Getting Around Better

Jake in the Bag (ca.1997)

Some things I was wondering about today: What's the thing with cat hairs? How are they able to weave themselves through cloth? I swear, next time I have a long flight, I am going to take a piece of soft cloth and a cat hair, set them on my lap and discover how this happens. Or maybe I'd need a time lapse camera. No that's not true, because the one that had woven through my house pants today was not there 2 hours earlier. Seriously how are they doing that? It's kinda freaky.

Also I was thinking about retirement homes. I guess that comes from being in a wheelchair and feeling so confined. My daughter's old elementary school is located next to a retirement home. Actually the home is adjacent to the large field/playground area. I've always wondered if the residents of the home find the sounds of children playing joyful or if it depresses them or both. Maybe some residents love it and some hate it. If I were an old geezer in a nursing home, I think I'd like the sound. I wonder if modern nursing homes offer internet usage. That would be interesting. I used to go Christmas caroling at nursing homes with my girlfirend's CYO group. I guess that was between the ages of 13 and 16 or so. I don't remember excactly, but I really enjoyed it. (I also went skating with them and to dances. I spent a lot of time in CYO activities for a non-Catholic!) When Kate and I were taking all those dance classes in the 90's we did a few shows at nursing homes. The residents genuinely seemed to enjoy the performances and the men REALLY loved the belly dancing number. Maybe it was just the costumes. I'll post a photo some day of me in my middle eastern attire.

My Broken Foot/Wheelchair status: The cat news is interesting. I had posted earlier how Jake was avoiding me like the plague. Here are the phases Jake went through: 1: Plague, i.e. not being in the same room with me. 2: Staying about 5 feet away and keeping any object or person between us. 3: 3 foot perimeter 4: sit at my feet when I had been still for a while watching TV. 5: No fear at all (DANGER WILL ROBINSON) - I was in mid turn last night, he did the bow down stretch with his front paws between the front and back wheels. I froze. He casually strolled between the wheels, sat down and began to groom himself - UNDERNEATH ME IN MID-TURN!! So now I have to really keep my eye on him. Tomorrow before my shower, I'm going to take him for a ride. That should be funny. Also I solved the living room dilemma. My Sweetie had pulled the coffee table really close to the couch, to give me lots of maneuver room. It was all crowded and he kept banging his knees. Today I came up with a killer idea. Oh and we used to always eat dinner sitting on the floor around the coffee table, so that was all messed up, too. Well, tonight I had him move the coffee table into the library and bring the glass top cafe table from the patio (I cleaned it up in the kitchen first and there WAS a tiny spider on it!) Now there is all kinds of leg room in there and I can eat in there again yay! Also I know I mentioned I had found a better way to get in and out of the shower. Well that still involved putting SOME weight on the broken foot. I solved that also!! I've just been thinking like a crazy person with all this thinking! I simply put my knee (of the broken foot) down on the little vanity stool and then put my good foot down in the shower. Now I won't dread showers so much. YAY! I don't know why I never considered using my knee as support. Now I want to invent some device you can put your knee in (with your leg at a 45 degree angle) and just walk around, being careful of course of the bottom of your leg and broken foot sticking out back there. Sounds feasible. Well, and a little bit crazy.

Other stuff: My groceries were supposed to come this evening and as I was waiting for the truck I realized I had not gotten an e-mail receipt. I called and they said they did not get my order. I had ordered these Sunday night. Well thank goodness, my order was still up online. So I actually ordered some more stuff - the stuff I had forgotten - so I will have my groceries Wednesday night. The last time I had a computer problem with my order, I called and they said, "Yeah we got it. You can just sign out." So when it gimped up on me Sunday night I just assumed it was the same thing. When will the human race stop assuming things? What's wrong with us??