She’s FINALLy gotten to where she will sit still. Sometimes she’ll doze off and be quiet for about 15 minutes on end. She has a mouth like you wouldn’t believe. Tanner has fallen silent in awe.
Tanner hissed at first. But we made a breakthrough the morning we let the Basement Cats out and Tanner, at the top of the stairs, stopped and went back down a few steps, waiting for Finity.
A day on, she returned the favor.
She’s a very elegant, long-limbed monkey. And into absolutely everything.
Seishi still hisses at her. But he’s weakening. Last evening he voluntarily came up on my lap, only about two feet from her in Jane’s lap, and was relaxed about it.
Shu, well, Shu is Shu, and very hissy. But he’s not attacking. He doesn’t like Tanner howling, and he seems to be calmer now that Tanner isn’t howling. Finity can pass within about a foot of him, and he won’t attack. That’s progress. But Shu also is real close with Seishi, and if Seishi starts to accept the kitten, that may make a difference. Both of them were reacting to both Tanner’s and Finity’s scent up here on the main floor, but now seem to have no objection to it. This also is progress.
Sorry to have been silent a bit: we had a computer disaster, lost a file on which Jane had spent a lot of work, and is now having to rework it. Word of wisdom: a solid state drive is a lot like a flash drive: very small chance to read them if they go bad. And one did, on a new Lenovo superthin notebook, and she’s trying to reconsitute it all from memory.
I belong to Napster. Unlimited playback of any song they have for $9.99 a month. They have a lot of all different kinds of music. I have a lot of playlists. I’ve subscribed to them for years, back when they were Rhapsody.
Speaking of money grubbing — Games with in-app purchasing, y’all — tool of the devil! The game is free, but you can purchase x number of needful tokens/lives for just 3.99 or 5.99 will get you this other useful thing. Lives will reload after a set time period, though. I just downloaded about 5 games I like and when I use up the lives on one, I play another one until I use up the lives on it, and then play another one, etc., etc., until the first one has renewed lives. . . . I refused to be 3.99’ed and 5.99’ed to death. I could get books with that money. . . .
I get a purple bar at the bottom of ‘Music’ for the subscription service, not a pop-up. I didn’t buy anything, but it didn’t get in the way either.
Googling yielded this:
How to hide Apple Music in the Music app on your Mac.
Open Music on your Mac.
Click Music in the Menu bar.
Click Preferences…
Click Restrictions.
Click the checkbox next to Apple Music in the Disable section.
Click OK.
While that hides the window / panel that would obscure (appear in front of) the main Apple Music app window, it also appears to prevent searching for music in the Apple || iTunes || Music store. Hmm…. (Note, I was getting that purple bar or a gradient blue and orange bar at the bottom.)
I wonder how long it will be before the next software update, and if that will fix it or keep it. (Is it a feature or a bug or just plain money-grubbing?)
I think a good Ferengi trader would object that it’s not a good business strategy to prevent yourself from making either small or large sales, just on the hope of making larger subscription sales. But that’s just me.
—–
No sign of Curry at all since I last saw him. Once that might have been him fighting/mating, but nothing for the past two days and nights at least. Last night, it was about 39°F at midnight, projected down to 30°F for the low. Tonight is supposed to be warmer, into the 40’s, but then the next two nights, down into the mid-30’s again before warming up gradually back to the 40’s and 50’s. So I hope poor Curry has somewhere good and warm and dry where he holes up to sleep. He’s going to be terribly cold otherwise. I looked out there once last night, but didn’t stay too long. I hope he’ll be OK. After his reaction last time I saw him, I’ve pretty much resigned myself to it that he’s on his own and isn’t really attached to me. If I hear or see him, I’ll help, but at this point, I think if he’d wanted to see me or wanted in, I would’ve heard him last night.
By contrast, Goober decided, hey, being right up next to me to sleep was a really, really good idea. I though this was a fine idea too. Warmer and friendlier for both of us. That’s the difference: Goober actively wants to be with me, attention, food, companionship, and the feline version of love and friendship. Curry would rather be the cat who walks by himself (and squabbles a lot, aahhrrr, matey, wenching and brawling, I guess; no bar crawls that I know of for him, though, hah).
And for me, now it has become, I miss him, I wish it were different, but I’m resigned to him being on his own and not wanting to be here with me. Poor little guy, though, he is missing out on a warm, dry, comfy place with good food and water. I wish him well and wonder if and when I’ll see him next. I might see him, of course, and then there will come a day when I haven’t seen him for a very long time, and not at all again. Sigh. Such is the way things work. But I would have rather we stayed friends and associated and…it isn’t that way. :-/
Just when you thought…. — Well, I looked outside, and guess who was right there? Hi, greeted me like he’d never left (hah) and right inside — and straight to Goober’s food bowl to polish off all remaining moist food and a good helping of dry food, and a long drink of water. He looked up a few times to make sure I was there and OK with him, but I was also surprised he chose to sit at the food dish with me behind him, standing over him. He’s familiar with that from before.
He and Goober (darn it) Goober made some chittering, chirrupy noises. Whether that is, “Oh, heck, not you again!” or “Hey, where ya been, glad you’re back!” I’m not sure. But once they’d gotten near each other enough, Goober (of course) didn’t challenge Curry for the food bowl, and that seems to be that. Goober went to his usual spot by the kitchen lately, when he’s not with me.
I’ve set up the spare litterbox again and set out a second dry food bowl, with moist food bowls changed out as always after each meal.
Curry wanted to be sure I was there and staying and OK with him. Whether that was, I missed you, human, or, am I still welcome? I’m not sure. But he wanted attention, greeting, after eating, and I petted him, sentimental sap that I am. Just as if we never had any problems. (The blinds are still to be replaced, too.)
So, hmm, after that, I thought, is he going to want out? I opened the door and he went right out and rolled on the porch. “Meow!” I went out there with him. Was this going to be goodbye, so long, and thanks for all the cat food? I chanced petting him, being careful. I went back to the door. — Curry came back to the door right with me, and oh, right in again. No meow, but a bright, hi, gotta love me, glad to see me? look. Darn cat. Well, OK, so he’s back in for a while tonight, at least, and we are back to previous status. Goober’s in the bedroom with me and Curry gets the apartment minus the two carpeted bedrooms. Ahem. And not my bed. He parked himself on an Amazon cardboard box (recent food/supplies delivery) and, oh, grooming, petting, napping were in order. OK, kitty, that’s cool. Yes, it’s going to be down in the mid to low 40’s tonight and the 30’s the next two nights. You can stay as long as you want, and I will let you out when you want, and chance that. And I will leave the litterbox setup for a few days afterward, as before. If I’m going to have a kitty house guest / any-port-in-a-storm refugee / or maybe a mostly outdoors, sometimes indoor/outdoor feline, then OK, I guess I can live with that. And we’ll see how it goes. (Sigh.) I find I am still attached to the little so-and-so.
I came back in to type this up, and thought I heard him meow, so I went back in. He was sitting up, waiting, and so he got more petting, and got back up for more food and water. Famished. When he was done, back on the box for more time with me, I saw that he’s lost weight. Whether from a recurrence of that chronic diarrhea (likely) or from all that fighting/mating and lack of regular, ample good food and water, or whether he’s caught something from the other stray cats, or simply living rough outdoors in the cold and wet lately, well, he’s lost weight noticeably, around his ruff (male bull neck, not so bullish again) and overall thinner, not as filled out as when he’d been here so many weeks. How rapid a loss it is, or how alarming that should be, I can’t guess. But yes, already, Goober’s been close enough for aerobic exposure, and their food and water bowls are as before, and this means also, Curry has access to “his” litterbox and Goober’s, which he’d discovered and started using, towards the tail end of his first, long stay. So…heck. At least their contact will be like it was before, fairly minimal, but possible.
He’s sleeping on that box, and probably very happy to be in. While he was cat-napping earlier, I saw he was dreaming, with one arm twitching. — He has lost the collar I’d put on him after his last outing. I can see keeping a collar on him won’t work.
— And then that fighting couple started fighting outside again. Ugh. — I told Curry I’d rather have him than them. (Too true.) — I’m considering this an “indoor/outdoor cat” situation, or else a stray cat who needs a port in a storm, shelter from the cold and potential wet, and he knows me and considers I’m a big sucker, I mean, a friend. (Heheh. I’m not sure which he thinks I am, but he was very trusting, considering how angry he was when he wanted out and caused so much trouble before. — I am therefore skeptical. But I’m also such a softie that part of me still hopes he’ll stay permanently, that’ he’s had a change of heart and won’t get aggressive again toward me, or toward the blinds. Uh, my brain and experience know better than to believe that, and yes, my feelings also are sill wary and dubious and I’m still carrying that irritation. I think the lingering grudge is over with, but maybe I’m discounting my own feelings, there. — But I want to give him a fresh start, a new chance, and see how it goes, how he does. He’s very glad to be in, get food and petting, attention, approval, and seems willing to trust me again. He’s happy to see me. And happy to be in where it’s warm and dry, doubtless, and no one’s out to get him. I can understand that. So OK, little house guest or whatever you are, or indoor/outdoor cat, we’ll try this again and see how it goes.
He may want out during the night or at dawn. OK, fine. I’ll check for him again at night, if so. Maybe this is the start of that pattern. Or not. No idea which. I don’t mind giving him shelter if he won’t get aggressive with me or Goober. The blinds, well, they haven’t been replaced yet, so I am not going to worry about that now.
I told him that I don’t know why he’s here, what I’m supposed to be learning from all this. But apparently, the universe (or God) isn’t through with us yet, and so our paths keep crossing. So I told him that if we’re walking this path together for a while again, OK, that’s fine and good, he’s welcome, even welcome to stay. If he wants to be independent, in and out, I guess I’ll be OK with that. (Until my previous two cats, in which one got FIV, I had always been fine with them going in and out, and I’d grown up with outdoor / semi-feral cats around. But since the one cat got FIV, I’ve always kept mine in. Goober and Smokey could go out in the yard supervised, and Goober several times made it.a game of getting away and not coming back in for a few hours. But on the whole, inside only.) So I will have to get used to letting Curry in and out, if that’s what it turns out to be. Assuming he doesn’t just sashay outside and stay gone for days again. I don’t know yet. — But I consider it’s equally possible that being in below freezing weather and other cold, rainy weather for the last many days, may have made a dent in that eagerness to be outside. Being cold, wet, and hungry and thirsty, beset by having to fight nearly every other cat around, might well change a fellow’s perspective on that in/out thing. The human’s apartment might be a little more tolerable. … Or not. We’ll see. I’ll know over the next few days.
