We’ve opted out of our usual St. Paddy’s day fest with the pipers and all—regretfully. But while the virus isn’t out in town,it is in town, and we’ve just decided the tightly packed pub crowd in that evening is not wise for people of _ahem) – our age.
Hope you all are staying smart and safe. I love my readers and want them healthy.
It seems every time I think i’m getting ahead on the writing, some new emergency pops up, but we are now making progress. It’s tax time in the US and we’ve decided to change accountants, being absolutely out of our minds with the delays, procrastinations and problems of dealing with the ones we’ve used the last several years. We paid a bill, the papers didn’t get filed, the IRS returned what we paid over our objection to our accountants, who said, no, it’s ok, and now the IRS wants it back with interest…arrgh!
So…that’s part of the hassle. Finity—is a handful. Found her atop the range lapping chicken soup (our lunch) out of a pan that had a burner going under it. There is nothing this kitten will not dare in pursuit of food.
It’s supposed to snow Saturday, after a month of 50 degree days. Naturally things are budding out and ready to bloom.
And we’re doing ok in most regards, except the house is a mess, the basement is a mess and we are behind.
@BCS, three points.
Toilet paper alternatives
If you really run out of toilet paper, you need to know that flushing paper towels down the toilet causes problems for wastewater treatment. They don’t break down as fast as TP does when wet, so that can clog things up.
The same goes for wet wipes.
As an alternative, you might consider the oldfashioned solution that Bren found at Malguri in the first Foreigner book.
Put a pile of clean & dry washcloths (or “washandjes”) near the toilet. Wet one at the sink when you’re done, clean your bum, and put the used one in a small pail. Once a day run the used ones as a small load of washing on a hot setting, or wash by hand and then pour boiling water on them (this also sterilises the pail or sink you’re washing them in), let them sit in that until the water is cool enough to fish them out, wring them out and hang them up to dry. Being terrycloth and small, they dry very fast.
If you havent got enough washcloths, you could cut an old towel into pieces to use for this.
It’s very oldfashioned and more work, with the washing and all, but quite hygienic, with the soap and boiling water.
(And it’s much less messy than the cloth diapers that were still in use when I was a baby, that mothers have had to deal with for centuries.)
—————-
Varnishing a table
As to the amount of stain and varnish you might need,
a) wait until you’ve got the furniture, so you can estimate the size of the surface you want to treat;
b) get your friend to take you to wherever he gets his paints from, so you can check the colors IRL;
c) then on the tins you choose it’ll say how many square meters/yards/whatever you can treat with one tin. If you want to put on two or three coats remember to double or triple the estimated surface of your furniture.
Sanding a tabletop by hand is fairly easy. Remember to go with the grain of the wood in your sanding movements, so you don’t make cross-grained scratches.
Sanding the legs is more of a hassle, and may not be necessary.
Put on a layer of stain, if you want to match the color of the cabinet.
Let it dry. If the color, once dry, is still too light, sand it lightly with fine- to medium-grained sandpaper, wipe off the dust, and put on a second layer of stain. Always work with the grain of the wood.
Once it’s dry, and the color you want, sand it lightly with fine-grained sandpaper so the varnish can get a grip on the surface.
Put on one coat of varnish.
When that is dry, sand it lightly with a fine-grained sandpaper, wipe off the dust with a moist cloth, let dry and put on a second layer of varnish.
If you want a mirror-smooth finish you can go for a third coat of varnish. In that case, sand the second coat with wet, waterproof very fine-grained sandpaper before you put on the third layer.
Wipe off the sanding dust with a wet cloth before varnidhing, even though the sandpaper was wet too – it still leaves wet dust behind.
——————-
Cats
If Peppercorn is catching her claws on your clothes, it sounds as if she needs a nailtrimming.
If you can get her used to you touching and handling her feet when she gets petted, you can probably cut her nails, just do one or two at a time if she gets restless.
Probably a good idea to get the kittens used to this too, as well as to being picked up and petted, held upside down and getting their tummies rubbed. “Foster dad John” on YouTube always did that, getting them used to being held and trusting humans, starting with just a moment of being upside-down if they didn’t like it, but repeating it until they learned to trust that he wouldn’t drop them.
He’s remodelling his house, so there are no current videos of his fostering kittens, but BrookIvy’s channel (linked above) has lots of older videos of the earlier fosters.
Since you enjoy the kittens so much, I’ve been thinking that you might enjoy doing something like that, once you are all settled down in your own home, and have sorted out and got rid of the excess stuf in storage.
You could turn the second bedroom into a kitten room, so they have a safe small space to explore while they’re babies, and they & their mom don’t bother Goober.
You could contact a shelter and explain that you’d like to try fostering, once Peppercorn and her kittens are off to a safe home and you’ve had time to settle in and sort stuff, if they need foster homes for pregnant momcats or motherless kittens.
If you foster for a shelter, they take care of the vet costs, for vaccinations and spaying and whatever is necessary; and you don’t have to worry about finding them new homes.
You keep those foster cats in their own room, separate from your own cat(s), so Goober doesn’t get pushed aside nor picks up their parasites; and so you don’t get overrun with cats, trying to keep them all, as you know the shelter takes them back and gets them adopted out when they’re ready for their own homes.
I do think you shouldn’t try to keep Peppercorn, not so much because of the bite but because of how she treats Goober. If you keep her, you’ll be denying him his peaceful old age as a coddled favorite cat; he’ll be feeling pushed aside and having to be wary in his own safe place.
If Beige/Dubhan (Doovan) treats him with respect, and they get along well, keeping him would be an option; but in that case you may want to get him spayed soon, before he develops dominant tomcat aggressiveness. Maybe let the vet take care of that while he’s rooming there for the move.
Contact the shelter now, or soon, explain you’ve fostered a momcat who is tame but was living outside, and her kittens, and ask if they can take her and the kittens now they’re almost weaned and grown enough to adopt out.
Explain that you’ll be moving next month, and can’t take all of them with you – you’ve got your own elderly cat, and can take one kitten, but not all. Tell them you’ve already got them their first vaccination, so they are safe to take into the shelter.
They’re eating solid (wet) food on their own, so if the shelter can come and pick them up between now and the end of the month they would be around 11-12 weeks IIRC and should do fine.
That saves them a lot of stress and hassle around the move and getting used to a new place, after which they’d soon have to go through it all again when they get adopted. It also saves you the boarding costs, while you’ve saved the shelter their checkup, deworming and vaccination costs. Peppercorn needs to be spayed soon; the shelter will take care of that.
It also makes it easier for Goober to get used to the new house, if he isn’t being hassled by Peppercorn and a bunch of rambunctious kittens in unfamiliar territory.
If the shelter can’t pick them up, see if you can get your friend to help you to drop them off at the shelter, instead of taking them all to the vet for rooming during the move.
So you think Pinky / Digger wants to be Atevi or Hani ? Oh Blue, what are we going to do with you ? Why not Mri ? or Dus ? or Shonun ? Those Shonun, well at least Dana Duun Shtoni no Lughn of the Hatani Guild, Duun as we came to know him, was some pretty smart cookie. They took down a Technologically more advanced Starship, not bad when you consider that they were still at the Planetary Exploration Level themselves. And I say that respectfully, as we Terrans / Earthers / Humans of This Realm, haven’t quite reached that same level in our Space Exploration. To us, anything beyond the Moon is still Deep Space.
You can tell, I’m a really big fan of Cookoo`s Egg. I guess I see myself a bit like Thorn. Living in a world that confuses the hell out if me, Sitting on the edge of a star system, looking out at the Deep. Knowing Something is out there, wondering about them, about roots, and about how much of the way we think is because of our upbringing and how much is about our DNA ?
It’s a Quandary, Even the best minds in Cyteen had to hedge their bets.
I understand your Cat problem Blue, I really do. We Humans are indeed a Social Race. We forge links, not just links of Blood, but of Emotion. A Human truelly alone is a Wounded Spirit. We reach out for our Family, our Parents, our Siblings, our parents parents, and our parents siblings, and their progeny. We reach out beyond our family, forging links to others beyond our blood. Friendship we call it, and having reached out, we forge new connection. In the consideration of Friendship, I suppose we could consider Species as just an extension of Family, of Blood. We reach further back and find other life, other friends. Not our Family of Species, yet still Blood, the blood of Earth. We are All One you see, all our DNA, our Blood. Man, Woman, all of us Human’s we share a blood link to all the myriad Species that live on this World, this Earth. Is it so strange then that we can seek friendship with another species ? The trick is remembering that other Species, other Humans even, have different thought processes, and the further away from our own DNA, the less like our own thinking process, your going to find.
At least, thats the theory.
We make friendships, invest high expectations upon them. Some friendships we often Place higher than blood, especially in the absence of Close Blood, Our Animal friendships, are invested with as much Emotional Bonding as we would a Child, a Progeny of our Parents Parental Bloodline. A Cat, or a Dog, is just like a Surrogate Child of our own.
I’m like Thorn, sitting there Ears turned to the Deep, listening to a voice calling. A voice that only realizes is calling in hopes of a reply. Thorn sent a reply, now he’s awaiting a response.
Oh how I wish that CJ would write a sequel.
@chondrite — oh, thank you; that’s probably the source of the stories I vaguely remember, though I’ve heard a few versions over the years. I’ve read something authored, so it’s likely from Tomie de Paola.
@Hanneke — Wow, thank you. That outlines the process really well for refinishing furniture. — Hah, I have one roll of toilet paper in use, one here for the apt., and one reserved for the new home. I got excited, thinking I’d found TP on Amazon. Availability? Expected April 30th through May something. Hahaha, oh, no! Kleenex and paper towels are likely to be my options, but hmm, may have to resort to washcloths as you said. I have a small quantity of wipes for the cats, but I found I’m low on disposable gloves for cleanup, and those (and rubbing alcohol) are all out of stock. The heavy, reusable dishwashing gloves were in stock, so I did order them. — It’s been a week. Surely the people panicking about it will get their fill of supplies soon. (Funny, I’m not interested in hoarding that stuff.)
