My Random Life Tips - Tumblr Posts

i think im gonna start a series called "Kaiden-Shenandoah's random life tips" bc there's just some odd things i do that make my life easier/more enjoyable. that. like. i dont think make me special?? but most of my loved ones i babble to, when i mention them, will look surprised and be all "damn, that's clever. that's an issue i never thought about, but yeah, i can see how thatd help others/myself. ill have to remember that"

so. this post is all JUST IN CASE it helps someone, even just one person, then the effort will have been entirely worth it. bc sometimes living life is hard and sometimes you just need to hear someone say "oh, what about this possible solution?" to help you out by applying such to your routines or use that suggestion as foundational inspiration for something more customized to your own life or whatever else— just to make living life that little bit easier. and if me sepcifically needing a lot of "oddball" solutions and pre-cautions helps others??? that makes me feel awesome (and less alone), so hell yeah, ill do my best to remember as many tips as i have and be consistent about posting them within this thread. just in case and all that jazz ✌️

(and, even tho this likely DOES NOT need to be said out loud, ill say it anyway as my own proverbial "Bill of Rights" style just-have-it-written-down-in-case-the-worst-happens-in-the-future (but hope for the best) PSA: if these dont apply to you?? or if you think "wtf, people need help with this?? our generation/the next generation is doomed"??? maYHAPS THIS POST ISN'T FOR YOU. this is applicable only to people with lifestyles and/or brains that are similar to me and my loved ones. if you arent of that lifestyle or brain-typage, then thats that lol of course you cant relate. it's an "apples and oranges" thing, y'know. not better/worse or special/normal; just different. it's not something you need, and that's super okay. just don't be rude about the difference. if youd like to be kind and reblog anyway in case any followers or loved ones of yours could be helped by any of this?? that's so fantastic. some of this stuff has some really bad internalized shame about it, or else people have been conditioned to just "keep that to themself; don't talk about it", and either way some of these topics (not all, but still) have people who are hiding their struggle from others as best they can. you don't know what you don't know; and you don't know what people don't tell you. so it's very generous of you, as someone who cant relate to some/all of this stuff, to reblog just in case one of those silent strugglers follow you and/or are a part of your inner-circle. thank you so much for sympathizing with struggles you know your life as is doesn't share and thank you for being kind ♡)

i dont expect this to be helpful to EVERYBODY, and def feel free to just screenshot what is valuable to you and abandon this actual post (just pls dont crop my name out, esp if you end up re-posting your copy to your own blog or on different social-media elsewhere. bc credit is nice lol) bc i assume this will become a long/repetitive post as i update on/off. and most people dont like long posts lmao rip so you dont gotta reblog it if you hate long/repetitive posts or are worried about your followers disliking any long/repetitive post (besides: ill sometimes make one-offs not attached to this post, probably. esp since im forgetful and tumblr is broken/i lose things easily. but ill try to reblog this one for most of them, since thats easier organization for my brain 🫶 lmao)

(but yeah i only have three ideas i wanna do today, but ill come back to this whenever i remember another one ive done thats been helpful to me and/or that i created alongside a loved one that helped them lol)

also pls note that i am dyslexic and do not plan on editing any of this too seriously. so forgive me for mispellings, for forgetting an entire word, and so on. this is me being very casual, so ill inevitably miss some mistakes i make and whatnot

hugs and kisses xoxo best wishes see you later babe

here is a table of contents post i PLAN to update on/off with links and all that, blah blah blah

● how to optimize your cat's collar (or other pets that wear a collar i guess lol). focuses predominantly on (1) tag-protectors allowing you to protect your personal info (bc your pet probably wears a tag saying your phone number and/or address) in any photos for stalking/doxxing reasons, and (2) a re-purposed microlock S-biner being a great accessibility aid for your pet's various key-rings. there's links to everything. but i also shout out all of my cat's stuff regarding her collar and its accessories, along with her harness. but it's mostly about the tag-protector and S-biner i found lol

● an advocation for you to make yourself a "songs that help me escape my executive dysfunction" music-playlist if you too suffer from an executive dysfunction symptom. includes a large portion of the songs in mine in case seeing a pre-prepared list is helpful for you to steal song-ideas from or that helps inspire you to remember songs that would belong in your personal playlist lol

● how i plot as someone who frequently gets stuck in the mind-set of "i have this OC that is cool and who maybe even has a backstory, if i only i knew how to give them TASKS, how do people come up tasks out of thin air and then come up with a plot with arcs?? how do you guys even get to your first draft??? idk what to write about my OC doing, wtf, how are you all doing all this plotting shit??" + other writing resources i utilize just as often and whatnot

