Friday, April 17, 2009

R.I.P Phantom 2000- April 17, 2009

Today is a very sad day for me; my cat Phantom died today or possibly yesterday. He didn't show up for breakfast this morning and my parnets couldn't find him. So when I got up we went looking for him, and found him. Curled up inside the loveseat downstairs. He must have died in his sleep. Phantom had a very good life, at least the 8 years he was with me. I adopted Phantom from the Animal Hospital where I shadowed a vet during my junior year of high school. His story was sad and naturally my heart went out to him. His previous owners had abandoned him as their child was allergic to him. So instead of giving him to a friend or to a shelter they gave him to the vet. Where he spent roughly a week listening to all the other animals sick or dying in the back. He had stopped eating and responding to the vets assistants attention. By the time I got there, he had just started eating and head butting (pushing his head into their hands). He was alreaedy neutered, de-clawed and up to date on his shots...I remarked how he was a perfect canidate for adoption, which he was getting prepped for. Something about him stuck at me b/c I went home raving about him and begging to be allowed to adopt him. They called him "the big guy" as he was quite large. At first my parents were reluctant; we already had two cats and a dog. Eventually, I wore them down, signed a contract (one clause being I would drive my brother to school on Mondays for the rest of the school year- I had kicked him out of my car when he began talking about me driving him and his little friends all over- wasn't gonna happen). and adopted Phantom. Phantom was a real sweatheart, very shy and very much a scaredy cat...he jumped and ran at loud noises. If he was on your lap when you sneezed, he would leave scratch marks behind in his hurry to leave. A few weeks after I brought him home, I was typing on my computer talking on AIM, when he suddenly appeared and suprised me by jumping into my lap. He lovedd the sound of the clicking the keys made. Phantom went by Big Guy until he had been with us for a month. He got named during a thunderstorm when I nervously asked mom if I could keep the cat. Mom asked "what cat?" He had been hiding in my room the enitre first "trial" month. Phantom could live with us granted he got along w/ our two other cats; he did- he rarely interacted with them. Sparkle hated him b/c he was my cat and I was her human. Climber was okay with him; an occasional sparing buddy. Phantom was named thus as we never saw him and it was like having a Phantom cat. Menace b/c when he lived in my room he would knock stuff over including water glasses to get me up and feed him. Phantom Menace spent 8 wonderful years as a member of the Noel Family. He was an odd cat; he didn't know how to meow- he had a half/halting meow kinda like me-ow, he drooled- no seriously- he drooled, and he liked to sing. He would sing late at night hoping we would go downstairs and feed him. Food was his favorite thing in the world, besides me....I think. Phantom loved to eat, and eat...and be brushed. I will miss my odd scardey cat. He just turned 12 (or 13) on April 2nd- my made up birthday for him. He didn't suffer from any pain. He just closed his eyes and went to sleep...and didn't wake up. He is being cremated and will be buried in the back garden next to Sparkle, Shadow and Climber. I will always love my big guy....he will be terribly missed.

Thursday, April 16, 2009

New Laptop

I finally got a new laptop!!!! Thanks to working (kind of), and my upcoming Federal Tax refund, I was finally able to purchase a new laptop. I got an HP from Best Buy (who has my old computer getting my data off it). The battery sticks out but the tech at Best Buy told me to charge my battery to 100% and then take it out if I'm plugging my laptop into an outlet. Apparently if you have the battery in and plug into an outlet, it overcharges the battery. This way I am adding a year of life to my laptop. Sounds good to me. Hopefully t/m I will be able to upload my data (photos, proffesional documents, music) and then I will be good to go. I had the geek squad optimize my laptop to get it to run faster, I had this done w/ my desktop and it was great. Right now theres not a whole lot of programs on here so its running pretty fast. Working on getting my product key from Microsoft so I don't have to purchase it again. Other than that I am very happy with my purchase.

Saturday, April 11, 2009

April 2009 Updates

Wow its already April!! Easter is t/m! Oh wow, time has really flown by. Here are some random updates:
* Laptop died a few weeks ago, using parents laptop b/c I can't afford a new one. Hopefully I should be able to buy one in a few more weeks.
*Remember how I was complaining about my insurance? Yea, now I don't have any...I missed one month's payment for COBRA and I'm done. So no health insurance really sucks, working on getting insurance now.
* Job: I have a temp job making flight reservations in a call center. I have survived two weeks of training and have another two to go. This is not a perm job for me; I am actively job hunting and hoping to get a new job before the next two weeks are up. Otherwise I have to give two weeks; as it is right now I can leave asap b/c I'm still in training. Its not the best in the world but its not the worst in the world; it pays and thats important.
* My little brother moved out!!! He is now living in Florissant w/ two other guys. He still comes home on weekends for his job at Ruby Tuesdays. Hopefully he will get a full time job up there soon.
* Attended Truman's Sectionals last weekend; had an absolute blast!! Sigma Alpha, my chapter, got 2 awards!!!! 2 brothers from that chapter also became Railroaders :) Got to see some brothers I haven't seen in forver (Jen G for one), had fabulous time hanging out w/ alumni and active brothers. Can't wait for Spring Service Day at SIUE next Sat :)
* Cardinals baseball season is offiicially in full swing!! The record stands at 3-2. So far I am going to games on May 4th and May 5th (my bday) :) Very excited. Hoping to go to a lot more!!
*Lost my iPod....its somewhere around the house. Hopefully it will show up soon. I know its in the house, its a matter of where in the house.
* Re-painted the garage door and entry doors a nice red. Also re-painted the office- Sahara Sunset. Looks great. Also rearranged the furniture in the office, much better. Can open the window a lot easier. As much as we'd like to take Loki's crate down, we can't- its her safe zone and its nice when we have company and she is too hyper for guests.
Other than that nothing else to report. I'm hanging in there, family is doing great. Hopefully the next time I blog I'll have good news to impart.