The cats and I watch health care pass; Charlie's parents stop by for a visit

I am too tired to write ANYTHING - but I will try to write a little bit, anyway. The thing is, I got to bed somewhere between 1:30 and 2:00 AM and then, as always, it took some time for me to go to sleep and no sooner had I then I was awakened... oh hell.

I am too tired to tell this story about why I am so tired.

But I am.

I had planned to work very hard today and to get a huge amount done, but I didn't. Mostly because I got distracted by the debate leading up to the House passage of the Health Care Bill. Once I took in one scene, I was so fascinated by the process that I could not pull myself away from the TV.

And as I watched, there was always between one and three cats blanketing me, so I was warm, cozy, comfy and drowzy as I watched the debate.

I did not try to photograph the scene until near the end, when Nancy Pelosi was speaking.

Many Republicans said they could not support this flawed bill and it is flawed, but, it's a start to hopefully fix a far more flawed system.

As many readers know, my health care insurance company took my premiums for 15 years and, despite their promise when I bought my insurance that they would cover an air ambulance out of rural Alaska if I ever needed one, refused to pay any of the $37,000 + when I shattered my shoulder and actually did need one, and then didn't pay tens upon tens of thousands of dollars of my hospital bill and then recently jacked up my "cadillac" priced premiums for clunker service by 20 percent overnight.

This followed a long process of regular increases and then, in December, I could not make my payment and they deactivated my policy immediately.

If I had been able to make two payments in January, they would have reactivated, but I couldn't make even one.

I am very glad that, however flawed it might be, the process has finally begun. 

As I am too tired to say anything intelligent about this myself, I will quote Paul Krugman from the New York Times:

"But it is also a victory for America’s soul. In the end, a vicious, unprincipled fear offensive failed to block reform. This time, fear struck out."

Senator Murkowski, this is why I am so disappointed in you. You have the intelligence and the natural compassion and you said some things a year or so ago that told me that you understood the damage that this current system is wreaking upon people.

I understand that you need to listen to your constituents, but when you hear them spouting nonsense and fear, you also have a responsibility to educate them. Instead, you joined in with the mob in this "vicious, unprincipled, fear offensive."

This is why I am disappointed.

You might find it unfair that I am not equally disappointed in Don Young. But Don Young is Don Young and we all knew from the beginning that on this matter nothing more could be expected of him.

But you, Senator Murkowski, are capable of so much more.

Of course, the day did not begin in front of the TV. It began at Mat-Su Valley Restaurant, where Margie and I got together with Lisa, Melanie and Charlie and Charlie bought breakfast for the lot of us. They were a little late, but soon Charlie's parents joined us as well.

It was the first time that we had all gotten together like this.

Yes, I took pictures of Charlie's parents at breakfast, but I want to get this blog done so that I can go to bed, so I will move straight to the house, where the important stuff happened.

It all involved cats.

Here is Jim, accepting a pet from Jim.

Yes, Charlie's dad is also Jim.

Charlie's dad is the furless Jim.

Here is Jim meeting Royce.

And here is Cyndy meeting Royce. Jim, the furless one, told us how their 16 year old Siamese cat Oscar suffered ill health about a year ago and lost weight just like Royce has. Furless Jim has a super-sensitive nose and it told him there was bad stuff in the store-bought dry cat food Oscar had been eating.

So Jim put Oscar on a raw-meat diet with a quarter can a day of Friskees and now Oscar has made a magnificent recovery.

We must try this with Royce - after I return from the East Coast.

Cyndy and Royce.

Furless Jim also told us how he and Charlie had once come upon some cougars in the mountains of Wyoming, where they had been hunting deer not far from the town of Atlantic City. Yes, Atlantic City, Wyoming.

He had been entranced by the quiet, graceful, beautiful, fluidity of their motions as the lions hustled silently past.

Charlie was pretty young then. His dad was carrying all the guns: a 30.06 rifle and .22 pistol.

Charlie asked if he could carry the .22 after that.

It's funny. I am always happy to be in Alaska, but after I heard that story, I wanted to go roam around somewhere where cougars hang out and see if I could find some.

Cougars don't really hang out in Alaska, although one was spotted on our side of the Canadian boundary not too many years ago.

Charlie and Jim - the furry one.

Furless Jim and Pistol, who warily came to check him out, but quickly warmed up to him and gave him maybe ten seconds of attention.

