Rats!

Posted on August 17, 2018 by cordeliasmom2012

Battle lines have been drawn at the office.

No, this is not going to be post about stolen lunches or purloined staplers. The issue is:

Rats in the parking lot!

It began in late spring when an employee arrived and noticed a couple of baby rats scooting out from under the fence. The mother rat was spotted a few days later. The building management was notified and promised to take care of the situation.

Bear in mind, the building is in the city and surrounded by similar buildings (some commercial offices, some residential apartments). It is not unusual to see rats on and around city properties – heck, you can even see them on suburban properties. Sure, the pest problem was eased when all municipalities opted for garbage dumpsters instead of cans, but the annoying little critters are still around.

We thought traps had been placed, and expected to see no more rats within a few days.

Not the case.

Whoever arrived at work first would see one or two of them. I even saw the mama near the fence, and she looked perfectly healthy to me (having kept gerbils as pets, I’m somewhat familiar with how healthy rodents look). A few days later, I saw another rat scuttling from underneath a parked car.

Emails between employees and building management became more and more frantic. One employee reported that when she arrived, she had to sit in her car and wait for a rat to finish eating in the middle of the parking lot before she could enter the office (I kid you not). My boss was concerned about having clients arrive and find rats under their feet or scurrying away, so client meetings were curtailed.

Photo was taken in the winter. There were no rats then.

I briefly considered offering to sit with a gun on the balcony outside my office window to take care of the little devils, but didn’t figure that would go over too well. Even if I thought I could hit one without hitting my car first. I don’t think my auto insurer would be pleased if asked to cover bullet holes, especially if I was the one who caused them. And I couldn’t kill an innocent creature which is just doing what critters do.

Anyway.

Building management assured us that neighboring property owners would be contacted, as well as the city health department (or whatever department is in charge of pest control). Apparently, neither approach elicited any response. More traps were put out – we were informed that poisoned peanut butter was being used as bait.

(Bet you wondered why that P&J photo is at the head of this post!)

It seems rats really like peanut butter. Building management circulated an email with attached photos of several rats that had been caught in the traps.

Really? I don’t know about anyone else, but I wasn’t, like, all “Whoa – cool! Look at those little bastards with their broken backs. Bet that hurt!”

No, I’m more like, “Aw, maybe I should go and put some little crosses out there or something.”

Thanks heavens I hadn’t brought a peanut butter-and-jelly sandwich for lunch that day. I will never look at peanut butter the same way.

Rats are very smart creatures. Hopefully, ours will be smart enough to simply go somewhere else. I really don’t want to go out to my car and step over little dead bodies. Maybe since Mama Rat was not one of the stars of those photographs (she was black, the deceased ones were gray and brown), she has taken her family and skedaddled.

Such drama in the workplace! I need my three-day weekends to recover.

How did your week go?

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I love to hear from my readers. You may comment on this post, comment on my Facebook or Twitter pages, or email me at cordeliasmom2012@yahoo.com

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Images by Cordelia’s Mom

Posted in That's Life | Tagged job, office, pest control, pests, rats, rodents, work | 35 Comments

OK, Let’s See What We’ve Got

Posted on August 10, 2018 by cordeliasmom2012

Blind as a bat in my old[er] age? Fortunately, no.

My eye doctor tells me my eyes are just fine, they’re just a little dryer than normal. The occasional blurriness, excessive tearing, and nighttime glueyness (is that even a word?) can be resolved easily with eye drops and warm compresses. Whew! One less thing to worry about.

Being as it’s my usual off day from my 4-day work week, after my doctor’s appointment, I decided to drive up to North Tonawanda to see what I could photograph at the Erie Canal. For a short time, I worked in the building pictured above, doing market research interviewing – and one of my kids had a studio apartment over that business. Small world!

After parking, I pulled my new, somewhat costly camera out and went for a walk.

I don’t know about other photographers, but no matter how carefully I try to sight my pictures, no matter how steady I hold that camera, no matter how beautiful the scenery, I’m never satisfied with any of the shots. And most of the time, I don’t know if ANYTHING turned out until I get home and download everything to the computer.

Today was no exception. I’ve decided that it wasn’t my old camera that was the problem, it was the skill of the photographer – who apparently has little to none. In any event, after some digital tweaking, I am able to offer some decent touristy views.

This bridge shot turned out well, but it’s just a normal bridge over the canal. I much prefer the photo at the head of this post. Go back up and look at it again. Scary, isn’t it? Might make you think twice about driving across that lift bridge!

The lift bridge is less intimidating when viewed in better light and from a longer distance:

Coming back, I got a photo from the other side:

This particular canal is not overly busy, which probably is why some boaters like it.

I sure hope the guy in the speed boat is one of my readers ’cause I didn’t ask his permission to take the picture – and he went by too fast for me to even wave!

The paddle boats, water bikes, and kayaks are a fairly new feature at Gateway Harbor. You can see a few in the above photos, but I didn’t want to take close-ups of people’s faces since that would mean having to track them down and get their permission to publish. And I wasn’t feeling sociable.

