The Sequel

Everyone knows that a sequel is usually not as good as the original. Telus did not come. Around noon, a feeling deep in my bones told me that there had been a screw up. There would be no telus, in spite of my three previous calls early this month to insure all was well in appointment land.

"Who did you talk to?" I gave them the list of Rob, Kathy, Sue, Sebastian, Penny, Lynn, Karan .... "well there is no order". How can this be when such things are the age of the building and the fact that they would need to bring a phone with them since I was giving mine up, were all discussed? How could this be when I was assured the order was "in the system"? Usually I am a pretty calm person, almost passive. Today, I pounded the table hard enough to hurt my hand as I was insisting to "Kelly", yet another disembowelled voice, to "make it happen today" - knowing full well it wasn't going to happen.

Well folks, the order is in - so Kelly assures me ... but I've been down THAT road before and it will be another week before I see any action. Much, much more problematic as it will necessitate scheduling clients around their visits. How utterly, utterly frustrating - if there was another way, if I could keep my phone number (and therefore already established relationships), I would be gone from telus. Stock share holder or not, baby, I'd be out of there.

Maybe tomorrow the note will be cheerier - although I must wonder how that can be given it will be the day of the actual cartage activities and dragging my stuff from pillar to post. Man, I must have really been one bad dude in some other life ....

TELUS ... or ... TELL US

Telus … or … Tell Us

While the home office is not quite where I would like it, the hang ups are more related to things over which I have no control rather than those strictly MY responsibility. Case in point – my local telecommunications provider – fancy name for telephone guys, are called “telus”. Now “telus” is a cute name for telecommunications and I sure they paid some firm lots of bucks for such a clever moniker. However, as I sit and wait for these folk, I am beginning more and more to interpret their name as “Tell Us” – “they” will tell us, the rest of the folk, how things will be done. Actually I am hoping that by sitting here writing this they will prove me wrong and my door bell will ring announcing they have arrived to provide a service.

Never has telephone transfer/installation/service been without a hitch for me and my money is on the idea that today will prove no different. My business lines are based on a “Centrex” system, so I’ve been told. This means nothing to me beyond:
They are more expensive than usual
There are always “service” issues with them – things that are routine for other phone lines are NOT routine for these lines and I am often in a “you can’t get there from here” scenario
The block from xxx xxx xx40 to xxx xxx xx49 is all mine

Piles of “stuff” remain on the den floor awaiting Telus and the Cartage folk. Since I don’t know where telus needs to work, I am reluctant to stack stuff anywhere and I really cannot put it away BECAUSE I NEED THE CARTAGE GUYS!!

In an ideal world, telus would come here, first thing in the morning, since I made the service call a month ago, ask ME where I would like the jacks and how many I would like and have at it. What will probably happen today will be something along the lines of a later afternoon service call, or worse yet NO SERVICE CALL and a weak excuse of “oh, it must have fallen off the books because you booked too early”.

Assuming they appear, they will then announce:
“Oh no, we can’t put a centrix line here, there is insufficient whizzel-gigs.
“Oh we can’t put a jack there because we have no wire that will stretch that far, or some such nonsense.
“Yeah, we will put the jacks behind the filing cabinets, so would you move them please.

Well it gets even more interesting … just got a call from a “must-be-seen” client so it may well be someone else may doing all of the above.

Gotta just go with the flow on this …

Hard to Get Good Help These Days!

This would be "the girls" having a chat ON my morning paper!


This would be the "alleged" cat or as someone referred to her the other day, the "virtual" cat ......Spook.....................................................








The packing/unpacking continues and as an aside, I would like to show you the kind of help I get around here! Ms. Precious indicating the box is empty!

