Author: miri

A Miri update: The treatments aren’t really working for the long term, but they are making her feel a bit better. The vet is going to release her back to me tomorrow afternoon. I’ll spend Friday and the weekend spoiling her rotten. Then, Monday, she’ll be put to sleep.

So, I’m laying here in bed with my laptop in place of Miri (yeah, not a good substitute) and I thought: if one of my last memories of Miri ends up being peed upon by her, that would, in a strange way, bring our time together full circle. The first night I brought her home, she was rather ticked off at having been separated from her family (yes, I’m anthropomorphizing – deal with it). When I went to bed, she clawed her way up on to the bed (she couldn’t quite make it in one jump), hopped up on top of me, hissed and then peed on me.

Of course, I could be totally overreacting and she’ll be much better in the morning…

I took my cat Miri to the vet today. She hasn’t been acting like she’s been feeling well – loosing weight and moving slow. I didn’t know if that was just her age (she’s 16) or if she was ill, so I took her in just to be safe. I was more than a bit disturbed at how little of a fight she made about going into the cat carrier. Getting her in there is often very difficult.

The vet took a look at her and wanted to do some tests. He said she was very dehydrated. He took a urine sample and left to run some tests. Miri started trying to jump off the table. While she’s never happy to be on the table at the vet, she’s never done that before. I pick her up to try and comfort her – that’s when a warm feeling down my front let me know why she was trying to get down. Yep, the vet’s poking around had made it really imperative that she pee.

The vet returns (with towels, bless him) and said he wanted to keep her for some blood work. Her urine didn’t show high glucose levels (which was good), but it also didn’t show a lot of anything else. He was worried that it seemed to be basically water. I gave her a hug and walked out.

I called back around noon and asked for an update. The assistant said I’d have to wait for the vet to get back from lunch. He called later while I was heading to a branch office to take some employee photos. The news left me sitting in the parking lot bawling my eyes out. He said her kidneys have failed and that, most probably, she’s beyond help. He said they could try hydrating her to see if that would help – that sometimes that “brings them back” for a few days or even a few months or longer. In my head, I knew I should probably say no, but my heart won. So, right now, Miri’s at the vet’s office on an IV. I’ve perhaps put off the inevitable a few days, maybe just one. She’s alone and scared in a strange place; I’m alone and feeling guilty at home.

This is most spiffy. I’m really surprised at the quality of the image.

I can’t quite decide if I like my new haircut or if it just makes me look like a somewhat dimwitted 3 year old. It looks great wet…dry…it looks like a large triangle with bangs is sitting on my head.

Meet the new year, same as the old year…

My friend Jess and I drove to Houston this past Saturday to go to a cool art exhibit (The Heroic Century: The Museum of Modern Art Masterpieces, 200 Paintings and Sculptures) at the Museum of Fine Art. After enjoying the exhibit as well as a few others in the museum. We were driving around Houston trying to find something cool and not get lost. Did we have a map? Nope. Was it night? Yes. Okay, so a map might have been smart. We kept seeing some lighted tents and a large Christmas tree, but couldn’t figure out how to get over to them. After accidentally going into the employee entrance of the Houston Zoo, we were given directions to the “Holiday Festival of Lights” by a very nice zoo employee.

We park and walk towards the lights…Jess spots a place to rent paddleboats. To help make the boats a sure-fire holiday hit, lights have been strung on them. One can rent a paddleboat and paddle around on this pond and see the lights. Jess wants to do it. I’m not so sure. She talks me into it. I’m still not so sure. I picture my fat ass stepping onto the boat, the boat flipping and myself and my bag (complete with camera, iPod and cell phone) going into the pond. Luckily, that didn’t happen (although, I did almost fall off the dock while walking away from the boat – go figure). We paddled. We played chicken with local waterfowl. We giggled as Jess tried to steer to boat back to the dock.

This is hilarious – watch the video. Is it some sort of odd marketing ploy by Travelocity?

On the other hand, this pisses me off to no end. I love my iPod, but it’s absurd that Apple expects me to happily replace it after such a short time – especially considering its price. Hmmm…maybe they’ve learned too many lessons from Mr. Gates and Co.’

I really like this site – it shows the power of css. I’ve been thinking of submitting a design for ages. Please note, this has never progressed beyond the “thinking” stage. The designs on that site are so far above my skillset, the whole idea is intimidating.