The Street of Gray Cats in Everyday Ramblings

My neighborhood is all chopped up with freeways and bridges and roads that are not suitable for pedestrian crossing so I have learned to love the little residential pockets I can walk in. There is this one two-block area that I turn into that is full of gray cats. I have not seen a cat on those two blocks that is not gray. There are two families of cats.

There are this brother and sister who have some white on them, bigger, that live three houses apart and visit each other often. The big male gray and white fellow is an absolute sweetheart. I see him all around his block and we talk about all that goes on in his world. His sister is a bit sharper edged and territorial. His person, whose has a fabulous garden, is nice but wary of me. Which is too bad, because I think we have commonalities. Maybe she is just shy.

Then there is a group of two or three of these guys, who do all live at the same house. What I found endearing here yesterday afternoon is this gorgeous guy is on the covered porch of the house next door. An overly friendly woman who lives alone with a small dog lives here. She is rarely home but she keeps her house very clean and well ordered.

Pacifica’s last day was Friday. I saw her on Thursday as we were both working in the office. She did take down her personal stuff, cards and pictures but when I asked about when she was turning her computer in (I want to make sure it is reimaged with Windows 7 before her replacement gets it) she said all.. baffled like. “I don’t know…no one said anything.” I asked her if she’d like to review what she is working on with me before she leaves. “No. I think I have it pretty much under control. Thanks.”

This woman and I have basically been sharing a job for 3 ½ years. On Friday I was in a test session all morning downtown and in the afternoon working from home. She worked from home all day. I didn’t hear a word from her. She did absolutely no planning or preparation for leaving.

She just did a normal Friday’s work and signed off and poof! She’s gone.

There is some discussion in Management land about having her come back and train her replacement. I kind of hope that doesn’t happen. She cut corners to hit her deadlines that created problems downstream.

My former boss was neurologically atypical. Pacifica, sweet and good looking as she is, is neurologically atypical. We all are to some extent, that is evolution in action, but I desperately need to work with folks that are bunched into the normative side of brain function. I enjoy eccentricities and diversity, really I do, but oh man could I use some top-notch communication skills in my work life!

A group of us, the Info Tech folks from my world all met with Mr. T. my new boss and me on Friday morning all morning to go over the forms project we have been working on now for years to make decisions. It was fun and interesting to get to know Mr. T. a little better. We were all trying to find ways to make him feel welcome and yet tease him gently too. He doesn’t have much of an imagination.

That’s fine. But in these test scenarios everybody else in the room has dogs and so the test companies were all about bones and biscuits and grooming and play dates and… I am like, wait, wait…”What about cats?!?” Turns out I was the only cat person in the room. Mr. T. says fish are okay. He’s going to find himself pressured to get pets here in Portland. We are pet town. And he has children…

I hope Pacifica is happy and relaxed in her new job. It is a promotion for her. I hope the folks she works with find a way to interact with her that works for all concerned. I genuinely feel this way. All the best for her.

In the meantime I need to draw my class for next week. I am teaching an arm balance for the very first time. It will be an adventure. Did you know that arm balances are super duper good for strengthening your core muscles therefore protecting your lower back?

They also can be fun. :)

Sorry I am going to be a slacker chick about notes in the near future. I am expected to work overtime until we get a replacement operational.