Now, please get that irritating camera out of my face!Thursday, December 24, 2009
I know wherefore art thy Romeo!
The camera is broken, so I am sorry there are no pictures to add! We just cannot bear to be anywhere near a mall or retail strip right now.
Since there have been no bites on our flurry of Lost Cat flyers, G-man and I decided it was time to take Huespedes to the vet and have him checked out. So G loaded up the cat and drove out to Healing Spirit amidst his long list of Things To Do.
The vet said the cat looked pretty good, with nothing more than a healing scratch on his face (and skinniness) to show for his ordeal. Which we pretty much knew, as he as been bouncier and more playful with each passing day. He weighed in at 10 lbs.
Then they found a microchip.
So, not a college-kid throwaway like we suspected. The vet called the owner, listed as living in Astoria, and left a message, gave G-man the number to follow up, and sent G and Hues on their way. After a bit of phone tag Greg finally got the owner, Kirsten, on the phone. Romeo, her beloved cat, had bolted out of her car October 9th as she was idling on G St next to Wildberries, getting directions. The cat was not in a crate, and the next thing she saw was Romeo in her rear-view mirror, heading across the road! She got out to follow him, but he was spooked, she was frantic...in trying to catch him, she took a tumble on the steep slope bordering the highway and, in great pain, had to break off the pursuit. Back in Astoria, she ended up in Emergency Care for a severely-broken arm. And no cat.
She waited for someone to call with word of Romeo. And waited. And waited.
Meanwhile, on a quiet corner a block away from Wildberries, Romeo waited for his person to pick him up. And waited. And waited.
So sad, to think of two loves patiently, loyally, waiting for the other to return. Hearts breaking, hope waning, giving up at last and reluctantly moving on, so sad still at a lost love.
And then a phone call.
Since there have been no bites on our flurry of Lost Cat flyers, G-man and I decided it was time to take Huespedes to the vet and have him checked out. So G loaded up the cat and drove out to Healing Spirit amidst his long list of Things To Do.
The vet said the cat looked pretty good, with nothing more than a healing scratch on his face (and skinniness) to show for his ordeal. Which we pretty much knew, as he as been bouncier and more playful with each passing day. He weighed in at 10 lbs.
Then they found a microchip.
So, not a college-kid throwaway like we suspected. The vet called the owner, listed as living in Astoria, and left a message, gave G-man the number to follow up, and sent G and Hues on their way. After a bit of phone tag Greg finally got the owner, Kirsten, on the phone. Romeo, her beloved cat, had bolted out of her car October 9th as she was idling on G St next to Wildberries, getting directions. The cat was not in a crate, and the next thing she saw was Romeo in her rear-view mirror, heading across the road! She got out to follow him, but he was spooked, she was frantic...in trying to catch him, she took a tumble on the steep slope bordering the highway and, in great pain, had to break off the pursuit. Back in Astoria, she ended up in Emergency Care for a severely-broken arm. And no cat.
She waited for someone to call with word of Romeo. And waited. And waited.
Meanwhile, on a quiet corner a block away from Wildberries, Romeo waited for his person to pick him up. And waited. And waited.
So sad, to think of two loves patiently, loyally, waiting for the other to return. Hearts breaking, hope waning, giving up at last and reluctantly moving on, so sad still at a lost love.
And then a phone call.
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Recognize Me?
That skinny lunk of a cat is Huespedes, our houseguest....I will update this tonight when I get home from work, as I see my time is running short. Briefly, I am happy to report that Hues is hoovering up cans of cat food, is feeling better, and this morning is actually playing with our selection of cat toys. Go Hues!Greg is printing up flyers for me to mail to local vets, so hopefully we'll find out this guy's story soon.
Okay, flyers going out in tomorrow's mail! Although I wish the stationery story hadn't run out of 5x7 envelopes, as I now need to buy stamps to pay for the oversized envelope surcharge! D'oh.
When I found Huespedes during my mail route—or rather, Huespedes politely got my attention while I was delivering—I called Greg to come pick him up. I promised "One day only," and Greg politely did not say a thing. At first we put the cat in our mud room with a bed, a litter box, and some food and water. Two days later, we expanded his area to include the kitchen. A day or two after that, Greg finally got tired of slipping in and out of the kitchen and gave the cat the run of the house.
