Random Thoughts

I thought I was losing my mind yesterday - was discussing how all British and American thoroughbred horses trace back to only three stallions with a friend.  The friend was amazed and wanted to know the names of the horses - I was easily able to say the Byerly Turk (or Barb) and the Godolphin Arabian.  I knew the other horse was also known as an Arabian - but it took me 30 minutes to be able to say "the Darley Arabian."  Since I have had that firmly implanted in my brain since I was at least 8 years old, I decided that my memory was going.
   My sister called me last evening and stated that  her reading glasses case turned up empty.  I knew immediately exactly where they were, so I returned them early this morning.  She had left them on the kitchen counter at Ba and Bob's on Tuesday.  I walked downstairs, saw them, and placed them in my stack of things to bring back to Boulder with me today.  So.   Am I losing my mind/memory, or not?
   Still awaiting news on the apartment - Beatrice and I will have brunch at Turley's and then she'll visit with Cyrano and Pounce while doing her laundry today.  I'm committed to spending time with Rosie while Joel and Nancy go out to a dinner theater production tonight.  I will begin cleaning the apartment this weekend, as I move items out and into the storage unit.
  Have almost finished reading the latest Kathy Reichs' mystery.  Have a new Gideon Crew novel to read by Preston and Child, and then the first three books about Vlad Taltos by Steven Brust - that should give me brain fodder for a few days.   -  My regular medication causes extremely vivid dreams.  I'm still trying to figure out why I dreamed that I walked into my bathroom and saw the tub was full of greyish water with a nasty soap scum on the top, and a giant-sized dead ring-necked pheasant (in full breeding plumage) floating in the end farthest from the taps....   Anyone have any ideas?  It was just weird.
   We've had a lot of rain near Boulder and around Boulder - we haven't had any sluicing downpours, but just scattered showers here and there.  However, Fort Collins, Loveland, and Greeley, to our north, and Denver, Evergreen, and Colorado Springs are having a lot of flooding...  Boulder Creek is running high, but the Cache le Poudre River, Bear Creek, Clear Creek, Cherry Creek, and South Platte River are all overflowing their banks....   Multiple roads and streets are closed in quite a few cities and towns on the eastern side of the Rockies today.  No rain is forecast for this weekend, so maybe we can dry up a bit.
 

Odds and Ends

In looking back at the numbers involved in American Pharoah's win in the Belmont Stakes, someone noted, with surprise, that Pharoah ran the last quarter-mile (or 2 furlongs) faster than Secretariat did back in 1973.  That is impressive!  Also, American Pharoah will be on the cover of Sports Illustrated and Vogue in the near future.
   I had a fantastic time on Tuesday, 9 June.  It was my 59th birthday, and after spending several hours with Lovey and Nedi, and then an hour with Rosie, I spent 10 hours with my sister Kathy.  We had a light lunch, sat and talked, laughed, cried, looked at photos, and made plans for our trip to Chincoteague in July.  Then we picked up Jim (her husband), and had supper at the China Gourmet.  It was an excellent day!
   I'm currently house-sitting two cats, Cyrano and Pounce.  Pounce sings to me all morning and afternoon, wanting to go out.  Cyrano has started letting me sleep one night, and then waking me up every 90 minutes the next.  How does he wake me up?  He kneads my face, with his claws extended.  I have to admit I wake up quickly - and all he wants is to have his head and chin scratched for about a minute.  I might have to start closing the bedroom door.
   I have a storage unit, so I can start moving my belongings there and begin the scrubbing of my apartment.  I've been here for 9 years, plus, and still have the window curtains and shower curtain that "came" with the rental.  The only problem is the buckling ceiling and wall in the bathroom - I've commented on it, and complained about it, and asked for repairs for the past 14 months.  Now there is what I assume is mud (and hope is not sewage) oozing up through the edges of the tiles on the closet floor and the joiners cracks in the bathroom floor linoleum.  Maintenance keeps telling me that it's overflow from the bath tub above me, and they can't fix it...  I don't think anyone else will rent this place with the holes dripping water, sagging plaster, and mold growing above the shower head - on both the ceiling and the wall....
   I've been very worried about Lucy Lou Rox, one of the dogs I care for.  She's fourteen, a Portuguese Water dog, and she stopped putting any weight on one hind leg a couple of months ago.  The owner's regular vet just shrugged and said sciatica was the problem.  I recommended she have Dr Pete Rogers stop by.  He found a growth in her foot, which turned out to be a squamous type of cancer.  Lucy had surgery at Pet Menders (my cats' vet in Boulder) last Friday and is almost completely recovered.  She's bearing weight on that leg and foot, eating well, and is now interested in chasing squirrels again.  One toe and a small part of her foot pad was removed.  Voila!  A new dog!  So happy Doctor Pete found that.
 

