Mass Hysteria - 03 January 2022 - Plague Journal Day 662

Micah 6:8
Deuteronomy 22:9-11
Yes, your life matters.

Some of you are still sheltering in place, but fear not: I'm here to keep you sane and entertained.
One could hardly ask for much more than that, now could one?

Dogs and cats living together? Mass hysteria... or not.

We may have reached the point where our animal friends begin to tolerate one another, possibly even to like one another!
I'm not saying they're going to curl up together for a nap today, but we've made immense progress on the canine-feline axis here. We had two cats in the living room at the same time as the dog and no blood was shed. (N.B. - no blood has been shed at any time, but they've not been hanging out even remotely together until now.)
In fact, I had Roma sitting on the couch with her head on my lap so I could pet her, and Billie sitting (nicely) at my feet so I could pet her at the same time. When Heidi pulled out her phone to snap a photo, they both thought better of there being any evidence, so they moved away - but we know what happened, and now so do you!

Hope springs eternal, as they say.


Keep Calm and Don't Stay Away.
I'll be back tomorrow.
The mental health issues related to our insane lockdown and the pandemic are especially hard for people with depression. NAMI, the National Alliance on Mental Illness, has a 24 hour helpline: 800-950-6264.

A Rotten Day (but just one) - 18 November 2021 - Plague Journal Day 616

Micah 6:8
Luke 10:33-34
Yes, your life matters.

Some of you are still sheltering in place, but fear not: I'm here to keep you sane and entertained.
One could hardly ask for much more than that, now could one?

I had a terrible day on Tuesday. A bit of background first. My cat, Jack, has glaucoma, so I've been putting drops in his eyes three times a day for the past several months. His left eye was the first one to be bad - his right one still seems pretty good, really, we just give it a lower dose as a preventative measure.
At any rate, Tuesday was a terrible day. I didn't see Jack all morning, so I was a bit worried. When he finally showed up around noon, Jack's left eye had apparently popped. It was back to normal size, but with what looked like a trickle of blood down his muzzle.
I felt terrible that I hadn't been able to prevent that happening. In retrospect, he seemed fine with it.
Anyway, it turned out to be OK - the way it "deflated" was the best way it could have happened (a small hole rather than a major rupture). Still, I felt awful.
Happily, he has returned to sitting by me, letting me put in his (single!) antibiotic drop, and purring instead of yowling and running away.

Today also marks the anniversary of a truly terrible day: 18 November 1978. On that day 918 people died in Jonestown, Guyana under cult leader Jim Jones. This is where the phrase "drink the Kool-Aid" originated. Very scary stuff, really - it's amazing how relatively easy it is to get people to abandon what they know to be true by promising them something they really want.
I don't mean to trivialize the Jonestown tragedy, but this sounds like the way politics works anymore.


Keep Calm and Don't Stay Away.
I'll be back tomorrow.
The mental health issues related to our lockdown and the pandemic are especially hard for people with depression. NAMI, the National Alliance on Mental Illness, has a 24 hour helpline: 800-950-6264.