here now, move along metizens. Nothing to see here.

This took a couple weeks to process and accept, let alone write this journal about. No flowery or soft way to put it.

TK had a serious condition, but seemed to be holding her own for some time now. I came in to work one evening to feed the troopers and do some work. Found her in the aisle of the shop having convulsions. Panic of course, it's after 8 PM and my vet is off work. The local emergency clinic demands a $1K retainer to treat animals and the results and treatment are generally poor, so that's not an option.

Got her off the floor, wrapped her up in a blanket to warm her up and put her on my chest to help warm her up, petted and talked to her to try at least to comfort her and let her know she was not alone as I did not expect her to survive. We stayed like this for about five hours. Got her warmed up and she started to become calmer and less stressed. Around 3 AM she started trying to look around, seeming to become cognizant of her surroundings. She still was still pretty much unable to move in a coordinated pattern and I continued petting her to encourage her to stay calm and warm. In a short while she fell asleep on my chest and seemed to sleep soundly for about an hour. My bladder alarm had been going off for about half an hour so I made sure she was well covered in the blanket and put her in the seat of the chair to rest. She woke just long enough to see what was going on and went right back to sleep. When I came back in she was sleeping peacefully seemed to be recovering, so I took the opportunity to give Sasha some attention and food and ran back to home to try and get a bit of rest. Returning in the morning I did not see her in the chair and started hunting her. She had moved herself to her warm spot, on top of the UPS unit under my desk. She was still shaky but looked aware of her surroundings. Encouraged her to eat some food and let her rest. By late afternoon she was able to get to the litter box and was hungry for dinner. Not real stable on her paws yet but functional. Made sure she had water and warm places to rest and went home.

The next morning she was still a bit wobbly, but came out when I arrived to get breakfast. Ate normally and I put a blanket nest in my desk chair for her to rest in. At dinner time she was steadily getting back to normal and inhaled her dinner. The following morning she seemed to be back to normal, standing up on her back legs and loudly exhorting me to hurry up with breakfast. At dinner time she ran in circles around me and demanded attention and food. For the next couple days she seemed to be back to her usual self and all was well.

Came in on Sunday morning and she did not come out to meet me. Found her by the UPS under my desk. Apparently she had passed shortly before I got there as she was still warm. Miserable way to begin a Sunday morning. Took her to my vet and arranged for cremation and return of her ashes.

Sasha never behaved any differently during this entire event and never varied from her routine. Ate and drank as normal, demanded attention and demonstrated her claws when I was slow to accede to her demands. Came in on Sunday morning to feed her and let her do her usual 30 minute inspection of the front of the office patio and get in her usual mad run from the office to the storage shed and back to burn off excess energy. Let her back in and she demonstrated her appreciation and affection by punching holes in my pants and legs while I petted her in my lap. Put her breakfast out and she dived into it. Went back home for the day and returned at 6 PM to feed her and do the office backups. Found her by the food bowls, breakfast was gone but she apparently literally passed right after breakfast as she was cold and stiff. By the looks of things it was quite sudden.

Took her to the vet office the next morning to be cremated and her ashes returned. Asked the vet to try and determine the cause of death, fearing something contagious that could be passed to my furballs at home. By the evidence and postmortem she had a heart failure. Cardiovascular disease is not uncommon it cats and it really isn't noticeable until an event occurs. It was apparently quite sudden and instantly fatal. God willing she never knew what happened and did not suffer.

So there ends the tale of my office companions. Coming to work is no longer as enjoyable. I like my job, but I miss my friends, and the office is colder and emptier. Making a memorial to them, will post a pic when completed. See you on the other side. Let the rest of my furred friends know I'll be along presently.

Will grow firmer, heart grow stronger
as our numbers become less

Took ms. Raccoon ( the stray maine coon kitty from my office ) to the vet on tuesday of last week as she was having trouble eating and was not grooming herself. She also had a runny nose. We considered bad teeth as she was still eating soft food and was drinking. Vet started her on an antibiotic and and a mild steroid and wanted to wait a few days to look at her teeth.

Got a call from him after lunch today I needed to come in and see him This can't be good.

She had an advanced cancer eating her lower jaw bone rapidly and there was no possible treatment at this late stage and she would shortly be unable to eat at all as the bones were coming apart.

The only possible decision was to put her to sleep so she would not suffer. I visited with her and we spent time together so she would know she wasn't alone and was loved.

