Paul's Infrequently Updated Blog

Today, I did not go to school. Instead, I attended a work shop at ESU #13 just down the road from me here in Scottsbluff. I normally like to sign up for a workshop in the fall because I find then that you can pick and choose the professional development opportunities that are available when you can get more out of them.

This particular workshop was about closing achievement gaps among students through the use of vocabulary. It provided some useful ideas about encouraging students to learn and build up their vocabulary because research has shown that students with stronger vocabularies do better in school.

Another reason I like to go to these events is because sometimes I get burned out in class and it is nice to get away from the kids. It is also good to meet with other teachers from other schools to find out what they are teaching. It is also nice for me because where the workshop was held is only a few minutes walk from my house. I did not have to leave home until 7:45am this morning.

Because I left home later that allowed me to take D’Argo outside for a walk. For the last few months, we have been letting him outside on a leash. We do this because there are a few busy roads in the area and we don’t want him to be hit.

The trouble with D’Argo is that he is now a fully grown cat that always wants to go out. He is a pretty big cat, about 16lbs, but not fat. We are pretty sure he is a Maine Coon, which is the largest species of domestic cat. When I took him out this morning, it was very hard for me to get him back inside when we were done. He ended up getting very aggressive and he hissed at me and also bit and scratched me.

This sort of behavior has been going on for a while now and also he always wants out at night. Recently, we have had to keep him in his kitty carrier at night because otherwise he will not let us sleep. I am hoping that as he gets older he will settle down and grow out of this behavior. I guess we will see.

Today was a big day, both for D’Argo and I. D’Argo had to go to the Midtown Animal Hospital for his neutering and I had to drive him to his appointment. It was my first journey on my own so I have to admit I was a little nervous. As I drove across town, I was actually talking to the cat in order to make myself feel better. It sounds silly, but it made me feel better. I manged to drop him off and then drove to school. I had manged my first solo car trip on my own!!

At the end of the school day, I picked him up and drove him home. I pretty much did the same thing of talking to D’Argo as I drove home.  In the end, both my first solo car journey and D’Argo’s neutering went well. Since we got D’Argo home he has been very docile and affectionate. He spent most of the night on the couch next to me asleep.

Yesterday, we took D’Argo to the Midtown Animal Health Hospital in Gering. D’Argo got his free health check. The main concern we had with D’Argo was his paws, which are slowly starting to heal and the fact he has diarrhea.

The Vet told us that his paws are indeed healing but he may now grow his claws. He also needs to keep using the shredded paper for kitty liter until his paws have healed. The other worry was that D’Argo has a parasitic infection in his stomach for which he needs an antibiotic. He will need drops in his mouth twice a day until the infection has cleared up. So far we have treated him twice and it takes both of us to give D’Argo his drops. Basically, I have to hold him face up while Irene administers the drops. D’Argo hates getting the drops, but if he is to get well and have his diarrhea clear up, he must have his drops.

We have arranged another appointment for D’Argo. He has to have his neutering surgery on December 8th. On that day it looks like I will have to drive him to his appointment because Irene cannot drive him to his appointment and get to work on time. That is most likely to be my first time driving the car on my own.

Today we got home from school to find that D’Argo had made a real mess of the house. He had taken the toilet roll from upstairs, tore it up, and spread it all around the room. I actually thought it was pretty funny.

D’Argo is so cute that I guess he can get away with this sort of thing. We have, as a precaution, put all the toilet paper in the closets and will keep all paper products out of D’Argo’s reach.

We made the decision to adopt the cat that we found last week outside the Gering Freshman Academy.  Earlier this week, I called our landlord and he said it was okay to have the cat. I was really worried that he might say no but he said that he did not mind.

For the first time, I actually have a pet other than goldfish. As a child, we never had a cat or dog, which might explain why I have never been comfortable around animals. The thing with this cat is that from the moment I saw him I wanted to have him and even asked Irene as we were driving him to the police station last week if we could keep him.

So now we have a cat. We have decided to name him D’Argo after the character General Ka D’Argo in the science fiction television show Farscape.  D’Argo is a male, about four months old, tabby with a white belly. He also has white hind legs and little white front paws.

We are looking forward to our first weekend with are new kitty and next weekend (28th) we have to take him to a local vet to have his health check. In a few weeks, he will have to be neutered. Both of these things are a requirement of the Panhandle Humane Society which is the place from which we adopted him.