Victory is Mine

 

Boredom Fixes

 Since the atmospheric river rain event began I haven't gone anywhere.

Not that I have anywhere I'd want to go currently unless I need groceries.

The pouring rain began last Thursday and has kept it up sometimes coming down in buckets.

There was enough break in the rain for me to remove the broken rear hatch release cover on my car, to attempt a repair.

I had to remove the inside cover, to get at the back of the bolts to remove those.  They had broken out of the cover on the back, since they had knobs on the end that jammed up into plastic tubes off the rear hatch release cover.  Those plastic tubes broke, leaving pieces on the bolt and its matching broken piece on the backside of the hatch release cover.

Besides the plastic breaking in two at one end of the cover, two clip holders had broken off on the back, plus an upright plastic piece one license plate light attaches to and both bolt holders one at each end.

Both these little tubes that held the ends of bolts broke off.

This side at least had a little more left to it than the other side.

On one side, the plastic upright where the license plate light attaches was intact.  On the other side, that plastic upright had broken off.

Same place on the other side, where the upright should be, its broken off.

I spent all day, in my pj's, using glue and duct tape, to repair the pieces.  It was fun, I won't lie.   And no pressure because I found a replacement part on ebay motors cheap and ordered it.  The part coming is primed black.   It won't be here for a week, won't match my car color, but I need to be legal which means having a license plate light, for a road trip with cats Friday to Portland which means driving in the dark both directions.  Hence the attempt to repair the broken one.  

I glued the "break in two" spot together and covered it then in duct tape which I glued also, at its edges.   I usually reinforce broken plastic across the break with something rigid attached either side of the break.  I was searching my boxes of what nots for something that would work and finally decided I didn't need to go to that trouble since the spare was coming, from ebay.   I didn't want to buy a single thing if I'd bought that spare part coming, to repair the old part.

I glued the bolts, still with the broken off pieces of plastic on them to their matches.  I held them in place while the glue got tacky with duct tape too.

Bolt glued back to broken tube, held in place to set with duct tape

Other end, same thing, glued it back on, held it in place with duct tape while it dries

I reinforced the glued spot by wrapping with duct tape

Then I glued back on the broken off plastic upright to hold the license plate light on the one side.  I cut a tiny piece of old foam and wrapped it in duct tape, to help hold it in place while the glue dried and to leave there for a bit of reinforcement.  When I screw the license plate light back into the hole the screw can easily pierce the taped over foam.  

That white foam on the top is just to show what I used to reform and support the taped over glued together screw attachment stand.

It's just been sitting now for overnight, for the glue to dry hard.  The pour down going on outside is supposed to slack off this afternoon and we may get a short break.   If we do, I will be ready to reattach this thing.  Right now the electrics are hanging off the back of my car bagged in plastic to keep out the rain.

Duct tape is the same color as my car, turns out.  Now I know what to call my car color--duct tape silver.

I don't know if these fixes will hold even long enough to reinstall it.  The plastic is brittle with age and temperature changes.    But the attempt entertained me all day yesterday while outside the rain pounded down.

From Cold to Wet

 We got our weather change today.  

It's pouring.  Pineapple Express, the news calls it and says by weekend's end, we might get 5 or more inches.   Lucky us.  

Good thing we have the dams, to keep us from flooding.  Had to take a peck at the dam hating crowd in our northwest, which is growing, despite the fact if the two dams in this area were removed, Portland could flood routinely again.

It's too wet to go out and work on my broken car back hatch lever, so that will have to wait.

I always have a good excuse in my pocket these days to pull out and say "See here, this is why it can't be done today."

My neighbor wanted to go see the lights at the Silverton Christmas Market.   We were going to go later in December but she looked on her long term weather app and couldn't find a window where it might be dry.  So we decided on yesterday, knowing the report was good and the cold would be slightly diminished due to the rain due today.

It was right on!   Perfect clear weather for it.  It was 38 or 36 maybe, when we left to come back home about 8, way warmer than it has been the last week at that hour.

We got there maybe 5:15 or so and parked.   She had brought her electric scooter on the rack on the back of the car.  She has mobility issues.  So she rode that while I walked and we had a good time seeing the lights.  The food and drink was way to expensive so we didn't get anything like that.  We did duck into a supposedly heated tent with tables and chairs and a guy singing and playing guitar for a bit. 

It was cold in there too however.  I wanted to stay, could have stayed a long time listening to the music.   I really liked his style.  He was dressed in a Christmas pajama onesie.

Here are some photos of lights I took.

Then we drove back home and stopped for a plate of appetizers at Applebees for dinner.    

With it getting dark so early, seemed like we got home so late.  But it wasn't late at all.   The early dark sure throws off the time I have to get anything done, outside, if its not pouring.  Like try to rig a fix to that hanging broken back hatch lever.

Home Days

 Playing with Doogie and Cougie from Waterloo is very fun.   

All three cats were home with their people by 7:00 last night, the ones fixed yesterday.

I sent off almost all my small traps with a lady in Lebanon who has spots coming up so the garage is kind of empty of traps, giving me space.

Its below freezing by 7:00 last few days and already is below freezing and its not 7:00 p.m. yet.   

So everything must be done early, not only because its dark by 4:30 but because its freezing by 6:30.

Thursday its supposed to start raining again and raining a lot.  That will go on for a long time. 

I'd rather have it freezing nights than pouring again.