— last updated on: 29 June 2024

i think im gonna start a series called "Kaiden-Shenandoah's random life tips" bc there's just some odd things i do that make my life easier/more enjoyable. that. like. i dont think make me special?? but most of my loved ones i babble to, when i mention them, will look surprised and be all "damn, that's clever. that's an issue i never thought about, but yeah, i can see how thatd help others/myself. ill have to remember that"

so. this post is all JUST IN CASE it helps someone, even just one person, then the effort will have been entirely worth it. bc sometimes living life is hard and sometimes you just need to hear someone say "oh, what about this possible solution?" to help you out by applying such to your routines or use that suggestion as foundational inspiration for something more customized to your own life or whatever else— just to make living life that little bit easier. and if me sepcifically needing a lot of "oddball" solutions and pre-cautions helps others??? that makes me feel awesome (and less alone), so hell yeah, ill do my best to remember as many tips as i have and be consistent about posting them within this thread. just in case and all that jazz ✌️

(and, even tho this likely DOES NOT need to be said out loud, ill say it anyway as my own proverbial "Bill of Rights" style just-have-it-written-down-in-case-the-worst-happens-in-the-future (but hope for the best) PSA: if these dont apply to you?? or if you think "wtf, people need help with this?? our generation/the next generation is doomed"??? maYHAPS THIS POST ISN'T FOR YOU. this is applicable only to people with lifestyles and/or brains that are similar to me and my loved ones. if you arent of that lifestyle or brain-typage, then thats that lol of course you cant relate. it's an "apples and oranges" thing, y'know. not better/worse or special/normal; just different. it's not something you need, and that's super okay. just don't be rude about the difference. if youd like to be kind and reblog anyway in case any followers or loved ones of yours could be helped by any of this?? that's so fantastic. some of this stuff has some really bad internalized shame about it, or else people have been conditioned to just "keep that to themself; don't talk about it", and either way some of these topics (not all, but still) have people who are hiding their struggle from others as best they can. you don't know what you don't know; and you don't know what people don't tell you. so it's very generous of you, as someone who cant relate to some/all of this stuff, to reblog just in case one of those silent strugglers follow you and/or are a part of your inner-circle. thank you so much for sympathizing with struggles you know your life as is doesn't share and thank you for being kind ♡)

i dont expect this to be helpful to EVERYBODY, and def feel free to just screenshot what is valuable to you and abandon this actual post (just pls dont crop my name out, esp if you end up re-posting your copy to your own blog or on different social-media elsewhere. bc credit is nice lol) bc i assume this will become a long/repetitive post as i update on/off. and most people dont like long posts lmao rip so you dont gotta reblog it if you hate long/repetitive posts or are worried about your followers disliking any long/repetitive post (besides: ill sometimes make one-offs not attached to this post, probably. esp since im forgetful and tumblr is broken/i lose things easily. but ill try to reblog this one for most of them, since thats easier organization for my brain 🫶 lmao)

(but yeah i only have three ideas i wanna do today, but ill come back to this whenever i remember another one ive done thats been helpful to me and/or that i created alongside a loved one that helped them lol)

also pls note that i am dyslexic and do not plan on editing any of this too seriously. so forgive me for mispellings, for forgetting an entire word, and so on. this is me being very casual, so ill inevitably miss some mistakes i make and whatnot

hugs and kisses xoxo best wishes see you later babe

first one in this series, woo-hoo lol ● if the "table of contents" post isnt showing you all of the links as is in connection to this post, then you gotta click on the "table of contents" post itself (as in "go to its notes" if that clarifies what i mean lmao rip) and leave this reblogged-section behind for a quick bit. then the "table of contents" post will show you the most updated version of itself with all its links ...yeah, idk why tumblr is so broken either, fam :/

this is my cat's collar. and i think it has a lot of aspects to it most people will likely be inspired by and some things y'all may even want (and ill link where i got everything, even the tangential aesthetic things not related to the point of this post)

the main really cool things here are that all my information is hidden (great for not having to censor every picture of my cat that shows her tags; great anti-stalking tool for anyone with that fear) and that her tags+key-rings can be taken on/off without the key-rings hurting my hand or breaking any fingernails thanks to a little accessory i was able to add to it

as a brief aside: my cat has pill-themed stuff on her collar because she was named after the allergy medication, Allegra. i didnt know that was a real name, i thought i was doing the equivalent of an "obvious joke name" as if naming my cat Claritin lol

