How is it that the very person who desperately needs something from you is the same person who most keeps you from being able to give that something? Why would someone ask a favor of me and then go out of their way to sabotage any chance I could come through? What the hell is the matter with Tim anyway?

First, he doesn’t get me the time cards until too late last night to get started on the payroll. Then he insists, as always, that the paychecks be mailed today. Then he phones me first thing in the morning and keeps me on the phone for an hour explaining various problems that have nothing to do with me, even after I tell him that he’s keeping me from the payroll.

It didn’t even end there. He dumped on me this afternoon the problem of renewing the domain name of the kennel’s web site. Six months ago, Julie was fully prepared to do all of the work to get that site up and running and keep it up and running. But Tim doesn’t like Julie, so he insisted on doing it himself. He signed something, but he doesn’t know what he signed or whom he signed it with. He didn’t keep any phone numbers or contact names.

So this afternoon, while I was still trying to wade through the payroll, he phoned with the number of the company he thinks might be responsible for our domain registration. Call the number he says, get the information, and take care of it. That’s not usually my job, and it shouldn’t be my job, especially if Julie was willing and able to handle it months ago. But Tim doesn’t like Julie, so I didn’t even dare mention her name.

I called the number and tried several branches of their phone tree, without ever talking to a person. I tried the company’s web address and got nowhere. So I fired off an email to them, asking them to please help me straighten out the mess. Who knows if I’ll ever hear back from them? It sucks, and it totally ruined what was left of my shattered day. I did finish the payroll, but I was pretty much worthless after that.

However, I did talk to the birthday girl today. Kylie turned one, and although her party isn’t until the weekend, I sent her a card and had a brief chat on the phone. Believe it or not, it was hard for me to get a word in. She was all “ma ma ma” and “ba ba ba,” and she wasn’t hearing much of what I had to say. She did perk up at the word “birthday,” though. I think she’d already heard it a few times today.