I just stay home usually now, when I'm not doing cat stuff.   Today I put up the outside Christmas lights I put up every year, same ones too.  They hang off the gutter.

I got the fake tree out of the garage rafters and put it up too.  I tied it off in three directions so the cats won't knock it over, like usual.  I have a few lights on it so far, but not enough and no ornaments yet.  I wore out.  I'm going to figure out something to watch on TV now.

Last night there was a full moon.  

The Juncos were out in the frozen Forsythia this morning.

I put up my tree every year and this year when I did I thought about Rosalyn Carter and her life of service, including her and her husbands work at Habitat for Humanity.  They were so humble compared to most people these days who are always taking selfies and self  promoting.   I got my fake tree used at Habitat Restore many many years ago and its still going strong.  I have a big problem taking it down because I want to leave it up all year.

Frozen

 

We're frozen here.  

Not that bad, really.  Comparatively speaking.

I had three cats as guests for the night.  Two more are from the vet student and her neighborhood.

Steph, sex so far unknown

Franklin, assumed a boy

She says there are two or three more same litter living on the porch of someone who lives near her.  

The other cat who went is the hand grabbed torti originally from the park but the lady who fed her there is going to keep her.

Brindi

I didn't know exactly when to leave for the clinic, since check in times have changed for the cat people.  In the end I left at 7:30 and arrived about 8:00 like all the other cat folk, who must have come to the same conclusion as to when to get there.  It was nice to see a couple people I knew.  Vivian from Silverton brought in a gigantic male!  I took his photo:

I wonder if he's a teddy bear at heart.  Sometimes these big huge males are the nicest cats you'll ever meet.

Before I left for the clinic, in the frozen freezing morning, I tried to open the back hatch, to load the cats, and the hatch opener broke, clips shattering in the cold.  Nothing left of a couple of them to even try to piece back together with glue.

I temp fixed it by hanging it from the rear windshield wiper but I will forget and turn on that wiper if it rains, so need to figure another fix.

Gigi is transitioning to house cat life.  Whatever went on in her three day adventure turned her into a  believer.  I'd like to think.  She's slipped out into the garage twice since she's been back, only to race quickly back into the house, in a panic.   Wish I spoke her language.  The strange thing too is she has completely changed in her attitude towards the boys who were not nice to her if she came in before.  She ignores them, to their chagrin, as now its no fun to bother her.

Here, she is contemplating life while warming my lap.

And here she is mocking the frozen landscape outside from the window inside.

I don't consider the car broken, simply minorly injured.

Home on T Day

 I didn't go anywhere Thanksgiving.  I stayed put and searched for Gigi most of the day.

I had planned to go to my brother's.   However, his son's new baby became ill with an antibiotic resistant bacteria shortly after birth and only got out of the hospital right before Thanksgiving, still on antibiotics with completely exhausted parents.

As for my brother, he can barely walk due to a bad knee.  He's having it replaced in March.  And his wife broke her ankle a few days before Thanksgiving.  She was walking with friends, not paying attention and rolled her foot off the paved path, fell then I think, I'm not sure, down off the path.

She got Xrays and was told its broken but still hasn't seen a bone doctor about it, couldn't get in, it being the holiday and all I guess.  I think she might get in this next week.   She was told to bear no weight on it, as its that kind of fracture.  Damage will be done.   But even their bedroom is up some stairs.

Two gimps together for the holiday.  I wished I could go down and help them out but figured I might add to the misery if say my car broke down along the way.

So that's why I stayed put here.  If I go see them Christmas it will be only for a day at some point.   They don't need more effort of any sort in their lives right now.  They just need to heal up.

I don't mind.  I have the cats here to entertain me endlessly and order me around.  

I have two FCCO trips in December, but one of them is a little sketchy and whether they catch cats or not (they won't let me help) I'll take up any they do catch.   The second trip is people I don't know anything about but they contacted FCCO who asked if I could help out since they're in wheelchairs.

Then I have a handful of Salem appointments, only five, the entire month of December.  Slim pickings.

Probably for the best since those spots cost me $50 per cat.

I have three spots Monday.  The torti is supposed to go, that the lady hand grabbed at the park.  But she hasn't said a thing about her since catching her.  I tried again today and she said she was busy and didn't answer further.   I would have to pick her up tomorrow at her place.  I gave the other two spots to the vet student, since she's fourth year, and will, once graduated, I believe, move back to her home state of Idaho.  Getting more fixed where she lives before she leaves is kind of on my high pri list.  I haven't heard back from her today either.  I hope to before the evening turns to late night.  Just to know because otherwise I got to go last minute scrounge three completely different cats up and I'm feeling lazy and its cold and excuses excuses excuses.

The Lost Found

 Not just is Gigi back, from her wherever, so is my Roku remote.

Want to know where I finally found it?

Lol.  Guess I hadn't worn those shoes since I lost it.

I'd probably taken them off, to sit down and watch TV and the remote fell off the chair arm into my shoe.

Cracked me up to find it in there, when the cold hit and I went to put on real shoes again.   I try to stretch out summer and fall barefoot or sandal season way too long some years.

Here's Gigi, who, despite dehydration and resulting constipation, along with a rash backside, is none the worse for wear after her three day adventure somewhere.

She is now house confined, trying hard to make that permanent.  She's so fast, faster than me and can slip out between my feet so easily.

My new hobby is mushroom ID.   When I found those Shaggy parasols in my backyard I joined a facebook international mushroom ID group and became entranced fast.