Main » May 2005

May 27, 2005

What a Long Year!

Here is a photo of Beau, one of the new cats, trying to pull the camera out of my hand by its strap.
I'm recuperating from the end of the year school madness. Tons of grade postings, cleaning, and working on a pacing guide for next year have kept me swamped. Daddy Cat's death also hit harder than I thought it would. I've had days of depression with lots of sorrow.

Our little feral Sebastian kitty quit eating when we brought in the two new rescues. We've taken him to the vet three times now and I've been working with him in isolation a lot this week to encourage him to eat. He is still not eating with his normal gusto but at least he is eating some now.

The rosacea has been very bad this week. I have a moderately red face and my skin has been in its dry phase so lots of chapping, itching, and burning. I am completely exhausted from school so I've been resting the past 2 days. Hopefully this will help ease the rosacea symptoms. I go in to the dermatologist in a week and in for my yearly checkup to the GP the week after that. Other than those obligations and a trip to draw blood and a colonoscopy (oh joy!) I'm free until the beginning of July when I will take a week long course on AP Biology.

Posted by Ken Albin at 04:37 PM | Comments (0)

May 16, 2005

A death in our science family

I found out this morning that our Zoology/Physical Science instructor died last night of an aortic aneurism. He felt very weak and his wife called 911. He passed away at the hospital while waiting for surgery. This teacher was only 61 years old. That is 11 years older than me. He ran each day and took good care of himself. He had plans to quit teaching soon and travel with his wife. He was a Baptist pastor who had just received his doctorate of divinity degree. I was a friend to him as was a large portion of the faculty. He will be missed greatly.

The 06/07 Biology class is horrible again. House cleaning has included many phone calls home and sending 4 students to the dean. I will be VERY glad when this group is history next week.

The rosacea is moderate. Flushing is still a problem and dryness has increased. Oh well.

Posted by Ken Albin at 03:03 PM | Comments (0)

May 09, 2005

Going back to work so I can rest

What a wild weekend! It seems that one of our cats, the feral Sebastian, did not accept the two new cats. I spent Friday and Saturday night separating them. We are now going back to square one and using baby gates to keep them apart but allow them to see and smell each other. We will take it much slower now.

Speaking of Sebastian, he managed to find a 4 inch piece of twine and swallowed it. One full body scan later and he returned from the vet. It was then that we found the string in the litter box. Sheesh!

The Anatomy classes are beginning to get nasty, especially those who are right on the line between two letter grades. They will argue for that one extra point on a test until you are exhausted listening to it. I wish they all cared this much the entire school term.

The rosacea is fair, with a lot of dryness and a little flushing. Symptoms have improved some.

Posted by Ken Albin at 02:31 PM | Comments (0)

May 03, 2005

Tired

It's been a little better the past couple of days. I sent a total of 6 kids from the 'class from Hell' Biology class to the office. I followed this up with several phone calls to parents. The result is tht I had a very nice day with them today and actually got to teach them.

The seniors in my Anatomy classes are getting very restless. It's taking every bit of my energy to keep their interest as the end of the year draws near.

Last Fall a woman in town with 50 cats was kicked out of her son's home.
Since then these cats have been up for adoption with a local rescue group. Sunday my wife and I adopted two of these cats, an 8 year old father and his 1 1/2 year old son, both black. We ran across the rescue group at a local pet store and worried that the older cat would not find anyone to adopt him. Everyone wants the cute kittens.
Anyway, our sucker light was on and we took them both. Lord help us, we have 7 indoor cats now!

The rosacea is a little better overall, but the skin is very dry. No change in the treatment except for adding a new moisturizer that really works well.

Posted by Ken Albin at 02:03 PM | Comments (0)