The cats — I’m not sure if I’ll foster again soon. I haven’t gotten super attached to the kittens, but I am a little attached, and the little guy (Beige / Dubhan) keeps sleeping on the bed, but not last night. So I think he’s a keeper. — I’m considering giving Peppercorn away, but haven’t convinced myself either way. Still, yeah, you’re right, Goober needs more “elbow room,” so he doesn’t feel too constrained or pushed aside. He’s been doing better about feeling he has his place with me again, but yes, he’s still a little annoyed with the kittens, and feels thwarted by Peppercorn, though they’re doing slightly better now too. — Peppercorn nipping me, how strong her overreaction was, has made me rethink it, even though I love her usual side and I think she feels at home here, bonded somewhat. — I have a small list from the vet, the same sources I called regarding Curry, but Peppercorn and definitely her kittens should be good candidates for adoption. That’s on the to do list.
@Deesha — I really liked Cuckoo’s Egg too. One of the characters gets a brief mention because he’s unusual for having his spots stay into late adolescence / early adulthood, when that’s considered a juvenile trait. I found that interesting, but it didn’t get explored as a friendship for Thorn, who feels so isolated, so different. Later in the book, we learn they are taking a big gamblee on whether Thorn is getting the right emotional and verbal cues from the old tapes and language he’s getting. So they’re taking a gamble that Thorn will still be trustworthy as a human and as a go-between for the two species, or if he’ll bring doom. Somehow, we get the idea they and humans will have peaceful contact rather than conflict.
That nature, being so different, yeah. For me, my eyesight has always made me different, an outsider even when I’m included and have friends. When I began realizing, as a pre-teen and into my teens and young adulthood, that there was something else going on, that I might be (was) gay, I didn’t know how to deal with that. The contrast between the two in how I dealt with them, wow. Life throws things at us, some of them subtle below our understanding or recognition of them. But we deal with things even so. Or we struggle with things while others, we deal with better. — I really like Merchanter’s Luck too, but didn’t know it would be a touchstone for much of my life. And the Chanur series deals with gender in subtle ways on several levels, which I find interesting, even though it’s not the focus of the books.
Heh, the cats are something else. They are so. much like us and yet alien in a way. That’s always fascinated me, and I really love most things about them. Occasionally, and more lately, I’ve been confounded by some of the differences. but overall, they sometimes make more sense to me than humans. Why that is, I don’t know, but that[s like how many of CJ’s characters feel, between who they are and their own kind and other species and ways of thinking, feeling. I love this about CJ’s work. She knows how to write that conflict in all its strengths and weaknesses, whether all humans or aliens or humans with aliens.
—–
Overnight, I was awakened at least twice by car alarms going off and staying off for several minutes. I think it was car alarms instead of apartments. It was not smoke detectors, fortunately. And there were two arguments outside and one conversation overnight, not as loud as some, but still….. So I didn’t get much sleep until after 4am. I’m very draggy today, but up for now. I may nap later. It’s been raining all day.
Nothing in particular from the cats this morning.
Had to wait on hold for over an hour to change my appt. for net cable / security hookup for the new place. Reset to next week on the same day as gas hookup. Still not closed on the new home. Lot big mess, a? So two utilities won’t be on until late next week, and delivery of new appliances and furniture from my side (rather than what the seller is supposed to put in, stove, oven, refrigerator, maybe dishwasher) won’t be until Tuesday at the earliest, likely later. I am not yet through packing. I’m way tired and short of sleep all the time, and everything is laughably out of whack and off schedule still. So…typical moving situation, I guess.
At this point, I want it all to work out. If we don’t get the deal resolved, I really want us to be able to pull out of it and get another, even if that delays even more. I so want this to work and I am still not convinced it can. Going on faith that somehow this will work out and things will get better. It’s the best chance I’ve had since moving into the apartment.
So my morning’s been taken up with one thing, and I’m going to feed the cats and myself and consider going back to bed, getting up later, and working, or whether I want to stay up and keep on until I fall asleep early tonight, with any luck.
@BCS It is not a “pandemic scare”: it is an isolate-for-your-life real honest-to-God pandemic. Only Draconian isolation has kept it from killing millions already. Modern air transportation endangers us; modern communications and food deliveries save us. Men are twice as likely as women to die from it, and once all the ventilators in the US are in use, they’re going to have to triage, and oldest person get thrown off the boat. Check yourself for fever since you seem to have fatigue; if you get a cough, stay away from people. Check the CDC or Texas DHS sites. Either move as fast as possible or don’t move. The youngest, least affected COVID-19 infectees don’t know they have it and spread it rapidly.
HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — Officials have asked everyone to stay home unless it’s absolutely necessary amid the coronavirus outbreak, and it looks like Houstonians are complying.
…
County health officials also did not specify whether the latest group of patients were infected locally or while traveling, but did say, “Of the cases reported to date, multiple clusters of transmission have been noted among attendees of recreational group gatherings and employees in office settings.”
https://abc13.com/society/surreal-images-in-houston-during-the-covid-19-outbreak/6033612/
Stay 6′ (2m) away from everyone possible. I’m in lockdown just like CJ and Jane.
___
A doctor gave me good advice once: enough sleep should be your top priority. All health follows from that.
In programming, almost uniformly, () are parentheses or parens, [] are brackets, {} are braces, < > are angle brackets when they’re unusually used as pairs, respectively they’re less than and greater than. Often just the semantics of the symbol are used, such as “(a / b)” is “paren a divide b close-paren” but “func(a)” would often be “func of a”, or in C a=b is “a is assigned the value of b”, but a==b is “a equals b” (true or false). I resist going on at encyclopedic length. 😉
Some people take keys on a ring and give a worn table a uniformly used look. Ikea has some interesting tables that can become as small as bookcase, some with chairs stored inside, to normal 2-3 person use, to 4 maybe tight 6 person use. It sounds like a small house, and I know I always over-estimate how much furniture will fit. With cats and vision and all, the less the better, maybe?
As for nuts decisions, almonds are healthiest, I think, but I’m a sucker for honey roasted peanuts, which of course are legumes.
https://www.houstonchronicle.com/coronavirus/article/texas-coronavirus-map-cases-houston-covid-19-15137466.php?utm_campaign=chron&utm_source=article&utm_medium=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.chron.com%2Fcoronavirus%2Farticle%2Fgood-news-about-novel-coronavirus-15142967.php
Nuts, I’ve gotta locate the printout from the drawer, which has the links of cat adoption shelters, the same list I went through for Curry. But hopefully better luck for Peppercorn and her kittens, since she was a stray and not fully feral.
My hand is healing pretty well, so it wasn’t as deep as I thought But it has sure put a big dent in my willingness to trust her and want to get too close.
I do plan to keep Beige Boy / Dubhan. He was on the bed a little while again last night. He’s not staying the whole time, but then, he is a kitten.
hope the latest order of a pail of cat litter does arrive at my door, or I’ll have to put in yet another order in a hurry. I tried ordering bags. I was lucky I got to the order before it got damp under the shipping box and cellophane wrap, to ge t to the bags.
—–
No word from my friend about closing. I had rescheduled gas and net / sec hookup for next week. Next Friday will be two weeks since the original closing date planned.
Yup, everything has pretty much shut down, from what my friend had said, about local stores. I will likely need a grocery delivery by the end of next week or into the start of next month ,the week after that. But I want to hold off in case of a move.
Car alarm or apt. alarm again last night, no idea what time it was, but man, that gets old, once in the evening, then once sometime between midnight and dawn.
Not a peep fro the wandering horde of neighbor kids. I suspect that the kids above or nearest me may have been sent off to relatives. No idea; except that the herd of elephants noises from above have stopped at night, the past two or three nights and no one outside playing for two days / nights now except once or twice. If the alarms and the arguing adults would just shut up I might get a good night’s sleep. Probably not, knowing my lack of sleep/wake cycle, but it might happen.
Going to risk trying to sleep later, but I’m expecting a redelivery of something registered, a package, looks like. I don’t know what or why. And my eyes are giving me trouble today.
No fever going that I know of, and the sinus I had got better. I’m about as isolated as can be anyway, unless I get to go to the new house on Thursday as planned.
(And Houston is a major seaport and airport hub, so we have people in and out all the time, ordinarily, pluss the Gulf Coast climate is so warm it loves oh, anything biological macro or micro. But that’s true of most of the US cost except much further north. So, caution is in order.)
Goals for the week: Get Peppercorn and kittens to an adoption shelter; I’ll be calling Monday. One looks promising, but after prior experience, I don’t know. — The kittens are nearly 12 weeks old, I think. I’ve got to check my notes, I’ve got so much going I’ve lost track. They and mama are eating and using litter like crazy, and I’m having trouble keeping up. They still are not really eating much dry, except for mama, which really, really is not helping with expenses. — I’m keeping Dubhan / Beige Boy; he got on the bed twice last night, almost next to Goober with not too much complaint from Goober.
This morning, after a dumpster trip, I went back to sleep and had the sounsdest sleep I’ve had in a while. I then woke up with the kittens getting o the bed to nap, at least three, maybe all of them, so I stayed about 30 to 45 min. more, just enjoying this. — Big step maybe: Goober stayed on the bed for part of this, then came back later. He might be getting used to everybody after all. (He still isn’t too interested in playing, and I think he’s still put out with Peppercorn, who has been fussing at him less. He objects, not badly, when the kittens get too near or active for him, annoy him. So things are going OK.)
Still going through packing, weeding out, cleanup — I did get a little done yesterday, but not enough. Hoping to make some progress this afternoon.
Feeling a little better about things with Peppercorn, finally, after our dust-up a few days ago. My hand is healing well, but still has a few days / a couple of weeks to go before it’s entirely healed. But it feels better to have a little more trust that Peppercorn and I can get along. Still, I think my best answer is for her to get a new home. My eyesight and her tendency to be aggressive about this make me too uncomfortable, and can’t make her comfortable either, surely. I think with a good home and some work on that, she might improve. The one kitten who wants to grab my leg and climb, I’m still working on that, but had a little improvement last night. I think I got through that I’m not mad at her, she will get fed, I just don’t want her doing that because it can hurt, plus it could trigger Little Mama to defend her kitten. So, progress, maybe. Oh, had I forgotten how much is involved, and before, mama and kittens had been outside when I was a teen. As an adult, it’s mostly been one or two kittens along the way, who have, in each case, been adopted in anyway. I think I will be OK letting these guys and mama go, but I’ll miss them. This morning was a reminder of how good and how rewarding it can be, and the kittens had another chance to learn it can be OK to be with a human and the bed is a nice sleeping spot, safe and cozy.
