Last Few Days
Jul. 22nd, 2004 07:53 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
willowispLife is sort of returning to normal, for certain values of normal. I still haven't managed to get back into the (Clark's Closing)-minus-two-hours-until-they-kick-me-out thing, but I'm working on it. Otherwise we're sort of back on some sort of schedule. At least until next week.
Andy is going to Seattle next week. It had been proposed he go a few weeks ago, then his manager ran some numbers and found out she couldn't send him. Another manager decided he really wanted Andy along and used his budget. When she heard this, Andy's boss' reaction was "I foresee a trip to Elliot Bay in your future". Oh yes, she has Andy pegged.
I may finally get around to working on my gaming journal. Meanwhile, I'm playing an online game as well. We decided to see if I could handle FFXI as an extra character on Andy's account. If so, I'll create a real one and be able to play with him in parties. I'm leaning toward creating; it isn't as bad so far as I had feared. I quit even trying to play video games back in the Atari days when I realized that games like Frogger and Q-Bert were causing some blackout spells of sorts.
I hate politics. Some may question this, given my nearly rabid responses to a lot of the stuff going on in DC. The thing is, I pay more attention to national politics the more the politicians scare me, which is why I'm hanging onto every move by the beloved US Governor. I also admit that I tried to play politics on various Pern-themed games, but I failed miserably because my idea of subtlety is wrapping a lemon around the gold brick first. But more than any of those I hate the politics which occur closer to home and hurt others in so many ways.
Case in point: I have been volunteering for PACA for just under a year. In that time, the leadership has gone through at least two radical changes and possibly more. I'm still the person who comes in and pets the cats, at least when KC is open. I like some of those involved in the politics a lot and I dislike some of them. Two of them, however, recently gave me reason to loathe them outright.
After the two board members resigned (one tried to rescind the resignation but PACA by-laws have no rules about it, so it was refused) they reported the two most dedicated fosterers to animal services and also reported a ton of PACA cats as unlicensed which, I suppose, is technically true. I believe, however, that as a non-profit rescue organization, PACA doesn't need to license them. That's for their future owners to do. Even so, it's causing Monica a ton of grief.
Another tangent about politics: Albuquerque Animal Services may as well be called Albuquerque Animal Slaughterers. Between January and August of 2003 they had already euthanized close to 10,000 animals. A woman who ran a successful breed rescue took over for the handsome salary of $1.00 per year -- eg, she was willing to volunteer if it could save more animals. It turns out that she couldn't do anything; the workers at the pounds had a union and didn't want to change anything if it meant they might actually have to care/work (Me? Bitter? Whodathunkit?). So the upshot is, owner-surrendered animals are still euthanized immediately; none of the volunteer Animal services executive's ideas have been put into play, and any adult cat who so much as looks at an employee wrong is considered feral and put down immediately, unless nursing kittens. Then they wait a week or two before killing her.
So, Monica was lucky and had just done a major housecleaning before the Animal Services inspector showed up unannounced. After talking with him and explaining the politics, she passed. Myrtice (who fostered Sasha) wasn't so lucky. I'm not sure how long it is, but she only has a limited time to find homes for the cats before Animal Services, in the name of treating the animals humanely, takes them all away and puts them down in their shiny pristine back room. Or whatever.
As I said, I hate politics overall, and generally I avoid taking sides. These two former board members, however, were so vindictive that they are willing to sacrifice the lives of the animals whom they allegedly cared enough about to volunteer their time on the board for. On top of that, it's the middle of kitten season, so adults have even a less chance of being adopted at least until the overwhelmingly cute kittens have outgrown their irresistible charm. I'm still trying to figure out what kind of hell the former board members deserve; I forget what level Dante assigned traitors to.