tldr;; the holographic tag-protector (or "tag silencer") is by StitchByIssaDesigned on etsy (product listing here). i put all of Allegra's tags in there that could be used to stalk/doxx me, so i don't have the censor all my pictures of her or worry someone else is trying to take photos of her for the purpose of reading her tags → knowing my information when i take Allegra out with me. the accessory that helps my hands with her tags+key-rings is available on Amazon as of writing this, and is a re-purposed "Nite Ize S-Biner MicroLock" (it's usually for holding your keys. hence "re-purposed" lol) (product listing here) which is a mini-carabiner shaped like an 8/S that has a locking mechanisms, resulting in a carabiner with two "sections". one section that locks to her collar and one that locks to her tags (and charms + bells, since my family and i are hard of hearing and need Allegra to wear a ton so she is noisy enough for us to hear her). so i just unlock the S-biner, and unhook the section of it connected to her collar, and i can easily and immediately transfer all her tags to a new or seasonal collar; or i can unlock the section that connects to her tags so i can remove an outdated/busted tag from the collection; all without hurting my fingers or breaking my nails in trying to fuck around with any key-rings and whatnot lol

other parts of Allegra's accesories, as well as in-depth explanations with lots of details about her tag-protector and repurposed microlock S-biner and other said accessories associated with her collar/in the picture are below the Read More ✌️

how i got my information hidden was through searching the internet for what is called a "tag protector" (sometimes called a "tag silencer"). from what i can tell, most people use these for animals that tend to scratch or otherwise incidentally destroy their tags (mainly, big outdoors-y dogs). hence the name, "tag PROTECTOR". (though the "tag silencer" type are made bc the person hates the sound of jingling tags. i personally can't relate to that, im hard of hearing and so is most of my family; so Allegra has a TON of charms and bells on her collar, lots that aren't even pictured here, so we can hear where she is in spite of our hearing loss)

the one i specifically got is by StitchByIssaDesigned on etsy; i got the small tag-protector, with artic blue stitching and rose-gold holo fabric (which the fabric being holographic helps lessen my anxieties about Allegra getting out, being such a dark cat out at night-time or out in the day-time in a shaded area, and possibly getting hit by a car; as well as comforts me that is more likely people will be able to find her, bc she has a holo tag that can be picked up by flashlights even if her reflective eyes are closed or looking in another direction). make sure you measure your tags in size AND quantity, Allegra's tags fit in size but were pushing the protector's limit at, i think, 4 or 5 tags being held inside it. there is a larger size sold by the same seller, and i would go there if you have 4+ tags or bigger tag-size than the product listing. the seller is super great, i loved her, she has a lot of custom pet-stuff she'll embroider for you (a big part of her market are service animals), she's got a loyal customer for life in me should i ever desire another one of her products, she is so quick to reply within 24 to 48 hours along with being extremely accomadating. very much recommend her, go support her, she's so great lmao

heads up, the seller does give you tiny key-rings so you dont have your tags loose in the protector. if you need an even tinier key-ring, youll have to get one yourself. my order? she was so embarrassed that she forgot to send me the tiny key-rings, she only remembered to send the big one with my order. Issa is so sweet, she offered to send me the missing tiny key-rings at no extra-charge asap. we only found out bc i messaged her asking "are the tags supposed to be loose inside the protector, or...?" (they were not supposed to be loose lmao). i ended up turning her offer down bc i had then-recently been gifted(? i dont remember if this was a gift/who gifted me it, but i THINK it was a gift?) this "split ring plier"/key-ring plier set with a case of tons of key-rings in varying sizes. so i just asked what size she usually sent people so i could do the same size or smaller. worked out great for me! i was very happy lmao just know you are supposed to get key-rings if you order from her, dont hold it against Issa that i personally didn't get any tiny key-rings from her bc that had been a one-off accident AND i ended up turning her down in her frantic offer to fix the issue anyway. she's still a 5/5 star seller in my book lmao

the reason why i got it is that i personally have a history of having been stalked as a teenager multiple times, and i also have a perpetual fear of being doxxed thanks to me having a dream of working in animation yet seeing Steven Universe storyboarders get doxxed for benign reasons (as far as i remember anyway, but i digress). so a very important thing to me, especially but not exclusively when posting online pictures of my cat, was doing my best to censor my cat's tags whenever possible since her tags have my phone-number and my family's address. i was also, rather irrationally but still, scared of someone taking a picture of my cat when i'd have her out of the house with me (for vets, for a fun day-trip, whatever) for the purpose of reading my cat's tags → find my information through their photo. so i wanted a tag-protector to reduce the labor of me censoring, as well as rid myself of the anxiety of "but what if someone undoes my censoring somehow" and "what if someone takes a picture of her tags from afar without me noticing in order to know my information" (there's less convoluted ways to stalk a person, i know, but i still get creeped out to the point of nausea about it)

