1. Mowed front lawn.
2. Discovered 2 small zucchini growing in the garden (!) and picked a pepper.
3. Primed, caulked nail holes and painted the sunroom wall above the windows.
4. Spoke to M., the other person in my dept. who was laid off when I was. I think he took it harder than I did. He took a week's "vacation" to adjust to the news and is only now doing the unemployment filing and COBRA signup. He was taken by surprise and has to worry about healthcare for a wife and 2 autistic children. He was also upset when he saw his job being advertised online.

I learned via email that I was "accepted" as a website writer for an outfit called www.examiner.com. They have different versions of this in major cities across the country. Basically, you write 200 to 300 word articles on whatever you feel you're an expert in, but it must be localized to your city/region and your payment is based on traffic and click-throughs. You're supposed to do your own site promotion via twitter and other social media sites.

I decided not to do this after seeing they would not cite any estimated earnings amounts in the form email i received. I suspect it's extremely low pay that mostly appeals to people who aren't professional writers and who get a kick out of seeing their name and photo on a website. I'd do just as well writing for my own blog (not this one, I have 2 others) as a way to showcase my writing for any prospective employers.

I read some of the other writers' pieces, and i wasn't especially impressed. So much for that.

My phone was just ringing off the hook today. Dad called, mom called (3x), H. called, M. called, the vet called, MetLife called. There's something about a ringing phone that stresses me out. Maybe becus it's so loud. It only rings in one place, but it's either on or off, no volume control.

Today I got a relatively early start and headed for:

1. Lutheran Church Fair: There are tons of church fairs around here, but for some reason I'm partial to this one, maybe because i was raised as a Lutheran, although I don't practice now. The old guy with all his dirt-cheap houseplants (no pun intended) was there, and even though I don't NEED a houseplant, I paid all of $1 for a nice jade. Jade is one of my favorites; i used to have one the size of a small bush, but the branches became so heavy I was afraid they'd break, so i "pruned" some and ended up killing the plant, which was about 20 years old.

So I bought one jade and was tempted to buy 4 or 5 astilbe (also for $1 each), but i reminded myself I am UNEMPLOYED.

It was clear the man and his wife were dividing houseplants and some outdoor plants to sell them and while I wanted to contribute more to his income, I really couldn't. I find myself feeling protective and warm feelings toward any old people I meet, i think because i was very close to my grandparents. I really feel for older people. They are so vulnerable with increasing health concerns, frailty and fixed income.

After the church fair, I stopped at Xpect Discounts to pick up a 3 lb. bag of organic Gala apples for $3. I was alerted to this find by my mom.

After that, I made a quickie stop at Wal-Mart to get an accordion style folding clothes drying rack. I have one, but i wanted another to accommodate more clothes. Now that I've had Lyme twice, I don't like walking thru the grass in the back yard to the clothesline I have there, as i invariable drop wet clothes on the lawn, and sometimes the hanging clothes brush into shrubs I have and i'm always paranoid about more ticks. The racks are better becus i can put them in my driveway.

After Wal-Mart, i went to the facility where they were accepting household hazardous waste. I had a bag of some old fertilizer, car paint, wallpaper stripper and some window glazing compound.

After that, I met my 2 friends, V. and B., at the mall for coffee. Well, they had coffee, i was good and didn't buy anything. We had a good talk. They were mostly being supportive and encouraging of me on my new unemployed status with lots of tips and advice, though they've both been out of f/t work since last December. Even the freelance work is hard to find, they say.

I only stayed with them an hour as i wanted to get back in time for my town's annual health fair. My takeaway of goodies this year was 2 toothbrushes, 2 small tubes of toothpaste, 4 rolls of dental floss, 2 apples, 1 rubber grip for opening jars, 2 granola bars and about 5 pens. I was also shanghaied by a politician; he was nice, but i won't be voting for him.

I am still feeling tired from my illness, and V. at the mall was very sick with her own cold, so i will just take it easy for the rest of the day.

My laundry is hanging out to dry. I hope to make granola later in the day, or perhaps some apple crisp with those gala apples i just bought.

