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.