Wednesday was a very long day

49 is not starting off very well. I went to work  even earlier than normal morning, with the plan that I was going to work very hard and make up for the fact that I was unable to complete my tasks the day before ( because the world and a rude co-worker had conspired againts me, the ride coworker was rude to caller who ended up calling me and I ended up talking to this  as it turns out nut-job person for 15 precious minutes I could have used to finish at least one part of my tasks, but No, I had to talk him down from calling our boss to complain about what a rude cow our co-worker is, she is, she really, really is but I didn't want the added stress of all of that in my life so I was extra special polite and kind and customer service positive and got the guy to forgo that unpleasantness, and instead concentrate on speaking to someone who could actually help him tomorrow.

Little did I know he would call me back every fifteen minutes all damn day today to try to get that person who was busy with other callers. He did finally get her and he was indeed, a nut-job.

The original operator didn't need to be such a raving bitch to him though, she was really rude and stupid and there is no reason to piss of the crazy- they hate it and they get very mouthy, you can be stern, they tend to recognize authority and respect it, they can be redirected, you just have to make them work with you. She's such a bitch and dealing with her - she is also, a nutjob, by the way .I was going to complete those tasks before I started on todays tasks and I was going to go on to complete those tasks and I was going to come out even. Because that's how I do business. I am not behind. I am even.

And I went in early and I turned on the machine and I put in my passwords and I got  ready to put my nose to the grindstone and greased up my elbows and  get to work and then... the Cloud was unavailable.

ALL DAMN DAY.

I was one of 24 on a different server than everyone else, everyone else would work ... up until 11:30 when even that server stopped working and they had to stop too. GOOD! I hated having to sit there and do nothing while they got to get there work done! I hate that so much. I was so mad all morning you have no idea.

All day not able to do anything. Its one thing to waste time all day when you have work to do, its quite another to have to waste time all day when you have work to do but you can't do it.

And then I came home and very quickly walked the dog and then went and phone banked for our mayer. I made 59 phone calls and only reached three people. Two of which actually did want to volunteer! I was hugely shocked.

The coordinator asked if she would see me next Wednesday and I told her I was going to a Houston fundraiser - because I am, and then she asked me if I wanted to go door to door and I told her I hate that and I would never do to again, because I hate it and I am never doing it again.

And then I came home and watched two hours of Barney Miller reruns because I love Barney Miller.

Happy Birthday To ME

Monday

I mowed the yard and did laundry and finally put my stuff away from vacation, I made a tart thing from two apples that got left in my refrigerator while I was away on vacation and slept late.

I also spent a lot of time reading about Houston and right now as I am sitting here I am realizing that my friend Deborah retired to her daughter's house in Houston and I wonder how they are doing?  She isn't on Facebook and I don't know her daughters name and I don't think I have a number for her. I have an address but I'm not sure what I did with it.

If I did get in touch with her,I would be obligated to tell her that her friend died or maybe not, maybe this isn't the right moment for that. Is there a way I can put someones address in and see if its part of the flooded city? I know that not all of Houston is under water, its a vast city.

I did some research and I do have her address, at least an old address. She lived in Splendora, which is 45 minutes from Houston proper but I don't know if that means anything, I haven't heard if the northern suburbs are getting the same abuse as the more central areas.  Its late now, maybe I'll try to call her tomorrow.

That's the same reason that they couldn't just evacuate the city. When you say Evacuate the City - you aren't just saying "The City of Houston, you are saying the city itself proper, which is huge but also the suburbs, which also make up the City of Houston.  That is millions of people, the only way you could have got that many millions of people out of the area was to get  them on the road before anyone even knew there was a storm. And then, where exactly would all those millions of people go once they were successfully evacuated from the area?

You get the picture.  There was nowhere for them to go, you can not absorb that many people. When they evacuated New Orleans, 350,000  of them went to Houston and Houston handled it, more or less. Certainly better than Dallas that thought that the 150,000 people that showed up were there for a convention.

I read that today Dallas opened a shelter that can take 5000 people. Good for them.

Friday Cats Blogging

TGIF

I started my week with a return from vacation then moved on to the eclipse, then had my yearly review at work - this is the last time I go for being truthful on the self review part aspect of it though, I went to with a version of me as a worker that was straight forward and honest - HA! Never again. I filled it out before I left for vacation when I was exhausted and over it and it was not the best time for me to be doing that task. Bad timing.

