Musings on a Small Life

I was walking up one of the main thoroughfares after work, my usual route either by foot or by bus. There were two young people coming out of a pawn shop as I was passing by, she carrying a small dog, he swearing about something. I skirted around them, as they weren't moving quickly, and kept going. Then I heard a short siren, just a whoop, whoop, as a police car zoomed by from the other direction, heading the opposite way I was. I turned and looked back and saw at least one plainclothes officer muscling a young man into an unmarked car, with the marked police car diagonally across the lane, blocking the way. And I noticed the young woman with the dog walking on alone. So I don't know if it was the guy she was with who was taken down (is that the expression?) or someone else. I could speculate that the guy had caused problems in the pawn shop and that someone there pressed a silent alarm, but if so, I'm not sure how the woman (either late teens or early ...

So I'm in front of the bathroom mirror this  morning, drying my hair, and something on my jammie tank top catches my eye. (I shower at night before bed, but do my hair in the mornings.) It appears that I have some sort of bizarre bleach stain all over my tank top, over my left boob. How the heck did I manage to do that?!? The top, a pretty knit one, teal colour, was fine last night when I put it on. So all I can think is that I managed to get bleach on it this morning, while bending over my laundry tub to wash my hair. (Easier on my back, to bend over the laundry tub versus the bathtub.) Well, rats! Must have been leftover bleach splashes from cleaning one of the litter boxes, which I also do in the basement laundry tub. (That laundry tub is only a cheap plastic one, the same one that came with the house and that has seen 12 years of painting, etc. It's not exactly pristine.) Then--and I'm not done--I pull out a pretty short-sleeved knit sweater to wear today, ...

This lovely dog, presumably a sheltie, was in our hall at work this afternoon, with its human in a long meeting. S/he was reasonably calm, but not inclined to approach me, even before I got the camera. And I could imagine the poor thing thinking that if only s/he didn't glance at me, I'd leave her/him in peace. "She's not really there, she's not really there, she's not really there...." I heard a few barks a short time after I returned to my desk, though don't know what provoked the little outburst. It wasn't me, I swear! By the time I left at 3PM, s/he was gone. It was a nice surprise all the same, though I question the wisdom of bringing a dog into the building and leaving it outside the meeting room in the first place. But I don't know the circumstances, of course, and it might have been an unavoidable situation. At the time, I thought how lovely it would be to have a few more canines around, and a few less human co-worker...

My co-worker currently is reading Martin Seligman's book, Learned Optimism . There's a quiz in it, to determine where you are on the scale of pessimism versus optimism. Of course I already know I'm a pessimist by nature, though I prefer to think of myself as a realist. LOL. But Stanford U has the test on-line, adapted from his book: http://www.stanford.edu/class/msande271/onlinetools/LearnedOpt.html My co-worker is moderately pessimistic, but check out my results (you'll have to enlarge the jpg): I'm laughing myself silly at the moment, just at the wording. "Moderately hopeless." "Very low self-esteem." "Great pessimism." And my overall score of -10, which equals "very pessimistic." But the one that cracks me up is my "Total Bad Score": "Crying out for change." Of course I've not read the book, but somehow I don't think I should find this so funny. BTW, you can find an outli...

I was looking for a pic the other day, sunflowers I had snapped while Dad was here a couple of years ago. I stumbled across this rare shot of me holding Annie, which Dad snapped in August 2010. Can you tell how much she hated to be picked up? And hated the camera, any camera? LOL. But of course now I wish I had more photos of her with me, in spite of her protests. I miss her every day, though I suppose as the years pass that will fade, as it has with Chumley. Rarer still, however, are some of the old family pics that Dad had scanned in and sent to his brother quite some time ago, and finally sent me yesterday. This was dad's mother's mother. I'm not sure if this is Grandma's father (didn't think his name was Fritz, though) or another distant relative. Dad must be named for him, though! Except for Dad's father, in the lower right corner, I don't know who these men are. Theodor would have been on the maternal side of the fam...

Gorgeous weather, lows of about 11C overnight and up to 22C during the day, no humidity. Perfect , couldn't have asked for better. * Lots of running around plus the usual house chores on Saturday. I was wishing that just for a week someone else do could do it all for me and give me a break. No grocery shopping, no cooking, no litter box cleaning, no constant washing of cat dishes (and my own), no garbage and recycle, dusting, vacuuming, etc. * Sunday was a lazy day, went back to bed around 6:30AM and didn't get up till almost 9:30AM. What a treat. Then lots of puttering around, nothing special. * Oh, I did hang pics in my upper hall, the photos of Chum and Annie and the boys, after not having anything on my walls for about 16 months or so. I hadn't wanted to put holes in the wall again, after painting last year, but finally said what the heck. And they're small nail holes into the studs, not huge gaping holes from drywall anchors/screws. * Lots of neg...

