14 responses to “A shoebox of pitchers”

1. 

   Captain Hampockets

   03/09/2022

   Hopefully, this isn't a sad / sore spot, but what's happening with Izzy?

   Reply
   1. 

      Doug Holland

      03/09/2022

      I've never moved further than a few miles with a pet before, so I don't know how to do this, especially with a difficult cat. Izzy has a history of abuse, hates cars, hates change, and only occasionally likes me.

      I seriously considered giving her back to the (no-kill) shelter I adopted her from. Never yet given up a pet, though, and I like the damned cat. We share all the same phobias.

      So she's coming. It'll be hell for her, and probably me, but she's not stupid so after a few hours of screaming and yowling I expect she'll curl up in her cat-cage and sleep.

      Reply
   2. 

      johnthebasket

      03/09/2022

      The cat-gods will smile on you, then will piss on your most valuable object; somehow it's all worth it.

      John

      Reply
   3. 

      Captain Hampockets

      03/09/2022

      Cats are resilient. It'll be hell for both of you, but she'll forgive you. Dunno if you ever met the cats Shana and I had. When we divorced, she kept them, but when I moved here to PA, she kept Lisa, but paid to have Trudy and Butch shipped here from San Francisco. It was apparently a hellacious trip – they stank like piss and cigarette smoke, and the drivers seemed like uncaring meth heads. But they acclimated to the new home and the dogs well.

      Reply
   4. 

      Doug Holland

      03/10/2022

      All cats are gods, John. Cat-gods pissing upon the world and then burying it.

      Encouragement appreciated, Cap'n. We'll all get there.

      Reply
2. 

   Scott F.

   03/10/2022

   I don't understand it either. 40 seems to be the dividing age. Younger than that privacy doesn't exist as even a consept so they're all signed up for social media and location tracting and posting selfies and no limits. Mostly noone gives it any thought, just lives their lives in public. It's just another way the world is gone to hell.

   Reply
   1. 

      Doug Holland

      03/10/2022

      Nobody can 'like' me, because I'm not on Facebook.

      Reply
3. 

   johnthebasket

   03/11/2022

   The dogs don't 'like' me. The Doodles just ate my glasses. I think they're now having innervisions.

   jtb

   Reply
4. 

   johnthebasket

   03/11/2022

   The largest piece we recovered is the size of an oxygen molecule. Doodles have managed to split the atom. I'll be following them around the back yard with my quark shovel. The secret of the universe, revealed in dog shit.

   jtb

   Reply
   1. 

      Doug Holland

      03/11/2022

      Oh my, you're still dog-sitting? I thought the mission had been finished and accomplished, but it goes on…

      You said "a Doodle is a cross-breed beast: a combination of a poodle and a crocodile," which is still my biggest laugh of the week. Still hope it was a joke.

      Reply
5. 

   johnthebasket

   03/11/2022

   Hi Doug,

   0445 here in the Great Pacific Northwest, and I just got home. My dog-sitting job was over the weekend. On Thursdays and Sundays I go to my sister's place to do some Ebay stuff and help them around the house. My sis has a debilitating disease and my BIL is 83, so I do a little lifting and misc chores as well as Ebay. I'm really proud of my sister. She is in fairly constant pain and she attends an exercise class twice a week, which she finds painful but helpful in maintaining her motion as long as possible. I'd just be whimpering, but she's fighting back.

   Which doesn't explain why, two years ago, they got a couple of littermate Doodles. They provide company as they stampede through the house and around and around the back yard. (Doodle= Poodle + Golden Retriever.) Don't know how a croc snuck in there.

   I bent over to pet one of them and my glasses slipped out of my pocket and they munched it like popcorn. They did spit out part of one of the lenses. It's a little jagged to use as a monocle.

   I get along famously with Sis and BIL. They are quality people. For example, they've never eaten my glasses. I hope you are able to develop or redevelop similar relationships with your remaining siblings.

   I'm two years older than Sis, and when we were young I was pretty hard on her. Being two years ahead in school, I knew everything and she new very little. Until an aunt, who was a teacher in our local school district snuck in and checked out some test scores. (Remember IQ tests?). My aunt informed me (and my sister and family) that Sis scored five points higher on the IQ test that used to be administered in the 4th and 8th grade. Naturally I assumed it was a misprint, but I soon figured out that she was a little smarter. It pissed me off at the time, but now it's handy to have a smart sister. And she's the funny one.

   jtb

   Reply
   1. 

      Doug Holland

      03/11/2022

      Sorry about your glasses, John. Thy were cheaters, I hope, and easily replaced? If they're prescription glasses crocodile-chews can be expensive indeed, and leave the world out of focus. Do you have a backup pair?

      Constant pain, yet your sister still exercises twice a week? Definitely, she has more guts than me. My life has been soft like a pillow, and even things that infuriate me are generally trivial. Pain is unknown to me, beyond an occasional wrenched back or headache. Or exercise. Give her a hug from me back east.

      If they're not giving kids IQ tests these days that's gotta be a good thing. You can't test for smart, not accurately anyway, and stupid is so obvious it doesn't need a test either.

      > I hope you are able to develop or redevelop similar relationships with your remaining siblings.

      That's my hope too, but still there needs to be a few miles between us or I'll go crazy.

      Reply
   2. 

      johnthebasket

      03/11/2022

      In this case the IQ test results served a purpose. Everybody told me I was a bright kid, and I didn't know shit. This brought me down a notch and I probably paid closer attention to what my sister said, even though IQ means nothing as we know now.

      Yeah, they were cheaters. Probably 20 bucks to replace. It's just the concept of dogs sharing a repast of glasses that startles me. And I worry that they are going to accidently going to knock down my sister. 65 and 70 pounds coming at you at speed will give you pause.

      Good for you for getting your car in travel condition. Exactly the right thing to do. I've been stranded and broke and it's a horrible feeling.

      john

      Reply
   3. 

      Doug Holland

      03/12/2022

      I'd judge you still a bright kid with potential. Don't screw it up.

      Of course, what would I know? They told us in school, handing out the IQ tests, that these tests wouldn't be graded, so I simply filled out random dots. I am thus certain that school records indicate I'm mentally retarded.

      Glad they were just cheaters. Good cheaters are hard to find, though. Most seem to have a built-in and unchangeable focal point that's too close to my head. Very frustrating.

      Mostly for my own future reference, cuz I'll probably break 'em in the move, my preferred cheaters are these cheapies from Wal-Mart.

      Luck of the drive for a car so old, I expect the engine will blow up on a Montana freeway and I'll pay another grand to have it fixed. Gotta at least try to be careful in advance, though.

      Reply

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