Friday, March 22, 2013

Feline Friday: The Ugly Week Version

Sorry today's Feline Friday is late...to be honest, it almost didn't get posted at all. Not because no cat did anything cute or photo-worthy this week (AS IF), but because this has been one of those Ugly and Frustrating weeks. Nothing truly terrible (like my author pal Nancy Holzner is dealing with--a diabetic husband in the hospital first fighting for his life, and now facing possible amputation...compared to that, my week was a piece of cake. Jeez. Also, check out her books here -- I loved them, and I think you will too. So let's send her lots of energy and strength and good wishes. And if you feel so inclined, go buy a book).

But still, it was One of Those Weeks. It started with a leak in the ceiling at The Artisans' Guild last Wednesday. Not Wednesday this week. LAST week, nine days ago. Add in one absentee landlord (unreachable), one sort-of building manager who turned out to be in Ohio for two weeks (also unreachable), one very nice real estate lady who would have helped, but didn't have keys to get into the apartments on the 2nd and 3rd floors...and a LOT of water. Buckets and buckets of water. Coming from the ceiling. In an artists' cooperative shop filled with art. For eight days.
 The ceiling.
 The wet carpet.
The buckets. Many, may, buckets.

That's right. Eight days of starting each morning by emptying all those buckets, then running the wet vac and emptying that, then trying yet again to call the landlord, then explaining the situation to the various artists (and customers) who came in. Not to mention the poor artists whose work had been up on those walls, and had to be taken down and propped in corners...

And then, of course, there was this:
Which, hey, is not unexpected in March in upstate NY, but meant shoveling at home, and then at the shop, and then at home again, after we got 3 inches of snow followed by freezing rain and sleet, followed by another three inches of snow.

And then there was the artist who somehow mysteriously unplugged the keyboard at the shop and then we couldn't get it to work again...but nevermind that.

And, of course, there was other stuff, but I'm too tired to type about it. So instead, I'll give you this:
 No--you're not seeing double. That's Mystic on the right, and his mama Minerva on the left. He's much larger, and had a cute spot on one side of his upper lip instead of Minerva's two little lipstick dots, but otherwise, their coloring is pretty much identical.
And that's Magic, who clearly is feeling about the way I am about this week. TGI freaking F.

On the bright side, they finally got in upstairs and tracked the water down to a leaking water heater in an empty apartment, so the water has stopped coming through the ceiling, and hopefully the Giant Mess will be cleaned up next week. The keyboard is working again too, thanks to Dan, my wonderful computer guy (and ex-brother in-law, current friend). And the other stuff is better, if not completely dealt with.

Here's hoping your week was not quite this interesting :-)

Don't forget that if you want to sign up for the upcoming Witchcraft 201 class (which won't be given again this year or next), registration closes Sunday 6 PM EST register HERE

And I promise, I'm going to send out the Spring newsletter...NEXT WEEK.

10 comments:

  1. SO glad the water problem has been handled! What a nightmare. Glad everything is getting back to normal at the shop.

    And the kittehs are gorgeous as usual. I love Feline Fridays! They make me smile.

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  2. Wow Deborah! What a mess!
    At least this situation got taken care of.

    My week was kinda painful. I had a tooth pain that I could only pacify with a pain medicine...and the appointment with the dentist will be on the 28th. I'm counting the days. On the bright side...I will loose a couple of pounds.

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    1. Oh, poor baby! I hate tooth pain. (I have two molars on the top, one on either side, that cause periodic pain they haven't been able to fix, even with a root canal--probably sinuses.) I hope it clears up soon. *hugs*

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  3. GOOD GRIEF! What a week indeed! I hope the artwork that'd been in the line of fire (or rather, under the line of water) wasn't damaged too badly.

    I'm thankful that my week went pretty darned well. I'm not as far along by now on a project for my Mom as I'd hoped to be, but I have until this coming Friday to finish it. (I do sculptures and such in polymer clays. This is a framed mirror with various zoo animal heads as a birthday present for the 1-yr-old daughter of one of Mom's coworkers. The mother has a HUGE family, so kid's already going to be getting plenty of clothes and toys; Mom wanted something different and unique, something her friend could keep in the kid's room and enjoy for a few years. =3)

    Echoing Skye - I love the pics of your fur-kids when you post them. And OMGs I abso-freaking-lutely LOVE that bedspread! <3

    HUGS for you and the other artists dealing with this week's deluge.

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    1. Thankfully, the leak started while the store was open, and the artist on duty noticed it and called me. So everything got moved out of harm's way. (In the past, that hasn't been true.)

      And the bedspread (actually a comforter cover) was created by one of the artists at the shop. But I picked out the material, so I get a little credit :-)

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    2. Glad to hear! Ugh for the past, though. =<

      Comforter cover . . . ooooh even better. And that's awesome it's from one of the other artists. You have LOVELY taste in colors. XD

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    3. Thanks :-) I wanted something rich-looking. In a perfect world, I'd have used velvets and such, but with cat hair as an issue, cotton was a better choice. The batiks helped make it still feel rich and textured.

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  4. Glad to hear they found and fixed the leak. It sounds like the landlord should have a backup plan for when he and the building manager are unavailable at the same time. It would be in his best interest to have problems fixed quickly to avoid extensive, expensive delayed fixes.

    I love the comforter cover. It looks like an Impressionist painting. The colors are gorgeous. And so are the lovely felines on it. I guess Magic goes more for the earth tones.

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    1. "It would be in his best interest to have problems fixed quickly to avoid extensive, expensive delayed fixes."

      I was thinking the same thing. Not to mention possible LAWSUITS. >,< I'm not one for the overly-lawsuit-happy culture we have, but especially if any of that artwork /had/ been damaged, I'd say a case like this would perfectly legitimately warrant one.

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    2. Oh yeah, that would have been a good plan all right :-) And you can rest assured I told him so. Politely but firmly. He is changing the system as we speak.

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