Diego

Sirens, Employment, and Crashes- Oh My!

Such an original title, I know. Might as well get cracking on the explanations- even though I'm pretty sure the only two people who read this blog are me and Fruitbat...
Yesterday I returned for the break in between my classes, I was even (for once) not focused on recreation, but on working on my assigned art project. (My teacher shows no sign of allowing us to work on it in class- he's talked through the last two class periods.) I had just finished setting up when that cursed wail- like that of a forlorn soul slipping into the abyss, sounded through the halls. The fire alarm. Usually, it annoys me, yesterday, I was quite irate- I made it downstairs only to be told that it was a false alarm and that we could go back to our rooms. Which was fine. What was annoying was that the alarm continued on and off for the next ten to fifteen minutes. Fire alarms aren't designed to be ignored, and my eardrums were ready to happily kill someone.
Also yesterday, I had an interview (my first in San Angelo, no one else even called me back!) and was hired! In the interest of paranoia, I won't be saying where. I'm so happy though. I was SKIPPING in the parking lot on the way to my car!
Today I was riding my bike to class, like I always do, and had my first collision here. I ran into some poor guy from behind. He zigged when I thought he would zag. He stumbled, I only got his calf with my tire, I think- I tried to keep balance, wound up falling off my bike, trying to catch myself in time to stand, stepped on my foot wrong in the process, and landed on my hands and knees. I was really embarrassed- they kept asking if I was alright, I was, and am, fine. I felt soooo bad! I've never run into someone like that before.... I've never run into someone before!

In other news, back at home there's been some trouble with Bella and Hannah for a while now (those are two of our dogs). They get into fights every now and again- bad ones. My older sister EvilGlare was trying to separate the two of them and wound up getting bit- as bites go its supposedly not bad (especially considering that Bella and Hannah are big dogs) but it is infected, so she's been going to the doctor. Poor EvilGlare, she's not even a dog person! She's a catperson! Doesn't that make her automatically exempt from dog-related injuries?

The picture is from DeviantART by Gabeszntx, called Wolves. I just colored it.

Fears

People have many things that they fear- heights, spiders, being alone, clowns, words spelled with the letter q... you get my drift. Well being the roommate of a Fruit Bat has brought me face to face with two of these fears in one week. Fortunately, I took a back seat for both of them- unfortunately, that didn't stop the worry. A few days ago now (I've been waiting for FB to post this story herself, but she's been busy) our school had an outdoor event featuring free pizza. College students+ free= massive attendance. The people in charge of the event were blasting music, and several of the girls were dancing. One such girl had a small white dog. I grabbed some breadsticks (the pizza was gone) and FB and I sat down. I was feeling twitchy and sulky- I don't like really loud music, and I'm not a big fan of social interaction- pathetic, right? FB on the other hand looked moderately excited, and told me she was going over to see the dog. I followed after a moment, in time to see the dog lunge toward something on the ground, and FB try to ask if she could pet the dog- at least I think that's what she said, I couldn't hear her. We started on our way back to the dorm, FB stopping to look back at the dog, which was behaving erratically. She went back to him, he was twitching, snapping at the air, hopping up a little on his leash- then his legs folded underneath him, still snapping. FB realized what was happening before any of us -that thing the dog had gone after earlier had been a chicken leg, and the dog had tried to swallow it whole. FB tried a version of the Heimlich for dogs which involves doing something to the back, and stuck her hand inside his mouth to see if she could feel the obstruction- she assures me that this is what you are supposed to do. You may recall that the dog was snapping. Here enters the first fear- Fruit Bat got bit by a dog. We're just happy that it was a little dog, not a Deko-deko sized one! She called me over to hold open the dog's mouth (which I did) while she pulled out the chicken leg. The whole affair didn't take very long, but it sure felt like it at the time. The dog's owner was very grateful to us- and yes, the dog was fine. Now, the other fear. Last night I got to bed a little later than FB, she was trying to catch up on some missed sleep, and I was more interested in reading for a little bit. I went to bed around midnight- but was still awake when FB suddenly sat up in bed, stumbled to her feet, groping for a water bottle. She was making horrible wheezing sounds, I said her name, and she responded, "I can't breathe!" I didn't know WHAT to do, what can you do in a situation like that? Pat the person on the back, that's what, feeling panicked. I knew that she could still breathe at least a little bit (in my experience, if you can talk, you can still breathe, if she hadn't told me she couldn't breathe, I might have called 911.) The attack only lasted a few minutes, but both of us were creeped out- poor FB didn't get back to sleep until 2 or so, and I was jumping every time she coughed! She went to the clinic today, and apparently she's having "bronchial spasms" which is sort of like asthma's twin cousin. Now she has an inhaler, some medicine and a vaporizer given to us by her grandmother- neither of us want the next time to be worse.
The picture can be found on DA under Destiny Island Cats or ignesfatuis- I recolored it a while back.

