Introducing Betty White

[daftcat75]

Walgreens went smoothly. Once again, I had a fun conversation with the pharmacy tech about Betty White and, I didn't realize this at the time, but the birthday I picked for her turns out to be rather memorable after all. I simply chose Betty White's birthday and back-strapolated the mid-point of her estimated age. The shelter thought she was between 4 and 6 years old. So when I created Betty's account, I gave her birthday as 01-17-17. It's honestly taken me about a year to remember her birthday. But now that I see the 17-17, I don't think I'll forget it again.

Tomorrow is going to be in the 90's again. Wednesday is expected to be in the low 80's. I think I will push tomorrow's run to Wednesday.

Leaving the bubblewrap shade down at 3/4 covering the door seemed to have helped. Not only did it keep the front room cooler, but Betty finished lunch too. Also her poop was of a much more reasonable size this afternoon. I think yesterday's hesitation to eat and remainders was a hairball passing through her.

I have put Betty's PetsPEMF pad underneath her office blowfish. Now when she naps in it and I'm working, I can tap the control box to wake it and use the app to queue up a 30m "Integrated Healing" session. She sleeps right through it. I think she likes it more than the Loop. She seems to be able to perceive the Loop because I can always feel when the Loop finishes because she relaxes like she was holding tension the entire session. I also love that the PetsPEMF pad is rechargeable whereas the Loop has a finite number of uses in its battery before I have to buy another. I know. I know. Lil Bub's owner is a huge fan. But he was a lot more dedicated in the treatment schedule and the Loop wasn't Lil Bub's only treatment protocol. I will stick with the one that Betty seems to either enjoy or not mind as much. I need to make a blackout cone for the laser treatment device I have so that it doesn't look like a rave every time I turn it on. That's the big reason why we don't use that one. That and its treatment area is much smaller than the other two while I have to manually hold it in place. I contacted support about whether I could move it around in slow circles to increase the area and they instead recommended lots of separate treatments with limited movements. So yeah. That's not going to work for a pawrent with ADHD. ("Hey! Donuts!")

 

[tarasgirl06]

Walgreens went smoothly. Once again, I had a fun conversation with the pharmacy tech about Betty White and, I didn't realize this at the time, but the birthday I picked for her turns out to be rather memorable after all. I simply chose Betty White's birthday and back-strapolated the mid-point of her estimated age. The shelter thought she was between 4 and 6 years old. So when I created Betty's account, I gave her birthday as 01-17-17. It's honestly taken me about a year to remember her birthday. But now that I see the 17-17, I don't think I'll forget it again.

Tomorrow is going to be in the 90's again. Wednesday is expected to be in the low 80's. I think I will push tomorrow's run to Wednesday.

Leaving the bubblewrap shade down at 3/4 covering the door seemed to have helped. Not only did it keep the front room cooler, but Betty finished lunch too. Also her poop was of a much more reasonable size this afternoon. I think yesterday's hesitation to eat and remainders was a hairball passing through her.

I have put Betty's PetsPEMF pad underneath her office blowfish. Now when she naps in it and I'm working, I can tap the control box to wake it and use the app to queue up a 30m "Integrated Healing" session. She sleeps right through it. I think she likes it more than the Loop. She seems to be able to perceive the Loop because I can always feel when the Loop finishes because she relaxes like she was holding tension the entire session. I also love that the PetsPEMF pad is rechargeable whereas the Loop has a finite number of uses in its battery before I have to buy another. I know. I know. Lil Bub's owner is a huge fan. But he was a lot more dedicated in the treatment schedule and the Loop wasn't Lil Bub's only treatment protocol. I will stick with the one that Betty seems to either enjoy or not mind as much. I need to make a blackout cone for the laser treatment device I have so that it doesn't look like a rave every time I turn it on. That's the big reason why we don't use that one. That and its treatment area is much smaller than the other two while I have to manually hold it in place. I contacted support about whether I could move it around in slow circles to increase the area and they instead recommended lots of separate treatments with limited movements. So yeah. That's not going to work for a pawrent with ADHD. ("Hey! Donuts!")

