Following Up On My Bif Bite

First tweets from the ER. The only downside of an ER visit at Corvallis' hospital, in my experience, (Well, beyond the fact one is often in pain, and the expense.) is the sheer boredom of sitting there with nothing to do. I accept this is necessary time to carry out various tests, develop the best interpretations, and plans for treatment, so I'm not complaining per se, just saying it's extremely boring for a person who likes to keep his mind busy. I can understand they don't want to have reading material (germ transmission between patients). TV might be fine for some, but I find most programming insultingly stupid, and ads worse. It wouldn't help me at all. So I took my computer along this time, hoping they had public wi-fi. They did. So I could get on twitter, catch up on goings-on, and post about my own situation. Including the fact my wrist was swollen to the point that it was in danger of being mistaken for a whale.

(typical Twitter type of mistake: missed the "on" between "etc." and "my hand") So here we are on the 31st. I just had a follow-up appointment this morning, and the Dr. seemed satisfied with my recovery. The swelling is down, but not totally gone, and the redness is apparently gone. (I have a difficult time seeing reds and greens, and never really could see the distinction that was so apparent to others) My hand is still kind of sore, but the dexterity is returning. And the pain in reaction to any sort of heavy task is still pronounced- so, for example, picking up a pint glass of coffee is still not going to happen without assistance from my left hand. However, I can put my wallet back in my right pocket. I'm able to fish that out without too much difficulty.

Most importantly though, I'm getting back up to speed on my ability to use the ol' laptop. Reading, scrolling, and typing are getting much quicker as nimbleness returns to my hand. So hopefully, I can get caught up on the Geo posts over the next two or three days.

Cat Bite Fever: A Tale of a Jealous Bif

I'm not allowed to smoke in my new apartment, so four or five times a night, I trudge down the stairwell and go outdoors. Once the sun gets low, it's often nicer outdoors than in the apartment anyway, so it's turning out to be not as much hassle as I was afraid it might be. And as a bonus, there are a number of friendly cats running around the neighborhood, so I often socialize with them while I'm outside.

Saturday night, I met a new one to me... very affectionate. It (Didn't notice what sex it was.) spent a good five minutes rolling around, rubbing its head, belly, back, and tail against my right hand- I was holding my cigarette in my left hand.

When I went back inside, Bif was fixated on the smell of the new cat. He would not leave my hand alone. I would put him on the floor, and without pause, he was back up on my desk, sniffing at my right hand. Finally, without really looking him, I picked him up to set him down again. And he bit the hell out of my right wrist. I yelled OUCH! which apparently startled Bif out of his hypnosis; he ran off. I washed the wound area with soap and water immediately, then patted it dry until it scabbed over and stopped bleeding.  It wasn't that bad Saturday night, but by yesterday, it was pretty clear there was an infection in the area. I decided if it didn't get better by this morning, I'd bum a ride to the ER.

It's worse. It's red, stiff, hot and swollen, and my right hand is next to useless for any task involving more than an ounce or two of exertion. I can type this without too much difficulty, but it's uncomfortable at best, and painful much of the time. So I'll be off to the hospital soon. Expect delays in regular posts.

On the plus side, even though it's painful, I don't think the infection has progressed to the point it'll present any serious difficulties, or risks of secondary problems (e.g. sepsis). But I'll have to have a real doctor make that call. Wish me luck.

In Which Bif Scares the Living Crap Out of Me

Bif greets me at the door every night... and by that I mean every night. He's either at the door when I come in, or bounding at me as fast as his (not so little, any more) kitty paws can carry him. He immediately starts yowling in what I believe is both relief and scolding me for leaving him alone all day. He and I have a call-and-reply relationship: if either of us lets loose with a "Meow!" the other responds in turn.

So last night, I walked in the door and... no Bif. "Meow!?" Nada. "Meow!?" Nothing. Uh-oh. My heart froze. Then I thought I heard a muffled, piteous cry, but I wasn't really sure. "Is he trapped in the sofa?" I wondered. Walked over and gave a tentative call. No response. Lord. He's gone through a screen, and got out, or he's strangled himself. I was convinced I'd lost him.

As a reminder, he's spent a total of ten minutes of his life outdoors and I was keeping a pretty close eye on him, until a jay dive-bombed him, squawking loudly. He dove under a car, and I lost track of him. By the time I thought to look, he'd vanished. When I finally gave up looking, and went back to the apartment to get a book, planning to come back out and read while waiting for him to reappear, he was pawing madly at my door, trying to get back in.

