I'm Been Taking A Blogging Break

After a period of recording my daily activities here, I've gone 2 weeks without a post. Why?

Well, I don't know. Politically this is a very lively time but I don't actually put much time into it other than frittering away on social media.

September 29, 2020 GOTV Mailing

That's not quite right. I have been working on GOTV mailings. They all have to be non-partisan but I'm pretty sure they're going to people I agree with, since the mailing hosts are the Sierra Club, my union, and VoteForward.

I got the Sierra Club cards first and worked through half of them (to be mailed in the middle of this month) when I connected with Vote Forward last Weekend. They had a letter writing party featuring the cast of Hamilton, so I said what the heck. It was entertaining and nice to have people talking and singing along as I worked on letters. Those letters were to be held until mid month too so I switched to the union cards when they arrived, since they were to be mailed as soon as I completed them, on the theory that they wanted to reach voters who had yet to register. I finished the union cards at the rate of 25 a day and then turned to the Vote Forward because I was concerned that they would finish up their goal of 10 million letters before I had done very much. I needn't have worried; when they got to 10 million they went to a stretch goal of 15 million. I decided I wanted to GOTV to as many states as possible, since it would be fun during the vote counting period to have a connection to many states (...if any state was decided by one vote, I wanted to know it was a vote I had encouraged ha!)

Currently I have 75 union postcards mailed, about 100 Sierra club cards prepared, almost 100 Vote forward letters prepared, and a lot to go. I figure I can do 20 letters a day until the mail date, which will be fine, and squeeze in the remaining Sierra club cards when I can.

This is fun. Wish us luck!

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I've gone back to writing political memes. I think I'll revert to my prior practice of putting them in their own post.

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Saturday night was the DND campaign using a virtual table top. It is diverting! I'm resisting the temptation to write about what's gone on so far, but I'll say only that I deliberately chose a halfling rouge as a type I'd never tried either in game or in real life, and specialized in Arcane Trickster because it seemed to reward clever roleplaying, indeed due to small size and weakness, only cleverness can keep me alive!

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Around noon I logged into a zoom meeting of my MSU friends. This was even more fun than the last couple although I'm not sure why. I saw the host made an effort to call on everyone so everyone participated. We are all in our early 60s and some look pretty grim, which is sad because it leaves me as the one who makes a lot of jokes - and it joked at - while I am not a financial powerhouse by any means, I appear to be as happy or happier than anyone there.

Much of the conversation was about one person who was helping a senior family member who was a hoarder. Later we talked to someone very active in SF fandom. I connected the two by asking for suggestions about what to do with my Amazing/Analog collection - I don't want to keep it and I won't waste it. I was delighted to learn the magazine has been revived. Perhaps the owner will want these back issues. I'll add this to the big to-do list.

I told Arthur's story briefly and with one photo. Everyone was sympathetic and many talked about their cats. Pets (and family in general) are reliable conversation topics, and it reinforced the healing to talk about Arthur briefly.

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As the project to buy a house on the East Coast fades away, I chatted with Carlos about him using my yard to work on a big piece of art. Why not? I plan to take a picture of it every day to record the growth of the art.

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I am trying to get accustomed to resting during the day and getting plenty of sleep. Since I'll be up at 5 or 6 to do the usual walk, I need to sleep now.

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I should note that I gave the cats their flea treatment on the 1st of the month. I reflexively got out 4 tubes but of course Arthur doesn't need it anymore.

May Her Memory Be A Blessing

ABOUT RBG: We should be celebrating the life of one of America's greatest persons. Instead we are having to defend her legacy against the raw exercise of power.
Balloting has already begun in several states. The argument that we should not vote on a new Justice in an Election year is all the stronger now that we are actually in the voting process.
Moreover, it is highly likely that the Supreme Court will have to rule on disputes. There is nothing wrong with an 8-member Court; a 4-4 split is just as valid as anything else; adding a member now achieves no valid purpose.
Little of this matters. Trump wants another Supreme Court pick, to increase the chances any electoral dispute will be resolved in his favor. Meanwhile a thousand Americans die each day from a pandemic that could have been controlled. Failure of leadership on this scale should not be rewarded with another term, if only because of the virtual certainty that the next crisis (...and there is always a next crisis...) will be bungled the same.
But Trump's fans are in love. His rallies are as entertaining as any show at the Roman Colosseum. He tells them who to hate and they scream in their ecstasy of rage. He knows this will kill some of them (say goodnight, Herman Cain) because he has known since February 7 that COVID19 is airborne and deadly, but his followers are willing sacrifices to his glory. They know he lied to them about that, and they don't care; the more he abuses them, the more they show their love by sacrificing themselves and their children.
May RGB's memory be a blessing. She showed us that reason and passion working together can achieve great things for humanity, despite powerful opposition. Her memory, like a star, may guide us through the shadow of Mordor.

