Friday Cats Blogging

Friday.

I left the house with the dog and I am going with the idea that it is Thursday, that it must be Thursday, but Thursday is take-the-bins-to-the-curb-day and it was 6pm on the day I have spent all day working on was Thursday and there was not a single bin on the curb.

This was very disturbing! Normally, but this time they're lined up on the curb like little soldiers! Not a one, not a bin. Now I'm wondering what day it is, is it really Wednesday , still? I mean, really? Could it still be Wednesday? how many Wednesdays do we have in a week? No, it has to be Thursday. All my TV comes on Thursday. Literally, almost everything I watch currently, comes on Thursday. Its insane. Thank Gawd for my DVR.

I think I am going to get the cat carrier thing for Tiny. I don't know if I can pull off wear him to work but I would like to wear him to the store or just around the house. People get really excited when they see a cat in public, its s surprise, a pop of cat. It makes me happy. I want to make people happy with my surprise cat. Also, he could be a my emotional support pet, I think I need one and he is small and easy to take places. Cats are much more portable that dogs, especially a 74 pound dog - I mean, he's wonderful and all but he does not lend himself to a hands free lifestyle. I can't really strap him to my chest and boogie on.

I will have to think about this.

Wednesday

I took Rocket downtown for his walk and , tonight, two days before the official start of Wide Open Bluegrass, there were all ready three bands banding around! They are everywhere. In a couple of days there will be mandolins everywhere, big basses in the way and I will be way over pretty much everything from the Oh, Brother Where Art Thou sound track.  In a couple of days Rocket will be in a couple of bands.

Its a fun weekend though, the crowd is friendly and the music is pleasant. There is a neat festival attached to it and so there are things to look at as well as to listen to. There are lots of bands to watch and many tiny children in family bands wailing on instruments to make any adult feel completely useless in comparison.

Why is all the TV on Thursday night? There is shit all on the rest of the week and they load THirsday night up like there is a rule about not having anything on on any other night. Brooklyn 99 is on Tuesdays, so there is a show that is not on Thursdays but that is an outlier.

I;m going to have to remember what I changed my Netflix password to. I had to change it the other night after I got an email from them telling me I changed it. I hadn't changed it. Someone else did. So when I should have been getting ready for bed I was on hold with Netflix trying to get the whole thing straightened out, its taken care of, the evil doers got locked out, mt account is safe and I got a new password and that I've already forgotten what it was.

Wednesday

You know what would be nice? If I could bring a cat to work with me every day. Probably Tiny kitty, because he is very small and friendly and portable.

The news just does not get better. The stress does not get  less hard, the anxiety doesn't get less constant. What the world and I need these days is more cats at work. Or more of my cats at work, I'm not sure how I feel about rando cats at work, I mean other than the rando cats that may or may not be present outside. I haven't seem cats outside but I have seen woodchucks. I am not sure how woodchucks would feel about moving inside and being office pets, I don't think they would like being in a clover free environment.

I think my cat or cats depending on how Big Cat feels on a given day, are very well suited for being workplace cats and I think they should come to work with me daily. I could keep their box in the empty room we use as a  food room when there is food - rarely, and on those rare occasions when there is food in that room, I could move it into the hallway nook. Its an old building, we have nooks.

I have thought about this at length. I also saw a picture of a cat in a snuggie online and I know it can be done and it  was a large cat in a snuggie so I know that a small cat in a snuggie is absolutely doable. I think I should get a doctors note saying I need a cat snuggie actually, I think if more people had doctors notes for cat snuggies there would be less people on tranquilizers and possibly, fewer people on pain killers. Cat snuggies can save America, empty the shelters and possibly bring down 45.

Little know fact. Lime flavored jello tastes like lime flavored jello. Even when mixed with whipped topping, it does not make it taste less like lime jello or turn it into something on a higher plain. It is still lime jello and it is gross.

Tuesday

Another day another outrage to deal with.Instead of being. Did you know that Russia is still a thing? It is, they tried to break into 40 states electoral systems. 40. The Kremlin put 45 in office, I do not actually believe that 53% of women voted for him, I think that was just a very insulting figure that they came up with and decided to go with. I do not believe that 53% of all women voted for him - to make it all so much worse. His creepy son-in-law used a private email server to do government work and yet the media isn't exploding LOCK HIM UP.

