Light And Love

My heart swells with love when I think of my husband.

He is the keeper of my light, my soul and my heart. I can think of no other person that even begins to come close to the goodness that is encompassed by his being.

I admire him, I adore him, I love him.

He is always willing to make sacrifices that will lead to a better life for us. I can not think of any other person that would do the things that he has done for me…for us.

It can be lonely being here alone. Spending long stretches of time without him as a constant and daily presence in my life. But he is here…in a way.

Others cannot see how it can be done.

But I am not truly alone - I have his heart here with me.

I have his love.

Comfort And Companionship

My constant companions…my dogs.

They are always here with me - offering comfort and companionship. Love and loyalty. I would be truly lost without them.

They bring soul into my home. They sit with me, they lay with me. They walk with me from room to room, indoor to out.

They are lights in the darkness of lonely times.

Their faces fill with love - compassion - worry. They look at me, touch me.

Sometimes all I need is to feel one of their bodies leaning against mine. There is someone there. Another soul with mine. It is comforting.

A scratch behind the ears, a scratch under the chin. A pat on the head, a rub of the temples. Scratch the chest, kiss on the snout.

All this time I spend alone, I am truly not alone. I don't think I could do it without their comfort. Their love and support.

I am grateful for all that they offer me.

Motley Crue

Okay.  So we all know that I work for an animal control agency.  I am the office person – I manage the office, deal with the public and dispatch calls.  Generally, my days are full of a flurry of phone calls, taking complaints and dispatching officers out to field calls.  There certainly is a level of stress, but not all stress is bad stress.  I think it all keeps me on my toes.

 

But we have all noticed a pattern.  If we have a very quiet day at the office, we're all in for hell the next day.  That's just how it goes. We'll have a slow day, then we'll be too busy to possibly take all of the things that fly our way.  We've taken to not speaking the "s" word or the "q" word in the office, for fear of jinxing ourselves.

 

So today my day at the office starts off rather unassumingly.  Sadie and I show up for work as usual.  I'm taken a bit by surprise to see the personal car of one of our officers parked next to the building.  She has been working with us in a supervisory role over the past few weeks while our senior officer has been out on medical leave.  In the time that the Good Officer has been with us, we've pretty much managed to suck her into our world, and I think we've seeped into her pores a little bit.  She's no longer assigned to us full-time, but she stops by from time to time to see how things are going.

 

Sadie and I stroll into the office to find the Good Officer making coffee.  I look at her and my first words are, "See…you LOVE us!"  She laughs and tells me that she has volunteered to come in this morning because there was nobody on schedule to work on cleaning the shelter.  She must really love us if she's willing to volunteer to come in and spray poo!

 

We say our good mornings, and she wanders off to start cleaning the building and I settle into my morning routine.  (Minus the making coffee part…which has so graciously been taken care of by the Good Officer.)  It is still just before 8am. 

 

The phone rings.  I generally won't pick up the phone until I'm logged onto the computer if it isn't 8 yet.  But I look at the number and see that it is the police department calling.  So I pick up the phone.  Before I can even get through my "thank you for calling" spiel, the dispatcher is asking me if we have a field officer available.  Nope.  Not till 9. 

 

According to Dispatch, there is a momma dog and her pups that have been dropped off at an office complex on the corner of a pretty busy intersection.  Momma is wandering around in the street, and citizens are trying to catch her.  I ask the dispatcher for a description of the dog, and of course he doesn't have one.  Does he know where the puppies are in the complex?  I'm told that it'll be obvious where they are – they're in the complex. 

 

Uh…ohhhkaaay.  Well, then.  I tell the dispatcher that I can see if the officer that volunteered her free morning will be willing to go attempt to catch the dog.  We leave it at that, and I hang up the phone. 

 

I go to see the Good Officer, who is wearing galoshes and is in the process of starting to clear out the kennels.  "I hate to do this to you," I start, "but there's a momma dog wandering in traffic while her pups are in an office complex on this busy intersection.  Would you be willing to go try to catch her?"  I see the wheels spinning.  She's torn…oh, what the heck.  She'll do it.

