cats

Lazy Days Of Summer.

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Zoey Napping

Sophie In Her Catstand

I love the summertime. I love the weather, I love the clothing, I love going out, staying out with friends. 

Today was an extra warm day for those of us in California.  Certainly not “hot” by South and East Coast standards, but hot for those of us whose blood has thinned because we don’t experience extreme temperature differences here near the coast in beautiful CA.

Anyway, the cats have been lying around all day… lethargic.  Here are a few pictures I snapped of them living it up here in Sunny CA!  And even though I’m being just as lazy, I did not take a pic of me…

Sophie is Missing Again.

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Sophie has gone missing again.  I knew spending 3 weeks out-of-town would be tough on her….  I thought that having a cat sitter would help alleviate her anxiety.   I know she is a cat, but she loves/craves/needs human attention/affection.  She needs it more than most humans I know.  She is such a love bird.

I recieved a message on Wednesday about Sophie from a total stranger.  This woman, Monica, called to let me know that Sophie had been “found” …. that she had taken Sophie into her home.  She called at midnight EST so I wasn’t able to respond until Thursday (3 hour time difference)..  I called her immediately.  I thought we lived only a few houses apart…. I told her to just let Sophie go, that she would find her way home.  She left me a message stating she let Sophie go Thursday eve, but Sophie has not shown up at the house as of yet.   I’ve called Monica a few times, left messages, and she has not responded.  The cat sitter, bless her heart, has gone above and beyond to find her….    to no avail.  Sophie has been gone for 2 nights now, Thursday night, if she doesn’t show up, is her 3rd night away from the house.

I’m beside myself. My heart hurts..  I feel so stressed and helpless about being so far away and not being able to do anthing.  My life is taking forever to progress.. minutes feel like hours.. I’m not focused on anything but finding Sophie….  I’m also overwhelmed by the fact that when I finally do get home, I can’t do anything until Monday (SPCA doesn’t “do” lost and found on Saturday)…. I’m not functioning well…  I thought I was stronger than this, but I guess I’m not.  I’m at the end of my rope.. I’ve got nothing left to give.  This event has pushed me over the edge.

I’ve taken a full ambien so I can sleep tonight.  One more day of training and 8 hours of travel… then I can be home to whistle for Sophie…. I hope it isn’t too late.

Here are the links to her first MIA and our renion.

Found the Mouse.

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This is an update to a previous post, Mouse in Hiding. 

The mice were found by a GE repairman, named Willy, when he came to replace the washing machine control board. 

After I escorted Willy to the laundry room, I went to the dining room to get back to work.   I could hear his electric screwdriver taking out screws to the top and front panels.  I heard a few moving around noises,  then an “Ugghhh”, then a “Ms.”….. ” “Ms…?”  I went into the laundry room, and here is what I found:

It became instantly clear why a) the laundry room smelled so bad, b)  I couldn’t find the mouse, and c) the washing machine broke.  The mice had short circuited the master control panel of the washing machine.  They literally, had fried, were electricuted by the washer.  😦

I was mortified.  The only thing I could think to do is take a picture (the one you see here), take a video (which I cannot get working), and avoid eye contact with Willy.  I asked him if he had ever seen anything like this.  His response:   “No.  Never.”.    He took off the control board and replaced it with a new one. However,  the new one he brought with him was defective so he needed to put the original one back in.  He then asked me to do something I never thought I would ever have to do – He asked me to clean up the original control board. 

I had to scrape the mice off the control board, pick off all the fried hair and skin, then brush the board with a toothbush, gently, so I did not destroy the pieces and gadgets on the control board.  It was SO GROSS and it smelled really bad.  Really bad.  Really really bad.  It took me about 20 minutes to clean the control panel.  I worked in silence, both of us not knowing what to say to one another.   Willy finally said it was clean enough to put it back into the washer.  He took it from me,  re-installed the control panel, put the top and front panels back on, then gave me a bit of advice on how to work with GE to get the part (on backorder) and installed BEFORE the warranty expired.