However, there is a point to all of this ranting. Currently KC is basically Myrtice-land, as are all of the adoption clinics. All of the other fosterers are full up, so we have to adopt her kitties out. After discussing it with Andy, he gave his blessing for me to bring home Sean. Sean is an orange tabby of indeterminate age. When he was turned in a few months ago he was presented as full-grown, but his foster mom (Jackie) had serious doubts and has given him a guesstimate birth date of March 17th, 2004. Andy and I feel he's probably closer to seven months old.
He and Heidi hit it off almost immediately; the reason I wanted to bring him was threefold: he wouldn't compete with the older cats who need to find homes; he was at most a year younger than Heidi and probably closer in age than that; and he was one of those kitties who immediately grabbed my heart... sort of like Thena, Gail, Heidi, and Gigi (the little white poofball who was adopted this past fall or winter, I forget which). After about half an hour on day zero Heidi was hissing half-heartedly, but by day three they were sharing a bed and Heidi was grooming him. Since they're playing with each other Heidi is no longer so demanding of my attention, which is a relief.
Sean is not our new kitty. Andy isn't sure he's the one; Sean didn't grab his heart the way he grabbed mine. He may grow on Andy the way many of the PACA cats who didn't immediately grab my heart have grown on me (Dr Z, Captain, Sylvester). If so, we will do something I never would have considered before volunteering for PACA; adopt a male cat. If it happens Andy will also for once not be outnumbered by females. If it doesn't work out, however, I meet wonderful kitties on a regular basis and we will find our next daughter or son eventually. Any which way, for the time being Sean will probably be showing up in many of my posts.
Andy is going to Seattle next week. It had been proposed he go a few weeks ago, then his manager ran some numbers and found out she couldn't send him. Another manager decided he really wanted Andy along and used his budget. When she heard this, Andy's boss' reaction was "I foresee a trip to Elliot Bay in your future". Oh yes, she has Andy pegged.
I may finally get around to working on my gaming journal. Meanwhile, I'm playing an online game as well. We decided to see if I could handle FFXI as an extra character on Andy's account. If so, I'll create a real one and be able to play with him in parties. I'm leaning toward creating; it isn't as bad so far as I had feared. I quit even trying to play video games back in the Atari days when I realized that games like Frogger and Q-Bert were causing some blackout spells of sorts.
I hate politics. Some may question this, given my nearly rabid responses to a lot of the stuff going on in DC. The thing is, I pay more attention to national politics the more the politicians scare me, which is why I'm hanging onto every move by the beloved US Governor. I also admit that I tried to play politics on various Pern-themed games, but I failed miserably because my idea of subtlety is wrapping a lemon around the gold brick first. But more than any of those I hate the politics which occur closer to home and hurt others in so many ways.
Case in point: I have been volunteering for PACA for just under a year. In that time, the leadership has gone through at least two radical changes and possibly more. I'm still the person who comes in and pets the cats, at least when KC is open. I like some of those involved in the politics a lot and I dislike some of them. Two of them, however, recently gave me reason to loathe them outright.
After the two board members resigned (one tried to rescind the resignation but PACA by-laws have no rules about it, so it was refused) they reported the two most dedicated fosterers to animal services and also reported a ton of PACA cats as unlicensed which, I suppose, is technically true. I believe, however, that as a non-profit rescue organization, PACA doesn't need to license them. That's for their future owners to do. Even so, it's causing Monica a ton of grief.
Another tangent about politics: Albuquerque Animal Services may as well be called Albuquerque Animal Slaughterers. Between January and August of 2003 they had already euthanized close to 10,000 animals. A woman who ran a successful breed rescue took over for the handsome salary of $1.00 per year -- eg, she was willing to volunteer if it could save more animals. It turns out that she couldn't do anything; the workers at the pounds had a union and didn't want to change anything if it meant they might actually have to care/work (Me? Bitter? Whodathunkit?). So the upshot is, owner-surrendered animals are still euthanized immediately; none of the volunteer Animal services executive's ideas have been put into play, and any adult cat who so much as looks at an employee wrong is considered feral and put down immediately, unless nursing kittens. Then they wait a week or two before killing her.
