We’ve toyed with that idea before. Bugs is an awful lot of cat for just me. Now what’s clinched the deal is, depending on the May elections, I may have a “real job” working for a judge. This will mean two nights a week in Little Rock, away from home.
Bugs is maniac enough as it is. I wouldn’t expect to have a house left standing, on my first return.
So — Tellington practitioner Teresa, my boon companion in all matters Bugs, and I are going to look for a suitable feline pal for Bugs, to keep him occupied if, or while, I’m away. We’ve got a lot of time to prepare. I believe we’re going to need it.
First step, with Jackson Galaxy’s article as my copilot: Making “base camp” ready.
Here’s what the “base camp” of the future looks like at the moment.
This room is known as The Hell Room.
For obvious reasons.
You can see what I mean when I said we’re going to need a lot of time to prepare. Decluttering this nightmare means decluttering my storage unit. And then moving that which currently resides in The Hell Room, and that with which I absolutely cannot part, out of The Hell Room and moving wedging it into the storage unit.
I feel like my whole life has crawled up into the corners, like sixty-two years of dust. Now I must begin letting go.
Easier said than done.
It was one thing when the flood got this process started for me. It’s quite another thing altogether, to venture forth to find out what’s been growing in there since. I feel like I need a hazmat-suit.
And I can’t have alcohol to pump up the courage to the sticking-point.
I’m going in, friends. Provide cover fire.
Bugs is resigned, for the moment. Kicked back. No help at all.
catself 
of course he’s napping NOW. Just wait… >:-D the little dear!
)))quiver(((
Good luck in your mission Sargent! While my desire is not cat inspired like yours, I’m feeling a very strong urge to lighten my load by releasing the accumulated flotsam & jetsom (sp?) of 53 years on the planet. It won’t be easy but I’ve declared 2012 “Year of the Purge”!!
It is a comfort to know that we are part of the same fighting-unit.
I laughed so hard! I don’t know why, probably the Hell Room.
I can’t tell you how heartening it is to know that you laughed. I need all the encouragement I can get. Thank you!
Me, too, lightening the load. Feels good. Long overdue, too. I even burned old medical records that I’ve been carting around because they seemed important. sheesh. I’m watching my brother’s life shrink to the essentials: he is the face of this economy…. Inspiration from a sad source.
Oh I do hope things look up for your brother. These are tough times indeed. And I grinned about your medical records. I think I have a few of those myself. If I get that far into the depths, I may find them.
yeah, what the hell was I thinking holding onto sad medical records? they have been a weight dragging me down since 1998! dumb dumb dumb!
Brother’s attitude will get him to the next stop on this here Earth Train, but it is sad anyway. He is truly cleaning house. Thank you for good wishes.
I would keep things for seven years only – that was what the IRS said we should do, just in case. Hey! That means in less than a year and a half, I can burn EVERY document I brought over from the US! Hahahahha!
excellent!
my next chore is to jettison the kajillion years worth of correspondence. can’t take it with me and have nobody who’s gonna care about any legacy i might have….
You are made of sterner stuff than I.
Maybe I’ve moved many more times than you and am very tired of hauling stuff around. I’d rather it were in my memory, but if that is not to be, then I can only hope to not be aware of the loss of incredibly rich memories….
May we all retain as much of our awareness as we can stand. Especially the incredibly rich bits.
Make full use of plastic trash bags… and then trash them! If you don’t know what something is, or if it hasn’t been touched in five years, then its trash – that’s my credo.
I can’t wait to see who ends up joining your household. I firmly believe two cats are better then one!
I can see in your household, the two guys really work together. Paws crossed for me. And thank you about the trashing advice. I’ll take it to heart.
Nice to meet you Bugs. We hopped ofur from Katnip Lounge. We definitely think two cats are better than one as there are four of us! Hope you can come visit is sumtime over at our bloggie. Our Mommy was wondering where you are located. We are in SE Oklahoma and there are NOT many bloggers in this part of the country.
Hi Prancer Pie! Welcome! We can see how 4x sweet it is over at your place. We are neighbors, really. SE-OK is not that far from NW-AR, which is where we are in Fayetteville. There sure are not that many of us round these parts — but we make up for that in quality, do we not! Great to see you.
