The Results Are IN!

 A few months ago (and several times in the interim) I mentioned that we'd gotten DNA tests for the cats. We got four tests total -- three for our cats and one to give to Dad to test his cat.

Yes, I realize we have four cats (we started the year with five, of course) but we know Sadie is 50% purebred Russian Blue as her mother is a purebred Russian Blue, and honestly I didn't see the real value in testing her further for anything -- as the tests are $100 each.

In mid-January or so, Daisy and I -- but mostly Daisy -- painstakingly got the cheek/mouth swabs of our other three cats: Pete, Hank, and Empress, performed and sent away.

And we waited. And waited. And waited some more.

To be perfectly transparent, the company performing the DNA tests (Basepaws), was very communicative about the entire process. Every couple of weeks they'd send an email saying something like "we've received your tests" or "the tests are being processed now" or "your results are almost ready, you'll have them soon" -- etc.

Well, last week they arrived. We finally would know what our children were.

Let's start with Hank -- because with how fast he grew, I was very intrigued with what his DNA would say. Hank got so big, so quickly, plus with his giant feet and short little legs I knew he had to have some sort of strange lineage to him. Well...

This tells us that he's basically....a normal cat. The Ragdoll and Maine Coon in him, as well as the Siberian -- relatively small percentages separately but together 22.84% of his overall genetic makeup -- explain his size, his giant feet, his sociable nature and the love of attention, and being held and his general "floppiness." I call him the flopper because he likes to flop on the floor and roll around mewing at us when he's happy and wants love -- which is frequently.

The surprising part for me was the 2.08% Persian. That's a super-small percentage but I'm really left with more questions than answers there. This cat was found on the streets of Omaha in a bad neighhborhood next to I-80. Persian was not what I was expecting, honestly. 

Everything else? I can't say I'm surprised, but I was expecting a much higher percentage of Maine Coon given his size and features. I'm not disappointed, because I love Mr. Shortlegs, but I was expecting a giant amount of DNA I could point at and be like "there it is, that's why he is like he is."

Anyway, moving on. Let's check out Empress:

There's not a lot here about Empress that surprised me much either, at first glance -- we knew from her features that she'd have a large percentage of Maine Coon in her, but the others mixed in are interesting. Peterbald? Turkish Angora? Abyssinian? The Abyssinian and Turkish Angora at least explains her head shape and her giant ears (and the Angora helps with the long hair)...but the Peterbald is basically a hairless cat similar to the Sphynx, and the "exotic shorthair" and "broadly exotic" / "broadly Persian" Leaves me with more questions than answers too. She has outward features of all of these breeds -- especially the Maine Coon of course -- with the exception of the hairless cat. 

What surprised me the most is that she has zero Norwegian Forest Cat in her, which I thought would be the other dominant bloodline aside from Maine Coon, and a very low percentage of Ragdoll. She also has the lowest percentage of "Domestic Polycat" (or as I call it, "cat mutt") in her compared to the other two -- it's very clear she's only a couple of generations removed from a fairly linear genetic line, as evidenced by that Maine Coon percentage.

Empress was part of a semi-feral litter brought in off the street here in Omaha, where they were running out into traffic and in danger of getting attacked or killed by roaming dogs. We have no idea of any further origins for her than that. 

Anyway, moving on -- let's look at the old man.

I did not expect Pete to have the wildest results of them all, but he did. Daisy expected it, but I didn't:

Look at this weirdo.

Pete is our oldest cat -- he turns 17 next month. For those past 17 years, he's been my rock through everything. For the past twelve of those years, he's been Daisy's son, her baby, and I'm pretty sure she loves that cat more than she loves me. She has said before that she'd choose him over me to save from a house fire, and I really don't think she's making that up -- she adores that old man. 

It does not surprise me that Pete's highest results was domestic shorthair/cat mutt. He very much aligns with the normal shorthair cat qualities. ALL of the other things were surprises. 15% Maine Coon? Okay, that's not much of a surprise given his size and loveyness, but over 10% Persian? That is. All of the exotic and eastern breeds in him, including Savannah Cat and Bengal? Yes, definitely surprises.

Where the hell did this cat come from? I have zero idea where Pete was born or what his upbringing was before I found him. He was abandoned in the apartment below mine when I lived in St. Joseph, MO in 2007, when the lady who had him moved out unexpectedly and left a lot of shit behind, including the little black kitten who could not have been more than 2-3 months old (and likely closer to two). His tiny little body would fit in the palm of my hand; he was very young. Where did that lady get him? Who knows. But wherever he came from, he has a very genetically diverse background.

Moving on.

The cat genetic reports are 69 pages each, for each cat. They go through blood types, predispositions to certain diseases or medical conditions, all of which all three cats or more or less clear of. Twenty pages or so of each report is a breakdown of each breed they have genetics from, and the remainder devotes itself to genetic markers for coloring and the like, as well as tooth health/mouth bacteria and risks of bad breath, periodontal disease, etc.

