Adventures In Pooh Pajamas

Why is it that when you need to have any kind of worker come to the house they can NEVER figure out when they are going to get there? Luckily I don't work, so I have the ability to sit around waiting for the cable guy, the plumber, the exterminator etc. Can't imagine what people who work do. Here are some examples.

We were up at our house in North Carolina attempting to vacation. One of the many and various things that went wrong was that the satellite internet was out. Well hell. It's out more than it's on to begin with, but we are paying a LOT of money for the luxury of having non-working satellite internet darn it. Mike spent a jolly half hour or so on the phone with someone in New Delhi who was no doubt named something improbable like Ted. Or Pete. (Because there are so MANY dudes in India named Pete. Why don't they use their real names? But I digress.) Anyway, Ted/Pete can't figure out what's wrong and we have to have someone come up to the house. Of course we could have told you that we'd have to have the guys come out to the house, but there is a process and you have to talk to the improbably named dude in New Delhi before they can come out. Usually a stray cow has crashed into the pole that holds the dish or something like that. They just readjust and we are back in business. Okay fine. So they'll be out the next day between 12 and 5. Yay! Imagine our surprise when the phone rings the next morning at 7:20 or so and it's the satellite guys on their way. They get there and fix whatever was wrong (something about bad wires), but tell us that there is a spiffy new and improved system that is faster and more reliable. More reliable would be really nice. So we schedule them for the next day between 12 and 5. Wanna guess who called at 9 and said they were on the way? Well alrighty then. I mean ONE day I can see the schedule getting wonked up and them arriving 4 hours early, but two days in a row? Really? It wasn't even the same company for God's sake.

Fast forward to today back home in Florida. Our pool lady disappeared about 3 weeks ago and we couldn't contact her. Turns out that something has happened and she is no longer in business. I know this because a nice guy named Rick called and told me that. She had turned her accounts over to him, and he wanted to come over today between 9 and 11 to give us an estimate. This is a good thing because the pool was NOT looking all that attractive. The weather here turned COLD last night. When Mike's alarm went off this morning I was snuggled under an assortment of cats and the dog, all warm and toasty. At 8:20 ish the phone rings. Damn. I struggle to get to it and mumble something approximating hello. A voice says, "I rang your doorbell but you didn't answer." Me, NOT being a morning person, says, "Who the HELL is this?" Whoops. It's the pool guy. So I crawl out of my cozy nest and trot downstairs in my Winnie the Pooh pajamas to answer the door. Hey, if you are going to show up that early in the day you just have to be prepared for Pooh-clad homeowners. Just sayin'. I managed to ask the correct questions and give somewhat coherent answers while barefooted and wearing my hot pink glasses. Took my toes 3 hours to thaw.

What IS it with people? If I had a doctor's appointment at 3, but decided that it would be far more convenient to get there at 10:15, can I reasonably expect the doctor to see me then? Suppose I worked at a real job? If you tell me that you're coming between 12 and 5 then I'm going to leave the office in time to get home at 12. I'm not going to be cooling my heels here at 10. Why can't people just show up when they SAY they are? Is that so difficult? Apparently so.

I SHALL SCREAM

::sigh:: Yeah well, it's my blog and I'll bitch if I wanna. We had finally gotten the situation with our cats straightened out. The ones who insisted upon peeing in places other than the litter pans moved into their very own cat house in the back. House is complete with screened in porch, rock fountain, heat and air conditioning and furniture. What cats could be happier? The cats who are still inside were using the litter pans nicely, with a few indiscretions. But frankly if you have cats you are going to have inappropriate peeing at one time or another in one place or another. So we were happy and the peasants rejoiced. Huzzah.

Then my brothers two cats moved in. Fitz is a Lt. Commander in the Navy, his family is now stationed in Australia, and it was going to be expensive to get the cats moved there. I think too that the logistics of it were a bit much for my sister in law to deal with as she prepared to move to the other side of the world with two small children. While I was a little concerned that the new cats might upset the carefully balanced litter pan lives of my cats, I wasn't overly concerned. More fool me. Boots and Grumman arrived and were ensconced in Rob's old bedroom. I set up a show tent for them to feel snug in. We opened the window that looks out at the pool so they could hear the fountains and watch the birds. We hoped for the best. Sadly, the best has not been all that good.

I spent about 4 hours today scrubbing walls, baseboards, floors, tile, fixtures and shower curtains. I'm not at all sure that even with all that I got all the pee up. Somecat, or perhaps more than one cat, is NOT happy at the arrival of the two Gentry cats and they are peeing everywhere. This is not good. I had a complete and total meltdown complete with tears, tossing shit about and screaming. We had worked SO hard, and spent SO much money on getting our house free from the smell of cat urine, and now here we go again.

What to do? Honestly I don't know. I can't keep Boots and Grumman locked in Rob's room for the duration. They show no inclination to come out and be socialized, and Boots has been declawed which is its own problem. Mike found a place that specializes in long term boarding for cats, but it is in New York state. I keep thinking that some kind of brainstorm is going to hit. Or some detante will be reached, but I think I'm going to be disappointed. Stay tuned. ::sigh::