Cat Mercy

It really looked hopeless getting Squeak back.  But the 26th, 8 weeks after he slipped away, our former neighbor caught him for us, where he had been robbing her cat of his lunch.  He still had his collar and his tags.  He had made his way back there, two and a half miles, about a month ago.  The cat we thought was Squeak wasn't Squeak.

No more 2:30 AM trips to lay out food and service the cameras, and much else.  It would have been very difficult for Gayle to have trusted in God to care for her if we had lost Squeak for good.  This was a very big deal.

It turns out the baby is a he, not a she, whom we've named Squirt.  Gayle weaned him, finally, although we give him lots of water from the bottle.  The baby delighted us today by finally pooping, so no trip to the vet for another enema.  Sometimes he walks on me now without using his claws.

Kitten's mommy

I stupidly let Squeak escape March 1 when we moved, and we've been trying to get him back since.  We know where he is, pretty much, and he shows up on camera, but he looks like he will take a deal of catching.

Meanwhile, Gayle wound up with a two-day-old kitten, now a couple of week old, so I've had to become one of her two mommies.  Among other things, new kittens can't pee or poop by themselves.  Mommy has to lick their soft parts to make that happen.  Not my tongue, dear readers, but hot water on my hand and then I have to simulate this maternal action in the morning.  So I get to be thrilled like any mommy when baby pees, and still more when she poops.  I do not receive thanks for this service, only vigorous protest, because, doubtless, I'm not nearly as good at it as mommy was.

She now looks somewhat less like a little rat, and a bit more like a kitten.  Both eyes are now open, and she is starting to prick up her ears.

Update on fight I discussed on Feb 17

This one attracted some comment, so I suppose it deserves an update. 

With a lot of hard work we settled up pretty much in mediation, though technically the mediation failed and we finished up an hour or so after the mediator left.  But we were all done with the real work when she left. 

Administrative Law Judge June Lehrman is an outstanding mediator.

I can't talk about any detail, but I can say that the kid got what he needed, and so did the district.  We didn't either of us get all we wanted.  Sir Mick, as usual in these matters, called it right - "You can't always get what you want."

I like mediation.  You learn a lot about peace-making.  It is an area in which the Office of Administrative Hearings is usually very good. I've only had two bad mediators - both pro-tems - and a couple so-so, but the rest very good to outstanding.  June Lehrman was outstanding.  It was a very tough case for all.

Some say the devil is dead . . .

Some say the devil is dead,
the devil is dead,
the devil is dead.
Some say the devil is dead and buried in Killarney.
More say he rose again,
he rose again,
he rose again.
More say he rose again, and joined the British army.

This little tune was going through my head a couple of day ago as I was leaving a meeting with a famly about a kid who has, in the usual manner, been altogether ripped off.

It's not exacly serious theology!  It's a funny thought, put to a cute tune.  But I did get to thinking.

In fact, as the Irish have known well, the devil has certainly joined the British army, and that's a serious thought.  The devil joins all sorts of armies, pretty much anyone that wants to sign up

Very helpful guy that way.

All we have to do to sign up the devil is to adopt his ways - lying, stealing, killing, and destroying.  Such admiration of these means constitute our true worshsip of Satan.

So the trouble is that we're not just signing the devil up; we're signing up in his army, to be his disciples, no matter what our cause.  The end never justifies the means, because the means always become the ends.