Guess who has himself a shiny new job and is heading off for his first day of work as I type?
That’s right, folks, after 7 weeks of unemployment, 99 resumes sent out, occasional calls from recruiters, head hunters, and various and sundry other people, Fred got himself three interviews, was deemed overqualified for the first position he interviewed for, and was offered the other two. He’ll be working for a large company with room to advance, so here’s hoping he LIKES the job! He really, really likes the people at his new company, so that’s half the battle.
I have to say that in retrospect this 7 weeks went by a lot faster than I would have expected. We didn’t get nearly as much accomplished as we’d hoped to, but that’s the nature of time off, isn’t it? Hey, at least we got the pantry inside the damn house!
On Saturday we went to Kohl’s to buy Fred some new work duds. In his old job, he wore shorts to work every day (nice pleated dress shorts, but shorts nonetheless). The dress code at the new job is “business casual” which I am told consists of something in the khakis and button-down range. We got to Kohl’s right after it opened, and Fred went off toward the men’s section while I went to look at jeans and underwear. When I went looking for him about half an hour later, he had a pile of khakis and button-down shirts.
Oy. One thing y’all do not know about Fred And3rson is that when it comes toward clothing, he gravitates toward the bright, flamboyant colors. If left to his own devices, he’d have gone off to work on his first day dressed like so:
I convinced him to go for the more muted colors until he’s been at his job for a while.
After he’d chosen his clothes, we had to go over to the shoe section.
“You HAVE shoes!” I grumbled helpfully. And, “No one CARES if a MAN wears the same shoes every day! Are you afraid that the other geeks will say ‘Oh, he was wearing THOSE shoes yesterday!’?” And, “NO ONE CARES what you wear on your feet! Just get something comfortable!”
He found shoes he liked, grabbed some socks, and we were on our way.
Sunday, he started agitating to go up into Tennessee to the flea market. I couldn’t figure out why he wanted to go instead of waiting for Memorial Day weekend, which is when it’s really a big event, tons of people there selling stuff, and worth going. As it turned out, he decided that he needed a new wallet, because the wallet he had was falling apart.
I bought him a wallet at a leather outlet store in Boaz fourteen years ago, and he’s been using it ever since. I’ve been telling him for at least the past five years that he needed a new wallet, but he’s been resisting spending the money. It turns out that the idea of pulling out his old hoopty wallet in front of the other boys did not appeal to him.
Instead of going up into Tennessee, we went up to Walmart. He headed off for the wallet section, and I went over to the pet section. Fancy Feast canned cat food is on sale for 30 cents a can right now, which is a pretty great price, so I stocked up. Once I had what I needed, I went looking for him. They’re rearranging the whole friggin’ store, so he’d had to wander around to find the wallets, and then went looking for me.
I swear to god, whenever we go shopping together, I spend 95% of the time I’m in the store looking for him.
So he’s all set, he’s headed off to work in his pretty new clothes and fancy new wallet, and I have the house all to myself again.
I believe I’m going to celebrate by landing my ass on the couch and watching the final episode of Lost.
I saw this advertisement on Facebook yesterday:
I don’t know who the hell that man is, but he is NOT Jack Reacher. Jack Reacher looks NOTHING like that, am I right?
(You’re saying, “Robyn, you stupidhead, that is clearly the man who READS the Jack Reacher books!” Well, this is what Dick Hill looks like, and I don’t think it’s the same guy, so shaddup.)
So last Monday I brought the Rescuees home, and they were all perfectly fine, healthy, running around like their tails were on fire. Especially Sheila, who won me over with her wild ways at the vet. I weighed them all Monday night to see where they were.
As the week wore on, Sheila got quieter and quieter and stopped eating, and it got to the point where every time I walked into the room, I was carrying something to try to tempt her to eat. She seemed to rally Thursday – I got her to eat – but when I walked into the room a little later there was a large puddle of vomit. By Friday, she’d lost 4 ounces from a beginning weight of 1 pound, 6 ounces. She was seeming to rally again, she ate Friday morning, but then vomited again. She’d go over and sniff the bowl of food, but then walk away and sit there, hunched over, looking miserable. She clearly wanted to eat, but was nauseated by the smell of the food. We had an appointment for Spanky Friday afternoon, so I called the vet’s office to make sure it was okay to bring her with us. It was, so we did.
