What's next in my

Masonic Journey? Will I stay the course and 

work with just my craft Lodge and Royal Arch? That's me September 2024. I thouught about joining Cryptic Rite which is right after where I am now, Health wize, I don't think I could take the next 3 degrees. I'm looking at Scottish Rite Edmonton Valley. Specifically The Lodge of Pefection. Less demands on my health. I'd like to start this journey in February. 

On August 19, 1960, the Soviet Union launched the satellite Sputnik 5 into Earth orbit, with 2 dogs 40 mice, 2 rats, and a variety of plants. They became the first living organisms to safely return from space.

Anne is taking Skippy into the vet soon for her monthly arthritis shot. One of my colleagues had her cat since a kitten die on her Monday. My wife I feel so bad for Frances. She's a good friend of the family. Anyway, that's all for now.

We headed out to brave the cold

about 3:30pm waiting until about 4pm for our bus to 72nd Street and 144th Ave. I knew we had about a quarter of a mile walk but it wasn't that bad out there. We miss judged our #11 bus so we caught the #182 instead and as soon as we were heading West along 144th and 72nd, I turned and there was our #11. As it turned out I didn't mind the brief walk to Giant Tiger. Our ultimate goal was Capital Pizza. Last time we went out there was Fathers Day 2013. The YouTube video top left is a result of our last visit. Anne did her shopping and I brought my book along. The Pizza was as good as ever. I almost bought a ounce of Drambuie but for $6 bucks I decided against it. Here's a picture of me after dinner:

The only complaint I had was it was kind of dark in there. My new iPod Touch though with the flash on took a decent picture. Subject matter not withstanding of course. We had pizza left over to take home.

After pizza we went to Dairy Queen. I had my usual Strawberry Sunday. They're the best. I love DQ ice cream. We caught the #10 back and got off at Belvedere. We had a bit of a wait for the train. We got to thinking that next time, we should take the bus to Clareview, train to Belvedere, #10 to Capital Pizza. The #10 drops us off right there. Anne walked home from Clareview and I read my book waiting for the #11. When I came in Anne had this:

There are a lot of these stray kittens out there. Refugees from refugee families. They abandon these poor things. Some survive winter others don't. I don't know if we're going to keep it. Silky has another year left to go out of 18 but Anne is leaning over to give him to the spca this week. We're calling it Skippy. 

Today early this afternoon, I'm running down to Audrey's too pick up my last book. Of the year that is and then home to watch Monday night Raw. My last week off. I hope next week is a easy 5-9 shift until the week after when I'm (hopefully) on days. Anyway, that's all for now.

Sunday afternoons I like to stay at home if

at all possible, muck around on the computer read etc. I even get the wife out of my hair for a bit. She goes off to do her shopping that sort of thing, I love Sundays.

Last night (well I paid for it) Anne bought us a pizza dinner pack. It's not our favorite pizza but we were arguing and fighting earlier and that carried on while we were eating. Ironic that it was from the same place she works at that Anne was complaining that her job cut her down to just 1 shift for next week, "I'm not paying rent etc." It got ugly so then she orders pizza from the job she hates and the pizza we're not thrilled over. I was going to have my beer but that fiasco put a damper on that occasion. 

Poor Boots hasn't been feeling well these days. As seen in this photo taken about 10 minutes ago, he's in pain. We think he has a fractured jaw from a cat fight previously. The vet gives him a shot and some ointment for his mouth. He has good days and bad days but I'm afraid we might need to put him down this summer. When his appetite gets the better of him, and he can't eat then we'll have to make a decision.

This week is just a straight work week. I have no appointments, no meetings. Nothing. For now tomorrow, I'm up at 6 for a full day and home for Monday night. Tuesday through Thursday could be the same as Monday depends on how Monday goes, or I'd be in the office 4-9pm. In that case Friday would be my day off. Saturday and next Sunday I'm in for 4 hours. Working that Monday 8:30-4pm gives me the 3 hours I'd miss Friday. It gives me 30 hour/week and enough for a bus pass if I needed a bus pass at these prices every week. I don't know what I'm going to do with my mr job but I've got to call them say something like how I'd like to keep the door open that sort of thing. If the mr has a full time day project then great, I'm on board 3 days at the other place. When they don't have a day project it's at my tm job. The day projects are mostly a Monday-Friday situation. I like that kind of a situation I could do the mr job 9-4pm and my tm job 5-9 for 3 days/week. I'd like to have a situation like that.

