I got a decent pay raise today. If you asked me, my wife, my parents, inlaws, friends, associates, and random people off the street, they’d tell you I’m still under paid… but I am, at the most, satisfied with what I got, considering what I am working with.

Speaking of my inlaws, we were at their place last weekend and I snapped several shots of their garden, two of which I am very happy with:

Some foliage, or perhaps… SHRUBBERY!

Nature’s version of the tattoo? Or is that morse code for “So long and thanks for all the fertilizer”?

“Cover Your Ass” (or CYA) is a guiding principle of mine, especially in my business life. I make sure that I document my actions, as well as the actions (or lack of) of those that I interact with in a business sense.

This fundamental principle has either prevented me from getting embroiled in a situation that I had no right being embroiled in or pulled me out of the fire more times than I can recall.

It really is a tremendous life jacket in what can sometimes be a cruel and cutthroat environment.

I find it interesting to reflect that sometimes I make bemused fun of people whom have things that I do not, if not loudly, certainly in my internal dialog. Probably stems from a deep-seated jealousy.

Most recently, I have been noticing more and more people walking around with those earpieces with which they can talk on their cell phones hands free.

I would giggle about how dorky they looked, or comment on what posers they were – so important that they had to ponce around in public with their fancy little earpiece on the off chance that someone would call them while they nipped into the convenience store for a packet of chips and a drink.

Of course, I wanted one of those dorky little earpieces myself.

A couple of weekends ago I got my wish. My mother-in-law, whom enjoys giving gifts so much that she will practically invent reasons to give them, gave me one of those dorky little earpieces because I had to work the first day of the Labor Day weekend.

I finally got around to setting it up yesterday, and it was surprisingly easy.

It does have a real name besides “cell phone earpiece thingy” – it is a Motorola Bluetooth Handsfree Headset.

Of course, just as I suspected would happen, I have yet to receive a call while I am wearing it. I have however graced my answering machine with a call that I made from it. Despite the “I don’t really sound like that, do I?” factor, and our cruddy machine, the sound quality was good.

Of course, now that I have one of these Motorola Bluetooth Handsfree Headsets, I no longer think they look dorky. I also walk around with it on all the time like a real poser that is so important that I might actually get a call while I am filling up with gas. It has not happened yet, but it might.

Now it is other people’s turns to make bemused fun of me. Fair enough.

This morning my wife relaying a tale of woe woke me up.

Let me relate that tale to you…

One of our cats, Missile, had been playing (“toying”) with a small spider. Apparently, this particular spider had been less than amused with the attention. As a result, a bite was apparently in order and delivered directly to Missiles’ snout.

She yelped. (As would I.)

My wife, whom had witnessed this, flushed the offending arachnid.

She woke me up and relayed the sequence of events to me.

“Check her face before you leave for work today.”

I murmured acknowledgement and rolled over resuming a state of sleep.

Dutifully, however, when I dragged myself out of bed, I went looking for Missile to check on her.

I looked…

I looked…

I looked…

Finally I discovered her holed up, prepared to defend, underneath our bed.

Half a deconstructed bed later, I realized that I needed a flashlight to determine her exact whereabouts and check if her face has swollen up like a watermelon - I set off to retrieve it.

When I returned no sign of her was illuminated. She had taken the opportunity to get out of her foxhole while I was distracted to scurry out into other parts of the house.

With half a deconstructed bed, a now pointless flashlight, and a sense that I was rapidly becoming later and later for work, I set off to locate the fleeing feline.

Chasing her round and round the house, she gave off distressed sounds, which I was concerned about – was she in pain from the spider bite, or distressed that I was chasing her about the house like a lunatic.

Sometimes mornings in my house can be unusual. Mostly, though, as I would prefer – they are sleepy.

Working a 9 hour day on the Saturday of a long weekend puts a significant crimp in said long weekend. How’s your’s going?

Discovered a quote from Epicurus on a documentary I watched today that I found interesting:

“Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able?
Then he is not omnipotent.
Is he able, but not willing?
Then he is malevolent.
Is he both able and willing?
Then whence cometh evil?
Is he neither able nor willing?
Then why call him God?”