Lil BUB was a much different case so it's apples and oranges . If the PetsPEMF pad works for Betty, that's the one I'd use, too (now the mfr just needs to design it like cat toy designers, so it's independently movable AND SAFE doing so.)
Glad the shade works! I don't like it when the house looks like a dungeon, either, but it's better than sweltering. Without the north hedge, I get the glare of the neighbors' white paint reflected into, especially, my office. But I can just close the verticals. Not that I want to, but...
It's forecast to be 88F here today, but so was yesterday, and it topped out at 90F. So we'll see. Mid-80sF for the rest of the 5-day here, but the good thing is that the nights are low 60sF, which are on the high end of comfortable for me. AND, when it's cooler at night, the Fluff tends to come in, like he did last night. He was still on the bed when I served his breakfast, which he snubbed.

 

[daftcat75]

Betty was 4 for 4 yesterday on clean plates despite it being the warmest day of the month (so far.) I'm leaving the shade down at half mast once more today.

Betty once again pooped me out of bed this morning at least 30 minute to an hour before I needed to get up. It was a jumbo stinky that probably had hair in it. Hopefully that cleared the way for another day of clean plates.

 

[tarasgirl06]

Betty was 4 for 4 yesterday on clean plates despite it being the warmest day of the month (so far.) I'm leaving the shade down at half mast once more today.

Betty once again pooped me out of bed this morning at least 30 minute to an hour before I needed to get up. It was a jumbo stinky that probably had hair in it. Hopefully that cleared the way for another day of clean plates.

*Hopefully.*

 

[daftcat75]

Betty was having a paw party this morning. Three in front and one under her chin. “These are my paws. You can’t have any!”

Sorry about the tint. That’s my morning and evening smart lighting.

 

[tarasgirl06]

Betty was having a paw party this morning. Three in front and one under her chin. “These are my paws. You can’t have any!”
View attachment 485371
Sorry about the tint. That’s my morning and evening smart lighting.

...but we WANT some, Betty! Those are too cute not to want!
*Well, no need to apologize. Not everyone has a grey-and-green feline.*

 

[daftcat75]

Betty ran out the clock on lunch yesterday and went from barely a scrape to finished in the last hour before dinner. It appears she's on pace to do the same today. I stepped out at lunch and parked myself at the taproom for the afternoon. The race packet pickup is in the same shopping center as the taproom and the packet pickup time is from 3pm to 6pm. Rather than waste an hour traveling here and back in the afternoon/evening, I took lunch here and I'll pick up my packet in a bit. Ya know, last weekend I was grumbling because my race was Saturday at 8am. This week it's Sunday at 9:15 (10K runners start at 9:00.) I get mostly the normal amount of sleep. But not the normal breakfast routine. Also, it's a Sunday run rather than just getting it out of the way. I don't party on Saturday nights. And I do run on Sunday mornings usually. But I also run on Friday afternoons when I run Sunday mornings. It will probably be just fine. I don't know that I'll top last week's time. That was a bit of a surprise for me. But if I don't injure myself, I have another next weekend. And I found another 5K the weekend after if I'm up for it. So I could run 5 in 5 weeks if my legs and wallet are up for it.

