7 Cats Fixed Today

Gray tabby male Mr. Hiss, from my yard fixed today.
Orange Albany female, fixed today.
Young Lebanon girl, Fufi, dumped off at an old couple's home, spayed today. They gave me some eggs!
Viper, handsome Albany male fixed today, who likes to hide.
Lacy, Albany female spayed today.
Keta, another Albany female fixed today.
Baby Girl, Albany young female fixed today. She's from Keta's last litter. He couldn't find her a home.


Seven more cats were fixed today, thanks to Poppa Inc. and me!

Six of these were Albany cats. One hailed from Lebanon.

There were five girls and two boys in the mix.

Two of these cats were my latest yard strays and one of the two has been accepted into Heartland, thank you universe, since when I put out food, I'm already feeding half the neighbor cats, most from a street over that I took in to be fixed over a year ago, but they like my yard and my neighbors yard better than their own.

If I don't fix the boys coming through Sam goes nuts on me and starts peemarking. 25 cats I've fixed who have come through my yard alone, the vast majority males, since moving here four years ago. That's how bad the cat problem is here. I have rehomed about 13 of those cats.

R.I.P. Simba

Simba is gone. His heart gave out. The frothy salivating I could not figure out, the vet said, was likely pulmonary edema. His body temp had plummeted and even though isolated and on a heating pad and surrounded in hot water bottles, I could not bring it up. I'd been giving him warm fluids for days, but his heart wasn't working right. With the URI he got, and him being half feral, hiding from me, he went beyond the point of return, getting too dehydrated.

Been a very tough day. It's tough here. Have now trapped 25 cats in my yard alone. That's Albany for you. The assistant at the clinic said she drove down I5 and saw four dead cats along the freeway in the Albany area and now understands how many there must be and why I keep bringing in scores of cats from around here. She never sees dead cats along the freeway anywhere else.

My birthday is tomorrow. Today, all I want to do is sob. Just feel completely alone here, trying to stop all this, inundated, and I want to run away.

The Jesus Rebel

John Crossan is a Jesus rebel. He thinks the truth about Jesus and his life should be told and he's been researching it and telling it for a very long time. This has earned him insults, threats and more.

Click the post title to go to the article.

He also is blunt about comparing the US today with Jesus' time Rome, with it's military might intent on crushing the world (or spreading Democracy). That comparison has earned him no friends either.

I've said it also for ages. You wouldn't see Jesus driving up to a Starbucks in a big honking SUV, getting out draped in designer clothes and guns.

It's the underclasses Jesus did hang out with then and would hang with today, not the super rich, not the mega churches screaming politics and rage. He'd be at the homeless camp, or hanging with me and the stray cats. That's just the way it is and how he was, whomever he was.

He led nonviolent protests against the oppressing rulers of that time--Rome. He pressed for fair distribution of land and food, which would today get him called a socialist.

Truth is a hard pill to swallow.

New Video of Valentino

Cats Here. More Photos.

Guess who this is, giving me "the eye".
Slurpy, from Rock Hill.
Shaulin.
Nemo, not happy, because I was trying out a harness on him. He did not care for it. The color is cool though. Love that neon green.
Nemo again.
Echo on the floor.

Google Talk is Fabulous

I've been isolated far too long now. I took that cat up Monday but other than that, nothing since last week. The alleged snow that barely materialized kept me up in the air over my trip today. In the end, I cancelled and it was a good thing. Right before I would have headed up a semi jack knifed on I5 just north of Albany, holding up traffic for a couple of hours. I would have sat there, with cats in the car.

But the slow week has bored me to tears.

I'd have nothing to show for the week, except my de-inflamed spine, if I had not made a very small online purchase. A microphone for my PC.


I hooked it up and had trouble then locating how to check if it worked. I finally found "the way" and recorded a short audio file. I had also purchased a very cheap web cam, in hopes I could better connect with family, like my nephew who asked me why I didn't communicate through Skype.

When I plugged in the webscam, it would not work. I tried opening it in various messenger and chat programs to no avail. I then uploaded new drivers and a video recording program on the manufacturers website. But my computer refused those programs, or placed them where I can't find them, even with search. Somehow in the mess, I deleted all cookies and passwords. Alas, I could not find where I stored a password list. My usual problem.

That left me unable to get back into my usual mail sites or youtube once again. I finally did some meditation and then, trying not to think, typed in my google password with my eyes closed, so I wouldn't think about what I was typing. Autobrain mode. Success!

I had not used gmail in ages, but that was the password gateway. Then I remembered others. I compose complicated bizarre passwords, write them down, lose them, have them on autotype in my brain, but then one day, suddenly, my brain won't type them, when in a flit for usually unknown reasons.

Once on gmail, I noticed their google talk ad. I have a microphone now, I thought. I saw the word "free". Free is really good. Free is GREAT.

I downloaded the plug in and dialed my bro. He came in loud and clear. I watched the clock on the google timer, and we talked 18 minutes, longer than I've been able to talk to him in a year on the phone, due to the cost. This call cost me nothing and the tone was crisp and clear. Nothing like my landline sound or the trac fone bristle, crackle and fade outs.

