Wednesday, July 04, 2012

Good Morning Good News - Happy Indy-Pounce-ing Day !!!!

This is Calvin the Cow and Indy the Cat !!!! Today is Play and Pounce with Indy Day !!!!!!

I hope you're having a GREAT 4th of July. We're all ok here at the refuge - we still have no power and no phone lines - and cuz there are power lines down and debris about we have to be closed for your safety!!! I'm so sorry the 4th of July Tour had to be cancelled. Maybe we can schedule something else this summer. Currently the next scheduled event is Labor Day Tour at noon on Sept 3rd. Wez really hope to have power restored by then !!!! Love you and I'm missing you today !!!! Opie

Gotta go, Indy is calling, wez gonna run and play and pounce before it gets real hot today!!!!

Tuesday, July 03, 2012

Hi everybody!!!

Sun is shining outside today.

Someday soon the power company promises that the sun will shine inside too !!!!

Yikes, you'd think you saved money not having electricity wouldn't you? But NO WAY !!! It be dog gone expensive !!!! It's cost just a bit over $1,000 that we've had to spend in gasoline for the generator, emergency parts (had to pay more Saturday from the only place we could find open) to hook the well pump to the generator, emergency water before the generator was running, laundramat coins - yikes you seen what a load costs these days? Maybe we get 6 more machines and run laundry for YOU !!!

Mom was behind on the bills anyway this summer and now this !!! Oh yikes - BUT the good news is NOBODY got hurt. Some of my trees did and we're very sad about that. But now they can be at Rainbow Bridge with dad!!  But all the cats and dogs and cows and all are FINE. A bit melted, but fine.

Yesterday we got lots of extension cords and more fans and that's helping in the whole 9th Life Center --- gee I'm told by guys who's older than me that till just a few years ago there was no cooling machines at all at Rikki's !!!! Now the whole 9th Life Center has one. Well not now, but we used to and we will again when the electricity comes back. And here's something I'm a bit worried about ....... we have an electric bill due to the power company on July 5th for $543.31 ---- mom's really hoping they'll turn the power on even it it's not paid .... there don't be no more green stuff for them ... it had to go to water and gas for the generator and those kind of emergency things .....

So Vincent is here to help us raise that $543.31 so we can get it paid before the 5th ....... we really appreciate our power now and don't want to ever ever complain about the cost of it again --- who'd a knowed -- but it's a whole lot cheaper to use it off the wires than to make it in the generator and we really LOVE our lectricity !!!!! DO you love lectricity? Clap your paws with me !!!!!

Love, Opie

(ps if you'd like to buy us a coffee cup full of electricity this morning this is where you can do it!!! And to those of you who've been helping with the expenses this crazy weekend - thank you and I love you - so many of you have been so kind. http://rikkisrefuge.org/donate.php)

Yesterday evening we thought we were gonna be lucky!!!   We saw the electric company trucks!!!   They came yesterday, must have followed the signs saying "Job Site" up to the new trailers, instead of following the electrical wires up to the transformer and down wires.  Looked at the trailers, said I see no down lines (cuz I see no lines) so no problem and left.  Tried chasing them out the dirveway but by the time you run after them a bit yelling, and then turn around and run back to the parking lot, get a vehicle, chase the cats off the top, and out from underneath and realize you've left the door open and have to chase them out of the car and then out from under the car again ....  the electric company beat us out to 20 and were gone.   Paws crossed they come back again ......

More love to YOU !!!!   Opie

PS to Coco Christian Maow thanks you for paying his bill. Don't know why they couldn't find his name when you called at the doc to help him. His name officially Chairman Mao but mom's always called him Maow and that's how she put his name in when he got his surgery. He's doing great and is gonna put his pic up soon as we get more good internet service!!! Thank you lots !!!

Monday, July 02, 2012

Good Morning Good News, July 2, 2012


Welcome to July !!!

Wow I learned a new word "derecho" -


that's what happened Friday night!!! Scary and messy but gosh we were so lucky!!! It's a nuisance and made lots of work and has cost lots of money --- thank you thank you thank you all of you who are foregoing a cup of coffee, a bag of groceries, or something to help us out, I love you muchly, you know I've been having troubles with other bills and just not quite the green stuff to trade for them and now this, poo on Derecho!!! ----

But I be so thankful we all be ok. Such bad and terrible things could have happened but they really be little when you look at what happened in other places. Our trees landed on the ground, small limbs and leaves all over, but no serious damage, and I can drive around and see smushed houses and sumushed cars, and I hear even some people and pets got smushed --- so I thankful it really be so little here.