 

So she returns to the office to put on her shoes.  Looking at her, I offer to ride along to see if I can help her out.  (I'm going to throw in a sidebar here…it has been previously noted in our department that I do not run.  Period.  I will scurry…I may even scamper…but I do not run.  The Good Officer is in the same camp as I am – she doesn't run either.  She has since notated that she is willing to learn how to scurry or scamper if it might make life easier, but run she will not do.)

We pile into the great big tank of a truck that we have – it is HUGE!  We've dubbed it the Mack Daddy.  It's an extended cab truck, with all the stainless steel compartments in the back.  You can't see out the back window, so you have to rely on your side mirrors and a backup camera.  To complicate matters even more, you have to juggle the key on one ring, and the key fob on another ring.  Because if you hop out of the truck and leave the key in the ignition, you run the risk of locking yourself out.  How embarrassing is that?  One of our officers did it the first time he drove the truck and we haven't let him live it down yet.

 

On the way to the scene, the Good Officer decides that it might be a good idea to contact the supervisor of the day and let her know what we're up to.  The phone conversation starts out like this: "You know you're in trouble when I volunteer to come in to clean the shelter, and the secretary and I end up going out on a call to chase dogs."  Our supervisor offered to come on-scene with us, but noted that it would only be to watch us in action for her own entertainment.  Thanks.

 

Then the Good officer suddenly seems to realize that neither of us is in a uniform of any kind.  No big deal for me – I don't have one.  I'm wearing a glittery Mickey Mouse t-shirt, my favorite capris and sandals.  She's in jeans and a t-shirt.  At least she's got her gun (!) even if she left her badge at home. 

 

We arrive on-scene and see a small, white fluffy dog sniffing around the grass in front of the complex.  We stop the Mack Daddy out front and hop out.  I step into the grass and look at the little dog.  I then look down at my feet and the slide-on sandals that I'm wearing. Hmmm…not only are these not suitable for running in, I probably shouldn't even attempt to scamper or scurry in them.  I might break my neck.  So I step out of my shoes right there in the grass and leave them. 

 

Well.  This little white fluff ball DOES NOT want to be caught.  The good officer and I spent awhile chasing it around the complex (I'm barefoot!) and soon see a second one.  So now we've got two little dogs to try to catch.  I'm quickly learning that dogs can be mighty difficult to catch if they don't want to come to you.

 

At some point, the Good Officer decides that we're not going to be able to get close enough to these dogs to lasso them with our little leashes, so she walks back to the truck to get one of the longer control sticks.  While she's walking back to the truck, she sees my shoes in the grass.  Her first thought is, "That's an odd place for shoes."  It takes her a minute, but it finally dawns on her that they're my shoes (remember, I'm barefoot) and throws them in the cab of the truck.

 

While we're working our way through the complex, an older couple decides to try to help us.  Even the four of us can't get the dogs.  So the Good Officer and I decide that there's just no catching these pups, and start asking where the puppies are.  The couple looks at us and asks, "What puppies?  Someone dropped off five dogs in this area this morning.  These two, a larger one that got hit by a car and ran off, and two other ones.  There were no puppies." 

 

Score one for the accuracy of getting your information second-hand. 

Well, the two white fluffballs are the only things we've seen in the area, and they've taken off down the street (technically crossing the border out of our jurisdiction) so the Good Officer and I decide to take off.  

 

We turn down the street we saw them take, and there they are.  Now it's like they're taunting us.  The Good Officer jumps out of the truck, tosses me the key and tells me to follow her in the truck (!!) while she takes off down the street to follow the dogs.

 

Uh…I've never driven something so big in my life.  And I have to back it up to get to where she's going.  Holy cow!

 

Somehow I manage, and get to the area where the Good Officer is with the dogs.  But they just don't want to be caught and take off. Again.  So it's back in the truck and around the way back to the complex.  We hop back out (I'm still barefoot) and circle the complex.  By this time, the supervisor has shown up and is checking out the situation.

