Decompressing

Sorry for the lack of updates as of late.

I've been spending most of my "blogging" energies on my other blog.
Still, even that has suffered, since my job and the whole menagerie here have been punching my time-clock pretty hard.

Normally, I steal some moments on a lunch break or late night when everyone (and everything) is (hopefully) asleep, and I quickly mash some laptop keyboard in a rough approximation of the English language just so I can have something "posted".

There's no time for fancy things like "drafts" or "cohesive thought".
It's just a smash-and-grab of bits of time and synaptic misfires.

Presented as-is to the world in all their "glory".

Good thing I'm keeping (fairly) anonymous in all of these endeavors.
My old English professors (who saw SUCH potential for wonderful writing within me) would be aghast.

Anyway, here's a brief mind-dump of the current status here since the last write-up:

- SPANKY is feelin' fine! He's on his meds as well as Hill's Prescription Diet l/d and he's showing no untoward signs of his liver disorder. The Hill's food is affecting him (positively, I think). So, I need to get a new measure for his lactulose dosage. It all depends on how his poop looks.

Soft and amorphous is OK. Soft and poop-shaped is best. Too hard or too liquidy are the far ends of the "bad" spectrum. He's currently moving from "amorphous" to "poop-shaped", but it's a slow transition, what with the food factor being new and all.

He's still in the bathroom "apartment" during the day.
After his 5 days of recuperation after his neutering surgery, we have been having him in the same bedroom with BUDDY, where I sleep with the two of them and try to keep them from playing too roughly. However, during the day-time, while I am otherwise preoccupied with work, and can't always hear the subtle sounds of cats mauling each other in play, would make it better to have them separate until such time as;
- they get reacquainted and civil with one another
- the full-moon phase is completely passed.

The full moon affects ALL of our "kids" in weird and frightening ways.
The levels of aggression, freneticism (if it isn't a word, I'm coining it now), appetite, sleep patterns and all-around behavior-traits are all ramped up to 'roided-out levels.
Actually affecting them a few days prior, during and just after the moon waxes full, my wife calls them "full-moon kitties" at that point on the lunar calendar.
(I think "luna-kits" is more punny, but then again, I only JUST thought of that.)
Once the phase is fully passed, they "crash" into mellow balls of fluff. As if waking from a lost-weekend bender, it's all they can do to just stay awake and blink their eyes.


- BUDDY is suffering a little from his allergies the past few days, eyes watery and sneezing snortfulls of "shnots" now and again (when agitated).

It's understandable though. The weather can not seem to make up it's mind:
Warm, cool, freezing, snow, rain, sun... all in a week!
Plus there are a TON of fallen leaves out there - adding to the pollen levels. Normally, at this time of year I have the leaves all raked into a giant pile, tat I cover with a tarp and I burn big bushels of it on spare days before the snow falls.
This year I haven't touched a one.
It's just been too crazy.

I will have to blow them into the woods this year.
No time for neat piles or burning. As it is, I usually have a decent sized pile left over after it snows which sits under it's tarp, waiting for spring for me to finish the job.
(Living in the woods, we have a LOT of leaves.)
I'm not doing that this year.

When it STOPS RAINING (it always seems to know when I have out-of-doors work to do and foils my attempts with random acts of precipitation), then I'll get the leaf-blower and send them all into the forest. It's not my preferred method of dealing with the situation, but sadly, it's all I'll have time for this year.


- CISSY (our only girl) hasn't had an asthma attack in a month or so... so she's about due.
We have to stay on heightened alert for the faintest sound of her breathing becoming distressed. I don't have asthma, but I did have a short bout with it last summer.
I couldn't breathe - at. all. A vice-like grip on my chest, my bronchial system being shuttered off, trying desperately to get one. good. breath.
The first time I felt that, it was sobering.
I had to go to the doctor for a quick visit, and an inhaler (thankfully, only needed for those few days), but it was enough to give me the depth of what it is that she (and all asthmatics) go through. Empathy is a strong link to making things better for those around us, and that was all I needed to know that when Cissy starts to wheeze, I'm not taking a "wait and see" attitude.
She quickly gets a regimen of prednisolone (not prednosone) or a depo-shot if the vet is open.

Right now she's watching the outdoors cats play in one of the many homes and shelters we built for them. This one being on the deck under one of the big windows (adjacent to the one that was just replaced).


- ABBOTT is blissfully sleeping. The big, black, beautiful "bear". It's all he wants out of life. A perch or pillow to sleep on, is his primary need. Sure, he likes some affection now and again, the occasional treat and/or play-time and someone to clean out the litter-box (they ALL pitch a fit when the litter boxes are used. Each of them have bathroom-"issues" and can't stand to have anything in the boxes for more than a few moments). But all he really craves is a snuggly place to hibernate.


- My wife ("the pussycat") is putting in crazy amounts of time at her job lately.
After having lost a ton of hours previously, it's a welcome change for the finances, but I'd be lying if I didn't say, that as grateful as I am to have her working, I do miss having her around.
Not just to help take care of these crazed beasts of ours, but just for the company.
I'm a loner by nature, but there's a difference between being ALONE with oneself and one's thoughts, and "alone" with kids or cats-with-children-like-problems.

I 'm getting that "hermit" feeling. Not speaking with adults (or humans for that matter, instead carrying on conversations for both myself AND the cats) is giving me the equivalent of "stay-at-home-mom" syndrome.

Our 2nd car is most likely dead for good this time.
Sadly, I was up for a p/t weekend job, but it was wholly dependent upon my using the "good" car on that day (since the gig would entail a lot of driving in adverse road conditions in all types of weather), and my wife using the 2nd car to drive to work should she have to do so.
But only one car = no 2nd gig for me.
Instead, I'll focus on getting the eBay store up in full gear.

(look for a link to that here soon)

My real job is picking up a lot of steam.
I've been getting more quick turn-around requests and that's fine.
The busier I am the better it is for the job security (or so I'm told).


To that end. My lunch-break over, I gotta get back.