I Am Moving

Yes, I am moving out of the apartment that has been "home" for nine years.  The man who owns the building has decided to put everyone on a month-to-month lease, and has major renovation plans in mind.  He's decided that my apartment is the one to start with, so I have 30 days to move out.  He believes that by renovating these 500-square-feet studio apartments, he will be able to charge $1500 per month in rent, and get it.  I'm afraid that I didn't impress him with my reaction - Diet Coke sprayed out of my nose from bottled-up laughter.  This is the lowest-rent apartment complex in the city of Boulder.  The owner has increased the rent to $800 per month; this includes water and sewage, trash pick-up, and electricity.  I pay extra for my television delivery and for the use of my telephone and internet service.  There is no air conditioning, nor is there central heating.  There is a radiator strip that has a length of five feet, and is placed directly under the only window in the apartment and alongside the sliding glass door that opens onto either a balcony or a patio.  Your view is either east or west.  There is a tile floor everywhere, except the linoleum in the full bathroom.  There are three overhead lights in the apartment - the entrance hall, the walk-in closet (which one must walk through to enter the bathroom), and the bathroom.  There are three electrical outlets in the main, open area of the apartment, two outlets in the closet and one in the bathroom.  There is a full-size refrigerator freezer (which takes up the electrical outlet nearest the kitchen area), a three-burner ranger, a non-working oven, and a single sink with a garbage disposal. There are two cabinets above the sink and no drawers at all in the kitchen.   -  Having written that out, I'm glad to be moving.
  The only problem is that I do have a small income.  My friend Beatrice (who lives on the second floor in this building) and I have decided to become roommates.  We are seeking a place that has two bedrooms and two baths, and where I can have both cats with us.  We are looking for any place that we can afford that is within walking distance of the bus service here in Boulder, out in Gunbarrel, Niwot, Lafayette, Louisville, and/or Longmont.  I have friends that will help me make any deposits needed, and who will help me/us move.  The biggest problem is the short time-span I have to find a new place.  I'll be busy on the internet, and on the phone, for the next couple of weeks.  I'll try to keep the same phone number, but that can't be guaranteed....  It's all up in the air.  (Which, actually, is keeping me sick to my stomach...)

Chincoteague Spring Round-Up; House-Sitting, and My Kits

It's partly sunny out,and about 20 degrees. The snow from Wednesday has compacted a bit, but hasn't disappeared in any way - other than from the scraped streets. This morning's weather report says Boulder will get 10 inches of snow, beginning tonight. I'll be at the house with Aiko and Yoshi, and as the house is now publicly listed "For Sale" I have to keep the house immaculate and be ready to whisk the boys away with me whenever a realtor makes a showing appointment. I can always take the boys over to Kathy and Jim's - and, I guess, if it's snowing hard, I can drive them over. The owners are trying to set up staying across the street, with a neighbor, but Nancy works night shift in an ICU, and I don't want to put her out in any way. My apartment complex is also undergoing an inspection by the City of Boulder on the 28th - and the management wants everything to be spic and span for that - which will make things very interesting, as I need to do some more tossing of recyclables at my place, but be available to clear the house of the munchkins for sale showings ...
  If you happen to be in the area of Chincoteague and Assateague Islands (Virginia) on the weekend of April 5, 6 and 7, you can be witness to the Annual Spring Round-Up of the Chincoteague ponies. The Ponies will be rounded up for vet checks. The southern herd will be rounded up on Friday and the Northern herd on Sunday. The Southern herd will be viewable by the public in the Southern Corral, just off the road that takes you to the beach. There will probably be a few new foals to look over, and, if Surfer Dude is still ranging on the south end of the island, the foals will be cute and/or pretty.
  I had to laugh this morning - I had the patio door cracked open, and Lovey and Nedi had been in and out quite a few times, when I heard Lovey make an odd noise. She was sitting on a perch in the cat tree, looking down towards the open door. She finally changed from a burble to a very short, hesitant hiss, and I asked if her brother, Nedi, was stalking her. She didn't pay any attention to me, so I walked around the corner from my desk, and saw that Bob, neighbor's cat, was sitting half-in and half-out, on the door sill. He was just calmly sitting there, staring up at Lovey. So I called Nedi, who came running from ChickenMan's patio; he ran in past Bob, who withdrew, and I closed the door. Lovey watched the door for several minutes before she relaxed.