Groceries — I feel silly getting groceries, but I need some things, while overall, I need to reduce down, and I need to clean out the fridge and kitchen. But since I don’t know when/if I’m closing on the new house by Friday, I need to order so I won’t be out.
Still have to find, though that friend, if electric and water were hooked up OK, and Thursday for the gas and net / sec. (Gotta bring my iPad and Kindle and possibly lug my iMac over there to get them set up for the new wifi, then bring them back. Plus my iPhone, plus copy doing settings so I can do this as needed. Also need to ask the tech a few questions, if he’s fluent enough in English. Wasn’t, last time.) That will get all the utilities hooked up. — But it hinges on if/when we close on the new house. Friday is two weeks from the originally planned date.
So I’m all wrapped up in this, and weirdly having trouble motivating myself to get through packing. Gotta get myself over the hump and really get into it. Maybe today will do that.
No word yet about appliances / furniture I’d put in for on Thursday. I really want to know how much that will cost, how much the discount is. — And I’d realized, in some dismay, there’s no hall closet and no built-in kitchen pantry, and no bathroom storage except under the sink. It’s an “open concept” home, the (easier to do) new thing, supposedly. Meh. That’s too open for me. So I’ll be repurposing boxes or carts, meanwhile, and I may ask to get a kitchen pantry built, for sure. Not sure where to put a storage closet, but I’d want that too. It may wait until after the 6 months mark.
—–
Still no toilet paper to be had online, either Kroger’s or Amazon. Amazon was saying several other things were out of stock when I looked this morning, but that may resolve later today or tomorrow. Cat supplies are still OK though. But rubbing alcohol and disposable gloves for cleaning, and soft drinks (Coke, Pepsi, nearly everything, all reported out of stock early this morning.
The month-end Amazon Pantry delivery pushed itself through the system, so I hope if I’m moved before April 3td, that I can get those items rerouted to my new address. — I haven’t yet entered the new address everywhere, only for the utilities, and for those, I set up so I’d keep the old apt. on until I am moved. Because, y’know, I like water, lights, a/c, fridge, etc.
So…tpical stuff, I guess. I keep discovering what I’ve forgotten that needs to be here or there, and I am still going on the theory that I’ll be in between the two places for a few days. If it turns out I’m out in a day or two, great. But I do want the new place fumigated to get rid of any blasted bugs brought from the apartment or storage, because, ugh, bugs. The apartment is most definitely not bug-free. I wonder where their exterminator hides.
I will be so glad if I can move from here and be in my own place. — But the closing has been delayed, so I am nervous, and if I have to be at the apt. a while longer, OK. But that will mean getting a refund, if possible, on utitilites for the new place. And oh, no, friend, next time, I am not listening if you push too much for immediate utility hookup. I think he may be embarrassed now that he pushed. And I had thought things would be fare enough ahead, it would be fine. Didn’t count on the electric getting started that day, despite saying I was supposed to be losing later that day.So, lesson learned, and I might not get a refund, if we have o pac out on this new house. I am telling myself that if we do get it, good, and if we don’t, well, fine too. Cat costs are not helping show financial responsibility. But dang it, I also wish they understood what it’s like to be so shut-in, need things delivered, and to have so many hassles in getting that done. They might have a different outlook, on it. But somehow, I have to cut back a lot o spending again, for about six months to a year or so, in hopes of recovering my situation.
—–
I am really enjoying the Chanur audiobooks. But the narrator does some weird things on pronouncing some English words I think she should know better, and she pronounces some of the alien words like English, instead of how I think / thought they should be pronounced. (She says “ay” for mahen “a,” which I always read as “ah,” for instance. Lots of other cases like that.) She does intonation when reading the dialogue that doesn’t match how I’ve read it all these years. Sometimes I like what she does with it; other times, not. It has, however, made me rethink things. — And you’d think a vision-impaired guy would be a more audio-centered learner, but it turns out, I am still more vision-centered. as a learner, while I also do have a hearing-learner side. But it means I’m needing to concentrate to get everything, and not as sure of my retention / absorption of the material in audio versus print.
I think I’m going to listen to the Dreaming Tree next, and not sure what after that. — I need to download a couple of things to the Kindle so I’ll have them while I may be out of wifi, so I’ll have something for reading / listening while during the move.
I hadn’t considered a hotel stay, but I’d asked for fumigating after moving, so that’s in the offing, I think. I’m going to get mama and four of the five kittens to a shelter / adoption center to be given away, before the end of this week and before the move. That would leave Goober and Dubhan / Beige Boy. (Dubhan may stick. So far, I don’t have a better name for him, he hasn’t really named himself yet.) Mystic — I don’t know what will happen. I saw him a couple of days ago, but he didn’t stick around long enough to be fed. I went back in to get food, and when I came back out, he was gone. I put it out anyway. It’s been something like three weeks now since I had tried to get him in the carrier, and he’s been around less reliably ever since. Once Peppercorn is given away, I don’t know if Mystic will want to be back in, and I don’t know, more importantly, if I can get him in the carrier to get his vet trip, deworming, boarding, neutering. I am still trying to face the idea that, even though I want him and he had wanted to be with me, he may be so adamant about the carrier or about other cats, that I may not be able to get him. That hurts. But that may be the unwanted reality I may have to face. I still hope I can get him loaded somehow. So it could be just Goober and Dubhan. Also, I know Dubhan, mama, and the kittens are not at all expecting to be separated, but Peppercorn is (off and on) trying to wean them. (She keeps grooming them and sometimes inviting them to nurse, though, and still they aren’t on dry food to any great degree.)
So, a lot is still up in the air, and I hope it will all come together OK. I really want a better situation and better spending versus savings. Once I’m moved, I’ll have some things to pursue getting done, if I don’t get them done beforehand.
So…dang, it feels so up in the air and incomplete and doubtful. I sure hope I get some good news this week. I am trying to tell myself, if it doesn’t happen and I’m in the apartment this coming month and still looking…well, I’m trying to tell myself that’s OK. I am also trying to keep enough kitchen and bathroom stuff to the last minute, and clothes, so that I’ll be OK, no matter what happens.
I do have one overnight bag packed, and want to pack another. Plus, where the heck did my other big gym bag go to? It’s supposed to be in either bedroom closet, and so far, not.
LOL, everything’s chaos. I want to get really organized when I get into my new place, if it does happen.
Dang, the grocery bill is over $130, but I can’t not get those items, and man, do I need toilet paper in a couple of weeks, or I’ll be entirely out. Going to see about wipes or about paper napkins as a substitute.
I will be listening to Chanur while packing, in a minute.
Stay well, everyone.
How could I have managed to try to move when there’s a global pandemic looming? Sheesh…. Can’t I catch a big break to offset this? LOL. Crazy world. Crazy me.
Goober may be the only one with sense around here. Heh.
Oh Gods Blue, your still not listening. Don’t try using napkins in the toilet !!! They simply aren’t designed for it. Your going to end up blocking the drains, then your really going to be in the S##t. Try to ration yourself with the tissues if you can, and remember that other suggestion to use cloths that you can empty into the toilet and then wash for later reuse. Everyone has been trying to warn you of this impending disaster. Every shop is seeing shortages, due mostly to hoarders, and panic buyer’s. It would help greatly if you at least had a competent government, instead you have Trump and I can only say “May the God’s have Mercy on your Souls”. I can only hope that your local authorities wake up to the true situation and stop putting politics before their civic responsibilities. I can’t tell you what the future holds for you or your country, but you have to believe me when I say to you, Coronavirus is real, it’s a major threat, and it isn’t going away soon.
You speak of trying to get the Mother & kittens adopted, and the sooner you get them off your hands the better. Not hysterectomy, but for them too.
Don’t expect to do a lot of building work, or alterations, to the place your trying to get anytime soon either. Anybody with any sense, and the resources to do it will surely be trying to stay indoors, or avoid others wherever possible.
You have this friend over there trying to help you, so you tell us. But who is he? and how much can you really trust him? we can’t help you there I’m afraid. He’ll, I don’t even live on the same Continent as you. I hope he is as trustworthy as you appear to believe, and that the situation with the utilities was an honest mistake. In your situation, I would have waited to complete before connecting utilities, of any kind, I would have held onto the flat for an extra week or two, for an orderly movement of household goods. Everything is delayed you say, but what with? Who with? I don’t know how your system over there works, but in the UK house purchases involve solicitors, surveys, and contracts. They usually can take a couple of months, I’ve never heard if one the took a week or two.
@Deesha: Yes, our government administration may be incompetent, but there are a few that haven’t been sacked for competentcy.
To the point, if you can read between the lines, what they’re telling us is for the forseeable future we’re going to have to live through this as centuries of humans before us have, and some of us are going to die. That’s a shock to most Americans, who believe they are in control of their lives. In most prior centuries it was an article of belief that we are not. In some cultures it still is, “Inshallah”. All the closings and social distancing is only to slow the spread so it doesn’t overwhelm our hospitals, as seen elsewhere. We will develop herd-immunity, and over time the virus will mutate to less virulent strains. For the next several months we live or die as generations did.
Hey, I do realize the global pandemic is real. I’m certainly not belittling it.
I’m not out of toilet paper yet and I’m being careful, but really hoping it’ll become available before I run out. I’ve stopped using it to take care of any messes around the litterbox, for instance, which was really the only other main use. So far, not trying to flush anything else down the toilet. Heh. The apt. is not notably prompt on maintenance, let’s say. I try to be careful anyway.
If it gets to that point, probably washcloths, but I’m not there yet. Kleenex are likely OK. Hah, also, I have small trash bags for the daily litterbox sifting, so disposal isn’t a huge issue.
Mama and kittens do have to get given away as soon as possible. So I’m making calls tomorrow, and hope one will work out. But likely it will mean a cab ride, me taking them there. I didn’t find anyone who’d come to a person’s residence or business and pick up, when I was looking about Curry. Meanwhile, I have food and litter due in this week and have to hold out until it gets here.
I may pare down the grocery list and get some this week and wait. Cat litter being one need, other items used up on the list too.
The current officeholder — We’re stuck with his administration for the foreseeable future, and so we get lack of mgmt. States and local govts. are doing what they can, which happens anyway, while they wait for the federal govt. to do what it ought to have been doing weeks ago. Our system is broadly similar to the UK’s, so it is not just the executive branch who need to get their collective posteriors in gear and get things done. But the exec. branch is supposed to act better. — It’s a mess.
