Meeting With Friends and Dreaming of Cats

I HAD THE PLEASURE of meeting up last night with Amy and Ratatosk, my friends and former coworkers — and soon to be man and wife. I dropped a note to both of them earlier this week to see if they might be interested in getting together for dinner, and I struck paydirt, as they had been thinking of the same sort of occasion. We made plans to eat at a local sit-down Chinese restaurant that R and I had used as our pregame filling station on previous boardgame and poker nights.

A and R were both compelled to leave their workplace when the owner sold to a large international publishing corporation. R found new work several weeks ago, and A stayed her full term and will collect severance, as I plan to do. The details of their closing days at the place sounded very familiar. Superiors asking last-minute questions about key business practices, rapidly declining morale, and the nauseating emergence of sycophancy on the part of various folks hoping to retain better positions in the wake of the upheaval. I think we were all partly saddened, but nonetheless amused, over this last-chopper-out-of-Saigon scramble at our respective workplaces.

After dinner, we drifted back to my apartment and chatted about things various and sundry. Notably, R and A discussed the nonstop variety show that is cat ownership. A will soon get a bigger dose of this experience, as she will begin working from home come Monday, alongside the cat, who up until recently had the joint to himself during workdays. Might be an interesting shift in the dynamic.

I mentioned that if I knew I would spend an extended time without a job, and primarily based here in my pad, I might have an excellent opportunity to domesticate and train a kitten. Especially if I had a dead lock on a shorter commute, I think it would be a fine time to bring a newcomer on board. I've mentioned before how I would like to get a cat, but that my long commute adds hours to my absence from any animal companion. I don't have a large enough place to host a second cat, which is what many folks who face long commutes or absences from the house do. So for now, it's one or none. R shared his experiences with his cat shortly after bringing it into the home, especially on training it to avoid wires and other dangers and leading it to know where the litterbox is. I am sure I could pack a lot of useful training and bonding into the time I have before getting the next job.

Finding that next job is certainly my main task. Staying sane while doing it is no less important. The chance to spend a night of laughter and sharing wisdom with friends like A and R will surely help me meet both goals. If I decide to add a feline companion to the mix, so much the better.