Monday, December 15, 2008

Cold!

It's cold out there! In the 20's I bet. I haven't left my place today. Driveway, streets, snow and ice is all. My tires are bad. I have no chains that fit them either. So I'm staying put.

I wonder how SafeHaven is fairing, with their dogs and cats, in this cold. I e-mailed and asked if there was anything I could do, from here, that is, since I can't get out. I know a lot of their dogs live in outside open kennels. That's bad in this weather.

I thought I could offer if nothing else, if they need it, to give up my garage room for some cold dogs. It isn't heated, but I could heat it and it's inside, warm enough, insulated, with access to the backyard which is fenced. I am going to offer that. The only cat hanging in there now anyhow, is blind Stinod. She's gotten rather portly I have to say. No cold gets to her. I could herd her back through the run into the house proper and shut it off. I'm going to offer SafeHaven that if they need it. The garage room.

It's bitter out there. Bitter.

I try not to think about the suffering animals out there, from wild animals to strays. I try to shut it out. I did what I could before the weather hit, delivering outside feral housing units, temp ones at least, catching those kittens, but still, it's hard to shut out what I know is going on out there all over Oregon. Animals suffering from this. Strays, but also animals owned by stupid or indifferent owners, who won't bring them inside in this, or provide them warm shelter at least, outside.

I think about the homeless out there. Places have opened in most communities for them, warming centers, men's shelters, family shelters, but what about in the tiny towns without resources to do this. I think about homeless kids in this chill. They are not party to mistakes made by adults that land some adults homeless. Innocent victims they are. There are homeless who refuse such help as shelters or warming centers and I know why, because they have an addiction to serve and you can't serve it in a shelter or warming center. Oh boy, it's cold out there.

Well they caught the bank bomber not long after putting his picture all over the place. I suppose someone called. They haven't said much else, like why he did it.

No power outage here yet. But with wet snow freezing into ice on branches, I wonder what will happen tonight. Supposed to maybe snow again Wednesday. I've given up on the week. You can't trap cats and put them through surgery and return them in such cold.

I had some cats from Corvallis and one from the foothills of the coast range, but we've put it all off on them, since nobody can get out, or feels safe driving out steep driveways.

Someone who used to live in Albany, e-mailed me from DC, wants me to find a sick feral she fed, now cared for by an ex, and get him to the vet and warm. I e-mailed back I'll try, but no cat, especially a sick one, is going to trek through an icy field even to get some cat food in 20 degree weather, freezing the pads of his paws. I'll try to get ahold of her ex, see when he saw the cat last. It's sad.

I'm house bound for now. Kind of can drive you a bit stir crazy but it's fine. Sometimes there's nothing you can really do, so you just have to accept that. Vacation I guess.

Candy, the muted calico, wants out of the bedroom. She's a funny cat and very very sweet. I put the traveling screen door, as I call it, on the bedroom, so now they can at least see out into the rest of the house and interact with my cats through the screen and they love that. It's a homemade screen door, made out of old fence boards from my last place and some wire and some hinges and old gate latch, also from my old place.

I had it on the spare bedroom. Then, I had it on the bathroom and now it's on the main bedroom.

The people who brought me the mattress, who said they had the box springs and even the headboard that went with it, never brought the box springs or frame or headboard. I don't think they're ever going to. Now I'm stuck with a useless mattress. I guess I'll have to have it hauled off.

I never updated on the car going to the shop either. The mechanic never heard the sound. He tightened a belt and thought it must be solved. It still makes the sound, as loud as ever. I'm not sure what to do now.

Well anyhow, I"m slightly bored, maybe you can tell. Maybe more than slightly bored. I've written three Christmas cards, and told myself 'that is something'. I also told myself 'at least you've written and mailed three!' I was quite proud that I have written some even before Christmas this year. I was going to mail off some small packages, of small gifts but now I cannot get to the post office. I am therefore justified in my procrastination, which feels good.

I"ve gotten about six Christmas cards from people I don't know at all. One is from Florida and is apparently a friend of Diane's, a blog reader. Hey Diane, are you the one behind getting all these cards from people I can't recall ever meeting?

One of the cards is signed strangely, just a first name and a "'64". Down in the bottom right of the card, is a handwritten number. I think it is "108". I cannot for the life of me figure that one out. Am I supposed to know this person, maybe from 1964? I don't have much of a memory of that year, since I really was just a little kid then. Hmmmmmm.