I'm having a little trouble adjusting to so much unstructured time. I end up bopping from one task to another and never really accomplishing much.

Today was a very low-energy day. I didn't sleep well last night, plus I feel like I'm not completely over my cold and I'm feeling tired. I was so warm this a.m., i actually thought i still might have a fever, but i checked, and it was normal.

All I did today was this: retired friend, a new one, the woman i've cat-sat for for several years now, came over and we did a long walk on local back roads. She's on the Conservation Commission in town so she enjoys going places she hasn't seen yet. We live in a town that's very large in terms of square miles, and really spread out, the largest in the county.

After the walk, she spent another hour so at my place digging up a bunch of pachysandra for her garden. I have so much of the stuff, i could supply an ARMY with as much pachysandra as they need. We talked a lot, and that was nice, but i still felt like i was dragging and i noticed i had a runny nose and a bit of my cough when we were walking.

M. will be returning for some sedums and blue milkweed i also offered her. I was talking about my fledgling job search and that I've been hearing a lot about age discrimination, although I personally have never experienced it. M. said the nicest thing, that i didn't look 50 at all and could pass for being 10 years younger. That sure made me feel good.

I got the info on my COBRA rates in the mail today. Without the federal subsidy, I'd be paying $495 a month, not including dental/vision. With the subsidy, I pay just $173 and that price is good for 9 months. I plan to save money by not opting for the dental and vision coverage since i was just at the dentist and don't usually have a need for anything other than a cleaning, and i just had my eyeglasses upgraded this spring, so if i had to, i'd pay out of pocket for my next dental and skip the eye check next year.

When i was in between jobs previously, i had to pay $500 a month, and that was a real killer. It's what prevented me from making a go at freelancing for a longer period of time. The cost of healthcare made self-employment impossible.

So that was really the extent of my day, just the hike and conversation with M.

My builder made a surprise appearance also, and he did a very nice job finishing up my sun room. He insulated and then enclosed the wall above the new windows with vertical 6 inch wide boards which i'll be painting white, maybe tomorrow if i feel up to it.

As soon as i know for sure i'm over my illness, i want to get into a regular exercise routine. I have no excuses now (!) and i see no reason why i can't walk 45 minutes a day, 5 days a week.

i'm not expecting miracles, but i did apply for 3 writing jobs today. One i applied for mainly becus it's in a nearby town and would be a better commute for me, but I'm pretty sure the pay (writing RFPs for the relocation industry) would be lower than I want. Another job was editing oil/gas reports for oil/gas analysts and would pay quite well, altho commute would be about 50 minutes. The third looked kind of interesting (mostly website copy and managing a forum, blogs on a particular health-related subject), tho commute would be about 50 minutes as well but top end of their pay range, which they disclosed, would be a significant drop ($12K) from what i was making in my last job.

I also spent some time browsing about a dozen job sites and setting up the auto email job alerts. As you might guess, there's not an awful lot of jobs. Many of the jobs I'd be interested in are clustered along the CT shoreline and due west, entailing a more than 45 minute commute. Or they're too far north of me, in the Hartford metro area, another hour or so ride. I'm not applying for jobs with a longer than 45-minute commute, it's just too much, especially since in this area, a north/south commute is a slow clog of cars and it's not via an interstate, it's all back roads.

Had my gyno appt. this afternoon.

For dinner I used up the rest of my homemade pesto sauce over pasta with sauteed onions and Brussels sprouts. Pretty good, but i'm way too hooked on pasta, and my waistline is showing it.

I have to get into a regular exercise schedule now that i have so much free time, but each day seems to involve something different, so i haven't set anything up yet.

The goal would be minimum 45 minutes of walking 5 days a week. There's no reason why i can't do that now, at least thru November.

Last night H. and I saw The Proposal for $2. It was much better than i thought it would be, mainly becus Sandra Bullock is such a good actress; it had some very funny parts in it. H. invited herself over for dinner, but no biggie cus she also brought dinner! (Homemade chicken soup, which i'd expressed a craving for, hence the self-invitation).

Now that I'm out of work, I, too, can be a bum, each and every day.

Having someone to tell about the day's activities somehow makes me feel more accountable.

