random thoughts – Day 1,668 – (Friday) – hard work

It was another one of those short holiday weeks that felt extra-long. It wasn’t that it was especially busy or slow or stressful, it was just one of those time warp weeks that felt forever long. Especially today.

The ride downtown was preceded by a visit to the vet office which opened at 8:00 to pick up Kiki’s medicine that was prescribed to calm her before her appointment tomorrow. The drive to work was easy, but at the still under repair garage, the first three levels were packed full. I took the ramp that was bisected with plastic sheeting to the the fourth level. It was mostly vacant and eerie and half the floor, including the side with the elevator and the stairwell to John Street. I was trying to figure out how I would get myself out of there at 8:30 and then the car after 5:00.

In the office, I was the only person on my side of the suite, which always feels eerie. There were two people on the other side and we saw each other only briefly. I had already met the two-day in-office requirement on Thursday and could have been remote. I had erroneously assumed, with no information whatsoever, that there would be more people onsite. This morning had a moment of reflection and questioning what possessed me to get dressed, drive downtown, park, and work on-site.

At the office, I needed to commandeer my manager’s computer for a Zoom meeting because only certain desktop computers on the floor have cameras. It took 17 minutes to log out the email on my computer and log into the other computer, then another six minutes for Zoom to load. Once in the program, the audio was screwy and we couldn’t hear each other. It took another five minutes of pantomime, an in-meeting chat, clicking various buttons and audio settings, and relaunching the online meeting to finally be able to hold our meeting. 

Being in-office wasn’t a total disaster. There was a project that needed test printing and I was able to get it tested, printed on the office machine, and packaged to go to a branch. There were some vinyl graphics I needed to prepare and bring to the mail room for delivery back to the vendor for recycling.

Under her eye.

After work was the real hard work. The meds I’m supposed to give to Kiki are a liquid administered orally, and the vet tech said it tastes bad. (I didn’t ask if she knew this firsthand.) Kiki is supposed to have a dose tonight and another two hours before her appointment on Saturday. This is the cat that won’t let me touch her with two hands. She's been keeping an eye on me from the chair all night. 

I’ve already tried luring her with the usual evening treats and she is smart enough to know something is up. She ran under the dining room table. 

I have no idea how I will pull off administering the doses tonight and again tomorrow. And if the veterinary world knows the stuff tastes bad to the animals that need to receive it, why have they not added a flavor? And the real questions – how late will I be up chasing the cat around the house trying to squirt some nasty tasting stuff in her mouth. How much furniture will need to be moved? Who will cry first, Kiki or me?