TGIF!

More on the psychopath topic: If we have psychopaths running our businesses, the public has good reason to be suspicious of their practices and to be on constant guard against their excesses. Predatory lending; watering down regulations that protect the health and safety of the public and preserve the environment; allowing huge financial institutions to take insane risks, with disastrous consequences for the world economy. Hell, the psychopaths destroyed my 401K! (And they would have destroyed Social Security if they'd had their way.)

I did make a copy of that article for B. Tonight, after my nap and the gym and the store, I took it over to Starbucks and highlighted parts of it while having a green tea.

I still haven't received an itemized, final bill from Home Depot's electrical contractor, and now it's been two weeks since they finished their work here. That's really been bugging me. Had a shouting match with them this week--they got nasty, and I got nasty back. Finally I told them to call Home Depot and not call me anymore, then hung up the phone. I'm really not supposed to be dealing with the contractors anyway when it comes to billing--the kitchen expediter is supposed to handle this, so Home Depot says.

Yesterday I interrupted my nap to sit down and write a long note to the kitchen expediter and the District Services Manager (with a copy to the lady in Customer Care in Atlanta and a lawyer), detailing my recent experience with the contractor. The electricians themselves have done a great job--but I have a feeling the company is trying to gouge me. They're treating the estimate as a final bill, and the estimate included work they didn't do.

Two weeks ago, the electrical inspector approved all the electrical work and made no mention, for example, about an outlet at the end of the bar, which hadn't been installed but the cost of which had been included in the estimate because the outlet was supposedly required to meet Code (so the estimator had said). Apparently the outlet wasn't necessary after all.

Probably ruthless psychopaths working there. Ya think?

Tonight my office held its holiday party (I never attend these functions). They really trimmed back this year. Instead of springing for a dinner dance, they threw a brief cocktail party at a hotel on Brickell. I hope that the money they saved will go toward our bonuses and not into the pockets of the psychopaths that run the place (just kidding, of course!).

Bought stuff at the store tonight to make my usual, basically chicken gumbo this weekend, to include, however, some cheap farmed shrimp from Southeast Asia (along with Andouille sausage). The shrimp should taste good once they soak up the gumbo juice. I've read that they're having a rice shortage in this region because they've turned the rice paddies into shrimp farms. Maybe I should do the world a favor and stick to buying wild shrimp, which taste better anyway.

The last couple of days, I've been letting dishes pile up in the new deep sink. (I've rinsed them off.) This is a momentary indulgence, now that I have a kitchen sink and the dishwasher back. When I had no kitchen, I wasn't able to let dishes pile up in my bathtub.

Soon I'll begin working on a new short story, so if I don't post as often, you'll know why. (Yes, there will be a couple of psychopaths in it.)