Wreck on the Bridge

Click post title to go to photo of wreck on bridge today. I was right behind these two huge pieces of farm equipment as they went across the bridge into Albany. Except there was a white pickup with blinking lights behind them, and I was behind that pickup. The pickup with the blinking lights was a slow vehicle warning flag car to get traffic to notice the upcoming tractors I guess, when they were on the main highway with highway speeds.

Suddenly I hear a big clang and see a slight puff of smoke go up from the front hay lifter. One of them had started bouncing, going too fast, the one in front, and hit the bridge girder. His front tire bounced right up onto the sidewalk of the bridge after the main part of the tractor hit that girder. Yes, they were going too fast on that narrow bridge traffic lane. Just when he started down the slope into town, that's when the bouncing began. Probably trying to slow down for the light at the intersection at the bottom and realized he was bouncing too fast.

Not that the cars trying to get around them were going the speed limit either. They weren't.

I was behind them and instead of trying to go around them, in the right lane, like almost everybody else, I figured why bother, since the speed limit over the bridge is 25 mph and even the farm trackers were exceeding it. So fortunately, right after the wreck, I was able to get into the right lane and around them before the big scene of tow trucks and cops arrived.

It was a young looking kid driving it. I thought to myself, 'Well, one day he can tell his grandkids how he hit the bridge.' Be a good story, although on the boring side, as stories go. He'll need to dress it up some.

Also in the news, I committed big booboo by responding to a Eugene woman, hired by someone to run real short free feral cat fixing clinics, I think at Greenhill. They got some grants, apparently enough to hire someone to I don't know, make the appointments or organize rounding up the cats, not sure what this persons' job will entail. I just e-mailed her telling her if she wanted to hire a trapper, since they have money to fix ferals free now down there, to let me know.

She e-mailed back, apparently misunderstanding, wanting my contact info to put on a list of resources for I guess the people of Eugene, who need ferals trapped. Woohooo what a big booboo on my part. That's all I need, eh? Eugene and Springfield people demanding I help them too. Private people feeding strays dont' pay a trapper, time and transport, ok? DUH! But, they will call up here demanding I come trap their cats, and say I'm supposed to do it because my name is on a list. I know how that works.

I quickly e-mailed back the feral clinic paid worker, because she obviously misunderstood my offer. I told her again clearly I am available for hire as a trapper, but only to groups.

I was thinking, why not pay cat trappers? I mean, by the cat. If we spay/neuter trappers even got paid $5 per cat, then to just take them to a clinic that would do anything we brought in, I could trap 20 a day easy, make a hundred bucks a day. Of course many days would be taken up just locating and sorting out colonies, so you wouldn't make that much overall probably.

But it'd be something, a way to earn a living doing it, instead of giving myself a way, like the slave I am now.

Everybody else gets paid. Shelter workers. Nonprofit directors, the bigger ones. Shelter directors and managers. Animal control. Why not us? We're doing massive good for cats and communities--even taking loads off shelters by reduding numbers humanely, and everybody gets paid who works at shelters. We should be paid, too. We shouldn't be just slaves, solving cat problems caused by the problematic people of our world, for the rest of society, for nothing, because we care. I mean, come on. We should be paid. We're doing valuable work.

Ideally, clinics would be available to fix feral and low income cats at no cost. And trappers should be paid to go out and locate cats, feral or, as I like to call them, scarcely owned tame cats, bring them in and collect pay to do it. Hell yes.

Here's a funny note on that vein. Nick, the local FCCO coordinator, went around trying to find vets to volunteer for the clinic. Some Albany vets refused, stating they felt the FCCO was taking away business from them. I asked Nick if he just broke out laughing. Because it's hysterical.

95% of the owned tame cats I round up to take to be fixed, through Poppa funds or other grants, have never ever seen a vet and never will again. 95% of the tame owned cats I encounter NEVER have seen a vet and never will again. The only chance they might get to see a vet, after I take them in for spay, is because I hound these "owners" about getting them routine vaccinations, worming and checkups at a vet.

Wrap your heads around that, vets of Oregon.