I Thought I Was Going To Die....

I went to ride Ariel today. Storms were building up and I could hear it thundering. Nella and Sharon came out a few times and told me that the storms were going to miss us so I didn't worry about it. You know how animals can tell if there's a bad storm coming or that something bad is going to happen? Yeah, Ariel tried to tell me but I ignored her. She tried bucking me off for the first time in the six years that I've owned her. I got on to her for it and 15 minutes later I took her to the barn to groom.

As soon as I set the brush down to take her back to her pasture it started pouring. Not a puny pour but an all out "I'm a freaking flood!" pour. "Yes, yes, of course! Why not?" I exclaimed to Ariel. "Maybe we can run to your pasture and..." then it began to hail. Okay, the bad thing about this entire situation was that the roof of the barn is made of tin, therefore, it was extremely loud, and when the wind blew it sounded as though the whole building were going to take flight.

Now at this point, if you know me well enough, I was having a freaking spazz attack. I'm scared senseless of severe or bad storms. I thought that any second a tornado was going to come down and swipe the barn from the face of the planet. I took Ariel to her stall and then grabbed the two orange kittens before going into the boarder tack room where it was much quieter. I texted Vulpecula and then went out of the boarder room witnessing lightening strike the electrical pole in one of the pastures. "I'm going to die!" I said aloud before checking on Ariel who was wide-eyed and tense. I tossed her some hay which calmed her down and got her mind off the weather.

When it finally settled down I decided to put my helmet on and dash for my truck before it started up again. Right when I was about to run I saw Nella and Sharan speed by in her van. I jogged after them knowing that something was up. Then I saw it.....my truck windows were down. I ALWAYS unroll them because my air doesn't work very well and it gets hot in my truck. Needless to say, it wouldn't have mattered if I had remembered beforehand because it had been hailing. "Dang it! Dang it, dang it, dang it!" I yelled throwing my things into the truck and continuing my jog after Sharon and Nella.

I reached them and discovered what the problem was. The wind had destroyed the water tank. They now have no water out there. Not until someone can come out and fix it that is. They're going to call someone tomorrow.

I got in my truck, determined to drive home, only to discover that my windows were fogged up. I had to wait five minutes and then I had to wipe the water off from the INSIDE of the window so that I could see out. XD It was quite funny.

There was also two humming birds trapped in the barn. They couldn't figure out that in order to get out they had to fly down and through the doors. Silly birds.

Anyway, it was quite an exciting first day back home. I just hope that it isn't so eventful tomorrow. The seat covers for my truck are currently in the dryer. Heh...

A Midnight Double?

Yes, we have a Midnight double, dubbed Zant from The Legend of Zelda game. Basically, I took my camera with me on the daily ramble that Vul and I go on yesterday. I wanted to get pictures of the two kittens we saw the day before. It just so happened that while I was trying to take a picture of Midna (a grey tortie) I looked down and there was Zant. A spitting image of last year's kitten, Midnight who was re-named Inspector by his new owner.

I know, I know. "No more animals!" Don't worry, I'm not bringing them back with me. I haven't even started feeding them yet. I will be once I have a plan. What shall I do? Hmmmm......My parents might kill me and bury me 20 feet under if I bring home any more animals. Specifically any more dogs. Dakota was the last straw. Ah well. What can I say, I have a soft mushy heart that feels like it's being ripped in two when I see starving or injured animals. At least I don't ignore them like most people do. I try to do something.

I hope I'll be able to get a Feral Cat Trap-Neuter-Return program started here. That would be the most ideal situation.

I'm still sick with a horrid cough than neither cough drops nor nasty cough syrup have been able to cure. I finally broke down today and bought some Dayquil. It seems to have calmed my cough down. THANK YOU GOD!!! Maybe I'll be able to get a good night's sleep for once.