—–
Right, not much of anything is going to get dbuilt for the new house until I know things are more stable, and I doubt people are going to be doing much while things are mostly shut down. I will make do. — That presupposes we close on the house, and the longer that goes without it, the more I think it won’t happen.
Oh, I’m not out of the apt. at all yet, and my intention was, yes, to keep it while moving, until everything was moved into the new place and the apt. was cleaned and ready to turn over to the complex mgmt. That’s why I scheduled to get new utilities at the new place and keep the old ones going at the apt. So I’ll have the dual expense for April, looks like.
I’ve had ongoing frustrations with the local friends, but I’m in a no-win situation and have to rely on them. Pretty much everyone I knew drifted away during and after my grandmother’s illness and death. Some moved away and some aged out, older friends of the family or myself. Others just weren’t as reliable or as good friends as I’d thought.
The current friend, I had a sit-down, meeting of the minds talk with a while ago, which helped some. He and his brother-in-law do house flipping, besides his brother-in-law’s other job. They bought and resold my old house, and I made a (small) investment with them, which is now going toward the new house, if it works out, and no, that hasn’t been paid out yet, not until closing. In order to have a better chance at income, I made another investment with him, and if it returns in the time frame he says, it’ll gradually build up my situation, but that will still take time. So he has a vested interest in helping me out, plus, I think he feels a genuine ned to help, since he’s seen how I’m doing and not doing.
The new house would give me a small relief on monthly expenses versus apt. rent and storage fees, so if I can do it, it’s worth it. The aggravation of delays and repairs and so on would also be better, if it goes as I think.
Over here, buying a property, a house or business, involves, yes, there have to be surveys and approvals of building codes and permits, a title search on the property, financing on both sides, and there are often, though not always, real estate agents for one or both sides, and sometimes, more rarely, attorneys / lawyers (solicitors / barristers / advocates, I think the UK terms are). But neither an attorney nor a relevant estate agent is required; sometimes people buy and sell directly. The owner / seller is in construction, likely invests, and the home is likely from his elderly relative, from what I’ve been told. It was entirely renovated, which does show.
Yes, it’s unusual to go that fast. I was expecting it would take until the end of my current apt. lease or beyond, to get a rent house or renovated home or one in good condition. If it needed to be renovated, then I was expecting six to nine months. — I think my friend stressed the benefit of getting a sale now, not having dot deal with a renter, in order to get the agreement so fast.
I don’t think he’s dishonest. I think he tends to overcommit to do things faster than he can or loses track sometimes of all that’s on his schedule. I think he also means well, and therefore overcommits too. He’s young, mid to late 30’s. (Oh, how I used to think that was older, haha, but now, that’s almost a third of a lifetime ago.) – And then something or other has delayed the seller, besides getting my or his financing approved. — And then the coronavirus problems hit. He’s reportedly down from 13 office staffers to 1 besides himself, with others at home as a precaution. My friend said his wife is at home, off work. Local schools are closed since Spring Break and up through mid-April, I think it was; not only one school district, but all of them, according to my friend. Parents don’t yet know if kids will be going to summer school to make up, or how things will work out. So the seller’s construction company, along with everyone else, is having trouble.
Heck, the utility companies have reduced people working.
So…well, things will happen how they happen.
I didn’t hear enough of the conversation, but two or three neighbors were out in the parking lot, worried and talking over things, well after dark, or I might’ve gone out to talk too. All I got were words here and there, but the tones of voice were worried over what’s going on, something personal as well as the Apts., and the city / world situation in general.
I was giong to do some cleanup, throw out some and reboot, but the lighting was low enough after dark and the kittens were all playing around, so I postponed it until daytime tomorrow, after calls about getting them placed.
I’m discouraged, trying to keep my mind looking ahead instead of letting it get me down. If I can get everything labelled and boxed then my next step will be to go back through prior boxes and weed out more. Yeah, if I had more time, I’d have done that during, instead of in two passes. Hoping to be ready to move by the end of the week, but it might end up into the week after. As it stands, I’ll be surprised if everything is ready for me to move in by then anyway. And if we aren’t closed by Thursday, I’ll have to postpone the two utilities again. Expecting to talk to my friend tomorrow to learn progress, and hoping we get there. If not, well, OK
Deesha, I’m going about this as best I can, and I don’t feel as informed as I’d like to be, but I still have to go on with things. I’ve made it through over a third of my lifetime since my parents have been gone and over 8 years now since my grandmother passed away. My situation would not be what it is, except that her care took so much, and I started that while in my mid-30’s, not nearly as prepared as most people would be then. So, I’m muddling through and still trying to get back on my feet. It left me mentally and physically and financially exhausted and depressed. I’m still not back to my old level of readiness, and I don’t know if I ever will be. I’m struggling against that. Just like I should’ve gotten more done here at the apt. for packing so far. But at least I’m on it more than I was, and some of my old self is getting back to where I was. It’s like waking up or being gone for ages, then things begin to get back in place but not all at once.
I was very, very down earlier tonight, but got past that because I’ve got to make this chance work or I may not have another one. I still don’t see how this can work out, ut it’s my best shot, so I’m going with it and hoping it’ll work out.
Meanwhile, I’ll have paperwork to get through toward the meeting with Social Security in late April or early May. And I have to pick up a package or letter that may be perfectly normal and routine or may be bad news, I don’t know yet.
Somehow, I’ll get through, I hope. I have to rely on friends and I don’t have many locally, haven’t for too long now.
Oh, hey, I realize people here are online and hundreds of miles away and sometimes halfway across the planet. I absolutely realize folks here can’t really help except advice and kind words. One offered before to come help, but I didn’t want to have her come for such a mess with too little chance of getting things done and too little reimbursement from me. It worked out anyway, and I was very grateful and stunned at the offer. But as naive as I may seem, I’ve been around the block a few times. I have lived with things enough to know that people mean well but can’t always help, and real friendship is a rare and precious thing.
So, I’m going through things, I’m spouting off here because I don’t have a good chance to in person, I guess. I’m frustrated, isolated, but trying, and I am stubborn. Down under the naivety and depression is a core of stubborn that hangs on in spite of things. Somewhere in there is still an optimist and a dreamer / idealist, under the negatives and all.
Hoping to make more of a dent in things this week, before and after Thursday. Hoping also to get Peppercorn and the kittens to a shelter the first part of this week, depending on how well calls go. — And at least one place is shut down due to the virus, to guard the humans on either side. (Note: it doesn’t pass through dogs or cats, neither from humans to pets nor from pets to humans. The virus is strictly human-specific.)
I’m going to do some then listen to more of Chanur. Wishing everyone well and safe, hoping for the same here.
Comment – Blue sounds a little irritated with me, Paul too. Well that’s for the good, because I would rather he was annoyed, than truelly worried. Stress and Worry can make you sick too, different sick, but still unhealthy.
Your point about using CJs Page here to de-stress by sounding off is a well taken one . I read your posts however, and all we can go on is by what you say.
We all heard about Wu Han and about the terrible virus there. Months ago we heard about it, knew it would either be contained as the Chinese Government said it would, or that it would spread. I’ll be honest, I didn’t expect it to spread so far, so fast.
When I was borrowing money back in January to get another car, this virus was not really something I was concerned about. They asked me was there anything that might affect my ability to pay back the money, I was so sure that everything was manageable. There was a little voice in the back of my mind that made a joke of his question, a voice inside my mind that said, ” maybe the coronavirus” but I never said that aloud. So I borrowed the money, and the next month comes along and I see the possibility of paying upfront fir the next ten electrolysis appointments with a fifteen percent discount, so I stick that on my credit card. Event’s on the world stage usually appear to move slow, then jump forward. So we have thousands of people now sequestered at home, many businesses shut down, when the shortages started at first it was toilet paper & paperhankies, next thing it was suddenly Everything. No uncooked meat, No tins, frozen food & dried food was gone, he’ll there was even a run on ketchup bottles. I bought what things I could fir my Mother and me, even knowing that Mum has the grandest Fussy nature when it comes to what she eats and won’t eat. I told her off the other week when I was working nightshifts, asked her if she’d had lunch, yes she said, did you eat the meat in a sandwich I asked, No I fancied toast and marmalade. I swear there are two packets of meat open in the fridge and I’m watching the best before dates, because this is not the sort of time to be throwing away food that should have been eaten first. I’m working this week on the backshift, thats 1pm leave here & get home at 11pm and that means my brother down in the other part of our home town will be bringing her a main meal. I try to be careful of the things I have in the fridge for then, due to the lateness of the hour I usually eat things that I can microwave, though I do also eat things that can be quickly cooked in the oven.
So yes for the moment I’m still actually going to work, though I don’t know how long that will last.The company has a warehouse somewhere fir finished goods, and another for component cans valves caps etc. The bulk of our supplies it appears come from eastern Europe suppliers, and borders are closing left right and center. So who can say how long this is going to continue before my employer closes the factory too. We make aerosol products, ( oven cleaner, fly killer, air freshener, furniture polish ) so I’m thinking not items that our government would consider essential supplies.
You know, things like pandemics are rarely touched upon in Sci-fi television or books, although there are the odd exception.
in star trek for instance, the enterprise is on its way to some colony or other, when it gets diverted someplace else to carry medical supplies, then an episode of derring doo goes down with Romulans or Klingons or something equally more exciting for the crew and audience. Helga, The Ship who Sang, drops off a crate if supplies on some troubled planet and tears off to another world to help with an evacuation,
I guess the exceptions are stories about a train forced to run nonstop around the mountains of europe because there’s a man with a virus on board and the world and his best friend are alternately trying to save the passengers, or destroy them all in a fireball to prevent further spread.
Then there’s films like the Andromeda Strain, where you have something closer to reality, did we but know it at the time. Yes it’s purely fiction I know, and I’m not saying that Coronavirus is from space or anything like it. I meant the speed with which a virus can get past all our roadblocks, and how actions intended to help can also hinder.
And with that depressing thought, I say Take Care out There, ( Hill Street Blues was a wonderful cop show, and I miss it )
@Deesha, No. I meant that as careful observation of the basis of your comment. One peculiarity of Aspies is being emotionally detached. Something gotta be pretty egregious for it to annoy me, e.g. an ad-hominem attack.
