The hunt is on

The Poppy cat is gone, much as I would give anything to have her back I can't, Ditto is requiring peeling off the ceiling most days for lack of a companion to torment and to amuse her and this little flat seems so empty with only the three of us in residence.

It is thus that the 'new kitten hunt' will be stepped up from today and searching will begin in earnest. PG and I are both still a little 'iffy' in some respects about a 'new face' but I think until it is done we would remain so forever and whilst Poppy can never be replaced the pleasure in a new family member of small and fluffy stature, I think will be a positive thing.

That said the kitten hunt is turning out to be none too simple a task. Despite unending messages and advertising over the years from the animal rescue charities and vets that there are way too many unwanted kittens homeless and we must all have our cats neutered/spayed, the over abundance seems very much not to be the case in these parts! Can we find a kitten?........can we hell!

We have tried all the local vets, the animal rescue charities, the local press and word of mouth and of course there are plenty of the 'oh, sorry, you just missed one' results but nothing more successful. There have been one or two unsuitable souls, mostly adults with problems but whilst we would love to take on an animal like that we feel it is not fair for Ditto and most are specified as having to reside in a 'one cat' household anyways.

We could of course invest in a 'posh cat', I have never had anything but a 'moggy' thus far but whilst the prospect has it's attractions I don't feel my credit card would see the attraction and besides the cost, pedigrees, I understand are liable to more medical difficulties and a shorter lifespan.....perhaps though we will give into the temptation of a Ragdoll, Scottish Fold, British Blue, Maine Coone or Turkish Van. A first cross would be ideal but again...nada.

And so the hunt is now in full swing, no doubt some small, perfect soul will eventually come our way but I'm a woman.......I want one NOW.....before I feel guilty about Poppy again and change my mind!

Life happens

This is the 21st century, we have control, from the cradle to the grave we make our decisions large and small, we shape our lives, we plot, we plan, everything is within our sphere, our power, we choose our destiny and the choices are many.

Much is grey though some black or white, our destiny chosen, we head toward that place, certain of our goal.

They say don't they, that we make our own luck?

At times life happens, the control is gone, the choices gone, changed or re-arranged, the once straight path, headed to a place we thought we knew becomes a muddied track. Plans made evaporate, ideologies stand challenged by incidents outside our common realm. We stand confused as life's curved balls make tracks toward us, one by one, in certainty still, we catch them deftly, re-plan, re-shape, re-gain control.

One is dropped, no matter, two then three, our minds flail lost, they came unbidden, four then five, control a foreign concept now.

Luck? Luck is not an absolute, luck is not a plan nor destiny, luck is not a tangible gift bestowed, or not, upon us, control is not a power, we have no power, we have no luck......... we have only an attitude of mind.

Life happens.

Amazing flying cats!

I have to admit to thievery from eMusings (thankyou Dave) to bring you this link but these images have to be some of the best, if not the very best cat pictures ever. Well worth a few minutes of your time and guaranteed to make you smile :o)

Rise and shine

There are some benfits to the shorter days and early mornings, being up and out of bed in time to see this is one of them.....I'm still trying to think of the others!

The 'good guys' still exist

I am loathed really to make mention of things financial where the subject of Poppy is concerned but this incident is so unprecedented in my life and so utterly reaffirming of the kindness of human nature in some that I can't let it go by without sharing it.

We seem to live in a corporate world where life is driven by the dollar, the pound or the yen, where little is of consequence other than pecuniary gain and thousands die for the want of a what amounts to s few pence. By comparison what happened in gemmak's-ville yesterday is small but for me it was a rare illustration that happily not everyone sees money as a God.

When PG, heavy hearted, visited the vets yesterday afternoon to collect Poppy's remains and bring her home he was also, as expected, presented with the bill for services rendered. That bill included almost two hours of the vets time on the day he made the journey here to put Poppy to sleep, the drugs involved,and for medical reasons it was not straight forward and required more specialist medications, his travel costs and the costs incurred for her cremation that was carried out by a third party. We had an estimate and that was in the region of £400.

PG collected Poppy and the bill (to be paid 'anytime' was the instruction) and set off for home. Before he drove off he looked at the bill and then called me to confirm what I thought the cost should have been. " they have made a mistake" he said, "this bill is only £137.....I'll go back and let them know" and that he did.

Once back with the vet he explained that a mistake must have been made, our bill was way less than it should have been.The receptionist went to fetch the vet who appeared shaking his head, "no mistake" he said, I have charged you the £100 for Poppy's cremation as charged to us by the third party and £37 for our services and drugs". PG began explaining, thinking that maybe the vet had not recalled our specific case and confused us with someone else, that our bill should include specialist drugs and two hours of the mans time etc. etc. The vet looked at him and said again "no mistake", confused PG began again to protest that we had been under charged. "No", said the vet again....."very rarely have I come across and animal so loved or cared for, I couldn't add to your loss, I felt privileged to be allowed to take care of Poppy in her last hours and have only charged you cost price for the drugs, nothing more, have it on me and I'll hear nothing more about it"!