 

Supervisor is wearing her khaki uniform pants, a gray t-shirt and her duty belt with badge.  I look at her and greet her with, "Hey! It's the girl with the badge!"   She looks at me, gets a puzzled expression on her face and asks me, "Where are your shoes?"

 

So we resume our chase of the dogs.  They run out into traffic, across the street, and back to our side of the street.  And then they take off down the street.  And keep going.  I watch them and see where they head…and the Good Officer tells me to get in the truck and meet them down the way.  But being in the state that we live in, there are concrete barriers in every median – you generally can't turn left out of a parking lot.  So I have to drive this HUGE tank around the block (backing it up first to turn it around!!) and meet up with them in the neighborhood.

 

So I circle the block (Good Officer is much taller than me…so I keep having to scooch the seat up so that I can reach the pedals...driving barefoot!) and catch up with Supervisor and the Good Officer…back in the office complex parking lot.

While I'm tooling around in the giant truck, I happen to hear another animal call coming in over the radio.  Apparently, there is a dog loose in the gated parking lot of the police department and dispatch plans to turn the call over to us to take.  Yeah right.  I pick up my cell phone and call them – as soon as I identify myself, the dispatcher says, "Oh! We have another call for you!"

 

I then inform the dispatcher that we are ALL (and I helpfully define ALL to her as the secretary, the Good Officer that volunteered her morning to come in and clean the shelter and the Supervisor that isn't even on the clock yet) out on the first call that they gave us this morning.  "Oh," she says, "I'll just hold that call for you, then."  Yeah…you just do that.

 

So back on the chase.  I join the Good Officer and the Supervisor back out on the main street trying to catch these critters.  By this time, the two little dogs have been joined by a larger dog…I assume it is the one that had been hit by a car earlier in the morning.  I'm at least a hundred feet behind Supervisor, so I decide that it'll be easier to just call her on her cell phone to let her know that we have another call pending than to try to yell it to her above the traffic noise.  In talking to her on the phone, we decide that the dogs keep running across our jurisdictional line, so we'll just call out the other animal control agency and pass the call on for them to try.

 

So I start to dial the other agency on my cell phone when two of the funniest things happen…

 

(1)   I see a person run out from the very end of the office complex to help catch the dogs…it's our Adoption Center Employee!  Of course, not in uniform.  You couldn't have put together a uniform out of anything the four of us were wearing.  How sad is that?  I just started laughing as hard as I could.  Here we all are – the barefoot secretary, the Good Officer wielding a control stick and a gun, the Supervisor in her non-uniform with a duty belt and the Adoption Center Employee in a t-shirt, athletic shorts and flip-flops.  Are we a motley crew or what?  Apparently, Adoption Center Employee happened to be driving by and saw me on the side of the road (barefoot – she must have thought I was some crazy lady!) with a leash and she thought to herself, "Hey – she has one of those leashes that we use at the shelter…hey…that looks like Supervisor…wait a minute…that's Good Officer!"  So she pulled a u-turn (with the dog she's rehabbing because of a bad leg flailing around in the back of her SUV) to see if she could help.  What are the odds?

 

(2)   While I'm on the phone, waiting to get through to the other agency, I hear a vehicle pull up and stop next to me.  I turn and look, and it is the other agency's animal control truck.  My only thought is, "Damn…these guys are fast!"  He can't roll down his window, so we're forced to communicate through awkward hand gestures and reading lips.  I see him point in the general direction of where these dogs went and mouth something that I can't determine.  So I approach the window and hold up two fingers and yell, "THERE ARE TWO SMALL DOGS," and then I change my gesture to two hands held apart and yell, "AND ONE LARGE DOG," and then I point to where they went.  He nods and drives off to try his hand at it. 

 

I don't know what he must have thought if he saw our big truck advertising who we are, and then looked at all of us running around in such an assortment of outfits.  Not a uniform to be had among all of us.  And the secretary is the only employee actually on the clock.  And she's not even wearing shoes!  Yup…we're a high-quality operation, we are!

 

So I finally catch up to the rest of the group.  They've seen the other agency vehicle and we've all decided that it is now out of our hands and belongs to them.  We've spent an hour in pursuit with no luck.  When I get with the other girls, I make the declaration that if the otheragency catches the dogs, it's only because we tired them out.

