blackleatherbookshelf | Entries tagged with sophie

I did the Christmas cards this week, and as is my custom, sent out an end of year analysis. Here it is for my LJ friends. Happy Holidays.

I can't sugarcoat it; 2012 was a tough year. Despite my best efforts, I remain unemployed, although I did have two part time jobs at different points of the year. The class I was taking courtesy of a grant from the state turned out to be well beyond my comprehension level and I ended up not being able to complete the final exams to pass the course's accreditations. Between last year's letter and this one, I lost 4 very good friends, Joel lost his father, Syd, and we lost our beloved Sophie Cat.

Joel's father was an amazing man, a World War II veteran and one time procurement officer in the Department of Defense before retiring. You may recall that, last year, we held a 90^th birthday party for him here in our area. I consider this a good thing, as it will be how we will all have our last memories of Syd. We should all have such a long and full life; He was a mere 6 days away from his 91^st

When Superstorm Sandy hit just a couple weeks later, we found this in the driveway. Yes, that is a car…under the tree…in our driveway.

Fortunately, thanks to good insurance, most of the damage was covered. But the car did spend two weeks at the car doctor. Joel's father also left us a Prius, which is getting great milage on the trips back and forth to Alexandria.

All is not total doom and gloom. Joel's job remains as secure as ever, and he has taken to a night shift in a good way. With only 3 nights a week instead of 5 days, he gets some extra time at home (and given his father's passing, we needed the extra days to clean up Syd's Alexandria apartment).

So what good did happen this year? Well, Joel and I did get to this year's Newport Folk Festival in Rhode Island, with beautiful weather and some great music from the likes of Jackson Browne and My Morning Jacket among others.

Joel's younger daughter, Miriam, got married on Labor Day to her longtime partner Suzanne. It was a lovely service held outdoors on a centuries-old farm. The brides both wore white and looked lovely. The wedding took place in Massachusetts. We drove up the Friday before with a fully loaded car, drove back Monday with even more in the car then we left with. How this keeps happening I don't know.

I did book signings here in Philly, as well as Cleveland, Chicago, DC, Asbury Park NJ, and California. I'm almost done with a new book, my first in many years. (The time off has to be used somehow.) And at the Thanksgiving regifting this year, Joel was the top number and procured a Time Share certificate, so we're going to Disneyworld at the end of January (Thanks, Aunt Sharon!) by which time we hope to have Syd's apartment rented. So here is to a better 2013 for all of us. I'm thinking Florida will be a great way to start it off.

Love to all.

Current Mood: thoughtful
Current Location: Philadelphia
Current Music: "Night Shift" Foghat

We had to let Sophie Go today. The cancer finally got her. I'm devastated and heartbroken.

Current Mood: sad
Current Location: Philadelphia
Current Music: "Love" Dream Academy

A few folks have asked about the state of Sophie cat, who was diagnosed with cancer back in December. She's still with us, but she's losing weight. I get her a steroid shot every two weeks, and she HATES her carry box. She doesn't seem to mind the shot or the vet's office all that much, but close that carrier door and she's one pissed off putty. However, she is still a joy in my life and we cuddle up every day (as I continue my unemployment marathon). Thank you again to all who offered support...you know who you are.

I took this pic yesterday.

Current Mood: accomplished
Current Location: Philadelphia
Current Music: "I Love You" Yello

Current Mood: cheerful
Current Location: Philadelphia
Current Music: "Big Electric Cat" Adrian Belew

As per my post on January 9th, I was offered a job that I thought might finally turn my situation from 2011 around. Unfortunately, things have been miserable since. I'd started the new job as an administrative assistant at a 5 Doctor medical clinic. It was a hectic and fast paced, stressful environment, and I thought I was doing OK. I was supposed to be learning the tasks of a pregnant female staffer before she left for maternity leave. She promptly had her baby boy three weeks early and well before I fully had the routines down. At the end of the 13^th day, I was informed I was not picking up the procedures of the office and was asked to resign. I have to admit, the stress of the place was literally giving me panic attacks. So here we are again, The end of January and I am right back in the same place I was a year ago this time.

The computer class I'd been taking since October is over now, and I did awful in it. I just could not absorb the amount of advanced technical information that was being thrown at me, and ultimately will probably not be able to use anything the course had to offer. Had I been better informed, I would have angled for a more beginners oriented course, but this is the class the grant landed me in. I will put in more effort at picking up the specifics here at home (I have until May to use the test certification scripts to see if I pass or not), but my guess is I won’t be able to master it.

What I really must thank everyone here for, and the brightest point of an otherwise wretched month, was the wonderful outpouring of help concerning Sophie Cat, covering over a third of the bills. She will still need her weekly shots - and as you can see by the picture of her shaved tummy, a trip to the vet warrants me serious "I'm going to poop on your pillow, you know that, don't you?" looks. The vet gave me a little trick; as soon as I get her home, Sophie gets a fresh can of cat food. Works like a charm. The first time I got her home, she made a bee-line to the space behind the sofa. But as soon as she heard the can-pop, she was right by her food dish.

