Musings on a Small Life

Oy! My work number must be on every spam phone call list now. Last Thursday I had 7 (!) calls from one particular number, and being rude with the person on the other end of the line didn't make a whit of difference, since he continues to call. That number is 856-204-0652, by the way. And I've already posted about it on an 8XX-number spam/fraud calls forum. Today I've had 7 spam/fraudulent calls so far, 3 from that same number, 3 from 815-695-7849 and 1 from 646-434-5429. I gave up and put my line on call forward. If someone is legit, they'll leave a message. It's supremely irritating, though, to be constantly barraged by these telemarketers, criminals, whatever. Bad enough at home, but at work? Pfffftttttt! (Me, spitting at them. LOL.) May you be spam-free today! P.S. The first cartoon is how I feel, but the third is my favourite.

I caved and called the vet clinic yesterday afternoon, then stopped by on the way home to pick up more Prednisolone for Nicki. I've tried every combination of the AmazaPet and Respo-K (from PetAlive.com) I can think of (given together, separately, "x" number of times a day....) without any good results at all, so I have to let it go. Unfortunate, since I just ordered (and received) 3 bottles of the AmazaPet. And also ordered one more product to try, already shipped and on the way. ::Sigh:: I'll keep it to have on hand when it gets here, but there goes another $60 USD. Yikes. Anyway, I have to treat Nicki; he's been having an asthma attack every one to two days for at least a month. Twice a day on rare occasion. Not as prolonged as in the past, so perhaps the remedies were having some effect, though obviously not enough. But Pred? Ugh. I looked at the dosage instructions--same as the dose he was given last time, 0.5 ml twice a day, which is 5 mg twice a ...

A lot of bloggers around the Cat Blogosphere (and around the web, generally) have posted for Earth Day today. Image courtesy of Ann @ Zoolatry I didn't join in on the cat blog because I'm rather cynical about this, and I don't think my opinion is appropriate for that venue. Sure, it's great to pick a day and preach to the choir, so we all can feel good about ourselves. Post a graphic or two and feel like we've made a difference. And of course, on the individual level, many humans do their part every day to lower their carbon footprint, to recycle and compost, etc. But the reality is that taking care of the Earth is not in the interests of Big Business, and unless human nature ever changes, or something catastrophic happens (to the Earth) to force a significant change, the destruction of the Earth and Her resources will continue. You cannot have 7+ billion people on this planet without huge negative impact, yet people still continue to breed like, well, ...

I meant to post these pics of Stewie, one of the cats at the west end PetValu location. Snapped on April 11th. He was their test subject for the washable markers they were going to be using for last weekend's adopt-a-thon. He didn't seem to mind...or notice.  :-) And Mr. Squirrel, who's family home is in the trees next door. He scold and torments the boys, and me too. I like squirrels in general, but he's a pain. And here's Carla, snapped the other morning. At least I think it's Carla. There's another mostly-white cat around now, but that one has a grey splotch on her/his head. Carla was "hiding" from a robin, I think. I disturbed her hunting. I saw this pretty girl Sunday morning and couldn't resist snapping a few pics. Obviously the concrete was warm! It was a lovely long weekend, back at work today. The adjoining neighbours disappeared late on Good Friday, came back yesterday evening, so at least it was two peace...

Wishing everyone a lovely day and a very happy Easter!  :-) Image from http://hdwalldesktops.com/computer-wallpaper/desktop-backgrounds-backgrounds-holiday-easter-cat/ Comments are off!

I just learned, a couple of days ago, that if you lie flat on your mattress and can slip your hand under the small of your back, your mattress is too firm and isn't give your body the proper support. Which would explain why I'm now on my third (different) mattress topper for the new bed, and waking up in such miserable pain every day. Actually, I'm not even sleeping a great deal, because of the pain at night, and moving around during the day isn't much fun right now, either. So on Saturday I'll be stopping in at the mattress store, to see if they have anything comparable that I can exchange my extra-firm bed for. My concern is ending up with something too soft (i.e. a pillow top) that will sag in a few years, as my old queen-sized bed did. I've looked at the mattress on their web site and don't see another (in my price range) that is not a pillow top and that can be flipped over, so I'm not hopeful. I also would expect a good warranty--t...

