Shelter Scuttlebutt

Today is the shelter's annual open house.  Hot dogs for everyone (even vegan dogs for us crazies).  Chips and sweets.  A veggie tray for those of us who are die-hards.  Door prizes, cats to play with (and adopt), and a good time for all.

That meant, of course, that Saturday was cleaning day.  Boy howdy, did we ever.  After i had filled all of our cats' five bowls, and changed the three water dispensers, and scooped all eight of their litter boxes (yes, 8), and fed the bottle-babies umpteen times, i went to see if i could offer a bit of support.

Once there, i got shanghaied.  In the usual fashion of everyone wanting to come for the eatin' but no one wanting to come for the cleanin', we were short handed.  What was supposed to be an hour turned into almost three, but at least the windows are clean and the kitten room smells good and mostly every cat behaved except Clark who is being a pest and growling at everyone including his best pal Fuzz and bit Miss W soundly on the leg because she picked up his bed to take it to the washing machine.  He didn't like the fresh one, apparently.

Our shelter is full right now.  There are about 25 kittens and close to the same number of adults available for adoption right now.  We have a new Friday morning caretaker (i still do Friday evenings, with whichever kids can come help on that particular evening), and she's a lovely woman.  She is also diagnosed OCD and is having a difficult time doing the morning caretaking.  She wants every litter box clean and to stay that way until she is done.  It's not going to happen.  So she goes back and does the same boxes over and over, every time a kitten uses one.

This past week, she spent 6 hours and never even got to the adult colony rooms.  Thus when i got there Friday, every room needed attention very badly, but only got a quick flyby.  It is going to be delicately suggested to her that she please do the rooms first.  That way, she does a room and leaves, and won't know if a cat uses the box again so she won't keep going back to reclean it.  With all the kitten cages in the big room, when a kitten goes back to the box, everyone knows.

Saturday evening turned into project evening, with Sweetie finally moving some big items he's been wanting moved for a long time.  This always means me on the other end of such things, too.  Young Jacob and #2 Son helped, but for some reason Sweetie, who is 6'2" and around 200lbs+, likes to have me help him move stuff.  As i stand only 5'0" in my bare feet and weigh about 93lbs soaking wet, we are mismatched, with everything we move leaning crazily the whole time.  Still, i'm the first one he thinks of when he has to move stuff.

Either way, i'm glad it's Sunday, the day of rest.  Although if Clark is still in a mood, there may be more to do at the shelter during the open house.  Let's hope mopping up blood isn't included this time. 


Today is

Aizen Matsuri -- Shoman-in Temple, Osaka, Japan (celebration of Aizen Myo-oh, greatest of the 8 Buddhist guardian gods, and is also called the Yakuta Festival; through July 2)

Armed Forces Day -- Guatemala^

Crab Races -- Fairy Calendar (Pixies, Elves, and some Fairies)

Day of Aestas -- Ancient Roman Calendar (culmination of the festival that begins the summer)

Descendent's Day -- on the final Sunday of June each year, an encouragement for all the world's citizens to take an accounting of their activities during the prior year and how those will affect those who come after us

Eleciones Primarias -- Chile (public holiday for Primary Elections)

Feast of All Saints -- Orthodox Christian

Feast of the First Martyrs of the Church of Rome -- remembrance of the first Christians killed in Rome by order of Nero as scapegoats for the fire in Rome

Festival of the Tarasque -- Tarascon, France (celebration of the legend of the dragon tamed by St. Martha)

General Prayer Day -- Central African Republic

Gioco Del Ponte -- Pisa, Italy (the Battle of the Bridge or Game of the Bridge, a medieval parade and contest for possession of the bridge)

Independence Day -- Democratic Republic of the Congo (formerly Zaire)(1960)

Leap Second Time Adjustment Day -- if one is needed

Log Cabin Day -- The Log Cabin Society, dedicated to preserving log cabins and the old fashioned ways of life; many places that have historic log cabins plan big events the last Sunday in June to celebrate

Meteor Day -- because of the Tuskunga Event

Mother's Day -- Kenya

National Corvette Day -- US (vehicle introduced this day in 1953)

National Ice Cream Soda Day

Pridie Kalendas July (Day Before the Kalends of July) -- Ancient Roman Calendar (a day when dies comitiales -- citizen committees -- voted on political and criminal matters)

Punxsutawney Ground Hog Festival -- Punxsutawney, PA, US (through the 7th; because the groundhog is worth more than just one cold day in February!)

Revolution Day -- Sudan(1989)

St. Theobald of Provins' day (Patron of bachelors)

Tech Support Appreciation Day -- if you can get a hold of them, they can be great to have around


Birthdays Today:

Michael Phelps, 1985
Fantasia Barrino, 1984
Ralf Schumacher, 1975
Leonard Whiting, 1950
Harry Blackstone, Jr., 1934
Susan Hayward, 1919
Lena Horne, 1917



Today in History:

Jews are expelled from Berne Switzerland, 1294
The Spaniards are expelled from Tenochtitlan, 1520
Native American forces under Blue Jacket attack Fort Recovery, Ohio, 1794
French  acrobat  Charles Blondin crosses Niagara Falls on a tightrope, 1859
The 1860 Oxford evolution debate at the Oxford University Museum of Natural History takes place, 1860
The first transcontinental train trip across Canada departs from Montreal; it arrives in Port Moody, British Columbia on July 4, 1886
Albert Einstein publishes the article "On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies", in which he introduces special relativity, 1905
The Tunguska event, probably caused by a meteor or comet fragment, occurs in remote Siberia, 1908
The Regina Cyclone hits Regina, Saskatchewan, killing 28; it remains Canada's deadliest tornado event, 1912
Congo gains independence from Belgium, 1960
The first leap second is added to the UTC  time system, 1972
The Royal Canadian Mint introduces the $1 coin, known as the Loonie, 1987
East Germany and West Germany merge their economies, 1990
The United Kingdom transfers sovereignty over Hong Kong to the People's Republic of China, 1997
After nearly 7 years in space, the Cassini spacecraft becomes the first to orbit the planet Saturn, 2004