Oh, the universe definitely has its weird sense of humor and justice going just as odd as alway. So Curry’s back in for a while. No idea yet how long it’ll last. Too early to know if I can plan to get him to the vet to be neutered, or whether he’s just a guest, or whether I indeed might have a second cat again. I don’t know if he thinks we’re attached or not. It sure did seem like it just now. He’s acting like he trusts me again. He’s going to be sleeping it off tonight. And that’s good. The attention I’m giving him, I hope will help him learn that at least some humans are good, friendly, trustworthy, and that being inside is a pretty good deal when he needs it, or just maybe full-time.
Wow. Well, here we go again, I guess. I have some adjusting to do too.
The porch light still needs to be repaired, it is partially working, but it’s loose or has a short and oh, I don’t want it to stay like that, as a hazard. The blinds still need to be replaced. I don’t know if those will get done by Saturday or during next week. I hope so. — I have to call friends again(!) to pick up packages, now over a month and a half since that was last done. (The mgmt. staff are putting up with this, which they do not have to, by contract. I need to keep reminding myself they are being more patient than they have to be.) — And I am going to have to upgrade / replace my cell phone, which is still acting up to such a degree as to be unreliable. It’s planned obsolescence. The thing is only 2.5 years old or so, from after I moved in here.)
So…well, I’m counting this a win for the good guys. Curry gets to be warm, dry, fed, safe, loved for a while before he ventures out again. Just maybe the next several days will help convince him this is a good deal. Maybe. And I wonder if I have a hole in my head for being so soft-hearted and caring so much, and wanting not only to give him that shelter, but to hope he’d want to stay. I’m willing to forgive and forget. He’s a cat, I’m a human, we are both not always the most peaceable or perfect species. But just possibly, maybe we can both learn to do better. I hope so. Little cat, at least while you’re here, you’re welcome. And…my circumstances are such and have been such for so long, that I have some sympathy for giving a guy more chances, and for hoping someone in need would not have to be rejected or without chances for help, when needed. And I’d also hope someone wouldn’t have to go without someone to cared, either.
I have had cats for so long, since I was a young kid, and our mama dog and her puppies before that. She lived until she was a very senior old dog at 13 or so, when I was 12 or 13. I grew up with the idea, and taught to me, that (at least most or maybe all) animals are not bad in and of themselves; that they are good when given the chance, when treated right, and they only act bad when treated badly, abused, or scared; when their instincts tell them to act the way they are made to, that they are their own kind, with as much right to be here as we humans.
That’s also why I was so shocked at Curry’s feral, aggressive behavior: I’ve always had good luck with animals. They nearly always like me. Curry (and Smokey) have been the first exceptions to that in most of my lifetime. So I am having to learn something from this. — And maybe the lesson is that, longer term, Curry still has a chance, and to forgive and forget, give him those further chances, even when I’m wary or dubious too. To go ahead and listen to the part of my heart that does want to let bygones be bygones, start over from scratch, and see how it goes. He was just fine just now, as if all of that was past and gone. So…well, I would like it to be so. So therefore, he’s sleeping on the box and inside where he can be safe, warm and dry, fed and watered, and loved, at least befriended for the time being, and with a chance of it being longer, if he wants that.
Yeah, I’m a dang-fool romantic and a dreamer. — I guess this is love, or faith, or hope, or some such thing.
I suppose I’ll only know once he goes back out and if he then comes back and comes back in. Wish us luck. Feline mindset and the mindset of some humans, not to mention whatever my own mindset is…sure can take a while to figure out. Dang-fool so-and-so cat. And yet he’s also sweet, with a good side. He has that side that wants to be loved and caed about and wants to belong. So we’ll see. (And why am I so emotionally vulnerable, up in the air, on the surface, lately. I used to be more stable and easygoing and even-tempered about things. I think this is leftover emotional baggage from being a caregiver so long, and so much stress and precarious situation afterward. But I really wish I’d get back to less of a claws-in-the-ceiling personality.)
So, back to two cats, at least for the night. Wish us luck / blessings for the next few days.
I hope Miss Finity Ma’am is being easier to care for than things here, LOL. How is she doing? How are Tanner, Sei, and Shu doing? How are CJ and Jane doing? 🙂 How is the book doing and how is Jane’s battle with the file doing? 🙂 Inquiring minds want to know, or are just nosy like that. Or some such…. 🙂
It’s 6:30am. I have had just about zero sleep, maybe two or three hour-long power naps, I don’t know. Between my own newly-middle-aged (I am trying to get used to being that) and insomniac weirdness and lack of much day/night wake/sleep cycles; and Goober’s sudden need to test if he can get in and out of the closed bedroom door, which requires the human to open it for him (every one, two, or three hours) and said human’s willingness to do this, rather than to set the precarious precedent of him perhaps having an accident because I didn’t open the door when he needed to go; and much less rarely, Curry’s involvement, because these two got fed once overnight, but besides that, I’ve checked on him, but other than that, he has been quite happy, it seems, to sleep on a nice warm cardboard box in a nice, warm apartment out of the cold and damp — and good grief, that is the most run-on sentence I have ever done, only outdone by Ernest Hemingway, probably, and yet I think it might be comprehensible — if I hadn’t lost track of the other end of the statement after that long a setup for the preceding clauses. Ahem.
Er, anyway, I’m low on sleep, so it’s a wonder my brain’s making even that tiny bit of sense. — I’m doing OK, I think, but I’m about to try to sleep again. I will handle phone calls for needed things done when I wake up.
So, Goober kept testing whether he could go in and out at will, but also wanted to be snuggled up to me all night. He’s 13 now, always has been skinny, and feeling a bit nervous or jealous with Curry back in. And a bit possessive and in need of reassurance he’s still number one with me, I think.
Curry, as said, has mostly slept. He’s also eaten a few times, filled up at first, then snacked, showing he does have an appetite limit and is satisfied. He’s drunk lots of water, dehydrated and eating dry cat food here besides the wet food. I don’t know yet if he has, uh, problems with pooping (diarrhea) again, after being out so long.
He has also been very eager for petting and reassurance each time I’ve checked on him. This, from a cat so determined to be Outside! before, and who had been aggressive to me before. I am still a little wary of setting off his aggressive self-defense / offense instincts, either because he’s used to having to do so, or because he’s accidentally misread, misunderstood my cues, body language. This is possible, given I’m mindful of his temper, his feral nature, previous behavior, but also wanting to encourage his sweet, friendly side that is definitely wanting attention and love, support, here. I’ve only seen a glimmer of that once or twice overnight.
He’s still in. I could open the door and see if he wants out, but it’s still cold out and I don’t want to go out there and wait for his silly butt to decide he wants back in after all, and he’s showing no inclination of wanting out, either. Hey, it’s nice and warm in here. He’s remembering he likes this cushy setup, nice place to sleep and good food always available. Heh. Well, that’s fine, kitty. Now figure out that if you behave yourself and act nice, you’ll have that really good deal as long as you want, welcome to you. — I am liking that he’s happy getting spoiled too, and that he’s wanting to be on good behavior to get what he wants. — But I’m also aware he may want out and insist on it soon. And if so, OK, kitty, you can go out rather than us have an armed, escalating battle of wits, yowling, and the battering of window blinds. Heh.
Goober has zero interest in going out there. He almost did, felt the cold wind, and decided, well, no. Ixnay. LOL. Good kitty. A thoroughly domestic and mannerly kitty. I suspect Goober would be quite happy in the fine company of such as na Khym and na Kohanim and na Hallan. 🙂
Oh. Now I have zero interest in fooling with Curry wanting out — It’s started to rain, if I’m hearing that right. Ugh.
So, Curry’s happy being in for now, and that’s a fine thing.
I was sleeping fine just now, but woke up and started coughing, dry-mouthed. I don’t think I’m coming down with anything. Probably just short on sleep and reacting to the change in weather and temp. — I got up and ate leftovers rather than oatmeal or cereal. So I should be OK now and will head back to bed. I need to phone that friend and get him to go by the apt. office for packages, but, ehh, given previous track record…I will let it be until I have slept. Ditto calling about the blinds and porch light. I don’t expect they will show up on the instant at my beck and call.
So — to some degree, all’s well with the local universe, while simultaneously, it’s just as much of a hot mess in all-too-precarious state as usual. — But OK, it could be much worse than it is. I’m thankful it’s OK for now.
That fighting couple didn’t fight as long, but there was some discussion by friends/relatives near my door later, which thankfully, I couldn’t hear, except to be able to identify it was somehow thus connected. I went back about my business because, well, I don’t want to know anyway.
Huh, so I am plus one cat, temporarily non-errant piratical sort of cat. (I have decided that must be what he is, what with all that independent cuss, wanderlust, and brawling and wenching he’s been doing. So he’s Curry the old Sea Salt Piratical Cat. (Oh, that’s long for a formal name….) It seems to fit. (He has that sweet side, but I think he doesn’t want all the other cats to think he’s a wuss. LOL.)
That’s definitely rain and not a car engine outside my window. Ugh, cold rain in 40-ish degree weather, with lows in the 30’s the next two nights. Yeah, Curry, m’lad, I thinks thou neediest to stay Inside a while. Rest up, get some good food and water in thee, and enjoy the company. It’s agreeable, at least from me. — Goober seems to be OK with this state of affairs; not necessarily thrilled, but his nature is to put up with it and perhaps try to make friends with Curry eventually, while still being also appalled at Curry’s rough-edged manners. Heh.
So..l. I’m calling this as good as it can get, and I’m going to try for some perhaps uninterrupted sleep for a few hours, before Curry might decide he wants out. — If it’s still cold and rainy, he might even decide to stay in longer. (Wishful thinking, there, Ben.)
Yawns. — I have no sort of grog or any such things. (Vinegar is the closest thing to alcohol in the place, at present. I am such a tea-totaler that I don’t even think about it until mentioning such things, or the occasional thought of a margarita. If I were more acquainted with drinks, I might like others now and then. Anyway, no grog, mead, or other piratical type drinks, nor anything festive to the season. And it’s bad enough out that I might consider such.
There is, however, flavored coffee, instant or in cups. I need to try out the little coffee maker I bought, an embarrassingly long number of months ago. I prefer tea, but occasionally like coffee. No plain old coffee on the premises, sadly. Tea, I’ve got.
To be with me before I get incoherent and babble more than usual. — I think I’m mostly coherent and more functional than I am letting on, but…yeah, around 24 hours without more than two or three hours at a stretch, basically no sleep overnight. I am probably only functional because of all that time spent as a caregiver. — What gets me is, people around the apartments seem to be up at all hours, to the point that I don’t know if I’m normal compared to them, they are just nocturnal as I am, or who works what shift schedules.
