The hawk that patrols my yard and the surrounding countryside from the top of the eucalyptus tree has the most piercing cry of any bird around here. It always sounds angry, as if it were scolding the air itself for slowing down its flight. I’ve been hearing it more and more lately, the shrill voice of this bird, but always when it senses my presence, the hawk flies off. Not today, though. I was going in my back door after collecting the mail, and it was yelling at me from the walnut tree just a few feet away, not moving. Maybe it sensed a kindred spirit, because I wasn’t in the best of moods myself.

If I had an extra chip on my shoulder today, it was because of the phone call I got this afternoon. I didn’t answer it, of course, because I didn’t recognize the name on my Caller ID, but when the woman identified herself as a person who had sent me a letter last week requesting a workers’ comp audit, I picked up, so that I could tell her I was just audited in December, and that I hadn’t received any such letter.

She explained carefully that she works for the state agency that regulates workers’ comp carriers, and she has the right to audit my books. That’s what she said: “We have the right to do an audit.” Ugh. My stomach and my throat tightened up simultaneously, and my next thought was that I would have to dust and vacuum.

Then she told me that she wasn’t going to be auditing my company, exactly. “We audit the auditors,” she said. She asked if she could come by Friday morning to do the audit, and I couldn’t think of any sellable reason to put it off, since I still had all the information in the binder from the last audit.

But I was ticked. It’s still an intrusion, and they can still charge me an extra premium and a fine and a penalty and whatnot, if she finds that the auditor made a mistake. She faxed me a copy of the letter, and I could see why I never received it. They had the wrong street number, and had spelled the street name wrong. I suppose I should have called her back and given her the right information, so that she doesn’t get lost on her way here Friday. I didn’t do that, though.

It’s not that I’m going to have to do a lot of work to get ready for this audit, and I’m certainly not going to bother dusting, but sometimes, you know? Sometimes you just feel like perching on a branch and screaming at the world, so loud that you can be pretty sure somebody hears you.