tout le monde en parle

I'm having fun practicing reading French here... the FAQ section of the Tout Le Monde En Parle website.

It's a TV show in Quebec that has caught my eye from time to time... I only understand snippets of what they say, but the energy of the hosts and guests is entertaining nonetheless, and sometimes I recognize some of the guests.

Here's a sample letter from the section where the host answers audience letters:

7 novembre 2006
SUJET DU MESSAGE : Plus d'artistes connus

Je pense que vous n'invitez pas assez d’artistes connus.
Éric Brassard
Je pense que vous ne connaissez pas assez d’artistes.
André D.

OMFG. Pretty much, it goes:
Q: I think you don't have enough well-known artists on your show.
A: I don't think you know your artists well enough.

I wish I knew more French, but the French I do know is getting a fun workout.

more cat trouble

well I heard from the vet.
It's not thyroid, it's not kidney trouble, it's not diabetes.
So now what? He wants to xray or ultrasound the intestines to see if there's something blocking there.
Not to sound like a bad cat owner, but it's expensive already. I talked to a person at work, he said that he draws the line at a certain point money-wise, and also at any procedure that is invasive, that is likely to stress the animal out more than it adds to quality of life. I agree. He gave me some good ground to stand on, regarding when to say "no" to the vet people. So I think I will say yes to the ultrasound, but no to anything surgery. But then what's the point? If the exams show she's clearly gotta be in some pain, then I guess we can put her down, and if she doesn't seem to be in pain, then I guess let her be, and try to make her comfortable.
I feel terrible for her because there's nothing to do for her yet. I tried feeding her, putting canned food in her mouth, but she's not so enthusiastic about that, and I feel pretty futile. I'll try again tonight but meh.
It feels weird to have Heidi under the bed, and Deena snuggled up to me ON it. I miss having 2 kitties on the bed. :(

sick Heidi

My poor kitty is sick. She's 15 years old, I adopted her last year because her owner went into an nursing home. I have another one who is 6, I've had her for a number of years.
I came home yesterday and Heidi wasn't at the door - lately, when I put my key in the lock, I can hear her bell jingle almost right away. So I went looking for her, she was on my bed - usually she is waiting with Deena to be fed. But last night she was not interested in food, not even yummy canned food. She was a bit weak and slumpy.
Same story this morning, so I brought her into the vet's. I was in shock at the vet bill, but what can you do? As cats age, apparently they get either diabetes, kidney or thyroid problems, so they did a test for those. I thought she might have had a cold and have lost her appetite. I nuked some canned cat food and put it on her paw and cheek to see if I could get any of it in her. Since her last vet visit, she's gone from 8 lbs to 7, so I doubt it's just a cold at this point. My friend's cat died of kidney failure, his cat went real real skinny, poor thing. So I figure that she has something along the same lines. Cats can't talk, so I have to act for them, they are vulnerable.
Tonight I'm going to see if I can get some more food into her, or I might try baby food or milk or something.

The fire alarm went off in my building last night. I tried taking a cat with me, but to no avail... I didn't make a really good effort, because last time, the alarm was triggered by a problem with water in the elevator, so I figured chances were fairly low that it was a real fire.
I was right. On my way down, I saw indications that the alarm was pulled as part of someone's domestic dispute.
I have heard that women, in reaction to being abused, will do something that ends with themselves getting arrested. I don't know what the end result was, the fireman eventually shooed us back upstairs. I listened on my scanner, but I didn't hear anything.