Christian the lion

Happy Birthday

I bought Chris his birthday/Christmas present today. He's been bugging me for a drill press for a while now. So as I sit here typing away he's playing with his new toy...er, I mean tool.
My parents bought a new stove so we've inherited their "old" one.

Other than that our lives are still pretty darn boring.

crankiness

I'm very cranky today. In truth I've been cranky since Wednesday. I went home early from work today due to stomach discomfort (she says being polite). I'm mad as hell that my bosses are mandating that my coworker and I change our hours. Right now we both work 7:00 - 3:00 which is awesome because a) it gives us time in the morning to catch up and b) (most important!) I miss most of the traffic. The hours they will be making us work are (they haven't decided yet) 8:00 - 4:15, 9:00-5:15 or even 10:00 - 6:15. I'm very angry about this. First off, I love my husband and don't want to be getting home just in time to go to bed. Secondly, I like having time alone at home to do laundry, make the supper and relax before he comes home. Thirdly, I HATE traffic and if I hit rush hour traffic coming home from work I'm probably going to kill someone. Fourthly, I hate being told that I must change my hours. My coworker and I have negotiated a little bit for a while we will take turns staying late. As soon as they hire a new full time person we will go back to our regular hours and that person will stay late. In the meantime I'm pissed off. My first "late" day is on Wednesday. If I'm stuck in traffic for hours (which is very bloody likely in the seventh circle of hell...er I mean, Calgary) I'm quitting. In fact, I'm looking right now for a new job (just in case).

I didn't mention it before (forgot, sorry) we've got a new pussy cat. She's a 10 month old kitten, we got her on October 30 and her name is Muppet. She's quite a sweet heart. We had Alastar put to sleep a few months ago due to his old age and various infirmities. We gave Caesar back to my parents as he kept getting arrested (concerned neighbours are a nuisance). Murdoch was depressed so that's why the new addition.

I'm going to my first "gothmas" party on Dec 13. I think it will be a hoot.

Politics

Chris and I watched the election coverage last night. (Of course, we both voted as well). I was overjoyed to see that the conservatives did so well. The last thing we need going into a recession is parties (NDP, Liberals) hemorrhaging money out of us like there's no tomorrow. I'm not a fan of Jack Layton. Particularly, I found his ads attacking Harper and Dion to be in poor taste and a sign of someone who doesn't have much, if anything, to offer. I was pleased to see the NDP in 4th place (even if that means the Bloq Quebecois was in 3rd - just goes to show, you can't have everything!) I found it amusing to see Dion being such a poor loser. We were watching CTV. Dion lambasted the reporter and said, with MUCH bitterness "I don't have anything to say...especially to CTV". Classic moment. Oh well. I'm happy that Harper won (even if it is a minority government) I feel secure that he won't throw my money around like confetti at a parade and that we (Canadians) might survive the coming recession unscathed.

By the way, it's Chris and I's 2nd anniversary today. I went to the mall to pick up his gift and, shock of all shocks, there was Chris, lurking in the mall shopping for my gift.

Old dogs, fond memories

Poor old Maya is REALLY slowing down. Even with her medicine she's still limping quite badly. I hadn't noticed before just how different she is now. It used to be that when I would get up to get a drink or go to the washroom that she would get up and follow me (just in case I slip into an inter-dimensional vortex or something). Now, she keeps me in sight and only gets painfully to her feet when I'm out of her sight. She sleeps all day (I was mad at myself for shelling out money for an "orthopedic" bed for her, now I'm glad I did as I'm sure it's more comfortable for her than the floor). I'm not sure what to do about my old lady. She's still enjoying life, not in much pain. I don't want her to suffer, but at the same time I don't want to put her to sleep too soon. I'm hoping she'll let me know when it's time. In the meantime I'll cuddle her as much as possible and remember her as my good dog.

I have been offered a job with the CHR, it's basically the same job I'm already doing but it won't be through the temp agency. It's kind of weird when I was at Godfrey Morrow I worked 5 days a week. Working for the CHR I'll be working a .5 rotation (2.5 days/week) and making more money. The only downside is that it's a union position. I suppose one could think of that as a good thing but I'm very much anti union. They (unions) do have their place but with all the government regulation I think they're mostly just a vehicle for squeezing the living hell out of employers. Oh well, maybe I'll have a moment and run for union rep or something. Anyway my interview is tomorrow. Let's just hope I don't screw it up (as I usually do!).

All work and no play...

Not much to report. My house smells like a bar thanks to my home made wine. The smell has permeated the whole basement and if coming up through the vents. It's a nice smell but I wonder what the neigbours will say!

Bad boys bad boys whatcha gonna do?

