sad post

last night the wildlife center where i volunteer was given a coyote pup who was found near some remnants of a meal - we think her mom abandoned her because she is hydrocephalic. meaning: her head is swollen and huge, and it affects her balance, hearing, and eyesight. it's pretty normal for a wild coyote mom to give up on a handicapped baby and just leave it to die - but usually if we get them there's at least something we can try to fix (like a broken leg or mange). it looks like this poor baby is a hopeless case - even if she survives, she'll be handicapped for life, so there is no chance that our coyotes would accept her, and it would be cruel to subject her to a life of lonliness in a cage. so unless a vet comes up with a miracle cure pretty quick, she's going to be put down. in the meantime, we're feeding her well (she was so hungry!) and giving her furs to snuggle with, and giving her little "exercise runs" in an empty room - then she can toddle around while we look in the window. she's so cute! it's hard to accept that she'll probably die in a few days.

random thoughts - no train

i need to get another job - not to replace my current job, just supplemental. last time i worked myself silly the insomnia cure lasted more than 2 years, but this time it's only been a few months.
*i have found another cool new headache releif product* pert plus (yeah, the green shampoo) has come out with a new version called fresh, and it has menthol or something in it. it feels like normal shampoo until i rinse it out, and suddenly i have a cold head, which is definitely good migraine control. so yeah, i'll be purchasing lots of that shampoo.
i've also discovered that if i'm on the phone when someone makes a coffee run at work, they'll forget to take my money and bring me a latte anyway. so that's pretty cool. who should i call at 10:30 every morning?
so, remember how back in the day grown-ups knew everything? it was going to be so cool when i could do whatever i wanted... and now i'm one of those stupid grown ups that does what i'm supposed to just because i'm supposed to. how annoying is that?

anticlimax

wow! so the declaw policy was changed, and i am done being the easter bunny, and then i got news that tasha is pregnant (it's a good thing) and fournier just got engaged (a very good thing!!), and then i went back to work.
yeah. it's been a weird couple of days of almost normalcy (note: "normalcy" for me doesn't necessarily mean sanity). more like rushing to work, laughing the day away, probably jazzing it up with chai and a bagel (we have this thing for cheese bagels in my office), and chillin' with the cats and some books when i get home (sometimes shaggy gets to come home too - then we watch simpsons or seinfeld or beavis and butthead).
also i've got a weird headache that stopped being an ice spike through my eyeball and started being a tight band around my whole head (like one of those dorky sweat bands, just made of steel). so that's been real fun.
and someone bought me a latte after i have NOT slept well, and our clerk liz and i do tend to get slap happy... someone pointed out that we would probably crack up if someone said the word "purple". so of course, she said "purple" and i laughed so hard i fell out of my chair. my boss shook her head and went back into her office.
i love my job.

We Won!

management folded! the new policy requires some sort of scratch prevention (like providing scratching posts or clipping toenails) as opposed to mutilation. here's to cats with non-mutilated toes! now i must sleep.