Not that he did much running. He ate, he purred and kissed if picked up, he pooped and peed—happily, always in the litter box. Mostly he slept. I'm not surprised, seeing how emaciated he is, and knowing how awfully cold it was the week before we took him in...Greg says he acts like someone rescued from drowning at sea. He's a big cat; I'd guess his normal weight is close to 20 lbs, though I don't think he weighs as much as tiny Vivani right now, who tips the scales at 8 lbs.
Today, though, a change: Huespedes came over and asked to play, so I busted out some cat toys to see which he'd like. Hues even skipped a bit when I came home tonight. He's interacting with Vivani and Orange Gina more, with mixed results. I think that as soon as they work out the rights of passage though the hallway, most of the hissing and growling will stop. Hues sure doesn't seem interested in being anything other than Third Cat, as long as it includes Living Inside.
Monday, December 14, 2009
An Early Start
It's Monday, my day off, and I'm getting ready for my 7:30am clock-in time at work: one pair of socks, two? Do I need a long-sleeved undershirt today, or is a tank okay? Knee socks?
I hear the rumbling of a diesel engine in the street outside, and take a peek out the front-door curtains. It's a FedEx truck, and our local driver coming up our walkway with a parcel. The sun is not yet in the sky. I ask him, What are you doing here this early? and he says, On Mondays we start at 5 am. I take the box, give him a hug and say Thanks. He says, Don't work too hard today and we both laugh.
So even though you all know that I am awfully partisan towards the USPS, please, these next two weeks, throw some love to your FedEx and UPS guys. They're working it for you.
I hear the rumbling of a diesel engine in the street outside, and take a peek out the front-door curtains. It's a FedEx truck, and our local driver coming up our walkway with a parcel. The sun is not yet in the sky. I ask him, What are you doing here this early? and he says, On Mondays we start at 5 am. I take the box, give him a hug and say Thanks. He says, Don't work too hard today and we both laugh.
So even though you all know that I am awfully partisan towards the USPS, please, these next two weeks, throw some love to your FedEx and UPS guys. They're working it for you.
Friday, December 11, 2009
The Naked Truth
Dear Mrs. Rose Benson
Sincerely
Skye Groundeagle
I have been totally down on my sick bed for some time now,and that is the reson you have not heard from me.i am so sorry to hear that. I hope you get better soon.
I thank God today that i have little strenght to write you this message.Me too! Well really I thank the goddess myself.
Meanwhile i want to know the current update about the fund which is to be transfered to you for the works of God.Well there is no update. Nothing has happened. Did I miss an email?
Please i want you to update me to enable me know what is happening.Please i will like you to hurry up everything because my situation is becoming worse everyday.I have to confess something my Apostolic Sister, as you know I said we are pagans and dance around the fire naked and you said that is ok, because I know in your heart yo are really one of us because you would nt have written to me otherwise, when your abundance can so sweet help my need. so I hope you can help us but in fact I have hesitated because we are really very moral people and don't lie but the truth is we know that some of the peopple do have orgees and everythign, but they always have safe sex.
My ernest expectation is to see that this fund is transfered to you before anything happens to my life.I hope my naked truth will not affect this
Sincerely
Skye Groundeagle
Tuesday, December 08, 2009
On being a mailma'am
I have NO idea if people are curious or interested in the typical day of a mailma'am. If you're not, there's always this. Otherwise...
I am a part-time flexible carrier, or PTF. Your mailman is probably a regular carrier: somebody with their own route, which they carry (deliver) five days a week, 8 hours a day. They know your name, when to hold your mail while you're on vacation, how old your kids are and the names of your in-laws and pets. When your regular mailman has more than 8 hours of work in a day because of the volume of mail, or has a doctor's appointment, or is sick, that's when we PTFs step in. So you only see me every once in a while, and I'm usually looking lost, frustrated, and/or harried. Where is the mailbox? Where is this house? Where is this street? Who lives here? Etc.
