Next Week will be Awesome

I got some good news today. Two bits of great news, actually. This morning, right at 8 when I got to the shops, I sat down and called the Coast Guard...again. I've been calling every other work day for two and a half weeks now, hoping they'll suddenly discover my paperwork, and finally send it on it's merry way. Well, lo and behold, it happened! The super helpful lady on the phone said my application was approved, and I can schedule my captain's test! So, next tuesday at 7:30 am, I'll be in Portland to take my test! I'm going to be a captain!

I spent the day on the BV today, mostly goofing off, since the boss doesn't really have anything for me to do. Which is fine, it's better to be bored than to be tossed in with the road crew to spend the day flagging. No thank you! I checked my phone around noon, and OMG, I had a phone message from the Port of Portland!!!!! I'd applied for an associate planner job there probably 6 weeks ago! I'd totally given up on getting an interview, and had put it out of my mind. This job....oh man, this job! It's an associate planner, which is a step up from what I had been (assistant planner). The money is seriously decent. Like, live comfortably in a cute Portland neighborhood decent. It's a super interesting job. I'm qualified! I want it SO DAMN BAD! So next thursday, a week from tomorrow, I'll be heading up to Portland to interview with them. I'm so excited!

And now, a random feline anecdote.

Squeaker, my scared-of-humans cat, got a pretty major abscess on his jaw. He had to spend the night at the vet, have a drain put in, and came home with a shaved face and wearing the Cone of Shame. Doesn't he look thrilled?!

I brought Squeaks home from the vet yesterday after work. Since it's summer, Ashland, my attention whore, neighborhood slut cat, has been mostly living outside, coming in only to eat twice a day. Yesterday evening, Ashland didn't feel like coming in, and I didn't think much of it and went to bed. This morning, she was hungry and came in to eat. She walked in the door, saw Squeaker in the Cone, and instantly freaked out, hissing and hiding in the corner! It's just Squeaker!!! She ran out the door when I left for work, so I put a small dish of food out for her.

When I got home this evening, she looked leery, but peered into the house, worried about the creature with the blue cone. She wouldn't come in! Later, when I got home from knit night, I picked her up and brought her in, carried her over to Squeaks and let them sniff each other. No dice. Ashland is currently scratching at the door to go out. When she sees Squeaker, she hisses. Seriously, squeaker is just fine with the fact that he's in the cone, that he's got a strip of muslin looped through his face, and that he's got a giant shaved spot. It's Ashland who's freaked.

Damn cats.