The next time I'm asked to rate myself on a scale of 1-3 I'm going 3 all the way. I am an Outstanding employee in every aspect of my job dammit. No more honesty for me, no more modesty, no more  trying to be truthful about how I feel - from here on out I am going to lie like the rug. I am the BEST! I am the most OUTSTANDING! I am the IDEAL employee!

So when my boss decides to mark me down a scosh, the mark down isn't that far. That BITCH. Who does she think she is? Who does she think  I am? Clearly we do not see eye to eye.

Wednesday night I decided I wanted to make a chicken pot pie. I had the chicken but not the pie. Thursday I went to the store and got what I needed. I came home and made the pie - from scratch, thankyouverymuch.

It was not my best effort. The broccoli was frozen when it went into the oven, the binder was looser then it should have been, and there wasn't anything in it except chicken and broccoli. Also I wished I had known that my chicken bouillon was in better shape because I would have bought new when I went to the store. ANYWAY, it was good and it looked good

Wednesday

Three notes on my day.

1. My father had one of his shoulders replaced today.. It only took two hours. An entire shoulder. The night before my Dad though that the surgery would take "a half an hour".

2. A guy called today to complain that even though he had done reallt, really well on Call of Duty he had not gotten the prize money or the press attention he thought he was supposed to ret as a result. I told him what we did at the complaint intake unit and it was not video game related issues. I did not call him a dumb ass.

3. A woman called from out of state to ask about the complaint history of a facility they were looking at for one of their clients, a woman who had been "Professionally Trafficked" . I'm not sure what that means, but it sounds awful. The caller said the facility was for women who had been trafficked - we don't have any facilities like that. She didn't have an address and the name she had didn't match anything we had, I called over the Mental Health and they didn't have anything either. Homes for woman who had been victims of human trafficking.

Tuesday

Today in honor of my second day back at work, I ran errands. Lots of errands. I should have run errands over the weekend but I was too tired and I didn't want to. Today I picked up meds for the dog and myself and got new litter for the kitties, boy did I need  litter! I didn't notice until last night that I didn't have any litter. Now I have forty-two pounds of litter. Up stairs.

I wanted to buy some litter additive that would clue me into changes in Tinys urine that would let me know if he was having UTI issues but they didn't sell any at my Petsmart. I should have gone to Petco but I was tired and it was hot and I had the dog in the car and I needed dinner. I should have bought it at the Petsmart in Marquette when I saw it, carpe litter additive.

All these errands did not end up with a walk for the dog but I was tired and I just didn't want to. I came home and paid bills and  and then I ran errands and I just didn't have the energy left to do anything else.

Near Total Eclipse

And I'm back.

Just in time for eclipse! It was very exciting,  I thought everybody had a pair of those glasses but as it turned out four of us shared mine - two others had a pair they got from one of the nurses but they weren't the right kind and so they didn't end up useing them . There were the Right kind, that I had and the Not Right kind that apparently were also out there floating around.

The Not Right kind had limits on how long you could use them for looking at the event - maximum amount of time you could look 3 minutes in an hour - verses the Right Kind that set no such limit on how long you could use them.

While I was still on vacation, I had been made aware that an email had been sent out to state employees making it clear that we were  to stay at our desks and not waste state time on this event - but when I came into work this morning there was an email from our Secretary inviting all of us, with permission from our supervisors, to go to the field across from our HQ building to watch the event with her. We watched the early part of the eclipse from a window and we saw several groups of folks making there way to the field, so I know it was well attended.

As it got closer and more interesting, a group of us went outside our building and got a great view and got to see the neat shadows the trees made. A good time was had by all. I still had co workers that had no interest in viewing it at all! I don't understand that at all, its beyond me - I mean we didn't have the massive show they had in other places but we did get to see an ECLIPSE, its a  big deal. Embrace it.

It never got even kind of dark, it stayed bright, but it did cool off and the cicadas and crickets did start making noise.

Prior to the whole afternoon fun, I was made aware that there were Eclipse donuts to be had, I was very excited because who isn't excited by donuts? And I really needed a donut. Later on, I went back to get a lunch donut and the donuts were gone! I was shocked! There are a total of no one in this building and the whole box was gone! I had my heart set on a lunch donut.

There are days where a protein bar is just not what you want for lunch, there are days when you really, really want a donut for lunch. I ended up eating my protein bar but I did it with no joy.

Friday Cats Blogging

Friday Cats Blogging