She passed peacefully at 4:08 PM on the 30th of December 2024. We don't know her age or how she came to be here but she will be sorely missed by all of us, two and four legged.

Went back to my office to feed the two cats that were her companions and to tell them what happened. As of 9 PM neither one can be found, Sasha and TK are both being very quiet and reserved.

Godspeed little one, I'm sorry your time was cut so short. I'll see you on the other side

Sunshine, the kitten I have been fostering has gone to her forever home ! She now has a playmate her own age and size as well as a responsible pet owner!
She seems to be adjusting well and now has a whole house to run and play in as well as all the attention she could want.

Her room at my house will be taken over by TK, so she will have a quiet and peaceful world to live in and be cared for. It appears she has a long term virus that is not ever going to go away and she may be able to spread it by contact so she can not currently be around other cats. My vet believes that a course of interferon as well as an antibiotic and periodic doses of a mild steroid will be able to inhibit the virus and allow her to have a much more pleasant life. The only rub so far is the cost and availability of the interferon, but I'm working on that

So, no bad news for a change, so far it's all good!

Had a call from an auto parts store I use at 10 PM. Seems a small kitten had gotten into the store and it took the staff half the day to corral it. So, here I go volunteered again. The kit was about 7 to 8 weeks old, and of course really loud. Took her home and set up a large cage with a towel to sleep on, a litterbox, food and water. It would let me pick it up and cuddle it and wanted to stay on my chest. When I tried to put it to sleep it would be quiet for about an hour and then start yelling. So off I went to cuddle it and quiet it again.

All night long, rinse and repeat. I really do miss sleep!

Fed and quieted it down again and went off to work. Ran back at lunchtime to feed and check on, then back to work. Had hit Amazon at about 5AM between kitty cuddle sessions to order a case of the good kitten food and a heartbeat kitty plush. Thank the Deity of your choice for their same day delivery! Was only planning to foster it long enough to find a new home and did not want it to bond with me.

Put two of the large cages together and created a 6 foot long cage. One end has litterbox with her sleeping arrangements and plush at the other. Food and water bowls right next to the bed end. The plush worked, she cuddled with it and let me sleep the next night.

Now I have a 9-10 week old kitten who puts away 4 to 5 small cans of kitten chow a day as well as some dry kitten kibble. I felt guilty about her staying in the cage all the time and made a playpen for her with suitable tunnels and toys to entertain her. And no home for her yet. I will post a pic of her tomorrow.

You are right Red. The mark at the table is me. But I ain't gonna complain. It's well worth it.

Time has passed and Ms Julia has grown into her paws and ears and rivals Theodore in size and mass. She has also settled in tor the most part and only occasionally gets up to mischief. And oh lord she has become a longhair with a vengeance! When I brush her I usually get enough fur to build a spare cat out of, and it goes everywhere! The filters on the water fountain have to be changed weekly from fur ingestion. At first I couldn't figure out where the fur was coming from so I had to assume it was airborne. The fountain is a 2 gallon stainless steel tank and deck the water is pumped on to. Discovered that she wraps herself around the tank to cool off during the late afternoons. Aha! Now I know why. Eh, if this is the worst she is going to do I have no complaint as filters are cheap and if it makes her happy, so be it.

See Red, persistence and peer pressure ( literally, from Theodore pouncing and parking on her ) seems to have worked. She has become a reasonably well behaved house cat from a wild hellion of a kit.

An actual quiet minute so it's time to update what I have been up to. So, three new submissions!

Whee!

Actually though, nothing to whine, fuss or sling snot about. Just a marker of sorts that I am still extant. Wal Mart kitty ( miss Julia by name ) has settled down and is actually being more domestic these days and becoming a bit of a snuggle bug, much to Zeb,s chagrin. Zeb sleeps next to me and uses my arm for a pillow most of the night. He routinely wakes up around 5 AM to use the litter box but when he comes back to bed his space has been taken by Julie. I never realized a cat could grumble to itself before. Now I know. He finds another spot on the bed and settles there, generally next to Theodore. at 7 AM when the alarm goes off Julie rises and launches herself into the window to watch morning kitty TV. Zeb then returns to my arm and plants himself with a huff of indignation. Me secret is that I don't generally get up until 7:30 or 8, so Zeb gets some consolation time in.

And so, life goes on.

Ah, the fun of modern life.

