Working Here, Working There

Heaven in Colorado - three college football games on television; the the Gators and the Gamecocks kick off at 5 and 5:30, so I'll be switching channels like mad for a little while....  The Buffs, here in Boulder, are playing at home, against the University of Massachusetts. I want to watch the game, and I don't want to watch the game.  Twenty-five years ago the CU Buffs were the best team in the nation; now, we're lucky to win three games a season. Oh well, not everyone can be a Gator.
   I've taken care of my kits and done the Saturday house-cleaning.  I've gone to Lynn's house, fed all of her critters,taken in the mail and newspaper, and watered all the exterior plants.  I've gone grocery shopping.  I did laundry yesterday.  My one objective for today is to seek and find the dUSB cable for my camera.  I will accomplish this one task.
   Waiting for client checks to arrive - can't get my meds until the checks are in the bank.  When the MD used to write the prescriptions for one month at a time, I had no problem having the $15 co-pay; now that the meds are being dispensed for a 3 month period, I have to shell out $68 for them...  So, it's a waiting game.  The pharmacy has called twice to tell me the drugs are ready, but I can't pay for them...  I will be able to pay for them tonight, as Beatrice will pay me some of her rent money when she returns home form work.  I just hope the pharmacy is open late tonight.
   I wired my red crab to the outside of our balcony yesterday afternoon.  So far, only Bea and Mike have commented on it.  Nedi is thoroughly enjoying himself, as Beatrice is allowing him out on the balcony while I'm away.  Both kits enjoy sitting on the balcony, especially after being indoor/outdoor cats at the other apartment.  The only worry I have here is high traffic levels and lots of loud, unexpected noises that startle the kits - so they are restricted to our second floor balcony and the interior of the apartment.

Be Safe - Not Stupid

I've lived in the same apartment for 9 full years now.  My neighbors change with great frequency, mainly because we're a college town, and this place is across the street from the University of Colorado campus.  Lewis, who lives three doors down, has rented his place for 15 years, Beatrice (my friend on the second floor) has rented for 5 years, and my current neighbor Rodney has been in his place for 3 years.  But, on the west side of the hallway, most of the tenants change every 3 to 9 months.  I know them mostly by sight.  Benjamin, who spends all of his cash on marijuana, is in 101; two guys share 102, a man in his early 20s and a friend in his mid-30s.  We greet each other, say, "Hi.  How's it going?" - but don't really know each other.
   Boulder Creek has been rising with the past ten days of rain and snow.  The Creek is flowing at 440 cubic feet per second, which is high, but authorities don't close the use of the Creek until the flow rate is 700 cfs or higher.  Chris, the mid-30s man in 102, injured his back last week.  He's a day laborer and couldn't work due to the injury.  He was given pain pills and told to relax and let his injury heal.  Over the weekend, he told his mother, who lives in Connecticut, that the back pain was "excruciating."  Monday afternoon, two days ago, he and and his roommate smoked some marijuana (which is legal, if consumed inside our home) and drank some beer and hard liquor - after Chris had taken his opiate pain pill prescription.  Chris decided to go tubing on Boulder Creek, at the south end of or apartment building.  His friend decided he'd follow along the Boulder Creek Footpath on his skateboard, and not try to ride the water.  Chris jumped into Boulder Creek just east of Folsom Street, which is equivalent to 26th Street.  His friend said that Chris was struggling to get centered in the tube (his backside) and didn't appear to have any control.  The Creek immediately took Chris and the tube downstream, to the east.  Somewhere near 48th Street, Chris appeared to be in trouble, and his friend tried to grab his arm and pull him out of the Creek.  Chris slipped away from him.  His friend called 911 and reported Chris missing in the Creek.
   The Boulder Fire and Rescue teams have been looking for Chris since 6 p.m. on Monday; at 7 p.m. last night, his mother and roommate were informed that the Search and Rescue had been officially changed to a Search and Recover scenario.  This is May in Colorado - with the snow melt-off feeding the creeks and streams, the current water temperature is 40 degrees.  It was sheer stupidity to go into Boulder Creek in a pair of shorts and a T-shirt, in a rubber inner tube, in 40 degree (F) water.  Both of the men should have known better.
   Please, do NOT undertake anything while you are mentally impaired - the mixture of medication, marijuana, and alcohol killed Chris.  It can easily happen to anyone who doesn't think things through.  Please be alert to your surroundings and use common sense - don't try anything that could possibly be life threatening in a impaired condition.
   As of 9:30 a.m. Wednesday, Chris has not been found.  One inner tube was found floating on the Creek, but it's not known if that was the tube Chris used.  He is now missing, assumed dead.