So, umm, let's see.

I made a trip to the landfill.

I returned for a refund some drinks my mother bought me when i was sick that i didn't like.

I stopped at the new health pet store to see if i could use my free coupons there. (I can't.)

I went to Costco. Ran into mom!

Mowed the front lawn.

Notified a few more people I'm again available for freelancing. Tweaked my Linked In profile still more.

I was very upset/hurt to see an ad for a copywriter position at my company posted the day after I was laid off. It sounded very similar to what I did except it combined some promotional writing and direct mail stuff with other writing I did. It appears they wanted to combine 3 different functions in 1 position. Apparently they thought I wasn't up to the task. No one asked me if i would or could do promotional type writing. (I certainly can.) I was assured several times that their letting me go wasn't performance-related but due to "restructuring." I guess they want new blood. I also saw an ad for a web designer, although they let go a designer when they let me go. It all makes me feel a little depressed.

Well, here's Cat in a Basket.




Cat in a Basket posing.


Cat in a Basket smiling.

Today was a pretty low-activity day. I put in the storm door windows for front and back door as it was feeling rather chilly.

I vacuumed upstairs and downstairs.

I started reading one of my book club books.

I worked on my Linked In profile and wrote a recommendation for a colleague, who will do the same for me.

I roasted the rest of my garden potatoes and acorn squash, along with the sole zucchini that resulted late int he season and some breaded cod filets.

I watched my favorite cooking show on Ch. 13. (Lidia).

I swept the driveway and pulled weeds just before dark.

That's about it.

So now that I lost my job and will make no more 401k contributions for the year (that sucks), i wanted to see the total i was able to sock away for retirement in just the past 1 year, 9 months i worked there.

2008 401k: $7,269
2009 401k (with catch-up): $11,692
Note: They froze our salaries in 09, so i was able to boost 09 contributions on the same salary as i had the year before.

2008 IRA: $5,000
2009: IRA $5,350 (not fully funded)

Total for 1 year/9 months: $29,311

Not bad, I don't think. I'M GLAD I STARTED OFF EARLY IN THE YEAR MAKING THOSE CATCH-UP 401K CONTRIBUTIONS.

Question for you: I'm $650 short of fully funding my Roth IRA for 2009. Am I crazy for wanting to fund it even with the loss of my job? Especially now that i lose the 401k catch-up opportunity for the rest of the year, and if i don't max the IRA out, I'll lose that opportunity for good as well. I'll still have next year's IRA to fund, and the year after, etc., but the special catch-up IRA contribution is a great opportunity to, well, catch up and put more of your money in that oh-so-nice tax-deferred bucket.

Should I do it? With the $9,000+ I'll be getting as a final payout from employer plus unemployment covering about 90% of my Super Frugal Lifestyle expenses, I anticipate being able to "survive," ie, pay all my bills, for a full year without dipping into savings or my emergency fund...at all.. You might say that is the challenge I'm setting for myself: to live one full year on unemployment (if need be, but assuming the worst), my severance and any freelance income I earn. Note to self: You still owe Ralph the builder $2,076, you yo-yo. And sometime this fall/Winter, i Will have to spend $700 for 4 new tires.

My bare minimal monthly expenses are a little over $2,000, say about $2,300; unemployment will cover $2,176. As mentioned before, it means I must cut out all eating out, entertainment (I already canceled Netflix), clothing purchases and gifts, plus mortgage prepayments and retirement savings. Sorry for repeating what i've said already, but i'm super focused on what i need to do.

All that being said, I do have my half-brother's wedding coming up in October and I had planned on giving them cash: $100. So I'll have to immediately break my own rule about gifts, but you have to understand, weddings in my family come once every several decades. There are 4 of us kids, and this is the first marriage! I think he's about 39.

I feel a good sense of achievement today becus i was able to email out my carefully crafted note to former freelance contacts. Not all of them, but to 5 key sales managers who oversee offices of 50 odd agents each. I imagine the agent count is a lot lower now with the real estate market being what it is, but things are picking up anyway, so I feel very hopeful that with just a little bit of freelance work from people who seemed to like me very much in the past, I'll do ok.

