What's happening? Part 3

[jingle]

You've got your hands full! And you can handle it - amazing.

[agate]

Chris, that is so sad about the abandoned pets. I've heard that people do abandon their pets quite heartlessly and can't imagine how they could be so cruel. There just aren't enough people who are willing to take care of a pet, and that is so sad that many animals who might have been pets have miserable lives.

You sometimes wonder about the people who have 40 or 50 cats too. On the one hand it's great that they're willing to take care of so many cats but then you wonder how well any one person could take care of that many cats but apparently some actually do a good job of it. It does occupy a good bit of their time, and some people I've known who have done that have had special accounts with their vets because they're such good customers. The vets are willing to make special arrangements for them--maybe give them discounts?

[houghchrst]

Funny you should say that Agate, lol, I currently got involved in a situation involving a colony of what started out as about 50 colony cats, my friend asked a group of us if anyone could help get her info out to try to get help for the other about 25 as the rescuer is a teacher and school was starting back up and she had her own rescuing to continue. So I says 'sure', figured on putting out the word for her and the other ladies would help find help. Now mind you this woman lives nowhere near me. She is about an hour and a half from me. She originally told me all the cats were at least two. No youngsters because the coyotes get them. She is very rural. I managed to find a rescuer who is willing to go in, trap them, I managed to get vet backing, and then she is to hold them for recovery until they can go to a barn. They can no longer be cared for at their current location.

So trapper gets the location and we figure out she can do six at a time, which initially works out very well. Until she gets the first cat. Cat is about 20 yrs old and this woman walked past it every day giving it a friendly pat and some food while the cat begged to get inside. She is not feral. She is a friendly cat that was probably abandoned by whoever lived there first. We are heartbroken. Most of these cats are elderly, they are infested and thin, and unhealthy. Of this first batch all have lice which takes about three weeks to treat before they can even be fully vetted. Unfortunately, some are still young enough to get pregnant and kitten season is coming up. There will probably be some unknown aborting, sadly it happens with new pregnancies, and some rescues do it as a rule, my rescuer though has neonate experience, her specialty, so she will not abort if there is a chance of viability. She cannot trap more until barn homes are found. So this is going to be a very slow process and we are praying that the rest do not have lice also. That old girl is now living her best life possible for however many days she has left.

I have been rescuing remotely if that is possible. It is only the first colony I got involved with. I got up too early with Covid fog and at about 7:30 in the morning agreed to help a lady with about 20 indoor, colony cats she has rescued. All but about 10 need to go to new homes. THank God I found a rescue I work with occasionally that might be able to help her. We will see. She sounds like a walking disaster. Very nice, grateful, cares about the cats. Things are bad and I can do little without transportation.

My van, ugh, it is still down, I have no idea when I will have the money to even get it looked at. I will be paying off a christmas/birthday loan until April or May.

[agate]

These are really heroic efforts. I've seen news stories about how some people track down feral cats in the "trap/neuter/release" program, and they really work hard at it.

The coyotes get the little ones? I've heard that any cat without a home has a life expectancy of exactly one year. That's how often they meet with a sad end if they're out there on their own. What with cars and toxic substances and coyotes and other predators, cats don't stand much of a chance.

I'd be likely to turn into a cat lady myself if I had more resources and mobility. My grandmother was known for climbing up on rooftops to rescue cats, and so maybe it runs in the family.

[houghchrst]

Killing some time this morning. Went to bed too early, woke fully too early, 3:45 is not a good time to get up. It's about 5:30 now and I have perused a bit of FB.

Honestly, this Dyskinesia has got me going crazy. Literally makes me crazy feeling in my head if I think about it. I feel like it is ruining my life at this point. It has begun interfering with my sleep and it is not supposed to. Ever since I got Covid it seems to be worse. The stuffy head doesn't help because then I turn into a mouth breather and that makes things worse because my mouth gets dry so my tongue is constantly moving trying to spread moisture. one side of my tongue is sore and raw feeling from rubbing on my molars. My neuro wants testing, I got Covid, now I am scheduled for a Covid retest so I can get these tests taken care of. Brain MRI and an EEG. then we decide where to go from there. I am going to call my neuro this morning and see about putting me on a TD med. I didn't even know there were any actual meds to treat it. I saw a commercial the other day for the first time about a TD medication. Almost like it was meant to be. I have to actually concentrate on my tongue to make it rest, then I feel like it is a tensed muscle because I am trying not to move it. crazy-making.

I called my primary to see if I should retest for Covid because I still don't feel recovered. I am exhausted, still having trouble with my breathing, head still mildly stuffed up. It has been 4 weeks since we started getting sick. Jared is fully recovered except for his ear. I think he still has fluid. I feel worn out all the time now. I really don't know if it is after effects of Covid or something else.

