We can breathe today

Mal is out for the day so there is a palatable sense of relief in the air. So nice to be able to breathe, fart, belch, sneeze and cough without the harrumphs from the other side of the cube farm. I just finished ordering storage items for my desk at home as I really need to tidy up some aspects of the condo. The drawers in the old desk are not suitable for a great deal of storage. And I think I will also tackle the long table and tidy that up as well. I am looking forward to a great weekend. Hopefully Brody's Mom's grandbaby will arrive soon and she can take off for a visit. Until then we are symphoning tonight. Maybe doing breakfast on Sunday. The prelude to all this is a calm day at work with a few meetings and a new fountain pen to play with. AND NO MAL!!! Life is good.

Meeting

I have a 10:00 meeting with my boss, The Brainiac, to discuss electronic theses and subject assignation. I just love that word. It will most likely last an hour so I will miss break and that's a big oh well. I really respect and like The Brainiac as she has such flights of intellect that it is fun keeping up with her. We have a great relationship and it is one, I believe, of mutual respect. Aside from my longest tenured boss, Justice's Mom, Brainiac is cool. And, like Justice's Mom, has a great sense of humor.truly an academic's academic. So we should have fun today. I finally have my lists below 2,500 hits so I may be able to finish my backlog by next week. Tonight is the first symphony of the season and that will make for a long day. But Lordy, how I love going to the symphony. I will take an energy drink tonight as I won't have time for a refreshing nap before going. And, it will be a late night. So here's to a quiet weekend of cooking short ribs for me and the Boys and steaming the house up on this first cool weekend of the season. I have had a taste for short ribs for a while and today the new crock pot will arrive so it will be an experience. I think mashed potatoes or buttered noodles as an accompaniment and roasted veggies. My favorite specialty grocery store has closed so I won't be able to get parsnips. Here's to Goodrich's. They had a long run and I miss them dearly. We will be getting a Whole Foods store in a year or so but that won't make up for all the good stuff Goodrich's carried. So long old pal. More room for student apartments, which apparently we need, but who really knows. Okay, Gastric and my long lost nephew are en route so I am en off...

Welsh rarebit

Yummy. Just as good as I remembered. Leftovers tonight. Also a shop at Kroger tonight as Gonif needs turkey and I still need potatoes. Hmmm,,Welsh rarebit over a baked potato...hmmm....but I think as this promises to be the first genuinely cold weekend thus far I may break out the short ribs and crock pot and warm the house with the smells of autumn. That or make a turkey breast and Gonif and I can eat well. Yankel and Simcha can share. Actually, the same would be true of the short ribs. Anyway, more UPS visits today and so e shuffling of accommodations to put things away. I am endeavoring to learn Bill Monroe's Gold Rush on the mandolin. Kind of frustrating but I think I have the melody down. The other stuff my teacher gave me to work on is pretty easy. But Gold Rush is proving to be a problem. I have made Gastic and me a lovely lunch. Since I started packing lunches for us both of us have been eating better. And I have a surprise for her today. A sweet treat for a snack. I am getting closer every day to catching up from the time I was off. No, children, I have no back up. Hell, I am indispensable, and,, as such, no back up. So the list I work off of daily is down from almost eight thousand to a little over three thousand hits. Busy, busy, busy. Well, time to hit the bricks. Later my friends.

UPS overload

Well, when I was so sick and not eating the only thing that sounded good was Welsh rarebit. And Huzzah! It arrived today. Gonna heat a tray up and make toast. Have a sliced tomato with it. I ordered a case, and that was the smallest amount I could get. And imagine that...it all fit in the freezer, very nicely I might add. Had a nice day and a lunch out with Dan the Man,,my financial guy. Had a great talk over lunch. By the the time we got back to campus the skies had opened and it was pouring. Dan gave me an umbrella to keep. What a guy. The Green Tuna Lady shot me an email today about hearing people breathing and how tense it was in he cube farm. She is right. But I just listen to music and try not to hum. Humming evoked a nasty outburst from Mal, who has taken to wearing foam ear plugs to drown out the ambient noise. She is such a crackpot. And,,of course, if she wants to chat she expects you to drop everything and pay close attention to her outbursts. Gad. So I am home and comfy. Had a bit of a nap and now to heat up my rarebit and indulge in some real comfort food. Hugs to you all...with the exception of Mal, who probably could benefit from one but disdains contact. Off I go.

Please don't breathe so loud...

We are packed like the proverbial sardines in Technical Services. Two large rooms have been combined into one smaller room and we are all on top of each other. To her credit the head of Tech Services has asked us to be consideration of others but some people, alright Mal, makes a point of telling every one how loud they are and she is one of the worse offenders of idle chatters and while she shot me an email about me humming, she hums herself. Rather than setting off a pissing match I have opted to turn the volume on my iPod up. I can still hear her coughing and humming but the music hath charms and all that. The worse part is people can overhear phone conversations and I am a tad worried that some conversations may become grist for the rumor mill, like when I call my doctor for lab results or to make appointments. Well, shit, I just hope people can learn some discretion. Today is the library open house I am working from 1-5 to cover for another person. I will most likely work until 6:00 tonight. Almost twelve hours. And I have to make some time up for my lunch meeting with my financial guy tomorrow. The life insurance he wants me to have keeps getting shot down because of all my health issues. I just might as well up and die...as long as I do it quietly so as not to disturb Mal. My open house table is with the ergonomic team wherein we approach students and weigh their backpacks to see it they are carrying too much weight. Just to make them aware of potential problems. Plus we have hints on computer usage, reading and gaming. It's a nice way to welcome the students to the campus. So that is my day. No crap, just complaining about Mal and her attitude. I thought and I thought and I can't find one nice thing to say about her so I won't

Monday, Monday

Resumed work full time today, save for an appointment with Hyphen. It was insurance request application renewal day. Such great good fun. Why do I need therapy. Je suis meschuganah. That is as the French say poop de shoe be;in psychiatric terms...Crazy. Bipolar in need of medication and constant attention. No problem, approved for thirty more visits. That will get me through the rest of the year and well into winter. So, here I sit, certifiable, waiting for my mandolin lesson to commence and see how badly I have done the last few weeks practicing. I have still felt under the weather really until just this past weekend. But I'd rather be sleeping than practicing. Getting up at 4:00 a.m. is not a great way to start the day, especially if you don't lay down until 11:00. Back to session. It was, generally. Speaking a good session. I did take a nap after I got home and now I want to lay down again. But, on an up note, it is a glorious day, soon to become a shit Ty week with cold weather arriving. Rain and cold. Yahoo. And now it is time to be a curmudgeon and call the condo association and complain about the appearance of the front lawn, which is littered with bikes and an easy chair. Hiking my pants up I am off.

Lazy Sunday evening

A friend from work sent me the link for this cat cocoon. Gonif has taken to it. It's not exactly cool tonight but after an evening's play with catnip scented bubbles he retracted to the safety of his Peruvian made wool cat cocoon. Here he is at repose,