Pete's coloring report said he was likely to have a black coat and be a carrier of the chocolate coat color gene, as well as possess multiple colors within the black coat. This is correct -- Pete is black with a lot (and I mean a lot) of chocolate undertones. It also said Hank carries the chocolate coat gene (if chocolate means "orange" I guess), and said he was likely to be a long haired cat -- neither of which he is. He has a thick coat, but it's not really long hair. Daisy maintains that he's likely partially medium-haired, but I'm not even sure of that. He just has a really dense, thick coat. Maybe when he's fully grown he'll get longer hair, but I somehow doubt it.

Empress, of course, was highly likely to have a long haired and multicolored coat. Because duh.

Per the reports, all of them appear to be healthy -- which of course we know because we take them to the vets for their normal checkup work. 

I am, of course, leaving one cat off this list -- Sadie, because we didn't test her. Sadie has gone back to the vet for her follow-up appointment (she did not like this):

Where we found that yes, she needed to remain on the thyroid meds she's on now, but -- as we expected -- she does have diabetes. They upped the dosage of the thyroid medicine and put her on a new liquid medication that we have to give her 0.2ml of every day and costs $300 a bottle for a 90-day supply. 

She hates all of this, by the way.

I don't want to stress my old lady out any more than I have to, but she does not have any kidney problems per her bloodwork, just the diabetes and the thyroid issues -- so I want to do everything I can to keep her happy, healthy, and alive for as long as we can. Maggie took a turn for the worse very fast because of her kidneys, though she'd been deteriorating for months -- I don't want the same thing to happen with Sadie. I am not ready to let her go yet. 

To those ends, Sadie has been more active and loving as of late -- she frequently sleeps with me and wants to be with me in my office upstairs, or under my chair when I'm working (this is normal), but also has been getting a lot of love and quality time from Daisy, sitting on her lap or crawling up onto her chest like she used to as a much younger cat. This is Sadie's second wind of life, and I love it; she shows her love and gratitude to us in so many little ways. 

The Great Cleansing of 2024

 In the time since the pandemic started -- and really, since we bought the house -- we have collected a lot of stuff. Some of it is shit, and some of it is stuff. 

All of it is greatly cluttering up the house. It fills closets and rooms, tables and shelves and bookcases. Most of it is not mine, but Daisy's -- and I can't speak to that or address it -- but a large chunk of it is mine, and over the course of the next few months, I am going to make a heretofore unseen-since-we-bought-this-house effort to purge most of the stuff that I no longer want or need. 

Some of it will be sold. Some of it will be donated. Some of it will simply go into the trash or recycling. Whatever cash I can get out of selling stuff (and it will be cash; I'll be taking stuff to Half-Price books or used game stores, etc), most of it I will likely set aside and exchange for Canadian money once we're across the border to pay for food and incidentals without needing to use our cards. 

I have already begun the first phase of this, which is arguably the longest and most time-consuming phase -- going through my closet to donate a lot of the clothing I don't want or need anymore, or never wear, or wear once or twice every few years, etc. Last weekend I went through a small portion of it and in a half hour I'd pulled out enough clothing to fill a 39-gallon trash bag for donations. In that clothing was real, expensive black leather motorcycle jacket that I've had for fifteen years. I never wear it, Daisy is morally opposed to it, and I myself am a vegetarian now and have been since 2018, so the thought of wearing another animal's skin at this juncture is somewhat off-putting for me. The last time I wore it was several years ago when we went to see Rocky Horror on stage, and it's been in storage ever since. Time to go. Someone else will get good use out of it and will be monumentally happy they were able to find a leather jacket at a thrift store. 

Going through the closet will take me several weeks or so, an hour or so at a time, to pull out anything and everything I no longer want or need. As I mentioned, the first donation bag with the leather jacket was dropped off last week. The next one I filled this afternoon, with old hoodies, jeans, some shorts, and various other loungewear that I'll never wear again. It turns out that I own more pairs of sweatpants and sweat shorts (thank you, pandemic) than I even remembered or really knew about -- some of which I'd completely forgotten I owned. Next will be shoes/socks, underwear, a thorough run-through of all of my hoodies and dressy-ish shirts, and finally...my t-shirts.

The t-shirts will be the hardest part. To be fair, I did lightly run through them for the first donation bag and pulled out some of them, but I am a t-shirt collector. I have far more of them than I could ever possibly need or wear, or really truly want. Many of them (probably 20% or more) are shirts I've picked up as souvenirs from places Daisy and I have traveled together -- Canada, Colorado, South Dakota, Chicago, West Virginia, the Carolinas -- etc. The vast majority of those I don't plan to get rid of as I do wear them and I do have a sentimental attachment to a lot of them. 

