The Wanderings of busman7

Time is slowly passing down to 53 days & finally have had a couple days of summer but Canada has completely lost it’s appeal for me & can’t wait to leave.

Not much going on was hoping the Chinese summer camp would give me a few days work with my small bus but as of last week it was still on hold due to the swine flu “pandemic” (bunch of idiots at WHO).

Passport back, 18 extra photos for visa’s in hand so some time in the  couple weeks have go into the big smoke with the applications for the ones I need to get before leaving (the services charge outrageous fees) India, Mongolia & Russia with a stop at Mountain Equipment while in town to pick up fall weather gear & a collapsible hiking staff.

When I tried to book the 3 day camp in Greenland found trip was sold out for my time frame but was able to book a couple short tours to substitute. As the Greenland camp being sold out I immediately booked the Nepal trek from Kathmandu to Lhasa guess the rule is see some thing you want book it now as it might not be available later.

August should pass fairly quickly as there will be a trip the Carlisle Pennsylvania Truck  Show Aug 7-9 for more Scout parts & possibly on to Springfield Ohio to Super Scout if I can’t find everything in Carlisle. Then on Aug 13 Stompin’ Tom is preforming at the Scotiabank Place in Ottawa which I can’t miss. Seven days later it’s a nght at an airport hotel for an early morning flight the scenic route to Iceland via Montreal + NYC & the adventure continues!

06:08  domingo 14 juin  2009

Under a shade tree where birds, he so liked to dine on, roost at night & sing in the morning, in the hedgerow of a laneway between two hayfields where squirrels, chipmunks & rabbits he so loved to hunt scamper during their daily rounds, his earthly remains can rest in the peace he so richly deserves. In this place I just laid to rest Señor Gato, my best friend of the last 10 years.

His life was too short but lived to the fullest. It’s a long way from being abandoned in  Bowmanville alley as a small kitten to a farm near Woodville with the good years spent being boss of the bus shop in Pontypool.

Rescued from a cold alley in January 2000 by one of my drivers who along with another decided I needed a companion in the new shop I was building. So the two of them shared raising him in his first months. Once the shop was up he was delivered to the country where he wasn’t impressed the fist couple days but soon revelled in his newfound freedom. It was soon evident that to have any peace I needed to install cat doors between the office, shop, upstairs apartment & the outside.

For eight years a typical day would start around 3 in the morning with a hunt (unless it was too cold in winter) followed at 5am summer 4am winter (he didn’t do DST) by  walking over me then sticking a cold nose in my face. During the day between naps it was necessary to check out every vehicle in the shop & have a short nap in each but when shop was noisy a nap in a bus outside would suffice between hunts. Of course when anybody came into the office it was imperative to come in & try to get on their lap & the dirtier his feet were the better. Finally in the evening it was a short nap on my lap, one last hunt of the day & stretch out on the bed.

There was the time the neighbour’s dogs attacked him & he spent the night at the vet’s ($500), the odd time he would get locked in the rental unit or a bus for the night & a few times I went on a trip (which he didn’t like) but other than that we spent eight good years together every day. Saw the company grow to it’s maximum size & then the final year of downsizing. He stood by me when during the downsizing an employee I had befriended abandoned me at a time I really need a friend.

However the last year he was not a happy camper as he didn’t like the move to the farm at all, never went out during the day & only a couple minutes at night so he didn’t have to use the litter box. Then during my 6 month trip he stayed in the walkout basement of the farm house where he did service as resident mouser but grew fatter due to lack of exercise, not only in the winter but the previous summer as well. Gave me the cold shoulder for a couple days after I returned then returned to being his pain in the butt self.

Not sure what happened as when the vet checked him out last year when giving him his $100 rabies shot he was pronounced fit (a bit over weight) but OK to travel south. He showed no signs of sickness & had a good appetite, was even outside with me for while when I was reading beside the motor home. When I came back in he was on the floor where he had tried to jump up on his favourite chair but didn’t make it, must have been a heart attack. At least he didn’t suffer.

During the night I dreamed he crawled out of the bag he was in shook himself & was OK. This I interpret as his spirit leaving his body & he is now in cat heaven

So long Decker you will always be remembered.

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