This afternoon I'm tinkering around with a Cubase track if my wonky laptop will let me before it overheats and crashes. It suffers from a low cpu outage on the mobo sitting there at 1.7ghz. To run any of the music programs I have on my laptop for any length of time I'd need at least 2ghz. Laptops overheat too easily. There are laptop cooling trays and I hear they do a pretty good job at keeping the laptop in a cooler state while in use. I put together a couple of templates in Cubase to help speed up the workflow. I've got one template that has 24 i/o's buses mono in stereo out. I need another usb cable though to use my audio interface. Music production isn't cheep. That song on Jim Tube "This is Jim saying hello," was all done on my laptop. It's just a sample with no attempt to mix or master. It's all done with vst's but I'm looking at the Roland FA 06 workstation after I get the pc but that wont be until about September or even October, after the pc is paid off.

Looks like we had a bit of rain earlier. It's very nice out there with a light breeze. A perfect summer afternoon. Anyway, that's all for now. 

Snow days are nice days as it doesn't bother me too much

I like snow days. We're having a good go right now for today. They say its supposed to let up by the time I come home tonight about 7pm.

This week I have that appointment Wednesday afternoon. Thursday its my big night. The secretary in a email was saying that this could be our last Installation. It very well could because a good portion of our membership are in their 80's. We're a trade Lodge, which means work is keeping most of the guys who would love to come out away because of the job. There's only 1 guy who's climbing up the chairs but he's at least 4 chairs (years) away. I'd probably stay on another year just to be installed as IPM. After that, if it goes that way I'm affiliating with Edmonton #7 and joining our local Royal Arch chapter. But if this is it for our Lodge, then the above will be set in place.

Today should be pretty easy but I have a book at Audrey's I need to pick up after work then home. It's Monday night Raw but that's been boring lately. I'll watch the opening and the last match that's about all I need.

I don't want to spend a lot of money right now as I think I have 1 more cheque until Christmas. My cheque coming up next is going towards paying my bills and taking Anne out to The Sawmill.

Yesterday Anne went out and bought that cat toy "Cats meow." It's about a 3" disk that has a extended arm with something that the cat "thinks" is a mouse and it spins just underneath a yellow cloth type material in random directions. The cats go nuts over it. Except Silky he's a bit to old for it but Sporty and Boots love it. It takes the big round batteries and overheats and shuts down occasionally. It's only $15 at Giant Tiger. Anne thinks it'll be a couple of bucks just before Christmas at the dollar store across the street. Anyway, that's about all for tonight.

Our Siamese

cat is on his last legs. Anne took him into the vet yesterday morning to have his fluid looked at a tube down his throat and an appetite enhancer and his system flushed out. We got him back about 6pm and so far he hasn't eaten anything. That's what's worrying us the most at this stage. We're going to give him a few more days but at $200 a session like that we can't repeat the process as it's just going to drain us. We can help him along the way only so far and give him up until Thursday night. If after that  there's no change, then we'll be putting him down.The cat's only 8 years old which makes it sad. We think we should have had their shots while they were still in the litter and then take them home. What can you do?

Art Bell on radio again? It seems Art has a new show called, "Art Bell's Dark Matter," on Sirius XM Radio beginning on September 16, 2013. I'll still be listening to Coast because Coast is on AM radio which is free. Sirus is subscription based.

I had a short shift yesterday morning from 9-12:30pm. It's not what I'd hoped for. I was hoping to have my hours back 7.5 but I have a couple more weeks of this until the end of the month. Then I'm 1-9, which is ok. I might even do a odd Saturday morning in there as well, we'll see.

After work I went over to Audrey's and bought Horus Heresy book #16 and then cashed in  my club points and bought #22 and #23. There are 4 more books but not released in paperback yet. Also, there is one more Space Marine Battles book out now. I also have a bunch of David Webber's coming in but I'm not buying 2-3 books at a time for awhile yet.