the reasons why i went with a tag-protector "instead of xyz": i will first of all admit that Allegra is an indoor-only cat who has daily medications + a speciality diet, so a lot of this has the fear of "but what if she gets out?? i have to set her up so anybody who finds her can help her come back home asap" added to it tangentially. a lot of people use a microchip in their pet with no collar for said pet to wear (or dont include an owner-contact tag, and just have the tags be vaccines and whatnot) so the owner can reduce of any stalking/doxxing fears, especially since many pets can lose their break-away collar; but ive heard stories of "we found this pet but nobody thought to read their chip until 3+ years later and now the pet and owner are finally reunited", so i do have both a break-away collar AND a microchip for Allegra. but i also dont feel comfortable always/often having her collar off in case she somehow gets outside. i want people to go (if she hasnt lost her break-away collar in this hypothetical), "oh, this cat has a collar. let's go contact their owner asap" and "asap", to me, means an owner-contact tag since not everybody has 24/7 access or any access to a microchip reader. so a tag-protector felt necessary to me. and, just to super communicative with this hypothetical stranger, i commissioned said tag-protector to read "Allegra's tags" so they know automatically to look there. also, a tag-protector was necessary for its initial usage as i have had to replace 3 of Allegra's tags over the past 5 years due to her scratching herself inadvertently making some of her tags gradually unreadable. so that was a bonus too, id rather replace a custom-under-$10 tag-protector in the next 5 years than multiple tags that are $10+ each lol

the accessory that helps my hands with her tags+key-rings is a re-purposed Nite Ize's S-Biner MicroLock i got from Amazon (it's usually for holding your keys. hence "re-purposed" lol). the company does have a larger variation specifically made for dogs, specifically larger medium/large dogs; but i wanted something smaller since my cat is pretty petite, which is why the one i did end up using for her is called a "microlock" as that's their smallest size. the dog-oriented one would have likely been too big for her, but eyo now you know it exists if you needed a larger size for your own needs lol i don't know another company that makes these, personally. so i am not brand-loyal to these Nite Ize guys specifically. but if you can find a S-biner elsewhere, i think it'd be good to try! my cat has yet to accidentally unlock it herself, and the reviews of the dog-variation are similar for their respective dogs. so it's nice both knowing my cat's tags are secure and that i dont have to hurt myself in fucking about with the key-rings all her shit is attached to lol

the reason why i got it is, yes, due to the key-rings fucking with my hands, that is a large part of it. i'm disabled with chronic illness stuff, and my muscle weakness makes my hand-grip... unideal. (though i will shout out that i have, long after purchasing/benefitting from the microlock S-biner, been gifted this "split ring plier"/key-ring plier that has also been lovely in any key-ring scenario) i was breaking finger-nails and, due to my disability including a lot of chronic pain and overactive nerves, really hurting myself even though i know my injuries were not at all serious. my nerves just have a tendacy to over-react and put me in "crumple into a fetal position on the floor" levels of pain whenever i mildly hurt myself. like, i need someone else to grab me Advil or other pain-medications whenever i stub my toe as i just sit on the floor and try not to cry. overactive nerves suck lmao so i REALLY needed to figure out a way to make Allegra's collar not be the worst fucking task of all time for me specifically with all its key-rings and annual updates. and, i just happened to find a Nite Ize's various S-biners somehow and i searched through their catalog until i found the micro size that would be ideal for Allegra. i just had to suffer one more time in getting all her tags/charms/bells' key-rings in order to get off her old collar (fuck, that shit hurt lmao rip) and then very painlessly hook all said items onto her microlock S-biner. ive since had a WAY easier time with replacing her tags for vaccinations and whatnot, since attaching any key-rings to the S-biner is so easy for me. the unlocking/locking was sticky in the beginning, but it got easier to unlock/lock (without ever accidentally becoming unlocked) over time pretty quickly. then, upon recieveing this self-accomadation, i was able to invest in seasonal collars for Allegra! as of writing this, she just has a winter one (it's made to look like holly with felt leaves and three little red bells lol) and her usual pill-themed one, but i do plan to get more here and there now that it's super accessible for me to interact with her collar and all its key-rings! so that's been a bonus reason, albeit one i only realized after-the-fact lmao

