cute unionists

Charming video referencing library workers strike in Vancouver. Seemingly B.C. is the only province sans equity pay legislation ...

auntie me

I'm officially an aunt, albeit a false one.

Nonetheless, that my friend's kid is being instructed to call and think of me as Aunt tickles me something akin to pink. It was charming when our incessant game of catch resulted in her being able to consistently catch the ball, more so when she insisted i read book after book, definitely pink-afying when she cuddled in to me to share some nap time.

Man. kids are exhausting. I think their nap-function was built in for adult sanity.

I may even be an aunt, falsely, twice over as other good friends just got themselves a puppy. Purchased, I might add, mere weeks after a full on battle was waged to stop m e from rescuing a certain dog from the pound. Friend said, with only the slightest soupçon of facetiousness when confronted by this hypocrisy, that it wasn't good for her for me to get a dog, given it would not make it as possible for me to care for hers. ahem.

[The dog I wanted was adopted by some one else as I considered my "friend's" arguments.]

Now they have a four-month-old dog of unknown pedigree and I ... well. I have sofas without fur on them and intact shoes. *smirk*


*******

My new haircut makes me somewhat resemble that pic of me - up there - again. Except the bangs are longer.

Not that one could ever mistake the nose.

pretty nifty, that Wilson

Ever have a childhood relationship that was utterly, but quietly, antagonistic? Maybe it revolved around a daily tussle for the best seat on the schoolbus, getting the most-skilled players on your dodgeball team or besting each other in math class.
And did that relationship ever morph after some unrequested succour was received at just the right moment until you had to, grudgingly, admit your previous enemy was kinda nifty?

Wilson, of Wilson tennis shoes, volleyballs, tennis racquets, is kinda nifty.

Despite not distributing a size 10.5 woman's tennis shoe in Canada (cause we Canadians aren't tall enough in enough numbers — or sensitive enough? — to need something between than a 10 or 11 shoe) and putting me through months and months of frustrating phone calls, their staff came through with flying colours.

Yesterday I had a very satisfactory phone call with a member of their Chicago marketing staff. Not only did she find the shoes I sought, check to see if I could get them here, she then promised to ship them to me — gratis. Yup. Free.

Not even 24 hours later, they arrived.

I write "they" because the thoughtful marketing-woman-in-Chicago must have considered that my desire for these shoes would mean I'd want another pair when these wore out — so she sent me two pairs.

Two pairs of the beloved narrow-of-heel, snug-of-fit, high-of-arch-support, long-enough tennis shoes.

I have always liked the Wilson racquets; I have coveted their shoes (Wilson Tour, ladies, for those with similarly shaped feet); now, I have a soft-spot for the company.

Someone should give that marketing woman a raise. I am converted.

Now, will someone send me a W sticker to put next to the Apple on my bumper ... ?

Reading: The Flanders Panel, Arturo Perez-Reverte. Was aching to read it all day while at the office. Love that. Not even that miffed my tennis lesson was cancelled this evening due to inclement-weather-warning.

...

vengeance is a lazy form of grief