For Want Of A Kitten (Part 2)

So this e-mail came in at midnight. And this counts as the 27th in only the most technical of senses.

It was from a lady named Lucy, and she had posted on CraigsList about having two all black kittens for about $45 in Chino Hills. I distinctly remember when I e-mailed this listing, I had incredibly low expectations. And very little hope. I was pretty tired, and it had been one of many. I mean, since when did Chino Hills NOT let you down?

But it looks like Chino Hills is cleaning up its act.

She had e-mailed me back, and after some rapid-fire back and forth, I was able to get some pics of the kitten. And in a word, this little guy is wacky tobacky cute. You'd want to hug the computer monitor. So after I assured Lucy that the kitten was wanted, and would be paid for, I shot my cell number at her. I called Lainey, gushed about my exhausted feeling of victory, she was happy and got to see the pics of the kitten, and then I went to sleep. I had an early morning call time at the City of Lakewood, which would then lead right into my usual night shift at Norwalk.

I spent most of the morning running cables and equipment around and shooting a State of the City event/lunch. Fairly easy and laid back, really. On my lunch, I noticed that I had a voicemail from an unknown caller. I listened to message, and was quick to discover that it had been Lucy. She wanted me to call her back.

Good news? Or bad news...?

I called her back, but only got the machine. Argh. I then had to head back to work shooting cops... with video cameras. Come on, people! The whole event was informative, well run, and perfectly designed to make me wait for an entire hour before I could call Lucy again. Damn it. Finally the presentation was over, and all the equipment had been returned to whence it came.

I called Lucy again.

And this time she answered. Yes!

"Hello, is this Lucy?" I asked.
"Yes, are you Nathan?" she answered.
"Yes, how are you?!" I said.
"Good, thank you, how are you?" she said.
(It feels like social pleasantries were designed to slow us down).
"I'm good, thanks," I sped up, "I was calling regarding the kitten. Is it still available?" The gauntlet had been thrown, the moment of truth had arrived.

YES she said, making me feel me like I had accomplished the impossible. Over a kitten. That was one of a litter of 6. That she was giving away on CraigsList. Hey, I'll take any win I can get my grubby hands on.

We talked over the cost, distance, and day.

$45? Check.

Chino Hills? One hour? Check.

Day? Uh.... wait, when is Lainey available? S**t.

I said that I had to check out my schedule, but said that it would definitely be either Friday or Saturday. I would get back to them in no time. I made sure to border-line beg them not to give the kitten away in the meantime. I asked when Lainey would be able to grab some time off to grab the cat.

In the meantime, I headed to Norwalk and had a blast going through old tapes of past events from 80's and 90's. I was looking at a tape from when I was probably 8-years-old, that cracked me up because and how corny it was, and that we were JUST as corny NOW. Our essential quality was the same, regardless of equipment. Its cool to know some things not only DON'T change, but are incapable of changing.

Lainey texted me. Saturday was GO.

I called Lucy on my break, and set the pick up date and time for the kitten to be Saturday morning. I set about marking on my calendar the date, and went about my work. I played some more old tapes and did a bit of editing. It didn't hit me until I was on the freeway headed home that I had actually accomplished something. A little kitten was going to have a home. A good person was going to get what they wanted. A shelter and Pet Store run by a-holes were successfully bypassed. And I had helped.

An all-around good Wednesday.

-Nate