I was so darn pleased with myself I could not stop smiling and patting myself on the back. The cheap microphone had already, in that first call, paid for itself.

This morning, I used it to call the vet clinic which usually costs me. Not today!

Suddenly, the world feels warm and sunny. Feels like somebody out there is on my side.

Thank you Google!

And then there's this: I got my power bill. It is down almost $100 from last month. Can you believe that? That's due to fixing the broken thermostat, largely, but also my change in habits, which include short showers every other day, hanging clothes to dry over doors, using only cold water to wash, and living mostly in the dark (after dark). The transition to the frontier life has not been that difficult, just need to constantly remind myself what to do, what not to do, because I can't afford my former luxury lifestyle, of showering daily, drying clothes, that sort of thing. I probably never will be able to again. Have to get used to that fact.

Snow, but not Much Snow

Arab World Freedom and Snow a No Go (for now)

Arab nations are revolting against their disgusting dicatators. Iran's leader must sweat that out a bit at night.

I hope the freedom will extend to women. Arab nations are self described male dominated and women have few rights. In many Arab regions, women are regarded as nothing more than breeding stock and sex toys.

I won't be celebrating Arab freedom unless I hear the women will be full participants.

New Pet Peeve: Try to watch a short news clip or weather report video online, even a clip less than a minute in length, and first you must endure, for each and every clip, a fricking ad, that sometimes is longer than the clip. I don't watch CNN news clips anymore because it is too frustrating, with the ad thing on every short clip.

If you were watching CNN on TV and endured an ad every minute or two minutes, that would be the equivalent of attempting to watch news clip videos on CNN or other websites. It's not worth it.

I tried to watch a minute long clip on accuweather to check NW weather for tomorrow, and first had to watch a 20 second ad. Not worth it.

The snow did not materialize. Now they're saying tonight and tomorrow. I don't believe them.

The Monroe people with the four kittens cancelled for tomorrow just in case. That leaves four Albany cats scheduled to go up tomorrow. I believe I will cancel with the caretakers and clinic, just so I don't have to keep the clinic in limbo over the appointments.

I don't know what to believe from weather people. It was supposed to snow some last night and that never happened.

According to accuweather, a site with hour by hour forecasts, Albany is supposed to be having a snow shower starting in a few moments, but the sun is shining outside.

Planning a schedule around weather reports is not wise. Or maybe it is, in case for once they're right. But they're hardly ever right.

I think weather people are new age witch doctors, who dance around, waving things, yelling and chanting, blowing powders into the air, to predict the weather, for an awed spellbound audience of true believers.

Then they go home, take off the witch doctor garb, kick back on the couch, crack a cold one, and giggle. Weather person's kid comes in. Weather guy says, "Wanna know what daddy did today? Daddy made a lot of money telling people it's gonna rain tomorrow."

"But daddy, it's rained for three days. Of course it's going to rain tomorrow. Everybody knows that already."

"Maybe so, honey. But who is getting paid to say it's going to rain tomorrow? Your daddy is! High five me!"

So I'm waiting on my latest Amazon purchase. My nephew had suggested we could communicate through Skype. To do it, I'd need a web cam and a microphone. I thought those items would be horribly expensive, but, on Amazon, both items were about $10 or $12.

I still had money on a Visa gift card sent me by Frodannah! (Thank you Susanne). I'd used it to buy pyrantel at Amazon, but the bottle of pyrantel sent was thin, like water, even after I poured it out into a jar, expecting the thicker part to be stuck on the bottom. I showed it to a vet who said "There's something wrong with that." I gave the purchase a bad review, primarly because they did not contact me back when I expressed concern about the pyrantel.

The bad customer rating prompted an immediate response in the form of a phone call, from the online vendor who decided to just refund me through Amazon. So, Amazon refunded the pyrantel purchase to the Visa gift card. The amount was sufficient with another credit I had of a little over $6 to purchase the cheap web cam and microphone.

However, it's been, according to tracking records, sitting in Albany since Saturday and not yet delivered. I can't fathom why. Lost maybe? Maybe they smushed it, accidentally. Not sure what to do at this point. Hope they bring it today, I guess.

And if they don't? I don't know. The local post office does not have a phone number. You can't call them. I don't use them anymore because the wait time in lines can be record breaking. I use smaller post offices and often the one in Wilsonville, where lines move quickly and employees are friendly.

The tracking number still reports the package is: "in transit". It was scanned into the Albany Post Office on the 19th, however.

Snow Predicted for the Valley. 3 to 6 inches Possible

Snow has been predicted in Oregon's mid valley region, which is very rare, and we may get accumulations from 3 to 6 inches. A storm watch has been issued. I had reservations to take 8 cats to Wilsonville on Thursday but have notified the caregivers this may not be possible. I do not have chains or snow tires. I will get more cat litter today, just in case I am not able to get to the store later in the week. We take these predictions around here with a grain of salt because they usually do not pan out. Everyone gets excited about seeing snow in the mid valley because we never get snow here. The Coast Range, between the valley and the coast, and Cascade Mountain areas, to the east, between the valley and high desert region of Oregon, get snow, but not the valley, where I live.

