So close to sipping nectar in Costa Rica for the winter
I came home from work on Mon to find the tiny mangled corpse of a hummingbird in the living room. I know Phouka is an accomplished birder, even on the balcony, but I thought those days were beyond my geriatric old boy He's over 12 now! I hate it when he kills birds, esp. the hummingbirds. I've gone out of my way to blockade his access to them while still being able to feed and water them, but there's nothing I can do when the little daredevil birdbrains come and hover down 3-4 feet above the balcony floor and peer in the door. This is the 4th hummingbird Phouka has captured in his life and the 2nd one he's killed. I was able to catch and release - seemingly unharmed - the other 2. And now the cooler night weather has hit and probably the day after the ambush the rest of the hummers began their migration to Central America. So close and yet so far. And I can't be mad at Phouka for being true to his feline nature. A cat's gonna do what a cat's gonna do. I can just try and avert avian slaughter. *sigh* Rest in pieces peace little guy.
In keeping with the 'not great' news, I found out yesterday that the reason I haven't been getting more hours is not only lack of hours in the store, but because I'm designated as part time I'm supposed to get no more than 25 hours per week except on the odd occasion. The HR manager neglected to tell me that when she transferred me from seasonal to part time permanent. This won't do. I was holding on until business picked up for the holidays but apparently it's not going to for me. Having to go to bed around 5-6 pm for this job isn't really conducive to finding another job but since I really like this job I'm going to weigh my options.
Tomorrow I wasn't scheduled to work at the store but I'll get paid for 8 hours anyway since I volunteered for the so-called Hero's Project. The one where we're going to supply a lot of the manpower for the make-over of the Independence, MO K-9 unit facility. It's going to be a gorgeous day for the outdoor work! Low 70s and lots of sunshine.
I arranged with the stocking crew manager to come in a couple of hours early 2-3 days a week for some more hours. The store manager gave me the OK on that a couple of weeks ago and didn't put a time limit on it, and since the stocking crew still isn't up to strength I'm going to keep 'volunteering' for the hours until they tell me differently. I'm not wild about going to work at 2 am a couple of days a week but it's better than struggling with money or job hunting.
Also under the 'not great' column, my under-eye dark circle & bag banishing serum hasn't worked out they way I was hoping. Yes, I can see diminished dark circles after only 3-4 days Yay! but the trade off was waking up on the 4th day to find scaly red swooshes under my eyes. Not attractive! And so not the result I was looking for. So I'm waiting for the negative effect to clear up (already happening) then I'm going to dilute the serum by 50% and try again - cautiously. It's the price of being your own guinea pig. I'll keep you posted on the outcome.
My lotion bottles arrived today! The ones I'm going to use to sell my lotions to the ladies at work. They're not as pretty as I would like but they'll do the job and they're cheap! Which allows me to make the finished product cheaper. I bought 25 of them (and I just noticed the price has gone up slightly) with waterproof label sheets I can print up. I'm going to make up a prototype to take to work and see how many of the ladies want one. I'll have to come up with a reasonable price that makes it worth my while to go to the trouble and yet makes it reasonable enough for them to want to buy it. I want to come up with at least a couple of different kinds plus one suitable for men. I also have to make sure and do the actual transactions out of the store because I guess the HR manager is a real stickler for that kind of thing. No peddling Avon during your lunch break! If I get enough sales I'll go ahead and order 100 of them for only $14 while their supplies last. I didn't find another price anywhere close to that.
I indulged myself on the way home by stopping by the store and getting a DiGirono Thin & Crispy Spinach & Garlic Pizza. My god those things are good! They're bigger than a 'personal' size pizza but smaller than the 12" ones that are more normal. Still too many carbs but not totally outrageous either. I liberally sprinkle it with red pepper flakes and extra grated Parmesan cheese (the good kind I grate myself). So good!
Now I need to dig out my little cooler to pack my lunch tomorrow. I have 3 bottles of frozen water in the freezer to keep everything cool and I bought a deli container of turkey-cashew spread to eat with my Wasa crackers and some marinated hot peppers. Throw in an apple and some ice tea and I'm good to go with a healthy, nutritious, carb-wise sensible lunch for tomorrow. Plus I get to sleep in! I don't have to get up until 6 am to be there by 8.
I hope everyone is enjoying some gorgeous fall weather and has a great weekend.
Later!
In keeping with the 'not great' news, I found out yesterday that the reason I haven't been getting more hours is not only lack of hours in the store, but because I'm designated as part time I'm supposed to get no more than 25 hours per week except on the odd occasion. The HR manager neglected to tell me that when she transferred me from seasonal to part time permanent. This won't do. I was holding on until business picked up for the holidays but apparently it's not going to for me. Having to go to bed around 5-6 pm for this job isn't really conducive to finding another job but since I really like this job I'm going to weigh my options.
Tomorrow I wasn't scheduled to work at the store but I'll get paid for 8 hours anyway since I volunteered for the so-called Hero's Project. The one where we're going to supply a lot of the manpower for the make-over of the Independence, MO K-9 unit facility. It's going to be a gorgeous day for the outdoor work! Low 70s and lots of sunshine.
I arranged with the stocking crew manager to come in a couple of hours early 2-3 days a week for some more hours. The store manager gave me the OK on that a couple of weeks ago and didn't put a time limit on it, and since the stocking crew still isn't up to strength I'm going to keep 'volunteering' for the hours until they tell me differently. I'm not wild about going to work at 2 am a couple of days a week but it's better than struggling with money or job hunting.
Also under the 'not great' column, my under-eye dark circle & bag banishing serum hasn't worked out they way I was hoping. Yes, I can see diminished dark circles after only 3-4 days Yay! but the trade off was waking up on the 4th day to find scaly red swooshes under my eyes. Not attractive! And so not the result I was looking for. So I'm waiting for the negative effect to clear up (already happening) then I'm going to dilute the serum by 50% and try again - cautiously. It's the price of being your own guinea pig. I'll keep you posted on the outcome.
My lotion bottles arrived today! The ones I'm going to use to sell my lotions to the ladies at work. They're not as pretty as I would like but they'll do the job and they're cheap! Which allows me to make the finished product cheaper. I bought 25 of them (and I just noticed the price has gone up slightly) with waterproof label sheets I can print up. I'm going to make up a prototype to take to work and see how many of the ladies want one. I'll have to come up with a reasonable price that makes it worth my while to go to the trouble and yet makes it reasonable enough for them to want to buy it. I want to come up with at least a couple of different kinds plus one suitable for men. I also have to make sure and do the actual transactions out of the store because I guess the HR manager is a real stickler for that kind of thing. No peddling Avon during your lunch break! If I get enough sales I'll go ahead and order 100 of them for only $14 while their supplies last. I didn't find another price anywhere close to that.
I indulged myself on the way home by stopping by the store and getting a DiGirono Thin & Crispy Spinach & Garlic Pizza. My god those things are good! They're bigger than a 'personal' size pizza but smaller than the 12" ones that are more normal. Still too many carbs but not totally outrageous either. I liberally sprinkle it with red pepper flakes and extra grated Parmesan cheese (the good kind I grate myself). So good!
Now I need to dig out my little cooler to pack my lunch tomorrow. I have 3 bottles of frozen water in the freezer to keep everything cool and I bought a deli container of turkey-cashew spread to eat with my Wasa crackers and some marinated hot peppers. Throw in an apple and some ice tea and I'm good to go with a healthy, nutritious, carb-wise sensible lunch for tomorrow. Plus I get to sleep in! I don't have to get up until 6 am to be there by 8.
I hope everyone is enjoying some gorgeous fall weather and has a great weekend.
Later!