tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-177688152024-03-14T05:06:01.394+00:00Notepad NarniaSoliloquies of an introverted HSP Viking in Robin Hood Country.Traxyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13249884092846934427noreply@blogger.comBlogger192125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17768815.post-84940606677416283302019-02-12T01:26:00.001+00:002019-02-12T01:26:46.658+00:00Do we really WANT to trade with the US post-Brexit?Sure, Britain can trade more with the US after Brexit ... but do we REALLY want to? <a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/us-lobbyists-brexit_uk_5c5b26c6e4b00187b5579f64?guccounter=1">This is a list of demands that US lobby groups want Britain to subject itself to.</a> How many will end up in an actual trade deal? Even one of these (arguably, some are way worse than others) is one too many, frankly.<br />
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Stopping beef farming subsidies would kill UK beef farmers, so the option would be cheap US beef - full of growth hormones and antibiotics, from cows that have lived miserable lives. Pork? With growth hormones, antibiotics and worms? Oh, but you're vegetarian? Yeah, it's not great on the veg front either. In general US food safety standards are poor compared to what the UK currently has (much thanks to the EU, as it happens).<br />
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NHS is hit by a few of these demands. The one where companies can sue the state? It means a US company could sue Britain for causing "unfair advantage" ... like having a tax-funded free healthcare service.<br />
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The Japanese are waiting for Brexit to negotiate a trade deal because they know Britain will be at a disadvantage, meaning more likely to agree to more of their demands. So how many of these demands will the US put forward? US businesses - or indeed their politicians - don't give a toss about Britain, they care about making money at any and all costs. And if Britain wants a trade deal with the US, that "freedom to make our own rules" won't apply. The US will make the rules, and Britain will have to follow.<br />
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Is that really what we want?Traxyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13249884092846934427noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17768815.post-56472364337786361012017-07-28T15:04:00.000+01:002017-07-28T15:07:23.302+01:00First time flyer? Here's how it works!Wrote this as a comment to someone in the US who asked for advice before going on a three-plane journey trip. She's a first-time flyer and feeling a bit nervous, especially as no one in her immediate circle have flown either and can talk her through it. No one else had responded, so I thought I would.<br />
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My reply turned out to be quite long, so I thought I'd put it here as well. :)<br />
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<a name='more'></a><hr><br />
Don't be afraid of asking airport staff for help if you're lost - that's what they're there for. :) I've never been to the US so I don't know if your airports work in a different way, but here is some general advice: When you first arrive at the terminal, look at the monitors for which desk you need to go to for checking in and/or dropping off your bag(s) that are to be checked in. (Some airlines in Europe have online check-ins, so all you do when you get to the airport is to find the right desk to drop your bag off.) If you only have hand luggage, you only need to check in yourself (unless it's done online beforehand, if your airline(s) have that).<br />
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After that, we generally look for signs for where the security check is and go through. Don't worry about any shops, there are plenty of shops and eateries on the other side of the security check to keep you entertained. If you go through security straight away, you won't have to worry about getting stuck in a line later and worry that you'll miss your flight. For the security check, read the signs available for what to do. If it says to remove shoes and belt, take out laptop, and so on, you can do that before you get to the very front of the queue so that it's quicker. Put stuff in the trays provided and walk through the metal detector, and then pick your stuff up on the other side.<br />
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Once that's done, look at monitors to see if your flight's gate has been announced. It normally says flight time, destination, flight number and something like "Waiting" (or just blank if a gate hasn't been announced) or "Gate 19" or "Go to gate 19". If there's no info on where to go, have a look in the shops, eat something, sit down and wait, whatever. When a gate is announced (you might have to look at the monitors, because there might not be an announcement over speakers), check which one and follow the signs to that gate. Airports can be really big so it can take a few minutes to get to the gate from the main hall. (Some have transportation to the gate if it's really far away.) Once at the gate, you can normally relax, but it's worth checking that the signs don't change to be a different flight! (It happens sometimes, and then you have to go to a different gate.)<br />
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The key thing is to allow time. Don't arrive at the airport with 40 minutes to spare. Your airline should have info about how long before departure they want you there. Check-in closes around 40 minutes before take-off, and the gate closes a few minutes before departure time as well. That's why it's good to have plenty of time to spare, so you won't have to rush to the gate in a blind panic hoping you're not too late!<br />
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Once on the plane, follow instructions. Take your seat. Look at the safety instructions when they're being demonstrated. Buckle up. The airplane taxes (drives) out to the runway, and when it's at the end of it, the engines will make a lot of noise as they're revving up, and you'll feel like you're pressed back into your seat as the plane picks up speed (like when you're in a rollercoaster going uphill), and then all of a sudden the ground gets smaller and smaller. You might hear a noise as the landing gear goes in. The plane will continue to look "uphill" for at least 10-15 minutes (or more).<br />
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Then it's a lot like being on a long coach/bus journey, to be honest. Bring some chewing gum or some hard candies to suck on, as your ears will "pop" on occasion when the pressure changes. Perfectly normal.<br />
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I like a window seat so I can have a look at the view outside, but when it's just clouds it can get a bit boring, so I bring a book or something.<br />
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At the end, the clouds will get closer again, as the plane gradually descends. Going through clouds can mean a little bit of turbulence, but that's perfectly normal. Then you approach the runway, there's a noise when the landing gear comes back down, if you're near the wings you'll see the wing flaps change, and there's a thud as the wheels touch ground. Then it gets a bit noisy as the airplane brakes, and then it's a slow drive to the terminal, and you can disembark.<br />
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Follow signs for arrivals, or in your case I suppose it should be a sign for connecting flights, and do it all over again. I have never been on a connecting flight, so I'm not sure how they work. Again, ask airport staff for directions if you're lost or unsure.<br />
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When you reach your final destination you get into the arrivals hall, where you look at the monitor to see which number carousel your flight's bags are arriving on, and then wait at that one, pick your bag up and head for the exit. You're done! :)<br />
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At the end of the day, flying is one of the safest ways to travel. The in-flight crew are used to people who are nervous fliers (when you get on the plane and show them your boarding card you can always tell them it's your first time, if you like) so you're not weird or even unusual for being nervous. The pilots are highly trained and highly skilled and know what they're doing. If it's a bit windy where you're landing, remember that while it might feel a bit bumpy for you as a passenger, and maybe even worrying or scary, it's business as usual for them, and they have everything under control.<br />
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Enjoy your trip! :)Traxyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13249884092846934427noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17768815.post-65969042012940772272017-05-06T00:43:00.002+01:002017-05-06T00:56:51.759+01:00The Brits that broke Britain #tactical2017I was thinking earlier about the whole "but Polish people come here and they get child benefits (or whatever it's called, money for having kids) even though their kid is back in Poland!" and it's like ... that's not the EU's fault. That is entirely Britain's fault for having a system that ALLOWS exploits like that!<br />
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You think the Swedish government would pay you child benefits if you lived and worked in Sweden but the rest of your family lived in the UK, including said child? Uh, not a chance. In fact, as recent posts to a FB group for Swedes returning home have highlighted that Sweden requires you to show proof that you're not claiming benefits in the UK. So it's clearly not an EU thing, it's a Britain thing.<br />