Sometimes, though, when your regular mailman goes on vacation, or is out on short- or long-term disability (twisted ankle, repetitive-strain injury), you might see me every day, especially if I opt on the mailman's route while he's gone. When I opt on a route, I effectively become the regular until the regular mailman returns: I get his days off, his start/end times...kinda. More on that in a bit.
I like short-term opts because it allows me to really learn a route: who lives where, how long the various sections normally take to deliver, who wants me to leave packages and who would rather come down to the PO and pick them up, where the bathrooms are, who's got dogs, that sort of thing.
In general, the post office is expected to make money, to operate in the black. We aren't. Maybe in another post I'll go into that, but for now I'll just ask, the last time you were in Europe how much did it cost you to mail a postcard or letter? Compare it to the cost to mail a postcard or letter in the US. Also...is the Dept of Transportation expected to operate in the black? It's not an apples-to-apples comparison, I know. But put it in the back of your mind.
At our local post office, we have 21 routes, plus three swing carriers. (Your mailman has a five-day work week, but the post office delivers mail six days a week. The swing carrier delivers the mail on your mailman's day off, for five different routes.) We also have a relief carrier, a fill-in-the-blanks carrier for short-term and/or unexpected holes in the schedule. Earlier this year we had a mailman leave the post office, and our relief carrier took his route. (No one took the relief position.) Then someone else moved out of state, but no one took his swing. Then someone left on long-term disability, and a carrier switched routes, but no one took her old one. Then another mailman left on short-term disability. We also have a mailman who keeps deploying to Afganistan for months at a time, making his route a short-term opt. So by my count we have 3 routes open, and 2 short-term opts available.
Again, at our local post office, we have three PTFs and, like I said, I am one of them. The three of us have all opted into the three open routes, so there's no one available for the two short-term openings. There is no one available to cover medical appointments, or sick days, or days when a carrier goes on vacation. We have three temporary employees, who get no benefits or credit towards a postal carrier for time served should they become PTFs or regulars -- they're just like anyone hired by a temp agency. So most days we negotiate Japanese baseball game to distribute the mail from open routes so that it all goes out. Because, at the post office, it all goes out. And we stay out til it all gets delivered.
I am a part-time flexible carrier, or PTF. Your mailman is probably a regular carrier: somebody with their own route, which they carry (deliver) five days a week, 8 hours a day. They know your name, when to hold your mail while you're on vacation, how old your kids are and the names of your in-laws and pets. When your regular mailman has more than 8 hours of work in a day because of the volume of mail, or has a doctor's appointment, or is sick, that's when we PTFs step in. So you only see me every once in a while, and I'm usually looking lost, frustrated, and/or harried. Where is the mailbox? Where is this house? Where is this street? Who lives here? Etc.
Sometimes, though, when your regular mailman goes on vacation, or is out on short- or long-term disability (twisted ankle, repetitive-strain injury), you might see me every day, especially if I opt on the mailman's route while he's gone. When I opt on a route, I effectively become the regular until the regular mailman returns: I get his days off, his start/end times...kinda. More on that in a bit.
I like short-term opts because it allows me to really learn a route: who lives where, how long the various sections normally take to deliver, who wants me to leave packages and who would rather come down to the PO and pick them up, where the bathrooms are, who's got dogs, that sort of thing.
In general, the post office is expected to make money, to operate in the black. We aren't. Maybe in another post I'll go into that, but for now I'll just ask, the last time you were in Europe how much did it cost you to mail a postcard or letter? Compare it to the cost to mail a postcard or letter in the US. Also...is the Dept of Transportation expected to operate in the black? It's not an apples-to-apples comparison, I know. But put it in the back of your mind.
At our local post office, we have 21 routes, plus three swing carriers. (Your mailman has a five-day work week, but the post office delivers mail six days a week. The swing carrier delivers the mail on your mailman's day off, for five different routes.) We also have a relief carrier, a fill-in-the-blanks carrier for short-term and/or unexpected holes in the schedule. Earlier this year we had a mailman leave the post office, and our relief carrier took his route. (No one took the relief position.) Then someone else moved out of state, but no one took his swing. Then someone left on long-term disability, and a carrier switched routes, but no one took her old one. Then another mailman left on short-term disability. We also have a mailman who keeps deploying to Afganistan for months at a time, making his route a short-term opt. So by my count we have 3 routes open, and 2 short-term opts available.
