CafeChatNoir

I need a part for one of the toilets in the house. We used to have local hardware stores around here that were great. You didn’t go there when you wanted to remodel a room - you went there when you needed to fix something.

You walked in, said “this broke” and they could tell you what you needed to take home with you, and what you needed to do with it when you got there. In the back there was someone who could cut keys for you. They didn’t sell laminate flooring, light fixtures, bathtubs, doors, lumber or light fixtures. They always had a display with the homeowner’s two best friends: duct tape and WD-40.

Invariably there would be a couple of retired guys who came in every day for coffee and to hang out.

For the most part, they’ve been replaced by Home Depots and the like. Sure, everything you could possibly need, but customer service and knowledge that is mediorcre at best, long lines and messy parking lots.

We still have Fischer’s Hardware over in Springfield, but it’s in the completely opposite direction of where I still need to go today. I’ve found a listing for a Hunter Hardware over near my brother’s place - I think I have a pretty good idea where it is, which means it’s a small place - will have to try that since I have to go over that direction anyway this afternoon.

Otherwise, I get to schlep to Home Depot for a $2 part.

…though I am sure that some of you in the wilds of the SC beaches have been up and kayaking since 5 AM. :-D The cats tried very hard to get me up for breakfast at about that time - despite the fact that they NEVER get fed that early - and most certainly not on a weekend. Nice try, fuzzbutts.

The big guy put out some pics from DukeFest and the island - here are some of my favs:

Me & Eve at DukeFest. I’m not real fond of having my picture taken, but I really like this one. :)

Big guy & the banana (his most incredibly adorable niece)

Yes, that is a gator.

Yes, that is him standing WAY too close to the gator.

I so totally wish I’d had the vacation time available to get down there.

I’m off to get some hair lopped off in a bit. Rest of the weekend is filled with puttering about the house, some cat-sitting, and getting things picked up for the cleaning service on Monday. (Yes, I used to laugh at the concept of cleaning up for the cleaning service, but it gets me off my lazy butt and getting a few things done around here, so it’s all good.) Biggest thing there will be to finish digging out the office so they can work their magic.

Didn’t locate the title for the little green car last night, but didn’t look too hard for it either. Totally spaced when I went to bed and set the alarm for 9 - no DMV for me this morning, but that’s OK. I’m still convinced it’s here and I WILL find it this weekend. (See “finish digging out office” comment above!)

It’s Friday night, 10 PM, I’m home alone and getting ready to go to bed.

Almost makes your head spin, doesn’t it? :)

Images taken by a NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) satellite showing light coverage in the northeastern United States on a normal night (L), at 9:21 PM Eastern time on August 13, 2003, and after a massive blackout affected much of the area (R), shown at 9:03 PM Eastern time on August 14, showing the relative lack of lights due to the power outage. (REUTERS/NOAA-Handout )

A blissfully quiet day at work today.

Had a longer post written, but it seems to have gone off into the ether. Ah well, twas just rambling anyway.

and the week is DONE. I am completely beat all to hell.

Started my morning off with a good spaz as I thought it was Monday and I hadn’t gotten anything picked up for the cleaning service… Still haven’t found the title to the little green car, if I can’t dig it up tonight, it’s off to DMV at 0-dark-30 tomorrow morning to get a replacement.

Then a haircut. With a guy. Sexist as it sounds, I am concerned. Last time a guy cut my hair, (I was just a kid), I hated it. But the gal at the salon says he’s wonderful, and he has an opening…

Just got kinda full. The party that was scheduled for Saturday night was cancelled and I had been contemplating sneaking off somewhere for the weekend, but I am now the petsitter for little bro since whoever was supposed to do it backed out at the last minute.

Got to go do a mail pickup this evening, tomorrow dropping brother off at the airport, haircut on Saturday and various errand running, pet-checking, and mail pickup…

Maybe I can make time to get out to Amissville for more ribs?? :-D

Sunday is getting things picked up for the cleaners on Monday, and I think at some point the big guy is supposed to roll back into town unless he has phoned in his resignation….

Well, HERE’s a wake-up call for ya: Slogging about in the kitchen getting the kitties their breakfast, and you discover up close and personal that the can lids are SHARP. I now have a well band-aided finger… The cats showed their usual level of concern, LOL - “Where’s breakfast?!? What’s with this washing hands and grabbing paper towels? We SAW you get the lid off!!”

The good news is that I think it’s stopped bleeding!

and downhill fast!

Crazy busy today, as Wednesday’s are. Did not transfer out a single call all day to anyone else. (This is good) Of course, I also now have 5 open calls going into tomorrow, but they’re all mine. (Yikes!)