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Much like the whole thing where the NHS aren't getting money from visiting tourists. That's not an EU problem, that's a problem with NHS staff aren't taking down details and making sure people have their EHICs or (if not in the EU) getting them to pay there and then or take details of travel insurance. If you need healthcare and you can go to a country and exploit their free public health system because no one bothers to check if you're entitled to use it or ask you to pay ... that's not an EU thing, that's a Britain thing.<br />
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But it's so much easier to blame foreigners and/or the EU for your problem than to realise that your perfect nation is broken and it's actually YOUR OWN FAULT. (Liiiike not voting at all, or voting for a party that WANTS the NHS to fail so it can be replaced with something like the American system. Because that's working out great for anyone who basically isn't a millionaire ...)<br />
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We have a general election coming up. Rules for playing:<br />
<ol><li>Register to vote if you haven't already.</li>
<li>Go vote on 8 June, or submit a postal vote in good time.</li>
</ol><br />
Who should you vote for? Find out using this simple quiz:<br />
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<b>Are you a millionaire of some sort?</b><br />
YES: Conservatives.<br />
NO: <a href="https://www.tactical2017.com/" target="_blank">Not the Conservatives, but the party most likely to be able to beat them in your constituency.</a><br />
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<b>Are you disabled? Unemployed? Stuck in a zero hour contract? Working poor? Pensioner? Think we should have a fairer society because it benefits EVERYONE? Or simply just want the NHS to survive?</b><br />
NO: Conservatives.<br />
YES: <a href="https://www.tactical2017.com/" target="_blank">Not the Conservatives, but the party most likely to be able to beat them in your constituency.</a><br />
<br />
<b>What's your view on Brexit?</b><br />
LEAVE: <a href="https://www.tactical2017.com/" target="_blank">Not the Conservatives, but the party most likely to be able to beat them in your constituency.</a> (Labour are saying they'll respect the "will of the people".)<br />
REMAIN: <a href="https://www.tactical2017.com/" target="_blank">Not the Conservatives, but the party most likely to be able to beat them in your constituency.</a> (LibDems are the only party that seem to be taking a proper stand against at the moment, but the main thing here is damage limitation. A "hard Brexit" will benefit no one.)<br />
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Vote tactically to get the Tories out of Downing Street. I don't care if you think Corbyn is "unelectable" - how about if people just go and vote Labour and see what happens when many people come together without relying on right-wing tabloids? (Corbyn was elected leader of the Labour Party twice, and he's been winning his seat as an MP since 1983, so he's clearly electable to a heck of a lot of people.) And for the love of gods, Labour, team up with whichever party is willing to be in a coalition with you! Yes, even the SNP! The important thing here is to make sure the sinking ship that is currently Britain stops taking on more water, because all the current government is doing is helping it along by filling up buckets from the sea and dumping it into the boat. But it's okay for them because they all have their lifejackets on. The same lifejackets they decided people like you and me didn't need and haven't earned so they sold off the stock to some investment bankers.<br />
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But what do I know? I'm just another one of those bloody EU immigrants, who had the nerve to come over here and pay taxes.<br />
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#endthemadness<br />
<a href="https://www.tactical2017.com/" target="_blank">#tactical2017</a> Traxyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13249884092846934427noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17768815.post-89674997876265523582016-10-06T16:36:00.002+01:002016-10-06T16:36:48.181+01:00Annual vet visit #4Closed the café early so we could get home and get the boiler looked at - and take the boys to the vet. When getting nearer the time I got Monkey fairly easily into the travel box. Elbie ... not so much. Got him in the bedroom and wrestled quite a lot to get him in, and he wouldn't have any of it. NONE. After some struggling, we both went downstairs, and lured by the sound of the back door, I picked him up and wrestled him into the box - finally! He complained all the way to the vets, of course.<br />
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He went first, and was kind of cuddly, but was very squirmy trying to get him on the scales (4.34 kg eventually). Overall, he's in a good condition, if a bit highly strung (he's used to being outside most of the time, and here's us having a change of industry which means he's inside for nearly all week), and he had some gunk on his teeth. Seeing as how he mainly gets biscuits to eat, it's not too concerning, but might want to consider taking him in to get his teeth cleaned. When it was time for the booster he was growling and hissing and generally being a very angry cat, and very close to biting. The vet decided to let him back in the box to calm down.<br />
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Monkey had to be dragged out of his (so what else is new?), but put up with the examination without a fuss. His ears showed a little more wax than is usual, but no mites or anything. Teeth in good order. He was 5.57 kg, so he's dropped a little in weight, but I was advised to give him a little less food, seeing as how they're now fed using the chip feeder and their food is actually weighed.<br />
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They were both given a flea treatment/wormer combo, and sent on their merry way.Traxyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13249884092846934427noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17768815.post-13136878429001651372016-07-24T20:12:00.000+01:002016-07-24T20:12:37.373+01:00Lipoedema and meFinding out you have lipoedema can stir up all kinds of emotions. Some people find it extremely upsetting, like a life sentence, because it means there's sod all they can do about their weight. They feel as if they've been doomed to the life of a fatty, instead of clinging on to the false hope of Being Slim Again One Day, as offered by organisations like Weight Watchers and Slimming World.<br />
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Others see things differently.<br />
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I just found it incredibly liberating.<br />
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Now I don't have to go around beating myself up (mentally) for not doing as much as I can to lose weight all day every day, or worry about why I'm not losing weight, or putting my life on hold "until I've lost some weight", or putting up with people using phrases like "a minute on the lips, a lifetime on the hips" or "no I can't possibly have that cookie, it goes straight to my thighs".<br />
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Knowing that I have lipoedema, and that THAT'S the cause of my shape and weight from childhood, I just feel like okay, well, now I don't have to angst about my weight so much. Instead I can focus on working on making it strong and healthy. Not to lose weight, although that's a welcome side effect, but in order to feel good about myself and get more energy.<br />
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I'm stuck in this body for the rest of this life, so I may as well try to enjoy it instead of wishing it was something else which it never was and is never going to be. Of course the pain is still there, that's not going away (sadly), and the difficulty in finding clothes that fit and so on, but still.<br />
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If someone was to call me a fatty now in a derogatory way, instead of being mortified and go home and cry about it, now I feel like if that was to happen, I'd tell the person in question to shove off, I have a medical condition which is at least in part genetic and fuck all I can do anything about, and whether I happen to enjoy an ice cream in the sweltering heat or not isn't going to change things, so STFU.<br />
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When I was growing up I was about 10 kg overweight, and that meant I was basically "the fat one" in my class, and my parents were concerned because they had "a fat kid". If I had been diagnosed with lipoedema at the time, how different would my outlook on life have been? (Putting aside the fact that I could've got treatment options to prevent it from progressing past stage one ...) As in, looking back on it, at the time I wasn't actually 10 kg overweight - I was a pretty normal child/teenager weight-wise but who had LIPOEDEMA, which caused that extra weight. Weight that, just like now, was around my thighs and upper arms.<br />
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Nowadays, sure, I've gained weight so that I'm now more like 50 kg heavier than I "should" be, and all that can't be blamed on lipoedema. I acknowledge that, and accept that I'm at least partially responsible for my current weight, but instead of focusing on "OMG when I THOUGHT I was fat, I weighed 40 kg less than I do now! o.O" I can focus on taking care of my body, and instead of seeing my body as a constant enemy and reminder of my failures as a person, my body can be an ally and a friend, because we're in this together.<br />
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Realising I have lipoedema has probably helped my self-confidence more than seeing a therapist did. Seeing a therapist was good because it helped getting my anxiety in check, but he wasn't necessarily the best when it came to understanding what being fat feels like, because he's never had to worry about whether a chair is going to break if you sit on it, or never had to deal with feeling judged because you happen to be eating (and eating something other than a fruit or a salad) in public, or that you might be more qualified than someone else for a job but be rejected because they don't like your fat body.<br />
