S.R. Wild: Artist and Graphic Designer

Cellphones, a Car, and a Cat

Last Friday, I spent the day running around going to appointments and doing errands. The major things were to get Magpie’s oil changed and take my car to her first vet visit… no, the other way around.

Maybe it’s because I don’t drive much anymore, only once or twice a week and usually on the weekends or late at night, but there seemed to be an inordinate amount of dumb-asses driving around while talking on their cellphone. Grrrr, when are they going to make it illegal in Vermont? I even saw some idiot riding a bike while talking on his cellphone, swerving all over the narrow lane. People, what conversation is so fucking important that you’re willing to risk injuring yourself and/or those around? Pull the fuck over to talk!

I don’t have a land line, so all I have is a cellphone. I rarely use because I seldom make or receive calls, which is another story. When I do use it, I don’t do all the things that annoy me: talk while driving, talk loudly around others, have one that constantly rings an obnoxious tone or song loudly, or text (I’ve only ever texted a few times) around others when I could be having a conversation.

OK, I had to get that out. I feel better now.

Magpie’s vet visit went well. Although, she didn’t like getting her nails clipped or the knotted clump of hair on her chest shaved off. It took two of them to hold her and they had to resort to some blindfolding in the back room to finish the job. I really didn’t like seeing her being bothered like that, and when they took her in the back, I waited in the lobby, worrying.

I talked to the vet about her, ahem, weight issue. She weighs about 13 pounds and has a generous belly. She suggested I switch her to wet food that doesn’t contain any grains — basically the Atkins Diet. So, after the vet, I bought a variety of food that doesn’t contain grains. It’s a little more expensive but it’s worth it. Because of the wet food, I’ll also have to be more aware of her teeth. Luckily, Magpie lets me brush them.

At the vet, I flipped through a book about cats and I think Magpie is a Norwegian Forest Cat. I was surprised to learn that they are kittens until age four. That makes sense because Magpie is 1 to 2 years old but acts like a kitten.

As for my car, it didn’t do so good. It’s fine now, but I had to spend more than I planned to make it fine.

Noise Complaints

Tonight, for the second time this week, my neighbor pounded on my door and said, “Can you turn it down?” The thing is, I’m not blasting music; no, I’m listening to music or the radio at a reasonable level — if I had it any lower, I wouldn’t hear it. Living in an apartment, a little noise is expected; there are people living near you, people make noise, and their schedules are different.

I know all to well how ridiculously thin the walls are in this building — you can hear people breath, which is why I switched my bedroom with my workroom. The only times I’ve complained was when the couple next door screamed and threw things at each other all day and another guy, also next door, had loud drunken parties until 4 in the morning. If I was doing something like that I could understand. I’m sorry, listening to NPR at a low volume at 12:30 AM on a Saturday night doesn’t warrant a pounding on my door and a pissy attitude, blaming me for not being able to sleep. The last time she complained, I was listening to music, again, at a low volume at 9 o’clock at night and she said she was studying — go to the library.

It’s odd, after putting up with four different noisy neighbors in the apartment next door (I should have complained more), now I’m the one getting complaints. I’m not a loud person by any means and I’m respectful to others (I often wonder why I bother), but this is ridiculous. She’s lived next door since August or September, I’m not doing anything different or louder since then, so why is she complaining now? Is she going to call the cops next? Should I complain that I can hear her loud, gas-guzzling, pseudo-monster truck over my music?

I need to move.

My Weekend Broke

On Friday night, my voice started sounding raspy. When I woke up on Saturday morning it was even raspier, my throat was soar, and I didn’t feel so hot. I did what I usually do when I start feeling sick: I ignore it and go about my day. Later in the afternoon, when I got home, I started working on a few things, but I was exhausted and feeling feverish so I took a nap.

I woke up a couple hours later when my phone rang. I answered it, but no words came out at first. When they did I didn’t recognize them nor did the person on the other end because the caller asked if I was there. I laid back down, stared at my walls (which are covered with many interesting things), and feel back asleep. A hour later my phone rang again and the same thing happened except I sounded worse. Even though it was only 8 o’clock I decided to call it day and went to bed, but first, I turned off my phone. Actually, I slept on the couch with my clothes on and I didn’t haven’t to turn off my phone, anyone who would have called already had. I woke up this morning feeling a bit better.

Seems like I’ve been sick all year. I was sick with the flu or something for the first week and half of January and now this cold. Ugh, this better be it. I’ve got work to do.

It sucks because I had a lot planned for this weekend: go to a concert, snowboarding, work on redesigning this site, and other things. All I accomplished was checking out some of Vermont 3.0, walking around, looking at books and magazines at the bookstore, and some research for some projects I want to do. I also did a lot of thinking (I’ve had a lot on my mind lately) while I laid on the couch, staring at my walls. Which was actually nice because one thing I thought about made me feel better. Things will workout eventually as long as I’m patient. Luckily, I’m very patient; I can wait years. The best things are worth waiting for. If things don’t workout, why waste time worrying about something that’s out of my hands. Hmm, maybe it’s the fever that’s making me think uncharacteristically positive.

That’s my busted weekend. I hope everyone else’s was much better. I’m going to stare at my walls some more.

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