Mueller MOVE FASTER

Did you know that 45 has not done thing one for Puerto Rico? He has tweeted 18 times about his  ridiculous NFL tantrum but only one time about three million Americans dying and drowning . We have an entire aircraft carrier standing by for such humanitarian emergencies and it only awaits his orders to go to their aid, it sits at port. COuld it be that he does not know that Puerto Rico is America? or is it that they have no Electoral votes? Or that they went for Rubio when they voted? Could he be that small? Is it because they are Hispanic? Could he be that much of a Racist?

He hates brown people. He hates hispanic peoples. He doesn't understand that they are actual Americans. He is mad at the Football players for daring to be both Black and rich, he most definitely can be mad at the Puerto Ricans for being Hispanic and American citizens.

I watched enough of the Cowboys game to watch them and Jerry "I fired every coach they ever had" Jones wuss out and kneel before the DODs display. It was pointless and made light of the whole point of the protest and I hate him very hard. He fired Tom Laundry, he has no soul and now we all know he carries water for 45.

I hope they lose the game, they lost yuge last week - Karma? and there is no reason for them not to lose this week, they are creatures of habit. I know them well.

Monday

What a lovely weekend! I went to the mall Friday night - lost my car in the parking garage, not very lovely that, but I did find it and then I rewarded myself with  a trip to Krispy Kreme and two very nice donuts.

Saturday, after many naps and cuddles with the animals, I went to Alphagals and Broskeys to give Niece her birthday gift and her annual birthday angel and that was fun.  The birthday Angel was still in terrific shape and still holding a teeny, tiny needle in her teeny, tiny hand - which is amazing considering I got the angel for my birthday in 1979 and its been sitting in a box for God only knows how many years.

Sunday, I went to Church and napped and cuddled with the animals all day.

I watched some football because that is now that is now an act of Resistance. I might watch Monday night football wearing my pink kitty hat . It is so much easier that having to leave the house and go somewhere and do something. Imagine what he is going to attack when the indictments start coming down... Motherhood? Puppies? Cat videos?

Friday Cat Blogging

TGIF

The best thing I did yesterday was settle on a dog costume. It wasn't like I didn't have options. I could have gone with the seal - I think I could have done that, if I had any sewing skills or if what a weim looked like in the water was common knowledge, which I will admit, it is not , more's the pity- because it would have been awesome. I also kind of liked the DIY options, even though I really didn't want to DIY anything. I also was warming up to the baby elephant option because it would have been really easy  and super cute once Rocket warmed up to the trunk. Here is a rough, early version

I think with some more work, that this could have eventually have worked.

Instead, I went with a store bought non-elephant. Sigh.

Postal

As it turns out, there was a reason I left my package at home and didn't make it to the post office at lunch like I had wanted to - I couldn't have done the post office yesterday and gotten my cat food and eaten lunch as planned. As it turns out, over the lunch hour the post office is even less staffed then it is during regular business hours and there would have been no way to ne as efficient as I had hoped.

I arrived today before high noon - a good thing, but there were already two women in line ahead of me. There was one (1) window open. The clerk at the window was carrying on a long, involved NON-POSTAL business related conversation with the woman at the window. And it went on and on and on and finally, after what seemed like hours - it was hard to tell because there are no clocks in the post office - they decided to talk later - presumably at her window, with a big line behind her and she moved on to the next in line.

Good Lord.

This lady wanted to change her address  - which is one set of forms that had to be dug up for her to fill out, but no, she didn't want these forms  because  but not really, she no longer lived at the address but she wanted her mail to still go there - because her sister still lived at the address and it was alright with her to get the families mail, but the lady didn't like the mail facilities at the apartment, so maybe she didn't want her mail there, there was an issue with the badly maintained boxes -Now were they maintained by the apartments or the Post Office? Well blah, blah, blah... maybe she wanted general delivery that goes to the post office? So that was yet another stack of forms because everyone's addresses needed to be changed, but well, what about getting a PO box?