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But yeah, finding out about lipoedema has been great. It answered so many questions, like "why are my upper arms so fricken pain sensitive?!" which is not something I would go to the doctors with, because c'mon, it's not a medical emergency, and neither is "my legs tend to hurt at night, which I've had for as long as I can remember" (and which was previously dismissed as "growing pains"), and the need to pee when I've been lying down for a few minutes, and so on. Now it would just be nice to have a doctor write down the diagnosis on a piece of paper as well. Shame that it's a condition most of them are unaware of, despite it affecting around 11% of the female population.Traxyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13249884092846934427noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17768815.post-84175373704861849502016-06-18T20:26:00.000+01:002016-06-20T20:28:12.674+01:00BREXIT: I'm an immigrantI'm an immigrant.<br />
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There, I said it.<br />
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Since I moved here in 2004 I have never been made to feel unwelcome in the UK simply based on the fact that I was born and grew up in a different country. Never, until about six months ago.<br />
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Six months ago we drove from Nottingham to see my parents in Sweden. As the UK is not part of the Schengen agreement, our passports were checked as we were leaving and re-entering the UK (our borders to the EU aren't as open as #Brexit propaganda would lead you to believe). Coming back, my husband's passport was pretty much given a casual glance and handed back. Mine was scrutinised and they asked me what my reason for entering the UK was. My response was that I live here, to which they asked "how long?" Seriously?<br />
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Since then the tone and the feel of the country has really changed. People on Facebook (some of whom are family) are sharing propaganda and outright lies left, right and centre about the EU and the UK's place within it. They vilify immigrants, and as an immigrant myself (which people tend to forget, because Scandinavians are generally seen as "good immigrants", whatever that's supposed to mean) ... err, thanks?<br />
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Like many other EU immigrants I've not claimed benefits (unless you count about three months in 2010 when the Jobcentre paid my NI contributions because I registered as a jobseeker under the misguided notion that they'd help me actually find a job, and failing that, perhaps offer a course or something to improve my job prospects - umm, nope), I rarely go to the doctors, I pay taxes both as an individual and as two separate (if small) companies.<br />
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What will happen to me if the UK leaves the EU? Am I "safe" because I've lived here for over ten years? Am I "safe" because I'm married to a British citizen? Or will the government, at any point, decide to move the goal posts and kick me out, despite being a taxpayer/spouse/long-term resident?<br />
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What will happen to our new business if the UK leaves the EU? We're trading with another EU country, which means no customs charges (have you ever ordered something from the USA for about £20 and been charged £13 customs and VAT by Royal Mail? Yeah, imagine that but ordering stuff for about £2k) and you only pay VAT to the country in which your company is registered. We've only just started out, and having to pay astronomical import fees is going to make the import side of our business go down the drain.<br />
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So yeah.<br />
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I'm an immigrant, and I'm truly scared about how easily misled and wilfully ignorant the British public is. Tabloids (owned by people living in tax havens, which is why the EU wants to go after them for tax evasion ... guess why said tabloids are pro-Brexit?) say "jump!" and the British public say "how high?" It's sad. What makes me even more sad is that when I came to this country for the very first time, as a tourist in July 2000, I felt like I had come home. It's an odd feeling when you're in a place you've never been before. In 2003 I guided some classmates around London as if I knew it a lot better than I actually did. In 2004 when I first visited Nottingham - and the man who was to become my husband - and he drove me down to Stansted, I cried. I cried because it felt so utterly wrong to part with him and I didn't want to go back without him. That's the reason why I'm here. That's the reason why I've stayed for all these years.<br />
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The UK is a great place to be, and I would probably feel like a foreigner if I moved back to Sweden, and sure, the UK is far from perfect - but that can be said for any country, most definitely including Sweden. The UK is my home. It's where I live, it's where I work, it's where my life is. My beloved husband is here, and I'm afraid that a Brexit could force me away from him (and our beloved furbabies) - even if that's highly unlikely. There are no guarantees. The UK is my home, so why do I no longer feel welcome here?Traxyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13249884092846934427noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17768815.post-61693030967104838622016-05-23T00:51:00.000+01:002016-06-20T20:28:37.712+01:00BREXIT: TTIP + EU = No NHS? Think about it With the whole scaremongering about how TTIP and the EU would destroy the NHS, let's think about this for a sec.<br />
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1. Most countries (if not all?) in the EU have some form of state sponsored affordable healthcare system, because we're not the USA. If affordable healthcare was threatened in the entire EU, you can be sure the MEPs of the whole union would fight for every country's right to retain their respective systems. It's not just the NHS that's under fire, it's EVERY SINGLE COUNTRY'S HEALTHCARE SYSTEMS. It's a big deal for everyone, not just the UK.<br />
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2. If the UK left the EU the USA would bully the UK into accepting TTIP in its current form, as a "well if you want us to do business with you, you have to agree to our terms", in which case yes, the NHS would be screwed. The UK would be so desperate to get the prospective trade deals it would entail to accept whatever was offered, without caring so much about the consequences. TTIP is a big bargaining chip for the USA. "But we want to keep our NHS like it is!" "Well, tough, you do as we say, or we're leaving. You need us, we don't need you." "But but but ..."<br />
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There would be nothing to bargain with from the UK's side, because UK is small potatoes as far as the USA is concerned. They can do without striking a deal with the UK, a UK without the EU can't. EU is a massive market, and the USA has already said that they're not interested in the UK as a standalone market, because there's not enough selling/purchasing power in a small country like the UK.<br />
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3. In addition to #2, the current government are already trying to dismantle the NHS by running it into the ground so there will be no other option than to get rid of it. They've done a stellar job so far. They don't really care about us, the "common people", they care about money and earning more of it, and let's face it, the US healthcare system is in the business of making loads of it. That it's hurting a lot of people in the process seems to be beside the point.<br />
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Yes, the NHS is currently underfunded, overworked, badly managed, and increasingly unsustainable in its current form, but there are things that can be done to change that. Changes which should include actually checking people for if they're permanently residing in the UK or have an EHIC and charging the rest accordingly. (This is after all why it's important to take out travel insurance when you go abroad!)<br />
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Point being: the government want any excuse to get rid of the NHS, and leaving the EU and as a result being forced into accepting TTIP in order to trade with the US would be an excellent excuse as far as the government is concerned - because then it wouldn't be THEM who got rid of the NHS, it was a necessity for The Greater Good, a.k.a. trading with the USA, so it was clearly THEIR fault ... Meanwhilhe, staying in the EU (the cost of which is a tiny fraction of the total spend of this country - look it up) would mean we have allies who also wish to keep their healthcare systems intact and we can fight it together. <br />
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But what do I know? I'm just another one of those bloody EU immigrants, who had the nerve to come over here and pay taxes.Traxyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13249884092846934427noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17768815.post-28510074883844391222016-05-17T00:48:00.000+01:002016-05-17T00:48:24.737+01:00BREXIT: A little less emotive outbursts, a little more hard facts, please<blockquote>The EU is far from perfect, I've been criticising it for years, but the official "Vote Leave, take control" document is an abject demonstration that the official Brexit campaign is a complete shambles run by people with no strategic plan whatever, who think that a garbled mess of fearmongering rhetoric, unsourced statistics, shocking opportunism, misleading claims, blatantly false dichotomies and outright lies is sufficient to convince anybody of anything.<br />
- <a href="http://anotherangryvoice.blogspot.co.uk/2016/05/vote-leave-take-control-shambles.html">Another Angry Voice</a></blockquote><br />