On Monday I'm going to call my contact at the focus group company to see if I qualify for any focus groups. Two or three hours of giving your opinion = $100 cash. It was harder when i was working to find a focus group that met at a time convenient to me, mainly early evening, but now it doesn't matter if it's daytime, so here's hopin'.

I'm feeling much better from being sick and may even vacuum tomorrow. The place is a mess.

I picked up 2 books at the library for 2 different book discussions coming up in October. I will return to volunteering at the food pantry week after next....they'll be surprised to see me.

Got excellente news from the pharmaceutical company that makes the Copaxone i take for my MS. they started a special discount program where they reimburse your co-pays up to $50 a month. Even people with insurance can participate. I enrolled months ago but was told my mail order drug provider didn't participate. Anyway, my co-pays with the insurance are just $20 a month, but unless i misunderstood the rules, I will gladly take them up on it, especially now being out of work. I wonder if the timing of the letter I got has anything to do with my being laid off. I don't think they would have learned so quickly. I'll have to call them Monday to go over how it works again but if it's what i think it is based on previous conversation with them, it would save me $240 a year in co-pays for this one drug.

I'm not sure why or how this helps the drug company; i guess they still get paid by my insurer for the bulk of the drug's cost, so may be that's why. Becus as i understand, a lot of MS people stop using the drug becus no one likes sticking themselves with a needle. (Myself included, but I've now been doing it for an incredible 10 years, 365 days a year.)

Anyway, it's good news that came at the perfect time.

So i got my paperwork from my company detailing the severance. If I sign it (and of course I will) I'll get $8,076, or 6 weeks of severance, which i think is pretty fair considering i worked at this job for a year and 9 months. Add my 5 unused vacation days, and I'll be getting over $9,400, money that I will definitely need to live on in the coming months.

I completed my unemployment claim. The Dept. of Labor is so backed up that the phone hearing that's required to determine when exactly my unemployment benefits start (due to the severance) isn't until Oct. 19.

I am feeling a little better from the flu. The fever is gone and i can actually breathe thru my nose a little, but i'm still pretty tired and low energy. Normally, i would have accomplished a lot more in response to my newfound jobless situation, but I'm still operating at 20% capacity.

I've had a few friends from the office, past and present coworkers, reach out to me, which meant a lot. I'm getting together in a few weeks at the mall for coffee with B. and V. two women who were laid off by the same employer last December. I've joined them a few times before for lunch, so i guess this time i'll be a full-fledged member of the group. It's good to keep in touch and not get too isolated.

Another coworker called and said he'd write a reference for me on Linked In. I'll do the same for him; he's a really good guy.

I've talked to my dad, whose main advice was to get better first before worrying about the job, and to H., who is ready to do some leaf-peeping with me in beautiful Litchfield County when the leaves start to turn. I plan on calling M., too, for a few more walks around town.

My mom already dropped off some food/med supplies yesterday and will stop by tomorrow with homemade soup, some fruit from the farmer's market and the book selection of the local book club so i can join them in their October discussion. I always enjoyed being involved in that group but it was one of many things i had to give up when i was working.

It's such a beautiful day, and beautiful weather forecast for the weekend. My only regret is being too sick to enjoy it, but i guess i'll have ample time to do that this fall.

My next goal is to write that email to my real estate contacts announcing my availability for freelance work once again. This is a great little thing i have in my side pocket, built in contacts with whom i've freelanced for in the past. If I can generate even a little work from that, i'll be quite happy.

Come Monday, I'll begin browsing the usual online sites for jobs and see what's out there.

Thank you for all your encouraging comments. It means a lot.

I don't really feel bad now about the job although i know full well how depressed and discouraged you can become after months of joblessness and very few bites. Been there, done that. But as i face this next challenge, I'm also determined to enjoy this newly found time off, becus having a job always made me feel so time-squeezed. Now i can find time for a few more kayak rides, more time with friends, more time with family. There's nothing wrong with that.

1. There's a little known law concerning flex spending accounts that is working in my favor now. I opted to have $1200 deducted over the course of this year pre-tax from my paychecks ($44 each payroll).

