The Final ViPod Check, My Fingers and My Eldest Kitty

The final check for the ViPod has arrived!!!

All I have to do now is wait until it clears which will happen tomorrow morning. I've even called ahead to the new Apple Store in my area to make sure they have the 60gb black iPod in stock and they said they did but that I shouldn't wait until next week because odds are they'd be out of them by then. He said, and I quote, "We're going through them like hotcakes."

Meanwhile, my fingers, while still swollen, are much better. Typing is just slightly painful though I still don't like reaching into my computer bag with my right hand for fear that I'll jam it on a pocket. Also the swelling has gone down slightly. Oh yeah, and I can also make a fist.

In personal feline news (how often can you use those four words in a row?) we had a bit of a scare with our eldest/oldest (which do I use?) cat, James last night. He has his special chair that he always sits on and last night when we went to give him his pill we discovered he had literally crapped himself. He's old--very old. 17-years old. But see him not even get up to use the litter box really scared me.

Now, he's got a tumor, and he is very old for a cat, but the pills have been keeping the tumor in check and I've seen cats last to 18 years of age before. I was hoping to get at least another year out of him. On top of his disinterest in moving to crap after we cleaned him up, we put him back in his favorite seat and I noticed he wasn't purring. I tried to get him to pur by scratching his head face and ears, but he just wouldn't do it. This made both me and TheWife pretty upset. James purs at the slightest notice. He's usually also very chatty. He meows all the time, sounding a bit like Lucille Ball after the cigarettes.

Last night, nothing.

We climbed into bed and I got pretty upset thinking that he was not going to last the night. He's too old to climb up to our bed on stilts, so he just hangs out on his chair all night. I really didn't like the idea of him dying alone.

So, I climbed out of bed and sat down on his favorite chair with him and put him on my lap. In seconds he was purring again. In minutes I was sound asleep, although I did wake up every time James stirred. I kept worrying that I would wake to his last breath. I hoped that I would sleep through it.

Finally at 6am I woke up to feel him stir again. As I opened my eyes he was climbing to his feet without too much trouble and then lept to the floor. He moved off to the kitchen. I followed, finding him at the water bowl looking up at me with a look on his face that said: "What?"

I smiled and pat him on his head. He began to drink so I told him goodnight and climbed back into bed.

When we woke up three hours later, he was awake and alert. Before I left for Boba Loca, an Internet cafe where I do all of my paid work my computer, I gave him his pill and he seemed in good spirits.

I still have a feeling he won't be with us for long, but that's OK. My family got him way back in 1988 and I brought him out to LA in 2002. So, I'm generally OK with the idea of losing him, but it's still sad. Knowing that he won't be around is sad, but it is natural, as death is part of life. I just want him to go when he wants. I wish we could all go when we are ready.