Comment – Saw an interesting graphic on the Empowered Transwoman feed on Facebook. it shows a line of matches with fire jumping from one to the next to the next, then one match steps out of the line making a bigger gap, resulting with the domino effect Fire inferno halted. the point being to socially isolate ourselves to halt the spread of infection.
It’s a clever little graphic that I’ve now shared to my timeline, but it didn’t originate with Empowered Transwomen obviously. it has a link to Epic Awsomeness Happens , which is another group page on Facebook. I took a brouse through that page and it had some interesting items there.
One of the items was a link to a blog page called mypositiveoutlooks.com ( all one word ) which has an article dated September 16 2019 ,about a Blind Engineer who invents a Smart Cane that can guide the visually impaired using Google maps, and sensors. it’s called WeWALK , there’s a link to a U-Tube page talking ( advertising ) about it, and links there to the company. None f the technologies used are new, but it seems nobody else thought to put them all together to help a blind person walking about. I have no idea what it would cost, I imagine that it wouldn’t be cheap though. I thought it might be of interest to you though for some future reference. For when the current world crisis, is down the road aways.
Oh, I was irritated, defensive, but you did get me thinking some too, and you’re trying to help, being nice about it, so no harm done. A little irritation and a nudge from friends might do some good now and then.
I’m taking a break from spinning my wheels but not accomplishing much. Heh. The lists of local shelters for cats and dogs mostly lack phone numbers or addresses, and often it’s a website or a P.O. Box or email or social media. I don’t do FaceBook or Twitter, and I do kinda need to know where a place is to go there or know if it’s worth contacting them. So I’m going to have to keep looking, try a bunch of these, and hope for the best. Ones I’ve called so far are full. The addresses included cover towns and cities all over south Texas, but many are probably in Houston, just not saying so. So I have my work cut out for me. (Different lists than last time.)
I fed the cats a mix of dry and a little moist and broth during the middle of the night. As usual, not much enthusiasm there or they weren’t as hungry as they let on. — Instead of sleeping, much of my night was taken up with Peppercorn meowing. Wanting attention? Food? Wanting to mate? Wanting to locate her kittens, who were all over, snoozing or awake? Don’t know. But I hardly slept any.
This morning at dawn, I fed them the usual moist food. But the one kitten who’s been grabbing my ankle, trying to climb or jump, got extra excited and tried to jump and climb my leg. Good thing I had on khakis, but ouch! She got told no a couple of times, then she did that and got yelled at, NO! — which did make them all stop in shock a minute. Peppercorn complained, but I hope she didn’t decide I’m an enemy. She’s having her moments with her kittens too. Once that was out of the way, I got their food finished and set out, and lo, the ravening hordes.
That was motive enough to get me to check the lists and call. I got sidetracked, hadn’t separated out the cats’ info fully, had it in two places. Decided that was taking too long, so I put it all in one bag to finish sorting later.
No luck yet finding someone to take them, so it may be a few more days, maybe to the end of the week. Hoping I don’t run out of supplies before the next order arrives.
But this was partly made up for: Last night, three or four of the kittens, maybe all five, were on the bed with me.a little while, and so was Goober, but not always together. Still it was welcome and sweet.
While calling this morning, Dubhan Beige and Goober were with me, hanging out. Dubhan decided to sleep on the desk while I did things. 🙂 And he purred for the first time I know of, while getting petted and given attention. So he’s staying. I think Dubhan is going to stick. I don’t have a name I like better so far, and he hasn’t gone out of his way to name himself like some do, such as Goober.
Right now, he and Goober are within a foot of each other on the bed, curled up asleep, separately. I may nap too. I’m bushed, and I was very keyed up last night, stress from everything going on, discouragement, and lack of sleep.
No word from my friend, either.
——
Deesha, I don’t know if you cook ahead much, but you might want to do so and freeze portions / meals, so you and your mum can pop something in the microwave for a home-cooked meal at times. I also don’t know how well she’s doing; since some seniors are mentally sharp but have other physical issues, while it’s the opposite or both for others. Not easy on you both, along with working. good that you have some family to help.
So far, cat supplies are not affected; my local grocery store has most things from their online store, but they and Amazon are showing outages of some items, getting more so.
But dang it, I also wish they understood what it’s like to be so shut-in, need things delivered, and to have so many hassles in getting that done.
A lot more people around the world know all too well, BCS: CJ and Jane for two.
Maybe before Mama leaves, she could give you some sand box lessons? Or, I suppose Goober and Onyx know how, too. (I use Onyx because it’s another good black name, and I’ve forgotten who you’re keeping.)
Good luck with the house. A lot of independent contractors are looking around for work to do, emphasizing they can do everything without coming in range of you. (This is probably how they would prefer to work, anyway; they don’t need our amateur assistance.)
___
If the house falls through, don’t despair. The upside of all this chaos, such as it is, is that doing anything home-wise is going to get cheaper and cheaper. The 1-2% mortality is with medical care; without, it might be 10-20%. (I’m pulling numbers from memory, so don’t take any of this as gospel.)
The whole, “It’s no good saving the people if we ruin the economy,” misses that the highest mortality, possibly as much as 20%, is age 60 with medical facilities overloaded. So imagine the effect on the economy if the US loses 20% of its senior management and members of boards of directors.
The California governor has estimated roughly 50% of people will have to get ill and recover before herd immunity takes over–he’s a smart guy so I assume he listened to professional advice. Now think about how long it takes to push the 20% that need hospitalization for at least a couple weeks through the limited hospitals. 330M in the US; 50% need to get the disease, 165M; 20% need a hospital bed, 33M; divide by the US’s almost 1M hospital beds, 33; times 2 weeks(??) per patient is 66 weeks to unwind this, or mortality goes way up.
And the real bottleneck may be ventilators or ICU beds, not any old hospital bed will do for the seriously ill. I think those tend to cluster in big rich cities, so rural America is going to get the short end, as usual.
And with no-symptom spreaders and not enough tests to get a statistical sample, we just have no idea where we really are.
___
Oh: You may be able to turn your iPhone into a wireless hotspot. That may bridge Internet service. Depending on rates, it might be cheaper, though I’m not sure it would work for HDTV streaming. Anyway, maybe that can take a worry off your plate.
@Walt, Then can you imagine a 21-day total lockdown of India?
I don’t think I know enough about India to comment very sensibly. If they can manage the logistics of getting food to everyone, and can still transport the very ill–who may stay ill more than 3 weeks–then they maybe have a chance.
But since COVID-19 seems to 80% of people like nothing or just a cold, they have to exterminate it, or silent spreaders will just restart the epidemic.
So, I guess I can imagine it, but I’m not sure it’s really feasible. I wonder if it’s a plan myopically created in New Dehli that isn’t actually feasible in much of the country.
But good luck to them. It’s a smarter plan than lifting US lockdowns at Easter.
I was also thinking of Dr. Chricton’s The Andromeda Strain.
I have been telling people for a while now that keeping this infection wholly contained was like trying to reassemble a dandelion head once you have blown the fluff into the air. Pandemic means that everyone has or will get it.
Outbreak is a fictional film version of the factual book The Hot Zone. I’ve read the latter, and heard good things about the former. The Hot Zone chronicles the emergence of (IIRC) Ebola Zaire and the mutation Ebola Reston, in Reston, Virginia. United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases, USAMRIID stars in both. The Hot Zone does start a little dry, though. Outbreak fictionalizes the story; I’m not sure to what extent.
There’s also Contagion, much more parallel to our current (un)reality. I’ve heard some people knock it, but it seems to have good reviews.
I like Michael Crichton’s The Andromeda Strain, book and movie.
Hey, Onyx is a good name, I like that. — The little guy with the beige collar is the one I’m keeping. It looks like he’s going to be Dubhan. I may try Onyx and see if he responds better.
I was talking with my friend. The city and state are not yet shut down, but a lot is, people are doing so voluntarily. I need to check a news update tonight. So we are playing things by ear. It seems the seller is now hoping for closing, but it sounds like appliances from him are not yet in, and since we aren’t closed, the appliances and furniture I want aren’ n yet. My friend is still looking for better prices. — But we are not sure yet if the title company will be ready Wednesday as now hoped, and if things do shut down, I will have to reschedule utility hookups again for gas and net1/ sec. Realized today, I may need to get signed up for city trash pickup. Good thing I thought of it. And we’re not sure about movers yet. Depending on how things go, we could be caught in a shutdown and not able to do much.
On the other hand, if my friend can get any small contractor work done, great. — I am not going to get the screeened-in patio just now or the pantry or hall closet. (Have to ask about those latter two.) Not sure when the storage shed will get put in. (Typical prefab one.)
He said that a lot of people, both investors / contractors and private . ordinary buyers are backing out of existing deals, losing the money they put in, because they are so scared of what’s going on. That seems like a bad idea; that’s a lot of money to put in to secure a property for purchase. To lose it just because they’re panicky, rather than to go through with it or otherwise make a better decision, wow. At least I am not prone to that for such a major long-term thing as owning a home or property.
I’ve been through loss of loved ones, so I guess in some ways I’m shielded, while in others, vulnerable. A major thing like an apartment or a home, I am, a least this time and before, not panicky about it. I feel for the folks who are. But I look at this as possibly my best and only chance to get a home and a better all-around deal and situation, such as mobility and deliveries and so on. Right, if this deal doesn’t work out, the market is going to be wacky with other places coming up for purchase. So maybe it can work out if so.
It looks like we still are on track with this, but with everything going one it’s a mess, with a lot of doubts on scheduling. I am behind on packing but we still may be OK on that. I’ve told him I will try for the end of the week but more likely end of month with other things I need to do (I can’t be packing while I’m waiting for util hookups or appliance / furniture deliveries, and it sounds like he/s busy elsewhere.)
None of the three of us are sure what’s going to happen, and we’re waiting for news. Depends so much on city and state shutdowns. But uh, that is really not the way I want to catch up on packing; ah, no.
—–
I think with the load of cases we are likely to get, even with quarantine / shelter in place like this, thet people may be stuck at home for medical care too. Even if they ramp up care, beds and ventilators and so on, a better screening and treatment, that sill leaves a lot of people like to be exposed and get sick. I’d think a lot of people will be doing home care by necessity, which means a widely varying level of outcomes, and not only from economic level.
