The Wheel

I ordered a nice chinchilla wheel for Gizmo. Pat was fine with this, as a matter of fact I did such good job selling him on the idea and showing my excitement that it would arrive this week, it backfired.

The shipping address I used was my business address, silly me the name of the business was not included. This delayed the packages delivery (I have to pick it up from the post office today). Pat was upset last night arguing with me about the fact that the wheel was not in. I was irresponsible and bla bla bla. It was obvious that he had had a bad day considering that he really never before last night showed any interest in said wheel. I hate fighting over insignificant stuff it’s a waste, our lives are not going to be changed significantly because of the wheel, though hopefully Gizmo will love it.

The Good and The Bad

Well my Grandpa went in for additional eye surgery, my sister called me last night; my mom could not get a hold of me. At least they told me after he got home and is ok. The Dr. said it was a fluke that the 2nd surgery needed to be done so it should be all taken care of now. It’s weird that I now worry about my grandparents; they have always been very healthy. Having something start out of the blue like that really hit home I guess.

But I have good news to distract me from my worry.

I am going to be an Aunt! Becky & Doug are 3 months along!!! They just told us last night, I’m so thrilled they are going to be great parents. Was going to have Lillie make her a homemade baby blanket but she expressed desire to make it for Baby for a gift. So I will do some more shopping!

Gizmo 2

I don’t know how many times I have forgotten my medication this week, all I know is my stomach hates me!! Stupid immune system, their simply has to be a better way to teach it to get along with my colon. And for the record croissants do not go well with painful tummies.

We put Gizmo’s cage in the bedroom to see if she would go in after she was tired of running around. She did not. Hopefully after I get the flying saucer wheel thing she will not be as obsessed with being out of her cage. We let her out for 2-3 hours a day, unfortunately yesterday I chose to go through old papers and stuff which seemed to scare her and she did not run around as much. Chins are very sound sensitive especially ours. She did bark periodically through out the night which was a little annoying.

One thing that I have found that she LOVES to do, is jump on my head repeatedly in the morning. Pat lets her out when he gets up (5am) and she wakes me up by jumping on my head. She jumps like a champion, on and off the bed and from one object to another. It’s really great to see.

Still More Accident

Still no police report, I’m beside myself. I really want to get the claim filed with her insurance company (I’m worried she does not have one). I have the estimate and the date with the body shop but I need her information to go through and get it fixed. Her insurance co will want to see the car. This has been a nightmare! I know better then that I should have gotten her information; I have no idea why I did not. I guess when I asked him and he said it would be done in a few days I figured that latest Monday I would have her information. (from the police report)

In better news Gizmo seems to like us! We moved as many wires out of the bedroom as possible so she can run and play. She loves to jump and has no problem jumping on and off our bed. She even spent some time sitting on me yesterday. She still won’t jump on us so we can carry her to the bedroom but we are working on it. This morning Pat let her run around as I was trying to sleep and she ran over my face few times, it’s a strange way to wake up.

We are taking my car to Pat’s dad’s house this weekend. There is a noise coming from the engine and we are scared. It seems like we get our feet on the ground and something else screws with us, at least (so far) we have been able to manage I just hope the engine is not bad.

It Should be Pat's Fault!

What a night! Pat was still mad about the accident when I got home so we got into a fight. This rarely happens, Pat usually given time will get less upset and more able to talk. I guess what made him the most mad was how I told him about the accident. He called me and I was laughing and told him that his car was cursed (he has been in 2 accidents with it, none his fault). Laughter is not what he wanted to hear and I wouldn’t have except I just think about how many times that car has been hit by others, and adding a little stress and it was funny (you have to admit people are aiming for this car, we have only had it 2 ½ years). But I’m not hurt and we will get a rental provided for us when the time comes.

He was also mad I was using the car for business (something he does everyday). He of course expenses the miles (he drives lot), I do not do either. In the last 7 months I have driven my car maybe 10 miles for the company (Yea! 3.50, I’m rich). For the record I let my company know and I would hope they are going to help me take care of the repairs and claiming through her insurance.

The Next Day;

They have to review the file they may not do anything to help me with the accident. I apparently have to ask to use my vehicle for personal use before doing so. It actually makes me sick to think about the times I went to train some employees, or pick up marketing supplies in my own car. I didn’t think to get permission then and I do no have access to any company cars. If I had gotten hit by an uninsured driver and been injured, holly shit. Well I don’t care what they want of me after today they either bring it to me or give me a company car, f-them. (I hate it when Pat’s correct) At least this is therapeutic I wasn’t sure if I was going to scream or cry when I got off of the phone with Loss Control, I was pretty determined to go home early.

The End

So it seems that we have come to the end of the chinchilla wheel saga. I picked it up from ups last night. Yes, after all that trouble I had to drive 10 miles to pick it up from UPS. I called UPS after I missed the delivery to see if I could pick up my package (I knew I would miss the delivery because UPS refuses to deliver after 6pm). This was at 6:30, the distribution center was supposed to call me back with in the hour, 8 PM rolls around I call the 800 # again they apologized and sent another message for them to call me. 8:45 pm she calls saying she can’t find my package, she will call as soon as she found it.

It was 9pm before I left to pick it up. The distribution center is large and busy! I guess they needed to pack up for the next morning.

Any way I get home and install the wheel in the new cage, unfortunately it was not designed for my cage, but I made it work. When we put Pink (the little one) away she showed interest in the wheel but did not manage to figure out its real purpose. She would jump up and get tossed off, or ride in a circle. It was great amusement for me! Gizmo however sniffed it then let it be. I think she will learn to love it. Once they figure it out.