Sam Carter; Pet-Sitting Troubles

I am upset.  Sam Carter, the ex-Boulder policeman who killed the Mapleton neighborhood elk, got off lightly.  He pled "Not Guilty"  to all charges stemming from his murder of a trophy elk that regularly wintered in a small neighborhood in Boulder.  On 1 January 2013, the on-duty policeman approached the elk and shot it in the chest with his service shotgun.  He did not report discharging his weapon within city limits to the police department, and he had previously prepared an "injured wildlife" kill tag.  This past June, after a week-long trial, Carter was convicted on the following charges: (1) attempting to influence a public official, a Class 4 felony; (2) one count of forgery, a Class 5 felony; (3 & 4) two counts of tampering with evidence, both Class 6 felonies; (5) first degree official misconduct; (6) illegal possession of a trophy elk with a Samson Law surcharge; (7) conspiracy to commit illegal possession of wildlife; (8) unlawful taking of a big game animal out of season; and (9) unlawful use of an electronic communication device to unlawfully take wildlife. Yesterday, Sam Carter heard his sentence - four years of probation, 200 hours of community service, 30 days service on a work crew, and a fine of $10,200.00.
  I am upset because this man, hired to protect and defend the residents of the City of Boulder, used his service weapon in a residential neighborhood and lied about it to his superiors, in order to gain a trophy head of a relatively tame animal.  He planned in advance to kill the elk, and to have a friend, also in the police department, to slaughter and mount the elk.  It's disgusting.  I know that Sam Carter would have a tough time in jail or prison due to his previous employment - but he shot and killed a defenseless animal, in a residential neighborhood, for his own pleasure.  He deserves more than a light slap on the wrist by authorities.
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  Taking care of pets/animals/critters/"kids" of other people is sometimes difficult.  At Tessa's, I'm taking care of a dog, two cats, six koi, two hives of honeybees, an organic garden, and multiple flowering plants.  Tessa, the dog, is still suffering from dermatitis - her neck is finally healing, but now she is chewing on her left hind hock and her right flank.  The owner insists that it's a reaction to her rabies vaccination, which was 9 weeks ago.  All I know is that poor Tessa is wearing a blue Elizabethan collar to keep her from eating herself alive.  Tessa gets fed a specific frozen food - Northwest Naturals Chicken Dinner Bar - which is defrosted prior to each meal.  Yesterday morning, when there was no more food in the kitchen freezer, I walked out to the garage freezer and opened the door, expecting to see 3 to 5 cases of frozen dog food.  Other than a couple of bags of frozen berries, the freezer was empty.
   This happened on top of discovering that Lyra, the brown tabby, has a urinary tract infection.  Lyra's owner has moved to New York City, and taken 90% of her possessions; but Lyra was left at home.  Lyra had peed on my bed earlier Thursday morning, and I thought it was a case of pique, because she had been left behind.  Thursday night, she leapt onto the foot of the bed and immediately squatted - I thumped her head with my forefinger, but she had already started to relieve herself.  I grabbed a handful of tissue and mopped it up....  realizing, as I did so, that her urine was the color of raspberry lemonade.  So, as soon as the veterinarian's office opened on Friday morning, I called and made an appointment to take Lyra in.  Once I got her there, of course, they needed a urine sample and I had to leave her.
  So I called the home-owner in New York City, with her daughter, and left a voice message.  "Lyra has a UTI and is at the vet's being evaluated.  There's no food for Tessa in the garage, which was a surprise.  Do you have some on order at PC's Pantry?  Call me and let me know."  I didn't get a return call from her.
  At 4:45, I picked Lyra up from the vet's, full of antibiotics, and with Clavamox pills to administer for the next 7 days.  I was also instructed to stop at The Natural Pet shop and get a bottle of Animals' Apawthecary "Tinkle Tonic", an herbal additive to help clear up Lyra's infection.  I grabbed Lyra, had the owner billed, purchased the Tinkle Tonic, and then stopped at PC's Pantry to see if they had a order from Lynn on hold.  The wonderful ladies at PC's Pantry didn't have anything on order, but they had some extra inventory, so I was able to pick up three cases of food for Tessa and have them bill the owner...
   Thank goodness Boulder is a laid-back town that is totally crazy about their four-footed companions!

