Under the weather

I woke up yesterday morning feeling absolutely drained. I had gone to bed early, as I'd been feeling low all week - but, once again, Mini woke me up when she decided to take apart the flower fountain ... again! I don't know why, but she's been doing that every night this week; which is why I haven't been getting enough sleep!

I really don't know why she keeps taking the flower fountain apart. She hooks her claws into the top, lid part, then lifts it up. Which firstly, always spills water onto the floor - and, of course, I have to worry that she tips it over! It holds 1 1/2 liter water - I can't have that on the floor! Also, when she takes the lid off, the water, naturally, splashes - it now fountains into water, instead of through the flower onto the lid! Noisy! Wakey mommy! Mommy grumpy!

Yesterday, I thoroughly cleaned the fountain - yet, once again, last night, she tried to pull the lid off! And she always waits until I'm asleep! I suppose she thinks it's a lovely toy, and playing with that particular toy, always results in attention from mommy! And mommy, of course, can't afford to ignore the possibility of all that water ending up on the floor ... possibly reaching electrical plugs! Sigh!

I was looking around online, yesterday, for an alternative. There is a nice fountain, which I think my mippies will love! It's the Drinkwell Fountain, the 1 1/2 liter version. But fountains are not exactly cheap - plus, they need filters. I bought this little one for R500, 2 years ago - now it costs over R800! Same price as the one I'd like. My problem is, that I haven't been able to get replacement filters for the one I have, which is why I'm considering getting another ... and then, yesterday, I saw that ePetStore HAS those filters back in stock! Huh? I've been on the 'notify me' list for a year - no notification! And now you know why I've changed suppliers!

Well, that and the fact that they don't offer discount for recurring orders plus, of course, they sent me a doggie treat as a 'thank you for shopping with us'! Anyway, after much thought, I ordered 2 sets of 3 replacement filters for the fountain I have.

Back to the morning: when I woke up feeling completely drained, plus I saw that mippies had been sick on the bed during the night ... I called in sick. If I was feeling like that first thing in the morning, there was little chance I'd make it through the day - I'd probably go home before noon anyway. Might as well save me the trip.

I did very, very little. Yes, I put the duvet into the washing machine, hung it up and took it down. Ditto the bed sheets. I did the dishes. And I swept the bathroom, bedroom and kitchen. Which took me almost the whole day - I was moving around like a zombie, in slow motion. In the morning I could have just turned over and gone back to sleep - but I didn't want to completely mess up my sleep cycle! I tried a nap at noon, but couldn't fall asleep. I did get a nice rest, though.

I spent most of the day in my armchair watching the Golden Girls and cutting up cardboard. I cut them into large triangles, which I then glued together and tonight I can put it up against the wall as a cat scratcher! With it propped against the wall, they can also put their back into it and get the stretching while scratching they need. They still use the one that I built when they were mini mip mips! Lady Jane came to see what I was doing throughout the day! I'd always put down the knife, then pick her up for a cuddle session.

She worried me a bit last night, as she wouldn't eat! Not sure why, but I suspect she's the one doing all that throwing up this past week. Now I'm thinking whether I need to take her to the vet! Mewthos' paw is back to normal size ...

Ai, ai, ai! They gives me grey hairs!

Rant alert!

I also thought about WHY I'm feeling so awfully drained. I mean, lack of sleep, sure, that contributes. But if that was all, then I wouldn't have any trouble falling asleep - especially not for a midday nap! And, well, there is some other stuff bothering me. At work. I'm getting more and more frustrated with the complete lack of professionalism at work. Attitudes seem to be declining - and I feel boxed in on all sides. On that project for improvements, if I don't push, nothing happens.

And then, there's my work space: it is totally inadequate! Has been since day 1! It's a store, and there are three functions of a store: Receiving, picking & packing, storing. I have no receiving nor packing space whatsoever! I'm doing both bent over, using either a trolley and / or the second desk as a work area! Neither is at an acceptable height, so I have to pick up goods in an awkward position. Then check them, and then pack them - usually into a bag on the floor!