Good luck with the sorting! That can be pretty hellish. I find it helps to enlist someone who has zero emotional attachment to your stuff, who can say “have you touched this in the last 5 years? no? ok, into the trash it goes!”
Yay for another kitty! Two is better than one, I say.
Also, I was sent here from Katnip Lounge. Pleased to meet you!
It is totally our pleasure. So exciting to make new friends like you. I love the looks of your two kitties. It’s worth going through sorting-hell, to get there! At least that’s how I feel at this moment. Not-doing the sorting, of course. Thinking about it. Only that. Thinking. And having blog-fun instead. If that were only enough to get the job done!
More cats is always more fun! Good luck on your clean out! We were just forced to do that ourselves, never fun.
I don’t want to sound like I’m plugging, but I guess I am.. if you are really looking for another kitty, check out Chrystal’s blog, she’s a private rescuer, and distance is no object in getting a kitty into a good home. http://dogsandcats.typepad.com/blog/ We got our Leo from her and could not be happier!
Thank you so so much, Andrea. We have made contact with Chrystal and are In Process. So fun and exciting. She speaks so highly of you, for spreading the word about her. Your Leo looks like a doll.
Well hi there! I just popped over from the Katnip Lounge as they have given a shout out to you and me and several others, so thought I would check you out! OK so I’ve read your “About” page and am really in need of a lie down now! lolol.
Lovely to meet you and Bugs and if you get another puss I hope they are ready for the soon-to-be-non hell hole!
Hi yourself, Carolyn and Austin Loaf-Cat Cuddle-Free Zone! Great to meet you. You mixed-metaphor you. Yes — readiness seems to be the watchword at this stage of campaign. Non-hellhole readiness. Oh and I hear you about the “About” page and lying down. Things were pretty intense in those days. I think the heat and compression has been cooled off and fluffed up a little bit since then over here. At least I hope so.
Wow, this is going to be exciting! Are you figuring on a tiny kitten, or a more mature one?
And the clutter! Why is it so hard to let our junk go? I’m also going to try to join in and start filling up those trash bags…
We can all be recruits together, in this Hell-Free zone, right MTVA? I think a tiny kitten would be just a little too exciting. I’m going for more of an age-match with Bugs. Two years old? Three? Something like that.
Congrats on the upcoming new edition, the possibility of a “real job”, and the prospect of a home without a Hell Room! You have quite a bit on your plate right now…
I think a playmate for Bugs is a fabulous idea! One word of advice – color coordination. OK, that was 2 words… If you’re going to have multiple cats and a real job, make sure the fur is similarly colored so your wardrobe can evolve into something that doesn’t show the fur. ;D
Great idea about the color-coordination, mckmf. Maybe too late, though. I’ve made it a default to go with New York City Alienated Black and Therefore Everything Matches — and Bugsie shows up as pretty light next to that. An interim step seems to be those rolling-tape things. Thank you for appreciating the full plate. Uncluttering the full plate seems to be even more challenging than emptying out The Hell Room. And that’s really going some, to say that!
Maybe you should think of it as a 3-course meal. Or maybe 4 courses… Is there a small appetizer you can start with?
Nibbling away at it, mckmf. Not sure whether digestion is happening fast enough. Bugs is getting reeeeeally sick of the heaps and piles in transit out of this place, I can tell you that!
I too predominantly wear black. with a black & white or Bugs-colored kitty, you’re pretty much guaranteed to show kitty fur no matter what you wear. 😉 The tape things do help, if you carry them in your bag. It took me a while to figure out the futility of removing cat hair before I left my house.
It is amazing magnetic, isn’t it.
My human’s feet have been bothering her, so she’s been taping one of them . This morning she had half a cat and a few stray pine needles attached to her left foot as she walked out the door! 😀
You know, one can NEVER have too many Cats, but one CAN have too much crap! When we move cross-country we de-crapped in a HUGE way and the catharsis was enormous. (From 2 acres, a 40’x40′ 2 story pole barn, and 3600 sq-ft house down to 0.6 acre and 1600 sq-ft house.) Donate, donate, donate.
