Books I've Read Lately

 I read quite a few books but don't write them all down and have already forgotten the last Vicki Delaney book I read and passed along.  I decided to list some, like blog creator Live and Learn does.

I read one in a couple days I got at Winco Foods for $2.98.   I loved it.

Never Coming Home by Hannah Mary McKinnon

 Yup, that's the title, and that's its author.   

When I first began reading it, I was a little bit disgusted.   Lucas tells the story in the first person.   He's visiting Nora, his mother in law, who is dying of cancer.  (or so he thinks).   He's being the faithful loving son-in-law.  Even though......his wife has been kidnapped and after the first ransom note, and a botched ransom delivery, there's been nothing from the kidnapper.

Lucas's fairly new wife is wealthy and so is Nora her mom.   But Michelle, his wife, has a brother, who is a drug addict and still living at Michelle and Lucas's place.   Lucas has pledged to Nora he'll take care of drug addict Travis, and NOra has offered to put Travis's share of the inheritance under a trust controlled by Lucas.  How nice for Lucas.  How long will it take for his kidnapped wife to be declared dead, he wonders to himself when thinking about her money.   Lucas is a very detail oriented man, when it comes to making sure all his plans come to fruition.  Or is he?  I loved the ending!   Couldn't have been better!

The back of this book had a catchy phrase:  Missing Wife; Happy Life.   Yeah maybe, Lucas. Or whatever your real name is.

Here's another one I got for $2.98 at Winco.

Fractal Noise by Christopher Paolini

This one started out so tediusly I nearly scrapped it.   It was never exciting.  In fact, if you never read it, you won't miss much at all.    A research spaceship is approaching a planet they are to study for possible colonization.  Only they discover an anomaly on the surface---a large perfectly symmetrical hole.  What is it, who made it and should they investigate it?  And if so, which of the scientists should go?   The scientists on board, private contractors, are all rather pathetic in their own ways.   Alex, the biologist, is depressed and, as a character, really insipid.  I wanted him to get killed off.  But the other three main characters are no more interesting.   A loud obnoxious Russian is another of the four who ends up landing on the planet, then doing a long walk to reach the hole.   He hates Talia, a religious zealot, and soon they are constantly fighting.  The fourth member of the expedition is Chen, who is even more insipid than Alex.  The book is about the trek, their fighting, their pasts, two of them end up killing one another but Alex trudges on to see the hole.  There's no research of the hole, and it exists only to give a tiny little bit of plot to this useless book.

Yeah that was a waste of time book.

Winter of Secrets by Vicki Delany

  Rich folk can be a pain, especially young rich people.  And Constable Molly Smith's town, Trafalgar B.C., has been invaded with them, at Christmas.  They've arrived to ski, drink, and cause trouble, in the entitled manner of the rich.  Some townsfolk are not happy about it.

  When a car goes off into the frozen river, resulting in two dead rich young men, Molly and the law investigate.   The coroner brings a surprise discovery after the autopsies.  One of the young men didn't drown or die of cold--he was murdered.   Could it have been the driver who killed him, whose rich sister and now parents are in town?

  The young visitors and their friends have been causing all sorts of trouble at the Airbnb where they're staying.  Fights, vandalism, you name it.   

  Molly just wants to ski the fabulous powder coming down.   Instead she now must help in the investigation.

I've read a few in the Molly Smith series.  I like them.  Delany develops the long term characters well.   YOu think you know them after the first Molly Smith book, I swear.  I read one other Molly Smith one after Fractal Noise, but I forgot the name of it already.   Guess I could read it again and not even notice.

Books are like movies or TV show episodes, some are good, some are lousy.  With the TV, a push on a remote button fixes the problem of a lousy movie or show.   With books, I just quit the lousy ones, dump them in a box, and send them back to where they came from or a thrift store.  If they're extremely bad, like Fractal Noise, I feel no one should waste their precious time on something like that and recycle it.   The latest one I started will likely also go that route.

What am I currently reading?   I don't even know.  Grabbed it off a pile.  Another cheapo or freebie and already I don't like it.   Teen girl is abducted by aliens, to start off the book.  Again.  And an alien shows  her the half alien offspring, they ripped from her womb, like it would make up for all the torture and probing in other times she's been abducted.  She's really horrified to see the "creature" that is her baby.   They send her back down to earth, telling her they're done with her.   Next chapter starts out with an alien coming to earth through a portal.  A drunk homeless man is the only witness.  The alien just wants directions to the White House.  In return for those, he somehow cures the drunk of his addiction.   Ok, whatever, this one I'll liklely recycle too.

