Insurance Claim

Extent of Injuries: Sprained ankle, numerous cuts and contusions.

Cause of Injuries: Fall from step ladder.

Circumstances of injuries: The unusually nice weather encouraged me to clean the leaves from the gutters on the garage. This hadn’t been done in several years so there was a large accumulation of dead leaves and rotted mulch in addition to the fresh leaves from this year. As a result it was necessary to climb the ladder and use a hand trowel to dig the muck out of the gutter. […]

Change is Good

A boss once told me that “change is good!”. I told her that was only true when things were sucking to begin with – and I was happy with the way things were. Too bad! I really liked that job.

Well, nothing lasts forever – a much better way to express it – and things are starting to change here on the compound. Changes coming so fast I haven’t had much time lately to write.

To start with Snowball’s knees are getting worse. She’s doing the best she can with water exercise class and the like but stairs are becoming a real problem. And since her fabrication shop, photo studio and wash room are all downstairs at the compound, another solution for the location of her shop was looked for.

Another big change is daughter-of-Snowball has decided to leave the compound and move with her boyfriend to an apartment. This will make half of the duplex available for a new renter – after a lot of refurbishing the pet and other normal wear and tear. But in the long run we should be able to create an actual revenue stream with it.

The pieces began to fall into place when mother-of-Snowball, who lives alone, started getting a little worried about her own well being. She wished that we would find a way to spend more time with her and since she has a one-level ranch style house with no stairs, Snowball decided it would be cool to move her fabrication shop to her mom’s house so she could work there without stairs and watch mom at the same time.

Of course there were some necessary steps to be taken first. Like Snowball, mother-of-Snowball is an avid gardener. However, much to the family’s chagrin, in the colder month’s the entire house mostly the garage and a paneled, shag-carpeted studio is taken over by plants as she works to keep them over the winter. So many plants that there were  years I wanted to contact NASA to see if they could see the grow lights from the ISS. Snowball’s solution was to add on a two hundred forty square foot sun room for the plants so we could make room for human occupation in the garage and studio.

If you’ve ever tried to put an addition on an old house you know the unseen infrastructure issues that crop up; An air conditioning compressor had to be moved and a quarter of the back yard deck had to be torn out. New tile flooring was put in the studio to replace the vintage 1970’s shag that had been in there for years. The electrician we hired to move the main feed and install new lighting had the gall to show up in a brand new truck which I claimed we as good as bought for him.

Things are moving along. Ninety percent of the stuff for the shop is moved waiting to be organized. The footings for the sun room are waiting for a nice day to be poured. So far, whenever anyone has gone ballistic we’ve be able to talk them down. There’s been a few hiccups with the electrical but they are being worked through. Fingers crossed everyone!

Summer Sensibilities

A couple days ago my ape went to the pet store to get food for me and my cell mate Roswell. He has to go to a pet store with an onsite vet because Roswell is overweight and needs special food – sort of Weight Watchers for cats. So sad for him, but anyway I digress.

After my ape returned he told me the tale of watching customers bringing their pets, mostly dogs, into the store with them. Now this is a very Good Thing. It helps the bond between animal and ape.  But there is something that bothered us both as he told me this story. When people drag their animals with them they need to consider among other things that the animals are barefoot!!

This is a shady spot on the porch. The concrete is always cool.
This is a shady spot on the porch. The concrete here is always cool.

While standing in the check out line, my ape watched two dog owners standing outside in front of the store and talking while holding their dog’s leash. It was a hot day and the concrete was sizzling. The dogs were literally dancing trying to keep their paws cool. One dog was even trying to stand in the shadow of his master’s friend but kept being pulled back because his actions were misinterpreted as an annoyance to other ape. The spectacle was over by the time my ape was leaving the store or he probably would have said something to the inconsiderate owners.AnimalsMatterScarf500x500

There are always plenty of warnings in the summer about remembering to not leave animals or even children in hot cars. There was an actual incident a week ago at a grocery store near our compound where animals trapped in a hot car were released by heroic passersby. But remember to be considerate to all of the conditions you inflict on to your animals. Not just hot cars but any man-made environment, like hot concrete, can be harmful to an animal if left there too long. And always provide fresh water.