Made it Through the Week

It was an interesting day at work today . . . Manpower (and IBM?) decided it was time to let some more people go. I heard from my office mate this morning it was going to be secretaries (or admin assistants as they're called now). One of the girls who was axed was Suzy. She and I started on the same day and went through our training together. This makes me very sad, because she was a fun person and a really good worker. The people who got the word today were told they had a job till March 30th. It kinda makes me question how valuable any of us are to the company (either Manpower or IBM). There are rumors flying that some more people (those of us who aren't admins) will be reviewed and possibly let go later this summer. I remarked to my office mate yesterday that it (the 15th) was my 10-month anniversary . . . now I hope I can make it to a year!

On a happier note, I saw a few Cedar Waxwings hanging out in the crabapple trees when I got home. The starlings have picked off most of the fruit, but there's still some left for the Cedar Waxwings until they discover the highbush cranberry bushes which are still loaded with pretty little red berries. Last year they found the cranberries and cleaned up all the bushes in a couple of days. Hopefully when they flock to the bushes this year, I'll be home and able to take some photos.

When I went to put the dogs out before going to bed, my little possum was out in the backyard cleaning up under the bird feeders. I put the dogs out the front door and enlisted Rick to hold the spotlight while I attempted to take some photos. I think this possum is either used to us shining the light on her, or she's just so hungry that she doesn't care what's going on. It was good to see her again. I usually just see the evidence of her nighttime visits in the little gobs of chewed up seeds I find in the feeder trays in the morning, but now that the snow is mostly gone, she's able to clean up more stuff off the ground (and there's LOTS on the ground).

Some interesting possum facts (from Mammals of Minnesota by Stan Tekiela):
*Their ears are black and their feet and nose are pink. In Minnesota, they will sometimes lose their ears and tail to frostbite because there isn't any fur on those body parts.
*They have 50 teeth (more than any other mammal in Minnesota)
*Their home is a leaf nest in an underground den or hollow log
*They're nocturnal, but can be seen during the day in the coldest part of winter (I remember several years ago I was out snowshoeing one morning and saw a possum feeding on the carcass of a deer)
*They are not able to hang by their tails -- their tails are used to hold onto branches or aid in climbing