Work Update, Tornado, Haircuts and Photos of Me.

Groan. 

I don't even want to write this post.

source

I'm tired off it all and just want to put it out of my mind,

but since I shared before and got such great advice

I feel like I owe you all an update.

So....guess what!

The girl who works for me in boarding

and who refused to work weekends and said she'd quit without notice if I put her on weekends?

Well, now she no longer wants to work Thursday days either.

My only day off.

Nor Friday nights.

She just wants Monday through Wednesday evenings hours.

At first I told her that I'd rather work 60 hours a week than put up with her crap.

Yep, that's exactly how I said it.

I told her that by saying she wants to work just 3 days, she's saying that she wants to quit.

I told her that it doesn't work for me

and then I said I had to leave before I said more angry things.

I went home and texted Doc's step-daughter to see if she can work some hours

and she has to get back to me.

Then I text the vet who is HR and let her know what was going on.

She said we would talk the next day because tornado sirens were going off in her area.

So, there was a Tornado!

It didn't actually hit her area but instead touched down in another town,

where my step-mom lives!

It destroyed some homes

and did major damage to most of the houses out in that little town.

It's very rural and the houses on either side of my step-mom had a lot of damage

but her house wasn't touched except for a tree.

Her insurance agent called the next day and said he had watched the storm over the Net and it went right over her house.

He had been waiting for a call, for a claim and was shocked that they were untouched.

Talk about lucky!

Their power went out but they have a generator.

No sirens went off in their little town. No warning but luckily people headed for their basements

when the sky turned ugly.

Here, it rained and then everything turned kinda yellow

I didn't edit these photos at all -

and the sky got very light

and it was 9 at night!

Then it was over.

Across the river, where I work, they said it didn't even rain.

Weather is weird.

But back to my work crap.

Right now I have her working those 3 evenings shifts

that are three hours long,

while I'm working 7.

source

Yes, SEVEN days a week.

although some days it's only for 5 hours....

but Fridays are double shifts.

If I didn't keep her on those nights, I'd be doing double shifts on those days too.

So until I can find someone else....

Although some of the techs have stepped up to cover afternoon hours so that I'm not there all day.

The girl says she's just burnt out and needs a break.

I didn't bother to say she just works part-time and just came off a 10 day vacation last month.

She forgets that I'm here all day long and I'm more than 2 times her age

and that I do the majority of cleaning etc. during the day

and she just has a few messes and feeding to do in the evening....

She told my niece that if I fire her, she will get unemployment.

I doubt that she could but I won't fire her,

when I find someone else, I will put her back on weekends

and Friday nights.

That should do it.

If not, then I will fire her.

Doc left for his 2 week European trip today.

I'm taking care of his 2 dogs and 2 cats.

I started to tell him about the latest with this girl

and apparently the other vet, the HR vet had filled him in 

and all he said was "Just take care of it"

I guess he just wants to leave and not be bothered.

I did mention to him that he might be surprised to see my time card when he returns.

Anyway,  blah, blah, blah.

I'm tired of thinking about it

and talking about it.

I'll just do it and not think.

What a stupid lazy girl.

I was told by some of the co-workers to put a job listing on Facebook,

(I had done that before and only got the one response from the unenthusiastic girl)

But I put it up again and I asked local people to share it so that it would reach as many people as possible.

So far the only person to "Like" the post is this stupid girl that doesn't want to work.

I feel like she "Liked" it just to make a point.

I was also told to list the job opening on the local Employ Me site.

I will have the Office Manager do that but I noticed that our big rival boarding/vet clinic competition

has a job listing for the exact same job, posted right now too.

Someone else said to list it on Craigslist.

I hadn't thought about that.

I Googled it and the brand new fancy pet boarding kennel that has "4 locations",

has a job posting on it already.

Everyone is searching for Help, I guess.

I'm trying to be positive

and I'm focusing on another perfect person to walk in and apply.

The new girl is doing Great and LOVES the job

but she's a full-time groomer and only wanted a couple of days a week.

So that's the situation.

I have some many Art plans

and I haven't shared this before but my name is going to come up in the next couple of months

for booth space.

I've been on a waiting list since last August.

Not the place downtown but the BIG place with all the traffic.

I've got to carve out Art time

and yard, house, laundry, play with my own pets time.

Oh and sleep.

source

So that's how it currently sits.

This stupid girl is working tomorrow.

My last full day off for a while.

I plan to go get my hair cut.

(WARNING: I'm posting photos of myself.

I hate my photos, they don't look like me

Some stranger jumps in front of the camera.)