Some of the others are shirts I've had since college or shortly thereafter that I also wear and have a sentimental attachment to. I even have a few t-shirts I've owned since middle school (they are safely stored away now so that they do not deteriorate more than they already have in the past 30ish years). 

The rest of them are just nerdy shirts (or band shirts) I've collected over the years, most of them within the past 3-5 years at maximum. And I've got a lot of tough choices to make there, because I really don't want to get rid of a lot of them, but I do absolutely need to. For as much of a wreck as Daisy's side of our giant walk-in closet is, my own is reaching what I call "critical mass" and cannot hold anything else. And, let's be realistic here, I barely leave the house. I could likely get by with having thirty t-shirts total, not 300. 

And no exaggeration, I likely have more than 300.

For a man who never goes outdoors unless forced to for groceries or social obligations.

So. It's time to scour and purge. Over the course of the next month or so I'll be making some brutal, but necessary decisions. I am a 41-year-old man; I am entering middle age and I only have so much space or need for anything. 

After the clothing, the next step is books, games, movies/music, magazines, and anything else I can take to sell for cash. 

I don't need most of the games I have; I play them, beat them, and then they go into storage so that I can play the next game when it comes along (this is why I tend to purchase all of the PS4 games digitally -- nothing to pile up). My older Pokemon games can fetch a pretty penny on the used market, as well as some of my older PS2 games and N64/Wii games I own. I don't have a need for them. Most of them I haven't even looked at in close to a decade at this point. So, I'll gather those up, find a good/reputable used games store here in town somewhere, and get every penny I can out of them.

Books/movies/music and magazines can go to Half-Price Books. Comics I save for both my dad (the stuff he's interested in, I box up and deliver to him on our visits -- took two full boxes to him when we went to the Carolinas last fall) and for the sons of one of our close friends, who I give the rest to when she comes over to hang out occasionally. The kids love them and I can feel like I'm doing something good to brighten some kids' lives.  

And don't worry, even with the music CDs I sell, I've already backed all of them up digitally. I never really "lose them." I'll always have them in digital format. 

Movies? Eh. Unless it's something extremely important to me, I don't need physical media copies of most of them, especially not with all of the streaming platforms these days. It is what it is. I no longer have the desire or time to watch most movies over and over like I did when I was younger. Life's too short and I've got shit to do. 

It's not all about selling and donating things but consolidating and trashing other things. For example, I know that somewhere in this house, even though I have not been able to find it for the past six years, I have a box of spindles of CD-Rs -- full of data CDs and actual purchased albums. It has the vast majority of my music collection that I'd meticulously collected throughout all of my high school, college, and grad school years and it has been lost to me for many years. I have zero idea where they could possibly be, unless they're stuffed into one of Daisy's storage closets or in the garage, the latter of which is extremely unlikely and the former, well, who knows. 

I also have a couple of boxes in the top of my closet which could house them, but truthfully I do not know. I know in one of those boxes I have my old computer (which the motherboard was failing on; I can yank that and get some data from it), but in the others I don't know what I have. That is part of "The Great Cleansing" too -- get rid of junk so I can more efficiently use the storage space I have. I have a 4TB portable HDD -- if the CDs are in there that HDD will have far more than enough space to house everything on them digitally. 

Magazines? Meh, I have a lot of them from the past few years -- stuff I had subscribed to but let lapse or was no longer interested in -- stretching back to 2020 or so. I know Half-Price books buys them, I think by the pound (I honestly couldn't tell you how they do it, but I know they do a lot of stuff "by the pound" these days). I don't know if it's actually worth boxing them up to sell based on the return I'd get, but at this juncture I'm all about the "get it out of my house, and if I can get money for it, cool" sort of mindset of all of it. 

So, over the course of the next few weeks and months, we shall see how all of this goes...

65 Questions, 2024 Edition

In April 2015, I put up a post here called 65 Questions. It wasn't anything special at the time, just something I did to kill some time. I've been going through my older writing again and stumbled across it -- and found it quite amusing as my answers to a lot of these questions are very different now than they were nine years ago. So I figured I'd update the list -- including my original answers for comparison. 

1. First thing you wash in the shower?

2015: Uh, usually my chest, I guess?

2024: My face, always my face, then my hair.

2. What color is your favorite hoodie?
2015: It's a toss-up; I have a gray Shockers hoodie I really like, but I also have my red Huskers hoodie too. Eh, either one.
2024: Black. I have an insulated Lee Jeans hoodie that I wear as a jacket, and several other black hoodies of various designs that I tend to wear more than any of the other colors. I still have my red Huskers hoodie, though.

3. Would you kiss the last person you kissed again?
2015: As that person is my wife, yes.

2024: Yes. This answer remains the same, of course.