As it turned out, I submitted out of pocket medical expenses for reimbursement for $918, YTD as of today, but only deposited $792 from automatic payroll deductions.

The difference, $126, I do NOT have to pay back. This happened to me once before after a layoff, and i researched it online and it is true.

So I lucked out there.

2. My cats will love my being home more.

3. I can stay up later, and get up later in the morning. (I especially hate getting up for work when it's still dark out.)

4. No more tiring daily commutes, especially this coming winter. No more driving home in the dark, which I also hate.

5. My COBRA health insurance will be subsidized, so instead of shelling out $500 or so a month last time this happened, I estimate I'll only have to pay $263 for COBRA. I'm worried that my costs will shoot up dramatically as of Jan. 1 2010 if they continue this program; i can only hope they will, given the persistent high unemployment.

6. Since I was laid off in 2009, I'll benefit from the higher weekly payouts from Dept of Labor and extended weeks of benefits, should I need them.

7. Since I won't be doing much driving, I hope to defer my new tire purchase ($700 for the ones I want) for a while.

8. I can enjoy the fall foliage season more with friends M., who's retired, and H., who only works p/t.

I'm sitting here sucking on popsicles to try to combat my 99.5 temperature. I tried filing for unemployment but was unable to complete it since i won't get the paperwork about the exact amount i'll get in severance, etc. from my office. They told me on the phone, but i wasn't focusing well.

I already half composed the email I will send to my 5 key real estate industry contacts to let them know I'm available again on a full-time basis. I have continued all along to do work for one agency becus their assignments were pretty sporadic (only 5 this year), but I had to tell the people a long time ago at the other place I wasn't doing freelance at all anymore becus they were really starting to inundate me with work i just couldn't handle working f/t.

I don't know how much the current real estate climate has dampened their need for PR and marketing copywriting, but I have high hopes that will help me get by. If i can earn even a few hundred a month from freelance, that will make a huge difference for me.

I already sent a note to the man who let me go over the phone, telling him how much i enjoyed working with him and that, of course, i was available for freelance work. Never burn bridges.

I plan to make a list of things to do in the near term. Other than what I mentioned, I will also, sadly, have to cancel my Netflix subscription. It's just $5 a month, but I will hold onto my $13 a month cable and i can always rent movies from the library for free.

The problem is that when i checked my Netflix account the other day, there was a message on the screen saying that if i switched payment plans, i could never go back to the 2 a month plan. I guess they want to phase that out. Yet my mother had the same plan and said she got no such message. I'll call and talk to a Netflix rep, as i never really wanted the unlimited DVD plan for $8.99, even if i'm employed. Too much pressure!

I'm unsure whether to take the unemployment benefits gross with no taxes taken out or with taxes deducted so i don't face a big bill at tax time. My calculation of income/expenses was based on taking the full amount from unemployment and i'm tending to want to do it that way. If I'm lucky, i could be working again in April, so a big tax bill then would be less of a problem.

I calculate that, based on CT benefits, I should gross $2,176 a month ($525 a week). That would cover ALL my expenses (including mortgage, property taxes, COBRA, food, healthcare out of pocket, car maintenance, electricity, homeowners insurance, sewer use and loan, gas, ph9one, internet, car insurance, cable TV, water, borough taxes, car tax and dump sticke/

What it would NOT cover is any sort of home maintenance that might arise, heating oil (a season costs $1,443) and of course it assumes I eliminate dining out, entertainment, clothing, bird food (just bought 80 lbs, phew), gifts and Netflix, as well as mortgage prepayments and contributions toward my retirement.

It's those last 2 items I most regret. It means I'll fall behind on my plan to pay off the mortgage in 6 years and retire from f/t work by age 60.

Today was my second day home sick with either a really bad cold or the flu.

I got a call from my boss's boss (my boss is home recuperating from back surgery) about 15 minutes ago. He had an HR person with him on the call.

He said it was no reflection of my job performance but they're doing some restructuring, blah blah blah, and my job is being eliminated as of today.

I am totally knocked out by my cold, so i wasn't really focused, just stunned. I knew this could happen, i just didn't know it would happen today.