Again for instance, people around the Apts. are a little better about social contact, but there is still so much the whole bunches may be affected. Where that puts me, I’m not sure. My contact is more limited, but I am still around tooo, in my apt. and back and forth to the dumpster and mailbox and occasional rides for errands now toward cats and moving.
I’m trying to hold off on grocery delivery, but also concerned about future availability.
Some of the pet shelters are shut down for the interim, while others are full with animals already. Thank goodness it doesn’t transmit between humans and cats or dogs, though.)
So…everything is up in the air.. Hoping things will improve some.
x
The Andromeda Strain is a tight, dry book, but very good, and the 60’s / 70’s movie version is the one I know. I don’t think I’ve seen the remake version. Michael Crichton wasn’t as strong on characterization as he was on big ideas presented well. But the book and movie are winners, as is Jurassic Park.
Caveat: I was thinking of my particular situation and sight and limits, and difficulties with that. I really hadn’t thought to connect it to how so many people are ow going to be living with something similar. Walt is right to point out the similarity and to make the point to me.
It’s going to be very much like when people used to stay quarantined at home or in their town. People lived with things like this for epidemics and illnesses we now tend not to think of, because we have modern medicine, refrigeration and heating and air conditioning, good plumbing, better hygiene, healthier quality food, in the most developed countries. But this is likely to be like it was in the 1700’s and 1800’s to some degree.
It’s also very surprising that with things like online shopping and (just in time) warehouse stores, that even so, we’re seeing shortages online and locally in person, on necessary food and supplies. This means production’s going to need to ramp up with limited workers, and more people to distribute it from warehouse to residences. It’s an opportunity for others, not just that big A river online store.
I’m really hoping things don’t get scarily scarce and stay that way. I have a feeling the toilet paper manufacturers are surprised their ho-hum but necessary product is suddenly in high demand, out of stock.
And too, countries, esp. the US, really need to rethink how much we rely on outside sources for things we ought to make and sell internally. I’m very much in favor of plenty of import/export, international trade, which can strengthen everybody and reduce the risk of fighting, with interdependence, plus it provides goods and services and information to multiple sides, another benefit. It’s just that we need plenty of internal making and using of things, in case of unexpected situations. It’s one thing if there’s fighting between countries, another if it’s trade disputes, but then something like this comes along and stresses all sides, and people in their own countries have a right to expect their own country and fellow citizens produce much of what they use. It makes good sense to be local. Note I’m not favoring isolationism there. For one thing, my own city depends on international trade incoming and outgoing, and it overall benefits us.
Yes, that same flow of people and things is an exposure and inlet risk for the spread of disease. There’s that too.
I don’t really know the answer it just seems like this whole course of events should teach us all that our system needs to change. Not only my country, but world trade and health.
And oh, I’m not even touching the current political mud bath / mud fight that is the political situation. Awful and shameful and unneeded, certainly unwanted and harmful. While corrupt politicians played games, this country and others, something totally unrelated to greed and economy and lust for power and territory came along that doesn’t give one single frell about human ideologies, political or religious or any other such thing. As modern and advanced as we like to think we are, it’s a surface veneer.
Bah, don’t mind me, I’m being sour, I know.
—–
On the plus side, the cats and I have a little better balance tonight. I couldn’t swear to it, but I think Peppercorn actually scolded one of her kittens for trying to climb my leg again, feeding them a little to forestall them being too hungry by morning.
I’m not sure, but the current dry food plus broth plus tossing in a can of wet may have reached at least something that will start them more toward eating the dry. Peppercorn will eat dry if she has to, but wants the moist. Goober is fine with dry and moist, either way The kittens are still spoiled to wanting moist. Trying to work around that to get them on dry food, since they are more than old enough for it, and since they’re likely to be here some number of days longer.
I’m about to try sending off email to what I hope are local sources, hunting through, to have some chance of getting mama and kittens placed. I still need to work through the lists I have. Something’s got to work, even with the present crisis.
Meanwhile, I’ve got to keep fostering them, work out food and litter to take care of them while here, until they can be given away. — I think I have my sense of perspective back, though the demonstration that they are quite strong and efficient little fighters and hunters, was a wake-up call for me. I’m used to cats who aren’t so quick to go all-out.
But Peppercorn is a cat, and she’s also back to being her usual self. I just know now, if she feels threatened, she’ll really go for her defense, and mean it. I don’t know if I can curb that myself.
However, I get the impression she has been reassessing me too, and may have figured out she went way overboard. Maybe. Hard to tell. She’s being carful too, though, which is better. We’re still being wary of each other, but easing a little.
If she and her jumpy clingy kitten learn better, even a little ,that’s good. At least they have someone who still wants to love them, instead of all-out war. Did throw me for a loop, though.
So, looking for a place that can take them. And I am going to miss them when they’re gone.
Hah, around suppertime, three of the kittens were lounging on the desk around me and the computer, and later, at least two on the floor here.
Dubhan was one on the desk. Little character purred earlier today when he got attention and stayed a while.
He and Goober might be doing rapprochement. They aren’t yet buddy-buddy, but are doing a little better, enough to notice. Not sure how he and the other kittens are doing, but bless his heart, he’s not fussing a lot, not too aggressive with them, and seemed to be happy to have company this evening. It may help that when he scolds them, they are mostly listening, and Peppercorn is scolding them too — and I think getting more serous about weaning them.
The world goes on, despite all the out-of-control things hat go on in life.
I’m still enjoying the kittens and mama, but whew, the last few days have been a strain on getting supplies and on emotions and aggravation of misbehavior.
And it’s been a reminder that they and I can learn, that a cat doesn’t have to be unsalvageable, just for being a stray. These characters are not truly feral, the kittens are getting well socialized now, and I think it’s been a learning experience for me as well as them. Man, am I out of practice at doing this. The recent bad behavior really got to me. And I do think Peppercorn’s was only from being scared and angry out of her mind, from getting her claws caught and not knowing how to get free, or if it was me or something else that had ahold of her.
—-
Please take care, everyone. We want everyone safe, well, happy, healthy, prosperous. The crisis is a reminder that life is short and rough for everyone. An maybe a reminder to work together instead of all the back-biting and mud-wallowing that’s been going on in public affairs lately, over much of the world.
Mother Nature is a tough broad, but she can also be wonderful and beautiful and give us great things.
Meh, I’m rambling again. Tired. But reminded that things don’t have to be dire, even when they are pretty dang dire. (Huh, I didn’t intend do a Yogi Berra thing there. Oh, well.)
Oh — the kids are back for the various neighbors, including upstairs. Oh, whee…. Mothers and fathers and siblings are really something to get through that. I’ve had just a taste of it, and whew. Different sort of caregiving than I had before. Better outcome, too.
Take care, everyone.
I’m still listening to the Chanur audiobooks and will likely listen to the Dreaming Tree next. I wish more of CJ’s books were available in audio. (I have all the audible ones so far, but haven’t listened to all of them yet. A few I’ve listened to two or three times since they came out.) Looking forward to more.
I should have worded that more carefully. What I meant to say was that after all the COVID-19 isolations, a lot more people will understand your situation, especially if reminded of the plague year of 2020.
And you’re very right about the history of quarantines. It used to be that most harbors wouldn’t let a ship land coming from a plague area. If you were lucky, you got put on a barren island; otherwise you stayed on ship. Quarantine comes from 40, the number of days to prevent the most serious diseases.
I suppose the US federal authority to quarantine comes from “the General Welfare” clause. Or, it might come from Admiralty Law; we had an interesting case here many years ago. A captain on the high seas put a habitually drunk crewman in the brig. He was released when the ship docked, and had the captain arrested on false imprisonment charges. He, the captain, was released when the US Coast Guard showed up, explained that they had jurisdiction—admiralty law—and if the police apologized profusely they might avoid a false imprisonment suit.
https://www.cdc.gov/quarantine/historyquarantine.html
https://theconversation.com/quarantines-have-tried-to-keep-out-disease-for-thousands-of-years-130680
Also, I think the healthcare debate is going to change a bit.
Have you tried Patrick O’Brian? Even herself has read them, and they’re available on audiobooks.
Two articles about an alternative way to combat the economic fallout from the pandemic. These two are mostly about Denmark, but the Netherlands has similar support structures and regulations, and France has also decided along these lines.
A lot of the more wealthy (north)West-European social democracies are taking this tack, to avoid their economies crashing catastrophically. The EU specifically ruled that under these circumstances, this government support for businesses would be allowed, and the EU rules that would make this hard to do would be suspended or not enforced.
Doesn’t mean they won’t be vulnerable to the world-wide recession the other big players are steering towards, but it does make the crash less deep, less abrupt and less damaging locally and individually.
One from the New York Times:
https://mobile.twitter.com/nytimes/status/1242352981271609345
And one from the Atlantic:
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/03/denmark-freezing-its-economy-should-us/608533/
If this crisis can get people thinking about what the collective responsibilities are / should be, that we have towards each other, and how we can best organise our societies to fullfil those responsibilities, some good may come of this for at least some part of the less-fortunate people in the world.
I got around a third of the way through the first Aubrey-Maturin book by Patrick O’Brian, and part-way through the first of the Hornblower books by C.S. Lewis. I haven’t tried them via audiobooks, but I think that’s going to be a preferred method for a while. I now think I’ve been reluctant to read because it’s more of a strain with my eyesight. I’ve been reading a little, and occasionally in dedicated spurts, but nothing like my former rate in ages.
I really like the Master and Commander movie, and enjoyed the Hornblower A&E series quite a lot. AFAIK, the latter are not available for streaming (Amazon, iTunes, Netflix, etc.) but I should recheck that. I have M&C, and I have it and H on disc, which should make it in the move from apt. to house, pending when that happens.
Heh, that crewman thinking he could get by with that. It would be one thing with a captain who was unjust or corrupt, but he/she is right, it’s right. I can see why the Navy and Coast Guard would say Admiralty Law, or ship’s law, applies, rather than landlubber’s laws, as it was a case of a captain ruling aboard his ship while at sea (or in port, for that matter). That does touch on sovereignty of shipboard law, and if land-based governments got into that, it could create a huge mess for ships/boats, at home and abroad.
