Twinky

I have thieves!!! I was out a little later than usual last night. Got home to find that the cardboard box in which I keep my cat things had had the catnip leaves box pulled out, the sealable plastic bag had been pulled out of the packet, and the corners of the plasic bag had been seriously nibbled. Catnip leaves were sprinkled all over the little mat at the foot of the stairs and Tillie had a wild excited interested look about her. I sat quietly in the room (after sweeping up the catnip) and she kept prowling about, exploring, even to the point of licking the mat!!! She didn't mind being quite visible and lost much fear of me as long as I sat still. The packet is now in a cupboard that I don't think they can get into. Plastic probably isn't the best garnish for Go-Cat. Tallie isn't interested in catnip or much of anything and is still resident in the sink unit. I'm kicking her out in another week or two if she hasn't emerged voluntarily. And putting the kickboards back underneath the units. It would be nice if eventually they decided to sleep at the foot of my bed. But so far they haven't been allowed that far into the house.

If only... But to pack the hours in the day that would mean they made us get up at 4 or 5 am. Which they did on snow shoveling days.

My best friend recently completed her training as a Methodist minister. From time to time during her training (of several years) she told me what she was doing/studying/undergoing. She had to produce esays from time to time and they spent a lot of time "thinking things through" in practical application. From time to time they were interviewed by a panel connected with the school (and perhaps the Methodist church) just to see where their thinking was at, and to offer guidance and direction. There was no attempt at teaching Greek or Hebrew or any other language. It all seemed very wishy washy to me and not focused and not challenging enough. There wasn't much focus on outreach, more on taking care of the existing congregation's needs. But she is strong in compassion and love for people. I think I have a better overall concept of the scriptures and have read more thoroughly (but some of that is just "me", not just TWI taking me to unusual places in the OT) - but she has much more "heart" and love and compassion for people (part of that is her own personality). Would I "buy" the Corps product again? Not this one. There are some good bits that I like to retain: enthusiasm and willingness to act. The worse bits I'm still trying to shed. I might consider buying some other product from another organisation that wasn't so focused on its own self-righteousness.

We may (only may) be making just a tad progress. Either I forgot to put food down last night or they were particularly hungry. This morning Tillie (the Terrified) kept sticking her nose out. She ran towards one food bowl, saw me, ran off to hide; later ran to another food bowl, saw me, ran off; then she sat under a stool in the lounge part of my through kitchen and just sat watching me. (I've never seen so much of her before). I stayed in the kitchen, took care not to move suddenly, didn't look at her (except out of the corners of my eyes) and at times deliberately turned my back on her (to be non-threatening). When I put some food down she gobbled it down and even slunk into the kitchen part to have a munch at the other bowl of food there as well. I let her know that I could see her but didn't approach and stayed as far away as I could. She knew I was watching but became comfortable eating. She also drank both dishes of cat milk while I watched. The other one, Tallie the Tiny, is still in the sink unit and did not emerge. She's the one who is generally less skittish. So maybe I will try the hunger trick again. Not feed them much at night so they come out and watch me in the morning. It was so nice having Tillie sit under the stool watching me. Almost like having a normal cat with a normal housecat family life.

There are followers of the Lord Jesus Christ in all walks of life (nuns among them) - so glad that the Christ in her could reach out and touch your troubled soul. We never know who we will reach or what seeds we plant as we speak with the tenderness and compassion of God our Father and his son the Lord Jesus Christ. Some of those seeds take a long time to germinate and to start to come to fruition. She planted, another watered. You are getting there, that's what matters.

My German's not up to it - is it actually powdered or reduced red wine, or just something with red wine? I love long hikes in the bush. Out for 7-14 days with nothing except what I can carry on my back. But there are times I'd fancy sitting outside my tent enjoying the sunset and a glass of red. You can get powdered fruit juice drinks ... how I'd love a wine drink. Wishful thinking though. I'd be better learning the Cana trick... (LOL)

Trust and Obey: You are quite right. I knew that place had addled my brain. It's worst than I thought That is quite a lot of money left over... For only ten in rez WC that's $40,000; how many HQ staff does that pay for? I could find some quite useful things to do with $4,000 now. I'm sure my spiritual partners could have found lots of useful things to do with it at the time.

Your car emailed you ... LOL! First ding - first scratch anyway - we picked up a brand new car (won it!!), took it out for a ride, parked up and went for a stroll for 1/2 hour, came back... and somebody had put a scratch on one of the doors. Huh. Still goes really well after quite a few years now though. ENJOY THE NEW TOY . Sounds like it wants to enjoy you too. Does it send emails saying, "Wish you were here"?

