FCCO Clinic Sunday; Neuterscooter Clinics Upcoming

I got lots of exciting clinics coming up. I have four reservations for the FCCO clinic and now am after a torti5, the last unfixed cat in a downtown Albany colony I helped with last summer. Someone else got many of them fixed. Then they asked me to help and I got all I thought were not fixed in, with the help of the Adams Family, as I call them, a somewhat different couple, living in a creaky ill maintained old historic house. They are the source of this colony because they had cats they never got fixed.

So, the same person who asked me to help last summer, asked me to help catch that one remaining old torti, before she spits out another litter. So I hope to catch her for the clinic.

Then, there's a colony farther north. I got a female fixed for a couple last fall. She was living in their spare bedroom, which was at least chest high in junk, old clothes and trash. So, there was no hope of netting the four wild kittens in that room. But, now they are teens and the woman says they and the mom all disappeared two weeks ago. She then went to a neighbor's place, who feeds strays, to see if they had showed up there. Then she had the neighbor call me. They feed 8 or more cats, most not fixed, including the now fixed mom and the four late teenagers of the neighbor.

So, I'll catch as many there as I can Saturday, too.

I have five reservations for the Corvallis Feb 8 Neuterscooter. Feather will be fixed on one of those reservations and I hope to use the other four to get ferals fixed, maybe some that didn't get into the FCCO clinic. I hope to coordinate with Nick on that, and get any cats that caretakers failed to catch, caught and fixed at the Neuterscooter, along with any who Nick could not take because the clinic is full.

See I like seeing the Neuterscooter family although it usually ends up badly. It sometimes ends up badly, with us parting ways mad, because they're intense and usually I'm totally wasted in exhaustion by the time they even get here. But, they're my kind of people. We always apologize in the end, have some fun, share some laughs or some hard work, and I just never can wait until they get back here. They're doers, you see. They don't sit around complaining that nobody is doing anything about feline overpopulation. They figured out a plan and implemented. Sure, sometimes there's yelling, when everyone is exhausted, but you know exactly where you stand and they get things done and they are nice to me and respect me. My kind of people. Love them.

So they've scheduled two Albany clinics and one Corvallis clinic and I just want to find a way to fill those clinics. I'm putting up fliers and I hope they fill.

The tanking economy is scary. Seems almost like a long line of dominos are falling over one by one. OHSU is laying off 500 to 1000 jobs in Portland. That news came on the heals of Intels' news, that they plan to lay off 1000 high wage jobs in Hillsboro.

Boy, I just don't know where people will be able to find work. When their unemployment runs out, what do they do then? There just aren't jobs out there that pay enough for people to pay their bills. Most of those jobs came with health insurance that ends with the job, too, which means thousands more Oregonians have no health insurance. Our unemployment rates are almost double digit. Those rates only count those collecting unemployment, not those whose benefits have run out.

What is happening to these folks after they lose their job? I know of people who have moved out of state, after work in other states, or hoping to find work in other states, but they realize it's a gamble, to take off without a job secured elsewhere. I think they don't think things will get better here, while they might elsewhere, so although it's a gamble, it's less risk than staying put here.

I saw a comedy economist talk about the economy. He compared our economy to a hamster running in a wheel who is tired out. He compared stimulus packages, like the money poked into the banking and auto industries, to giving that hamster an injection of meth, so despite being worn out, he can run even faster in that wheel.

Problem is, he's going to collapse eventually, and sooner if injected with meth. Maybe the hamster needs to slow down permanently and even take a rest.

My brother echoed these sentiments. He thinks our economy needs to reflect reality and so we need to go through this hard time, to re=adjust it to reality. He thinks we need to start behaving responsibly with money, by not spending beyond our means and by living with less. This includes breeding fewer kids, because there are not enough jobs and goods and services to support so many people. If we buy only what we can afford, then many businesses will fail because we don't need most of the stuff out there that is for sale. That means there will be fewer jobs to go around, too. We need to behave like there will be fewer jobs and lower wages for the jobs left and re-evaluate our priorities and behavior.

He thinks we need to leave the economy alone, even though the times will be extremely difficult for years as a result. He believes billions stuffed artificially into the economy are just like injecting meth into that tired out hamster running the wheel, to make him run faster, only he will collapse and die much sooner.

We talked about Obama and his plans for the country. We both think mandatory national service, whether in the military or an America Corps, for two years, would be very good for our nation and the young people, teaching them discipline and service. This is badly needed in our very obese inactive nation and would give young people a chance to learn what they may not be learning from their parents--discipline, self-control and service to others and our country.