What a guy! In all seriousness his treatment of Poppy and his manner, his caring and his compassion on the day had been so amazing. He was fantastic, his handling of the sad situation had made it, if such a thing is possible, the most perfect end under the circumstances, we had been so impressed and touched we would have happily paid him any amount and with a smile, and yet, this outstanding individual felt it necessary to offer us even more kindness! The money was not really the issue here for me, the thought and the compassion from a man who until that day had never met us was, the fact that he felt as he did, and took the action he did was extremely touching and in my life at least, not something I have been witness to often, if ever.

Any failing faith in human nature has been truly restored in gemmak's-ville.

Friday's feast (63)

Appetizer
Name something someone has done lately that impressed you.

My friend came back to work 3 days after surgery for breast cancer.

Soup

Do you have any relaxing rituals? If so, what are they?

Nope....got none.

Salad
If you could spend the winter season somewhere other than your current location, where would you choose to stay?

Somewhere in the US that has lots of snow....kill two birds with one stone, see the US and get decent snow!

Main Course
When was the last time you had dinner out, and what was the name of the restaurant?

Three or four weeks ago in London, don't recall the name of the place.....but it was yummy!

Dessert
If you had a boat, what would you name it?

Lord knows....'Merganser' maybe

Coming home

The Poppy Cat came home today, or at least her ashes did, in a tiny wooden box with her name engraved on the lid.

A very sad day in gemmak's-ville......



~ Sleep tight Poppy cat ~

Dontcha just hate it when.......

...your best attempts to rescue a bad day from degenerating into a complete disaster are thwarted by the realisation, as you dip a tentative toe into the big, fat, bubble and fragrance filled bath you have treated yourself too and placed lit candles all around, that 'someone' has commadeered all the hot water earlier and not switched it back on to re-heat!

But dontcha just love it when, languishing in what you know are now bravely thinking of as an Icelandic plunge pool, that will do you some marvelous good if it doesn't stop your heart first, you discover that the elegant and posh bottle of shower gel looking good on the side isn't so elegant after all and to your juvenile amusement and delight it makes a 'farting' sound each time in draws in air to fill the void just made from your last squeeze!

Bathroom blues

Have I missed something? Did some body of intellectuals discover a new life-rule I missed? Did parliament pass a law that passed me by? It would seem so, for it appears that a large proportion of the inhabitants of the town in which the store I work is situated, have acquired a God given right to a free bathroom of the standard offered by Harrods!

It is a small point about the 'smallest room' but one that has long miffed me. As a company we provide public bathrooms for our customers, please note the 'for our customers' phrase here, because that point seems to have become lost in the mists of time and in most stores, and certainly mine it has become the 'convenience of choice' for shoppers from almost every outlet for miles, any passers-by, kids out of school, truck drivers, in fact every man and his uncle!


This we can live with, it may be a little annoying to have hordes of people trundling back and forth from the designated area without so much as noticing that they are actually in a store where strangely we hope to sell our product but what drives me nuts is the attitude displayed by so many!

Not happy that we provide the convenience they want bells on it. How many times I wonder have I spent inordinate amounts of time sorting out complaints regarding the sometimes less than perfect bathroom? and yes, I agree, it is not always a picture of harmony in there but I can't be responsible for how others behave.

Each day this 'utility' undergoes an all systems go professional overhaul and at the start of business it is pristine and pretty smelling, rarely does it last, you do not what to know the manner in which some human beings(?) behave, nor the states of disrepair and disorder that emerge over a day! How people can behave in such a fashion is beyond me but they do and that in turn results in the 'complainers'. There are those who merely and appropriately inform me that the situation is 'less than pleasant', there are those who ask why we don't provide baby changing facilities, those that whisper, embarrassed, that the toilet roll has expired and then there are those that just take the piss (no pun intended)!

Excuse me but this is a public bathroom, we do our best against sometimes incredibly unpleasant and sickening odds but it is free, we are retailers not nursemaids, we cannot and do not guarantee you that everything will be in perfect working order 24/7, we do not provide every permutation of soap, hand drying equipment, flushing mechanisms, flowers on the side, 'video while you use' options, wide ranging 'suit everyone' water temperatures and we certainly can't control how individuals behave whilst they avail themselves of the facility!

You would not (well you might if you have ever worked in retail) believe the complaints and abuse I am faced with! When will Joe Public realise that I am not a cleaner, though I do my best when forced, I am not there to run to the closest supermarket and provide you with the soap product you find most acceptable, I can't prevent those that do, and really they do, from stealing the toilet roll, I am not a plumber, heating engineer, locksmith or medical examiner (don't go there) and to be quite frank I am not your offspring's nursemaid, nor do I really care any longer if you find any goddamn thing unacceptable about the bathroom, it is not my fault, you do not have a right to shout at me, threaten me, assume I am some lesser being than yourself, order me to clean up after some less than 'fragrant soul' or talk to me like I am intellectually challenged! None of these are what I am paid to do, I will assist you all I can but if all else fails I will close the bathroom down then you can't bloody winge about it's condition! Oh, of course, silly me, you will indeed complain about just that situation for that is what you do....complain....unendingly!

