Goodbye Chloe

On Oct 15th my wife and I had to put our cat Chloe to sleep after a month long downward spiral, which we learned was cancer. The speed at which Chloe descended was lightning fast and came as quite a shock to Joyce and I. A month before, she had received a glowing report after a checkup.

I know the comment will come "It's only a cat.", and heh before I met Chloe I might have been one of those people. I was always a dog person and never fond of cats, even after I moved in with Joyce. Joyce and Kim had 2 cats (Murphy and Chloe) and when I first moved in, none of them warmed up to me. However about 2 months passed, and finally Chloe warmed up to me. It started with me sitting on the couch, and her plopping down in front of my feet. After I rubbed her with my feet she never let me sit, without her coming looking for pets.

Chloe had a very distinct personality which I grew to love. She would always start out at my feet where I could reach her, then after a couple minutes of pets she would shift out to where I couldn't reach her, and look back at me for more pets. Her major time to do this was when I was watching Leaf games. Of course if you know me I would start to yell when the Leafs started playing like crap (especially McCabe). When I'd yell; Chloe would leave the room, and within seconds come back in and plop at my feet. This is a ritual I will always remember and will miss deeply. Chloe also had this habit of spreading out on the living room table when Joyce had the fireplace on. This drove me nuts but then I would look at her and melt, at how cute she looked and how comfortable she was. She was also a big fan of her "Treaty Treats". If Murphy hesitated for a second on her bowl Chloe would attack it with wild abandon then go to her bowl.

In the days before; where she was going the wrong way quickly I talked to my buddy Dave and he reminded me of a nickname I used to call her. "The General". The reason I called her this was the way she waddled into a room, her stomach dragging across the living room rug, and demanding respect. Thanks Dave for the reminder of the name.

In her last days it was tough for Joyce and I to see Chloe not be "The General" anymore. The decision to put her to sleep was an easy one for us to make as she was starting to suffer and feel pain.

I know this is not the tough guy thing to admit but I have felt deep pain at the loss of Chloe. One explanation I heard; was the only emotion a pet will show you is love. They never get upset, yell, or judge you, and this made some sense to me.

The biggest compliment for Chloe was she turned a "Dog man " into a "Cat Man".

Goodbye Chloe ("Wooey Wooz") Rest easy, you will be missed and always remembered with great memories.

Traveling Fun

In the last year my job has requires that I travel. I average about 1 week a month on the road. Here is a list of my rants on traveling.

1. As you board a plane, what usually happens is you are called to board by seat number. They will start off with First class and when they call first class it seems like everyone just rushes to the gate like if they don't get on the plane in the next 5 minutes God will strike them down with a lightning bolt. I mean are people this stupid. Sadly the answer is yes!!!!!. What becomes even more hilarious is the attendant will say over the loud speaker Boarding Rows 21-30 and the line gets bigger. When my row of 10 is called, as I board the plane I notice I am the last one to get on the plane from row 10. My point is why do the airlines persist in calling by row numbers if they just allow everyone one. I say if someone boards before there row is called, embarrass them and make them wait, otherwise stop this drill.

2. When going through customs, people should realize this simple fact. Your not more important then the 100 people in front of you. Everytime someone behind me starts yelling at one of the officials that they are going to miss there plane because of this line, and demands to be let through. The officals usually tell them they have to wait just like everyone else but deep down I know they want to slap them. My advice would be to SHOW UP EARLIER you nimrods. Also, please don't get into a heated discussion with your significant other while waiting in line.

3. If you cant speak English, please don't ask the person sitting beside you to fill out your customs card. I had the misfortune of sitting beside a lady who couldn't speak a word of English. She poked at me and started saying "Plane, Plane". I thought I was on Treasure Island for awhile. She then pointed at her customs card and tried to hand it to me with a pen. I gave it back to her. She had filled out all the other lines in a different language. How is someone who can't speak a word of English accepted into Toronto via Minnesota? I guess that is a different subject.

4. I know I am not the prettiest thing to ever hit our planet of Earth, but as I go to sit beside you, please don't roll your eyes and curse the airline for having to sit beside me. I know I am preventing you from having an extra empty seat where you can rest your infected feet on, but I would like to have a seat too.

5. If your bag is bigger then you, please check it. Everytime some idiot is trying to cram there bag into the overhead department. Usually what happens is that I am asked to remove my computer bag from that department and rest it under my feet so some righteous piece of crap can fit there huge bag into it. Again remember this fact, You are not that important!!!!

6. When they ask you to bring up your seat and stow away your tray table, please do it. I can't believe how many times people wait for the attendant to come before doing this. Do they believe they are so important that the attendant will let that rule slide for them.

Thanks for reading my rant