Got an odd phone call from an unrecognized phone number. Normally I would ignore and discard it but this time for some reason I answered.
Voice on the other end asked for me by name and said I needed to either come get my truck or they were going to scrap it. Wasn't threatening, just a statement of fact. Puzzled I asked what kind of truck was he talking about. Chevy S10 he tells me and texts me a picture.

Blink..Blink... SON OF A - Yeah, that was my truck. in 2015.
Told him I would head out there shortly to see about it. The location was about 30 minutes away.

Arrived and lo and behold, the poor thing is sitting on three flat tires and one missing wheel with the bed full of scrap metal. Called for a wrecker and three hours later the corpse was sitting at my mechanic's shop.

Warned him I was inbound with a well raped salvage. " Bring it on! " . Man apparently loves a good challenge.

In 2012 the truck was given to me by a friend who owned a body shop. The truck had been sent to him to be disposed of but somehow the documentation got ignored and it was fully repaired, inspected and ready to go back to work. When he called the owner to come get it and pay the bill he found out they had already written it off and did not want it back. To say he was a bit peeved would be an understatement. Seems the service writer had been given the title and decided he was going to get it fixed at the shop expense then sell it. Might have worked if he had bothered keeping up with the work order. About a week later I was working on his accounting computer when he came in. His first words to me were "Hey, you want a pickup truck?". My mouth engaged instantly "sure". He handed me the keys and title "There you go.".

1992 Chevy S10, freshly repaired and serviced. Heavy duty chassis and springs, even a liftgate. Bed's a bit abused, but hey for free? WOOHOO!
Spiffed it up a bit. Gauge set, good stereo, speakers, 91 Camaro 16x8 alloy wheels and new rubber. MSD ignition, etc. Drove it daily until 2015.
A "mechanic" I knew was busy whinging about his car dying and no money to fix it. Pity. And yes, I'm an idiot some days. Pass it forward...FEH!
Gave him the truck, title and paperwork. I had just re registered it so the plates were good for a year. And of course never heard another word about it.

Doing a bit of research, he never transferred it or insured it, drove it and beat the crap out of it. When it was no longer usable he abandoned it at a plumbing business storage yard ( 2017).
Fast forward to the present. " Well, what are you gonna do with it now?" "I dunno, too many projects right now anyway" ( '93 Lexus SC300, '84 MR2, '82 VW rabbit diesel pickup )
" I just dunno. Maybe worth a couple hundred as scrap, if that. Have to think about it".
Looking at it as I was leaving I swear I heard it speaking to me. " I'm really tired. I've been stuck out here a long time. Can I come home now?".
...
...
...
Considered the fact the last three cars I rehabbed and sold were totaled and lost in less than a year. I turn wrenches now as a hobby and for stress relief. When I get a car it's for me with no intention of flipping it. "Friends" show up in need and I sell one to them, generally at a loss.

DAMNATION! Here I go again. Thankfully, God takes pity on fools like me.

Engine was serviceable, new fuel tank, pump filter and lines, engine flush and new fluids all around. New battery , cables and alternator. full tuneup. 5 speed was trashed, trans shop offered to rebuild it for an unreasonably fair price (friend of a friend). Found a set of the exact same wheels at a local tire shop, acquired for a very reasonable price. New tires as well. Unless Murphy pops up it will be back in operation in about another week. Found a used dashboard is good condition for it, just need a couple days to make the change. Also negotiating for a bed in excellent condition from someone else's abandoned project.

And then I'm gonna take it to show the guy that gave it to me and the character who abandoned it.

Had a lot of good luck with that truck and enjoyed the hell out of driving it.

Strangely enough, all the things necessary to resurrect it just seem to show up at the right time and price. And additional work showed up I did not expect that is paying for it. Odd, that.

Maybe, just maybe sometimes you can go back and make some things right.

Pics to follow presently.

Perusing the news feeds this morning and happened to notice Mick Jagger's name, tabbing the article to read later.
Finished my coffee and flipped back to read it.

...
...

Hm, says here that he is 80 years old today. And still on tour.

Why do I suddenly feel like an antique?

I seem to remember the Chinese character for trouble was supposed to be " two women under one roof ".

I do not know for sure if this is correct, but it seems I'm about to find out in RL practice.