4pm update: She finished. This is why it's good for me to sometimes get out of her hair and let her eat on her own schedule

 

[tarasgirl06]

Betty ran out the clock on lunch yesterday and went from barely a scrape to finished in the last hour before dinner. It appears she's on pace to do the same today. I stepped out at lunch and parked myself at the taproom for the afternoon. The race packet pickup is in the same shopping center as the taproom and the packet pickup time is from 3pm to 6pm. Rather than waste an hour traveling here and back in the afternoon/evening, I took lunch here and I'll pick up my packet in a bit. Ya know, last weekend I was grumbling because my race was Saturday at 8am. This week it's Sunday at 9:15 (10K runners start at 9:00.) I get mostly the normal amount of sleep. But not the normal breakfast routine. Also, it's a Sunday run rather than just getting it out of the way. I don't party on Saturday nights. And I do run on Sunday mornings usually. But I also run on Friday afternoons when I run Sunday mornings. It will probably be just fine. I don't know that I'll top last week's time. That was a bit of a surprise for me. But if I don't injure myself, I have another next weekend. And I found another 5K the weekend after if I'm up for it. So I could run 5 in 5 weeks if my legs and wallet are up for it.

4pm update: She finished. This is why it's good for me to sometimes get out of her hair and let her eat on her own schedule

You won't injure yourself. You just won't.
Good on ya, Betty! Cats are so bizarre. Sometimes they're social eaters and they won't touch a bite if you're not there. Other times? Yeah. *CATS.*
Yeah, that made sense and I hope it was enjoyable.
The kid has been chilling in the "intro room" all day today *and most of yesterday as well*. Yesterday was Second Plumber Day. First Plumber Day was the 24th, when two of them came to assess and price a job for me: snake the master bath sink drain, and price a new toilet. They did the former; the latter was scheduled for yesterday starting at 8. They came, they saw, they removed. And since my house is 1937 built, and the toilet was "older," it turned into a bigger project. Fortunately when I moved here, I had all the underground piping redone, out to the city "Y" -- huge job. But that toilet was not dealt with since ??? and the connecting piping was the original cast iron. SO...it had to be ripped out, enlarged as per current code, and they brought the wrong toilet, NOT the one I asked for. This one did not fit. So after a back-and-forth about that, they got the right one and voila! New, shiny, water-saving, nice toilet.
It's the one on the right, BTW.

 

[daftcat75]

Nice gain: 9.2.

Race day morning: Trying to suck down my coffee with enough time to get my butt moving before I have to get my butt moving.

 

[tarasgirl06]

Nice gain: 9.2.
View attachment 485633View attachment 485634View attachment 485635
Race day morning: Trying to suck down my coffee with enough time to get my butt moving before I have to get my butt moving.

Ms. Betty looks wonderful -- svelte and shiny!

 

[daftcat75]

Betty, ever the character, sat on my head in bed at some point. Nice, Betty. Let’s find another spot for that booty.

This morning was like a usual 33 1/3 rpm Sunday morning record played at 78. Betty got all of about 20 minutes of breakfast time with me before I’m pushing her off for the next stage of race day prep. At least she settled into the office cave rather than hiding like a vet visit.

Race itself ran late just to get us started. I know the “why we’re here” is important to them. But this is their tenth year. They should be better at laying out the schedule and sticking to it. Race got started about 90 minutes later than last week. It was already scheduled for 75 minutes later. Anyway. I could feel the difference in the sun and heat between an 8am start and a 9:30ish start. Splits were slightly faster on first mile, about the same on second mile, and I lacked the competition just in front or just behind me to push my finish. It was about ten seconds slower than last week. But still under 30 minutes which I didn’t think I would do on either of these runs. But I may be injured. Not big time injured. But I think I want to skip next weekend, take a week off of running, and then see if I want to pick up one before the third race on this course or just save myself for that one in three weeks. Yesterday I was feeling a lot of acheys from ankles to thighs. I always have some minor aches as a runner. Usually they are a day or two after a run and then they get lighter. But this was three days after my last run and achier than the prior days. Still. I had paid for today and I felt like I could do it this morning. And for the most part, I didn’t feel any pain until the last mile which has a few strong downhills to test my knees. Not sure what I’ll be feeling in the coming days. But I like this course. And I’d rather sit the next one or two out and run another in three weeks than have next weekend shut me down for the rest of the month.