4. Do you plan outfits?
2015: Almost religiously.

2024: Almost never. But, I almost never need to leave the house anymore -- and in 2015 I still had to leave it every day for work and errands. The most planning I put into my outfits now tends to be "can I get away with looking like this in public?" or "is it warm enough to wear this Judas Priest t-shirt without a hoodie over it if I'm also wearing shorts and sandals?" etc. 

5. How are you feeling right now?
2015: Full of coffee and dread for another Friday at work.

2024: Eh. At this exact moment, I feel mostly okay. I'm not sick, I'm well-hydrated, I'm not filled with anxiety or dread, so...I guess that's all good, right?

6. What’s the closest thing to you that's red?
2015: My Adventure Time t-shirt, which is sitting next to me as it's part of my outfit I've planned for tomorrow (again, see question #4).

2024: My disposable vape, which is on the charger -- as well as a red flash drive, a roll of leftover Christmas wrapping paper with cats all over it, and two jars of Folgers instant coffee.

7. Tell me about the last dream you remember having?
2015: I dreamed I was driving my Monte Carlo. I dream about this a lot. I miss it.

2024: I have a lot of "parallel universe" dreams these days -- dreams where it feels like I'm playing out my multiversal double's life. Sometimes these worlds are mostly the same with a few differences here and there, and sometimes they're drastically different and nightmarish. I can't pinpoint just one I've had recently that sticks out more than the others -- they all sort of flow from one scenario to another, and most of them are pretty mundane.

8. Did you meet anybody new today?
2015: Nope; I haven't left the house yet. Unless you count drinking coffee and smoking outside on the porch.

2024: Yes, actually; the vet tech who helped us get Sadie's bloodwork done was someone new there that I'd never met before. So I guess that counts.

9. What are you craving right now?
2015: A dead-quiet Friday at work, as we're shortstaffed.

2024: A winning lottery ticket would be nice. Or a big bag of jerky, or a pizza from my favorite pizza place back home in West Virginia. Any of those would be wonderful at the moment.

10. Do you floss?
2015: When I need to, yes.

2024: Almost every day as well as when I need to in-between. 

11. What comes to mind when I say cabbage?
2015: Vile weed.

2024: Cole slaw. Cabbage is good in certain applications with appropriate preparation.

12. Are you emotional?
2015: When the situation calls for it, sure.

2024: Almost constantly. I feel my emotions powerfully and more consistently than ever before, and I no longer bottle them up. Yes, my friends, I believe I am finally becoming more unhinged by the day.

13. Have you ever counted to 1,000?
2015: I've done this multiple times on the nights I had insomnia.

2024: Probably not since well before I originally answered this question in 2015. Also, if I have insomnia now, I take drugs for it and it is no longer an issue.

14. Do you bite into your ice cream or just lick it?
2015: As I generally eat it out of a tub or carton, it's more of a spooning-into-my-face-hole thing.

2024: I almost never eat ice cream anymore. Part of it is the whole "Brandon has diabetes" thing, but also I never really had a sweet tooth for it anyway, and as I have gotten older, my teeth have gotten more and more sensitive to heat and cold.

15. Do you like your hair?
2015: Yes, and I condition and care for it meticulously.

2024: This answer has not changed, but I will add "but I wish my hairline wasn't receding so quickly and I wish I wasn't going so gray."

16. Do you like yourself?
2015: No; I am a thoroughly terrible person.

2024: I frequently tell Daisy "nobody can hate me more than I already hate myself." Most of the time that statement is pretty accurate, deep in the core of my soul.

17. Would you go out to eat with George W. Bush?
2015: The man's interesting, I'll give him that. History has been a little kinder to him since he was president.

2024: Sure, I guess. He was at least sane, as opposed to the Republicans of today. Do I think he was misguided during his presidency? Yes. Do I respect him as a former president now far more than I did when he was in office? Also yes. I would love to hear his thoughts on today's world. 

18. What are you listening to right now?
2015: The hum of my computer and my fingers typing these keystrokes?

2024: My wife running water as she showers in the bathroom adjacent to my upstairs office, as well as traffic noise from my open window.

19. Are your parents strict?
2015: My mother is, yes; however, I haven't had to worry about parents being strict in nine years now, so....

2024: Yeah, answer remains the same. My mother has softened quite a bit in her older years, though I think her anxiety has ramped up quite a bit.

20. Would you go sky diving?
2015: I absolutely plan to one day.

2024: Yes. Answer has not changed; it is one of those things that's on my bucket list. And I don't want to do any of that tandem shit, either -- strap a parachute on my back and I'll run full speed out the door of that plane like a fuckin' paratrooper.

21. Do you like cottage cheese?
2015: It's one of my favorite foods of all time.

2024: This has not changed.

