Comment-answering extravaganza tomorrow! Get ’em in!
Almost every day, when I’ve got the midafternoon slump going on, I think to myself “I’m going to SLEEP IN tomorrow, and then I’m going to lounge in bed and read, and then I’m going to watch TV and do NOTHING all damn day long!”
And then tomorrow morning comes, and I cannot for the life of me sleep in. This morning I was all set to sleep as late as I wanted, but come 6:30, my eyes popped open and I couldn’t sleep another damn minute. In fact, I was itching to get up and get my morning stuff done, so I rolled out of bed and went through the house opening blinds, accompanied by a herd of cats. Then I cleaned out the litter boxes, rinsed and refilled water bowls, put the dishes in the dishwasher away, and cleaned the kitchen. I started Lupe the Roomba in my bedroom, took a shower, got dressed and answered emails, and then moved Lupe to the kitchen.
About ten minutes after Lupe started her circuit of the kitchen, I heard her sing a happy little song and went into the kitchen to find that she’d docked herself and was happily recharging.
“Um,” I said. “Who the hell told you you could take a coffee break, missy?” I put her back in the middle of the kitchen and started her up again. She sang her happy little song and began another circuit of the kitchen.
Half an hour later when I left the house, she was still working on the kitchen.
I hit Target first, for cat litter and to look at cat snack plates* (the two foster cats don’t eat well off the same plate, so they each need their own, WHO’S AN ENABLER?!). Target, at 9:30 on a weekday, was oddly busy, which disturbed me so much that I didn’t bother to go look at the book selection, I just wanted to get the HELL out of there, so I paid for my litter and got out (they had no cat snack plates to speak of).
From Target I went to the pet store to buy Cat! Snacks! and to check out the litter and look at plates for Snackin’ Time, but to tell the truth, the main reason I was there was to see if Elle and Skittles had been adopted, and when I rounded the aisle and saw them both sitting there, I stomped my foot and I said “WHYYYYYY?!”, then had to duck back down the aisle so Skittles wouldn’t see me and start howling.
SIGH.
So I bought enough Cat! Snacks! to last for… uh… ((12×3)/2 = 18) 18 days, and I looked at the cat plates they had, only they didn’t have any small plates, they only had bowls, and that doesn’t work for me, so I just bought the Cat! Snacks! and some Woodpecker Cakes and left with a sad look in the direction of Elle and Skittles.
Then I went to TJ Maxx, not because I was looking for anything in particular, but because I was in the area and TJ Maxx is one of those stores where you tend to find the perfect thing you didn’t even know you were looking for, so I was basically just looking. I ended up buying a comforter to put on my bed under the comforter that’s there. Right now I have a quilt under the comforter and it’s cute and everything, but it’s beginning to pill and that really annoys the hell out of me.
I looked around in the kitchen section for quite a while, but there was really nothing that struck my fancy, so I paid for my new comforter and left.
I went over to Sam’s Club, which had been my main destination all along. One of the things that bugs me is having to buy packages of meat when I get groceries, I don’t know why it bugs me, but I’d been planning to go to Sam’s and stock up on meat in bulk so I wouldn’t have to buy a package of boneless skinless chicken breast halves here and a pound of ground round there, since I’d already have what I needed in the freezer.
(When I got home, I called Fred and said “Did you order some of those fancy boneless skinless chickens when you ordered our new batch of chicks?”)
I ended up buying a BUTTLOAD of meat, and a pack of paper towels and a huge pack of toilet paper (Scott Tissue, 30 rolls for $19.13), and printing paper and then I moseyed by the pet food section of Sam’s Club and to my dismay I found that they had a big-ass 40-pound bucket of Fresh Step cat litter for $12.68. I’d just bought two 23-pound boxes of the very same litter for $10.19. Doing the math, the litter at Target was $2.25 (see what happens when I try to do math?!) 44 cents a pound and the same friggin’ litter at Sam’s was 31 cents a pound.
UGH. That is some BULLSHIT. Now that I’ve actually done the math out, it makes me want to make another trip to Sam’s and buy a pallet of litter and another pack or two of toilet paper! Maybe I’ll do that tomorrow or Friday. Sam’s doesn’t always carry our toilet paper of choice (give me the rough sandpaper-like Scott Tissue over that soft crap ANY ol’ day) and I don’t think they carry Fresh Step very often, either, and god knows we have the room to store that stuff (upstairs in the garage) and we’ll definitely get around to using it eventually.
So anyway, I got a ton of boneless skinless chicken breast halves and some lean ground beef and some pork, and so after I’d paid and was headed toward the door, I stopped and grabbed a couple of boxes to put the meat in so it wouldn’t be sliding around the back of my car.
As I was loading stuff into my car, I put the packages of meat in the boxes and then put the box of ground beef packages on the bottom and leaned the box of chicken packages against the ground beef box, and I piled everything else in around the boxes, and I headed for home.