So, I'm off today in for Wednesday from 9-12:30 off for the weekend and next week is a repeat of this week. I've got my income tax return saved for times like this. That's the trouble with research jobs you get maybe 8 months on and 3-4 months off, without pay. Anyway, that's all for now.

The weekend began ok but the pall

of losing our cat Sporty put a downer on everything else. Anne's taking him in for a check up tomorrow but I doubt he'll come home alive. With that said it's a easy day for me tomorrow. Sporty will be on my mind for most of it though but I still got to take care of business. 

I think this week Sporty will be a memory. I think when I come home tomorrow, it'll be done. He'll be gone. He's not eating, eventually he'll just shut down. Despite the almost 90% chance of losing Sporty, we still have Silky and Boot's. I'm going to miss the way Silky and Sporty would love up to each other always cleaning each other sleeping together. 

This weekends CFL Proline for week #8 went like this: Friday August 16th Hamilton/Winnipeg: 37-18. (W) I got 1 right.  Saturday a double header: Montreal/Riders 21-24 (T) Wrong. Calgary/BC 22-26 (W) I got 2 right. Edmonton/Toronto 33-36 (L) ordinarily I'd have chosen the Hamilton and Winnipeg game to tie. At $2 a hit, it's fun to play. I put $3 Despite the Esks 1-6 record I'm ok with the effort the Eskimo's made this evening. At least they found their star QB in Mike Riley. I think he played on par with Ricky Ray and a last play off spot isn't out of reach,yet.

Even though with Sporty on my mind at work tomorrow morning I have a short 3.5 hour shift. I'm going to go into Audrey's books and pick up that Horus Heresy "Age of Darkness" novel and cash in my book club membership for the other 2 remaining there for me. I think I might have to fork out a few extra dollars but that more or less catches me up in the Horus Heresy series that are still in print Anyway, that's about all for now. 

I got out of bed shortly

after the noon hour and dialed in the Oiler/Wings game on TV. Surprise, Nikolai Khabibulin is in net. The Oiler’s were going to either lose in regulation or lose in OT anyway. My mood changed and brightened up: This is actually a good move by the Oiler Coach. Gives Dubie a break. As usual in usual form the Oiler’s began taking penalties. By the end of the 2nd period though the score was only 0-1 for Wings and they got that goal based on a 5-3 against us. Can’t blame Khabibulin for that. Nick Shultz from our D scored to tie. I thought, hey, this could be a good game after all. My hopes were high. The officiating was good so far. Detroit scored on the pp 2-1 on a screened play. We had 8 pp opportunities and couldn’t get the job done. The best player for the Oiler’s I thought was Nikolai Khabibulin! The outcome would have been the same regardless of who was I n net but Khabibulin made some great saves. The Oiler’s played their B game while at home the Wings won their 2nd at home while we dropped our 5th straight loss. The Oiler’s lost this afternoon because of penalties. Not blaming the officials, they kept everything more or less even. The Oiler’s also lost due to a better team. Simple as that. Tomorrow though is another day and the Oiler’s are playing in Columbus and that‘s a 4pm start.