The Willamette Valley runs from Portland down to Eugene. Eugene is often called "the dirty sock toe" because of the valley and mountain effects, with the valley ending in Eugene, contributing to air stagnation/polution at the end of the sock, which is Eugene.

There was great complaining, from athletes in Olympic track and field trials, when in Eugene due to air pollution, caused mainly by extreme pollen count. This is hard to believe when the Olympics were held in China, the capital of air pollution.

The high pollen counts and particulates in the air is primarily the result of farming and grass seed production in the valley. Many people are unable to survive in the valley because of the grass seed production and other seed production, with resulting extreme pollen counts, which can be horrible. But, when you're breathing hard, sucking in polluted or pollen laden air, makes a difference on the lungs--hence the athletic whining.

My brother could not survive here. He suffers from what some people call "hay fever" or severe sensitivity to pollen and dust in the air. He has it bad. I was diagnosed as a child with allergies to dust, also. I did ok in Corvallis, and the first year in Albany, but last summer, I was miserable constantly.

During times when the dust is kicked up when the grass tops are cut off, with winrowing, then when the columbines come through and blast the grass tops into a chamber seperates off the seed, this is when I suffer most. And also later, when they plow up the fields, to add lime or fertilizer then the seed for next years' harvest. Lots of dust thrown into the air, clouds of it, and sometimes the air reeks of chemicals.

I would like to move out of the heart of grass seed production to have clean air to breath but I probably never will find a way out. It's something people have to be healthy enough to put up with, while living here. I thought I would adjust ok, at least to that component of living here, but instead of adjusting, I seem to be having more problems each summer with it instead.

I suppose I could take to wearing a mask outside in the summer. That would so suck! Hay Fever problems run in my family. It's really a body's inflammatory reaction to/distaste for foreign substances being inhaled, like pollen, dust and chemicals.

I'm not allergic to much. Except, I could not tolerate the combination of chemicals, dog hair and dog urine where I worked once at a dog boarding facility. I broke out in rashes head to toe. My eyes were swollen. I even had a rash on the inside of my mouth. My doctor said I could die if I stayed on there. I loved the job. When I vascillated on quitting, my boss fired me, stating he did not want to find me dead in the dog kennel. Losing that job was devastating. I also lost a friend during the same time. I ended up on a psyche ward at Portland Adventist as a result, where I was severely beaten by staff. That's how I got the neck injury, that keeps on giving!

Portland Adventist has gotten publicity again lately, because a guy, feeling ill, drove himself to the hospital, crashing in the parking garage not many feet from the ER. He'd had a heart attack. Cops on scene for some other reason responded, then ran to the ER, requesting help, but the ER staff didn't go running to help. I don't care Adventist get bad publicity over this, having no capacity for empathy for that hospital after what they did to me, but the bad PR in this case probably isn't completely warranted. The man unfortunately was likely long dead. His crashed car had not been noticed for twenty minutes. The cops tried to save him doing CPR and they are the ones who complained that the ER staff told them to call 911, instead of running back to the scene with them to help. He was really close to the ER doors I guess.

Anyhow, back to the snow....

The valley is lowland and we never get snow!! With the threat of snow, comes excitement for those of us mostly confined to the valley, unable to recreate in the mountains, due to poverty. Do I want to see snow in the valley? Hell yeah!

I've been suffering the last few days, with spinal inflammation all over my body, from neck problems, from the old beating injury. This happens every now and then and it takes a couple weeks to deinflame. Very painful and difficult times.

Here's the weather alert from accuweather:

WINTER STORM WATCH
in effect until Thursday, Feb 24, 4:00 PM
...WINTER STORM WATCH NOW IN EFFECT FROM WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH THURSDAY AFTERNOON FOR THE COAST AND LOWLANDS OF SOUTHWEST WASHINGTON AND NORTHWEST OREGON...INCLUDING THE PORTLAND AND VANCOUVER METRO AREA...

THE WINTER STORM WATCH FOR HEAVY SNOW IS NOW IN EFFECT FROM WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH THURSDAY AFTERNOON.

* TIMING...RAIN SHOWERS ARE ALREADY MIXING WITH WET SNOW DOWN TO THE VALLEY FLOOR THIS MORNING. HOWEVER ACCUMULATIONS HAVE BEEN RESTRICTED TO THE HIGHER TERRAIN. ACCUMULATING SNOW WILL BE POSSIBLE DOWN TO THE VALLEY FLOOR LATE TONIGHT...WITH HEAVIER SNOW BECOMING LIKELY LATER WEDNESDAY AND CONTINUING INTO THURSDAY.

