March 8 to 14, 2020

Sunday ; Sunny and very warm. Joanne cooked a beef stew in the Sun Oven today.

I tidied up in the Arizona room today after completing the moulding replacement project yesterday. I posted my weekly journal to my blog. And I did a lot of work on entering and reconciling investment updates.

Monday ; Sunny and warm becoming cloudy and cool by suppertime ( when we were in the swimming pool … BRRRRR ), raining by bedtime.

While Joanne went by herself to do our weekly grocery shopping I removed two cacti from the flower bed in front of our shed. YIKES ! Almost invisible cactus quills in my fingers, my arms, my shirt … ! OUCH ! All day long I kept feeling quills hurting me and tried pulling them out with tweezers. Most of the time I just ended up breaking them off at skin level.

Joanne’s sister phoned late in the afternoon to discuss the end of life of her sweet little dog Sophie. Our heartfelt sympathy ( and empathy ) is sent to her as she wrestles with the most difficult and most important responsibility as a pet owner.

At 6 PM we went to the swimming pool for an hour of exercise. After supper we watched … HA HA HA … Love After Lockup.

Tuesday ; Cool and cloudy until mid-afternoon, then steady rain, heavy at times.

This afternoon on our way to the Humane Society for our regular weekly shift of dog walking and cat cuddling we stopped at Peanut Patch to buy some freshly ground peanut butter. Ingredients ; peanuts ! My shift at the Humane Society lasted less than half an hour. I felt insulted by the Volunteer Manager, so … 

I quit !

When the Humane Society’s current Volunteer Manager and I first met sixteen months ago our first interaction left me feeling insulted. We haven’t really interacted since then, until today, when she left me feeling insulted … again ! So … as I sometimes say under circumstances such as these ; Bonsoir la visite !

I spent most of the next hour and a half waiting in the car for Joanne to finish her cat cuddling shift. I took a few minutes to go back inside the dog kennels to say goodbye to fellow volunteer Penny. For many years she has always made me feel as if my time and effort and skills and talents are valued there as a volunteer.

Wednesday ; Cloudy, cool, intermittent very light rain.

The power went out around 4 AM and remained out until around noon. Then … it came on and went off a few more times in the early afternoon. As well, our Internet service stopped working and did not resume. Apparently some buried cables have become wet and damaged by yesterday’s rain.

This afternoon I did some spray paint touch up on my fifth wheel hitch head. 

I don’t really need it anymore and should sell it. I also did some paint preparation work on the front of the shed, using an oscillating tool with a scraper blade to scrape off old, flaking paint.

Thursday ; Cloudy, cool, very light rain until about noon. Third day in a row for rain here in Yuma. Very unusual for a city with 360 days of sunshine per year.

Today was the second day that our Internet service was not working. So … 

I phoned our Internet service provider to obtain technical support service. About thirty seconds after my phone call … a service technician showed up at our door. WOW ! HA HA HA ! That was impressive ! ! ! He had been working in our RV park when he received a dispatch call to come to our site. The problem was bigger than just service to our site, there were many problems with their Internet service within our park. Whatever the problems were … our Internet service was restored by late afternoon.

The weather prevented us from accomplishing much of anything. We both have some projects to work on, but better weather is required. Around supper time we went for a long walk for exercise. I did some “what if” scenario planning regarding our shopping needs and our trip home to Canada in a month, in consideration of the coronavirus pandemic issues.

Friday the 13^th ; Cloudy, cool, occasional light rain. HMPH … fourth day in a row with rain !

We extend our condolences to Joanne’s ex-brother-in-law Doug in Winnipeg, whose father died this morning.

This morning around 9:15 AM I stepped outside just as our next door neighbour Rita was returning home in her car. As she stepped out of her car … a small cat began weaving around her ankles, almost tripping her.

Say hello to Carlos !

I called Carlos and he came over the fence from Rita’s, and followed me into our back yard where I fed him. Rita has asthma and is unable to tolerate a cat, so she was happy when I offered to deal with Carlos. Carlos willingly followed me into our Arizona room where I examined him, finding … a very fresh ear notch … a shaved and treated leg wound … and a swollen scrotum from being castrated / neutered within the last day or so ! ! !

He was “trapped, neutered, and released” as a “feral” by the Humane Society ! ! !

What nonsense ! There is absolutely nothing “feral” about this little darling ! The Humane Society of Yuma has recently become a “no kill” shelter, and is dealing with animals in nonsensical and inhumane ways to manipulate its “numbers” to maintain its “no kill” status !

Joanne was livid ! She phoned the Humane Society and had a very angry discussion with a front desk agent for about half an hour. She accomplished nothing, got no satisfaction, and demanded that the manager of their feral cat TNR ( trap, neuter, release ) program phone ASAP. He phoned promptly, and Joanne had another lengthy and very angry discussion. The call ended when he agreed to jump in his car and drive over to continue the discussion with Joanne face to face. And to bring the medication that Carlos needed for the fungal infection that was the wound on his leg.

Yes, yes … he knew all about Carlos. Because … he was the one who had dumped Carlos back in our RV park just minutes before Carlos was next door begging for help from Rita ! ! !

Carlos had been brought to the Humane Society as a stray on Monday by someone from this park. After three days of not being being claimed by an owner, Carlos was declared “feral”, he was neutered yesterday, had his ear notched, had his leg treated, and … < sputter > … this morning was “returned to his colony / community” ! ! ! ! ! By Bill !

Joanne and I both had a lengthy discussion in our Arizona room with Bill from HSOY about the differences between feral cats and stray cats. They are not interchangeable terms. He knows that ! But … he has a job to do, and is guided by the policies of his employers. We understand that. Joanne demanded that he arrange a meeting between her and the Humane Society’s Executive Director. We’ve agreed to keep Carlos as a “foster” for the three weeks that his fungal infection must be treated. And … Bill will deliver to us tomorrow morning the medication required to treat Carlos’s ear mite problem. We demanded that after three weeks of treating Carlos’s fungal infection and ear mites that the Humane Society discard this “feral” definition bullshit, and admit Carlos to their adoption wing before we leave here to return to Canada.

Feral ! Indeed ! ! ! As we had our … < ahem > … discussion with Bill, it became increasingly impossible for him to maintain his “feral” stance while watching this little cat snooze in a sunbeam on the sofa cuddled against Joanne’s leg! HA HA HA !

Score one for the cat lady ! ! ! ! ! HA HA HA HA HA !

So … sweet little Carlos ( I named him ) is going to live in our Arizona room for the next three weeks. He seems to think that’s just fine !

Saturday ; Sunny and warm, a bit windy.

Late this morning we went out to run errands. All week we have been indecisive and debating whether we should or should not go shopping today. Our first stop was Yuma Swap Meet a.k.a. Dog Track Flea Market to buy a couple of cans of spray paint. Then Lowe’s to buy a piece of lumber. While I went into Harbor Freight to buy an advertised special Joanne went into the 99 Cent Only Store next door to buy a few items. Then Fry’s to refill the minivan with fuel and buy groceries before heading home for a very late lunch.

Before we were even out of bed this morning Bill from the Humane Society delivered ear mite medication for Carlos, so … we began ear mite treatment for him today as well as continuing his fungal infection treatment. He is very happy to be living in our Arizona room. He uses the litter box as needed. He lounges around on all the furniture, snoozing, and looking outside, watching the world go by.

HMPH ! Feral ! Indeed ! ! !

DSK