 

[daftcat75]

Well shoot! I didn’t even hear it. But apparently Miss Betty is moving food from plate to carpet again. A little regurgitation just a few inches in front of her plate. I didn’t hear the sad mrows and I don’t see a second spit. Writing this one off as and leaving the rest of her lunch down for when she’s hungry again. Maybe the third leg poop she had just before it got a little more than her butt moving.

 

[tarasgirl06]

Hoping you two are back on track soon
WHY is it that almost every business/entity/person just can't help but ^*$! up and expect(s) the rest of us to just accept it? Yeah. The sun does get a lot more direct, and thus hotter, from 8-9:30. That's not conducive to a good run. C'mon, people -- get with the program! And you're paying for this, too. All the more incentive to stop ^*&!ing around.
As a person living with chronic pain for most of my life and a mind-over-matter power-through-the-pain type, I'm with you on knowing when to say when. There's a point past which that much is too much -- and only you know where and when that point is reached.
Hmmmm. Betty? What was that about, Betty? There's no corresponding puking going on here.

 

[Margot Lane]

You won't injure yourself. You just won't.
Good on ya, Betty! Cats are so bizarre. Sometimes they're social eaters and they won't touch a bite if you're not there. Other times? Yeah. *CATS.*
Yeah, that made sense and I hope it was enjoyable.
The kid has been chilling in the "intro room" all day today *and most of yesterday as well*. Yesterday was Second Plumber Day. First Plumber Day was the 24th, when two of them came to assess and price a job for me: snake the master bath sink drain, and price a new toilet. They did the former; the latter was scheduled for yesterday starting at 8. They came, they saw, they removed. And since my house is 1937 built, and the toilet was "older," it turned into a bigger project. Fortunately when I moved here, I had all the underground piping redone, out to the city "Y" -- huge job. But that toilet was not dealt with since ??? and the connecting piping was the original cast iron. SO...it had to be ripped out, enlarged as per current code, and they brought the wrong toilet, NOT the one I asked for. This one did not fit. So after a back-and-forth about that, they got the right one and voila! New, shiny, water-saving, nice toilet.
It's the one on the right, BTW.
View attachment 485509

Nice hand towel! I love trying to spot the cat accoutrement in your photos! 1930s house? Me, I’d be hunting for treasure all around and in the attic, you never know. One time I pulled up the kitchen tile on a job and the newspaper staring up at me said: “Hitler takes Poland,” with a penny on top from the same date. Another time, breaking a plaster wall, we found $$! Daftcat, I don’t know how you run in this weather, even in the AM, but I’m sure Betty appreciates having a healthy owner.

 

[daftcat75]

Nice hand towel! I love trying to spot the cat accoutrement in your photos! 1930s house? Me, I’d be hunting for treasure all around and in the attic, you never know. One time I pulled up the kitchen tile on a job and the newspaper staring up at me said: “Hitler takes Poland,” with a penny on top from the same date. Another time, breaking a plaster wall, we found $$! Daftcat, I don’t know how you run in this weather, even in the AM, but I’m sure Betty appreciates having a healthy owner.

There could be Babe Ruth baseball cards in the attic. Or the walls.

We moved four or five times in a four or five years when I was a kid. I used to think that a crazy valuable (for a kid of the 80's/90's) baseball card (1968 Nolan Ryan rookie card) I bought as a kid got lost in one of those moves. But more than likely, it was in the same binder as my Garbage Pail Kids that were confiscated also as a kid in grade school. I didn't know at the time that I could have asked for that binder back at the end of the school year. But whenever my folks say they cleaned the attic or they cleaned the garage, I can't help but ask them if they found my Nolan Ryan rookie card. It's become a family joke and I've long made peace with that. I now have means to replace it. But there are better things I'd like to do with that money. Like pay for Betty's vet bills. There is one set that I almost completed last year. I say it will remain forever two short. Because the two that are missing are Mickey Mantle and Willie Mays rookie cards. I have purchased each of them a few times over with what I have spent on Betty's vet bills.

