Monday, April 18, 2005 , evening

Encounter with a gargantuan cranium

My sister sent me an email today and said, “No Blog entries lately.  Did you have a busy weekend?” Ha!  In terms of how busy we usually are, we’ve just been non-stop for the past month.  We had the electrical upgrade taken care of last Thursday, and although the guys never came back to install our new garage outlets, they also didn’t give us a bill.  I’m willing to accept that compromise, but I’m sure they’ll remember us sooner or later.  That day required a fair amount of prep as we weren’t sure how long the electricity would be out, so we moved the freezer into the house (I’m still paying for that one, owww), I cleaned the aquarium, I got caught up on email and computer work, etc.  Later that afternoon we took Cricket to the vet for her Adequan injection, and then I spent the evening completing and filing the tax return.  On Friday we had haircuts and Nancy got funky red highlights because she’s having a midlife crisis.  Luckily they look as good as a Ferrari but were much less expensive.  Then in the evening, we had a really nice dinner with actor Camden Toy.  I knew I liked him from our email exchanges (I maintain his website), but I didn’t know how great he’d be in real life.  Dinner lasted 4 hours and we just talked, talked, talked.  He invited us to attend the “Jacks or Better” celebrity poker tournament he was competing in, but it was on Saturday and Nancy was feeling rather under the weather so we stayed home.  We’re not big “celeb watchers”, but it would have been kind of neat to have seen Clare Kramer and Danny Strong in person.  Also on Friday we had an estimate done for the stucco repair we need after the electrical install.  The electricians removed two one-foot-square sections of stucco around the box, and we need them patched and painted.  The estimate was $1000, which is insane.  I’ve called my beloved Evangelino to see if he’d be willing to do the repair on the side, as I know he’s not going to charge anything close to that price.

We had a fairly quiet weekend because we stayed in, except for two trips to a couple of garden centers to pick out palms and cactus for our landscaping.  I faxed the landscaper a list of what plants we wanted, but he’s got terrible communication skills so we might not know until the end of the week if he actually listened.  I did “work around the house” to occupy my time, and I’m very proud that I finally dismantled the horrible wooden planter box that’s been in our backyard for the last couple of years.  Our neighbour found some discarded bookcases a long time ago and decided they’d make good planter boxes, so he gave one to us.  Since it arrived in our yard it’s done nothing but accumulate trash and pruned palm fronds, and it was so large I had no idea how I’d ever get rid of it.  Luckily, we treated ourselves to a 64 gallon trash can at Home Depot, so I just stuffed that thing with palm fronds and branches until it was full, and then I took my wonderful Black & Decker Navigator and I hacked that old planter into tiny pieces.  It was very exhilarating.  I still have another batch of palm fronds to toss this week, but the planter is history.  I’ll accept no more freebies from the neighbour.  Oh, I also insulated our garage door with styrofoam panels and the difference it’s made in the temperature is amazing.  It’s not very high-tech, but it was great to work with something that didn’t give me muscle strain.  Even decrepit old me can lift a sheet of styrofoam (for now, anyway). 

Tomorrow our new garage cabinets are being installed and I’ve got two Hyloft units to hang, and then my wonderful garage should be finished (with the exception of those missing electrical outlets).  We’ll finally have one room in the house that’s tidy enough for company!  Nancy’s parents just sold their house in California and I think I’ll be adopting some homeless tools, so I’ll enjoy my organized space while it lasts.  If we just didn’t have the darn car the garage would be a lot more roomy.

Today was Monday, which means it’s Vet Day.  Every Monday and Thursday are vet day now that Cricket is having twice-weekly Adequan injections, and Chelsea is having Ivermectin shots for her mites.  Her ringworm test came back negative, and her ear is clearing up nicely, so it looks like mange is the culprit.  I unfortunately think that Derek is also having a mite problem, but it’s not very severe so he’s going to have to get in line.  I ordered some injectable Ivermectin from Jefferspet.com because it’s just a subq injection and I can do those myself without any problem—I also ordered Bordatella vaccines because the insanity has to stop.  I think it would be easier for me to inject Chelsea at home than to have to go through the circus act required to get her into a crate and into the car, not to mention the vocal theatrics she makes us listen to during the drive.

Remember that stray cat we’ve been trying to trap and that I’ve been feeding every night?  Nancy and I have both seen it, and we both clearly remember a small grey tabby with a striped tail.  I’ve been putting food out daily and setting a humane trap, but the cat has been eating the food and not setting off the trap.  It’s been frustrating, but I really wanted to catch this cat because the owners were very concerned about it and wanted to find it.  This morning I strolled outside to get the newspaper and there in the trap was a solid black cat with a GARGANTUAN CRANIUM! I’m not kidding, the cat’s head really was the size of Sputnik, and it was all torn up and scarred and bloody.  He also had runny eyes and a runny nose, classic symptoms of an upper-respiratory infection.  I called the local “no-kill” shelter, and was told that if we dropped him off and he needed medical care he might just be euthanized because of over-crowding.  We were promised that if he was dropped off and was healthy, however, that he would definitely go up for adoption.  So, being the soft touches that we are, we took him to the vet—me, Nancy, Cricket, Chelsea, and Gargantuan Cranium embarked on the Monday pet parade.  First things first, we had the vet test him for FIV/FeLV and he was negative, as otherwise I would have just had him euthanized there.  Then we found out he wasn’t neutered, which accounted for his GARGANTUAN CRANIUM—male cats build up “fat pad shields” in their faces as protection during fights.  We asked the vet to neuter him and medicate him for his respiratory problems, and I hope that we’ll be able to find him a home (he’s being boarded with the vet for now).  I’ve already contacted Best Friends about taking him, and if he’s healthy, I’m willing to put him up for adoption at the no-kill shelter.  He was extremely timid but not aggressive towards anyone, and I think he might make a nice pet for someone.  With two male cats already in the house, I’m afraid that one more would just be an invitation to start spraying.  I think the cat is older, as his black hair has white tips, and for his vet records we did name him “Sputnik”.  If you want to adopt your very own big-headed cat, please drop me an email!

Posted by Leigh-Ann on 04/18 at 08:36 PM
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