I don't handle stress well. I either overreact or underreact or do something totally goofy like phoning Mayor Bill Clarkson in the middle of a City Council meeting. Actually I didn't intend to call Bill but my auto dial dialed his cell phone number by mistake.
I used to attend all of the Council meetings, but I haven't since I started writing a blog instead of covering news. I almost forgot there is a City Council meeting tonight. There are some important things on the Agenda like approving the plans for the Library renovation and the bicycle overpass on Bollinger Canyon Road. I attended one of the public workshops on this and it might be interesting to see which design is chosen.
But I'm going to stay home and watch The Voice. I've had a stressful day, mostly caused by my own overreaction to one of my cats. This is the cat that almost died in May of 2013. Now whenever she hides or behaves like something is wrong, I go into a panic that she's relapsed into that near-death condition.
She was hiding in my bedroom closet since Saturday night. When I would try to get her out of the closet, she would run under my bed. One of the other cats, maybe two, were bullying her, so I took them out of the bedroom and only let the one cat she got along with in there.
She would come out of the closet and lie on the bed with the friendly cat, but ran back into the closet when I am into the room. So I tried to grab her at 2:30 this afternoon. That was a big mistake. She scratched my arm and bit my hand. Stupid me I should have worn the gardening gloves I have for this purpose.
So I phoned a couple of Safe Cat volunteers and left messages for them to come over when they got home. I also called Animal Control and reported a cat bite. They said they would send a field worker over.
By 5:30 pm I had not heard from the Safe Cat members or the Animal Control person, so I called my neighbor Sally. Sally came over and tried to get Cinnamon out from under the bed. We were going to put her into a cat carrier so I could take her to Bishop Ranch Vet Center if necessary.
Instead Cinnamon ran out the bedroom door and went under a chair in the Dining Room. She seemed to be fine. She wasn't hiding. Sally left and I tried to call Animal Control to tell them I didn't need them to come. I was on hold for about half-an-hour and got a couple of "call waiting bleeps." I tried hitting the switch hook but that didn't connect with the bleeping caller; so I held on until Animal Control answered.
I told the Animal Control person my cat was OK now and they didn't need to come. She said the cat would have to be quarantined for 10 days because of the bite. She said it is the law, if the skin is broken the cat must be quarantined for 10 days.
I said she didn't need to be, but she said if I didn't do it I could be charged with a Misdemeanor. I asked if Cinnamon had to be taken to Martinez, and she said "No," she had to be kept in a cage in the house. I was relieved because I have a two level cage for my cats when they are sick or need to be in a place where I can easily get to them. I will put Cinnamon in there. Now that she's acting friendly again, I should be able to get her in there tonight.
It was now about 6:30 and I wanted to phone the two Safe Cat members to let them know they didn't need to come over. I spoke to one who just got home and hadn't played the message yet, so there was no problem telling her to ignore it.
I was going to phone the other Safe Cat member but I know she usually doesn't answer her home phone. I looked in the Directory on my home phone and picked a number listed as Wireless Caller, which I thought was her cell number. It turned out to be Bill Clarkson's number and he answered it on the Dais during the Council Meeting. Ooops.
I will correct the numbers in my phone directory with the right names on them. I hope the Council Meeting goes well. I'm just too tired and ditzy these days to go to the meetings, and the Voice is on now.