the reasons why i went with a microlock S-biner "instead of xyz": honestly, i looked and looked for how to make my cat's collar more accesible to me and my overreactive nerves, and found very little. i was looking up carabiners at one point, and i think either i stumbled onto Nite Ize's various S-biners from that directly in my search-results or else Amazon recommended it to me after i searched and searched through carabiners on there. but i didnt, and still dont, trust non-S-biner carabiners on my pets' collars. my family tried it once on one of our past dogs, i think, and it is so easy for a pet's self-scratching to break a carabiner into never being able to close again (thus risking the carabiner and all attached tags/charms/bells dropping onto the floor and, like, HOPEFULLY, you find it again) or for the pet to accidentally pinch their paw in the carabiner. i like the S-biner's locking mechanism, and that even if the switch is "unlocked" that you then still have to push into the lever to open/close either end of the S-biner. so it's way harder to break and for any pet to pinch themselves. the only alternative ive seen that i have liked is the key-ring plier, but that was someone i believe i was gifted(?) years later and was not something that came up in my "how to painlessly remove a pet's tags and key-rings" search-results at the time. saying that, i find the process of undoing a collar by each individual key-ring with these pliers tedious (though painless otherwise, again, i do recommend these pliers overall) and prefer the convenience of the microlock S-biner in combination with the pliers (especially in cases where i am handed a tag/charm/bell and key-ring seperately and have to attach them to one another myself before i even approach my cat's collar). it's just way more convenient to unlock then unclip one thing with the S-biner, as opposed to use the pliers on every key-ring to unattach them to the collar. so i say, if you can, get both. if you cant, you can choose if youd rather get the S-biner first or the pliers (and then!! get the other later!!! bc, again, these two are such a great team-up, HIGHLY recommend you get both)

ALLEGRA'S OTHER COLLAR-RELATED ACCESSORIES, BOTH WHAT IS FEATURED IN THE PICTURES ABOVE AND NOT FEATURED IN THEM:

please do feel free to ask me for updates on what i use for my cat, in case i ever change from what i listed in this post. there is also plenty of other stuff (cat-trees, carriers, toys, etc) that isnt listed here that are cat-related but that i still have opinions and recommendations/warnings about; feel free to ask about those too lol but no worries, im no expert, i have no expectations on entitlement that anyone will ask me anything. i just want you to know you can @ me in a general cat-product questions if you want me to speak about it; just remind me of the existance of this post, and ill go "oh right, i did agree to be asked about this lmao" and answer at my nearest convenience

● i mentioned Allegra has a winter-collar that looks like holly and has 3 red bells on it within this post. it is this specific collar. it is not sold any more as it was seasonal/limited-time only, so i can only link you guys a picture and then send you off on your own to go try to find it if you want it. i forget if it was at Pet Co or Pet Smart, but the collection line is called "Merry and Bright" and i got it in 2023. i got it for sale as i accidentally happened to be looking at it on Black Friday online; so i got a really high quality collar for, like, $4 or something. i forget what size i got Allegra, but i did measure it to fit her as they had multiple sizes and, i think, had this in both "break-away cat collar" and "dog collar" forms?? some of the collars they had both, some were only one or the other, idk

● Allegra's pill-themed collar she is pictured with is from Pugs2Persians on etsy. the same pattern also is available in other colors, but every color has its own product listing so youll have to search "medicine" or "pills" within this shop to see all the available colors. most of Allegra's stuff has been trans-flag colors pink and blue, in part bc her eyes are blue and i like pink, so i liked the pink-blue version! it is slightly glittery, but the glittery is in the weaving and doesn't fall off and make a glitter trail on the floor at all, so it's perfectly fine! we've had the collar for i think 2+ years now, and in spite of Allegra's scratching and relaxed/furious bathing, the blue gem on the buckle is still attached to Allegra's collar. also, Allegra hasn't destroyed the threading or anything so far with her scratching and everything, which is very lovely as well. the seller was perfectly fine, we didn't need to communicate (except i did ask that they attach the charms to the collar for me in advance due to my muscle weakness; and idk if that is standard or not for them to do, but they did do it for me upon my request if such isn't standard), and i have been very happy with my purchase and the speed of shipping and all that lmao i got this collar bc Allegra's former daily-use collar was getting torn up after many years of service, and had been curious on if then pleasantly surprised that there was a pill-themed collar i could get for her as a replacement lol it def helps that this collar is SO cute lmao