You'd think that experience with the big, scary, outdoors was enough. You'd be wrong. It's still a game every morning to try to dodge through Lockwood's legs without being caught. He's succeeded quite a number of times, but he's almost always distracted by a new scent before he gets more than a few feet from the door. So he gets caught.

So I went out to the parking lot in back, and called. Nothing. Walked around the edges, calling. Nothing. Walked up to the front, steeling myself to walk the curb and finding his mangled body. Nothing. Called... and wait! There's that piteous howl again! Front door, and there he is, cowering on the basement landing (I'm on the midlevel). He shied away as I started down the stairs, but came bounding at me when he saw who it was. He has a habit of hugging when he's been frightened or feeling particularly affectionate, normally one of my arms. He's never wrapped his legs around my neck and hugged like he did last night. Once we got indoors, he didn't seem terribly traumatized, but he sure acted that way until we got him back into familiar territory.

So my guess is that, for the first time, he won his little game yesterday. And he increased the total of his time spent outdoors by a factor of 42, much to my dismay. You'd think that was enough. You'd be wrong. This morning he seemed especially excited to make a run for it.

He got a foot in his face- not kicked, but a very firm stop. Two things: a squirt bottle to keep by the door, and a harness and tether for extensive walks in the rain.

He's an eminently trainable cat, for a cat, and my heart can't take this game any more.

My Favorite Posts of 2012

There are a number of year's end memes that go around each year, but rather than playing any of those, I'm just going to put up a list with links to my posts of the previous year which I most enjoyed writing, and which give me the most pleasure to go back and read. With the exception of the 6/15 and 12/26 posts, and, arguably (though not persuasively as far as I'm concerned), the 6/9 post, every one of these has a strong geology focus. Gee, hooda thunk it?

Given the increasing difficulty of my previous computer dealing with increasingly unstable updates to Firefox-even though it still does fine with everything else besides Firefox- I didn't even put up my first post until April. With the arrival of a new computer in the late summer, blogging became practical again. In addition, visits from Padawan Dana in March, July and October have provided diverse fodder for writing and photos. Of 16 selected posts, half of them are results of my geogalavanting about Oregon with her.

Happy New Year, all! And may the new year bring you much joyous geogalavanting!

4/12: March 2012 Coastal GeoGalavant, Part I
4/21: March 2012 Coastal GeoGalavant, Part II
5/31: AW #46: Geology, Life and Civilization- Chaotic Feedback
6/9: Twice in a Lifetime
6/15: How the Internet Works
7/26: Quartzville Road Log
9/6: The Little Robot That Could... Visits Miranda!
10/5: Vegetation Gradient
10/13: Geogalavanting Around Oregon with Dana
10/14: Geogalavanting Around Oregon with Dana Part II
10/15: Geology at Oregon State University (And do click through on the links to see all of Dana's glorious photos! Links were added later, so you may have missed those.)
10/21: Cheshire Cat! The Whole Story
11/28: AW #52: Geology Dream Course
12/13: #ObscureGeoHazards
12/20: Bring on the Geopocalypse: Accretionary Wedge #53
12/26: Bif's Best Christmas EVAR!

Runners up: This series was tedious to plow through, but I was happy with the outcome. A reconstruction of my presentation for the Oregon Master Naturalists program in September.
Part One
Part Two
Part Three
Part Four
Part Five

Bif's Best Christmas EVAR!

Sunday evening, I walked the 3/4 mile or so trip to the grocery store to do some shopping. Food for Christmas for some years now has been a large block (5 or 6 pounds) of frozen lasagne, salad, and garlic bread. It involves little work, and is definitely "treat" food for me, plus there's leftovers for days. (As an aside, I had Stouffer's lasagne Italiano; it was superb!) Also intended to get fruit, some English muffins, and so on, but the reason I had to go then was that Bif was out of food, and down to the little fragments that he prefers to not eat. He will if he's hungry enough, but I don't like to put him in that position. So waiting until light in the morning wasn't really an option. I also meant to get him a catnip toy, but forgot- I'll pick one up in pre-New Year shopping.

I think many of the items I ended up getting were overstocks, and my final bill was surprisingly low to me. But one that was obviously normally priced was the 7 pound bag of cat food for $5.99. Now that sort of surprised me. I've been buying cat food at local convenience stores since last Christmas, and have become accustomed to paying about $3.00/lb. So, um, wow. A mile and a half round trip, carrying substantial weight on the return half, is truly taxing to me, and I dislike it. But this was sort of a wake-up pointing out just how much money I'm wasting in avoiding that chore.

