Wake Up Call. So the day went... Mom wakes me up - tells me the insurance company's associated work guy is coming to put the dishwasher back in - he's supposed to be there already, but he hasn't arrived yet, and she has to leave for work. She leaves for work. Phone rings minutes later. The guy is lost. Give directions. Wait. A significant amount of time later - he finally arrives. He had to ring my mom for more directions. He has the wrong board. The insurance company/his boss have managed to confuse solid wood for cheap white MDF... amazing, really, with the multiple pictures that multiple people came to take over months before anything happened. So he has to go out and get the wood. I wait around for him to get back. Every time he goes out of the house, he knocks to come back in... He eventually gets back. Spends a lot of time doing something. Hours later - he comes in and says he's gotta go get the wood. I thought that's where he went last time? So I wait - again. Eventually he gets back. For hours he's in and out trying to get the wood to fit right - I assume, with the sawing and the carrying of it back and forth. Anyway - after him originally arriving just after 9am and finally finishing at 3pm - I finally got to go and have a bath and get a walk in before it got dark, that I'd been waiting to do all day but couldn't because of having to wait around while he was here or for him to get back. The problem wasn't his fault - he was just the fitting guy - and it seemed like he was trying to do the best possible job. It's kind of a little annoying that insurance companies are always happy to take a ton of your money, very quick to tell you 'oh no, that's not covered, cos of this thing we've just made up', very reluctant to actually do anything when there is a problem that they can't think of a way to blame on you, and then incredibly slow about doing said 'anything' when there's no way out of it. It's just a slight shame that it had to be a sunny and milder day, that I had to spend sitting around inside, than all the surrounding dull and freezing ones at the moment. But I'm sure there'll be more.

This 2011 Rally Squirrel mug design was created in Missouri by retired Missouri Conservationist wildlife photographer Jim Rathert from his personal collection of photos. Mug read: " Behind every cardinal is a Rally Squirrel" He uses the best materials and process called dye sublimation to produce the finest "High Definition" and most durable mugs available,“incredibly” microwave and dishwasher safe. Jim brings the heart and soul of a birder along with the artistic and technical precision to offer these beautiful mugs you will enjoy for years. Individually Designed & Printed in the U.S.A. Dishwasher & Microwave Safe 11 oz. Ceramic Mugs. About the Artist: Jim was a biologist and photographer with Missouri Department of Conservation for more than 30 years . Now retired, he enjoys making useful products featuring his bird photographs. Drawing upon his passion for native birds, Jim creates unique designs using his personal collections of photographs and hand prints each mug. He uses the best materials and process called dye sublimation to produce the finest and most durable mugs available,“incredibly” microwave and dishwasher safe. Jim brings the heart and soul of a birder along with the artistic and technical precision to offer these beautiful mugs people will enjoy for years to come. Each 11 oz. mug is individually printed by nature photographer Jim Rathert in Missouri. Jim is a bit of a ” throw-back to an earlier time” in that he enjoys doing all steps of the creative process. He takes the photos, creates the mug designs and hand “fires” the image onto each mug. He uses a state of the art process and the finest mugs and dyes. This ensures a mug of lasting beauty and durability. They withstand years of hard usage in both microwave and dishwasher.