The Ninth Strange Day

I’m sitting here, minding my own business, getting ready to upload pictures from last night’s Travis show, and the phone rings.

The Caller ID shows a very familiar number.

I pick it up and say “Hello?” in my best “I am confused and afraid” voice.

Kitti says “I’m downstairs! LOL!” (please note, he actually says “lol” and not ell-oh-ell).

A bored man alone with a cellphone. This is what happens.

I’m still getting a lot of hits because of Blog Like It’s The End Of The World/Zombie Day and that thrills me a little bit.

People are actually wandering in here from all sorts of places. Hello!

If anyone is interested in adopting a homeless cat, Grey is still looking for a place. With the temperatures getting higher and higher, I’d really like to see him go to someone who can keep him indoors and let the old man have the life he deserves. Now there’s also Kate to contend with. She’s probably a relative of Grey’s (a half-sib or cousin of some degree of separation). She’s built very small like Grey — compact, but her hair is much silkier and she’s a lovely mix of grey and white. I haven’t managed to take pictures of her yet, but I will soon.

Kate is okay with Grey, but I think she might do best in a currently cat-free home. She gets a little jealous when Grey gets pettings and has hissed and shoved him out of the way for attention. Not in a cruel way. Just a claw-free bop on the head. Other than that, she’s an absolute sweetheart and is kind of chatty. She’s an adult, but I have no idea how old she is, or if she’s been fixed. As with Grey, if you’re interested, I’d be willing to take her to the vet for a once-over and initial shots.

Grey is attached to his name. It’s always been his name and he does respond to it. “Kate” is what I’ve started calling the other one, to avoid always having to call her “the other one”. Kittiboi objects to me having given her any sort of name at all.

Rish The Fish is doing extremely well. He’s really active and social and a lot of fun to watch. And he’s gorgeous! He’s all fin and a really lovely blood red colour. I’m really pleased with him.

Tomorrow night we’re going to see Travis in DC. I am SO EXCITED. Maybe not as excited as I would have been seeing Morrissey, but Travis is another band I’ve loved for ages and have never gotten to see. I’m pretty sure cameras will be allowed (we’ve taken cameras into 930 before, and Travis’ website seems to indicate they kinda love the fan photos).

Today, however, Mim and I are going to see Harry Potter.

Kitti is eating tofu hot dogs with sauerkraut. I told him it smells like Thanksgiving in here.

Yesterday about 1:00 they said there were problems with the Light Rail and they were using shuttle buses to bridge gaps. No big deal. I’ve dealt with this before. Anyhow, someone was supposed to be getting in touch with me some time yesterday about some work, so I was going to be at work until 5 anyhow. The storms had passed through and maybe they’d have cleared the tracks by then.

Nope. So I sucked it up and caught the train which was only going as far as Fall’s Road. From there, we’d have to take a bus to North Ave and pick up the train again. Right, not so bad. Annoying, but workable.

Bus comes. One bus. I let all the angry, ranty people get on and stayed off. Figured it was safer to wait for the next bus than to cram into an already over-crowded bus with people who were already angry and probably going to get angrier because of the heat and lack of space.

It was about half an hour before the bus came, and by then another train load of people had been dropped off. Course, it was already after six so it wasn’t as many people this time. Just about everyone managed to get a seat and the air conditioner was working.

We got to North Avenue and they told us to go to the train that was waiting. We troop down there and… the doors don’t open. There were workmen on the track about ten yards in front of it. The MTA police called us back up the hill and said “go sit on this bus. We’re tying to figure out what’s going on.”

Everyone got settled on the bus. This time a smaller bus than the one before. Still… not too bad. A lot of people get off at North avenue anyhow, so there was fewer of us.

“Wait!” someone from the MTA said. “Get off this bus and go back on the one you were on before. That’ll take you the rest of the way to Camden Yards.

Much muttering, cursing, yelling, and shoving went on, but we got on the next… the first bus. The driver nicely stopped along the way so people could get off. I got off at Baltimore Street and re-found the Starbucks. I got a venti green tea Frappuccino and waited for the bus that would actually get me home.

