SO my family never gathered this past Xmas. One thing or another, and we didn't. No drama, just no Xmas gathering. My one sister felt the need, and sent us a huge box of pet stuff, 16 pound bag of cat food, and a couple huge tubs of kitty litter. She also sent a huge box of household stuff, like 36 double rolls of toilet paper. bunches of soap and shampoo etc.
Recently I called her to say we had finally gone through the huge supply of paper, and the cats were just about done with the bag of food, and thanks very much. She took that as an invite to send more. SO a day later - she had Amazon Prime - TWO large boxes show up. One with TWO 16 pound bags of cat food, and another with TWO 20 pound tubs of cat litter. I unboxed it all in the hallway, and after stowing the good, I went out to find neighbor Kay's cats already frolicking in the empty boxes.
Sis told us they would be delivering some goods the next evening between 9 and 10 PM. WHo delivers stuff at 10PM on a weekend? But sure enough a young man arrives to be buzzed in and brings us bag after bag of groceries. Orange juice, 16 bars of bath soap, broccoli (THREE of the damned things), eggs, loaf of bread, a pound of ground beef from the butcher counter, FOUR potatoes. I swear four "baking potatoes" costs more than a 5 pound bag of just potatoes. And of course, more toilet paper. Took a while to stow it all.
Sis wasn't done...
Then the COO de GRAH. ANother big heavy box arrives from a pet supply. It is a cat tree. In kit form. I guess they are the Ikea of pet stuff. I unboxed the thing, large pieces of wood carpeted. Leaving a large empty box for the cats. Assembly wasn't hard, the big map with numbers led me along. It even included a couple allen wrenches to turn the screws. I would describe it, but really...
https://www.chewy.com/frisco-48-inch-ca ... /dp/129316
Well, after a moment of WTF, the cats seemed to accept it, scratching on the posts, climbing up onto the various perches, batting the hanging things. They can watch the world from up there, and they are right at a convenient level for petting as we walk by. They seem to enjoy it. They can each sit on their own perch, and bat at each other.
But you know, I enjoy it too. Aside from watching the cats be cats, I got to wield tools for the first time in ages. I used to work on complex systems (and simple ones too), and in my shop, I was surrounded by high tech stuff, any tool I could imagine needing, and plenty of technical information, plus clients who needed my expertise. Now the shop is gone, I have a collection of hand tools in the closet, and no clients. Other than the cats. I got to use my hands. Normally I use them for doing the crossword puzzle, typing at this terminal, and cooking. Not a lot of professional opportunities here at the home.
SO me and my little allen wrenches have amused my cats, my wife gets joy from them, and I got a bit of fun.