i'm an activist

let me preface this by saying that, although i LOVE animals, specifically cats, and i do lots of volunteer work involving them, the most activist thing i've ever done before is sign a letter that a group of people were sending to trader joe's asking them to stop selling battery cage eggs (which they did. good ol' trader joe's).
so.
when i got home on april 4th, there was a notice on my door addressed to "Resident Pet Owner's (sic)" notwithstanding this and multiple other grammatical errors, i did read the entire notice, and was appalled to find that, effective january 1st of 2007 (yes, the january that was just over 3 months ago) all cats residing in the complex were required to have been declawed (on their front paws) by the time they were 6 months of age.
as in, since i did not declaw hobbes, i am now in violation of my lease and could be subject to eviction if i don't comply.
this notice was not only addressed to me, so management is not threatening my specific cat per se, but the notice indicates that they could.
this is probably the part where i should mention that the management company is:
Atlantic & Pacific Management Corp.
11075 Carmel Mountain Road, Suite 200
San Diego, CA 92129
Phone (858) 672-3100
Fax (858) 672-2775
Email: karnold@apmanagement.net
http://www.apmanagement.net
and that they manage LOTS of properties around here at least... i assured them in my anonymous letter that i'll never support their business again. i'd love to not be the only person who does that. how does one instigate a boycott? should i stand on the street corner in a sandwich board (don't think i won't do that if i have to).
i responded by writing an anonymous letter informing management that declawing is cruel mutilation, that i was going to move out as soon as i could because of their thoughtlessness, and that i would persue the matter further. i then posted signs around the complex asking other residents to tell management that they are sickened at the thought of being asked to mutilate their pets. then i emailed my super-cool-volunteer boss at the wildlife center, who has connections (and was kind enough to forward my email to those connections) which resulted in both an animal advocate attorney and a documentary filmmaker contacting me with requests for more information, and at least one person contacting the local manager's boss to inform them of the evils of declawing (all this in less than a day!). i am so indebted to the people who responded - they are incredible, and i am so glad they are all part of this world -humans aren't all self-absorbed morons after all!
today there was another notice on my door (and everyone else's, so they don't know who i am, which is a good thing right now since my lease isn't up yet...) the new notice blatantly LIES and states that the declaw rule has been a policy for 15 years, and that some concerned residents are under a misconception. the thing is, some people actually keep photocopies of their original lease agreements (including pet policy) and mine doesn't say anything about declawing. if it had, i wouldn't have signed it, nor would i have moved here.
the new notice goes on to say that, even though the declaw rule is a policy, they're not really going to enforce it, and won't the concerned people please come in and talk about it?
right, and get evicted for refusing to comply.
i made more signs to post:
"if an inhumane rule has been "on the books" for 15 years, but you don't enforce it, then now would be a good time to CHANGE IT"
"instead of trying to defend a policy that is wrong, why don't you do the right thing and CHANGE IT"
"if the declaw rule is 15 years old, then why does it say "effective January 1, 2007"?"
"if we're going to require that cats be mutilated, let's take another step - all babies must have their fingers disfigured by 6 months"
"granite countertops do not make up for CRUELTY"
"if only pets that can't cause damage are allowed, then what is the point of a pet deposit?"
"if you want to LIE about something, it's probably not a good idea to give out photocopies of things beforehand"
"are you sad that management would rather LIE TO US than admit that a policy is wrong?"
"does your original pet agreement mention declawing? Mine doesn't. I don't like being LIED TO by management."
whattaya think?? i'm thinking that i should put them up in different places every few days until something changes. i'm also considering taking a petition door-to-door and asking neighbors for support. any suggestions would be great. also, links, forwards and all that stuff are cool too. i'm not quite net-savvy enough to hook that up. i was given a link to a similar case though...it's at
http://www.hidesertstar.com/articles/2006/09/16/news/news2.txt
i'm going to talk to some sdaa (san diego animal advocates) people tomorrow to see what advice they can give me. i am so beyond pissed of at their callous cruelty- i want this management company to go DOWN - but i'm not sure how to go about it. i am scared sick and elated at the same time. my stomach is churning, and i think i just might LOVE doing this! i think i hate it too but i'm SO EXCITED to see something happen! do other activists feel like this?

strangely enough, while we were digging for our original lease for this place, we also found my "final" pay stub from world market that is one day worth of pay less than it should have been... i've pointed this error out to management multiple times, but without the stub as proof, i was basically screwed. now i have that, plus a copy of the formal two weeks' notice i sent to the corporate office, plus a photocopy of the schedule for my final week there. i think i can prove my point (especially since the district manager was present during my last workday -for which i was not paid). according to california state law, they now owe me close to 4 grand in penalties. i guess we'll see what happens with that when i show them the pay stub. wish me luck!

i find it interesting that i've never really tried to sue anybody before, and now i'm having to consider two lawsuits at once.

coolest thing in the world

well, pretty darn cool anyway, and my main post is going to be pretty intense, so i'm doing this separately...
i was in my office the other day, plugging away at my admin/hr stuff, when one of our staff members (and a boy at that) came in to my cubicle, gave me a hug, and thanked me for doing my job. i nearly broke down and cried - how many times have you felt that you could (even if you wanted to) hug your hr representative? i never have. and now i'm the nice hr person. i am amazed that this is possible, and humbled somehow. i'm sure this sounds crazy, but it feels like a dream come true - a dream i never knew i had: i am the nice hr person.
wow.