Category Archive: pet project

Jason’s 2010

Categories:

Fri. December 31, 2010

I actually started writing this post out a few days before tonight. There’s a lot to cover in a year and I wanted to make sure that I spent more than a bit of time getting my thoughts together. Yeah, without thinking about it too much, my first response is to call 2010 a banner year. Yes, there were hardships along the way, and a lot of hard work was needed just to continue moving forward. All the same, I wouldn’t take any of it back. There’s so much that I wouldn’t have even dreamt of in 2009. It was that kind of year.

This is a big post, so the remainder will come after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Leave comment

The nugget

Categories:

Sun. June 6, 2010

You know, as I was writing last night’s post, I actually fell asleep on my couch. It was the first time I’d done so in a few weeks because I didn’t really want to fall asleep in a location with the possibility of the cat crawling all over my face. I had a lot more to write about my experience with the cat, but I just didn’t get around to it before passing out. So I suppose this post is really just a continuation.

So, a few days ago I wrote about how I seemed to be swaying back and forth over whether to help my friend out and make my place Gloria’s forever-home. There was one incident though that kind of sealed the deal for me. Bear with me, this is a bit of a winding story.

On Thursday, I took advantage of a sale at Leon’s. I’ve been in need of a proper TV stand for a long time now. On Thursday Leon’s put this credenza on sale. It’s regularly $700, and for that day only it went for $350! That’s insane! I took the subway over to the local store and asked for that item. They said that they didn’t have it in stock at that location, but if I was willing I could go to another location to pick it up. I asked if it was something that could fit in my car and he told me it could. I really didn’t want to spend $50 for delivery. Anyway, I reserved the item, paid, then went to the other location. I parked at the customer pick-up area. I got them to bring the stand out. When they opened the loading door to my car the guys could only laugh in disbelief. “Umm…sir, there’s no way that unit can fit in your car.” I laughed along and agreed. Well, fuck. Luckily they had some movers on hand. They agreed to deliver the stand for the $50 fee. I mean, at that point I already had my heart set on getting my stand on the same day, so I just decided to pay for convenience. There was no way I’d have been able to get that stand any other way anyway.

So, when we arrived at my building they loaded it in the elevator and brought it up. When I opened my suite, it was hot and humid. It was also filled with the smell of some cat odour. Privately, I was mortified. I just got them to drop off the stand near the doorway. I didn’t want them to spend much time in there. I paid them and went on to get the stand set up. Before I did though, I decided to go hunting for the source of the smell. I checked around the box but didn’t find any puddles, and the litter box wasn’t particularly ripe. I mean, I cleared that sucker out on a daily basis. I didn’t find anything, so I just opened my balcony door to air my place out. So, I unpacked the new stand, moved it next to the old one and started transferring things over. After doing so I had to move the old stand out of the way. When I did, I finally found the source of the odour. There was a stray nugget of poo that must have been there for a few days. Gross! See, a few days before that she seemed to have accidentally shovelled out a turd. I think she tried to shuffle it around and hide it. In the process it must have broke into three pieces. That same day I picked up two pieces without knowing of the existence of this third piece. Anyway, I nonchalantly picked up this third piece and flushed it. Almost immediately the air quality started improving. That was pretty much the turning point for me. If I come home worrying about how my place smells and whether guests might experience some odd smells on arrival, then that’s just not right.

I didn’t treat Gloria poorly on her remaining days here. I still pet her and brushed her. We really took a liking to each other. Still, I just couldn’t keep up with the cleaning needed to keep her around. I have enough trouble keeping the place tidy on my own. The cat was just adding to the problem. Plus, she helped me to identify what my tolerance levels were. It became pretty clear that I don’t really have a good tolerance for messes that aren’t my own, know what I mean? I think I’ve determined that I’m not really a pet person. See, on emotional terms I’m great with pets; I can form bonds pretty easily. On a practical level, I just can’t deal with the upkeep. It doesn’t make me a bad pet owner, just someone that shouldn’t keep pets. Gosh, does that make sense?

Obviously, I’m sad that it had to come to end like this. Surely, part of me wishes that it could have worked out. All the same, I’m happy that I have my place to myself. I do enjoy my solitude you know. It’ll take a while before my place feels normal again. All I need is time.

Tags: ,

2 comments

It’s not you, it’s me

Categories:

Sat. June 5, 2010

Today, I went to Ikea and picked up a beige Egeby sisal rug. I needed a new one to replace the old one that I’ve had since moving in. See, as much as the old one looked all right, it was very prone to shedding, and produced a ridiculous amount of lint that seemed to fly all over my condo’s floors with free abandon. I thought that the shedding would die down as the lose fibres were picked off. No, it never did die down; the carpet continued to shed as much as it did after the first week. I decided that I wanted a sisal rug because I knew that the natural fibres would be likely to stay together. I’ve been wanting to replace the old rug for ages, but I never found a good enough reason to do so…until today. I suppose I have Gloria the cat to thank for that. While she was with me she picked at the carpet like doing so was going out of style. Part of me reasoned that as long as she was picking at the one item I didn’t want, she’d be less likely to claw any of my furniture. True. By the end of her stay, the carpet was totally looking worse for wear. There was totally no reason to keep the old around anymore.

So, based one what I just wrote, it should be clear that Gloria’s no longer staying here. She was picked up and taken back to where she came from. It’s not as if she’s going with some total stranger. No. She’s really familiar with the old home such that I shouldn’t feel bad at all. It’ll take me a while to get comfortable with my space again, but I’ll get there.

Tags: ,

Leave comment

Feline pendulum

Categories:

Wed. June 2, 2010

We all knew this would happen, eh?