At the time I was in, the Corps sponsorship actually was the "pocket money" paid to Corps each month. We got $30 to pay for personal stuff - stamps (to write to sponsors), stationery, laundry, candy, personal hygiene, etc, not to mention gifts/blessing others. There would have been a very small amount left over from what they returned to us and that would go towards the cost of food, housing us, heating the dorm, utilities, etc. I believe (not sure) that we had to find sponsorship of $1500 per block, 3 blocks a year = $4500. Less 12 x $30 = $3600 which gives $900 for other stuff. So actually there was no "profit" from Corps sponsorship. It was all the stuff you contributed afterwards that brought in the money: your own ABS and that of others that you recruited.

Okay - no separation. Yes, THW, they can use a litter tray and were very good when they first arrived. They shared one and I realised they needed one each when one poo'd in the bath. So there is one in the bath - which they both share... (huh?) - that is if they use the tray not the bath. I have moved the one under the stairs a bit to give a bit more room so maybe that will encourage her a bit. I wonder if this defecation in inappropriate places is a part of "marking" the territory, or just plain regression. If regression, perhaps I can pick up from where they regress to and things will come right. Twin human babies might be easier to deal with... Pond - born to show what giving birth is like ?????? Wild!!!!!

Thanks, folks, for your encouragement and funny stories. I really would prefer a "pet" cat before a year but only time will tell. Tiillie is still in the corner and Tallie is still under the sink unit. Looks from what you have all said that I am in for a very long haul. I spent a completely idle day on Sat, lay on my couch and read three (yes 3) novels. Late in the evening one emerged but only because nature called. She was terrified and completely froze when she saw me. She has since messed in her bed (which was in an area where she used to like to hide) and in the other bed. I have put the litter tray in the same area where the beds were and now she doesn't want to use that. There is also a litter tray in my bath and occasionally they use that and occasionally - the bath. (Definitely a case of opening the eyes before the morning shower - ugh.) Neither of them will play with things though Tillie pricked an ear when hearing a tinkling ball. Man, these two are so different from Twinkletoes (Twinky). He knocked on the door as a stray at age about 6 weeks. He is now 12 or 13. He has his daft moments and is scared of cars (why??) and has a mega voice on him (a touch of the Siamese, I think), had an irrational fear of men and fled from my partner every time until they got to live together and now he follows the partner around all the time (they both live in another country). He investigates everything. Twinkle is a bit of a bendy toy and you can position her on your lap and she will just stay like that. She is incurious but loves catching small critters. She squeaks rather than miaows but purrs well. Now the two new ones - care for nothing. But they do investigate the house when I am not there. Trying to escape, I think. Should I separate them - if I can catch either of them?? Or would the separation add to their anxiety levels? Pond your cat sounds amazing, LOL!

Thanks, folks, for continuing to add to the poll votes. It's really interesting that there is a large percentage of people who have been out for over 20 years. One person says he or she is still in and several others haven't been out for too long. Please note for anyone who hasn't voted yet that YOU CAN GIVE MORE THAN ONE RESPONSE TO SOME QUESTIONS (eg what did you do when you left) because people surely did many of those things, concurrently or consecutively). For myself, I don't feel half so alone or weird, knowing that so many of you have been through exactly the same things that I did.

Sorry wrong forum

Sorry wrong forum

Thanks, all, for your replies. I'm obviously in for a longer haul than I had expected. I've had them two weeks and have just started my third course of antibiotics. Tillie bit me badly on the first day (she escaped and I recaptured her; she fought like crazy). There is nothing of Twinkle in my house, she has never been here, and after all this time (8 months) I doubt my furniture smells much of her. I have tried the thing with catnip. Tillie perked up a bit but Tallie is not interested. I offer them kitty treats which are ignored and pushed away. I also tried with some Feliway which is supposed to give off calming scents but they ran away from that. I am not sure if it would be good to separate them and keep them in separate rooms, in case their fear is feeding the other's fear. Would they calm down if separated? (Do I want to risk another infection attempting that? I got them as a pair because the Cats Protection place thought that the slightly less scared one would be good for the terrified one.) Sometimes they huddle up together and sometimes they are at opposite ends of the room. Also I have wondered about borrowing a happy settled female cat from somebody to see if she would settle them. What do you think? Or might the bringing together cause more stress? Or the later separation from a loan "mother" cause more distress? I would hate for them to be cage cats forever or worse, put down; I want them to be whole and happy and able to come and go in my garden whenever they want. But it will be a long time before they are allowed out. Let 'em out now, they would be fox dinner tonight. Or maybe not. Thanks again.