● Allegra's pill charm and music charm and blue bell is pictured as having are all from Pugs2Persians on etsy. some of the charms came with the collar, others i added to my cart with the collar. seller was perfectly fine, i liked them, i would order from them again if i wanted anything from their stock. more on my feelings about Pugs2Persians as a seller is in the "pill-themed collar" bullet-point above ✌️ but yeah, i got Allegra a bunch of charms and bells to help her make a lot of noise (esp after purchasing her tag-protector as it silenced all said tags put inside it) because my family and i are hard-of-hearing and want to be able to hear where she is (in part to keep her from getting outside, since she is an indoor-only cat; but also we just like to hear her in general). but also?? these charms are so fuck wtf i love them. but Allegra has peeled off a lot of the blue on the blue bell. but i care much more about her being noisy than if her charms/bells have all their paint (but her music and pill charms do still have all their paint, as far as i can tell)

● the thimble-looking charm Allegra is pictured as having is a remnant of her former daily-use collar; which came from Pettsie as a gift from one of my bffs, and it was part of a matching pet's collar × owner's bracelet set. unfortunately, bracelets tend to overstimulate me now so i never got to match with her. but this collar lasted us many years and is very good quality, held up really well to daily wear-and-tear from Allegra, her scratching, and whatnot. my only complaint is don't depend on the ID Tube to hold your pet's information. Allegra p quickly was able to accidentally untwist it fully (thereby losing the note and bottom tube-half sonewhere) after a couple weeks of scratching (which is what i predicted and is why i didnt put my info in there). do a microchip and/or owner's contact information tag (with an optional tag-protector for said tag, as ive babbled about the benefits of already ad nauseam; but, in case it bares repeating, i recommend doing all of the above in getting a microchip, a owner's contact info tag, AND tag-protector). but yeah, hard-of-hearing, needs bells/charms to make noise, thought "might as well keep it and carry it to any following collars" (in part bc im overly sentimental and im like "omgggg i should keep this half of the ID Tube with Allegra bc i love my bff who gave us this" lol i say that like i dont have Allegra's ratty Pettise collar with my unused bracelet together in my Memory Box already). but yeah! very good collar, if Allegra's pill-themed collar got ratty too quickly, i planned on getting a second Pettsie break-away collar. they're really good and last a long time! and, yes, the link above is the exact patterned print i had; it just doesn't have a name as far as i can tell, since almost all of these matching collar × bracelet sets are floral

● the silver bell pictured on Allegra's collar is from one of Allegra's very first collars. there was a period where i couldn't afford a high-quality collar (and was poor enough where i was like "what if i waste my money buying a more expensive one and it gets ratty just as quickly as these shitty ones im already buying??" as Allegra is my first cat so i had no idea if this was the norm or not) so i would get a new break-away collar every month or so from Dollar Tree or something. again, they got ratty VERY quickly, like they were getting torn up within the first or second week or so with just some mild scratching?? hence why one of my bffs gifted us an aforementioned expensive collar from Pettsie (in an above bullet-point), so the gift was both the matching collar × bracelet and taking off the financial debate from my plate. but the Pettsie collar doesn't come with a bell?? so i took the bell from the last cheapo $1 break-away cat collar as i prepped the Pettsie collar to become Allegra's then-new daily-usage collar. and that bell has now followed Allegra to her current daily-usage collar. there's no link bc i dont recommend those collars, and im p sure the break-away collars Dollar Tree currently sells are not the exact same as then anyway lmao

● Allegra's bone-shaped slide-on dog tag is from Wintoshop on etsy. on line one, it reads: "INDOOR CAT". line two reads: "Shouldn't be out. Is microchipped". and line three reads: "Digestive issues; Medical". i got size Small, in Black, with the B15 pattern. the seller was fine, i didn't need to communicate with them. i think they MAY be the middle-man in a drop-shipping thing from China since they have a review that accused them of such, but i have yet to find the og service and this is both unusual enough + their product photos are all of actual tags being photographed, rather than the usual edited-fakey images drop-shippers use, that i don't mind this?? i usually am anti-drop-shipper. but id order from this person again, sure, why not. im not loyal to them. but sure, id buy from them again unless someone introduces me to some new and alarming facts on the matter. i digress. this item is likely fine for dogs. but Allegra is very petite and wears the smaller sizes of cat collars, and even the size Small of this slide-on bone-tag doesn't fit on her collar reliably. id look for a variation that has both ends of the slide-on tag fully enclosed if you want a slide-on tag for your own small cat (example from Wintoshop's product listings, albeit not one i have tried myself so idk if it is of quality). thats what i plan to do at some point. just fully replace this one, so i dont have to twist my cat's collar kinda weirdly for the bone-tag to stay on consistently. which is sad, bc my sense of humor is v much putting dog-themed stuff on a cat. and the fully-enclosed slide-on tags dont usually have funny shapes, like bones. alas. but this has stood up really well the past few months to her scratching as is though. ill just be replacing it pre-maturely for individualistic needs; not bc of any poor quality reasons from the product itself

