Kittens and Common Sense

Tammy’s at it again. I think that she has a cat version of the “bat signal” that strays can see. 🙂 Today, it was the kitten from next door at Pam’s house. The story starts a couple of weeks ago, when I was out helping Ian ride his bike. Pam flagged me down and asked me to look out for a little tabby kitten. He had escaped the house when her significant other had headed to work that morning. I said I would, and I told Tammy later. So she kept looking but never saw it.

Until today, when she was out putting the laundry on the line and there was a meowing that wasn’t either of our cats. She found this little thing:

She put two and two together and went next door to see if they were still missing a kitten. Nobody was home, so she left a note and brought the kitten into our laundry room. It was hungry but not starving like Amiga had been. The kitten was our guest for the afternoon until eventually the son next door found the note and came over. It turned out to be their cat and had escaped again. The kitten’s name is Luther, so we know that for next time.

And common sense? Well, that’s me (hard to believe, I know). Sometimes when you have a nineteen year old mountain bike but want a brand-new road bike, you have to make do with a new set of tires and a drive train adjustment. 🙂 Before I headed to Calgary, I had a flat tire and when I was investigating it, I noticed the sidewalls on my rear tire were cracking. Between that, and an increasingly reluctant set of derailleurs, the devil was whispering in my ear again about how nice it would be to get a new bike. And Tammy knew it. She deliberately made me phone the local mountain bike shop to see if they had the commuter tires I needed instead of tempting myself on a trip to Russ Hays and all their delectable hardware.

So in the end, I went to Sooke Mountain Cycle, and the fellow was very helpful, setting me up with a couple of Kenda Cross tires and tubes, and even adjusted my shifters and stem while I waited. The bike’s running fine, good for another few years. At some point my Kona Hahanna will break through “retro” and into “freakishly antique”. I wonder how it will face a regular long commute in Calgary?