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Thursday, March 31, 2005
Honey reached another milestone the other night.
As a cat rescued from life on the street followed by 10 months in a shelter cage she has had a lot of insecurity that has taken time to overcome.
Her latest major milestone came a few weeks ago when she began to spend a few minutes with me after I would get under the covers for the night. At first she stayed at the foot of the bed for a few minutes before hopping down and spending the night in her cat bed in the living room.
Her next step was to nervously visit with me within hand's reach. After several sessions this way, she began to act less nervous and to plop herself down next to my thigh and welcome the petting.
This week, rather than leap over my body when she wants to get to the other side, she has been hopping onto my tummy or legs as she bounds across. She has also made some quick trips around my body by walking around my head.
Lately has also been checking out the stuff I have on my night stand and rubbing her mouth against the edge of the lamp. She would do this only when I was not lying in bed, but when I was sitting up on the side. Honey has never been the kind of cat to jump up onto tables and check things out, but the end table is at bed-level and so it is an obvious starting point for her curiosity.
Last night I was in bed when she walked right next to my head and started playing with a wrapped Halls lozenge that was on my night stand. She got it in her mouth and was flipping it around and shreading the wrapper, all while I lay right next to her.
This made me so happy! She has played before, but not so close to me. When she played with the lozenge she was totally into it and did not have any concerns about my presence. Kittens and cats that have a 'normal' background do this all the time, but with Honey it has taken her so long to be this trusting and free to be herself. This is great!
Posted at 3/31/2005 10:09:40 pm by lifeonhold
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Monday, March 28, 2005
The Stinky Green Fish has successfully battled this year's invasion of the evil Peeps. Once again, they met the same fate as all delicious chocolate bunnies and marshmellow creations.
Green Tuna challenges us to make our South Park persona, and has inspired us to adopt a virtual pet. As a dutiful copycat, here are my entries:
LIFEONHOLD, South Park style
Click on the More tab and play with dumpling right here on this page.
Posted at 3/28/2005 8:22:59 pm by lifeonhold
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Sunday, March 27, 2005
Posted at 3/27/2005 1:15:30 pm by lifeonhold
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Friday, March 25, 2005
For God so loved the world
that He gave His only begotten Son,
that whoever believes in Him,
should not perish
but have everlasting life.
-- John 3:16
Posted at 3/25/2005 6:51:53 pm by lifeonhold
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Thursday, March 24, 2005
Grace points us to a link that suggests that we "Build an Igloo!"
Consider it DONE! Done, as in late 1960's Done. Done pre-cable TV. Done pre-Internet. Done when we were young and active.
I built this along with my friend, Lisa (pictured) after a real blizzard (not today's puny blizzards, I say in an old tyme-y voice). The snow was tightly packed and we used snow shovels to carve out bricks. The entrance and the bed of the igloo itself was recessed into the packed snow. It was roomy and warm. I'm not sure how much oxygen was available, so I'm glad we didn't try to spend the night or something.
Ok, Grace, now please give us a SPRING project!
Posted at 3/24/2005 4:45:44 pm by lifeonhold
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Wednesday, March 23, 2005
Show & Tell - Petty Peeves
It's time for a little photo essay about some extremely petty peeves that rise up in me from time to time.
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Just what does it take to dispose of your Lipton Tea bag wrapper? Every afternoon, the same person makes tea, and every afternoon she leaves the empty wrapper on the counter for someone else to put in the trash.
I call this person (to myself) Her Royal Highness, because she's like this about everything. She NEVER lifts the slightest finger to contribute to common tasks in the office. During my times when I was totally buried in work every day and had my desk near her, I used to get furious when she'd spend her time doing her nails and taking 1.5 hour lunchs. Now I'm thankful that my desk is in another area and all I get from HRH is a daily tea bag wrapper. |
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One of the guys did the hard part of changing water bottles. I thank him for that.
However, just what does it take to lift the empty bottle and slip it in the water bottle rack? It's EMPTY for G_ds sake! This happens every time.
My theory is that the guys who do this task want us to know that they're doing it. Either that, or they're just being guys. Attention to detail, please! |
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Who wants a ripped remnant of a paper towel sheet? Someone thinks they're being 'economical' here, but really, they're just being annoying. I know this is petty beyond belief, but it just doesn't make sense. I've also encountered the more disgusting version where someone has used a still-attached towel, or remnant, to wipe something sloppy and left the stained sheet on the roll. Gee, thanks. |
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This is my "favorite".
When the roll on the spindle was down to about 2 sheets, I went to the back room and got a new roll. I unwrapped the roll and put it next to the almost empty roll.
The photo demonstrates how I found it later. The person using the last paper towel from the old roll was TOO FRIGGIN' LAZY to take the old core off, slip the new roll sitting right there onto the spindle, and discard the core. (The garbage can is just out of view in this photo.)
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Posted at 3/23/2005 1:06:10 pm by lifeonhold
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Tuesday, March 22, 2005
...in the next half hour, the entire blame can be laid at the feet of the United Health Care and Medco automated phone answering systems. These Phone Nazis did everything in their power this afternoon to give me a stroke or coronary by refusing to allow me to speak to a live person.
YES, I have been to your websites. Yes, I searched for an answer to my question there. No, I did not find it. I do not need to listen and respond to long and involved circular phone trees. Yes, you promised to let me speak to a customer service person, but then you just kept routing me through the system. Four times.
I finally got through by purposely responding with enough gibberish that even the Phone Nazi gave up on me and passed me along to an actual person. I'm sure their technical service people will be alerted as to the breach in their inpeneratable wall and come up with a fix to keep this from happening again.
I, and the rest of your customers should not have to call 4 times and have to trick the Phone Nazi to speak to a live person. This is NOT GOOD CUSTOMER SERVICE. It is HATEFUL CUSTOMER SERVICE, in my opinion. The web site gave a 'technical feedback page' on the site itself, but no Contact Us information for Customer Service.
My head is pounding, and I have a huge flare-up of heartburn over this incident. If I drop dead tonight, please ship my dead stinking body to UHC....if you can find their address.
Posted at 3/22/2005 7:01:57 pm by lifeonhold
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Wednesday, March 16, 2005
Posted at 3/16/2005 10:50:05 pm by lifeonhold
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Saturday, March 12, 2005
Life's Ups and Downs - First Edition
This is a new feature on Life Off Hold. I call it Life's Ups and Downs and is self-explanatory.
Posted at 3/12/2005 9:12:13 pm by lifeonhold
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Sunday, March 06, 2005
My friend in Albany, NY sent me this temptation this week:
Hi,
Want to move to Arizona with me? I have just about had it with winters up here.
Well, now, let's see.....
Or.....
You tempt me mightily, my Albany friend!
Winter has reached the stage where one feels they can not handle it anymore. Although this is a bogus attitude (because we do handle it) it nontheless has a certain power. Even snow days from work, or a well-timed 'mental health day' does not bring relief.
Honey  wants the window open, and so do I!
Of course as soon as that is possible we'll all be suffering from Spring Fever.
Posted at 3/6/2005 3:33:03 pm by lifeonhold
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