Some sad news though yesterday when I called Anne she was all in tears because Skippy had jumped off the balcony into the snow below about half an hour before I called. This morning Anne knew Skippy would be under the maintenance shed over there at the Edmonton housing complex. That’s where a lot of stray cats hang out in the winter and under cement steps away from the wind. Anne, this morning went to provide some food and water for the 3 strays that make that place their home. Skippy came out after recognizing her and rubbed up against her. When Anne reached out to touch her she hurried back underneath the shed. Skippy is a very loving cat and even cuddled up with me in bed the other night. Anne’s going to continue to go out to feed her and bring her in to get warmed up and all once in a while. Her fear is in the Spring when she‘s going to get knocked up and produce litter. By that time or even earlier we‘re going to try and get her to the SPCA and the other cats there as well:
I‘m back at work at last. I‘m working a block South of Corona LRT. It‘s full time. I‘m doing research work (survey’s) and I‘m getting a bit more then what I was making at my last job plus I get evenings and weekends off. It‘s not a big phone room like the last one. There‘s about 10 stations and calling is a mix between manually dialing and entering data. I‘m basically calling small businesses. But it‘ interesting work and it‘s not selling. Also what I like about it my pay even though it‘s bi weekly it gets directed right into my bank account. Also the company I‘m working with has been around since the 1980‘s. I got the job from a previous co-worker I worked with about 5 years ago in the Baker Centre location. Anyway, we struck up a friendship and over the last few years I‘ve been communicating with him on Face book. He left me a private message saying he might have some work for me. I didn‘t know he was the boss until he invited me to take a look at their operation. I didn‘t need to send a resume by email or anything like that, it was, I went in had a chat got hired and I start full time Monday. So I went today and called HR from my previous place of employment left a message on voicemail explaining some details that I‘m breaking my severance package agreement and left my contact details. That‘s all done. The best part about this job is that every 300 hours or so, I get a raise in pay. My pay checks go right into my Scotia bank, perfect. My hours are 9-5 and I can pencil in my own hours and I get evenings and weekends off.

Anne left me with only 1 2L and that was about 70% full. it meant go without or make a trip to Superstore across the street. It was breezy but mild out there. I bought 3 2L of diet cola and that should last us until Sunday night. I'm glad I went out across the street to get that pop and it saves Anne a trip as well. I've been home for like 15 minutes now and I'm still sweating!

Other then that I didn't want to say anything about the job until I knew I had it. Now it's a question of keeping it and passing my 1st 90 day review. That's going to be the initial hurdle. 

Sunday I have a rare Oiler game to watch for a 4pm afternoon game. So far it's been a great couple of days.

This week, on my plate it's just work but I'm heading out to Lodge Wednesday as one of our visitors is the Worshipful master of his lodge visiting us.Turn-about is fair play. I'm not having a pint or anythig. I should be home by 10:30-11pm a bite to eat then bed but that's still a few days away then the following Saturday I'm off at Commercial Lodge so that should be ok. Anyway, that's all for now.

We've been in the grip

of a wicked cold snap over the last couple of days as we have another day of this, then on Friday we're at +3 in the Capital.

The above is a sampling of some stats for over the past couple of days. Green=page views, blue=unique visitors, orange means returning visitors. Yesterdays returning visitors were cut off (screen real estate) but there were 5 returning visitors. Monday's and Friday's seem to be my best time of the week.

This means because on the firs day of the month (Friday) we can use our ETS bus pass from January and for February. This means I can go down to my banks Friday take care of some business and pay a bill and head up to Canada Place to check in on my CPP.

Just read this article in i09 about cats. Here's an extract under the fair use rule: Our cats may be cuddly pals and adorable internet memes, but they are also destroying the environment more efficiently than humans. They have been called one of the "worst" invasive species. And a new study  published today in Nature Communications suggests that cats are responsible for killing several endangered bird species in the United States, and decimating bird populations on islands all over the world. In the US, cats kill as many as 3.7 billion native birds annually, making them a bigger threat to these creatures than buildings, towers, windows, poison, and cars. But there is a solution to the problem. We try our part to take these outdoor cats in as much as building codes allow. We already have Boots here and we might take in one more. But here's the full i09 article .            . 

As for today, we've been expecting the building superintendent to make a pit stop into our suite like the notice under our door indicated yesterday. They hadn't arrived yet so this could be anytime this week. Other then this, I'm working on my track and watching the Oiler's at Phoenix. Anyway, that's all for now.

Wow, what a game last night!

The defending Stanley Cup champions, the LA Kings come to entertain the Edmonton Oiler's and wow,what a game. The Kings take advantage of a sloppy turnover at the offensive zone blue line and get a break-a-away. 1-0. We get a goal and a second or 2 later the on ice officiating says no goal. Rexall Place didn't like that decision. Then with 1:05 on the clock in the 3rd the Oiler's score again to tie but that was disallowed and the place went nuts. They fans were so angry I couldn't hear the Rexall Place announcer, they were throwing stuff on the ice in the ice in the time keepers box,everywhere. It's almost as if the refs were trying to do anything they could to give the winless LA Kings a Win at our expense. But in the dying seconds Yakapov scores to tie the game at 1 sending it into overtime. Unbelievable. In OT the Oiler's scored to win a very exciting hockey game that could have gone either way. Now if I was working the 1-9 shift I would have missed this exciting game. I wonder how many other games like this, I would have missed over the many years.