I had a bit of a disturbing incident yesterday. I was driving home from work, took a different route due to a pit stop, I was behind a man at a light and he suddenly got out of his GMC envoy and shouted at me "you stupid fucking bitch, learn how to fucking drive".
I was (understandably) puzzled so I rolled down my window and said "I'm sorry, what did you say?"
He waved me off and said "fuck you, you stupid bitch you need to get your head out of your ass".
We were stuck in traffic and he wasn't going anywhere so I got out, and shouted through his window "I'm sorry sir, what have I done?"
He yelled at me to "fuck off" so I stood in front of his car (again, he couldn't go anywhere we were stuck in traffic) and said "Sir, please tell me what I've done to offend you."
He said "fuck you" and moved his car forward and hit me (not hard just a nudge). I walked up to his window and tapped on the glass and said "What have I done sir?"
He said "fuck you".
I got back in my car (the light changed) and we went around the corner. As we were driving up a side-ish street in an industrial area I saw him signal to go left into a U-shaped parking lot. I thought, "this guy is gonna come up behind me and a) run me off the road or b) follow me home" so I followed him so that he couldn't get behind me.
He did a U and came out of the parking lot and shouted out his window "you stupid fucking cunt fuck off".
So, I shouted out my window "What the fuck did I do to offend you? You're a fucking asshole and you have no right to talk to me like that you stupid fucking prick. It's not my fault you have a non functioning penis!"
He shouted a few more "fuck you, you stupid bitch/cunt" and circled around again. As I was turning onto the street I noticed that he had pulled into the same parking lot and looked like he was parking. I thought, "good, he's going to tell me what's wrong, I can apologise and we can move on with out lives". Instead he pulled up outside a building, there were a lot (about 7) of people standing about and I thought "well at least he won't attack me in front of all these people, I can finally get some answers from him".
I stopped behind him (giving him plenty of room to pull out and leave), got out of my car and said "sir, can you please just tell me what I've done"
He said "fuck you I'm calling the fucking cops on you"
I said, "fine, please do, but tell me what I've done to offend you."
There was a woman standing between my car and his black GMC envoy so I approached her and said, "ma'am this man started shouting abuse at me at the traffic light down the street. I don't know what I've done to him and I just want to know so I can apologise".
She didn't say anything but turned around and got into his truck (he was out of the truck looking at my license number). He started shouting at her to write down "this fucking bitch's license number". He got back in the car and I approached the driver's side (where SHE was sitting) the window was down and she was trying to find a pen to write my license number, she found one and was writing it on her hand, he was quoting it to her incorrectly so I gave her the correct license number.
I rested my hands on the side of the car and asked him again just to tell me what I had done to incur his wrath. He told me to "get your fucking hands off my fucking car" and reiterated that he was going to call the police.
I said, "fair enough, I'll be making my own call to the police."
She drove away with him in the car, he was still shouting obscenities out the window at me.
I noticed some men standing in the shipping door of the "Norampac" building nearby so I approached them and asked them if they had witnessed the altercation between me and the gentleman (yes, I actually used the word gentleman). They suddenly decided that, although they had been there the entire time, they hadn't seen or heard anything. I thanked them and approached the building that "his" woman was standing outside of "Essilor". There were some people milling about and I asked if anyone had witnessed the altercation.
4 people stepped forward and one lady said that although she hadn't seen much she did know the man who had attacked me (she works with his wife) she said he's a lunatic and a bully and that she was impressed that I had stood up to him. A delivery man approached and said he'd "kind of" seen what happened but "didn't want to get involved". I took one lady's name, the other told me the name of the man who attacked me but didn't want to get involved and I thanked them and left.
I drove home and called the police. A few hours later a male constable with a very strong middle eastern accent called me and asked me about my "incident" in the afternoon. I gave him most of my version of events, he kept interrupting me and did not listen very well at all. He told me that they were thinking of pressing charges against me for "stalking behaviour". I was quite unhappy with the rude way he was addressing me and that he did not give me a chance to get a word in edgewise. He heard what he wanted to hear and nothing else.
Apparently it's okay for him to verbally attack me and hit me with his SUV but it's not okay for me to ask him why he was attacking me.
About an hour after this phone call another, female, officer called me and we had a similar conversation, I told her that I'd already spoken to an officer and she said she'd look into it. I'm not sure what story he told the police, there's no way on earth I could have cut him off as it was gridlock traffic and those who know me know that I pick a lane and stay in it, also, I was behind him. I didn't hit anyone with my car. And I was at least 4 feet behind him at the traffic light.
So, to sum up, some asshole decided he needed to vent his anger. I called him on his bad behaviour and I may be in trouble for it. Also, I would be willing to bet money that he's a wife beater. A more cowed woman you have never seen in your life! So, that's my exciting story.
Perhaps my next blog will be from prison, after all I was polite (most of the time) and non aggressive (all of the time) I didn't threaten him in any way and other than returning some of his own words to him I did not attack him in any way. Taking all that into account the judge will probably give me a life sentence, after all strong willed women who don't take shit from men are a danger to the moral fabric of our society. Any bets if this goes to court my word is counted as half of his?

In other news I found the perfect gift for you know who's going away party. I am officially a genius!

In other, other news, I took care of the Dr. Powell slide problem, there's a company in town that specialises in transferring slides etc onto computers.