New Job, New Cat�

2003-07-15

I had a wonderful lesson in 'Be Careful What You Wish For' yesterday.

Started a new job a week ago. A temp job (not that I didn't have to go through three interviews to get it), filling in for someone who was going out on maternity leave for four months.

The fact that she was going for four months (and didn't seem afraid to have someone fill for that long) told me quite a bit about the company.

I spent all last week training to do her job. She was thorough. She was informative. She was neverendingly pleasant. And I was looking forward to working in not-so-close quarters by Friday.

Monday morning I came in a bit early (always a good idea when new on the job) and one of her two managers said 'Well, I guess you've heard the news. She had her baby on Sunday.'

Uh. . .No. It's not like anyone would call me. Hell, they don't even know my phone number. I rather doubt they'd call my agency to tell them that the person I'm replacing had had her baby several weeks early.

Fortunately for me, she was thorough and informative.

If I hadn't had that week, I would have been lost. But I did. And all the rest of the admins have been relentlessly helpful. I try to ask each of them one or two questions per day, even if I don't need anything, just to keep the lines of communication open.

On another subject entirely, we have four cats. I picked up the kitten the Sunday after we got home. We really didn't want four cats. We don't need four cats. We have four cats.

I'm not glad we have four cats. I seriously considered not picking her up. But I made a commitment, to the person I was buying from, to the kitten herself. I couldn't back out and be happy with myself.

So. While I'm not happy about having four cats; I am happy about having this cat. She's not like any other abby I've had. She's not like any other cat I've had.

She sleeps between our pillows. And purrs. LOUDLY. Can't think of a better somnambulistic.

Of course there are the bad parts. She likes to play Leap-Chase early in the morning. Early being sometime between 4:30 and 6:00.

I still can't find it in myself to be mad at her. Especially after I see some of the leaps she makes.

She actually likes being with humans and follows us from room to room. She has already spent several hours sleeping behind me when I'm on the computer.

An energetic kitten who likes spending time with her people. Not much to complain about here.

