Save the tigers

It’s pretty much been the least pleasant Christmas break since “the year of the flu” in 1995, sickness-wise. But I’ve not been ill. And that’s the most frustrating thing. For a few weeks, I’ve been suffering from a bad cough and a bit of a sinus thing, but it’s the sort of cough and sinus thing that has rendered me sleepless for its duration. I’ve not had a temperature, or aches and pains, no sore thoat, nothing but an irritating cough and sinus explosions. Some of the sinus episodes have been dramatic, resulting in much nasal blood-loss, the biggest eruption being at 8am on New Year’s Day… all over the duvet cover. If the police should happen to examine the contents of my bin, they’d find enough evidence to convict me of the brutal slaughter of an O neg dwarf.

Accompanying the cough and the snot/blood has been agony from pulled muscles in my shoulder and hip. So, not only was sleep compromised from coughing, I’ve not even been able to find a comfortable position to sit, stand, or lie for a week.

In spite of lack of real illness, the lack of sleep has been so draining. And so it was that I was awoken near lunchtime today by a phonecall. At its conclusion, I was still unable to deal with the prospect of engaging with the day, so took myself back to bed with a cup of coffee and BBC iPlayer on the tellybox. And then I saw it: Tigers about the house: what happened next.

A tiger expert from Australia Zoo in Queensland took his wife and young son to Indonesia and Sumatra to see the work of the conservationists there. You see, despite Sumatran tigers – indeed tigers in general – being one of the most majestic creatures on the planet, idiot humans destroy their habitats and poach them for a) because they’re complete cocks, b) “traditional” medicine, c) because some people think it’s cool, it shows how fantastic they are, if they display the skins of these animals in their homes. Caught up in the trade for tigers are: tigers; elephants; monkeys; orang-utan; tapirs… and countless other beings who should just be left alone to live as they’re meant to in the wild.

It was upsetting to watch. You just know that so many wonderful species will be extinct in the wild in a matter of decades and the conservationists are fighting a losing battle unless thousands’ year old cultures can be educated. Or wiped out.

The programme made me search for others in the series. Giles Clark, the head tiger man, was passionate about the welfare of tigers that are kept in captivity. The philosophy of Australia Zoo is to have a hands-on approach with many of their animals, including tigers, so that the animals can feel more comfortable in their environments and with their handlers. In a previous series, Giles was shown hand-rearing two tiger cubs for four months in his family home: oh to be part of that family during that time. The little fellers were Spot (Hunter) and Stripe (Clarence) and both thrived in their environment.

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In this world of seven billion people, humans strive for their own survival above all else. Maybe they shouldn’t. We’re not the be all and end all when it comes to this planet, yet our one species overruns and controls and destroys all but the deepest oceans. We are woeful custodians of our home.

I’d actually like the humans to face a catastrophic illness that wipes them all out so that all the deserving species are given a chance to enjoy the remnants of this earth. They are despicable creatures. But this being unlikely, the best the rest of us can do take care of what we have, and help save the tigers. Because if we save the tigers, we save the world.

You can read more about Giles Clark and the work to help save the tigers here.

Cinderotto

The little cat goes back home to his beloved daddy tomorrow.  He adores his dad, his dad adores him; it’s a beautiful thing.  

Otto has missed his dad this past fortnight, I can tell.  I can tell by the way he wakes me at dawn by pummelling my face with his paws and purring loudly, his nose touching mine.  He does this to his dad and his dad lets him get away with it, he gets a “fuck off Otto!” from me.  He’s a floppy, silky pyjama case of a cat and I too adore him, but my love of him is a fraction less than my love of sleep these days and, as much as having him flop over me is delightful, I do actually have to get out of bed at some point and drag my arse into work at a reasonable hour.

I think I’ve been a good hostess to the little feller while he’s been here.  Of course, he’s not been allowed to leave the house, but he’s had a nice clean litter tray every day, lots of cuddles, four meals a day… three if you count what goes into the dog because… well, here’s the thing, I have to put his food on my desk in the little study so that the little dog can’t get to it.  The odour, of course, filters into my bedroom.  God, it stinks to high heaven.  I do wish he could eat it a) without throwing it all over my desk and b) in one sitting.  While it’s hanging around, Rocky gets ever so jealous, so he’s been having the odd pouch of Felix too, just to prevent him from exploding with envy.  

Otto came with his own food parcel: a box of Felix pouches and about ten trays of extra special “gourmet” Sheba.  Like a wicked step mother, I’ve been feeding the Sheba to the dog to keep him quiet and the cat has been left with stuff that smells like poo.  

Wax

I don’t hide the fact that I use wax strips to remove my moustache hair.  Despite reassurances from well-meaning blind people (or utter cocks who are lying to me), it can be quite substantial moustache hair, especially if caught in the cruel light of the mirror in the lift at work.  Or caught in heavy machinery.  

