Couch 203: The Spam and Cool Whip Couch!

My oldest daughter cried and panicked and catastrophized about her online classes today. I tried positive reinforcement and stopping her to breathe, but I didn't help much. Maybe she just wanted to vent and I went into fix-it mode. Tomorrow is on-campus classes, I hope she's going to be calmer.

Tomorrow is day 1 of middle school for my youngest daughter. I'll be the one worrying and catastrophizing on the couch tomorrow. She will probably be fine, her self-esteem is much better than mine. I worry about mean kids bullying her and all the other stuff.

Made home fries tonight and hamburger helper lol. Carbs anyone?

I wish one of my cats was different he just sits and yells because he has woken up and there is no one in the room. I am not in mood for it today.

When my husband and I first moved In together as BF/GF we ate hamburger helper once a week. It was so good.

Slumberkitty I will hop in

I'll hop in, SK.

What a lovely setting!

I’m in, SK!

Is there anything that stops cats scratching? I have been using this pheromone spray but it's useless and they have started scratching my new couch they have scratching posts and a box full of toys

Nope. Not that I've found. Even my 14yo kitty scratches the couch. Hugs. Kit

Thanks - it doesn't have any carpet, thank God. I hate carpet, filthy stuff. There isn't any furniture, either. They definitely didn't repaint for me - didn't even clean, from the looks of it. I have found vinegar to be very effective at getting laundry odors out, so I'm not surprised to hear it might help. Maybe I could get a long reaching painter thingy to do the walls. I want to clean every inch of the place so I can relax. I've just done all the floors and baseboards and gotten started on the cabinets.

The smoke smell does seem to have gone, and the mildew/mold/old house smell has improved. I actually think the remaining funk might be the stench from one of the damp rid products we bought. I noticed it had an unpleasant smell when I opened it, while the other ones didn't or smelled nice. So that one has been bagged up to see what happens. It's kind of gross how they are producing water, but also oddly satisfying.

The not so great news is that the odor filtering air filter seems to have had a negative effect on the AC system. I did see some reviews where this happened, so I had an uneasy feeling when I got in today and saw it was 74° when the thermostat was set to 72°. But that's not too bad. However, by the time I left, it read 77° - and this was even after I had put the dinky old air filter that was about as thick as tissue paper back in (and it looked completely new, so it shouldn't be an issue).

I remember reading one of the reviews where the person said it froze his AC or something. That doesn't sound at all good. Although, now that I think about it, when I first came in after the power had come on, it was set to 68° and I think it said 72°. So maybe the thick filter just pushed it a bit too far... hmm... hopefully it won't have to work quite as hard overnight and will be back to working well enough tomorrow.

Also, the big output vent in the kitchen is absolutely filthy and disgusting and I can't remove it to be cleaned. I was planning on getting a large basin to catch the debris as it falls and scrubbing it with a bristle brush doused in vinegar. The residue seems to just flake/roll off. Barf.

I'm in the waiting room. Waiting for the Pdoc first. Then my T. They are playing some terrible music. It's not helping my anxiety. Thanks all you pocket riders. I feel the strength of the couch with me now.

Maybe you could get a really thick couch cover to put on it, BCM.

I have never found a good solution so I just accept that my furniture will be scratched and I was never going to be consistent enough to train the cats - I surrender to cats. Although I do train the dogs some. There are some little cap things you can put on their claws -but they do need to scratch to shed the claws so I have never tried them. I have had only one cat out of over 20 in my life who would use a scratching post. He also would scratch furniture.
Train Your Cat to Stop Scratching Your Couch in 7 Days or Less
SoftPaws.com - Nail Caps for Cats and Dogs

Well, my sister is pregnant... I'm both happy for her and really sad for me.

Is this the sister who isn't a fit mother to her existing children?

She got her two girls taken away from her because she kept going back to her abusive boyfriend. I know that's really bad, but otherwise she's a good mom. I just hope this new boyfriend turns out to be a good guy.

Eta: She's only been with him for 3 months, so we can't really even judge if this guy is good or not.

I hope he does, too.

I've been lucky cat-wise. Only junior cat really went after furniture. The secret was draping something like a blanket over the arms of the couch so he wouldn't scratch. My mom uses packing tape for her sofa arms for her cat (cat can't get a grip).

New cat uses her scratching post. Senior cat used a corrugated cardboard thing like this: https://www.amazon.com/S-Lifeeling-C.../dp/B072JMDW9Z

Strangely, my cats have never been terribly interested in scratching furniture! But anything that smells different, they will be drawn to cover with their scent, and scratching is one way to do that. I do use a bit of catnip occasionally on their scratching place to entice them. And different cats seem to like different textures and flat vs upright postures for scratching. I suspect the ones that love scratching a sofa probably would like an upright carpet covered scratching post, too.

Susannahsays, is your AC a central unit? If so, they will only reduce temperature by @ 20 degrees lower than outside temp, regardless of the thermostat setting. Humidity makes it harder for them to work, too. Do you also run a fan? It will make the space feel several degrees cooler than the temp. As it's an old house (like mine) you may find closing storm windows and stuffing the window wells with bubble wrap before closing the interior windows will also help a lot--summer and winter. The nice thing is it doesn't get in the way of opening the windows, too.

Pdoc appointment done and over with. Now I am in the waiting room for T. There is a screaming baby here so it's unpleasant. I know babies scream...he is maybe 18 months, he walks around, but it's making it really hard to relax before T.