This story goes on and on, dealing with GE’s customer service folks is a story all in of itself.   I will write about this later. There seem to be a lot of very bad Customer Service Reps out there.. but there are a few good ones.    I have stories of both.

Friends, Coons, and Cats.

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Hello friends.

Last week was just absolutely crazy.  There was something going on every single day/evening..  I usually keep to myself, would be considered a shut-in if I didn’t have to go to work everyday….

My dearest friend from Paris was in town with her boyfriend and his daughters.  I had so much fun with them, but boy my friend runs a tight ship.  She had the family doing something every day – it reminded me of my family trips way back when…   a story for another time.    They family left on Wednesday, heading for Southern California (where you can actually get in the water without a wetsuit) and good ol’ Las Vegas (you have to see it at least once!).

In addition, Zoey cut her foot really badly and had to go to the hopital on Monday.  I woke up on Monday with blood all over the bed, and it wasn’t from me. Zoey was curled up next to my head, which is unusual…  when I got out of bed I saw all the blood.  I checked her out, and sure enough, she had a deep gash/cut on the back of her bony little foot.  She was so sad, the vet said it was very painful and they had to put her down, give her some anesthesia to fix her up.  She was a bit out of it last week, but she is back to her funny furry self now.

We also had a ‘coon problem ’round these parts.   A mother and baby pair of raccoons settled themselves into my attic – which would be fine with me if they weren’t so mean and hated cats so much.  The bad news is the mom raccoon was trapped and euthenized, the good news is the baby raccoon is being domesticated by a friend of the trapper.  I’ve just received an update, the baby is being hand fed and is eating everything that he/she is given.  Next step is to ‘get cuddly’ with the raccoon…   I can’t wait to get another progress report.

Not Just Your Regular Monday.

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Today was a tough Monday.  I have a lot to do at work, and 2 fewer days to get it done in – I’m taking vacation this week to visit family in Utah.   Knowing I had a lot to do, I went to bed early on Sunday evening.  And I never would have expected the Monday that I had.

First,  the cats were up very early this morning.  They were running around, chasing something.  I wanted to sleep so I put my eye pillow on and ear plugs in my ears….  and when I woke up at 7am, this is what I almost killed myeslf to NOT smash into the carpet.  Yes, you see correctly, a dead mouse. Apparently its been licked clean and was delivered at the foot of my bed with pride. 

It’s obvious it was  a great gift if soley based on the efforts of the two furry creatures that brought such a treasure to me.  The cats were exhausted from all their efforts.. here they are, sleeping. They did not stir once while I was getting ready for work.  Not at all.  They usually get up, get a bite to eat, then like to say good-bye to me.  Nope, not this morning.  It was as if they were saying “take your present, now keep it down”.

I went off to work without so much as a kiss, a lick, a look.  😦   Work was work, I’m learing a lot.  Its starting too feel not so overwhelming.  But like I’ve stated numerous times, there is a lot of work.  I end up working a bit late and eating a bag of chips for dinner.  I got home, fed the cats, got into my jammies, and started working again.

Spider In the HallwayIts been about 30 minutes, and the cats have just come into the house with another ‘prize’.  Alive.  They are/were chasing it around the house…  the poor thing has hidden itself somewhere safely and they are stalking it…. waiting for it to feel safe enough to come out, then WHAM!  In addition to this nonsense, the spiders are coming out (Spring/Summer in CA). To your left is what I found in the hallway, on my way to bed.  Yes, that is a QUARTER under the spider.  The thing is enormous.  I do not believe in killing anything, so the damn thing is still in the hall.  I’ve closed the bedroom door…. fingers crossed that it stays where it is now and doesn’t travel any closer to me…

So with a day like today, I’m going to hit the sack, and wish for a better, less active, furry day.  I need to get a good nights sleep – I have a LOT of work to do/finish up tomorrow!!

The Cat Cave.

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So, I’ve been far too busy with work AND most recently with alergies/sinuses.  All very unpleasant to talk about, so I’ve spent the last few weeks alone (because I’m not that intersting company these days).

