Good Boy update

Some of you may remember Good Boy, the neighborhood feral I TNR'd last year.

Good Boy kept coming around, off and on, and then, around Christmas time, he started coming around all the time.  He'd hang out in my backyard shed during the day and in the my garage at night, and he'd meow loudly and scratch at the kitchen door when he wanted me to bring him some food. (Typical male, ha.)  I worried about him being out in the cold and snow.

But my permacat Tinks was NOT having it. It was okay when Good Boy only came around once in a while, but when it became every day, Tinks became aggressive toward him, and I was afraid somebody was going to get hurt.

A farmer I TNR for offered to give Good Boy a farm home.  And that was the plan, until ... Good Boy started rubbing against my legs when I took his food out.  And rolling on the floor, showing me his tummy. And PURRING.

I called the rescue I volunteer for.   Would they be willing to work with Good Boy?

The answer was yes!

So a couple of weeks ago, when Good Boy meowed for his breakfast, I went out in the garage, scooped him up, popped him in a crate, and took him to the adoption center.

Why yes, yes I AM a Judas.

I'm sorry, Good Boy!  It's for the best!

The center volunteers are patiently working with Good Boy.  I stop by often, as do my friends, to give him some loving.

He is fussed over and has a warm, safe place to sleep with no Tinks to attack him.   He even entertains guests from time to time at his new place:

Most importantly, he'll finally have a family to love him, once the perfect people come along.  No more living in sheds and garages and having other cats beat up on him.  He'll finally be able to have a home. 

Good Boy!

Lumpy Space Princess

A couple of posts ago, I mentioned that one of my current crop of fosters had to have hernia surgery.

So I wasn't really surprised when I felt lumps in the belly of one of his siblings.  It seems Camper Rainbow had developed the same condition that her brother came in with.

Arrangements were made for her hernia/spay surgery, and I dropped her off that morning and picked her up that evening, still hilariously loopy from the anesthetic and the pain meds. (her, not me.)

But ... when I got her home and went to take a look at her belly, it was still all lumpy!  What the -

Mammary hyperplasia.  It wasn't hernias, it turns out it was something called mammary hyperplasia, which thankfully is a fairly minor diagnosis as far as diagnoses go.  (Just when you think you've seen it all as far as kitten problems!) The lumps should go away now that she's been spayed, and the condition should not recur.

And while I had jokingly starting referring to her as Lil Lumpy, one of my coworkers said I should call her Lumpy Space Princess (which is, it turns out, a cartoon character).

LSP it is!  At least here in Foster Camp.  haha.

Game Cam Pics

I stuck a game cam on the ground below the birdfeeder the other day, to see what showed up.

There were lots of the usual suspects:

And even what is evidently the world's largest bird:

Oh wait it's just a deer.  Whew!

Speaking of deer:

And of coursel, there were plenty of THESE:

*SIGH*  Squirrels are the gluttons of the feeder.

Oh, look!  Here's a bird!  Being elbowed out of the way by a squirrel:

Of course, Ponyboy had to swing by to see what was going on:

Hopefully, Spring is on the way.

Because I'm sick of shoveling!  Yeesh.

Cheep cheep cheep

I am ... cheap.  I have always been cheap, because I've always HAD to be cheap.  But I'm trying to get over it, now that things have changed.

The other weekend, instead of buying a burger from the dollar menu at the drive-thru for lunch, I ordered a regular-menu burger!  and fries!  and a soda! although I was still able to bundle them together for a value meal, so there.

And I went to the Thrifty Shopper and bought eighteen dollars worth of clothes, but then realized afterward that I actually had been overcharged because they used my birthday week discount instead of the color-tag discount that would have been cheaper, but instead of beating myself up over it for the next week, I had pretty much excused myself by the following day.

I opened up a brand-new can of reddi-whip the other night, instead of going without because I only want reddi-whip on my dessert once in a while, and god knows when the next time will be, and reddi-whip doesn't last forever once opened, so I pretty much just threw a two-dollar can of reddi-whip away for one use.  But I DID use it on a fifty-cent Walmart snack pie that expired a month ago, because I couldn't bear to toss a still-good fifty-cent pie.