— Still got to find a place for mama and kittens. Better this morning, but they’re now 11 to 12 weeks old and getting big, so it’s no wonder they’re eating more, hungrier, and using the litterbox more. Not sure if I can get that done with today, but oh, it needs to. And I’m gonna miss the lil suckers. (Last night, while sifting the litterbox, I had a studios audience of four of the kittens watching the whole process, fascinated, haha. So funny. Too bad I didn’t have my camera for a movie clip.) It’s those things that outweigh the cases of bad behavior needing to be learned away. They need their new homes and families. I sure hope they get good ones. But I’m nervous abut the process. So many no’s, we’re full, we don’t do this or that, and some places are closed due to the virus in humans.
— Besides that, hoping to make some bigger headway in packing today. I need to do some cleaning, just for livability besides, and I’d forgotten a load of laundry in the washer, to rewash. So my work’s cut out for me for the next few days, plus hoping for good news on closing and not to have to reschedule the utilities hookups on Thursday, which will mean at least half a day spent.
— Got to get a “cat/kitten box” of supplies prepped to take to the new house, but delaying on food until I have to.
— Discovered there’s not a convenient way to set more than one address for Kroger’s website, for deliveries. Now have Amazon set with the new address available for when it’s active and needed. So much to think of, but doing OK so far.
The M&C movie is pretty good. If nothing else, it gives a picture of life on a man-of-war that’s hard to accomplish in prose and wasn’t done in Hornblower—maybe you’ve heard that a picture is worth a thousand words? M&C was filmed on the Mary Rose (IIRC), now the “HMS” Surprise in San Diego. M&C[: the Far Side of the World] is basically an homage to the whole series of 20 books, maybe fewer than 20, considering the time.
PO’B was finding his way in the early books. M&C was pretty much straight Capt./Adm. Lord Cochrane, with some storytelling by PO’B. Post Captain is more Jane Austen-y—to whom PO’B is often favorably compared—it has its moments but also some weaknesses (my personal opinion), HMS Surprise is great. The Mauritius Campaign, maybe a bit too historical, a bit too high a position for Jack (not sure), a bit too mechanically historical, but it shows the class bias that bedeviled the RN even to Jutland—not bad, but the rest of the books are fantastic.
From then, and the full introduction of Maturin, to #15 or #17, PO’B is very much on a roll. #19 seems affected by his wife’s death (appropriately so, IMHO), but #20 was a fitting completion to the series, even though #21 was released 1/3(?) written (I have not looked at it—20 was a fine finish to me!)
I don’t think PO’B over-indulges in dimensional minutia as much as in M&C, its one significant weakness. Now and then, he gets into “technobabble”—though I think all authentic instead of true babble—but never as a plot resolution, the crime ST/Vermin commits again and again and again!
Sorry. Trigger. I’m back.
My point is that despite occasional rough spots in the early books, Aubrey and Maturin is a must-read (/listen). I often recommend it to SF fans because the Wooden World Capt. Aubrey and Dr. Maturin live in is far more artificial than most SF novels dare: yet a million (I think, more or less) people lived in that world for years if not decades!
We think about missions to Mars and NASA declares—with really questionable experiments—that space station or rotating parts of spacecraft must have huge radii or bring on crippling nausea. Really? Have we never used a 2-3m kid-powered merry-go-round? Rode a roller coaster for fun?! Used an elevator or a car? My parents both worked for NASA on the Moon landings and the Shuttle— all that history accepted, NASA is full of ****.
___
Hornblower: Maybe BBC-something?
___
As far as adopting out cats, maybe look for Twitter or Facebook entries for local animal shelters and post that you have pure-black cats for adoption? Pure black is pretty unusual after their persecution in the Middle Ages if I have my Catastrophes straight. I think you’re far enough away from Halloween to avoid nefarious adoptions.
As far as adopting out cats, maybe look for Twitter or Facebook entries for local animal shelters and post that you have pure-black cats for adoption? Pure black is pretty unusual after their persecution in the Middle Ages if I have my Catastrophes straight. I think you’re far enough away from Halloween to avoid nefarious adoptions.
Brief nitpick: HMS Surprise was previously the HMS Rose; DH and I crewed on her on her last sail training voyage.
Things in HI have become… complex. Most recently, the whole state is under ‘stay home’ orders, except for essential workers. I am ‘essential’, and am working a half day M W F. This mainly consists of admin telling us whatever new and improved ideas they have devised for recovery once we get back on an even keel again, and issuing orders that change with the wind (or latest updates on the outbreak). I also try to get some stalled projects out of the way while patrons aren’t in the way. DH is running the shop on remote; as long as your computer has an internet connection and the trouble isn’t hardware, many problems can be taken care of by having someone take over the computer and fix software. Computer repair is also ‘essential’, but the less pressing of the flesh, the better right now.
Oh, I bet that was neat. I have no idea how I’d do, if I’d get seasick or take to it fine. My sum total of ocean-going vessel experience has been a very brief tour of the old Battleship Texas when it was a floating museum docked at Galveston, and a briefer tour of a shrimp boat also docked at Galveston, back when I was a kid and young teen. I think visits to the battleship may have been two or three, I don’t recall, too young and too far back for some of it. Hah, I do remember one time wondering why they used that dull battleship grey for the ship’s interiors too, when they could’ve just as easily diluted it with white or with light yellow for a light beige. I also remember thinking how very cramped and tight and low-ceilinged (overhead) it was, not knowing why back then.
One of the things in the movie that struck me was that they had a small to medium sized crew, and these tiny, rudimentary facilities, so primitive by our standards, for everything. And yet British and American navies, and French, Spanish, Portuguese, Netherlands, a few others, commanded and explored the high seas and most of the planet in those kinds of ships, from the 1700’s through the 1800’s.
Library (information) access does make sense as essential. It’s a mess here too, and we’ve just started.
To Paul’s comment about India — yeah, or China, given the populations of both. With the crowding in big Indian cities I’ve seen on film. Oh those folks are in for a very rough ride. By comparison, my city is the 4th largest in the US, with NYC and LA and whichever other higher and also under lockdown by now, I think it is. Going to be very strange for at least two weeks here, possibly longer.
Our county judge was talking about, they will be reassessing as it goes on, as will the state govt., whether to extend or modify the lockdown. — Our current county judge struck me as oh so young and not so much a natural leader, yet that likely masks her competence. She’s somewhat recent, as the former county judge had been in the position for years and was around or past retirement age, but had more of an authoritative leadership manner when speaking to the public. This crisis will add experience for the newer judge, with whatever prior experience she brings.
I’m still dithering whether to get groceries this week or wait until next, because on most things, I’m still too stocked up, while a few things, I’m out or would need to get during transition between apt. and new house.
Task for tomorrow is to see about Petco and Petsmart here. Peppercorn and kittens and I (and Goober) are doing a bit better, getting along better, but still, they need new pmt. homes. The kittens are into everything, and oh, a great source of humor and interest. Had another “we’re all fascinated seeing Ben empty the litterbox” lab practicum lecture going on, haha, and in that, I wondered just how much smart kittens absorb of human language and tone while they are growing so fast, their little brains absorbing, curious about absolutely everything, and playing to experiment and learn. They are getting more practice being held, too. And mama keeps calling, which seems to have multiple purposes. Giving her more attention helped some, but man, she is still way more vocal than previous mama cats. I’m wondering why. At times, she’s wanting something and I am not sure what. Darn dual side, very sweet but also very fierce, quick to defend, and still hasn’t figure out that it’s better to give me a wide berth and not get right underfoot and then be prone to fuss at me. So I am constantly wary when moving down the hallway or in general. The two combined…I had wanted to keep her, but no, she needs a home where she can have some space and be happy, without her worrying if the human is going to step on her, and with the chance to learn how to deal with humans better than she’s getting from me so far. The one kitten prone to jump and grab and climb might be learning, I can’t tell yet. It’s her one bad habit. She is, on the other hand, prone to very loud, very frequent purring. I think all four of the kittens will make good pets for some people. Dubhan is staying with us. He hasn’t completely bonded, he’s still figuring me out, and Goober is still figuring him out and not there yet. But he keeps coming around for attention and some time on the bed.
Two of the kittens managed to push the keyboard off the desk and click the mouse or keyboard to bring up the Apple Music (was iTunes) app. However, they didn’t start it up to be cool rocking’, swinging’ Aristocats. And Goober and Peppercorn aren’t quite the match from that movie.
You’re quite right, chondrite, I confused the Mary Rose with the “HMS” Rose, a 1970 replica of the 1757 HMS Rose, now “HMS” Surprise.
(If you’ve read The Cruel Sea, it mostly happens on the corvette HMS Compass Rose. The RN actually had a flower-class corvette named after the rose, but she was simply HMS Rose. She was lent to Norway, and HNoMS Rose met her end after a collision with the US-built lend-lease captain-class frigate HMS Manners, which hardly seems mannerly.)
I’ve been on the 1st rate 3-gundeck line-of-battle HMS Victory and the frigate (=1 gundeck) USS Constitution. Constitution would normally be thought of as a 5th rate, a larger frigate, but it’s sometimes called a 4th rate, which is usually a small 2-decker, an early small line-of-battle ship, not a frigate.
Anyway, the two ships are amazingly similar. Victory has more decks and stairs, but unless you’re counting decks and stairs, one gundeck looks very much like another.
___
@BCS: I just did my first major food delivery order. They seem confident they can get it to me in ~36 hours. I’m using Smart & Final, a non-membership store in between a normal grocery store and a Costco; fewer items, lower prices, and some large sizes, but not like Costco, which comes close to having nothing all in inconveniently large sizes.
If it works out like here, you’ll see a lot of stores and restaurants start delivery and/or pickup.
@Walt — Thanks, I will look at that. I have been using Amazon Pantry (non-perishables, food and supplies, including pet supplies) for a long while, and Kroger’s online delivery for several months, maybe over a year.
I haven’t heard of that one until now.
I also haven’t yet tried Amazon Fresh, which I think is through Whole Foods Market or another chain Amazon bought about a year ago.
Doing OK still. — Still no toilet paper online, harrumph. No rubbing alcohol either, but alcohol wipes are available. I’m holding off until I need something more before buying. Disposable gloves are sporadically available for cleaning, food prep, medical / first aid.
Foreigner fans will get a good laugh: When I searched Amazon for rubbing alcohol or isopropyl alcohol this morning, among the results were:
Dowager Hand Sanitizer Gel, 4 oz.
