Tuesday, December 16, 2008

In Which Nelly and the Kitten Find Themselves Feeling Rather Chilled

Apart from the garden centre, my present office is the coldest place I’ve ever worked and at least in the garden centre I could do some physical work to keep warm. So, much as I’d like to convey a smart corporate image, in jackets and heels and little silk scarves, I’m happed up in layers of wool and body-warmers, mufflers and fingerless gloves and with a long drip hanging off the end of my freezing nose and looking a lot less like a groomed and glossy receptionist and a lot more like Albert Steptoe.


But at least I was cheered up when Hagelrat invited me to do a book meme (I swear I think I started that one but maybe it’s just a geriatric delusion) and by happy chance the book closest to me was Swallows and Amazons and didn’t page 56 gave up a delightful passage featuring Titty and Dick and a lot of tackings, moorings and tying-ups to bushes that were growing out of rocks. But unfortunately the book is still in at work so I cannot do it.


The only other book I had to hand was ‘The God Delusion’ which was loaned to me by Mr D, a delightful chap in his eighties, and he says he’s definitely an atheist now. I think that’s terribly tough-minded of him at his age. I was the second person he loaned his copy to. The first was a Church of Ireland vicar and the book was returned inserted with 6 pages of handwritten notes and quotes from the bible. Mr D remains unconvinced but I expect the clergyman felt he had to try.


And on the home front Bert has embarked on his traditional Christmas preparations. This always involves a large, messy and thoroughly non-urgent task that he has been putting off for at least three years. I think it was last year he decided to demolish the turf shed and this year he’s building (from scratch) a sliding door between the scullery and the hall. The house is knee deep in sawdust and I’m terrified the kitten is going to decapitate itself on Bert’s Makita.

Not very kitten-friendly


Bert says it won’t because it’s not clever enough to override the safety features. But is it little wonder I fear that Bert takes a very cavalier attitude to Fred’s wellbeing when Hannah found the poor wee thing in the pet food fridge this evening? Luckily it hadn’t been in there very long and was happily lapping away at an open tin of cat food. But what if Hannah hadn’t been going to feed the dogs at that very minute? Bert said it would have learned the wee brute not to go in there.

3 comments:

evilganome said...

Poor Fred! Bert's a heartless sod when it comes to cats, isn't he?

Sorry to hear about the weather conditions in your office. I don't have to look professional in my current job, however it is not feeling very stable either which has me looking for a new position, which I fear will involve neckties.

BTW, the word verification is vowdecon, I wonder if it's channeling the vicar, since I'm another atheist.

sageweb said...

Well, I feel for you having to work in a cold office, here I am in southern California and my office air conditioner is so cold that I wear a down coat and hat at work...even when it is 80F out. We can build space stations and make airplanes fly but god forbid figuring out how to turn down the AC.

That poor Kitty, I never risk things around the house with cats..they get into everything.

Ronni said...

I'm freezing at work, too, but that's because we are trying to keep the electric bill as low as we can. Otherwise, I'd take a little space heater.

Space heaters seem to be much safer than they were when I was a child...