Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Indestructible Super Cat and the Demented Ninja

Just so you don't think that trucking is always full of fun things like dressing up a stuffed rabbit as Liberace, ripping off insect legs, or being attacked by fish in Florida, I bring you:

The Day That Went On Too Long

It all started out like a normal day. We unloaded in the early afternoon and were ready for our next load, with plenty of hours left in the day to run.

We waited. And waited. And waited some more for our next load. Freight has been slow, so we made use of our time: Himself lubed the chassis, changed the fuel filter and built a barn. I did a photo-shoot of Liberace Rabbit and Meow Meow posing in different parts of the truck.

Himself building a barn or something.
We have different ideas of
spending time wisely.

Several hours later, our next load came in and we headed out to pick it up, in the cornfields west of Chicago. The directions to the shipper were written by someone who just flew in from Bizarro World, where left turns are really right turns and north is south. The fun thing about going in the wrong direction in a semi with a 53 foot trailer, is that you have to go miles and miles out of the way before you can turn around.

We made it to the shipper in the early evening, after going 40 miles out of the way, only to find that they couldn't load us until the next day, they were running behind.

There were no truck stops within 7.3 thousand miles, which meant no shower. This would have been enough to ruin my day, since I would rather tell David Hasselhof that I'm his biggest fan, than go to bed without a shower.

But wait! There's more!

We found a quiet place to park behind a grocery store near a big field, and within walking distance to a nice restaurant. We had a lovely dinner, a pleasant  walk with Jas through the neighborhood, and then washed up in the grocery store bathroom. Not ideal but eleventy times better than a port-a-potty. We'd made the best of things.

Fast forward to midnight. I woke up to Jas hacking, smacking and generally sounding sick and pitiful, so I got up, dressed, and took her outside. She ate grass for fifteen minutes, threw up some and we got back in the truck.

She drank a gallon a water and settled back down on the passenger seat instead of her bed. The windows were open about half-way to let in the cool night air and we figured it felt good to her too, after being sick.


Jas in my seat.
Her bed tucks into the space
on the floor in front.

We were all awake by then but we eventually got back to sleep, only to be woken up again at 3 am to a loud noise. 

Himself turned on the light. Jas was gone.

I looked out my window from the top bunk and saw her, going around in circles and called to her. I thought she was having a seizure. And then I saw something furry with her and in my sleep fuzzy mind I wondered, why was she dancing with a cat?

And then I woke up.

Oh crap. She had a cat. In her mouth. They were not dancing.

Himself threw on pants and shoes and jumped out of the truck and onto Jas to wrestle her free from the cat.

Jas and the cat had reached an agreement by that point: Jas agreed to run around in panicked circles while the cat agreed to attach itself to Jas's face with its teeth. Once Himself got involved and held Jas down with his body weight, the cat kindly agreed to let go of Jas's face.

Jas, not being the brightest knife in the drawer, tried to go after the cat again, but by that time I was helpful, and we both managed to get Jas back in the truck before the cat ate all our faces off.


"I won, right?"


I got the flashlight and went back to make sure the cat was ok but it was gone; all I found was a pile of fur. I think I heard it snickering contemptuously in the distance.

Jas was bloody and smelled of cat pee. We cleaned her up and checked her wounds; they were all superficial, except for a new hole in her ear which we drenched in peroxide. She drank another gallon of water and then slept like a baby, secure in the knowledge that she showed that cat what was what.

Because in her mind, she *totally* won. And would launch herself out the window like a demented ninja again if given the chance.




Himself and I didn't fall into such a peaceful sleep, however.

Surprisingly, adrenaline, the smell of cat pee in a small space where the windows are closed, and anticipation of having our face ripped off by an indestructible super-cat is not the best recipe for a good night's sleep.

Unless you're a demented ninja, of course.








31 comments:

  1. Ah yes, indestructible super cat. A true villain's villain.

    Seriously though, you're lucky to be alive.

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  2. I am trying to think of something witty to say, but it's really hard when my teens are aggravating the ever loving snot out of me.

    However, I think cat pee, as bad as it is would be better than skunk. Which is what I was worried it was going to be as I was reading your post. I already had the Oh No! in my head and everything.

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    1. Oh yes. We know the skunk smell well. Last year Jas attacked some weeds that happened to be home to a very unhappy skunk. Nothing to do for it either but we did sleep with the windows open that night!

      Here's the post for that one:

      http://truckingtumbleweed.blogspot.com/2011/06/pungent-polecat-or-curious-chupacabra.html

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  3. Lol!!! Great post. It really made me laugh. I was worried that the cat would be pretty well destroyed by Jas - so it was a relief to know that it had disappeared. Of course, it might have wandered off into a field to die a miserable death, but we'll pretend not. Your little side note about Himself building farms was pretty funny too :)

    Sorry that you didn't get your sleep!

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    1. Thanks! I really think (and hope) the cat was ok. The cat had Jas by the ear with its teeth and its claws were in her chin. The only thing Jas had going for her was the element of surprise I think; she probably landed on the cat.

      Who expects a dog to come flying out of the sky? Indestrucible Super Cat (now) that's who! :)

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  4. Nothing gets you out of a funk from being sick like kicking some feline azz. Sleep well, Jas. Tomorrow is another day.

