Frenzied Daddy

Alas. Alice was locked into the bathroom, while we were off at work. Somehow he managed to pull his cast off halfway, and then run around. The ladies got home, and found him in this state. He was extremely manic (is that redundant?) and panicky. Then, while they tried to wrestle him into a box to take him to the vet’s, he escaped and bolted downstairs. Then the Elder screamed, and the Mother screamed- and after a bit I arrived home. Just in time to capture the cat and stick him in the kennel.

In the morning (Friday morning) we took him into the vets and found out the bad news. He had snapped his fibula, and this meant they needed to use the pins, and not the cast- the more expensive route. Thankfully, the parents have already thrown some money at us, and he’s home now.

Alice is shown here, with our friend Erich. Thanks for critter-wrangling, Erich.

Looks like poor Wil‘s been “0wnzz0red.” That’s gotta hurt:(
Looks like “r00t_system” is a “cracker group”- as cited on Windows Southern Africa (oddly, Google’s first 6 pages of hits for “r00t_System owns your Linux” were hacked sites. )

This post got me reminiscing about an event that happened to me a few years ago. I was standing at the Lombard and Interstate intersection, waiting for the eastbound 4, and the sky had opened up. If I hadn’t been under a bus shelter, I’d have been miserable- and I like the rain. The weather was wet, windy, and downright nasty.

Across the street from my stop was the stop for the westbound 4- unusual, because usually the busses stop on completely opposing corners, but hey, this is Portland, after all. A little chaos belongs here. And at the stop across the street are these two girls, on their way somewhere, probably leaving school or something. They were teenagers, and they were dressed up- short skirts, high heels, slinky shirts, and they were looking good. Of course, they were looking wet too, but they managed to pull it off with aplomb.

Shortly after I noticed them, a Mustang came zooming up, eastbound. It passed right in front of the girls, and, of course, hit the big puddle that’s always at the bus stop there. And a perfect curl of water arched up, reached out, and dumped itself all over the girls, who shrieked.

It should have been in a movie. It was perfect. Muscle car, good looking girls, rain, and perfect, I mean pristine, sheet of cold road water. And their shrieks were right on cue. It was just like a Mentos ® commercial. Naturally, I smiled, because hey, it was amazing, and it was absurd, and while I would have been really unhappy to be that wet in my best clothes, the perfection of that moment was something to acknowledge.

There was a middle aged woman standing near me, who saw my smirk- and shouted to anyone who could hear (she didn’t look at me, mind you) “Anyone who thought that was funny needs to have their head examined. (pause) Anyone who thought that was funny should be ashamed of themselves.”

Woah. It wasn’t “funny” but, like I said, the moment needed acknowledging. I said, just loudly enough that she could hear me something like “I don’t think it was funny, but the life-imitating-art of the situation just calls out for something.” To which, she responded; “What makes you think I was talking to you?”

Yeah, I was in a mood for the rest of the evening.

Well, I can’t say that President George has done nothing, now, can I?

So I was listening to the radio in the car today- AM 620, and they’re, of course, discussing President Bush’s speech last night. They get a caller from Eugene who happens to be in the National Guard, and he’s “been reading the Geneva Convention for relaxation.” (Note: I have not read these. But I will. )

us that, according to the Geneva Accords, aside from the ethical treatment of prisoners of war, one year after the cessation of major combat, an “occupying force” (that’s us) must supply the citizens of the country, even saboteurs, with medicine, food, and shelter. There’s only two ways for the occupying force to avoid this; either leave the country (which Bush vowed, and now it looks less than likely) or turn over sovereignty to the people of the country.

Guess what President Bush is working on? Yup- covering his butt so the US doesn’t have to provide these to the Iraqi people; by insisting that he’s turning over sovereignty to them, the US won’t be liable to supply medicine, food and shelter to them. Of course, no time was lost on Air America pointing out that G.Bush and Co. don’t even want to supply US people with those amenities.

I came home tonight to a quiet house and an ominous note. The ladies had gotten home before me (as usual) and had found something fiercely wrong with our youngest cat, Alice (shown here in a rare horizontal pose). It was so wrong, the ladies took him to the vet on their own, without waiting for my erudite consultation; they just left me a quietly frantic note.

The vet’s report? That darn cat has broken his leg. It’s his tibia. Only one of the two bones in that part of his leg, and it’s even a fairly straight leg. Darn cat. He’s staying overnight, and we’re pinning our hopes to him having a cast ($300-500) and not pins ($1200). It’s rough- one last week, one this week, and I don’t think I’m up to checking the mail.

Aah well, I guess when it rains it pours, eh?

Hmm; there’s still a few more errors to clear up. Mostly in the way variables are handled. I’ll get em taken care of, dontchew fret.

On a humorous note, this is one of the reasons that it’s such a personal decision whether to put pictures of your kid on the Internet. I wish I had that kind of talent. Maybe someday. (of course, this is another. Bleah.

In my updating frenzy- I messed up the comments posting. Just saw the error, myself. So I’ve fixed it. Enjoy!

Kalafae sauntered in this evening, ever his happy self. The little bird-killer had some sort of problem with his leg, and after much discussion it was decided that I’d take him over to Dove Lewis to get him looked at. What was wrong? He was licking it, there was a large bloody wound, and it was seriously swollen. Of course, the Kid wanted to come along; Kal was her cat originally (and she swears still) and she was worried about him. So we went off to Dove Lewis.

At Dove Lewis, we waited a very long time. One lady came in with a cat near death. “Do you want CPR?” Sadly, she shook her head. We saw a couple of dogs come in; one was taken out for a walk with IV tubes and saline drips. He had to poop on the carpet on the way back in, but nobody complained. One dog came in with bites from another dog. And we saw a golden retriever with a broken tail (and some other injuries). The emergency room is a great place to learn patience; if you’re not in a hurry in there, you’re going to be OK.

Kalafae had an abcess, the abcess has ruptured. The vet thinks he got bit by something; another cat, a small dog, something smallish. And of course, it got infected. She said she was actually surprised he was walking around on it, considering how much bruising and damage had been done. She also said that he was a sweet-natured, loving, affectionate cat; which surprised us a little because he spends so much of his time outside away from everyone. But frequently he’ll climb into my lap and go to sleep, and when he wants to be petted, he’s very insistent.

I am in the midst of a solid panic attack, and the last thing I needed was another hundred and fifty dollar bill. But that’s what I’ve got, and a bottle full of amoxycillin, and some pain meds, and an embarrassing little collar that he’ll never suffer through. And a sweet cat with an infected leg. Hopefully his bites will heal up in the next few days; the next step is to have him put under, and have some drainage ditches made; that sounds like an expensive procedure.