I have issues!

[merimask]

Grr!

Working my TAIL off this week.  It's the final week before Pennsic & I am up to my noodle with work.  I AM going to FINISH that New Orleans gallery order even if it kills me.  Actually I've made good progress...tonight I just finished shaping all the masks (except Medusa...I still have to finish carving that one), & I have three full days left to work on all of 'em.  

But OH what a freaking time for Charlotte's cat Dinah to go on litterbox strike.   Seems she's decided she'd rather poop & piss under the kitchen table (on the carpet) than in that newfangled cat litter I just filled the boxes with last week.  *sigh*   I spent extra money to buy really expensive corn-based eco-friendly cat litter...& that damn cat just won't use it at all.

I bought the crappy old clay litter she seems to prefer & changed the boxes back, and she's using them again (you'd better!  Bitch!), but in the meantime my house STINKS & nothing seems to be working to get the smell out of the carpet.  It's really really annoying the hell out of me; I have a very sensitive nose & the smell is just...cloying & awful.  I'm the kind that cleans the litter as soon as it's used, so I guess you can imagine how CHEESED I am at Dinah right now.  *snarl*  *pout*  I'm going to have to stop working & take a trip to PetsMart again to try some other brand of pet smell remover..."Natures Secret" isn't working at all. 

Greg is on vacation.  He's just being a House Monkey this week, & next week he'll be helping me at the event.  But!  This week, he's just hanging around...going from the couch to the computer & then back to the couch...leaving a trail of empty soda cans & food crumbs & paper plates in his wake.  About a hundred times a day, I find myself picking up after him & I have to wonder WHY!!  Why this week?  It seems like everything in this house has conspired to rise up against me in an effort to keep me from filling my gallery order.  *sobsob*  

Even Kiba!  He's blowing his coat out in CHUNKS.  Suddenly.  I've been brushing him out just fine all summer & keeping him looking sharp.  Now, however, he's making a HUGE mess & I have to vaccuum three times a day & brush him out at least twice a day, & he's still leaving pieces of himself everywhere.   Holy damn.  Will someone please tell me what I DID to deserve this kind of fun?

Everyone is pissing me off.  

Except Kumo.  He's my little kitty buddy.  Much love for  the CloudCat.  We dig eachother.

In other less annoying news, I've been enjoying brief sojourns to my new PaperDemon gallery.  Damn, that site's fun & so easy to use.  I love it.  It's fannish as hell in there, but that's ok because it satisfies my inner fangirl and anyway there is some REALLY pretty bishie art to be seen in there.   Just the thing to help me unwind when everything around me IRL has me jacked up & crazy. 

Got a phone call from David...the guy who is restoring my blade.  It's done!  I'll be picking it up at Pennsic & I CAN'T WAIT.  I know it's a financial extravegance but I just can't help having this ONE project/vice/obsession.  When it comes to these beautiful Japanese antique blades that have been ruined and junked...I just get the biggest kick out of finding & restoring them so that their beauty & value is obvious to everyone.  That way, maybe they'll go on for another 400 years.  I feel like I'm preserving history.

Pictures of new Medusa coming soon.   It's neato & fun & even though I'm rushing like crazy, I'm still doing amazing work.   I think I actually get better when the pressure is on.  Funny!

Comments

[redmagus.livejournal.com]

*hug*

[merimask.livejournal.com]

Woe. :-(

[redmagus.livejournal.com]

anything I can do to help?

[merimask.livejournal.com]

I dunno...would you like a cat? ;-)

[kls-eloise.livejournal.com]

Much sympathy hon.

Lots of cats are fussy about their litter, and you have to change them gradually. Some won't even deal with that. *After* you get back is the time for that experiment. Friends of mine found a really, really good pet smell remover, but I can't remember the damn name. If you haven't resolved it by the time I see you, I'll ask them again at Pennsic. They swear by it.

As for Greg - that's what husbands DO. They wander through the house leaving a trail of destruction behind them. That they don't even notice.

Personally, I do my best work under pressure. One of my long term goals is to learn to NOT do that!

[merimask.livejournal.com]

Yeah...I thought I was being smart & making things easier for my mom, who will be watching all my pets, because this corn litter is not as dusty or heavy as clay. But... *shrug* The kitty has voted, and so clay it is.

I just have to keep cleaning up the carpet. It's that pee smell that is so awful...it's like a skunk sprayed. No matter how much I scrub it just keeps stinking.

Eh...at least I'll be leaving for Pennsic soon. I'm actually looking forward to getting out of here for a week.

[kls-eloise.livejournal.com]

I've got a co-worker minding the cats for me, and sent Bob out for a couple of boxes of the Arm & Hammer litter I like. He brought home one 30 lb box. Not quite what I had in mind. But there's fresh litter available, and that's the important thing. I'll ask Jehan and Luke what their miracle cat urine stink remover is when we get to Pennsic. Then if it's still a problem when you get home you'll have the name.

I haven't had a chance to vacuum for a while, so I have cat hair tumbleweeds drifting around the house. I'm not sure that I'm going to have a chance to do anything about that.

I'm looking forward to getting out of here, but I'm enormously apprehensive about the temperatures. Oh well - what can you do? I wonder how the weirdo quotient is going to be this year? After I-Con my standards are different ;-)

[merimask.livejournal.com]

Heh! :-) I hesitate to ask...are your goofball standards higher or lower after Icon?

OMG I hope it's not going to be Africa Hot down there. I have no idea. This week is supposed to be hot (I'm in it now, in fact), but it looked like the temps were going to drop some by the weekend (low 80s during the day...60s at night). Beyond the weekend though...no clue.

[kls-eloise.livejournal.com]

It depends on how you define your scale. I'll say that I always thought that Pennsic was the goofiest place on earth, and Icon showed me that scadians are rank amateurs compared to fandom. On the other hand, the Pennsic exposure is so much longer that must count for something.

