RIP evil Dog

Today, as we were working away at trying to return our fence to its upright position, the neighbor next door came out to offer some assistance. Really quite a nice guy, for the record. 3 of his dogs were in the kennel they made recently. I pointed out their playing and commented on how large the "puppy" had grown. I called the other dog in the pen "Odie" and the man corrected me saying "That's not Odie. Odie isn't here anymore". He then told us that they used to have FIVE dogs but Odie killed one of them so they took him to the pound to be put down. He then said the two remaining pit bulls shouldn't be rough housing like they were since it could lead to them hurting eachother, getting taste for blood and then killing like Odie had.

Never was the motivation to finish the fence so strong.

!!!


We're hoping that the current repairs will last long enough for us to continue our slow rebuilding. Once that is done we'll be able to anchor any other posts that are weak, ensuring that we don't have any further adventures like we did today. I feel badly for DH. He works a graveyard shift tonight and he's had NO chance for any nap today. He's exhausted already and he'll be even more tired tomorrow. I suppose I could go work a graveyard shift at work myself and offer some comfort in the form of mutual miserable status. <---I just made up that term. It will most likely cause English Majors to squirm but it makes me happy. Yay.

Let it Snow... again

Weather forcasts are sometimes our friends, other times they are our enemies. Today it is the latter. While fixing the fence, we've had to battle mother nature as well as a that blasted piece of wood. Who knew that a broken post would want to hang on to its anchor in a reataining wall so badly. With the help of our neighbor, (the owner of the damn dogs), we've managed to prep the hole for a new post. Our only obstacle now *knock on wood* is that we need to rent a drill that works on concrete so that when we mix cement and place our new post in, we can support it with some L Brackets. We can then attach the fence pieces and re-claim our yard. Of course we will continue to do all of this amid snow and rain. YUCK!!

I'm not much help since I've been fighting off getting sick for a few days. Last night I felt rather icky but I've been slightly better today. It only hits me now and then. We'll see what spending several hours outside in the storm does for my health tomorrow. I'm supposed to go back to work in the morning. Vacation is over.

*sigh*

Thar she Blows

I woke up this morning after having slept in a little late and methodically put two of our dogs in the backyard to do their "business". I then wandered through the house and after finding my husband and his mother MIA, I called DH's cell phone. His mother answered and said they were at the local hardware store. "Why?", I asked them. "Did you happen to look at the back yard?", she asked me. Uh... no, no I didn't. A quick peek out the window sent me running for the back door. Luckily, the dog I was most worried about having go for an adventure in the neighborhood was cold and decided to stay near the door so she could get inside. The Sheltie, however, had jumped through two sections of downed fence and was taking a huge dump in the far corner of our neighbor's yard. OYE!!! And so begins my day.

...........

Side note: I normally get the urge to blog at work during my breaks. Annoyingly enough, the internet has been down for several weeks. I've continued to blog, but I've been forced to save the entries on my hard drive until things are repaired. Hopefully, in the time I've been on vacation, they'll have sorted everything out. *crossing fingers and toes for luck* Eventually this blog will be hit with a barrage of entries that will make me look like I've been REALLY busy. HA! Hope I remember how to back-date everything. I hope, I hope.


Ms.Behaved

Expo Adventures

Yesterday the local community college held their annual job expo. It was the first time I attended it since I took over Human Resource duties at the care center. On the positive side, things stayed semi-busy. There were more students interested in my booth than it seemed there were the last few times we attended (a few years ago when I was still the Recreation Director). The downside was that no coworkers went with me. I sat there all alone except for 45 minutes near lunchtime when a friend came over to bring me more brochures and applications. Mr. PBM arrived shortly before the end to see what was going on but didn’t stay long. The short stay could be added to the positive side list, I suppose.

Already, I would deem this expo a success, especially compared to previous ones, since I have scheduled my first interview resulting from yesterday’s efforts. Monday morning will hopefully yield some new additions to our staff. They really need some help on the floor. I am praying that the new additions will be made to feel welcome. Let’s all cross our fingers! If newcomers are chased away I am going to approach the supervisor and gesture to my ass.

Do you see this? I sat on it for 8 hours trying to reel you in some caring people! Now you can kiss it!

*ahem*

Some day my bitterness will go away. And then what on earth will I have to blog about?