I think they said i'd get $5K in severance. I've only been there for 1.5 years. Or maybe $7K. I can't recall now. The HR person is going to overnight me all the paperwork. It sounded like there was a non-compete clause which i'd have to sign to get that money, so that would limit my ability to seek work in the same industry, credit/debt issues, with another outfit, at least for 6 months, i'm guessing.

I guess i can take my time recuperating. I guess i will be able to enjoy the fall colors this year.

I'm stunned and a little angry, but only just a little. More worried about my ability to find another job in the near term. At the same time, I'm VERY grateful i was laid off now, and not in 2010, becus losing the job now means i qualify for the subsidized COBRA and the higher unemployment benefits.

According to my calculations which i'd done ages ago, i could almost live on the unemployment without spending any of my own money, provided i of course stopped my mortgage prepayments and retirement savings. It's too bad those plans to pay off the mortgage will have to suffer while i'm out of work.

I was told i wasn't the only one being laid off, but of course she didn't elaborate. i'm really curious if there's anyone else in my division who was let go.

I'll have to make an appt. with the HR person to go back to the office one last time (preferably after hours) to pick up all my stuff there.

I have already committed to having Ralph close up one wall in the sun room and install new windows in the garage. I am not worried about my short-term survival, just in the long term, how touch it will be to find work.

Big bummer and reality check

Dogwood berries

I had my Sunday dinner (roast chicken, roasted red potatoes from the garden with sweeet potato and broccoli and acorn squash from the garden). There are plenty of leftovers for Monday.


'Autumn Joy' sedum in bloom

Now i'm having a cup of tea and waiting for my mojo to return so i can tackle the back patio garden bed.


Mums

It's filled with strawberries, and I'm afraid I'm going to pull all those berries up. It somehow seems sacrilegious to pull strawberries like weeds, but it looks very messy and they're growing on the patio where I like "neat." Besides, I rarely get any strawberries before the birds do.

You might say that gardening at my place is mostly about fighting back the laws of nature.


Two Little Rascals
(looking out the front screen door)

Today's satisfying accomplishment was painting my mailbox post. It had been stained a long time ago, I think before I moved here. It looks pretty good now. It's black, with a white mailbox.

Yesterday I planted about a dozen garlic for next year's crop.

I also took a rare leisurely drive to check out a new natural pet food store and had a nice conversation with the owners. He gave me a bunch of free samples to try, including dried fish flakes called "Benito," I think. Luther scooped it up, Waldo, no.

Then I went to Agway for some sunflower seed and a pot of mums (see above). Stopped at Stop & Shop on the way home and got $25 worth of sale items, including pasta (my weakness) at .66 a box, 3 kiwi for $1 and 5% off my total order cus they passed out new shopper cards.

I will take 2 days off next week becus i'll be having the time of my life..having my first colonscopy. (The 1st day is the "prep" day when i guess you want to be near a bathroom. The no eating part will be hard; i had to do that when i had surgery.

Yesterday was an uneventful Friday, until my drive home. I was about halfway through my 45-minute commute. As commutes go, it's a pretty good one. It takes as much as 15 minutes to cover 5 miles or so on a car-clogged,4-lane highway with lots of traffic lights, you take the windy back roads through affluent neighborhoods, and then you go around a very scenic and woodsy reservoir. The reservoir is so big that if you're headed north, you either have to go west of the reservoir, or east. It was on the western edge of the reservoir that a cop car was blocking traffic, and everyone was turning around.

I don't know how to get home, i yelled at him, and in truth, even though I've lived in Connecticut for over 20 years, these twisty back roads can be very confusing. Turn around, turn right at the light, then left, he said quickly.

I shouldn't have followed his directions, but i didn't have my county map in the car. It was raining.

I turned right at the light, then left, just as he said and drove for some time before coming out where i started; i had just made a large, oval loop.

For some reason, i chose to continue driving SOUTH, back toward my office, even though i live to the NORTH. I guess, in the back of my mind, i was hoping to find one of the highways, Rt. 107, Rt. 136 or something recognizable. Once you get on one of those twisty roads, you can go for many miles without seeing any directional signs.

