TVAR

Rest Day and State of the Blaugust (#Blaugust 2023 #15)

Posted by Gryph on August 15, 2023

Posted in: Blog News, Life Stuff, PC Gaming, Writing. Tagged: #Blaugust2023, cats, cozy games, food, pet tax, Steam, TNR, TVAR. 1 Comment

Charlie. Our black and white cat is curled up on the floor, fast asleep.

Today we’re going to do a quick Blaugust check in since we’re about halfway done, as well as some random life updates I haven’t put together into full blog posts yet. It’s also a grab bag because I’m still pretty exhausted – enough so that I canceled my stream for the night.

I am doing my best to have a rest day.

I’m hitting my goal of a full Blaugust this time, but I am starting to struggle with the time. Finding things to write about is no problem, but every brief post wants to be a normal post and every normal post wants to be an essay. Add in editing and finding pics, and the time does fly.

I know I said I was going to be less picky about my posts as an experiment, and I have been! But I legitimately enjoy editing, finding pics and screenshots, making the design of the page appealing, and writing the alt text. Skimping on any of those isn’t really giving myself a present, it’s blocking myself from part of the process I get joy from.

#Blaugust 2023 #8: Introduce Yourself – So, what do I do all day?

Posted by Gryph on August 8, 2023

Posted in: Animal Stories, Life Stuff. Tagged: #Blaugust2023, animal shelter, cats, TNR, TVAR, vet tech. 5 Comments

*A slightly rumpled-looking me at work. I’m in black scrubs and grinning my face off as I hold a huge Maine Coon cat who came in as a stray. He later went to a good home.*

For “Introduce Yourself” week, I’m going to chat a little bit about my job in animal sheltering.

Small content warning. I’m not going to get into details, but I can’t explain being part of a “No-Kill Community” without mentioning animal euthanasia.

I’m always of two minds when writing about work. On the one hand, most people don’t want to hear about other people’s jobs. On the other hand people who DO want to hear about it REALLY want to hear about it due to shared experiences or curiosity. And since I’m back in the animal welfare sector, it’s a topic not everyone is familiar with.

So, when I say I work at a large, open-intake, private non-profit animal shelter that’s part of a No-Kill community, what do I mean?

Of Litter Boxes and Best Laid Plans: Charlie’s Story (#Blaugust 2023 #6)

Posted by Gryph on August 6, 2023

Posted in: Animal Stories, Life Stuff. Tagged: #Blaugust2023, animal shelter, cats, pet tax, TNR, TVAR. Leave a comment

*Charlie Chaplin – A black and white DSH kitty with the hint of a mustache stops in the middle of playing with a bacon cat toy. He stares, curious, at the camera.*

Taking a break from gaming content to share with you how we wound up with our accidental foster cat, Charlie Chaplin (named by shelter staff). Mostly because the story amuses me, but also because a surprising (maybe unsurprising) number of folks I’m meeting through Blaugust are rather interested in the cats. 🙂

To set the scene, for those who don’t already know, I work at my local animal shelter. I actually have a post half prepped about what I do all day, but the key point here is just that I work there.

Charlie came to my shelter through Animal Control. He’d been picked up as an injured stray cat, and spent some time at a local emergency vet being treated for an abscess on his leg. When he was stabilized, he came to my shelter.

This is where the first amusing bit happens. See, my department does process Citizen Stray intakes – but Animal Control intakes come in through the back of the building. I saw Charlie only briefly, and only because I overheard the vet techs talking about his mustache.