The Dino-Aspie Ex-Café (for Those 40+... or feeling creaky)

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[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XrkThaBWa5c[/youtube]

ok. somebody shoot me now?

i just spent six hours standing in the sun scraping molten (and semi-solid) cat s**t out of about 300 cat carriers that have been sitting in the sun drawing flies. i was happy to have THAT job, as the other one would have been pulling the clawing, screaming, furious cats OUT of the cat carriers and bathing the worst of them. i definitely had the better job. but some of those cats had ibs, some had other "issues", including ringworm. i'm already scratching (psychological contagion!). ohmygawd. the really good ones had a pint or two of cat piss mixed in. they had to be done today or the maggots would hatch. there were about a dozen and a half carriers left to do when i had to give up and head for home. it was at least 90F, so i bet there'll be a nice batch of critters wiggling around in the crap by the time i get back there tomorrow.

very few of the staff showed up today (don't blame them a bit) - the manager and head vet tech did, about four of the normal dozen and a half kennel workers came in. so, i got the s**t scraped and the carriers are now stacked next to the building with the big sinks where tomorrow i'll pour disinfectant into and take a scrub brush to the insides of the carriers alongside of whomever shows up. there were two teenage guys who had to do community service time who were sent over to help out, but they ended up barfing in the bushes and left. never changed a diaper, i guess.

SO, anyway, my "just shoot me" is: someone volunteered their warehouse when we had to evac the cats the other night. the woman got some nice press coverage for that. then turned around the next day and was screaming at the staff who came to visit to feed and water the cats that they were inhumane, that the cats were sitting in excrement, that her warehouse stank, and to get the damned cats out. what the hell did she think 350 cats in cat carriers for two days were going to smell like, lilacs???? so they had to bring all the cats back to the shelter. which had been nuked out nicely by yesterday afternoon in time for their arrival. but the kicker.... i just looked at the fire map. they've extended the mandatory evac lines

farther into the city and closer to both my home and the shelter. apparently the harris fire has flared and some hotspots are giving them a lot of trouble. did we hear anything about this on the tv (kid and others were watching for us)? no. not a peep. lots about the president, and lots about the burnt up homes in RB (for whom i feel very sorry). but it's not over and people are bitching that their tv shows aren't on???

the thought of loading those poor cats back into the carriers again (oh, nooooo!) if we have to evac them again... with nowhere to take them... i think i'm gonna cry. i'm just gonna cry.

we'll have to put them in the back of another u-haul truck and drive them around, and then do all those sh***y carriers again. well, hopefully it won't be until after tomorrow morning when we get the carriers rinsed out and dried. a lot of the cats still have to be handwashed right now, but it'll be done in the morning. we had four of 'em die during the evac.

and the media is pretty much ignoring the east county now, since we're just the poor white trash part of the county and don't have kazillion dollar homes like in Rancho Rancho. hard to get updated information when they've got dr. phil back on the tv. and they're moving the last of the refugees out of qualcomm stadium since the chargers have a game this sunday and there'd be too much money to be made that'd be lost if they didn't hold that game.... folks are tired of it and want to go back to days of our lives on tv. but it's still burning out where we are. people on the media are bitching about how come the planes didn't fly earlier, or how come the water isn't back on in ramona. as if it's all over.

fortunately, KOGO radio is still covering the fire and keeping us updated. it's good we haven't unloaded the cars, i guess.

i think i'm gonna cry anyway. the shelter staff, who stayed with the cats instead of taking care of their own stuff, get screamed at and no good press. grandstanders do. and we'll have to reload all those cats and clean it up again... argggggggggghhh!

Last edited by Nan on 29 Oct 2007, 1:45 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I laughed until I cried!

I'm fuzzy headed still and in recovery mode from my trip. Damn health! So I'm not following things clearly in my usual succinct way (smirk)

Sapphix, I saw your thread on trolls. I admired your courage to report such. I clicked on the profile of one you had not named who I suspected and the system had a something or other error. I could get into other threads but any other movement brought up the same error report. And yes, there is bullying on other threads though I have never suffered from it.

Some members have retreated here after being bullied in The Haven of all places.

It seems to be a certain age group, perhaps 18-30. I've read really nasty stuff, and the bringing down of an individual member. I intervened once and was surprised that everyone shut up.

So there is bullying. Some have left because of it.

I also want to defend PP. He is the most open, loyal, loving man you could meet. He is in no way devious: wysiwyg. He is very brave (don't let this go to your head, you old fart). I don't think he is capable of underhand remarks - he's thick in some areas!

