Sunday, December 18, 2016

Christmas Letter 2016



           Yes, it’s that time again. Can you believe Christmas is only a week away? Or as my cats would say Catmas is less than a week away and you better get us good stuff. All Simba wants is to play with Oreo. All Oreo wants to for Simba to go out with the trash. But she’s a vampire cat, so what do you expect?
            My January began with promise. When we last spoke, I had only one cat, Oreo, whom I had adopted at the age of 9 (her, not me) on the first of October because I missed having a cat around, after Ming passed away in September. A friend had been trying to rehome Oreo because she was afraid of dogs and my friend rescues dogs. So Oreo came to live with me. She’s what most people who don’t like cats think ALL cats are like: standoffish, biting scratching machines. Turns out that Oreo just has anxiety issues. We have more in common than I’d like! But the fun part is trying to get her to take her medication. Because she has arthritis in her back (told ya we had too much in common!) I put Cosequin in her food. Because she knows I put medicine in her food, she will eat a little of it, then wait until Simba is done with his food and eat his before going back to eat hers. Even when I don’t put anything in it, she does this. I’ve even put the medication in his food and she’s eaten it. Thing is, when he eats her anti anxiety meds, he bounces off the walls. He’s already an energetic kitty.
 
            I got Simba from a cat rescue group out of San Francisco called Give Me Shelter Cat Rescue. Cats that are adoptable but are looking at being euthanized because of their age (everyone wants kittens) are given to Give Me Shelter to rehome. After they are deemed adoptable and given a clean bill of health, Give Me Shelter has 3 days to find a home for them or they may be killed. I was looking for a lap cat and my experience with neutered males has been that they are blobs. There was a male tabby named Jake that I was looking at getting, but he went to another home. Then Simba came up for adoption. He’s a handsome boy who was 7 years old. He was chipped, that’s how they knew his name. He was left inside a zipped canvas bag and thrown into a parking lot in San Francisco. I can’t believe the cruelty of some people. Hope Krampus visits those people this Christmas. I drove down to San Francisco and adopted him from the PetCo in the Mission District, where Give Me Shelter holds adoption fairs every week. Because I’m on a limited income, they waived the $100 fee. So if you want to give me something for Christmas, send whatever money you would spend on me to http://www.givemesheltersf.org/ in my name. They do great work and it’s all volunteer.
 
            Since I couldn’t rename the cats, they both got new middle names. Since she looks like the cartoon cat Sylvester, that’s Oreo’s middle name. And because I swear he embodies the spirit of the Egyptian Cat goddess Bastet, that’s his middle name. I know, gender and all, but no biggie. They’re both fixed. They don’t know what gender they are. They just know they have a momma who loves them.
            As far as health, the UTI’s continued with ferocity. Although I enrolled in a weight loss class in April, I was unable to make most of the classes because I just couldn’t shake the UTI. I’m scheduled to see a urologist at the end of the month to see if there is a bodily reason why I keep getting them. I asked the person who ran the classes if I could just come to the classes I missed as I paid $200 for the classes, but she said I had to pay another $200 and begin again. Don’tcha just love HMO’s?
            I petsat for my friend in March and made enough money to purchase an adult tricycle. But I was only able to ride it a few times before it was stolen. I called the company that made the lock and told them they were going to replace the lock with their top of the line model. And what do you know, they did! I sent the pieces of the cable lock that the thieves left and they sent me a U-lock. Friends rallied around and I came up with enough money by my birthday at the end of April to purchase another trike, now with the U-Lock on it. It has a quick release seat, so that’s inside the apartment as it’s tough to ride without one. I plan on riding it more in the New Year, when I’m not sick with a UTI or a cold as I have now.
            I lost my driving privileges with the beginning of May. Turns out I missed a court date for a fix it ticket back in 2014. It was for expired registration. I had paid all of the fees, but didn’t have an extra $300 laying around to get the check engine light to go out so it would pass smog. For those of you who don’t live in Eco Freak California, we have to have our cars pass a smog test every 2 years to make certain our air is cleaner than it has ever been. I’m surprised they don’t make us all go around with pure oxygen around our necks. Anyway, I was given a ticket, but because I had just moved and the local post office has its head so far up its ass it’s coming out its head, they never delivered the summons court date. I had registered my car two times during that time and nothing was said. Not until I got the notice to renew my driver’s license. I’m now part of a class action lawsuit against Solano County Superior Court for giving fix it tickets to poor people and taking away their driver’s licenses if they can’t afford to comply. They target people with older cars, knowing we don’t have the money to fight them. I never thought I’d be working with the ACLU, but thank God they are there. It shouldn’t be illegal to be poor.
            I was able to do some community service hours helping Heather House Homeless Shelter raise some much needed funds. I will continue to help them. Because I’ve been there, done that, and know it’s tough. I finally got my driver’s license in the mail 4 days ago.
            In addition to being sick most of the year, my next door neighbor Chris, who I used to give my recycling to and he would keep the carport clean, decided to start using meth again. And decided that no one was going to sleep past 4am in the summer as he collected bottles from the local businesses and banged them under my window. In September, I had finally had enough of it and called police on him. Then he began threatening to kill me and called me fat names every time I would leave my apartment. I would say nothing to him, and he would come out of his apartment and start yelling at me, saying things like he’s going to kill me but have to find a piano box to bury me in because I’m so fat. Gee, I though Middle School ended in the 1970’s for me. I called police and they said they could do nothing that it was a problem between me, Chris and the property manager. So every time Chris did this, I texted the property manager. I also alerted housing, since he’s on Section 8 housing as well. They said there was nothing they could do. Then Chris began blaring his stereo, turning up a woofer a friend bought him, knowing it bothers me. He knows this because when he was human, I would walk over to his place and ask him to turn it down. He apologized and said it’s hard to tell with the woofer. I told him since he lives in an apartment, he doesn’t need a woofer. I was literally losing my mind. I complained on Facebook and got some great advice, to get a restraining order, which I am pursuing. I go to the hearing tomorrow and I pray the judge grants it. Even though he is supposed to be gone by the end of February – the property manager finally got off his ass and refused to renew Chris’ lease – I plan on finding a new place this year and don’t want to ever see his face again. Meth is bad. People who take it are worse.
            That’s where my life is a week before Catmas. I’m petsitting again and am getting my laundry done as well. My goals for this year are to find a better place to live, and get healthy. I hope your New Year brings you everything your heart desires.