Nesting

Slow Monday
It was a slow Monday gentle readers. There is not too much to report. I went to work and did some stuff and that was about it.

We had rain this morning and afternoon as forecast. That kept the smokers out of the courtyard today.

Nesting
Last week, I noticed what I thought was some dirt on one of the building walls. Since it was high up, almost to the second floor of the building, I guessed that some vandals had tossed some dirt at the building.

On a closer look today, it seems like there are two small brownish birds that are building a nest out of mud and dirt in a corner of the building. I think the birds are maybe English wrens but I am not that much of a bird person to know one species from another.

At the rate the nest construction is going forward, I think it will be finished by this time next week. I will let you all know how construction goes on this project.

Chuckay Event
As some of you know, Chuckay is the month long celebration of all things Chuck. It happens between the end of April and the beginning of June and includes my birthday. This is my version of Douguary.

I was checking my cigar supply this morning. I took one out of the box this morning for Michelle the Stylist as part of her tip since it was time for my haircut. I am down to eight cigars now and that should last until Chuckay.

Since the cigars are made in San Diego, I have to go there to pick them up. Actually, I could simply phone order the cigars but where is the fun with that solution.

I was thinking this could be an excellent Chuckay Event. I pick up Doug on the way to San Diego; I pick up my cigars; and we have lunch at Hooter’s which is right around the corner from the Cuban Cigar Factory. Is that a near perfect event or what?

The only potential flaw is the service at Hooters when Doug and I were there last year really sucked. Unless you were drinking large amounts of beer or were the servers’ boy friends, you had a better chance of starvation than getting your order taken and the food served hot. Maybe there was the usual server turnover and the staff is completely different now and does provide good table service.

This was also the Hooters where our server helped herself to the chance from my $20 instead of giving it to me. She shorted herself on her tip because all she got was the loose change and I kept the dollars I would have left for her.

Serves her right.

Michelle the Stylist
This was my regularly scheduled week for a haircut. I phoned the place to see when Michelle was cutting hair into the evening. Monday was her day to work until closing. This was odd since she usually cuts late on Tuesdays.

I went to the hair place on my way home from work. The drive in the rain was borderline ugly and stressful. I made it in one piece and with no damage to the car. It was not the best way to end the day.

Michelle is a popular stylist and so I had to wait for about forty minutes until she could cut my hair. This is about the normal wait; I wished I had brought along something to read while I was waiting. The in-store reading selection is really really bad. Because I was planning on a Tuesday visit with Michelle, I had not brought reading material with me today to the office.

Michelle told me that she is pregnant and is due to deliver on or about September 9th. I congratulated her and told her that she looked very motherly. It also explained why her stomach looked larger than it usually does.

Michelle said she liked being pregnant because it made her boobies bigger.

I noticed that as well but made no mention of it.

This news threw my hair cutting plans into a mess. I now know that Michelle will probably be off work from early August through to the end of October. Since she stands as she cuts hair, I suspect that this will have to change. The change will probably be a shorter time on her feet and less time cutting hair and a longer time away from work.

I am looking at three months of crummy haircuts. Crud.

We spent most of our time talking about baby’s names. I was not thrilled with some of her choices like Madison and Morgan. Those just don’t sound like girls’ names to me. Oh well, it is not my concern.

I suppose now that Michelle is pregnant I will have to stop giving her cigars as tips. Michelle says she doesn’t inhale the smoke and that is good. I think I will shift to Ethel M candy because the Princess says it is the best candy ever.

Eating superb candy when you are pregnant is the best time if it results in a few added pounds. After all, it was the baby’s fault that Michelle would gain any weight. That weight gain explanation has a strong sense of plausible deniability about it.

Job Searching & Interviewing
I had a recruiter call me tonight to see if I was interested in a short term consulting project. I would have been a maternity replacement for a woman in bank. It would have lasted about three months.

I was marginally interested since there was a possibility that the woman would change her mind and stay home with her new baby. That could lead the way to a full time job.

The recruiter told me what I would be doing and I had to turn him down. While I could do the work, I was not experienced in the field and said so. I said it would be a mistake to place me there.

The recruiter was surprised at my candor and honesty. He also appreciated it as well.

Why not be honest? There was no sense wasting his time and my time on a job that I did not want to do nor was I really qualified for.

I hope he finds someone for the job.


Be well and stay happy.