More forms. And then all the while complaining about the service she received at some other post office that had most likely asked the specifics about what exactly she wanted instead of letting her shop for post office offerings like she was a buffet.

There were by this time, a lot of people in line!

I had one thing to mail. My old post office had a mailing machine a scale and card scanner with a box in it in the lobby. It weighed things for you and gave you a sticker for it. You dumped it in the box and you were gone. So nice. I think it could also sell you stamps.

I all but through my package at her and was out the door. I did get my lunch but just. Not really efficient.

Halloween is coming.

I had two errands to run at lunch today and could have in theory ran them both, they were in the same neighborhood, first errand was fine, went quickly, second errand could have been a slam dunk and I could have still managed lunch - However, I left second errand at home. In my imagination I was very efficient and got a lot done.

It was there, at the door, ready to go in the morning as I was walking out the door, but I had to take the dog with me and I couldn't organize picking up package and dealing with dog at the same time. Maybe it was for the best, I was able to have a more leisurely lunch.

So, tomorrow I tackle the post office at lunch. I will be doing all my errands at lunch from here on out, we start to lose daylight very soon and after work I will have to  get dinner thawing and the dog out the door as soon as I walk in the door. This is not my favorite time of year.

Today I was very mean to dog. I had him in daycare today and I still took him on a walk! Normally, I give him a day off but I forgot he was at daycare (I know! I know! I had other things to think about!) and I just went and it didn't take long to see that he was a little be tired. He did just go to daycare and the more often he goes, the less  wiped he is when he comes back, so I think he's going to survive his day of  extra activity.

 besides, he peed his floor on Monday , so if his "punishment" is spending  the next day at daycare and then getting a long walk, well, I hope he has learned his lessen. Hopefully tomorrow he will sleep all day.

Speaking of the dog. How do we feel about him going as a seal? He's the right color, he looks a little like a seal already, kind of, in the water especially. I think I need to lok at more seal images though. I did find a couple of doggy seal costumes but they were too constraining.

This is actually the inspiration seal. It clearly has issues, but it also has solutions. I think this is where I am going to start with his seal costume. Great  a big gray sweat suit. I'm going to need  flippers though.

Monday

The calendar says almost fall, a week or so ago it felt fall, my tree is dropping leaves, the stores are full of halloween and thanksgiving merch and some have Christmas stuff too.

I had to shave again. I was all excited about wearing leggings and long skirts and pants again and then it got hot and I had to shave again and that is such a drag. I was all ready to not have to do that again. It's one for the upsides about winter - I don't have to mow the yard or my legs for  the foreseeable future

But ya know what? Its shorts weather again. Hello, Ms. Razer.  Its hot! I went to Sparkcon over the weekend , it was fun and there seems to be a lot of smart things to do if you wanted to go do smart things in the heat. I could have had a poem written on demand but it required I wait in a line and I wasn't willing to do that in the heat. I also hit Bugfest and if I was a "friend of the museum" I could have eaten a really interesting bug buffet, but I am not a friend of the museum and the buffet was another very long line in the heat.

Also? They were running out of butterfly wings and were only (selfishly) handing them out to children, the crowd was full of adults  with butterly wings but once I get there all of a sudden they are just for kids - Sucks for me! Actually, sucks for my dog, I still haven't found a costume for him and I kind of thought that maybe he could be a butterfly?

There is nothing out there! In other years there has been so much, so many really cool costumes in the stores but this year there is like nothing, there are only a handful of choices and most of those are for little dogs or even for cats, there are better cat costumes in the stores than there are for dogs. That is where out culture is right now. We have fallen through the mirror.

69th Annual Emmy Awards

Cant do time stamps because I got a late start.

