HR interaction has left a very bad taste in my mouth. 

Have a nice weekend and thanks for stopping by to check up on me.  I do appreciate it. 

Doctor

I made it to the doctor today and learned that my employer reached back out asking additional questions about my working from home.  They barraged my doctor with questions to force him to acquiesce and say that I was permitted to go back to the office a couple days per week.  This means that I will be told eventually that I need to go back to the office.  I asked my doctor if he really felt it was safe and he said yes.  They asked a question like what else can we do to make it safe.  My doctor responded and said require everyone to be vaccinated.  Apparently the vaccination record is above 80% at my office but doesn’t go into the 90’s according to what my doc said.  He did say that the safest thing for me would be to continue to work from home but it doesn’t sound like that is going to be permitted and he doesn’t really have any medical reason on why I should continue to stay home.  The odd thing here is that it’s okay to work from home for 3 days per week but the other 2 you have to go to the office.  If it’s really okay to work from home for 3 days then 2 more shouldn’t matter.  My HR team told my doctor that I deal with hardware and that was an essential part of my job that couldn’t be done from home.  The truth is that I don’t touch any hardware other than my computer.  I’ve been working fine from home for the past 19 months and this whole going back to work movement is to slowly get us used to being in the office because eventually life will return to normal and we will all be back in 5 days a week.  I think that if everyone stayed at home no one would want to go back ever and they are trying to prevent mass protest.  I get it and I’ve always done my job and more.  I don’t get why this one little request is being looked at with a microscope and why my employer is being so demanding and inflexible. I will have a conversation with my boss to see if he can make an allowance for me, if not then I guess when the hammer falls I will be shuffling back.  So much for no news being good news. 

The other conversation we had surrounds colon cancer.  I had to pick if I wanted to do Colo Guard or have a full colonoscopy.  Colo Guard is least invasive and finds a good portion of cancers.  If you get a positive result then you have to have a colonoscopy.  If you get a negative result, then your good for three years.  The gold standard is the colonoscopy.  However, it’s literally a pain in the ass and I see no need to put myself through it if I can do a mail in test. I should be getting the kit in the mail within a week.  

We chatted about Gator and what I have been through with her.  The doc said that it sounds like I would need some serious time off after Gator passes and I told him that it will be new ground and not something I look forward to.  I know that day gets closer with each day that passes but as of now she is doing really good.  I do worry about her if/when I have to return to the office but the vet told me that she would adapt/adjust.  That doesn’t mean she won’t bitch at me. 

For day 1 of my 2 days off this has been a pretty bang up job.  I was going to go out to eat but opted instead to come home.  I’ve got big plans for tomorrow provided that I have the energy to back it up.  It’s going to be an early starting day plus I will be going out into cold weather and then having to sit around and wait while the oil is changed.  A lot will depend on how I feel as to what action I take but my hope is that I can accomplish everything that I want to. 

I got a TENS Unit that does massage and just hooked myself up while I was typing this.  It feels good but still nothing comes close to a massage from a human.  I hope that this will give me some relief from the pain I experience. 

Time to find some grub and relax and enjoy the rest of the evening.  Morning will be here before you know it.  Talk with you all again soon.  

Another Week

Nothing really noteworthy going on same stuff different day.  It’s a short week for me and I am thankful for that.  My regular tri-monthly visit with the doctor on Thursday.  Friday getting my vehicles oil changed.  2 days away from the office with the weekend will turn in to 4 days and that will be a nice quick break.  Sadly I still have a week and 5 hours to burn before the end of the year and that won’t exhaust my vacation but will get me to the minimum limit for carryover which is 2 weeks.  Ever since I got sick a few years back with bronchitis I like to hold time in reserve because you never know when you will need it.  Plus I suppose there is always hope that I can take time off if I need it without having to worry. 

I wanted to take the week before Thanksgiving but a co-worker is taking that so I will have to either pick a different week in November or more likely wait until December.  I need to get something on the books before it’s too late.  Any time that we don’t use we loose and I am not about to walk away with time on table, that would just be silly.

My colleague that has been making mistakes here and there is still up to his usual self.  I don’t think that he gets it.  I didn’t want to say anything to protect him and now that I have unless he changes his ways it could easily be his demise.  That is what I was and am wanting to avoid.  There are two reason behind this.  First, I really like this guy and we have grown pretty close.  Second, the thought of having to start over from scratch with God knows who is nauseating and not something that I really want. Just like everything else in life this will take time to play out and I am really not in control of how this turns out. 