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Today's photos:

Ginny sleeps on my blanket

Little Free Pantry

Metal Roofed Little Free Library

Classic Pickup With Hood Ornament

Rooster Yard Art

Shadow On Her Chair

Spread Joy / Not Without Tears

Today's Walk's Little Free Library:
Spread Joy

It can be very distressing to get a notice from a bill collector. Such notices are designed that way.

My daughter Kiara got one referring to a debt that she thought was under control, subject to an agreement that she was current with. It's bad enough to get a bill collector put on you when you owe the money, but when you've already made arrangements it can be worse.

I got to play Dear Old Dad by reading through all the documentation, confirming the facts, and suggesting that she respond immediately to the notice disputing the debt. I think that the most likely explanation for the notice was that one financing company sold a bundle of debt to another financing company, which started processing it a while later without bothering to check whether the debt was still owed. Or maybe the collections notice was the means it employed to check. After all, mailing a letter is not that expensive and it's up to the creditor to raise a dispute. Maybe the collector hopes to hit the jackpot by terrorizing money out of an innocent party.

It can be very upsetting, but Kiara is now dealing with it.

I enjoyed Storeyweavers Toastmasters again, not only the meeting but the discussion afterwards in support of the report I had to fill out. This Club appears to have recruited some people but was concerned about people falling away and the difficulty of closing when prospects seem enthusiastic. Zoom fatigue is real, and the problem of closing probably affects everyone, so perhaps we can have a divisionwide response.

Toward the end of the day I sat in my recliner, intending to turn on the tube but waiting, because Shadow was in my lap so I couldn't move. Heather brought Arthur's ashes and thanked me for the photoessay about him, which they shared at work. She said they loved it, not without tears. 

Tears are not bad, they simply are.

As today's little free library says: spread joy.

At Last Back To Walking And Gardening

 At last, we were ready to defy the smoke plume and resume our morning walks, albeit with care. No shore-to-the-water-tower, no Sound-to-Highpoint yet!

I enjoyed seeing home reconstrection in a variety of stages.

House Under Plastti

It's Dahlia Time!

Cardboard COVID Contraption

At home I took a break and a box, and shook the tree at Scott and Dolores' to start the boxes of apples to give away. They like me to take care of this because no one wants a yard full of rotting fruit!

Apple Harvest Is Underway

A Most Determined Nasturtium

I was impressed with the effort this plant put in to capture sunlight where no plant had gone before!

Toastmasters @ Work

 Skipped morning walk again due to smoke plume.

I enjoyed a Pacific Institute webinar at 8am and took notes. I was careful to followup with thanks.

Lo Bono Section meeting at 4pm.

Most of the day I prepared for the TM Club 832 (West Seattle) meeting, for which I was Toastmaster, having picked the theme "Toastmasters @ Work". I had heard several people mention they'd joined TM because someone at work recommended it as a way to improve their communications skills, either casually or with a bit of a shove. I prepared some remarks about how TM can help in this way, and encouraged ppl to practice their work presentations at the Club, but the big feature was a special Table Topics. I announced that we were holding a Team Meeting and I was the new Team Leader; we would go around the table answering the question "Who are you? What do you do at this company? Why should we pay for your Toastmasters membership?" (with the reminder that in Table Topics, if not in real life, it is perfectly ok to make something up.

This was a great success, and I'm trying to figure out why. We started with people who gave imaginative answers ("Zombie Dog Walker"); rather than waste time passing control back to me, each speaker called upon the next member in their zoom screen; later speakers may have enjoyed having a little more time to ponder the question so they could feel comfortable giving the answer; even the guests got in on the fun. This gives me things to ponder.

Monday Monday

Today:

• WSBA Section Leader Meeting
• SPEAKOUT Executive Committee meeting
• Chores around the house and avoid the bad air from fires

Sitting Around Sunday

 I'm in a pretty low energy state, maybe due to recovering from Arthur's death, maybe due to the bad air from the fires, maybe - who knows? I have not been taking my long morning walks and probably my body is unhappy about that.

Who Wants A Rice Cooker?

Even giving things away on the "Buy Nothing" group is impacted, as people express interest but need to stay in their homes. Ron's rice cooker has been claimed, but still sits on my porch.

I know things will get better, and tinkering with my telling of Arthur's story brings happy memories, but this is not a time of great energy.

On the plus side, Shadow in particular has discovered how to get attention. If I sit in my recliner, she jumps in my lap to be petted or brushes. Ginny has seen this and is now trying the same thing, which is good because due to her long hair, she needs a lot of brushing.

Over the weekend I had some good chats with Sherry. She's a good friend.

I also had a timebank planning meeting, another group of good friends.

Arthur's Story

When Arthur came into my life, he had no idea that he was a small cat, and cared even less.

