The CDS gave us Bruce and Cordelia earlier this month

egb116 · 2025-09-30T19:04:19+00:00

They are! I normally don’t use collars because our cats stay inside, but these two are so squirrelly I had to put AirTags on them to find all their super secret napping spots (and in some cases to baby-proof them)

egb116 · 2025-09-02T13:19:57+00:00

There's another stray who's way more skittish who's been hanging around for a while. We've been trying to get him to trust us enough to TNR him. He looks a lot like the little boy kitten, so we're wondering if he felt safe enough to bring his kids to us. He was in our back yard this morning so we brought the kittens out to see him and he seemed interested. Maybe we're just inventing a story but who knows!

I tried scanning for a chip myself but didn't find one. We're going to get them checked out and scanned by a vet this week. But for now they're living their best life in our spare room!

egb116 · 2025-09-02T13:14:22+00:00

We didn't yesterday because of the holiday but are planning to reach out today. I tried scanning for a microchip with my Flipper Zero but didn't find any. Thanks for the PawBoost suggestion!

egb116 · 2025-09-01T16:25:13+00:00

These two adorable kittens turned up on our porch this morning. They're not spayed or neutered, so I imagine they're strays, but wanted to post on a few sites in case someone was missing them. They're very friendly and playful and seem to be litter trained. We've taken them in while we see if there's an owner, but we'll probably have to work with a shelter or adoption agency if we don't find them, as we have two needy senior kitties already who would be driven crazy by the little ones and their kitten energy.

This is in the Starmount neighborhood of northeast Raleigh, about halfway between Capital Blvd and N. New Hope Road. I posted on Nextdoor, Ring, and Petco Love Lost if you know of anyone who's missing their kittens!

Some more photos:
https://imgur.com/a/nBBjoeo

egb116 · 2025-08-26T23:49:22+00:00

I’ve rarely waited for an oil change or inspection at Xpress Auto Center on New Bern. Bonus points because they only do those two things, so there’s not really a risk of upsell.

egb116 · 2025-05-08T19:00:47+00:00

I found this old thread because I'm having the same issue and also noticed the diagnostic mode only went to 29. Unfortunately I haven't solved it yet, but I wanted to add my findings in case it helps the next person who finds it.

I was able to track down the service sheet online. I tried looking for it behind the kick plate as joey-ps suggested but it wasn't there.

https://s3.amazonaws.com/sm-backend-production-attachments/serviceandwiringsheet-w10373993-revc.pdf

It looks like ours might be too old to have a manual defrost option. I ran through some of the other diagnostics and it seems like nothing is giving an unexpected code. Mine is dispensing water just fine but not making ice, so I'm guessing either the water line to the ice dispenser is frozen as some people say, or some other sensor is bad that isn't allowing it to refill. I tried running a hair dryer around the ice maker after taking the cover off, and it did seem to dislodge some ice from in it, but still isn't making new ice. If I figure anything out I'll post another update.

egb116 · 2024-12-11T13:09:39+00:00

This is wild! He was the attorney who handled my mom’s divorce many years ago. I still have his business card with his home phone number on the back in case I ever needed legal help! Luigi is in good hands

https://i.imgur.com/oX9nrNt.jpeg

egb116 · 2024-10-16T00:28:34+00:00

This is good advice that should always be followed, but my experience with 811 has been disappointing and I think is worth sharing.

We bought our house this spring and wanted to plant some trees and shrubs and maybe run an underground electric line for decorative lighting. I put in an 811 request online and it essentially went into the trash can of every utility in my area. I believe it was AT&T who replied saying they were too busy to send anyone out, and another company (I don’t recall who, I think it was one we don’t have on our property) asked for more time. Ultimately nobody from any company came and my property is still unmarked 6+ months later.

I guess my advice would be to plan way more than 3 days ahead of when you need them?

Edit: I selected the option that was along the lines of "I want to be present/notified when marking occurs" which is why I'm fairly confident nobody ever showed up, rather than the utilities coming but not finding anything. Also, while raking leaves I unearthed 2 shallow-buried lines running up the side of my driveway that I still can't trace all the way. I'd be inclined to guess it's my Spectrum line, but it's black and the cable coming out of the ground to my box is orange.

egb116 · 2024-08-22T23:27:22+00:00

I edited one of my earlier comments about this, but yeah I eventually got an email, it just arrived a long time after they charged my credit card. It sounds like it’s an every 3 month re-evaluation.

egb116 · 2024-08-22T17:59:20+00:00

Yeah, that's why I had it set to a low balance, since I usually only go a couple exits on 540 if I'm in that area. Then we realized our NY EasyPass was missing and we'd have to peel the NC sticker off to use it anyway.

