july 10, 1999 What a rough two weeks this has been. Bobby is home, once again. He's once again resting. Only this time, it's because of drugs. The same drug that Sandy would get when she was so upset and nervous. The same drug, that one half of a tablet would knock her on her butt. And she weighed over seventy pounds. Bobby is getting a quarter of a tablet. And he weighs over seven pounds.

I called the vet this morning around nine am, talked to Jennifer and she told me that Bobby had pulled his catheter out. She said he ate just a little bit this morning. The vet wanted to watch him to see how he was doing. Would I call back at 11:30? No, make that 11:00? Sure. So, while I waited, I attempted to save the fonts from the old system's windows, couldn't do it. Because of stuff that I had done on the old system, Windows Explorer no longer was working, so I decided I'd be a computer brain and reinstall Windows. Oh, my. I get so nervous when things seem to be taking too long. But, I got through it and many of the programs that come with Windows, programs that had somehow disappeared throughout the years, once again were available. Then I checked out what programs were still there and a couple I thought I had removed were still there. So, I removed them, then did a disk scan on the C drive and defragmented it. Meanwhile, Mark showed up, said he was going to unload his truck and come back to pick up the computer. *Whine* I'm still working on cleaning it up. Luckily, there wasn't much on the D drive to defrag and that took all of two minutes. I got it unhooked and repacked. He was surprised that I gave him the new speakers and the new printer, but I like the ones I have. Boy, the office sure looks bigger with that box gone. Speaking of boxes, Gateway was sure quick about getting my computer to me, but they are dragging their feet on getting those labels here. That monitor box is still in the exercise room and that $295.00 charge is still on my account. Grrr.......

So, here it is, a little before eleven and I call. Sheri says that I can come get Bobby at 11:30. She was just working on my bill. I kind of cough. Anyway, I get involved in something and at 11:35, I leave. Boy, the office was a mess. There was a bunch of people there and a little boy that was into everything. Sheri told me the damage; $224.40!!!!....boy, was I pleasantly surprised, especially since they had him for the days on Tuesday and Wednesday, all day and all night, Thursday, Friday and most of this morning. Kirby had been over $300 for the time he was there when we went to Disneyland. She said "we gave you a break on the bill". No kidding!!! They charged for his sub Q fluids, x-rays, catheterization and medications. They didn't charge for the hospitalization or examinations. By the time I had the check written out, the office had pretty much cleared out. I went back to get Bobby and the vet talked to me about what we're going to be doing. He said that Bobby has a good stream of urine now, when expressed, when before there was very little, if any. He picked Bobby up and expressed him into the sink. He said the urine looks really good. He found a pharmaceutical company that makes up medications as needed and they will split the medication he had talked about using when he gave me the options last Thursday. So, when it arrives Tuesday, Bobby will get started on that. He thanked me for sending all of the stuff I had found on the internet "some of it was crap" he said. LOL!! Anyway, he told me he pretty much keeps up to date on all of this, and I said "yeah, I know, but I just felt so useless and I wanted to do something". He understood. He did kind of laugh about one message I sent. It was in part of an email from someone who told me to get Bobby the hell away from there if this vet hadn't mentioned the penis removal surgery. *sigh* And I had taken pains to explain beforehand why this surgery wasn't an option. I told the vet that. I said "Phil's a good guy, it's just that people don't take the time to read everything carefully". Then the vet showed me Bobby's x-rays and pointed out what the surgery would remove and where Bobby's problem lays. Not even close. Not that I doubted the good Doc's word for one minute. But now I have a better understanding of why it wouldn't have worked and can better explain it to others.

So, Bob is home. Keep up the prayers for his continued recovery. We ain't done yet.

Oh, had I ever mentioned a game by the name of the 11th Hour? I got the 7th Guest years ago and really liked it. It takes place in a spooky old mansion and it has a little gore in it, but you don't kill anybody or anything like that, it isn't an arcade game. What you do is solve puzzles. Well, I liked the first one so much, I got the second one and it took forever to come out. It wouldn't run on my old system. Kept getting a linear buffer error message and never could figure out how to make a boot disk. I spent hours on the phone with the game techs, had over fifty pages of directions on how to get it to work and nothing I did could get it to work. So, early last month, I see it at Costco. The 11th Hour, for Windows!! And Windows was the problem before. So, we buy it. Now, I still had the original at home, but it didn't say "for Windows". I get home, excited. Put it in. Start it up. The same damn message. I tried making a boot disk again, because it was a different company selling it now, with better troubleshooting on their page. Still wouldn't work. So, last week, just for the heck of it, I put it in my new system. Guess what? It works. Yay!!

