As M. de Ours Nus is aware I've been battling a few mini-crises in the last couple of weeks.
- My new iphone broke and I was informed it would take 4-6 weeks to fix.
- My electricity was turned off last week because after 2.5 months my service provider had not connected my account.
- One of my stitched projects came out a bit bigger than anticipated and the initial postage/courier quote was over $200.00
- Was, thanks to an Apple retail store, fixed within 15 minutes the next day I had off work.
- Was, thanks to the Energy and Water Ombudsman's office, reconnected at 8:30pm the next night.
- Was, thanks to some advice from Australian Air Express, posted for $11.50.
So my crises have caused a slight panic and many many hours on the telephone getting the right advice and all is now well. I kinda felt a bit silly about getting overwrought by such issues that were ultimately, resolved in a short period of time and quite to my satisfaction.
Then I get to work today. We have a whole of unit afternoon tea scheduled for this afternoon. We meet, the manager tells us we did good, we eat. Everyone brings a plate.
The place is in an uproar! Person X bought their food instead of making it! Persons P & Q both bought chocolate cakes !!! This should have been planned better - there should have been a spreadsheet !!!!!
Huh? I work on the assumption everyone brings what they themselves want to eat. So if all 30 people turn up with packets of Tim Tams then I assume every one of those 30 people want to eat Tim Tams .... How? Why is this a crisis?
Do I need to give my section more work to do? Less work? Are they that overwrought with "Getting it RIGHT for Christmas (tm)"?
Hmmm - in the spirit of reducing overwroughtness this season I will no longer fret about Hector II the Zombie Christmas Tree.
Hector didn't make the transition interstate too well and most of his needles died. He's been re-potted and fed fertilizer etc and he's starting to get new shoots. Frankly he looks ghastly! This is the very best picture I could take of him - all the other pics were worse.
But I'm not going to stress. I'm not going to fret and compromise my principles and buy a cut tree. Instead, on Christmas Eve I will bring Hector inside and pretty him up as best I can and laugh with my Christmas Day companions on how appropriate it is for us to be sharing a Zombie Christmas Tree.
I wonder if we could get Jonathan Coulton to write a song: Oh Zombie Tree, Oh Zombie Tree ...
19 comments:
From $200 to $11.50???? Now that sounds even weirder!!! But glad it is taken care of!
Poor, poor Hector! Big Red (or Black) velvet bows can cover a multitude of bare branches :) And they are light!
From my beloved:
Zombie tree, oh zombie tree
You'd shamble if you could
Zombie tree, oh zombie tree
Through dark and dismal woods.
Love the song!!
What Hector needs is love, so yes, take him inside, pretty him up and have a Zombie Christmas.
The next version he did was:
Overground, underground, brown as can be
Hector the zombie undead Xmas tree
Covered in tinsel and baubles that glow
Like a squamous yet fetid spray of mistletoe.
Can you guess the theme tune?
Glad your crises are behind you. Have a relaxing Christmas.
I know that the last few weeks have been a challenge but you have dealt with them really well. Pat on the back to you. As for the electric - well that is downright rude. Here the companies will allow you to run up massive bills and even then put you on a credit meter before they disconnect!
Oh I wasn't disconnected for not paying a bill. The company never connected me in the first place!
The previous tenant used Company X and I signed with company Y. Moved in three months ago and electricity is connected. All good.
Four weeks ago get a call from the Real Estate agent. The previous tenant has been getting my electricity bills from his company X. I rang my company Y who said, ummm yes well we don't know what happened. You filled out the paperwork, but we didn't transfer the account into your name. We'll fix it immediately.
Last week I came home after work Christmas Party to no power. Company X, on the wishes of its client, the previous tenant, had turned off his account. Company Y, my company had still not transferred it into my name.
Company Y couldn't help me because their computers were down. Company X couldn't help me, because I was signed with Company Y. I rang the ombudsman's office.
Bit of tinsel and Hector will be fine LOL
Yep bits of ribbon and tinsel, and Hector will be qutie handsome.. and I bet the pictures will rapidly turn into one of those fond "remember the year..." bits.
You're right, though. I've been working really hard this year to NOT stress over all of this. There is so much that I *want* to do - which translates in my mind to I *should* do or *need* to do, and that's just not the case! Thus - there's a group of gifts that will become "new years gifts" as I won't get them finished off and/or shipped before Christmas. Whatever cookies get baked, get baked... and the decorations that are up are lovely and more than enough! (Now if I can only remember that when I bolt upright in bed at 4am, all will be well!)
Or in my case 2am. I so need abreak from work and need to remind myself that S and A are visiting me because they want to spend time with me. Not because they want to critique my housework or decorating skills. Actually they are visiting trubs more than me but that's a separate matter :)
Then Trubs should be the one sorting out your shared home, not you LOL.
The Wombles are not appropriate for a Zombie song.....hmmph.
It's impossible to not stress at Christmas. I have less stress now that I don't have to spend SEVEN hours decorating a tree. We're just not having one, simple.
I so hope you are finally asleep, I really do, otherwise tomorrow/today will just bring more same old same old...Hugs love.
BTW: Operation Resurrection Hector won't work.
At some point, he has been water deprived and conifers of any type do not come back from that.
Time to give him a proper zombie burial, sorry.
I got one hour's sleep finally and then A texted me with dramas and needed a shoulder. She wasn't to know, she txted after my usual waking up time.
Calling in sick this morning and heading back to bed. After more sleep I'm doing some housework I think. Such a scintillating day planned.
Exactly my point!
Thank you for backing me up !!!!!!!
He was water deprived in the two flipping weeks it took to move him interstate.
However all that greenery is new growth. Its all new and its all still growing.
That's encouraging isn't it?
Erm yes, it is encouraging but the brown bits will never turn green.
So you'll end up with a very patchy looking tree.
1. The Christmas party crisis: These are the type of people who make me hate Christmas. It supposed to be about sharing, in whatever capacity you are willing or able, not about striving to be perfect and please everyone. So one person bought a dish, so what? Maybe they are really busy, maybe they are a bad cook, maybe they just did what they were able and that is good enough. 2 chocolate cakes? Maybe they both like chocolate cake and plan on enjoying the leftovers at home. Big deal.
Yeah, it isn't a crisis, it is a couple selfish ninnies worrying about everybody else instead of dealing with their own shortcomings.
2. Hector: Love and care, but go easy on the fertilizer, evergreens are not used to a rich soil and you could burn him with too much. You might want to check the acidity of the soil too. Some trees are more sensitive to PH and your water may be a bit different in the new place. Keep him alive and he should adapt. You might also be able to encourage new shoots by trimming back any branches that don't appear to be showing new life.
Glad everything else got sorted out. I don't think you over-reacted. Certainly having no power ranks a bit higher on the crisis list than having 2 chocolate cakes at one party.
Awwwwwwww :(
That was my thought too.
Mind you I bought chocolates and no-one made disparaging comments about them. They were indeed the first things finished off.
And *horrors* they were bought! They were Lindt ....
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