I grew up in LA (San Fernando Valley/North Hollywood.) Running in 80 or 90 degree heat is something I'm used to. Of course, it's harder than 50 or 60 degrees. But I kind of embrace it as part of the training. If I can run my run in 80 or 90, then it should be that much easier at 50 or 60 when most races are run (8 or 9am weather.) I went out for a flat run over lunch (about 90 degrees) and it was so much more boring than the creek trail (terrain) course I have been running all summer. I wanted to see how I would do on flat because I'm getting the itch for this weekend's run. But I also needed to get back sooner because my team (KC Royals) made the post season and had the day game at 1:30 pm PT. Despite the heat, I did show an improvement over prior runs around this course this season. And despite running local rather than driving to the creek trail, I came home 1 run into the first inning of the game. Despite yesterday's 1-0 score, we did, in fact, have a little more scoring to make the rest of the game interesting for me. Would have hated to cut my run short just to miss all the action anyway.

And why was I late getting out for my run this lunch hour? Betty decided she was going to plow through her lunch in one go and then drop a big poop. I had to wait for both before I could go.

 

[tarasgirl06]

Margot Lane I've got one of the WWII-era newspapers, too, along with a lot of other things from before that era onwards. All of the repurposing people are doing more seriously now is what my folks have always done. I just gave a Nazi bayonet and a ??? ceremonial sword to a friend. I have NO idea where they came from and there's no one left to ask. Anyway, they went to someone who will appreciate them, unlike yours truly, who couldn't wait to get them out of here. *TYSM for compliment. That towel is maybe 1970s-80s? vintage. I think it's one my aunt picked up and gave me. She was the Swapmeet Queen and always on the lookout for bargains anyone she knew would like.*
daftcat75 Van Nuys a/k/a *between a rock and a very hard place* and yeah, we can take it because we have no choice.
That's kind of tragic about those cards Looks like your team is CLOSE
Sounds like Ms. Betty is eating well! I fed the kid BB Wilderness turkey this morning. He's snubbed it before. This morning he snorked it and I gave him another portion right away, which he reduced somewhat. The port-a-potty pumper parked in our driveway, followed by the cement mixer and a horde of subs in their trucks, may -- or may not -- have had anything to do with the latter.

 

[daftcat75]

Oh yeah. Van Nuys is where my high school was/is. (Grant HS.) We ran a lot for cross country in 80’s and probably 90’s. I think they only called off above 95. But maybe I’m misremembering that like how we walked to school uphill both ways in the snow.

Yesterday got up to 102. Today is a bit milder at 98. Betty had a couple of unproductive acid spits. Probably because she didn’t touch lunch when it was still cool in here. And now it’s warming up. I made a syringe of CBD oil and water as best as I can with oil and water being oil and water. I gave that to Betty and that seems to have calmed down her lip lickies (nausea.) I’m sure she’ll nibble before the afternoon is out. And that’s all I ask of her in this heat.

 

[tarasgirl06]

Oh yeah. Van Nuys is where my high school was/is. (Grant HS.) We ran a lot for cross country in 80’s and probably 90’s. I think they only called off above 95. But maybe I’m misremembering that like how we walked to school uphill both ways in the snow.

Yesterday got up to 102. Today is a bit milder at 98. Betty had a couple of unproductive acid spits. Probably because she didn’t touch lunch when it was still cool in here. And now it’s warming up. I made a syringe of CBD oil and water as best as I can with oil and water being oil and water. I gave that to Betty and that seems to have calmed down her lip lickies (nausea.) I’m sure she’ll nibble before the afternoon is out. And that’s all I ask of her in this heat.

