Smidgen is busted too

Well, Smidgen must have been jealous of all the doctoring the Green Hornet was getting. She wanted a doctor visit too, so she developed a funny spot on her paw....for just such a purpose.

And a trip to the vet ensued. She went into her carrier just fine, and was doing quite well, until a big black lab mix tried to take a bite out of her in the vet's waiting room. Once we got into the exam room, she took a good look around, and after determining that the big black dog was nowhere to be seen, she explored every nook there was, and jumped up to look out the exam room door window. Very comical. Everyone at the vet loved her and her extra toes, and said she was soooo pretty and had such nice markings. Maybe they say that to all the cats, but Smidgen was flattered...or maybe that was me.

Anyway, she doesn't have any identifiable problem. So, she got sent home with some all-purpose ointment and instructions to come back if it got worse. Sounds like instructions from people doctors, huh? But they did trim her nails for her, and we found a dental treat that she likes, so it wasn't a total wash.

As a reward for good behavior, we let her run loose in the car on the way home. She stood at the windows and sat on the back dash, greeting people as we went. We even entertained a policeman in his car. Then, we got home, and she took a nap. All these adventures are very tiring.

Later that night, when we put the drops on her leg, she kept trying to lick it, and then she'd make a terrible face, and shake her head, and do a lot of sticking out her tongue because it tasted so bad. But then, 10 minutes later, she'd have forgotten that it tasted bad and she'd try it again (Pea brain!). Well, the medicine can't work that way, so we tied a little bandage on her leg, and I must say it was quite amusing. She didn't know what to make of it. She tried to shake it off, but that didn't work. So, she just walked around the house swinging that leg out as she walked. She looked like she had a cast. Poor gimpy kitty. Don't worry, we took it off before we went to bed, and she had forgotten all about it. The short attention span is good for some things!

Vroom Vroom Buzz

The Green Hornet is back, but not without cost. At first, things looked bright. The oil problem - a mere 40 bucks in parts and labor! But then, they noticed that the Green Hornet had trouble getting going. It was, as my friend E would say, being a bit putzy on the start-up. The cause - the dreaded timing belt tensioner. Boo! so, the bill quickly went from 40 bucks to over 500! Big Boo!


My plan was to drive it until my registration expires later this year, and then sell the car in PA (where the emissions testing is nonexistent) for about 500 bucks. So, why spend just that much to get it back on the road? I don't know exactly. Must be the sentimental value.

I think the Green Hornet sensed the impending break-up. Seriously, once I started talking about replacing the car, things started going wrong with greater frequency. It's like it knows!

But enough about cars - what about the house? Well, with saw in hand (or more accurately, on the living room floor), I just need to find the time, and the good weather to go out on the lawn and cut some beautiful mitered corners, but someone told me this weekend was going to be rainy. Drat!

The green hornet...in the emergency room

The beloved Green Hornet [of doom] (my car, for those of you who didn't know it had a name) is being a bit drooly....and smokey. It seems to be very ill. Oil should not being spewing out of it accompanied by smoke. It shouldn't leave a trail of oil on the street....that pollutes, for goodness sake! It was towed yesterday by a grumpy man named Dom who made sure to note that he took tips, and took corners at 40 mph, despite the Hyundai being barely strapped on the back of the truck. And now I'm waiting for the doctor's report. Keep your fingers crossed.