Odds and Ends

Odds and Ends

This has to be fast, because I have to pick up Jane at 8 A.M. for a trip to town (San Diego). I expect I will be gone about as long as I will if I go to the Congress of History event next Saturday and I hate to leave my dogs, Smokey Joe and Sherpa, indoors for so long - 8 to 12 hours. I will have to lock them in and I worry about having them trapped inside, but now that Carmen is no longer working here, I don't dare be so free and easy about things. I sure do miss her.

My annuities come in on the first of each month, but because the 1^st fell on Saturday, this month they won't be posted until today. My custom is to buy a month's supply of whatever I will need to support my cats, dogs and myself, but I've got to cut expenses to the bone this month so that I can help Jane get settled in her new home.

I ran across a treasure on Saturday. I stopped at the Spa in Jacumba and found Gena, the very pretty waitress there, sitting at a table pouring over a stack of very old newspapers that had been found in the attic there. That is worth an article, so I won't go into the details, but it has me excited. It doesn't take much to get me excited these days.

Tomorrow is pretty much a drop-dead day for Hillary. That is going to be interesting. She has fought hard for the nomination, and really is an intelligent and capable woman, I will be sad to see her lose. I didn't vote for her, but I really admire her strength. I'm with the kids on this election. I like the theme of hope and compromise that Obama talks about.

I just let Smokey in from making his morning rounds, and the wind snatched the door right out of my hand. It has been blowing hard since Saturday night. I don't like to have my vehicle blown around on the freeway, so I guess we will have to take the low road to town. Old Highway 80 doesn't have the high profile that I-8 does, and it is protected from the wind by trees and road banks. There is one dangerous place where we have to return to the freeway to cross a deep canyon, where the wind roars down through a high pass. That wind is so strong, I bet I wouldn't be able to walk from the parking lot to the La Posta Casino this morning without help from one of those giant young Indians who stand at the door and greet people.

There is one thing I have to do today that I just hate. I have to take little Chatterbox to the vet to be euthanized. Last August I had to choose between two sick cats and she lost. I have a much younger yellow tabby who was suffering terribly from bad teeth. Chatterbox also has bad teeth but she is almost 15 years old and has other ailments, probably diabetes, among them. I tried to care for a diabetic cat once before without much success. I can give them shots, but how do you get a urine sample? I followed that cat around with a little bottle while he kept looking back at me wondering what the heck I was trying to do. So last August I spent the money I had available on my healthy Riley, and he is such a happy cat now he is rid of those bad teeth. He used to just scream out loud every once in a while as he walked along. Chatterbox has had six more months of life and I have given her a lot of love and petting and served her food about five times a day plus vitamins daily. I just couldn't afford to pay for treatment for her from a vet. Now she is starving to death and I just can't let her suffer any longer.

I'd better stop here and get ready to go. I still have a couple of chores to do and then put on my going-to-town clothes. I'll get back to you tomorrow or soon.