Which is basically my opinion of it. To me, Vote Leave always come across as very emotive, so when someone argues why we should leave it's based on emotions, opinions and (frankly) make-believe. The Vote Stay campaign, on the other hand, have arguments based on actual facts and actual numbers.<br />
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Just the other day, we heard a radio phone in where some guy was complaining about petrol being much cheaper in Spain, and why should they have all the money and petrol subsidies and so on, and that's why he wanted out. Completely failing to take into account that every country have their own fuel taxes, and that it's that country's decision how much to tax it - nothing at all to do with the EU. So if you want to leave the EU (Britain can't "leave Europe" because Europe is a continent that we're part of no matter what) based on "them Spanish people pay much less to fill up their cars, boo" then you're not basing your opinion on any kind of facts, but misinformation and ignorance about how your country - let alone the EU - actually works.<br />
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And the same could be said for just about anything the Vote Leave people bring up as well. <br />
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Immigration and free borders? UK isn't part of the Schengen deal, which means you're required to show your passport on trying to enter the country - unlike travelling from France through Belgium and Netherlands to get to Germany. Half of all the immigrants coming to the UK are from outside the EU anyway, so that wouldn't change.<br />
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"Immigrants take all our money!" No, actual FACTS show that they pay in more to the system than they take out. Sure, getting child benefit when your child doesn't even live in the same country as you is messed up, but that's basically down to UK rules. Pretty sure you can't claim child benefit in Sweden (another EU country) if the child lives with a parent in the UK, for instance.<br />
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"We don't want none of that European Court thing!" The thing which is ENTIRELY SEPARATE from the EU and which the UK HELPED SET UP after WW2 to safeguard against similar atrocities happening again?<br />
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"We wouldn't have to pay the EU any money!" Yes, we would - Norway and Switzerland still pay membership fees to EEA in order to trade with the EU, but they have no say in policy because they're not in the EU, who set the rules, and they don't get any subsidies.<br />
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"But we'd save the NHS!" The EU is not what's caused problems with the NHS. That's all on our very own government trying to dismantle it + how badly run it is. I was pretty shocked to hear that if you need crutches (for instance), you're not forced to hand them back once you don't need them anymore. You know, handing them back so that someone else can use them. Instead, no one cares and the next person gets a new set instead. That's not how you save money. Or actually making sure only people who are entitled to free healthcare get it, i.e. UK residents and EU citizens. They don't seem to check entitlement at all. I read a story about an American tourist who had a family member having to go to the doctors in the UK and was surprised to hear he didn't have to pay anything for it. They weren't entitled to free UK healthcare but no one charged them for the visit, which they should have done? How many instances of this happens every day and how much money is lost this way? (There are more examples, but those are glaringly obvious ones.)<br />
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"They keep voting us down! We never get to have it our way!" If, say, 19 countries out of 20 (UK being the 20th) vote the same way, isn't that an indication that the UK perhaps has the WRONG opinion? Like the whole steel thing in Port Talbot. The EU wanted to up the fees on Chinese steel to help EU steel, the UK voted AGAINST it, and so on. Besides, majority rule is HOW DEMOCRACY WORKS.<br />
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But yeah. My problem is that the Brexit campaign doesn't deal with facts, but just emotive outbursts about how Britain was great back in the day and can be great again ... ignoring how society has changed in the meantime. But maybe people have some kind of romanticised notion about Victorian slums?<br />
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<blockquote>What I would say is that I believe that most of these politicians, businessmen and so on do not have the slightest interest in what would be best for the general public; they base their opinions solely on what would be best for them as individuals with a reckless and callous disregard for the rest of us.<br />
- Comment on Another Angry Voice</blockquote><br />
Which is why you have two camps. There are the politicians who have interests in Europe and who therefore want to stay in because it would benefit them to stay. Then there are politicians who have non-European interests and therefore want to leave because it would benefit them to leave. Let's not pretend that's not the case.<br />
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For the general public, though, I'd much rather go with factual arguments than emotive argumentation, and if the Brexit campaign did more of the former and less of the latter, then there could have a balanced discussion, but as it is now, the Stay campaign are the ones who deal in facts and actual figures, while the Leave campaign always sound like someone's drunk and slightly racist uncle at a party - someone who can't be reasoned with using facts, and who keeps shouting about how Britain needs to be great again but has no actual idea of how that's supposed to be achieved aside from "leaving the EU", as if that's some sort of magic cure-all.<br />
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<iframe width="480" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/7Oor7fAmmiQ?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>Traxyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13249884092846934427noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17768815.post-60058834320905070102015-10-13T12:40:00.000+01:002015-10-23T20:45:19.661+01:00Annual vet visit #3When you have help, it's fairly easy to box up a couple of cats! :)<br />
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Elbie made his objections known all the way to the vets, with Monkey occasionally chiming in. Nothing unusual there, then. What was more unusual was this morning, when Elbie came for a cuddle. He loves snuggling up to Furdaddy, and while his purrs are normally on the discreet side (Monkey is loud, Daisy was even louder), this morning he really turned the volume up. A good, long cuddle it was too.<br />
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This time Elbie got to go first. While being a bit squirmy, he wasn't quite as uncooperative as he has been previous years. He weighed in - once we got all four paws on the scales - at 4.49 kg, which is similar to last year. Vet was happy with his condition and said he seemed fine, gave him his booster and a worming tablet and he could then retreat back into the travel crate.<br />
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Monkey was very unwilling to leave the safety of his travel crate. We tried tipping him out of it, but he held on with his claws. Once unhooked, he weighed in at 5.75 kg, which is similar to when he was weighed back in August. Told the vet he seems fine and back to normal since his hospital visit, and once checked over, boosted and de-wormed, he was also happy to go back into his travel arrangements.<br />
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Mentioned that Elbie is very active and spends most of his time outside, while Monkey mainly stays inside and is less active ... unless it's summer and he's outside chasing butterflies. On the plus side, I recently got a ball-chase speedway thing to keep them entertained and Monkey has taken to playing with it quite regularly, which is good.<br />
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It might just be that Elbie likes being outside simply because that way he doesn't have to deal with Monkey as much, because it does seem like Monkey likes to play with Elbie more than Elbie wants to be played with. However, if the door is kept closed and both are inside, they do seem to get along. Found them both on the bed (not together, obviously) the other day. It's as if they do that sort of thing as long as they're not spotted - and as soon as they are, they go to separate beds. Cats, eh?<br />
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But yes, all in all, the vet visit was pretty quick and went fine. Let's hope we won't have to go there again until October next year!Traxyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13249884092846934427noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17768815.post-83971328124201393262015-09-26T21:08:00.002+01:002015-09-27T00:24:37.738+01:00In Memory of DaisyIt was winter. In the cellar of a house on the edge of an east Scanian (Skåne) village a young cat appeared. She seemed to be in reasonably good health: good body condition, not bedraggled or injured, but her tummy was upset. There was no collar on her and no other markings to indicate where she might have come from.<br />
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The family in whose house she had appeared had her scanned for a microchip, but there was none. They advertised for a found cat, but no one came forward to claim her as being lost. In the end, the family kept her and named her Daisy.<br />
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From her brown colourpoint looks and the way she'd go floppy when lifted up, they surmised she was a Ragdoll. Why would a pedigree cat go missing and no one come forward for her?<br />