Sasha the cat ( also K'thaasha if you are a Weber and White fan ) is the full time resident of my shop, having discovered that living indoors with a personal servant is a desired lifestyle. She still runs out on the office patio and lays on the roof in sunny weather- or she goes up to harass the pigeons. But she does not leave the office perimeter. While the weather is cool I leave the door open and the glass storm door closed to let her look out into the courtyard to watch the other cats come and go. She has taken to pulling her bed and toys over to the door, and seems to show her wealth and prestige to the outside cats ( Look! Look! I have my own bed, toys, food, servant, etc. I'm important! When she lays on her window perch if another cat walks by she bangs on the window to get their attention. )

The Maine coon apparently decided that she wants the same thing. She walked into my office and proceeded to set up housekeeping. Hoo Boy!

Expected all manner of mayhem and upset. Fortunately so far it has not happened. Sasha looks daggers at Miss Racoon and occasionally hisses and slaps at her ( from a safe distance ) but seems to be more confused as in " what are you doing in MY house! ) The coon simply looks at her or ignores her entirely.

This could prove interesting.. I suspect the Maine Coon, being a longhair will appreciate the shop AC during the summer. Being adjunct to the IT server bay it stays at 69 degrees year round.

Seems I need to find a name the Main Coon finds acceptable. And get a brush for her. And a larger litterbox. and an air filtering system ( computers do a great job of filtering the air. MUCH to their detriment,

Previously, Miss Julia had been allowed to return to my part of the house and seemed to be mending her ways. That night was quiet as was the next day. Well, at least when I was in earshot. There were occasional growls and hisses but no violence in my presence. I was afraid to ask just how long this could last as Murphy is a known resident of my house and always stands ready to give a " helping " hand to any kind of chaos that can be created.

At the same time there were a number of external events that played absolute hob with my time, attention, finances and life, preventing me from being able to keep up with documenting her as I had intended.

My 98 year old Mother ended up with pneumonia and beat that. She was sent to a rehab facility that seemed to be intent on making sure she didn't survive and in the end managed to kill her off with medical negligence and neglect. The ME, funerary and interment process was frustrating, slow and expensive. Two weeks after the burial her cat ( the aforementioned old man of her group ) took ill and was diagnosed with a lymphoma, no longer being able to eat and had to be euthanized. Paperwork, life and burial insurance and bills for her care ( strangely enough generated after her death ) continue to be an issue even now.

I acquired an Armalite AR 180 at around the same time, in excellent condition with documentation that it was involved in the the troubles. It was unbelievably low in price and of course I grabbed it. After paying the gent who had it he warned me it was apparently cursed somehow, as the guy he bought it from had detailed to him the misfortunes that had befallen him and apparently stopped after he sold it. Nothing major or life threatening, mind you, but inconveniencing, outright annoying and costly. Hah, said I. Pish and Tosh. I don't subscribe to such nonsense.

After multiple vehicle failures, dying appliances and such I still do not necessarily believe in a curse. Entropy always increases, yes? But perhaps I need to find a Russian Orthodox Priest and arrange for a blessing of the weapons. You know, just in case. Maybe it's a case of a protestant rifle in a catholic community?

But enough of that. We were never promised life would be easy, simple or fair. But it can be interesting and trying. The answer is still " Shut up and soldier on ".

Wal Mart Kitty's tale will continue shortly.

Apologies to those who faved it, but as the depicted item is no longer my property the owner requested it be removed immediately.

Sorry, had to accommodate his request.

Returned to the house around 1 and looked for Julia as there were no signs of combat in the den. Noticed Miss Fluff and Dolly lounging in their usual afternoon nap spots and Al, the old man sleeping in the recliner.
Finally found Julia on the shelf behind the TV being very quiet and unobtrusive. She saw me and came out onto the desk, immediately drew hostile stares from the two girls. She flopped over on the desk and gave me the " cute and adorable" routine. And who says cats can't do the puppy eyes thing? And whom exactly is being trained here?

Relenting ( yeah, I'm a sucker ) I petted her and decided to let her go back in with my tribe, thinking she might have seen the error of her ways. I don't know if cats are natural empaths or they understand spoken words better than they let on ( why not both for that matter ) but when I said let's go she apparently teleported to my bedroom door. Opening the door, she sauntered in and was immediately accosted by Theo who sniffed her and then started washing her face. Zeb and Hal just looked at me disgustedly from the bed. I am constantly amazed at the range of expressions you can see in a muzzle and fur covered face.