The vet looked her over, they did a fecal, and the vet offered up a couple of suggestions as far as what could be going on with her. She gave us a few things to give Sheila, and we were on our way home.
(Spanky, by the way, at the age of almost 14, has ACNE on his chin. He’s never had that issue before, but in his senior years he’s all acne’d up like a, well, a 14 year old boy, now that I think about it. He’ll be fine.)
So poor Sheila, all weekend long every time we went into the kitten room, we were putting medicine or PediaSorb into her mouth, and she was getting pretty tired of it, thank you. But she seemed to be doing better on Saturday, and last night she was back up to 1 pound, 4 1/2 ounces. The best thing, what really made us feel better, is that she was playing. She hadn’t really done any serious playing since Tuesday night, but yesterday she was chasing the boys around and showing them who the boss is.
(Hint: SHE is the boss.)
So she’s doing well – they all are – eating well, and now every time I walk into the room, they all howl at me because they got accustomed to my constantly bringing tasty food to tempt Sheila to eat.
Garrity, on the cat tree, where he’s safe from Sheila. Check out his gorgeous eyes – here’s a closeup:
How neat is it that the gold is spreading outward from his pupils like that? SO neat!
Gavin kicks some toy mouse butt. He’s got the really cool eyes, too:
Sheila, kicking some Garrity tail.
“I was just playin’ dead so she’d go away. When she’s not looking, I’m totally going to jump on her and bite her neck!”
::SMILE::
The Bookworms are also doing well. They’re now in the house 24 hours a day instead of being locked up in the guest bedroom at night. I had planned to start letting them stay out all the time a few weeks ago, but ended up deciding to keep putting them in the guest bedroom as long as they didn’t fight it too hard. Friday, they fought it, and I decided we’d just leave them out and see how it went.
It’s going okay. At various times through the night, I wake up and have all the kittens in bed with me. There’s been the occasional Bookworm-Elwood/ Jake spat, and they LOVE to race through the house like a herd of elephants the instant all the lights are off, but I’ve been sleeping okay, so I’m not going to complain. Rhyme and Bolitar take turns sleeping curled up right next to me. They both purr constantly, and waking up to a sweet purring kitten curled up next to you is always a good thing.
Kara in her favorite sleeping place.
Previously
2009: No entry.
2008: One of the many things I don’t get: sour cream.
2007: No entry.
2006: No entry.
2005: WHERE’S THE SENSE?
2004: ”It’s HOT in the SOUTH in the SUMMER?! You don’t say!”
2003: No entry.
2002: I hope you’re planning on marking the occasion with style and panache, people.
2001: And so on until it’s lunchtime and I’m so excited at the thought of Lime Jello for dessert (it being Tuesday and all) that I hang up on her and go hobbling out to the lunchroom with all the other old people.
2000: Fuuuuuuuuuuuck.
I insist that Fred buys that exact outfit, re-creates that pose, and posts a picture! I would never stop laughing… I also insist that Garrity be shipped to my home this instant, as I am dying from the CUTE!
Yay! Congrats Fred! Have a great first day at your new job.
Glad Sheila is feeling better – I hate it when pets get sickly.
I was laughing at the picture of Fred’s new clothes, and THEN I scrolled down and saw the socks and shoes. Are you sure he doesn’t need some like that for his first day? No one would forget him!
Don’t tell Newt, but I have a little crush on Gavin.
Well done Fred on the new job 🙂
Yay, Fred! And I would love to see his reaction to your interpretation of what he WISHES his first-day outfit could be.
The last two pictures of Garrity need to be submitted to Cute Overload, definitely. The little snarl followed by the smirk just made my day.
Oh, I okayed it with him before he left. He thought it was hilarious. 🙂
Yea! I was off for 6months, june-dec, so I did get to spend the summer with my kids. They went back to school, I got bored! lol
Do you watch Big Bang Theory? The one where Sheldon has to buy a new suit to give a speech is pretty funny and what Fred may have come up with. : )
I don’t, but I may have to check that episode out. I’ve seen an episode or two, and Sheldon is VERY Fredly. 🙂
Woo hoo! Congratulations to Fred! You must all be relieved that things are back to the normal routine. The part about his clothes reminds me of my dad. We bought him a pair of pajama pants with spongebob squarepants all over, and alot of the time he insists on wearing them with a flannel shirt (its eye clashing let me tell you 🙂 And while we tolerate it around the house, he is not allowed in the front of the property with that combination on, lol.