Best Supporting Actor Drama- John Lithgow, The Crown

Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series - Kate McKinnon, SNL

Best Actress in a Mini Series - Laura Dern, Big Little Lies

Best Directing in a Comedy Series - Donald Glover,  Atlanta

Best Variety Sketch Series - SNL

Best Writing in a Drama Series - Bruce Miller, Handmaids Tale

Best Supporting Actor in a  Comedy Series - Alec Baldwin, SNL

Best Directing in a Mini Series - Big Little Lies

Best Supporting Actor in a Mini Series - Alexander Skarsgaard, Big Little Lies

Best Writing for a Variety Series - Last Week Tonight with John Oliver

Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series - Ann Dowd , Handmaids Tail

Best Writing Comedy Series - Master of None

Best Reality Show - The Voice

Best Director Drama Series - The Handmaids Tale

Best  Writing Mini Series -  The Black Mirror

Best Director  Variety Series - SNL

Best Variety Talk Series -   Last Week Tonight With John Oliver

Best Actor in a Comedy - Donald Glover, Atanta

Best Actress in a Comedy - Julia Louie Dreyfus , Veep

Best Comedy - Veep

Best Actor in Mini Series - Riz  Ahmed, The Night Of

Best Actress in a Mini Series - Nichole Kidman, Big Little Lies

Best Made for TV Movie -  Black Mirror

Best Mini Series - Big Little Lies

Best Actor Drama Series - Sterling K. Brown,  This is us

Best  Actress Drama Series - Elizabeth Moss, Handmaids Tale

Best Drama Series - The Handmaids Tale

Friday Cats Blogging

Ms. Clean

There is no entry for today because I am expecting  new windows to be installed on Friday so I am running around cleaning the spaces up and preparing them for the installers so they don't judge me too harshly when they see them. 

Lost

This morning I drove to work. To drive to work you must have the means to start your car, and I did, I was successful here. I drove to work, I turned off the car; I went to work and I worked. Finally, it was lunch time. I went back out to my car - I do have to say, I pulled out my keys while I was walking to my car, and while I was walking out to my car I looked at my keys and said "Why do they look different? What is different about these keys?" . Lalala. I'm going to go buy a new lidded cat box. Lalalala

I used the fob to get into the car and then I tried to start the car. And I learned what was different about my keys : My car key was missing. Also my church key. How was my car key missing! I got to work this morning! God Damn It. This is not happening!

My huge, fat car key was not on my key ring. It had somehow managed to escape from the ring. I looked to my purse, where it had spent the morning. Not in the purse. This was not possible. I  looked around the car, maybe it fell out next to the car. It did not fall out next to the car. I retraced my steps from the morning, maybe it was in the parking lot. It was not. Maybe it had been but the rain had washed it into one of the massive Victorian drainage  pits in the lot? Did one of the many gackles take it because it was shiney? WHERE IS MY KEY!!!???

I went back to my office and checked the rest of my route and the floor of my office. Not there. FUUUUCCCKKKKKK

I went back to my car still searching the ground, and searched for my extra key. I had thought it could be used to drive the car. Foolish girl, it can not. Its not like that, its fancy, it will open doors but not the ignition - I now thought the battery was dead and came  very close to calling AAA to jump the car.  So not only have I lost my key, my battery is dead. Kill me now. REally, this is perfect and this is my week to get play Mail Girl  and now I'm going to have to walk to the other building. Super awesome! Maybe it won't be raining.

I call my parents. Because the white flag is all I have left. No answers there either.

I go back to my office in defeat. The text to my brother asking for help is in progress when a co-worker walks into my office WITH MY KEY. She found it outside or in hallway , she doesn't remember. How long has she had it?  Doesn't matter, so haaapppppyyyy to have it back! Thannnkkk yyyoooouuuu co-worker!!!! Love You!!!!!

My battery is not dead. Later, I found my church key too, in another parking lot, a week after I was last in that lot.

Tuesday

Oh, its fall now. It became fall on Sunday. I had to wear a sweater to church and it wasn't because it cute and I wanted to wear it, like I wore a sweater to work on Friday. Sunday it was legit cold and I wore a sweater and I wished I was wearing a shirt underneath it because it was cold.

Welcome to fall. I want to buy a autumnal wreath for my door! I feel like buying a pumpkin, even though its only going to rot and get gross, I want to buy the dog a halloween costume like rightnow! I want to watch football!

Yay fall. I can officially start working on my Christmas card layout and I can start beating myself up about Dog Cookies and not being further along with the process with them.