Just when Anne and I thought we did a good thing yesterday by finding the cat named "Markus" a home, Anne goes out to take out the trash in the wee hours as she does the last thing before bed type thing. "Markus is back." What? Are you sure? "Same features on the cat outside as the one we gave to the University student this morning." I don't think it is Markus because he would have gone right up to Anne but he backed away Anne said apparently. If that was Markus, he would have came up to Anne and would have been all over her. But if it is then the prospective owner probably didn't like the cat and drove around back and release him and took off like a hit and run driver. We were so desperate to find him a home. We can't keep him because we would have 3 groups of cats separated: Sporty & Sparky as one group and Boots as another and Markus. There's a lot of stray cats around here and Boots probably "knows" most of them. 

I was going to go to my bank this afternoon but Anne said that she would go for me. Ok. So it means I have no place to go today,which suits me fine. I can read and work on my music etc. Anyway, that's about all for now.

Next weekend is

Super bowl Sunday. Not that I’m all that excited about it. Seattle is out of it but this weekend is the NFL All Star pro bowl. Besides the Oiler’s are back playing hockey and the NHL playoffs begin in May/June and the Esks play in July.

I’m still excited about the downtown arena announcement that went down yesterday. It‘s not just the arena it’s the arena district. There will be 6 office and condo towers surrounding the arena as there will be about $2B worth development in there area. Just the arena itself will cost $631M not including cost overruns. Shovels will be in the ground maybe in April or as late as August. We have the 2nd youngest team in the NHL plus 3 back-to-back #1 picks and a new downtown arena. And if that wasn‘t enough, I heard rumors that Vancouver Canucks disgruntled goal tender Luongo might be traded to The Oiler’s? Yeah right. If anything he will probably go to Carolina or Florida. So if the above isn‘t a recipe for playing meaningful games in April, I don’t know what is but Luongo in Edmonton? It makes no sense and a bit of wishful thinking. Besides,we already have an old goaltender and where did that get us? It'll never happen.

 About a month ago Anne befriend a stray cat from outside here. It fit’s the description of a cat’s photo taped up on a City pole out on the side walk here. Anne managed to contact the cat owner (Sarah) and said that the cat got out of a town home a few blocks from here and had got lost. His name is Markus. Well, Anne managed to scoop him up and brought him inside and he’s in the bedroom. Markus is a grey male tabby maybe about 1 year old. He’s a very friendly fellow. This has been one of the cats Boot’s has been jumping out onto the snow below to scrap with. I went and named him Skipper before we had an official name for him. Anne went and left a message on Sarah’s machine. Hopefully this is her cat. There’s no guarantee that Markus would get along with Sporty & Silky. Boot’s is going crazy. It’s hard to match the figure with the cat we have in the bedroom. I tried to take a photo of Markus but the cat wouldn’t stay still. I’ll have an update later today. If this cat isn’t Sarah’s then Anne says we’ll have to give him up to the SPCA where at least he’ll have a chance of finding a home. I’d like to keep him if the cat isn’t Sarah’s as Anne has him out in the living room and he’s not attacking Sporty. The his at each other but he’s not charging Sporty.
 
I like looking at action figures and toys. I‘ve got a few Star Trek Hallmark Christmas ornaments but Anne didn‘t get the up on the tree for me this year. I‘ve got the original Star Trek Shuttle craft and the NG Enterprise and a cool Romulan Bird of Prey. I even managed to get the original Enterprise ornament and I paid $200 as a collectible back over 20 years ago. Today they are sold for about the same price. Anyway, that's about all for now.

It's been 5 days since

we lost Sparky and the thought of losing him breaks my heart. I can't believe I'm saying this but work right now is the best therapy.

Right now it's a bitter -17* out there but its supposed to warm up after the weekend and I'm looking forward to that. 

