GRUMBLE

Posted on by Sarah A. Hoyt

Story — The Camels of Christmas, in the shifter universe — not done yet.

On account of TWO vet visits, and one more tomorrow.  Minor stuff, but argh.

72 thoughts on “GRUMBLE”

  1. I refuse to grumble at this time of the year. A year ago this day I was dealing with my father’s demise. This year I fully intend to be merry and bright … or merry and dim, we’ll see how it works out.

    Stories can bleedin’ wait; kin and kats deserve your attention.

    Be thankful the vet is willing to treat Dan Robert you whomever needs it, and be grateful it isn’t more serious. Be thankful you’re still able to keep a cat … and able to find a cat to keep.

    Let the damned Camel Shifters shift to Pall Malls, Kools, or Lucky Strikes.

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    1. It’s been 3 years now since my husband’s grandmother died. It’s still hard to believe sometimes. There are, indeed, much more important things to worry about than writing for a blog. Grumbling this time of year is definitely unnecessary.

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    2. Smoking camels, smoking bishop (look it up in a cookbook from 1870 or so), at this point, what difference does it make? OK, you probably shouldn’t drink a smoking camel, but otherwise . . .

      Yes, I am up and un-caffinated. Be afraid. Be very afraid.

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    3. Be thankful you’re still able to keep a cat … and able to find a cat to keep.

      She should be thankful that a cat has chosen to be kept by her family, a cat seal of approval is a special thing. ;-)

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    5. That sounds like a tricky shifter problem, getting sick enough that you are stuck shifted and thus needing to see a “vet” vice a “human” doc. I suppose the shifter infrastructure would include appropriately vetted “vets” to handle things.

      Interesting…

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        1. We’ve got two Community Cats (Doughball and Rommel) that argue over custody of the basking spot on the wall and the public water dish. Doughball’s bigger but Rommel’s older and meaner.

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      1. From internal evidence I have concluded a few things about the shifter universe. Among them are that shifters are not now, nor have they been limited to Goldport, that they have been on earth for a very very long time — and are growing very uncomfortable about something that is coming … but heck, even if all that were not so there has been an alligator shifter in Goldport, so why not camels?

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  5. Hope the fuzzy butts r ok. Take a break Sarah- we love you and want you to rest n enjoy the holiday. Then your sub c will come up wi better stories/book crack for us addicts! ;) may everyone have a merry everything and may 2016 b mucho more boring than this one!

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      1. Oh some exciting things would be very good: like finding a perfect house for a couple of writers facing empty nest which is in need of little work, in a great location and in their price range…

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  6. Similar situation here, Sarah. It’s almost whiteout conditions, therefore I have cars to fix. Hope your pets get better.

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    1. Yes, if Sarah uses cats for typists, they might get Carp-all tunnel, and then we would all be dodging a rain of fish.

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              2. Um. The lady is distracted today. The lady has a carpapult. (Alright, that’s it, it’s being added to the spellchecker.)

                I’m a good boy (hey, lack of talent at being bad counts too…). I’m keeping an eye out to the northeast anyway.

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  8. I’m going off-topic here, but I wanted to get this info out to as many folks as I can. Please pass it on as you like:

    Tennessee Valley Interstellar Workshop – 2016
    February 28 – March 2, 2016
    Chattanooga Choo-Choo Hotel
    Chattanooga, Tennessee
    “From Iron Horse to Worldship: Becoming an Interstellar Civilization”
    https://tviw.us/

    “The TVIW 2016 Symposium will be held in Chattanooga, Tennessee at the historic Chattanooga Choo-Choo hotel from Sunday, February 28, thru Wednesday, March 2, 2016. The Choo-Choo is converted from a grand old railroad station. Just as rail locomotion was a precursor to our modern world, so also do we hope that our efforts now will be a precursor to travel amongst the stars. The Workshop is a multidisciplinary group of scientists and artists, students of society and humanity, engineers, space enthusiasts, and hard-to-categorize others. At this Symposium, we will strive to exchange ideas, hear papers, ask the hard questions, and generally collaborate to work toward this most audacious of all deep space concepts.”