The good thing about the fall is that I now can solve the problem about What To Wear To My Highschool Reunion - I was very concerned about this. But now that it is fall, all has been come clear: Leggings, boots and Sweater-y- tunic-y things. Solved.

Still waiting for Irma to get here. We have gotten rain here and there and some wind with it, but not very much. We have been told to expect more but I'm hoping it will tire itself out. I was watching Beachfront Bargain Hunt last night and they were trying to be sensitive to the whole massive losses in the Caribbean and Florida- their happy hunting grounds from Beach Front mini mansions and over priced condos -  so pretty much the only beach front they could show in good conscience  was Oak Island, NC. Back to back. Wheee. I expect a resurgence in  shows about Lake Front Bargain Hunts and more episodes featuring  beach front further up the Atlantic coast into Canada and maybe along the Great Lakes and  maybe in Europe.

Its good to be sensitive. Also destroyed homes, smashed business, broken palm trees and  bays full of sunken yachts don't say "Come here for vaca! Spend Money Here! Oh the Memories! Sooo Sexy! What Fun!".

There will be some great real estate deals for the deep pocketed though.

I knew a couple of people in Tampa, a cousin and his family and a guy from High School. Both decided to be hardcore and stay and Stand the Storm. They both got lucky. Very, very lucky. They should be careful crossing streets, drinking diet soda and eating fish with small bones from here on out.

So now we wait. With North Carolina's luck, it will have gotten some rest and will be ready to hit the ground running and we;ll get nailed. I'll lose power and end up with five feet of water in my basement - which, my insurance will not pay for since its now because of : A) no longer a named hurricane and I'm sure we are B) no longer under a State of Emergency , C) the company will no long recognize it as anything more than a rain storm and D) I will be SOL.


I also now have to find a birthday gift for an eleven year old girl. I asked her what she wanted and she wanted a gaming console and I told her that I don't do brain rot and asked her top substitute a non-brain rotting alternative and she gave me  the name of a book series -, like the entire book series she was reading and I was like "That sounds interesting" while I was thinking I've never heard of it and so No. I think I'd rather get her a gift card at Claire's, $25 could buy half the store. Its cheap crap, but she's eleven and they like cheap crap at that age, they don't identify it as crap, they identify it has stuff they like.  Now I just have to figure out where the Clairs is.

Weekend.

And so there isn't a real entry today because I did a big bunch of nothing this weekend. I went by Sparkcon, but I am way too old for it and the music was too loud and I was unimpressed. And Sunday when I would have been writing a re-hash of the nothing I did, I was a at a family birthday. So I really had no time to write about how much nothing I did this weekend. I did mow both lawns and walk the dog. And go to church and I did manage to go to the store. But that was my weekend it in its entirety.

I watched a lot of hurricane coverage, my cousin and a couple of other people I know are in Tampa and I kept waiting for bad news out of there but fortunately,  at this time, just rain news out of Tampa, thank God. MY old, old neighbors from across the street ended up in Florida, but got the hell out and are staying in their house across the street, they called the renters and told them the Land Lords were coming Home. It was nice to see them again, and their weim.

And today is September 11. Lest we forget. The day it became Important it was a Tuesday.

Friday Cats Blogging

TGIF

The back of my car looks like Santa's Worst Case Scenario Sled.

I have a case of 32oz water, a case of toilet paper, emergency chips,  a Sams club box of popcorn, two boxes of cat dust,  a box of  potty pads for the dog, two different kinds of protean bars, cans of tuna, and batteries that as it turns out, don't fit my extant flash lights. They just seemed like a good idea at the time and were the largest batteries they still had.

Maybe I can barter them for ones that do.

In the house I have found candles, matches, and hurricane lamps with a bottle of oil. My memory of them is that get very hot very fast though, so maybe limited use. I brought up my baby grill and my charcoal - not that I have anything to grill, I have dutifully used up everything in my freezer. I do have some nice soup though. I bet I can heat up soup in a pan though, on the grill? When the flames are gone? Probably should not have been so fast to recycle my old papers today, perhaps I will go back and rescue them to use as kindling.

Or...

Or I am freaking out over nothing. The storm won't come here hard. But. Tomorrow at lunch I'm getting cash out, just in case.