Oh Nan, I don't know how you can stand it!

The hidden side of tragedy! I never thought of animal shelters in fires. I've thought of wild animals and pets. The poor cats!

Tme to walk the dogs again. Lucky dogs! No smoke here

No. We need you. The cats need you. Sorry.

Seriously, thanks for the feedback. I was wondering what happens with wild or non-domestic animals in the case of such a fire.

Oh Nan! Oh my goodness!

Yes, I suspect you are right. I was a touch sensitive after reading some of the stuff (not here) over the past few days, and had my sword out ready to poke even the hint of nastiness. It might have been unfairly drawn, in this case.

Awww Nan... you're a star to do what you do.

Lupine ( or just Loopie to her friends) lives in a more northernly part of California, but Nan went out to shelter somewhere and as of this post I am answsering ( hello Chuckie Wuckie, I missed you!! !)she has not yet checked in. I am officially worried.

Merle

Speaking of animals, pets and others, I recently found out that the Humane Society has a program called Happy Endings, Adoption Guarantee Program. For a small fee, they will make sure that your pet will go to a good, compatible home, should something happen to you. I'm enrolling my cat. The questionnaire asks things like, was your cat allowed on the bed or not, what's her favorite toy, what kind of food given. My cat was abandoned once already, that's how I got her. I would hate to have it happen again.

yeah, right

ok this is what it was:

Thinking Positive Does Little To Help Cancer Survival
Study found no link between depression and mortality

October 22, 2007

Cancer patients with a positive, upbeat outlook are just as likely to die as those who are depressed, according to a new study.

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have found that emotional well-being is not an independent factor affecting the prognosis of patients with head and neck cancers. This study appears in the December 1st issue of CANCER.

“The belief that a patient’s psychological state can impact the course and outcome of their cancer is one that has been prominent among patients and medical professionals, alike,” said James C. Coyne, the lead author of the study. “This belief leads people to seek psychotherapy in the hopes of promoting survival.

"While there can be lots of emotional and social benefits of psychotherapy, patients should not seek such experiences solely on the expectation that they are extending their lives,” he said.

Study participants were enrolled in two Radiation Oncology Group clinical trials and completed a baseline measure of quality of life questionnaire that included an Emotional Well-Being subscale. The outcome measure was overall survival.

The study sample included 1,093 patients, and of this group, 646 died during the length of the study. With the coupling of this large sample and the uniformity of treatment and quality of care that is required in a clinical trial, this is one of the methodologically strongest studies in this area to-date.

The researchers found that emotional status was not a predictor of survival among this population.

Additionally, no effects were observed when the researchers examined interactions between emotional well-being and study protocol, gender, primary cancer site, or stage of cancer. Therefore, the study reports that “this psychologic variable neither affected progression or death directly, nor functioned as a lurking variable.”

“While this study may not end the debate, it does provide the strongest evidence to-date that psychological factors are not independently prognostic in cancer management,” Coyne said.

Nan, You have a huge heart and I still want to be just like you when I grow up.

Can't you just run them all through a car wash??

seriously, I am so damn glad to hear from you, I could just squeeze you like an empty tube of toothpaste in the hands of a nervous guy with a first date in 10 minutes~~

Merle

Cheeze Louizzze, I guess I snowed you pretty good, Nannarob. Stop that now!! You'll go and melt my black heart. If I start believing what you said, my disciples will turn on me. They eat the living and think the dead are pretty tasty too. The only thing that keeps me safe is a can of Spam(TM). They don't know if it's living or dead.

If you ever want the real truth and I don't suggest it, Merle has heard me go off at something before. Damn microphones are way to far reaching in this house. She's had, and I think Lau did once too, the dubious pleasure of me going ballistic at something. Actually I think they were both on together and were giggling when I got back to the headset. Man, I can't even make people tremble at my mighty wrath when I am serious about it.

People are suppose to cower and tremble when I walk by. It's rule 6, page 1056, paragraph 6, line 4, footnote 3, see fine print, sub clause 2. I know, I wrote the rule book myself. It took a very very very very long time to write and I'm not exactly to right after doing it. Attention to detail will do that to you. It wouldn't have taken as long as it did, but I kept running out of mad duck blood. Takes a while to go piss off a few. They're faster then you might think, too. You have to get the Mad Duck Tape(TM) put down just right, so they run over it. Now you'll have to excuse me, I have a strange taste for eucalyptus leaves. *saunters off, whistling Waltzing Matilda*