* ACCUMULATION/SNOW LEVELS...UP TO 3 INCHES OF SNOW ARE POSSIBLE AS EARLY AS WEDNESDAY MORNING. AN ADDITIONAL 2 TO 4 INCHES ARE EXPECTED LATER WEDNESDAY THROUGH THURSDAY. GENERAL STORM TOTALS OF 2 TO 5 INCHES ARE EXPECTED FOR THE COAST AND LOWLANDS BY THURSDAY EVENING...WITH LOCAL ACCUMULATIONS OF 6 TO 10 INCHES POSSIBLE MAINLY IN THE HIGHER HILLS.

* IMPACTS...ROADWAYS MAY BECOME ICY AND SNOW COVERED...RESULTING IN SLICK DRIVING CONDITIONS. THIS MAY SIGNIFICANTLY IMPACT THE COMMUTE BOTH WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

A WINTER STORM WATCH MEANS THERE IS A POTENTIAL FOR SIGNIFICANT SNOW...SLEET...OR ICE ACCUMULATIONS THAT MAY IMPACT TRAVEL. CONTINUE TO MONITOR THE LATEST FORECASTS.

&&

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
in effect until Tuesday, Feb 22, 4:00 PM
...SNOW LIKELY DOWN TO THE LOWEST ELEVATIONS BY THURSDAY...

COLD AIR FROM ALASKA AND WESTERN CANADA WILL POUR INTO THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST THIS WEEK...BRINGING MUCH COLDER THAN NORMAL TEMPERATURES AND THE THREAT OF SNOW DOWN TO THE BEACHES AND THE VALLEY FLOORS.

THE SNOW LEVEL WILL START OFF AROUND 1500 FEET TONIGHT AS MOIST ONSHORE FLOW BRINGS A RETURN OF PRECIPITATION TO SOUTHWEST WASHINGTON AND NORTHWEST OREGON. THE SNOW LEVEL WILL LOWER WEDNESDAY AND WEDNESDAY NIGHT...LIKELY REACHING THE VALLEY FLOOR. ACCUMULATING SNOW IS EXPECTED FOR MOST OF SOUTHWEST WASHINGTON AND NORTHWEST OREGON...EVEN FOR THE BEACHES AND INTERIOR LOWLANDS.

ALTHOUGH THERE IS STILL SOME UNCERTAINTY AS TO HOW MUCH SNOW WILL FALL...CONFIDENCE IS INCREASING THAT TEMPERATURES WILL BE COLD ENOUGH FOR ACCUMULATING SNOW DOWN TO SEA LEVEL BY WEDNESDAY NIGHT. BASED ON THE LATEST INFORMATION...IT APPEARS SNOW TOTALS OF SEVERAL INCHES WILL BE POSSIBLE ALONG THE COAST AND IN THE INTERIOR VALLEYS. SNOW ACCUMULATION WILL BE MUCH GREATER IN THE HIGHER TERRAIN...WITH UP TO 2 TO 3 FEET OF NEW SNOW POSSIBLE IN THE CASCADES BY THE END OF THE WEEK.

DRIER WEATHER IS EXPECTED TO DEVELOP THURSDAY NIGHT AND FRIDAY AS AN EVEN COLDER BUT DRIER AIR MASS MOVES INTO THE PACIFIC

Witness, Against Sex Perv Guard Recruiter, Car is Vandalized

Click the post title to read a disgusting story about a young woman whose car was vandalized. She was one of six witnesses against a guard recruiter who victimized women. There was clear evidence against him. One young woman got him on a recorded phone conversation, with help of police. She asked him why he did it, and by that she was talking about trying to make her try on a T-shirt in the recruiting office, exposing her breasts. Others came forward too with similar stories.

It is the former recruiter who is the slut, the man whore.

I hope they catch whomever did this and toss them in jail too.

Another Big Huge Yard Male Nabbed and Now Nutless

I nabbed one of the three latest yard males, number 23 to wander through my yard since I moved here. Wander into my yard unfixed and you leave my yard fixed. That's how it is, big boy.

I call him Mr. Piss. He's big. He's feral. He's angry.

I sprinkled him with catnip on the ride to the vet.

Attitude adjustment seriously needed. Catnip and neuter job should adjust it nicely.

Big Boy Influx

My yard was suddenly invaded with big boys---at least three huge males. Why? My neighbor thinks that long hair young white female, trapped once inside my garage, is in heat. She might be owned on Marian. I will talk to the people who might own her. She spends most of her time in my neighbors yard, however, and she also feeds her. Like the orange and white male, always in my yard or hers, fed now by her and I. I flea treat him, too, or he loses hair, because his owners, and I know where he is owned, don't care for him much at all.

With an FCCO clinic today in Corvallis, I decided to try to trap the big boys last night. Instead, I caught a young possum, then the white cat, then the orange and white cat. Finally, this evening, I caught one of the big boys, the brown tabby, who is feral. The HUGE gray tabby sure needs caught and fixed. I had never seen him before yesterday. There is a big Lynx Point coming through also now.

I didn't go to the clinic. I slept again, through the evening, still recuperating from last Wednesday and Thursday sleep loss. However, I'd loaned a trap to the Hill street couple whom I had already helped with five cats, including three big boys, a mom and her kitten, Mr. Mo, whom they found a home for in Corvallis, after he was neutered. They had a new arrival male they called Big Head and did trap him early this morning. They'd already signed up to volunteer at the FCCO clinic and took him along to be neutered. I hope that went ok for Big Head.