So, Monica was lucky and had just done a major housecleaning before the Animal Services inspector showed up unannounced. After talking with him and explaining the politics, she passed. Myrtice (who fostered Sasha) wasn't so lucky. I'm not sure how long it is, but she only has a limited time to find homes for the cats before Animal Services, in the name of treating the animals humanely, takes them all away and puts them down in their shiny pristine back room. Or whatever.
As I said, I hate politics overall, and generally I avoid taking sides. These two former board members, however, were so vindictive that they are willing to sacrifice the lives of the animals whom they allegedly cared enough about to volunteer their time on the board for. On top of that, it's the middle of kitten season, so adults have even a less chance of being adopted at least until the overwhelmingly cute kittens have outgrown their irresistible charm. I'm still trying to figure out what kind of hell the former board members deserve; I forget what level Dante assigned traitors to.
However, there is a point to all of this ranting. Currently KC is basically Myrtice-land, as are all of the adoption clinics. All of the other fosterers are full up, so we have to adopt her kitties out. After discussing it with Andy, he gave his blessing for me to bring home Sean. Sean is an orange tabby of indeterminate age. When he was turned in a few months ago he was presented as full-grown, but his foster mom (Jackie) had serious doubts and has given him a guesstimate birth date of March 17th, 2004. Andy and I feel he's probably closer to seven months old.
He and Heidi hit it off almost immediately; the reason I wanted to bring him was threefold: he wouldn't compete with the older cats who need to find homes; he was at most a year younger than Heidi and probably closer in age than that; and he was one of those kitties who immediately grabbed my heart... sort of like Thena, Gail, Heidi, and Gigi (the little white poofball who was adopted this past fall or winter, I forget which). After about half an hour on day zero Heidi was hissing half-heartedly, but by day three they were sharing a bed and Heidi was grooming him. Since they're playing with each other Heidi is no longer so demanding of my attention, which is a relief.
Sean is not our new kitty. Andy isn't sure he's the one; Sean didn't grab his heart the way he grabbed mine. He may grow on Andy the way many of the PACA cats who didn't immediately grab my heart have grown on me (Dr Z, Captain, Sylvester). If so, we will do something I never would have considered before volunteering for PACA; adopt a male cat. If it happens Andy will also for once not be outnumbered by females. If it doesn't work out, however, I meet wonderful kitties on a regular basis and we will find our next daughter or son eventually. Any which way, for the time being Sean will probably be showing up in many of my posts.
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no subject
Date: 2004-07-23 04:02 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-07-23 06:02 pm (UTC)That, or they don't even care and never cared about the animals in the first place. So many seem to give off "Look at me, I'm a wonderful person, I help save animals" vibes when they're getting their way, and then the minute they don't get their way they turn in psychotic two-year-olds throwing temper tantrums, and no one is safe from their wrath. Or maybe I'm just feeling over-sensitive because I happen to know most of the cats involved and I would adopt them in a heartbeat if I could.
no subject
Date: 2004-07-23 08:02 pm (UTC)Would be nice if people would stop and think about the animals they are supposed to be helping. Hell, there's a cat rescue here in Austin where I swear the lady is in it for profit. She's the one who we got Sam from and was all upset because we insisted she pay for the combo test we were told Sam had already had, went on this tirade about how she's going broke on all these animals and how everyone else charges more than she does and how she has 30 cats in her hous, it just went one, but the upshot was that she wasn't making a profit and she damn well thought she should because 'everyone else was'. I'm just staring at her thinking 'wow, rescue? really?'. Especially since they had on Sam's cage that she didn't get along well with other pets and the lady told us that she ran from everyone else and was food aggressive, etc. She's been fine here and after hearing about 30 cats in her house, I was thinking 'wow, 30 cats, and Sam is smaller than most of the cats I've ever seen, I wonder if she was just intimidated and overwhelmed? ya think?'.