My book selling annual trip to MAL was profitable enough that I was able to pay off the remainder of the bill soon after. Plus an extra special howdy to Cliff Clockner - we finally met! Another good thing about MAL? My table was next to these guys.

There was also a house concert featuring my old friend James Lee Stanely, along with Cliff Eberhardt. They are out promoting their collaborative tribute to The Doors, called "All Wood and Doors." (With surviving members of The Doors contributing.) It was my first time hearing Cliff live, and he's pretty easy on the eyes. James' voice is high and smooth, Cliff's is gruff and bluesy. As a duo, they harmonize beautifully. Having known James Lee since the mid 80's, it's always a pleasure to see him live.

Current Mood: gloomy
Current Location: Philadelphia
Current Music: "People Are Strange" James Lee Stanley and Cliff Eberhardt

I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for their kind words and generosity as I deal with Sophie Cat's illness. She is eating better since the first shot of steroids, but the Vet did confirm a diagnosis of Lymphoma. I am bracing myself for the inevitable.

In what is FINALLY some good news. Monday I will start a new job as an administrative assistant at a 5 Doctor medical clinic (IE: taking Appointments, checking insurance, doing filing, etc). This week would have been one year since getting laid off (and breaking my wrist, as some of you may recall).

So again, thanks to all of you. If any of you plan on attending MAL this coming weekend, please look for me and my stack of books in the vendor mall.

Current Mood: happy
Current Location: Philadelphia
Current Music: "Unimaginable Life" Kenny Loggins

2012 is already turning into the horror movie 2011 was. Shortly after Christmas (while I was in DC tending to Joel's father after a cancer surgery), Joel told me Sophie had stopped eating. We thought it might be separation anxiety, but when I got home I was able to see a dramatically visible weight loss. I took her to the vet the next morning (New Years' Eve) and the Dr x-rayed her. She discovered clouds around her upper chest, indicative of fluid build up.

The Dr immediately sent me to a pet referral center for an ultrasound, and fluid test. These confirmed our worst fears. Sophie has Cancer. The swelling from the fluid was constricting her esophagus, making it difficult to eat. My lovable little furball of eight years, who has given me unconditional love and comfort, is going to leave us. The best we can offer her is bi-weekly steroid shots to keep the fluids and tumor sizes at a minimum. I am devastated.

However, in just three trips to the two vets, I've racked up bills coming up just short of $1,000. It is very difficult for me to ask this of my friends and fellow bloggers, but I am entering my second year of unemployment and this is a serious financial blow in addition to the emotional one. If there is any way some of you would be willing to pitch in anything (even a few dollars) via paypal, it would mean a lot to me.

If this offends anyone, I apologize. I am just at a loss as to anyway else to get past this.

Thank you in advance.
Tim

Current Mood: devastated
Current Location: Philadelphia
Current Music: "One Friend" Dan Seals

Joel and I used some airline miles and an invite from our friend Peter Fiske to attend Palm Springs Leather Weekend. It was nice to get out of the house for a change and try to alleviate the fact that my depression has reached an almost crushing level of despair, along with my computer networking class being far and away harder than I ever imagined it to be.

Luckily, there are only two of us in the course and that allows the prof to answer all of my annoying questions. I fear I may not be able to catch up to the level of technology the course involves.

However, let's share some of the pictures.

My friend Alex Ironrod opened the weekend by reading from his new novel "Leather Nights" (a murder mystery) at Gear. I was pleasantly surprised by the turnout for him. I should add that I wrote his back-cover blurb.

My friend Bryce, whom I had not seen for a few years. This was in the party behind the Tool Shed where I'd set up a book table.

Mikal Bales (aka Daddy Zeus of Zeus Studios) took the time to come over to The Barracks on Saturday to say hello. He may be one of the men in California that I've missed the most since moving away. His new beau, Mick, is very sweet.

The gentleman here, Marshall, was a close friend of my late master, Gary Taylor. We had not seen each other since 1999. We had a long and somewhat emotional talk while he visited.

The notorious Gagbear and George (WetInSF) visited. It was nice to finally meet Jim after years of chat.

In what I can only say was the oddest moment of the weekend, singer Gregory Gray walked up to my table and said - in a thick Irish accent - "You don't even remember who I am, do ya?"

He was right, I didn't. I interviewed Gregory over the phone in 1994 for Frontiers Magazine when his album "Euroflake In Silverlake" was released. When he played a show at the Virgin Megastore, I picked him up and we went to The Faultline for a wild night. He picked up a date and returned to his hotel after a few hours, and I'd not seen him since. That he remembered me and decided to hang out again was delightful and fun. Turns out he's a PS regular now and we have several mutual friends.

Of course, it wouldn't be a hot weekend if there weren't plenty of good looking men running about. (Hi Nipper!) That is, until The Barracks got busted for overcrowding (and yes, the place was mobbed), and the cops cleared everyone out. My first ever bar raid! Ah, well.

