Tuesday morning

I think my blog is boring. It tends to be full of mundane, everyday stuff. Very seldom is it really exciting or thought provoking. I guess this blog really is more of an outlet for my emotional being. In other words, it's a bit of a selfish outlet. This is, in a sense, my semi-public diary. I air my thoughts and concerns about my life. To avoid breaching other people's privacy, I avoid talking about people who are close to me. Besides, if friends have confided in me something, I'm not about to divulge it here.

Anyway...

I will be working from home today. I'm not 100% sure if this guy will be able to come by to clean the dryer ducts. I suspect one of those European sparrows that proliferate the area built a nest in there while I was away in May. So now the dryer duct is blocked which means my clothes won't dry. I've been air drying my clothes for a couple of months now. I think it's about time I get to use my dryer again.

I suppose I could take advantage of today to get a few things done around the place. Clean up a bit. Start to pack a few things. Get some papers in order. Run a few errands as well. Hopefully, I will be able to pick up the heater for the home office. It's one of these wall-mounted convection heaters. The thermostat went on it. The part itself costs about $38. Throw in labor and the total cost is $118. Ouch. If the dryer duct guy comes, I'm looking at potentially $250 minimum for that job. *sigh* Just can't win. :p

Oh, throw on top of that the amount I will be paying for pet sitting while I am away. Usually, a friend who lives down the street from me would be able to to it. However, he will also be on vacation during the same time I will. I've asked around to see who might be able to help out. There was one guy at work I asked who lives nearby. However, he's been wishy washy about giving me an answer. Screw that. I ended up asking at the vet clinic when I went to pick up some catfood for BS. They didn't (or won't) recommend any pet sitters but could recommend boarding facilities. However, considering BS's mental state when he's taken away from home, that was not an ideal option. But, the clinic did say they could provide the service of having a vet tech come by to take care of the cats. The cost they quoted me was about $49/day. Ouch! That was at least twice what some of the pet sitters were asking for. After I got home, I saw that there was a message from the vet clinic. It seems that after discussing this with the vet and considering that I have been a long time client, they wanted to offer the services for $650 (plus tax, of course). This comes out to about $30/day. Not cheap, but it is better. I suppose the one pro to this is that it would be a vet tech coming to take care of the cats instead of an animal lover. Not that I don't trust them, but it's just an added peace of mind. Bottom line, I don't have to take the cats away from the comforts of home.

That being said, money matters have been stressing me. It just seems that when it rains it pours. The unexpected expenses and such just drive me nuts at times. On top of all that, I have this trip coming up as well. I really have to keep an eye on any spending that I do while I am out there. :p If I plunk down any significant coin on anything, it had better be pretty damn special!

Meanwhile, I think I've managed to get most of my travel papers in order. I got my passport back last week with the tourist visa for China. That was another expense. They just had to have the one consulate in Ottawa. That's about 5 hrs of driving round trip. The visa would take a few days to process. Then another 5 hour round trip. Essentially, I would lose 2 days of work. :-p So I paid someone else to do it. Eh. Whatever.