Saturday, September 18, 2010

Lazy on a Saturday

When Husband is out of town I lose all desire to leave the house. Not out of misery at being a bachelor girl for the weekend. I do get to spend time alone here during the week. But there's something special about having a weekend alone. Don't get me wrong, I miss him big time. (But I'm loving his coverage of the Monterey Jazz Festival. Check it out at Jazz Observer.)

I'm watching movies he would have no desire to see. Taking lot, hot baths. Eating junk food. Having a great time. Sure I can do all this while he's here, but there's an illicit pleasure in doing it while he's gone. Like I'm doing something wrong.

Cipher (The World's Most Amazing Cat, Screw You if You Don't Agree tm) misses him more than me. When Husband is gone she follows me around like "I let one of you out of my sight, I'm not letting the other one leave." She's currently sleeping on his side of the bed. And last night, at her usual play time, she brought me her favorite toy. It's a stick with little crinkly bits on it. The problem is she only wants to play with Husband. Apparently I don't do it right. I did my best, but she gave me a pityingly patient look that said "you loser" and would not bite. Then she did the cat equivalent of looking at her watch to figure out when Husband was going to be home. I find it amusing that I spend most of my week playing with cats who can't get enough of my attention yet my own cat refuses to play with me.

So while Husband is gone Cipher will have to put up with a second-rate player. And I'm indulging in an orgy of the British show Top Gear. I'm going to have popcorn for dinner. Cipher will have tuna (her favorite). And Husband will have a full day and night of amazing music.

Friday, September 17, 2010

Kitten update

It's been a while since I've updated you about things at the nursery.

We're in quarantine due to a possible positive test for feline leukemia and ringworm. The second leukemia test was negative, which is a good thing, but we're still keeping an eye out. Luckily the litter in question is thriving. Getting fat and happy and playing like crazy.

Because of the quarantine there are no litters in or out, so we've got the same full house we've had for the past two weeks. Everybody is doing great. Some should have been moved to adoption last week so they're huge and far more active than a little cage can hold. Their close to breaking out and we have to be extra careful about securing the cages because they can break out.

We're coming to the end of the season. Last year the nursery closed the first week in October. We'll probably shut down once this quarantine is over and the litters are moved to foster or adoption. And we've already broken our record for kittens. Last year we had 62. This year we had 86.

I'm going to miss the nursery when it shuts down. I'll go back to doing cats four days a week, but there's nothing like working with the kittens.

Next year we'll be in the shelter's new building with a separate nursery for the kittens, not just a small out-building. We'll be able to have more kennels and can save more kittens. I can't wait.

Husband, if you're reading this, thank you for making it possible for me to do what I love.

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Stupid f$#&@^g design
After 30+ hours I finally got some sleep (thank you Ambien)!.

Now, here's my crankypants rant for the day.

How hard is it to design a clock radio? My old faithful one died, mostly due to a certain cat (who shall remain nameless) knocking it off the nightstand in a repeated attempt to get fed at 3 am.

So I bought a new one. All I wanted was a clock radio. You chose a station, you set the time, the alarm goes on and off.

Well this one does all that. But it does it badly.

My biggest complaint is that the alarm on/off button is directly behind the volume knob. What idiot puts the most used feature on a product directly behind the least used feature? How often do you change the volume of your clock radio? How often do you turn it on and off? Plus the volume is controlled my a wheel so unless you reach around it, you're liable to turn the volume up to mach 2 in your sleepy stupor. And if you aren't careful while turning the alarm on at night, you might accidentally hit the wheel and turn the volume down to nothing so that you don't wake up.

Don't people think any more? This seems to be to be completely illogical. It's just annoying enough that, after about a month, I'm on the lookout for a new clock radio.

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

A Night Off From the Airwaves
I'm not on the radio tonight. I've been awake for something like 30 hours now and probably shouldn't get behind the wheel of a car. So I'm going to take an Ambien and sleep for the evening.

Yay!

Sunday, September 12, 2010

Things that are right with the world today...

It's the first full Sunday of the NFL season. Go Niners!

Yesterday the coolest in-laws on the planet (mine!) participated in the pro-Islamic demonstration in NYC. I am so proud of them for being on the side of tolerance, education, and kindness.

The Sunday paper was full of stories from this week's explosion disaster. Lots of generosity and charity. Focusing on how many people are giving of their time and money, how much appreciation shown to first responders, and how the community is pulling together.

Positive updates from the shelter on happy reunions between displaced pets and frantic pet owners. Plus outpourings of kindness from people offering their homes as foster to pets without a home until their owners get back on their feet.

Husband is on the radio today (if he ever gets out of a horrific traffic jam on the freeway!), playing jazz from 1-3.

Had dinner last night with a good friend. Someone I knew in high school that I've recently reconnected with thanks to Facebook. I swear he and Husband were separated at birth. So funny to see how much they have in common.

Cipher (The World's Most Amazing Cat, Screw You if You Don't Agree tm) is sleeping in a sunbeam.

Have I mentioned it's football season?