Computers, cats, and death.
Boy, “finals week” can really sneak up on a person.
Not a lot of time to write at length, so here’s some brief thoughts on various issues.
COMPUTER DISCS
I realize I’m behind the times still using computer discs, and I believe I’m now officially off them for good. I have a disc I regularly cart around on which I save columns, homework assignments, etc. This morning I slapped it in the computer and received an error message stating that the disc is suddenly and mysteriously formatted for Macintosh, and thus everything on it is irretrievable.
Thank God I’ve gotten in the habit of e-mailing myself documents.
SCILLAR (pronounced Sill-er)
My mom was gracious enough to adopt my cat, Scillar, when I moved to the Twin Cities from Nebraska over ten years ago. There's a story behind his name that is rather involved and is never as interesting to anyone else as it is to me.
Scillar is insane. He used to carouse all night long and at 5:00 in the morning would jump on top of the gas meter outside my bedroom window and howl ‘til I let him in the house. He was regularly covered with ticks; it’s no exaggeration to say that on many summer mornings, I would spend a full half hour combing his thick fur for ticks.
Scillar didn’t slow down much with age. Much. Mom reported over the years that his late-night habits continued, though in recent days he spent less time outdoors and more time inside on an electric blanket that mom kindly provided for him. Scillar was in the habit of climbing on my parents’ neighbor’s roof, but could never figure out how to get down. Many of my father’s last days were spent on a ladder coaxing Scillar off of the rooftop.
Scillar’s health has been declining somewhat lately. Mom took him to the vet recently and it appeared that he was entering the early stages of kidney failure. However, the vet thought he’d last quite a while.
I received an e-mail from my brother this morning, however, that stated Scillar might have to be put to sleep today. I’ll be calling my mom shortly for details. This will utterly break my mom’s heart. She just lost my father, she fairly recently lost another cat that was near and dear to her heart, and now she might lose 18-year old Scillar.
It’s amazing how a stupid animal can capture and break your heart. I’m very sad that my wife and I weren’t able to make our pilgrimage to Nebraska on Thanksgiving, because it appears that would have been our last chance to pay our respects to Scillar. If you’re a praying person, give my mom a thought today as she may have to do something that will probably break her heart.
UPDATE
Spoke to my mom this morning. The vet kept Scillar for observation overnight. The verdict is that Scillar was likely experiencing complications from having received numerous antibiotic shots the past couple weeks. Things are still a bit tenuous, but the vet sees no reason why Scillar shouldn't remain alive and kicking for another six months.
By the way, the record for cat life in our family is 22 years set by "Mother."
Not a lot of time to write at length, so here’s some brief thoughts on various issues.
COMPUTER DISCS
I realize I’m behind the times still using computer discs, and I believe I’m now officially off them for good. I have a disc I regularly cart around on which I save columns, homework assignments, etc. This morning I slapped it in the computer and received an error message stating that the disc is suddenly and mysteriously formatted for Macintosh, and thus everything on it is irretrievable.
Thank God I’ve gotten in the habit of e-mailing myself documents.
SCILLAR (pronounced Sill-er)
My mom was gracious enough to adopt my cat, Scillar, when I moved to the Twin Cities from Nebraska over ten years ago. There's a story behind his name that is rather involved and is never as interesting to anyone else as it is to me.
Scillar is insane. He used to carouse all night long and at 5:00 in the morning would jump on top of the gas meter outside my bedroom window and howl ‘til I let him in the house. He was regularly covered with ticks; it’s no exaggeration to say that on many summer mornings, I would spend a full half hour combing his thick fur for ticks.
Scillar didn’t slow down much with age. Much. Mom reported over the years that his late-night habits continued, though in recent days he spent less time outdoors and more time inside on an electric blanket that mom kindly provided for him. Scillar was in the habit of climbing on my parents’ neighbor’s roof, but could never figure out how to get down. Many of my father’s last days were spent on a ladder coaxing Scillar off of the rooftop.
Scillar’s health has been declining somewhat lately. Mom took him to the vet recently and it appeared that he was entering the early stages of kidney failure. However, the vet thought he’d last quite a while.
I received an e-mail from my brother this morning, however, that stated Scillar might have to be put to sleep today. I’ll be calling my mom shortly for details. This will utterly break my mom’s heart. She just lost my father, she fairly recently lost another cat that was near and dear to her heart, and now she might lose 18-year old Scillar.
It’s amazing how a stupid animal can capture and break your heart. I’m very sad that my wife and I weren’t able to make our pilgrimage to Nebraska on Thanksgiving, because it appears that would have been our last chance to pay our respects to Scillar. If you’re a praying person, give my mom a thought today as she may have to do something that will probably break her heart.
UPDATE
Spoke to my mom this morning. The vet kept Scillar for observation overnight. The verdict is that Scillar was likely experiencing complications from having received numerous antibiotic shots the past couple weeks. Things are still a bit tenuous, but the vet sees no reason why Scillar shouldn't remain alive and kicking for another six months.
By the way, the record for cat life in our family is 22 years set by "Mother."
posted by Admin Worm at 7:56 AM
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