The gripless one

I'm beginning to wonder if I don't need some sort of assertiveness training. I seem to have, over the past couple of months, become either too busy, too tired, or too much in need of a peaceful existence to put the brakes on things.

These things aren't anything new. Rachel has snuck cats back into my house; initially they would just be here overnight as she was too tired to take them to the shelter, but now they're all digging in their claws. The idiot lodger (I really need to think of an acronym for him), continues to drink my expensive coffee without reimbursement, and to leave messes everywhere. And the well-off person who initially paid me monthly "cat support" for dumping an unadoptable one on me a few months ago has now stiffed me for three months running. She is ignoring my phone calls and other messages.

A few weeks after I bought the house, I realized I was feeling so overwhelmed by the amount of renovations needed that they ground to a halt. It was too much like trying to dig out of quicksand. But then my then-beau put the situation into perspective with this:

Q. How does one eat an elephant?
A. One bite at a time.

So, starting this week, I'm going to rehome one cat a week. When I'm down to a livable number, I'll start on something else. Get a grip somehow.

Tis the season to wear your iPod everywhere

Although the last two weeks have been mostly enjoyable, the Curse of Christmas Music has arrived once again. While not a total grinch, I really dislike being forced to listen to this kind of stuff every time I walk into a store. So the iPod Shuffle is getting a workout these days.

Things at work have improved with the long-awaited arrival of my new computer, a MacBook Pro. Even though I've had to add a conventional keyboard and mouse - I just can't type on those flat laptop keyboards - I'm impressed by how quickly this pooter runs. And it also features a serious timewaster of an application called Photo Booth. If I'd had the time, I'd have probably already taken 20-30 goofy pictures of myself. So far, none...but give me time. I might even post one or two here.