Catching up
Aug. 1st, 2005 05:34 pmWe're here in Florida. The house is full of boxes, but they're slo wly getting unpacked. We bought a dryer on Saturday and it's just been delivered. There's still a lot of shopping to do-shower curtain and such for the master bath (we've been using the other bath because we knew how we were going to decorate it, though we don't know what to do with the mater bath, other than that I want to set it up to use the sage green and hunter green towels I've got-the teal and light blue ones will go in the other bath.) Also a china cabinet or buffet of some sort, and new bookcases. Plus the usual things to decorate-the bedroom needs throw pillows, since we have a new comforter for the bed, but we've got beige carpet and walls and a white ceiling, with the grey comforter, so it needs a bit of spicing up.
The cats made it okay...we clocked Beta at about 12 meows per mile at highway speed, or about one every five seconds. We kept the kittens separate from Beta for the first day that we were here, letting Beta establish himself as the Alpha cat, and everyone is getting along so far. Minor hissing sometimes, when the kittens do things like attack his tail, but even then, usually he just responds with a claw-less swat Beta's actually been playing with the kittens, and it's kind of funny to see Beta, who is about four times the size of the kittens wrestling with them and trying to be gentle. His paws are quite large in comparion to Widget and Gizmo. Widget and Gizmo are settling down, and still quite actively playing with each other. They're also developing very distinct personalities. Gizmo likes to climb on the human and will rather happily lick the underside of your nose. She also tried to eat tomatoes today, from the cup of salsa that came with my salad. Widget is more aggressive, and is battling Beta for top cat position. He likes to sit next to the humans, and is very demanding...he'll sit at your feet and look up and mew until you pick him up. Of course he's now leapt onto my shoulder, and is purring away quite happily. Both of them are fond of chasing the cursor on the computer. We're working on "No kittens on the keyboard." Widget's still long and lanky, and moves a bit awkardly. He's got the longest legs I've ever seen on a kitten-I asked the vet about his paws turning in, but she said at this point, it would be hard to tell if that was just indicative of his legs growing faster than the rest of him or an actual problem. If it were an actual problem, there wouldn't be much I could do about it, but it would be something to watch in case he were going to develop arthritis or something as a result, in which case we would be able to treat it. The kitten monsters are also getting to the teething point, beginning to gnaw on Cayne and I, on cardboard boxes, books, our glasses and anything they can get their little teeth on.
Apparently, I've got to rethink my entire pantry scheme, to prevent pantry bugs. Keeping things in their original packages is a no; things in carboard boxes or plastic bags is out. I need to get some good containers that fit well together to store stuff.
Mostly that's that. I'm lonely and miserable because I don't know anyone, and haven't actually gotten involved in stuff yet...will probably look to volunteer with something LGBT related or HIV related when we get settled a bit more, and maybe take a couple of classes when we're really settled-the local community college has some interesting stuff in their adult education. Flower arranging, Spanish and cake decorating all caught my eye at first glance.
I'm getting used to the near daily rain, though it was unusally dry last week.
The water sucks here. It smells like sulphur, and it tastes off...though the smell is strong enough that it makes me not want to drink water. Fortunately, we installed the Brita on the sink over the weekend and it seems to kill the smell. I don't actually feel clean after a shower though, and my skin is dry and uncomfortable.
The lack of recycling surprises me. The county will pick up from single family homes in unincorporated parts of Orlando, but no information has been procured about apartment complexes. I asked about it in the complex office, and they don't...nor could they tell me where to take my own household recyclables. I'll call Orange County and see what they have to say-I have no problem hauling my own stuff, but I need to know where to take it.
The cats made it okay...we clocked Beta at about 12 meows per mile at highway speed, or about one every five seconds. We kept the kittens separate from Beta for the first day that we were here, letting Beta establish himself as the Alpha cat, and everyone is getting along so far. Minor hissing sometimes, when the kittens do things like attack his tail, but even then, usually he just responds with a claw-less swat Beta's actually been playing with the kittens, and it's kind of funny to see Beta, who is about four times the size of the kittens wrestling with them and trying to be gentle. His paws are quite large in comparion to Widget and Gizmo. Widget and Gizmo are settling down, and still quite actively playing with each other. They're also developing very distinct personalities. Gizmo likes to climb on the human and will rather happily lick the underside of your nose. She also tried to eat tomatoes today, from the cup of salsa that came with my salad. Widget is more aggressive, and is battling Beta for top cat position. He likes to sit next to the humans, and is very demanding...he'll sit at your feet and look up and mew until you pick him up. Of course he's now leapt onto my shoulder, and is purring away quite happily. Both of them are fond of chasing the cursor on the computer. We're working on "No kittens on the keyboard." Widget's still long and lanky, and moves a bit awkardly. He's got the longest legs I've ever seen on a kitten-I asked the vet about his paws turning in, but she said at this point, it would be hard to tell if that was just indicative of his legs growing faster than the rest of him or an actual problem. If it were an actual problem, there wouldn't be much I could do about it, but it would be something to watch in case he were going to develop arthritis or something as a result, in which case we would be able to treat it. The kitten monsters are also getting to the teething point, beginning to gnaw on Cayne and I, on cardboard boxes, books, our glasses and anything they can get their little teeth on.
Apparently, I've got to rethink my entire pantry scheme, to prevent pantry bugs. Keeping things in their original packages is a no; things in carboard boxes or plastic bags is out. I need to get some good containers that fit well together to store stuff.
Mostly that's that. I'm lonely and miserable because I don't know anyone, and haven't actually gotten involved in stuff yet...will probably look to volunteer with something LGBT related or HIV related when we get settled a bit more, and maybe take a couple of classes when we're really settled-the local community college has some interesting stuff in their adult education. Flower arranging, Spanish and cake decorating all caught my eye at first glance.
I'm getting used to the near daily rain, though it was unusally dry last week.
The water sucks here. It smells like sulphur, and it tastes off...though the smell is strong enough that it makes me not want to drink water. Fortunately, we installed the Brita on the sink over the weekend and it seems to kill the smell. I don't actually feel clean after a shower though, and my skin is dry and uncomfortable.
The lack of recycling surprises me. The county will pick up from single family homes in unincorporated parts of Orlando, but no information has been procured about apartment complexes. I asked about it in the complex office, and they don't...nor could they tell me where to take my own household recyclables. I'll call Orange County and see what they have to say-I have no problem hauling my own stuff, but I need to know where to take it.
no subject
Date: 2005-08-01 11:46 pm (UTC)You could post kitten pics if you are bored. :D
no subject
Date: 2005-08-01 11:55 pm (UTC)If you got a cell phone we could text message with you.
I'd give you a call to catch up but I don't have your home number-my cell is still the same for the moment, and I'll send you an e-mail with the new contact info in a moment.