Work: blah, Home: 3+ pellets!

I had a course yesterday about Time Management, so I missed my work friend's going-away "party". I put party in quotes because it really wasn't about her. The week before, I was going around the office, asking if anyone was doing something for her. Not that I've worked in a lot of departments, but I believe the standard going-away gift is at least a card, and some kind of gift. Since no one had circulated a card or envelope for gift donation, it made me suspect that no one was doing anything. So I talked to the "Social Committee" who was apparently not in charge of that, and then one of her advisors who said "Yeah, I guess we should do something." I was quite floored that there was so much reluctance to acknowledge someone who'd worked in the department for 7 years. Well, another advisor sent out an email saying that the "party" was going to be at a local restaurant, but my friend never got to pick the restaurant or the date. And still by Thursday, I hadn't seen any card circulation. So I bought her a gift, and made her a card. She also recieved a present from another friend. And that was it. I'd heard from our friend that at the luncheon, all they did was pay for her meal. Which was under $10. That was the amount of respect that they had for someone who wasn't in their "clique". (They'd made a big luncheon for someone's birthday and his $15 meal was paid for)

That makes me so pissed. They can't even do a simple courtesy to a fellow employee. Which is not to say that all the people who work there are like that, it's just seems like a vast majority. Technically the clique is just under half of the people in the office, but it's sickening how they've taken over. And on the large part, they are quite useless. Which I'm finding is probably one of my major peeves. I really do use "Useless!" as a major insult. Anyways, this feeling carried over into our bi-weekly meeting. Which I was late for because I forgot (I need to set my reminder so it'll go off before I leave for lunch). But it's not like I missed anything. No one (that I could see) made any notes. For the -entire- meeting. There was some stuff that they reviewed, but it was more like a reading exercise b/c there wasn't discussion on it. And I'd read it already, so even though I didn't have a copy, I knew what they were talking about. So I doodled. And made my To Do List. And prioritized them. And when they brought up the question of who'd be a super-user for a system we're getting, I really didn't care anymore. Which is hilarious b/c it's a system that'd I'd been raving about forever. But I didn't care.

B/c I don't really want to do any work for them anymore. If it weren't for my ethics and that I like the clients, I wouldn't bother putting in any effort. I've saved my advisor's butt numerous times, by doing her job and reminding her of things. (Yes, she's part of the clique) I've had my work delayed and wasted b/c I'm waiting for them to return from daily extended breaks, socializing and pointless chit-chatting. And since they spend all their time on that, I have clients asking me about the status of things, and/or directly asking me for help and advice. I had real respect for my advisor when she first started, but it's quickly dwindling to just professional respect.

So anyways back to the meeting, they were discussing the super-user, and asked who would like to do it. The manager looked at me, and I was like "Huh, wha? Oh, yeah sure I could do it since I've used it before." But it was really like, whatever. You guys really suck, and I don't want to help you. My time's been completely wasted in this 1.5 hr meeting that has no point. And of course the other assistant, who's already going to be the super-user for another system, says that he wants to do it too. Well, ya know, whatever. He can show everyone what a useless person he is as nothing gets fixed. I really need to update my resume. It's really pathetic how they've managed to turn me from someone who is dedicated, hardworking, willing to put in the extra effort to get things done...into someone who doesn't give a crap because all that effort and high ethics gets nothing. But more work dumped on me. Whereas the slackers get promoted b/c they can talk a good talk. I'm feeling the same way as I did w/ Convergys, but it's a different cause this time. B/c my hard work is rewarded...by more work. Well, at least my clients are happy. Honestly, if an interviewer asks me why I'm applying at their dept, I'd say "The clients were great, the work was interesting, but I can't stand working w/ people who don't share the same values and ethics, such as actually working and not ripping off the taxpayers by going on extended breaks and lunches."