Yeah. With 100-lb. backpacks.
Hotter up there than down here right now -- it topped out at 91F today. And that forecast for 100 isn't, any more. Just 90s for the next few. Not too bad at night -- low-mid 60sF. The Fluff gets kitnapped if he doesn't come in to sleep by himself. He's eating really well, considering. So is Mr. Garbage Disposal. But that's to be expected with the heat and the noise. I won't even attempt to post the video I took just after 7 this morning, as I'm sure you know what a cement mixer sounds like. It probably woke the Fluff up. Not me. I was ready. And I have this weird fond memory of when I was really small and made a comment about a cement mixer that just delighted my dad. He never stopped bringing that up at (in)opportune times.(Sadly, there is no emoji for a concrete mixer.)

 

[daftcat75]

Yeah. With 100-lb. backpacks.
Hotter up there than down here right now -- it topped out at 91F today. And that forecast for 100 isn't, any more. Just 90s for the next few. Not too bad at night -- low-mid 60sF. The Fluff gets kitnapped if he doesn't come in to sleep by himself. He's eating really well, considering. So is Mr. Garbage Disposal. But that's to be expected with the heat and the noise. I won't even attempt to post the video I took just after 7 this morning, as I'm sure you know what a cement mixer sounds like. It probably woke the Fluff up. Not me. I was ready. And I have this weird fond memory of when I was really small and made a comment about a cement mixer that just delighted my dad. He never stopped bringing that up at (in)opportune times.(Sadly, there is no emoji for a concrete mixer.)

For a moment there, I thought Mr Garbage Disposal was a new friend for The Fluff. I mean maybe. Without Fluff, MGD doesn't get nearly so much to eat. But I think that friendship is one-sided. At least, I hope so!

Besides, the obvious, I thought a cement mixer referred to something else. It's a wrestling move. But it's also a disgusting prank shot of lime juice and Irish Cream. The acid in the lime juice curdles the cream in the Irish Cream and it is likely as gross as it sounds. I was never much of a shot taker myself. But that's one I'll pass on.

Betty eventually came around after the water plus hemp oil shot I gave her. She nibbled at lunch and reduced the plate by 1/3. That's fine considering how warm it's been here. The overnights are not getting very cool. It's not going to get below 70 until 5am. It will get its lowest of 66 before sunrise. When the big long front room is full of 85 degree heat, a little 10 degree differential is not going to move the needle much inside after hours until the nights get cooler again.

 

[tarasgirl06]

For a moment there, I thought Mr Garbage Disposal was a new friend for The Fluff. I mean maybe. Without Fluff, MGD doesn't get nearly so much to eat. But I think that friendship is one-sided. At least, I hope so!

Besides, the obvious, I thought a cement mixer referred to something else. It's a wrestling move. But it's also a disgusting prank shot of lime juice and Irish Cream. The acid in the lime juice curdles the cream in the Irish Cream and it is likely as gross as it sounds. I was never much of a shot taker myself. But that's one I'll pass on.

Betty eventually came around after the water plus hemp oil shot I gave her. She nibbled at lunch and reduced the plate by 1/3. That's fine considering how warm it's been here. The overnights are not getting very cool. It's not going to get below 70 until 5am. It will get its lowest of 66 before sunrise. When the big long front room is full of 85 degree heat, a little 10 degree differential is not going to move the needle much inside after hours until the nights get cooler again.

"Warm." I like that. That's the word the media uses to describe what my mom used to call "hotter than the hinges on the gates of Hell" all the while, keeping some people more stressed than they need to be with "HEAT WARNING"s and "EXTREME TEMPERATURES" and the like. Yeah, it IS that, and the nights aren't too comfy, either. Good on Ms. Betty for bravely going where a lot of cats have gone before, and toughing it out through the heat, while keeping up the side in the food department. The Fluff is doing his part, too, I'm happy to say, with encouragement.
*Your sense of humor!* Now would I ever consent to any cat being called, "Mr. Garbage Disposal"?
Part of my bizarre aspiness *yes, that's a word. I just made it one, if it wasn't before.* is a liking for really sour tastes. Yoghurt is kind of like curdled milk isn't it? I like the plain, the sour-er, the better. *Too bad I'm SO lactose intolerant.*