Had to get back to work and advised her to behave while I was gone. Told Theo to keep the peace and departed.

Got back home around 7 and went immediately to check on Miss Terror and the boys. All quiet on the western front it seems. Everyone was snoozing in their normal spots and saw no fur or blood and I assumed the exile had taught her a lesson.

When you assume...

After casting Miss Grenade into the " outer darkness " we all started to settle back down to our normal lives. I went out of my room to get coffee at about 8 AM and Julia was literally nose to the door trying to get back into my bedroom. Between hissing at her and the squirt gun, access was denied. The kitchen is also a no-fly zone for the cats, strictly enforced. As I inhaled my coffee and perused the news online I noted a great deal of growling and hissing from the other side of the kitchen door but no sounds of actual fighting. On exiting the kitchen I noted Julia in a corner with the two female cats Dolly and Fluff keeping her there with growls and menacing looks. Al, the old man and senior cat ( + 20 years old ) was ignoring all of them and snoozing in the window for his morning sun. Went back down the hall and fed my tribe breakfast, got dressed and ready to leave. On re entering the den I saw that Julia was now being held under the TV cabinet. Being a narrow space Dolly was holding her there while Fluff had her breakfast. Al was still quite soundly asleep in the window and undisturbed by the potential conflict going on. Dolly and Fluff are fully armed but normally quite mild in their behavior. After watching the scenario for a few minutes it appeared that they resented Julia and disliked her quite a bit. Told Julia " I suggest you mend your attitude while you still can daughter" and went out the door to work. Was not overly concerned as I would be back to check on them at lunchtime and really didn't expect too much of a conflict. If something really did start I fully expected that Julia would be faced with two pissed off cats intending to show her the error of her ways. There were also places she could retreat to that would allow her to defend herself on a very limited front. Seems the shoe is on the other foot for her now. Maybe she will see the error of her ways?

Well, while Miss Julia was dissuaded from being rough with Theo, Zeb and Hal were now her designated abusees. She delighted in ambushing them and using her claws on them. After doing so she would chase them into an enclosed area and not let them out. The more I tried to get her to stop, the worse it got. Even using the squirt gun only gave a short reprieve for the older cats.

She finally got on my last nerve by playing kitty grenade at 4 AM one morning.

Remember, when the pin is pulled, Miss Grenade is no longer your friend. Or cute and adorable.

One of her favored haunts is the top of an eight foot high cabinet on one side of the room. As the rest of us were sleeping quite soundly, she launched herself from the top of the cabinet to land in the center of the bed as loudly and aggressively as she could. Needless to say there was much panic and mayhem as we were awakened quite violently and cats went all directions. She swiped at Zeb as he passed and chased Hal under the dresser while attempting to grab him with her front claws. I was in the line of exit and took several good scratches and one skin tear in the process. Theo did not understand what had happened and threw himself off the bed, landing on the dry food bowl and flipping it in the air. Kitty food everywhere and the crash of the metal bowl only added to the festivities. Julia took the opportunity to abandon tormenting Hal and chased Zeb into the area behind the curtains and jumped on him with the front claws out. Of course he screamed and caused Theo to panic and leap up onto the table the water fountain was on, knocking the water fountain over onto my desk. And laptop. And paperwork. By now I had a grasp of what was going on and also threw myself off the bed, intercepting Julia by the scruff of the neck as she ran back towards Hal to jump him again.
She was promptly ejected from the room into "the outer darkness", the other part of the house where my Mother's cats live, most unceremoniously.

After getting things cleaned up, calming the cats with treats and pets and cleaning up my personal damages we attempted to go back to bed to at least get some rest. Nerves were a bit frayed as they started at every small noise they heard for the rest of the night.
We might have gotten an hour of sleep or so as the alarm goes off at 7 AM.

From here, things went downhill further. Rapidly.

To Be Continued

When we last saw our intrepid little band, Wal Mart Kitty (now named Julia, reasons later) had just shown her three adopted sibs that she was a furry shredding machine. Later we would also discover she is a furry grenade. Usually around 4 AM.