22. Have you ever met a celebrity?
2015: I've met certain people who are famous in certain circles, and have talked to a few famous people over the phone from time to time. I've also messaged back and forth with a few big-name celebrities on Twitter, so if that counts, then yes.

2024: I've met a number of quasi-famous people. Likely the most famous (living) person I've ever met is Chuck Palahniuk (author of Fight Club -- I got to interview him), who I had already met by the time I answered this question in 2015, so I can't believe I didn't mention that before. I also met Fred Rogers very briefly when I was in college shortly before he died, former Raiders quarterback Jeff Hostetler, comedian Andy Hendrickson, Nora McInerny (host of Terrible, Thanks for Asking), some news anchors and other minor local TV personalities, and (also very briefly) James Carville when he did a speaking event at WVU. Aside from that, I've met a number of different members of locally-famous bands in various areas -- the entire lineup of Chicago metal band Bible of the Devil, for example, a couple of guys from Pittsburgh rock band The Clarks, etc. I've never had a bad experience with any of these people. Palahniuk was quiet and reserved but very gracious, and Mr. Rogers was, of course, a saint. 

3. Do you rent movies often?
2015: I haven't rented a movie in at least six or seven years. The concept of Netflix and the whole, y'know, actually being able to afford to go see a movie in the theater helps with that.

2024: Nobody rents movies in 2024. The concept of a "movie rental" is nearly completely dead, with Redbox kiosks being pretty close to the last bastion of it -- and even those kiosks are slowly going away.

24. Is there anything sparkly in the room you're in?
2015: Well, my wife's wedding dress is still in here -- across the room from me on her own desk -- but other than that? Nope.

2024: For Valentine's Day, my wife gave me a canvas of a psychedelic, tie-dye colored wolf that she personally colored symmetrically, and spent many hours making. The background of that canvas is black and covered in sparkly glitter. It hangs on the wall above and behind my lounge chair and is the only sparkly thing in the room.

25. How many countries have you visited?
2015: Including this one? One.

2024: Technically, two. This one and Canada. This summer will make my fourth trip to Canada in nine years. 

26. Have you made a prank phone call?
2015: Many times as a child. Am I proud of this? A little.

2024: Many times as a child. Am I proud of this? No, I am mortified that I was ever that kid.

27. Ever been on a train?
2015: Many times.

2024: Oh come off it, 2015 Brandon. "Many times" was an exaggeration. Yes, I've been on trains, for special events or nature tours through the Cass Scenic Railroad back home in West Virginia, and I have ridden monorails or subway trains in airports and around cities before. I wouldn't say "many times," though. That was 2015 Brandon grandstanding a bit. 

28. Brown or white eggs?
2015: I don't really eat eggs by themselves.

2024: Still don't. If I'm eating eggs these days they're either cooked into something or they're vegan egg replacements like Just Egg. I'm not an egg guy.

29.Do you have a cell-phone?
2015: Yes, I do.

2024: Yes, of course I do, because in 2024 you can't be a functional human without one.

30. Do you use chap stick?
2015: Only when necessary.

2024: Still only when necessary.

31. Do you own a gun?
2015: Yes.

2024: Still yes, still the same gun. No, I will not elaborate.

32. Can you use chopsticks?
2015: Yes. In a sense, anyway.

2024: Yes, I can, but I hate to use them. Just give me a damn fork.

33. Who are you going to be with tonight?
2015: A bunch of coworkers, in the office, until 11PM.

2024: I spent the day with my wife and her parents, the evening with just my wife, and right now I'm sitting in the office with Pete asleep on my ottoman. So, I guess the answer for "tonight" is...Pete.

34. Are you too forgiving?
2015: Not anymore.

2024: I'd like to think I'm just the right amount of forgiving in most situations and tend to give people second chances. But I do not forget, and I rarely give anyone third chances.

35. Ever been in love?
2015: Yes.

2024: Still yes, of course.

36. What is your friend(s) doing tomorrow?
2015: Living their lives, much as I live my own? I haven't a clue.

2024: Fuck if I know. Some of them are going to work with me in the evening, I know that. I don't have a whole lot of friends anymore. Most of the ones I considered close in 2015 have now long left my life/daily circle of existence.

37. Ever have cream puffs?
2015: Yes.

2024: Yes, but not for a very long time. 

38. Last time you cried?
2015: It's been months. Probably during a movie. Yes, I know. Shut up.

2024: My last good cry was when Maggie died in January. But, I get emotional and roll tears at a lot of things. Life isn't all wine and roses, folks.

39. What was the last question you asked?
2015: "Why won't the kid upstairs stop. fucking. screaming?" Seriously, that baby doesn't just "cry," no. It screams like they're beating the kid to death.