The floor in the office was full of potholes for months! It took 'maintenance' nearly the whole year to get those fixed. I have a phone here - but it doesn't work, since it's no longer connected! So, whenever the client wants to speak to me, I'm called to the main office! And now, I even have to friggin' traipse all the way to the main office for every friggin' printout! My printer has run out of ink - which I've been requesting since October last year, when I put the last cartridge into the printer! My boss has apparently first decided that I don't need a printer ... but he hasn't had the basic decency to tell me! When I finally found out about it, I had a talk with him - and he agreed that I actually do need a printer. He's making changes to the whole printing, to be more cost effective - he wants only black-and-white and is considering renting printers. All very well, but for EFFS SAKE I've been fekkin' asking since fekkin' October! Get your fekkin' rear into gear! I'm not traipsing to the main office for every single printout! I'm beginning to feel like the friggin' soccer ball of the company - you know? The one everyone gets to kick around?

I don't have the means to do a proper job, for example: our raw material arrives in 3m long bars or rods. It gets offloaded with the forklift and placed onto the floor inside the factory. Then someone needs to unpack it, pick it off the floor and carry it into the store! Seriously! I've done it in the past, but I've had enough! Now, I have to accept that, when factory staff do it, they just toss it into the shelf any ole how! Fine. But here's another issue: it is delivered in kgs! I have no means to verify that what we actually receive what the delivery note states! I've been told what each bar and rod supposedly weighs (nobody can tell me, where that information comes from = no justification), so the best I can do is count the number of bars / rods and calculate what the total weight should be.

Of course, I write down how many bars / rods I've received - but that information is not used by anyone! What I'm saying is: we PAY whatever the supplier asks - regardless what they actually delivered! On one delivery note, they clearly under-delivered ... apparently we paid, no questions asked!

And my boss wonders WHY we're not making a profit? And he also has more important things to do than the project I'm trying to push to FIX THIS BUSINESS?

Rant over.

Well, I've decided that the most important project right now is to fix my work space! Before I lift a finger for anything else, other than the bare essentials to keep stock moving, I will design a decent work environment for myself and make that happen! And I'm also going to have a talk with my boss - when I've calmed down a little, so, not today.

As I was going to sleep last night, listening to my audiobook, Terry Pratchett's Going Postal, it suddenly hit me: I feel EXACTLY like Ponder Stibbons! Ha Ha Ha! Okay, so I'm not the youngest nor newest member of this circus, but I do seem to be the only one with a professional attitude, working hard to get things right!

Today, as I was getting frustrated again, I just told myself: Ponder Stibbons! It's working like a mantra to turn frustration into laughter! It's not really funny, considering the consequences, but it's the best I've got!

I also considered, as I was off, that I should maybe do my shopping. But I was not up to anything yesterday. I was hoping that I'd maybe have the energy to do two trips in one - that is, go to the Spar today, after I've been to the German butchery ... I'll see how I feel when I'm done at the butchery! But frankly, I'll already have quite a bit of processing to do from the butchery, so I don't think it would be a good idea to add more than I have to! Especially considering how I'm feeling - can't count on being all happy, busy and chipper!

I'm afraid that the rolls I baked with the cheese and meat ... well ... they don't keep very long! Ha ha! I'm a silly goose, ain't I? Anyway, I have this idea of buying a raw Leberkäse and spreading that inside the dough, then roll that up to make a loaf! This time, I'll freeze part of that loaf! But that should turn out well! I've also been thinking, that I might as well crumb the Kotlett and Schnitzel BEFORE freezing them - it would save me a lot, not just in time, but also the crumbing ingredients. Every time I crumb just one, I have left-overs - and there's nothing you can do with extra crumbs and flour! Plus, of course, there's the three bowls I use for that to be washed every time. Yeah, I'm lazy - so, what? Ha Ha!

Well, I do feel much better today. Let's see how much I'll get done by tonight ...