And when I got home, I started unloading everything from the car, and the first thing I grabbed was the box of ground beef packages, and the box was a wee bit wet on the bottom, but I figured it was just from condensation from the packages, and I took that box inside and left it on the kitchen counter, and I went back outside and picked up the box of chicken packages, and there was chicken goo EVERYWHERE. It was all over the bottom of everything that had been on the bottom layer in the back of the car, and there was a PUDDLE of chicken goo on the floor of the trunk.
(You know what I mean by “chicken goo”, right? The salmonella-laden liquid that chicken pieces sit in, in the styrofoam packages, that goops everywhere when you open the package and makes you clean the counters madly with bleach afterward?)
“UGH!” I said loudly. “OH GODDAMN!” I said loudly. “OH THAT IS FUCKING NASTY!” I said loudly.
And then I spent the next half hour madly wiping down the outside of every package that had been marinating in the chicken goo, and wiping up the puddle of chicken goo from the bottom of the trunk, and then another fifteen minutes dividing all the meat into smaller packages, sealing the packages with the Food Saver, labeling them, and finding room for them in the freezer.
We are ALL SET for the time being when it comes to meat, and that almost makes dealing with the puddle of chicken goo worth it. ALMOST, I say.
*Regarding the cat snack plates: usually, the cats are okay sharing the snacks on plates, two to each plate. Joe Bob and Spanky each get their own plate (Spanky because he’ll easily be bullied away from the plate if he has to share; Joe Bob because he doesn’t share well) and until now, we split the cats into teams of two for all the other plates. The plates that get shared are square white plates I bought at… Target, maybe? I don’t remember. Anyway, Spanky and Joe Bob get smaller plates:
(pic)
and since Punki and Felicia don’t share nicely, I wanted to buy some more plates like that, or that size at least, to feed them from. And WOW, did I just overexplain the shit out of that, or what?
How Tommy likes to spend his day:
Straddling the back of Fred’s chair.
Hanging out in the back yard, keeping an eye out for birds.
Glaring angrily at the tennis ball.
More glaring.
Previously
2007: “Hey,” I said despondently. “He’s dead.”
2006: But I’m afraid that now it’s tasted human blood, it’s going to require a periodic human sacrifice.
2005: No entry.
2004: The Bean appeared before me, eyes wide and dark, a sad little I’m a poor kitty who has lost his way look on his face.
2003: They freaked out.
2002: Um. In yesterday’s entry, I MEANT to link to Fred with the words “nice butt”, not MYSELF.
2001: We got proof today that we, in fact, do not have two gay hamsters.
2000: No entry.
If you have any Dollar stores in your area that is a good place to get dishes for the cats.
It’s not quite as bad as that–the Target litter was 44 cents a pound, not $2.25. Still… great price at Sam’s Club.
What? My Sams doesn’t have Fresh Step!
**insert whine here**
Heh – see what happens when I try to do math?! Thanks, Chelle. 🙂
Since you two are like me and believe in an egg being too “eggy” and chicken tasting “too chickeny” do you also believe a pig can taste “too piggy”. I experience this at Cracker Barrel with their ham. It tastes like a pig pen smells to me. Do you (or anyone else out there) ever think like that or am I the weird one? My husband thinks it is funny that something can taste like something you have actually never tasted but in fact, what it smells like.
Kay: I think blue cheese tastes like dirty nappys, and I’ve definitely not tasted them! I’m with you all the way.
Ok, my question for Fri. is: Does it irk you that clumping cat litter comes in those huge ass plastic tubs which are just so great for the environment when we toss them in the trash? Why can’t they put it in a bag or atleast a cardboard box? I used to get a huge 40lb. box from my local Kroger grocery store for anywhere from $7.99 on sale to 9.99 regular price and it was really good stuff, I can’t for the life of me remember the brand but the box was blue and it clumped great!
For me Sam’s is the place that has the perfect thing that I didn’t know I was looking for. I always spend a good deal more than I was expecting to. The thing is, they have great meat, fruit, etc. They even have the cage-free, organic chicken eggs there now. (I’m sure that the eggs are not as good as yours though).
Q for Friday: Are you in contact with Athena from Lexxicon? I followed her for years and then a year or so ago (maybe longer?) she took down her site due to some (I assume) stalking type issues. I guess I was just wondering if she was doing OK and was back on the internet. Thanks!
Wow, that sounded stalky in itself.
That Tommy is one shiny cat. Has he ever fallen off when straddling (sp?) the back of the chair? He must have perfect cat balance.
Here is my question for tomorrow and then my boring diatribe as to why I am asking it:
Question: How often per day do you count noses?
