Kids and Cats

Dave had his shoulder repair surgery yesterday and I was his ride home.  What used to be a four- or five-day stay in the hospital is now done as an outpatient.  He should have been on clear liquids, but our first stop was for a cheeseburger and fries.  He was hungry!  Driving to West Sacramento, I realized how provincial I've become and how long it is between my trips to The City.  Of course we hit rush hour traffic, and passed a bad accident on the freeway.  I much prefer our country roads.  West Sacramento (west of the Sacramento River and in Yolo County) used to be a small town, known for forty bars and nine "Purple Experience" motels.  West Capitol Avenue used to be a stroll for the local hookers.  This town has done a complete turn-around...new buildings everywhere, new, wider roads, new subdivisions, new shopping centers.  Everything has a fresh, clean look, and I gawked like a country rube as we made a couple of necessary shopping stops.  Maybe I need to get out more...or not!  At any rate, Dave is home safe.  It's hard not to want to hover, no matter how old or big your Kid becomes. 

Without benefit of her whiskers or peripheral vision because of the conehead, Pearl runs around in the bath- and bedroom bumping into everything.  She seems to find it easier to see where she's been than where she's going, and does a lot of backing up.  Frank is still being a snot, but has mostly stopped the hissing and growling.  Now he rushes to take her favorite spots to lay (he never wanted them before), and I swear he smirks at her.  We go back to the vet today.  Frank doesn't realize that one of these days Pearl will be free again, and I think payback's gonna be a bitch.