Yesterday, the Brownsville colony man leaves me a message that he has no more cat food, their power has been shut off and the roof is leaking.   

I went and bought some bags of cat food to take down to him but Keithas Kitties offered me a 40 lb bag.  I met her along the way down, pulled off the road, and I rolled the bag to my car.  It was too heavy and awkward for me to carry to my car, given the state of my joints.   

When I got down to the colony (had gotten 30 cats fixed for this man), I gave him the cat food and asked if his power was shut down due to failure to pay.   No it wasn't.  Turns out years ago, he rejected the new smart meter due to conspiracy theories over those devices, that they spy on you and that wifi waves damage the brain or cause cancer.  There were all kinds of conspiracy stuff going around about them.   Rejecting the smart meter which can be read remotely by the power company, resulted in a meter reader fee added to his bill monthly.  He refused to pay it, and now, years later, its in the $1000 range he owes and they shut off his power.  

This guy is likable, but conspiracy (he's into all of them), blame someone else for everything--those things rule his life.   So he's going to go without power over his fears of a smart meter.   I wanted to tell him after the smart reader was put in outside my place, my electric bill plummeted.  The old one obviously had been faulty.  I was thrilled.

This morning, I need to get going.  The boys, Pokey and Meeko, from Berlin Road, are leaving, to go with Silverton Cat rescue barn team.   I meet them in Salem.   So I better get a move on.

Awesome Six

 Don't you just love the pouring rain, and early darkness evenings due to daylight savings time.

Um, no.

Yesterday we had a break from the pouring rain.  Today its back.   Darkness comes so early with the time change.  Depressing?   Hmmmm.   I guess I really don't mind it as much as I like to think.   I do enjoy complaining however.

Via a stroke of fate or good luck, just as I was asking neighbors to close the trap at the trailer park last night, the mom cat got caught in my trap.   Just like that, I'm done there.

The clinic agreed to do an extra on my four appointments and someone else failed to catch their cat, had already paid and offered the spot to me.  That was awesome.  Meeko, the tabby tux boy from the rural road, is getting fixed on that donated paid for spot.

Six cats went with me off to be fixed.

Freya, the darling little torti tux from the trailer park, and her mom Madonna, were two of them.

Freya, the last kitten needing caught at the trailer park

Madonna, the mom, at the trailer park

Meeko, the tabby tux boy from the Lebanon rural road, is being fixed today

The other three being fixed today came down from Sweet Home.  Stitch, Kitty and Sib.

 

They think Stitch is a boy but don't know the sex of the other two.

Kitty

Sib

Stitch

I don't have anymore spots til next week when I have a big trap job in store and a trip to Portland.

So...let it rain, let it pour.

I don't care.  I can sleep the rest of the week away.   

All Night

 I didn't expect good luck catching cats at the trailer park.  There are two left needing caught.

They're fed two places four trailers apart.   But no one there to check the traps.  The octogenarians go to bed at 8:00.  The other trailer involved, a girlfriend stops by to care for it while her man friend is on vacay.

The second time I drove back to check the trap, I had been lucky and caught the second torti teen.  The first torti teen I caught and had fixed had, days later, been hit and killed by a car.   I also caught a long hair black female, who was fixed (Stranger) and the black tux boy kitten (Scatter).  But there was still the mom cat who has not been seen in awhile, and the other torti teen.  At least the torti teen is caught.  Mom may be at her original colony, on the street behind the trailer park.

The woman who feeds that colony has appointments to get more fixed.  

Anyhow, it is what it is.  I went and checked at 11:p.m.--nothing.  I checked at 2:30 a.m.--nothing.  I would go to bed, fully clothed, set the phone alarm, jump up in a haze, go directly to the car, drive over, check it, come home, be back in bed all in under 30 minutes.   I checked it at 4:30 too, nothing and again at 8:00 a.m.   Nothing again.  Now the lady on the street behind is checking.  The 8:00 a.m. check was really at 9:00 a.m. because we turned our clocks back last night.

If the mom isn't seen I'll have to trust the lady on the street behind will catch her eventually.

I'm not going to let it bother me one bit.

It rained so hard yesterday!!  It was unbelievable.   I went to feed the cats for the Lebanon lady, unsure if she had regained ability to drive, and ran into her over there, so was able to return her parking pass.  She was walking fine too, with a cane.  