These are the two nursing home boys neutered Friday. The third nursing home boy I'd trapped was tame and the folks helping took him to Heartland. Stubbs went to live, after his neuter, with a nursing home employee who lives in Albany.Big Boy, nursing home male I drop trapped who weighed in at over 15 pounds. With no homes to be found yet, for the 11 nursing home cats now in a shed in Corvallis, awaiting placement, this male was returned after neuter. Besides the 11 in the shed, which is actually a large room attached to someones' house, two nursing home male kittens are up with Poppa Inc's president, one is at Heartland, one was returned and then Stubbs went home with a nursing home employee.
Stubbs, young brown tabby nursing home male, fixed Friday.

Honey, from the homeless camp, adores Oci, who was abandoned with many others, including Sam, in Millersburg. Tonight Honey got a bath from Oci.




Smolder is getting big. He is one of Sage's three boys still here. Simba, the other black teen male, Smolder's brother, is much smaller.
Smolder Eyes.

10 Attacks from GOP War on Women

After my last post, someone sent me the following, with references to document each. Apparently the Republicans want women back in the dark ages, under complete control.

Top 10 Shocking Attacks from the GOP War on Women
1) Republicans not only want to reduce women's access to abortion care, they're actually trying to redefine rape. After a major backlash, they promised to stop. But they haven't.

2) A state legislator in Georgia wants to change the legal term for victims of rape, stalking, and domestic violence to "accuser." But victims of other less gendered crimes, like burglary, would remain "victims."

3) In South Dakota, Republicans proposed a bill that could make it legal to murder a doctor who provides abortion care. (Yep, for real.)

4) Republicans want to cut nearly a billion dollars of food and other aid to low-income pregnant women, mothers, babies, and kids.

5) In Congress, Republicans have proposed a bill that would let hospitals allow a woman to die rather than perform an abortion necessary to save her life.

6) Maryland Republicans ended all county money for a low-income kids' preschool program. Why? No need, they said. Women should really be home with the kids, not out working.

7) And at the federal level, Republicans want to cut that same program, Head Start, by $1 billion. That means over 200,000 kids could lose their spots in preschool.

8) Two-thirds of the elderly poor are women, and Republicans are taking aim at them too. A spending bill would cut funding for employment services, meals, and housing for senior citizens.

9) Congress voted yesterday on a Republican amendment to cut all federal funding from Planned Parenthood health centers, one of the most trusted providers of basic health care and family planning in our country.

10) And if that wasn't enough, Republicans are pushing to eliminate all funds for the only federal family planning program. (For humans. But Republican Dan Burton has a bill to provide contraception for wild horses. You can't make this stuff up).

Federal Budget Axe So Far is Republicans Chopping What They Hate

So far, at the federal level, budget cuts seem ridiculously small and aimed largely at programs Republicans hate, like Public Broadcasting and Planned Parenthood and Housing subsidies and heat subsidies to aid the poor who cannot pay to heat their homes or rentals.

Republicans have always had a reputation for despising the poor and wanting control over a woman's body.

No serious budget items, like the billions given to farmers in subsidies, or the billions given the oil industry, in subsidies, or the billions given to grow corn for ethanol production, which actually reduces your cars' gas mileage, making it a ridiculous investment, have been touched or mentioned, that I know of.

But lets' make sure no poor women gets birth control, breast exams or pap smears for sure!!!!! How evil!!! The feds don't pay for abortions anyhow, but Planned Parenthood has become a common organization low income women turn to for reproductive health care and education.

The antiabortionists fail to realize or just don't care that many abortions are performed because a woman's health is threatened, or because of rape, or because of molestation and incest. Young girls molested by a family member or the loser mom's latest boyfriend cannot safely seek parental consent and there will be zero support for her if she doesn't get an abortion, or for the child, once born, at home. This results in more costs and problems laid on society, costs republicans hate to bear and vote against bearing through taxpayer dollars. You can't have it both ways, idiots.

On the other side, the states are waging battles against public employee unions and in Wisconsin, crafting laws that restrict the bargaining powers of unions.

I am mixed on this one.

On the one hand, unions refuse to easily get rid of incompetent employees and instead, when union employees are laid off, it's always by seniority, not competence. I don't much like unions anymore. They drive wages/benefits up to ridiculous levels that, in part, is the reason many thousands of jobs have left for overseas.

But, the best people I've met in my life have been public employees, from bus drivers to university employees. Nobody high level, just working stiffs.

They're like higher life forms, compared to most of the people I run into.

That bus driver I've known forever, who was kind to me when I was the scum of Corvallis, living either homeless or in the projects there, struggling with the abuse and control of the mental health system, she is salt of the earth, thrifty and hard working to the core, fair, ultra conservative and I'd hate to see her ripped off as she is about to finally retire, near age 70, of an agreed upon pension.

