Lonely isn’t the right word, because I’m not upset about not having a large group of people I consider myself close to. It’s somewhat disappointing that I can’t deeply relate to more people, though. I’d like to meet more likeminded folks, but I’m also less and less willing to tolerate draining relationships as I get older. Being particular about where you invest your time and energy tends to be socially limiting.

I’m a pet product specialist for a pet food manufacturer. I respond to customer emails, calls, and chats about our products. This could mean assisting pet owners in selecting products based on their pets’ unique medical or physiological needs, answering nutritional questions, handling complaints, and more. In my downtime I work on reference materials for the rest of the team, continuing education on animal nutrition (my last class was on avian flu in pet foods), and prepare promotional materials for expos and trade shows.

On light days we do a lot of sharing memes, shit talking in group chat, dicking around on the Internet, and finding other creative ways to fuck off.

Cats, very much so, for most of my life. I’ve enjoyed dogs, but cats have been my heart. While I was working at a shelter one of the dogs that arrived to us from a southern transport was a quiet, shy, but very sweet German Shepherd. It was love at first sight, and she never hit the adoption floor.

We were nervous to bring her home, because we didn’t know how she would react to the cats. It was seamless, and now she enjoys fussing over foster kittens when I have them. She’s opened my heart to dogs in a way I didn’t think was possible. We’re thankful for Ferda every day.

I do still categorize myself as a cat person, though.

Who in the sweet fuck is boning to Barry Manilow?!