● uh this one you can only kind of see, but ill include it anyway. Allegra's tag that has her owner's (my) contact information (and is hidden in her tag-protector) is from LLPetBoutique on etsy. i have no idea if this one is also a drop-shipper or not, but i couldnt find the original shipper at the time if it is; so i ordered from here and have been perfectly fine with my order. i got the tag in Silver with the pattern D2. it says "Allegra" in the front, and has my contact info in the back. it's perfectly fine, and is nice and small lol the seller is fine, i didnt need to communicate with them or anything, id be fine with purchasing from them again, i guess, sure lol

● similarly, you can barely see this one, as it is covered up by her tag-protector, but i thought id include it anyway. in my defense in advance, i got this one way before her tag-protector, just for pure context; and i only keep it in case someone would rather read her microchip info from here than on a chip-reader. but Allegra has an "Microchip Alert" cat-tag from BlackDogEngraving on etsy. i had the back of mine read Allegra's microchip number and the chip company's phone-number to call to find out the information i put in her chip (which includes not only my personal info, but also information about Allegra's medicial needs and her usual vets). i am sort of positive this is another drop-shipper tag lmao bc ive since seen it around so often on unrelated sellers' product-listings. or else this is a tag you can buy and use your own engraver on. regardless, at the time i bought this many years ago, it was the only one i could find that looked like this and i wanted something red and eye-catching in an "alarm, alert" way lol but yeah, the seller was fine enough. id buy from them again, i guess, sure. as ethical as a drop-shipper can be, they're fine enough

● the rest of Allegra's tags inside her tag-protector are her vaccine verification tags and her pet-license proving i paid the city/county for the right to own her, giving her certain legal protections from hypothetically complain-y neighbors and whatever else. so nothing i can link you guys lol

● Allegra's primary name-tag (that also happens to be pill-themed) that she is pictured with is from KawaiiPetTags on etsy. (also there is a mini version of the tag from this same seller you can purchase) i got mine in blue and ordered it to just be the same, front and back, with the pill-bottle print and her name "Allegra". i absolutely love this seller, the tags from here are NOT drop-shipped, the seller is the artist behind every one of these and makes them. i saved up and then i messaged her after seeing she had SO MANY niche designs for pet-tags to ask if a pill-themed tag would be added to her product-listings soon or if i could commission her to make a custom pill-themed one for my cat. and she agreed to design one asap, no commission necessary, as she loved the idea and loved that my cat was named after an allergy medicine. she messaged me once the product-listing was up, and i ordered it right away. (i had seen this seller and the tag-protector both in my "save up" jar at almost the same time. the order had gone: asked my pill name-tag question on if it was coming soon/could be a commission → was awaiting seller to say the product-listing was up → saw tag-protector → saved up for the tag-protector → ordered the tag-protector → pill-bottle themed name-tag's product listing is up and i can personalize it to my liking. plus, with Allegra's tag-protector, i had already messaged the seller if embroidering "Allegra's Tags" was okay even though it was one letter over the limit. which, i was never going to back-out of the pill-bottle themed name-tag after i had already saved up and set up the expectation that i would be purchasing one upon the product-listing's eventual reveal; but also i rationalized the pill name-tag as a safety-net in case the tag-protector couldn't say "Allegra's Tags" due to being over the limit and would instead have to just read "Tags". but it WAS allowed to read "Allegra's Tags". so now Allegra has a tag reading "Allegra" and "Allegra's Tags" and it looks so cute lmao anyway, i digress. my point is that i knew when i was ordering the pill-bottle name-tag that Allegra wouldn't need her pill-bottle name-tag to have my contact info on the back; so i just ordered the pill-bottle print + her name on the front and back. besides, no way would it have fit in the tag-protector. so she just gets to have a fun tag for, well, fun lmao) but yeah, i am so glad i could afford to have one, she deserves every penny for her designs (tho the shipping costs from Australia to the USA did make me sigh, but that's in no way the seller's fault, that's common with overseas shipping). i'd love to order a back-up in case her shop ever closes (heaven forbid) bc i love the tag so much. it's such a fun design. but also? it's upheld so well since i purchased it; no scratches or anything despite Allegra's daily wear-and-tear to it. super awesome product, love it so much, ill def try to order any hypothetical future pets' tags from KawaiiPetTags. i definetly encourage you to buy from her any of your cats' name-tags (and/or owner's information tags if you aren't worried, like me, about getting stalked/doxxed by such a tag and therefore need a tag-protector and ergo owner's information tags to fit inside said tag-protector lol)