Victoria Day

The Condo is still in shambles and I think, I might have mentioned that things were going to get worse before they got better. One of the opportunities that is offered during this transformation, is the requirement to sort and toss. In the “basement” – now a proper office (or well on its way to becoming one), I came across a box of “stuff” from my mom’s estate that my sister had given me. Now, I had assumed this box was full of cracked and mismatched blue ringed dinner plates and the like, stuff I hadn’t cared much for in the first place and with just a fine bit of a gold ring encircling the plates etc that they were of no value for micro waving – unless one had a serious interest in pyrotechnics. Instead, I found, true, mismatched “stuff” but it was tea cups and saucers, some of which no doubt have their origin whilst Queen Vic was about, so happy “Victoria Day”. These are real “tea” cups, not mugs like we use today; cups with beautiful hand painted designs. The bone china is so fine; you can see the shadow of your hand through it in the sun. Since all of it was dusty and grimy from storage and most of it had a residue as a result of my mom’s gas stove, I washed it all in warm, soapy water, to discover at one point, the little black specks at the bottom of the cup was the writing on the outside beginning to show through. Must say, I chuckled when I thought of tea leaf reading and how these tiny little specks might have been interpreted by a leaf reader and thus influenced someone’s belief about the future! There are probably eight or nine cups and I can assure you there are no more than two cups identical to each other, so nothing near making a “set”. How long has mom been gone anyway? Wow, just looked it up … 1990 – I never was very good with this sort of stuff.

Maybe, more to come ....

Two Little Old Ladies Moving Company

Around here the Moving and Cartage firms have names like “The Two Amigos”, “Two Small Men With Big Hearts”, “Cheap Charlie’s”, etc. Today, in action, “Two Little Old Ladies Moving Company” with efficiency and effectiveness that was absolutely mind boggling. My friend, 72 years young and I, closer to the 60th decade than the 50th, moved 46 boxes of books! These were not slim paperback novels; these were text books, hard cover and workbooks. We made a number of trips from the office on the third floor to the parking garage, having commandeered a parking spot to which we could roll the dolly. The only things we balked at were the two six feet by three foot book cases. The smaller ones, the four foot by three, were toted down, stowed in the van and re-positioned in their new slots.

Tired? Yep! Self-satisfied? You bet! Mind you, I have tons of work to do in preparation for the movers on the 30th as they will be bringing four filing cabinets up four flights of stairs, but we did some serious damage today in terms of getting the job done. So satisfied are we with out effort, I do not believe we will not accept any further engagements – you can consider the firm out of the moving business but available for referrals and consultation.

Now … on to the unpacking and sorting… yuk!

As Per

A very tiring week and more to come this weekend, so I'm sort of copping out and stealing from Nancy:

Stolen from Nancy
01. FIRST NAME? Anna
02. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE? Yes, after Anna Blanchard, a women in Manistique.
03. WHEN DID YOU LAST CRY? Yesterday.
04. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING? Most of the time.
05. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCH MEAT? In one of my past lives I worked in a hospital and we would always tease about green meat and brown lettuce on the sandwiches at lunch. Guess I am somewhat partial to corned beef
06. KIDS? Do furry one’s count?
07. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOURSELF? Absolutely!
08. DO YOU HAVE A WRITTEN JOURNAL? Yes.
09. DO YOU USE SARCASM A LOT? When I am angry or frustrated I do – not something of which I am particularly proud
10. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS? No – and various other sundry body parts are missing as well.
11. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP OR DO ANOTHER EXTREME SPORT? Already have and with all the safety measures in place it is hard to think of it as extreme.
12. WHAT DO YOU BELIEVE IN? Ultimately the truth will out.
13. WHAT ARE YOUR TURN OFFS? Mean people, sadistic people, people who minimize others.
14. DO YOU THINK YOU ARE STRONG? WHAT IS STRENGTH? Physically, for my size yep. Emotionally … I think I am from the “trudge-the-road-to-happiness” type and dogged.
15. WHAT IS THE MOST IMPORTANT CHARACTER QUALITY? Compassion .
16. ARE YOU RESISTING WHERE YOU ARE CURRENTLY? Yes.
17. RED OR PINK? Neither.
18. WHAT IS THE LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF? Sometimes I manage my life by default
19. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST? Gosh, that’s a tough one. At the moment my big sister is out of town and I miss her. I miss my niece, she is such a kick. I miss my nephew and what I thought we once had. BUT, I believe everyone is EXACTLY where they need to be at the present moment so it is hard for me to “miss” them.
20. DO YOU WANT EVERYONE TO SEND THIS BACK TO YOU? No, not this particular one – I mean they could send their own … who is everyone, anyway???
21. WHAT COLOR PANTS AND SHOES YOU ARE WEARING? I’m not wearing pants or shoes – it is night time for heaven’s sake. I was wear blue jeans and white, scruffy runners.
22. WHAT DID YOU EAT LAST? Busted! Hagen Daz
23. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW? The white noise of my computer and the traffic running outside
24. IF YOU WERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE? Pacific Blue
25. FAVORITE SMELL? The air after a good rain.
26. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE? A friend of mine.
27. THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE YOU ARE ATTRACTED TO? eyes.
28. DO YOU LIKE THE PERSON WHO SENT THIS TO YOU? Absolutely!
29. FAVORITE DRINK? Fresca.
30. FAVORITE SPORT? “Usta” ski, play badminton, ride horses
31. HAIR COLOR? “Artic” blonde.
32. EYE COLOR? Blue
33. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS? No.
34. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE FOOD? Steak.
35. SCARY MOVIE OR HAPPY ENDING? Not a movie goer.
36. LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED? Lord of the Rings with my niece.
37. WHAT COLOR SHIRT ARE YOU WEARING? Grey with a green and navy line.
38. SUMMER OR WINTER? SUMMER, SUMMER, SUMMER.
39. HUGS OR KISSES? Hugs.
40. FAVORITE DESSERT? Carmel/Butter Scotch anything.
41. WHO IS MOST LIKELY TO RESPOND? No one
42. LEAST LIKELY TO RESPOND? My sister – she SAYS she reads my blog … but does she???
43. WHAT BOOKS ARE YOU READING? Ah man, what a crappy question two weeks ago I was reading really good stuff like “Bound for Canaan” and “Conspiracy of Fools” …. This week, “Organized to be the Best” by Susan Silver. Forgot, I'm also reading "Purpose Driven Life"
44. WHAT'S ON YOUR MOUSE PAD? I don't have one. Bunch of Kola Bears on one, some Bombardier product on the other; I use a trackball but feel obliged to use the mouse pads as they are gifts.
45. WHAT DID YOU WATCH LAST NIGHT ON TV? CSI, although my all time favorite show at the moment is “Dead Like Me”. Damn, they only did two years worth.
46. What are your favorite SOUNDS? I like the cats purring, I like a friend’s singing
47. ROLLING STONES OR BEATLES? If I had to pick, Beatles yet I own NOTHING by them.
48. THE FURTHEST YOU BEEN FROM HOME? Hawaii.
49. DO YOU HAVE A SPECIAL TALENT? None of which I am aware. I use to be a gymnast, most people do not know that.
50. WHERE WERE YOU BORN? Manistique, Michigan, USA.

Not For You

Do not read this if you have a life, something better to do or are looking for entertainment – this one is for me.

A little help here, please, she screams in frustration and panic. Where is my big sister who knows EVERYTHING about spatial relations and tasteful furniture placement??? Yeah, Yeah, feeding some damn wood ticks in Manitoba. My sister could work this out in 15 minutes. She left me some drawings and notes as to where to put furniture stuff but where to I put MY STUFF?!?

OK, here’s the deal … one office going into one little, seemingly very little condo. The conflict isn’t where to put pieces of equipment/furniture; the conflict is where to put stuff. As a rule I am a very private person so using a home office is a giant leap in the first place. Now some “material” is a no brain-er. Office computer, office files go into the out of bounds area – where no client will tread, plus I can put a lock on the door for additional security. BUT … I have a multi-level condo that, possibly, just possibly was a one liter/quart milk carton in another life. You walk in to a decent sized hall/reception area and faced with a choice. Up seven stairs to the living room, down seven stairs to a smallish office or if you have found you’ve made a mistake coming into the place at all you can exit to the right through the door and out the garage.

I’ve decided that for “public” business purposes I will have the office area down stairs as a client paper filling out area and the living room as the meeting area. Soooo …. should a client come earlier than the agreed to time, the instruction will be to proceed directly downstairs and close the door for privacy and grab a bottled water from the small fridge. NO, NONE, NADDA stuff of any importance will be in this area … funny, as I write this I realize where “stuff” has to go and in fact, in the process of a rather painful process of using the “drawing” tool bar of MS word, I’ve designed what I think will be workable based on some notes my sis left whilst cat-tending. A BONUS – while struggling away, my sis called from Manitoba – apparently not having been totally lunched on by wood ticks and it didn’t sound like she had either Lyme’s disease or Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever – both good things NOT to have.

