Poverty Is Not an Accident

Poverty Is Not an Accident
Nelson Mandela

Saturday, April 03, 2004

pets

You are reading http://livinginthehood.blogspot.com

A nice thing happened yesterday. Someone at the station bought pet food for Porkchop and the cats.

I won't say who it was. I don't want that person pestered for favors, or thought a sucker or something.

But I was approached in the hallway and asked a series of questions about how I procure pet food, what types my animals eat, etc.

This person then drove to Smith's and bought two large bags of really good dog food, a large and a small bag of cat food, and a box of dog "bones."

This person also gave me a ride home from the station.

I'd gotten a ride there from someone else. I was just too weak to change my tire yesterday.

Imagine my surprise when the person opened the car trunk and I saw all that pet food!

It more than filled two waste baskets (that's how I store my pet food).

I rolled down one half bag of dog food on the floor for Porky; there wasn't room in the waste basket. I put it on the floor, so he could eat right out of the bag.

It's raining out; it rained all night. The cats have cabin fever from staying in the house.

I heard a lot of playing during the night.

I got up this morning and went to make a cup of tea.

The path to the kitchen is littered with dog kibble.

The sack the cats stole it from has 3 kinds of kibble in it. But the ones on the floor are all the same.

Either they dug those out to get to the ones they like, or these are the ones they like, but decided they were too hard to eat. So they played with them all night.

I just picked my way around them to make tea and come back out. When Porkchop wakes up, he'll eat them. He hates it when his food is on the floor; it must be eaten first, presumably before anybody else can.

Mugwart is much happier now. I'd bought a bag of cheap stuff and none of the cats liked it. They'd all line up on the table when I came in the kitchen and complain and beg. Mugwart has bad teeth and is the oldest. He needs the most nutrition. So, he's glad to have truly nutritious food again.

I'm in way too much pain.

I got the dishes washed yesterday, although it really hurt to stand at the sink.

I plan to clean out my refrigerator today, to make room for Food Not Bombs left overs. And food stamps come next week, too. I want it fresh and clean. I do this every month, before food stamps come.

It's REALLY raining out. Not a harsh storm, just a gentle, but constant, spring rain.

I've seen sprouts from dropped seeds in the garden. And I planted the flowerbed inside my fence. I also planted some of my home made planters. And I planted the bed outside my front gate.

I'd been worried about watering them. I'd planned to do that this weekend. Now, I don't have to. And, when I am ready to work in the empty lot, the soil will be soft and damp. So it worked out just great.

I used a puddle of rain water, collected in the tarp I use to protect the scooter, to water the catnip in the green house, and the sprouts of turnip and 2 types of spinich Stu brought by last week. I have to keep the catnip in the green house, for its own protection; the cats are desperate to get to it. The largest catnip plant is flowering, so I'll have more seed soon.

I found a 4'x1' piece of clear plexiglas in the dumpster next door; it'll go on the back side of the green house. Right now, it's under the eaves of the roof, being rinsed off with rain water.

Every drop of rain that falls from my roof waters flowerbeds.

I have PILES of both clean laundry and clothes I've worn during the fund drive to put away this weekend. So, I have plenty to do while it rains. It's light work and shouldn't hurt me, if I take my time. And I can prepare laundry loads to wash when the weather becomes fair again.

The sky is already starting to clear a bit, so I should have some time to repair my tire.

I'm going to buy a tire patch kit from the bicycle store down the street. I'm also going to buy some "Slime," which self-heals innertubes from small punctures. We have a lot of goat heads, cactus and other, prickly stuff that's hard on innertubes here. I need all the protection I can get! And I'm going to line the back wheel with a strip of old bicycle innertube, to insulate the innertube from punctures.

This happened because I was driving fast, with Porkchop and a case of soup I found in the trash both in the cart. I hit the edge of a curb too hard, too fast, with too much weight and the tube couldn't take it.

I had to drive fast: someone at the University had called security about Porkchop, saying I was being cruel to him. He was lying on his blanket, in the shade, with a plate of leftover volunteer room food and a big bowl of water. That's cruel.

So, I hurridly packed him and his stuff in the trailer and tore home immediately. I didn't even go back upstairs to get my things. I went home as fast as I could, so I could call the person who had agreed to temporarily replace me. He had other work to do, and was expecting me to return in 15 mins.

After the tire popped, I just walked as fast as I could, pushing everything home, so I could call.

I collected my things yesterday.

Yeah, my pets are so abused! Porky rode in the cart, even when I pushed it, the whole way home! I didn't want him dilly dallying when I was in a hurry.

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