I had a lovely surprise yesterday: A floral delivery in celebration of my birthday! I don't remember the last time anyone gave me flowers; probably for my 40th birthday, a decade ago now.   My most heartfelt thanks to the person who sent them, you truly made my day. (((Hugs)))

I have several random things for posting today, in no particular order. First, we have new roaming cats now. I've seen a healthy-looking charcoal grey cat hanging around our fence lately, short-haired. S/he runs from me, though. There's also a mostly white cat with a grey spot on her head, and a dark tail. S/he doesn't come to me, but doesn't run too far, either. And sadly, there seems to be another young feral or semi-feral, not looking well-fed, who does run away very quickly when s/he spies me. This was the one that was up on our fence a couple of weeks ago, in the evening after it was dark. Very yeowly. I have seen Carla, the white cat that Nicki despises; she's been hanging around too. And once in a while we see (or hear) Monty, the Siamese. I really wish people would contain their cats safely or keep them indoors, but....Shrug. It's not for me to tell people how to take care of their companion animals. As for other cats, I meant to post these pics o...

I just found this and had to share, as so many of us struggle with being (or at least feeling) fat. http://thedailyquotes.com/post/18539 Brilliant. Have a great day! (Comments are off.)

I got my dad's birthday card in yesterday's mail, and on the back he had glued a very old, small school photo, taken in 1978. (Don't laugh too hard...It was the 70s after all, and in the boonies, and I was only 14.) I know the photo is of my much, much younger self, but looking at it, I don't recognize it as "me," if that makes sense. I do recognize the horse tee-shirt, though! All I thought (quite seriously) was, Poor girl, you don't know what's to come in future decades . But of course that's a good thing, as none of us would have the courage to carry on if we did. One thing is certain: I never was photogenic at any age!  :-P Purrs from the boys and peace from me.

I turn 50 later this week. I just got a cute Jacquie Lawson e-card from my dad, referencing the "meter" that runs faster and faster after the first 50 years. (You might be able to see what he wrote if you enlarge it.) I'm waiting for the life crisis. Heaven knows, I had one when I turned 40. But I feel strangely detached, feel very much that "50" isn't any more important than "49" or "51," or any other birthday. And at the same time, I feel like it should matter, I feel like I should be having (another) mid-life crisis. Or better, that it should be a pivotal moment in my life and that it should spur me on to a complete upheaval of my otherwise small and unassuming life. You know, throw job and townhouse away, take the cats and hit the road for adventure. Societal expectations, perhaps? I don't feel like doing any of those things. Oh sure, I'd like to see better options for my "authentic" Self, wo...

My birthday is next week, and I got a card in the mail yesterday from a friend in Montreal (actually my dad's second ex-wife). We always exchange b-day and Christmas cards, nothing unusual about that. But this time she had included a cheque for a small amount, so I could treat myself to some little thing. (She's the one who always takes her entire birthday week off to pamper herself and do whatever she wants--whether that's doing nothing or going to a spa or taking a trip, etc.) Her gesture totally took me aback, as she's not done that before. I didn't know how to take it--was she taking pity on someone whose funds always end up being doled out on bills and vets? Part of me feels like a charity case and I've been wondering whether I should cash the cheque at all. I called her and thanked her, of course. She meant it purely as a gift and told me it was for me (lunch or whathaveyou), not for the cats (lol), not even to put toward something for the new bed...

That was one of the stories a national news station was presenting this morning on TV. I heard the host as she ran down the list of upcoming features. If you burst into tears upon hearing that and sob uncontrollably, the answer is "no." I changed the channel. *** Who the heck is living the life they imagined when they essentially were kids? Not many of us. But my sudden and intense reaction was a good indication that my life is seriously off-track from my core Self.  Yeah, no kidding. But this self needs shelter, food and clothing and to care for her pets. And we all do the best we can, given where we are on our Journey. *** Snowdrops from yesterday's lunch time errand; the only kind of "snow" I want to see now.    

First, to answer The Furries: Yes, we can be called repeatedly for jury selection, which might or might not lead to actual jury duty. I appreciate your perspective...but I still don't want to serve.   And to Bellen: Yes, I was called for selection last September, but Dad was arriving that week from Vancouver and so they deferred it to the spring. Well, it's spring, at least by the calendar! I have a feeling this will be for the "big and very long" trial from the fall, which they probably held over for some reason. I do remember your suggestion, as well as others made, and might have to put one or more of them to good use.  :-P *** As for getting the hang of this, I mean the Picture Window template.  I've been trying to resize free desktop wallpaper images to fit, but it's hard because monitors can vary so widely in size. Blogger's suggestion is to use an image that's 1800x1600 or larger, but I'm trying 1800 pixels wide with a smaller h...

Juror #4752 has been summoned to courtroom A on May 12 @ 9:30AM for jury selection. I can't think of an excuse this time; Dad's not visiting next month. I hope it's PMS week.