I have just acquired from Cats Protection two 14 month old cats. They are from the same litter. They were born in captivity – their (domesticated) mother was brought in as uncontrollable and gave birth to a litter of 6 a couple of days later. Four of the kittens were re-homed at about 3 months and are nice affectionate cats, but the mother cat viciously protected the remaining two and they have never been handled. Mother has now been re-homed successfully and is a nice affectionate cat. The kittens however are real scaredy-pants. They hide in or under anything they can. One’s favourite place is in a corner behind a cabinet. I can see her (Tillie) but not easily reach her. A radiator hangs on the wall and if I try to touch her she squeezes under it and is almost inaccessible. She is in utter terror if touched. The other (Tallie) is also skittish but a bit more submissive. She lives in or under the sink unit. She can be stroked on her head and back but doesn’t like it and as soon as possible departs the area. She took an entire flight of 14 or more stairs at a single bound the other day, so keen was she to escape being touched. Neither makes any sound and if you look at them they just stare back, completely unblinking, eyes wide. They can stare in terror for 20 mins or more. These animals have never been hurt, injured (except spayed), threatened or maltreated in any way except by their own mother, who has taught them completely irrational fear. I feed them x2 a day and empty their litter trays. It would be nice to have a little more “fellowship” with them. In our mighty history of abuse here at the Café, does anyone have any suggestions of dealing with feline abuse? At the moment, I make sure they know that I know where they are, talk to them (get them used to my voice), touch Tallie if she will let me, and generally try to be non-threatening. But I feel if I don’t handle them they will never get used to it. Suggestions greatly welcomed. (PS Twinkle my other cat who went missing is now resident with my mother, who doesn’t want any more cats because they are too much of a tie. Hahaha. She loves Twinkle too much and was desperately miserable when Twinkle went missing.)

Actually I DID put mine on my CV. I thought about it really carefully and decided my CV looked a bit skinny (especially in the "lost years" after they kicked me out and before I came to my senses). I do believe that's what got me the interview for the job where I am now, with a Christian person in charge of the office. But in between times, he had obviously checked out TWI and before making me the job offer asked what |I thought of The Way now. I think my answer was quite sufficient to convince him I wuldn't be having anything to do with that weird organization any more and he promptly offered me the job. I don't have the paper any more and was told to send it back to HQ which I did. Was that right or wrong? Was so confused then I really didn't know which way was up. I am not sure if it will be going on my next CV.

Welcome back, Man, and who knows, you might meet some new friends too! Glad you "woke up" and now that you are awake, it truly is your choice to believe what you want, and get the benefits/consequences either way. You are welcome here whatever your views. Try starting a thread on "social control" and see what responses you get. Could be interesting.

Yes, and added to which, the class might well be run by WoWs who themselves only took the class last year and may not know much other stuff about the Bible and certainly weren't able to answer questions posed by Christians who had been around (in other churches) for many years. My mum took PFAL and talked with the class coord privately thereafter with some queries. He threw her out. She was a disruptive influence or some such - she's never given me a blow by blow account of their conversation but she dislikes him immensely.

"Model number" !!!!! WD: Thanks for starting this alternative thread.

Rascal: I'm sorry you were ill-treated as a mere spouse-corps wife. You got a double whammy. Partly because you are "only" a woman and partly because you were "only" spouse Corps. Of course it was right you had to leave when your spritually tricked out husband left (you can see my tongue in my cheek, right?) (spit, spit, at that sort of attitude). No women were treated as equal partners in their marriages (or other significant relationships). In this you were (unfortunately) not discriminated against. Everyone, please: Can I remind posters that the purpose of this thread is to consider who comes here to the Cafe and not to debate treatment of spouse Corps. That is a significant point that perhaps should be discussed - maybe someone would like to start another thread? (Mods, feel free to lift some of this thread to start a new one!) Thanks, folks for continuing to vote in the poll. There are some interesting results that I hadn't quite expected.

Now if they'd shown that as a preface to Session 1 of PFAL...

Okay, let's try and keep this on track. For the avoidance of doubt, I see Spouse Corps as Corps. So tick that box. Unless you prefer to tick some other box. It's how you see yourself.

Thank you, "Spouse Corps/child in Family Corps" would have been a good addition. Life could be very unfair for such spouses. There are also horror stories from plenty of WC kids here who were affected by their parents' decisions to enter the WC. Non Corps spouses were encouraged to participate in the program and the spouse was often given a job on staff (usually at the same location but there were times when they would be at separate campuses for a month or two). Around my time in rez (early 90s) came the ban on marrying non-Corps and shortly thereafter BOTH of them were required to repeat the Corps program. If either was deemed not up to standard, they both had to leave. One grad of about WC10 or 12 was in with his spouse and she had suuuch a hard time and they both got asked to leave. She had been a good loyal supporter of her husband but simply couldn't cope with the extreme demands of in rez. A good couple was lost there. (Or maybe, was given the opportunity to get found (wry smile).) I must admit I was a little envious of in rez couples having their own room (oh, some space!!) and the opportunity for a few shreds of normal life. You could be right, especially since the highest ranking is "servant" of all. Maybe I'm showing a little Waybrain... Thanks, all, for your responses, please add your own votes if you have not already done so.

Clearly passionate about Scientology, but what exactly does he believe or his belief achieve except to "wanna help" in some vague undefined way? Looks just like some almighty ego kick to me, "I have the answers". When is the next bus outta here? To anywhere?