A Cat's Health and seeing my Brother

 

I used to own too many cats.  4 cats in a 1-Br apartment are too many.  But what about 2 cats in the same space?  What happens when one of those cats die, and the older cat isn't feeling well?  That is what RQS was dealing with today.

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RQS had to put a cat to sleep last week, and now she's worried about the surviving cat.  Although the cat is showing its age, its health is on the decline. And today, she decided to call the vet and take the soonest appointment she can get.  Hopefully, this cat can be treated with affordable medicine, and that it will be healthy until its eventual passing away.

After RQS took care of the Vet appointment, it was off to lunch before heading out to my brother.  Traffic was still snarled due to yesterday's subway maintenance work, but we were able to avoid the worst of it to get to a diner.  It's hard for me to believe that there is a diner with a parking lot in Glendale, just 500 feet away from my favorite German restaurant, Zum Stammtisch.  But there it was, a small place with an unlit sign and a parking lot just big enough for 7 cars.  So we stopped in to eat.  Yum!  We'll keep this place in mind for Sunday mornings and afternoons.

When I dropped RQS off, it was time to visit my brother.  I figured that he wanted to show me some work to be done for the house.  Instead, he gave me some of the money he owed me.  Now, I have some play money for my upcoming cruise and for further car maintenance.  And then, we were off to dinner at Benihana. As much as Hibachi can be a fun meal, this restaurant left a bit to be desired.  First, it was over priced. And then, the confusing orders given by one party of 8 regarding food allergies and food preferences caused problems with the cooking of the food, resulting in my brother and I getting our meal 10 minutes before the rest of the table received their meals.  At least, we were able to get back to my brother's place in time for me to take care of a GI Tract issue.

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I may have mentioned the Dunning-Kruger effect before.  But I am surprised to find out how little my sister in law understands about how our government works, and how she blames the federal government (i.e. the President) for the organized criminals wreaking havoc in stores in our nation's large cities.  It is not the federal government's responsibility to stop crime in these cities, it is the state and local governments that are responsible.  She thinks she knows much more than she does, and blames the Democrats at the federal level for the problem. What happened to teaching how our government is supposed to work in our schools? But then, she watches Fox "News".  Need I say more?

All too soon, it was time for me to leave my brother's place and go home for the night.  My brother and sister in law hate night time driving.  As for me, I find it restful, as there are few traffic jams at this time of night, and I can get home quicker than had I left a few hours earlier.

Meow! a short post

 

As I get older, I find that the common cat seems to be getting a larger presence in my life. Yet, I have no felines as pets.  Go figure it out.

When I met my late wife, she came into my life with two cats. Soon afterward, she brought two more cats into the apartment, making a total mess of the place.  (I have floorboards that have to be refinished because of those cats.  But I digress.) When the last of these cats died (my favorite), I never intended to have cats in my life again.

Over the years, I have developed a friendship with TCL, and have been with her for vet appointments for the cats she had before the pandemic.  Now, I'm seeing RQS, a woman who has two cats of her own. One of these cats is an attention hog, and misses his human(s) when away.  (He is making this known by "going to the bathroom" in the bathroom after RQS has prepared a clean litter box.)  The other cat is much more standoffish, and generally has not yet warmed up to me.  (However, this second cat has warmed up to RQS's cat sitter - he feeds her fresh food and is not seen as an interloper.)  Yet, I have developed an affection for these cats, and would have a hard time seeing RQS happy without her cats.

What does this mean?  I guess I'll need to keep my allergy pills handy more often than not.  Or, does it mean that in my old age that I'll become a crazy cat lady?

Looking for things to do on the weekend.

 

Garfield.  It's one of my favorite comic strips.  Cat lovers will see many of the typical traits in this cat that they see in their own cats and others' cats.  One of my favorite strips featuring Garfield has no image of the cat in the strip, but his presence is known by a steak being held by his "owner", Jon.  In the 3 frame set, the steak is offered to Garfield, and by the time Jon finishes talking, the steak is gone.  Many of the jokes in this comic are food related, like the strip above.  Yet, Garfield's love of lasagna is only a small part of this well drawn character.  Over the years, we've got to know this cat as well as real cats we've had in our houses.