:(

OK... I do this full circle thing with my head.

I cut it short and make it blonder

and I'm happy with it 

and then one day I stop getting it cut

and I let it grow.

It grows and grows 

and then I straighten it into a long smooth style

and then one day humidity moves in

and I stop straightening it

and turns into this huge curly mass

(this is actually a smoother day)

and then I gather it up

and put it into a wild ponytail for a while.

Then I need a change and suddenly hate my hair

I cut it all off.

Do you do that?

Go back and forth with hair styles?

Anyway, that's the update but

don't worry-

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BIRTHDAY CAT

Today is Ghost's 12th birthday!

I think he's been partying too hard.

A NICE SURPRISE

I like to sit at my kitchen table and read blogs and answer comments on my laptop.               

Or I'll do little sketches and doodles while sitting there

and when I look out my windows

I see my neighbors dining room window.

Or, I think it's their dining room.

If I have my curtains pulled back, to let in the light

I can see right into their house.

If they have theirs pulled back,

they can see into my house too.

I thought about this last year

and decided a privacy fence or even a single fence panel

wouldn't be tall enough to block them out

and while they are nice enough people

I don't want to look at them.

So last year I went out and bought a little fruit tree.

I already have a few planted around my yard.

When I got that tree, in case they were looking out their window,

I made a big show of setting it in various spots and

standing back and looking at it with a critical eye

while I already knew darn well where it was going.

I just didn't want to it to be obvious, that I was blocking them out.

So, I planted that tree

and a yellow climbing rose and a red rose bush and well, lots of things.

This morning, before leaving for work

I was reading all the great comments you all had left me

about Ricochet and my work problem(s).

I was wishing I didn't have to go to work, even if everything was ideal

because a cool breeze floated into the room.

It finally was a day without rain and light fell across my kitchen table.

I paused every now and then and glanced outside and

thought about staking the little tree or maybe pruning it.

I thought about how I needed to get out there and do some weeding

and I thought about....so many things.

Then something caught my eye. 

Was that the neighbors dog?

Was she loose?

I got up and walked closer to the window.

NO! it wasn't a dog!

I snapped a couple of photos with my phone

and then I hurried out the front door and walked slowly to the side yard.

Just a few feet away.

She/He looked at me for a moment

and I swear it almost stepped forward

and then it took a step back and turned.

It hurried but didn't run.

I stood there for a moment.

I felt happy..

Life is Good.

Everything will eventually work out. 

RICOCHET

Just checking in quickly.

So that you don't think I fell off the face of the Earth.

I'm just working A LOT.

6 days a week, but some of them are half days.

But those half days are so super busy that I come home and crash.

The other day I came home and sat down and was looking at Pinterest on my phone

and I feel asleep for a moment and sent a link to one of my contacts!

Luckily it was my friend/co-worker and it was just a photo of a fence idea.

I told her what had happened and she laughed.

I'm still thinking POSITIVE but some days are hard.

The girl who has been working part-time for me for years has been needing so many weekends off.

In fact she had the majority of weekends off last summer because of horse things and

she now tells me that she needs ALL weekends off this summer to go bow-fishing with her new boyfriend.

She's been whiny and grumbling and spending a lot of time on her phone when she needs to be working instead.

I know this because co-workers told me this is what she does while I'm gone.

I confronted her and told her I'd put her back of weekends if she didn't straighten up

and she said she would NOT work weekends again and if I put her on the schedule,

she would quit without giving me a 2 week notice.

I was so angry but with a skeleton crew and the one woman going back in for knee surgery

I bit my tongue and told her she'd have to be a team player in case of emergencies on weekends.

She said she would, IF she was in town.

I'm furious but I don't want to work every day so for now, I'm doing weekends

and hopefully I can "visualize" another person for her shift.

Good news though! 

The new girl I hired is working out perfectly.

She does have a full-time job, so she's only available a few evenings but....

who knows!?

Maybe somehow, something will work out.

NO, it WILL work out.

But right now, I'm just not thinking about it.

It's in the back of my brain and some day it when it slows down
and my other girl has recuperated from surgery

I WILL put that girl back on weekends and what will be, will be.

I have more to share but ...must get to bed.

I'll leave you with this.

ricochet

[rik′ə s̸hā′, rik′ə s̸hā′; Brit, -s̸het′]

noun

1. The definition of a ricochet is an act of bouncing off a surface.

verb

1. Ricochet is defined as to bounce off a surface and go another direction.
   

   

Ricochet.

