(aka Bike) Part 1056 by Angharad Copyright © 2010 Angharad
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I put the dinner on to cook and sent an email to Gareth asking to see the revised job description. I then started to draw up a job description for someone to work for me in the house.
My machine peeped to indicate a new email, it was Gareth. “Dear Cathy,
Sorry but you gave me to believe you weren’t interested, so we’ve offered the job to someone else. Gareth.
I couldn’t believe what I’d just read–all that soul searching and the swine had asked someone else. Bloody typical. I felt completely let down by him, then when my anger had abated, I realised I had brought about my own downfall. If I’d really wanted the job, I’d have gone for it from the beginning.
I wondered how much power a UN adviser would actually have–probably very little, less possibly than a top professor, especially one who enjoyed sparring with the media. In which case I needed to firm up my act and get myself noticed as an academic.
While the meal cooked I schemed–I was going to use the mammal survey and a handful of articles from it to remind everyone I was still here, still researching and running a household.
When Simon came in for dinner, I gave him the job description and asked him what he thought. He approved judging by the smile he had at the end of reading it. He nodded and I knew then he’d fund it. After dinner, while I was cleaning up he asked me what it was all about. I told him I was going back to work as soon as we had some help.
“What sort of work?”
“I have a film on harvest mice to make, that will take a year and I need to organise somewhere to do the breeding, we’re going to do most of it in a studio sort of setting.”
“Isn’t that going to show compared to your other film which was mostly filmed in the field?”
“Not really, we’ll do the close up stuff, then film the outdoor sections and combine them. Effectively, I’m going to grow some corn in a glass house to which we’ve introduced a few harvest mice, then we can film them in close-up, pan out and mix with genuine field shots. I’ll give Alan a shout and set up a meeting.”
“Where are you going to do that?”
“Haven’t decided yet, I’ll have to set up some technicians to keep it all looking natural, cost it all and see who I can sell it to.”
“Before you’ve made it?”
“I think the BBC will be interested, especially if I do the narrative myself, in short skirts or shorts.”
“You, using sex to sell something? What about your feminist principles.”
“I’m going to make them regret not waiting for me at the UN.”
“What do you mean, not waiting?”
“They’ve offered it to someone else.”
“Oh, bad luck, you should have gone for it at the start.”
“Nah, this is going to be better, I’m going to resume my teaching in September.”
“And make a film–bit of a tall order isn’t it?”
“Not really, Alan will do much of the filming without me, once I tell him what I want, then we do the outside work. In the meantime, I’ll be involved with the survey and doing a little teaching, mainly to keep my dormouse project running.
“With regard to my feminist principles, conserving the planet for the future of all its inhabitants is the ultimate in feminism, my films, my survey and the opportunities they will give me for building a public platform to protest at government and industrial policies and how they impact on the environment.”
“I see–wouldn’t that have been easier from the UN?”
“Maybe, very often these posts are tied to certain policies and thus in hock to governments who are usually more interested in their economic policies than making sure there’s a world there for them to enact them in. Obama came in full of what he was going to do–apart from castigate BP he’s done very little–the US is still one of the largest polluters and consumers of fossil fuels.”
“Don’t go picking a fight with him, Cathy–we still do loads of business with US firms, I don’t want to be on his kicking list.”
“I won’t be fighting with him directly, unless he starts it, just reminding him and his countrymen of their obligations to the planet and challenging him to put his money where his mouth is.”
“I know I should have gone to that reception when I had the chance, now we’re more likely to have the CIA watching us.”
“Why?”
“If you annoy their president, they tend to get a bit upset.”
“I won’t be annoying him, just reminding him of his obligations, or that of his government. Personally, I think he’s a big disappointment, but that’s just my opinion.”
“Well BP shares have partly recovered. We bought a pile when they went down the other week and have made a modest profit.”
“Who’s we?” I asked him.
“Me, I suppose.”
“Is this the bank or you personally?”
“Me, the bank wasn’t interested.”
“How much did you make?”
“About a million.”
“You made a million dollars trading BP shares?”
“Pounds–and yes I did.”
“Wow, you clever boy.” I kissed him.
“There’ll be capital gains to pay, but we’ll make a reasonable profit even after that.”
“Is this just opportunism?”
“Sort of, but I thought I ought to be putting some pennies aside for the wedding thing and also to set the kids up when they’re older without eating into our own money.”
“But didn’t you feel you were risking some money on buying shares?”
“Babes, BP is one of the most reliable companies in the world, it will always recover from such a position–it always does. Shell is the other one who innovate a bit as well.”
“What about Exxon and the other oil giants?”
