Meanwhile...

As I compiled the two Weekend Assignment entries last night, I considered the possibilities for also reporting the news of the day - my day, that is. I could have added an aside at the end of one of the existing entries, or written a third entry in one day, or put it off until tonight. Guess which option I chose.

Meanwhile...

Blogger was up and down, delaying my collection of quotes from people's Weekend Assignment entries. So I watched a little Doctor Who as I waited. It didn't take long, and soon I was able to resume writing the entry.

Meanwhile...

I worked on Chapter Two of Heirs, and managed to cut about 100 words from the first half of it (which is as far as I got). I have a major decision to make about my lead character Rani, but I'll save that rant for Saturday night.

As I edited and watched Doctor Who and compiled the wrap-up entry, I was also refining my idea for the new Weekend Assignment. When the wrap-up entry was done, I dug through my photo archives for an appropriate photo.

Meanwhile...

my computer was busy downloading something else, but I didn't know that yet.

I finished the entries, washed dishes and went to bed without telling you about my day yesterday (Thursday). But now it can be told. I had my job interview in Oro Valley on Thursday afternoon. I arrived early, which was a good thing, because the address I was looking for did not seem to exist. As I drove up and down the block, I repeatedly passed what looked like a trailhead for Pusch Ridge, and a building with the wrong address. But the name of the company I wanted was on a door of the "wrong" building. When I asked for directions, I was told that the building I had been seeking no longer existed. I was in the right place after all.

I had the job interview, and it seemed to go well. The person who interviewed me even looked up the address of John's nearby place of business, so I could drop in on him there for the first time in the five years or so he's worked for them. What can I say? It's not my part of town. Heck, I'm not sure it's even technically in Tucson.

So I drove over to see John. Had a little trouble finding it, but that's all right. After a brief visit, I decided to treat myself to lunch at a place on Oracle Rd.

Meanwhile...

I was waiting to hear from my recruiter whether the prospective employer - let's call them Interesting Manufacturer (IM) - had called her yet, and if so, what they said. I ordered some food and called the recruiter. She was on the phone, so I left a voicemail.

When she called me back, she had not yet heard anything. I gave her my impression of how it went, and told her where I was eating. She joked about how she'd like to join me there. (Hint: this was not McDonald's.) I told her that if I didn't get the job, the meal was by way of consolation. If I did, it was a celebration. She laughed and hung up, with a promise to call back when she heard.

Meanwhile...

The food arrived. It was very good, except for the vegetables, which were both charred and undercooked.

As I was eating, my recruiter called back. "I suppose you want to know what kind of meal you're eating," she said.

"Yes, please."

"It's a celebration! You got it!"

I don't start until Wednesday, so I will have been out of work nearly 2 1/2 weeks. But that's okay. I needed the time off.

As I drove home, two different people called from the recruiter's office, asking me to stop by about some paperwork, and to get the correct address for IM from me. So I headed over to see them, filled out a new I-9 with my expired passport for ID, and accepted congratulations for several people. There.

It was a good day.

So today I slept in, to make up for the late night. Around 1 PM, which is when I planned to get up anyway, Tuffy started barking at the front door. I looked out the window by the front door, and what I saw led me to grab my camera and go out to the driveway.


For the second time in two years, a neighbor was getting a tree hauled away. The previous time, back in August 2006, it was because a tree had fallen over, and put a big hole in someone's roof. But I initially saw no evidence that that was the case this time.

Meanwhile...


The flatbed truck that was going to do the actual hauling was parked in front of out house. Hence the barking.


I got properly dressed and took pictures intermittently through most of the afternoon. (I also took a number of video clips, but I don't feel like dealing with them tonight/this morning.) At first they were trimming excess fronds off the palm tree.

Then they moved it out of the street.

The truck that had been in front of our house pulled up beside the tree. But before putting the tree onto it, they offloaded four large what bags of something-or-other. Dirt, maybe?

Meanwhile...

Once the tree was moved, the roof of the house behind it became more visible. I didn't notice it until I edited the photos (much) later, but if you doubleclick and look at them, you'll see definite roof damage.


Once the white bags were off the truck, they lifted the tree, maneuvered it around to face the other way, and gently lowered it. By that time, they had tied the palm's remaining fronds together, presumably to keep them from blowing around or falling off when the tree was hauled away. If the neighborhood had to lose a tree, it was good that they were taking good care of it, and not just sawing it to bits. That presumably means it will be replanted somewhere.

The last step was to strap it down. But wait...where was the crane going now? I had a bad feeling about this.


Uh-oh. They were pulling the other, shorter palm out of the ground. I briefly had hopes that it would merely be replanted, perhaps more securely or farther from the houses...

...but soon my fears were confirmed. A second tree, one of my favorites, was also leaving Calle Mumble. It's been featured on my sunset photos for the last time.

I didn't bother filming the tree removal process a second time.

Meanwhile...


Sometime during the tree hauling process, a little notice in the corner of my computer screen told me that Windows wanted to install something it downloaded last night. Windows Vista Service Pack #1 took over an hour to install, and I couldn't use the computer during that time. But that was okay, because (one last time!)

Meanwhile...

I watched Doctor Who, of course!

Karen