FFS, please, this is a store, I am a customer service and checkout supervisor, I am not time served in any of the above listed trades, I will do what I can but you do not have a God given right for my employer or myself to guarantee you use of a perfect bathroom day and night Sunday through Monday! Deal with it! Don't like it? Go elsewhere....ah I forgot....there is nowhere else to go...ok, well go complain to someone else about it, I do not control town planning....or maybe I do!

Arghhhh!

Enough said!

(Click to enlarge)

A very desirable address

This area in Scotland is not short of beautiful places to live, in fact it would be harder to find somewhere unpleasant but yesterday at work I had cause to take a customers address and was immediately drawn into a conversation, nosey as I am!

This couple's address was Bamburgh Castle, Northumberland, but they weren't it's owners. It seems that a few years ago a number of apartments were fashioned from original parts of the building and
are now rented to anyone deemed suitable and with the appropriately comfortable income, for comfortable it needs to be at approx. £2000 pcm. That may not be too surprising a sum in a city nowadays but here it is. As a comparison, the rent we pay for our 200 year old apartment in the middle of the beautiful countryside, complete with all 'mod cons', original features and 18 inch stone walls is £170pcm!

That said, if money were not object I could fancy the address 'Bamburgh Castle' and to wake up to those views overlooking the ocean and Lindisfarne must be almost priceless. There is of course a drawback, ain't there always, these apartments come complete with 'sitting tenants' and we are not taking those that a court order can evict!

Believe that stuff or not, of the couple I spoke too, who appeared to be perfectly normal professional '30 somethings', the lady seemed to be without doubt or concern that she regularly sees two young children among one or two other odd 'sightings', her partner however had not. I am skeptic, to put it mildly, where paranormal happenings are concerned but I'm none the less a little unsure if I would like uninvited visitors thrown in with the views and desirable address at £2000 pcm!

Living my dream

If ever there was something you should read it is this, Blackrat's most recent post!


Blackrat & Lt. Comdr. Henry Mitchell. © Blackrat.

I have long held a dream, that dream is to fly in a Harrier, a privilege only afforded to a very few highly trained individuals. Those of you familiar with Someone Else's life, Blackrat's unequalled blog, will know that he lives a life from time to time that always reduces me to obscene levels of envy, he has experienced almost all of the things most of us can only dream of, from having cars and motorcycles to die for at his disposal, to flying a Tornado and Hawk, all the ultimate big boys toys he has managed, through tenacity and determination, to find a way to experience.

This time all of those have been surpassed, this time it was my ultimate experience and whilst I will never get to do it myself his writing will put you right there, as close as you're ever going to get without actually doing it, everything from experiencing the famed vectored thrust and a 'touch and go' to taking the controls himself, utterly amazing......you just have to read this!

*With special thanks to BR for permission and image.

These boots aren't made for walking!

Don't panic, I am most certainly not about to break into song... that I would not wish on even my greatest enemy!

I do however seem to have found myself 'voluteered' to take part in a local charity walk that has been organised by Cancer Research UK to raise funds specifically for work on breast cancer. Given my previous posts regarding my friend who is currently suffering the effects of this disease there is no need for me to explain why this cause is foremost in my mind right now.

And so it is, that having been volunteered I applied for a days leave from work, fully expecting to have my request turned down, requests for annual leave at my place of work are not often met with a positive response! On the contrary it was granted and it looks like I now have to stagger, doubtless in high and cold winds, around the designated route. Ok, so I admit, this is only an 8km walk, in my youth I completed a 20 mile version every year....but that was in my youth and these little legs *pointing downwards* nowadays do their level best to avoid walking 8 meters, nevermind 8 km.

Hey ho, the route is a nice one, we are fortunate to have stunning views to take in along our way and if we are lucky enough not to encounter inclement conditions it should be a quite nice morning. If the weather turns out to be truly British and unpleasant then walking historic town walls that are but a stones throw from the North Sea could be er 'interesting'.

Whatever, it's a good cause, it's not really so far and I might even make a few bob along the way....talking of which, if you fancy sponsoring me a penny or two look out for a donations button in the next few days! ;o)

Or if you happen to be close by you could join in!

Can anyone tell me.....

...are avocados actually supposed to last as long as three weeks?!

I have a passion for these odd looking green things, so much so that I bought one three weeks ago....... and then promptly 'lost' it in the fridge (some passion), this evening it became found quite by chance. Hmmmm, I thought, I could fancy that but it has to be growing some dangerous, noxious bug or bacteria after so long awol.

Resist it I couldn't and tentatively cut it open, much to my surprise it looked normal, well as normal as an avocado can, it even smelled normal, I hesitated a moment then out with the mayo and ...........hell, it tasted normal!

Am I going to live to regret this moment of greed and stupidity I wonder?!