Boring Diatribe: I scooped up bath towels this morning from the floor, where my (rotten) kids had left them piled up. (GOD FORBID anyone else put the damn towels in the damn wash, about six steps from where they left the pile. Lazy shits.) Anywho, as I was cramming the towels into the washer it struck me that they (the towels) had sort of been half on/half off a throw rug which one of my cats like to sleep on (I have two cats. I often prefer them to the two kids referenced above.) and I had better determine Cat Locations before putting the washing machine on. Plus the towels are white and neither cat would particularly benefit from being bleached. The cats were safe and then I thought of you and how many times you must have to count noses to make sure everyone is ok.
I’m with you on the Scott Tissue – it’s the only kind I’ll buy! It’s really not all that sandpapery, and spares us of the cottony little white things flying around the bathroom that you get with the other kinds that fall apart, not to mention the rolls seem to last twice as long as any other brand. Leave it to you, Robyn, to let me know I’m not the only one passionate about Scott Tissue. Thanks! 🙂
Robyn, what do you really think of your foodsaver? Is it really worth it or just slightly better than regular plastic bags?
Do your cats open up a can of whoopass on a tennis ball sometimes? Keeka does that, and I think it’s so funny.
Publix WAS clearancing that Fancy Feast recently – swing by there if you’re out. I bought a few cans for Keeka at the time. Or maybe it was more like eight.
Check places like Pier One for their clearance section – they might have some plates you like.
I always talk shit about places that buy scratchy toilet paper. “Oh come ON, man. Spend an extra TWO DOLLARS and buy something that won’t rip me a new one!” Huh. Maybe I should change my tune.
What is it with black cats and straddling stuff. Salem loves to hang on the back and arm of the couch with two legs on each side (good thing he’s neutered!) And for Kay and Dee’s conversation about things tasting like something else smells….cool ranch doritos taste/smell like turkey poop. good times.
Here’s a cat question – how often do you bathe your cats? We have 2 indoor-only shorthair Siamese kitties that do a good job of keeping themselves clean, but I was wondering how often they should get a good dunk in the tub. Any words of wisdom on this topic?
Jai, I know you didn’t ask me, but my Foodsaver freaking rocks and I love love LOVE it. Things stay so much nicer and there is never ANY freezerburn. Also, the bags are much cheaper on eBay.
So let me get this straight, soft cottony tampons irritate your, uh, um, lower area, but Scott tissue doesn’t? That stuff is like wiping with newspaper! (Is it odd that I know so much about your bathroom happenings?)
My cats don’t like to share snack either, so we have to give all three of them seperate plates. Our youngest cat will quickly eat all of hers, and then go bully the other cats away from their plates and eat all of their snack too. We have to stand guard like the snack police!
About the toilet paper, for those who prefer that soft cottony stuff: check your intimate areas for
little bitty rolls of lint. That’s all I’m going to say on the subject. Thanks, I’d rather have the
sandpapery stuff, at least I know there won’t be any little surprises down there. (Remember that old
urban legend that was going around the Internet about the woman going to the gynecologist, and she was in a hurry so did a quick wipe-around with a washcloth sitting on the sink, and only after the visit discovered that it was her kindergartener’s collection of glitter inside that washcloth and now she could never go back to that doctor who had seen her sparkly vagina?)
About the kitty litter: Have you ever tried that kitty litter that’s made from pine sawdust? It is more expensive, BUT it doesn’t stink! Really! It comes in little tiny cylindrical thingies, and when the cat pees, what it pees on just turns into sawdust, and after the whole box is sawdusty you can take it out and compost it. As for the poo, you just scoop it out as usual, as often as usual. But the pine really, truly keeps down the smell of the pee. I buy it at PetSmart here, but almost every place carries it.
I couldn’t remember if you used Arm & Hammer or Fresh Step. If I had know you use Fresh Step, I would’ve clued you in on the Sam’s Club thing a long time ago. I usually use Arm & Hammer, but when I saw that price for Fresh Step at Sam’s, I started buying the big 40lb buckets there. The Sam’s I go to always has them available, so be sure to keep checking!
We go through like a bucket to a bucket and a half a week. Ugh.
I too, am a devotee of Scott Tissue. I hate the stuff that just kinda “pills” up on the nether regions and leaves “lint” behind (on my “behind”.)
Sammi
Hey Robyn, I have a bit of a cat problem…… I have 11 cats. Yes 11. We didn’t mean to, but they keep reproducing before we can get them female fixed and you can’t get the female fixed until they are done nursing…. its been a nightmare. I know your far away…. but would you be interested in helping me find good homes for them??? I have called shelters and no one is taking cats right now. What do you suggest???? I am looking to find good homes for all but 3. ( because it is the legal limit for a household in Erie County ) Thanks Robyn 🙂
Did you know that the nice thick toilet paper is horrible on old plumbing? Our 80 year old plumbing would clog twice a year until the plumber told us to go to Scott or Angel Soft (my choice) because it falls apart easier. So– go Robyn!