2024: Good lord, I remember that screaming kid. Anyway, I'm not sure what the last question was I asked. It was likely to Daisy earlier tonight, and was likely concerning something about the Canada trip.

40. Favorite time of the year?
2015: Any time where it's about 70, overcast, with a light breeze.

2024: Late spring, right on the cusp of summer -- when it's warm but not overly hot, when it could cloud up and rain or give a beautiful thunderstorm. When the air feels fresh and tingles when the wind sweeps through your hair or across your skin before the raindrops fall.

42. Are you sarcastic?
2015: It's one of my best attributes.

2024: Not only is it still one of my best attributes, but it is the cornerstone of my personality and sense of overall humor.

43. Have you ever seen The Butterfly Effect?
2015: I own the Blu-ray.

2024: Multiple times, though I don't know if I still own the Blu-ray. Funny story about that movie -- I could've seen it in the theater during opening week. I went on a date with my friend Becca, and we couldn't decide whether to see The Butterfly Effect, Cold Mountain, or Big Fish. We ended up choosing Big Fish, which was by leaps and bounds a far better picture than the others ended up being, in hindsight. I did still enjoy The Butterfly Effect, though, when I did see it eventually -- though it's a really dark, messed up movie. 

44. Ever walked into a mall?
2015: No. Walked through one while shopping? Yes.

2024: Yeah, same answer.

45. Favorite color?
2015: Black.

2024: 95% of the time, it remains black. However, over the years I have grown a much deeper appreciation for purples and deep blues.

46. Have you ever slapped someone?
2015: Yes. There are many, many people who need a good hard slap in the face or upside the head. If I were running for president, this would be my platform.

2024: This was 2015 Brandon attempting to sound tough. In reality I am not sure I have ever really slapped someone -- like a bitch slap across the face or anything remotely similar -- in all of my life. I don't condone violence nor do I partake in it. 

47. Is your hair curly?
2015: I prefer to describe it as "sexually wavy."

2024: "Sexually wavy" is not a term I ever need to use again or even see in print. Yes, my hair has some natural curl in it, though over the years it has gradually relaxed more and more to the point where it's now mostly straight. Not completely straight, but mostly. The wavyness is now far less defined and more just shapes how my hair falls naturally.

48. What was the last CD you bought?
2015: I bought the Breakfast Club soundtrack at Walgreens about a year ago for $3 or so. That counts, right?

2024: KMFDM's latest album "Let Go," directly from them, preordered in December and arrived in February on its release day.

49. Do looks matter?
2015: Not as much as you'd think, but yes.

2024: Still true. I cannot truly ever be attracted to anyone on looks alone -- personality and kindness has to be there as well. Luckily, my wife has all of these things and I really hit the jackpot with her.

50. Could you ever forgive a cheater?
2015: No. And I never have.

2024: Same, bro. Same.

51. Is your phone bill sky high?
2015: For unlimited talk/text/data on my iPhone, through Sprint, it's pretty reasonable.

2024: For two phones with unlimited talk/text/data and our home internet, through T-Mobile, it is exceptionally reasonable.

52. Do you like your life right now?
2015: Not really. I love being married and I love the relationship I have with my wife and her/our family. Everything else can go suck it.

2024: Overall I am the happiest and most content I have ever been in my life. I own my home, have a wonderful wife and four loving cats, a work-from-home job, and our bills and household necessities are always taken care of. There is always food in the house, we are mostly stable in finances and our relationship, and we always have a great support network of loving family. Could life be better? Yes, the answer is almost always yes. But is it still really good right now? Also yes. 

53. Do you sleep with the TV on?
2015: Not anymore, as I no longer have a TV in the bedroom.

2024: We do not have a TV in the bedroom. However, I do have one in my office. Do I occasionally have it on and fall asleep in my chair with it on? Yes, but very rarely these days. I'd like to say maybe twice a year. 

54. Can you handle the truth?
2015: Yes.

2024: Still yes. 

55. Do you have good vision?
2015: I used to, but not really anymore. I can tell how much my vision has deteriorated just over the past two or three years.

2024: Yes, with the help of good glasses and a good prescription for those good glasses, because I am now an old man with failing eyes. 

56. Do you hate or dislike more than 3 people?
2015: Oh hell yes. There's probably a twenty (or thirty, being realistic) person list.

2024: There are a lot of people I actively dislike. There are maybe two or three that I outright hate. Hate is a strong word. I do not use it lightly and it is reserved for the most deserving. 

57. How often do you talk on the phone?
2015: Every day at work. In my personal life, on my own phone? Mostly only when I have to.

2024: As little as possible, both at work and personally. It's 2024, there's no need to talk on the phone in most circumstances. Send a text or an email, or just catch me in person if absolutely necessary.

