Thus ends one of the tensest, ickiest weeks I can remember (for reasons some of which will be explained below). I didn't sleep, I didn't eat, I dragged myself through far too many motions, and unsurprisingly I hit the weekend fairly run down and cranky. Starting to feel better, starting to sleep again, and hoping the upcoming week will be a little more tranquil.
School is.......well.......dry. The days are kinda long, and it's shocking how fast I'd forgotten what school's really like. It hasn't really sunk in yet that this is really IT. This is life now. At least for the next 6 months.
As anyone who knows me knows, I am NO fan of the "crazy cat lady" or more recently noted "crazy dog man" musings, especially when they're incessant. But since mine aren't, I'm going on one now. Feel free to skip down if it's not your thing. My cat Hobbes and I have been co-habitating now for about 5 years. And we've had our ups and downs, but he's basically a sweetheart who loves the crap out of me. He loves to cuddle and keep me company no matter what I'm doing, and he tolerates my long hours and trips out of town with very little complaining. However, as he's gotten older, my Hobbes has become increasingly intolerant of leaving the apartment. He doesn't mind getting into his carrier, he LOATHES getting out of it in a strange place. It turns him into a vicious, feral, unmanageable nightmare. So as a result, I don't take him anywhere unless it's absolutely necessary (ie. the vet). This past week though I had to take him out of the apartment for the day because some work was being done and he couldn't be home for it. I packed him and his stuff up and took him to my darling friend Amber's before school. He was unhappy when I dropped him off, but when I went to retrieve him after school he was monstrous. Backed into a corner and hissing and snarling and in no mood to let me anywhere near him. Noises you would never expect that a cat would ever be able to make. I tried coaxing him out with food, his toys, calm talk, I tried throwing a towel over him to wrap him up and put him in his carrier, and ended up bleeding myself. I called my vet to ask them for advice, and their extremely wise counsel was the following: "I think the best approach would be to just pick him up and put him directly into his carrier." Wow. Why I hadn't thought of that, I'll never know. I called the Humane Society, left a message for their behavioural specialist and talked to a nice girl who suggested that if my cat had become feral, I should consider euthanization. She then suggested I call Animal Services to help trap my cat, because if the cat had already attacked me I shouldn't try to contain him myself anymore. I called Animal Services, and they seemed really quite helpful until they told me it could be 1 whole business day before they could help me, and if I agreed to let them trap Hobbes, I was also agreeing to let them take him away. I was devastated. I couldn't leave him in Amber's bedroom, but I couldn't get him out myself, I didn't see what other options I had. I sat there alone in my friend's house and cried. A lot. I felt horribly guilty for having put him in this position in the first place (even if there was nothing I could do about it), and now having to consider the idea of having him put down because of it was way too much. Thankfully Amber came home from work a few hours later with her Dad and the 2 of them came up with a relatively easy plan, and scooched him into a carrier, and I got him home with zero problems. Let him out at home and it was as though he'd never left. He was exhausted for a couple of days but quite content. Poor little boy :(
Apropos of nothing, I have been seeing commercials on the Comedy Network for the Charlie Sheen roast lately, and I have to say, while I don't give a crap about Charlie Sheen, something about this seems vaguely exploitative. Like roasting a child, or someone with Alzheimer's. I mean he's obviously got some mental health issues, and even if he didn't, making fun of his shortcomings and follies just seems easy and lazy.
Rugby World Cup has started!! They're having it in New Zealand this year, and what's great is that the matches are taking place all over the country not just in Auckland. Canada qualified, but they're in a pool full of amazing teams and won't make it past the 1st round. So it's the All Blacks all the way to the end :)