On the home front, my grass is getting cut every week but I still have yet to get a bill.  I know when it finally does show up there will be some shock but it’s not like I am totally unprepared.  I haven’t heard anything back from the landscaper guy.  I think I must have fallen off his radar.  Part of me wants to call and check in and the other part of me says hold on to your money and take care of the yard next spring.  I’d really like to be done with it all.  Grass cutting season is coming to an end because our nights are getting cold, down into the 40’s but we have yet to have our first frost.  I actually turned on the furnace Saturday night because it was quite chilly when I woke up on Saturday morning.  Gator is not a fan of cold at all.  She will hide under the covers of the bed to get warm if it’s really bothering her but the bed can’t be occupied. 

Speaking of the little devil.  I skipped her medicine on Friday for the first time ever.  I just was worn out from the day and figured why not giver hear a break.  She also isn’t taking her full dose of fluids, she sits still enough for a 1/2 dose and after that all bets are off.  Rather than fight with her and waste the fluid I give in.  The last vet visit she hadn’t had her weekly dose of fluids and the doc was quite impressed with her hydration. 

I went back to the pet food store on Saturday for what will probably be the last time for a while.  The shelves were once again empty.  I just don’t get it.  The grocery store can get a decent supply but their prices are way high.  Rather than walk in and be disappointed again I am electing to switch and just grab what I can from the grocery store.  Perhaps things will improve at the pet food store in the future.  I really figured my complaint would fix the issue but apparently not.  It’s just crazy. 

I’ve got a meeting to run off to which is nothing more than a how is everyone doing on Monday type thing.  It’s a waste of time and I hate it but it’s not like I can just skip it or I would. 

I did finish up NYPD Blue sitting through hours upon hours of commercials but it was a fun project and interesting to see how the series ended.  I also got to see all of the nude scenes which were controversial at the time.  I remember when Mark Paul Gosselaar was cast on the show.  I was so excited about seeing him naked but it’s only in the rear and my it nice.  Now I am looking for my next series to get interested in.  Eventually something will come along or strike my fancy.  Until then I have regular fall tv to view.

Since there hasn’t been anything terribly interesting (at least to me) happening in my life and things are just ho hum, it doesn’t give me the most energy to blog each day.  However, I am still here and still kicking. 

Hope all is well in your world and that your safe & doing good.  Take care and I will talk with you again. 

Cat’s out of the bag

After finding multiple issues last week with my colleagues work and then finding another issue this week, I told him that I wasn’t able to keep this from the boss any longer.  He’s fine with that.  I told the boss and it sounds like he will be talked to for now and nothing beyond that.  I did express that I didn’t want anything to happen to him because he’s easy to work with and we have a good thing going, plus I actually care about the guy.  It was troubling and a difficult conversation to have with the boss but I wasn’t at a loss for words and articulated the issue quite well.  I felt ill both before and after the conversation, it’s done and out of my hands.  Since I am no longer in control that is troubling as well but this is one thing that I have to let go.  It’s going to work out one way or another.  Based on the jackass I was stuck with working with before he could fuck up a one car funeral and it still took two years to get rid of him.  Him I wanted gone quicker and he only left because he found a better job not because the walls were closing in on him but I do think he saw the handwriting on the wall. 

I’ve been having a lot of sleepless nights over this and thinking about various different ways this could all go wrong.  Thus far none of them have come to light and hopefully they won’t.  Gator has also contributed to my sleeplessness, waking me up just after I fall asleep or getting chatty after I turn the lights out. 

Other than that things are going okay.  Just putting one foot in front of the other and shuffling through the days looking forward to the weekend because it will be a break from work.  It’s been a long week so far.  Tomorrow boss man is out so that will be nice. 

3 day work week for me next week.  Thursday I will be at the doctor and Friday I am getting my oil changed.  It’s not due but hasn’t been changed since January and I figure why put it off I have no idea yet of when I will be going back to work but want to be prepared because that’s when the miles will rack up and the oil life will decrease more rapidly. 

Weather has been a little bit colder but the AC still manages to kick on at least once per day.  It’s rained a good portion of the day and that is the forecast for the next few days. 

Hope all is well in your world.  I need to find some food for Gator before she gets more upset.  Take care and we shall talk again soon!

Spinach Lasagna

I saw a great movie called The War with Grandpa on Showtime. It’s not often that I laugh from watching a TV show or Movie but this movie did the trick for me. It’s a great movie that shows what happens when War is declared and how in the end there are no winners or losers only casualties.