58. The last person you held hands with?
2015: My wife, yesterday, and this is not an unusual occurrence.

2024: My wife, tonight, and this is a daily thing.

59. What are you wearing?
2015: A black and white plaid shirt, blue socks, blue boxers, black jeans, and black dress shoes. Work clothes.

2024: A KMFDM "Nihil" album cover t-shirt, gray sweat shorts with a blue stripe down the side, navy blue boxers, my Fitbit, and a pair of square, gold-rimmed glasses.

60.What is your favorite animal?
2015: Ron Swanson is my spirit animal. Does that count?

2024: Moose, cats, bison, dragons, blue jays, wolves. In no particular order.

61. Where was your default picture taken?
2015: Default picture? Like, profile picture? I have a different one for every social networking site I use, and they've all been taken at different times/places. The one I use here on Blogger was taken in my old house in Kansas, circa 2011, and edited with my photo editor.

2024: I'm still using the same Blogger picture since 2011 on here, by the way. It is very decidedly out of date. However, my Twitter profile picture is AI art of me playing the guitar, my Facebook profile picture was taken on my birthday last year in downtown Omaha, and my Microsoft Office 365/etc picture was taken in 2022 in the parents' sunroom.  

62. Can you hula hoop?
2015: Wouldn't know; I've never tried.
2024: I am a 41, almost 42-year-old man and I still have no desire to hula hoop.

63. Do you have a job?
2015: Yes, I do. And I wish I didn't need it as much as I do.

2024: Yes. Same job, same sentiment, bruh.

64. What was the most recent thing you bought?
2015: Last night I gave my coworker a $20 so he could pick me up some Burger King when he walked down there (it's literally next door) to get lunch.

2024: A five-pack of flash drives and The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom for my Switch, tonight, via Amazon.

65. Have you ever crawled through a window?
2015: Not in recent memory, but I'm sure I have.

2024: Early-forties Brandon is far too fat and not limber enough to do this anymore, even if he wanted to. 

So there you go, everyone. Hope you enjoy. 

Oh, Hi March

 

Welcome to March.

There's a lot going on this month. Here's a brief list of stuff that I know about at this juncture, and as the month goes on, this list may get longer:

• March 2 (today): Plans finalized for Canada trip this summer, birthday party for Daisy's father, and Sadie had a $120 follow-up blood draw.
• March 3: My youngest sister turns 31.
• March 6: My oldest sister turns 33. 
• March 7: Daisy's next doctor's appointment.
• March 8: Daisy has another doctor's appointment. 
• March 9: We're seeing Matilda: The Musical, a play that Daisy's best friend's daughter is in -- we go see all her plays.
• March 10: Daylight Savings Time starts.
• March 18: KMFDM concert here in town.
• March 20: Spring starts.
• March 22: Daisy's job's "holiday party," which has been rescheduled twice already. I may or may not attend with her -- I have not yet decided fully.
• March 23: Tickets reserved for Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire -- we'll see it that afternoon.
• March 25: Full Moon.
• March 29: Good Friday. No, neither of us get it off work. Well, I do, but it's because I don't work on Fridays. 
• March 31: Easter. No, I don't get it off work.

That is a lot. Granted, not all of them are "events," mind you, but that's a lot of stuff for anyone to handle or remember in any given month. It is likely that March will be one of our overall busiest months of the year, though who knows if I'll say the same by the time the year ends. Truthfully, 2024 has already been really nutty, as previous posts have covered well. 

I suppose I should start with the good news -- our trip to Canada has been fully squared away for this summer. It's going to end up being more of a family reunion trip at this point, with both of Daisy's sisters coming separately around the same time with all of the kids, all of them overlapping with us for most or all of the whole time we'll be there. We've had to change around dates a few times now -- change flights, accommodations and rental cars as well -- but it's now thankfully locked in. 

Throughout it all, Daisy has been a saint -- trying to coordinate everything she can, trying to make sure her sisters are able to travel with us (but, thankfully, separately), trying to help make sure they have the best flights and possible accommodations for their stays, etc. In doing so, the trip has changed a lot from what it originally was to what it is now -- and of course if Daisy's grandmother dies between now and then, all of it will completely change again. 

What I know is that the trip will be two full weeks, we (as in, me and Daisy) will be in an AirBNB two minutes from the family homestead, it should be in the best weather of the year for Nova Scotia, and at the end of the trip we will be spending two full days on Prince Edward Island to see Green Gables and likely Charlottetown. Mom will be traveling with us, we will have another Spaceship Van™ as our rental car, and we should be able to see a large chunk of the family. We will once again be flying into and out of Halifax and won't be driving up from Maine -- and the trip up there will take way longer than the trip back, which will only be about six hours. 

And once I get back home, it's immediately back to work for me, because this trip will completely zero out my PTO. It also means I can't really take any time off between now and the trip or I won't have enough PTO to cover it. It's going to be very close as is.