 

So after my morning of attempting to be an Animal Control Officer, I put my sandals back on and we called it a morning. 

 

Did I mention that this was all before my morning cup of coffee?

Six Months Gone

Today marks six months since Hubby officially left home on his journey to the sandbox. What has happened and changed over the past month?

- Number of meals cooked this month: 0 
  Running total for deployment: 0 
(Note that I do not count frozen pizzas, chicken nuggets or baking a hamburger in the oven as cooking.)

- Scrapalooza saw the completion of 0 pages. Scrapbooking seems to have hit a hibernation point. My weekends are taken up with gardening tasks and now I've even started going in to work on the weekends! Plus, I just received a huge box of photos from my mom that I need to digitalize in order to get them preserved…hmmm…we'll have to see what I manage to get done next month…

- Body Count. All the stuffed animals are gone. All that remains is Humpy Bear, and he is sacred. Fred and Sadie continue to bring such joy into the house. I cannot wait for Hubby to come home and meet his little girl. I've become so attached to her since welcoming her to the clan, and I just know that it is going to kill me to have to put her in a kennel when we embark on our travel adventures.

- Mechanical Emergency Number Four - My car's steering column started smmmoookkkkkin' on my way to work one day. Suddenly, I realize the fear that my air bag could deploy on me while I'm driving down the freeway at 70+ mph! Turns out the switch on my turn signal had burnt out and needed replacing. Huh. I guess that these are the things that happen to people that actually use their turn signals.

- Additions to the garden this month include dahlias, zinnias, delphiniums, coleus, two new rose shrubs, marigold, celosia, petunia, lobelia, lithodora, white osteospermum, cosmos, skullcap, fuschia, and Asiatic Lily. My Freesia has finally blossomed, and I thoroughly enjoyed basking in the fragrance of the blooms. My rose bushes continue to produce gorgeous blooms that I use to create small bouquets in the house. Yes, I've added more roses to my garden…I'm in love with them. The tree in the front yard is a flush with leaves - heralding in the official arrival of spring. My gazanias have done much better than I anticipated - all have taken hold at the foot of the garden and are actually in bloom! The Jasmine is in full bloom, and the breezes bring the heavenly scent into my bedroom and to the back patio…is it any wonder that this is a favorite of mine? I've turned my attention to some maintenance tasks - pesticides, snail bait, tree trimming and mulching. I've also picked up new solar lights to light the walk and flower bed, as well as indulged myself with a few quirky garden decorations to add some more cheer to the beds.

- I've been absolutely exhausted lately.  Work is kicking my ass, and I just want to shut down when I get home in the evenings.  Add to that having to keep the house up and going all by myself...it's a wonder I can keep track of what day of the week it is!  Can't wait for Hubby to get home - his being away is really starting to wear on me and I just miss having him around.  Only about three more months to go...

- Reports from the Front...I spent a morning attempting to be an Animal Control Officer. Barefoot. Not an easy task when you don't run. It was a fun morning, anyways. The office "Life Rat" was killed with kindness…all we wanted to do was provide him with a clean apartment, but he just wouldn't hold still! Poor Templeton…RIP. And only a week later, we find ourselves with another rat. You've got to be kidding me. "T2" is not as cute as Templeton. We've also had an office squirrel (Rocky) and today we got a Guinea Pig (Yet to be named.)  Kitten season is starting, and I'm starting to see what everyone at work has been warning me about. So many kittens coming in! And if there's no momma, they don't stand much of a chance. SPAY AND NEUTER, PEOPLE…SPAY AND NEUTER!! Also, staff members are starting to realize the importance of just shutting ourselves away from the office for an hour each day - some know it as lunch, we look at it as a mental health break. We just have to find time to laugh…otherwise we might go insane!!

Spring Fever

Spring is here - the sweet scents of blossoms carry on the wind and assault the senses. Merely stepping outside, you are hit with a barrage of smells. Nearby orchards carry the scents of their trees in bloom - fragrant perfumes carrying across miles to find you.