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After being found, they discovered she hadn't been neutered - one of the incumbent cats of the house got her pregnant. Five kittens in total, but one of them died. They were all beautiful, a mix of Ragdoll and Oriental (black Siamese). Apparently no one thought to take any pictures of them.<br />
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The first time I met Daisy was in late November 2002, when I spent a weekend over at my friend's house. The two brothers of the house, Wizzard (the black Oriental mentioned above) and Gizmo (a one-toothed Siamese whose purr sounded just like a two-stroke engine), were fairly quick to say hello and ask for cuddles, but Daisy was a bit more reserved.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The first photo I ever took of her, November 2002.</td></tr>
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This friend had three indoor cats and a number of ones that lived outdoors. Oh, how I wanted to have a cat too.<br />
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<a name='more'></a>Come spring/summer one of the stable cats of that household gave birth to kittens, and I was supposed to have one of them. Sadly, they were all found dead, because nature is sometimes not very kind. On the other hand, the family were considering downsizing and they were looking after this cat that wasn't even theirs, so maybe someone could adopt her? There I was, in want of a cat and the kitten plan had just fallen through. Perhaps I might consider Daisy instead? How could I not?!<br />
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On Sunday 23 June 2003 she went into a travel crate without fuss (!) and we travelled across Scania, on a bus, to the west coast where I was living and studying at the time. The journey was quiet, but I spoke to her often to reassure her that she was in safe hands.<br />
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She settled into her new place rather quickly, and took to sharing a pillow with me in bed. The local vet checked her over to see that she was healthy and gave her a vaccination shot and so my life as cat-owned begun. Sure, it wasn't always easy. Hairballs were a new experience. A female cat in heat meant very little sleep for about a week (she managed to be in heat twice that summer before I could get her to the vet to have her neutered). One of my flatmates first thought she was the most beautiful cat she had ever seen ... and then decided to resent her to the point where she locked her out on the balcony without water or shade (luckily not for very long) and threatened to dump her on the street. I had to keep Daisy locked inside my room when I left for college every day to ensure that my flatmate couldn't get to her, and so on. Fun times.<br />
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My parents weren't sold on the idea of me having a pet either. Mum's first word of advice was to not get too attached to her, because "you know how sad you got when [our pet rabbit] died" (I was 12 and completely devastated). Thanks, Mum. That's not how these things work. Dad had never been a fan of cats, and Daisy was no exception ... at first. You can only resist those blue eyes and that incredibly bushy tail for so long ... <br />
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In November that year I was going back home for a couple of weeks to do work experience at a local radio station. After that, it would be another couple of weeks back at college and then a two-week Christmas break at home, followed by three weeks at college and then my courses finished and I would be moving back home again. Going backwards and forwards so much sounded a bit stressful for a cat, so I asked my mum if Daisy could stay with them while I went back to college so she wouldn't be stressed out from all the travelling. (Two hours by train and one hour by bus each way.) They said it was fine, so I went back to Båstad alone. I missed Daisy's company terribly when I was away for those few weeks, but my mum was pleased to have someone to look after.<br />
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At the end of January 2004 I moved back home again. By this time I had started to talk to an English guy online and I'm not even sure how we came to the decision that I would move over to the UK, but that became the plan eventually. It was a package deal, though - if he wanted me, he would also get a cat. He was okay with this, and even asked me to marry him a few months later. :)<br />
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When going through all the requirements for moving a pet to another country I first thought I would be able to move us both at the same time, but as it turned out, this was not the case. You had to wait six months after a rabies vaccination to move a pet to avoid quarantine, and I hadn't factored in that you needed TWO vaccinations with one month between them, and then you had to wait another month before a blood test to confirm antibodies could be taken. Due to a miscalculation I thought we'd both be due to fly out in October, or thereabouts, but she had to wait several extra months.<br />
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I left Sweden in October 2004, with Daisy remaining with my parents being treated like a princess. My fiancé and I went to Sweden for Christmas that year, and having to leave Daisy again was very hard. I remember standing in the living room holding her in my arms and crying. For once she didn't try to get away (her usual strategy if I was crying and wanted a hug). Apparently it was hard on her too.<br />
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As I didn't want to move her just because she was "my cat" - if she preferred to instead become my parents' cat, that would have been hard, but it would have been okay - I wanted to do a course in animal communication. The one I tried to organise in Nottingham fell through, but as a consolation price I got a phone session with the animal communicator who would have been teaching the course in question. Amongst other things, he specifically mentioned the incident at Christmas, and that it had been hard for her. She felt the bond between us two was stronger than the bond she had to my parents, and she wouldn't mind the big move in order to be with me, despite explaining that it required her being put on an airplane and so on. She was asked if she wanted a sedative for the journey but replied that she would prefer to be "herself".<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">First photo of Daisy in England, taken as she was looking around the house.</td></tr>
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At the end of March 2005 my parents went to the airport outside Gothenburg and put her on the plane and we picked her up at Heathrow some hours later. (Trying to find the animal arrivals building was a nightmare!) In the car, I took her out of the cage and tried having her on my lap, which she was okay with for about 30 seconds. The entire journey up to Nottingham was spent quietly in the footwell by my feet. Once we were home and she was free to explore her new territory, she did a round to see where everything was and then helped herself to some food. Family who came to visit the following day were surprised to see how relaxed and settled she was - "it's as if she's always been here" - which also put to rest any worries they had that we were doing the wrong thing in bringing her over.<br />
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Many happy years passed. The only thing to note health-wise were a couple of eye infections and once when she got fleas. From December 2012 she had to put up with sharing her territory with two young male cats, and while it's safe to say they were never really friends, at least they tolerated each other for the most part. Except when they brought home fleas and the flea treatment stopped working and she got slightly anemic, poor thing.<br />
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Daisy had been prone to the occasional cough previously, which was usually noted during annual vet visits, but nothing to cause concern. At times during the summer of 2014 she seemed to have more of a cough and occasionally her breathing would appear more pronounced. It wasn't constant, though, and it passed fairly quickly. As her standard attitude to me freaking out over nothing was "oh for goodness sake, not this again; CALM DOWN" I wasn't too concerned, and she seemed normal in other ways. Sure, her face had started to get a few grey specks to remind me that she was no spring chicken anymore, but there didn't seem to be anything so wrong that it couldn't wait until her annual check-up that autumn.<br />
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On the morning of Tuesday 23 September 2014 I hadn't seen her around anywhere, which was odd, but sometimes she liked her privacy so I wasn't particularly worried. Around noon I had to rush her to the vet because I found her with her hind legs paralysed. The vet said she had a blood clot and the prognosis was poor. There was a slim chance they might be able to get the blood clot cleared up at the hospital, but there would be no saying when she might have another one, as they are usually a side effect of something else. We decided to give her a chance, so they rushed her to the hospital. To go from having a seemingly healthy old cat one day to a potentially dead cat the next was an utter shock and I spent most of that afternoon (and evening) crying my eyes out. <br />
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As it turned out, while investigating the cause of the blood clot, they discovered that she had a heart problem (something like a part of the valve had hardened or something, I'm not 100% sure because it was all a bit of a blur) and late stage lung cancer. Unfortunately with cats they tend to not show signs of anything being wrong with them until it's much too late to do anything about it. There was no particular cause for either problem - just the luck of the draw. If the blood clot hadn't happened, we might have only had her for another couple of months.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">5 September 2014, the last photo I took of her.</td></tr>