So I get the heavy stuff into my pack, a couple bags of lighter stuff in my left hand, and seven pounds of cat food in my right hand, I set out into the light drizzle, light fog, and complete darkness for the trudge home.

About a block and a half from the store, I was suddenly confronted by a construction project. I couldn't see where it ended, but there was chain link fence extending to the edge of the street. Hoping that it was only a lot or two, rather than cross over to the sidewalk, I just followed the edge of the pavement- there was basically no traffic.

It extended two blocks.

I was nearly to the end when I tripped over one of the perpendicular supports at the base of the fence, and went down, hard, face-first, into the pavement.

I was fine. I managed to toss everything and catch most of the impact with my hands. Other than a bunch of grit on my face, a bit of a tender spot on the bridge of my nose where my glasses got rammed into it, and minor road rash on my left palm, no harm done. The light stuff- mostly bread, a couple cans and plastic bottles, was fine. But...

The bottom of the cat food bag had burst completely open. There wasn't much actually spilled, but from side to side, the bottom was completely open. Brushing the crap off my face, and checking around for wounds I couldn't feel (there weren't any), I pondered the situation. Several options occurred to me, then I realized I could simply carry the bag top-down, holding the burst end closed in my hand. Essentially the same configuration I had been in before my belly flop into the street.

The rest of the walk home- better than 3/4 of the last leg- was uneventful.

So when I got home and through the door, I immediately set down the grocery bags, and made a bee-line for the kitchen to get the cat food stowed in a place where it wouldn't spill.

Right as the top-now-bottom was about to reach the counter, it gave out.

Cat food. Everywhere. Floor. Garbage. Counter. Food Bowl. Water bowl. Miscellaneous dishes and a box.

On the positive side, perhaps only a third of the bag spilled before I had it shoved into a position where no more would spill. On the negative side, you have no idea how much 2 pounds of cat food actually *is* until you've strewn it all around the kitchen.

Bif was in heaven. His tail was flagging like a bandleader as he ran from pocket to pocket, eating one or two kibbles from each. I cleaned up the worst on the floor, and scooped much of it into either his bowl or onto the bag- there is no "into" with respect to that bag anymore- but he was having so much fun, I just felt it would be kind of grinchy to do a full-fledged cleanup just then.

As of last night, I'm still hearing crunching sounds from the oddest places, as Bif finds a kibble here, a kibble there. And sometime in the next few days, I'll actually make a cleanup call on aisle one. But for the time being, this is officially Bif's BEST CHRISTMAS EVAR! The fact I forgot to get him a toy is forgiven.

I just hope he's not going to expect this every year.

Introducing Bif

Three months ago, I got a new kitteh, Bif, and I wanted to post some pictures of him for the GeoLOLCat meme that's going around.
This first one was taken his first night in my apartment; a beanie baby toy that had been given to me at Christmas of '09 is still one of his favorite toys. As you can see from the rest of the photos, he's filled out quite a bit since February.
Posing with a rock hammer...
Suspiciously watching me watch Jurassic Park...
Trying to figure what the heck I'm up to with that danged string...
And sleeping by the porch door. Why Bif? Well, it's a nice, trite male name, and when he arrived, I was struck by his fine stripes, which reminded me of laminated sediments. Shift the color balance to extreme red, and...The LOL's I've done of Bif can be seen at the GeoLOLCats post.

GeoLolCats

There are microseisms of a new meme circulating in the geoblogosphere... GeoLolCats! Many geobloggers have cats, and I'm guessing basically all of them have a superfluity of geology-related paraphernalia, so photos of cats and geology stuff are inevitable. Put a silly caption on said pictures, and voila! Geomeme!
Here's the first, from Dana. All captions are mine, and flames should be directed here, not at the source. The next is from Evelyn at Georneys, and her cat Samira:
And here's another of Evelyn's kittehs, Zanya (I'm assuming with Samira again):
I had a heck of a time recalling/tracking down that term, myrmekitic. I have forgotten way, way too much of my petrology classes, which were the most demanding, time consuming, enjoyable and rewarding of all my undergrad work. Here's the site that finally reminded me (230K pdf, see page 13); as soon as I saw it, I knew "myrmekitic" was the texture I was after. Here's the Google image search for comparison. Take a gander at those pics and tell me those aren't myrmekittehs.

