Somewhat Seriously, About Belmont

Sweet picture, right? Look how cute they are, and how well they're getting along!

Well, a picture can be worth a thousand words, perhaps (I should count how many I have here when I'm done with this!), but it can also be very misleading. For instance, Belmont has been on the (nice warm) bed a lot more than usual this week, since that heating unit has been out of commission and it's cooler in here than usual (it's supposed to be fixed tomorrow), so perhaps she is putting up with more than usual in the name of warmth. Also, it's a lot easier to get pictures of the stationary, well-lit, no-fuss, peaceful moments than the howls in the night.

I remember a Calvin and Hobbes strip where Calvin is pushing the mess in his room out of the way so that he can take pictures showing how tidy he was as a child, for future use in his autobiography. And the truth of this picture is that although there is some "peaceful coexistence" in the relationship between Carlos and Belmont, there is also too much* of the "yowl and scuffle" going on, especially in the night when I can't see what happens, but I sure can hear it.
*Truly, any is too much, but really, I would settle for almost-never, rather than daily.

I've come to realize over the last few months that certain factors about Belmont (her inability to be friends with Carlos, her need for lots of attention, and her VOLUME) add up to a cat that is not working out for me*. Especially since I started working from home, the latter two items have become very obvious, and since the first item means I've never fully bonded with her, the yelling and complaining and interrupting my work time have become less and less tolerable. And given how much the working from home thing is suiting me otherwise, it isn't something I want to stop doing.
*Which I hate, incidentally, as this is now the third cat I feel like I'm giving up on, one way or another. But here I am.

Let me clarify, if I can: Belmont does sleep a lot every day; she's a cat, and an old cat to boot. However, several times a day she will come to where I am at the computer, working, and yowl. She wants up on the desk, she wants me to pet her, and if it was for a minute or five minutes, I could do that, but seriously I think she would want an hour at a time. She is very hard to discourage, walking between me and the computer, bumping her head against my hand at the mouse or keyboard, always with the yowling, and honestly, she's just being a cat, how can I be mad at her for being a cat? Well, but I can, though, especially since I prize a peaceful home and she is Just So Loud.

None of this is news. At least, in hindsight! I mean, early on, I was talking about her "crabby meow," right? I also mentioned how she was "happy to have me pet her and pet her and pet her." And by her lights, she is a nice cat: she's affectionate, she purrs, she likes company (human, anyway). For the right person, someone who has a lot of spare time, and no other cats, she could be a great pet. But I am not that person.

I'm not sure what will happen next. But whatever happens next, at least now you know it's heading that way.