Ended up getting home sometime around eight pm. The Frapp ended up being my dinner.

This morning, left the house about 6:30 and actually got the bus downtown pretty quick. I knew already there was still the shuttle service in place, but I figured they’d gotten this down to a science by now (when they were doing light rail maintenance and improvements last year the shuttle was actually faster than the train). I ended up waiting a while for the train, then once we got to North Avenue, ended up waiting a while for the bus. Again, they only sent one bus. It was one of the smallest ones. But it was cold. Damn cold. I’m glad for that because it was also packed. Damn packed.

I ended up standing the whole way to Fall’s Road because the bus was like a can of sardines (going by the rumours of what a can of sardines is like. I’ve never actually eaten them myself. I thought about opening a can once just out of curiosity, but I have this “small” allergy to fish that led me to reconsider). When we got off the bus, it was into the warm, wet, stifling weather that wrapped around us like a towel straight from the dryer, but still damp. Sure, it’s hot, but it’s a wet heat!

It was half an hour until the train from Fall’s Road to Hunt Valley showed up. I’m hot. I’m tired. I’m sweaty. I’ve got a cramp in my left thigh from standing on the bus. My back hurts. My head hurts. I feel like I’ve been through a war.

Is it can be drugs time nao plz?

My friend Eve and I were wondering…. in The Next Generation… Data has sex with a human woman….

Why? I mean we know why, but how? Not “how” because… we both had 10^th grade biology, but you know what I mean, right? Why was he built to include a…. y’know? That functioned.

Our conclusion: He was originally intended to be a sex bot.

Last week was a two-day work week for me. I think all weeks should be like that. We did not get to see Morrissey on the 3^rd. The show hasn’t been rescheduled yet and my two big concerns about it are that a) it won’t be at Ram’s Head Live and b) it’ll be on the 16th of July.

Both are unlikely, but I like to expect the worst. I’m prepared for the worst and occasionally I’m pleasantly surprised.

We’re seeing Travis on the 16th. I’m looking forward to it.

Saturday, Kitti had stuff to do with the band and I went to the grocery store with my mom. Afterward, we went back out again and I bought new pillows. We got a new mattress a while ago, but most of the pillows I have, I’ve had for probably about 25 years. The ones that were “newer” than that were cast-offs from my mom and from Nana, when she moved. So I started thinking that while the new mattress was great and I’m sleeping better and not waking up as sore, I was still kinda uncomfortable and always so much more allergic on weekends.

“Dude,” I thought (because I do that when I talk to myself) “You spend a lot more time with your face in a pillow on the weekends. Maybe they are the cause of some of the allergy problems”.

“You know… you could be right”.

“Course I am. I’m you”.

“Look, this conversation is getting very strange. I’m going to go shopping now”.

So I bought two “Down Substitute” pillows which are very nice and cuddly, and four “firm” pillows. Kitti’s now just using the one firm pillow because it’s actually thick and supportive and instead of the usual five I’m only using three (one firm and the two squooshy ones). I might use the other two pillows though. I like having a nest to sleep in.

Yesterday, based on Dawny’s recommendation, I watched Noises Off and laughed until things hurt.

Yes, to save the environment we’re going to have a massive concert that requires a lot of people in a lot of cars and trucks and buses and jets and helecopters, and a lot of electricity, and a lot of sanitising chemicals for port-a-pots and food vendors and trash and vast areas of clear space in which to hold the concert (at loud, ear-splitting volumes) and the production of tee shirts and cups and banners and hats and posters and programs and tickets and…

Counterproductive? … You think this is counterproductive to the cause? But it’s a CONCERT! A global event! A global event for global warming! Everyone will get together and party and be happy and smoke and eat and dance and buy things and litter and wave lighters around and be all globally warm!

… What do you mean “we’re doing it wrong”?

At least I’m not alone in thinking this.