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Had she been able to recover from the blood clot (her age and newly discovered heart problem meant that an amputation was out of the question - and that was before they discovered she had cancer), she could have lived out those months at home, but it was not to be. While they could feel a faint pulse in one of the hind legs on the Thursday, she almost didn't make it through the final night. They had tried to ease up on the diuretic (to see if we'd be able to take her home if her legs contined to improve) but insteada they got very close to phoning us up in the middle of the night so we could come over and say our goodbyes, but they put her back on the drugs and gave her oxygen, and she pulled through.<br />
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We drove over to the hospital every day to see her. At times she got sick of us cuddling her and tried to wriggle away, but it showed there was fight still in her. On the Friday she kept entirely still for the first time since being hospitalised, and actually looked like she was ready to go. We decided it was time to say goodbye, because while she had survived this night, she might not live through another.<br />
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Surprisingly, it wasn't that hard a decision to make - it was as if she had made it for us already.<br />
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We stroked her beautifully soft fur as she drew her final breaths in this life, telling her how much we loved her. It was one year ago today, 26 September 2014.<br />
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We still miss her, even though she could be a right grumpy (and scratchy) lady, but she was also the fluffball who shared my pillow (occasionally acting as a fur hat), and who would jump up on my lap and decide it was time for a prolonged cuddle whenever I was on the toilet, and so on.<br />
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Daisy was a character, that's for sure. She managed to train my cat-hating dad into perhaps not being a cat-lover but at least someone who'd willingly provide a friendly lap to sit on and get a cuddle (this continued when their neighbour's cat would come over and see them), and that's an achievement, to say the least. She moved from Skåne-Tranås to Båstad to Stenungsund and then all the way to Nottingham, and then moved again across town a few years later, and yet we have no idea where she came from originally or why she ended up in my friend's cellar.<br />
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You could say she had quite the life for a surprisingly small Ragdoll cat (she was about half the size of an average Ragdoll), but she knew how much she was loved from the first moment she called me hers, and never wanted for anything. I was not her first human, but she was my first cat, and despite my mum's advice, of course I became attached to her - she was my little girl - and yes, losing Daisy was incredibly painful. But we had over eleven great years together, and goodness knows how old she truly was (she was three at the very least when I got her), but she had a good life and we're happy to have had the privilege to share it with her.<br />
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R.I.P. my love. <i>Vi ses i Nangijala.</i> Traxyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13249884092846934427noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17768815.post-4455406689126811132015-08-11T13:04:00.000+01:002015-08-20T13:36:19.156+01:00The nocturnal adventures of Elbie<b>Elbie:</b> Catching up on some well-deserved sleep, seeing as how I was out all night protecting our territory against intruders. You're welcome, by the way.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6gNXcSS2Kw71hOGs5a76gPnoiD3Y1fUJvxHTmQQiFrnw4z_xJm-YxYrfV2nMkeJlm3Oj1TjZgSxcS-pvTWl86_1_NKcHV9T8a6dbcK6QpZK61Mq4RcHeb9Q_bgxolwWkpLosj/s1600/2015-08-11+12.39.46.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6gNXcSS2Kw71hOGs5a76gPnoiD3Y1fUJvxHTmQQiFrnw4z_xJm-YxYrfV2nMkeJlm3Oj1TjZgSxcS-pvTWl86_1_NKcHV9T8a6dbcK6QpZK61Mq4RcHeb9Q_bgxolwWkpLosj/s400/2015-08-11+12.39.46.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
<b>Me:</b> Elbie's catching up on some sleep after making his humans NOT sleep very well at all, because he didn't show up to be let in last night, nor did he come when called, and we were worried sick something had happened to him and that being the reason for his uncharacteristic absense.<br />
<br />
This morning, after Monkey had been given his drugged-up tuna breakfast, I left the back door open and continued preparing human breakfast. There was a noise of a cat eating biscuits, and when I looked over to double-check ... there was a red tail. The prodigal son had returned! So today I'm being Bad Mami and keeping the back door shut, but neither cat seems to mind. They're both happily dozing in separate rooms.<br />
<br />
EDIT: Bad Mami relented around lunchtime, because me getting something to eat woke the cats ... who then wanted to go outside. Elbie did agree to being summoned tonight and we can now sleep soundly knowing he's safely inside the house with us. Plus we should be getting his awesome bedtime cuddles! :)Traxyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13249884092846934427noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17768815.post-13657478770765456622015-08-07T20:31:00.000+01:002015-08-20T13:34:12.764+01:00Feline non-recognition aggression is a thingSo hey, apparently there's a thing called "feline non-recognition aggression" which is pretty common when a cat returns from a hospital visit. Basically, the other cat (who stayed at home, a.k.a. Elbie) doesn't recognise the smell of the other cat and feels threatened. Speaking from personal experience here, lots of hissing and growling ensues.<br />
<br />
It should settle down after a few days, but there are a few things you can do to help them get along. Feliway is one, wiping the "intruder" with wet cloth to get rid of the hospital scent is another, keeping them separate and slowly reintroduce them a third, and so on.<br />
<br />
Fun times!<br />
<br />
On the plus side, Monkey has been on me most of the day - starting out with sleeping on me in bed (which I have missed the past few days), then being in my lap for most of the rest. He's had more lap time than usual, and that's saying something! He was also a good boy earlier and had his meds, so hoping to repeat that in about an hour or so.Traxyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13249884092846934427noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17768815.post-25004288773476500722015-08-06T17:00:00.000+01:002015-08-20T13:32:49.187+01:00Return of the MonkeyMonkey's back home and currently enjoying a good snooze behind me on the sofa. :)<br />
<br />
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<br />
He's on a number of drugs for a while but at least he's feeling better and is back home with us.Traxyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13249884092846934427noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17768815.post-83762440989211146002015-08-04T12:18:00.000+01:002015-08-20T13:29:32.308+01:00The medical adventures of MonkeyOh, sweet little Monkeypoops. In mid-July, he was seeming a bit off and I discovered he had a bald lump on his chin. Took him to the vets - he had an abcess (perhaps he'd been getting a bit too rough and tumble with Elbie, who knows). They lanced it and he was given penicillin and painkillers and within a couple of days he was back to his normal self.<br />
<br />
Late last night as I was going to the loo, I discovered him in front of the litter trays. Gave him a cuddle, but he seemed very lethargic and not wanting to move. Went to get some treats to see if he was interested in eating, and he showed some interest, but moved very hesitantly and slowly. He licked his bum several times and he also tried to go to the tray and straining but nothing was happening. Seemed like constipation or something, but because he was seeming uncomfortable and in pain, I phoned the vets.<br />
<br />
If it was constipation, they advised he would need to be seen, but not as urgently as if it was a urinary blockage. As I couldn't say either way, they advised bringing him in. So, well past 2am, we drove to the vet hospital (the one where Daisy was taken) where he was seen by a vet, who diagnosed it as a urinary tract issue. Luckily, we caught it at a point where it wasn't critical. They took him in for observation, and when they phoned this morning it was to say that a muscle relaxant hadn't worked (in case of a muscle spasm causing his inability to urinate), so they'd put in a catheter, and there were some crystals in the pee. Fortunately it went in okay, but they're still observing him to see if the blockage has been removed, and so on, but he's still going to be in hospital for a couple of days.<br />
<br />
Our poor little guy. :(<br />
<br />
Phoned the vets to check on him and they said he was comfortable, if a bit drowsy. Just grateful that when he's feeling unwell, you can REALLY tell, meaning you can get him to the vets in time before it reaches a critical stage.<br />
<br />
Get well soon, sweetheart!Traxyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13249884092846934427noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17768815.post-47586420546734782922015-01-28T10:15:00.002+00:002015-01-28T10:15:48.004+00:00Suddenly he's the slimmer of the yearI took Monkey to the vets last week, because he's looking a lot slimmer now than he used to. This is technically a very good thing, because he needed to lose weight, but when you've not really done anything differently to promote this, such as changing food or quantity of food, you get concerned. Unexplained weightloss is generally not considered a good sign.<br />
<br />
