witchwestphalia

Tigger, born summer 1988, died 2003
Mittens, born 1986 or 1987, died 1989 or 1990
Loki, born ??, 2008
Bruno, born ?? died 1996
Phillip, born 1981, died 1998
Jasper, born ??, died 2002
FluffCat, born 1996 or 1997, died 8/2008
Vickie, born ?? died 3/2010
Sterling, born ?? died 2010
OhTee, born ??, died 1999 or 2000
Moko, born 1996 or 1997, died 7/14/2011

Wow, I have said goodbye to many good cats. I hope they are waiting for me at the Rainbow Bridge.

If there are parallel universes, there seems to be an infinity of them possible. I'd like one of me to have stayed home and gone to the University of Washington. My parents spent an amazing sum of money sending me to BMC, and while the education was first rate, BMC is not high enough in status that the degree was worth any more then any other bachelor's degree. It's not like I imagine going to Harvard might have been, where the name on the sheepskin might open doors. So why spend all that money on something no better than I could have gotten at UW? That me might have wound up doing physics or chemistry or computer science, all things UW has good undergraduate classes in. That me might have continued the friendships from high school that failed under the impact of the separation.

I'm not sorry for where I wound up, or what I'm doing, but I do think, at times, that UW might have been a good place for me. I've thought that ever since I figured out that unless you can go to one of a very few schools like Harvard or Yale, you might as well go to a state university & save on tuition.

I had a lot of fun at BMC, made good friends, learned to love learning, but was it worth $100,000? I don't think so.

It depends on the bird. A hand-reared parrot who has plenty of toys, a roomy cage, and plenty of attention from his human will thrive in that environment. Many bird owners keep birds in groups if appropriate for the type of bird, and so flocking is available to those birds.

I am unconfortable with reading about a wild bird captured as an adult who is kept in a cage unless it is because the bird is injured and unable to care for itself in the wild.

Well, I have an an expensive trip thru vet-land but I think it's good. I noticed that Fluff, who is over 14 (we don't know how old he is, he moved in on me as a stray in 1994) was losing weight and not eating well. Went to vet -> xrays, blood work & eventually an ultrasound. Ultrasound showed a mass in his colon. Went to surgeon, surgeon said it's probably intestinal lymphoma but we can take it out. He had the surgery 2/14. He came home on the 15th, seems to be feeling well, is eating much better. Path report showed colon cancer not intestinal lymphoma. This is *GOOD* as the path report looks like "we got all of it". Colon cancer can be cured surgically some of the time, lymphoma can't be cured in cats. (It's different in humans, some lymphomas can be cured in humans, not all.) So I am quite a bit poorer than I was but it's all good.

On another front, I am so far behind at the office I feel like I will never catch up, but I will, it just means I won't have any free time for the next week or so.

And despite being poor, I succumbed & ordered imps from BPAL. FabricDragon, you're a rotten enabler, and I love you anyway!

Well, let's see. Another week, more piles of work. Tomorrow Fluff & I go to the specialist, to find out what we can do for him (we think he has lymphoma, but no one is certain). I'm just tired, tired, tired.

Stayed up late 2/4. Someone else *still* isn't done. Grr.

Appointment with board certified veterinary surgeon is next week. Anybody have any great ideas on how to get this cat to eat in the meantime? I've tried smelly tuna food, I've tried the veterinary AD, I've even tried milk. He nibbles but he just won't eat enough.

I can hardly wait for this week to end, and it's only Wednesday (and I have to work Saturday). Sigh bitch moan gripe.

-WW

Well, I got the package off to FabricDragon & her husband. And Fluff went to the vet. He *seems* to have a mass in his intestine, if the ultrasound is to be believed. So now I have an appointment for him with a board certified veterinary surgeon.

I have the feeling I am starting my next adventure in expensive veterinary care. 2002 it was Jasper with his eventually fatal hypoglycemic event. In 1994 or 1995 it was Philip with his cancer of the jaw. A couple years before that it was Tigger with the "road pizza" injury (I'm quoting the vet with that term). Around 1997 or 1997 Bruno had major diabetic complications and I had to let him go to the Rainbow Bridge. I've had other cats with health problems (Tigger had hyperT in his later life and then lymphoma, which eventually led to his death in 2002, but he was living with VLC for mst of that & OhTee wandered in out of the cold while I was living in Somerville and had renal insufficiency, but he was a very old cat who had been thrown out, old and sick, by someone, and his care wasn't expensive and he crossed the Rainbow Bridge in his sleep within about 6 months after I found him -- at least he died in a warm safe comfortable place with plenty to eat and daily human love & attention) but every few years I seem to g thru the BIG VET BILL thing.

Tried the frimp of Catherine today. Wet, it's rose, rose rose, rose (there's a round that starts that way). On drying it's rose, herbal & maybe a hint of some other floral scent. With time, it's rose and anothor floral. I usually really hate florals on me, but this is nice. Dunno if I'd buy 5 mL or nt but I'll enjoy the frimp.

BB, WW

I'm at the office, furiously working to get everything January done. Must be done by midnight. Someone else, however, doesn't seem to think so. Most annoying. I'm doing Dilbert impressions here when I think about it.

There is a really interesting program about the history of Islam on NPR. I think I'd really like to buy the book the historian they're interviewing wrote, entitled _God's Crucible_. He sounds like he knows a good deal about the history of Islam. Islam was, at one point, a model governance system & faith that not only said it respected other faiths, but behaved accordingly.

My office smells faintly but distinctly of BPAL. Seems like reviewers think Fenris Wolf is quite masculine. Not on me. But I have found a number of officially masculine scents that work well on me even though I'd be described as fairly femme in appearance. Weird, huh?

FabricDragon, who is evil, posted that she had gotten her wrap skirts in. So I had to surf over to the site she got them from. I am not terribly modest. And I am not a member of a tradition that expects me to be. But the clothes look practical, comfortable and attractive. Neat stuff. I don't need to spend more money.

Oh, and I *FINALLY* bookmarked LJ so I can flip to it easily at work & post. I know, I know, I'm slow...

My order came in. My whole office smells faintly of perfume. The frimps are Catherine & Lampades. I haven't tried them yet, but I am very psyched to have the Fenris Wolf which I loved when Fabric Dragon tested it on me.

BPAL is evil. I can foresee that I will be ordering imps somewhat randomly just to see what I get.

Hanging out at work waiting for food to be delivered. "Stuff" at the office is on-going, but I think I'm finally learning not to stress about it too much. It's all out of my control at this point, so all I do is hurt myself if I stress about it. Ten years ago I'd be frantic. Twenty years ago I'd be *crying* So although progress comes slowly, it does happen.

I wish I'd brought my knitting, since all I'm doing is waiting for take-out. Maybe I will start bringing it to the hospital on the weekends I'm here.