I bought a new living room recliner!  on Thanksgiving day, because that's when Big Lots was having their big sale.  AND I splurged and had it delivered to the house.  AND THEN I actually paid my garbage service an extra fee to have my old recliner hauled away, instead of trying to manhandle it into the car and haul it to the dump myself.  Although I DID leave it out to the curb for a week, just to see if there were any takers, before calling the garbage service.  :) 

This year, instead of buying a 5 to 6 foot Christmas tree ($30.00), I bought a 6 to 7 foot tree ($40.00).  And that extra ten bucks is WORTH it.

I ... I am just not good at spending money.  I think I spent so many years scrimping and saving that it's now ingrained in me.    But there's nothing wrong with being thrifty, is there?  I mean, it's not like I'm reusing aluminum foil or something.  (No judgment here if you reuse aluminum foil, haha.)  I tell myself that I'm saving up for that house in Florida.  That I might be able to actually BUY, now!  Holy cow.  :)

So tell me:  Are you good at spending money? Is there, like, a secret to it?  Is it a skill?   Enquiring minds want to know. :) 

Well hello there!

Remember me?  No?  I don't blame you.  :)

 I hope everyone had a good Christmas - doesn't that seem like a billion years ago?  Right now it's bitterly cold here, as it is just about everywhere - one of the few downsides to the new (well, not-so-new anymore) job is that because it's downtown, on-site parking is only available to those above certain pay grades.  I didn't make the cut, which means I have to schlep a good quarter-mile from where I park my car to actually get to the office.  Not bad most days;  very, very sucky on mornings like today, when it's ten below and the wind chill makes it feel more like thirty-below.  One word:  Layers.

Speaking of work, the office manager is on a cruise to the Bahamas this week (Lucky her!), so I have been filling in in that role. Ay Caramba!  I am learning by the seat of my pants, but I'm learning, so it's all good.  Please, Friday, get here already!  haha

As I mentioned in the last post, I am currently hosting a litter of seven, three of whom are torties.  Oh lord. :)  They came to the rescue in pretty rough shape, and I thought I'd talk a little bit about that here - how the adorable animals you see in shelters often require a lot of resources to get there.

In the case of my particular Foster Campers, back in October, a local person responded to a Craigslist ad offering free kittens.  When she went to see them, she saw that they were in really rough shape, so she scooped up the entire litter (!) and called a friend of hers, who volunteers for the same rescue I do.  As soon as they came into rescue care, they were taken to the vet.

WARNING:  The following pictures are graphic.

The kittens were covered in what appeared to be dried Dawn dish soap, along with a glue-like substance.  Once that mess was removed, it became apparent that they were all covered with sores:

And one of the kittens had a hernia in need of immediate attention:

They were also severely malnourished and dehydrated, and covered with fleas.

All of them were thoroughly cleaned and received IV fluids, and little hernia kitten had surgery.  They spent a couple of months in another foster home, then came here to Foster Camp.

They're all doing great now; one has already headed to the adoption center (hernia kitten) to find his forever home, and the rest will follow as space opens up.  They don't seem to have any lasting effects from their rough start.  Here they are chasing a feather toy:

So!  If you ever wanted to know why rescues are always begging for money, well, this is why.  Sometimes it takes a lot of vet care and money before those adorable kittens and cats ever make their appearance at the local shelter.

Lecture over!  Go in peace!  Let me know how you're all doing in the comments!

oh and TORTIES!  Why did it have to be TORTIES?!  :)

 

Thank you, Ginny!

In an Instant

Thank you so much for all of your condolences.  That was, of course, one of the hardest posts I've written here.  I'm so glad I have you all to share these things with, even if I'm not around near as much as I used to be.

The last week, evenings have been spent trying to make sure all of her various accounts (water, phone, insurance, etc.) have been notified and her accounts closed.  Some companies have been very accommodating; others, not so much.  Dear ATandT:  Seriously?  I have to bring in her most recent bill AND a death certificate IN PERSON to an ATandT store in order to cancel her phone service?  What. the. hell.

