“Hey, Andy!” I waved it in his direction.

Andy came running when he saw the peacock feather “thingy”, a strangely favorite toy.

Pat! Pat! Pat!

Andy traps it under his paw…

…and rawrs it! This peacock feather quill shred still fascinates Andy.

It gets Andy purring!

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It finally was election day in America. Granted, early voting’s been on for weeks in many jurisdictions – I sent in my vote by mail in early October – but there’s a wide variety of counting methods, with some states counting mail-in votes after the ones cast on election day, making some races unsettled for days after the election. It used to be you had specific results on election day, which was nice.

On the other hand, being able to request a ballot by mail and posting the marked ballot back to the county clerk for counting is appreciated by this fellow who uses a walker or cane to get around. Being a responsible, participating citizen is easy.

I see you watching me, Andy!

“Am not!”

Are, too!

“Am not!”

“Well, maybe I am!”

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Andy had fun earlier watching sparrows in the rose bush outside the bathroom window. At one point, he climbed the screen to get one that flew by. Needless to say, he caught nothing, but he had the fun of trying.

Later, he got to play the game Doug hate, hate, hates, “mousies in the cabinets”. Says Doug, it isn’t that the game is a tedious one, it’s just that Andy always wants to play it when I’m making a cup of coffee or preparing a meal.

The coffee ritual is a timed one, so Andy wanting to play “mousies in the cabinets” makes the simple task of making a cup of coffee harder than it needs be.

As for interrupting meal preparation, that’s another activity that has steps to follow, and a kitty wanting to play his favorite game when I’m preparing a meal means there’s the risk of forgetting a small but critical step like adding sugar to a dessert. 

Andy’s look tells me “Feed the kitty!”

I accidentally posted this before I had anything completed, so I’m posting tomorrow’s post early to spare more confusion.

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I had barely half a cup’s worth of ground coffee beans this morning. I plugged in my coffee mill and…nothing!

I sometimes get the bin in not just right and the mill won’t work. I tried taking it out and putting it back in: NOTHING! Yeah, that first cup in the morning is pretty much what gets me going in the morning, and the coffee mill is very important since I start with roasted beans.

Sometimes I roast green beans (when I’m ambitious and have the green beans) but mostly I buy roasted coffee beans and grind them at home. So, having nothing to complete the cup of coffee but roasted beans, I looked for an old mill I now remember tossing because it was less efficient and ground fewer beans at a time. FOOL!

Similarly, when I concluded the Mr. Coffee was not going to work, I at least had the French press on hand, and that’s what I use to make coffee now. It’s reliable, simple, and really makes the best coffee, that strong stuff I like!

Back to the Cuisinart coffee bean mill. After fussing with all the old tricks to make it work, I moved the “cups to grind” bar back and forth and pressed the grind bar. Magically, it filled the bin. I now had enough ground coffee to make my cup. 

Andy thought he was in a fix waiting to be fed! Poor darling made sure we played “mousie in the cabinets” and he got major skritching all the time I was trying to figure out what was wrong with the coffee mill. He walked back and forth, purring because I was “skritching” his chest, ears, and head, purring because I was opening all the cabinet doors, one by one so he could examine each one for “mousies”, purring because he knew at the end of this routine there was either ‘nip or Greenies treats! Cats!

Tail high…

…Andy hopped on the recliner footrest…

…and…

 …gave me the look that told me…

…he was there for important kitty business: his morning kitty bath!

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It seems I actually set up my new television to bring me my Spectrum channels by Wi-Fi instead of cable box. That means I should be able to reduce my Spectrum bill to just the Internet. Wonder of wonders! So typical of me – freak out over new technology, then get it right without knowing I did! Whew! Now, maybe I can work out how I speak out to my television to change channels or whatever else it can do. Magically, too, the new television can be controlled with exactly one remote! 

Andy just had a zoomies session, then he stopped by to see me. Dust bunnies on his side….

Good grief!

I don’t know where he got filth on his face, but it’s somewhere I haven’t been in a long time! What a mess!

The new television is a mystery to Doug, so he’s been trying to avoid learning how to operate it till he’s in better humor. Says Doug, “I don’t need the fancy crap. I just want to watch my familiar programs on the familiar channels.” Seems he ordered some highly specialized stream-ready piece of technology he truly doesn’t appreciate.

Inevitably, Andy ends up on the television stand, a favorite perch. Being obsessively aware of any changes in his world, Andy notes the tangled mess under the stand is more tangled than usual and…

…thinks it might require a cat investigation! Andy knows he’s the only cat in this household…Doug tells him so all the time! “Yer the cat, Andy!” says Doug, just like that! And a proper cat examines all changes, obsessively.

Only thing down here are dust bunnies! Andy’s curiosity sated, he…

…heads over to that place Doug hides the kitty toys. It’s a mess, too, but it’s a familiar one.

Andy respects the walking stick, even though all I have to do to stop him in his tracks is touch him with it. It must be magic! LOL!

This sad face is Andy before I put eye drops in his eyes and smear the hyperthyroidism goop in his ear. Quelle tragédie!

This sad face is after Andy’s been medicated. This is the time I reassure him he’s been a very good kitty and the ordeal’s over for 12 more hours. He truly has been an exceptional kitty while I give him his twice-daily doses. He tries to avoid me but doesn’t have to be wrapped in a towel to restrain him.

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People who follow the travails and glories of Andrew deserve to see he is doing well just now, even though he hate, hate, hates medicine time. I can’t imagine how good he can be. Yes, he turns his head when the eye drops are about to drop into his eyes, but it is easy to position his little pumpkin head so the drops hit their marks. Likewise, the hyperthyroidism goop is easily applied inside his ear. Andy truly is a good little kitty!

Andy’s blood pressure is high-ish still, but more than 50 points lower than last time. Whew! His hyperthyroidism is in check.

I don’t get it since the eye drops knocked the pressure down the first time, yet his eye pressure this time was high. Rebound?

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My unofficial “measure” of Andy’s state is he is generally feeling better because he is more playful. He also shows more interest in his surroundings. I feel more comfortable with how he is!!