I'm spending my weekends outside in the garden. Since the beginning of this little affair last year, I've fallen head-over-heels in love with the art of gardening. Spending the hours of my weekend days in the garden brings such great joy. While nurturing and caring for the little beauties in my care, I am delighted in seeing them thrive and prosper. Gorgeous flowers, scents, colors and hues dot my landscape.

I have the freedom of experimentation. I spend time walking the aisles at the local nursery - looking for something to catch my eye. Bright colors, saucer like flowers, delicate and ornate structures. When I fall in love, the plant comes home. I set it in the garden bed until the weekend comes around and I have the free time to work in the dirt.

I garden for me. I look for what catches my eye and brings me pleasure. I'm slowly turning the front garden into what is known as a "cottage garden." Beautiful flowers in a multitude of hues are finding their way into my little collection.

I eye the existing shrubs with disdain, and plot their demise. They will be replaced with elegant shrubs that flower. A few evergreens will find their way in as well, but things far more interesting that the existing shrubs. I want flowers and color, and these are just not working in my plan.

In the back yard, I am somewhat limited. This is the dogs' domain. I have integrated in my beloved jasmine near the bedroom window. And I will be basking in their fragrant blossoms in mere days, enjoying the cool evenings with open windows.

I plot the removal of a few select shrubs - to be replaced with flowering hibiscus and possibly more roses. And a gardenia near the patio - more opportunity to enjoy fragrant blossoms.

I've overtaken the patio with plantings. Instituting a flower bed in a neglected nook, and recruiting some old security bars to act as trellises, I will train flowering vines that will be enjoyed as the season progresses. Containers dot this landscape…seeking shade near the fence, I have a wild assortment of beautiful pots holding even more beautiful ornamental plantings. In a sunny corner of the patio, I have my sun-worshiping plants nested in their colorful containers.

I take such joy in sitting and enjoying the plantings. Nurturing their growth with nutrients and water. Time spent in the garden is time spent for me. I take pride in watching my little charges grow and change. Flowers burst forth in a colorful show meant to tantalize the senses. I have a hand in all of this. I carefully choreograph the dance, outfit them in bright costumes and enjoy their show. I tend to them with such care - basking in their day-to-day changes.

In addition to the beauty of the flowers, I also welcome birds into my garden. I have set aside the front garden as a bird sanctuary and enjoy watching them scurry through the garden from my perch in front of my office window. They feed from my feeders, bathe in the bath set up just for them, and trot around in the garden scratching for insects. They are such joys to watch - I can count more than twenty in the yard at times.

Yes, spring has arrived - calling me outdoors. My tree is leafing out, the grass is green again. Warm weather is here - how can I resist the call? I gladly bask in the joys of the season.

Five Months Gone

Today marks five months since Hubby officially left home on his journey to the sandbox. What has happened and changed over the past month?

- Number of meals cooked this month: 0 
  Running total for deployment: 0 
  (Note that I do not count frozen pizzas, chicken nuggets or baking a hamburger in the oven as cooking.)

- Scrapalooza saw the completion of 50 pages. I've officially finished with 2003 and crept into 2004. You would think that I wouldn't have as much to scrap for 2004, since Hubby was deployed to the desert during that year. Not so! I still managed to get out and take lots of trips without him! And pity me when I get to scrapping our Reunion Tour in 2005. A whole week of Garmisch, Italy and London…I'll probably have to do an album just for that week!

- I turned another year older. 31 this year. Do I feel any different than I did when I claimed 30 as my magic number? No. I was proud to be 30, and feel no different now that another year has passed. My age is indicative of my experience. I'm living a full and happy life. I'm proud of where I am ~ physically, mentally and chronologically. My age is a badge of honor - a testament of what I have seen and done, and where I have been. It shows my experience and maturity, and I gladly bear that badge. And speaking of birthdays, I got the best gift ever this year…

- Sadie Marie Sullivan was welcomed into our clan with open arms and paws. Who would have thunk that I would find myself in love with another dog? Well, it happened…I fell in love with a sweet and demure black lab at the shelter - someone had released custody of her to the city and she was promptly put up for adoption. It truly was love at first sight, and I brought her into our clan a few days later. She's an absolute wonderful addition to the family. Loyal and true, she follows me around the house like a shadow. I'll probably never have cold feet again. J And she's become a permanent fixture in the office at work - laying under my desk all day and basking in the well deserved attention of my coworkers. My brother and sister-in-law share my excitement ~ they have a lab farm of their own. Although they don't think it's fair that I seem to find all the sweet ones. Right now, they've got an "alpha female" that is an absolute handful. Perhaps I'll rename our little villa "The Home of Unwanted Labs."