The first 24 hours were quiet as she explored and staked out her preferred lounging spots. I picked up a couple of new platforms and hidey holes for her to peruse and all seemed to be going well. No altercations, no growling and no fights. Zeb and Hal were content to let her settle in and find her spots. Theo apparently forgave her for the wanton murders of socks and actually expressed an interest is playing with her by laying on the perch and waving his paws at her as she went past or pushing one of the ball toys in her direction. Theo is a peaceful little soul and I have never seen him unsheathe his claws other than to clean and maintain them on the scratchers. And he has a serious set of claws, let me tell you. She finally played with him, slap "fighting" at a distance without claws. And then she got aggressive and the claws came out. Theo did not extend his claws and pulled back when she did. She sank the claws into him twice and I was about to break it up when he hauled off with a paw and hit (not clawed) her in the side of the head hard enough to snap her head around. I heard the sound of the impact and she went sideways away from him looking somewhat dazed. She backed off and just sat for a while looking at him. He looked at her with an expression on his face like " why did you try to hurt me?" She retired to the top of a cabinet and he went to his sulk corner. Took treats, pets and attention for several hours to restore his usual happy disposition. The next day he demonstrated his claws by devastating one of the cardboard scratch toys she uses in front of her. When he got done it had sections ripped out and was useful only if you wanted packing material for a box. Since then she has trod quite carefully around Theo and avoided any altercations with him.

I hoped this would teach her not to be so aggressive with the other boys. Hah!

To Be continued

Okay, kitty stayed with the vet for two weeks and was thoroughly checked out, vaccinated and spoiled by the staff. As it happens she also got spayed. During this time I searched in vain for a good home for her. And no luck at all. Vet asked what I was going to do about her and lacking a good answer brought her home to foster with my tribe. She seems to be a happy and pleasant little thing and has no fear of other cats or people at all.

Sigh.

My tribe consists of the three older male cats I live with. Zeb, Hal and Theo. Zeb was a rescue from a garage as a kitten with antifreeze poisoning and covered with oil and grease. Cleaned up as a beautiful white cat and fully recovered from the poisoning. He is the "den mother" of the other two and the patriarch. Hal is a genuine alley cat, was rescued from behind a furniture store where he was only able to walk on three legs as the right front had a badly damaged "wrist" that would not bear any weight. Badly malnourished. Again the Vet did his magic and while not able to fully repair the damage, it will now bear his weight to walk on.

Theo was a special and unusual case. He is the most loveable furball you will ever meet and has no meow or common sense at all. Picture a small cat built along the lines of a bulldog as far as physical characteristics. HUGE purr though. His purr can be easily heard from a few feet away. He was apparently dumped at a client's office and took up residence there. The stray kittens loved him and played with him constantly. They would also distract him and pile onto him to keep him out of the street and away from cars in the parking lot. Okay, it's a busy area and I couldn't bear the thought of him getting injured or outright killed for lack of being streetwise.

Again, finding homes here is tough due to the economy and the local culture. So another fostered foundling. Ah well, it's all good. They are far better company than most humans I meet. And far more intelligent.
Theo has decided Zeb is his daddy and snuggles with him. Zeb grooms him and washes his face.

Zeb is 12 years old, Hal about 10 and Theo likely 8. New kitty is about a year old. Was a bit worried about what the reception was going to be like. I have a "quarantine" room for fosters to spend a couple weeks in to get acclimated to the quiet and smell the other cats in residence. Could not use it as Tuffy is recovering and rehabilitating in there for another couple months ( but that's a story for another day ).

Brought her home and set the carrier in the middle of the bed, got out the squirt gun just in case. The boys all sat on the bed at a distance and watched as I opened the carrier and her head popped up. The boys just sat and watched as she did a slow scan of her audience. Okay, maybe not as bad as I feared. No hissing or growling so far.

I should mention at this point that my dirty white clothes were in a pile on the bed as well, waiting to be washed. I normally leave them there on laundry day as Theo will knead them, rub his face in them and sleep on the pile. Strange little guy. When I go to bed he will wrap his arms around my ankle and rub his face all over my stinky sock. Yeah.. Anyway..

After doing a slow scan of the audience she literally erupted from the carrier and landed on the laundry pile. Selecting a sock, she proceeded to murder it most efficiently. Teeth, claws, kicking and tearing with the rear claws to gut it. Upon its shredding and demise she selected another and repeated the performance. As she proceeded do kill the third sock I noticed that the boys were still watching but had moved to the edges of the bed to watch. California king size so there was room for them to get back. Theo was watching in what I can only call mute horror at the destruction of his beloved laundry. After she finished off the third sock she calmly sat there looking at the boys like " Any of you want some of this? "

This is going to be ... Interesting. To say the very least.