Good morrow, all. I am to bed. Curry’s asleep and Goober probably wants back in the room to sleep with me before I crash. I hope to get in a few hours, and if I sleep past non, well, I am fine with that and folks around here who aren’t so helpful or communicative can just wonder at my eccentricity, darn it all.
Heh, Curry’s been in for something like eight hours or so, if I’m guessing right.
No, Ben, do not get to thinking that means it’s going to last even 24 hours. He likely will want out, and then back in if you’re very lucky. Fool kitty. But I’m glad he’s here. Fool me. — Did I mention it’s awfully inconvenient having both a sentimental and affectionate bent, and a conscience on top of that, with notions about principles and what-not? And that romantic dreamer stuff along with it? Yeah, that’s mighty inconvenient being like that. I am stuck that way. As much as I can be a hermit, or a cynic or a misanthrope, basically, I’m still that old softie underneath. Heaven help me. (Sincerely, heaven, I could use the help. I still need a better situation long-term than I am headed for.)
To bed, m’self and two cats separately, one permanent family crew, the other, well, quasi-something-or-other I don’t have a good name for, it’s so nebulous.
I sure hope the book is going well for y’all, CJ and Jane. Never mind my mutterings, please. At some point, I hope to get past that and back to, well, if not my former self, then some better new self that doesn’t sound like some crazy old hermit curmudgeon. At least I am not yelling about meddling kids to get off my lawn. I don’t mind the kids, even if they act odd regularly. I do mind adults fighting loudly at night, even if I’m not trying to sleep and am wide awake. But I don’t mind a vagabond cat, formerly or perhaps once again a friend, staying over. Even my non-assertive cat doesn’t mind too much. — So count it good and hope for better in the future. And make calls when I do get up; or at least tomorrow, because things must get done.
G’night, g’morning, something. — Mainday, alterday, I am too mixed up on that. Sleeping.
Well, well. Curry is still in. He didn’t budge from his spot when I opened the door to check for mail. It’s cool to cold and drizzling rain, not the best weather for cat nor human.
Oh, he’s had more wet food and pooped the first time since back, and hurray, no evidence as yet of trouble there. That’s a relief. We’ll see how he does with that, in case he’s just been so starved there wasn’t anything much to work with in the ol’ digestive tract. (Sorry for the details, but yes, that’s a thing.)
He has very much liked the attention and purred and gotten comfortable on that box. Heh.
Goober is mostly happy with things and is taking this in stride: “You again? Oh, well, OK, what the heck, I guess so.” Something like that. But he’s wanting extra close attention from me. The weather’s helping add to that.
Not a lot of day left to the day. I did sleep, uninterrupted, thank goodness. Now to try to accomplish something.
So, all good still. I am surprised Curry didn’t insist on going out. I guess someone is tired of it out there and wants to rest up where it’s warm and dry and there’s a good meal ticket, even someone who’s dippy enough to be glad to see him. Heh. But that’s OK too.
Hoping the cat food was delivered to the office some time back and I can get it, but by now, we have less than 15 days until the next delivery is due, so I think we’re good until then. Two cats versus one will make a dent in that, but I still had things set up for two, temporarily, in case. Good for now. Too early to know if Curry will be a regular recurring (re-Curry-ing?) household member or a less-frequent guest, or what it will ultimately shake out to be. I think I may have a second cat again after all, of the outdoor/rarely-indoor variety. This winter might change his opinion on the matter.
So, calling it good. Goober’s on my arm, reminding me he’s my top cat, even if he’s not such an alpha cat. Good there too, buddy.
Hoping you all are doing as well. Warm and dry and liked / loved, at least wanted, are good things.
If Curry becomes a resident inside-outside cat (not ideal, but better than demolishing the house!), consider investing in some topical flea meds. You don’t want him bringing hitchhikers, which will happily take up residence in the nice warm apartment and bring grief to you and Goober!
Yep. It looks like I have only one flea collar (the old-fashioned, bulky, smelly kind) on hand, and a few doses of the on-the-neck vials of liquid. They are both due for a dose, which I’ll apply in the morning. I had not given Curry one of those before, but I can get it mostly there and hope it soaks in rather than drips off. Goober doesn’t care for it but he does fine after a bit of sulking. He got to where he liked the relief a flea collar gave him when I put those on Smokey and Goober a while back, when fleas got in after I had merely walked across the grass here last summer.
I still have carpet powder from where I overly enthusiastically applied it, left it a day or two, vacuumed, and thereby gave myself some strong sinus allergy symptoms for over a week after…but did in the fleas, about a month or two after I moved in.
I have not tried the wipes I’ve seen advertised. If those work OK after (or before) a jaunt outside, which I think Master Curry is likely to do, I’d try them.
I see the dang liquid vials are about $54 now per pack of like 4 or 6 doses. (Have to check how many.) Steep, but necessary. I can stretch each dose out to 3 months or so, I think, so it’s not as bad as it seems, cost-wise. But geez.
Hah, Curry was still full after his most recent meal, but Goober thought he wanted a snack, so he got just enough to make him think he got something. 😉 This means Curry’s feeling pretty good about things if he’s not going to demand more food right away too. So good job, kitty. Curry heard another cat outside while I was eating supper, free of feline begging by having fed them first. 😉 He sat at the window looking, but not yowling or pawing. I went over to the door. Curry almost got interested, then remember that window seemed cold. He went right over to the box he’s using as his bed and favorite perch, and lay down. Hahahah. Uh-huh, kitty, I got it, yo udon’t want out tonight! Poor baby. I shouldn’t laugh, he must really have gotten cold, wet, hungry and discouraged to be so glad to be in.
I am expecting he may want out tomorrow during the day, then back in at night, or he may stay during the day too. Since it’s supposed to warm up some after that, I expect he’ll want back out then. So we’ll see; the real test is whether he comes back regularly and whether he meows to be let in. I had thought he knew he could meow to be let in, but maybe he hasn’t figured that out yet. No one to show him how, meow. So I’ll try calling him for a while, if/when we’re back to that, in case I have a more regualar second cat after all, who is of the outdoor but also indoor persuasion. I think that’s Curry’s decided preference. So we’re still playing this by ear.
Huh, you know, I suppose this has some application to human personalities and behavior, I’m just not sure what. Jumping ship would not work well on a starship; not out of port and not in port. Heh.
I’ve told Curry that I messed up previously too. I was stubborn and didn’t just let him out, which was reasonable from his free point of view, to be let in and out. And I was pretty unhappy and holding onto that after his misbehavior and then his aggression. I’m still being careful about that aggression in case it pops up again. But so far, we’re OK, only a flicker a couple of times, and I’m pretty good at reading kitty body language and vocals. Usually. So — we have a fresh start, a do-over, and we’re trying this. I would like to think if I’d messed up badly, someone would give me another chance. I am very aware of this, given my present situation and because of growing up gay and so unsure because of it. I knew and yet did not know how deeply that affected my outlook and my feelings, as well as relationships to friends and family. But I have grown to see that lately too.
Anyway, so Curry’s been in nearly 24 hours now, and is still happy about it. It’s going to be down into the 30’s tonight and tomorrow night, so him staying in is better for him, if he’ll do it. I am therefore pretty happy about things. Still have stuff to do, still need things to improve, but…well, for another couple of years, I still have a good place, relatively so, a life a lot of people would wish for. And given Curry’s stray status and my past, I’m conscious that there are folks out there who’d be happy to have an apartment. I am sure the shelters for men, women, and teens/youth will be full the next few nights. I say that as if I’m doing anything.
Anyhoo, things are OK, and I actually enjoyed hearing a Christmas song early. (iTunes has no idea about seasonal music and is prone to play Christmas music in July, at random, or any other time. Haha, so this was almost in line for the season.) — I’d be fine with other music too.
It’s nearly time to order for Thanksgiving dinner, whatever I plan to fix, and that grocery delivery will carry me almost to Christmas. But aside from meat and a few necessary consumables, I’m actually more stocked up than I need to be, for once. So good there too.
Take care everyone. I need to find whee I stashed my watch cap / beanie , whatever you call those. Top of which closet, or in what drawer or box? LOL, I should find it soon.
Goober and Curry have hissed at each other a couple of times, but nothing more. No mutual grooming that I know of. They may be more of the détente sort of. relationship than friends. No knowing if they’ll become friends.
We have a couple of the watch caps, which we refer to as ‘the Woolly Hats’ and ascribe magical weather controlling powers. If the weather is bad, out they come and within 24 hours the weather will miraculously turn better.
Another term for a watch cap, favored by Canadians, is tuque, with various similar spellings. They’re great. I keep a couple in my car just in case.
Perhaps you could hang some kind of cat toy from your outside door or door knob? Jingle bells would almost be seasonal, but the toy would only have to knock against the door when played with.
Good luck with Curry. Maybe wintering with you will convert him.
Hmm, that jingle bells idea might work…providing the stray cats and/or semi-feral neighbor kids (haha) don’t liberate it from the door. Heh. Which around here, could happen.
Curry had a good night in. I went out to check the P.O. Box, and Curry wanted out, and out he went. OK, kitty, let’s see. He played hard to get, having fun looking around, also. He hopped the fence to the stairs and went under there to hide, then darted off. I went to get the mail. Aha! When I got back, he came back. But no, he didn’t want back in. He was trying to get me to play, I think, or join him catting around the place. Heh. Well, that’s actually nice of him. But he darted off again and stayed gone. I went back in, then went back out. Is there an instant cat? Nope, no cat.
So…. Well, the weather is very pretty out today, it’ll warm up during the day, and the weather fortune-teller now thinks it might not get down below 40 tonight, warming gradually thereafter. OK. — Well, I will check this afternoon and evening, and before bed, or during the night; anyway, enough times to be sure. If he thinks it’s nice enough out, I expect he’ll stay out there.
I think I’m that nice friend who’ll give him a place to crash for the night when the weather’s too bad or when he’s too hungry. Sorta that soft-hearted friend or that convenient boyfriend type (compared to the similarly convenient girlfriend type). Hmm.
Well, be that as it may, I think I have acquired more of an on-again / off-again sort of indoor-outdoor cat. He doesn’t seem to come with astroturf, though. Heh.
I think I am OK with this, and think I know where we stand now. I guess I’ll find out tonight just how much of an impression I made, as to all those highlights of a good home and friend. I may get outvoted by the lure of the wanderlust and the ladies and the other perks of catdom. (Oh, how very glad I am that the spellchecker didn’t change that word….)
Goober seems quite content with having the place (and me) all to himself again, and has parked himself o my arm to purr and get the point across. Heh. I think he is willing to put up with having Curry as a guest, but not sold on the idea of having him around permanently. Unless they really make friends. But at least Goober did not violently object to having Curry back.