I'll try to remember to get some photos of Bif with miscellaneous geology this evening. Also too, I see no particular reason this meme should be limited to teh kittehs. Other GeoLolCats will be added as I find them:

• Callan's take on Dana's kitteh
• Callan's Caption for an older cat photo by Dave Bressan
• Another photo, with and without caption, of Samira, from Evelyn
• Photos of my cat Bif (His GeoLolCat pics are below.)
• Callan LOL's LOLa.
• Jessica Ball at Magma Cum Laude LOL's her cats, Sabrina and Ginger.
  

I'll also add on additional Lol's I make below. I won't have to add extra posts, and we'll just keep 'em all in one place. Here's another photo of Samira, with a caption inspired by a comment from Ron Schott:This is Boo Spook, who owns Dana's step mom and dad.(forgot to link it earlier, but Spook's "blank" original photo is here.
Above and below, my young cat, Bif.
And in case your wondering how Bif got his name...
...when he came into my life 3 months ago, the striping on his coat reminded me of finely laminated sediments. Adjust toward red, and the conclusion is inescapable.

Camoflage or Warmth?

I just noticed this will be my 2501st post in about 2 1/2 years. What better to note the milestone than a cat being weird and funny. (H/T @Dhunterauthor)

Followup: Some are suggesting that the clip may be reversed, i.e. the cat is actually taking the hat off rather than pulling it on. And if you watch it cleaning itself near the beginning of the clip, it does look backward. Still, cute.

Saturd80's

David Bowie, Cat People (Putting Out Fire):

Stray Cats, Stray Cat Strut:

The Tokens, The Lion Sleeps Tonight:

Tangerine Dream, Tyger (Embedding disabled, link only)

Stressing and Feeling Shakey

I haven't slept since I woke up yesterday morning, despite trying a couple times last night, for a couple hours each time. Aside from simply feeling tired, the consequence of sleep deprivation in my experience is that intellectually I feel sluggish and impaired, but emotionally I feel flighty and volatile. It's extremely unpleasant. Which is a lead up to this: I'll be going home before too much longer, and I've been grappling for a while now with the fact that she won't be there when I walk in the door.

Ever again.

Waaaaaah...

RIP Ozma, ~Early 2005 - November 21, 2010

We had a good run, she and I. I know her life turned out much better than it might have for having adopted me, and my life was much better as well.

Iris contacted a local vet, and found we could get an emergency exam for $90, and given the circumstances, if euthanasia looked to be the best option, the doctor would do it for free. Ozma was emaciated, her temperature was about 10 degrees F hypothermic, she was severely anemic and dehydrated. The vet's prognosis was that even if money was no issue, Ozma's chances were extremely poor. She said that euthanasia truly was the best option. I could tell Friday that she was going fast; I'm not inclined to discuss the reasons because I'm still kind of traumatized by it all. I really didn't expect her to make it until this morning.

In short, I had already come to a certain degree of acceptance that her time had come.

The end was very peaceful. I held her in my arms, and scratched her ears and neck; she looked up once as the fluid entered the catheter, but she didn't protest. She lifted her head one last time so I could scratch her chin and jaw. Then she relaxed and it was over.

She had spent nearly 30 continuous hours in my lap, arms, and bed. Unless I set her down- in which case, she would start crying piteously- she didn't express discomfort or pain. But she was scared and uncomfortable, and both of us were suffering. That's over now, at least for her. Knowing that helps me face my own sorrow.

Below are three pictures I took last night, expecting not to see her today. She looks very relaxed, and that posture of hugging my left arm has been her mode since she discovered what human laps were intended for.

Goodnight, Ozma. You were a blessing I never expected, and will never forget.

Unfunny Sunday

Sorry to all who wait for this feature, but my cat is dying. I really expected her to pass last night, but she's still hanging on, however miserable and afraid she may be. So I'm just holding her until she's gone; with the exception of bathroom breaks, she's been in my lap or curled up beside me for nearly a full day now. No funnies today.

It's Caturday!

The Daily What
And my cute li'l kitteh. Sorry to hear about your loss, Dana. BTW, got into Blooger's settings and went back to the old editor, now I can load pictures just fine.

Followup: The Bad Astronomer found this awesome Star Trek-kitteh mashup.

Feral Cat

I learned, first from EB Misfit, then from Balloon Juice, that today is National Feral Cat Day. Okay, sometimes I wish we'd just go with National Everything Day (Week/Month) and be done with it.  This week has been National Earth Science Week; Monday was National Fossil Day and yesterday was International Water Day.  I didn't post on any of those, not because I have anything against them- quite the contrary- but because I couldn't think of anything interesting to say.  And if I do think of something interesting to say about them, I'm not going to worry about whether it's the "right" day.

