Mr. Alarm Clock

I've been leaving the bedroom door open at night as an experiment this week while Keith is gone, an experiment to see if the room gets less stuffy overnight and if the cats totally annoy me or not. Buddy usually sleeps with him and is a little lonely since his 'pillow' is not in it's usual spot in the bed. Keith has actually said that he misses that furry body against his at night and sometimes puts a bed pillow alongside him where Buddy usually lays. I joked that I would buy him a big stuffed cat to put in his grip bag when he's on the road, but then the other guys would probably make fun of him, so...

I don't really like cats sleeping with me but on Monday night I didn't have the heart to once again shoo Harri out of the room and let her sleep with me. I was afraid that other cats would be standing around the bed at 5:30 am waiting for food, but so far, until today anyway, nobody has really disturbed my sleep. Harri has spend each night beside me on the bed for a few hours and then she gets up and goes elsewhere. Maybe I snore too much for her.

This morning pea brain Buddy finally figured out that the door was cracked open and there he was standing on the bed next to my face saying MEOW but at least he waited until closer to 6:30. He MEOWED then jumped across my body to the other side of the bed closer to my face. I ignored him and dozed a bit more, so then again MEOW and jump across my body again. Then one more time along with some scratching at the sheet and okay, I will get up and feed you now.

Today is Keith's test. I am hoping he passes it. You have to get 90% to pass and then you can go home. If you get like 85% or something then they keep you there and go over the questions you missed and you take that part of the test again. Lower than that and you are on what Keith calls the Dummy Plane on Sunday night on your way to Kansas where they will force you to pass the test. Nobody wants to be on the Dummy Plane because then word gets back to all the other conductors and engineers that you are a DUMMY and then nobody wants to work with you. Keith definitely does not want to be a dummy. He is tired of being in a hotel room and is ready to come home, but hopefully coming home a full fledged certified conductor.

I'm cleaning up the house in preparation for his what I hope will be a triumphant return. I've been working on stuff for the shop this week and have been very lazy about cleaning anything, so let's get that vacuuming done and get the toilet clean!