Browsing my local paper on-line I found an article about a new restaurant. New in that I haven’t been there before. The place has been in business for a few years and I have always wanted to stop in but never did, a co-worker told me it was just overpriced steak and not that good. Well, I found out they serve pasta and I just had to try it. I stopped in tonight and ordered Spinach Lasagna. It was served on a platter in the size of a brick. I could have easily finished all of it but opted not to. I had already had some breadsticks and a Cesar salad. I stopped at the ½ way mark. I ordered a piece of cake it wasn’t the best but it was palatable. The article made this sound like a great get away and that there would be a friend waiting to take care of you. I didn’t feel much of the friend in the air but I was well taken care of. Got seated right away, didn’t have to wait but a minute to get my order in and service was great. I’ll be back to order something different next time and am eager to try their Cannoli’s.

Gator went to the vet today for a checkup. Good news she has maintained her weight exactly at 10 pounds and 1 ounce. I got more medicine and fluids; a large bill and we were out the door pretty quick. There was a scheduling mix up and the vet that I wanted to see took the day off so I got stuck with some new guy that I have never seen before. He was friendly enough but it really was upsetting to me. Gator has been upset ever since we got home. She has walked around screaming. I gave her food and she drank some water. That quieted her for a short time but then she went at it again. I really just wanted to take a nap. I finally had enough picked her up and she sat in bed with me as I manage to doze off for about 30 minutes. She had me up and got some more food and water, then spent time in my lap. Holding me hostage and she was out cold. I was thankful for the peace and quiet. I finally had to move her so that I could get out to the restaurant I talked about above.

No cat food shopping today. I am going to see what I can get for her at the store. I figure that nothing has probably changed at the pet food store and why be disappointed with seeing empty shelves again. I’ll go back eventually.

Work hasn’t been that bad but there have been some ups and downs at work. I found my co-worker made a bunch of mistakes. I got two complaints that I some how managed to field before they went through official channels and that managed to keep the spotlight off of me, even though it wasn’t my mistake. I fixed one of them and the rest I made him fix. I opted to audit his work going back for the past year. It was a silly mistake but he made it over and over. I don’t want to turn him in but he never offers me any reason why he made the mistake and even he acts surprised. I am not giving him much more leniency my patience has worn thin and the next little thing will send me screaming to the boss. Look I am not the brightest person in the world and even I am surprised that I have made it this far in my career but holy shit, I am doing it. If I can do the job then I can tell you for sure he should be able to do it just as good as me. I was trained by a perfectionist and I am a perfectionist in my job, there is no room for errors.

I am going to take care of the silly report and then it’s back up to be with Gator and heading off to bed. Tomorrow unless I feel different will be business as usual with breakfast out followed by a trip to the grocery store. Then home for the day and house cleaning, watching a podcast and TV. Followed by yet another trip to bed and then rolling into Monday. Isn’t this exciting! Not really but I could think of many things worse than this.

Hope all is well in your world and that life is treating you fairly. Cheers!

Small Change – BIG results

Good day everyone!

I hope that you are enjoying the weekend and taking it easy! I got my haircut on Saturday. It’s a small miracle that I made it this long without breaking out the clippers myself. The person I got that cut my hair practically whispered when speaking and it was difficult to hear and understand. The job was done and I asked about taking the nape of the neck a bit shorter and said something about wanting to go close to a 0 (which is bare skin) on the sides. Well, the person took some liberty and made adjustments. I didn’t get quite a 0 on the side but it’s fairly close. I don’t remember what was done but it’s supposed to be in my haircut records [a reference from The Big Bang Theory – tv show]. It was a small change but damn it is what I have always wanted and it has made me feel so good. Not good enough to get my ears pierced, something else that I have always wanted to do but close. I’m not sure if going through with that would make me feel good or bad but change can be a good thing.

I picked up cat food and of course the shelves were bare again. Not sure what is going on but for a pet food store they aren’t doing a good job. I have voiced a complaint to the corporate office, not sure what good that will do but hey I can’t be the only one who is disappointed when they walk in only to find the shelves bare. I hit up Target for litter [the prices went up significantly] and found some cat food there that I got. Then stopped for some fuel and came on home. Unloaded everything. Checked on my girl and she was doing good. Told her I was headed out for a bite to eat and that I would be back.