Anne's heading down to the Legislature to bring those pension forms in and then she's coming up to pay me a visit at lunch (4:30pm) and is bringing me some "Taco Bell." She wants to see the new office and check it out. 

What really upsets me about losing Sparky Monday is that we had him and then he's gone. The signs were there that he was just withering away and even if we did bring him home, he would have suffered even more and might have had heart failure right here. The FIP was also stressing his heart as well. Sparky's passing is a wake up call for me as it makes me realize how we can have something one minute and it can be taken away from us the next. I know Anne is really hurting and if I could make a deal with God my life for a healthy breathing Sparky, in a heartbeat. I would even make a pact with the devil if I could, I love Sparky that much. 

After work it's to my bank and home and a few short hours off and in bed by about 1am and back at it 10am to wait out in the cold. Saturday morning I'm having my breakfast at Tim's. None of this waiting in the cold for 15 minutes while somebody opens the outside door. At 10 minutes to 10am I'll leave Tim's and then walk to the office. It's still not open as James or somebody has to open the door to let outside staff in. But at least I'm having my breakfast and my insulin.

If those pension forms are ok, Anne's going to give me $400 to help pay Sparky's expenses. Another $200 more and then I get Komplete 8. I'll use FL Studio for now then Cubase 6 later in the Spring when I get that.

For good reason Anne doesn't want another cat and I don't either. At least not now maybe when we're down to just 2 of them. I'd like to adapt the cats if say there are 2-5 in a cage and I can pick one out and Anne the other. One I'd like to name Jazz and the other Skippy. Nothing can replace any of our cats, it doesn't work that way.

Why in 1974, living in my little New Westminster studio apartment, I never had a cat? Assuming I could have kept him for 18 years he would have been with me up until about 1992 and I would have got Pledges a year later. Anyway, that's all for now.

I feel a bit better

better about Sparky. I think what gave him this Corona virus (FIP) was Boots, he's a carrier.

Slowly Anne and I are phasing back into our old routines but Sparky will never be forgotten. it's going to be a long time before we get another cat. But if Boots is the carrier as I suspect he is, next to go could be Silky or Sporty and that could happen at anytime. As soon as I hear one of them gasping for breath, it's going to be time to put that one down, right away.

Actually I went into work this morning for the afternoon shift and I got Anne's pension release forms completed. My boss said if I wanted to take the day off, that's ok and I took him up on that. I had a chat with Noreen. She's the woman that Anne and got Sparky & Sporty from in May 0f 2005. So I had a talk with her and she says she's still got 3 of the original 6 in that litter. I told her about Sparky on Monday and about this Corona FIP virus and she said all her cats are healthy and obviously the same age as Sparky was. So this leads me to believe that Boot's is the carrier and infected Sparky because Boots was the stray. FIP is incurable to cats. It's fatal as it was to Sparky.

Anyway, I caught the train home at about 12:30pm. It was brisk and clear outside under sunny skies this morning and coming home. I sat on the right side on my of the train coming home this afternoon and passing the back end of Costco, I could see the Pet Smart loading zone but Anne tells me that the vet hospital doesn;t have a loading zone so Sparky's remains would have been taken out the front way. Every time that I'll go near that building on a bus or a walk home from Wendy's, I'll always think of Sparky.

Anne and I were talking though that if we ever did get another cat we'd adapt one from Pet Smart. Give someone else a home. But so long as Boots is here and has the FIP he's going to infect every cat that comes in here.

Ok, onto other things. I still haven't got the programs Keith was going to install for me from last weekend. I want to star making some music but I can't even install my FL Studio. little alone Komplete 8 when I get a chance to get it. If I do.

Tomorrow I have a full day ahead of me, a full 8 hours and next week a short check but also I have no further Lodge stuff to do this month as well, so that is good news. Anyway, that's about all for now.

And lastely here are the 2 brothers together

now only death separates them from life. The thing with Sparky was he never developed properly. He always had a tiny head and a large body but his passing is going to leave a huge void around here and it's going to be hard to fill, if ever

 

 and that's going to be the hardest part. Anne and I don't have kids and these guys are our kids. I just wish we didn't have to separate Boot's from Sporty & Silky. Anne doesn't want another cat and to be honest it's too soon to even think about it. Anyway, that's about all for now

And this image of Sparky

taken 9:51pm Saturday July 19th 2008. He would have been 2 years old here.