Donation helps take the sting out, a little, doesn’t it. Wow that huge move must have been some adjustment for you! But from the looks of things over at your place, things look pretty much in place now. That Catio has plenty of real estate! Vertical and horizontal. Love the apartments.
Contemplating a comment regarding one never having too many cats, but one CAN have too much cat crap. Not sure where to go with it from there, though…
Oh yeah. Like we could throw out any of those mangled toys. That’d immediately be the one they would want, and nothing else but that.
I don’t have a ‘hell room,’ mine is ‘the closet of doom.’ I refuse to try to find anything in there and make the man do it. Good luck with the next big thing! I worried a lot about getting another cat, and I’m so glad I did.
Closet of doom — exact same concept as room of hell. Nice to have the company in this, Spidey. Hey I AM glad to hear the 2nd-cat decision worked out for you. May the same be so over here.
That’s big news for your house! …and Bugs.
My girl, Glogirly, keeps hinting that she’d like to get ME a companion. But I’m afraid this is a one-cat household. Apparently I don’t play nice with others. Whatever. Just keep the salmon coming.
Happy to have found you through the Katnip Lounge Kats!
xo
Katie & Glogirly
Well no, Katie, why should you play nice with others? Given your level of fabulosity? Who else in the feline world could carry off salmon pasties and a pink g-string? I have kept your blog away from Bugs’s line of sight. He’s been, ahem, fixed. I fear the strain would be too much for even him. But as for me, Nadbugs — I LOVE your blog! Great to meet you!
Well, good luck. I’d like to know more of your Tellington Touch friend’s opinions. I think Not Cta might like a feline friend (for Cat that would have been an oxymoron) but I don’t think my soul would be my own.
I hear your trepidations and I share them. But Teresa of Tellington has been one of the worst
offendersadvocates for another cat. Bated breath and preparedness seem the watchwords over here.It’s our first time here thanks to our pals from the Katnip Lounge, Hello Bugs! Stop by and say hi. P.S. we know Jackson purrsonally.
You know, 101, I think I may have seen a reference to your work somewhere in Jackson-land. On the blog? On the littlebigcat? Anyway, we hang on every of Jackson’s words. And now yours. So happy to have met.
Thanks and ditto! I did one of his early interviews from my other blog the Boomer Muse (on his website media page) and he hung out at my house where we were filmed for the silly Daily Show shoot. We share much in common but have different styles of working with cats.
Nature loves diversity. Me too. (And that was such a disappointing silly Daily Show. Much as I love the show otherwise . . . . Aren’t you the lucky one, though, to be hobnobbing like that! At least it sounds like fun to me . . )
Hi ya, Bugs! We think it’s a good idea to get you a buddy. You’ll have lots of fun!!
Great, IslandCats, we are so glad to hear you think this
foolhardyadventure is good fun-filled idea. Human thinks the jury is out, but sounds like they’re coming in with a verdict and that verdict is good news. Time will tell. Glad to see you here.This is a very exciting development! I also agree that two cats are better than one. Getting Sprocket is the 2nd-best thing that ever happened to Chun. The first best thing was getting adopted by me, but I sound so arrogant saying that. Having another cat to play with really helped calm Chun down. He got so worn out he stopped waking me up all hours of the night.
Good luck with the other exciting developments in your life too. 🙂
Very interesting to hear, @lm, about Sprocketing your Chun. I don’t think I realized that was the case, from looking at your pics only. And of course you’re not arrogant in putting your contribution first. Without you, this couldn’t have happened. I would love that you be PROUD of what you’ve done for and with the Sprockie. I think it’s magnificent. And so glad Chun agrees.
Good luck, Bugs! Be sure to get a cat that is smaller than you so you can be the boss. My brother Harley is bigger than me. That is why he always ruins my Good Times.
Oh Daisy I am sorry to hear about Harley. Probably his name has something to do with his hell’s angel qualities? We need to straighten him out. I will pester the human for the airfare. We will take care of this. Your new friend –Bugs
Hey, I’m back! I’m anxiously awaiting any news about a second cat! I feel your pain with the “hell room.” I’m currently in the process of decluttering our house… no fun. Do you have a good Freecycle group in your area? I use it often to get rid of things. Saves me a trip to the Goodwill, yet I don’t have to toss everything into the garbage.
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