I don't know many people, but of the ones I have met in my life, I have met far fewer public employee assholes than general population assholes. That's how I statistically compare the public vs. private sector workers: relative assholeness.

Our local, state and federal governments have not been wise in the use of money. Oregon State University right now is being granted 4.8 million dollars to research rural fat kids. That's ridiculous and money flushed down the toilet. That is money taken out of a taxpayers hands, when that taxpayer might be a rural resident with fat kids and because of tax burden, can't get them a bike, for instance. It's a stupid waste of money to study a problem by causing it, or making it worse.

$4.8 million flushed to ridiculous research. Do you know what that money could have done if spent wisely or never collected in taxes in the first place?

But the feds are cutting working money instead of ridiculously spent money like that rural fat kids grant to OSU. That's why we will never really see change in government wastefulness. Our reps and senators are bought and paid for, by special interests, lobbiests and religion.

Here is an exmaple of what the Republicans and Tea Party people feel is important: While the bill would slash $727 million in food aid (food stamps) for the poor, the House passed bill would increase the Pentagons budget by $8 billion dollars.

That is a clear assessment of the Tea Party's values: war (abroad) and war on the American poor.

Photos of the 8 Albany Cats Fixed Yesterday

Eight Albany cats were fixed yesterday from four locations. In total, six females and two males were fixed.18th St. female, a young torti, Nina, fixed yesterday.
Davidson street male Shadow, fixed yesterday. Shadow was born under their house last summer. They found him as a bottle baby and the mother moved the rest. She moved them down to the apartment complex where I caught two of his brothers who were fixed at the Neuterscooter but then disappeared. Shadow is very much loved and well taken care of.

I took in three cats from 11th street in Albany to be fixed.This is Sparky, a handsome polydactyl orange tabby tux male.
This is Sophie, a young black tux female.
Sophie again.
Winnie, a medium hair torti, with only one eye. The other is white and clouded over.

I took in three females, two adults and one kitten, from Main Street. KATA had already taken in four kittens from this household.Chingching, Main Street female Snowshoe Siamese mix fixed yesterday.
Baby, gray tux adult female fixed yesterday.
Angel, gray and white female kitten fixed yesterday.
Angel again.

Tired Beyond Tired

I brought Valentino back. I got snapped at when I arrived with him at the lined up fosterer, and felt it best just to leave.

I was out til 2:00 a.m. trapping the Corvallis nursing home colony. Caught three more. That's good, at least. There are still five there needing caught, however. But, at least three more were caught. The first one, another huge male, I drop trapped right before the woman helping the former colony caretaker arrived.

Great timing because I was having a tough time getting him out of the drop trap and into a live trap. She came running and helped.

They'd fed the cats again, despite promises not to, which was aggravating, to say the least.

The helper could not stay long, had to leave, as she had to work today, but told me if I stuck it out longer, to call her if I caught any more and she'd drag herself out of bed to receive them. I finally drop trapped Stubs, a half tame little tabby with a short tail. I called her to let her know, then was about to pick up the other trap and saw another cat, one I didn't know, in it. So I took him along too, and dropped both off at the woman's house. She has to be dog tired today also.

She was ranting in my car while we waited on traps about how disrespectful it is of the nursing home to not only demand they be gone and ban the feeder, but then not to help by at least not feeding as they had promised. I mean, WTf?

We're not getting paid and sitting out there in the freezing cold worn out, to help out them. It's not like any of them would do a damn thing for us. Can you imagine, some nursing home administrator, coming over to my place to help me out for nothing, spending hours doing so, and their own money? Yeah, right. Like that would ever happen in a zillion million years. We laughed about that. Her rants sounded so much like me, when I would get screwed, in a volunteer job for ingrates. Cracked me up somewhat to hear it coming from someone else.

So this morning I had to get up early, after only three hours of sleep, to do pickups of Albany cats going up to be fixed. Eight are up being fixed, which is a good haul and good for the cats of Albany. I'm getting too old for this kind of schedule and intensive labor. My neck has been inflamed for weeks.

I then had the clinic give Valentino a long term antibiotic injection, since I thought he'd be in foster up there. I had him on my own antibiotics here, but the shot is so much easier on a fosterer. So that's why I did it, then rushed him on up to her house. But she was snipping at me, probably tired too, and it was too much for me to bear, so I left.

So back home I came with Valentino. I'm nervous about having him here. He smells still like a big male and this is prompting spray marking from my cats. I have only my bathroom for him and he often howls for long periods wanting attention, further eradicating my ability to sleep.

Plus, I think the home for him has fallen through. She has not responded when I e-mail. I'd asked her to call me but she never did. It's been a tough morning. I'm going to bed right now.

So, the nursing home cats did not get done at Heartland today, I got told. Guess I'm taking them up to be done tomorrow. I'm quite worn out and grumpy. I'm tired of paying the price of gas, which is massive now, to go up there, then have to sit in a rest area freezing to pass time til they're done. Tired of getting asked to do everything on earth for everybody. Tired, tired, tired. Need to find homes for cats.