"The Cat Guy" asked me for wider angle pics of my front step, so I snapped these last evening and thought I'd post them here, in case others have ideas too. There's really only about 3 feet from my door to the pipe, and the depth is slightly more than 2 feet, maybe 2.5 feet. But I would think something around 20 inches deep would be better, because I need room for the cat dishes and for Toby to move around. The formerly thick and full shrub has been cut back. It used to be quite sheltered under here, but not any longer. This is where the former neighbour's sweet cat, Niko, brought his dead birds. Some of you will remember that! He was a mighty hunter, all the more so because he was declawed in front, poor boy. I think of him often and hope he's okay, wherever they've moved to. I thought maybe I could make a bed down there, but the wind and snow and freezing rain will blow right in. Keep in mind that Toby really might prefer to hunker d...

Randomness for this Thursday: It's amazing how quickly someone with my body type will pack on the pounds when drinking one or two mugs of chai tea every day, made with 1% or even skim milk and a bit of honey. Plus two big mugs of coffee loaded with lite cream. Plus instant capps or iced coffees. Considering I must be consuming about 600 calories a day in non-alcoholic beverages, maybe my black slacks didn't really shrink after all. :-p (Actually, they did, because they are shorter. BTW , one mug of morning coffee stays, the rest go.)  * I met this cat on the way home a couple of days ago. A real cutie, though s/he had a messy behind, which makes me think s/he's having food issues. I didn't quite notice if s/he was male or female--all I noticed was the very dirty back end. And that s/he, while quite friendly, also is a biter.  Notice the mis-matched eyes. (Enlarging might help.) * I think the generic brand of allergy and sinus meds I bought at Wal-Ma...

It does not mean to use the dryer, on the delicate cycle, for 20 minutes, just to take the wrinkles out. Now my one pair of decent black slacks is a smidge too short (hopefully not noticeable to anyone else, since I wear flats all the time), and definitely more than a smidge too tight around the middle. 99.99% of the time I hang all my slacks to dry; what possessed me to try the delicate setting is beyond me.  *Headdesk* Lesson learned. Note to self: Start looking for a pair of black slacks on sale! Northern Reflections Essential Petitie slacks. Would that I were this lean. LOL.  

The hair, I mean. (Well, life in general, but most of us can say that!) My layers are too long to let air-dry, as I discovered this morning. Hence the need for the straightening iron, then the curling iron, and then the straightening iron again, to get it looking worse than it did before I had it cut. Ah, vanity. But hey, I get to try again tomorrow!  :-) On another note, Rian over at Older but better...? has a "place" she goes to when she needs to get away from her reality, a "place" called Bailey's Cove . I suspect most of us have a real or imagined "place" we go to when we need a respite from the craziness of our own lives, but I love how she's actually got photos that are close to what she imagines. So with that in mind, I had done a bit of image surfing last week and come up with these, though not with a name for my "place." Most are wallpaper images, unless noted otherwise.  This is in Dorset, England...

7:30AM-ish I heard shouting outside, not exactly uncommon in our complex. I peeked out the window but couldn't see who was causing the disturbance. A few minutes later I heard a crash/bang. Still couldn't see anyone, but the next thing you know, my neighbours, the husband and wife, went outside. She was still in her jammies, and quite upset. Apparently two 20-something yahoos, with a little rat dog on a leash, threw a beer bottle at their truck. It wasn't personal, they probably were still drunk and being stupid, but of course there was an altercation. I was just getting ready to head out for groceries anyway, and slunk away and out of sight, so I have no idea what happened after that. Nothing dire or dreadful, I hope. Their truck was intact when I got home an hour later, no bodies or blood, so I presume it was okay in the end. These days, I feel like I'm living in the tough north end of this city. There's lots of that in this area; I've mentioned many time...