- Body Count. Having two labs in the house, tug-of-war has become a new favorite game. While I've always had the power to limit the stuffed-animal carnage in the past, my pups don't seem to understand that we don't play tug-of-war with the things that tear easily. This month has seen the disembowelment of the red and white pig, both of the rats, the gray cat, Sylvester, the beaver, and the yellow lab. Just to name a few. As I type this, Sadie is gnawing on the rear end of the formerly stuffed lab, Fred is gnawing on the front end, and the stuffing is all over the floor. *sigh* In addition, the tennis-ball-on-the-rope is no longer welcome in the house (relegated to the "backyard toy" status), and the rope Frisbee is a goner. Perhaps I should look into some more indestructible toys…

- Mechanical emergency number three. The power went out, causing a hiccup in the internet service to the house. My computer registered that it was online, but none of the programs registered that they were connected! Somehow, with a lot of button-pushing I fixed it. How exactly? I don't know. Lots of looking over Hubby's shoulder while he worked on the computer helped. See, Honey…in addition to spending all that time with you, I'm also paying attention andlearning.

- Additions to the garden this month include the planting of seeds! I've planted lavendery-blue sweet pea vines and four-o-clocks in a gorgeous sky blue. And they're peeking through the soil - I can't wait to see them grow tall and blossom! I've also sprinkled an assortment of strawflower seeds in the patio bed - gorgeous flowers that are sure to produce a show pleasing to the eye. And an assortment of California Poppy seeds were just planted, and I'm looking forward to seeing them sprout up as well. I've also got a few sunflower seeds sprouting. Proving that they have a rightful spot as the birth flower of March, my daffodils are in full bloom, and are beautiful! My tulips and anemones are in bloom as well - I'm so pleased! I'm anxiously awaiting my freesia blooms. I'm so pleased with the success of my bulbs, considering that I had never planted them before! My strawberry plants are producing berries - I'm genuinely hoping that I get to enjoy the fruits of this labor. I've also planted a groundcover of gazanias under my tree - hoping that they will fill in the area at the edge of my front garden and blossom forth with gorgeous and funky flowers. Ranunculus, Columbine, Pincusion Flowers, Jasmine(!), Salvia, Lamb's Ear, Ivy, Asparagus Fern, East Indian Holly Fern and African Daisies add to the riot of color as well. I finally decided that I am brave enough to try a Hibiscus, too. My impulse buy for the month is an Alaskan Azalea - fragrant white blooms added to my container garden!

- Reports from the Front...The great dane returned! Wildlife ran rampant this month - we had a little blackbird trapped in a dumpster, baby squirrels and a hawk-in-a-box all in one day! Another day of insanity ensued…we had an opossum in a pit (of the hole-in-the-ground, not bull variety), an oversized pigeon trapped in a yard unable to fly, goats running loose and a German Shepherd with a giant hole in it all in one day…and all before 10am! Crazy phone calls seem to have brought out all the loons - and I had the joy of actually hanging up on someone. I found myself with another black lab. On another note, I'm forever grateful to my furry companions for the love and loyalty they share, and the light and warmth they bring into my life. Having seen some of the things I've seen this month, I'm grateful that these wonderful creatures are in my life, where they will be forever cherished. My heart breaks for all those furry critters out there that don't have such a loving home. My heart goes out to my fellow employees - we truly are a family all our own, and we've been through a lot of crap this month. When it rains, it pours, and somehow we all seem to be without umbrellas. But we're in it for each other, and for the animals…and that's truly what matters.