Ms.B

Crazy Furballs

The Care Center where I work used to have tons of animals running around. Kittens have been born left and right in the field behind the building and we even had a dog for a short while. Sadly, the dog had to be re-homed since a couple of our residents were inappropriate with it. (The story behind that simple sentence would be a zinger of a blog entry, however I am trying to stay PG-13 or better as much as possible!!) There haven’t been many kitties running around lately either.

At least until this week.

Tuesday morning started out like any other. I arrived at work around 10:00 and prepared to do my training and paperwork. Part way through the afternoon a maintenance staff came into my office and asked me if I had any cat food.

Cat food??? !!!

Apparently, a mother cat had decided that the care center’s filthy, cluttered junk storage area was the perfect place to raise a litter of kittens. Beautiful, sweet-faced, longhaired kittens. Skittish, fearful, wild kittens!! Since I didn’t happen to have a stash of cat food in my desk (Why, oh WHY would I have a stash of cat food in my desk??) I ran over to the local grocery store and picked up a bag of Purina One. When I got back someone showed me the area where the kittens had last been spotted. I put some food in a bowl and set it down on the ground near a water dish. I stood there quietly for a few seconds and then made some kissy, meowing sounds. Seconds later a small white kitten peeked out from beneath a pile of old boards and wheelchair parts. SO CUTE! The white one was followed by a couple of grays and a black/tan blend. It was hard to tell their true colors since they were all covered with dust and grime. Of course they didn’t let us near them and a few of them hissed when some of my co-workers put their hands down near their space. I admired them for a few minutes and then returned to my desk.

DH called me a short while later and in the midst of our conversation I mentioned the kittens. Oh, bring one home with you!, he said. Enough gushing about animals has been done on this blog to convey that we have a full house here at the Haven. With the addition of Gus, we had, what we thought was a complete crew. No More Pets, I told my DH. Again, he said Oh, just bring one home with you. We need one more kitty! I jokingly told him that I’d go out to the storage area and if a kitten happened to jump into my lap I’d bring it home with me. I hung up the phone, wrapped up some paperwork and went out to the storage area one last time. There, sleeping on the ground in a huge pile were the kittens. It looked like there were four of them. As I approached, they heard me and scattered like farts in the wind. All except for one.

There, sitting on the ground looking a little lost as to where her littermates had gone, was a small gray and brown baby. I stood there in disbelief that she wasn’t running away and for a moment we just stared at each other. Then I reached down and scooped her up.

For the first few seconds I wasn’t sure what to expect. A co-worker had caught the white kitten earlier that day and it had tried to take a piece of her face off, it was so scared. When a few seconds passed with no major drama, I carried her over to the lawn and knelt down on the ground with her. A light breeze was blowing and after a few seconds she crawled up into my lap and snuggled herself into the folds of the hoodie I was wearing. I called DH again from my cell phone and told him what had happened and he again told me to bring it home! Being the softy that I am, I finally gave in with the stern warning that this was the LAST addition to our zoo.

AND I REALLY MEAN IT THIS TIME!!

The kitty was filthy and the ease with which I caught her had me slightly worried that she might be ill in some way. She was a tad smaller than the other kittens as well which added to my concerns. I placed her in a box and headed towards the pet store near my home to meet up with DH. The introductions in the parking lot were a Kodak moment. DH fell in love the moment he saw her. At the time we weren’t sure if it was a “her” or not but we suspected as much. We picked up some KMR (Kitten Milk Replacement formula) as well as a bottle and a few cans of wet kitten food. We also purchased shampoo foam. The kind that you rub in and wipe away with a cloth; no water required. Then we headed home.

It took three foam scrubs before the black stopped coming off of her and it was a chore keeping her away from our other pets. Ya never know what kind of bugs she might have had, ya know? She took to the bottle faster than I expected she would, which was pleasing. DH acted like a little mother as he fluttered around the house looking for a soft towel for her bed and making sure we had a heating pad handy to keep her warm. To be honest, I didn’t let myself get too attached the first night since I wasn’t sure that she was healthy and I wanted to avoid heart-break if she didn’t survive long.

