Boo: 1995-2010

My cat Boo hasn't been feeling well the past few weeks. He had stopped eating his dry food a few months ago and would only eat wet food, and he was constantly hungry. Despite eating multiple times per day, he was still losing weight. I took him to the vet, and he was diagnosed with an overactive thyroid. He started taking medicine twice a day (well, I had to give it to him), and his weight was improving. However, he still didn't seem like himself, and earlier this afternoon he passed away.

Boo wasn't supposed to be my cat. Fifteen years ago, my girlfriend at that time thought her cat needed a playmate. So she went to the shelter and found Boo. She picked him up, and he crawled inside her jacket to snuggle.

Or so she thought. It turned out he was named Boo for a reason. His previous owners had beat him, so he was terrified of everyone and everything. For the first two weeks we couldn't get him to come out from under the furniture. It took two years before I heard him purr for the first time. For whatever reason Boo liked me so when that girlfriend and I broke up Boo came with me.

Boo enjoyed being the only pet for a while, and he later tolerated those pesky dogs I brought home. Boo was fine with any other pet as long as they left him alone, which ruled out puppies and kittens. He was fine once they got older and stopped bothering him.

Boo and I had our share of adventures, like the time he tried to kill me (see Unexplained Injuries) or the time I had a brilliant idea (see That time I tried to give my cat a bath). The house will be much quieter without him.

I wonder if I can use the pool

I was contacted today by an ex-girlfriend from long ago. We dated for several years, owned a house together (with a pool), but it just didn't work out in the end. It was an amicable split, and the house was the only thing we owned together, so we filed all the legal paperwork to get me off the mortgage. Or so we thought.

Recently, she was trying to get a small business loan (I assume using the house as collateral), and the bank sent her paperwork that her husband needed to sign.

My name was on the form.

We were never married.

And she has a husband.

According to the bank the paperwork we filed ten years ago wasn't legal in the state of Texas. And that's a problem since that's the state where we actually live. And apparently our lawyer at the time was an idiot.

So, she's working with the bank to get the proper paperwork for us to sign. Until then, I wonder if I can use the pool.

Hey, buddy. The light is green.

In addition to my brilliant idea to put paintball cannons on all cars (see The Mother of Invention), I believe all cars should come equipped with car phones, and I mean the old school phones that are permanently installed in the car. Also, each person's license plate number should be the phone number of their car phone.

Imagine a world where you could call the car in front of you and politely let them know that the light is green or perhaps remind them of the actual speed limit. Or you might call the person in front of you to tell them you find him or her attractive. The possibilities are endless.

Of course, I can also imagine a world where people call other drivers to vent their road rage at them, so there's a wrinkle or two to iron out.