Again, at our local post office, we have three PTFs and, like I said, I am one of them. The three of us have all opted into the three open routes, so there's no one available for the two short-term openings. There is no one available to cover medical appointments, or sick days, or days when a carrier goes on vacation. We have three temporary employees, who get no benefits or credit towards a postal carrier for time served should they become PTFs or regulars -- they're just like anyone hired by a temp agency. So most days we negotiate Japanese baseball game to distribute the mail from open routes so that it all goes out. Because, at the post office, it all goes out. And we stay out til it all gets delivered.
Monday, December 07, 2009
Let's be in communication
Dear beloved Skye,
Thank you for your response I am very glad to receive your mail, i understand your explainations that you are not a christian, but i assure you that, that will not be a problem here ok, all i want you to do is to make sure that this fund is used to help the poor and less privilaged ones and that is my most interest, and i will be so glad if you will assure me that you will use this money for the assistance to the poor ones.
My beloved i am here to tell you that i am not the one that chosed you but it is God and i want you to trust me as i trusted you now. I got your email contact through my private search looking for someone to assist me. I am willing to offer you this donation in order to help the less fortunate, I have been helping people little by little in the past but now I have decided to donate this amount for Godly activities rural places, since I don't have any person that shall inherit this fund if I die tomorrow, not that I don't have faith to survive this condition but this donate comes from my heart without any objection spirit.
Regarding to my health, I thank God, I am little bit better now than yesterday, I apprecaite your
readiness to proceed ahead with me to retrieve the donation to your control,
Thank you for your response I am very glad to receive your mail, i understand your explainations that you are not a christian, but i assure you that, that will not be a problem here ok, all i want you to do is to make sure that this fund is used to help the poor and less privilaged ones and that is my most interest, and i will be so glad if you will assure me that you will use this money for the assistance to the poor ones.
My beloved i am here to tell you that i am not the one that chosed you but it is God and i want you to trust me as i trusted you now. I got your email contact through my private search looking for someone to assist me. I am willing to offer you this donation in order to help the less fortunate, I have been helping people little by little in the past but now I have decided to donate this amount for Godly activities rural places, since I don't have any person that shall inherit this fund if I die tomorrow, not that I don't have faith to survive this condition but this donate comes from my heart without any objection spirit.
Regarding to my health, I thank God, I am little bit better now than yesterday, I apprecaite your
readiness to proceed ahead with me to retrieve the donation to your control,
Dear, presently I am in the hospital waiting for the date of the cancer operation recommended by my medical doctor, I don't know how secretative you are, I would like you to keep this affair confidential until you confirm this donation in your bank account, some times it is not good for someone to speak out his dealings while it is still on the process, meanwhile I am advising you to hid this affair until the goal is achieved. If you assure me this I will kindly give you all the contact information of the security firm where this donation is deposited, you shall contact the Director of the firm with my instruction and introduction for the transfer of the fund to your country.
Let's be in communication, when I receive your next message I will give you the contact information of the name of the Firm manager to contact for the procedure to transfer the fund to your country as soon as possible.
Finally, I attarched my pictures and i will like you to send me your own pictures so that we will know each other through pictures.
I am waiting for your reply.
God bless you.
Might be a Problem
Dear Mrs Rose Benson
Thanks you very much for your letter.
I am very sorry to read of your deaf and stroke problem, and want to offer my Services.
Your generous offer of money is wonderful, and I am sure that your dear husband is carousing with the angels this very minute for it.
But there Might be a Problem.
I am not Christian and not is my healing circle. We are Devoted Pagans and I will not kid you some times we dance nude at the fire but we do not I swear have horgeys. We do Good Work, and our Goddess (She is your Gods wife) bless her has healed many peoples.
So I am enquizzing you if your Heart is big enough to help others like you looking to heal the terra and her Kids.
Thanks you,
Skye Groundeagle
Thanks you very much for your letter.
I am very sorry to read of your deaf and stroke problem, and want to offer my Services.
Your generous offer of money is wonderful, and I am sure that your dear husband is carousing with the angels this very minute for it.
But there Might be a Problem.