So, like I mentioned last month, I’ve been cat-sitting for a friend, and depending on how that cat adapts to me and this environment. One week after I started, the cat seemed to get along with me, but still hid under the couch. I dutifully filled her food and water bowls, and cleaned out her box. She came out to do her functions, but remained out of sight most of the time unless I somehow coaxed her out into the open. By the end of the week, I was ready to throw in the towel. My place was a mess: carpet was picked at, the litter box area was dusty, cat hair covered the furniture. All of this for what? Gloria wasn’t coming out and she remained unsure. I decided that the setup just wasn’t working. I called my friend to see if he could pick her up on Sunday, but the situation was such that he wouldn’t be able to do anything until the weekend after. So, I was basically given another week with Gloria. Hmm.

So, for a few days after it really was more of the same. Now and then I got her to come out with a treat or two, or some play time. At one point I decided to just call her over to brush her because all of the loose hairs were getting to be a bit much. Well, I guess that helped with the bonding process because the next day she became affectionate and started following me all over the place. Almost seemed schizophrenic for her. The morning after, when I came out of my bedroom, there she was, meowing almost as if to say “good morning.” How silly of me to be forcing human traits on her, but it really did feel like she was greeting me. That caught me off guard because I was fully expecting her to remain cowering under the couch. All of the bravery and sudden sweetness made me question my earlier steadfastness. What the heck was she doing to me? So I told my friend that I needed a bit of extra time to decide. Suddenly she was getting all nice and affectionate which was confusing the heck out of me. Well, this evening I was expecting her to be just as friendly, except that she seemed to be more interested in ignoring me and swatting her ball around. What the hell? She actually seems a bit scared of me at the moment. I don’t know what to make of it.

So, this is my current state. I don’t know what to do. I’m entirely undecided and it seems like my mind swings one way or another from hour to hour. I swear, I wish I knew what to do. I suppose I can make things easier on myself by saying that I won’t worry about deciding until Saturday. I really just want the best for both of us, you know? If I’m not happy with her and resent her, then that’s just not a good situation.

This decision is hard!

Tags: ,

Leave comment

It’s complicated

Categories:

Wed. May 26, 2010

Ultimately, the end result comes down to it being a control issue. I want everything to work out, but there seems to be some deal-breakers involved. I didn’t anticipate that the problems would be that important, but apparently they are. One small step over the line means that there will just be many more to come. And if I’m already this irritated…I anticipate things will only get worse. As my friend says “[I] like nice things, and [I'd] like them to stay nice.”

I already know the end result (I think), and it’s kind of breaking my heart because ultimately I want us both to be happy.

Uuuuuugh. Why does it have to be like this?

Tags:

2 comments

Invisible Gloria

Categories:

Sun. May 23, 2010

I put off writing about this yesterday because I was still getting used to a couple of things about the topic at hand, but I guess now’s as good a time as any. I’ve never had a pet growing up, much as I wanted the responsibility and companionship. As soon as I moved to my own place I decided that I’d make it a point to get one. I considered adopting a dog, however, I knew that my situation and lifestyle wouldn’t be conducive to dog ownership. It just would be fair to the poor beast. As for cats, they were always an option, but I just never got around to adopting one. Also, I kind of feared for my leather couch. That’s pretty much how things have been for the past few months.

A few weeks ago I was chatting with a friend and offhand I suggested that I wanted to get a cat at some point. He jumped at the idea and suggested that I could take his cat if I wanted. He was having trouble keeping the cat at his place with his mother not getting along with pet. Well, I hesitated for a little while, but I decided that a trial run was in order. It just so happened that he was going away this long weekend, so this would be my chance. The deal is that if things go well this cat-sitting gig might turn into a permanent home.

Yesterday, my friend brought Gloria in with most of her things. In the carrier, you can tell that she was feeling awkward. When we opened the door, she slinked her way out before bolting for the kitchen. After assessing the situation, she jumped up on the counter and hid behind the blender. Apparently it gave her enough cover to be “hidden.” After a while, my friend got her down, and gave her a brief look at my condo. When he let her go, she dove under the couch. After my friend left, I was just left on my own to figure her out. Part of me was hoping to spend a little while getting to know Gloria and for her to get used to me, but I knew that she was kind of anxious and unsure of her new environment. I knew that she had to come out on her own terms and that I couldn’t force her to come and say hello. I couldn’t help myself though, every now and then I’d peek under the couch to see how she’s doing. She’d stare right back.

Knowing that she wouldn’t come out I ended up retreating to my room early in hopes that she’d just start exploring right away. I left out half a can of tuna for her to eat, and some fresh water to drink. The litter box was clump free and ready to go for her. I slept well. When I woke up I checked the state of things. She ate a fair bit of the tuna, and the litter box was used. The leather couch wasn’t scratched at all, but I saw a few paw prints here and there, indicating that indeed she did explore. I was wondering where she was, so I ducked under the couch, and yup, there she was.

I set out new food and water for her, so I was hoping that she’d go eat while I was awake. She was too timid for that. At one point I decided to just duck under the couch and say hi. I called her name out a few times and enticed her to come closer to me. She allowed me to start petting her and I obliged. I was relieved to hear her purring as I scratched her head. I tried to coax her out from under the couch, but when I did she scrambled back to the darkness. That tells me that she’s kind of comfortable with me, but still scared of the environment. I’ll take that. It means that she’ll definitely come around once she gets used to the place. Heck, I left my condo for an hour this evening and when I came back she moved the the darkness under my bed. When I greeted her, she just stared at me. When I sat on the bed she bolted back for the couch. Small progress, I guess. We’ll see how much progress she makes overnight.

So yes, this is the start of another journey for me, isn’t it? I’m sure that she’ll do well and eventually realize that I’m there for her. Meanwhile, all I can do is hope for the best.

Tags:

1 comment

Switch to our mobile site