01-26-2018, 02:16 PM
Down in Texas, near Dallas, the drama of my older brother Rick and his wife Sandy continues to unfold.
Roughly a year ago Sandy hired some contractor to come in and do some renovations on the house. It needs a lot of that, as the cats -- currently 22 -- have done a lot of damage. Lo and behold, the contractor absconded with the pay soon into the project, and I doubt he even paid his crew. One of the crew offered to stay on and finish the work, if he could stay in the house free for the duration.
So he moved in upstairs. Along with his wife. And kids (I think there's two of them). Henceforth I'll refer to this tribe as squatters.
The alpha squatter has not pursued finishing the work, as far as I know. Nor do the squatters pay rent. There's a lot of yelling and screaming upstairs. Rick had some confrontations with the guy, telling him he shouldn't be yelling at his wife and kids like that. They almost came to blows. Recently when Rick was asked about the people upstairs, he said he doesn't go up there anymore.
There's a lot of damaged people in that house. I don't know how much longer it can last. Rick and Sandy's oldest daughter lives out around Boston, and she's looking to get Rick into an assisted living facility out near her. I've offered to help her with that move, should it come about. As far as she's concerned, Sandy can move out into the area as well. But not with the cats. Therein lies the rub with that. Sandy does not want to give up the cats.
The whole situation is delicate. Sandy, as the wife, holds a strong legal hand in whatever happens. Yes, she's a bit bonkers, but not to the point where she could be easily removed from the equation. Assisted living will be expensive, and the last thing we want to see happen is for Rick and Sandy's savings to go to lawyers. My mom left a nice sum for Rick, but of course it went to Sandy. It would be nice to somehow pry some of that away and into Rick's care.
Meanwhile, the squatters continue to squat. Lately they've been wanting to use the freezer. The problem is, there's no room -- not with seven cats in it. Yes, along the way some of the cats in Sandy's care have died. She wants to bury them in the yard, but not where some future owner of the house might walk on them. And who knows where a future owner might walk, right? So for now they linger in the freezer.
Which brings me to the reason of this post. I have decided, without seeking permission from the overlord, to make those seven cats honorary members of the cats of DOOM. Because it seems to me they ought to have some halfway legitimate resting place, even if in a digital cloud.
Roughly a year ago Sandy hired some contractor to come in and do some renovations on the house. It needs a lot of that, as the cats -- currently 22 -- have done a lot of damage. Lo and behold, the contractor absconded with the pay soon into the project, and I doubt he even paid his crew. One of the crew offered to stay on and finish the work, if he could stay in the house free for the duration.
So he moved in upstairs. Along with his wife. And kids (I think there's two of them). Henceforth I'll refer to this tribe as squatters.
The alpha squatter has not pursued finishing the work, as far as I know. Nor do the squatters pay rent. There's a lot of yelling and screaming upstairs. Rick had some confrontations with the guy, telling him he shouldn't be yelling at his wife and kids like that. They almost came to blows. Recently when Rick was asked about the people upstairs, he said he doesn't go up there anymore.
There's a lot of damaged people in that house. I don't know how much longer it can last. Rick and Sandy's oldest daughter lives out around Boston, and she's looking to get Rick into an assisted living facility out near her. I've offered to help her with that move, should it come about. As far as she's concerned, Sandy can move out into the area as well. But not with the cats. Therein lies the rub with that. Sandy does not want to give up the cats.
The whole situation is delicate. Sandy, as the wife, holds a strong legal hand in whatever happens. Yes, she's a bit bonkers, but not to the point where she could be easily removed from the equation. Assisted living will be expensive, and the last thing we want to see happen is for Rick and Sandy's savings to go to lawyers. My mom left a nice sum for Rick, but of course it went to Sandy. It would be nice to somehow pry some of that away and into Rick's care.
Meanwhile, the squatters continue to squat. Lately they've been wanting to use the freezer. The problem is, there's no room -- not with seven cats in it. Yes, along the way some of the cats in Sandy's care have died. She wants to bury them in the yard, but not where some future owner of the house might walk on them. And who knows where a future owner might walk, right? So for now they linger in the freezer.
Which brings me to the reason of this post. I have decided, without seeking permission from the overlord, to make those seven cats honorary members of the cats of DOOM. Because it seems to me they ought to have some halfway legitimate resting place, even if in a digital cloud.