Our Last Christmas Together (Probably)

When people out in the trucking world walk up to you and ask you why you aren't blogging so much anymore, it's time to post something. Not that total strangers are really doing this, but it's fun to pretend...

Well, another Christmas will arrive in a few hours... This means very little to me personally, since Christmas is a human kinda thing. But often times it results in me getting a bunch of treats from my manservant. Please don't tell Matt I already know he's giving me "Happy Hips" treats this year. Lovely, lovely chicken jerky treats with glucosamine and condroyton for well-lubed joints, which come in handy when you spend your days in a moving vehicle.

It may well be our last Christmas together unless Matt can pull a juicy rabbit out of a hat. In spite of those incriminating emails exchanged by global warming scientists, it doesn't look like those idiot state legislators will change their stupid anti-idling laws for trucks, which, if they did would mean no APU's or trucks that have onboard heaters sensitive to pet dander. Please don't get me started on stupid, chicken-little humans...

Matt and I will do our best to enjoy our last Christmas together before he searches for a new home for me, and I come off the road at last. I will miss Matt dearly, but not the truck so much. There just isn't enough room in there for me to run around. Climbing things is fun, but it's like a large prison cell. And I think Matt will miss me, too, but not my litterbox or scratchpost which take up what little space we have.

Parting will mean starting a new chapter in both our lives, which is both exciting and scary. Will my new man (or woman) servant remember to medicate me twice daily? Will he or she even remember to feed me twice daily? Will they scoop the litter out of my litterbox frequently? Will they go "eeeewwwwww!!!" when I lick my butt? One can never tell what the future holds.

Happy Anniversary! Four Years And Counting...

Today is the fourth anniversary of my adoption of Matt as my owner, which I transacted at the Center For Animal Health And Welfare (formerly known as SPCA of Northampton County) in short order after I wooed him mercilessly by showing him the  attention  which he so lacked.

Four years with Matt means four years living in a semi truck.  That means close quarter living conditions in all kinds of weather with the occasional trip home where my crow's nest awaits my passionate clawing.  Things are still up in the air as far as how much longer we will live together.  But it's been that way for a while now.  Matt's employer forced him to trade the old truck in sooner than expected.  And of course we were put in a crappy old truck (though not as old as the previous had become) because of little ol' me.  This one has only 384,000 miles on it, so is probably good for another year at least.  We can idle the truck in most places when it gets too cold or too hot at least until April or May of 2010.  Then we have to do it carefully.  By next Winter, though, I am no longer a truck rider, and I will be out with or without Matt.  We can survive a summer with little or no idling, but not a winter.  Read previous posts about the anti-idling laws stupid humans passed so far.  By next Winter I will be 8 and one half years old.

I've gotten thinner and probably won't live a full cat-life due to my annoying food allergy, for which I take Prednisone.  Perhaps I shall dwell on this earth only 2 or 3 more years tops.  So I am taking pictures with Matt's iPhone camera (does not require thumbs to use!) and getting the most out of life by severely damaging my toys.  No one knows what the future holds, but I thought I would at least bring everyone up to date on the present.  Have a great life...all 9 of them.

Number Of Options Is Declining

Sorry it has been so long since posting in my blog, but Matt hasnt wanted to deal with this since realizing I might have to grab my stick and handkerchief and hit the road like a hobo.

It was discussed between us that I might be okay at the shelter once I had to vacate the truck. But recently in the Atlanta area Matt had to drop me off at a pet resort for about 20 hours or so while he attended a safety meeting. Guess he wasn't allowed to idle the truck for A/C for me while he was in the all-day meeting, so I got to cool my claws in a large cage all day and night. I don't really remember much about what happened, except that I was really angry and tried to scratch everyone who came near me, even Matt when he picked me up. But I calmed down when he took me back out to the truck where everything was familiar. I guess I have gotten so used to things being the same all the time that I flip out over change. But the lady at the resort claimed I was upset over being caged. Hmmm. Is that not what they do at shelters? I seem to remember being caged at the shelter almost 4 years ago when Matt rescued me.

So Matt and I are still going over our options. The economy has tanked and freight is very slow, especially in the North East where we live. So much for a local driving job...

Thinking about getting Matt to create an advertisement of some kind offering me up for adoption and spreading it locally. Hate to resort to that so soon. Anybody got any ideas????

Anti-Idle Laws Mean I Go Back To The Shelter

Okay, time for me to put in my two cents about this global warming thing.

First, I just wanna say that it is affecting both Matt and I already, even though the polar ice caps have not melted and we are not flooded out of our truck. No. Both of us, myself for certain, will be out of the truck long before then. And here's why:

Several states are passing legislation to outlaw truck engine idling. That means that when Matt and I park for the night at a truck stop, rest area or other approved truck parking area, the engine will have to be shut off during our D.O.T required 10 hour rest period.

"Oh, that is wonderful," you may say. "We will all breathe easier, and the sun will shine brighter, and roses and lollipops and all that crap-ola!"