Oh. And the vet told me that he told his answering service if I call, to put me through. Good deal.

july 12, 1999 I'm on the phone to the vet. I split up the acepromazine on Saturday and it was really hard to get those tablets into quarters. They kind of fell apart. So, this morning, Bobby ate about three quarters of a jar of chicken babyfood, then I gave him his antibiotic, then two tiny pieces of the acepromazine, that didn't appear to look as big as one of the quarter pieces. I went out to check on him and he had a little poop on his tail, which I cleaned off. Oh, look, there's more over there by the couch, a good sized stool. He peed alot yesterday, thank goodness for the piddle pads, they did a great job of catching it. Anyway, when I cleaned Bobby off, I noticed he's really out of it. He wasn't like this yesterday. Of course, I start to worry that I've overdosed him on the acepromazine. We've come this far and now I've killed him. I changed his padding, then wrapped him in a towel and took him outside. He looked around, a little more alert. He wanted down. I put him down, after spreading out the towel. He sat on the towel, then decided he was going to go back into the house. He couldn't do it. He's back leg wouldn't respond. I bring him back in and get him settled back down and call the vet. I explained what I had done, that it had been about forty five minutes since I pilled him. Jennifer told me that the pill begins to have a full effect at forty five minutes and that he should be out of it. I told her that he wasn't like this yesterday, but she said possibly the fact that he's pooped today has made a difference in how the medication is being metabolized. I hate this. I've been checking on him every five minutes since, to make sure he's still breathing. He is.

While on the phone, I also made an appointment for Ciara (this afternoon at three). Her breathing got really noisy this weekend. I don't know if it's the humidity, the heat or the air conditioner, which has been running all day long. I've also been letting her out during the day. So far, she's been pretty good. I noticed her looking at the fence Saturday evening, almost as if she was deciding where the best place to go over was. I brought her in. It's been kind of nice in the evening, after the sun goes behind the hill. We've been sitting outside (well, I lay in the grass) and let the cats stay out with us. It's pretty relaxing. She does really good when we are out with her. She stays close to us.

I went over to Mark's house twice Saturday, to fix problems on the computer. He seems to be interested in learning how to work it. He had it all set up and everything. They don't watch much tv, their television has a very small screen and I wasn't sure if the computer would be of any interest to them. He had it all set up within hours. Made me grin.

I moved the catcam and the chair to the other side of the room. Now, I have room over by me again. And I'm hoping there will be more cats that lay in it. That darn Mickey got into it yesterday and sprayed the clean cover. Right now, there's just a towel in it. I also put the food behind it, hoping that the cats won't spray that area.

Hiss spit on Gateway. I still haven't gotten the label for returning the monitor. And now, when I call, I can't get through. The lines are always busy. Well, I'll keep at it, because I'm not spending $300 on something I don't want. Really irritating. The bums. You figure, it took them three days to get a complete computer to me. Why is it taking so long to get some labels sent in the mail? Or do they do the kind of business where they send you stuff, charge you for it, hoping you're too lazy to send it back? I hate that.

july 13, 1999 The cats killed my office television again. Brian never did make the box for it, the one that was going to protect it, and now, it's dead. Killed by cat pee. I'll take it apart later, try to dry it out. I did this before and it was okay. Maybe it will be okay again. I told Brian that he never did make the box. He said "oh, now it's my fault" and I said "yes, it is". *sigh* I'm glad I still have my teeny, tiny, eensy weensy 9 inch television.

Yesterday, after I had already uploaded my diary entry, I went to check on Bobby. Remember, he was doing so badly after the acepromazine? Well, I went to check on him and he had puked all of the baby food he had eaten. This really scared me and I was back on the phone to the vet's office. I explained what had happened to Jennifer and she talked to the vet. Since Bobby hadn't puked before after eating, it most likely wasn't anything serious, but I was to watch him closely. I said okay, got off the phone and cleaned him up. He slept very soundly. Around 12:30, he woke up and got a long drink of water. Then he went back to sleep. He did seem to be more alert. I wasn't nearly so worried.

Yesterday morning, I tried for hours to get ahold of Gateway. I finally got disgusted, called my credit card company and explained the situation. They are putting the amount of the monitor, plus sales tax "in dispute". Which means that I won't be charged interest on it. One of the things they asked was had I talked with Gateway. I said "yep". So, after that call, I called Gateway again, reps were all busy, again. Then I went to their website and logged my complaint there. I let them know that I had contacted my credit card company and that the charge for the monitor wouldn't be paid to Gateway. Gee, what was in my email this morning? A letter from Gateway, asking the same information I had given them yesterday. I answered their questions, sent the mail back and within a half hour, I had a response. The label kit would be here within seven to ten days. Gee. That wasn't hard now, was it?

That out of the way, I opened mail and I entered bills to be paid for the company. It's only been about two weeks. Didn't take too long. Then Brian came home, early. "Hi, honey" I say. "Did you have lunch?" hoping that he hadn't. "Yep" he says. Darn it. I go into the kitchen and cut off a small piece of sharp cheddar cheese, eat it and still hungry, I then have a thing of yogurt. Maggie finally moved off of the copier and I copied the bills and put them on Brian's desk. Not much to do, it's so hot and Brian is in the living room laying on the couch, with a cat on his chest. I sit on the ottoman, then put my head on the chair. I look at the clock. I have to take Ciara to the vet in a half hour. Then I woke up, startled. Look at the clock again. I have five minutes. I can't believe I fell asleep.

I rush and grab the carrier, go into the kitchen and get a piece of chewing gum, spearmint. Ukka breath. Maybe this will help. I find Ciara and put her into the carrier. "Hey!!" she meows. "Let me outta this thing!! I ain't going to no TED." (TED is The Evil Doctor.) I ignore her plaintive cries and Brian tells her it will be okay. I grab my purse and keys, the carrier and off we go. I get to the doc's office (man, it's miserable outside) and their air conditioning is being worked on. I sit on the bench, Ciara next to me. Hugh/Pew/Mew comes up to me and I hold him. He kisses my eyelids and lashes. He purrs. We snuggle. Ciara is put out that she's in the stupid carrier. They call me into the examining room. We get Ciara out of her carrier. She gets weighed, seven pounds. Almost as much as Bobby. *sigh* The vet checks her breathing. "Man," he says, "there's nothin' coming out of her nose." I tell him that she's been like this for a couple of days. At times, she sounds like she's quacking when she breathes. He listens to her chest, takes her temperature. She's normal. He says "well, she doesn't have pneumonia. This thing is just in her nose." He tells the tech to make up a batch of her nosedrops. While she's doing that, he says how pretty she's become. He scratches her back. The nosedrops are made and he puts some in. She drools because the drops have gone back into her throat and into her mouth. He picks her up. We talk a little about Bobby. I mention the ace knocking him out. He says "well, if he's peeing okay, then we can stop the ace. If he still has trouble, the other stuff will be here on Wednesday. They don't ship on Friday, because they don't want the medications going bad in the heat." I check out, new bottle of nosedrops in hand. Home we go. Brian's gone, had to go look at plans. I check Bobby, change his bedding. (Those pads are a Godsend.) (I just checked on him. He's sleeping so peacefully, curled up, his paw over his face. He looks so sad, with all of his shaved spots. Both of his front legs, the forearm parts have been shaven and the fur is starting to come back in. He has a large scab on one of them, probably from the hack job ER did. His only back leg has a shaved spot, his neck was shaved and all around his genitals, too. Poor guy. I noticed this morning that his coat is shiny. This is a good sign. He's showing more interest in food. He doesn't eat much, but he's eating.)

Last night, the heat let up. I told Brian it's beautiful again, outside. I open up the doors and windows, shut off the A/C. I stay outside and he comes out a little later. Sits on the swing. Let me tell ya about the swing. This swing is great. We got it a couple of years ago at what was then known as the Price Club. It's cedar. I liked it because I've always wanted some sort of swing/glider for the backyard. Problem with gliders is the mechanism that runs them on the bottom. Always a fear of a cat getting caught while it's gliding. So, when I saw this swing, I begged and whined. We went home, thought about it, went back and got it. For those of you familiar with CostCo/Price Club, something you see this week, may not be there next. So, you have to get it while it's available. We brought it home and it sat in the shop, in the box, for over a year. Brian didn't have the time to put it together. When my relatives were due in, he did get it put together. Now, when he mows the lawn, he moves the swing to a different part of the yard. Right now, it's sitting under the plum tree. I lay back on the grass and Brian sits in the swing. I start to giggle.

"What's so funny?" he asks.
"Do you realize where you're sitting?"
"Yeah. So what?"
"Aren't you worried?"
"About what?"
*snicker*
"Well, the plums are dropping off of that tree like crazy. Have you thought about one falling and hitting you on the head?"
"No, but I bet it would hurt," he laughs. He doesn't move. I consider getting the video camera. Just pointing it at him. Nah, too lazy.

"It's nice out here," he says. I agree. I also say that it will be nice not having to sleep with the A/C on. The cats are playing all around us as the evening deepens. Kirby is chasing bugs, jumping feet into the air to catch them. The dogs are close by. Ciara keeps Junior in line when he gets too close to me. She chases him away. He respects her claws. The grass is starting to itch on my back. I go inside and get an old sheet, partially unfold it, lay it down. I sit down and rest back on the material. I look at the sky. Brian can see the flashes from the lightening in the mountains. I can't. I sit up to get a better view. Buddy has overtaken the spot where I had been resting. He's sharing my sheet. Junior is leaving us alone. Good. Mellow just isn't in that dog's vocabulary. Finally, it gets dark enough that I say if we don't get the cats in now, we might have a hard time later. So, up we get and in the cats go. I like this going out in the evening and enjoying our yard. It's quality time, restful time.

Since Cleo brought her two kittens over that one night, she's only brought one back. The black one. I haven't seen the red one at all. She didn't bring either of them the next night, but she's had the black one with her for two nights now. I hope the little red one is okay. There was an awful lot of traffic that night. And the cats are coming back into the yard behind us to eat again. This morning, I saw two of the gray ones (I wonder if one of them is the one Brian saved from drowning...that story is earlier in the diary and it's told on one of Ben's Advenchurs), a black one and a tortie. There may have been more, it's hard for me to see up against the other side of the fence. I can't lean over because of the Ciara barrier. Yesterday afternoon, Buddy started barking. Of course, I check it out. The little dog in the yard behind us was barking at something. Oh, look, a bird. A young bird, learning to fly. The birds nest in the gutters of that house, have for years. Well, mama and papa bird were watching carefully, the young bird was on the ground. The little dog was yapping at it. The parent birds attacked the dog. The young bird found his wings and was able to fly to the top of the fence. The dog followed, looking up and barking at this upstart. The parent birds followed the dog. As the dog trotted by the gate, a cat who had been resting under a trailer, came into the yard and slapped the dog. The dog ran up into his yard, the cat went back out into the front, under the trailer again. And the birds flew off.

july 14, 1999 Do you ever feel like screaming out of frustration? One of the cats has had soft stool. Like "pudding". Yesterday, I found out who it was. It was Gracie. She's been pooping on the laundry room floor and yesterday she went in the litterbox in the office. I checked it out, same thing I've seen elsewhere. It did have a little lump in it, so I figured it was firming up. Then, she was covering up a little spot outside of the litterbox in the hallway. It was runny and bloody. So, of course, I call the vet, make an appointment for her. I took her in at 3:30, she's been really healthy and the vet hasn't seen her since kittenhood. He prescribed flagyl and I brought her home. When I paid the bill, I jokingly said "well, only sixteen more to go" meaning I should be in sixteen more times. Poor little girl, she cried the entire way over there and the entire way home. She was really glad to be back here.

So, late yesterday afternoon, Georgie comes in. He backs up to the towels covering Brian's paperwork. I say "No, Georgie, not there." He tries to pee, he cries and then he's cleaning himself. I find one of those little grit things that Kirby had passed. Oh, man. I feel like crying. I give George some amoxi and an ammonil tablet. I have to call the vet today. I can't stand this. Georgie seemed fine last night, not licking and has a good appetite. He played out in the backyard, didn't seem uncomfortable. But I don't want him blocking by the time the weekend rolls around.

Bobby is doing a good job of peeing. His appetite still isn't much to write home about. But, he is eating because he had a stool last night. And he hasn't thrown up since Monday. He's much more alert now, too. That's nice. When you pet him, he yows at you, just like before. I just wish he had more interest in food.

Boy, it's been hot and muggy. We slept with the A/C on last night. It was still 80 outside at 9:30 last night. It wasn't as pleasant at sundown because there was no breeze. My garden likes this weather. Yesterday, I noticed a watermelon seed had sprouted. I wonder what else will come up that hadn't come up earlier. And I've been doing a good job of watering. Last night, I opened the little gate and DeeJay went in. He liked it in there. He was laying in one of the little irrigation ditches, still cool from the water that had been in it. I talked to him about it and he said it's nice and cool and the dogs don't bug him. He's not much of a talker, more of a whiner, but he was pleased last night.

july 15, 1999 Georgie is doing okay. I watched him outside last night and he sprayed. Good deal. I had called the vet about fifteen minutes after they opened and explained what was going on. I told Suzanne, I really didn't want to have to bring him in, but if I had to, I had to. Luckily, the vet said just to give him the amoxi for a week.

I took Bobby outside with us for a little while last night. I think he enjoyed it. He sat on my blanket with me, just staring around. I have a feeling something has happened to his olfactory senses, because usually cats are sniffing like crazy. He didn't. When it cooled off (and it did cool off last night, the heat finally broke, we have our marine layer this morning and it's much nicer than it has been) I brought him in. Later, after all of the cats were in, I noticed a big barf pile in the garage, right outside of the door. Lonee has yellow hairballs and I thought, man, that's a long hairball and I got a tissue to pick it up in and throw it away. It wasn't a furball at all, it was poop. Bobby had made it out into the garage to go. That was really nice. It was such a strange color because of the baby food he's been eating. He seems to be doing better everyday. He's even purring more often now. Not much, but more. I guess it's going to take a little while for all of those drugs to leave his system completely.

Gracie's doing better, too. I haven't found any loose stools around. And she's being more affectionate. She does hate taking that pill, though.

And little Ciara is sounding better. Laying in bed this morning, next to Brian, Ciara decided she was going to kill my toes. She doesn't go after his, she goes after mine. Probably because mine are bitesized. His might be a little too big. Ciara, keeping America safe from toes. She catches the foot and starts to bite on the toes. It tickles at first, then she bites. That doesn't tickle. And it's always a surprise when it happens. But she's so darn cute, all curled up around my foot. I just wish she would share her love with Brian's feet.

Brian's home today, he's going to finish painting the blue on the house. Then, he will take the plastic off of the windows that he put up to protect the windows when he started. That will be nice, for sure. The office window has been covered since the day I got my new computer.

Last night, there was a little red kitty out front. He didn't look exactly like the one I had seen before. And Cleo didn't stick around to watch him, which I thought odd for a mamma kitty. Watching the cats, Blue, Angus and OC hanging around after they had eaten, I came to the conclusion that this red kitten didn't belong to Cleo, he belongs to Blue. There is a little show at night on our front lawn. The ferals play out there. Since there are a couple of spotlights (colored bulbs, though, blue and green, so it isn't really bright) it's easy to watch them at play. Some of our cats sit in the bay window in the bedroom watching. I watched, too, last night, thinking that all of the adult cats left the kitten all by himself. Not so. They were in the yard, not visible from the front door. I've seen another kitten in the yard behind us who looks like Blue. The face mask isn't as mottled, more solid. I like being able to feed the outback cats again. And I'm sure they like being fed.

july 16, 1999 *Sigh*

Bobby has diarrhea. It started yesterday, late morning. He had it twice before 3:30. It was yellow and very watery. So, I called the vet, they said keep an eye on him. I was asked if he's still peeing (yes). They didn't want to mess with anything and upset the balance of his bladder, I guess. I'm supposed to call back today if he still has it. Well, sometime during the night, he had gone all over his bed. Luckily the pad caught most of it. This time, it didn't appear to be *so* watery, like it's getting a tiny bit better. And it was brown, because he's been eating a little more. He was acting fine last night, walking around, even went over to a different water bowl, one with tap water. Maybe that's what the problem was last night. Oh, man. I'd ask "what next?" but I'm afraid to find out. I don't doubt that part of the problem is his diet. I've been trying to get him to eat, trying different foods. But I'm not doing that anymore. He likes Nutro kitten, so that's what he's going to get. I trust Nutro and I know it's a good food. I just have to try some different flavors. And the only baby food he'll get is turkey flavored. No more chicken. The morning he threw up, he had chicken and he had chicken yesterday morning. But, he still purrs, still responds to affection. He still does have an appetite, although not much of one and he's become very finicky. I don't know if this will be a temporary thing, or if I'm just putting off the inevitable. I certainly do hope he pulls through this. It's a lot of work, I know that.

And Ciara has the runs, too. But I wouldn't doubt it's something she ate outside. She spent lots of time outside yesterday.

I'm going to dust and vacuum today, and do some more work on the baby blanket for Sheri at the vet's office. I'll be able to watch Bobby, too. I sure hope he gets better soon.

july 17, 1999 And the Bobby saga continues.....

Yesterday afternoon (Brian has been home alot this week, as his brother took a couple of days off), Brian mowed the lawns and I vacuumed and dusted. Then I went into the tv room to watch tv. Finished with the yard, he sat in his favorite chair. It was warm, but we didn't bother with the A/C, but the heat added to our lethargy. We fell asleep. After a short nap, I saw Bobby walking on the carpet, away from his *area*. Brian said he had just come from the garage. I check out the garage. He made it all the way out there to poop. And the poop looked better. I'll try to describe the progression here. Thursday, it looked like the juice from Campbell's noodle soups. Yellow and runny. Thursday night/Friday morning, it looked like baking chocolate that had been melted and poured out into a thin sheet. Yesterday afternoon, it looked like butterscotch pudding. (Will we still think of those foods the same ever again? *grins*) I call the vet a little after four, explain what's happening. The weekend is coming up and I don't want to have a problem. Suzanne says she'll ask the vet and call me back. About 5:15, the phone rings. Come in and get some medicine for Bobby. The vet doesn't want me ending up at emergency this weekend. I was given two different types of medications. One, metronidazole is the same thing that Ciara and Gracie have been on. And loperamide. I look up Loperamide and it's an anti-diarrheal. Hmm.... I wonder why he has two different drugs that do the same thing? And of course, the vet asks me, as he walks into see another patient, if Bob is peeing. Yes, he is. Good. Do you want to see this? I ask as I hold up the bag with Bobby's stool in it. No, was his answer. I throw it out. I pay for the medicine, come home and give Bob the metronidazole. I hold off on the other stuff. Around 8, I give him the other stuff. Within ten minutes, he's puked it up. Well, I won't give that to him again. He ate a fair amount of dinner and I left the bowl in there for him. This morning, there was no poop or puke anywhere and more of the food had been eaten. I can't imagine the other cats eating it, because it's the same thing that they get in the garage everynight. It looks like Bobby might be getting his appetite back. Fingers crossed.

Well, the labels finally got here yesterday. There were a ton of them. One for each item that was shipped. What a bunch of morons. I call their customer service. All reps are busy. I think this is a bunch of crap. I find the email from Monday, and send them a short, terse note. I refrain from calling into account their mental capabilities. I was proud of myself. Well, I'll just send the monitor back. The sheet that came with the labels has three phone numbers on it. All the same one. UPS. I call UPS to schedule a pick up. It will be ten dollars to come to the house. No charge if I bring it to UPS. Well, the nearest UPS office is about twenty miles of freeway away from here. Not worth ten bucks to me. Of course, Brian and I could both go, but what a hassle. Gateway sure doesn't make this easy for the consumer, I'll say that. I say, "fine, let's make an appointment, I didn't order the damn thing and I just want it out of here". The woman on the other end of the line says "excuse me? You didn't order it? Have you opened the package?" "No," I tell her. Then let me transfer you to someone else. If you send it back to the shipper, you won't have to pay us, she tells me. Sounds good to me, I say transfer me. I explain the situation to the next woman I talk with and on Monday, UPS will be picking up this box and sending it back to the address on the label as refused by customer, I guess. I certainly wish I would have known to call earlier. This box would have been long gone. Tough patooties, Gateway. Now watch. This is gonna cause a big mess somehow. I just know it. It's gonna backfire and I'll be wishing I had paid the ten dollars. Mark my words.

I went into the second skein of yarn last night for the baby blanket. I'll use up half of that, then do the border. The blanket is looking very nice.

I had some film developed Monday and here's a really good picture (I think) of Benny. He's on the top of the swing.

Someone emailed me last night to let me know they saw another cat humor site that was almost word for word the same as mine. Grrr.........

july 18, 1999 Well, I was sent the URL to the other site with humor on it and I have to disagree, it isn't word for word like mine. Whew. Some of the humor on it is the same stuff I have on my site, but anybody who gets email or goes onto forums would see the same jokes over a period of time. That was a relief.

I think Brian is having a problem hearing (or should I say "listening"?). He went to work yesterday, early, and when he got home he asked what the plan was. I start to tell him what I think we should do, while putting the cleaned couch cover back onto the couch. I happened to look up and I notice he's not there anymore and I'm talking to empty space. I start to yell. "Hey, what's the big deal walking away when I'm answering something you asked me?" I kept yelling and he finally came back into the room. "What are you yelling about? I can't hear you when I'm not in the same room with you, you know that." I told him I was answering his question and the least he could do was wait for my answer. He said....I can't even believe he said this...."You said "nothing". Now, why would I say "nothing" when I *did* have a plan? I didn't, he just wasn't listening. He did this a couple of times. I told him he should borrow his mom's hearing aid, since she never uses it. (She can't hear worth spit, either, well, she can hear fine if it's about money.) I wonder if he's having hearing problems. He blames it on me. I don't think so. I have no problem projecting my voice. *grins*

Remember when I said the cats killed the television? Odd thing. The breaker was off in the shop that same day (I had to reset it to get the refrigerator to work out there) and the microwave control panel quit working. So, I'm thinking the cats didn't ruin the television at all. Heck, when I opened it up, there was hardly any urine in it, not like the first time I had problems with it. I think we had some sort of power surge. It was when it was really hot. I told Brian this, too. He agrees that it could have been something like that.

I've been rolling over a new page for the website in my head. "Getting Older," I'll call it. I'll post ongoing observations about my personal aging process. Doesn't that sound interesting? Of course, it most likely won't be too serious. And I'll probably add a forum for others to give their take on the aging process.

Well, Bobby hasn't pooped since Friday. He is eating. I got some beef babyfood yesterday, he likes that. He ate over a half a jar of turkey this morning. And he's still peeing. Friday, I started looking around on the web for incontinence pads. I buy them locally for .35 each. I wanted to see if I could get a better price. I called one company in Florida, where they would be a couple of cents less. But adding the shipping, the came out to a penny more. (I don't care, I like convenience.) Anyway, I tell the woman on the phone what I need them for and she said "let me have the person that takes care of this stuff call you back, he's at lunch right now." He did call back a couple of hours later and has some pads (84) he's trying to unload. He can sell them for .19 each. I ask the size, he's not sure, standard probably. I say okay, send them. I got more yesterday, because I do need the large size to wrap around the blanket that Bobby lays on.

Did I mention that there's a watermelon plant coming up since I started using the sprinkler on the garden? And yesterday, I noticed many pepper plant seeds are sprouting. I hope there's some cayenne peppers there. It's been so long since I planted them, that I don't know which is which. And this morning, I noticed that some of the cherry tomatoes are turning red. Think I'll see if I can pick a few. The cherry tomato plants have done extremely well. One reason is that the lawn sprinkler reaches that part of the garden. We'll most likely have thousands of cherry tomatoes. Oh, yay. I just took the first one picked out to Brian, who is washing his truck. He ate it. He said "It is good. We can have tomatoes on our salad."

Oh, yeah, and I get to get a new television for the office today. Yippee!! I guess I'll just put the box it came in around it to save it from the urine.

You know how sometimes a song gets stuck in your head and you can't get it out? Well, if you have some extra time for it to load up, here's the song that's in my head......click here.....it's almost 200K, it's big. But it's me, sanging.

lisaviolet is fifty something, married with no kids, takes care of lots of cats, likes taking photographs, loves Southern California weather and spends altogether too much time avoiding her responsibilities.

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