Monthly Archives: October 2021

7 Quick Takes: Spooky Cat Edition

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7 Quick Takes

— 1 —

Introductions. This is Doc. He is the new cat in town.

My spooky kitty cat

— 2 —

How he came to Casa Meditatio. Mom needed a buddy after losing Jethro, so I started looking on rescue sites to try and find an appropriate cat for her. I was at the vet last Friday picking up the bag with Jethro’s box in it (along with a paw print, some fur in a ziploc bag, a sympathy card, and certificate of cremation), and there was a beautiful and sociable tabby cat with mittens in the adoption enclosure. I excitedly called Mom to say that I might have a cat for her… only to find out that this ridiculously social cat hates other cats, meaning that she was a no-go. I fought back tears the entire way home because I had fallen in love with her the second I met her.

When I got home (and had a good cry), I looked online at various rescues and saw this beautiful tabby cat with soulful eyes on the website of the NOAH Center, a local rescue that does low-cost spays/neuters and also helps to adopt out shelter cats that are having a hard time getting adopted. I called them and asked some questions about him. They told me that he seemed to be OK with other cats, that he liked to burrow under blankets, and was just a lovebug. I fell in love with him at that point, and Mom did too when she went to the NOAH Center on Monday. He rubbed her hands and purred for her when she reached into his enclosure, and she brought him home.

— 3 —

Spooky boy. When I called the NOAH Center to make sure he was still adoptable on Monday, they told me to have a sanctuary room prepped for him because he would need to decompress for 72 hours or so, especially as the shelter experience had been hard on him. We set up the guest room for him, and he has been enjoying its amenities, most notably the underside of the bed. He got a bit hissy when we got him home, and he is definitely a bit spooky right now.

— 4 —

Socializing Mr. Spooky. My mom has spent time in the guest room having her breakfast and watching a lecture on Beethoven with him in there. I’ve spent a couple of hours every evening since Monday lying on a fleece blanket on the floor working on my laptop to help him get used to my presence. I started reading to him last night, and he seems to be chill for that. He will actually go to sleep while I’m reading and he is at the point where he’ll come out from under the bed to eat or use his litter box with me in the room.

He also likes to burrow and Mom has found him under one of the fleece blankets with his little face poking out, and he burrowed into one of the comforters on the bed on Thursday morning. I walked in to check on him and found Mom stroking a lump in the bed. 🙂

— 5 —

A wrench in the plan. The NOAH Center called us on Tuesday morning to let us know that Doc was on antibiotics for a cold and that they had forgotten to send them home with him. Mom and Dad went and got them, and we had to extract Doc from under the bed to medicate him. We really hate doing it because it makes Doc more scared, but we’ve done it daily since Tuesday, and today (Friday) is thankfully the last day.

When I extracted him on Wednesday, I was holding him to me and petting him while telling him that he is loved, he is safe, he has beautiful stripes, and his yellow eyes are soulful. Each day has gotten a little easier, but we still hate doing it. (The antibiotic is also stinky and the smell stays on my hands all day, so I’ll be happy to be done today.)

— 6 —

Progress. Today, I went into the guest room to switch out books this afternoon, and I decided to check on him. He was next to the lamp table (12 inches from me), so I lay down on the floor next to him and put out my fingers. He sniffed them, and I decided to see if he would let me pet his tail. He allowed it as well as letting me pet his little feet. He finally touched his nose to my fingers, and I feel so incredibly special.

— 7 —

Minion’s reaction. The prince of darkness knows something is up, has been sniffing at the door and puffing up, and is perturbed that there is food in HIS guest room that he is not being allowed to have. (I should point out that he has several food stations in the house, but he is of the opinion that stolen food is best.) I’ve been trying to give my incorrigible monster extra attention, but we’re expecting fireworks when he eventually meets Doc. Please pray that their eventual meeting is mostly positive.

For more Quick Takes, visit Kelly at This Ain’t The Lyceum.

7 Quick Takes: Bye Bye Nick Rolovich Edition

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7 Quick Takes

— 1 —

Update on the Nick Rolovich debacle. There has been debate in the local media on whether Nick Rolovich (the head coach of the WSU football team) was going to be granted a religious exemption from being vaccinated because he claims to be Catholic.

Well…

Seattle Times: WSU football coach Nick Rolovich fired for refusing COVID vaccine; defensive coordinator is acting head coach

Adding to Rolovich’s pain is the fact that because he was fired “for cause”, he is not entitled to have his contract bought out. His anti-vaccination stance cost him upwards of $3.6 million. Rolovich can appeal his termination to the president of the university, but I doubt that’s going to be successful because the president likely approved the athletic director’s decision to terminate him.