I needed a small hairstyle change, so have decided to let my hair do its natural "flippy" thing, after some years of my personal "war on hair." (Blow-dry styling and for the better part of a year, using a straightening iron every day.) So my stylist layered up the sides a bit more, but left the rest as is. I'm going to grow the back an inch or two, not much, enough so that I don't have to shave my hairline at the back of my neck. I just want something to frame my long, horsey face, and I'm tired of fighting with the wave. Make peace, not war, and all that.  :-) Ignore the middle-aged double chin, I get it from my dad's side of the family. As for colour: It had been 5 months since I had hi-lites, couldn't get it done last month. It was worth the wait, though. She went with just a blonde shade this time, a not-so-golden colour. Something in between my own mousey brown-turning-grey and the leftover bright gold and copper hi-lites. She sa...

Our office fridge. Three of us cleaned it out today -- I had volunteered to dispose of the food, since I can't smell. Everyone on our floor was sent an email by the organizer of this dangerous expedition, and anything that wasn't marked/labelled got trashed. That was 98% of the "food," and I use that word loosely, in both the freezer and fridge. Lots of disgusting items, but only one that made me scream at the top of my lungs as I was hauling it out. The entire building heard me for that one, actually. But it's done. This time. And I came away with a very handy glass butter dish that no one claimed. If someone asks where it went I'll happily return it; otherwise, it's mine.  :-) BTW, every cartoon/joke you've seen/read about the stereotypical office fridge is true! Have a hazard-free weekend, everyone.  :-) The cartoon I printed out and taped to the fridge, after we were done.

Not that I ever escape it. :-) But back to work. And no, it wasn't "fun" to leave the house so early this morning. Oh, btw, remember I put that critter deterrent plastic spike-thingy on my fence last week , to keep Toby off? Well, I'm sure it would work just fine if he were jumping up there, but no, he's getting onto the support struts. In fact, he was comfortably settled on top of one in the wee hours this morning, while Derry was lying out on the back step and Nicki was under the step. Look at the far end of the fence, the part that joins the neighbours. See the (vertical) angled support the sheeting is attached to? That's where Toby was perched this morning. Yay, Toby. I'm asking around here, if anyone knows someone who is experienced and patient with cats and would be able to give him a good indoor/outdoor forever home. It's a long shot, but you never know. I also emailed the boys' shelter, but I know I won't ever hear bac...

Some of you might remember that I've mentioned (a time or ten) the Olav pine buffet I bought at Jysk 14 months ago, when Dad was last here. It took six months before I bothered to prime it (after thinking staining would be a good idea and quickly finding out that wasn't the case). And another six months before I painted it. Well, I thought I'd assemble it today, at long last. In my heart, I think I knew where this would end up after the crappy paint job I did (didn't like the quality of furniture paint, wasn't happy with the colour, and had a few glommy blotches of dried paint on a couple of pieces). But the clincher was realizing, as I was getting started, that the supposed pre-drilled holes on four pieces, for the door hinges, were non-existent. Oh, I took my time, made sure I knew what pieces were the end ones, looked and looked and looked again, but nope, no hinge holes. Okay, plan B. That was to assemble it without doors and have a...

1. It's stinkin' hot and getting hotter. I hate to admit this, but I'm feeling a bit desperate for the cooler temps of fall. High 90s F or even low 100s F just isn't my thing (high 30s C into 40C+ with the humidex factor). 2. I'm really loving these days off work. I've had a great time so far, shopping for things I need and I few I don't, and getting a few things done around the house. 3. I went to Value Village this morning and found a terrific teal spring/fall jacket, really well made, not showing any wear at all. A splurge at $12, though. Then I popped in to Liquidation World and found a few more little things, including a soft, plush cat bed for $5 (!) for the shelter donation project. (BTW, I'm still on knitted blanket #27 and have been for ages. I can't look at it right now, it's so hot, let alone pick up the needles.) 4. My bus at the transfer point, heading home, was a no show at noon. A call to our City's customer servic...

After I got home late this morning, I decided I'd haul my step ladder around the back and do some trimming of the heavy branches that hang over my fence. I've been concerned they would somehow damage the sheeting or otherwise cause problems. So off I went, ladder and two hand saws with me. Just a tip: It's better to have someone around when you're up on a step ladder that's resting on uneven ground. Just saying. No, I didn't fall, thank you, Fates, but I sure as heck hung on to my fence posts with one hand for much of this, making the whole exercise even harder. I know it doesn't look like I did much, but my arms and shoulders would say otherwise, if they could speak. And had the energy to do so. A couple of the lower branches on the right were trimmed some time ago, but I did the upper ones today. You really can't tell what the mess of green is, but it's all the branches I took off. Some of them actually are very large, and I...