Trip to NYC

I don't often find myself in New York City, and a work gathering gave me the opportunity to visit Manhattan. I have visited tons of US cities, and I do have to admit, NYC is different.

First, there are people. Many, many people at all hours of the day or night. The sidewalks are busy at all times (although they were not as full as is hyped on television) The streets are a sea of yellow cabs. For a scant five minutes I was alone by myself, when my colleagues decided to go out for a few more hours, and I decided to head back to the hotel.

In Philadelphia, hailing a cab takes a minute or two. In NYC, I headed to an intersection, stuck out my hand, and in ten seconds a cab had swerved to connect with me. I had two insane cab experiences, where I simply could not look out the window at how close the cab cut it when zipping between vehicles. I had one ride that was sane enough that I could enjoy the view.

I experienced Uber for the first time. Nice cars, nice drivers, and no floundering around at the end of the drive paying the driver. The app tells you when they will arrive (usually a scant few minutes), and with an account (colleague accounts, not mine) payment is already arranged. The Uber rides were all sane rides.

My ex would have enjoyed the firehouse across from a restaurant where we ate. They had numerous calls while we were there, and watching them BACK the truck in on the narrow street into an even more narrow firehouse was a joy. Amazing.

In case you ever wondered, NYC dog walkers are in fact exactly like what you see on television, minus a few dogs (in this case):

So that, in a nutshell, was my visit to Manhattan.

As always, I was still happy to get home to my stringlight lit porch, kittens, home brewed coffee and a pot of homemade chili.

Fluffy was sick, but is better again

Fluffy gave me a big scare a week or so ago. He was very lethargic, lost some weight, was making a choking noise (but not frequently enough to indicate an actual obstruction), and was hanging out away from me and all of the other cats. Because he's a senior, I figured it was better to be safe rather than sorry, and hauled him off to the veterinarian after only a day and a half of signs of illness. Dr. Christine Armao felt it was an allergic upper respiratory infection, their first of the season. Fluffy got some fluids and a steroid shot and within 12 hours was feeling much better. They sent me home with an antibiotic "just in case" since the weekend was arriving, but he did not seem to need it.

Long live the king!

Valentina decide to come up limping badly in the cat facility. I figured I'd give her 24 hours. The next day...uh oh...she was holding the front paw up. The leg was not swollen or misshapen, but who knows what's up with out a radiograph? I caged her up for 48 hours and then let her out for an experimental walk. Limp would mean "off to the vet." No limp would mean "cage rest for a number of weeks." Fate gave us "No Limp." So I let her out to eat wet food with the other cats, and put her back in her cage when I'm done cleaning. Luckily, she walks right back in on her own when I put her dry food inside, so she must not be too upset by the confinement.

Thinking of doing cat rescue? Remember, things like this happen almost monthly. It's not just worming, vaccinations and spay/neuter, and you can't just "wait and see" all the time.

Another lucky side effect of Valentina being caged...she's far more affectionate than her previously very shy self.

It's ALWAYS the prettiest ones who end up with something that puts a "hold" on their adoption. Hopefully, in Valentina's case, this will make her more adoptable, if she becomes more affectionate.

Kittens ready to go next weekend

So many kittens, some friendly, some shy. With at least four who are very friendly, it's time to get them up on Petfinder and have an adoption gathering next weekend.

Blue is female a super cute. While she was a longhair as a small kitten, she is a fuzzy shorthair now, which means she'll probably be fuzzier in he winter, and grow a fuzzy tail. Her coat should be easy to take care of.

Rambler is an extremely friendly, glossy black cat. He's going to be someone's close friend and confidant, and he'll have some handsome black panther looks.

Coraline is hiding, peeved that I cleaned her ears!