We’ll see how it goes, and now I see this may be a much longer acquaintance and more complex than I had anticipated, on Curry’s side. But he thought I was a pretty OK guy and liked the setup here, so…hmm, maybe instead of the piratical sort, he’s more of a hippie cat than I thought? More footloose? Well, whatever. — At least he did not leave a bunch of heer bottles, pizza boxes, and dirty clothes, like, oh, one college roommate or some college friends were known to do with friends. Hah.
He might gradually change his mind. For now, I think I see where he is coming from, relationship-wise, so my expectations are, hmm, lowered? as appropriate to the occasion.
Well, it was, however, a very cheerful sort of goodbye, possibly of the, see ya later, dude, when I’m cold, wet, and hungry! but it was real cool hangin’ out at yer bachelor pad! Laters! So as goodbyes go, that was better than it could be, and better than the previous one. Seems like he has a whimsical side too. — We’ll see how it goes, the next few days. I am prepared for it to be an indoor-outdoor regular thing, or a once-in-a-while-when-I-need-you, port-in-a-storm thing. That is better, and suits my conscience more, than him being out there and freezing his butt off, or worse.
Counting this as a partial win. I might have made an impression as a safe house, a friendly human. That could be enough for him for now. Maybe in time, it’ll develop. He has wild oats to sow. Or whatever it is young cats do, haha.
— It’s funny, I always think of the old-fashioned kind of tuque (and I’ve seen it touque, toque, tuque, so I don’t know the real proper French or English spellings). You know, the longer tail to the cap, and the pom-pom or tassel, more associated with skiing or with old French Canadians and Acadiens (Cajuns).
I have forgotten (again) the name of the Russian fur cap with the ear flaps, often worn with them up.
I’ve always called the fur hat with the earflaps a shapka. This is just the Russian for hat, the same way sombrero is Spanish for hat but has come to mean a specific type of hat.
The internet dictionary calls it an ushanka. Both names are new to me, we just call it a Russian fur hat with earflaps in Dutch.
Well! Curry didn’t show up at sundown, still a lot of human activity, I guess. But after 9pm when I checked, aha, he was hanging around the front door somewhere close enough to be an instant cat, say hi, and head right for the door when I said something about, was he going to come inside, go in?
Goober had a short chirrup with him when Curry went to the food bowls, wanting supper. (Heh.) Whether this was, Hi, how are ya, good to see you’re back, or, oh, you again, hey, don’t take my food, how rude of you! — I don’t know. But it was short, there was some fairly close contact, and then settled, since I was prepping supper for them.
Goober lucked out, getting two suppers tonight that way.
Curry quite happily ate nearly all his portion, then nearly all of what Goober left. So he’s had nearly a whole can of food, while Goober had less than a quarter can at that feeding. Curry then set about giving himself a bath, while Goober went to the litterbox and came back.
Instead of fussing at the bedroom door to be let in, Goober has, this time, settled at his spot in the living room, and Curry is in his spot, a few feet away. Both are curled up napping, when I went back to check. I’d given them attention before, but didn’t want to bother Curry too much while he’s grooming, since that usually annoys cats.
So… It looks like I have a re-curry-ing house guest / semi-permanent resident again tonight. He was happy to see me, but took things more in stride tonight. Used to me already, are ya, kitty?
I expect he’ll want out in the morning, around dawn or when it’s good daylight, to enjoy his day and do whatever he does when he’s not fussing with other cats.
I’m very curious quite where he was hanging out, whether it was the deck of one of the neighbors, or on the ledge of the fence, or maybe the roof, or some other spot between that I’m not aware he can get to. But somewhere around and maybe above, was my impression when he arrived. It means he was hoping to get in, or has gotten used to hanging out around here, or that’s one of his safe spots, hidey-holes.
Well, he’s in, we’re all good, battened down for the night, and it’s supposed to be good weather, just cold, but not down below 30 tonight, then warming thereafter. He’s happy, Goober’s happy, I’m happy. Good all around. — I wonder if Goober’s going to want back in here with me, or if he’s hanging out in there on purpose for some reason tonight, or it just suits him to be unpredictably feline. But it’s halfway companionable with Curry, just keeping their distance. That could be a start. As long as they get along, maybe make friends, and don’t pass anything back and forth that’s contagious, I’ll count it good that they’re being tolerant or semi-friendly. ::shrugs::
It’s cold out there, but not as bad as last night. I’m glad I’m not stuck out there in it to sleep, though. But at least at the moment, a coat would be enough to be out a little wile.
It’s close enough to bedtime and both cats are sleeping. Think I’ll do the same. — Given the previous night or two, I think we’ll be fine. So Curry is happy to have a good place for food and shelter, and he thinks the company is pretty good or at least tolerably amicable. Heh. Suits me.
Still not sure how permanent this is, but I’m surprised he’s back in tonight too. Good deal for him, OK deal or good deal for Goober and me. Curry continues to be a acurpise, his own unique case. OK on that too now.
Even if Curry is not a roommate, just a friend, that seems positive.
Outside again. A little while after breakfast, I checked on Curry, and he was gazing out the window. I knew I should check, so I went toward the door. Yep, he wanted the door. I tried again, but no, there’s too much for a young feline about town to see and smell and do, so off he went. I gave him a couple of minutes and called. Oh, hi, Curry, do you want back in? Nope, off he went. So that’s how things stand this morning. Goober once again has free rein (and free reign) of the apartment sans closed doors, but checked to see if Curry is really gone. So Goober might or might not like the return of Curry, he might be starting to think Curry could be friend material after all? I don’t know; I may be misinterpreting, “Is the coast clear?” for “Aw, he’s gone? But I wanted to stay friends.” So, no knowing there until I see how they interact as time goes on.
I’ll check for him later today before nightfall and then after all the human hubbub has gone down, when he might want to come in. Between 9 and 11 or after midnight, or before dawn, are when I’ve seen him appear before. It’ll be warmer tonight, so he may want to stay out. We’ll see.
Things went fine. Curry soaked up attention when offered. This morning, he was again not so sure when in a couple of situations / interactions with me where he’s had trouble reading me before, or his responses have been a bit off. So he hasn’t learned yet about those miscues. He also did a little trying to play last night, or gentle use of his paws/arms/legs, so he was in a good mood or might be learning there. Overall, he’s still got a long way to go. I realized last night, that I still am wary enough that I’m not always fully at ease with him. Now, I know cats are strong, clever, and well armed hunters. But I find I’m cautious more than I would be with a non-feral cat, and that’s necessary. I don’t yet have enough to prove to me I could drop my guard; he’s still got that feral side, with the sweet and loving and wanting affection side.
So, it looks like this may be the pattern for a while. He has not yet decided that being in is always or nearly always preferable to being out. His longer stay a couple of days ago was out of real need, then. So, I’ll continue playing it by ear, and I think this may be the pattern for a while. When it gets really cold and/or wet again, it might change.
LOL, Goobers back on my arm. “My human, got you all to myself again,” I think that is. Heheh.
I hope Finity and the three guys are doing well and CJ and Jane are also.
At some point soon, I should try to get some photos of curry again. He’s a gorgeous brown tabby and very proud of himself, hah. I’d have to look again to see how long we’ve been associated, but sometime in August, I think it was, he’s past 12 weeks here, off and on, I think. It’s been a roller coaster ride so far, but it looks like it’s settling down a bit for now.
Wow, 12 days until Thanksgiving! Gotta order whatever I’m gonna get, by Friday of next week, 6 days away.
Apple Music again — Since I’m not subscribed, I see I can’t listen to certain tracks or get to certain albums in the store without it trying to get me to subscribe, and then it won’t let me try those, so I cannot then buy them. Way to go, Apple. You are missing sales as well as my subscription. Not only that, but if I use Search, either in the Apple Music / iTunes Store, or in My Library (that is, what I’ve previously _bought_ from Apple, or elsewhere and added) then it won’t let me add those to the Play Now or Play Later lists. So, for example, if I’m listening to my music and that reminds me of another song / artist / album I have, and I want to search for and add something to the upcoming playlist, then — I can’t anymore without having joined their danged service. That severely limits the usefulness. Why should I pay an additional $10 a month, $120 a year for the added features of listening to tracks I don’t own. They used to call that the “Radio,” and it was free over the airwaves. And when I already have paid for something, I want to be able to use it in a reasonable fashion, the way I want, without hassle, and without being prevented from doing so. Oh, that’s bad. — By the way, that window / panel that pops up trying to get you to join is from within their service and app; it’s not a popup ad or banner like on the internet that you can block with an ad blocker, as Aja Jin or Walt did kindly and helpfully suggest. — And once they try to listen to a track or item, without a subscription, they’ll find what I did, that popup, no way to cancel or say no without quitting the app, and no way to listen or add to what’s playing, even if you own it already. Just awful. I’m very displeased. Not angry, just…I don’t need that hassle and I can take my business elsewhere, ya know? — If I go into Preferences and check to disable or block the Apple Music from Privacy or Parental Controls settings, ah, this basically removes it altogether, which essentially removes access to most of the store and to being able to search effectively, even your own purchased library. — So, until and unless Apple changes their minds and changes the app and service again, I am limited to my existing library with them, and won’t be buying any more music or audio from them, and won’t be subscribing. — I will likely not get new videos either through them, and only get podcasts, since those are free. I use Kindle for nearly all my ebooks, so Apple Books (and audiobooks) I don’t use much. I use the Audible app or had used iTunes before, to listen to audiobooks. Now I will only be using Audible. I am likely going to go full-on independent, with some indie, open-source apps for music, videos, podcasts, and ebooks and audiobooks, since I think this has taught me a major lesson. — I will still use Kindle and Audible, unless I find good alternatives to purchase elsewhere. I am really, really put out with Apple over this. Not a good idea, Apple. You are missing out on a little bit each month from me. But if other people feel the same way (and I expect they do) then Apple, despite its success with other customers, is missing out on a sizable enough chunk of business by insisting n this subscription model. This is the very reason I no longer buy from Adobe or Microsoft if I can avoid it. Paying a lot more for a monthly subscription, then missing features and benefits, compared to buying upgrades when I want to and can afford it, is why I no longer buy from them.
This means also, I have a large library of music, videos, and other content from Apple iTunes that I should still be able to use, but it is hostage to whatever they do in the future. I don’t know if I can legitimately transfer and import that to other application programs to use. I used to buy some from Amazon’s MP3 music, and have bought shows (video) occasionally from Amazon (streaming or downloads rather than discs) and I rarely buy discs anymore, unless it’s something unavailable online for purchase. I have bought from soundcloud recently and I used to have, may still have, an account with cdbaby. So, in any case, I am likely going indie with my media habits. Too bad, Apple. (I’m an Amazon Prime member, so I’ll still use them and Audible.)