I've been emailing back and forth with her lawyer regarding getting her estate settled.  She didn't have a lot of "real property"; she rented a townhouse and had a 10-year-old car, so I imagine the estate part will be fairly straightforward.  Her financial advisor wanted to meet with me while I was in Texas, but our schedules just didn't align, so we agreed that we'd speak by phone once I was back home.  I knew that she was very careful with money and had invested for her retirement. She told me once that she was planning on making me beneficiary of her investment accounts.  I told her I appreciated the thought very much, but why didn't she just leave it to charity?

She didn't.  She left it to me.  I had no idea how much money she had; she'd been retired for 15 years and was drawing off those investment accounts, which is how it works, after all.  When her financial guy told me she had indeed made me beneficiary, I just hoped that there would be enough left in the accounts to cover her outstanding bills and pay the lawyer and funeral home bills.

The financial guy called me Wednesday night.  She left more than enough money to pay off her outstanding bills.  She left ... a lot of money.  Not "buy a private island in the Bahamas" money, not "buy a private island, well, ANYWHERE" money, but enough so that my life has changed.  Just like that.

I always assumed that I would have to work as long as I was able to do so, because I certainly had never made enough to set anything aside over the years.  I was looking forward to getting my house paid off next year, because that would be one less bill to pay, and would give me a little more breathing room when the furnace needed to be fixed or the roof repaired.  I was hoping to move someplace warmer .... someday.  But no matter where I moved, I'd have to keep working. That's just the way it was.

And now, just like that, retirement is a reality.  If I want to move someplace warmer tomorrow, I can.  If I want to take a nice trip, I can go right ahead.  The financial guy flat-out asked me, "Do you have a bucket list?  Pick a couple things and go right ahead."

WHAT. JUST. HAPPENED?

I still can't believe this is real.  I can't believe she's gone, and I can't believe the money.  And I will tell you right now, I would give that money back in a heartbeat if it would bring her back.

I could turn down the money, but it wouldn't bring her back.

And with one half-hour phone call, my life has changed.  In an instant.  Oh, Arline.

Passed Away

 From left:  Arline, my mom, and two of my sisters.  1963.

Longtime readers here will remember my sister Arline, known here on the blog as "Texas".

Last Sunday, Arline passed away.

She had had jaw surgery for a bone infection a couple of months ago, and had been losing weight ever since.  By the time a friend convinced her to go to a doctor two weeks ago (who sent her home, advising her to "drink more fluids" (she weighed 70 lbs. by then)) and then to the ER a few days later, CT scans revealed metastasized cancer and she was becoming non-responsive.   She was transferred to inpatient hospice care last Saturday.  I spoke with the hospice nurse Saturday night, who advised me that Arline had less than a week to live.  On Sunday morning, I booked a flight which would leave on Monday morning.

I didn't make it in time.  Her friends were there holding her hands when she died, but I was not.

 Arline and my mom.

I flew down anyway, both because I just wanted to be there, and also because as executor of her estate, I know that I would have responsibilities that needed to be attended to.

 Arline digging up daylilies.

Arline was 75, and was a beautiful, gentle yet strong-as-steel person.  She was a role model for me; from her, I learned that you don't have to have a husband or children in order to live a full, complete life.  I learned that having a fulfilling career is important to women as well as men.  I also learned how to think for myself and face the consequences of my own decisions.  I learned that just because everyone around you is spouting a certain opinion, it doesn't mean that you have to agree.  I learned that there can be strength in gentleness and listening.  I will miss her very much. I hope she knows I thought the world of her.  I hope I expressed that often enough.

Rest in peace, Arline.  I will miss you very much.

A Room with a view

At my old job, I worked in the basement.  My desk looked out onto the reception area for our unit, which was full of people ... waiting.  For their appointments to start.  Also babies.  Crying.  And children.  Who were sometimes picking their noses and ... oh, you get the picture.

Here is what I look out onto at my new job:

Sorry, that's not the greatest picture - there were reflections in the window.  But look!  Look how far I can see!  All the way to the hills!

BWAHAHAHAHAHA

And the difference doesn't stop with the view.  I KNEW, within a week of starting that last job, that it was NUTS.  I keep telling myself, "don't let yourself think that this type of crushing, impossible workload is normal, because it's NOT.  Don't ever get normalized to this, because it's INSANE."

And sure enough, I started the new job, and everything is ... nice.  And normal. Busy workload, but certainly manageable.  And everybody is friendly and polite and every time someone has a birthday we take an afternoon break for CAKE! 