Wednesday morning was my early day at work so I was in the car and on my way by 7:00. The vet office at the pet store opened at 9:00 and DH was waiting at the doors as they unlocked them. After a quick check-up they announced that she was, indeed, a she and that she was in good health. They gave her a dose of worm medicine for precautionary measures and said that we were feeding her the appropriate amounts of the correct food. It was a relief to know that she was doing A-Okay. DH brought her over to the care center to visit when he was done at the vet’s office. Everyone “ooohed and aaahhed” over her and said how lucky she was to have us, which was a comfort to me since I was thinking we might just be crazy to add another pet to the mix. After much debate and pondering, DH named her Fluffy. I suspect he chose that name to please me since I had a cat with that name when I was a child. It fits her though and that makes me happy.

Fluffy has adjusted amazingly well in the two days that we’ve had her. She loves her bottle and is even eating some of the wet kitten food as well. Gus and Shelly are sweet with her and she follows them around when she’s on the floor. We have to monitor Gus a tad since he’s full of puppy energy and we don’t want him to sit on her. Chloe, the Weiner, is the most enthusiastic about the kitten, however I’m not sure if she wants to get her paws on her for a bath of kisses or if she plans to have a snack so we’ve kept her at a distance. The two cats, Gizmo and Basil, are still coping with the idea of a newcomer. Gizmo hisses and runs when he sees her and Basil just avoids getting too close since he doesn’t know what the heck is going on with her. I’m sure they’ll all be sleeping in a fur pile in no time.

In any case, she’s settling in and doesn’t show any signs of being wild. It’s nice to know that she’s not ill and that her docile attitude when I found her was due to her sweet disposition and not a medical issue.

My parents are going to freak when they find out what we’ve done. Oh, the joys and freedoms of owning our own home. Weeeee!!

Ms.B

Bampoo

Shortly after my arrival at work this morning, a co-worker shared a story she had heard on news radio. It is a fact that panda bears eat a lot of bamboo. Apparently, they eat so much bamboo that their poop is chock full of the stuff. According to the news anchors, people who live in the regions where panda bears are like to gather up the panda droppings and recycle it into paper! Can you imagine!?

So if ever you receive a letter from someone and it smells like doo-doo, just imagine--- it probably is!

Ms.B

If only I could Sympathize

One of my titles at the care center is that of Human Resource Manager. For the past two years I’ve struggled to hire people and get all the shifts fully staffed. Although there has been minor success at times, I’ve made the following observation: Swing Shift wants to be short-handed. Less than 5 minutes ago the supervisor of that very shift was standing outside of my office door complaining that there were only 4 staff working today. (Normally there are 11). It took every ounce of my self-control to keep from sticking my head out the door and telling the poor supervisor that if she would stop creating cliques within her shift and treated the people who were hired like human beings she might not be short-handed. If I were to count the number of people hired for Swing during the past two years, the averages would look something like this:

# of new staff hired: 10

# of staff who quit the first week after being treated poorly: 3

# of staff who quit after the first month because of being left out of the cliques: 2

# of staff who changed to another shift: 4

# of staff who actually stayed on Swing Shift: 1

There might be some times where they averaged TWO people staying on the shift, however it is rare enough that I hardly dare mention it. The supervisor has been talked to about treating the new peeps well on numerous occasions with no success. I understand that there are going to be staff hired who are genetically programmed to be flaky and not succeed in the work place. But the percentage of failure on this particular shift is just overwhelmingly horrible. I’ve personally seen Swing Shifters snap at new employees, as well as people helping out from other shifts/departments. I’ve heard the rumors and lies that spread through a building when they, the Swing Shift Regulars, decided they didn’t like the cut of the new guy’s jibe.

Can anyone else please explain to me why it is that this occurs? Why? Oh, WHY!?!? I am starting to think I work with morons. I wonder what that says about me.

Ms.B

I love my Brother

Parents have it rough

It’s hard to watch someone with lots of potential throw their life away. The emotions experienced as I see it happen make my chest ache and I feel a mixture of anger/confusion/concern all rolled up into one. And I’m just the sister!

My brother, J, grew up in a comfortable household with two loving supportive parents in a suburban neighborhood. He’s tall, slender, handsome and outgoing. He went to good schools, wore nice clothes and over-all had the life that some kids would only dream about. Wonderful, well-developed adults have come from less.

Yet, somehow, he has become a loser. I cringe to even use the term but it’s the only one that fits. He’s going to be 22 this fall and just made his second attempt at moving out of my parent’s home. The first try lasted about a month and a half, right up until his roommates and he were evicted for not paying their landlord. J insists that he gave the roomies money towards the bills and that they must have used it for things other than rent. This time around, J has already moved twice. First he moved into a basement semi-apartment for about a week with some girl he knows which didn’t last long after the landlord there became angry and threatened to beat J up when he was told that his renters were moving out. Now they have re-located to a condo owned by the parents of another friend, who will be living there with them. The second location is much nicer than the first, and the friend who’s parents are renting it out happens to be a guy with actual ambition and a real job.