I really wanted to go for a drive but wasn’t in the mood for pizza. I kept thinking of places to hit up and just gave up and headed for pizza. Ran into one hell of a rain storm with blinding rain [which I hate]. It didn’t help that the semi in front of me chose to keep his headlights off so unless I was on top of him, I couldn’t see him. It’s a law in my state that when your wipers are on your headlights have to be on as well. I’m not talking daytime running lights, I mean headlights. Lots of people were smart and flipped on their lights but there were a few that chose not to. I’ll tell you it makes a hell of a difference when you’re driving in blinding rain to see a glimpse of a taillight ahead versus not knowing. Speed limit was 70MPH and I usually run 3mph over on purpose. I slowed down to 50mph at one point and the highest speed I got back up to was 65mph. I was very happy to finally reach my destination.

As I was sitting in my vehicle just about to get out this young stud in a soccer uniform walked out and was helping out his father with something in the back seat of the car. The uniform is somewhat of a turn on for me but his ass was a bigger turn on. Wow! Suddenly I was very happy with my choice for food. It gets better. I walked inside and the 23-year-old stud that I have a crush on, was working. I got to watch him walk his fine ass all over the place. In case you haven’t figured this out yet, I really seriously need to get laid. It’s been at least 10 years since that last happened. Maybe when this COVID thing is more under control I will have some luck when I jump back into the dating pool. My preference is a monogamous relationship mostly because who knows what is floating around out there and the risk of getting something minor or major just isn’t worth it for me. If that means I am stuck with my hand then so be it. However, I’ll always be looking because I have been looking for years, even when I had a spouse. Hell, we both did. There is nothing wrong with looking and dreaming.

Back on point. Just as the place was packed almost to the brim I opted to leave. I was nowhere near full but knew that I had consumed enough that my stomach would be happy for a while and my blood sugar wouldn’t drop. I got out and back on the road because I knew more rain was headed inward. I ran into some of that on my trip home.

Once I arrived home, Ms. Gator wanted all of my attention. I opted to do my stupid report from the couch sitting next to her on my laptop. Then we watched TV for the rest of the night. She is acting a bit like she doesn’t feel the best but she is eating and drinking still. I told her we would do fluids tomorrow, which is now today.

Being as worked up sexually as I was from the fine guys I saw earlier in the day, I wanted to do something about that but the mood had passed and I lost interest, so just opted for sleep instead. The Gator told me when it was time to go to bed. She cuddled up with me but suddenly turned into a chatty lady when I flipped out the lights and tried to close my eyes. She would let me drift off and then wake me up. That happened three times and I had enough. Out she went and then I was able to pass out.

Woke up early this morning 7a and I thought for sure it was Monday but before I did anything too drastic my brain kicked in and reminded me that it was Sunday. I passed out some food for Gator and then climbed back into bed. We watched SNL which was okay and then I laid in bed dreading getting up but it was 8a now and I figured why not. The early bird does get the worm. I checked in at Cracker Barrel on-line even though there was no wait. Got dressed, got my pills and headed out the door. Opened up the sun roof and had a nice short drive. I was able to park up front which I haven’t been able to do for a very long time. Sadly, no good-looking guys but the food was hot! Moved on to the grocery store and then came home. I was able to find the flavors of Cat Food that Ms. Gator craves so that felt like a huge win. It was about 9:30a and I sat with her just playing on my phone then opted to climb back into bed. Watched TV and eventually was drowsy enough to fall asleep. Did that and when I woke up, I really didn’t want to get out of bed. Gator cried and cried but I just wasn’t having it. Finally in disgust she retreated to the couch and just as she was settling down, I woke her up. She demanded to be fed on the couch and I declined but eventually gave in, just because she is acting like she isn’t having a great day. She got one of her favorite flavors that I found at the grocery store and you could just see her whole face light up with a smile. She didn’t have much of it but what she did eat, she enjoyed. I told her I was going downstairs for a while. I took a break and see that she had visited the plate again and had some more food. I had to come back down to gather more data, pay bills, catch up on porn surfing – you know the usual. I also am doing laundry and will be vacuuming when I am done here. Then it’s upstairs to pass out the fluids and enjoy the rest of the day with my girl.

Tomorrow is back to the daily grind. I hope that my co-worker is back regardless it’s my week of on-call and I always hate those weeks. Seems like every little thing that can go wrong does. The nice part about this week is that my boss is taking most of it off, so there won’t be anyone hovering over me. I like the sound of that. Gator goes back to the vet on Saturday and I am telling her now to prepare her in advance but regardless she will still be very unhappy when the time comes. I am optimistic that I will get some good news and hope that she has packed on some weight, even if it’s only ounces and not pounds, any gain is a good thing.

Here’s hoping for a great week ahead where good will prevail over the bad. Take care and be well.