What a find

We found something at Bed Bath & Beyond the other day that I'd seen on TV (it was in the "As Seen on TV" section). Usually that stuff is crap, but I'd heard about the Pedi-Paws (a nail groomer for pets) from someone who said it works pretty well. We bought it for $20 I think figuring we wouldn't be out much if it didn't work.

I tried it on the black pug first before I took the time to read the directions. She did pretty well with it but it was a little awkward. Then I read the instructions and found I had been using it improperly. I'm probably lucky she stood for it at all. Saturday, we decided we had to take care of the nails for both pugs and give them baths, so I tried it on the fawn pug who is a pain in the ass when it comes to his nails. He sat on my lap and although I held him firmly, he didn't scream or wrestle or carry on like he usually does. In fact, when I did his rear paws, I laid him on my lap on his back and he was extraordinarily cooperative. I was astonished. I was able to file down his nails with the Pedi-Paws which is a battery operated sanding tool, kind of like a Dremel but with a cover that directs the nail to the grit and doesn't allow the sander to get to the foot pad, and we got them in pretty good shape. No blood. No screaming. It was worth the $20 right there.

The black pug didn't like it as much on Saturday, but her nails are easier to clip and she is more cooperative so I clipped hers. Her nails are smaller and a little tougher to insert into the slot on the Pedi-Paws, so that probably didn't help her comfort level with it. Or maybe because I used it wrong that first time!

But I'm going on record saying that I found the product to work well, and it has really made an unpleasant job much easier. It takes a while, but so does nail clipping when you're wrestling a crazed pug.

That was my unsolicited testimonial.

Okay, what else. Today was Monday and I made some headway at work. I dealt with another department who has stopped providing needed information to my office, and to my desk specifically. They decided it wasn't their problem any longer. Here is how it went.

Me: Can you provide me the drop/adds for the tech students so I can make adjustments to their balances before they are over-refunded?

Them: Well, we used to do that but decided to stop because we weren't always getting it done and the boss said it's your office's problem anyway.

Me: It is true that the adjustments need to be made in this office, but I have no way of knowing who has dropped or added classes unless I examine the student accounts one by one a couple of times a week. If we could just get a list of the drop/adds from your office, it would help keep us from refunding the wrong amount to a tech student.

Them: Like I said, we used to do it but we didn't always remember so we decided it would be better if we didn't do it any longer. I'll talk to my boss, but it was his idea to stop it.

So what exactly does this tell me? It tells me that because someone wasn't consistently doing their job, rather than do it right, they quit doing it, making more work with the possibility of more errors for someone else. I guess they're right -- it is someone else's problem. I couldn't believe they would even use that for an argument, but it was pretty funny. My suggestion? If we over-refund a student because their department didn't provide us with timely information, that department should be billed for the difference.

I'm going to start crocheting a new baby afghan so I can use up some old yarn I over-bought and also so I have a project going as we head into cool weather. Is it weird to have a brown baby afthan? I guess we'll see.