Anyway (:@), after waxing my moustache last night, I had a spare strip left over.  Tempting as it was to try it on the dog, I refrained and, in that moment as i held it over the bin, ready to discard it, I had an epiphany… try it on your chiiiiiiiiin… try it on your CHIIIIIIN!  So I did, and it was great.

You see, I can’t see close up enough anymore to tell whether I have out of control beard growth.  People are often too scared to mention these things (or liars), and I can’t pluck blind, so this was a revelation.  I’m so happy!

At the hospital

I had a hospital appointment today to see the neuro-endocrine people following my recent surgery.  I actually thought the appointment had been made in error because I only attended the same clinic in July.  Soooo, I entered the full-to-bursting waiting room with less than positive expectations for the experience that awaited me. I was appalled by one particular site that greeted me as I took my seat: female; overweight; shorts; tattoos; crew cut; bleached hair; talking rubbish at the TV.  But you have to accept that there are lots of different people in the world and that it’s not for long that we have to be in proximity of those we’d never be caught dead associating with.

The TV was on, set to BBC because that’s the safest way to ensure that none of the people in the waiting room are also appearing on the Jeremy Kyle show.  It was a programme about antisocial behaviour, as usual.  After I’d had my blood pressure taken, I returned to the waiting room and, to my horror, the only seat available was next to Madame Tattoo.  I sat down and admired her… ink… on her knee caps… while sending out calls for help via text.  

Looking up, I saw the noticeboard that informed me my doctor’s clinic was running an hour late.  Thank fuck I’d charged my phone.

I sat and waited, watching the site visits to my blog go up and up following a recent post about a potty-mouthed, but adorable,  Dane

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Unbelievable.

Time ticked on, and the waiting room emptied.  The TV was on a timer and turned itself off.  Mercy!  

I was getting a bit restless, needed a pee, was starving hungry, was anticipating a negative experience with the doctor.  Humph. [Insert unsmiley face emoji here]  And then I was called into to see the consultant… some other guy I’d never seen before… here we go, I rolled my eyes (internally of course, I didn’t want to seem impolite).

I couldn’t have been more wrong.  He explained everything to me, all the different types of hyperparathyroidism, how and why they can occur and then he said: “With you, it’s clear that you’ve been deficient in vitamin D for a number of years.  When you had a test early on in 2013, you had a negligible amount.  Over a period of time, this will affect the feedback mechanism and cause your parathyroid to produce more and more PTH to compensate, and this is probably what happened with you.  We’ll take a blood test and either give you a massive dose of vitamin D, like you’ve had before, or just put you on a maintenance dose for life.”

I was like, what? Really?  Is this anything to do with my Pepsi Max addiction?  

So that’s it.  It should all be sorted.  What I really wanted him to prescribe was a new life in the Mediterranean, but what with NHS cutbacks, they’re no longer offering this particular treatment.  I’ll have to stick with my vitamin supplements and oily fish.

Sideways glances

I spent most of today at my parents’ house. It was quite pleasant; the usual stresses of their bickering numbed by chronic sleepiness and a general feeling of “I’m feeling ok today” that’s missing for long periods. There was no real reason for me being there, I just fancied hanging out with them, doing nothing but enjoying the growing cantankerousness (if that’s a word) of their advancing years, fighting the losing battle of reason versus parents. Plus, I couldn’t be bothered cooking and the lamb stew my mum was planning on preparing appealed to me.

The little dog was with me. He likes the attention his adopted grandparents give him, but not quite as much as the pizza, pudding and biscuits they treat him with. The fee of a spectacular high-five performance on his part is little price to pay for junk food and cuddles.

My parents, the family, have always been cat people. Cats have been part of our lives since I was a young child. Only one feline family member remains today: Otto the one-eyed pyjama case. He’s very shy. I’d never realised this when I lived at home, but since moving out, I noticed how he’d run and hide when an unfamiliar voice came into the house. Needless to say, when Rocky announces his presence at the back door with much howling and barking, Otto scarpers.

And so this was the pattern for our visits there for the past five years… until recently. A few months ago, Otto developed a “stuff you, you insane bag of fur” attitude, resulting in him hanging around, in pyjama case mode on Mum’s knee, whenever I call round there. And Rocky is terrified of him, to the point that the little dog has developed owl-like head movements so he can keep track of the cat whenever he’s there.

So that’s good.

Tomorrow I’m back in the office. It’s a nice enough job that pays OK, but I’d much rather just hang out and absorb the insanity and comfort of my parents and animals. Tomorrow, I shall allow myself to be wound up by people queue jumping in the traffic jam to work, the mental assault by e-mail, and idiots using the lift to travel just one floor – all the time thinking about my Friday evening meal and the impending visit of the lovely April…