Originally published at Jen’s Corner. You can comment here or there.
Category: pet stuff
So. It’s Day 5 of NaBloPoMo and already I’m at a loss for something to post. I’m gonna blame it on having class today and not getting home until late afternoon, and on being up way too late last night. :D
You know, lots of times I think “hey, I should post about that” but then I never remember to actually do it. I ought to make notes or something. It’s not like I don’t have nifty gadgets to do it with.
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Rob’s birthday was today, so he wanted Thai. He’s also off the rest of the week, so we might go to the zoo tomorrow. If it’s nice, and also if Pandora eats ok. She’s been… iffy on eating. She’ll eat fine one day, and refuse food the next. She looks fragile and slightly scruffy – and we’ve been in to the vet several times. I hope she’s going to be ok – she’s pushing 15, and hasn’t been in the best of health.
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So, I’m kind of the non-moderator for a political email list that’s been around since 1994. It’s called NoRules, which means I don’t actually “moderate” it at all, it’s just that I’m the one that finally bitched and nagged enough to get them moved off of “reply to all” onto what finally wound up as Yahoo Groups. It used to be a really good group – interesting, lively, and informative. Now – well, it’s not as bad as a YouTube comment thread, but it’s all the same the same the same – I could pop in there any time and it’s the same stuff from the same people and it’s usually just crap. I only mention it because I made the mistake of reading a couple of emails tonight. Someone forwarded the Michelle Obama/Lobster thing tonight. //shakes head// That’ll teach me to look at it.
Maybe I’ve changed.
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I’m sitting here at the computer and Fred is wedged between my back and the back of the chair, with her front legs just draped over the arm of the chair and her head hanging over it. She tends to reach for things on the desk, so I have to keep moving them out of the way. Every once in a while I reach around and scritch her belly, which is really all I can reach, and she purrs.
It’s late, and soon George will come in here and meep at me. They are quite certain about when I should go to bed.
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Well, there’s 400+ words about nothing interesting at all!
I win!
Aha! There’s George. ‘Night!
Originally published at Jen’s Corner. You can comment here or there.
Attention US type people: If you haven’t voted already, please go do it tomorrow. It’s your last chance.
Onslaught of dirty tricks as Election Day nears
In the hours before Election Day, as inevitable as winter, comes an onslaught of dirty tricks
Photography
I joined a photo group called Project 365+1 – the idea is you take (and post) a photo every day. Other than that, there’s no rules – it can be slice of life, “artistic”, whatever. Mine will probably be heavy on the cat side. :)
My cameras are:
- Nikon D50 (love this camera)
- Canon Powershot SD1000 (new!)
- HP Photosmart 320 (old, and probably retired soon)
Anyhow, so far I haven’t missed a day, although I’ve been posting in batches rather than every day. I also haven’t managed to post them on my ‘blog, either. I really need to work on that. Hm. Think I’ll turn twitter posting back on too.
I’m going to “catch up” with photo posting, so expect a slew of picture posts soon. Gonna cheat and back date them, too.
Here’s my flickr page and my Project 365+1 set.
Books
I updated my 2007 book list – I apparently read at least 87 books last year. I think I missed a few, but no more than 3 or 4 I imagine. Maybe this year I’ll actually manage a few “reviews”.
Skool
Semester II! Back for English Composition II and U.S. History II (after 1865). I decided to drop Spanish II for now. I could probably do it, might even manage to pass (seeing as how I somehow got an A in Spanish I) but it would put the other classes at risk. History kinda got the short shrift last term and I really would rather do better this term. So, the plan is to re-take Spanish I for summer term, and take Spanish II next fall. Seriously, I don’t feel that I grasped Spanish I at all; certainly not well enough to dive into Spanish II.
Gaming
Man, I haven’t touched a console in months! I’ve been solely playing DS games. Currently I’m playing Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker – it’s DragonQuest meets Pokemon, and it’s a lot of fun.
Movies
Movies we’ve seen! The moratorium on regular movie theaters is still on – the only place we’ll go is the Alamo Drafthouse; specifically, the one on South Lamar. We’ll do the downtown one, but it’s gotta be for something special. We’ve got a backlog of movies though, so there’s always something to watch when we feel like it.
- Cars – Fun movie, we were cheering! (Yet another reason to watch at home.) Pixar is just fantastic, although they may be losing it: Ratatouille wasn’t very good, in fact, we didn’t finish it.
- Finding Neverland – I adore Johnny Depp, and this was a fun and bittersweet story.
- The Libertine – Damn, I adore Johnny Depp! I liked this movie quite a bit, though Rob didn’t.
- Sweeney Todd – Oh wow but this movie was fantastic. I’ve always loved the story of Sweeney Todd, and this was a superb version. I cringed at every throat slash and winced at every body drop. This was Sweeney Todd!. And yeah – Johnny Depp. And Alan Rickman! Man, it just doesn’t get better than that!
- Beowulf – Wow this was cool. Rob kept muttering something about crossing the uncanny valley; I dunno, but I thought it was great.
- The Dark Side of the Rainbow – Alamo Drafthouse showed this Oz/Floyd combination – a lot of fun, and surprisingly eerie in places. Still, I think I should have had more to drink before going. :D
Cats
Cats are all fine. We’ve gotten through (knock wood) a horrendous parasite infection, but it looks like it’s pretty much over with. The kittens are apparently acting “normally” now, which means they’re alternating being destructive little demons on crack with being cuddlebugs. The latter is the only thing saving them now. That and the fact that they are adorably cute.