He is suing for “unlawful and unjust” termination because they wouldn’t grant him a religious exemption. (The process, by the way, is completely blind. They don’t look at the name of the person asking for the exemption–just the argument.) The various employment lawyers on the news have said that his case is weak because he would have to prove that the COVID vaccine is against Catholic teaching… and the Pope has encouraged people to get vaccinated. (The first statement on the subject was issued back in December 2020.) The Diocese of Spokane has even had priests who have appeared in videos encouraging Washingtonians to get vaccinated.

I’m having a massive bout of schadenfreude over this because my parents are UW alums and this shows that not even the highest-paid state employee (Rolovich) is immune from the consequences of not being in compliance with Governor Inslee’s mandate. If I have to be vaccinated for work, so does he!

— 2 —

Regarding religious exemptions… Some of my clergy friends have had strangers contact them to sign religious exemption forms for them because they don’t want the COVID vaccine for their jobs. (All of my friends have said a pretty emphatic “NO!” to those requests.) They’re pretty stunned at the chutzpah of these strangers because they can’t be bothered to join a church but think nothing of using a random clergy person to get out of facing the consequences for not doing someting required for their jobs.

Seriously… get vaccinated or don’t get vaccinated, but own the consequences of your decision. It’s cowardly to try to use someone else to get out of facing consequences.

— 3 —

Who else got fired? There have been people like state patrol troopers, ferry workers, and others who tried to challenge the mandate on the grounds that “it violates their Constitutional rights” (spoiler alert: IT DOESN’T), but they lost on Monday. Inslee is a lawyer, y’all. Do people really think he isn’t familiar with both the Constitution and the Supreme Court rulings on the subject, including Jacobson v. Massachusetts and Prince v. Massachusetts?

I'm totes not a fan girl of Attorney General Bob Ferguson. Nooooooo...

Also, fact check: the Supreme Court has NOT ruled against COVID vaccines. (There are some anti-vaccination people out there claiming this.)

— 4 —

Empathy. This quote from Kelly resonates with me in a huge way.

I’m also sharing it because I hear almost daily “I don’t know how you do all you do!” Surprise folks – I don’t know either! All I know is whatever system I’m currently using is making me tired, irritable, and leaves lots of dog hair everywhere that isn’t getting cleaned up on a regular basis. I would not recommend my current system to anyone even if it makes me look “productive”.

This is totally me… except that it’s cat fur instead of dog hair.

— 5 —

Words with Friends. If any of you play Words with Friends, feel free to challenge me. I’m “skagitcatherder”.

— 6 —

How I’m coping with life at the moment. YouTube has a bunch of “Live PD” videos, and I’m watching those while working on various things and to fall asleep at night. I have no idea why car chases and police officers tasing people is relaxing for me. It just is.

— 7 —

Breakfast. I need to get up, throw real clothes on, and go to the vet to pick up Jethro’s box. This means that I need to eat breakfast, and I hate most breakfast foods. If I’m being honest, I want an eggless Egg McMuffin (yes, McDonald’s will make it for me if I’m willing to pay extra) and hash browns, but that’s not doable for financial reasons so… it will probably be chicken and cheese taquitos from the freezer section of the local grocery store. (They’re not even artisan or organically made–they’re the cheapie kind that are full of preservatives.)

For more Quick Takes, visit Kelly at This Ain’t The Lyceum.

7 Quick Takes: A Harder Week Edition

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7 Quick Takes

— 1 —

Update on the sinus infection. I’m on Day 7 of my first round of Azithromycin. I’m not feeling amazing, but I’m not coughing to the point of choking. I’m still a bit stuffy, and I’m unfortunately almost out of Sudafed. (This is a problem because the regular Sudafed that you get from behind the pharmacy counter is the only thing that works to help me sleep… and my local pharmacy is out of it.)

— 2 —

Update on Jethro. Mom took Jethro back to the vet on Tuesday, and his bloodwork was trashed to the point where he could have had a blood clot if he kept going. The vet told her the prognosis, and she asked if they would be able to put him to sleep that day. When they said “yes” and told her she could have as long as she needed with Jet, she called Dad to come and sit with her. Jethro seemed to sense that it was his time because he relaxed and curled up in both Mom’s lap and Dad’s lap before they sedated him to give him the final shot. (Meanwhile, I had come out of my room after finishing with a student, and I figured out what was going on when I found Dad gone.) He went peacefully. We know that he is with his brother Homer again, and that is comforting since Homer’s death three years ago was really hard on all of us. (We adopted Minion the day after Homer passed away. He helped us heal.)

Minion has had a tiring schedule of guarding Mom and cuddling her (because Jet is gone and Jet was Mom’s lap kitty) in addition to his normal Mama cuddles with me. I’ve got feelers out on Petfinder for a Maine Coon cat or at least another one that might be a good buddy for Minion, who is definitely feeling Jet’s absence even if Jet was a cranky old man.