Get an e-mail from my nephew, (those are rare as diamonds around my neck) asking if I've "downsized my cat numbers yet", like "did I have half of them killed yet, so I wouldn't be his crazy cat lady aunt?", that's how it came across to me. I'm sure he didn't mean it that mean. I asked him what he meant by "downsizing the cat numbers". No reply. I've asked my family for help finding cats homes but they're not into that.

It's tough to be asked to do so much and made fun of, called names and criticized for doing it, too.

My birthday is coming up fast. I wish I could have some fun with a bunch of fun people doing something I want to do. I just plain need some fun with other human beings.

What would I do on my birthday if I had my druthers? Go to a rock concert. I can't remember ever going to a decent concert. Ages ago, my brother took me to a Jimmy Buffet concert but it was mild, because it was indoors in the coliseum. You couldn't even dance. How pathetic is that.

We don't get many concerts around here, except country or country western which I hate.

That's one thing I think would be fun to do.

Here's the worst thing I could think of to do: Go to Denny's. Hahahaha. I can't imagine anything worse.

I don't like eating out much. It's not my thing. I imagine filthy kitchens and employees with dirty hands and issues, spitting in the food, (and worse) because I've known people who worked as cooks and they told me stories and it ruined going out to eat for me.

Usually, I don't do anything on my birthday that's different. Our family never did value birthdays much or pay much attention to them. I have a hard time remembering how old I am. It's no big deal. I'm just tired and feeling very used tonight because I'm tired out.

Valentino's Story on Video

You can see why Valentino is worth the effort to save if you watch the video I made of him.

FCCO Clinic This Sunday

There is an FCCO clinic this Sunday in Corvallis. I had tried to reserve five spots for those Millersburg abandoned cats, but then when the business changed hands and more people were complaining/concerned about the mother and her kittens, I had to trap them ahead of the clinic. I had not heard back either, from the FCCO, so did not know if I would get the reservations.

I did hear back two days ago. They need cats, had at that time only 43 registered. None of the four colonies I referred had registered, but then none of those folks have internet and I was informed at this time, the local FCCO clinic is taking reservations only by e-mail and their online form. That will eliminate a lot of the stray cat feeders from utilizing the clinic since so many are poor and without web access.

I hope they find colonies that need fixed. There are a lot out there, like in Monroe and west of Corvallis, and of course in Linn County, lots in Crabtree alone. But people don't know about the clinics and many people do not have internet. I think they should advertise.

I am hoping to get ahold of the biggest colony in Lebanon and see if I can trap them and get them in.

Well, anyhow, back to it.

Valentino is Negative

The big guy is negative on FIV/Felk. (shockwaves pass through me)

Yay.

I think he's got a viable adoption interest, too, someone up in Olympia, attracted to a hard case cat. Yay.

First, he has to get those bad teeth pulled. I hope to get that done real soon, so he can move on to a new life, probably in our northern neighbor's state capital.

He needs a lot of TLC and time and he'll be just fine I hope.

UPDATE: An Albany woman donated enough to have both Nickel and Valentino's teeth done. Poppa is having it done up there. Valentino will leave Albany for good on Thursday and once his teeth are cleaned up, he'll be leaving for a great family in Olympia that are just too kind and good to be true. But they are for real!!!

Nickel is the Stayton trailer park cat, abandoned there declawed and already neutered and very very ill, with a swollen cheek from a tooth infection. The infection is long gone, thanks to a donation from a Sublimity woman that allowed him a checkup and long term antibiotic injection, but he needs four teeth pulled and that will now happen also, thanks to the Albany woman. None of us had the money to get his bad teeth pulled. The donar is a poor person, but she had money stuck away and wanted to help Valentino. Thank you Melissa!

Valentino Clean Up Continues

Clean up, of Valentino, continues. I took him into my bathroom, realizing this would create havoc with my cats and the smell a just neutered huge male still gives off. No choice, however.

I clipped off more hair. I scrubbed him with anti fungal anti bacterial shampoo as his feet and even tail were matted in dirt. He didn't mind the bath. I cleaned his ears again and trimmed his nails, which were not overgrown as one might think. This gives credence to my theory he has not been on his own long.

In the photos, that's just dirt ground into his nose and on that one back leg and foot.

He's howling like a tom cat in my bathroom, which is not fun. His teeth all need out, but first he's getting tested today. I grit my teeth over it, know it is very likely he is positive for FIV or Felk or both.

Valentino: Sweet Big Orange Boy In Bad Shape

I took the big orange male from 34th street up to be fixed. He's in bad shape. Flea dermatitis. He was crawling in the largest fleas I've seen. His ears are full of mites and he'd torn up the backs of his ears scratching at them. Both his fleas and his earmites are now deceased!

So are his worms. The vet trimmed off his hairmats and bathed him in a anti fungal anti bacterial shampoo.

His mouth is full of bad teeth, some split, from age. Whether he is FIV positive or not, he'd be lucky not to be.

He'd make a perfect poster child for the need to fix a male cat. Not only that, but he'd make a great poster child for fixing females. "Would you want your precious little girl to mate with this guy?"

