Scooter Sunday #15
Welcome to another edition of Scooter Sunday.
Efficient
Not a day went by that I wasn’t on my scooter. Which means that my car was parked most of the time [except for the days my wife took it to work instead of her truck]. The scooter holds just over a gallon of gas. When I figured my mileage last Thursday, I had ridden 110 miles since the last time I filled up [which was the previous Thursday]. I added 1.07 gallons to the tank. Doing the math, that’s 103 miles per gallon. My car, at best, gets 30 in the city. I normally use mid-grade in the scooter, which is $4.27 a gallon at this time. Unless gas really goes up, it will cost me about $5 a week to fill my scooter. The goal is to only have to fill the tank in my car once a month [which is now $55 per tank]. The weather should be nice through most of September to keep riding my scooter, and part way into October. Not only is that efficient, but it’s also saving me a decent amount of money on gas. Woo Hoo!
The Final Days
Mama cat – just a few weeks ago
Since Friday morning, we have been on cat watch. Our oldest cat, Mama [20 years old last month], has stopped eating and just lays around. It is now Sunday morning and she is still with us, but the time is fading. She has trouble getting up and will lay in the grass for hours without moving. She does not react to cat treats, tuna, milk or lunch meat. We check on her every hour or so, with the exception of during the night, checking on her before we go to bed and when we get up in the morning, although I got up at 5am this morning to get a drink and went out to check her status.
She tries to drink a little bit of water, but it’s all she can do to just stand up without falling over. It is sad to watch her in this state and we know she’s not comfortable, but we are doing what we can to make her last days as good as we can.
That’s all for now
It’s a short one this week, but time with the cat is more important right now. Will post later in the week.
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happy kitty wishes for you… may she go painlessly…
I agree with how great saving gas is…. I filled my Jetta the week after arriving back from the wedding in Tahoe and still have a 1/4 tank left. I am hoping to make it another week or two with out having to fill up… not to mention since riding my bike everywhere I feel better (after the first week that is), I sleep better every night and I have quit spending money on stupid shit I don’t really need anyway. It was really convenient to buy when I was driving, but much less convenient to swing into BestBuy or home depot or where ever. Not to mention I bring my lunch everyday because I can’t really ride my bike to eat in the heat of the day, s i have started eating better as well…
Oh, Marty, I am so sorry about Mama. My thoughts are with you at this time. I thought I was going to lose Izzy earlier this year and it scared me so much.
I remember how it was watching Skunk in his final days back in Sept 2005. Our family was paralyzed. Rott just wouldn’t do anything except with him. His urn is on the entertainment unit above the TV with his collar and tag on it. I prefer to remember the weird funny things Skunk did than the death watch we conducted. It was the last and most saddest part of our lives with Skunkie. Just remember that no matter how heartwrenching this part of Mama’s life is, you have 20 years worth of good memories and much love. *Hugs* to you!
Poor Mama. What a hard time it is to be around a cat when she is that ill. I know you will make her comfortable in her last days, to the best you can. And like Winter said, there are all of those good memories.
*Hugs* and please keep us posted.
tori blaine – Thank you, Tori. Since I posted this entry, she passed on, about 8:30pm.
kris – Wow. I knew your Jetta got great mileage, but WOW. That’s been just over a month. One one tank of gas.
bec – Thanks, Bec. As I mentioned above to Tori, she passed on last night. Losing a cat is hard, especially when you become so attached to them. Glad to hear Izzy made it.
winter – Thanks for your wishes. As I mentioned above (and on Twitter last night), she passed on. She went peacefully. She fought as long as she could. And you are right, 20 years of memories (7 for me) is nice to have.
kilax – Yes, she has had some issues walking with her hind legs in the last six months. Not painful, but a bit awkward. But she was eating great up until Thursday night.
As I mentioned above, she passed on last night. So she is out of any pain. We spent the weekend with her, making sure she was as comfortable as she could be during her last days.
Oh Marty I am so sorry she is gone. 20 is such an incredible age for a cat and she sounds like she had a lot of peace at the end. My oldest cat is 16 now and really slowing down, sleeping a lot in the shade right now too. It’s not such a bad way to go really.
Hugs to you all :o)
Marty and Reba,
I wanted to let you know we are sorry for your loss last night, but also to thank you for many great Mojitos and G&T’s.
penelope – Thank you for your kind thoughts. Our other 3 cats are quite old, too (19, 17 and 15) but are still pretty spry. Mama cat was pretty active up until last Thursday. She just gave it all till the end.
kris – Thank you. Very much appreciated. And no problem on the drinks. It was fun making them. The raspberry mojitos turned out pretty good. I just need to learn how to make more of them in less time.
That is true, they are pretty slow…. You should consider a 5 gallon bucket and weed eater to mix them… LMAO… That may be the only way to keep up with demand… LOL… The Raspberry ones were very tasty though…. as were the G&T’s….
I was all set to comment on the scooter, but then I read the cat part and felt really sad. I’m sorry for your loss.
kris – I need to talk to someone at a bar to see how they deal with making multiple mojitos at once for multiple customers. It could help for our next party at the house. Until then, I think I will pre-make at least half a dozen before guests arrive. I can guarantee they won’t be wasted. LMAO.
tori – Thank you for your kind words. It’s sad, but a good long life was lived, especially for a cat.
Every time you post a picture of your scooter, I want one of my own. My bank account is going to hate you.
So sorry to hear about your kitty. I hate losing a loved one.
kapgar – I will take at least partial blame for your soon-to-be depleted back account to add to the scooter pool.
karl – Thank, Karl. Losing a loved one is never easy.
I’m going to start riding the bus. Seriously.
And when we put Nitro down (16yr old American Eskimo) last year, we did it at home the day he wasn’t able to get up, eat or drink. It had been coming for a while, but he hadn’t been in pain until then. I didn’t do a blog post because it’s a little too personal for my self-imposed limitations. I love our vet, because he does house calls for such a need.
whall – Public transportation has boomed here (and everywhere else, too). So have scooters.
I debated blogging about our Mama cat, but when I needed to talk about it, I knew there were other pet owners out here that would understand losing a loved one. We lost our 13 yr old dog Bruno (a blue healer/beagle mix) in 2003 and had to take him to the vet. That was very difficult. Very awesome that your vet does house calls.