Day: August 23, 2006

Crankypantsing

Instant Review: Plague of Locusts

Shelly

Well, not locusts, exactly, but it is rather plague-like. The students have returned, and the Powers That Be have decided to extend move-in from one day to an entire week. Oh joy! When it was limited to one day, traffic was ungodly awful, but because it was only one day, it was easy to rearrange my schedule so that I was not near campus. Now, that’s not possible. On top of that, no one seems to have even a basic understanding of how stop signs work, and all along Jordan, 10th, and Fee, pedestrians just wander into the street whenever they feel like it. Dumbasses!

Oh, and to make things more exciting, some of the roads that were recently repaved have not yet been painted. It’s all sorts of fun to watch out-of-towners trying to navigate the unmarked streets, since they don’t know where the turn lanes are supposed to be, or even if there are turn lanes. Hello Dude in the White Suburban! Could you please scoot over a few inches, so that I don’t have to wait through three lights for you to get a chance to turn left? I’m sure the other 87 cars behind me–all of which also want to go straight–would appreciate it, too.

Pets, Photography

Pandora

Shelly

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Pandora will be 18 this spring. That’s apparently the equivalent of 78 human years. She’s starting to show her age, too. She can’t jump as well as she used to. She doesn’t understand why, though, so she keeps trying to launch herself onto the kitchen counter. I’ve placed “steps” at strategic points around the house, to make it easier for her to reach her favorite spots. She doesn’t always use them, though. I wince every time I hear her fall, but I can’t make her stop trying to climb. She’s always been a climber. When she was younger, she would’ve swung from the chandelier if I’d had one. I’ve found her on top of the fridge, above the false ceiling, on top of floor lamps, bookcases, and cupboards. I’ve even seen her walk the shower curtain rod, like it was a tightrope. I think she might’ve climbed Everest if she’d known it existed.

She’s also getting clumsy. Wherever she goes, she knocks things over. Not a night goes by that I don’t wake up to the sound of something or other crashing to the floor, a victim of Pandora’s late night wanderings. It’s exasperating, but what do you do? Pick up the mess and try not to think about it, I guess. The bigger problem is that her clumsiness makes it more difficult for her to get out from underfoot. She also cannot react as quickly as she used to. I’m worried that I’m going to step on her one of these days, because she’s constantly underfoot. I’ve taken to picking her up and placing her in a safe place, to keep her out of harm’s way.

She also sleeps a lot more now. Not that it’s easy to notice when a cat is sleeping more, but she does, and more heavily, too. She’s got a new favorite sun spot, and spends most of the day basking there. She often rolls over on her side, with one or more paws up in the air. Of course, it’s impossible to resist taking a picture when that happens.

And, yes, her fur is just as soft and silky as it looks.