I wonder when or IF Apple will see the light and change this. Adobe, Microsoft, and other software companies sure have not, so I don’t expect Apple will. I feel much the same about most of the new online video streaming services, wanting monthly subscriptions. It is unreasonable for all those companies to expect the average audience consumer to subscribe to all of them. Most people, even middle class, do not have the budget or the desire to do that. It’s ridiculous. I have bought Season Passes instead, for shows I like. I don’t want to have to buy a bunch of physical media boxsets. I don’t have the space or the money or the desire to do that.
So…meh. Wow. Bad move, Apple. You’ve about lost.a long-time Apple customer. — I obviously don’t much like Microsoft and Windows for the same reasons, and frequent frustrations with Windows were why I went back to a Mac. — I may have to go to a Linux box next time. I have never, ever done that, not even when I was in college wanting to go for computer science. I didn’t have the eyesight or patience or know-how to build my own computer. I have less desire now. But next time, I may need to find a hardware geek and a Linux geek and enlist help switching over. I’m that disgusted by the whole mess from both Apple and Microsoft, in recent years, and now this.
Paul, you may convert me yet, man. 😉 Good grief, I doubt I remember much from using Unix back in college. It was that and early PC-compatibles and my Apple Ice in my dorm, and oh my, a Mac Plus my parents bought for that first stage of the desktop publishing business. Yes, I’ve been an Apple user on and off since high school. — But the two giants may hv pushed me toward indie, although not off-grid. Harrumph.
I think I’d bought a boo on Linux or Unix, a few years ago. I will need to look for that among my ebooks.
I have, by the way, zero budget or desire to buy a new laptop or desktop at present. It is not going to happen unless my income increases significantly to afford it, and at present, I don’t really want or need a new one. but I foresee needing to learn the Linux world now. This is nuts, from Apple and Microsoft both. They are going to end up pushing customers to other companies’ products and doing themselves out of a lot of business, more and more.
Hmm, is there an indie flag, aside from the old Jolly Roger? I do like penguins, though.
I used AppleWorks on that Ice in late high school and through that first long and winding road through college. I used MS Word and WordPerfect and Turbo Pascal, back when MS-DOS was the thing, the old text versions of those. So…well, yeah, there is still a large enough chunk of computer geek still in me. I have always been a geek. Heh. I was not quite as fashion-challenged or socially challenged as the guys in Revenge of the Nerds, but, well, let’s say I also felt kinda at home with those characters.
Let my freak flag fly. Darn Apple and Microsoft anyway.
I can still use what I’ve got, for now. I fully intend to, and I’ll need to find alternatives. — I do not want to have to buy again, given a too-limited budget. So I’ll get buy or do without, dang it. I’ve got what I’ve got. Meanwhile, there must be some workable alternatives out there. (Note, I do have VLC media player.)
I haven’t heard or seen any sign of Curry in two days and nights now, since he was last in on Friday morning, I think it was. It is gong to be warmer and mostly not rainy out, so he has a good chance, I guess. Darn little guy, I hope he will be OK. It’s his life and his choice, and definitely not mine. I don’t really expect him to change. I am an occasional friend when he needs me, or I’m a convenient and tolerant so-and-so. Darn cat. I do understand his desire to be free and independent and do what he wants, when he wants, so I have some sympathy there. But I also know he’s missing out on a good deal and someone who would be or would have been happy to have been a good friend, a better friend.
It is what it is. Qué será, será. — And he’s a cat. He’s not going to change into something else or someone else, just because I’d like that better. He isn’t going to magically have a change of mind or heart because I like it better that way. He’s his own cat, with his own wants and needs and kitty-dreams, and I have to let that be so. I do wish they coincided with being here. But I am not his person, really. I’m a friend when he needs one, and that’s about it, probably permanently. — And yes, I’ll still look out for him and let him shelter here at need. I still care about the darn furball, even if I’m also annoyed or feeling slighted. And I know I should not feel slighted. Still adjusting to being only the friend when needed rather than a mutual friendship and happily always together, being his person and him being my cat.
Goober is fine with things, and loves me in his feline way, and I am newly appreciating just how special that relationship is, with any cat who bonds with a human and home.
I think what else may be bothering me is, usually, some cat likes me and chooses me. I’m very much not used to a cat not choosing me as his or her person, and I bonded to him and had my heart too set on that, thinking he had. So I’m not used to this, and it’s got my ego and emotional mix all askew. I am adjusting, but still not quite there yet, I guess.
Ah well, there are more cats in the world, me lad. When it’s time, I suppose it’ll happen. I’m not sure if you call that kismet or karma or fate, but it does seem to happen that way. And OK, having Curry as a recurring guest and sometimes friend when he needs it is better than not. I want him to be OK. So…just gotta wrap my head and heart around this one. He is happy, as far as I can tell. So I should be happy for him and give him that space. I’m just having trouble with my side of the equation wanting otherwise.
Well! My iffy friend didn’t show up like he promised, but while double-checking — Curry appeared from nearby. I don’t think he was eating, but he may have been waiting, hoping for a handout from the other friendly resident (or someone) or from me. I offered him the door and he didn’t come in, so I went back in to get him food and put it out there. When I got back, no cat (I thought) so I brought the food back in, shaking my head. And when I got to the kitchen, “Meow?!” He must have gotten in one or the other times the door was open, without me seeing him. This was about three days plus or minus., since I saw him last.
OK, kitty. So he got the food I’d brought (and Goober’s leftovers). And he has drunk a very large amount of water, the first two drinks, very long, the second two, less so, but still showing he’s dehydrated. And he was hoarse and is still thin, the bull neck is gone. Whether he has lost weight in the past three days, I don’t know.
He got a couple of good sessions of attention and petting from me, and purred and put his head down at one point for a short nap. — But he is still his own cat, I feel sure of that. It’s much warmer today and should be for the next few days and nights. But I think he’s in for a good portion or all of tonight, based on how hungry, thirsty, and worn down he is. Stilll planety bright and chipper enough to like getting affection from me, though, with a cat’s sense of courtesy and gratitude, I think, about it.
So…house guest / friend / shelter in a storm or need, I think He’s happy inside for now.
Goober’s a bit confused or annoyed, but his usual self taking it in stride with not too much fuss. I think he’s getting used to Curry’s visits and absences.
I have seen Currry more than those two friends lately. Still to do.
So, we’ll see, but I expect Curry will be in until the morning.
I had to order a spar graphics tablet stylus, but then found where it had landed. I do need the extra. Expecting to order Thanksgiving groceries by Friday. — I’m going to check on Curry again and probably call it an early night.
Maybe you could get the local feral cat trap-neuter-return group to pick him up and neuter him, and then either return him, or if the situation around the appartments isn’t safe, find him that barn home.
Once his hormones are taken care of, and he gets used to you not keeping him inside against his will any more, he might settle down and become gradually more of an indoors cat – at least enough for a daily meal and drink and petting session, and a safe place to sleep.
If he can stay in long enough for me to get him to the vet or to get a group to pick him up and get him to a better situation, like a barn cat, I’d like that. I’d also like it, probably more, if he could settle down and learn what it is to be around humans, learn that I am not prone to purposefully be mean to him, and yes, when his hormones settle down some, after neutering, a chance to settle into a life here, where he has those very basic and very needed things provided. I still like the little guy, in spite of the aggressive flare-up, and I’ve had enough perspective to see that my emotions and hormones were playing into that too, plus I wasn’t letting him out, his real objection. He’s still showing a few times where he’s not sure of what I’m doing or how to respond. Some of this, I still read as simultaneously needed to defend himself against what might be harm, while on the other hand, an uncertain but positive desire to play. It’s as if it’s a little of both, because he’s not sure what I’m doing or how to deal with that. (One of these is when he sits on the ledge at the little bar between the breakfast / dining nook and the kitchen. When I look at him, move past, or especially if I move my hand (from any angle of approach) to pet him, he reads this both ways and has had miscues of aggression, but also attempts to hold me and get affection or play.)
He’s, overall, been more mild the past couple of times he’s been here. A mix of being worn out and needing help and shelter, to maybe learning gradually that I’m more trustworthy than he thought.
I tried to sleep. Again just one or two hour naps, then awake, and this time, awake enough that I got back up. I checked on them. (Goober didn’t come to the bedroom.) Both are doing fine. Curry had moved to a different spot and was very happy to get yet more attention, petting. More purring and curling up and letting my hand stay, welcome instead of suspected. Much better for both of us, kitty. He is thin, but I can’t tell if this is just from lack of enough food and water, or if it’s low-grade illness. He’s drinking a LOT of water, but this has also gone into purring, with a little respiratory thing (sinus? cough? hoarse voice and slightly stuffy breathing, anyway); and water intake has gone into bathing himself. His coat is no longer dry and dull and showing signs of insufficient grooming, but now it’s in good order, on the way back to smooth and sleek and soft, or at least in good condition, of a typically healthy, safe, happy cat.
So what I’m seeing, in just these few hours, are good signs, well being, and an appreciation of the affection and the shelter, food and water he’s getting. Also good, that he can be grateful and relieved to get those., and show that he’s glad and thankful.
Thinking on it when I woke up, one other pint: It’s not truly bad out tonight. It’s milder than it has been in over a week, still cool but pretty good, with a jacket, and cool to warm during the day. It’s supposed to be this way through Thanksgiving and after, cooling down into more seasonal around then. — But I’ve realized — Therefore, he didn’t have to come in and stay, except he’s in real need of water and food and a safe, dry, comfortable place to sleep. He could have stayed out. But even with it more mild, he wanted to come in and stay awhile. Aha. I think he’s feeling a little better about this deal. As bachelor pads go, cat or human, this is a pretty good deal, and maybe that’s soaking in for him. He might be doing better with it. Too early to tell for sure, but I’m taking it as a better indicator. This was about three days. So far, he’s varying between over a week to otherwise two to three days. He’s coming back in need of water, food, shelter, and love / friendship each time, and wants to be friendly in return. So OK, that’s enough to start a pattern I can start to recognize. (Like Paul and WOL have said, we humans really love patterns.) So it seems like there’s potential for good outcomes here.
Er, I am sure I’ve needed a lesson or two there, and think I’m learning a little. It’s given me food for thought, a little needed patience and tolerance, a little motivation.
My religious upbringing wants to see purpose to this, something constructive, directed by some beneficent force (God). Well… Curry certainly does seem to be showing up at times to make an impression on me, and he and I are both getting things out of it. (Goober is being tolerant or long-suffering, but he may also be of a mind to put up with the inconvenience and with sharing me, for a cat in need, who only trades some hisses with him. Curry is not chittering at him.) But Goober is mild enough by nature that he’s dealing with this in his way, rather than feeding into hostility or escalating. So whatever his real take on it, he’s not making things worse, he’s being very good. And just maybe the two of them like having another ct around who isn’t actively unfriendly.