Then it was on-board the big old jet airliner for the trip home, for which we had enough miles to get first class seats. I never realized how comfortable flying could be before this. It made the end of the weekend easier to deal with. We arrived home to one very happy kitty. Now it's back to studies.

I am going to make a great effort to write more posts and reviews, if only to force my brain to write things.

Current Mood: busy
Current Location: Palm Springs
Current Music: "Traffic and Weather" Fountains of Wayne

Current Mood: chipper
Current Location: Philadelphia
Current Music: "Dirty Water" The Inmates

The Hurricane passed The Yellow Brock House in Springfield by with little trauma. We were fortunate in that - for a change - there was no power outages other than random flickerings. And for a change, no basement water!

However, several tree branches dropped from the trees alongside the house. They did not do any phone or powerline damage, so all I had to do was handsaw them into bits for the garbage men. Pretty hefty pile of wood when I was done. Miss Kitty was fine, but stayed close for most of the evening. The wind wnd rain was making a pretty good racket. There was a Tornado warning for the area around 11PM. but we were fortuinate enough to be spared. Areas in Delaware (Lewes, where I once lived) that got direct hits.

Joel called, as he is up with the grandkids. They had heavy rains and some basement water, but were OK otherwise. All is well. Now begins the countdown to Delta.

Current Mood: calm
Current Location: Philadelphia
Current Music: "Clean Clean" The Buggles

Current Mood: chipper
Current Location: Philadelphia
Current Music: "Here Kitty" Sparks

A friend of Joel's went to the Blueberry farms of New Jersey for what is an annual trek for him. He goes over with a truck and returns with over 100 pounds of blueberries. These are sold in 10 pound boxes. Joel bought two of these from him and we spent some time washing, de-stemming and bagging them for the freezer.

We weighed out a pound per bag, then tried to squeeze the air out before sealing up the bags. That also meant trying to get the berries as dry as possible before bagging.

These are really tasty, fresh fruits. Joel loves to bake blueberries into pancakes and other bakery delights. Sophie was more interested in waiting for one of these little round blue things to fall on the kitchen floor so she could bat it around or chase it.

But for the moment, we have plenty of berries to carry us through the coming months.

Current Mood: amused
Current Location: Philadelphia
Current Music: "Blue Berry Pies" Prefab Sprout

Because she's always happy when she's napping.

Oops...busted!

Current Mood: amused
Current Location: Philadelphia
Current Music: "The Big Sleep" Stan Ridgeway

I am remiss. It has been about three months since my last letter to you and I apologize for that. It isn’t like there’s nothing to talk about, but I have a very difficult time getting motivated to communicate with anyone. So it’s not just you I’ve been laying low from, it’s everybody. It’s been almost six months since I’ve been laid off and I am finally getting my first job interview this week. To sell cars at the local Ford Dealership. Sheeesh.

While I have been doing my best to fend off the depression of sitting home all day and playing with the cat (when she wants to, anyway), I have been trying to find ways out of the current dilemma. Pennsylvania offers older unemployed types the opportunity to apply for grants towards retraining. They courses must be approved by Career Link (the division of PA Unemployment that offers the program) and you have to take multiple tests to qualify.

The tests are NOT easy. I felt like I was retaking my college SAT’s from Senior High School. It’s alarming how much you forget in 30 years of non-use. There were geometry problems that I was dumbstruck by. Fortunately, you’re given take-home sample tests to give you an inkling of what you’re in for when the official tests are given. Let’s face it; it’s been a long time since I even thought about how one determines the volume of a sphere (which was one of the questions).

From what my advisor tells me, I’ve passed the tests. Next up is being interviewed by the State Official who gives out the ultimate money. This is also a tricky thing, because this grant program is a one-time-only deal. If you get the grant, take the course but don’t pass, you don’t get a second shot at the money. While I am looking at taking a Computer Network Administration course, I have to be prepared to study hard, because I won’t get a second bite at this particular apple. Joel tries to be helpful, but he is beginning to fray at the edges. It’s difficult for him to be patient, and he has a tendency to argue loudly if he thinks circumstances are not what he believes they should be.

In other news, we took another jaunt to California. (Earlier Picture Here.) Joel has decided that, since I have no schedule conflicts, he can just plan trips whenever he wants. The trip was to Northern CA to a camp out run by the 15 Association, a group similar to Delta or Inferno. While there, I started one of my long-wished for projects; a biography of a former NYC Motorcycle Cop and Leatherman. It’s been a dream project of mine ever since having met the man a few years ago at IML.

In other family news: My Dad is still recovering nicely. However, a cousin on his side of the family has been stricken with MRSA, and nearly lost his life to it. As it is, he lost his leg and has been in a variety of hospitals, moving from facility to facility since late April. A slight benefit of being out of work has been that I’ve taken time to drive to wherever his current treatment location is for visits. It takes over 90 minutes to the nearest of the hospitals he’s been in, so these are trips I plan the day around. He obviously appreciates the visits, as we tend to talk for hours on each occasion. And I don't think I've ever posted a shot of the old man here before, so here's my Father.