Thundershirt for Cats

I was at the pet store today, getting a great deal on Dr. Elsey's Precious Cat Litter and obsessing way too long over whether the cats would prefer Mixed Grill or Original Flavor crunchy cat treats.

I happened across this on the clearance aisle and my mind just boggled: Thundershirt for cats. According to the box it is the “best solution for cat anxiety.” According to my 40+ years of cat ownership, I would think that this magical device would not only increase cat anxiety but also induce a fair amount of anxiety (and quite possibly pain and suffering) to the cat owner/foolish putter-on of said Thundershirt. It also professes to be “safe” and “effective” - two other claims I highly doubt. Other experienced cat owners may have had the same doubts, hence the Thundershirt's place on the clearance aisle.

Amazingly it gets fairly decent reviews on Amazon ... although the picture of the orange tabby rocking a Thundershirt shows a cat who is clearly not completely down with the idea of wearing it. 

Long Time, No See

eclectic (adj) Selecting or employing individual elements from a variety of sources, systems, or styles

pastiche (noun) an incongruous combination of materials, forms, motifs, etc., taken from different sources; hodgepodge

Originally I created this blog thinking that I would focus on my x-ray career and throw in some, well, eclectic pastiche as the subtitle of the blog states. Well, I've never been good at keeping up journals and I am apparently equally bad at keeping up with blogs. But I'd like to try again so I'm resurrecting this blog. I was debating on whether or not to delete the previous posts and have a complete do-over but since they're a road map of where I've been for now, at least, I'll keep them up. 

So, other than a slacker blogger, who am I?

Currently I'm working as an MRI technologist in a hospital. Getting to know my patients is what I enjoy most about my job. A lot of people are freaked out about getting an MRI. I don't blame them - I happen to be claustrophobic so I really understand when people are nervous about getting in the scanner. My exams are long and noisy and for the most part people are very not excited about being there. What really fulfills me is if I can make a patient's time with me go a little easier. I live for those times when after the exam a patient tells me that I made the experience less stressful for them.

I am a crazy cat lady but this is not a new development. I can't remember a time in my life when I didn't have a cat (or several) in my life. Currently I am owned by 4 felines, all girls: Rental (15), Sienna (10), Celine (7) and Maya (4).

I love pinball and arcade games. One of my favorite things to do when I visit Las Vegas is to hit up The Pinball Museum. My favorite pinball game there is Cleopatra, a Gottlieb machine from 1977. The old arcade games I enjoy most are Dig Dug, Ms. Pac-Man and Tempest. Not too long ago I found that the local game place (Golfland in Mesa, AZ) had Tapper - what fun!

 A couple years ago I got my motorcycle endorsement and for about a year I rode a 2005 Ninja 250.  Then I stopped riding for a little over a year. I now have a Honda CBR250 and I'm waiting for the Arizona summer heat and monsoons to cool down so I can get back to riding. I loved taking day trips and finding cool places to go. 
  
I'm not terribly crafty but I do enjoy cross-stitching. I'm really good at starting projects. Finishing them is another story! I'd love to learn crochet (because when you have a houseful of cats you can never have too many string/thread/yarn based projects).

SF/Fantasy - I love to read it, love to watch it at the movies and on TV.  

So that's a little bit about me.  Thanks for reading and please come back!