how to clean out a refrigerator (aka ADD is fun!)

Step 1. work all day and while driving home wonder what you should cook for dinner.
Step 2. get home - get overwhelmed by various animals demanding attention, food, more attention, more food, even more attention.
Step 3. drag footstool to fridge, prop it open and clean out the bottom shelf. Oh the disturbing bottom shelf! Containers of goop, jars of glop, something that may have at one point a vegetable (not sure though). Throughout all of it I found random beer bottles.
Step 4. clean out bottom shelf.
Step 5. get distracted by shiny objects, do other stuff, wander back to refrigerator.
Step 6. remove 2 cats from refrigerator.
Step 7. reclean bottom shelf.
Step 8. close refrigerator, give up, and go to bed early.
the end....

well.....hello there!!

Hello everyone! first off Happy Holidays-please take time to enjoy this time of celebration for many cultures, celebrate the time of winter darkness coming to an end and light coming to us all.
and no that the touchy feely portion of my post is over please let me tell you how awesome it is to enjoy a beautiful sunny day on Christmas...be jealous people.
I should also throw in a token apology, because wowsa have i been busy. As you probably know I work at an oil refinery, it is a huge amazing beast of an oil refinery with some unique challenges. I often jokingly refer to my job as working in the wild west of industrial hygiene - i face problems here that no longer exist in the states. Lately however i have been doing documentation and field work quantification. I have a gift of being able to do this after spending years doing this in Chicago. Its a gift and a curse....so my 15 hour days have been "fun". I just wish I could teach this skill, but alas it appears not so much. ~sigh~
So, my deepst apologies for not posting and not even attempting to "do" the holidays. I bought no gifts, sent not a single card. In fact i didnt even hang lights until December 24th at 9pm. I hung the lights in the window and got a big fun holiday rush.
I hope everyone has a great holiday and enjoys all the lights in your lives whether it be people, pets, or kmart LEDs - or if you are lucky like me - all 3!
Happy holidays everyone - I love you all!
-Heather

shower friend...

Tonight i reached down into the shower drain to clean out the "you washed a dog on monday and didn't clean out the drain"-sized clump of hair and a spider the size of a quarter jumped out. I think i startled him as much as he did me. To quote i said, "aaaaaaaaaaah! You are NOT small!" I hopped out of the shower and went to find a disposable cup. Once i procured my red party cup i went back to the shower to coax the furry bugger into it and take him outside. Spider said, "no."
so, to solve the problem i left the red party cup on the spider while i showered and let him loose when i was done.
thus is my story of my new shower friend, goodnight folks!

today...

i am wearing a shirt that does not belong to me. i honestly have no clue where this came from. it is a gray tank top. the mind kinda boggles.

happy thnksgiving!

i hope everyone had as relaxing of a holiday as i did. i was invited to 2 dinners. it was very much like being invited to 2 sids of my families.
but with no stress and a tropical paradise....kinda spiffy.

night shift...

well, hello there.
so, ive been working nights and i think night shift makes me insane.
concentration is darn difficult.
and i feel like i will never catch up on sleep.
here are some exciting listed items for your reading pleasure:
1. ramen noodle is not food.
2. nothing is open when i get off work at 5:30
3. when you get a day off and you go swimming in the ocean you should not do so with your cell phone, car keys, dramamine, and $15 in cash in your pocket.
4. i can free dive pretty deeply for $15.
5. i do not have the self control to go to the animal shelter and leave without an animal.
6. if you visit me i will try to get you to go to the animal shelter and take an animal back home.
7. although i am generally considered crazy; there is always someone crazier.
8. i really like living alone; but i do get lonely.
9. right at this moment, i am hungry.
10. im apparenty allergic to orange juice; however i feel the need to test the theory, which is stupid, due to the difficulty breathing and the horriific itching and all....but if it isnt the orange juice then i officially let myself get so stressed out that my body basically said, "fuck it; im out" and tried to kill me. so for peace of mind; im blaming the juice.

gnite ya'll.

wow....im tired.

i had 3 days off and spent so much time running around i got no rest.
im pooped.

nights nights nights...