My toys, planes, cat thingies, those sorts of items that I consider somewhat intimate will all go on the kitchen level on up. So there … decision made.

Where Wuz I???

Good GAWD! Why did I bother trying to get away? Here I am, back since, what? Tuesday around 9:30 AM and it feels like many, many days ago that I left. Fatigue level is overwhelming and I suspect “the old grey mare” syndrome has set in. The cats were really unimpressed with my appearance, Precious greeted me but would not let me pet her, preferring to stare out the kitchen window at “stuff” that cats conjure up in their little cat brains as there was absolutely nothing to see. Spook would not even emerge but waited until I was snoozing to jump on the bed and check me out – perhaps to see if it was really me.

As promised the sh** has hit the fan big time, with a move from the office and the car lease happening within weeks of each other. Man, I HATE moving. There are hundreds of books here and my home will need to have some serious switching around to accommodate the trappings of business. On the other hand … I will not pay the additional rent and I know in this town the rents will be doing nothing but going up. The car … well that’s a different headache one that I can put to the side for a few more days. Must focus … and by the way quodlibet … how far did you get in “A Purpose Driven Life”? There have been several places that were conducive to stopping but I am soldiering on - because ... that's what I do .... soldier on. "Suck It Up Butter-Cup".

Aha!

paksenn, CanaGal, quodlibet, Amelia Earhart

perhaps I have broken another code! And passed another test - see previous post

Test

Hello to canagal, paksenn, Amelia Earhart and quodlibet. This is a test, only a test

A Cast of Thousands

How do these things happen anyway? Just by chance I read the side bar of a comment made relative to an entry and discovered that my blog does not accept anonymous entries. How can my kitties get in touch with me if I have that restriction? While very 'puter literate - they must be because they spend tons of time around it and watching me, I'm quite sure they have yet to establish their own blogs. Not only my kitties but I am convinced many, many other folk probably have wanted to comment on my persuasive and erudite writing ... yeah, right. Anywhoo, my niece, bless her little heart, is very much in favour of not censoring stuff - very un-Canadian I might add, so I will try the anything goes approach until I have reason to do otherwise. Frankly in the world of blogging, I suspect that a path is not being beaten to my door - wow, could I come up with any more trite, figures of speech? Yep, some days, that's my life, a series of superficial, figures of speech. I finished "Conspiracy of Fools", I don't relish lugging it back in my luggage, especially since we all know the out come. One guy steals 35 million, has to return 23 million - after he has had use of the original 35 for some period of time and he gets 10 years for it. With mandatory parole, works out to be around "six and a gimme". Not bad pay if one can live with one's self.Currently I am reading "The Purpose Driven Life". There have been over ten million sold and I suspect it is probably more related to putting the book somewhere after reading a chapter or two and then losing it, requiring one purchase another rather than the electrifying prose. I read the first chapter about two years ago, didn't like it, put it away, but being such a bibliophile I couldn't bear to just toss it, so here I am, trying to read it again - because I am also too cheap to go buy another book for just a few more days in Honolulu - to which I might add, I've not been to a beach which might be a good thing given the contamination and so on. The folk here do not have a clue as to whether or not the beaches are "safe" or not!Such are my musing for today, a rather rambling collection of thoughts - I think I am avoiding the reality of my return home as the sh** is gonna hit the fan .... sigh.... as my old mother would say ... "He who pays the piper calls the tune".

VFR Not Recommended

Well, the title says it all ... pilot speak for the flight ain't happening. Man, I just can't catch a break around here weather-wise. Oh well ... source unknown:

"It is better to be on the ground wishing you were flying, than flying and wishing you were on the ground"


There will be other opportunities, of this I am sure. Had we gone today, well "other opportunities" may not have presented themselves.

Sometimes the best part of flying is wishing I were doing it.

Dare to Dream Dreams

OK, Now I am excited! Just got a call from a buddy who has her own little plane and she is going to take me flying tomorrow. I do so love flying and my little heart leaps out of my chest at the thought of it. Even if we do not go tomorrow because of the weather, as is sometimes the case, the thought will bring me great joy at least until I find out otherwise.
There is something that feeds my soul when I fly, something in me changes, if only for brief the brief moments of flight. As John Gillespie McGee has written:

“… I have slipped the surly bonds of Earth

And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings”

When I am “there” I am certainly not “here” – if you get what I mean. Technically I am not a particularly skilled pilot, not a “natural” like some of my friends, but emotionally and spiritually, I believe I am a … “natural”.