Unfortunately, one can spend only so much time reading the comics.  First, there are fewer papers carrying comic strips. And then, we have more opportunities to entertain ourselves on weekends.  This is where RQS and I often have problems trying to figure out ways to spend some of our time together.

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RQS subscribes to a service which tells her about free things to do in New York City.  However, most of these things take place on weekdays, are taking place in awkward places to get to from her house, and are not interesting enough for us to spend our time there.  So, we often go into NYC without much of a plan, looking to go for a meal at Katz's delicatessen, the Nom Wah Tea Parlor, or some other of our "go-to" places in Manhattan.  Our problem is that too many people now have the same idea.  The last time we went to Katz's, there was a line that stretched to the end of the block.  The last time we went to the Nom Wah Tea Parlor, the wait was 45 minutes long.  It's getting harder and harder to go to our "go-to" places these days.

You might ask, what do you want to do other than eat?  Well, both of us enjoy theater.  But the off and off-off Broadway scene isn't the same as it used to be before the pandemic. Yet, things are changing for the better, now that the 20 at 20 special is being held this Spring.  Although I am going to be busy much of the 20 days this special is offered, I hope to take advantage of it on one of my free days.  And, if there's something that RQS wants to see, we'll try to see it as well. This time around, I'm going to suggest Drunk Shakespeare, a performance of a Shakespeare play where one of the actors is totally "three sheets to the wind".  In other words, s/he is shitfaced drunk.  It's supposed to be funny, so I'll see what she thinks - if we're in NYC that weekend.

You'll likely think we're a little crazy.

 

I find it hard to believe that RQS is interested in taking another cruise so soon after our first cruise together.  As much as a late season cruise along the above route seems appealing, I'm not sure of whether this would be the best use of a second cruise together in a short time.  But at a rate of roughly $75/night pp, the price is almost too good to pass up.

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Most people would look at cruises in different regions at this time of year.  But this cruise was priced so low, that we didn't want to pass it up.  So we booked it, and will have taken a second Eastern Canada / New England cruise by the time you read this post.

If this cruise is offered again next year, I will strongly suggest that we go somewhere else.  One can easily get bored with a destination if one is there too often.  However, since this cruise goes to Newport, RI and Bar Harbor, ME, I feel that we will be able to explore new places when visiting these ports.  For example, Newport has a group of mansions that are worth visiting.  Bar Harbor has both good restaurants and a National Park.  I've been to both places before, and will enjoy visiting them again.

If it weren't for RQS's cats, we'd likely be taking a different cruise in a different region.  But, we can only do so much without imposing too much on our friends and family.  Until the last cat has passed away, we will only be able to go away for 7 days at a time.  This is a minor issue that we will need to deal with for a few years at most.

An internet meme with some of my thoughts.

 

The other day, I saw this meme on my Facebook feed.  Having friends who own cats, and having had cats myself, I figured that it would be the perfect post to share.

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I've said before that my life does not revolve around being transgender.  Instead, this is only one aspect to who I am.  As I've gotten older, I have broadened my interests to include photography, painting, travel, and performing arts such as music and the theater.  However, I have no developed much of an interest in things that are typically masculine in nature, such as sports.  I couldn't give much of a hoot about who wins the World Series or Super Bowl unless one of my home teams is playing in the event.  Although I understand much about what makes a car tick, I don't have to suffer through someone "Mansplaining" things to me, as I am always in male mode when I bring my car in for service.

Today, I had two events which necessitated my appearance as Mario.  First, I went for my third booster shot for Covid, and had a flu shot at the same time. After a couple of hours, I then had to appear at a co-op board meeting where we discussed some issues (which I won't discuss here) with the owner of our managing agency. If it weren't for these two things, I would have gotten dressed as Marian and done some serious window shopping at a few stores.

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Returning to the cat at the top of this entry...

Anyone who has had cats will appreciate the above image.  Most cats have a habit of using their claws against furniture and other objects.  As much as I'm glad that my apartment no longer houses fur babies, I still miss the cat that attached itself to me for 17 years.  However, without someone who could take care of a cat when I'm away, I will avoid adopting new fur babies to keep me company.