Various Unspecific Updates

Update 1- I was on call for jury duty last week- the same week as my dad but in a different county. I was in group 65 and on Friday they made it up to group 63, so I was not called and my service is complete for the next year.

Update 2- Regards the letter from last week. Not everybody at work got one. So that was cause for concern. Then we (the other person who got the same letter and I) realized the people who did not get the letter are not applicable to the contents of the letter. Basically, the letter said the state may get rid of some State Active Duty positions, and if that happens and you are involuntarily separated, AND if you have more than 6 years service in SAD, you are eligible for some involuntary separation pay. The people who did not get the letter do not have more than 6 years. Therefore, everyone who the letter pertained to did receive the letter, so I am not worrying about it (too much. Even though the State did just request our payroll documents to see how much they are spending on us.) My boss said he will fight very hard to make sure none of our positions get eliminated and I appreciate that very much. But I'm not sure that he has too much say in the matter.

Update 3- Blossom update. See the following post.

Update 4- Fancy had another foxtail. This one was in her ear. After a walk she kept shaking her head. I looked and looked but couldn't see anything. I flushed her ears out. But she still shook her head randomly. A few days later Blossom was going to go to the vet's for his first appointment, so I took her too. By this time she had given up the head shaking but as discussed earlier, I know how evil foxtails are, and I wasn't taking any chances. The vet used her ear scope and spotted what was either hairs or the end of a foxtail and it turned out to be a foxtail. As I learned from James Herriot books, it is much better to call the vet early and spend a little money on an easy fix, rather than waiting until it gets so bad that you have to pay the vet lots of money, and the animal may end up dying anyway. Thank you Mr. Herriot. Fancy thanks you also.