I pray that this friend will be a good influence on my brother. As stupid as the things he does are, I love him unconditionally. I must add that it is okay for me to call my brother a loser, but if anyone else did I might have to kick his or her ass!

(Insert picture of me attempting to flex wimpy arm muscle here).

J has never had a real job. His first paycheck came from Jamba Juice. He started out gung ho and really impressed his managers there. They swiftly promoted him to trainer, and then to a supervisor. A few months later, he was working during a huge snowstorm and J decided that since there hadn’t been any customers for a while he would make the decision to lock up the store and leave for the day. Big mistake!! He got canned.

Second job was at my care center. Again, after the honeymoon period was over, he flaked out, eventually stopped showing up for his shifts and was marked non-rehireable. The supervisor at the time was an idiot (SHOCKER, it was NOT Mr. PBM at that point!!) and some folks understood why J would leave.

Third job was at the post office. It is hard to get a job at the post office. You have to be in the right place at the right time or know someone who knows someone. Government jobs pay really well and have great benefits so they are in high demand. In any case, J was told that he needed to study some detailed information in order to pass a test that would allow him to continue to work. Instead of studying, he partied, drank and smoked his evenings away, eventually failing the test and leading to… you guessed it: getting fired.

Job #4 was at Target. He started with lots of promise eventually being promoted to a managerial position after a couple of months. One of his duties was to re-mark sale prices on opened/returned items. A customer happened to return an I-Pod that had been removed from its package. J decided that it would be a good idea to mark it as $3 and buy it himself. Kewl idea! An I-Pod for $3. No, no NO. BAD IDEA. His boss found out, fired J and pressed charges. J pleaded no contest and now has a theft on his permanent record.

A few short-lived jobs later he started working at Village Inn. He is actually still there (at this point, but who knows what tomorrow brings…) but he wasn’t making enough money to pay off his debts and keep paying for his car. Because of that he needed a second job so my care center gave him a second chance. He came back and started slacking a bit but the supervisor wrote him up a couple of times and got him to toe the line. Eventually potential advancement at Village Inn made him decide to put in his two-week notice here. Good for him to finally try to leave a job on terms that would allow him to list it on a resume or work history. Wrong. He stopped showing up three days after he gave notice. I’ve told the supervisor, Mr. PBM, that he’ll have to list him as non-rehireable.

I guess it all boils down to the fact that I am very disappointed in my brother. The position of Dietary Manager could come available in the near future if Mr. PBM doesn’t pull his head out of his ass. J would have been the likely one to be offered that position. He’s made numerous comments about being envious of the people he grew up with that have good-paying jobs and have purchased homes. J’s dream has always been to have a job where he could make enough money for his apartment, car and bills without having to have a second job. The money he could have earned in that position would have been the answer to his dreams. Instead, he’ll continue to avoid going to college, jump from job to job, and continue to watch the kids he went to high school with grow up and have real careers.

And THAT, is why my brother is a loser. But I love him.

Ms.B

I'm no Gryffindor

Which Hogwarts house will you be sorted into?

I was:
Hufflepuff- 13
Ravenclaw- 12
Slytherin- 10
Gryffindor- 8

Harry Potter would be ashamed! Perhaps my desire for revenge is what landed me where I did.

*shrug*

Ms.B

Damn Dogs

It's safe to say that I am an animal lover. If it's cute, cuddly, or in any way adorable I want to bring it home and keep it forever. That said, I have something to share.

Ms.B's Deep Dark Confession #3: I hate the damn dogs next door!

About three months after we bought the Haven, the family who had been renting the home next door moved away and the property was vacant for a few months. Recently a new group of people moved in. So far I've counted four adults, 6-8 children, 4 dogs and a partridge in a pear tree. A nice bunch, so it seems, except that the dogs are left outside all day and all night with no shelter and minimal interaction. The Shih Tzu barked non-stop the first two days but has mellowed out a bit since then. The three pit-bull terriers are wild! One seems friendly (though I've not stuck my arm through the gaps in the fence to test this theory!!). The other two pits are semi-aggressive. When they see the monkey and the wiener in the back yard they lunge at the fence in an attempt to get to them. This wouldn't be a problem except that the back fence is one of the few projects around our home that need some attention. The boards are brittle and hanging on to the cross-beams by the skin of their teeth. A solid thud by a muscular dog pops them like a cork from a wine bottle.

