Collateral damage

I'm in a sublimely foul mood this morning. It was almost impossible to get out of bed and I'm still kind of fuzzy and lingering in that zone between half-asleep and just barely functioning. The power has flashed a couple of times, and I had my fingers crossed that it might actually go out for a little while, but so far the lights have managed to stay on. I made the coffee this morning, and I made it a little too weak. My new coworker signed up as some program leader for part of the day, so she's not around. Near as I can tell, she hasn't had too much actual work to do since she was reassigned over here. Just as she was getting ready to run out the door, the boss asked her to do something - so she poked her head around the corner to ask me to do it.

They're closing a parking lot at the end of the week, to put a building on it. Some magnificent oak trees will also be lost in th building process, which to me seems like a real tragedy. Just another victim in the organization's quest for heedless (and maybe misguided...) expansion and growth.

The weekend was a total bust. We did nothing. We accomplished nothing. It felt freaking awesome! I watched a couple of movies Friday evening, wasted a great deal of time puttering around on the internet on Saturday, and spent most of Sunday watching specials on VH1 Classic. Over the next few days I'll be making up for the weekend's lack of productivity by digging up half my backyard to begin a wildflower garden.

Since something is going on with my work computer and Pandora no longer loads properly (it works fine at home, so the problem is I guess network or security setting related), I had to find an alternative. I stumbled on Slacker Radio, which has a great selection of ad-free pre-programmed stations featuring 'alternative' and 'indie acts'. There's a station devoted to the bands that were featured as part of SWSX this year. There's a little bit of repetition in the playlist for each station, but if you switch over to a different station every once in a while it's not so noticeable.

It's been storming quite a bit the last few days. We really need the rain, but people forget how to drive in wet weather. On Friday when I was picking up my son from camp I had a storm break right over my car - one second it was slightly overcast, but not a drop of rain, the next it was an amazing torrential downpour to the point where I could barely see the road. I had to slow down to a crawl, and when I got out of the car I got soaked. Driving back to the house from camp was equally exciting, since the roads started to flood. I was afraid my car might stall at some point before we got home, and my cell phone wasn't charged, but we made it in time for the storm to let up just a little. As I was walking in the door my husband was getting ready to leave for his weekend job. I had just gotten changed when he ran into the house cursing and looking for the umbrella - apparently, at some point after he'd come home from work just before it started to storm, the kittens from next door had taken refuge in his truck. In the warm (and dry) engine compartment. When my husband started the truck, he heard some strange thumping noises, and glanced down to see the black and white kitten that looks like my cat streaking across the yard to the neighbor's house. Then he saw the two marmalade tabbies limping out from under the truck. He was justifiably pissed and really upset that the kittens might have gotten hurt - not to mention that the engine could have been damaged.

We've talked to the neighbors about the cats before (among other issues - if you've ever seen the condition my neighbors keep their house in, you'd understand), so my husband went over and gave them a piece of his mind. The lady that lives over there assured us that the kittens would be dealt with, and my husband has given them until next Monday to resolve the issue before he starts to make calls to Animal Services and the code enforcement office. He also plans to put out live traps for all the cats, if Animal Services doesn't intervene. I've seen two of the three kittens since Friday evening, and they look fine. I haven't yet seen the third kitten, so I'm a little unsure how that one might be doing. The neighbors have been cited several times, as well as had to surrender cats and agree to not feed them to discourage them from congregating - and breeding - behind the house. I don't care if they have cats. They just need to take responsibility and care for them properly.

I got news ealier today that someone in another department, who had been seriously ill for some time, had passed away. And the daughter of my former boss is in the hospital with major pregnancy complications.

Update time...

I just got back from THE WORST dinner I think I've had in a very long time. Possibly ever. The service was lackluster, the food was mediocre, and my son spent most of the meal laying in his dad's lap - because we thought he was just really, really tired. We found out after we got home that it was more than that, but at least he was able to hold it off until we got in the door. The lesson learned is twofold: do not go to a new chain restaurant, no matter how promising the commercials make it look, without researching reviews...and if your normally vibrant and upbeat kid is lethargic and doesn't even touch his favorite food at dinner, you can be assured that the evening will end with his head in the toilet.