I did not know the Lady Ilisidi was so supplied! 😀
Did a bit of cleaning and rebooting this morning. Waiting for that to dry, and going to fix fish and use the Cole slaw I got before it’s unusable. (Hmm, Apple wants to capitalize Cole but not slaw, and doesn’t know that Cole slaw is a thing, because of the space, I guess.)
The Mac did an update and warned me that the Wacom tablet driver extension will be incompatible in a future update of macOS, and advises me to contact the mfr. Wacom steadfastly says my driver is up-to-date, no new driver available. I’ll wait. Surely Wacom will get its act together. Maybe. Was not enthused by them wanting people to login to their website from the Wacom control panel utility, but it isn’t necessary to do so all the time to use the tablet.
Dang it: cat litter order is saying it was shipped yesterday, now showing due any time today through the 31st. But I had ordered it days ago and need it _now_. So I’ve ordered another brand which says it’ll be here by Sunday. Oh boy. I also ordered ahead via Petco, due next week. I expect cats will do it outside the litter boxes sometime today. Frell.
Currently 3 kittens lazing on the dresser (desk) as I type, mama meowing for attention, and Goober snoozing on the bed.
Oh — Last night, I had a great time laughing, watching Alton Brown and his wife Elizabeth on YouTube. Seems they’re doing a “Quarantine Quitchen” from home. The interplay and shenanigans were great fun. Seems at home, he is chaotically busy, crowded kitchen (I thought I had a lot of stuff…), he’s not so organized or so meticulously scientifically accurate as on the show. In other words, at home in the kitchen, he’s a very normal guy, and his wife’s very normal and funny too. Look for their videos from 03-17 and from Tuesday 03-24. They are, like all of us, making do. — Hahaha, oh, what a full fridge and pantry. 😀 This was really entertaining, and I was in just the right mood for it. They also talked about movies and TV they liked, other small talk, interesting. And they make a fine couple. Two dogs too.
(Somehow or other, I had thought he was gay. I could have sworn there was a thing. So I was confused for a minute there. Well, whatever, I am glad they are happy, and now I know better.)
I was more describing than suggesting. It’s not so easy shopping online. Instead of going to the correct aisle and grabbing what you want, you have to describe what you want and go through scads of possibilities. I find the currently restricted products at Smart & Final a little overwhelming; maybe the fewer products are for the best (for me).
I usually shop at Trader Joe’s, but they aren’t doing delivery and rationing people in the store at one time, which makes for a long line which I really don’t want to (and may not be able to) stand in.
Anyway, I checked and I don’t think Smart & Final is in Texas, at least by that name. (Sun Harvest???) I was more trying to fill you in on what you might expect from restaurants and delivery services.
But if your usual stores aren’t getting the job done, perhaps it’s worth splitting your business. Maybe check Google Maps for the nearest groceries and try to look them up online to check their prices, stock, and delivery.
Thanks, Walt. I’ll likely look some more. One thing that still gets me is product size. I still sometimes over- or underestimate the size of.a given grocery store product, not nearly as often now, but once in a while. But yeah, checking other stores and trying restaurant deliveries is a good idea. I should branch out more. (Wow, I’ve hardly done any restaurant deliveries since I’ve been here. I haven’t gotten a flyer from one local Chinese restaurant in way too long. They might have gone out of business or are saving money on flyer mailings.)
When I was shopping in-store, I could get pretty much what I wanted and had a fair idea of how much I’d use and what it would cost. Seeing it in the cart helped. Oh, I’d still forget something or get extra on something or I’d see some other new thing and try it. That’s one thing I miss online: I don’t see products I haven’t tried that are related and I might want to get. Not as much. — But after stores reduced lighting, that really cut down on my ability to see and shop for myself, plus my vision was changing. Hah, and a few times, I found that, while I was watching pretty well (have to) other shoppers were not, and would bump carts at times. But when I started having trouble navigating, plus seeing products for myself, I went to deliveries, plus cab rides were impossible at the new apt.
, so that stopped in-store grocery shopping entirely.
I wonder now when we’re going to see TP available, plus some other items are going out of stock. I’m still waiting until next week for groceries, as I have too much in the freezer still.
Mostly doing OK, but occasionally I have cravings for something I don’t cook, or so I don’t have to cook.
Tonight will be chicken and fries and Cole slaw, rather than fish, just because I didn’t want to do another dumpster run today. heh, for the frozen fish wrappers, plastic.
@BCS Just a thought-try calling your local Pet Smart or PetCo or other pet shop. They partner with local animal shelters for adoption events and they might know of resources and no-kill shelters. They also might take Peppercorn and kittens to facilitate transfer if you ask. (In Arizona, pet and feed stores are considered to be essential functions. I would assume Texas would be the same.)
@ready4more — I don’t know and will have to look further. This morning, I did more searching: 3 places are closed down, 3 more were full and not taking in, 2 of the top no-kill volunteer orgs (Special Pals and CAP) are also shut down to the public during the crisis. I didn’t try Petco and Petsmart to see if they’d intake or work with shelters now, but that’s a very good idea, I ell sure call.
Our county and city goats. issued Stay Home Work Safe programs, basically shutting down all but essential services and severely limiting public movement and gatherings, to limit virus spread and contact. — Yes, groceries, prescriptions, and pet supplies and care were listed as essentials. So I might have an option after all.
Otherwise, looks like I’ll have Peppercorn and her kittens until at least April 3rd, when they reassess at the end of the shutdown. I have litter due in tomorrow and cat food came today; then there’s the month-end shipment due by the 3rd. I’ll need more litter before then. Hoping to get the cats given away, but not sure it will happen until after the 3rd, from what I”m seeing.
Dubhan is going to stay with me and with Goober. — I haven’t seen Mystic in days, but I have heard cats three times; I think he might still be around. Poor kitty, his own limits have kept him away, avoidance and fear.
Question for Kindle Tablet owners:
I have a recent Kindle Fire tablet, HD 7.9″, I think it is. In my Audible content, it is no longer showing The Pride of Chanur there, even though, oh yes, I own it and it shows up on Audible’s website in My Library. IIRC, back when I’d had the hotel stay over while the apt. was getting a cleanup and the Great Reshuffle, I had tried to download The Pride, but it balked, wouldn’t take the hotel’s wifi, and kept on looping, such that I asked to Remove it from the Library there. Seems like additionally, there was an update to the file, which further complicated it.
Anyway, I do not see how to make the title visible again and re-download it. In the Audible store, as opposed to my content on the device, it shows the title and knows I own it and will let me listen to it there, which is how I did it earlier last week. But of course I want to download it and keep it on the tablet for future listening. Or at least to have the title available to download as needed and listen.
The help topics I came across in a search and in a Google search, did not resolve it.
2nd, isn’t there a way to select multiple titles to download in one go? I had thought that was an option, but I haven’t discovered a menu choice or combination of gestures to do so. — And this is a weakness, IMHO, of tablets and smartphone touch interfaces in general. My iPhone lately is too prone to sense some accidental gesture as meaningful, without me always knowing I’ve done anything, and without knowing sometimes the gesture sequence to do a thing if I did want to, because I’m an earlier user before those were a thing.
If anyone has run into this, I’d appreciate the help.
— Peppercorn’s meowing like crazy again. What IS her deal? Going to see if she wants attention. This seems to be one part of that. Then back to searching for places for them.
Comment – Been a Kindle user since,,, um You know, I can’t remember!!! About five years or so anyway, more I’m thinking. So Kindle Fire, yes thats what I’m using when I log in here, frankly I can’t remmember my log in for here, but apparently my Kindle can put it in automatically when I ask it to, Go Figure. Anyway, bearing in mind that I’m UK not USA and our online bookstores will have different availability. Apparently it’s a licensing thing.
So, The Pride of Chanur isn’t on my Amazon Kindle Bookstore. However, it wasn’t the book you wanted, but the Audio book. I’ve never used that kindle option, just not something I was ever interested in, but I went looking for you. It offered me a free trial ( honestly, not for me though ) I looked through it’s options, and typed in cj cherryh pride of chanur , and up it came, available for free if I sign up for their free trial. but I didn’t.
IIRC, it’s comparable to Amazon. In the US, Amazon has pages and links that manage your Kindle content, both ebooks and audiobooks. It’s possible to buy both the ebook and audiobook through Amazon, or you can sign up with Audible (free trial) and get audiobooks there directly. You used to get 3 credits free per month, but a year or two they cut back to one credit per month towards a free book. Use that carefully, and you can build up an audio library for free. Or, y’know, buy an occasional title to be fair. I’ve gotten all of CJ’s available audiobooks through Audible, plus along the way a few others, and will likely add other authors and titles while waiting for more of hers. At least in the US, this gets me several backlist titles and several, though not all yet, Foreigner series titles. I haven’t tried it, but on at least some, there’s an option to sync reading the ebook and the audiobook, so it narrates and you can read the text both. This is becoming a better option for me. Before, I mostly used ebooks and printed books. Each person has his or her own preferences. (I have realized I use “they/them/their” sometimes for the singular indefinite gender, but in print, in that sentence, my old grammar mind balked at writing, “Each person has their own preferences.” I wonder if we might end up with they versus they-all, by analogy with the old Southern US, we-all, you-all / y’all, they-all. (“One” seems too formal, like I should say someone, anyone, no one, rather than just “one,” as proper and Norman French / Middle English as that is.)
US: Audible.com
UK: Audible.co.uk
@BCS, all that calling from Peppercorn could indicate that she’s in heat. Don’t let her get outside.
Yes, I can’t tell if she’s in heat, but it’s possible. So far, she hasn’t wanted to go outside. She’s popped outside a few times, not lately, and each time, she was fine to come in on her own or have me herd her in or pick her up and take her in. Haha, she likes this cushy indoor life, safe and sound, cozy and fed, and with a friendly human. — If only she would learn to give me a little room and not get right underfoot, and would get along better with Goober, it would be almost ideal. — I think she may be trying to “guide” me by getting so close to my feet, but that also means she’s prone to fuss and think she might get stepped on, which is a real possibility, and happens too often. She’s remarkably good about it, but does fuss. If she’d learn to give me a little space, it’d work out better. — I’ll have an update when I post below. 🙂 Oh, I don’t want her getting out and getting pregnant again or getting exposed to FIV, worms, etc. I’m glad she doesn’t seem to want that.