All done!
That’s about it for now. I’m sure there’s more, but it’s long past and out of my head. I’m lucky I remembered this much. Now to have some lunch, then start posting and backdating my photos! Hasta!
Wow, so I haven’t been posting lately. I’ve posted maybe a hundred times in my head – but my brain/intarweb interface isn’t working properly.
School! I’ve been going to school! I’m trying to wrap my head around this whole “homework” thing – it’s been about an eon since I’ve “studied”. This semester (which is almost over) I’m taking English Composition I, US History I, and Spanish I. Next term, it’s all the same stuff, only “II”. Ah well, after that I should be able to take more varied classes.
Spanish I is kicking my ass. So far, I’ve got a solid B – but I’m not at all confident about the oral and final exams. I’m dreading Spanish II.
Cats! We somehow managed to be adopted by two more kittens. They’re absolutely adorable, of course. Pictures can be found on my Flickr account.
Well, I’m actually supposed to be studying right now. (Procrastinate? ME??) I’ll post a more complete update Real Soon Now, honest.
Seriously.
The first part of August was pretty sucky for us. Mai-lyn had been having a few days where she was not at all happy – not eating, not grooming, not, well, moving really. She got through that and seemed to be feeling a lot better, but the tumors on her belly were getting still bigger, and beginning to ulcerate. She wasn’t going to get better. It was only a matter of time, probably only months, before the cancer in her lungs killed her, and before that she’d have more and more bad days. I just didn’t want her to suffer. So, two weeks ago I let her go. Dammit, I put off posting about this because I knew it’d make me cry. Guess I didn’t wait long enough.
At the end of that week we got her ashes back, in a pretty cat shaped ceramic container. It’s really nice. Now I just need to find a safe place for her.
Naturally, at the same time Pandora seems to have developed IBD and decided to quit eating for a few days. This led to the beginnings of hepatic lipidosis, which almost required a feeding tube. Thankfully, after some subq fluids, and juggling some meds, she started eating again. She’s been eating like a little piglet, in fact, so now we have to make sure her diabetes doesn’t flare up again. Still, that’s much easier to deal with than a feeding tube.
As if that wasn’t enough, Max had to get in on the act with a sinus infection. He’s more forgiving than Mai-Lyn, so it was much easier to give him his meds.
So now, everyone seems pretty much fine (knock wood), although we still have to keep a close eye on Pandora. All I can say is they’d better be, because I start school next week, and I have spent more than enough time at the vets.
I don’t want another cat right now. My 18 year old with cancer is, of course, my top priority. I can’t let her be too stressed. To say nothing of the 12 year old diabetic.
The kitten is adorable, sweet, and judging from the last couple of days would get along fine with Max and Jake, and as well as could be expected with the oldsters.
I don’t want or need another cat.
Yet giving that cat back to the “owners” is killing me, and I don’t know if I did right to do it.
It turns out that it did indeed belong to the neighbors I feared it did.
This was my earlier response to crankycatlady:
They’ve got a pug – has been kept in the garage during the day. Don’t know if it’s everyday or not, but I’ve heard him in the garage.
They’ve got a boxer-ish dog, beautiful animal. Gets out of the backyard frequently – for a while it was Every. Single. Day. I think (not sure) that they (were? are?) leaving him out there.
They have (had?) a pretty yellow kitten, friendly booger. Outside. Came in our yard frequently. I don’t care if it’s in our yard – Jake loves cats. But there’s pit bulls behind us. Now, I happen to like pit bulls, and don’t believe in the hysteria about them; however these pit bulls feed into the stereotype. I wouldn’t give a cat good odds if they found themselves on that side of the fence. I haven’t seen the yellow cat in a while. Don’t know if they actually keep him in, if he’s still outside, or if he’s gone.
Turns out I was right – the yellow cat has “run off”.
Damn it! I shouldn’t have given her back.
They got one hell of a lecture though.
Crap. I don’t know what I should have done.
Edit 10:30 pm: I’ll be damned. Not one hour after I bitched them out and handed over the kitten, guess who shows up at our back door? Guess who sauntered in when I opened it? Guess who rubbed noses with the dog and walked underneath him?
Huh. Whaddaya know.
Looky what we found staring in our back door window last night?
Also published at Jen’s Corner. You can comment here or there.
Well.
I’ve been meaning to write about some of the stuff I’ve been doing lately, but I see something shiny, and never get back to it. Then time passes and time passes and time passes and then I can’t even remember whatever it was I was going to say.
And now, instead of the happy fun stuff post I’ve got half finished, I get to post bad news – Mai-Lyn, my 18 year old Siamese has been diagnosed with mammary cancer. Unfortunately, it is showing in her lungs as well, so surgery won’t help.
I’m in a cross between denial and resigned right now. I mean, she’s pretty old for a cat, so it’s not like the prospect of losing her is new. Still.
I’ve got a good vet, and we’ll be giving her a drug that’s supposed to (when it works) slow down the growth, and possibly shrink it some in the process. It’s funny, I just realized that the one question I didn’t ask her is “how long”. My subsequent reading hasn’t reassured me at all.