Why I Love The Public

Actual phone calls I have received at work (as office admin and dispatcher for an animal control agency):

Last Week ~

A lady calls in on her cell phone about a dog she adopted from us. There are physical issues with the dog, and she brought it back to us so we could take it to our vet for a second opinion. After listening to her prattle on, I was just about to refer her to our adoption center and provide her with that phone number when she asks me if I can hold. I then hear her ordering a hot fudge sundae through the drive-thru! I was shocked! I promptly YELLED at her through the phone to get her attention, and when she responded, I informed her that she needed to call back when she was done at the drive-thru, because I have other lines ringing that I need to be answering.

Who calls a place of business and places them on hold so they can order ice cream from a drive-thru window?!?

I like one of my co-workers' responses when I told her about the call ~ "Like she needs to have any more hot fudge sundaes!" HA!

*****

Today ~

I get a telephone call from a lady (out of state) that doesn't like the way that her son is treating his dog. While assuring her that we can keep her contact information confidential, it is like pulling teeth to find out where her son lives. I inform her that I need to establish jurisdiction by determining whether or not he is within our city limits. When I finally pry the address out of her, I determine that it is not within our jurisdiction and inform the lady of the name of the agency that she needs to talk to.

She begins to launch into a tirade about how she just spent an hour and a half on the phone with that agency and got no help at all, and was disconnected from their call. When I try to explain to her that since our agency is run by the city that we are located in, we are bound by the jurisdiction of our city's limits. This just sets her off even more. She begins to yell at me over the phone. I attempt to cut into her tirade, but she is having none of it. I then inform her that our telephone conversations are recorded by our agency, and if she is going to continue to speak to me in the manner that she is currently, I am within my rights to hang up on her. She just keeps going, and her volume is increasing.

While she keeps marching on in her tirade, I helpfully inform her that if she is not happy with the agency that she dealt with that actually has jurisdiction over the address that she was referring to, she can contact the city that the address is located in and complain to them, as they are the ones responsible for contracting their animal control issues. All the time, she keeps carrying on. I'm certain that she never even heard a word that I said. But I kept going. I told her that I was sorry that there was nothing that I could do for her, and I hope she has a nice day…and hung up the phone. While she was still screaming at me.

It felt good. She's probably still screaming into the phone.

I'll bet I know why her conversation with that "other agency" was "disconnected."

*****

Also Today ~

I get a telephone call from a lady that is upset. Seems that she had an animal licensed through the city, and she gave the animal to her mother. Her mother went ahead and re-licensed the animal in her own name, but the daughter keeps getting license renewals in the mail. She just received her second renewal and asked me if we "play with our brains down there."

Ooohhhkaay.

Fresh off the high of hanging up on that other lady, I decide that I'm not going to let that little jibe get to me. So I ask her how she received the notice - was it through the mail or by a note left on her door or handed to her in person? She states that she received it through the mail (eliminating contact with our officers from the equation). OK…so now I know that she received an automatic notice of renewal that doesn't come from us - it is processed through another department. I explain to her that we have nothing to do with those notices and I then ask her if the notice had the little check box that says, "Check here if you no longer have your animal." She gets huffy and states that she doesn't have the notice with her.

Ooohhhkaay.

I decide that I'm still going to try to help her with this issue. It'll be as simple as asking the correct department to disable her license in the system. I explain to her that I'm going to need to open up the license system on our database to access her information, and it may take a few minutes, as the system is very slow to work. She responds something to the effect that yeah, *city name* workers are slow, too…like "retards." Still feeling charitable (amazing!) I decide to ignore that comment and still try to assist her.

While I'm working my way through the painstakingly slow computer program, she continues to refer to the city employees and people in my department as "retards." After the third time, I decide that I've had enough. If she really wants to deal with difficult people, she can deal with the people that actually input the data in the system…I find them to be very difficult to deal with whenever I have to call that department. So I tell her, "You know what? I can't help you with this issue anymore. You'll need to contact *department name* and here is their phone number."

As I hang up the phone with her, I glance at the clock. It's four fifteen, and that department closed at four.

SCORE!