So, night shift....yeah.
The first few nights were rough...things are settled down into a routine now.  The contractors who are down to help are pretty good.  Wise, fun, decent IHs.

But people, I am tired.  Like, soul-weary.  I *need* a break.  I need a break off this island for a bit.  I still love living here, don't get me wrong, I have just spent a very long time without a break.  Incident after incident after audit and then straight into a turnaround.  My timesheet said I worked 71 hours last week...I miss being a consultant.

Remember my boss?  He got promoted out of our department and while I have a certain amount of "yay" for him; I have a hell of a lot of "whoa" for me (us).  The amount of work to do; the amount of stress and
 I am still not an employee of the refinery.  Not that this is all bad; there are a couple perks I enjoy that employees don't have.  But at some point the "busting my butt to become an employee" became resentment. Not a whole lot of resentment; I just wonder if the day comes I get the magical job offer if  I will be happy; or just a bit weary.

This place is very much a testing ground; the "wild west of industrial hygiene" where you aren't worried so much about the little stupid stuff and focus (as much as humanly possible) on actual hazards.  It is a lot.  And I've survived so far.

I just need a vacation.

muah!
-H.

Hello. :)

I feel like I have come full circle. The first time I came down to this island I was working nights on a turnaround. Here I am again, nights on a turnaround. This crap AIN'T easy anymore. Reason being this is sort of "my house" now. You know when you are in a hotel room you can relax because after a certain point there isn't anything left to do. However, when you are at home after you finish A, there is always B to do. Wash dishes, do laundry, wash the dogs, sweep the floor, let's face it, that list does NOT die. Always more to do. That analogy is exactly the same as when you are working somewhere as a consultant vs. working somewhere long term. The pile of things I have to do is so far from never ending that you can't help but feel overwhelmed.
Enough of the bitching. Nothing I can fix tonight.
Right now I am wondering exactly how much caffeine will kill me? I think I may be dancing on that edge. **blink**

Home News
So, I have moved. I now have a spiffy house with actual rooms(!). It has been amazing. The dogs have a HUGE yard to run and play in (okay, they sleep...but still, if they wanted to they could run and play). And just this morning I saw Greebo (the cat) grab and kill a bird mid-air. So, he is settling in nicely...
Speaking of kitties...I got another one. I know, I know. They were going to put him down soon. and he was all sad...and young....and hell, this is WHY I don't go to the pound. Anyway, his name is Pratchett and he is less into killing things and more into being adorable.
In the middle of the night 3 days ago I thought I was hallucinating about two white kittens...it turns out that two white kittens AS WELL AS one black, white, and brown cat keep wandering into my house. So, yeah...NO. I need a havaheart trap for Yule so I can get these strays fixed. I don't actually know what to say about the fact that it seemed acceptable to me to hallucinate kittens...
Hope everyone is sleeping well. lack of sleep apparently means I cannot finish a sentence...
:)

Still alive!

So. For about a week I've been looking for funny things to write about (there have been many) or long descriptive stories about me moving (which I HATE moving btw) or even some negative stuff about my old neighbors and/or old landlord. I have had no time. None. Nada. Work has been crazed--so intense that I have entered a very zen place about how much there is to do. The way I see it one day I will just become buried in the paperwork and just take a nice long nap.
Mmmmmmmm. Nap.
For those of you not in the loop my mother is in town. I flew her in to help me with the move. I needed help badly and YAY! she delivered. We were packed and out (mostly) of the old apartment within days of her arrival. And the new house....oooh, the new house. Allow me to sing its many praises: a roof that does not leak, a bathroom that does not flood, rooms with doors. Okay, yes, it has its downsides, but in general I'm VERY happy.
The dogs are thrilled too. They have a GIANT yard to run around in.
Pictures will follow once I have a minute to breathe. But where I have moved I am MUCH happier. :)
Muah!
-H.
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