A few weeks ago I had to use the bank at the local wal mart to get a cashiers check. As I was approaching the front of the store a small black cat crossed the parking lot with a group of people and appeared to enter the store. Odd, but interesting. Parked at the opposite end of the building. I entered and asked the security guard at the door if he saw the cat cross and enter. He confirmed he did, and wondered where the cat came from. Went on in and on concluding my business at the bank walked to the door I saw the cat go in.

Found the greeter and asked if he had seen the cat enter and he pointed to the entrance area " yeah, right there". The cat was sitting near the cart area and watching the people go in and out in seeming interest with no apparent fear whatsoever. By this point I'm beginning to wonder if it is sick, injured or just another abandoned domestic ( happens here way too often ). Walked over and knelt down, slowly reaching out for the cat to check me out. It just looked up at me as if to say " hello, who are you?". Started petting it's head and neck and it began to purr and push up against my hand. Okay, not apparently in any distress it had to be a lost pet.

Decided to push my luck and picked it up. No panic, no excitement, it was perfectly willing to be held and carried. "Little one, this is no place for you to be. Let's go somewhere better and get you a treat". Proceeded to walk the length of the store to my truck and the whole time it didn't struggle or try to escape, it just looked around in seeming fascination. Got in the truck, closed the door and sat it on the seat next to me while I started it up and turned on the AC ( 104 degrees outside ) it swarmed into my lap and put it's front paws on the window sill and looked out the side window. This was the state of affairs for the entire fifteen minutes it took to drive to my vet's office.

Pulled into the parking lot and shut down, picked it up and exited the vehicle with no issues. Entered the clinic and set the cat on the counter to check it in. Kitty suddenly got very anxious and started squirming so I headed for the cages in the back to get it contained. Interestingly enough, during the entire escape struggle it was careful not to put a claw in me. Into the cage it goes and it started giving me the most pitiful look. Put a can of fancy feast in a bowl, put it in for a distraction and made my escape to the front office. I do a bit of cat rescue and I have an arrangement with the vet. Rescues are checked for id, health screened and vaccinated. Good forever homes are found for them.

Kitty is not an anthro so at this point I have no idea what the gender is ( I do have a suspicion, but more on that later. A little suspense to keep the audience interested, no?
I'm not much of a storyteller ( hat is off to you, Red ) so I will break this down into two parts rather than making it a novel.
There are a number of unusual circumstances and some background to this that are... odd at best.

And I thought life was gonna slow down and get to enjoy my ongoing decrepitude and impending senility since I'm " Officially " retired now.
( The Golden Years have come at last... The Golden Years can kiss my ass! )
HA!

So we have Covid, all manner of riots and malfeasance, scandal everywhere, panic and mayhem and the blind leading the willfully ignorant.
All the " fun " anyone could wish for, right?

Again, HA!

After reading the news every day I can now honestly say that living in the southwestern most corner of Hell is actually not such a bad thing. It actually is relatively peaceful and quiet here and no one seems to give a flying rat's ass about much at all. Maybe it's all the lithium in the water here. Maybe the culture. Dunno. Don't much care either.

Picked up another bike, a cruiser this time and turning a basket case into what it was originally. Keeps me occupied when I have loose time and it is a rewarding thing to be able to be able to see it coming together. Pics when it is closer to assembled.

Fourth was not bad. Kind of reminded me of Ft. Bragg when the armor was out playing, until about 2 AM. Didn't seem to bother the cats and Zeb laid in the window to watch the funny lights in the sky. Seems the cabin fever had folks going overboard on the heavy fireworks, mortars and shells. Light intermittent rain all night kept me from worrying about any fire risk so it was all good.

More Later.

Time goes by and passes a great deal faster than we ever realize. With all the hustle and hurry of modern life we let the little things that don't seem as important kind of slide by and fail to mark them. As anyone who notices my journals has seen, I have been frequently missing for weeks and sometimes a few months at a time due to my job and it can be hard to get access to the web to stay in contact. Some time back I had a commission with an artist here and ( in my humble opinion ) managed to get a message to him without actually breaking any of the rules for web and equipment use. Yeeeeah, right. The powers that were at the time decided that my " unauthorized " web use was not either any threat or breach of security but were a violation of the spirit of the rules and as such only fined me three months of wages and duty bonuses as " administrative disciplinary action " and let it go there. Let it go..yeah. Ouch! I never had an article 15 that was that painful and being a " Wild Child " according to my CO I earned more than my share of them! On the last gig I was called out on I noticed a lot of the people were using facebook through proxies and when I asked howinhell they were getting away with it was told that it would be more noticeable if the suddenly went silent than to keep motor-mouthing away on a public platform. Riiight...

