Striking Gold at the Trailer Park

I hit the jackpot.  I had five fixing reservations for the FCCO clinic Sunday.

I have five wild things in my bathroom, escaping today's predicted near 100 degree heat outside, with toys (for the first time).  It's noisy in my bathroom.

Kittens!

I hit the jackpot, struck gold, kitten gold, that is, Oregon brood.

I've got a black teen and a tabby kitten who is a mama's boy and is already hugging me and purring.

Not so much the black teen.

I've got two wildly playful black tuxes and just this morning, I trapped the fourth kitten member of the Gang of Five, a little black girl, who is already google eyeing me as a possible mom replacement.

I love kittens.   They adapt readily, know what's important (food, play, sleep and love) and pursue those ideals 24/7.

By teenage years, most become paranoid, snobby and standoffish, like human teens.

And the one teen in the bathroom is all that.

Well, it's back to bed for me, while the kittens allow it.  My cats are huffy with outrage, except for my kitten lovers--Jade and Brambles, who badly want into the bathroom to interact.

It's this black teen I caught, now in my bathroom, to be fixed tomorrow.

Now in the bathroom, giving me the eye.

Black tux kitten

The tabby boy, a mama's boy, purrs, prances and hugs me.  The black tux with the button black nose is not so wild either.

Gang of Five girl kitten, the fourth from the gang to be fixed.  Two black boys and one Siamese girl are the other three from the gang already fixed.  One left to catch.

Black girl Gang of Fiver again

BlackieToo, fixed June 25, contemplates Life after Neuter.

Big fixed Jack rolls in.  He knows he's cool and so does everyone else.

Black and white kitten, hanging with Gang of Fiver Tabitha, the Siamese.  The black tux button nose is now in my bathroom.

Well, there are other cats to catch at the park, but I stopped at the five kittens, because its hot and the bees were out swarming the bait, and I'm tired, having stayed out at the park til 11:30 last night.  I'm picking up another unfixed male there this evening and two other kittens, so if all goes as planned, I'll be three over my five reservations, but I know they'll fix them all.

Nighty night.  Not a bad thing, to sleep, while outside the weather is scorching.  Supposed to be near 100 degrees today.  The new norm for Oregon.

Tomorrow I take them all to be fixed at the FCCO clinic.   I am very much hoping, because it is the weekend, that I won't be horribly bogged in traffic for much of the day.   Portland is a car clogged city and the thought of going there with the need to navigate that is unpleasant.  I'll need to kill the day somehow too, and it will be hot.  No car sleeping in such weather.   No climbs up in the gorge either when its in the 90's.  The rescue house is rented out now so no hanging out there either.  The rivers up there are low and will be jammed in people no doubt.  I'm trying to think what I'll do for the day.

I don't like hanging out in NE much due to all the violence lately.  Another shooting yesterday I think at the Lloyd Center, which is not far from the clinic.  I was near when a shooting took place in Salem once.  I was looking for a lost cat.  I stopped on one street to give a woman, walking a lost cat flier.  She seemed off, and said "Oh, so you're just looking for a cat".  I said I was and then I drove up to the light and made a left, then was going to turn into a shoddy apartment complex again, right by a gas station on the corner.  As I was making that turn, there were a bunch of loud popping sounds.  I thought something was going wrong with my car.  But the minivan that turned just ahead of me pulled over in the complex and when I stopped to give the driver a lost cat flier, she told me I needed to get out of the area now.   She pointed out the bullet holes in the back of her minivan.   It turned out to be a woman who opened fire at the gas station and I believe it was the same woman I'd just given a flier to, who had seemed so off when I talked to her.  Stray bullets hit the rear of the car in front of me.  Those popping sounds were not coming from my car.

 I was lucky.  And I did go home.  It was too close.  I never heard what her big issues were that she would do that.  No one was hurt, fortunately.  But Portland's gang violence issue is severe and it makes me think about it, when I go there.

Well, I am very very lucky to have AC here where I live with the heat we've had.  I never have had before and suffered summers.  I know someone who is currently suffering and tried to make a DIY swamp cooler, as I'm making for the garage cat room, out of a cooler, ice, pvc pipes (for vents) and a small fan.  She cut her finger, so I told her to come on over tomorrow, so I have a cat babysitter acomin', who will enjoy my AC and hopefully the kitties will get some needed human variance experience.  I warned her, some of the cats here are a wee bit spoiled. I won't name names.

And me, well, I've decided to spend my time waiting for the cats enjoying movie theater AC again, as I did three weeks ago, when I took cats to be fixed.   AC is awesome!!  DIY swamp coolers?  Not so much but not bad either when you have nothing else.

How do you make them?  Get an ice chest, either a nice plastic one or even a foam one.  Get some pvc right angles and trace around them on the top of the ice chest, then cut out those holes and fit the pvc right angle pieces into the holes tightly.  Two is good, face them the same or different directions or change them up as desired.  They're going to blow out the cold air.

Put a small fan in, same way.  Can be battery powered or have a cord.  Trace and cut out a piece of the ice chest to fit it in tightly, blowing into the ice chest.  Place a big chunk of block ice into the ice chest.  Turn on the fan.  Turn your pvc angled pieces the direction you want the cold air to blow.  You're set.  Until the ice melts that is.