Reality Check

Last time I was in Hawaii it was cold and rainy. In fact, the papers were saying that it was the wettest period since 1922 - even I'm NOT that old. This trip, the weather has not been particularly impressive. We decide yesterday that since the beaches in Waikiki may or may not be completely safe because of a 48 million gallon sewage spill into the Ali Wai and then swept along the beaches by the current, we would go to Ko Olina along the west coast of Oahu. Would you believe we awoke to a tsunami watch for THAT exact area. It has since been cancelled but I can’t help but wonder if the Hawaiian gods are some how very, very annoyed with me, especially the weather gods! Either that or those darned cats with their supernatural powers have been in touch with “friends” to insure a certain someone does not tarry too long. You know the routine; I can just hear both the cats saying: “My people will talk to your people and arrange this.” Girls? Girls? Can I have a vote on this? A little bit of tanning weather would be nice! On the other hand, if I don’t tan … well, I can always rust!

Drifting & Dreaming

It is totally amazing how much I can sleep when I visit in Hawaii. My capacity to do this sleeping business gives me a much clearer understanding and appreciation of my cats and their preoccupation and seeming joy, relative to this activity. Usually I'm in bed for the night by around 8ish in the evening, certainly no later than 9:00PM. Keep in mind, almost every afternoon finds me napping for a bit around 3:00PM. Awakening occurs somewhere around 7ish. At one time when I visited here I would religiously arise at around six in the morning and go for a run. In October of 2004 I sprained my knee and found that walking home with a sprained knee was not an experience I wished to repeat - hence my running takes place on a treadmill inside a local facility - not too far a walk from the check in desk.

Unfortunately sleep, unlike the extra weight I manage to pack on while I am here, is not an item that can be stored up. When I get home, within a couple of days I will be dragging my butt but interestingly NOT taking any action to remedy my fatigue, like going to bed early. Strange, here in Hawaii, there is nothing or not much anyway, to retreat from in terms of fatigue production and yet .... I sleep tons. Once home, where there is no shortage of stresses and so on, especially those that will be confronting me this time ... nope, no early bedtime, no delightful nap in the afternoon!Just a piece of weirdness on my part - I really must pay more attention to the cats and their rhythms.

My Vacation As Interpretted by Precious and Spook

So, I was thinking about the girls today, wondering what they might be up to. First thing I think of is that they start their day with a good romp around the bedroom, bed, hallway and down a couple of sets of stairs with no lumpy thingy on the mattress acting as a speed bump. Next they whistle into the computer room, have a good shake and fur lick in order to insure an even coating of cat fur over all delicate and sensitive equipment.

After a bit of a snack – phooey, only kibble and water, they decide that digging in the plants might be fun. Digging to the point that my Jade plant, older than both of them combined, has gone on to Jade heaven – or where ever such plants relocate after their ephemeral time on earth. Digging is not to be equated with looking for a place to ummmm well you know. There is even more fun to be had in the litter tray. The litter box is filled with sweet smelling wheat, oh so much fun to toss around and dig through.

After all of that work and digging a nap would be in order to insure sufficient energy to act with much disdain when the creature with opposing thumbs comes to open the canned goodies. It is an absolute requirement to have balance between acting very indifferent to frenetic ankle polishing – another clever way to insure maximum transfer of cat fur to clothing.

Once fed, watered, petted and played with, a long nap is in order before watching the telly and mocking the latest unsuccessful candidate on “American Idol”, both cats being convinced that either one of them could sing better than any contestant left on the show for another week. A bit of a romp and tussle to determine who sleeps where and it is off to dream of …

And to think they are NOT even on vacation. The best part of the day for Spook is the knowledge that there will be no strangers ringing the doorbell, no trips to the vet and no strange voices. The best part of the day for Precious will be the unlicensed capacity to chase Spook around since Spook insists on playing the “jump-on-my-tail” game – at least that’s what Precious believes Spook is inviting as Spook’s tail twitches nervously.