Given this, I’ve enjoyed my “cave”. My cave is my entire home (since I don’t have to share).   We all know about this, the cave, the spot, the one place we can call our own, that we can be ourselves in.  Prior to my divorce, it was the guest room (otherwise known as the “red couch room”).  Now I have the whole house to myself.  🙂

The cats have also had the run of the house, but even though they are allowed in every room, I think they also want a place place they call home.  Its under a rose bush in the backyard.  They love hanging out there – it gives them privacy but also views of the “goings on” in the neighborhood.  

I noticed the cats love for this spot, as did a friend of mine.  Before his departure, he made sure that the cats would have room to rest in their “cat cave”…   I didn’t realize how nice it is FOR ME for the cats to have this space.. a place to call their own, a place I find them on a daily basis.  Attached is a picture of Zoey enjoying the shade of the roses on a warm summer day.

Work has been especially tough lately, and there isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t think of how lucky I am that a) there is a safe spot for the cats to call their own, and b) that I have friend that made it all happen without me asking.  What a treasure.

The New Job.

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 So, 3 full days into the new job, and so far so good.   Even after my 3rd day of getting up early, showering, getting dressed, and driving into work,  I’m still doing it with a smile on my face.  For me, this is proof positive that I’ve made the right decision. 

I have been learning about a whole new market segment as well as learning the ups and downs of the new products I will become intimately familiar with.  Its all very exciting and manageable.  And I can see how I can make money doing it.  Thats what I need, money, so I can by a little piece of California real estate.

So far, here is what I’m loving about the new company:

  • The People. All of the folks I’ve met so far are so nice.  Must be a requirement to work here…  This was the hardest part about leaving my old job…  Loved my co-workers.
  • The Company.  They fundamentally believe that their people are the most valuable asset and they back this up with great benefits and opportunity.  May seem small, but matching 401K and good health benefits make a big difference to me.
  • That I Get It.  That I understand what the products are about, the problems they are solving.  Product is pretty easy to learn and demo – ramp up time is one month. 
  • Learning Something New.  I’m learning a whole new market and industry.  Very cool.
  • Last but not least, Opportunity.  There is so much opportunity at this new company – they are growing in a healthy, defined way.  They are profitable. They have a healthy pipeline.  It’s mine to ruin.  I know I can make something happen for me…. my destiny is in my hands.

There is one bad thing about it though… the cats are very disappointed that I’m not home to take care of them.  They have been very needy when I have been home.  As a matter of fact, I’m typing this post up with a cat sprawled across my lap, one paw on the keyboard.  They like to eat at 4pm, I’ve not been home until after 6pm every night.  And I’m so tired that I’ve been eating dinner and then heading to bed… no going out for happy hours, much less drinking, but no exercise.

I will have to learn to find a balance – to make sure that I take care of myself and that the cats adjust…

Crazy Eye Killers.

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Funny story.  Its about the cats.

Today, I went to drop off some items to Goodwill.  I love to give back, recycle if you will.  I hate to see anything go to waste.   So, I’m at the Thrift Store, and I noticed they were having a 50% off sale on everything “used”.  My first thought was, “what in the Thrift Store is new?”…     But that really doesn’t matter (fyi – nothing that I could find)…

I decided to go in and get some of the “items” on my list (I’m a task/list master… I ALWAYS have a list of something).  I needed a few “cat blankets”.  I didnt want full blankets, but more something that the cats would like so they would get into their new heated beds (heating needed – the house I live in doesn’t have insulation… its brrrr cold).  So, I picked up a few “cat blankets”, which are really two very soft scarves, that I’ve washed and dried in catnip.  

Except now the cats are obsessed, going “crazy eyed killa” on me.  Their new beds are at the end of mine – so there here they sit, staring up at me, in their new beds.  I feel like I’m being stalked.  Their states certainly do put a smile on my face.  My cute little stalkers. 

When I find the camera I’ll take pictures.. you will LOVE it!  In the meantime, here is a picture of the adorable furry beasts that stalk me on a daily basis.

Sophie and Zoey