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    1. I keep telling her that she did *not* win but all she hears is "great job! Kill all the things!"

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  5. I HATE when cats want to eat everyone's faces off... happens all too often. Also, the title of your post gets an A+ in my book -- best I've seen in a while :-)

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    1. Ha! It does, there ought to be a law or something. Thanks for the A+! Those don't happen to me too often, is it transferable?

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  6. The first post of yours I read was the one where you so thoughtfully marked in a drawn leg to replace the one you ruthlessly *ACCIDENTALLY* pulled off the stick bug and I thought it was pretty hilarious so I subscribed, and I may have laughed even harder at this one. Thank you so much for the giggles...

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    1. Thanks for riding along Shannon! It WAS an accident, you know. =)

      I think the karma of the bug's leg came back as Super Indestructible Cat so now we are even steven.

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  7. There's nothing quite like a dog and cat fight, particularly with face attachment. And the noise, my god, the noise.

    Glad everyone came out of it presumably ok.

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    1. Oh, the unearthly growl of Indestructible Super Cat is beyond this world. Beyond this solar system probably.

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  8. Well, I must admit that I do grouse from time to time when I hear people talk about their dogs as if they're children (and I'm not for one second implying you're one of those people, I'm just saying). It rankles me when people equate raising dogs to raising kids, but now I have to wonder if dog parents don't actually have it tougher; my kids hardly ever jump out of windows to get their faces eaten by cats. I could only hope they'd handle it as well as Jas.

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    1. What?! Raising kids isn't *that* much different; you lock them in the bathroom when they get on your nerves don't you? With a bowl of water, of course.

      I could totally be a parent. Need a babysitter?

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  9. Jas' belief that she totally kicked some cat ass reminds of an incident a couple of years back. Penny (my dog) got in to a fight with a duck and LOST. The duck got away just fine, but Pen had huge gouges in her neck where the duck bit chunks off. To this day, she still thinks she can take on anything and win.

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    1. A duck?! Do ducks have teeth? Was it like the Aflack duck?

      See, that's why I love dogs. To get mauled by a duck would be embarrassing and humiliating to a human or a cat or an amoeba, but a dog sees it as a TOTAL WIN. I want to have some of that optimism. Without being mauled by a duck, that is.

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  10. You have reminded me why I should not care for animals. I would be shrieking and useless in the corner while a cat ate my dog. You also reminded me why my children might actually be decent humans; they rarely try to eat each other's faces. See? I'm a very lucky mom.

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    1. You are very lucky indeed. You should go hug them now. But stay away from their mouths, just in case. ;)

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  11. Oh, jeez... I've driven through Western Illinois a million times and it is the dullest place I've ever been; there is nothing there. So sorry you had that day, wow!

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    1. Thanks for stopping by! We've seen our share of corn fields in our travels, maybe Jas was just trying to liven things up for us. ;)

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  12. Reading this reminded me of my years of living on the road and driving everywhere in our truck & 53' trailer... And I don't miss the truck stops. At all! Now when we take a break from the traveling we anchor and surf. Yeah. I'm still trailer trash living in a home with a transmission but - reading the mess of trying to turn around and the lack of truck stops made me have a near anxiety attack!

    Been there. Done that. Burnt the t-shirt. :)

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    1. Hey, nothing wrong with having a home with a transmission, it makes the get a away easier!

      Jumping in the water certainly beats the pants off of walking through a pee-smelling truckstop.

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  13. damn. what a day. the day that would never end. or just another day in the life of a tumbleweed threesome.

    milo sometimes thinks she's a super cat...and will defend her property against anything that tries to enter. uh, like the mole she brought to the back door the other night. but yeah, getting woken up to the sound of cats...or a cat & dog fighting...can get enough adrenaline pumping to keep you up for days! and then add in the pee stink...wow, glad THAT day is in the past, huh!!

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    1. That's not even her first fight with a cat that she lost! I have scars from that one, we all do, and yet she still thinks she won.

      She's such a mild mannered dog in the house, or truck. She turns into demon spawn once fresh air hits her. At least Milo gets the better of the things she chooses to attack! :)

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  14. Your dog's face on the last photo cracked me up! Love the story. I don't have a dog (looking forward to have one someday) but I think life sounds a lot more exiting with animal in it. Your dog is so cute. I don't know how I would handle it if I was in that situation in the middle of night.
    I remember crossing the country from Denver to Boston with U-hall truck filled with our possession (the yard sale junky furniture) with my husband. That was nearly 20 years ago. We were newly weds and young... All I remember was the endless corn field. My kids have been asking for RV-ing as family vacation to travel around the country. Looking forward to do that someday. Thanks for all the great stories. They are so precious!

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    1. Thanks Holly!

      Yes, there are LOTS of corn fields on that drive, it can be so boring! It's hard to believe we need that much corn, but I guess most of it is animal feed. I hope you get to take the kids on an RV trip one day, just make sure they have something to do for all that corn time. ;)

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  15. Coulda been worse - coulda been a black & white striped cat... Jas does look quite pleased with herself, tho.

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    1. Oh, I know! We have been through that one before too and it was NOT FUN. She thinks she won that fight too even though she almost choked to death from getting sprayed right in the mouth!

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