Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, between my gladly adopted volunteer duties as a communications facilitator, I managed to write 75 pages of briefing, and make 58 copies of same. What a rush!! Thank gawd it is done, until Tuesday. Tomorrow, I get to rush all this to town, where I get the privilege of paying for it out of my pocket, to be reimbursed at some future undisclosed time when the state adopts a budget. Oh, yeah, and did I tell you, as an independent contractor for the state of cali-for-nee-eye-aye, I get to do all this on my own dime until gawd knows when? And some of you wonder why I am a little grouchy?? Can you say “stress?”
Now, I have 3 days this week to do it all over again, then once more the following week, and then, I MIGHT just be caught up! So, if I have been grouchy, or brusque, or not having much tolerance for some of the bull shit I hear, you will understand why.
This is as close as I am going to come to an apology, right now, friends. I just have to call it what it is, and be done with it. No time for much else at the moment. When my work load is manageable, once again, then I will be back to my sweet, understanding, compassion self. (Did I make you gag with that one?)
Do me a favor, okay? Don’t call me or email me about this *%$# meeting. Either be there, or express your concerns and interests to a neighbor who can represent you. If you want to be able to hear it, express your interest in doing so to that same attending neighbor.
Also, I got a copy of a “Collaborative Approach for Reducing Wildland Fire Risks to Communities and the Environment — a 10-Year Comprehensive Strategy” from Kelly O’Brien which seems like a starting point for discussion, or the existing plan that the USFS has. If I can figure out how to post it on its own page on my blog, I will post for your review.
Laughter, jokes, and tolerance greatly appreciated.
Dang! And I thought I had a busy schedule. Guess your intitled to be a little grouchy. Hang in ther girl. I’ll drop you an email regarding my question. Get back to me when ever you can. No rush. Love ya!
I didn’t notice any grouchiness, but even so, I think you’re entitled. You’ve been thru the proverbial ringer in the last few weeks. Not to worry, we appreciate you anyway, and all the incredible service you’ve provided all of us.
Ok Kate…here’s a little story to make you laugh:
“Yuppie and the Cowboy:
A Montana cowboy was overseeing his herd in a remote mountainous pasture when suddenly a brand-new BMW advanced out of a dust cloud towards him.
The driver, a young man in a Brioni suit, Gucci shoes, Ray Ban Sunglasses and YSL tie, leans out the window and asks the cowboy, ‘If I tell you exactly how many cows and calves you have in your herd, Will you give me a calf?’ The cowboy looks at the man, obviously a yuppie, then looks at his peacefully grazing herd and calmly answers, ‘Sure, why not?’
The yuppie parks his car, whips out his Dell notebook computer, Connects it to his Cingular RAZR V3 cell phone , and surfs to a NASA Page on the Internet, where he calls up a GPS satellite navigation System to get an exact fix on his location which he then feeds to another NASA satellite that scans the area in an ultra-high-resolution photo.
The young man then opens the digital photo in Adobe Photoshop and exports it to an image processing facility in Hamburg , Germany . Within seconds, he receives an email on his Palm Pilot that the image has been processed and the data stored. He then accesses a MS-SQL database through an ODBC connected Excel Spreadsheet with email on his Blackberry and, after a few minutes, receives a response.
Finally, he prints out a full-color, 10-page report on his hi-tech, miniaturized HP LaserJet printer and finally turns to the cowboy and says, ‘You have exactly 1,586 cows and calves.’
‘Tat’s right. Well, I guess you can take one of my calves,’ says the Cowboy. He watches the young man select one of the animals and looks on amused as the young man stuffs it into the trunk of his car.
Then the cowboy says to the young man, ‘Hey, if I can tell you exactly what your business is, will you give me back my calf?’
The young man thinks about it for a second and then says, ‘Okay, why not?’ You’re a Congressman for the U.S. Government’, says the cowboy.
‘Wow! That’s correct,’ says the yuppie, ‘but how did you guess that?’
‘No guessing was required.’ answered the cowboy. ‘You showed up here even though nobody called you; you want to get paid for an answer I already knew, to a question I never asked. You tried to show me how much smarter than me you are; and you don’t know a thing about cows…this is a herd of sheep.
Now give me back my dog.”
Okay, Z, you did it. You made me laugh outloud, even though I thought I had heard this story. It is the last two lines I had never heard before. Thank you. Topped off my difficult day in a wonderful manner!!
You grouchy, never! 😉
Hah! Must be the reason for the lack of FLICKR posts.
Here is a comment sent to me privately, when attempts to post it here failed. It did make me chuckle, so I post with permission:
“Well damn your blog site ate my comment. So here I go again. Hang in there. Bull shit abounds here. Especially when you are trying to get a bunch of folks on the same page. I think the nature of this place precludes that. One good thing about this community is we all know each other and can forgive the idiosyncrasies that exist.
As far as grouchy goes, damn girl, I never heard anyone calling us grouchy women. I think you are being polite, Let’s see, I think I recently heard “ball- busting bitch” applied to me. So if I get that, you are up there too. Wear like a badge of honor. It is one. If it wasn’t we’d be buried along time ago.
Don’t take our comments on the meeting personally. It is what it is. You have worked hard during the fire for the community. You were the main source of info for us. It was GREATLY appreciated. Now it is time to take a breath for yourself. Get you shit done, cuz that is what you will do in the long run anyhow. And then just keeping plugging along and keep the fight going.
As far as funny- well I am working with this Cattle Rancher, he owns a 14,000 acres yes 14,000. Anyhow he is 4Th generation to be born on the land. A real good ol boy. So I go to his spread and he takes me up to his incredible old adobe house. There sitting in the yard is a brand new F-350 pick up. So where’s the surprise in that you ask; on the bumper was an Obama 2008 sticker!
No wonder he lives way out there by himself. I am sure his good ol boy neighbors would shoot him if he were any closer.
OK take it it easy Kate- go ahead and be a bitch. It is cool. I sure won’t stop being who I am to please people. Just take a breath once in a while cuz it all goes on. When this is done, something else will come up.”
Thanks for this my friend. Gotta luv us bitches. There are too many of us to get rid of!!;)
Hi Kate,
An oldie but here goes.
A man is getting into the shower just as his wife is finishing up her shower, when the doorbell rings.
The wife quickly wraps herself in a towel and runs downstairs.
When she opens the door, there stands Bob , the next-door neighbor.
Before she says a word, Bob says, ‘I’ll give you $800 to drop that towel.’
After thinking for a moment, the woman drops her towel and stands naked in front of Bob , after a few seconds, Bob hands her $800 and leaves.
The woman wraps back up in the towel and goes back upstairs.
When she gets to the bathroom, her husband asks, ‘Who was that?’
‘It was Bob the next door neighbor,’ she replies.
‘Great,’ the husband says, ‘did he say anything about the $800 he owes me?’
ONE MORE
A sales rep, an administration clerk, and the manager are walking to lunch when they find an antique oil lamp.
They rub it and a Genie comes out.
The Genie says, ‘I’ll give each of you just one wish.’
‘Me first! Me first!’ says the admin clerk ‘I want to be in the Bahamas , driving a speedboat, without a care in the world.’
Puff! She’s gone.
‘Me next! Me next!’ says the sales rep. ‘I want to be in Hawaii , relaxing on the beach with my personal masseuse, an endless supply of Pina Coladas and the love of my life.’
Puff! He’s gone.
‘OK, you’re up,’ the Genie says to the manager.
The manager says, ‘I want those two back in the office after lunch’