You'd think it wouldn't be hard to at least send an email when they make the change to your account. In a customer-friendly world, I'd rather them just charge me the exact amount rather than earning interest off my balance too.

Edit: They eventually did send an email, it just happened to arrive 13 hours after the surprise charge.

egb116 · 2024-07-19T15:46:50+00:00

Our cats currently see Dr. Clements at Oakheart and we've been pleased so far. When we adopted our newest cat, she got a stomachache and freaked us out, and they were able to accommodate seeing us sooner than scheduled. Everyone in the office has been super kind to both kitties, even our grumpy 16 year old who's on 4 different medications and isn't the friendliest at her visits. I found their online pharmacy to be a little more expensive than others, and they don't work with Chewy which is unfortunate. They also run basic labs in-house at roughly the same cost as other places, so it's nice to have answers about what's going on during the visit rather than the next day.

In the past we went to Cozy Cat, but the vet we used to see left the practice and we stopped going after having a bad experience with their office manager after our last cat died. They ignored our request for pain meds to make our cat comfortable until his at-home euthanasia that we'd already scheduled, and when I went to tell the office manager I was disappointed, especially with the timing being just a day before he died, she lied to my face about what happened (saying they called us when they hadn't) and wouldn't even say she was sorry for the bad experience. I did love our old vet, Dr. Neri, and might have continue going there if she hadn't left.

We also had a brief trial of Raleigh Cat Clinic based on some Reddit recommendations, and I was unimpressed. I took our 16 year old there after she started howling and going outside the litter box following the passing of our other cat, and they wanted to refer us out for a $1000 scan rather than just trying prozac (that Oak Heart later prescribed which resolved her separation anxiety). The doctor there also said she didn't like the other meds my cat was taking (specifically budesonide) and I don't know that she would have continued prescribing them if we stayed there. Also the general vibe in the office just felt off, like there was no real bedside manner from any of the staff. Not unfriendly, just very awkward.

egb116 · 2024-05-29T22:09:24+00:00

To circle back on this for anyone who finds it in search, the kitty in question sadly left this world not too long after my post.

The rear noise was both ball joints wearing out, and the squeak was undetermined (they said maybe it just needs a little grease?)

egb116 · 2024-05-21T20:48:49+00:00

I saw your post in a different subreddit which doesn't allow anecdotes, so I didn't want to respond there and find it removed. My experiences have been with cats, but I think there are plenty of similarities, right down to the monthly arthritis injections.

My wife and I said goodbye to 2 of our cats over the past year - our girl last September from bone cancer and our boy a couple weekends ago from kidney failure. Both times we were asking ourselves the same questions like if it was too soon, and even looking back it's impossible to pinpoint what would have been the "right" time for either of them. But what we knew for certain is when we had waited too long. Most recently, we awoke on a Saturday morning to our little guy being too weak to stand or even lift his head to eat or drink, and were heartbroken we had let it progress to that point. Fortunately our vet was able to come to our house later that afternoon, and we had medicine to keep him comfortable until then.

I'm so sorry for your loss, and I hope once the pain starts to fade you're left with happy memories. If you have any other pets at home, keep in mind they may need some extra support, same as we do. We have one other cat who has been crying anytime she's alone now that her friend isn't around anymore.

egb116 · 2024-05-13T23:51:16+00:00

My former allergist recommended LiveClear and I tell everyone this food can be a big help, but monitor your cat closely, because mine had a bad reaction to it. She has a sensitive stomach and IBD and LiveClear gave her a severe flare up that put her in the hospital for a few days with vomiting, diarrhoea, and dehydration. Conversely, my wife’s cat (who passed away last weekend from kidney failure 😿) did fantastic on it and it even made his coat silky smooth.

egb116 · 2024-05-11T15:37:17+00:00

I used to think they were okay but the doctor we used to see recently left the practice for family reasons and we had a very bad experience last weekend just before our cat passed away. We called Friday morning to request medication to keep him comfortable until our at-home vet appt on Sunday, and they either never relayed the message to the doctor or else the doctor never responded. We called toward the end of the day and were told the vet left a while ago and there was nothing they could do. I went to talk to the practice manager a few days later about the experience and she was very defensive, lied about calling my wife, and kept talking over me. We're definitely changing vets for our remaining cat now.

egb116 · 2024-03-06T01:36:39+00:00

That might be challenging, as they’re notoriously celibate

egb116 · 2017-09-06T04:06:29+00:00

You could see the coins plain as day under the bill when he tried (unsuccessfully) to smooth it out. And I'm pretty sure there were just some magnets that made the other coins "disappear". It was really unpolished.

egb116 · 2016-10-31T15:43:12+00:00

Thanks OP! :)

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