Fortunately, there are lots of benches. Once past the boats, I headed toward one, but then spotted a family of Canadian geese. Gotta tell you, those banks are a bit hazardous, so I couldn’t get as close as I would have liked. But they were a patient bunch:

Well, except for the one shy baby (or young female? I couldn’t tell):

At that point, I was becoming nauseous from the sunshine hitting my dilated eyes (must those eye doctors put those drops in at every visit?), so I walked slowly back to the car and headed home.

Maybe someday before winter, I’ll return to the canal. Maybe I’ll take Teddy Roosevelt along. Heck, maybe I’ll even learn to use that darn camera!

As usual – TGIF, Everyone!

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I love to hear from my readers. You may comment on this post, comment on my Facebook or Twitter pages, or email me at cordeliasmom2012@yahoo.com

__________

Images by Cordelia’s Mom

Posted in Photography, That's Life | Tagged boats, Erie Canal, Gateway Harbor, geese, North Tonawanda NY, summer | 39 Comments

Blogger Recognition Award — Tool-school.com

Posted on August 10, 2018 by cordeliasmom2012

Here’s a perfect example of why you should read everything, not just those blogs that are similar to your own site. Normally, I would not be interested in a DIY blog, but as soon as I read one of Jake’s posts, I was hooked. His writing style is every bit nearly as good as mine! He has some great blogging advice – and some very kind words for me and my blog. Click on over to his site – and enjoy!

A few weeks ago tool-school.com was nominated for the Blogger Recognition Award by Cordelia’s Mom, Still, which I gratefully accepted. I am very appreciative of the nomination and would encourage any and all to check out her blog for good reads on a variety of topics. There are a few rules to formally accepting the award listed […]

via Blogger Recognition Award — Tool-school.com

Posted in Re-Blogs, That's Life | Tagged Blogger Recognition Award, bloggers, blogging, DIY | 5 Comments

5 Days in the Concrete Jungle? I Think Not.

Posted on August 3, 2018 by cordeliasmom2012

Who wants a four-day work week?

Apparently, lots of people, and there’s a movement afoot to make it more popular. I guess I’ve been ahead of the times for the past few years.

After 15 years at my longest job, my then boss offered me a raise because I did a good job even though the boss was driving me crazy. I was soooo exhausted. I had been working my ass off despite recently being hospitalized with ulcerative colitis – which was taking a serious toll on my physical well-being. So, I told the boss that instead of a raise I would really like to work one less day per week. And he agreed!

I love my four-day work week. Working four days instead of five, means:

♦ There is no “hump” day. Monday and Tuesday go by quickly because they’re the start of the week when I’m fresher. Wednesday, which normally is the middle of a five-day week – is only one day away from the new end of the week, so that on Wednesday, I think “I can get through today and tomorrow, and then I have three days off.” And, of course, Thursday – being the last day of the new work week – is spent energetically finishing up whatever needs to be finished up for the week. Therefore, there are no unproductive days in a four-day work week.

♦ Having that one extra day off per week – in my case Friday – allows me to make all medical and other appointments for Friday, thereby avoiding the need for sick time away from the office. Of course, if I actually get sick – like with flu or a colitis flare-up – I still might need a day off in the middle of the week, but that seldom happens. With the four-day week, even if I’m feeling poorly, I can usually talk myself into getting through because “It’s a short week. I can do this.”

♦ Driving back and forth to the office one less day per week saves on gas, even if I have medical appointments – because those usually are closer to home, and of course, I don’t have medical appointments every week.

♦ Laundry is easier. I only have four days worth of work clothes to wash, and I have three days in which to do that.

♦ I have one extra day for shopping or goofing off, without having to face those weekend crowds. Believe me, that does wonders for one’s mental outlook. There’s just something really cool about flitting around while my co-workers are at the office busily completing their tasks. Even though it’s my normal schedule now, it still feels like playing hooky.

♦ Even the weekends are better. With a five-day work week, the first weekend day is spent trying to catch up and de-stress, and the second day is spent preparing to go back. There’s really not much down time in a two-day weekend. With a four-day work week, assuming the “off” day is either Monday or Friday, the middle day of the resulting three-day weekend is pretty much stress free – so that I feel like I actually had some time off before returning to work the next week.

(Note, however, that all the above apply only for 8-hours days. If you wind up working 10-hour days in order to get a four-day week, you really haven’t gained anything.)

Imagine my chagrin when I took The Job From Hell and had to return to full-time. No wonder I lasted just over a year there – although even had I negotiated a shorter work week, the result would have been the same. That job was simply impossible no matter how many, or how little, hours were put in. The girl that replaced me quit after three months.

It was fortunate that I was able to land my current four-day-a-week job. I love my new job (I say it again!). By the time I get to the point in the week when I’m feeling a little tired, it’s already time to wind up for the weekend. Although I seldom feel that burn-out: there is little to no stress, there are rarely deadlines, and my bosses and co-worker are easy to be around.

The only thing better (if I have to work at all) would be a three-day work week. That will be the next step.

Or better yet – one of those work-at-home jobs (a legitimate one, if there is such a thing), or perhaps self-employment (like writing that best-selling novel). Working on that, too.