The vet checked him over thoroughly and said that he seems perfectly fine. A weigh-in revealed him to be 25 grams (0.88 oz) less than at their <a href="http://doctortrax.blogspot.co.uk/2014/10/annual-vet-visit-2.html" target="_blank">annual in October</a>, and 25g really isn't much of a weight loss at all. I think he had started to lose weight before then, though, and he had just eaten before we left. (Speaking of which, he really didn't want to go and complained in the car all the way there. Bless.)<br />
<br />
The advice she gave me was that we could check him again in a month's time, and maybe take a blood sample to check kidney and liver function (a tumour wouldn't show up anyway) if I really wanted to be on the safe side, but to all intents and purposes, he's a healthy 3.5-year-old and still on the heavy side, to be honest.<br />
<br />
But I'm keeping an eye on him. I wasn't paranoid enough with Daisy, and I'd rather be safe than sorry. Although, I spoke to the vet about her, and even if I had brought her in earlier, any changes when listening to her chest could just as easily have been interpreted as old age rather than anything serious.<br />
<br />
How's Elbie? He was caught in a sudden flurry of hail about twenty minutes ago and took shelter in the cat (dog) house in the garden. I called him, but he didn't want to run through the hail to come inside. As soon as it let up a bit, he came running, and is now looking out the window next to me, and just gave me a look to say "okay, it stopped - can I go back out now?"Traxyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13249884092846934427noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17768815.post-46701459804675357592015-01-13T15:59:00.000+00:002015-01-13T15:59:00.956+00:00Things you learn in therapy: Re-frame itOne of the things you learn when you go see a cognitive behaviour therapist (or indeed any therapist, I suppose) is to re-frame things. This means that you learn to look at things from a different perspective, and that there is no right or wrong.<br />
<br />
Let's say you discuss your childhood with said therapist. You talk about how you may have felt abandoned by one or both of your parents at different times, but at the same time, you wonder why you'd say that because it simply wasn't true. I mean, you weren't actually <i>abandoned</i> abandoned, because your parents were there, or they were returned to you, or whatever.<br />
<br />
What a therapist does is to tell you that there is no right or wrong, because what's important isn't whether or not you were <i>actually</i> abandoned, that's beside the point. (Unless you <i>were</i>, in which case I'm sorry that happened to you, but that's not the point I'm trying to make.)<br />
<br />
If you look back at the situation as an adult, you might say "but that's bollocks, I wasn't abandoned! My parents looked after me very well!" and feel bad because you're obviously being unfair to your totally non-abandoning parents. This is where the "no right or wrong" thing comes in. That they didn't <i>actually</i> abandon you doesn't matter right now, because the issue is that your younger self <i>had the feeling</i> of abandonment. It doesn't necessarily mean that your parents did anything wrong.<br />
<br />
Going on from that, instead of getting hung up on details, you need to acknowledge that your younger self <i>felt</i> abandoned, even if it's not factually correct, and that's the feeling that needs addressing and until you've acknowledged the emotion you can't work through it. It's not about blaming anyone (i.e. your parents); it's just about how you felt at the time, and why that was.<br />
<br />
It could be anything. Perhaps you happened to have been a complete dick towards an older sibling, which you realise as you got older and (hopefully) stopped being so annoying. Instead of thinking of your younger self as being a complete arsehole, stop and think about why you acted that way. It could have been because you felt lonely, or that you wanted some attention from the formerly youngest sibling who probably saw you as an imposter when you came along and therefore naturally wasn't too keen on you. What does that say about you as a child, and your sibling as a child, and you both together as children? (Yes, perhaps you just were just a horrible younger sibling, that's also an option, but surely that says a bunch about you as a child as well.)<br />
<br />
Not just "wow, I was an annoying little shit to my sibling", but rather "wow, I was a lonely and frustrated child who took it out on my older sibling when s/he wouldn't give me the attention I needed."<br />
<br />
Re-frame it.Traxyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13249884092846934427noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17768815.post-37398264592561504522014-10-13T12:49:00.000+01:002015-01-13T11:24:08.367+00:00Annual vet visit #2<div class="_5k3v _5k3w clearfix">
<div>
Surprisingly, both boys were
actually quite easy to get into the travel crates. In the car on the way
over, they (mostly Elbie) sang the song of their people.<br />
<br />
To
give Elbie some time to settle down, Monkey went first. He didn't want
to get out (like last year), but was very well-behaved when being
checked over. He weighed 5.7 kg (+0.5 kg from last year's checkup). I
asked the vet for suggestions, and she said he could be given diet food
or senior cat food (also less calorific), but we'd need to keep an eye
on Elbie's weight at the same time, so that he doesn't go ultra-slim.<br />
<br />
She
also said that the problem with restricting foods for cats is that if
they're hungry and feel they're not getting enough food, they'll make
sure to get it in other ways. Either by going to other houses and demand
a feed or by hunting - and the Monkey does like to hunt. So it's tricky
business. On the other hand, she wasn't concerned for him right now,
but more as a precaution for the future, so that he doesn't develop
diabetes. On the other hand, considering they're both on a grain free,
low-carb diet, that should be a good way to lowering the risk anyway,
which is why I'm a bit hesitant to go out and buy random diet or senior
food - most foods out there are quite bad ingredient-wise ... including
the premium brands. Daisy had a much easier time with hairballs after
switching from Hill's Senior Anti-hairball food to Applaws, which
doesn't make any particular claims about reducing hairballs or anything
like that. But I digress. Fortunately, there's not a lot they can catch
from eating butterflies, though, so that's good!<br />
<br />
I
held him close as I was talking to the vet, and he seemed to like that.
When he got a bit too close to Elbie's travel cage, Elbie swiped at him
and hissed. He got his booster shot, a worming tablet, and had already
been checked over, so he went back into his travel cage with what seemed
like relief.<br />
<br />
Elbie was not a happy bunny. He growled,
but managed to be quiet long enough for the vet to listen to his heart
and lungs. He weighed 4.5 kg (I think, which is +0.7 kg), but the vet
agreed with me that it was because he's filled out from a lanky teenager
into an adult cat's body, and it's fine. I mentioned the over-grooming,
and suggested I use Feliway to see if that helps, which I had recently
thought of doing. I got a couple of diffusers and used when they first
moved in, so just need to find them and get some refills. I could also
give him a capsule of something which is a serotonin precursor,
essentially giving him happy pills I guess, but I'm a bit hesitant. Will
see how he does with Feliway first.<br />
<br />
Stress and anxiety
can lead to urinary tract problems, which is worse in male cats than
females apparently. I've not noticed him having any toilet issues, which
is good, but preventative measures are better than emergency treatments
after the fact. Maybe I'll try the Bach Rescue Remedy again as well. It
could be something like him being unsettled by us putting up a
Christmas tree, which is why it seems to recur in the weeks before
Christmas. An eye is kept on him, at any rate.<br />
<br />
He also
got his booster and a worming pill and then jumped on the floor rather
than back in his travel cage, so I had to pick him up and help him
inside. While he still sang the song of his people in the car on the way
back, it wasn't nearly as much as on the way there.<br />
<br />
But
yeah, basically, they are both perfectly healthy three-year-old cats
and fingers crossed they won't have to see the vet until this time again
next year. :)</div>
</div>
Traxyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13249884092846934427noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17768815.post-22529934917864516522014-10-08T11:25:00.000+01:002015-01-13T11:26:32.955+00:00Annual vet visit booked!<span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}">The boys are now booked in for their annual vet appointment.<br /> <br />
I'll definitely discuss Monkey's weight with them, because while the
vet last year wasn't concerned, I'm sure he's put more weight on since
then, so now I'M concerned. I wake up most mornings with him happily
asleep on my hip, which I love and adore, but he's heavy enough to give
me a back ache. While I can't turn around in bed without <span class="text_exposed_show">going "oww" is unfortunate, I'm more concerned about him. He weighs a ton, seriously, and I want a vet's take on it.<br /> <br />
As for Elbie, he might weigh slightly more than last year, but that's
only because he's filled out into a proper adult cat size now, so his
weight is of no concern. I will discuss his tendency to over-groom,
though. He never does it to the point where the skin goes raw and
bleeds, it's just that he licks away the hair, and it seems to be a
cyclical thing. In the autumn, his belly will get a full coating of hair
and then around Christmas, it starts to go again.<br /> <br /> At any rate, I want to make sure there's nothing physically wrong with either of them.</span></span>Traxyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13249884092846934427noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17768815.post-35145718478750119762014-10-07T11:27:00.000+01:002015-01-13T11:37:17.353+00:00Well, they did share over half their lives with herMaybe I've been thinking about it wrong. While they all tolerated each other and occasionally managed a curious sniff (soon interrupted by batting of paws on both sides), I never really saw them as friends.<br />