    This isn’t an SF con, but a small (limited to ~150 people, roughly) workshop that may be of interest to many folks here. Registration is $175 until Feb. 15, and $225 after (unless all the spaces are filled earlier). Their Virtual Science Competition is sponsored by Baen Books:

    “Oak Ridge, Tennessee, August 24, 2015 — As a part of its ongoing mission to inspire interstellar innovation, the Tennessee Valley Interstellar Workshop (TVIW), Inc., in partnership with our Corporate Sponsor, Baen Books (www.Baen.com), announced today our first ever Virtual Science Competition.

    “Meeting TVIW’s goal to be the leading interdisciplinary organization to make progress toward an eventual interstellar civilization, we are soliciting teams of college students, designers, academics and researchers, led by experienced mentors, to submit studies, designs, or prototypes during the Spring 2016 semester. TVIW is interested in all fields that can contribute towards making humanity an interstellar civilization and therefore encourages proposals from the engineering disciplines, physical sciences, and social sciences.”

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    1. Off topic? Maybe but it wouldn’t be the first time.

      Of course, it’s something good to know about and that helps. [Smile]

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      1. (Frantically running the wheel thingie on the mouse…) Topic? Oh. Cats, veterinarians, and shifty camels.

        Good thing I checked, I could have sworn this was a “roll your own topic day.” I’ll try to track better… Maybe I can tell some of my Dad’s stories…

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                1. Rather fond of Aldebaran, myself, though some claim I should go to (or have come from) Hyades no, wait, that was Hades they were talking about, though I might prefer the company of one of the Seven Sisters.

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        2. Are they interesting stories? The only thing “really” off topic is boring Sarah’s guests (and Sarah). [Wink]

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  10. I hope your cats will be well. Our 14 year old dog is refusing to eat or drink so I think we’ll be having a wake for him this Christmas. The funny thing is we got him a Christmas gift and named him Max in honor of the Grinch’s dog.

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  12. Good news of great joy (to the local Auto Haus at least): I’m on wheels again. The insurance company finally totaled out the old pick-up and I was able to pay a good chunk down on a replacement.

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    1. Well, that’s good. I just had the wheel bearings replaced on the front of the Jeep. I was worried that something (like maybe a wheel) was going to come off before I got it into the shop.

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      1. It was close. It involved a three-way swap among three dealers and someone calling a massive favor and deflecting the delivery to up here. It has a little more froo-froo than I’d wanted, but the color and everything else are pretty much as desired. Can’t do anything about the excess of electronics, alas. “Federal government requires,””new fuel efficiency floors,” “federal safety equipment requirement,” blah, blah.

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  13. Unrelated to anything (*gasp* oh no!), we’re considering adding a feline member to the Oysterhaus, and I could use some expert advice. We’ve had a recent influx of mice, which is part of the reason for considering a cat*. Can anyone tell me how to go about finding a good mouser?

    * I wanted a catsnake (rodents fear just the scent of them), but this house is a bad one for those; too likely to get injured or trapped somewhere, from what I’ve researched.

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      1. I’ve heard that before and forgotten; thank you for the reminder. Any idea how early they learn that? I’ve seen a few listed for sale that mentioned the mother being a good mouser, but they’re still kittens.

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    3. We have four right now. A sealpoint Siamese, Samantha, Honeyboy, a big orange tabby, see above, old black Java, and Clarissa the insane calico. Java’s too old to mouse and was a housecat his entire life, so he’s useless as a mouser. The other three are outdoor rescues and all mouse aggressively; the difference is Honeyboy and Clarissa bring us love-gifts and trophies, at which Deborah wigs, while Samantha, the Siamese, who had been an outdoor cat the longest, eats the mouse herself, with occasional pauses to glare at us over her shoulder, and may leave us the head as our share if she feels like it.

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      1. Hmm, since we’d likely adopt a shelter cat, an outdoor rescue sounds promising. I only worry about it handling and being handled by small children – we learned that lesson the hard way. :(

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