I had to get home then and get the two adult cats out of the cage into a carrier together and meet up in Salem with Silverton Cat Rescue barn team.   They had a barn home for them.    That took longer than expected.  The teen boys kept going into the carriers, with one of the adults.  But eventually I had the right cats in one carrier.  They are all very laid back and tolerated the shuffling.  Off went Abby and Slabbo to a new barn home.  Sure will beat living along the side of that killer road in the berry vines and trash.

I think the two teen boys left want to be tame.  

Today I need to do some catch up.

Snap Ends

 Food assistance ends today for so many people.  In our very red county, a massive number of people rely on Snap assistance.   Like nearly 10,000 people.   Almost half of those are in Sweet Home.

I qualify, but after some very bad experiences long ago, I no longer get food assistance from Snap.  I gave it up.   For one person, its not that difficult to afford food if a person is willing to eat whatever they can find.  For families with kids, especially teens, it has to be quite difficult.

When I go to the store, I just stare at the food prices now.  They're unbelievably high.  I ran to the store last night, to look for a bag of candy as I saw so many kids out trick or treating.  But I ended up in a lengthy conversation with a vet tech who is also a veteran, who had stories to tell and a very cute dog, who wanted to lick my hands.

By the  time I got home, with two cases of cat food and the bag of candy, it was after dark and only three groups of kids came by.   I love to see the kids' costumes.

I'm short on wet food, after all the trapping and the week of feeding all those places.  It's so expensive these days.  It's difficult to keep up on all the expenses.

I take the two adults in the garage, Abby and Slabbo, to Salem to hand them off to Silverton Cat barn team.   It could be a challenge to seperate out the two teens from the adults.  But after Abby and Slabbo go, I'll  just have the two brothers.  Meeko, the latest I trapped, will get fixed Monday.  SCR is going to find a barn home for them too.

After I take the adults to Salem, I'll be back at the trailer park here in town, to set traps for the two not yet caught there.  Trouble is, a couple neighbors are sort of warring over the cats, who feeds them, who doesn't, its a little bit crazy.   I try to remain neutral, like Switzerland, to get it done.

It's kind of sad, what's going on here, with the government.  Besides Snap food assistance being cut, as a result of the shutdown, the Affordable Care Act health insurance subsidies are in danger.  Trumps budget calls for an end to them and that is why the democrats are hold outs on passing a fund the government resolution in hopes the Republicans will remove the subsidy cuts from the budget.  

But, the rates for thousands if not millions of Americans are about to skyrocket, double per month or more, which will cause even more pain and suffering.  All this is self inflicted, by our current government.  A lot of the people on Snap actually work full time, but at jobs that pay very little.   The number of people using Snap and also Medicaid that work at Walmart or McDonalds for instance is ridiculously high, meaning taxpayers are subsidizing billionaires who own these companies while simultaneiously humiliating and judging their workers as leeches.  Who are the  real leeches?   Ha!  We all know the answer to that one.

List of some of the companies whose employees must rely on Snap and Medicaid.

I do see what I would call abuse of food assistance cards, like kids there with their parents card, loading up on junk food at the corner convenience store.  That's probably the most I see, and I have always wondered why the card isn't limited to real food, not soda pop and candy and all those bad for you foods and drinks.  Which makes me think, "Hmmm, does food assistance benefit or harm people, or is it more a perk to the retailers?"

Caught!

 I'm not normal.  I know that.

When I can't catch a cat, I lay awake nights devising new schemes on how to catch that cat.

The schemes came to fruition today.

Caught the last teen, the last cat needing caught, at one location the Lebanon woman feeds at.   Coincided with the last day I had agreed to feed.  I do hope she lined up the next "volunteer" among her family and friends, if she needs further help with it while recovering from surgery.  She has a lot of family nearby.

I blocked her number too, because I can't handle more.

I don't like doing that, but sometimes I have to let things go.

I am super happy to have caught all at the one location.  Two of the adults fixed last week already going to a barn home tomorrow.  The teen brothers will await a home together.  SCR is very good at what they do.  I trust them.   This teen, whom I"ve not yet named, will get fixed Monday and unite with his brother in a few moments.

In the video, teen black and white male Pokey, is thrilled his mom Abby is in the cage with him and he can express his adoration.  She's not that excited.  Slabbo is on the left.  He is one laid back boy, and seems to enjoy sleeping and eating.

