10:21 PM - 18.08.04
Intrigue
Cats are brats, but they are also very sensuous aren`t they dear diary. The brats part? There`s a lot to choose from. The latest seems to be called boy baiting. Specifically number four son. He`s the only one left to pick on who doesn`t already know the signs that he`s been set up. The past couple of days, when he`s been in the kitchen creating something to eat for himself, I`ve heard a crash and then the shout "Come back here you bad cat" That is shortly followed by one of the kittens racing down the hall with what is obviously some my son`s supper in their mouth. It`s obvious, too that the little critter is laughing so hard - cat style, of course - that it can barely hang on to it`s prize. Usually they`ve stolen something that cats wouldn`t even give a second look to - oh say, salad complete with dressing - even if they hadn`t eaten for a couple of days. One can see the other kittens either running interference so the big person can`t get close enough to retrieve their dinner or they hide under convenient chairs, also laughing up their furry little sleeves. I`m usually laughing too - discreetly of course.
The sensuous part? Well, this morning, for example, I was trying to gather up all the clothes I need so as to consider myself fit to travel in public. No problem finding any of the outerwear. But the lingerie? Last night George II was lying on the floor of my bedroom wrapped in one of my nighties. He was rolling around purring and mewing to himself, obviously enjoying the feel of satin rubbing across his fur. Yuh. Those cats, male and female, love to steal my unmentionables. Never the sturdy and sensible flannel or cotton stuff either. Just the silky, satiny, sheer, or lacy things. This morning I couldn`t find even one piece of a certain description to wear. The momma cats even know how to slip into the drawers in the bedframe which is, again, an act worthy of the Great Houdini. I finally found something I could wear wrapped up inside some cotton clothing that the cats wouldn`t touch.
As it was I was quite distracted by the DJs chatter. I am certain they said that the seventh caller after a certain time, later in the morning would win tickets to see Phil Collins in concert. Not only are his songs among my favorites, but his birthday falls very close to mine so I know he`s got to be a unique and fascinating individual -right? I would love to go hear him live. Checked the local arts websites and the papers after work, but I couldn`t find mention of a time or place anywhere. I must have been dreaming or those cats must have slipped some of their catnip into my tea. Yeah that`s it.
That wasn`t the end of the musical theme today either. Every so often in the library, I`ve heard someone singing softly to themself - an absolutley beautiful voice. One that just doesn`t belong hidden in a capitalist file room. I`ve never investigated the source, because either I thought that I was hallucinating or that the person would become self conscious and stop singing altogether. The other day, the brother handed me some written instructions. I looked at them and realized that a graphologist would say it was an artists`hand. Yet I`d never seen or heard him do anything that would confirm that. I was a bit startled though. Sure enough, this morning we were working together on one task and I was head down in a stack of boxes when the singing began. Looked up and there he was singing away. I asked him what he was doing working in a place like this with a voice like that. He allowed that he had produced a CD of his own music and was ready to market it. He said he had negotiated a contract with a recognizable label, but that the local politics of the industry had messed it up. He`s promised I could have a copy of his CD and I can`t wait to hear it. Back up? He plays guitar and piano. Sound - most of what I`ve heard sounds like rhythm and blues, but then again it`s been a very soft sound. Hmmmmmm.
When I arrived in the library this morning, it was to find that it had been gutted to make space for the installation of the new work stations. Wide open spaces, with just a vacuum to give a touch of reality. I went to find where all my work had been placed in the interim and located it in the boardroom - none of my co-workers arrive within 45 minutes of me and there wasn`t a note left behind for me to find. Sat down and started working away on some analysis. When the brother arrived, he asked me to take a break from that so that I could receive some data back into the collection. Fair enough, I apologized profusely for being away when all of the reconfiguring of our work areas was going on. It really wasn`t fair that he`d had to deal with all that himself. We worked together on a couple of tasks and that took up most of the morning.
My supervisor dropped in about 11 am, as he had promised, just to check that there was progress in the changes that were supposed to occur to give me better working conditions and to ask the brother when the technology side of the project would begin. Last workshop is scheduled for tomorrow. He had to run for his next meeting, so I just continued on for the balance of the day. Chop wood, carry water was the theme for most of it - basic grunt work - to prepare for a major flood of new data coming in. My supervisor called me over lunch again to ask a technical question, but I think he just wanted to be certain too that I was feeling comfortable being back at work. By then I was, as a few intriguing bits and pieces began to show themselves. Some of the scientists that I really liked working with in previous assignments here, who have been gone over the summer, are back. A major acquisition that has left insiders breathless. Probably just that, omigod how am I going to get my share of the work on that done? But whatever. It appears that the co-ordinator has set her cap for the brother too. It`s odd though because the most evident thing about him is his wedding ring. He wears it very proudly and speaks often and fondly of his wife and son. Married men are absolutely off limits in my books. She`s older than me and divorced as well; still very bitter about that too. She should know better. Why would she do that to some other woman when she still feels so betrayed herself. And even moreso, given her opinion of her ex for what he did to her how could she hold a different opinion of someone else who was willing to do the same thing. The brother isn`t happy about the attention, but it`s wrapped around excuses about having to discuss work. Or maybe I`m just reading the interaction wrong. The co-ordinator is still dogging my footsteps too. The brother told me again, that I had to work on the liaison`s pc account to pull off some data that I couldn`t access from the one set up for me. It was toward the end of the day before all the prep work was done. I logged in about 15 minutes before the co-ordinator and I usually leave, thinking that if I just sat there and did it all at once without the interruptions that would usually occur during the regular work day, then there would be less opportunity for anyone to cause any harm. The co-ordinator is usually out the door before that last 15 minutes of the work day is over. Anyway, I just sat and keyed and printed off what was necessary until I was done - about 50 minutes. Logged off, then turned off the computer. The hall was deserted, so I nipped into the boardroom, packed up my desk in a bag, then headed for the library so I could let the brother know I was done. I don`t always check out with him, but I wanted a witness that I hadn`t been on the computer past 5 PM. I knew he had been by a couple of times while I was working in the liaison`s office, because I heard him singing to himself as he went past. The liaison`s office is across from the co-ordinator`s temporary office, and two doors down from the boardroom. On one side of the boardroom is the south door of the kitchen and on the other is a hallway into the library with the photocopy room on the other side. As I was walking through the hallway into the library, I saw the co-ordinator going in the north door of the kitchen. She was looking through the window of the south door to see if I was still in the liaison`s office and didn`t realize I was standing right behind her,watching. I didn`t want her to realize I was there so I kept walking through the library said goodbye to the brother and left for the day. Who knows what tomorrow`s stories will be.
Met my walking partner on the C-train platform and explained more about why I had cancelled our walk on Monday. Set up a time for later this week. Got home to find that I had multiple messages from or about Elections Canada - all financial issues. The furniture rental owner called to say EC said I had to give him a tax exempt number before they would pay him. I don`t have one nor am I authorized to issue one. A fax from Ottawa finance was waiting saying they`d lost timesheets for 8 people, excluding my assistant, - could I fill them out and talk to everyone on their list. They`re being paid to do this work - I`m not. So why am I being told that I should spend several hours bailing them out plus have to deal with people who are, probably and rightfully, angry yell about something that I have no control over and that I had no knowledge of until today. Let`s see. Election day was June 28. Payroll was submitted July 5. It is now August 19. Uh huh. To top everything else off the computer isn`t working properly, courtesy of those bratty cats, and I can`t send out e-mail. When does Mercury go direct?
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