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March 5, 1997
Three adoptions so far in March, including Sundae, one of the adorable kittens. Kittens always go quickly.
Juliette scratched me after I had finished doing her cage and Dottie's and was just reaching up to Charlie II's cage. Charlie II lunged at me spitting. I stepped down off the ladder (the new improved much better old step ladder) and twisted the knee with the mysterious knee thing. Since I'm supposed to be staying off it, elevating it with hot packs etc. I felt mildly guilty for having gone to work. So anyway, I had to get Dawna to grab Charlie II and put him in the socialization room for his 20 minutes of exercise (he's not allowed to play in the main room with the other cats - long explanation required - forget it) because I was afraid to touch him again. Juliette was all stirred up by this so I figured even if Charlie II didn't go for me again, Juliette would when I tried to get past her.
Meanwhile, Brian, a longhaired orange & white one, has developed an odd technique for fighting/playing with the other males. He goes right up to the new Abner (an orange one as opposed to the longhaired black and white Abner who got adopted a few weeks ago) and hisses and nips at him. Abner rears up to his full height on his hind legs extending his front claws and hissing and baring his teeth in the most terrifying threat display. Brian plops down on the floor and rolls over on his back exposing his belly. Abner doesn't know what to make of this. It looks like submission. It looks like an invitation to play. Abner continues to stand on his hind legs looking mean. Brian rolls all the way over ending up belly up again. Abner still isn't buying this. Slinky - another orange long hair - intrudes and hisses at both of them. The confrontation breaks down into a stand off with all three of them circling around warily.
In the laundry room, Mr. Spencer is sniffing suspiciously around Roberta's jacket making like he's going to spray. Roberta shoos him out of the laundry room. He jumps into one of the covered community litter boxes and watches us through the opening. He sits there for an hour hiding in the litter box. We conclude he thinks he can see us but we can't see him. He never used the litter box for its intended purpose. When I went to clean it there was nothing in it. Nobody else had used it of course because Mr. Spencer was in it the whole time.
I folded heaps of laundry because I could do that sitting down, thus staying off my leg. Roberta did the dishes for a change. She didn't like it much.
So I leave the shelter a little after noon and head to Starbucks for coffee before I study for my oceanography make-up exam. The baristas and the manager are relieved to see me. I haven't been in there in a week and they got worried. Tom stops in on his way to teach his 1:15 PM class. He says he was just about to call me to find out what happened to me. I guess people would notice if I disappeared. Anyway, he gives me a pile of clippings related to birds and oceans then heads off to NECO to teach. I finish my coffee, study a little there (brought my book with me), then head home to shower, change, and study.
I'm studying when the walk in clinic calls to ask if I still have pain and swelling. They've gotten the x-rays back from the radiologist and since there's nothing there they are very concerned that I have phlebitis and a blood clot. I tell them I'm better and I'll call them if it gets worse or isn't better by Friday. Now, I'm worried. I wasn't worried before but if they're worried. I'm worried. I spend the rest of the afternoon reading various stuff about phlebitis and venous blood clots on the net. Then I look up knee pain and discover there are 2 or 3 other causes of knee pain in the approximate site I'm experiencing it. I'm not convinced I have phlebitis let alone a blood clot. I try to stop worrying and study.
It's time to go. I think I'll stop on the way to get a sandwich. I go over a bump. The muffler falls down. I say falls down not off because the pipe is still attached. The muffler is held up with two rubber brackets, one of which has rotted through. I crawl under the car and lift the muffler up far enough to sort of precariously hook the non-rotted bracket back on and hope I don't go over anymore bumps. The street is wet and muddy. I realize I have a huge stripe of mud on my jeans and jacket. Ooops. Oh well, too late to go home. Gotta meet the teach at 6:00 to take the exam before class.
I go to Sharon's office. She's not there yet. I must be early. She's got tide tables and a brochure about Marine Science Careers on her door. I wonder if there are Marine Science careers that don't require going back to school. Taking this one undergraduate course is proving harder than I thought, not because of the material so much as the logistics and the fact that I haven't been in school for over 20 years...
I'm still speculating on this when Sharon arrives. I take the exam. Students arrive for class. One of the other students mentions being too old to be back in school. I sympathize.
We get the exams back. I did ok. She goes over the questions in class. I make a few notes on the ones I got wrong. Phew! I'm so relieved.
We learn about waves. We watch a videotape of clips from Endless Summer and Endless Summer II to illustrate the wave mechanics we're learning about. I have vivid memories of watching Endless Summer at the West Newton Theater when I was a kid. It was a grand big screen single screen really nice theater back then. Now it's been chopped up into a bunch of smaller screen theaters. At least it's still there. A wave of nostalgia washes over me. I wish I was young enough and able-bodied enough to surf... I'm definitely buying a boogie board this summer. A skim board too. One of the other guys in the class says he's inspired for summer already. Too bad we still have months to wait before it's warm enough to surf in Massachusetts (yes people do surf in Massachusetts oh ye of little faith - true you take your life in your hands doing it in winter but there are winter surfers here a - a few nuts with dry suits).
By now I've completely forgotten I may have a time bomb ticking in my leg. You can tell I am not taking this seriously enough.
I tell Nancy about all this on the phone. We laugh. I am 99.9% certain that this is a pulled muscle from tripping over Wilbur on the stairs.
I try to sleep. I start worrying. I drift off to sleep and have dreams about Nikki wanting something from me but not saying what it is. She's hanging around the oceanography classroom waiting for me. I wake up. Wilbur decides it's time to be fed. I feed him. Yes, I cater to his every whim. I go back to bed. I get up and surf the web.
At last I'm almost caught up on journal entries although I won't upload this until tomorrow.