I managed to snag this one of Pledges from my Picasa

library of photos. It was taken Monday April 4th 2008. He would have been 17 years old here and at this time he was perfectly healthy.

I called into (RIP Sparky 2006-2012)

the office last nigh to let the boss know I wasn't coming in for today because we had to put Sparky down last night. He had what was called the Corona virus a strain called FIP, which can't be cured. It's fatal, the Doctor said. he took us in privately to a small room and showed us x-rays and samples that he took. He said if it was his cat he would take him home and monitor him for a couple of days and see what happens but in his opinion Sparky was to gone into the virus. He might have survived until the weekend but to put him through any more suffering because his breathing was labored and he wasn't eating anything. it might have given us a few days with him but prolonged his suffering. I don't know what happens to a cat in the finale stages of this FIP and we'd have to put Sparky down eventually. I made the decision to end his suffering and put him down. Anne and I talked about it and thought it would be the best thing for him. Good for him, bad for us of course

At first I didn't want to say goodbye and I waited in the Doctors office then as I was mulling it over and the Doctor came back in said I would like to say my goodbyes. So I went into this room and there was Anne poking her head in his cage crying. Sparky perked right up when he saw me. An image I'll never forget. Anne made room for me and kissed him and said my goodbyes for about 10 minutes we were there. It was already passed closing time for the clinic and at 6pm we went to the reception desk and filled out the form to give the Doctor permission to euthanize Sparky. He wont feel a thing. We're also going to have him cremated later this month and we get his ashes in something called a scatterbox until we get him an urn. He'll be sitting next to Pledges on the coffee table.

We got Sparky & Sporty in the Spring of 2006 from Noreen in the business room. Anne and I were looking for a couple of cats to keep Silky and Pledges company. Anne was attracted to this little male Siamese kitten and I asked if there was another male but there was only a female. I noticed this spunky little tabby kitten and I said I'd take that one. Anne named him Sparky. Little did any of us know we'd have him for a short 5 years.

The Corona virus (or FIP) can be transmitted 2 ways, 1, it can rest in the imune system as a "time bomb" for years and the cat that has it display no symptoms. Usually activated by stress (Boots) 2, through bite marks when cats get into fights with each other (Boots) I think what happened because Boots was an outdoor stray cat he had the virus in him and Boots and Sparky did get into a fight recently this year and I think that's what caused it. Otherwise Sparky would have had it in his system for years if Boots wasn't in this apartment we would still have Sparky with us. I don't blame Anne because we knew nothing about this. Boot's is what's called a carrier of the virus and I think he gave it to Sparky. I'll know the next time when Boots and the other cats get into what Anne calls a "Tumble & tuk" (TT) if within 6-8 weeks of that, one of them get it. We'll know Boots is the carrier. I went to bed earlier then Anne this morning and I heard a TT from Boots & Silky and left it at that. If Silky got bitten by Boots in that last TT, within the next 6 weeks or so SIlky begins to display the same labored breathing conditions, we'll know that the FIP virus came from Boots or it was lying dormant in Sparky from birth.

As I'm beginning to sort this out in my mind it doesn't make it any easier Sparky's passing last night and overnight surprisingly I was able to sleep ok. I heard Anne laughing at something on TV but she still wanted me here because through out her day she's going to be crying and choking back tears. She doesn;t deserve to be alone on a day like today. Over the next couple of days and weeks and months ahead, life will return to "normal" and we'll move on with Sparky in our hearts but not forgotten. Life always compensates as I firmly believe for every loss there is a gain, somewhere if you know where to look. It might not happen right away, it could take weeks or even months but the universe has a strange way of filling in gaps in a void. 

Anne and I will eventually let Sparky "go" and move on and like I said life will "return to normal,"  RIP Sparky, 2006-2012.

There could be an absence of posts here over the next couple of days. I'll post something on Twitter of course but it's going to take some time to work this thing out with Sparky. Anyway that's all for now.