You know, we could have lost the new office trailers. They'd just finished setting them on the foundation piers. Just Friday morning they'd come back and installed the tie downs. The guy said it's so darn hot to be working the guys like this but this is great weather for a bad thunderstorm and you'd sure hate to see one go over. Thank goodness. Can you imagine after all it's taken to finally get them ...... and they be gone before we ever get inside !!!! Of course this will delay the electricity getting hooked up - which is the next phase -- but you know something? That be ok, that be just fine!!!

And you know what else I be thankful for? I thankful for all of you who been helping us. You who's been contributing $s where you can, those who brought out bottled water for us and gatoraide for the hoomans before we got the well pump converted to work on the generator, those who came to help clear debris. And you know what else? I'm so terribly terribly thankful for my staff who came to help us. They had to clear debris from their own homes, stop and clear things off the roads, take detours, and they came to take care of us. And in that hot hot humid weather, they made sure we all had water, even the cows way way way down in the field, where they had to clear more trees and branches to get to their water tub. A great big thanks to Valerie, Wayne, Doug, Philip, Heather, Shannon and Sean who all made it in on Saturday - bright and early to help us and to make sure we were safe.

Wayne spent several hours with the afternoon sun beating on his back working, hanging over the side of the pump house reaching down in, to rewire the pump so it could run off the generator.

WOW ...... I gotz me wonderful hoomans who help me !!!! And I LOVE YOU each and every one of you !!!!! You're what makes it possible to have the Republic of Rikki's where the animals are allowed to live!!! Those of us that nobody else wants and so many think shouldn't even be allowed to live cuz we're missing a part. My feet, Duke's eyes. We thank you - cuz we love our life just as much as you love yours !!!! I don't even miss my feet!! Never had 'em, don't need 'em, me and Timmy can still play and lick each other and purr and be very happy!!!!

OH OH OH OH Really cute story. At the electric store when grandma and me went to get the supplies to hook up the well pump to the generator, there was a young man, maybe 10 or 12, kind of hard to tell on hoomans how old they be, it's always such big numbers, and he looked at mom's shirt and said, "You work at Rikki's?" and she said, "Yes, have you ever come to visit?" and he said, "Yeah, and you know who's my favorite of all? Leaper!! I love Leaper!! Do you know his story? He got a bad tattoo and it damaged his leg, but he's a real cool cat!"

You can watch Leaper leap and make you smile !!

YES YES YES
--- well is running FINE now --- got it running on the generator. So we're fine on water. Have enough gatoraide for the staff for a bit !!! Thank you all very much. If you're coming out we need gas. BUT before coming out be sure YOU have enough gas to travel and to get home. We've got people coming and getting stuck cuz it's getting hard to buy gas. Places have no electricity, can't pump. And of the two that have had electricity in town, one ran out of gas yesterday.

I'm hearing from people coming down from the northern virginia area that they can't find gas anywhere along the way. I don't wanna be a mean kitty cat, but with it getting harder to get and me needing to run that generator, I can't give anymore away - not at any price !!!! I sorry !!!! If you do have a full tank and can get in with more and can find a can to even put it in - I'm hearing that's all sold out - we can still use gas. About 20 gallons a day for the generator it looks like.

LAUNDRY is a disaster --- thankfully we don't need much for warmth right now -- the laundry mat by tractor supply in orange, same shopping center as pizza hut and near Co-Op is open 24/7 --- if you can come and take laundry --- please help --- if you don't have a truck or something bring BIG plastic bags to put it in. It's like way icky. Some of us poo our beds. That's why we live here, cuz Rikki's loves us anyway. Quilts, dog and cat beds, cage pads, towels -- lots of icky things needing washing. This is gonna be one more of those extra expenses, it gets real expensive to do laundry at the mat !!!!

Thanks for your donations everybody - you're keeping us going and giving us hope that some day the lightbulbs will shine again !!!!


Oh and just a little bit of sad news .....  The tour on July 4th is cancelled.  Wez got catching up to do from the storm and cleaning up and it still be very hot.  The aminals get stressed when it gets hot and they need to be clam and just lay around in the shade.  Only da hoomans can be out working hard !!!!  And dats cuz a you got them the gatorade!!!!

It be very bad too if the visitors pass out from the heat !!!!  When da ambulance comes to take them away it makes lots of noise and scares the aminals !!!!  So maybe tour next time!!!  Boo, I gonna miss seeing my friends ....  ok well I go lay in shade now. 

I hope you and yours did fine during the storm.

I love you,

Opie