Was there past 5 on the call that wouldn’t die (and will now roll to tomorrow) when I see at the top of the queue “prefers pisceandreamer”. Well, THAT can’t be good. I look at the name - it’s someone with whom the only contact I’ve had is that I left them a voice mail and then she left me one (while I was stuck on another call.) Rather than waiting for her next callback, she put a new call in asking for me specifically… Fortunately, a couple of my coworkers rescued me from that train wreck waiting to happen given that it was already past 5 and I was still trying to deal with a report spawing records from 1997.

I really wish that someone would explain to our clients that when we call them back and they aren’t there…they’re pretty much SOL until the next callback. You can leave us direct voicemails, but if we’re busy, we just can’t start doing out-of-order calls.

So, when you call support, don’t wander off after you put the call in…

OK, so the day did in fact, improve - but I must say, with the full moon, mars coming about and who knows what other astronomical nonsense going on, it’s definitely brought out the folks with the tin-foil hats.

Had one woman where I almost started to cry while she was on the phone - not out of truly being upset, just out of complete and utter disbelief. One of those “I’m not the person who usually does this, I don’t know what they may (or may not) have changed, but I know it’s broken and you have to tell me how to fix it.” Sort of like watching a very large train wreck as it’s happening

Couple calls that have to go to consulting. We can’t initialize entire modules (or the entire piece of software for that matter) over the phone.

Also - many thanks to for the reminder that at least spiders don’t fly. Of course I am now jumping every time I see something out of the corner of my eye, lest it be a flying spider.

and there is a full moon tomorrow to boot. What a crap-ass day so far.

Seriously - when am I going to really learn that going to bed early isn’t just a good idea for someone else, it’s a very good idea for ME?

Two loaves of bread done tonight, the wine is just as good as I remember it and life is good.

Big guy made it down to SC last night and spent most of his day enjoying the beach. I am only a tiny bit jealous. Yes, I am completely lying.

Nice thing about the new gig - I am getting vacation time again. Will have enough to cover the week in Charleston in November, and by next summer, well over a week so I can get outta town for a while. Really looking forward to Charleston - only a small-to-medium part of it will be reunion-related, so it will be a real vacation.

Have been getting a good workout fighting off Snoopy every time the ribs come out today. Gotta give him credit for good taste.

So, two months into the new job and I still can’t do it in my sleep - that’s a first. And I like that. Everyone there is just as messed up in the head as I am, too. You have to be a special kind of wrong to be in accounting and support. It’s nice to fit in. I have quickly been able to identify a few specific clients who are targets for mass ridicule, LOL. My training-partner-in-crime had a client ask her, “So, do you go home and laugh at us users after work?” She gave him an emphatic, “Of COURSE not!!” He gave a hearty laugh and said, “Yeah, that’s a definite YES there.” She continued to protest and he just laughed harder.

Last week, I had a client figure out the problem while on the call. He suddenly said, “I’ve figured out, and you’re going to shoot me.” I assured him repeatedly that I would NOT shoot him, and finally got him to tell me what he did wrong. (It’s good for future reference with other clients - I NEED that info!!)

The company is still impressing me - financials are shared w/ the entire company on a quarterly basis (mega-telecom I was at last? I read our results in the papers - don’t think they ever said a word internally.) The bagels & donuts are just a nice thing to do, and the coffee is on the good side of decent and there’s plenty of it. Getting time off for “life happens” things doesn’t seem to be an issue, so I am not concerned that I’ll need a half day off for a check-in w/ the dentist next month. (My time off for the appraisal was met with “We’ve all been there, no worries!”) There is definitely the feeling that we’re all on the same team.

On the list o’ things to do - in one of the next two weekends, need to get the little green car over to CarMax to sell. Of course I cannot locate the title at the moment, so I may very well be at DMV at 0-dark-30 on Saturday morning to get a replacement. At which point I will immediately locate the original.

Damn !!! The minute he said it creeped HIM out, I should have run the other direction.

The Parlor

Visually, it’s basically work-safe. The rest however, is a touch disturbing to say the least… (No violence or anything like that - but this will mess with your head.)

The lazy Sunday turned into an almost productive Sunday - how on earth did that happen??

I was perfectly content to just stop with making the bed. But, in addition, got the carpet cleaner hauled over to ’s place, hit the grocery store, and lunch is ready to go for tomorrow. There’s a loaf of honey-oatmeal bread in the bread machine for my next door neighbor that trimmed the azalea in front of my house. (Much easier for someone that is a touch taller than I am.) A bottle of wine chilling in the fridge - my fav from Unicorn Winery. I’m not much of a summer wine drinker, but this is sooo good, and it’s not like I have to drive anywhere tonight, so why not enjoy it. Life’s too short just to have wine on display.