Mortality.

I learned this week that our chemical stockroom manager at Cornell, Linda Halsey, passed away on Easter Sunday from (I think) breast cancer. She was 69 years old. Linda was awesome. She was a retired nurse, and had been the first female nurse to work in the Iowa Prison system.

Linda (NEVER 'Mrs. Halsey'......"Halsey is my husband. I'm LINDA.") was the kind of person you didn't want to get on the wrong side of. She took her job extremely seriously, and woe to the student who took chemicals without asking! But considering I was, and most of us were, on her good side, she was just a wonderful, hilariously sarcastic person.

My favorite Linda moment: During one of our upper-level chem classes, there was also Organic Lab going on. There was a girl who was taking it who was...an odd duck. She tended to faint a lot from the lab. One day during our break there was some hubbub in the hallway. "What happened, Linda?" we asked.

"Oh, Sniffy fainted again."

I'll miss you, Linda.

RIP, Puddy-Tat

And now I feel guilty for being mad at Tia.

One of my very close friends has to put her kitty down today. Pudding, as the shelter named her, but Puddy or Puddy-Tat to those who know her, is I think 13-odd years old. Somewhere around there, anyway. She is a manx, so she doesn't have a tail. Even people who hate cats adore her. She is funny and sweet and cuddly.

I forget all of the details, but her kidneys have been out of whack for a few months now. She's been on a special diet and medication, and that's stopped working. She was in the kitty hospital for a few days on dialysis, and she just can't make it. She was back home for the weekend, so at least she could sleep in the sun one last time.

Her appointment is for 3:30.

This Monday sucks.

I need a beer.