Such a campaign, using this poor boy's nasty mouth, scratched up ears and half hairless flea body, could be brilliant. And give him a new lease.

It'd be like sending your precious teen daughter out to mate with a homeless aging bearded lice infested alcohol reeking homeless criminal. In a way. Pretty much the same thing, except the cat has broken no laws.

Want a grandkid like that?

He wasn't the lost Sweet Home cat. Those people so much hoped he would be. Their beloved cat isn't in the shape this one is in.

Despite his crusty exterior, the big orange male, now recovering from surgery in my garage, is a sweetheart. I want to find him someone who will love him, just like he is, although his skin and ears will clear up and he may soon be soft as silk and beautiful. But he needs teeth pulled and I got no cash for that.

Since all four big front canines need pulled, he will never give another cat FIV, even if he is positive. He will not be able to bite anybody, not that he would. He's so darn sweet.

Fricking Had It with the Drug Culture

UPDATE: I may be all wrong on this cat. Last night, I stayed up late looking up lost orange long hair cat ads and responded to one out of Sweet Home. They contacted me back today, and their cat forced his way through a cracked window in their van while they were in the library. This would account for the sore on his side. Their cat was not neutered, so I told them I am taking him to be neutered, since if it isn't their cat, I cannot hold an unneutered male in my garage even due to the effect on my own cats. How would a Sweet Home cat get to Albany? Somebody felt sorry for him, picked him up, brought him here, then kicked him out. Or, since he's used to riding in cars, as a hitchalong in a car, that's how. Am so much hoping it is their cat. If it is, they are going to pay for his neuter. It would be such a wonderful thing, for him, for me too, to have a happy ending for once.

I have had it with the drug culture around here, that fosters thievery and general selfishness, since druggies have sold their souls and couldn't care less about anything except getting their drugs.

Another victim of this despicable culture wandered into my trap tonight. The "rabid cat", as he was described to me yesterday in a phone message, over there at the complex where I'm trying to catch Turtle, to get her out of there.

The other tenant, who told me the "rabid cat" was a tame fat orange male, was wrong too about him. He does have severe hair loss with open running raw skin and sores where the hair is missing. I don't know what could have caused that. I don't know if he scraped himself terribly trying to get under the building or when being thrown from a car or being hit by a car or if he has a disease like FIV, although he isn't very old or if he is seriously stressed over being abandoned or if he lived inside an inflammatory environment like an apartment where meth or crack is smoked.

I have not even checked to see if he is neutered. He cries when he moves, so I'm guessing he got hit by a car or thrown from one. He's sweet. I'm sick to my heart over all the fricking crap in this town that happens to animals.

Some woman died in a motor home in the Kmart parking lot and apparently wasn't missed or discovered for a week in there dead. She was living in it. Now her relatives are up in arms because they believe she was killed over a recent settlement from a lawsuit. She'd been hit by a car when riding a bike and gotten $13,000 from it right before she died and that is missing. The cops apparently aren't interested in pursuing a case and will just say she had health issues. She was a drug addict, too. But the motor home was stripped of all appliances and other possessions before the family could pick it up. Right there, cops, that's a crime. The family is really sure someone gave her an overdose of drugs then stole the recently acquired money from the settlement. Sounds like they have a good thought as to who did it, also.

There's too much drug crap going on around this little town. It's everywhere.

And it results in horrible things happening to innocents, like animals and kids. Then the kids of the druggies and alcoholics grow up damaged and become druggies and alcoholics themselves.

I don't know what happened to this poor cat. He's new over there, they say, in the last couple of days. I got no place for him, no money to have him tested, treated for all his ailments. I'm fed up and determined to get the hell away from here for good.

I've been out trying to clean his ears in the garage, in my car, him still in the trap, holding a flashlight. He purrs to be touched and starts to knead shyly, humbly. His ears are crusted on the outside with scabs from scratching due to earmites and inside one ear, he has scabs that have become infected from all the scratching at the damn earmites. I had some lidocaine and put some on the open raw sores on his backside, where his hair is gone, where a super large flea was dying, after I treated him with Advantage. I mean super sized flea, like an eighth inch long.

He has the feel of an FIV positive male to his hair, but maybe it's the scabs giving me that feel, but I have a good touch to know FIV, by the hair feel, so I think he will be positive. That doesn't mean he has to die. But where can he go? Where? Makes me mad, so mad, so preventable, why did someone abandon him, is he from the townhouses farther down, maybe the one with the back fenced area full to the brim of reeking trash bags? Why do people live like pigs? Why do people who choose to live like pigs have kids or get cats?

So I asked the original "rabid cat" caller why she would say he was foaming at the mouth. She pointed to the back of his ears, torn up and bleeding from ear mite distress, and said, "Well that looked like it to me."

Ok.

Dex, Mops and Echo

Echo is going through a growing spurt, getting lanky. And long.
Echo again.
Mops, from the BS colony, gazes out the window.
Dex too is gazing from the window. And no doubt dreaming.