Do you have a pet sitter or someone who can come over and spend at least a little bit of time with him on the days you are gone?

Oh yes, definitely; when I go away for a long time I have a petsitter who is really good, and also my neighbor will come over every couple days. But he wants me to be there. Which is endearing and sweet, but not actually very good for him. This time, I was only gone from Saturday morning to Sunday evening; I figured he'd just sleep through my absence. I can't see hiring a petsitter for just one day.

Well that is refreshing. And sane.

IKR? He went to the So Dec parade of his own accord, and we nearly went to the Queer Burlesque show together on Friday, but I had that migraine.

Excellent! So, after what date is the appropriate vetting by friends? Definitely after 3rd, but maybe before 5th-6th?

Heh, I joke, of course!

Joke, nothing. Clearly I need and value outside perspectives on these matters. Y'all will certainly meet him sooner rather than later, assuming there are dates beyond #3. You need to meet RI, too (as opposed to RS, who you know - trying to distinguish). She is super delightful.

I walked Frankie, and swept the detritus to the side, and will approximate putting clean sheets on. The rest will have to wait, including all the dishes. Bleccch.

Fuck! More plaster just fell, and chunks are hanging down. No chunks better land on any of my animals, dammit.

More plaster just fell, and chunks are hanging down.

Shit- you calling J tomorrow? You're gonna want to get someone looking at that, possible issues with water in roof/ceiling. Ugh.

Oh, we're on it. Neighbor handyman came and looked at it today; he's going to replace with drywall, replace the whole bathroom ceiling with drywall (big new crack, no leak) and repoint the chimneys. I will send her a pic via email, so she knows it's fairly urgent.

Medical question. My left shoulder has been aching a bit for about a week or two now. Today, I'm noticing that if I press down a bit on it, just inside of the collar bone forward of the muscle, it rather enhances the pain in a strange way. Is that a strange Vulcan pressure point or something?

Probably a myofascial trigger point. Try massaging it a little bit -- but don't use as hard of pressure as it took to enhance the pain.

Oh yes, definitely; when I go away for a long time I have a petsitter who is really good, and also my neighbor will come over every couple days. But he wants me to be there. Which is endearing and sweet, but not actually very good for him. This time, I was only gone from Saturday morning to Sunday evening; I figured he'd just sleep through my absence. I can't see hiring a petsitter for just one day.

I will say that I have noticed that when I have someone come Every Single Day, Puppycat is much better. I mean, you can leave food and water and cats will survive but some don't realize that the world isn't ending and they aren't the only creature left alive.

I've tried having people come every couple of days and she was still a neurotic mess when I got home. Which, honestly, she can't read a calendar and doesn't actually understand when I tell her I will be home in a couple of days. So she freaks.

It's one data point, not science, but I am resigned to knowing that I am now always making sure that a known (to the cat) friend or pet sitter is there every fricking day. It's not as convenient but it's cheaper than a vet bill and she seems way calmer when I get home. As something to think about.

O_a, yeah, that's a trigger point. I think it's the attachment point for some cluster of muscles...gentle massage or maybe visit to masseuse/chiro if you do that.

Zen- feliway diffusers can be the best thing every. Spendy, but I notice a distinct difference in my cats' anxiety levels when the resevoirs run out (cat acting insane and needy and jumpy? time to put in a new feliway!) and it doesn't have any of the side effects of prozac.

Smonster- Ukrainian guy sounds like a definite prospect!

Well, from now on, for any trip longer than 24 hours I will get a petsitter to reassure Percy he hasn't been entirely abandoned. He's the calmest cat ever when I'm home. When I'm gone I suspect he just hides. I might try the Feliway, just to see what effect it has on all three of them. Science!

smonster, let me know when/if you want me to start calling you in the am again.