On the other hand, sometimes I appreciate the reminder that something is important, such as National Coming Out Day, or at least important to me... like National Feral Cat Day. See, my companion animal is a feral.  I moved into my current location about five and a half years ago, and she and her siblings were around that spring. I remember them dashing out from the dumpster when someone would walk by.  A neighbor and I took to feeding them occasionally at first, then regularly, then dependably. Over a period of three years, Ozma and sibs became more tolerant of human proximity and even contact.  Sure, I expected to be swatted and scratched at first, and I was. We went through a hilarious period, for about a month, where the obvious attitude on the cats part was exasperation- "Would you Just...Cut... That... OUT!? We're tryin' to eat here." My occasional gales of laughter were much more frightening to the cats than my hand, by that point.

Patience.  Quiet and calm. Gentleness and persistence.

Then in April three years ago, I held the door open when they were done eating, and Ozma walked into my apartment as if it was the most natural thing ever.  Her sister, a little black fluff ball, disappeared shortly afterward, though for over a year I would see her occasionally- she was almost as affectionate as Ozma, and I suspect she adopted another human. Her brother, a gorgeous black and gray cat with a white bib and paws, was always the least comfortable with me, and never warmed to being touched.  He's still around- he and Ozma were cuddling in the hall just a couple of days ago, and I generally set out some food for him when I see him, but I make no effort to lure him in anymore.  He looks quite healthy.

So she walked in, carefully inspected the apartment for forty-five minutes, then headed under the desk and curled up and went to sleep by my feet.  There have been lots of entertaining, exasperating and warm moments since.  The latest being that, despite having a bin with kitty litter in it for over two years now, Ozma has just in the last week figured out what it's good for.  She is apparently delighted.  After finishing her business, she spends five to ten minutes burying it, over and over and over.

She spends most of her time inside now, but during the summer, I leave the porch door propped open.  Most days days since spring, she chose not to leave with me in the morning. She was there when I came home too, and I was worried she wasn't getting out at all.  But a couple of times I came home early, and she showed up about 4:30.  I generally come home between 5 and 7, so she obviously has her own schedule. She is extraordinarily affectionate; I don't think I've ever met a cat that has been as deliriously happy to be petted, scratched and rubbed as she is.

On the other hand, she's downright terrified of other people- which may not be a bad thing in a neighborhood full of frat boys. When I have visitors, she either bolts out the porch door, or hides quivering in my bedroom.  So she's not "domesticated" in the normal sense of the word, and despite the fact that I've been a powerless possession for over three years now, she will always be feral in a way. Corvallis has a program to catch, neuter and give shots to feral cats, then release them in the neighborhood where they were caught, so I imagine most of her other interactions with people have been scary and traumatic. To this program, and the people who volunteer and staff it, I say "Thanks!" You have contributed to some of my happiest moments of the last few years.

Caturday Sweet Story

From CSM a few days ago; click over to read the whole thing.

A few benches from my own I saw a middle-aged man whose face betrayed the buckeye-colored hue of someone who spent long hours outdoors.

Was he unemployed? Homeless? Or did he simply like to spend time in the park? I was pondering these questions when a movement behind the man caught my eye.

From beneath a bush an orange cat appeared. The cat took a few tentative steps into the light, looked at the man briefly, then walked purposefully to a spot on the path just a few feet in front of his bench.

The cat plopped down on her side and gazed at the man expectantly. The man responded by smiling and speaking a few words of Japanese, which, from his tone and attitude, I took to be something like, "You're a little late today." It seemed obvious that these two had met before.

Kitteh Can Has A Musical

Other kitteh has a puzzlement.

Why, Yes. Yes They Do.

And don't be fooled... The lion liked it too. It's just too regal and dignified to let on.

The Record Store Cats SPREE

see more Señor Gif

Señor Gif has posted a series of ten (to this point) Record Store Cats; above is my favorite. Rather than linking all ten, the general form of the url is below:

http://senorgif.com/2010/07/31/funny-gifs-its-caturday-the-record-store-cats-7/

The last digit for the above animation is 7; it was the seventh posted. Substitute 1-10 for that last number in the navigation bar and you can see the other nine. This is a case where the charm and humor is extended rather than exhausted by repetition. Actually, I just realized if you just enter the domain name and date, it takes you to the 7/31/10 archive (two pages; click "2" at the bottom of the first page).

Threatening Kitteh In The Window

QUUUUUTE!

Too Good to Save for Sunday

Okay, this is mean, and something I would never pull on my (or any other) cat. But I have giggled at this several times today, and it just seems to get funnier each time I see it. (From Skull Swap)