Anyway, I could rant forever about that one, especially since I'm biased because of poor Sam. It's just one of those places that I'd never want to adopt from again.
no subject
Date: 2004-07-23 02:41 pm (UTC)I'm curious as to why you never considered adopting a male cat before. In my cat experience, I've found male cats to be just as likely to be friendly and loving as female ones.
no subject
Date: 2004-07-23 05:54 pm (UTC)I can't either, but I've seen it happen far too often. Maybe it's a power thing; I've just never been interested and don't understand the motivation. That or I'm terminally lazy and having power would mean extra work. Either way, though, remember my post about retiring as a wizard from the various MUDs? It is very sad that I had to put the disclaimer about not having destroyed sections of the game and so on, but it has happened before, and by people who allegedly cared about the games at some point.
How many cats are we talking about?
Damned if I know. Heck, even Myrtice may not. Whenever anyone asks who she will be bringing in, her default answer is "Whoever I can catch". A few notes, however; Myrtice lives in a house which was built before water restrictions, so she has a huge yard. The whole length of the back of her house is a screened in cat run, so the cats are getting fresh air.
I couldn't let Andy go into her house due to his allergies, and it does tend to smell of litterboxes which need to be changed. In fact, nine times out of ten when I call her, that's what she's doing. She might actually, to people who don't know her, look like a cat collector, but there are several differences.
First of all, as the president of PACA she did have a license which covered the fosters. I think maybe when she resigned she lost the license and didn't realize it. Second of all, her house is not filthy. Sure, it smells like one big litterbox, but the floors are not covered in trash or animal waste, and surfaces which don't have cats on them are clean. Thirdly, the cats have fresh food and water available and are all up-to-date on vet care as well as fixed if old enough.
Contrast that to animal collectors whose living areas are often waist-deep in refuse, where the animals have all but (and sometimes there's no "all but" about it) turned cannibal, and where most of the animals are sick. The attrition rate for animals from animal collectors' homes are distressingly high by the time the problem is usually noticed.
Anyway, I just wanted to qualify for anyone who doesn't know me and doesn't realize I'd be the first one calling if I suspected someone was collecting. Now back to our regularly scheduled comment:
I think fostering would be bad for Sebastian as well. It is definitely not something all cats can handle; had our current kitty been Thena or Gail I might never have recommended bringing Sean home, and there's just one of him. Don't feel bad about it; there are a lot of drawbacks to fostering multiple animals. OTOH if Monica can adopt out some of her kittens she might be able to take in some of Myrtice's lot, so I'll start bugging her about the Siamese cross again. I found out when I called on Wednesday that the kitten isn't spayed yet, though Monica does like to wait until they're a certain weight rather than a minimum age.
I'm curious as to why you never considered adopting a male cat before.
In a word: ignorance. If anyone wants more detailed information I'll give it, but I have a feeling I'm approaching the character limit for this comment.
no subject
Date: 2004-07-23 10:44 pm (UTC)I think it's probably an anger thing. I think you pegged it above. I did see this in my fiction club. The guy who took the presidency after me tried to make a bunch of changes and was rebuked, sometimes nastily. So he resigned in the most hurtful way possible, then worked to undermine the group. It took us YEARS to recover. I think the organization pretty much recovered just this year.
At any rate, I think people who put a lot of love and ego into a group like this lash back viciously and irrationally when they are hurt. Like people who do vicious petty things to an SO who breaks up with them... it's the very fact that they DID care so much that they do such horrible things.
Which is not an endorsement. More a call for people to grow up :(.
Oh, and I wasn't guessing Myrtice was a cat collector. I was more wondering just how many cats were in danger. But I appreciate the distinction you're making.
no subject
Date: 2004-07-25 10:52 pm (UTC)Know the feeling. Oh Daylights I know the feeling.
Sorry to hear. But (waves paw to Sean!) :-)
Excuse my intrusion..
Date: 2004-07-28 12:22 am (UTC)Re: Excuse my intrusion..
Date: 2004-07-29 03:58 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-07-29 01:08 pm (UTC)Thanks!