*POP* goes a board.
*FIZZ* goes my temper.

So a project that I thought could be ignored until mid-summer is suddenly an issue that must be addressed immediately. Damn dogs! The sad thing is that we aren't sure who owns the house next door so we can't approach them to see if they'll pay for half the cost of new fencing. Chances are that they'd avoid doing it since they aren't there to enjoy it themselves anyhow. The plus side is that we can now just put up fresh slats on our side and not worry about what their side looks like. *insert evil laughter here*

I guess in the big scheme of things its not a big deal to repair everything a little early. We'll be able to enjoy the finished product for more of the warm season this way and there will be no fear of sending three dogs out for a potty break only to find a fat, satiated pit-bull, licking his chops, waiting for me when I go to call them back in.

And once the fence is done there shouldn't be any major expenses in the near future of our home. *knock on wood* At least not the kind that can be planned.

Damn Dogs.

Saturday Adventures

At first glance today seemed as if it would be a typical Saturday. I spent a few hours at work monitoring some rehab issues with the residents. I took the DH and the monkey with me so that we could could head right to puppy class at the end of the shift. Monkey went around the building and greeted everyone with his typical "kisses and love" style which made me proud. Growing up with an anti-social dog made me appreciative of a pet that is willing to bound into a total stranger's arms with little hesitation-- provided the fore-mentioned stranger is prepared to have a puppy bound into their arms, of course.

Puppy Class went well. I've gushed about it on this blog before so I'll contain myself a tad. Being the proud mamma, however, it must be stated that the monkey is the smartest little pooch I've ever owned. He sits, lays down, shakes a paw, Sneaks(crawls) and is now learning "roll over". *sigh* What fun we've had in that class. Next week is graduation. Not sure if we'll be signing up for the Intermediate Level.

After dropping Gus off at home, we next headed to the local hardware store to order the carpet for our basement and pick up some supplies for fixing the fence. This year's tax returns are being put to great use. The nasty, stinky brown carpet in the basement is going far, far away. It will be replaced by a nice Berber carpet called "Caramel". It's light enough that the basement will feel bright, but has enough color and pattern to hide a multitude of sins. PERFECT for a family full of animals, myself included.

The real adventure began when we arrived home after our shopping spree. Somehow, the pipe where all the water and sewage exits our home has become clogged and all our waste and water is now overflowing into our laundry room.

EWWWWWW!!

Not sure what happened, but we've narrowed the location of the plug down to a small area and my Daddy is coming tomorrow afternoon to save the day with his handy-dandy snake tool. At least, that is the plan. All fingers are crossed that a plumber won't have to be called since that could cost a pretty penny and we spent all the pretties we had on the carpet that will be installed in a couple of weeks. Oye!

Fortunately, we've discovered that if we avoid flushing toilets and running sink water, nothing pours from the pipe. We should be able to survive until tomorrow without those things though we'll have to miss church. I can't go without a shower and I'll be !@#$%#ed if I'm gonna rinse off with the garden hose in order to get cleaned up to go. What a great excuse for playing hooky! Ha.

We can stay home and work on the back fence instead.

Ms.B

Attack of the Killer Worms

Every once in a while a co-worker of mine comes up with some pretty entertaining stuff. Of course, the best part is that she acts sincere when she says it. Today, as we were discussing health issues in general (which is common considering our line of work) the topic of worms came up. Parasitic worms. With complete sincerity in her voice she informed me that everyone has worms.

"Tapeworms. We all have them! Round worms. They are in our bellies! Every person on the planet has em. You have worms, I have worms. We all have worms!"

I tried to explain to her that people with tapeworms and roundworm must go through special treatment to cure them and that if we all had those specific types of worms we'd all be on medicine. She didn't buy it.

"It's true. We all have worms. If you do a colon cleanse you'll shit a load of worms!"

O.o

Eventually the subject fizzled out and changed. But it made ponder: I know that we have bacteria and dust mites and all sorts of critters hanging out on us. But are there really sane people out there that believe we are walking around just chalk full of worms? Eeeewww!