I gave myself the day off today - I banished all thoughts of real estate (as much as I could) and spent the day resting my brain. I did assemble a small plant stand for my herb pots, go to the supermarket, and...that's about it. Oh, I walked a couple of miles. I hadn't walked since Sunday, because Monday I had baby duty early, then Tues-Thurs was exam cram and exam. I'm SO glad that's over - I shelved the text book and review manual with great glee, and if it was chilly enough I'd light a fire and burn my scribbled answer sheets to the hundreds of prep questions.
But it's NOT chilly - in fact, we are supposed to hit 80 on Sunday. No rain, it's really beautiful and sunny and clear, but dry, dry, dry, and brush fires are happening on a regular basis. I woke in the night the other night smelling smoke too strong to be a fireplace, and I'm so jaded I just rolled over and went back to sleep. I'm in a subdivision and I back onto a golf course, we don't do brush fires right here, so the smoky smell was probably blown in from miles away. I still have no clue what was burning - whatever it was apparently wasn't even big enough to get mentioned on the morning news.
My dabble in real estate related thought involved my license. My license status has not been updated on the state website. My understanding was that it was pretty much automatic after the testing center transmitted the results - I left with a form letter from the state that said that after passing the exam, you are deemed to have achieved licensure status. That's nice, but I can't do anything with it without a license number, etc. I have an appt at 2 on Monday at what I am 99% sure will be my new office, and it's Friday, so I called the state today. I never got out of voicemail jail - none of the options took me to a human, hitting 0 didn't work, yelling, "Representative!" didn't, etc. So after trying various approaches and calling three times, I emailed them and got an automated email response that basically said we'll get back to you when we get around to you.
They provide a customer service number, but the "Press this for..." system doesn't have a bypass to talk to a person. There wasn't even an automated "Your wait to speak to a representative is approximately infinity minutes." The online system is impenetrable and gives the impression nobody's home. Sigh. I remember back in the day, when you might have to sit on hold for a few minutes if they were swamped, but you could reach a helpful human in Tallahassee. I used to call them regularly on various regulatory issues and they always answered the phone. So, let's hope the (apparently) lone representative who survived the budget cuts updates the website by Monday, so I have a license number to use when I sign on at my new office.
In dog-related news, I was getting myself a snack of baby carrots and hummus this morning and dropped a baby carrot on the floor. Murphy pounced on it and ran off with it - I figured he'd chew it up and leave spit covered orange chunks staining my nearly white carpet (laminate floors are high on my wish list) but he ATE the carrot. Sophie ran over because the other dog was chewing and she's competitive, so I gave her one, and she ran off with it with great glee. I was trying to communicate with the state at that point so I didn't stand over her to see if she ate it or if Murphy did, but either way, it disappeared. A quick Google-fu confirmed that carrots are fine treats for dogs! I never knew that. We had dogs that adored apples and long ago I had a cat that would kill you for a few chunks of cantaloupe, but I never thought of offering these two a baby carrot. Hmmm. I'll have to buy the bigger bag next time.
And speaking of babies - Miss D had a runny nose when I watched her on Monday. Her mom reports she is much better, and I'm glad to hear it, but it appears she gave me her cold. Oh well.
No matter how much we love our grand-kids, we have to admit that they are efficient little Plague Carriers. They are busy training their immune systems so they catch everything that is 'going around' and being the selfless little souls they are, they share it.
ReplyDeleteCarrots are great treats for the dogs that will accept them. We had Kelpie (Oz working dog) once that would steal dried corn cobs (feed corn, not the sweet stuff), he also helped himself to strawberries right off the plant; a cat (Siamese) that would steal steamed asparagus off the fork, and a Beagle who would pick blackberries (very carefully!) It was the cat that surprised me, as cats are designate carnivores, dogs are really omnivores, and most dogs will at least try most foods.
Gae, in Callala Bay
Yup, having grandkids is like being a first year teacher - you're suddenly plunged into bugs your own immune system forgot. As for the animals - Murphy has always been a gourmand and an omnivore. It broke my heart to have to deny him his occasional bites of spanakopita. He cried for it, and I haven't made it since his diagnosis because it would be like torturing him. Sophie was raised in a far more conventional household on dog food and the occasional small people treat, and she thinks it's weird that Murphy loves green beans and carrots and other weird things, but she'll try them because he eats them. She's still not a fan of the green bean.
ReplyDeleteWe had a Siamese who just LOVED green beans. Not to EAT, mind you, just to stalk and hunt and KILL. Ace the Ancient Italian Greyhound loves to be given the skin shell of either a half mango or avocado. Quiet slurping ensues....... oh, and he would kill his grandmother for a prawn, or for a taste of smoked trout.
ReplyDeletePlease note that my dogs are definitely NOT SPOILED. And I can keep a straight face when I type that......
Gae, in Callala Bay
My Bostons have pretty much always loved carrots. If you want to be entertained, give one a regular carrot and watch them eat it. They're really pretty good at it.
ReplyDeleteWolfie loves his carrot treats, and we cut them up for him to go back and forth between us at dinner time to get his tiny treats. Low cal is the really good thing about them, plus good vitamins.
ReplyDeleteSorry you caught that cold. :-( glad Miss D is better, though. You can worry less.
Lella