“No thanks–Shell and BP are as far as I go, apart from a few smaller British companies–we’ve got some interest in one in the North Sea, who’ve just hit some more oil and gas.”
“How do you pick them?”
“Very carefully, if it’s my money.”
“Goodness, I’ll never contribute that much to our children’s inheritance.”
“You don’t need to, babes, you’re going to give them another sort of inheritance, the eco-warrior queen who saved the world–the bits we don’t own.”
“Bits we don’t own?”
“Yeah, the bank has been buying up agricultural land as an investment, we own a few thousand hectares.”
“So I could end up filming on our own land?”
“Yeah, I suppose so.”
“Shouldn’t I be consulted about maintaining an ecological balance, as your advisor?”
“Yeah, why haven’t you advised us?”
“I am, cut me in or get very lonely in bed.”
“That’s a bit primitive for a sophisticate like you, Cathy.”
“Yeah, well I’m relying on communicating with your primitive urges to negotiate my corner.”
“Fine with me–wanna see some of our stuff on Google?”
“You bet I do.” I put my arm through his and we went off to play with the computer.
Comments
Bike’s Third Anniversary
Less than 12 hours ago, I wrote a blog entry to mark the third anniversary of our favorite series.
Wouldn't you know it? A veritable flood of other blogs quickly shunted my effort off the front page, so possibly quite a few regular readers of EAFOAB will have missed it. Thank you Mr. Murphy!
Please check out the link above, plus the new one below.
Persistent Supporter
Bike Resources
Well you Told us
Very Good, so does Cathy finally see herself as the beautiful woman she is? One can only hope as it is rather aggravating that she obviously pays no attention when she looks in the Mirror. What Mirror Where? A bit of a let down with no UN post but it was a needed fix for my EAFOAB craving.
LESSON LEARNED: never think that we the reader have any clue about what is really going to happen in your story . We just need to read and be happy after all you do make us very Happy
Goddess Bless you
Love Desiree
Goddess Bless you
Love Desiree
They might have...
...offered the UN job to someone else, but obviously it hasn't yet been accepted, otherwise Gareth's reply would have been different. Somehow, I get the feeling that the whole UN thing hasn't gone away just yet.
It's good to see Cathy becoming proactive, rather than reactive, and it will be interesting to see how things pan out. Good for her.
Thanks A+B, three years on and still a daily favorite.
Proudly Staunch
Bike Resources
So the U.N. job
has been offered to someone else, And now Cathy feels a little miffed , Suppose she has only herself to blame, All that indecision seems to have come home to roost....But has it?...After all there was no mention as to whether the job offer had been accepted...So maybe there is hope yet for Cathy..
Kirri
>> so we’ve offered the job to someone else.
Always a mistake to shoot one's mouth off before doing the soul-searching and consultation.
Cathy's a bit of a hothead, and is quite often her own worst enemy.
On the other hand, as she seems to have pointed out to herself, the recovery is the more strategic portion of the game, and can be much more exciting.
Cheers,
Puddin'
-
Cheers,
Puddin'
A tender heart is an asset to an editor: it helps us be ruthless in a tactful way.
--- The Chicago Manual of Style
Bike pt 1056
I get the idea that Gareth and Harry are in cahoots to get Cathy to accept, but will find that she has chosen her way to do things. And Simon and Cathy will have fun carrying out her agenda.
May Your Light Forever Shine
May Your Light Forever Shine
My, I can't believe how much
My, I can't believe how much time has passed since this wonderful story started. We, all have been blessed by a writer who graces us all with such flair and even has a faithful sidekick to assist her when it comes to cliffhangers and such. Soemhow, I feel like Cathy being told the UN job had been offered to another, 'kickstarted' her getting back into academia and research. Perhaps this is something she can show Livvie, Danny, Billie and Trish as a possible scholarly pursuit for themselves as they grow older. Maybe Julie just might surprise everyone and get interested also. Jan
Just wait and see.
That's all I've got to say. Wait and see.
-And what's this sudden descent into that most primitive of trading techinques. Cathy! I'm shocked by your naked exploitation of your looks and your, - ahem, - body! It's the oldest trade on the books. Who'd have Adam & Eved it?
Still loving it.
OXOXOX.
Bev.
Three years and still a crowd pleaser
My my my Cathy is a devious wench when motivated. I quote.
>>
“Yeah, well I’m relying on communicating with your primitive urges to negotiate my corner.â€
“Fine with me—wanna see some of our stuff on Google?â€
“You bet I do.†I put my arm through his and we went off to play with the computer
>>
Kinky! Um, re-read especially the second line, THEN let your imagination go wild about the computer.
Oh, oh, I've having the vapors!
WHAT? It was all about looking at the bank's land holdings? It was nothing to do with se... never mind.