So it looks like I will have a periodic cat friend staying over and then going back out. At least unless something influences him to stay daily and learn to go in and out at will, to ask me for the door.
I also now think he had not truly figured out that he could meow at the door to be let in Or else our mutual upset after he’d been aggressive and left meant that he missed this idea or tried it and I didn’t respond, either knowingly or not, or not quickly enough for him to stay at the door to be let in. So if he doesn’t know to do that we will still have this hit-or-miss thing of lucking into it when I call him or when he’s around and sees me and gets his chance to come in.
Anyway, I’m glad he’s in for the night and doing fine.
I fed them moist again when I got up. Goober was asking for more and I knew Curry needed it; he’s going to the water bowl often and drinking a lot. I’ll check that bowl before I try to seep again.
So on the whole, I’m taking this as positive. It’s sure better than when he was so frustrated and acting up about being in.
Now if I can just get a few more things done before the holiday next week.
Heh, I may have a semi-feral lodger while doing whatever holiday meal prep I decide to do. That could be…a comedic challenge, hah.
If I could only get those erstwhile local human friends to show up nearly as often and do better…
Goober slept in his spot in the living room all night, across from Curry, who tried another spot plus the box. I got some sleep, woke a few times, but went back to sleep, so I’m about as rested as needed.
Curry was _very_ hungry for breakfast (moist food) this morning, and wasn’t content with just his bowl. Goober didn’t get right in there as usual with his. So Curry took that too. I tried getting Goober to the other bowl and…we had a little chase around, him thinking I was up to something, I guess. Told I’m I wasn’t, just trying to feed him. By then, I’ve tried a couple of times, and I’m exasperated enough I told him, OK, you must not be that hungry or you’d get your food. Left it at that. Curry ate both portions, a full 5 oz. normal can (not the little Fancy Feast cans) of moist. Goober didn’t get his. There is, of course, dry food nearly always on hand for them to snack on.
I expect Curry may want out later. He did not show interest just now when I went to the door and paused and didn’t open it. I think he wants to sleep a while before jaunting out. That’s fine. — He tried to hold or play with my hand when I tried to pet him a few minutes after eating, while he was lounging in a spot by the breakfast window. Heh, OK, playing is fine, but no claws and teeth, please. (He wasn’t biting, but kitten-like mouthing play behavior, light claws, but claws out.) I withdrew and said to seep his claws and teeth in, but it’s OK to play. (Of course, I have no idea if he gets the message beyond, I didn’t want to play that possibly rough.)
I petted Goober by way of apology. He doesn’t seem to mind missing out on the food, so OK. — If and when Curry goes out in a bit, I’ll give Goober a small can, in case.
So all’s well and I’m starting my day very early. — Now past the 8th anniversary of my Grandmother’s passing away. I have been trying not to think of that. — Today, I’m going to try the new font program, to open another of the old source font files and try some editing to get used to the new interface, and to try a font idea from scratch, to see how starting a new font goes in the program. As fr as I can tell, the old program, Fontographer, is unlikely to get any more development, in favor of FontLab Studio.
Also have to pursue that erstwhile, errant friend, and the blinds and porch light repair. I so hope it’ll be fixed before Thanksgiving.
LOL, I ordered a jingle bell door hanger for dogs, and will try that, at Walt’s suggestion. No idea if it’ll work (or get “liberated / permanently borrowed” by some neighbor or kid.
I also saw the small typical bell shape, about 1.5inches from the description. When I was a kid, we had a single metal bell, a festive purple, and this became one of the ornaments I would put on the tree. I really liked it. Over the years, it became mine, and made it to my house. I do not know if it’s among the stuff still in storage, or if it’s gone, as some things were, due to time, storage space, and boxes tearing during the move out. So…I ordered a package of bells that look about like that, but a rather more traditional bronze finish. (I like bronze, though.) Er, and I somehow couldn’t resist a large rusty jingle bell, oversized. These are due before Thanksgiving. So things will be slightly festive. I don’t know if I have any ribbon on hand that could add a little to the holiday cheer, so I may order a couple of rolls of ribbon in what small concession I’m like to make toward Christmas decorating. I don’t really have a place for even a small tree. I considered getting a really small tabletop tree decoration, but I wasn’t enthusiastic, so I didn’t. — Loss of family around all the holidays has meant I still don’t get into the old holiday mood the way I used to. I have done OK most years, but some have been tough going. I’m sure it’ll be just Goober and maybe Curry and me. But I am determined to have a nice time and treat it like a special day and do something a little special for food and entertainment and rest. — I didn’t feel like fooling with homemade stuffing, so I haven’t yet put in for the ingredients for it or wassail on the grocery list, which I’ll need to order by the end of the week to avoid nonsense and rush. It may be at Christmas instead, or I may decide to do so after all, last minute. But I am OK with that, as much as I can be. By now, I know it’s just how it’s going to be. (Those friends have provided plates of holiday food late in the day or the next day, so I have appreciated that, but this year, they’ve been very otherwise occupied, so I haven’t heard and don’t expect anything.) But no invitations at any holiday, so I don’t expect that either. I am, I guess, the human who walks by himself. So I suppose I sympathize some with Curry’s wishes.
I looked for a web belt buckle, to replace one which either cinches too tight or doesn’t work well. Hahaha! Aside from web belts, buckles, etc., what else came up? Oh, not just D-rings for crafters doing belts or macramé hangings, but…(hang onto your hats)… Leather dog collars, in very butch styles, suitable for human neck sizes. So, hmm, I know what you boys and girls are doing, out there. Hahahaha. Bunch of punks and leather crowd and so on. LOL, well, OK, whether it’s a fun fashion accessory or…um a role-playing thing or…uh, yeah, more…personal than that? Well, OK, if that does it for y’all and no one’s getting hurt, well… as strict and conservative and uptight as I was brought up, I guess if some guy or girl wants to wear a dog collar, I am not going to be bothered, and hey, it does look kinda punk and tough, so I could be OK with that. — But hey, it was not what I expected to turn up when looking for web belt buckles! Hahaha! And yeah, several of these. Studded collars, double rows of punched holes, you name it. So some punk boy or girl is probably very happy wearing their dog collar. I suppose the Furry folks are happy that way too, which, OK, if you are brave enough to wear a full body mascot type costume in summer heat here, then I am not gonna fuss about it. That take bravery. And lots of deodorant. Hahah.
Never mind me, I am probably punchy from weird sleep/wake cycles and half-awake now. — Off to start my day.
Hmm, if some nice young guy wanted to wag his tail for me…. OK,haha, I wish. Unlikel to happen, but I might like a bit of fun.
I suppose I am in halfway a festive holiday mood. I will likely watch the Charlie Brown specials, though I missed watching the Great Pumpkin one this Halloween.
The day has been eventful in some ways; mundanely quiet in others.
The not-so-often-reliable friend arrived with packages this morning. Aha, good, now I have the cat food from last month which I had to order again, with about a week until the next scheduled order arrives. LOL. A jacket I’d ordered didn’t make it to the office either. I’ve reordered it, darn it. Otherwise good. I thanked him and we only spoke long enough to get my packages in and for him to get back to business. I understand and yet, darn it.
Curry — is remarkably still in. I’ve fed them supper. Curry took Goober’s food in mid-meal. Goober hissed and immediately gave way. So I ate leftovers (thankfully not theirs!) and then put out food again. Goober ate at both bowls. — If Curry has anything, Goober has already been exposed anyway. I am telling myself this. So they both ended up well fed. Good thing I have enough.
I tried to pet Curry afterward, and again got his mixed-signals response. This time I could swear it was wanting to hold on and play, mixed with self-defense through misunderstanding, but gentle, for him, more like he might want to play but then didn’t/t know what to do with me, and didn’t know to let go. I disengaged my hand without incident though. So let him be and let Goober groom after a bit of attention for him.
They both slept all afternoon, with one break when I came in to get a drink. Curry is recharging is food and water and getting needed rest and attention. He’s liking this. I went to the door and didn’t open it. He didn’t dart for the door, he stayed where he was. It’s active enough with the human denizens outside, that I don’t think he’ll want out until later. Or else he still wants to stay.
I feel odd about this. I’m glad he’s staying, yet I also feel sort of like he’s the guest who’s overstayed his welcome, because I’m still wary of his tendency to be aggressive and so I’m still reserved rather than fully friendly. Or I’m more miffed than I think, about his past behavior. So I have this ambivalence that I can’t quite figure out. This, from the same guy who’s been so on about Curry staying. I don’t get my own self.
I am taking this as a good sign, that Curry still wants to be in. If it means he feels that run down, or hungry and thirsty, or if he’s that happy to get love, well…good, if he wants love and a safe shelter and food and water. So I’m just going with it and not sure what to make of him or me. Goober makes more sense, if only he’d be a little more assertive.
So, good enough. I’ve now been at it one thing and another for 12 to 14 hours, so I am going to call it an early night, probably, and will check on Curry before and after any sleep.
Goober still hasn’t come back here to be in the bedroom. Dunno why. Nothing else new.
Any chance you could buttonhole one of the neighbor kids (or their parent) and tell them that you want to hire them to collect packages from the office for you? If you pay them $10 every time they bring back a load of packages for you, I’m pretty sure some enterprising 10 y.o. will be more than happy to be a delivery person.
I am about to that point. I’ve sort-of met about four neighbors and said hello to many others along the way. My best bet for this might be my next door neighbor, who is, ah, the vocal lady whose (husband? son? grandson?) I have not heard her calling in a while. (My guess would be a teenage son.) I rarely actually _see_ her, but I hear her and have run into her once, at least.
LOL, I would need cash on hand to pay a kid/teen or adult, or else pay out small checks. But this may be my best option. — Whatever’s due in, possibly except for the month-end order, should arrive before Thanksgiving, next week, or right after, besides what’s now there. Then it should be quiet again for a while.
—–
Young Master Curry went out this morning, sat there a while as if unsure or just taking in the dawn ambience, pleasantly cool/warm out, not yet hot or bright. (It’s supposed to be sunny and very warm to hot. We are supposed to have reached 80 yesterday or the day before. In late November. I don’t know if that’s a record for here, but it feels odd to have the A/C on and wear a tropical shirt in, call it protest against the weather, or a need to be extra cheerful, lol.) Or maybe I have an inner beach bum and don’t know it. (I knew two guys who were almost real beach bums in college. Nice guys, one very laid back, the other, I never knew what to make of, but he was an avid surfer, who’d go out many weekends, travel from the college to the beach, something like a 3 or 4 hour drive.)
