A Sad, Sad Tuesday.

I left early for work and stopped at the 24-hour Food Land to get some more mayonnaise, some lettuce, and some ham chunks for my bean soup.

The vet called me just before 9:00 a.m. She said when she got in Scruffy was unresponsive. She got him moving, but then he started having seizures. She said, “I know he’s a fighter, but I think it’s time.” I told her to put him down. She asked if I wanted her to wait until I got there to be with him and I told her “No, I don’t want him to suffer. Put him out of his misery. I’ll come get him later.”

My boss had overheard the conversation and told me to take the rest of the day off and leave (I had told her yesterday what was going on). I told her no, I’d didn’t want to. I’d wait until lunch and then go.

So, I did. I let Jake know and that was hard.

When I got there, the helpful technician who billed me out said, “I couldn’t believe he didn’t make it. When I left last night, he was standing up and drinking water.” I know she was trying to be kind, but it didn’t help.

They reduced my bill about $250.00 from yesterday's estimate, which I appreciated and I paid the remainder. Then they brought out Scruffy, wrapped in my yellow blanket and in the cat carrier. I asked them to tell the vet I appreciated her efforts. They said they would and I left.

I cranked the radio up too loud and drove home. I told myself it was because Scruff always liked me turning on the radio when I cleaned the house but I think it really was to distract myself.

Now, I had been thinking about the obvious problem. How the hell can I bury him? We’re about to have our fourth polar vortex and the ground is covered with snow and probably frozen three or four feet down.

I thought about cremation, but since I don’t believe in it myself, I figured he might not either (who knows?) I wanted to bury him next to Mouse, his longtime buddy buried in front of the St. Francis statue.

When I got home, the garbage man hadn’t come yet. So, I hustled. I stuffed as much of the frozen food in the small chest freezer in the garage into the fridge freezer. The rest of it I just threw into the garbage can. Then I took Scruffy and laid him reverently in the freezer. I’ll keep him there until the ground thaws. I owe him that. Then I’ll wash out the freezer and put it out for the garbage gremlins. That’s the best I can do.

I put the damn cat carrier out there as well, and eventually the trash guys picked everything up.

I sat down, had a good cry, and then took a nap.

I woke up at 4:30 p.m. I took the Dutch oven out of the fridge and started to warm up the bean soup. I removed the ham hock and the bay leaf and threw in the ham chunks. I let that warm up while I watched the news.

I felt fidgety, so, I went out in the garage and bent one of the pipe hangers. I came back in and put it on the dishwasher pipe. Then I attached it to the wall. I hooked up the ground for the dishwasher to the pipe.

Then I put together a connector and an end cap. 

I stuck that in a bucket. I got a flashlight to check for leaks, turned the shut-off on and there was nothing. I left it on to give it a 12-hour test.

When I was finished, I ate some soup. I let the rest cool and put the Dutch oven in the fridge. I realized (albeit a bit too late) I have nowhere left to freeze it.

I watched NCIS and then half of NCIS Los Angeles.  I went out in the kitchen to get a glass of water to take my night pills and stepped my yellow “footie” socks into water! Damn! I grabbed the flashlight and looked. None of the SharkBite fittings were leaking. So, I switched the kitchen light on and found the bucket was overflowing. I apparently had not secured the end cap tight enough on the fitting I put on the line. Dumb…

I used up three bath towels to clean up the mess. I wated the rest of my show and then went to bed.