Making friends with alpacas

[susandennis]

Here at the cult, there is great emphasis on socializing. Meeting people. Making friends. I don't mind getting together with people now and again. I'm not opposed to meeting people and I'm mostly ok with making friends but not as items on an agenda. I'm perfectly fine here in my own apartment with my two cats and visits from Martha or Bonny. When I need to people, I go out to the elbow and work on the puzzle and visit with whoever wanders by.

Timber Ridge and the various resident led committees are always planning shit. Music programs, group stuff, outings. There's a puzzle group and art group, a million grief groups, low vision, hard of hearing, spousal support groups. My neighbor down the hall is trying to get a singles group going. Not a couples match up but more like people who want to do stuff with other people but don't have people to do it with. A laudable idea if that's what you want.

I almost never sign up for or attend any of it. The first year I was here, I went to a lot because I made friends with Myrna and Myrna's middle name was JOINER! So at least I've tried stuff. She and Martha and a couple of others were the social committee for the 3rd floor. They planned twice yearly get togethers. (All the floors have them.) I've been to every one since I moved here and they are dreadful. The last time, I went and decided it was the last time. Now Myrna's dead and Martha is over the whole planning process so they are looking for a new social committee. No one is volunteering. I suggested that we abandon the floor socials. What???? We can't do that!!! Why don't?? Because! Ok. Fine. Whatever.

BUT this morning I signed up for a thing. A kind of social thing. A social thing outside. Yeah, it's not me except it's a tour of an alpaca farm. May 7. It's about 30 minutes from here. It's advertised as rough ground so no one with walkers or mobility issues is encouraged. So far the list of people who have signed up is an ok list. I can still bail. It's a small group and there will be a long waiting list so we'll see.

Erica sent out an email yesterday saying that the pool will be closed for volleyball and aqua fit this morning but will likely open up some time today. So yeah!

The Mariners continue to lose. No real injuries or obvious issues like other teams. We have good, talented guys who are just playing shit. Oh well. It's not like we don't have 50 years of experience with losing.

I put Biggie's pill issues to Gemini and Gemini suggested a pill pistol. I ordered 2. One came yesterday. Fail. The pill is too big. One is coming today BUT Gemini may have solved the problem. In explaining how to use the pill pistol with a cat, it said to shoot the pill in the side of the mouth instead of straight down. I usually tilt his head back and aim for the middle of the back of the tongue. This morning, I tilted his head back and sent it down the side and got it in one! So... maybe...

Yesterday, somehow, a moth got in here and both cats just went nuts. They had a ball chasing it around for the longest time. I need to find a moth source. It would be a great and cheap cat gift!

I just got an email that someone 'friended' me on Live Journal. Interesting since my last post there was announcing that I'd be leaving and never posting again and that was 4 years ago...

Comments

[meowmensteen]

Could be spam. There's been an uptick in that. I even got one here this week. I still have my LJ account and sometimes check in on a few friends that don't use DW, but I changed my icon to a zombie version of this one, and my last post was a picture of the Seattle Times cover with the bombed out hospital in Ukraine at the beginning of the war. Some people got mad at me and said that it was a fake story. It was not.

[susandennis]

yeah butt this woman has legit, recent entries so I don't think spam. I think just clueless

[spiffikins]

Okay that's TWO people that Iknow recently that are doing shit with alpacas :D

An author that I follow posted recently that she is "walking with alpacas" in Maine. Apparently you go to the alpaca farm and meet up with your assigned alpaca, and if they agree, LOL, then you are permitted to walk around a trail with them? I don't even know, but it sounds amazing :D

There is some woman on IG or FB or somewhere that shows up in my feed occasionally, who has trained her cat to PICK which pills he wants to do first - she holds out one in each hand, he taps the hand he wants first, and then he totally COOPERATES and lets her lean his head back (she sits with him in her lap, facing away from her) and she sticks the pill in, he swallows, and then she does it again - pick which one you want next.

Poor kitty has a handful of pills to do every day - but somehow he has figured out that he feels better when he takes them, so he actually cooperates. It's wild to watch!

[susandennis]

that is wild about the cat. Gemini did point out one thing that I hadn't really thought about. Biggie does not like the pill situation BUT he does not run and hide, he sits patiently and only loses his cool when my attempt fails. Even then, I pick up the rejected pill and again, he just sits there. Gemini had this whole solution for finding and catching him. That would be a non starter.

[mtbc]

Meeting the alpacas sounds good. I'd sign up for that too.

[legalmoose]

If it's like the alpaca farm we visited during covid, bring a means of buying yarn and/or merchandise. ;) They're kind of fun, and hopefully the person giving the tour will give you gossip on all their personalities.

[adafrog]

ooohhh...farm trip.

[ringsandcoffee]

LJ likes to give what they call Achievements, usually to people who aren't even on anymore. I see them in my notifications. Yesterday, you were awarded Community Leader.