What A Great Day

Wow my first car accident in a long time. Why don’t people pay more attention! I was driving in the right hand lane minding my own business when this lady decided to slowly run a stop sign and take a left hand turn in front of me. She says she did not see me, Grumble. I assure you my car is not invisible. I was with a fellow employee and after the shock wore off it was fairly comical. No one was hurt.

During the accident I even went as far as nicely asking the lady to stop as I floored the brakes in my (husbands) car. It was definitely a slow motion accident, I even think my coworker herd my “NO Please Stop!” in slow motion.

My car has a significant dent in the bumper and front fender, a small crack and scratching to the fender. Her minivan was damaged! Their is a big dent from just past the drivers side door to the rear wheel well. I saw that and was soo worried about hubby’s car, I was relived to see the real damage.

So I call him to tell him and he is livid. He gets into accidents and it’s no big deal the car will get fixed (he is more upset then I am). But it finally happins to me and all hell breaks loose. I have to drive home extra careful today (I’m stressed and it’s all hubby’s fault).

Gizmo

I am infatuated with Pat’s new pet. She loves to come out and explore and play, she even takes breaks now and again to check in on us and say hi. Currently the only area that is chinchilla proof is the stairway. So we decided to let her go and see what she did. She loved it! Up and down and up and down it was crazy. She would play with us at the top landing in between the trips, but did not spend much time at the lower landing.

She does have a weird habit of bouncing off the walls (literally), once it looked like she was trying to push the wall out of the way. She does that to us when we are sitting on the top of the stairs, she is trying to get by us, I think she’s just playing because she usually just jumps on our laps. If she really wanted to I’m sure she could make it very hard for us to keep her in the stairwell. Also she doesn’t run from us fast. When she gets away it’s almost like she’s playing it cool, as if she acted like she belonged exploring the room we would forget that it wasn’t allowed.

I am working on Chinchilla proofing the bedroom, but that will take some time. I have to move the computer (which i wanted to do anyway) and try to minimize any loose wiring she can get to. I can’t wait to let her run in a whole room! It will be fun (for both of us)!

New Addition

This weekend we welcomed a new pet into our home. One of Pat’s friends had to give her up. He had too many pets and his girlfriend whom was helping him care for them (I think the chin was her idea) broke up with him (or vice versa).

She is a Chinchilla; I am a little worried bringing her home. I have traditionally had rats as pets and am quite used to spoiling them with healthy treats. Chinchilla’s can not have many treats so I will have to get used to not providing extra food for Pat’s critter. But Pat will keep me in line and I think I can find treats made out of alfalfa that may be given slightly more often. Pat named her Gizmo (as in the Gremlins movie). She’s very cute and warming up to us fast. I am chinchilla proofing a room so she can have free time, until that is done I will get her a run about ball. I really love the fact that properly cared for chins live 10-20 years.

On a negative note my car was idling funny so I took it to the shop, and the noise is coming from the engine and they can’t do anything for me so I have to take it to the dealer. I hope it’s nothing too bad!!

Why I Blog

I think most people blog because they have (or think they have) an interesting story to tell. Me? I want to remember the little things better. My memory is horrible, I loose things and forget things, and it sucks. While the blog can’t help me keep track of things, it will let me read back and remember what I write about. Occasionally I may have funny memory stories to share (if I can remember them).

Like this weekend, Pat’s mom warned me bout a strange lady who walks her dog around their street. The dog can get mean so she was telling me to stay away; I will pet anything that will let me (though I always ask owners). On Sunday at the Memorial Day picnic at Becky’s house I was talking to MIL and she said she saw me petting said dog and it was licking my face. I’m thinking (hoping) that she just mistook someone else for me because I have no recollection of petting said dog or letting any dogs lick my face. I can’t even come up with a time that it could have happened. This is either an example of my horrible memory or mistaken identity.

Business

http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Investing/CompanyFocus/WhataHugeCEOSalaryWouldBuyYou.aspx?page=2

It is strange to think the US is #1 in the pay gap between the executives and the worker bees (read above article this is paraphrased from page 2). Growing up in Rochester it always amazed me that instead of cutting the executive’s pay by a small percentage the big employers would lay off thousands of workers. At the very least they could do a combination of the 2 methods of cost reduction. From my recollection the layoffs were not because the workers became obsolete but because the company was loosing money.

In my opinion the worker bees fired have a very small impact on the company’s performance. They (for the most part) build what they are told and do not do much else. It’s the executives that determine how to market, what to build, and make the other critical decisions needed to steer the company into big profits or tremendous losses. So why is it that they are not taking the losses with the company? I understand that they are paid to work all of the time and shoulder a lot of responsibility but shouldn’t their compensation grow as the company becomes more profitable (and shrink if they post losses)?

Their is another article on MSN today about living wages, how can you be against it? One gentleman even went as far to say that the government is not taking care of these unskilled workers, why should businesses? Let me tell you. These people are WORKING for a living and trying to get by on just over 10K/year. They are productive members of society, providing a service for your company (and us consumers). Why do you feel that you can pay them less then it costs to live in any given area? I’m not rich (maybe low to mid middle class) but I can’t fathom living on only 10k/year even if you could find an apartment for less then 450/month (double that if you want to live in NJ). If you don’t pay taxes after rent you have $442.66 left for gas, a car, groceries, insurance, electric and other utilities, medical expenses, and other necessities. Is that even possible?

With all of that said it’s probably why I am not a CEO (yet), though I’m not a communist either. I don’t think everyone should be paid equally, not everyone does the same job or works as hard as everyone else.