Most of Monday

Ron made a big production out of telling me he "let" me sleep last night.  I asked if he wanted a cookie, he said yes.  I said it shouldn't be a question of me getting sleep.  I was pretty abrupt. 

So, here's another question, when dealing with a narcissist, do I give him praise every time I get a decent night sleep?  Is this going to be necessary?  I hope not, but if it increases my odds of getting my rest I will buy him a damned trophy. 

I will talk about the cats.  Now, I had noticed that Cleo is very timid (the little calico kitten).  I thought she was growling when she ate but today I realized it is SPOT who is growling and food aggressive.  He is fine with me petting him while he eats, just hostile towards his sister and the competition.  This is pretty common, I'd imagine, in stray cats.  Gravy was also food aggressive when I got him but he normalized very quickly once he realized I had far more food than he could EVER eat.  That is important, that means Cleo is only fearful, not aggressive, and she is inching closer to me every time I feed them. 

I believe I can do some intensive work with her once I get Spot and Mama in the house, just her, me, and the food bowl, work up to petting and touching, petting is nice, Heather always brings food, etc.  Frosty was worse than this and I turned him into a lap cat.  So I have a lot more hope for Cleo.  She also loves treats so I toss her a few now and then, and she runs toward them now.  Very promising. 

But in no way close to being adopted.  Spot could probably go to an experienced cat person, or Mama, but of course they need to be fixed.  Otherwise you could have Biblical incest and some really messed up offspring. 

We had a good ride to work with a nice driver.  Ron had some pain all day but the kratom worked when he asked for it. 

We got to work and I realized the bottled vendor was acting up.  Ron hadn't even gotten into his work wheelchair, and I hadn't taken anything out of the stockroom.  I went to work.  Basically when I have a coin jam I always have a cascade of jammed coins on the floor, once I start poking at it.  That is every time, it's just normal.  Then I had to take apart the mechanism.  There is an inlet, the coin goes into that.  It slides through the mechanism and goes to the outlet, where it sorts out by coin type.  This was a dollar coin, no room for it in the coin box, which has rows for quarter, dime, nickel.  Sometimes a dollar coin row but NEVER a half dollar or penny.  I cannot tell you how much aggravation the last two have cost.  So everything backed up from that point.  I had to take off the top part and shake the coins out, got that sorted (literally!) and done. 

To be honest, I had some trouble getting the removed piece back into the mechanism.  It was 7 in the morning.  No one to help.  I prayed a little and got it back.  Then I shut it and tested it.  It worked.  Good.  NOW we are in business. 

I helped Ron with his wheelchair, told him the good news, and got my carts out of the stockroom.  I helped him with canned sodas (the bottle vendor was full because the coin thing went down), then I was able to devote my time to the snack machines. 

I caught one guy, two times poking around our (mine, and the other vendor's) carts, when he saw me watching he "bought" things but I don't mess with their carts, and in one of the cases I had the merchandise right there in the vending machine.  Just a very small irk. 

But it made me realize I can't leave my carts unattended.  I keep the high value candy bars literally locked up inside the vending machines, I stock them the minute I bring them in, so if you want one you can only get it from the machine, if you want to steal one you will have to wait until the machine is open (and I am always right there). 

I did a good stock, I was very pleased when we left.  I also got the sandwich delivery.  I got hungry so I ate a turkey sandwich.  It got me thinking it might be nice to get some sandwich fixings, some good whole grain bread, real mayo, sharp cheddar cheese, and some sliced nitrate free meats.  Doesn't that sound great?  And I can do my pills with that.  Nice and refreshing on a hot day. 

I don't want a lot of heavy, hot, greasy meats right now, it's too hot for that.  I have lost my taste for grease having "done" my time in the low carb jail.   I don't even eat that much cheese, lately. 

We left, roasted at the bus stop for a while, and got a ride home.  A straight ride both times, very nice, not something you can expect. 

We got home and Mama cat and Spot came out, meowing eagerly for second breakfast.  We did some petting, I saw Cleo, and then I took Ron in the house.  Biscuit is absolutely huge compared to Spot.  But not for long! 

By the way, I figured the best way to introduce the cats is the community feast, little plates of wet food all over for everyone to enjoy.  Of course poor Biscuit can't eat traditional wet food - BUT I had just enough money in my account to order his "deluxe" prescription cat food.  Of course he is worth it and what would I rather spend my last $40 on, anyway?  Nothing!  So I got it last night and it comes tomorrow. 

Biscuit hit the lottery with me, I am a very devoted owner and don't mind showering my Golden Kitty with money because he is worth it.  A lot of owners would have put him down because he takes a little more effort. 

I will let you know how my plan turns out. 

So I got Ron in the house, fed Biscuit (my primary function in life) and took some kitten food out to the guys outside. 

That's when I realized Spot is food aggressive, if his sister is nearby.  Spot is very bonded to his mother but not really his sister, I realize.  I fed everyone and Cleo let me touch her back two times.  She jumped and ran away both times but she came back, too.  She has the potential to be a very sweet little cat.  I am looking forward to spending more time with all of them. 

Once I got them settled I had some yogurt and took a nap.  Ron made noise and kept waking me up.  Not happy about that. 

I finally confronted him about the yelling curses.  He said he was in pain and I had to be nice to him.  I asked him why he HAD to scream and yell every time he was in pain.  I asked him if he had ever heard me do that.  He said I was mean, and asked for some Kratom. 

I almost told him to shove it, but I did get it for him even though he had 10 capsules literally sitting in front of him on the chair.  But he is quiet now so maybe he will think about it.  I think his family, and his time in the hospital after his eye operations, taught him to make a lot of racket every time he was in pain, to get attention.  I believe it is a learned behavior and should be unlearned. 

Because it is completely unfair to me, to have to hear him carrying on like that.  It is as bad as the woman at the rehab hospital who kept yelling "NURSE?  NURSE!" every 5 minutes instead of pressing her call button.  Thank God she proved unwilling to do the rehab. 

Torbie is sitting on my foot.  I am going to hate to leave her but I'm going to get up, have a snack, and start setting up the new litter boxes. I am adding 2 more to the house. 

Then I may walk over to the gas station.