The Eagle has Landed
I'm going to do my best to start using photos more. I have a camera phone, and I should really start using it. I need to find a way to end photos to my lappy as a batch- maybe using the datacable instead of bluetooth. Yesterday, I also finally realized why Twitter would be useful- after eight hours on the road, you notice some really cool things.
It was more than eight hours though. After loading the truck on Sunday, we relaxed and got up bright and early on Monday morning. The first real hurdle was getting the cats in the car- specifically Sephie. She did not like the idea of being held, being packed into the carrier, or... well, doing anything but hiding behind the water heater, which is the only place she could hide where we couldn't get her. We tried giving her a few minutes to relax, but once Sephie is stressed, she stays that way for a long while. Minna had an Mom moment: "We are leaving and you are getting in the damn car!" She scared Sephie out, we cornered her, made the grab, and packed her into their traveling crate.
Traveling worked out better than expected. We packed them into this crate, which has three entrances- a small kennel style one, one side olds up, and the top opens. The last was a great option for loading the cats, but the side-door worked out really well for the car. We folded Minna's seats down in the back, put food, water and litter in the trunk (they used none of it) and opened the side of the crate into the trunk area. This allowed them some freedom of movement, which they used whenever we stopped. While driving, they settled into the crate. While the large crate is inconvenient for short trips, I'm still going to use it for them- the large space makes the cats much more comfortable.
We got to Pittsburgh with no major problems, and did the unpacking, storaging and truck-dropping-off. We started our day at 530, and knocked off at 2200- so it was a long day.
Today is mostly going to be spent relaxing, but Rochester already has made some other plans. He discovered the fireplace- which I don't think is functional anymore, but it apparently wasn't cleaned when they blocked if up- so there's a layer of soot. My mostly white (with grey) cat is mostly grey with splots of white. It was the cutest thing, walking in after grabbing some breakfast. He marched up to the door with a feline smile that announced, "This is the coolest apartment ever! There's DIRT in it!" This adventure earned him a bath. The bath mostly spread the soot around- he's not tracking it everywhere, but he's dingy. I will probably need to give him a more thorough bath later.
The apartment is okay- I'm glad my cats don't eat power cords, because there's certainly enough of them around. Instead of running wiring through the walls, or at the very least putting wiring in conduits, some of the lights are wired using extension cords. This is uncool. Other than that, it's a pretty nice place. Little old, little beat up, but with some effort from the landlord, this place could be gorgeous. The landlord just wants rent money, not valuable property. Meh. I'm only here for a few months.
The neighborhood is great. We're a hop, skip and a jump from Walnut St., which is like Lark St., but bigger and more developed, with a wider array of shops (including some chain stores; if such a thing were to appear on Lark, I think there would be riots).
I am now going to hit the post button, and hope the signal is strong enough that this thing posts.
It was more than eight hours though. After loading the truck on Sunday, we relaxed and got up bright and early on Monday morning. The first real hurdle was getting the cats in the car- specifically Sephie. She did not like the idea of being held, being packed into the carrier, or... well, doing anything but hiding behind the water heater, which is the only place she could hide where we couldn't get her. We tried giving her a few minutes to relax, but once Sephie is stressed, she stays that way for a long while. Minna had an Mom moment: "We are leaving and you are getting in the damn car!" She scared Sephie out, we cornered her, made the grab, and packed her into their traveling crate.
Traveling worked out better than expected. We packed them into this crate, which has three entrances- a small kennel style one, one side olds up, and the top opens. The last was a great option for loading the cats, but the side-door worked out really well for the car. We folded Minna's seats down in the back, put food, water and litter in the trunk (they used none of it) and opened the side of the crate into the trunk area. This allowed them some freedom of movement, which they used whenever we stopped. While driving, they settled into the crate. While the large crate is inconvenient for short trips, I'm still going to use it for them- the large space makes the cats much more comfortable.
We got to Pittsburgh with no major problems, and did the unpacking, storaging and truck-dropping-off. We started our day at 530, and knocked off at 2200- so it was a long day.
Today is mostly going to be spent relaxing, but Rochester already has made some other plans. He discovered the fireplace- which I don't think is functional anymore, but it apparently wasn't cleaned when they blocked if up- so there's a layer of soot. My mostly white (with grey) cat is mostly grey with splots of white. It was the cutest thing, walking in after grabbing some breakfast. He marched up to the door with a feline smile that announced, "This is the coolest apartment ever! There's DIRT in it!" This adventure earned him a bath. The bath mostly spread the soot around- he's not tracking it everywhere, but he's dingy. I will probably need to give him a more thorough bath later.
The apartment is okay- I'm glad my cats don't eat power cords, because there's certainly enough of them around. Instead of running wiring through the walls, or at the very least putting wiring in conduits, some of the lights are wired using extension cords. This is uncool. Other than that, it's a pretty nice place. Little old, little beat up, but with some effort from the landlord, this place could be gorgeous. The landlord just wants rent money, not valuable property. Meh. I'm only here for a few months.
The neighborhood is great. We're a hop, skip and a jump from Walnut St., which is like Lark St., but bigger and more developed, with a wider array of shops (including some chain stores; if such a thing were to appear on Lark, I think there would be riots).
I am now going to hit the post button, and hope the signal is strong enough that this thing posts.