Oh how neglectful I have been here! I failed to note the loss of a cat (Spooks) in December. She simply stopped eating, and, because she was severly hyperthyroid, simply wasted away until I finally had the vet send her on to Rainbow Bridge.
I retired, too! My agency offered an early out with a buyout, and I took their offer! So now I'm finding myself so busy with things at home that I wonder how I managed to make time for work. The income is definitely quite a bit less (which sucks), but I'm slowly adjusting to new realities.
Although...
My heat pump decided to pack it in a couple of weeks ago. Several days later (and many $$$ lighter), I have a new, high-efficiency heat pump with a programmable thermostat... maybe someday I'll have saved enough on the electric bill to pay for it.
The people who fixed (and ultimately replaced) my heat pump found this small (dead) garter snake in the blower fan in the house. Yoiks!! The cats would have made short work of it, had it been bold enough to come out into the living areas of the house...