Funny, provocative, clever. Ang, how do you do it?
John in Wauwatosa
P.S. Still think that last conversation was a bit smutty. -- snicker --
John in Wauwatosa thanking our busy authoress twice and Bonzi too.
John in Wauwatosa
So Did I
But I thought that it was just Nymph in me.
Goddess Bless you
Love Desiree
Goddess Bless you
Love Desiree
Constitutional Law and Cathy.
I am not sure why she just did not call Henry in the first place and I wonder if he won't be back to accept her "acceptance". There seems to be a real break from what was being talked about to what happened.
As it was explained to me back when they were trying to convince me that I could have an impact in the world, the government of the US is a three part system; Presidential, Judicial, and Congressional, and intended to be a three way balance. Over the years since its inception, the power struggle has shifted the center around a little, and I think that right now the Congress has the most power. I can remember when one of my teachers thought that the Judicial had it and during the Bush years, I think it was Presidential.
Most people outside the US don't understand that and are really critical of it. Now days, it seems that damb few Americans understand it either. While I get really dismayed with the heat of the arguments I see in the US, I also think that it is the strength of the system. Another thing pestering us right now is that the Robber Barons have far too much power. And whether Obama is part of it, I don't know. His education is in Constitutional Law and how that has affected his thinking I do not know. I'll have no racist talk about this. I have been all over the world and find that people everywhere are pretty much the same. I don't know what it will take to wrest power from them and make things more balanced again but I do not think it is too late.
To be clear, I don't know much about anything I just said save to say it is what my teachers told me in the early 60's. If the US fails, it will be because we did not raise our children with sufficent care and love, not because of any outside attack.
Khaduuj
US is always the easiest target
about pollution as far as the rest of the world is concerned, whereas I believe China has caught up in that respect, and then some. So where do we hear the complaints about bad Chink labor and bad Chink pollution and bad Chink human rights record? eh? And stupid BP incompetence in planning for a well disaster?
And FWIW, since I am of Chinese descent, I can say Chink if I want to.
Kim
Human rights?
I'm not sure the US has much to be proud of there, Guantanamo, executions and so on. But then it appears the UK isn't as squeaky clean as it likes to pretend, having been involved in extraordinary rendition flights and torture of prisoners.
A civilisation may be measured by the way it treats its underclass: prisoners, the poor and the sick - neither of our countries is doing too well at present and it looks as if things will get worse.
Angharad
Angharad
I dare say...
few countries can hold their heads up with unalloyed pride, if they stop to think about it. History is now and has always been written by winners, and it follows that every current government and nation has spent at least a bit of their time beating uo the neighbours. All of the Americas were wrested from Indians and the tribe of the far north, all of Europe was conquered by people moving west. Even the Irish, as far west as they come, tell stories about the people *they* kicked off the edge of the island when they arrived.
In my gloomier moments, I suspect that the reason the US and the UK have lately embraced a resurgence of militarism and cruelty is that they know something about the future they're not telling us, a future in which the inclination to be a son of a bitch is once more prized.
Cheers,
Puddin'
-
Cheers,
Puddin'
A tender heart is an asset to an editor: it helps us be ruthless in a tactful way.
--- The Chicago Manual of Style
Huh?
Pa shows up and again asks her to take the job and shames/guilts her into looking into it, and a matter of minutes later, it has been offered to someone else? And the response was kind of "short mannered". Now she wants it. I wonder just how many people are out there in cahoots to get her to take it and are working her into it? Sounds like a twisty plot to me.
Motivation
I'm glad the U.N. job's no longer in the offering - but at least it frees Cathy up to concentrate on her other projects - the mammal survey and the harvest mouse film. And even better - she'll still be based at home, so will be able to see the children off to school (on most days), possibly retrieve them at the end of the day, and get them fed / to bed.
And I love Cathy's ultimatum - "Cut me in [to advising HSB on their agricultural purchases] or get very lonely in bed."
Just goes to show Henry isn't the only member of the family who can play dirty...
EAFOAB Episode Summaries
As the right side of the brain controls the left side of the body, then only left-handers are in their right mind!
Cathy
I suspect she may still get the UN job, but maybe not. Still, she can do as much and maybe more going her own path, I suspect the UN was a dead end, and the kids are very important to Cathy. If she had gone with the UN job and hurt the kids through neglect she would have regretted it forever.
Don't feel Obama selected you
Don't feel Obama selected you to let down, He's done that with every promise. The guy's an empty suit, or as my folks in Texas say, "He's all hat , no cattle."
Gee, the job has been offered to someone else, and now Cathy is upset ? We have an ego sighting!
Cefin