M minus One

Check-up at big city hospital today.

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sigh I’ll get back to that in a moment. I was just now interrupted, and figured I ought to tell the story while it’s fresh in my mind. I’m sitting here at my desk, surrounded by cats who think it’s dinnertime. It is not dinnertime. It won’t be dinnertime for hours yet. The cats are of the opinion, however, that in Ittoqqortoormiit, Greenland it’s dinner time, so why not eat on Greenland Daylight Savings Time?

Cats. They’re either smarter or dumber than they look. You decide.

So I’m typing away, attempting to ignore the stares and occasional whimpers coming from floor level. As I try to concentrate on what I want to say, I notice a rustling coming from somewhere. I turn around, because I have a few plastic bags on the floor behind me. O’Beast and Cattitude are quietly waiting in the sunspot. The bags are unmolested.

The rustling continues.

I look out the window. Nothing of note is happening out on the parking lot. I really didn’t think there would be anything happening. The rustling sounds too close. I go back to typing. A wheat seed hits the back of my hand. I look up.

The little grey idiot is in my decorative wheat. I know she’s in the wheat. She knows that I know she’s in the wheat. I know that she knows that I know that she’s in the wheat. She doesn’t know that I know that she’s in deep shit. I know that she doesn’t know that she’s in deep shit. I grab my camera.

The idiot doesn’t budge from her self-appointed rounds. I won’t feed her? OK, then she’ll feed herself.

I’m dumbfounded that she’s brazen enough to sit there and graze while I take pictures. The other two cats have long since cleared out of the room; they knew what was coming and didn’t want any parts of it. I finally give up hope that she’ll realize she’s in danger of death, and reach up to smack her on the haunches. I don’t get a very good whack in because she is so high up, but she gets the message and jumps down to the bookcase next to my computer desk.

There she discovers my pony tail palm. My thirty-year-old pony tail palm that I’ve had since it was just a sproutling and I was still in high school. She figures it’s aged enough. She starts to graze.

It’s difficult to actually see what she’s up to in this picture, because she’s also using the plant as cover, attempting to block any further retribution that might be coming from my direction. Make no mistake though – she is eating my pony tail palm. This time there’s less patience on my part – I take one picture and then advance toward her sorry butt.

She immediately launches herself to earth and rips out of the room. She’s had her appetizers, so she’d best not have the audacity to demand the entrée for a good, long time.

Anyone want some ornamental wheat? I give up.

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OK, where was I? I had a check-up at Big City Hospital today. Everything looks good except my creatinine is a little high. Normal is 1.2, and mine is at 1.4. That’s just a little elevated, and nothing really to be concerned about in and of itself. The immunosuppresant I’m on, tacrolimus (Prograf) is hard on the kidneys, and the heart med I’m on, Verapamil, tends to increase the level of tacrolimus in my blood. The docs will be keeping a close eye on it, and I may get notification later this week to decrease my Prograf doses. That will be a wait and see thing. I rather anticipate that my primary doctor is going to want to decrease my coumadin level as well; my arm insisted on having a good, long bleed after they took blood from me today. Looks like I’m going to get one heck of a sweet bruise at the needle site as well.

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I got a call from the woman who is organizing the transplant conference I’m attending this weekend. Their web sit messed up, and lost most of the information on the guest I’m bringing with me this weekend. I gave her the information required on Younger Sister; now I can only hope that she can actually go. She called yesterday to let me know she’s on the downside of a cold, and didn’t know if she should go or not. We agreed that Thursday she’ll call her doctor, bring him up to date on her symptoms, and let him decide if she should go or not.

The Socialist indicated to me over the weekend that the Harrisburg conference might have been easier for him than the Philly conference in November will be. Since I’m driving to Harrisburg the night before and staying over, he wouldn’t have to get up as early. This is what I told him when I asked if he wanted to go to Harrisburg. I gave him first dibs, before I asked either of the sisters or Dr. Twenty Cats (who I still haven’t heard from). At that time he complained then it was too early, and didn’t want to go.

If my sister does have to cancel, and if The Socialist still wants to go, I wonder if I can switch the workshops I signed my guest up for. Younger Sister wanted to go to workshops related to her work in personnel, and she and I aren’t even taking one workshop together. I know The Socialist will want to take that same things I’m taking.

*sigh* Why does everything have to be so complicated?

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Heh. The little grey cretin has crept back into my computer room. She apparently brought a toy fuzzy mouse to appease me, but when I didn’t notice her, fell asleep with the mouse beside her. It’s nearly enough to inspire me to forgive.

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11 Comments

  1. KFH is just too cute! My kitten has been VERY affectionate lately. I find her warm, fluid-like kitten form very comforting while I am lying in bed willing myself to go to sleep. If only she didn’t have to be as close to my side as a coat of paint. Come to think of it, the *affection* probably has a whole lot more to do with the cool night temperatures than actual affection.

    ~Cali

  2. I have the same problem with my little cat Minnie. She is terrible about eating my plants! It’s so aggravating! Of course she’s so damn cute I forgive her pretty quick too. 😉 Hope you get a lot out of the conference and that SOMEBODY goes with you! 😛

  3. Do I see a little dried up tear of remorse in the corner of that sleeping kitty’s eye?

    My kitty always BARFS whenever she eats houseplants…so COUNT YOUR BLESSINGS, name them one by ooooooooooooone. 😉

  4. I’m going to be an awful spoilsport…

    Those Selkie pics are seriously cute, but I’d worry about the wheat, or rather about its effect on KfH.

    1. Some sorts of grain grasses have sharp bits over the ears than can get embedded in the cat’s ears (different ears, you understand).

    2. I’ve read of a cat’s getting peritonitis after ingesting a small piece of a dried flower arrangement. The wheat might not be hard enough for that, but you never know…

    She’s just the sort of cat to cause the maximum amount of trouble 🙂

    We have a pony tail palm in the subtropical garden. We’ve had it about a year, and it’s still small, but not as tiny as that cute little one!

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