This means I don't get to take any other trips this year. It means I don't get to go visit my parents again, it means we don't get to go to Chicago for a long weekend, it means we don't get to go to Vegas for our 10-year wedding anniversary (that was a possible plan for said anniversary). This trip together is our anniversary present to one another, just like our first trip to Nova Scotia in 2015 was our belated honeymoon. Life can be cyclical like that sometimes, I suppose. 

Truthfully, even though it is expensive, the trip is very needed -- we need to get away from our daily lives here for a bit. We desperately need a vacation. This is our big one this year. It's also very important to Daisy because it may be the last time we're all there in Nova Scotia while her grandmother is still alive. It feels like the last possible trip. And while it may be not, and while I'm sure we'll go back to visit family and the area even after she's gone, it won't be the same. My feelings are mixed on it overall because of that. The trip is very expensive and it takes a lot of time, and it's far different than the original trip we'd had planned earlier this year. I've told Daisy that a vacation to me is peace and quiet, time to rest and read novels, and go on little adventures with her, just enjoying each other's company. I am a very stressed and anxious person, and the trips we take help to "reset" me. I can finally just exist without responsibilities and expectations, and do so far away from my normal home environment.

This trip is different, with her sisters and all the kids coming too, plus whatever family comes in and out of town to see all of us while we're there. I really don't know how much relaxation time we'll have when we're there. I really don't know what the days will play out like. It's not a vacation to me if I have to constantly keep up appearances or be surrounded by children at all times. I'm very particular and set in my ways, and I'm very resistant to change, and when I'm in the mindset to relax and desperately need it, I need it or my body begins shutting down. 

"If I get overwhelmed I'll just walk back to the AirBNB," I told Daisy. "It's two minutes away. I can't promise I'll always want to be social or always want to be surrounded by people; this is supposed to be a vacation for me."

It's also different this year because we now have two geriatric cats and two young, wild cats in the house -- instead of three geriatric cats that I knew would be fine during trips of this nature in the past. Pete is super-anxious, what with his separation anxiety, and Sadie is old and slow and will likely just hide from Daisy's friend/co-worker (who will be helping to take care of them while we're gone), but Hank and Empress are the wild cards -- Hank is generally okay, but he feeds off Emmy's energy and Emmy has never been left alone in the house for more than a few hours at a time -- let alone two full weeks. I don't know how she'll react to that. We've still got a few months for her to grow up more and acclimate to life in the house with us and the other cats, but in the two months we've had her thus far, she's less of the shy little girl she was when we got her and becoming more of a troublemaker -- a raccoon child goblin. Maybe she'll calm down more over the next few months and maybe she won't.

Anyway. Moving onward. I'm sure I'll have more to say about the trip in the coming months as we get closer to it.

This morning we took Sadie in for her follow-up bloodwork appointment; since she has hyperthyroidism, the vet wanted to do a follow up a month later after her initial bloodwork to check it now that she's been on the meds for a month to see if it's helped her levels any. The follow up bloodwork is also to check to see if -- and if so, how far -- Sadie is into kidney failure. She outlived her sister, yes, but that doesn't mean she's got a lot of time left either. 

Daisy and I are just trying to be realistic about the whole thing, as we were with Maggie. With Maggie we knew early and we had a rough timeframe for the rest of her life, and when it was her time, it was painful, but it was her time and we accepted it. Sadie is old and frail; she seems like she's feeling much better most of the time now that we've gotten her on the thyroid meds, but realistically she is on borrowed time too. If she goes between now and our trip, that also throws another wrench into our plans as we will be adopting another kitten as soon as we are able, and then the house dynamic would change from two old farts and two young children to one old fart, two children and one very young child -- and then we'd leave for two weeks. I can't imagine what havoc could be wreaked in that time.

Mind you, we left Hank with the old farts for a full week to visit my parents in North Carolina a mere six weeks after we adopted him and brought him home, and he was fine...but the household dynamic was also very different then. 

Do I think Sadie will die before our trip? Unlikely, especially with the meds we have her on to help stabilize her and give her a more healthy life. Is it very possible? Oh yes, absolutely. Two weeks before Maggie died, she was acting normal too -- and then she took a hard turn and went down fast. The same could be said for Pete, too -- both he and Sadie are still very old, and we don't know when they're going to go to sleep and not wake up, or when one of them will get the kind of sick they won't come back from. 

I'm hoping Sadie's bloodwork comes back normal, the meds are helping her and her kidneys seem fine -- but I'm not counting on it and certainly am not looking at it with rose-colored glasses. If we have to help her transition to the great beyond sooner rather than later, it is what it is. I will be devastated, but death is a part of life.

And, well, 2024 hasn't really done us a whole lot of favors so far, sooooo...