Friday, September 11, 2020

Friday Around The House

 Due to bad air quality alerts, caused by smoke from Oregon or California, we cancelled our morning walk. Also my car is in the shop getting the catalytic converter replaced.

I remain sad about putting Arthur to sleep. He seemed normal on the weekend, and I can still hear his friendly squawk. In retrospect, I should have noticed he was getting lighter and saw about doing things to improve his appetite - or figure out if there was an eating problem - but I relied on his monthly eye drain to monitor his weight because at first they were weighing him. I found out yesterday that they hadn't weighed him lately so his being 2 pounds down was a surprise.

I trust Dr. Sanchez, because she was the one who saved Arthur initially, but I regret leaving Arthur at the hospital Wednesday night in the expectation that he would be given fluid for the next 3 days. I feel if I had brought him home maybe I would have figured out oral rehydration or found something he still wanted to eat. But it's too late now.

I responded to Kiara's PMs and later had an extended PM with Sherry.

I understand that Arthur has old and had many health issues so he was probably going to die soon anyway, but I regret the decision. I accept that I'll just live with that regret and learn from it.

The remaining cats are being extra affectionate and that's nice. They are not intelligent as we humans are, but they have a level of understanding.

It may seem petty to mourn a cat on 9/11 - I have carefully avoided posting on FB - and in the middle of this pandemic - but I still mourn. I will be functional and I suppose it is comforting to know I still have the capacity to love.

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In other news: I took my car into Mienecke for an oil change. The guy told me the oil seal needed replacing, which I felt was plausible because we're about 200k miles, but it'd be done around 5. This was fine since I can walk everywhere I need to go. When I returned, he said the catalytic converter needed replacing; stuff inside was broke up, rattling around, and eventually would shift to partly block the tailpipe, reducing power. Again, I was willing to believe it since 200k and all, plus he showed me when he shook it grey dust fell out. The car had to stay overnight so they could get the part; I walked home and texted Julie, who knows cars. We talked it over and I feel more comfortable that this was the right decision. I had the money either way but I just didn't want to be ripped off.

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