I am not Christian and not is my healing circle. We are Devoted Pagans and I will not kid you some times we dance nude at the fire but we do not I swear have horgeys. We do Good Work, and our Goddess (She is your Gods wife) bless her has healed many peoples.
So I am enquizzing you if your Heart is big enough to help others like you looking to heal the terra and her Kids.
Thanks you,
Skye Groundeagle
Sunday, December 06, 2009
Succor
Apostolic Greetings
Mrs Rose Benson,
Address: 12 Bp 1046 Abidjan,
Mrs Rose Benson,
Address: 12 Bp 1046 Abidjan,
Cote D'ivoire.
I am Mrs Rose Benson. I am a deaf woman from Israel but now undergoing medical treatment in Abidjan the capital city of Ivory Coast. I am married to late Mr Benson Joe, who worked with Israeli Embassy in Ivory Coast for Eleven years before he died in the year 2008, after a brief illness that lasted for only Ten days. We were married for Eighteen years without any child.
After the death of my husband i vowed to use our wealth for the down trodden and the less privileged in our society. Recently, My Doctor told me that I may not last for the next seven months due to cancer problem, though what disturbs me most is my stroke and deaf problem. Haven known my condition i decided to Serve God with our wealth.
When my late husband was alive we kept the sum of ($6.4 Million U.S. Dollars)six million four hundred thousand united states dollars. Having known my condition I decided to Give out this fund to a church or an individual or better still a God fearing person who will utilize this fund the way I am going to instruct here in.
I want an individual that will use this fund to provide succor to the poor and indigent persons, orphanages, widows around him or her and Schools etc. As soon as I receive your response I shall give you the contact where the consignment box that contain the money was deposited also issue you the documents that will prove you the present beneficiary of this fund.
Any delay in your reply will give me room in searching for an individual for this same purpose, always be prayerful all through your life. Please assure me that you will act accordingly as I Stated herein. Hope to receive your reply soon.
Thanks and Remain Blessed.
Mrs Rose Benson Joe
After the death of my husband i vowed to use our wealth for the down trodden and the less privileged in our society. Recently, My Doctor told me that I may not last for the next seven months due to cancer problem, though what disturbs me most is my stroke and deaf problem. Haven known my condition i decided to Serve God with our wealth.
When my late husband was alive we kept the sum of ($6.4 Million U.S. Dollars)six million four hundred thousand united states dollars. Having known my condition I decided to Give out this fund to a church or an individual or better still a God fearing person who will utilize this fund the way I am going to instruct here in.
I want an individual that will use this fund to provide succor to the poor and indigent persons, orphanages, widows around him or her and Schools etc. As soon as I receive your response I shall give you the contact where the consignment box that contain the money was deposited also issue you the documents that will prove you the present beneficiary of this fund.
Any delay in your reply will give me room in searching for an individual for this same purpose, always be prayerful all through your life. Please assure me that you will act accordingly as I Stated herein. Hope to receive your reply soon.
Thanks and Remain Blessed.
Mrs Rose Benson Joe
Friday, December 04, 2009
December dawns cold and colorful
This week's been alternating between warm, sunny days (highs near 60!) and cold, clammy, Basil Rathbone-caliber fogs that refuse to burn off. The sunsets have been gorgeous, with just enough high fog/clouds for the sun to color, but today we got a lovely dawn as well:
I put on a jacket and went outside to enjoy it. As I stood in the cold beneath my neighbor's magnificent walnut tree, my other neighbor came out to enjoy the show, too. We stood chatting underneath the pinks and purples of the rising sun, talking about work and Christmas cookies, when she turned and said, "Look!"
The colors had intensified and spread across the entire sky, from the eastern horizon above Arcata's downtown and community forest to the houses and dairy pastures in the west. A first-class sunrise!
I put on a jacket and went outside to enjoy it. As I stood in the cold beneath my neighbor's magnificent walnut tree, my other neighbor came out to enjoy the show, too. We stood chatting underneath the pinks and purples of the rising sun, talking about work and Christmas cookies, when she turned and said, "Look!"
The colors had intensified and spread across the entire sky, from the eastern horizon above Arcata's downtown and community forest to the houses and dairy pastures in the west. A first-class sunrise!
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