I weakened and let Meeko in with the other three.  I'll have to seperate them out tomorrow to get the two adults ready to go to their barn home.  His brother, Pokey, was so happy to see him.  They're curled up sleeping together now.

My neighbors are roommates.    He's a truck driver, she's retired.   Truck driver man, 71 years old now I think, had a big wreck three days ago in his semi, and broke his back for one thing, not sure what else.   I'm friends with her, not him, so I don't know much about the wreck except it could end his truck driving and may be a long recovery.   

Halloween today.   I didn't get any candy and will just make sure my lights are off.   If I get candy, sure thing no kids will come by and I'll stare at that candy and end up eating all of it.  Not good.  Good thing its too expensive anyway.

Abby the Tabby

 I caught a fourth at the one location off a rural road where the Lebanon woman feeds.

But not the remaining teen.

It took a long time.

Numerous homeless folk came up out of the woods and chatted beside my car, making it difficult to catch anyone.  I finally set up the drop trap.  Another long long wait.  The tabby teen was out and about, very hungry, and so were the skunks.  

Suddenly the adult tabby showed up.  I think its the mom of the teens the way she acted towards the teen, slapping it down, it showing submission.   Its like mom cats do to teens when they want them on their own.   But who knows, could be another male.

Abby the Tabby

Drop trap set up.  I try to wedge my car around it, otherwise they spook if anyone comes by, like the coming, going homeless folk, or cars and trucks zooming by on the road.

The cat was unafraid of the drop trap and went right under.  I held off though, hoping the teen would go under too, but the teen was not confident enough to be that close to the adult who had just slapped her down.

Fed up with the long hours there, the constant activity, tired out, I didn't want to leave empty handed and dropped the trap over the tabby adult and quickly covered the drop trap.   Just then, along comes another homeless guy and starts telling me some complicated detailed story about something that happened in the 70's.  All the while I was trying to transfer a scared cat out from under the drop trap beside an extremely busy road.  At the end of his story, he added, you should get paid for this.  Uh huh.

After I picked up Slabbo, Pokey and Baby, at the clinic, (they were done early), I settled them and Abby the Tabby in my garage and headed out again, barely time to gather thoughts.

I hadn't fed at the other spots she feeds yet.  Off I went, nearly dark by then.  One of the boys was out trying to catch quail, with no luck, hungry I guess.   Only one at another place, and one at a third place.  I was late and they were no longer expecting it.

I skipped two more spots trying to encourage them all to come to the one spot where I have been trapping.  It worked on Slabbo, whose normal spot is 3/4 mile from where I trapped him.

I had looked up what skunks will eat and taken along quartered apples, some old blueberries and  some shriveled potatoes I cut up.   I tossed pieces down the embankment before again trying for that one last teen there.  The skunks ignored their normal food, however, wanting the cat food in the trap.   Oh boy.  I told them "Go eat those apples, they're good for you."  But they ignored me.

I'd brought Pokey along and tried setting him up beside another trap, with the trap he was in mostly covered.  In other words, used him as bait.  But his sister/brother didn't take the bait, although they exchanged meows.

I finally left about 9:00, and fed the tabby teen well, since I'm not trapping today.  I need to take time off that, but still have the lengthy feeeding rounds to make.  Abby is at the clinic getting fixed.  I have to return Baby to the homeless woman and want to coincide that with the feeding rounds, since she lives in the woods at one of the feed spots.

Baby is Pokey's sister.  Homeless woman caught her when tiny there.   But she would be reproducing more soon, if not fixed, down at the same place.

Before leaving, I mixed some capstar in a churu for the tabby teen left.  She had been scratching at fleas so much it makes her harder to trap.   Capstar only kills adult fleas, so by today, more will hatch from flea eggs and larvae, but you can give capstar daily.

I pick up Abby at 3:00.  Then I'll know for sure if its a girl.   I need to set up a big cage in the garage to hold Abby, Pokey and Slabbo.  SCR is trying to find a barn placement for them.  I sure would like that second teen to go along, but not sure I'll catch it in time.   There are other teens she could go with to a barn at another place lady fed.  

I only have two more days.  I agreed to do it five days for her.  I have not heard from her at all.   I have tried texting her.   No response, which is not unusual with her.   I drove by her place last night on the way home, lights on inside, so I assume she's home.   I know she can ride passenger in a car even now, so hopefully she has a friend or relative lined up after my five days feeding are up.