— 3 —

Why I like living in a blue state. My governor gets crap from the Republicans in the eastern part of Washington about the mask mandate and the various vaccine mandates, but we’re not in the mess that Idaho is currently in.

Why do I believe that Idaho is that bad off? Well… it might have something to do with Idaho sending a bunch of their worst patients to Washington to take up our hospital beds. (The stupider people in eastern Washington have been going to Sandpoint and Coeur d’ Alene to shop because Idaho doesn’t have a mask mandate, so I have no sympathy for hospitals in those Washington counties because they’re doing it to themselves.) The Republicans in Idaho have been bickering over COVID precautions to the point where the lieutenant governor took the opportunity to issue an executive order banning mask mandates while the governor was out of state. (The governor canceled the executive order when he returned.)

Do I love having to mask up all the time? No. However, Governor Inslee issued the mandates two months ago because he gives a crap about the health of the people in the state. The members of Idaho’s state government seem to be only thinking of themselves.

— 4 —

Q & A with a nurse. A member of r/nursing on Reddit did a Q & A in order to dispel a bunch of myths about COVID, the vaccines, etc. Other than a few pieces of bad language, it’s a good read and explains about why the COVID vaccines were developed so quickly.

— 5 —

Worth watching. I had to watch this TED Talk in order to proofread a paper, and I really recommend it.

— 6 —

How have I been dealing with all of this? I am crocheting while I work with students or watch YouTube. I’m watching a lot of “Live PD” on YouTube because it relaxes me for some strange reason.

— 7 —

Some positivity this week. I was doing my weekly grocery shopping on Tuesday when a woman stopped me. She told me that she had seen me with Daniel the previous week and that I was doing a really good job with him. She then patted me on the shoulder and told me I was a good mother.

I honestly almost cried in the middle of Haggen when she said that to me. (I’m tearing up now thinking about it.) I don’t know if she knew how much I needed to hear all of that. It’s honestly getting me through the harder parts of the week, and it also is giving me patience with Daniel because someone out there thinks I’m doing things right.

For more Quick Takes, visit Kelly at This Ain’t The Lyceum.

7 Quick Takes: Sinus Infection Blues Edition

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7 Quick Takes

— 1 —

Gah. I’ve had some facial congestion in the last week, and Mom asked me yesterday if I was going to be able to go to Urgent Care and get my sinus infection taken care of. I told her that it was just allergies and that I would get some Robitussin DM at the store. Well, I couldn’t sleep last night because I was so uncomfortable, so I ended up clearing my morning and heading to Urgent Care. Unsurprisingly, it was a sinus infection, and they also tested me for COVID because my chronic conditions manifest symptoms of it.

— 2 —

More? I had just left Urgent Care when I got a call from Daniel’s school to let me know that Daniel was in the health room with a cough and needing to go home. If he stops coughing, he can go back on Monday. We got him tested for COVID out of an abundance of caution, and they got his results back to us within 20 minutes. (His was an antigen test, and mine was PCR.)

— 3 —

Canceled plans. My brother and nephew were supposed to come and visit us this weekend, but they are also dealing with coughs and having to get COVID tests. Mom and Dad might go down to see them on Monday if their tests come back negative.

— 4 —

*squees* Kelly, our Quick Takes hostess with the mostest, had her book come out today. There’s a video of her doing a Q&A, a giveaway, recipes for a drink and a snack, and other Quick Takes folks. Run not walk to your nearest bookstore (brick and mortar or online) to get a copy.

— 5 —

It made my day. When I was going to pick up Daniel, his teacher and aide were both telling me how much they enjoy having Daniel in class, and they seem pretty smitten with him. This warms my mama heart because he loves going to school.

— 6 —

Nick Rolovich. Nick Rolovich, the coach for the Washington State University football team, is vocally unvaccinated, and he could potentially lose his job over it because he is subject to the same state vaccine mandate that I am because we’re both in education. The Seattle Times was discussing every aspect of this on Monday because it was the last day people could get the J&J vaccine and not be fired. Nobody said anything about him getting the shot, so the theory is that he is applying for a medical or religious exemption.

My take: fire him if he doesn’t comply. He has a very public job, and he could basically wipe out the football season for the university if he gives COVID to the players. The Delta variant is nasty and much more contagious than the COVID we were dealing with 18 months ago.

— 7 —

Head’s up! This came up in a thread on Nextdoor.Com, and I thought it was worth mentioning. A third of COVID cases don’t produce any antibodies, so your natural immunity may not exist. Also, unvaccinated people are twice as likely to contract COVID than those who are vaccinated, so you’ve also got that risk.

(Source)

For more Quick Takes, visit Kelly at This Ain’t The Lyceum.