Too Much Drama

There is too much drama in my life right now.

There are some dealings with students that I am soooo tempted to blog, but won't.

There's the bugs in the apartment building.

There's the race between stripping the desk and the oncoming winter.

There's the guy I met on the bus (Penny... you were there) who gave me his phone number... do I call or don't I? He seemed like a nice guy, but "once burned, twice shy"...

And then, there's my neighbour, J. *sigh* She's in Edmonton, visiting her mother. I'm bringing in her mail, and looking after her cat (antihistamines, hives, "cat clothes", and showers...). She asked me to mail her a cheque that was due to arrive the day after she left. It arrived on a Tuesday rather than the expected Monday, but I left home late that day, and so was able to mail it out the same day. It hasn't arrived yet. I called J the other day about a different issue (the apartment bugs, and whether it was okay if the landlord and a bug guy went in her apartment), and was confronted with a demand by (I think her brother) as to where the cheque was. I said I mailed it, and J then commented that her mom said things often took a week to arrive via mail. Well, today I got a message from (the brother?) to call on the cell number. I did, as soon as I got home, but I didn't arrive home until late. (I detoured to Michaels to buy a frame piece that I need for the upcoming art show. Local friends: I'd love for you to come to my show!) When I called, I couldn't get through, because either the cell was off, or it was out of range, and the voicemail is *still* full.

Later that evening, I got a gruff call from (the brother?), asking why I hadn't called, and what I had heard on the message. (I don't think he listened to the fact that I called as soon as I was home, and wasn't able to get through.) Then he wanted to know what I had done with the cheque. WTF?!? Am I being accused of being a thief, when I'm actually doing a favour?!? He asked what address I had sent it to, and so I started reading it out. Turns out J had given me the wrong address. (When she got there, her mom said that she thought she had given J the wrong address... why didn't they check what address I had earlier?!?!!!) Anyway, he calmed down when he realized that I had used the wrong address (which was the only one I had), and that I had put my return address on the envelope, so either it would be at the address it was sent to (they had tried checking there earlier, but no one was home), or it would come back here.

J said "I had wanted to trust you..."... I think she was relieved that I hadn't in fact cheated her, like apparently her (brother?) seems to be trying to convince her (my opinion based on his tone when he talks to me). Sheesh. If you don't feel you can trust me, don't ask me to do these things. If you *do* trust me, try to find out what might have gone wrong *before* accusing me!

They've been waiting for the cheque so that they can do their return trip.

Anyway, I went down to check J's mail, and there was another cheque. I said that if she gave me her bank name and account number, I would take it down and deposit it tomorrow. The (brother?) seemed to think I could do it tonight via phone banking. (Um, no... to deposit money, they actually want to *see* the cheque, don't they?) Once I convinced him that it can't be done over the phone, and that I'd either do it before the lab I'm substituting for if there's a branch open early enough (it turns out there is), or during lunch if there isn't, he was so grateful he was offering to hug me, take me out for dinner, or buy me a bottle of wine. Thanks, but no thanks. I don't know about the (brother?), but J is poor, and so I'm not going to make expenses for her, just for doing a favour. But *please* stop accusing me of being a thief. (Or don't ask me to do things that you don't feel you can trust me to do.) Also, I don't want to be wined, dined, or hugged by someone who swings between gratitude and extreme distrust.

Sheesh. Grump.

Given that I haven't told her, I suppose I shouldn't expect her to be extra grateful that I'm doing this even though the cat gives me hives, I've had to buy extra antihistamines (that I wouldn't be taking right now otherwise), and that I went out and bought a kitty litter scoop and more cat food, because the food she left ran out, and I didn't want to go prying through all her stuff to find a scoop. (I tried obvious places to look, and couldn't find one.) But it is upsetting when you do things that are "above and beyond the call of duty", but are getting treated like dirt.

Okay, rant over.