Give Sheila hugs and kisses for me – so glad to hear she is getting better.
Anna
Funniest freaking visual EVER!
Congrats to Fred! I know you’re both glad about the new job.
Congrats to Fred on the new job! I think I may be scarred for life picturing Fred in that outfit you posted.
Yay Fr3d!! That Liberace photo just made my day and I can just imagine Mr. And3rs0n strutting in (don’t forget to buy him a baton) with that bad boy on….the boys sure wouldn’t look at his hoopty wallet :).
Well Robyn, I had to invite half my office to come stand around my computer so I could explain why I suddenly erupted in howls of laughter – doesn’t happen often, I tell ya! My coworkers all think you should have left Fred to his own devices then posted pictures. Heee!
CONGRATS to Fred on the new job! And the new duds! And the new wallet! Did you stand at the door and see him off? You really should have taken some photos for us.
So what is it about lights-out and the cats running around like their asses are on fire? Maura and Beau waited until lights out last night to find her rolling plastic ball with the bell in it. Good times!
Of course I stood at the door and saw him off – I had to make sure he was really gone before I sat on the couch to watch Lost! 🙂
(1) Yeah for Fred and the new job…best of luck!!
(2) Yeah for Robyn getting the house back to herself : )
(3) LOST…not sure if I liked the ending or hated the ending…I know I cried and I wanted more : (
I know you’ve probably forgotten more about tending cats than I’ve ever known, but I had a thought about Spanky’s acne that I wanted to share. Does he eat or drink from a plastic bowl? Some cats develop an allergic reaction to plastics that causes them to break out. Happened to one of mine. I switched them to ceramics and all was well again.
My Snickers had the same chin condition twice and the vet suggested changing from plastic bowls to ceramic. We did that, and at the same time took off his collar with tags and bell because we thought they might be infecting is chin as he ate. With Julie’s comment I’m now pretty sure it was the plastic bowl, tho.
Best of luck to Fred. I hope you tell us tomrrow that he had a great first day.
No, we don’t do plastic dishes – we’re ceramic all the way. Miz Poo developed acne a few years ago (she has it from time to time) and that’s when we switched over to ceramic.
that’s rugby star, Lawrence Dallaglio, but not the best photo of him. Lee Child said that’s who he sees when he writes Jack Reacher. In some other photos of LD, I can see why Lee would say so, but I’m not altogether on board with it.
In MY mind Reacher is older (LD is only 38!), and has more hair.
Daniel Craig is too young. George Clooney too suave. Clive Owen too dark. Nope, can’t think of who could/should play Reacher…
Okay, I did a search on Lawrence Dallaglio, and um – if he goes around like this all the time, I could see him as Jack Reacher. 😀
Holy crap, he could crack walnuts with that butt.
ha! that is the exact photo I’d thought of including with my comment 😉
all he’s missing is a cup o’ coffee
Congrats to Fred!
Congrats Fred!
In the second to last Garrity pic, it looks like he is singing “Popeye the sailor man…. ” and now it won’t stop playing in my head, but the cute pic is worth it!
Many congrats, Fred! Of course, happy for you too, Robyn. Fab news!
The Liberace pic had me chuckling. What stands out most about this entry is how DAMN easy and fast it is for men to find “business casual” clothing. A half hour? Hell, it would take most women WEEKS to find that much work-appropriate clothing that fit them.
I’m sure Fred’ll be running the whole operation soon enough. Then he can go back to shorts.
Don’t all kitties get the “nighttime crazies”? All my cats always did. One LOVED to stomp across the piano keys at two or three AM every damn morning. (It was an old piano and the pull-out cover didn’t work so we couldn’t cover the keys.)
That’s awesome Fred found a job after 7 weeks. My husband was out of work for 10 months before he found a job. I was just wondering if you have stopped your efforts to find a job yourself. I was like you where I started to look for jobs when my husband got laid off. Once he got a job and we knew it was comparable in pay to his last job, I didn’t worry about finding a job. I do worry about my hubby getting laid off again. It’s kind of like PTSD for unemployment. Congrats to both of you he got a job! 🙂
I’m such a dummy, Joy. What is PTSD for unemployment?