Look closely at Pistol and you will see that he is very much a little mountain lion himself.

It occurs to me that Furless Jim's face does not really show in the photos with the cats, so I will hop back to the restaurant take real fast, so that you can see his face.

If I am going to show the face of Furless Jim, then it is only fair that I also show the face of Furry Jim.

Comments

[twain12]

i love black cats although i never had one. He is gorgeous.
I hope the HCB will do some good.

[Albert Lewis]

>The thing is, I got to bed somewhere between 1:30 and 2:00 AM and then, as always, it took some time for me to go to sleep and no sooner had I then I was awakened... oh hell.

Oh, damn! You and me in the same boat! Darn dogs got me up at 6 am, 5 hours after I'd finally gotten to sleep. (I'd tried to go down at 9:15pm, my more usual bed time, but no).

I was excited about the vote, but watching congresspeople maunder on about their 55 seconds and so on, sleep just overtook me. It was obvious from the Republican's comments that it was going to pass, so fine; I'll check that in the a.m.

[debby]

Charlie looks like his mother. The Jims have no resemblance to one another. I think that health care is (unfortunately) something we will have to ease into. Once America sees that we will not self destruct, that the planet earth as we know it will not end, well, just maybe we can move on to the next step.

[kathleenpalingates]

For photoggraphers who also like to write but are horribly distracted, I recommend reading Geoffrey Dyer's Out of Sheer Rage. ;-)

[Kathryn Mueller]

Our "WONDER CAT"...BOB, would not eat store bought cat food, dry or canned! I made a 15-18 lb turkey every 3 weeks. He did not care for the dark meat! Thus, I would grind it up with my mother's old metal screw-on-the-table hand grinder...he couldn't pick out the dark meat then! He lived to be 20+ and was an 18 pound himself...long-haired black with white bib and white feet. He would also eat ice cream but never caught a mouse!!! He was strictly to be admirred, and not useful! But he soon was worth his keep! When my husband was diagnosed with nonHodgkins Lymphoma he would NOT lay in his lap till the one of 8 chemo's knocked it out. As soon as he wouldn't jump up on his lap, I would call the doctor and get him in for tests...Bob was right every time. About 2 days after Bob rejected him, I could smell the cancer...like a diabetics breath in acidosis. When we would walk into the office, doc would say, "Well, what does he smell like today!" Bob was never wrong. Animals can smell what we can't. Bob was indeed our best friend. Altho Bob is gone now, my husband is still alive (12 years) after having stage 4 cancer! We now have 3 cats and couldn't have better friends. Just read on another blog that cats need raw meat to live...something that is not found in processed food. Do try it with Royce...he needs it. Why don't they have mouse-flavored cat food? :-)

[Funny Face]

Nice post. Half expected to read of impending wedding announcement. Silly me.
Bet Bearded Charlie liked the Furless Jim photo.

Cats are obligate carnivores and hence, must eat animal tissue to maintain their long-term well-being....(copy/pasted from):
http://pets.iloveindia.com/cats/cat-food-and-diet.html

My cats receive raw meat & seafood. They are also aggressive hunters. I have conflicting feelings when they go after birds, but have to remember that that's Mother Nature's way.
.........Bell collars don't seem to make enough noise to really be effective as a warning.

Take care and I hope you are close to finishing what you needed to complete for your trip.

[Sylvia]

I too, had so much to do yesterday, but got mesmerized by the debate unfolding. Great drama. And yes, historic. I couldn't agree more with you about health care, and especially Lisa M. How was it, not a single R could not vote for this bill, flawed or no? Surely it was debated and investigated more than most other bills before them, and no less flawed. Didn't take any time at all to bail out the banks. Or get us into questionable wars. Surely there is a brave, independent thinker among them. I admit, out of sheer hope, that right up to the end, I wanted it to be our own Lisa. I know her, I like her, and she is smart and caring enough, I thought. It would have been courageous. Senator Earnest Gruening had it, when he was only one of two in the Senate to vote against the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution. It cost him his job, but it was the right thing to do. But I am naive to the ways of Party and the pressures they have, I guess. I am glad we have taken this first step, and hope it is improved enough to make a positive difference in my children's lives. As did the historic progressive changes of the civil rights act, medicare and social security has made in my life and that of my parents. Good night to you, Bill. Sleep well!