mid week ramblings

,,,well, not exactly mid week, but kinda (depending on which days you call weekends). we have had some pretty weird weather here this past week. in fact, the temperatures have gone from -25C *including wind chill* to +5C. dig out the shorts, kids. one day we get dumped with 15cm snow, then it changes over to ice pellets, followed by freezing rain, and when the temperature warms up enough, just plain old rain. actually, more like torrential downpours. basements flooded and a river of water flowing down the sides of the roads, washing out the gravel parts and so on. sheesh.

it seems that every thursday, we get poor weather. thursdays are the days that i head out to mom's to help her with stuff and get her out of the house. and there has been but one day that it was sunny, *but -20c*, at least it wasn't raining. we had snow last night, and now it is back up to +1C. little wonder there is so much sickness this winter, colds and the like.

we have had another death in our fur baby family. ned, m's guinea pig, had to take his trip yesterday. he was 8 years old. m and her BF j, went, and it was very hard for her. she gave ned such a good life. guinea pigs rarely live that long, or so i read. now ned is happy and restored to health, and bud is keeping his eye on him. rip ned.

the bird feeder has attracted a few small birds, like chickadees and little finch type birds. great entertainment for the cats. however, there is another visitor, a very fat, grey squirrel. naturally, i have named him, because every animal needs a name. i call him jack. he looks like a jack. he is a comical character. he has figured out that if he reaches the feeder from the bottom, he can hang there and eat sunflower seeds 'til the cows come home. little bugger is such a pig. and such a messy eater. there ought to be at least a few sunflower plants at the foot of our stairs this summer.

there has been a stray cat here in the neighbourhood for the winter. poor thing, with the weather being so bitterly cold, i don't know how s/he has survived. last week, after we returned from Bud's trip to the vet, the stray cat was on our steps. of course, we had to put out a dish of food and water for him/her. it is the right thing to do. i have seen the poor thing all winter, and longed to befriend the cat. s/he can be our outdoor cat. naturally i have named it, boots, s/he is white and black, and has little boots on. (the fur is different on the feet). last night, boots was back, so i took out a dish of food and water for it. our cats have not seen boots from the window yet, i am hoping not, because they would go nutty, *nuttier than they already are*.

work is still the same. the new shifts begin this saturday. hmph. instead of beginning at 630am , i don't go in until 930. with the later start times, i will be able to take advantage of shift moves whenever they present themselves. i hope to hardly ever work until 130am. we can hope. nights suck in headset hell. really they do. i have been doing more Abrand than Bbrand lately. i guess the new call centre that they outsourced to isn't ready or able to meet the demand yet. and the higher ups said they were up to speed,,,,yeah, right, that is why there is a 30 minute wait time for callers and they get pissed when the reservations are booked incorrectly. pfffft. the higher ups still haven't decided how they are going to 'adequately compensate' the cross over agents who are handling the overflow. i mean, so far, they are only giving us revenue bonus on either the last three months average amount while we were straight Abrand, or the actual amount when booking Bbrand, whichever is higher. uh huh. i just look at it as they can do what they want, and for me, it is first and foremost, about the customer, as dense as they are sometimes. i must get a list of F for F up soon.

enjoy your day, my faithfuls.................