I called into the office just after 9pm and

explained to the boss I wouldn't be in today because of what happened to Sparky. Anne needs me at home as she couldn't bare to be alone without me. It's going to be a long night. Hard to believe Sparky is just about 1,300 feet away from our location and will be there until after the weekend when a outside contractor will take his body and cremate it for us. We get his ashes and into an urn he goes. I still miss Pledges 2 years ago.

I decided against reading James p. Hogan only because I'm in the mood for some 1st person point of view stories. When I have enough energy and I'm more or less have moved on from the initial shock of losing Sparky, I'm going to begin S.L. Viehl's "Stardoc" series and I'll flip between that and Timothy Zahn's Frank Compton series and of course the "Song of fire and ice series."

But for now I just don't have the energy to deal with any novels. It's going to be a rough week ahead. I'd be satisfied if I can make it through the work week. This is a real shocker for both Anne and myself. Sparky's ordeal is over with but ours is just beginning. We're the ones hurting not him. I just can't get that finale of image of him in the cage as we had it opened and he perked right up when he saw me. That's going to stay with me for the rest of my life. At that time he had maybe less then half an hour of life left. 

Anne and I have learned a lesson though from this: we are not going to get any more cats from a litter. I wish we could get another cat though but not while Boots is here. If boots goes within the next couple of years or less then I'd suggest we get another couple of cats from PetSmart but we're a long way from doing that. Anyway it's going to be a long night and an even longer day. I love you Sparky. Anyway that's all for now.  

I really hate days like

this. We had to take Sparky (see below) to the vet just down here at the Pet Smart. Anne hauled him down this morning about 11am and it didn't look good she said. When she came back latter she said Sparky had a heart condition and a virus and we were to go in at 5pm. Anne said the vet was going to try a few things throughout the afternoon. So, at 4:30pm we went down in the brisk clear afternoon air as the Sun was almost blinding me. 

 
This was one of the hardest walks I ever had to do. We had about a 15 min wait. The vet was a small complex just off the side by PetSmart. The Doctor came in and showed us xrays and sample fluids he took from Sparky. The Doctor said he had whats called the Corona (Feline Infectious Peritonitis) virus or FIP. There are 2 ways a cat can get this almost fatal virus. 1.) From birth as a carrier and have it all the cats life and activated at anytime. 2.) From other cats in the food or bite marks when cats fight each other. The Doctor gave us 2 alternatives; A.) Take Sparky home and monitor his condition, which will get worse. He might have days left. B.) Put him down. I thought the easiest thing to do for Sparky was to put him down so he wouldn't suffer.

We said our goodbyes as Anne went in first and I went in second. Sparky perked right up when he say me. I kissed him told him I loved (love him) him and spent some time with him. I still have this sickening feeling inside. I left the door first and Anne later and we went to the reception desk to settle up our bill. 

What we're going to do is to have him cremated and then we're going to get his ashes in a scatter box and buy an urn from Micheal's and at the end of the month have his ashes alongside Pledges. Anne was reluctant at first but saw the wisdom in it. With Sparky dead it's going to leave a huge hole in our hearts and this place is going to be so empty without him. This was his last Christmas with us. On the bright side we still have his brother Sporty & Silky and those two love each other and we have Boots as well, but I'm going to really miss Sparky.

When Pledges went in 2009, I didn't mind it so much because he was old and had a long life and we still had the 4 other cats. Little did we know that Sparky had a time bomb in him that could have gone off at anytime. Did he get FIP from Boots, or from the mother as a kitten? It's hard to say. 

But it's going to feel pretty empty around here over the next few weeks and the months ahead. We'll get through it but in the meantime losing Sparky was like losing a piece of my soul. When it was their turn he'd always cuddle up beside me. He was a very loving cat.

We left out of the vet at about 6pm over to Tim's for a coffee with Sparky weighing heavy on our hearts. By 6:30pm as we began our way home crossing the 50th street intersection it was hard to keep my vision focused on PetSmart knowing we were less then a 100 feet from our lifeless cat. If there is a heaven and I think there is, if I go I hope I'm with Sparky and Pledges and my wife. Sleep is going to be hard to come by tonight. 

I love you Sparky, always. Anyway, that's all for now.