So glad I am now retired and the only one who has any say on my time are my cats. And I prefer their company to the vast majority of humanity. So my missing time should be no more than a day or so at most. And I have a few more journals I need to do to catch up, not to mention folks I want to get back in touch with.

The past five years have been quite a wild ride and I'm looking forward to sweet, sweet boredom and quiet.

Bloody Hell. Seems I've been on this site for almost a decade.

Eh, the fun flies while you're doing time I suppose.

The entire dubbed english version of episode 1 us available for two weeks at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMlm.....ayer_embedded# .
The episode is available from Amazon on blu-ray as well. There are supposed to be 12 episodes so far.

Enjoy!

Except this time not on a sanity hiatus or assignment. Will be having a spot of surgery to fix a wonky heart valve so I'm going to be away for a couple weeks or so.

Have fun and see all of you in a bit.

Stolen blatantly from CooperVulpaw, done out of boredom.


1. You can ONLY answer Yes or No .

2. You are NOT ALLOWED to explain ANYTHING unless someone messages/comments you and asks. And believe me, the temptation to explain some of these will be overwhelming... things are not exactly as they seem.

3. It is harder than it looks, but NO explanations !!! You will want to... but don't!!!

Kissed any one of your Facebook friends? ---No
Been arrested? ---Yes
Kissed someone you didn't like? ---No
Slept in until 5 PM? --- Yes
Fallen asleep at work/school? ---Yes
Ran a red light? ---Yes
Been suspended from school? ---Yes
Experienced love at first sight? ---Yes
Totalled your car in an accident? ---No
Been fired from a job? ---Yes
Fired somebody? ---Yes
Sang karaoke? ---No
Pointed a gun at someone? ---Yes
Done something you told yourself you wouldn't? ---Yes
Laughed until something you were drinking came out your nose? ---Yes
Caught a snowflake on your tongue? --- No
Kissed in the rain? ---Yes
Had a close brush with death (your own)? ---Yes
Seen someone die? ---Yes
Played spin-the-bottle? ---No
Sang in the shower? --- Yes
Smoked a cigar? ---Yes
Sat on a rooftop? --- Yes
Taken pictures of yourself naked? ---No
Been pushed into a pool with all your clothes? ---Yes
Skipped school? ---Yes
Eaten a bug? ---Yes
Sleepwalked? ---No
Walked a moonlit beach? ---No
Ridden a motorcycle? ---Yes
Dumped someone? ---Yes
Forgotten your anniversary? ---No
Lied to avoid a ticket? ---No
Ridden on a helicopter? ---Yes
Shaved your head? ---No
Blacked out from drinking? ---Yes
Played a prank on someone? --- Yes
Hit a home run? ---No
Felt like killing someone? ---Yes
Cross-dressed? ---No
Been falling-down drunk? ---Yes
Made your girlfriend/boyfriend cry? ---Yes
Eaten snake? --- Yes
Marched/Protested? ---No
Had Mexican jumping beans for pets? ---Yes
Puked on amusement ride? ---No
Seriously & intentionally boycotted something? ---Yes
Been in a band? --- No
Knitted? ---Yes
Been on TV? ---Yes
Shot a gun? ---Yes
Skinny-dipped? ---Yes
Caused someone to need stitches? ---Yes
Ridden a surfboard? ---No
Drank straight from a liquor bottle? ---Yes
Had surgery? --- Yes
Streaked? ---No
Taken by ambulance to hospital? ---Yes
Passed out when not drinking? ---Yes
Peed on a bush? --- Yes
Donated Blood? ---Yes
Grabbed electric fence? ---No
Eaten alligator meat? ---Yes
Eaten cheesecake? ---Yes
Eaten kids' Halloween candy? ---Yes
Killed an animal when not hunting? ---No
Peed your pants in public? ---Yes
Written graffiti? ---No
Still love someone you shouldn't? ---No
Think about the future? ---No
Been in handcuffs? ---Yes
Believe in love? ---Yes
Sleep on a certain side of the bed? ---Yes