« the elephant in the room | Main | PAJAMA FLASH »
October 30, 2006
the La Brea tar pits
.jpg)
The worst possible thing about being sick with some mystery ailment is waking up to find your 2 year-old kitty seems to have the same problem.
I dragged myself over to the vet's this afternoon, with a 15 lb cat in my handbag.
Three hundred bucks later, I am informed Putty Tat has some sort of newly acquired environmental asthma. The vet wanted to know if any new allergens had been introduced in the last 3 weeks.
Oh let me think...hmmmm...ah yes, for the last three weeks there has been a truck filled with hot, stinky smoking tar parked in front of MY house. They are putting new tar on the roof of the section 8 building next door. Tomorrow starts the 4th week of this environmental disaster. Where is Al Gore when you need him?
Obviously they parked the truck in front of my house, so the po' folks next door don't have to deal with the cloud of smoke generated from 8AM until 6PM every damn fucking day. Instead the wind blows it right into my home.
I told the vet that I too am suffering from the same symptoms as my cat. And if I open the windows, it's worse. If I close them the whole house STILL reeks of tar. It's a lose-lose situation.
Being ever industrious, I dialed up someone in the building next door. We can expect TWO more weeks before their roof is re-tarred. I'd like to tar and feather someone with a hot gooey lawsuit.
The vet wasn't sure if Puff Tatty's asthma will go away once the irritant is removed, but I am to keep him off the terrace, where he typically spends 75% of his afternoons. Assuming his condition cannot be fixed, that means 15 years of oral steroids and kitty inhalers. Yes, kitty inhalers. I laughed at first too, until the vet told me how much that would cost.
Of course this will come out of MY pocket, right?
Not to mention my own health, which is only marginally better if I take a bunch of OTC pills and suck on a primatene mist inhaler so I can breathe.
Steve H. suggested there must be an upside to living in libtopia -- in the form of some liberal do-gooder organization I can call, to point out that mother gaia is being polluted and have it stopped.
If anyone knows how I can do this, ASAP -- it would be much appreciated. Or if you can tell me how to scream at the workers in Spanish tomorrow, that's good too.
PS: I read that story about shelters halting adoptions on black cats, and thought how crazy! When the vet saw me, he was REALLY rude, asked ridiculous questions about Puff's care and when the tech brought him back she said, "he's not an outdoor cat, is he?" I told her no, he has the run of my terrace but he does not roam outdoors. She said there had been at least four black cats in the office during the past week -- all had been cut, beaten and abused. Sickos.
Posted by Moxie at October 30, 2006 12:05 AM
|
Stumble It!
|
| del.icio.us
Comments
Good luck with that, dear. You'll find, I think, that the tree-huggers won't act against an offense to "mother Gaia" if it's as politically correct as this one seems to be.
I've been up against the syndrome on this side of the continent, with grotesquely pollutive acts committed by (ulp) firefighters. You have my sympathies.
Posted by: Francis W. Porretto at October 30, 2006 1:52 AM
It's not REALLY a section 8 building -- it's just one of those low class high rises they built in the 1970's -- after destroying 4 or 5 architecturally beautiful and historic buildings. You know useless stuff like 1920's Spanish architecture.
Posted by: Moxie at October 30, 2006 2:35 AM
i don't know exactly where in LA you live so me doing a google search would be kind of difficult, but i'd suggest you google for whatever government agencies deal with air pollution down there (the USEPA would be a start), get a phone number and call to register a complaint (or find out where you should call to register a complaint). . . some government agencies lag, but others are pretty good about looking into citizen complaints. . .
Posted by: bloopy at October 30, 2006 3:42 AM
put on your all black ninja-moxie suit and sneak out there at night. spray paint something really vulgar on the truck like 'hell yeah we're all illegal'. then when morning comes, call the police and report the truck as abandoned. i mean, it hasn't moved in how long?
the police will come and cause a few problems. the foreman will catch a clue and move the truck somewhere less troublesome. they will at least want to get that paint off of it.
Posted by: mlah at November 4, 2006 9:48 AM