I will check on Curry later. But now I think he’s decided this is a good place to catch a meal and crash for a while. I’m not sure this is home base yet, or that I am really more than a nice guy he knows, a friend but not yet someone he wants to be around always. Anyway, he likes it outside and can’t resist being out some.
Today started too dang early. I am not a morning person, despite my weird lack of a steady sleep/wake cycle. I like the dawn when it’s nice like today. I like sunsets. Oh well, I’m just not your usual human, I guess.
I have a couple of story ideas which may or may not merge. One is probably a short story. The other feels like more.
I saw that Lost in Space season 2 is due out Dec. 24th on Netflix. Yay – and I need to watch the Expanse if it is out. — I’m expecting to finish a rewatch of Dark Angel and Space: Above and Beyond. Seems like I missed the last two or three eps of that one.
Curry was back in overnight from around 1:15am to around 7:45am, because I woke up and checked. I was surprised. Goober was maybe confused. — I saw them parallel each other, to greet noses, then tails. I _think_ that may have been more, oh, hi, what’s up, rather than rivalry. It was, anyway, peaceable enough. Curry only got dry, since they still had moist left from earlier. But before leaving this morning, they got half a can each. Curry clearly wanted to go when I opened the door to come back in (I checked my P.O. Box) he stayed just long enough to say goodbye, but I think that’s what it was, rather than immediately taking off from the stairs. So — I will check for him around sundown and then before bed tonight. He needs to learn I have a schedule, albeit varying. But this makes me think he is both hungry/thirsty enough, wanting shelter enough, and wanting attention enough that he’s hanging around more, even in good weather, knowing there’s a place and a human and maybe that cat, where he’s welcome.
He’s also still not got the idea that if he tries to play rough, claws or teeth, I am not going to go for that. Maybe he will get this and maybe not. So far, he still will show what I think is trying to play or show affection, but he doesn’t know that he’s not supposed to use claws or teetch with humans. Probably because he also has to defend himself, and he’s seen hostile humans, dogs, and cats.
So…well, slow improvement? I might be winning him over a little? Him being around and coming in twice, with the weather nice, but with him needing food and water, makes me think he’s at least more open to here as a shelter or a home base.
—–
The jingle bells, except for the bell0shaped ones, arrived, stuffed to fill the mailbox. So a belt I ordered, since I’ve gone down a size (or redistributed the weight) was delivered (sigh) to the office. O, groan. It can wait until later, say next week but before the holiday, or else after.
I’m glad I don’t have anything scheduled after all. — I fixed ramen (the dried quick pkgs.) for breakfast and used the fish broth left from fixing fish Sunday or Monday. … And oops, an hour or two later…ick, had to go. I don’t know if it was from the spices in the fish seasoning or what. That fish was very good, put in the over still frozen, and I know the broth left was good. So that and the ramen and my meals yesterday…did not sit well, somehow. — Hoping it’s over, but I’ve been drinking a soda and I’m still not feeling too good, hours later.
My computer is dragging due to the virus scanner going.
I’m therefore sketching, trying to arrive at what I want for two font ideas, one a very round, soft serif and sans, something with a comfortable, friendly feel to it, warmth. The other, a primitive or aggressive look, with a more and a less extreme take, so two varieties, one restrained, the other very wild.
I tried to get a webfoot to work that has stopped working, mysteriously. But no luck. The syntax, everything is correct as best I can tell. It just won’t show. I even tried a very obscure thing, encoding the underscores in the path name, but no luck there either. Other fonts from that vendor work, but they include a counter to make sure you’re not overusing the fonts. As if they care how much you use a webfoot, whether it’s only local on your won computer, or on your own website, or some client’s site. I am not thrilled, and I don’t find another font I like well enough for that little project, so I am going oto draw one myself, once I get an idea I like. I can’t find the font elsewhere. I also tried making and downloading a new webfoot kit for it, and that didn’t solve it either. By then, I’d spent so much time on it, it wasn’t worth it to me to fiddle with it more for now. But as far as I can tell, I have everything correct, no syntax errors everything in the right place, just…no go.
Back to sketching.
Oh, good to know both shape and ushanka; I believe ushanka is the word I was looking for.
Well! Curry showed up yet again when I checked the door. So both cats got an early supper and Curry’s getting a nap, or may go back out. I’ll check. — But he’s plainly gotten the idea that he can hang around here and get in and get fed. Hmm… good thing I hadn’t cancelled the other cat food in the monthly order yet. Methinks I have conned myself into a second cat after all, a regular mouth to feed, and, hmm, doors to close to avoid, ah, unfortunate occurrences to one’s bedding. :wide-eyed: Checking on hm, I think I hear a meow…he’s still kinda hoarse.
Darn it, Amazon says the bells got to the mail room. — I hope the people food and cat food delivery doesn’t go there too. Eegad.
Huh. Will wonders never cease? — I opened the door, just to see how the world was doing, no other real reason. Curry must have been sleeping against, or huddled against, the door, from how he almost fell in. It’s sunny and quite warm, in the 70’s during the day. So “huddling” isn’t necessary. He’s only been out since 6 or 7 something. And he’s back. “Oh, hi, miss me? Sure glad I’m back! Nice human! Ooh, water bowl, I gotta get a drink. Other cat? Hi, other cat.” Hiss. (From Goober, I think, or maybe from Curry) but this seems to pass for a greeting.)
Curry got a long drink, Goober sniffed him over a little with no backlash from Curry. They settled onto perches, and there we are. I petted Curry, and this went fine, until he again tried holding me with paws and mouth, and hmm, I’m not too keen on that. — Again, it seemed like a mix of him wanting to play or to groom me, with, “Now that I’ve got the human, I don’t know what to do with him,” and that need for self-defense too. It doesn’t feel or look like, in body language, the way most cats would signal, hey, I’ve had enough petting, or hey, I’m annoyed or mad at you, stop that, human. — It is very much mixed, from my point of view, as if he really doesn’t know quite what to do, but he’s getting signals from his side that he doesn’t know what to do with, towards me. It seems like an urge to play, but without knowing to keep his claws in, or not to use his mouth. He’s not trying to bite or nip and not trying to claw me. It’s the kind of mouthing that cats and dogs will do when playing, and the kind of use of his paws and claws to hold,or to play, but with claws out. — I know enough to extricate myself without making it worse and triggering a fight or a heavy play-wrestle mood. But just because I know that doesn’t mean I can deal with him flawlessly, or he or I won’t misread each other and escalate, even if he didn’t mean to really. So I extricate myself and let him be with that. I am hoping he can somehow get the message that I don’t want to play that way, not rough the way he wants to play. (And I realized this time, saying, “Be nice.” or “Be good,” as an admonishment, may be sending the wrong or too mixed a signal for him to read right. Saying, “Ow, no, don’t do that,” also gets used, though.
Except he’s glad to be back in. Loud purring, all the signs of, oh, I’m glad to see you! going on there before, when he got in. And after a (relatively) short time outside. — He was truly thirsty and possibly too warm. — But it seems clear he’s getting the idea this is a safe hangout, maybe a home base, or at least one of a few he might have around, such as the other friendly neighbor who was feeding him. (I still haven’t found him again. I’d like to be able to talk to him so he knows Curry is OK, had his shots and some treatment.)
So, huh. Curry is now on said perch, to bathe and nap for the afternoon, likely. Goober is on his usual spot in the living room of late. So all is as well as it can be. And I see I effectively have a second cat, getting to be semi-regular more than on-again/off-again. Heh. Or more than just a convenient human. Cool. Thanks, Curry. Now if we could work on your feral aggressive tendencies, that’d be great. Learn some real manners, little guy ,and it’ll go much better for us all. Maybe even make friends with Goober. (Goober will also need to make friends with Curry, which I grant, he has some mixed feelings about.)
I am very surprised that Curry was around and that he wanted in for the afternoon. Will he stay through sundown into the evening? No knowing, but I think maybe so. I think the stray cats hole up then, because the humans are usually active, even though ordinarily, cats are active and hunting at dusk and dawn. I may have Curry in the entire afternoon until tomorrow morning, then.
If I knew he’d be in reliably enough, I could schedule an appt., a ride, and get him to the vet to see if he’s OK to get neutered and take care of that and the bb-pellet removal. But I’ll consider we’re working toward that. It may take longer than I’d like.
Writing turned into a sidetrack on a subject that didn’t need to be there, and I really wish I could get past. (In the middle of a scene, I get a character giving a long lecture on acceptance of being gay, etc. Uh, fine, but that was too lengthy and didn’t need to be there at all. Personal or autobiographical issues don’t need to be in the fiction unless there’s a good reason they’d belong to a character’s relationships with others. — I saved that and will want to write another draft from scratch. And really, come on, subconscious, enough with that, already, please. I am supposed to be long past that in my life. Oh, sure, I’d like for both those characters to be accepting, but…it didn’t need to be there. Show and not tell, for one thing. Show them being accepting. You don’t need for that character to stop the scene’s action and give a long, heart-felt dissertation on this, that, and the other about being gay. Have him and the other character just deal with it as part of the action, show it instead of some long, preachy lecture.
Also, dang, I should be past that. I don’t think I grew up that differently than most gay guys of my generation, really. In some ways, I feel like I’ve grown a lot. In others, I think I was still better adjusted as a high school teen, oddly enough. And in others, I think I’m still stuck in place. I think some part of me never got past or outgrew being that kid and teen, so conflicted about that part of his life, growing up. I would like to think it’s all a Gordian knot that’d come loose easily enough with the right few things happening. But so far…dang, really need to let go there, guy. Phooey.
—–
But this led to the realization that Curry is having as much trouble figuring out how this “friends with humans” thing works as I am having trouble with this “how to be a well-adjusted gay guy and have really good relationships, gay and otherwise” thing works.
It is really as if Curry wants to make it work, but has no clue yet how to do that. He is trying, but it isn’t quite working with me or with Goober. Yet he does have that sweet, friendly, loving and wanting to love side to him, or I wouldn’t be able to trust him enough for him to be around. — I think he’s got potential, and I am stubborn and not letting go (hah) and hoping he can figure things out somehow, even if it’s taking a while. — I do hope it doesn’t take his whole life, though. But he started out semi-feral or all-feral. That is a lot to overcome, to unlearn. — And I wonder how many of us humans have that same sort of “feral” background we fight to get past, most of our lives. I am not even in a bad neighborhood or apt. complex, but I see enough difference here from upbringing (very average middle class, very strict and controlled in some ways, fairly relaxed in others, religious, though) that I can see someone who has grown up truly poor, fighting for basic survival in the city, could grow up very “feral” indeed, and be a very “feral” adult trying to get past that all their life. — I mean, I am still trying to get past my growing up years, the good and the bad alike, and while some things were not so good, I had it comparatively good in home/family life, other than a few dysfunctional things, and everyone has some dysfunctional stuff going on with that, I think.
