Weekend update.

It was not an exciting weekend, but much was done. I actually managed to adjust all the clocks on the 'Wall of clocks'. By doing so, I ensure the space-time continuum remains intact. At least until one of the cats picks it up and starts batting it around the apartment.

The ultra gusty howling winds kept me indoors most of the weekend. It not fun to be outside for very long when the average gust can toss you about 20 yards and tree branches are falling at assorted intervals. I figured between this and the rain Saturday morning that this was a good weekend to clean the apartment. So I did. Feel much better for having done so, this place was kinda going to shit. That in turn was depressing the heck out of me, which made me not want to do anything..like clean the damn place up.

I took a walk around Saturday night since a) I'm alone in life and have nothing better to do and b) Its fun to see people running around the neighborhood in costume trying to get to the grown-up Halloween parties. I sorta got invited to one..I think, but I kind of forgot this was the last weekend of October. I'm an idiot. So much for being sociable.

Anyway, watching people scramble in costumes from illegal parking spaces to assorted party locations is very amusing when the average windspeed is about 60 knots. Those cute Cupid wings become sailplanes for skinny girls and poor airdams for the fat guys. There were few evidences of the alleged trend towards sexier costumes this year. I think this might be because harlot costumes can get a bit cold.

My walk took me past the infamous Eastern State Prison which every year becomes a haunted house. Frankford avenue was clogged with cars and people. It never, ever is this crowded, even on July 4th. So seeing this kind of mob was quite disconcerting.

Anyway, Sunday was dull. Did more cleaning, and ripped my last contact lens. So I am reduced to wearing my glasses until the new contacts come in. I really hate wearing these things. They don't fit well, they cause glare, and I think they are giving me headaches. They are also rather unstylish since I think I got them almost 15 years ago. I don't want to spend the beaucoup bucks to replace since times like these are the only time I wear them..and when I do some reading before bedtime. Seems a waste to spend money that way.

End report.

Daylight Savings !^#@!

"So why don't you like daylight savings Matt?

"Oh, I've got my reasons."

1 Year For SaraBelle

It was around 1 year ago that SaraBelle was diagnosed with Cancer. At that time (and the old posts will show) she was given a 6-12 month lifespan, even with chemo.

She's downstairs right now. Curled up and snoring. She's able to put a little weight on her back paw so it seems like her hip injury is healing.

Indian Summer Affective Disorder.

We've just finished up this Fall's Indian Summer, and not a moment too soon. I don't know what it is about the warmer, wetter weather in October but it depresses the fuck out of me. I was down, feeling quesy most of the week. Was mostly useless at work. I barely rallied for fencing but then was bad enough to miss a day of work (OK, was slightly ill to boot). It effected my 'date' (where it seems predetermined by the other person that she wasn't going to have time for this, so much for that).

Today the front broke with a lot of rain this morning and a big downpour in the afternoon. After that it was cool with lots of wind. I felt better.

I don't know what it is, the dank, the 'heat', or what. But oddly enough having the blog let me see that a heatwave (much worse than this one, actually) in October of last year had me down pretty far as well. Makes me wonder if this has happened before that as well. Hmmmm, blogging for mental health patterns.

Further Updates.

Well, SaraBelle seems to not need as much in the way of painkillers, and actually manages to hop around without too much trouble. She partially puts her foot down when moving and I hope that is a good thing.

Not much else is happening in life right now, at least nothing I can really mention. The President of my company left for a new job this week, which was a bit of a surprise. But it was not a bailing on a disaster, simply a better opportunity for him. The company will likely work just fine with the Presidency unoccupied for a while.

Tomorrow is friends killing day. I missed last weeks because I froze biking home in wind and rain. I feel as if I have missed it for months.

Reenactor season has ended for me. With SaraBelle hurt I didn't feel comfortable going to the last 225th event: Yorktown. Mind you, this event looks to be the most overadministered event of all time. The cartridge rolling regulations were over two pages long and they wanted rehearsals of the events of the battle. Spare me.

So it was just the usual three: Brandywine, Germantown, and Fort Mercer. Trenton has yet to take place but that is in very late December.

Ho-hum.

This explains the water bill....

I had to share.

Ah shit.

Well, last evening I was sitting upstairs when I heard a minor altercation between the cats on the spiral staircase. I heard a 'thud', which usually means that Brother fell down the gap between the stair and the floor again. I didn't hear anything else and he's been fine after taking such falls.

Unfortunately, it wasn't him, it was SaraBelle who fell.

I found this out later when I went down to eat dinner and watch some TV. SaraBelle tried to move out of my way but couldn't move easily. She yowled every time she took a step. She was obviously favoring one back leg and wasn't used to it.

My first thought was that the cancer had finally affected the motor control to her hindquarters. I assumed this would be her last night on earth. I called the vet and dialed the pager and sat back to await the return call. SaraBelle curled up into my lap and stayed their like a lump while I awaited the return call. It never came. During this time I put 2 and 2 together and realized that she must have fallen, hence the sudden onset of her being in pain.

I realized that she needed treatment, so I carefully placed her in her carry case and took her out to the Penn emergency vet hospital, out at 39th & Spruce.

I'll spare you the details. Suffice it to say I got there around 9:00PM and was finally able to leave at 3:00AM.

SaraBelle seems to have a fractured hip. There's not much we can do about it since surgery would probably kill her ( 4 hours anesthesia). The only cure is to try and keep her rested and let her heal naturally. I got some opiates for her pain, but what I really need is some way to keep her from moving around much. She doesn't seem inclined to go dancing, but she does need to use the litter box, and I need some way to keep food and water near here such that the other cats don't try to eat it.

*sigh* Poor little thing.