The forecast I just looked at looks decent. If we really get low 60's at night I will weep with gratitude.

Mostly loaded, almost ready to pull out. If I can just get the damn contracts off my desk at work I can leave with a clear conscience.

[ramblinsuze.livejournal.com]

Sorry you're having a stressful time. *hugs*

I think "Nature's Miracle" is what we used with our puppy (I know it has to be enzyme-based to really get the smell out), but it's probably easiest to see what Petco has in stock. You might also want to use a carpet deodorizer (Carpet Fresh, et al) in addition. Or Febreeze. Yeah, I have issues with lingering smells, too. ;)

[merimask.livejournal.com]

Nature's Miracle...THAT'S the stuff I bought. Turns out it's meant for dog pee but not cat pee...which is apparently much nastier. *sigh* I used a whole jug of it & it didn't help at all (in fact I think it smells worse now).

I looked up some stuff online that PetsMart carries...I'll go pick it up tomorrow & give it a try.

In the meantime, Febreeze is a great idea.

[ramblinsuze.livejournal.com]

I'm looking for more ideas. I'll probably need to use 'em myself one of these days...

This seems to be the most popular home remedy: Neutralize pet urine odor with diluted white vinegar (25% vinegar to 75% water) sprayed on carpets. Always test in an inconspicuous spot before treating a large area. Place dry towels over the stained area and put something heavy over the towels to increase the pressure. After some hours remove the towels and raise the nap of the carpet with a soft-bristled hairbrush.

A mixture of hydrogen peroxide is recommended for helping to lift the urine out of the carpet (3% hp solution). But it doesn't help with the odor, just for getting at the stuff that has soaked way in.

http://www.88stink.com/ This apparently works on everything!

Hee. "Have you ever watched the Discovery Channel during Shark Week? Sharks can smell a drop of blood in the water from miles off. But when it comes to smelling cat urine, those sharks don’t stand a chance against my girlfriend. Amber is a pee shark, able to smell and locate a single drop of cat urine from anywhere in the house. For this reason, I’ve had no choice but to learn the best ways to get rid of the slightest traces of cat urine odor from my home. If you’ve got a leaky kitty, take a look at How to Get Rid of Cat Urine for some tried and true hints and suggestions on how to keep your home smelling pretty." http://www.getridofthings.com/get-rid-of-cat-urine.htm Various remedies (*giggle* I like the subtitle)

Huh. Apparently there's a Nature's Miracle specifically formulated for cats. Is that what you tried or the regular version?

[merimask.livejournal.com]

Thanks hon! :-) That's very helpful. I have some white vinegar...I'm going to try that out right now.

Eh...I must have the regular "Nature's Miracle" because it only mentions dog pee & has a picture of a dog on it. *pout*

[ermine-rat.livejournal.com]

Pictures of you posing with the restored blade please!

[merimask.livejournal.com]

Soon soon! Or, if you're going to be at Pennsic, stop by my booth & you can see it in person. David's bringing it there on Saturday. :-)

[ermine-rat.livejournal.com]

not this year! sorry...
but I would like to know when you will be out for left coast gigs.

[rumdiculous.livejournal.com]

I love your icon. XD

[silverontherose.livejournal.com]

*glomps you and starts cleaning so you can concentrate on craftynesses*

Try dumping baking soda over the stinky areas and leaving it for an hour before you vacuum it up. It might take several applications, but should help. I deodorized an entire musty/musky house like that once. That house was a piece of work... blah.

Ok, I'll chase around messy hubby and prissy kitty whilst you and Kumo fill orders! *gets out vacuum and Pledge*

[merimask.livejournal.com]

Waah...I would totally PAY someone to be me this week. :-( I have too much to do.

Baking soda is a good idea, but this goes deep into the carpet. I'm getting a new cleaner tomorrow that is supposed to work.

In the meantime, how'd you like a free cat? ;-)

[pzb.livejournal.com]

First and foremost, HUGS!!!

Secondly, as others have said, cats don't like the change of litter. Missy refused to use the automatic cleaning box, even when I had both kinds of litter in there. We had to go back to using the old stinky one.

But when we have had issues, I've used this stuff. It worked like a freaking charm, that the smell of it is rather....unique. But not bad. And it kills the smell instantly.

Hang in there, hon. I've discovered it's always when you're the busiest is when all the shit starts happening at the same time.

[merimask.livejournal.com]

Hmm...I think that's the stuff they were telling me about on the phone today. Thanks! Now I know what it looks like.

Cats are the nastiest critters sometimes, y'know?

*hug* Thankya...I'll be fine once I get this order filled & sent. Then I can relax...heh!

[rumdiculous.livejournal.com]

Oh man, it's really hard to get the smell of cat crap out of carpet. I'd say try sprinkling that carpet powder over the area perhaps... That or cut the hunk of carpet out and burn it.

My dogs are shedding all over the place too. Which is okay since they're outside. Still, it's a pain when Iris leans against me and leaves a furry imprint onto my leg.

[merimask.livejournal.com]

It's the cat pee that is the really nasty stuff...I've scrubbed that ONE spot on the rug & used almost a whole jug of special cleaner & it STILL smells skunky in there. :-( Woe.

Kiba is such a mess...I've been calling him Hairy Dogmonster and brushing him so much that when he sees me coming with something in my hand, he hides. :-) Greg said our livingroom floor looked like "Furmageddon" today, after one of our dog brushing sessions.

[rumdiculous.livejournal.com]

Yeah, cat pee lingers...for years.

XD My brother brushes the dogs. Although he's been falling down on that job as of late. There are doggie poof balls all over the yard. :/ That's the thing about dogs with short, wiry hair, they shed like mad.