More To Do

Today I accomplished:

- Water getting
- paper tableware, plates, bowls, plastic ware getting, you don't think about this stuff, but you need them.
- chips!
- buncha canned tuna , protean that doesn't need to be cooked to be eaten.
- much toilet paper

Next on the list is a trip to Sam's for box of protein bars and more cat dust.I also have to remember to go to Target and pick up the dogs meds, speaking of the animals -  I don't think the animals are going to need more food, I think they are covered for at least the time being and moving forward. I need to get cash and wash everything that needs to be washed. Load the dishwasher, do the laundry clean the house. I also need to get cash.

As we get closer, I need to get the outdoor stuff out of the way, put the chairs away, turn the table over, take the wind chimes in, throw out the dead hanging baskets

Note to self

- Bring the grill to safety
- find the charcole
- find the lighter fluid
-clean out the cooler
- get gas for the generator
-get generator out of basement
-get extension cords out of shed
-mow yards


Tonight I attended a fundraiser for Houston hurricane victims, I spent most of the time scanning my phone for new information about the hurricane threatening my state. The irony was not lost on me.

Trying to think ahead.

And so apparently, I should be doing something. I should be taking care of the large blue tarp that's taking up space on the floor of my basement, I need to at least not have it on the very likely soon to be wet floor. I need to fold it up and put it somewhere I can grab it and use it for whatever I bought it for originally. Also is a bitch to deal with when it is wet. Been there, done that, should have learned that lesson already.

I should get whatever I want out of the basement now while I can do it at my leisure, while I have time to think about it and I don't have to wade to rescue things. I don't have much down there anymore of much value , so is not a long list. I can't move my water heater or the washer and dryer to higher ground. I can unplug the freezer, maybe put some weights in it to keep it stationary - but maybe if it floats it will stay more out of the water? Tool chest needs to move upstairs!

I grabbed the nice cooler and took it outside to be cleaned out because, WOW it needs to be cleaned out, I put the tarp on top of the freezer and the folded up wooden clothes hanger on top of it, I moved the tiny wet dry vac to a high spot. The tool chest is safe upstairs in the livingroom.

Speaking of  the upstairs, Maybe I should also start thinking about the upstairs? Can I move my couch up to the top of the "coffee tables" will they hold the weight? should I move the chaise to the diningroom table? What of the books? I need to remind myself I have photo albums that would need to be moved upstairs.

I don't think I'm going to need to go to those extremes but I think its important to have a plan in mind, now that I am dry and there is no clock running.  What of the TV? The art? My clothes? Those people in Houston didn't live in areas that flooded either.

It is not helping my frame of mind that it is raining. I have bad rain memories attached to rain, I keep going to the basement to check it. I keep looking at the water heater to see how it is. It is fine. This is not it, it is not for a while yet, but I want to be  r e a d y or at least as close to not thoroughly  unprepared as I can get. You are never prepared for these.

Its important to be three steps ahead, to be able to think clearly and quickly when your feet are wet, this is not a time to be making choices, your choices need to already have been made. I need to get batteries, I need to get candles - even though I do not remember my last long period of no power as being a time when candles were useful to me. Flashlights would be more useful if they glowed in the dark.

Friday Cats Blogging

TGIF

Today I had the yesterday I had hoped for.

I came home, ecstatic . And  then put the futon back together, the dog had used it as a chew toy again.

To make it up to myself, I bought myself a milkshake, tickets to my thirty year reunion and a DVD with three Bill Murray movies.

I also made donations to Harvey charities. That could be me, that has been me, it could be me again. I know a little about what they are feeling and what they are going to have to do in the coming days and weeks. Its not fun and it will be awful and most of them do not have insurance - they need all the help they can possibly get. I made one to a pet charity in Austin that is rescuing pets from the flooding, one to a people charity through Facebook and I bought tickets to a dinner thing next week at a bar downtown that is buying diapers to send to the area.

Go forth and donate, its a long weekend, think about how much you enjoy going to the john in your own bathroom, taking hot showers in your own shower and eating food of your choice, in your house. And then go to bed in your bed, wearing your clothes. In privacy.