I wonder if the 108 means that person has actually sent out 108 Christmas cards, and maybe, keeps track of them by number then the name of who they sent them to. I just don't know. Most of the cards are from strangers, and are just signed with a first name, and nothing else at all, so no clue as to why they wrote and sent it. Two of the six do mention my work with cats, the one from Florida and one from Canada.

Well, anyhow, did I mention I am slightly bored? So are the cats, and more than slightly. Candy is crying at the window. She wouldn't want out if she got a blast of the cold out there.

Oh one thing, I rented a really good movie---The Lazarus Project. Very good, good ending. I liked it.

8 comments:

  1. How blind is stinod, anyway? Does he have any eyesight at all? Do you think thats why he stays to himself out in the garage? That might be why he is getting portly, too...not enough exercise - its hard enough for blind people to stay fit - i've known several in my life, and it seems that unless they are genetically destined to be skinny, most have some what of a weight problem - not all severe, but almost all in need of some form of exercise. One blind guy I knew said his sense of taste was probably more acute than most, since when you lose one of your senses the others compensate; therefore, it was hard for him to stay away from chocolate...hahaha - i think he was joking about that part!!!But he did seem to have such sensual language in describing the taste of various foods and drinks, made me wonder....
    YOU ARE SLIGHTLY BORED????Call me, email me, come for a visit - bring the cats!!! we could use some fun here....

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  2. Stinod has only partial vision in one eye. She comes from a colony just outside Albany. I stopped because there were always a ton of cats on the porch there. The guy's a stoner. Stinod wouldn't trap for some reason. The guy said she was his favorite, but she had been injured six months earlier, in a fight, and he'd done nothing. One eye was in horrilbe shape. Turned out the other eye had also been damaged and she didn't trap because she really couldn't see the trap entrance. I finally netted her. I wouldn't return her there. He wouldn't promise to keep her inside and he lived on a busy road. He left a couple of bizarre messages about her, taunting me for loving her in a way, then I never heard from him again. He's an old hippy, promised and promised, to "return the blessing" he was getting with free labor and fixes, but never donated a dime nor did anything to "return the blessing". All hippy talk. Asshole by action.

    She's really gotten pudgy, loves her food, has a couple of buddies here, Shady and Spirit especially. She's well liked and gets around, but if startled, she sometimes will run into things, when trying to locate her normal learned pathways.

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  3. I'll pack up the cats and head east----way east, for a visit. How many cats can you hold? Do you have a guest room available for me and my cats? Hohohoho!

    Yes, I'm sure Stinod is portly in part due to her disability. I free feed here. She is actually the only cat here, among all my cats with a weight issue. They exercise continually here, from climbing cat runs to playing wildly. I believe it's quite healthy for all of them, the amount of play and running around that goes on, even among the oldsters. I'll figure out a way so that Stinod can join the fun. She used to use the cat wheel, which I have now disassembled. It fell apart from over use and poor construction. I need to build a lighter weight better built model. That was just a proto type. Yes. A proto type. But Stinod loved it and used to use it more than the other cats. I need to get on building a couple new and improved models!

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  4. I posted this earlier, but it didn't show up. So, yes, I confess that I am the reason you are getting cards from people you don't know. A group I belong to decided to set up a "heroes" list and everyone submitted a name and why that person is a "hero" and the people in my group send a card to the person. You are the person I picked for my "hero." I thought you might like to get some Christmas cheer!

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  5. i hope you got our card.

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  6. Oh, you're the reason, Diane! Are you back in Oregon?

    Yes, HB, got your beautiful card. You should be getting one too. I loved that card! How are things going for you by now? Still working just part time?

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  7. Ok, so I just finished blow drying a cat. I thought it was going to be much more difficult than it was. Jersey (the outside cat who looks like a dalmation) came into the carport sopping wet and his fur was starting to icicle. I grabbed him and brought him into the bathroom. He stood there while I blowdried him. I thought he would freak out. He hates being petted.

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  8. I got back today. I got stuck in Denver overnight when the plane got in late and everyone missed their connecting flights. Then, this morning after arriving in Portland, it took me just over 3 hours to drive home. That's twice the normal time!

    I have a cat containment unit for you. Someone gave me one of these and I thought you had more use for it than I do. It's the biggest one pictured here:
    http://www.amazinganimal.co.uk/petzden-canvas-foldflat-carrier-p-19100.html

    ReplyDelete

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