<br />
Daisy and Monkey seemed to have a kind of timeshare going on with sleeping spots and lap time, and Daisy and Elbie would occasionally be found asleep on the bed at the same time (not cuddled up, though, and generally when Elbie woke up and noticed she was there, he would leave). Occasionally they'd let us cuddle two at the same time.<br />
<br />
But when you think about the age when we got the boys (1.5 years) and the age they are now (3 years & ~4 months), they've shared a bit over half their lives with her, and there's a big possibility that they are actually grieving too, in their own ways. Extra cuddles are already given.<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/traxy/15444337616" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" title="IMG_5367 by Sofia Meaden, on Flickr"><img alt="IMG_5367" height="333" src="https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3930/15444337616_a62fae305d.jpg" width="500" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/traxy/16084953317" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" title="IMG_4380 by Sofia Meaden, on Flickr"><img alt="IMG_4380" height="333" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7559/16084953317_bc4051a0e7.jpg" width="500" /></a></div>
Traxyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13249884092846934427noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17768815.post-48616404499881958552014-10-06T11:38:00.000+01:002015-01-13T11:39:39.081+00:00Magic Blanket trumps outsideYou know the weather's rubbish when it's morning and Elbie chooses the bed instead of staying outside, even when the back door's open. (Well, it's closed now, because cold.) On the plus side, because of the weather, the Magic Blanket is out, and he really likes it.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/traxy/10085722225" title="IMG_3148 by Sofia Meaden, on Flickr"><img alt="IMG_3148" height="333" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7297/10085722225_b18815b19c.jpg" width="500" /></a></div>
Traxyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13249884092846934427noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17768815.post-17480249558542232912014-09-26T14:13:00.000+01:002015-01-13T11:52:44.287+00:00RIP beloved fluffball<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;">Daisy</span><br />
<i> (2003-06-23 [not her birthday, but the day she became mine] to 2014-09-26)</i></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/traxy/3121747032" title="daisyn by Sofia Meaden, on Flickr"><img alt="daisyn" height="500" src="https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3223/3121747032_089e4295bb.jpg" width="405" /></a></div>
<br />
After a sudden blood clot to her legs on Tuesday, and other underlying health issues of which we were not previously aware, the vets were unable to save her, and we've had to bid her farewell today.<br />
<br />
You will be in our hearts, and still be part of our clothing and assorted furniture for some time, and we'll miss you. Thank you for the past eleven years, and may you rest in peace.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
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Traxyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13249884092846934427noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17768815.post-21267239923819915632014-09-26T13:53:00.000+01:002015-01-13T12:08:15.650+00:00Update on Daisy #2When we went to see Daisy yesterday, she seemed okay, and she had a pulse in her left leg finally. We agreed with the vet to give her until Saturday to see if there would be a pulse in the right one, as we were told she wouldn't survive an amputation.<br />
<br />
On the scan, they found a slight heart defect, and on x-rays, she had a couple of big masses in her lungs, so she wouldn't have lived through surgery, and it wouldn't be fair on her either, being rather old. They couldn't confirm lung cancer without a biopsy, but she wouldn't have long to live even if she pulled through the embolism.<br />
<br />
We thought maybe if she survived this, we could take her home and let her spend however much time she had left at home (they said she wouldn't be in pain from the lungs). But that was if she got a pulse in her right leg, because the leg needed to be alive.<br /><br />This morning, the vet phoned to say that she'd had a bad night. They'd tried to reduce the diuretics (that kept fluid from her lungs), but they had to increase it again and put her on oxygen, and a while there it was touch and go, to the point where they were on the verge of calling us, but with the oxygen, she picked up a little.<br />
<br />
There was still no pulse in her right leg this morning, so we went in to say goodbye, as she might not live through another night. She seemed to take it in her stride. She looked very comfortable on the bed she was in, and I had the bed on my lap in the end. She passed away peacefully while we both stroked her gently. It seemed she took the decision for us in the end, and she seemed at peace. Now her struggle is over and she finally gets to rest.Traxyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13249884092846934427noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17768815.post-10977171938377798502014-09-25T00:07:00.000+01:002015-01-13T12:08:32.102+00:00Update on Daisy #1Daisy has been diagnosed with a feline aortic thromboembolism (or something like that). Her potassium was a tad high but still within range, so they're keeping an eye on it. White blood cell count was a bit high, indicating an infection or inflammation, so she's on antibiotics for that. As well as being on a drip for fluids, she's on Methadone (!) for pain management, which has made her more comfortable, if completely stoned ... We went to see her today, and while she was woozy, she seemed to like us touching her.<br />
<br />
They're still trying to figure out the cause - likely either an undiagnosed heart condition or a tumour somewhere - but nothing conclusive yet. Her left leg is slightly warmer today and has some feeling in it. She's tried to move around a little as well, which is good.<br />
<br />
When I phoned this evening there wasn't really anything new to tell, but they've said to take it day by day and they're trying to keep her comfortable while trying to find the cause. If they find they can no longer keep her comfortable, then they won't go any further.<br />
<br />
I brought in a little pillow for her, one mum made especially for her, so she'd have something smelling of home, and they said it was great because they wanted to keep a part of her slightly elevated. We're going to check back tomorrow and hope there are some news.Traxyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13249884092846934427noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17768815.post-75898169347825313222014-09-23T14:40:00.000+01:002015-01-13T11:47:09.299+00:00What turned out to be the last photo of Daisy<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/traxy/15280452289" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="2014-09-05 00.01.34 by Sofia Meaden, on Flickr"><img alt="2014-09-05 00.01.34" height="500" src="https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3928/15280452289_c3d0580c03.jpg" width="375" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Taken 5 September 2014</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
This may well end up being the last photo I ever took of Daisy. (EDIT: It was.)<br />
<br />
I didn't see her this morning, but sometimes their whereabouts aren't obvioius, so not unusual as such. Heard a noise that normally indicates Monkey has found a bug/butterfly/mouse to play with, so went to check. No, it was Daisy trying to move because her back legs were paralysed. Phoned the vet in hysterics.<br />
<br />
Blood clot.<br />
<br />
The prognosis isn't good. They've taken her in to try and treat it, and if she doesn't improve in the next 24 hours or so, she'll need to be put to sleep because there's nothing more they can do. If she improves, they can do tests and find out the underlying cause, but she'll need to be on medication for the rest of her life and is likely to have another blood clot again within the next six months.<br />
<br />
She seemed fine yesterday, and by this time tomorrow, she might have left a Daisy-sized hole in our hearts and lives.Traxyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13249884092846934427noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17768815.post-55835759712226334382014-07-23T23:41:00.000+01:002015-01-13T12:00:45.894+00:00And no net ensnares me!It's summer so we have the small top/ventilation window open. This was left open as we went away for a few hours, but the cats have always ignored it anyway. In bed, trying to sleep, I hear a meow ... from outside. It's Elbie.<br />
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We don't recall him shooting past us as we came in the door this evening, and he was definitely there when I left the house (when he came in around 3pm, I shut the back door to make sure he was inside for when I was going out a bit later). The bug/pollen filter cloth on the bedroom window had fallen down, I noticed when coming to bed, but that's not unusual. The blinds are normally down but I left them only halfway down so they could look out the window - and because I had already needed to put it back once today.<br />
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Anyway, I let him in. Two minutes later, he's at the window pawing at the cloth, trying to get out again. I pull the blinds down, he tries to go around it. So I guess now we sleep with windows closed at night. :/ Also closed the bathroom window so he doesn't give that one a try instead. He can be out all day long (and he is) but at night, I want them all safely inside, and apparently that now requires windows to be shut.Traxyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13249884092846934427noreply@blogger.com0