14 editing, telemarketing, father-biter cat, locked out mom-in-law,

07-23-04 Mayatime: 12.19.11.8.7 12 Manik 10 Xul

Things are starting to open up for me. It’s about time! I just got a call from a writer I’ve worked with before about possibly doing TWO BOOKS a year with him for actual money, not just trade or credit. I made 17 appointments at work this week (goal is 6-12) and I get paid per appointment. I went on a job interview for a job I’m highly qualified for, in a building near where my husband works. And supposedly I’m on the short list (1 of 2) for a job I thought I was out of the running for. And I have a new Shamballa student (also for actual money) When it rains, it pours.

I had to go over my parent’s house to help my dad make some phone calls today. We were sitting on the couch and he says, “look at my hands” and his hands are covered in Band-aids and swollen tight up to his wrists. I was horrified; I asked if he’d gotten stung (a long time ago, my then-boyfriend ran his hand through his hair at the beach and a yellow jacket nailed him between two of his fingers and by the time we’d driven home, about 1/2 an hour, his arm was so swollen he had to go to the emergency room). He said no, that he was walking the cat (he walks the cat on a leash like a dog, but doesn’t want another dog--go figure) and Jasper saw “the white cat” (I assume this is a cat who lives near them and not MY white cat) and they wanted to fight. The story becomes confused. “Did the cat bite you.” “No, they didn’t bite me.” “So they just scratched you?” “No, they bit me too.” “Which cat bit you? Did the white cat bite you or did Jasper bite you?” “We didn’t go near the white cat.” “Did the white cat scratch you?” He then does a dramatic impression of a cat scratching and clawing and biting at him, (“like this, like that”) but it unclear which cat. I call his doctor, make an appointment for today, then call the vet and make sure Jasper’s rabies’ shots are good (they are). Dad said more often than not that it was Jasper who bit and scratched him, not the white cat, so I am going with that. I hope I am not making a big mistake. It will suck if my dad gets rabies on top of Alzheimer’s.

On top of this, shortly before I left to meet Will for lunch, his mother comes over and asks to borrow “a phone and water.” For some reason she decided to lock the door when she was going outside to work in the yard. The door wouldn’t shut so she forced it and turns out the night lock was on and therefore she can’t get back inside, even though she had the keys. She couldn’t get through the window so she came over. The whole time I was eating with Willy and helping my father on the phone and getting some version of the cat scratch story and taking the call from the author, she was waiting at my house for the locksmith to call back. (The water was to wash her face and hands.) After almost 3 hours, we located a crowbar in my garage and she pried open the window. The locksmith still has not called back.Now I am off to bring Dad to the doctor, then have dinner with a friend before taking a class with her. Busy day.

The resolution of Dad’s doctor visit: kind of scary in a funny way. Dad’s communication skills are severely lacking and he doesn’t listen to what others say. And the doctor is Korean with a strong accent. I was the middle man. The doctor would say something to my father and ask if he understood. My father would look at me in confusion. I’d tell him that I understand. And so it went. Then I had to tell my mom everything. Basically, because his hand swelled up within 24 hours of the bite, it’s a virulent infection needing special treatment. So the doctor put my dad on some mega-horsepill antibiotics (2 pills twice a day) and gave him a tetanus shot. My father who has given GALLONS of blood to the Red Cross complained mightily about that one little tetanus stick. And of course he had to tell the doctor the story of what happened to him last time he gave blood...my wrists and ankles are queasy just thinking about it...I’ll make it quick...they hit an artery instead of a vein and his blood was spurting...the bruise on his arm was enormous and the Red Cross even CALLED to make sure he was OK a few days later. God, I hate blood stories!

So Dad’s hand was re-bandaged with yards of gauze and tomorrow I have to go over and remove the gauze, wash the wounds with disinfectant, put antibiotic ointment on them, and then band-aids. The washing/antibiotic/bandaids have to be done twice a day (that can be mom’s job after tomorrow morning). And I told Jasper he is a VERY BAD kitty for biting Daddy. He purred. Moron. I told Dad not to take the cat outside the yard anymore. Not like he’ll listen or anything.

My sacred geometry class was fun. One of the other students is a builder and we talked about building some Solfeggio-scale wind chimes.

I feel good. I got that call today about the editing work, I’m doing good at the telemarketing job and I feel confident I am going to get one or both of the jobs I’ve interviewed for lately. It is about time something went my way. (976)