He was a cranky old guy with multiple medical problems: a missing eye, pain in the hips, thyroid problems, and anxiety. Certainly we can understand that last one!

Doctor felt that he could be treated, and could enjoy life so long as he had his medications, but would probably not live long. My daughter Vanessa developed his treatment plan as her final project for her Vet Tech certificate. Afterwards she said to me, "Randy, we will never find a placement for this cat."

I said to bring him here. What's one more cat, and this one a short-timer.

At first, the bigger cats tried to steal his food, but we worked out a system. He had "old age and sneakiness" down tight. The alleys behind the couches were his to rule.

I became his.

He did not give me a choice.

If I was late going to bed, he would find me and give me his short howl of command.

Arthur's past life was a mystery. He could not talk about it, but he showed a high level of awareness.

When I worked on the basement, Arthur conducted inspections.

He dreamed of hunting, but never tried to catch a bird.

He slept in a peculiar shape, perhaps due to his hip issues

Arthur loved catnip. He made it hard to grow it in my garden, but he never let it go to waste.

Arthur was not extremely playful, but occasionally cut loose, especially if a box or a laser was involved.

Arthur saw doctor every month, and afterwards liked to stroll a nearby garden. He was even willing to accept a leash the first time, until he had shown that he was safe there and not going to wander.

In the neighbor hood, I walked him on a leash for a while, which he allowed because he loved going outside so much. However he always wanted to duck into a neighbor's bushes, out of my control, leading to a few spats. We made up, and ultimately I let him wander starting from out lot. He didn't go far but enjoyed monitoring the yellow house next door.

Arthur REALLY liked his 'nip!

Arthur loved to hunt my daughter's socks. In the middle of the night he would capture one, bring it upstairs, and howl his song of triumph!

The first time this happened, I thought he was distressed because his howl was so full-throated. When I came to investigate, he would run off, leaving the sock behind, which I assumed I had somehow gotten mixed with my laundry. This continued; a suspicious number of socks appeared in my hallway; I knew I was not that careless. Finally I caught him with a sock in his mouth and noticed that it was maybe about the size of a mouse. Thereafter I loved the pride he took in bellowing his song of success!

Nothing could feel better than rolling on the warm steps of a hot summer day. He rolled on my front porch, he rolled on the side steps, he rolled on the sidewalk and the neighbor's steps. He was a cat who enjoyed his pleasures.

When Arthur felt it was time for me to take a lunch break, he would urge me to get out of my chair so he could be perform his duty, as shown.

It is clear that cats are not intelligent as we humans are; they have little notion of symbols and their vocabulary is small, but it is easy to see that they have feelings and preferences, and can train us to give them what they want.

While not verbal, Arthur was very expressive. Look at the tail: he's happy to see you!

He also used his short howl in a variety of contexts, mostly meaning "follow me to something interesting".

Sometimes Arthur decided he didn't want his meds, and hid under the bed. He was strong-willed!

When I splurged and got a leather-cover recliner, Arthur decided it was perfect for sharpening his claws. This had never been a problem with anything else, but there was something about this recliner that he needed to attack. I sighed, and covered it with a blanket. Now it's an excellent cat bed.

Whether on the recliner or in bed, Arthur liked to sleep by my head. Kiara told me that he used to sleep on her hair! but I don't have so much of that, so he made do with proximity. My snoring, his purring: we must have been a comedy.

He never really approved of mopping.

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Arthur liked to watch me as I worked in the kitchen. Usually he was not asking for food, he was just watching. Once I spilled a little milk and he lapped it up eagerly. From then on, it was our forbidden ritual - I spilled, he lapped.

Eventually I started putting it into a dish and for at least a year that was part of his breakfast, along with wet food and the open crunchy feeder. Sometime during the pandemic he stopped drinking the milk, but I thought nothing of it.

Last month, Arthur gave his "follow me" call and took me outside to the basement window to show me there was a cat living down there!

Of course, I already knew all about Heather's cat but I praised Arthur for alerting me. Good job!

Once they got the food situation straightened out, Arthur pretty much got along with the other cats. They usually napped in company.

This is super important, because cats sleep a lot. Sometimes it can be hard to tell between a cat who is sick and one who is just sleeping. As the pandemic shutdown went on, it became less critical to give Arthur his meds before I went to work, so I let him sleep as he wished. I don't think this affected his appetite but who knows?

On the last weekend of his life, Arthur told me about a new tabby who had come into the neighborhood. Welcome neighbor!

The next day, Arthur collapsed.

You must understand that he was very elderly and had several medical problems. He had not been expected to last six months when he came into my life, and it had been 5 years. Good years.

Doctor observed him overnight. She had saved his life in the past, but now Arthur's metabolism was failing at last.

Arthur was calm but very tired. We had one last thing to do together.

Thank you, my friend, and good bye.

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.