A Crazy Cat's Life

Every time a new semester rolls around, I get a sense of dread.  Students, unfortunately, have been getting worse over the years.  Whether it is due to the effects of standardized testing from No Child Left Behind or the growing sense of entitlement seen with Gen Y and the Millennials, teaching just hasn't been as much fun any more and every semester I wonder "why the hell am I doing it again?" Don't get me wrong, the kids at Rural College and Inner City College are good kids but they lack a lot of the critical thinking skills my students used to have and I am seeing more cases of the "but why didn't you give me the A?  I tried so hard!"  Heck, I quit the Rich Kid's College because I couldn't take their crap any more.  When a majority of students don't even bother trying and then whine to the Department Chair or Dean about their Fs, it is just not worth it. However, today I got an e-mail from one of my former students from Rick Kid's ...

Bailey is doing so much better.  She is scutching for food, jumping up on our bed under her own energy, is purring madly, and even gave me nose kisses.  She still is very weak and has some anal leakage (due to the fact that she is still weak?).  The latter I can live with as long as I still have my Bailey Baby and she is happy.  She definitely has the quality of life that I want as she really does seem to be content and even did the "Butinsky" routine this afternoon when Bear and I tried to cuddle.  As I said: guarded optimism.

My little Bailey Baby isn't doing too well.  Last week we had to rush her to the vet as an emergency as she was struggling to breathe.  After a series of x-rays, the vet noticed a mass in her lung cavity as well as a collapsed left lung.  This meant one of two things:  1) Bailey had a form of pneumonia which was due to the collapsed lung, or 2) Bailey had cancer which caused her lung to collapse.  Because of her advanced age--she is 15+ years old--the vet was leaning more towards the latter.  However, she decided to treat her with a long-acting antibiotic and see how she would do. Thankfully, she responded well to the treatment but she's still no where near 100%.  Each day she is making small progress, a little bit more food here, using the litter pan there, walking down the stairs to get to food, etc.  However, we are being guardedly optimistic.  If, and that's a big if , it's just a collapsed lung with an infection there really is no fix....

It's rare for me to do a two part post in the same day but while both are related, they really are separate.  The first was a tribute to Robin Williams while this one is about depression. I literally got into an argument with an acquaintance today over how "cowardly" and "selfish" Williams was by committing suicide.  It got so bad that I almost hit "unfriend" and removed that person from my Facebook life.  However, as we are all allowed to have our own opinions I figured I would share mine here. Suicide is not "cowardly," "selfish," or a "sin worthy of damnation."  Depression is a real illness and unless you have been there you cannot fully understand it.  There is an old Sioux prayer which states "Oh Great Spirit, keep me from ever judging a man until I have walked a mile in his moccasins." I have suffered from Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) for over 17 years now.  Wow. It's hard to believe it has bee...

The apparent suicide of Robin Williams has really hit me hard in the last few hours.  He was a great comedian and actor and a good spirit who brought joy to millions of people over the years.  Why his death has hit me so hard is why I am sitting here writing a blog post at 4am. I remember Williams going back to the late 1970s--yes I'm that old--when he first appeared as the alien Mork on Happy Days .  [Now how many of you remember the fact that Mork made his first appearance on that show?  I'm such a wealth of useless information.]  I loved watching Mork & Mindy and loved going "nanu, nanu" to all of my friends at the time.  While I never had the opportunity to watch him perform live, I had seen quite a bit of his standup over the years on HBO specials, of which his "LIVE on Broadway" from 2002 was my favorite.  His earlier work was plagued with tales of drugs and alcohol, which seemed fitting for the late 70s/early 80s, but he had more mature c...

Why did I decide to go back to grad school?  Ah yes...because I'm INSANE. Seriously, though...like two Master's degrees weren't enough, now I'm going for a third.  At least I hope this one will land me a full-time job once I graduate as my student loans will be in the six figures by the time I'm done.  Ugh. I am currently going to Rutgers as they have a phenomenal Social Work program.  Also, I figured being an in-state student would work out the best for me financially.  They charge $662 a credit for in-state grad students, which considering the cost of college these days really isn't a bad deal.  However, I did not look at the fine print.  I signed up for their 100% online program which charges a rate of $1,200 a credit.  How I missed this is beyond me, but I finally realized the difference when I got my first bill last fall.  Still, my loan was covering the cost at the time so I figured the cost was worth the convenience. Fast forward...

Yes, I am alive.  I've been thinking of starting up my blog all the time but time constraints have always been an issue with me.  I do miss writing though and I also miss the community of bloggers.  Don't worry.  While I'm not commenting on your blogs, I'm definitely reading them.  I get much enjoyment out of them, especially those devoted to the kitties. A lot has happened in the past year.  I got into an Masters of Social Work program at a state university that is driving me insane.  It has more to do with the cost of the program--something I'll get into later--rather than the education itself.  It is an online program so I can work it into my crazy schedule.  I am enjoying myself tremendously, though, as I love the material and feel like I'm making a difference in the world.  I just hope I make enough when I graduate to pay off all of my student loans.  LOL. I am also teaching at three colleges now instead of two.  I'm s...