Abby had just turned on the teen, slapped her down with a quick growl, let her go.  That's a mom thing, I think, to put an older teen in place who's trying to act like a baby.

Someone got hit on the tracks down at Queen st. yesterday, by an Amtrak train.  Killed of course.   People don't like to wait on the cross arms, and risk fate and often lose.

Three Down

 I had a long day.  I left at 10:00 to return the five cats to Cascadia.   Check.

I had to get each of the five, who were in my bathroom, enjoying life there, into a carrier and carry out to car. 

I didn't bother to unload the two traps someone returned at the clinic when I was there.

I got to Cascadia just after 11:00 and the cats were so happy to be back home.  I also gave him two bags of dry food and some wet food.

On the drive back, I nearly had a heart attack.  I came around a corner, and here came a red SUV, right in my lane, head on.   The pickup the SUV was passing, in a dangerous place, had hit his brakes and I had to slam on mine, no time to be scared.   The combination of both of us hitting our brakes allowed the speeder to get back in his lane.  What an ass, to be willing to kill people to exceed the speed limit, pass dangerously and save a few seconds of time.

After that, I felt lucky to be alive.

First stop, the park.  I fed two places near there, then went to another place, and was there awhile.  The torti kitten I'd seen was there, hanging out with a huge orange tux tom.   

So four at this location need fixed.

I set up one of the traps.  Why not I thought.  This was before I realized the torti was with the tom.  I set the trap where I'd seen the torti then went ahead and fed the tom and the black teen.  No sign of the tabby teen.  

A bit later, I heard a ruckus and looked, and two other adult cats were making noise coming through the brush but darted back in when they saw me.  One or both may be Growler and her adult daughter.  They are long fixed.

I went and sat on a big knob of stump and watched some news articles on my phone.  I heard a noise then, looked up and saw a drone coming by.  I waved at it.   Then went and talked to the droner.  I asked how high his drone would go and he sent it straight up, fast.  Let's just say it can go very high.  I asked how much it cost and he said $1000 and I was flabbergasted.  Who can afford that?  Apparently he can.  

He was on a fancy electric bike too, so....

This guy needs fixed

So does his little torti friend

Off to other places where Lebanon Lady feeds.  I decided to try for the two teens.  I almost caught both, but homeless folks kept arriving in cars, or on bikes.  Some with dogs.   It was frustrating.

One of them knew me.  I knew her too.   I'd helped her grandma get tons fixed in Lebanon.  She'd been taken over by drug addict relatives and their friends and eventually the drug house was bulldozed.  Then later I helped her with cats at another homeless property, then another.  Now she had one of the teens from the brush she'd tamed when a kitten and wanted it fixed.   

I took her number.   Meanwhile, I caught the black tux teen.   I named him Pokey.   The skunks were out in force too.

Pokey

Then I caught the big huge male she'd first seen a mile farther down.  Now here he was and went straight into a trap, in front of the other teen.  Shoot, I thought, but he needs fixed too.

I named him Slabo, since the lady who feeds calls this the slabs.

Slabo is very large

I kept trying to get the tabby tux teen, but the skunks were out and homeless folk everywhere.   I contacted the clinic to see if they could do any tomorrow by chance and they can!  I was by then lecturing the skunks as I chased them out of the trap.

I finally called the homeless lady, who was gone from the pullout and down in a camp somewhere in the large area, and asked if she wanted the cat done tomorrow and she said yes, but to give her a few minutes to find her.  Pretty soon she came up the trail carrying her.  I had a carrier set out for her, so I wouldn't spook the cat and she got her in it ok and gave me two extra numbers to try for Thursday morning when I bring her back.

Baby

Anyhow, I came home after that.  It was nearly 6:00 p.m. by then.   I'd been gone all day.

The three cats will get fixed tomorrow.   The teen tux Pokey won't return.  Debating on Slabo.  Big males are hard to hold but he really needs out of there too and gets along well with the teens.   I'll see what SCR says, if they can place a big huge male like that rather soon.   I need to catch the tabby tux teen, then I'd be good, except there's another tabby, darker, comes up from the woods there too sometimes.  But three down, two trapped and I'd known there was one in a camp so she'll be done.

I haven't heard a thing from the Lebanon Lady or any family members if the surgery went well, all that.  But its not unusual to hear nothing back from her anyhow, so I assume all is good.