First of all, stealing is bad.

But if you are going to steal, use your brain: don’t steal 250, 000 worth of jewellery and expect it to go unnoticed. Start small.

It’s sad when you open your mailbox and get so excited because there is a hand-addressed envelope inside with your name on it, which means it isn’t a bill and it isn’t junk mail and it was written just for you …

… and then you realize it is the SASE that you had to send in order to get some papers back, so really, it’s from yourself and not quite so exciting and you just didn’t recognize your own handwriting.

I’m getting so lazy at work – my cube was moved down one in the row so that I am no longer right in the centre. Which is fine. But now I find that instead of just leaning out of my cubicle to ask someone a question, I roll down to their cube and the roll back to my cube. I roll over to the printer instead of walking to it – even though I am actually closer to it now than I was before.

I have yet to roll to another area, but who knows, maybe I will.

At least I haven’t started using a scooter yet.

Since I work for a healthcare software company, I am expected to know a little bit of both medical and technical terminology so that I can describe things in correct and appropriate ways. One of my performance measures for this year is to increase my medical knowledge, something I am finding a little hard to do since I never really liked studying anyway. I try to attend in-house learning sessions and read industry publications, but when push comes to shove, I would rather work towards improving my documentation than work towards improving my extra knowledge. But since my performance review rides partly on this, I am looking for new ways to expand my sources of information.

Which is where tv comes in.

As I browsed through Chapters today, I came across several novels based on the the tv show C.S.I.. Now while I like C.S.I., I’m not sure my interest would transfer over to a book, but then I got to thinking a little more: C.S.I. … crimes … dead people … autopsies … medical knowledge! And if I throw C.S.I. Miami into the mix, I get a good solid two or three hours of “medical knowledge” every week!

Now if I can only sell my boss on the idea, I’m all set.

After listening to my friend’s description of how they get that soft gooey caramel inside the Caramilk bar, and the chemistry behind the soft-centered Halls, I can honestly say I don’t think I can ever ingest those things again. I think I was better off when it was still one of “life’s sweet mysteries”.

I’m not doing too well with my lack of internet at home. Weekdays aren’t too bad since I’m at work and can check my email throughout the day, but weekends are a little tough. I came into work both yesterday and today just to check my email and do the errands that I need internet for. Only … three more weeks – hopefully(!) – until my new internet provider kicks in and makes it all better.

Damn. That’s long.

Well kiddies, due to my ISP provider’s interesting concept of customer service, after today I will be without internet service for a few weeks.

The choices were: cancel it today, or cancel it in the middle of July. Two weeks early or two weeks late.

But don’t you fret, I still have access at work 😉

The customer service line for my ISP has an interesting mix of classical, techo and cheesy 80s-style music going on. I feel like I am stuck in some wacky timewarp that can’t make up it’s mind what time it wants to warp me into.

Every time I’ve tried to write this it has seemed trite or flippant or something else that I don’t want it to be.

I put Monte to sleep this afternoon. He had degenerated over the course of the week until he could no longer walk again or reach his food bowl to eat. So we made one last trip to the vet. It was for the best. And yet I still feel his absence.

I think I have absorbed some of what other people have said and I almost feel silly to feel so sad. Yeah, he was just a hedgehog. But he was my hedgehog. And yes, he was somewhat of an anti-social little ball of spikes, but he was also a real sweetie when he wanted to be. Like the way he licked my fingers sometimes. Or the way he would come out of his ball – first the nose, snuffling away, then the ears, then the forehead, followed by his eyes and the rest of his body.

I realized afterwards that this is the first time it has been my decision and my decision alone to put a pet to sleep.

Rest in peace, little guy.

The upside to my moving is that I’ll get a new place, less rent, more light (but still carpet in the living room) and still close enough to walk to work.

The downside to me finally moving is that I have to keep my apartment extra clean for the next month and a half on the off-chance that someone comes to look at it.

But it’s nice to have the whole matter settled. Especially since I had to give notice for my current apartment last week, knowing that I would not find out about the new apartment until today or tomorrow. So I was theoretically homeless for a few days there. 🙂

Kitty seatbelts: Good in theory, not so good in practice.