So my little fish, which I still have not named, is eating 3+ pellets at each feeding. Actually it seems like he'll keep going for them as long as I keep feeding him. I've fed him 4 in an hour. But I have to refill my food basket a lot more, which is kinda nice. Although he won't eat the big brown ones that I got at Wal-Mart. I guess they smell too much or are too big. I dunno. I don't think I'd eat them either if I was a fish. Unfortunately that means I have a canister of food being unused. Which was precisely why I wanted to have 2 fish. See if one would eat that food. Anyways, he's getting quite knowledgable that when I'm around, I'll feed him. So he'll swim excitedly when I'm near. I've even started putting the pellet on my finger, and he'll dart at it. It's cool. He also built a bubblenest in the jar, but after the water change, it went bye-bye. I've also switched him to the larger jar. He was quite nervous in it, since I also changed the plants, but he's settled down and hence is eating again. But no bubblenest yet.

So it would seem that the other fish (the deceased one) might've had some mental problems. That fish kept flaring at himself when he was in the large jar. Ah well, maybe it's because I chose it for his tail, and didn't observe him very long. Anyways, before he died (or maybe I captured his moment of death) I took a picture of him. It was only about 4 hours after this next picture when I noticed the discolouration on his fins and tail. Apparently fish usually don't deteriorate that quickly. Anyways, I believe water quality may have been an issue. Lately the water's been smelling like it does in the spring. The fish manager at PJ's told me to double the water conditioner dosage. She also mentioned that I could get some medicine for future illnesses, but again, usually fish don't die that quickly so I shouldn't need something on hand. I also might look into gettting a theometre for the tank. The heating pad's worked pretty well, but I usually end up leaving it on low for 6 hours, so the pad might burn out. I hope not, it's about $30. And definitely hope it doesn't start an electrical fire. That would really suck.

2 New additions, 1 R.I.P. already

On Sept. 19, I bought a betta fish since PJ Pet's was having a sale. I had all the gear leftover from Akao and... *searching thru old blog posts* Feebas! I still haven't named him though. My friend suggested something Greek when I asked on Facebook for ideas. I was thinking of Rabu-Rabu or Prince Wishy-wash before I polled my friends. Although naming him Acheron would be hilarious. Unless it's a made-up name (or something from Pokemon), I always use this site for names. It is so awesome. However, he does look a bit like Milotic. At least he's still alive.

I went back to the same shop the next week (b/c they had a nice selection and lively fish unlike the one in Londonderry), and saw another one that looked like a Delta tail. He was also very lively so I picked him. Ride home was a bit more shakey since it was on Friday which meant I was also grocery shopping. Instead of a jar, I got a deep bowl, thinking that the extra volume would be good. Well, since it was good intentions, that meant that it didn't work. He kept seeing himself in the bowl's reflection, and kept flaring. Which of course stressed the heck out of him, so much that he could only do a half-hearted flare to my other fish after a few days. Unfortunately I didn't take a picture of them flaring because he was so worn out that I didn't want to stress him more. So on the 28th, I went to the pet store and got a bunch of plants for him, and tried to get them to cover the sides. No dice, he kept swimming behind them despite my leaf taping. So I started looking for a tank or jar, since I figured that something with vertical walls should help. That search took a few days, and he got a new home on Oct 4. By this time neither fish really ate, and my garbage can was covered with little mushy pellets of different colours. Fish M (I've gotta think of a name) would occasionally take a pellet in, but spit it back out after a few chews. But not this one. He was still acting really strange, with occasional bursts of speeds but in weirdo angles and I wasn't sure if he was still seeing himself, so I'd covered the jar (it's 96 oz. I figured the 2 gal one would be too heavy and a hazard when full of water) w/ the lid and kept the lights low. Anyways, by Oct 4 after staring at him and muttering how he's a freaky fish, I saw this. Not knowing much about fish, I figured the slime was bad and tried to rub it off him. Which of course stressed him more. Anyways, about 4 hours after I took those pictures, he was flat on the floor and didn't respond anymore. So after over $30 of accessories for a $3 fish, he's dead in 2 weeks. 1000% investment! Anyways, looks like the betta sale is over at PJ's, so it might be a while before I get another fish. Hopefully I'll have a name for the live one by then.

Very exasperated with my computer. It'll occasionally lose it's connection to the 'Net, and the only way to get it back is to put it into sleep mode. Sometimes the connection will be fine all day, other times, it'll go down in 2 minutes. Which makes me lose my sense of time since I keep on rewaking it. Missed the beginning of SYTYCD Canada because of it.