If you read "the dingos next door have my baby", then you know about the crisis in my little household this weekend. Chloe, my cat, escaped and was gone for a week, and we got a note that said she was safe, but with no details. I didn't know whether to trust the note writers and relax, or keep looking and worrying. Mike and I ended up doing the latter.

Now for those of you who think I overreacted, I guess I did. Thankfully, I have enough sense not to throw fits despite my inner combustion, so I vented in my post, rather than hunt the people down in a frenzy or yell at Mike. Now, this is why I keep pets: The idea that, no matter how miserable I am or how FUBAR my life is, at least my cat/dog/poison-dart frog is well-cared for, safe, and comfortable, that idea is a big part of what keeps me sane. So when Chloe was lost and it was freezing outside and there were big dogs running loose in the wooded lot behind the apartment complex, I was pretty frantic. I don't believe that housecats can truly take care of themselves in the wild.

Today the people who had her this whole time brought her back. They live in C-304, and Mike and I live in E-304. This is weird: The night she went missing, these people opened their door, and she raced into their apartment. I guess she went to the wrong building---though she had the apartment right. So they took her with them on vacation in their RV. They took excellant care of her and I feel dopey for calling them "nutjobs", but no harm done. Mike and I will get them a little gift to say thank you, and they want to cat-sit whenever we're out of town.
So we all lived happily ever after.

I've been coming to RinkWorks for 18 months, and only recently became involved in RinkChat and the Forum. As I said before, I'm not much of a chatroom person, and I guess I'm still not. Typed conversations are too frustrating--gestures, facial expressions, and body language make up too much of how I express myself. I also feel restricted by not seeing you. I will still post in the forum, however. It was nice meeting all of you.

--Jez"killer of fatted tuna"zika