What many of you non-truckers, or 4-wheelers as Matt likes to call them, fail to realize is that we actually live in these trucks, and in order for the interior of the cab to warm up to temperatures comparable to the ones in your own bedrooms at night, the engine must be running. You know, like in your car for instance.

Now to be fair, I should point out that most states will allow the trucks to idle when the temperature drops....TO 40 DEGREES!!! Other states will only allow idling at 32 or even 25 degrees or less! Now ask yourselves, how cold does it have to get outside before we turn on the furnace in our own home? And at what temperature do we set it? How warm do you think it gets in a truck with the engine off when the outside temperature is 40 degrees? Not very. And how rested will we be after sleeping in the freezing cold? Do you really want us on the road after that?

Technology has been very slow to catch up to the chicken-little-global-warming-hysteria. Yes there are things called APU's (auxiliary power unit) that attach to the sides of trucks which handle the interior cold and heat admirably. In fact our company has installed them on some of the older trucks, while Freightliner and International have sold us new trucks which have in-cab heaters that don't require engine idling. Problem solved, right?

NO! The APU's have these really expensive air filters which collect a lot of pet dander and hair and then require expensive maintenance. So expensive, in fact, that our company will not allow pets in trucks that have APU's. The same goes with the new trucks and their in-cab heaters. NO PETS ALLOWED. So Matt and I will be idling our old truck whenever we feel it necessary, and skirting the law in our outdated idle-only heat and A/C source, risking fines of between $300 and $500 per violation. The only alternatives would be to get a hotel room every night at $75 a pop ($60 + $15 pet fee, that comes to around $2,250 per month, and NOT reimbursed by the company), or running over our legal D.O.T. hours of service to get to the next idle friendly state and risking fines of $1,000 or more and months of imprisonment, OR sleeping with the engine off and catching pneumonia and even possibly freezing to death. Did I fail to mention that within 2 years most of the anti-idling states will no longer allow idling at ANY temperature? I will have to vacate the truck and return to the shelter, or Matt will have to find a local driving job in the middle of a nasty recession (which will not improve anytime soon if Obama imposes his Nazi-like Green Plans on industry).

Factories in third world countries and cow flatulence produce more green house gasses than us trying to keep warm at night. If these attitudes of idiot state legislators continue and more stupid laws are passed, trucking will become just another job that Americans won't do. Add it to the list of picking lettuce, construction, factory work, custodial duties, housekeeping, etc... Do we really want illegal immigrants who cannot speak English driving those big 80,000 lbs semi trucks down our nation's highways? And if not them then who? Ex-felons? Hate to tell you this, but that's already happening. Can you picture an ex-felon in every semi truck? They were felons in the first place because they couldn't control their impulses. Can you picture the road rage element?

Matt and I both love clean air and clear water and believe in a certain intelligent level of government regulation and oversight. But hysterically cramming it down our throats with "the sky is falling" attitudes means that some will be trampled upon in the ensuing stampede. I thought these liberals believed in no one left behind. Only when it suits them, I guess.

Kittychism

Sorry I haven't been posting in a while, but I count on Matt to do the typing while I dictate, and Matt hasn't been doing any typing AT ALL!!! He seems to be thinking about other things these days, and doing an awful lot of reading and stuff. It's all about the same subject: Catholicism!

Yes, it looks like Matt is going Catholic. Who would've guessed? He spends hours praying with that necklace thing with the cross at the end of it, but won't let me play with the beads. He says I'll swallow them. Well, of course! That's the whole point of playing with them.

MATT: It's called a Rosary.

BUSTER: So you took the thorns off?

MATT: It doesn't have thorns. It's just a Rosary... We use it to keep track of where we are in our prayer-meditation.

BUSTER: Like Yoga? I hear you chanting while you do it.

MATT: We aren't chanting. We are praying out loud over and over again, while meditating on the mysteries of faith.

BUSTER: Whodunit's? I love a good mystery...

MATT: I think I need to educate you about a few things---

BUSTER: Don't bother. I'll just watch you. Hey, are you going to have me blessed at that St. Francis Feasty thing?

MATT: I wonder if there's a catechism for cats.

BUSTER: Oh, I did that shortly after I was born. They called it Kittychism.

MATT: Kittychism?

BUSTER: Yup. I learned all about the Seven Scratchposts, the resurrection of the body...nine times, and the indulgences (hairball treats). I was even confirmed at the Church of the Sorrowful Meaooow.

MATT: Who taught you to be such a smart-ass?

BUSTER: (Stares at Matt and smiles)

MATT: I see... I think you're jealous.

BUSTER: And why is that?

MATT: Because I finally came home. I've been wandering the wilderness for years on end, spending most those years angry at God. Now I'm picking up where I left off at age 7, getting my first Communion at Easter Vigil, and my confirmation at Pentecost.

BUSTER: You were angry at God? That doesn't sound good. Glad I didn't know you back then.

MATT: It wasn't good. And I wasn't much fun to be around either, except when I had a few beers in me.

BUSTER: Oh, brother! Okay, I'll try to be more supportive then.

MATT: That would be nice. But either way, I am out of the wilderness and back home where I belong.