I really wasn't jazzed to have to learn a new job less than 18 months after learning the LAST one, tbh, but I knew I had to get out of there.  So I jumped ship.  And the water's fine!

Take this job, and ...

Yes, it's true.  After giving it the ol' college try for over a year at a job where I was miserable every day, I'm movin' on!

I've accepted a job with the county in which I live, and am about to embark on a career as a civil servant. Who'd a thunk it?  

And in OTHER career news, I found out today that the boss at my OLD old job passed away a few days ago.  Lots of conflicting thoughts about THAT.

So!   Finishing out my time at the current job, doing paperwork for the upcoming job, and on the homefront all is well.  Meet the current fosters:

I've also discovered the joys of backyard campfires:

And in general, life just keeps chugging along.  :)  How are all of YOU doing?

The Fair!

Yep, I took a day of PTO today, thus royally pissing off the woman who has to cover for me (sorry not sorry), and headed for my favorite spot in the whole world, the fair!

I was inordinately excited to discover that the parking lot had been paved:

Yippee!:

 

Sometimes the skies looked threatening, but the day was mostly rain-free:

My favorite booth at the fair - it sells all kinds of funky stuff.:

 

Well, you can't really call it a fair until you've eaten something-on-a-stick.  Meet the chocolate-dipped frozen twinkie, washed down with a blue lemonade:

Not for all the money in the world, buddy - there were people in the top of that thing who paid money to be there (shudder):

I don't know what kind of affliction they're selling, but I'm pretty sure I don't want any:

If they had been selling these things in the Center of Progress building (home of all things as-seen-on-TV), I would have bought one for myself, because this cow sure was enjoying herself.:

And there you have it!   The Great New York State Fair! 

Avast, ye mateys!

Pony's doing super.    He's doing a lot of sleeping (they sent him home with opioid painkillers, which came with unintentionally hilarious paperwork (Pony, if you think you have an addiction problem, here's the number you call, okay?)), but also eating and drinking and tormenting Sodapop, so things are looking up. 

Amazingly, they do not sell cat pirate eyepatches on Etsy, land of all strange hand-crafted things, so I've been left to my own devices.  (Decorative accessories are for photos ONLY; I do not expect him to actually WEAR one, haha)

And now it's time for a Pirate Pony theme song, I think. So far the best I've been able to come up with is this, sung to the tune of "Popeye the Sailor Man",

"I'm Pony the Pirate Cat,
and I know that I'm all that,
I thrill all the kitties
with my pirate ditties,
I'm Pony the Pirate Cat!"

Needs work, right?  Suggestions welcome!

Enucleation

Back in early April, I noticed that Ponyboy had an odd little bulge in the corner of his right eye.  (Ponyboy has always had eye problems.)  I took him to the vet, who thought it might be a reaction to some kind of irritation and gave me some steroidal eyedrops to try.  When the bulge continued to grow,  I took him back to the vet, who did a needle aspiration that didn't really reveal much of anything.  But the bulge kept growing bigger, until within the span of a couple of weeks, it was covering about half of his eye.

The vet suggested surgical removal of the mass and biopsy.  Diagnosis: Squamous cell carcinoma, a locally aggressive cancer of the third eyelid that can usually be completely cured if removed promptly.

Yesterday, Pony and I traveled to the Cornell Companion Animal Hospital (a place we are familiar with, haha) for a consultation.  And all I can say is, how lucky is it that we are within an hour's drive of animal ophthalmologists?

Suggestion?  Remove the eye as soon as possible.

This morning, I took Ponyboy back to Cornell.  First up: Radiology, which confirmed the cancer had not yet spread. (I will admit to crying when I got THAT good news.)   Next up:  Surgery, which was done early this afternoon. Ponyboy is now Ponyboy the Pirate Cat, as he is one-eyed, and he will remain at Cornell tonight and come back home tomorrow.

Good lord, I do love this sweet cat. 

Because Ginny is far, far better at online shopping than I can ever hope to be ...

THANK YOU!!  

Today's walk

Spring flowers are all over the woods this time of year.

According to James Fitter, this is a Rose-Breasted Grosbeak: