Latest happenings

I will admit I still miss the soft fur and cuddling of Kitty-Wilbur. I guess I could adopt an owl like Esther Layman has, but don't know how to catch one....
However, much has been happening since Kitty-Wilbur. Mainly our yearly conventions which are so wonderful and then the following which has been very tense and worrisome.

Our dear friend, Rex Hinkle, is in Stanford Hospital, Stanford California, just recovering from a unique procedure to dissolve blood clots in his already injured leg. In January I wrote about their accident which added to the complications of his having polio when he was 10 years old.

His 'bad' leg was scanned with a contrast dye and found to have continuous clots from his groin to his foot. So after two procedures, (developed at Stanford eight years ago) he is 95% free of the clots now. It has been quite a week for he and Kathy!

Life is never dull; and so glad it isn't!

"Kitty-Will has a wonderful Home."

"Kitty-Wilbur" adopted us the first part of March. We haven't had pets since 11 years ago when our 16-year-old kitties became ill. I didn't want another kitty because it tore me up to lose the ones we had.

So "Kitty-Will" started hanging around here and lived in the big tree in our front yard. Little by little, he moved to our front porch and wanted to be closer to us and our fatal mistake was when 'husband' wanted to feed him. It was obvious he had been someones pet and he craved affection.

One Sunday morning he, still being uneasy around us, took a little scrape out of my arm with his front teeth when I was feeding him. He was overly anxious and overly hungry. Who knows how long it had been since his irresponsible previous owners dropped him off in our neighborhood.

"Kitty-Will" had bitten down on Ed A.'s hand the night before, but Ed thought he was such a fine cat, he just ignored it and kept petting him. "Kitty-Will" loved the attention!

A little history: When our daughter was four years old, a neighbor dog bit her in the face. I was taking a college course at night at the time and one of the students was a veterinarian. I started asking him questions about animal bites and soon discovered that a veterinarian knows more about animal bites and the consequences than most doctors will ever know. I discovered also that the neighbor's dog had never had his shots. So I lived in terror, checking that dog every day for signs of rabies. It turned out fine and nothing came of it, but those old fears kicked in out of my memory.

So the day of the bite from "Kitty-Will," I went to many neighbors but no one was missing a cat. Everyone has their own cat! I was stuck with the reality of being bitten by a cat I didn't know anything about.

I made an appointment with a local veterinarian and asked the pet hospital where she worked to board "Kitty" (isolate him) for ten days. They checked him over the day I took him in and found him to be a healthy, attractive 11 pound cat and a neutered male at that. Now I knew he'd been someones pet.

I picked "Kitty-Wilbur" up on the tenth day of his visit to the pet hospital. He'd been tested for cat fevers, including feline leukemia and was released as a healthy specimen. He was so happy to be back "home" and adoringly rolled at our feet. We had a cat whether we wanted one or not.

He became a garage kitty with a pet door that 'husband' had installed just for his use, but he wanted nothing to do with the pet door. So during the day, the garage door was left open just enough for him to come and go. At night he was tucked inside safe from the night's predators.

The very next day after coming "home," he 'lovingly' wrapped his paws around my leg and took a bite of my flesh again! This time a bigger chunk. I was very disappointed in "Kitty-Wilbur" at this point. Here, I'd had him watched for a disease, had shots given to protect him from future ills, had him protected from worms and treated for fleas but alas! his character was the same. He would do the same to husband when it came to grabbing the legs but husband wears jeans and I wear skirts so he didn't get to feel the impact I did.

"Kitty-Wilbur" was with us a month (if the isolation is included) but I began looking for a new home for him. We are facing a move from our home to a smaller one soon and husband is allergic to cat hair, not to mention the "character flaw" Kitty had in his possession.

There are shelters that promise to find homes for pets or they will keep them. The only drawback is a paper must be filled out called a "character sheet" to see if the pet is adoptable. Oh, what to do....... So I spoke on the phone with the veterinarian and we agreed that in all honesty, I couldn't say "Kitty-Will" was a good candidate for adoption. We also agreed that actually putting him to sleep permanently would be the most humane and kind option for "Kitty-Will." Who knows if someone would take him home with them and the first nip on the leg and he might be badly treated. He wouldn't have the kind nurturing that he was used to at our house! We brushed his fur, fed him canned cat food, made sure he was tucked in at night...He adored us and we really liked him!

But an appointment had been set prior to this for a booster shot he needed, so that instead was set up to be his day of departing this scene.

I was dreading this upcoming appointment. We have faced this before four times. As the day came closer, I was counting the hours; then it came down to minutes....

When it was time to go to the pet hospital, I went into the garage and picked "Kitty-Will" up from his cozy bed, wrapping him in a big bath towel and put him into the cat carrier. Tears had been choking me up all day and now they were falling on his beautiful coat. I was trying to tell him good-bye and explaining what I was about to do was for his good. He just looked at me like "What now? What did I do?"

Husband and I drove him to the dreaded appointment and I asked the staff there to please take him to the other room as I couldn't bear to wait while the veterinarian performed her task. An empty pet carrier was returned to us and amidst the rain, we cried our way home.....

All "Kitty-Wilbur" had wanted was a friend; someone to whom he could devote himself. I am consoled by knowing I gave him maybe his best weeks of care and kindness and in the end, he would hardly have felt a thing as he went to sleep forever. At least, I hope that is true....

No more pain; no more hunger or fear. "Kitty-Will" has a wonderful Home......

Some news on Chile today (regarding Quake)

Larry Christianson, Jill's brother, told my friend this morning on the phone that he understood that this quake in Chile early this morning had 800 times the strength of the Haiti quake. Very hard to fathom even a portion of that power. And that's not to down play the Haiti suffering and losses either. In Chile there are resources for construction on many levels to be much sturdier, but there are many old and many poorly built structures also. One 15 story building was reduced to the height of four stories, said one piece of news from Concepcion`.

Another news source online says that there was an 8 meter (26 feet) tsunami that came ashore at Constitucion`,north of Cauquenes and on the coast straight west of Talca.

Irene ~~~ Part 2

My friend, Irene, has been cremated and we have found the location of her husband's ashes. Irene's county guardian is working with me to get Irene's remains to the same cemetery. Then we can have a proper memorial service for this old friend.

Irene left this scene (expired?) on January 25, 2010. If I'd gone there a month earlier, I could have visited her in the county hospital.

Well, I will at least do all I can to give my old friend a memorial; that is the least I can do!

Irene

So I have this old friend, Irene. Actually her name is Ethel Irene. When I first went to visit her a long time ago, I didn't know her name was 'Ethel' so I told them I was looking for Irene. Took a bit to get that straightened out.
Irene, one of my 'sisters in Christ,' has been a good friend, although she really hasn't known who I am. I'll explain: Irene has had a sort of dementia for a long time now. She has been in a rest home and her two sons, who live in the same town, are really pretty worthless human beings; guess that is not nice to say, but they have never come to visit her. When she was still in her apartment, they moved in and mooched off her and would get to her social security checks before she did, and cash them. Her mind was such that she didn't know they were doing this. So one day a couple ladies I know came and arranged for her to be put in a care home; they bought comfortable clothes for her and moved her in.
That is basically when I began visiting her. I had been in her company many times prior to this, but now she was in a strange place and needed to see a familiar face. She didn't remember my name but her face always lit up and she knew that she 'knew' me.
Irene loved to sing. I'd bring my hymn book and we'd sing. She didn't even need to see the book; she was singing from what was in her heart and memory, which was a surprise since her memory was 'compromised.'
A few months ago when I visited Irene, she had had a stroke. So no more talking and singing for Irene. She was bedfast and her eyes were glazed over and she couldn't speak. So I talked to her and she would stare at me. But we couldn't 'visit' any more. But that didn't need to stop me from thinking of her. I could remember her before the One who speaks to the soul even when the mind is gone.
Sadly, I didn't get back to the nursing home like I should have; life is hectic to say the least and Irene's nursing home is 40 minutes away.
Yesterday I was there again. I walked up and down the hall looking for her name on a name plate outside the hospital doors. She wasn't in the one where I'd been so I went to the nurses' desk and they said, 'Oh, ma'am, she has expired.' Well, expired indeed! Like a bottle of salad dressing or what?! I don't like that terminology! They informed me that I could find out more at the social workers office down the hall.
So I found this office and asked 'What happened to Ethel (Irene)?!' Well, about a month ago, Irene had to be taken to the general hospital for the second time in a short while and while there she (expired?) passed on into Eternity. I didn't even get to tell her good-bye.
Poor Irene's body is still laying in that hospital's morgue because they can't find any relatives and they knew no one to call. I have her county appointed guardian's phone number and you can bet we are going to find out if her body is still there; if so, we will be having a proper memorial for Irene. She is too good to be forgotten......

Who says a 'powder room' has to be boring?

Put a marble-topped table in the half bath with some real roses and a lamp on it. Not so boring now.

Good Vision in a Downpour

How to easily achieve good vision while driving during a heavy downpour... We are not sure why it is so effective; just try this when it rains heavily. This method was told by a police friend who had experienced and confirmed it.

Note: It is useful, even when driving at night. Most of the motorists would turn on high or fastest speed of the wipers during heavy downpour, yet the visibility in front of the windshield is still bad... Don't do it.

In the event you face such a situation, just try your sunglasses (any model will do), and miracle of miracles occurs! All of a sudden, your visibility in front of your windshield is perfectly clear, as if there is no rain.

Make sure you always have a pair of sunglasses in your car as you are not only helping yourself to drive safely with good vision, but also might save your friend's life by giving him this idea. Try it yourself and share it with your friends.

We are more aware now of driving in the rain because our good friends hydroplaned across 4 lanes of the freeway 2 weeks ago and first crashed into the bridge on the right, deploying the air bags, then away they went to the far side and hit the concrete divider in the center of the freeway. Also they had on their cruise control. So when they were slowing down, the car automatically tried to compensate and speed up. This also is a no-no. Turn off your cruise control!

Needless to say, our friends car was totaled but worse than that, the man who was stricken with polio when he was 10 years old and is quite crippled, was driving. He is in the hospital with a cracked femur and can't wear a leg cast due to this happening to his 'bad leg.' So 7 to 9 weeks he has to lay with the leg extended and no weight on it.

Both he and his wife are lucky to be alive.