Stressed

Last night, I barely made it off BART before movement in Oakland became impossible. We had planned to take Ray to the vet, but there weren't any cabs at 13th street. I called Al to beg a ride, but it turned out that the streets were so clogged that he couldn't get to our house. And we had no idea whether we'd be able to get home from the vet. So we rescheduled.

Note to cops: maybe the day of the riot, you could see to it that the staging area gets cleared of dumpsters filled with kindling? All night long there were big explosions coming from downtown.



BART was crawling with cops this morning. Mary had to restrain me from going up to them and administering a quick quiz: "Pronto, Officer! Which one's the taser? Which one's the gun? Could be important some day...."

In San Francisco, walking down 24th street, every firetruck and heavy rescue vehicle in the city came screeching past me and then deployed smackdab in my path a block ahead of me. I had to crawl over EMTs & firehoses to get to work.


Anybody know where there's a place where you can sell your cortisol? The stress bank? I could make a killing there.

So glad I don't live in Basra or Kandahar.

Ray's Protest Sign

Ray's Protest Sign, originally uploaded by dumbeast.

He's had just about enough getting stuff squirted into him here and there. Too bad. We're taking him back to the vet today for xrays and a psych intake. Has anybody noticed that this blog has become about my cats and nothing else, really? I guess I've turned into that guy. Cheez.

Still Missing Pearl

But aside from some blockage, Ray's doing ok. Thanks Mary, Cathy, Silka & Cheshire for stepping up and sorting that.

Rest In Peace

Pearl the Cat

Oh, look. I made a thing. Out of some stuff.

Oh, look. I made a thing. Out of some stuff., originally uploaded by dumbeast.

Insulated copper wire. #12, stranded, I think. ALSO NOT A SOAPDISH.

Pearl's Water Dish

Pearl's Water Dish 2
Originally uploaded by dumbeast

Pearl's water dish out on the deck reflects sunlight onto the ceiling.

Black-crowned Night-Herons

Black-crowned Night-Herons, originally uploaded by dumbeast.

The next evening, I saw these guys at 10th and Madison. Details below.

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This one has it all figured out. He's under a car. For safety.

Black-crowned Night-Heron

Black-crowned Night-Heron 03, originally uploaded by dumbeast.

Walking home the other night, somebody dropped about a pint of splattering birdshit right in front of me. Looking up, (after stepping back) I saw this guy. 14th Street betw Alice & Jackson

Ray and Pearl

Ray and Pearl, originally uploaded by dumbeast.

Kinda sharing the lamp

Scanned (Solid)

Scanned (Solid), originally uploaded by dumbeast.

Rubber stamp design

Faxed to ODAR

Faxed to ODAR, originally uploaded by dumbeast.

Rubber stamp design for Mary

853 SXY

853 SXY, originally uploaded by dumbeast.

Four-wheeled liability that we rented over the weekend to take Pearl to Bay Area Veterinary Specialists

for sonogram & unhappy diagnosis, and then back to Cheshire

for a shot of Prednisone, which seems to have improved her appetite.

Sick Kitty

Sick Kitty, originally uploaded by dumbeast.

Mary wrote:
We've had some sad news about Pearl this weekend. She had lost quite a
bit of weight very suddenly and wasn't eating or drinking on Thursday and
we took her to her vet on Friday who determined she had gone from 14+
pounds to 9 pounds(!) and blood tests showed a liver problem. We took her
to a specialist in San Leandro on Saturday and found out she has advanced
liver cancer. Anyway, she had a good weekend and is still with us and is
eating and drinking again but we've decided not to treat her except with
steroids and fluids (the only other option being chemotherapy which would
just buy her a little time and would not cure her) and we'll take it a day
at a time, as long as she is still enjoying being with us and making Ray
miserable.

Andre, I Have to Leave Tonight

Andre, I Have to Leave Tonight
Originally uploaded by dumbeast

This audio was left on my answering machine by mistake. I hope they're both alright--Andre and whoever thought he was talking to him. Video is just what's been going on in the image bank.

Mr Lee Encounters the iPod

Mr Lee Encounters the iPod
Originally uploaded by dumbeast

My barber Mr Lee wanted to know all about my iPod. Here's the video we shot.