Drooling Over Dog Treats

Since I've been without refined sugar and high fructose corn syrup for the past two weeks, I had to laugh at myself this morning. I've, sort of, gotten used to the taste of diet sodas. This morning, before walking Rosie and Remy, I opened their bag of all-natural doggie treats - and was surprised when my mouth started to water. Yep, the smell of dog treats made me slobber... They are Newman's Own, made with beef, vegetables, barley, and molasses. The smell of molasses was so sweet when I opened the bag, I wanted to stuff my entire head inside of it. I didn't. I realized what I was doing, and I laughed; then Sasquatch and Tugger wanted to investigate, but they weren't impressed with the odors.

    After walking the Rs, I went to pick up my meds, as I had taken my last doses on Sunday morning. Since I had called the prescriptions in to the pharmacy for renewal on Friday, I hoped to just waltz in and grab them. No such luck. First, I was told to come back in 15 minutes or so. When I did, I was informed that I had already renewed my Atenelol earlier in the month. I denied it. The pharmacist checked again, and said, I can give you the one drug, but not the other. I told her I had an extra two weeks supply of the drug she was offering, but I needed the Atenelol. I told her that I had last re-filled the drugs at her pharmacy, and I hadn't purchased them elsewhere, and to please check with the insurance company that was denying me needed medicine. I stopped back at the pharmacy 5 hours later, and was handed my meds - my GP had called in the new refills for the Atenelol to a different pharmacy, which had filled the order, and just left it lying on the shelf. Grrrrr...

    Lovey goes to Pet Menders in the morning to have her teeth cleaned, and at least one removed. She hasn't been under anesthesia since I adopted her, almost 7 years ago, and I'm nervous. I keep telling myself to remember how refreshed I always feel after general, but it's not working very well. (And I'm having a great time watching Demarcus Ware repeatedly sack Jay Cutler of the Bears, right now.)

    I shouldn't have laughed when I read the headline, but, as usual, I did. A 70-year-old farmer in Oregon went out to feed his hogs - most of them weigh 700 pounds or more - and didn't return. His family found his dentures and bloody bits of him in the hog pen. It's thought that either (a) the farmer had a medical emergency and couldn't get out of the pen, or (b) one of the larger hogs has been known to bite and attack the farmer in the past, and attacked him that time. I'm certain the medical examiner will come up with something like "death by heart attack", or "death by misadventure." I hope the farmer's death certificate doesn't read "death by hog."

Books and Presription Medicines

Besides taking care of Ooch, my kits, and myself, I've spent a lot of time reading this past week; 10 books in the last 7 days. I read Nevada Barr's Burn, three "Tarot Cards mysteries" by David Skibbins, Alafair Burke's first three novels, The Templar by P.C. Doherty, a book of short stories involving pets edited by Midnight Louie, and the second of the Tay-Bodal mysteries by Mardi Oakley Medawar. I still have six books in my pile to read... After caring for Ooch yesterday morning, I took Rosie and Remy out for an hour's stroll, and then I read to them for an hour; then I went home and let my kits go out and play in the back yard. Nedi and Lovey had a ball, and I was particularly happy when I saw a squirrel hanging on the screen of the patio door, looking in through the opening. I took some nuts out and put them in the wicker chair for it. I'm going to have to check the show schedule for the National Western Stock Show one more time and make a decision about attending. - There's just so much to choose from!
** If you have medication for your pets, please be certain to keep it in an area separate from your own human-type medicines. A friend of mine had an accident at home, went to the Emergency Room, and after waiting for hours, was sent back home with multiple stitches. When my friend arrived home, he realized that he hadn't taken his regular medications. So he took them. Within 30 minutes, he was completely unresponsive to any stimuli. An ambulance took him back to the Emergency Room, still totally insensible. X-rays, CT scans, EEGs and EKGs were not any help. Luckily, my friend suddenly regained consciousness, and was able to tell the MD he had taken his meds. His meds were sitting beside anti-anxiety meds for the dog. He had taken the dog's meds, and not his own. Again, luckily, there were no serious consequences or side-effects for my friend - other than what I'm sure will be huge bills from the hospital - So, please, be a safety conscious consumer - read your pill bottles as you open them, and be certain that you, your child, and your pet are taking the right medicine for what ails you! **