Yep, that's her name now.

I would stop and hesitate and try to remember her name

as she bounced off the furniture.

I swear, sometimes she doesn't even touch the floor.

She just flies from sofa to chair to ottoman and back.

She does slow down long enough to cozy up to Jimmy Chew

and take his toy away.

 
 

Jimmy Chew has more than met his match.

Yep, pay backs are Hell... both for him and my grumpy complaining part-time girl.

SIX CAT PAINTINGS !!!

I finally finished some paintings!

Eventually I will get my "shop" set up to sell.

I want to get my business cards and postcards done too,

but in the meantime I'll just offer my Art here.

Mixed Media Paintings

on 4" x 4" by 1 1/2 inch acrylic painted wrapped canvases.

SOLD!

Collaged papers,  Inktense pencils

and archival ink

sealed in several coats of matte finish

Original art NOT prints

SOLD!

The sides are painted and ready to be hung on a wall

or thick enough to stand on a shelf unsupported.

$25.00 plus $5.00 shipping

Email me if you are interested!

 ruby053@aol.com

YOU ARE NOT GOING TO BELIEVE THIS!

(I've tried to post this last night but something is going on with Blogger. It keeps changing the font, the size of my text and breaking in the middle of words. I just wanted you to know why this text is looking a bit odd and how it's not a result of me whacked myself in the head with the dolly...)

But talk about POSITIVE BELIEVING...

(I have other results of positive thinking to tell you about)

but I must tell you what JUST happened.

The second girl came in for the job interview.

She was so UP and cheerful.
I showed her the cat room and introduced our clinic cats.

She made over all the cats and asked if she could pick up "Bird".

He's the 18 yr old cat that follows me everywhere and he's the one I worried about, back when I took a few days off.

(He's in Renal Failure and he's a little old man of a cat.)
The girl took a moment with each cat and while holding Bird told me 

"This might sound weird but I'm always drawn to the old or disabled".

I just smiled as she told me about her blind cat and her old dog on heart meds

and how she adopted them because they needed her to.

She said "Who else would have adopted a blind cat or an old dog?"

I don't even know her but I said, "Just you!.....or me".

We walked around then and I told her about the job.

She's already doing some kennel work at the job that she currently has so she knows what's basically involved and she stated that she actually enjoys cleaning.

This will be a part time job for her and she's hoping for evenings especially Sundays.

(Sunday night is the shift I had trouble getting coverage for.)

We walked out to the play area as she told me about how she loves all of
her dogs but that she has one who is her soulmate.

She said that she usually doesn't tell people that kind of thing because they think she's crazy.
We talked about the job but we also talked about our dogs and how we got them.

Then I asked if there are any dog breeds that she was uncomfortable handling and

she said No.

She loved all breeds... But she probably loves poodles most.
I looked at her and asked if someone told her to say that and I laughed.

Then I told her I have three!

She said she didn't have a big family (except for her pets of course) and her family didn't live close so she would be willing to work every holiday!

And she added that she drove a 4 wheel drive so she could always make it to work.
I told her she was hired.

Then we walked up front and I went to introduce her to Doc.

He was surprised and laughed because he knew her.

He gives her dogs chiropractic adjustments and he said

"Hey! You will get a discount! You'll save a lot of money!" 
I could tell he was happy to hear she was the new kennel girl.
Isn't this freaky weird?
Or not really.... Right!

OK, one more thing that happened.
I was driving home the other night and it was early evening.

I slowed down as I came up the the wooded area behind the church parking lot.

It's just a habit because there used to be deer that would come out of the woods in that area.
But no deer. 
There were hardly any cars as I drove down my street and I glanced around at the front yards.

No deer.
Last year there were always deer sightings.
I wondered where they were and what happened to the one that stopped in my yard a few times.

I felt almost ... Sad? Wistful?

Then in the middle of the night, well almost morning, I woke up because Blue was up.
He was looking out the bedroom window and down to the street.

He didn't bark but rather made this low rumble in his throat.

I got up quickly and peered out.
Walking down the middle of the street was a deer!
Blue looked at me and walked away and laid down.

I got back in bed and just felt amazed at the coincidence.
???
Then today after I got home from work, I let my dogs out on the patio and

then I went to water my plants.
When I finished I walked towards my backyard and looked down the hill.
It's so overgrown, completely taken over by weeds and I don't care.
I'm letting it be. 
Letting the wildlife have it. 
I had my phone in my pocket and I quickly snapped a photo.

Do you see it?
I walked closer...

Yep, Life is Good.