Been trying to deal with my own stuff and my son is going through it right now and I have been trying to be a voice of reason and comfort and I can't take care of myself. His girl abruptly stopped speaking to him so they are no longer an item. He fought hard for her, for two years, defended her wishy-washy ways, making excuses for her behavior. She would never fully commit, never could be seen together due to drama on her side of the relationship and her friends and family. She would get overwhelmed then not speak to him for a week. He wouldn't find out why until she decided to contact him again. Way too many games for grown folks. They are both in their mid to late 20s. Brandon is almost 30. Wow weird to say. He is struggling so badly. he needs to find a place to live, he is on yet another job. For two years he has gone from job to job. His grandmother is still in rehab at the nursing home and she most likely isn't coming home. The nursing home is suing her for the time her insurance wouldn't cover so she has to liquidate everything. She will get nothing for the house. She put another mortgage on it when she realized she was going to have to help one of her sons financially due to his health. He passed anyway, suddenly, and now she has no assets. She use to have quite a portfolio and was set up for life, she wanted to retire somewhere hot. Arizona or Nevada she always spoke of. If her sons hadn't have started dying she may have been able to retire somewhere nice. They both pretty much drank themselves to death. All that is left is the oldest and the youngest. Both are useless.

[jingle]

I'm so very sorry you're having such a difficult time and feeling so bad.
When I was recovering from Covid I had that Monoclona Antibody Infusion ... some sort of stuff administered as an IV.
I read a lot about it making people with Covid feeling very much better, then read that it was useless.
I pray that you and Jared recover quickly.

[clouds z]

im 67 unvaxxed and life could be worse

no doctor near me now,i guess

[clouds z]

Only registered and activated users can see links., Click Here To Register... many i talk to are like sgt Shultz they know nothing

Evidence grows stronger for Covid vaccine link to heart issue, CDC says

The condition, called myocarditis, is usually mild, but a handful of patients remain hospitalized.

NBC NEWS -OF COURSE THEY WILL DOWNPLAY THIS

[agate]

Well, the medical experts seem to be keeping a close eye on the risk of this adverse event. When they keep saying that it's rare, I tend to believe them. Most vaccines and most drugs have a boatload of possible adverse events, but they're often very rare.

In this article the authors conclude:

Whilst myocarditis can be life-threatening, most vaccine-associated myocarditis events have been mild and self-limiting^{Only registered and activated users can see links., Click Here To Register...}. The risk observed here is small and confined to the 7-day period following vaccination, whereas the lifetime risk of morbidity and mortality following SARS-CoV-2 infection is substantial. Indeed, myocardial injury is very common in persons admitted to hospital with SARS-CoV-2 infection^{Only registered and activated users can see links., Click Here To Register...}, when evaluated systematically using high-sensitivity cardiac troponin tests^{Only registered and activated users can see links., Click Here To Register...}

--from Nature Medicine (December 14, 2021):

Only registered and activated users can see links., Click Here To Register...

[jingle]

IT"S MARCH!! FEBRUARY IS FINISHED! I am so glad to see February gone. March can bring its windy days and steady rain, but the snow and ice are probably gone.

[agate]

Don't count on it, jingle. I'm really superstitious about this kind of thing. If you say how happy you are because you're sure there won't be any more snow this winter, there's sure to be a huge snowfall in April or May. It's as if you can tempt fate by congratulating yourself on your good luck, and Fate has to prove you wrong. It's one of those jinx things. Best to knock on wood or something after you think those optimistic thoughts.

But the trees around here are leafing out and some of the flowering trees are starting to bloom. I haven't seen the first robin yet but I just know that the robins are on their way.

[jingle]

Right now it's 75* Seventy Five degrees!! Our trees haven't noticed the temperature yet. I think we have a long wait before we see any leaves. We do have robins - we have them all winter. Once in a while they even come in a eat a bit of the food I have out for birds. I have lots of meal worms for the precious blue birds. Maybe that's what attracts a robin. The meal worms sure attract the mockingbirds. I love those aggressive birds.

[agate]

I recall bluejays being aggressive birds and hogging the food so that the other birds didn't get any. They would chase the littler birds away,

[jingle]

Blue Jays are aggressive, pushy and they hog the food, but - big but - I love them. They are so gorgeous, so strong and around here they are rare so I'm always happy to see them. The mockingbirds are pushy hogs too, but I love them. And I love a titmouse. The purple finches are great. Maybe the chickadees are my favorite? I do love birds!

[agate]

On Friday I had quite a van ride through an area that included a large park with a golf course. I was enjoying watching the trees and greenery whizzing by when all of a sudden I did a double take. There were several perfectly magnificent looking birds just standing on a patch of grass. They were such a striking sight that I looked them up online when I got home.

They were Canada geese, which I think are as common as an old shoe, but seeing them there, just assembled and standing around, was an unexpected bit of color in my life.