So…Well, I’m glad Curry’s glad to be here and is hanging around. He is a different sort of cat than any I’ve had before, but that’s sort of the definition of a cat. 😀 As if I really have a handle on how to socialize him or what exactly is going on with him. But a little bit of progress is still a good thing. I am surprised he was right there and wanted in. — He is a complicated little cat. Salty and spicy and sweet all in one very confident and independent-minded feline, not so little as he was, either. (He hasn’t yet gained back the weight he had when he was staying here. But also, he doesn’t have chronic diarrhea. He may or may not have anything else going on, I can’t really tell, but at least he got his shots the other month.) So…huh, Curry’s in.
“And now, for something completely different…”
FYI, I’ve mentioned my pains in legs and feet from pinched nerves in my lumbar spine, around L4 & L5. Maybe that qualifies as sciataca? By accident, I seem to have discovered that lying on my back,on the floor, grabbing my knees and pulling them strongly toward my chest and holding, or slightly relaxing the pull then pulling strongly and holding again, for a couple of minutes, is keeping it at bay after my last cortizone spinal injection. I mentioned it to my doctor, and he said it would be effective. Why had nobody ever mentioned this to me before?
That is odd. Doctors do have a prejudice for drugs; I don’t know whether that’s training or patient expectations.
I had a sinus blockage long ago, and after two rounds of antibiotics from a generally anti-drug internist, I had to go to an ENT to get a rhino-rooter operation. I nearly fainted due to low blood pressure when she pulled the fifty feet or so of gauze strip out of my rear sinus. It was like a clown with a long string of silk scarves, only thinner and only red and white.
More recently, I had another blockage. My current internist, trained by the previous one, suggested antibiotics again. With the ineffective antibiotic experience in mind, I ask if there was something I could do “mechanically”. He gave me a formula for making sterile isotonic nasal saline, and I used a nasal syringe to get it into my sinuses, shook my head to swish the saline around, and eventually washed it all out. No antibiotics, no surgery.
@Paul, that’s the kind of solution you get from a good physiotherapist, not often from a doctor. Everyone tends to look for a solution within their own specialty, the things they know best.
Good that you’ve discoved it on your own, and it helps!
There are two words in Dutch for this, “hokjesgeest” (compartmentalized thinking), and the even more fitting “verzuiling”, everyone sticks to their own pillar (“zuil” in Dutch) – now regularly encountered in medicine, but originally used in the 20th century for the way that in our society of more than one religion, a lot of public life self-segregated into separate religion-based “pillars”: in most towns the Catholics went to the Catholic shops while the Protestants bought from the Protestant shops, they each had their own radiostations and newspapers, schools and even sports competition (the one on Sunday, the other considered that against the precept of Sunday as a day of rest so held theirs on Saturday, even though a lot of people then had to work on Saturday morning). In the last fifty years the gradual secularisation has broken down the borders on a lot of those pillars – schools and newspapers have combined due to lack of pupils and readers, and there still are multiple bakers, butchers and bicycle shops in town, but I wouldn’t have the faintest idea which of them has a proprietor who is Catholic or Protestant or otherwise.
Okay, end of digression, back to the subject. I had recurring pain in my lower back for decades. Last year I found a good physiotherapist who not only diagnosed the problem (there were two, one with the little joints at the upper edge of the pelvis seizing up if I moved wrong, and the more important one that I was on my way to developing a hernia/pinched nerve in my lumbar spine).
She gave me a set of light exercises to do each morning before I get out of bed, and they are really helping.
As more people here seem to have recurring back pain, and maybe limited access to good physiotherapists, I’ll try to describe them. Maybe you could ask your doctor or therapist if something similar would be helpful for you.
1) Throw out your pillow and lie flat on your back, legs straight. Stretch each leg out in turn, left-right-left-right, pushing the heel away from you (not pointing the toe). Do that 20x (10 on each side).
2) Bend your knees, put your feet flat on the mattress. Make your back hollow and round by turns, lifting it slightly from the mattress (if you can) and pushing it into the mattress. Do that 20x.
3) Throw off the blankets. Keep your shoulders as flat as you can, with the elbows/upper arms sticking straight out to the sides. Turn your bent knees and hips from side to side (your shoulders will follow that movement a bit) 20x.
4) Put one leg down straight, keep the other knee bent. Pull the bent leg towards your belly, release, pull, release, 10x; then do the other leg.
I combine this excercise with number five – after 5 repeats I do five of the next one, then repeat.
5) Stretch the bent leg up straight in the air (hold it with your hands), keep the other one lying flat. Hold the foot in the air at a right angle at the ankle (as if you’re standing on it). Then dip your toes down towards you, release, dip again, 5-10x – this stretches the back of the leg without the chance of damaging anything from overstretching. 10x on each side; I break it up into 4 times 5 repeats in between excercise no.4.
Later, we added some excercises for the shoulder & neck area (which tends to stiffen up on me if I do a lot of typing), one of them as a start to these morning excercises. These help for me but might not be any use to any of you.
0) While lying flat, I put a rolled up towel high under the back of my head, so my forehead is higher than my chin. Then I pull in my chin towards the mattress, release, pull, release, 20x.
00) With my head on the rolled towel and my chin low, I turn my head from side to side – don’t roll it to the side but turn it in place, 20x.
I move the rolled towel and my head at an angle towards one shoulder, and turn my head 20x again. Repeat at an angle towards the other shoulder, keeping my chin lower than my forehead.
Then I put the rolled-up towel aside and start the sequence for my back, as described above.
Or to put it another way, if the only tool the doctor has is a hammer, he starts to treat every problem like a nail.
Your #4 is about what I’m doing, but I’m doing both legs at once. It “reflexes” the normal lumbar curve.
What tends to exacerbate it is getting into long sessions of “chair time”, when I’m doing a lot of computer work. Right now, I need to rebuild one of my 32-bit Linux systems almost “from the ground up” with an updated Firefox, because sites I used began using newer, incompatible “features”, and I want/need to retire the old Pentium-III on my table for Office-97, which I can do by installing Wine and using it as a “shim”, translating Win9x operating system calls to Linux system services. Cool! Should’ve done this years ago.
Yeah, that one is good for stretching the back muscles that cramp up if you’ve got a sore lower back.
For sitting at the computer for long hours my physiotherapist taught me two things I didn’t know.
The thing I think everyone knows is to take regular small breaks to move your arms and shoulders and back, look away from the screen, sit in a different way; and every two hours get up and walk a bit, get something to drink or something like that.
The first thing I learned from my physio, for my shoulders, was to sit up straight and keep my elbows glued to my sides. Don’t lean forward into your screen, and don’t reach forward or to the side from your shoulder for your typing or mousing.
I had to get computer glasses and a divided keyboard, as my belly is round and my arms a little too short to reach the center of the keyboard comfortably without moving my elbows forward; but it’s helping to avoid the shoulder stiffness that led to the bursitis last year.
For my back, she showed me that the cartilage between the vertebrae in that lumbar region gets squeezed & pushed towards the back when you bend your back. There’s something like a tendon keeping it in place and in its correct shape between those vertebrae, but if you push it too hard towards the back the cartilage disc can develop small cracks (apparently the stage my lower back is in), and if I don’t take care those cracks can progress all the way through the cartilage ring, letting the inner jelly bulge out, and then you have a hernia or herniated disc (sorry if my translation is a bit clumsy on this, this medical stuff is not part of my regularly used vocabulary).
The cartilage disc is a ring, it has a soft jelly center protecting the bundle of nerves running through the spine. When the central jelly moves into those cracks in the cartilage, some of the spinal cord nerves can move with it and get pinched in those cracks.
So for the stage my back is in, it’svery important that I don’t put pressure backwards in this lumbar cartilage, which means I need to take care to keep my back ‘hollow’ while sitting and walking. I put lumbar pillows in my chairs, both the office chair and the comfy chair: no more slouching allowed! I can still lie back in my comfy chair with my feet up, but while keeping the back S-shaped, the lower bend in towards my belly.
Walking that way has been, and still is, an adjustment. “Good girls don’t stick out and waggle their butts while walking!” So I’ve trained all my life to ‘keep my tail between my legs’, flattening the lower back, whenever I was aware of my posture. Now I have to get over that, say “I’ve got a big ass, so what? Who cares if anyone notices that, as long as it keeps me pain-free?”
I used to get relief from cramping back muscles with that stretching exercise, rounding the back, but that always gave only temporary relief.
Using a hot water bottle helped with the muscle cramps and could get it to go away; I realise now that it wasn’t just the heat, but that the bottle in the small of my back in my chair forced the right bend in my spine.
Keeping my back hollow as much as possible has really made a big difference in how often and how much the pain returns: a lot less often, and a lot less bad, as it doesn’t get to really settle in before I’m working effectively on getting it out again with those exercises.
I don’t remember where I heard about it, but I’ve been using that one for years for lower back pain – it seems to make the muscles relax better than anything else I’ve found. Even a few seconds helps.
I get neck and shoulder stiffness, or my neck feels out of place somehow. But this is likely because of an old injury as a preteen, as well as too much desk sitting and typing.
—–
Curry stayed in most of the night, then went out before dawn. It started raining lightly, so I looked to let him in. He wanted to stay out! Goofy cat. But it was warm enough and the rain was light enough, and he could get on the balcony above or in my patio space, so I guess he was fine.
I cooked a meal for later, and when I came back in to check on it in the oven, I checked. Aha, instant cat, with a warbling meow, very glad to get in! He’s firmly ensconced now, haha, glad to be in and miss the morning hubbub, I think. (The garbage dumpster pickup happened while he was outside, though.)
He wanted to play some, and really doesn’t have the idea to hold in his claws, and I didn’t have a toy handy. Going to have to solve that. Being happy, wanting to play, is a good sign.
Goober’s doing fine too, but doesn’t quite want to be in the bedroom. Not sure what’s going on with him. I don’t think they have quite made a full truce or made friends yet, but I also think he may like having another cat around, which was, after all, part of the idea in the first place.
So, doing OK here, and I have food fixed for later and over the weekend. I think I’m going to delay until Monday to get groceries, in order to use up more of what I still have on hand. Not urgent yet.
I’m up and not likely to sleep, so I’m going to work at the computer a while. — The new font program has some odd things about the interface I haven’t gotten the hang of yet. Hoping to get used to it soon.
If Cattus wishes to play and isn’t too savvy about the no-claws rule, find a pair of inexpensive gardening gloves that you can use to ‘rassle’ with him.