Mippies get a visitor

I was about to go to bed, when I got side-tracked by my cats. Lady Jane and Mewthos showed no signs of wanting to sleep, so I thought I should make some effort to tire them out a bit. We ended up playing rat-race in the bedroom for over half an hour! Ziva was curled up on the bed, and I got her involved as well. At first, I’d just poke the stick in front of her, letting her paw and bite to catch it – but then Mewthos would join her on the bed – and during the play-time, she didn’t hiss, growl or swat at him! During those times, Lady Jane would watch every move from the ground – and I’d soon bring the stick back down to the carpet for both Mippies to run after. Ziva came down later and also made a few runs after the stick! I got so engrossed in the dynamics between the three – I forgot the time. And ended up going to bed a bit on the late side.

I had some strange dreams this morning. I don’t remember them, but Mewthos featured in some way and something about setting up the next project – oh, and there was a part where my salary was revised based on performance, which hiked it up considerably. A girl can dream, eh? It is still a man’s world. Any job that is traditionally a woman’s job, will never earn well. I could write more than one essay on this subject – but since it’s coming from a woman, it’ll just be put down as ‘ranting, raving’ or some other derogatory label.

Anyway. I got up just before eight – Mewly had already sat on my chest asking ‘when mummy get up? Mippies want to play!’ I let Ziva out, but kept the Mippies in, since I need to get groceries. Mippies want attention, cuddles, play, treats – I couldn’t have my coffee in peace, so I just distracted them with a treat and went off to do the dreaded shopping!

Makro was a disaster. Although, for the first time in two years a Makro employee offered his assistance! I didn’t have to ask him, or find someone, or get those aggressive ‘I’m working, you’re interrupting me. What do you want?’ looks and body-language. He politely came up to me and asked IF I needed assistance! Remarkable!

That was the only positive point, though. The next aisle, I couldn’t get to the shelf because it was blocked with pallets. Blocked off so completely, I would have had to wriggle and squirm to get to the shelf – so I left it. The next aisle, I wanted Tonic Water – and they had only some new ‘Zero Sugar’ Tonic Water – nothing else. In the pet food section, they now have NONE of the Purina. Last time they had only the kitten food, this time they have nothing. They did, however, have a special on Whiskas – so I got 2x 4kg. They also had a special on the Whiskas jelly sachets, so I got 4 boxes @ 12 sachets. At the cigarette counter I had to call for the staff to come from out the back – after having waited a whole minute.  But I also caught a special on margarine – getting 1kg for the same price Spar is selling 500gr.

After the meager results at Makro, I had to decide where to now get the rest. Eventually I decided to go to Food Lover’s Market next door to Makro. I decided to pick a few fruits, since they do have a wide variety. When I wanted to get some nuts, and obviously needed some help – the assistant first walked away, then wandered back … and still I had to ask her to please help me! All this while two ‘supervisors’ were standing around discussing rearrangements to the section! They’ve re-arranged the layout of the store – it looks a lot more open, but it’s less efficient. Now, if you want to go through the vegetable section AND their shelves, you end up having to zig zag and back-track. So I gave a large portion of the store a miss. I am happy to say that they finally removed that hanging trolley over the deli counter! But a lot of items in that store have no prices, or the prices displayed don’t match the items in the shelves, and the labels on the deli cold-meats has no dates on them. They don’t keep for very long, so an expiry date is essential. Since they didn’t have dates, I didn’t risk it. The fish looked tempting, but the labels were also a bit dodgy, so I didn’t risk that, either. They’ve also re-arranged the hot food section – and the fresh fruit smoothie / fruit salad counter is almost inaccessible. I took a rye bread – and will see whether it will go green again by tomorrow, or whether I’ll actually get to eat some. The rolls looked fresh – but when I got home, they were already limp, so … yeah. Overall, I see no reason to revise my opinion of the management of that place.

Back at home, Ziva was a bit put out that I let her sit by the front door, and – instead of opening the door for her – I went back to carry another load from the car. After I carried everything inside, I’m not left alone to get my breath back. Lady Jane and Ziva want attention! Sigh. Eventually I opened a sachet for them – and now I finally have a bit of peace to write this! It’s nearly two now, and I’m still trying to get my breakfast – mippies have been driving me insane! Mewly carried my jammie-pants into the lounge while I was out shopping – he likes to have a part of me nearby. Soppy Mewly! You gotta love him!

Ah, and here comes Romeo! Caterwauling up the stairs, greets Lady Jane, now he’s chomp, chomp, chomping in the kitchen. As he’s finishing up, our site manager calls – he’s outside. I had suggested he make a plan to pop in to see the mippies for a last time, before he leaves the country for good. He took me up on the invitation. It was a bit tricky with Romeo on this side – I had to ask him to stand by the window in the lounge, so Romeo could get past him and run out. Mewthos and Lady Jane were very skittish at first – Mewthos hid in the bedroom, Lady Jane stayed outside. But after some time – and with the lure of the rat-race stick – she came in and close enough to play. Mewthos watched from a distance before slowly crawling closer. They wouldn’t let him touch them, but did come closer and played rat-race with him. Ziva was nowhere to be seen, I’m afraid.

Well, that’s the last German gone as well. Now it’s just me and two locals – an electrician and the store-man. But that’s Monday’s worries.

It’s now half past three, and I’m not sure whether I should try to start the dishes. I meant to get all chores done today, but apart from getting the groceries, I haven’t made much head-way. Well, since I’m down to my last cup, I decided to do the dishes – get at least something useful done today. Maybe that’ll make it possible for me to vacuum the lounge tomorrow. It sorely needs it!

Well, dishes done, dinner cooked, Mippies fed, dinner eaten, showered (on my lonesome, for a change – not a single cat came to investigate!) now the only thing left to do is to clean out the litter box and I’m done for the day.