As I drove through unfamiliar, albeit lovely, neighborhoods in ritzy Fairfield County, I started getting increasingly upset. I was actually almost in tears out of frustration and still not knowing where the heck i was!

Would you believe, i drove for over an hour longer, only to find myself back at my office???? From there, I knew i could get on Rt. 7, which i normally avoid due to the congestion, but it was one alternate route i knew.

I got home around 8 pm when i should've been home at 6:30 pm Later, i looked at my map and see i could've taken a MUCH SHORTER detour, had i known where to go.

What surprised me was how upset i got at being lost. I kept thinking that if i just kept driving, eventually i'd see something I knew, and the longer i drove without that happening, the more upset i got. I actually had to keep telling myself to calm down or i'd have a car accident, especially since my car tires are in need of replacement and tend to go into a skid when i brake on wet roads.

Jeepers.

For anyone who wasn't around these parts last year this time, a bunch of us entered a challenge to see who could hold off turning on the heat the longest.

There's no special prize if you win, but it's a lot of fun (umm, yeah, right). Let me know if you're in; I'll make a list and try to update it (who's caved, who hasn't) every weekend.

May the best frugalite win!

So, everything's been going great with Waldo. He sleeps with me all night through, wedged against my leg, and he loves being petted. He's come a long way in just a few months.

I had noticed recently that he's doing an awful lot of scratching around his ears, and shaking his head. We're now friendly enough that I could quickly look into his ears, and i saw a lot of black stuff, which tells me he's either got an infection or ear mites.

I still had some leftover Multi-Advantage from when the mobile vet was here to pull his teeth a few months ago. I didn't think i'd ever use it again, since they're both indoor cats, so was planning on giving it to K. But they haven't come up lately, so I still had it.

I took a closer look at the meds and saw that it takes care of ticks and fleas as well as ear mites and lasts for a month.

I felt the cat was just trusting enough now that i could apply it, but it would have to be quick, as he can still be a little jumpy if you make a quick movement or do something he's not used to.

I waited until last night when he was with me on the bed. He seemed very relaxed and was washing himself, so that's when i applied this stuff. I thought it was going on his skin, but i couldn't really lean over him to make sure, i just parted his hair.

Unfortunately, the stuff leaked onto his hair, and he must have felt the liquid running on his skin, becus he bet around to lick it off his back and after just one lick, freaked out at the taste. I got really scared becus HE got scared and worse, was drooling at the mouth.

He was running around the house and I kept trying to follow him to try to wipe the excess stuff off his shoulders but he wouldn't let me touch him.

I read all the mouseprint on the package now and it said it's important to try to keep the cat from licking the spot for at least 30 minutes. They say drooling, vomiting can result from licking it and in fact the test this stuff on kittens in doses 10x the recommended amount and reported convulsions and death. Great stuff.

Although the package said loss of appetite might result as well, i decided to try feeding Waldo strong-tasting tuna cat food to try to help him get the taste out of his mouth. He readily ate it, and I was able to do at least one pass with a paper towel across his back while he ate, but he was now very wary of me.

After that, i eventually got him in a closet and sat in there with him, waiting for him to calm down so i could touch him, but he still wouldn't let me touch him.

I gave up on that and got the cat dancer out, hoping to keep him from licking himself anymore. He actually did play with it a little.

By this time, it was after bedtime, so i went back to bed and was surprised that Waldo jumped up there with me. He still seemed more skittish when i moved my fingers/hand toward him, but he was still willing to lay next to my side.

In fact, i thought it was him i felt wedged against me all night until i felt gentle biting, and i realized it was Luther.

I feb toh cats this a.m. and see that Waldo is under the bed now, not on it, a sign to me he still hasn't recovered.

I feel terrible. He came into the bedroom this a.m. when i was getting up but i heard the sound he made with his mouth when he tasted the stuff the 1st and 2nd time, and then he ran out the room, so he must've tried licking himself again.

I feel helpless; i can't try to wipe any of the stuff off becus he now doesn't trust me near him.

Just a warning to cat or dog owners who maybe haven't had this experience themselves. Make SURE you apply it to the skin, not the fur.