Entropy increases

I'm exasperated enough to make a rare daytime append.

Operation Random went smoothly this morning. I wound up kicking him out of the bedroom last night when he kept moving and waking me up, and checking on me to see if I'm awake. (Yes, Random, I'm awake now.) However, I let him follow me around this morning, and he was visibly calmer. I had a bad moment when he decided to camp out in the living room and listen to the construction workers unload, but he decided to come back and see what I was doing. I petted him to feline ecstasy, rolling around on the floor--and then I ran and closed the door. I felt guilty, but it worked perfectly.

The problem happened afterwards. When I was about to leave, the doorbell rang, and a construction worker asked me to leave the door unlocked so that he could test the electrical outlets. I said okay, and went sleepily about my business. Then I realized that he'd have to go into my bedroom, where Random is.

So I went outside and found the guy. I told him that I had been told that I could keep my cat in my bedroom because the workers were going to enter the place only up to the opening to the attic (just a few feet inside the place). He said that he'd be careful not to let the cat out of the room. I told him not to open the door. He said that he had to open the door to test the outlets. I said that if they gave me advance warning, I would get my cat out of the place completely for a day (or more). We went around and around like that for a while, and finally he reluctantly agreed to skip testing in my bedroom. (I don't know if he actually did so after I left though.)

The other problem with the testing is that he probably won't be able to access some of the outlets because of furniture and junk, etc. No one told me about the testing or what I'd need to clear. Unfortunately, because I wasn't available on the day that a team did the walkthrough of most of the units, I did the walkthough with a contractor and no reps from the HOA. I have no witnesses to what I agreed to move or do. I'm concerned that they'll try to charge me for holding up progress.

Finally, I'm wondering why he asked me to leave the door open when I gave a key to the guy who did the walkthrough.

Anyway, I know that my next step is to call the rep from the construction company and see what we can work out. The contact info is at home, so I'll swing by over lunch, and also see what the situation is.

I don't know what's going on

When I came home at lunch, it was clear that no one opened the bedroom door because the vacuum cleaner that I placed in front of it hadn't moved. (Random is scared of the vacuum cleaner.) I couldn't tell if anyone had entered the unit or not, and couldn't find the guy to whom I talked.

I think that someone might have tried to call me at work when I was down the hall from my office. If so, they didn't leave a message. I left a message for the homeowner rep at the builders, but no one called me back.

When I came home, the condition of the place was unchanged. However, when I let Random out, he didn't want to leave my bedroom and, in fact, cowered when I opened the door. (Poor kitty.) I suspect that the guy came in today, looked around, and discovered that he couldn't test the outlets without me moving some stuff.

So I'll wait for a call back. I have a bunch of boxes in the living room that (probably) will go to Goodwill, so I'll start going through those boxes. I had planned to work a little more tonight because I left early to lock the door to my condo (mutter), but I think that instead I'll work a longer day tomorrow. Half the department will be gone, so it should be very quiet.

And also, I'm almost falling flat on my face.

Andrea Yates

Damn it. I just saw the guilty verdict for Andrea Yates. Damn it. Damn it. Damn it.

I've thought about the trial a lot (natch), but don't have enough resources right now to do much beyond swear and shake at this particular moment.

I'm not surprised. Given the way that the legal definition of insanity is written, I don't think that anyone could get an insanity verdict. (In fact, I would like to know of the circumstances of a case that resulted in an insanity verdict after the definition of insanity was rewritten.) Even the deepest and most incurably psychotic person understands some rules and can be influenced by reward and punishment. So, for that matter, does my cat, but I don't believe that my cat has the reasoning powers of a sane human being, nor should be held to the same standards of a sane human being.

I believe that justice has not been served in this case thus far.

Yates case exposes holes in insanity-plea laws

Excellent article in the Houston Chronicle. Exactly what I would have wanted to say were I not so fried, only better.

Yates case exposes holes in insanity-plea laws