Fantastic about Fred’s new job! Rock-on! (do people say that anymore?)
Question -I thought that Fred had his own business and then lost a big client. I’m confooosed. But happy that he’s working. 🙂
I’ll save that for Friday’s question-answering entry, Donna!
And of course people still say “Rock on” – but now it’s considered retro. 😉
Yay for Fred!
That photo of Fred’s dream outfit totally cracked me up.
Tell Fred I have not finished the book yet because I landed my ass in the hospital. What I had read so far was making me think why the heck didn’t they pick it to publish??
Anyhoodle… need to go rest up and get all better. 🙂
Rest up and feel better fast, Erin!
Great news about Fred! Yay!
So does that mean your own job search is now at an end, or are you still looking for outside “paid” employment. It would be such a hoot to work with you!
Ha!
Congrats Fred! I know ya’ll are relieved. It took my husband a little over 2 months to find a job last year after his employer closed up shop. Just about drove him (and me nuts). Hope Fred enjoys the new job!
I am glad to hear Fred found a new job!!!
Congrats to Fred on the new job! After reading about Freds new clothes all I could think about was each of my kids getting ready for the first day of school and posing for the picture of them in their new clothes. LOLOL
Yay for Fred! I knew those karma points would cash in sooner or later. 😀
I remember I once overheard some of my office mates making fun of me for wearing the same shoes to work. But hey, I loved them, kept them clean and never saw what their problem was. (But that Liberace picture? Just made my day.)
And I loved the kitteh pictures…I’m glad little Sheila is feeling chipper.
I was sick for you when Fred lost his job. I know so many people getting laid off these days who are having a hard time getting new jobs. So CONGRATS to you and Fred!
Are you still going to be looking for a job? 😉
You know how it is when someone you know writes a book and you have to read it and you are really anxious because what if you don’t like it and you are too much of a coward to tell the person you know that their book sucks and you certainly can’t tell them it is good because Homey don’t play that game and so you have to cut off all contact with them because it is just so embarrassing? Yeah, I can’t stand that either which is why I am so freaking relieved to say that Fred’s book ROCKED! Which is why while I’m very happy for both of you that he has a shiny new job, I’m a little bit disappointed because now he can’t be sitting at home writing full time which is what I want him to be doing. I think you should make sure he gets plenty of writing time in (read Misery by S King for suggestions on how to accomplish this – I recommend zipties, cheaper and more likely to be had around the house than handcuffs.) because that man has a future as a novelist.
Yay for Fred and his new job. I really want to see some of his wardrobe choices because I am a person who loves brighter colors too. His(or should I say yours as in a collaborative effort) paint choices have always been great in your house and around the property. I’m sure you are right about muted tones to begin with. The Liberace photo is GREAT-our 80 year old neighbor in our row house in Philly LOVED Liberace and talked about him ALL THE TIME. I’m pretty sure she was clueless about his preferences.
Rotating shoes is good for your feet especially if you have athelete’s foot issues. I know about that because of diabetic foot care pamphlets and the diabetic education classes I attended. Switching off gives shoes a chance to dry out completly from sweat. I do not always do it-I live in open shoes in the house(crocks -ugly but oh so comfy, bare feet is a big no no for diabetics) and switch to sneakers mostly when going out.
That smiling Garrity is killing me!
Good news from Crooked Acres! So glad to hear about Fred’s new position! Yay!
CONGRATULATIONS FRED!!
I’m so glad Sheila is okay. I got worried there.
Congratulations to Fred! Actually to both of you!
So happy for you both that Fred has found another job. Hope it proves a good match!
Congrats on the new job Fred! And yeahoo to Robyn who gets the house back! 😉
I’m so glad got a new job already. How nice that he likes the people…what’s the commute like?
OMG! I love, looove, LOOOOOOVE the picture of Fred’s desired wardrobe! Congratulations to him on his new job!
Yaaay – a day late, but big congrats to Fred!! That Liberace pic is the funniest thing I’ve seen in a long time. Looks like NO ONE had a better time than Liberace! LOL!