● Allegra's blue (cat-?)harness (note: has a handle AND is reflective 👀) she is pictured with is from Barkbay, which i got from Amazon. i think it's usually for small dogs lol but it works so great for my cat. the product-listing has really unconvincing cats photoshopped wearing the harness (just scroll down to all the reviews' pictures, which are real cats actually wearing the harnesses lmao), but the harness IS actually really good, i really really love it. i really wanted a reflective harness with a handle snd buckles, and i optionally wanted it to be a blue that matched Allegra's eyes if such was possible; and this harness was EVERYTHING i wanted and is absolutely perfect. so much so that i actually bought it twice. i bought a smaller size when Allegra was, well, smaller and i had realized she HATED her first harness (it was the kind you slip over their head like too-tight thermal underwear, and Allegra didn't like her head getting pushed into that which is understandable; so i looked for one with buckles and a few other details, and i found this; and then she out-grew that one and needed the next size up) and the buckles on the XS-sizing really hurt to unbuckle. but i could bear it, despite the annoyance. the buckles on the Small-sizing have been WAY easier to unbuckle, no pain at all. my cat will never fully be a fan of harnesses, but she does tolerate this one and i really love all its utilities. once, Allegra happened to go outside after dark while wearing this, and the reflective parts of the harness were super helpful at finding her with our flashlights, and the handle was fantastic for helping grab her (especially with my loved ones that helped me look for her who were unsure how to pin down a cat to not struggle, much less pick up and carry one). super great stuff, my favorite harness for cats i have seen so far for sure ♡ it also comes with a leash. it's just fine. i would personally replace the leash with something stronger, but it's a perfectly adequate leash

● not pictured is the bunch of bells i ordered for Allegra to make her collar a lot louder (not pictured bc they were the last item to come in. and they make Allegra's collar look messy, so no reason to aesthetically take photos. the two photos above (i THINK?) were for the etsy reviews of tag-protector and pill-bottle name-tag, so i tried to get good pictures of those as i was passionately adoring of both sellers. but these bells hadnt come in yet as of the time i was leaving those reviews so they aren't in the pictures 🤷) as my family was complaining they had to strain to hear her (and i wasn't doing much better than any of them) due to all of us being hard-of-hearing yet trying to keep auditory track of Allegra, both in general and in case she got too close to a door leading to the outside while any of us were coming in/going out. i tried to find plain bells, bc the bells' appearance didn't matter, but all i could find was things like "here's a pack of 30 bells for $8". which is way too many bells. so i looked for cheap singley-sold bells (that were someone at least re-selling (semi-)ethically, and not someone trying to be a scammer in taking that aforementioned 30 pack of bells and selling them singularly for $3 or something). the seller i found that i went "good enough" to was Catcher Club on etsy. i bought the "Blue Scrump" and "1 Cat" from this product listing; i bought the "Cat Kitty" from this product listing (this one was HUGE, i did not expect its size lmao rip im so poor with measurements); and i bought "No Face Ghost" from this product listing. their appearance didn't really matter to me, i just wanted "cheap but not a scammer", so i just picked my favorite individual bells from this seller (that were available anyway, many were sold out already lol) + ones that, as long as the paint lasted, would look nice with any of the seasonal collars i have bought/may buy for Allegra (white/black felt the safest, and anything that matched her eyes also sounded good by me). their paint is already well on its way to chipping as of writing this. which is fine by me. i care about the sound for practical hard-of-hearing reasons, not the look of the bells. but yeah, you wanna buy some "fair enough" prices for an individual bell that looks p good by a re-seller?? bc you are willing to pay a dew dollars more so long as you dont have the chore of "what do i do with these 20+ other bells??"? i def recommend CatcherClub. but yeah, if youre not hard-of-hearing, you almost definitely dont need as many bells/charms to click-clack-and-chime for your cat as Allegra has lmao rip

the end lmao thank fuck

please tell me if this has been useful to any of you, id love to feel like my work is validated and appreciated. but yeah, if you read all the way down to here?? that's so thorough and awesome of you lmao thank you ♡♡♡

i think im gonna start a series called "Kaiden-Shenandoah's random life tips" bc there's just some odd things i do that make my life easier/more enjoyable. that. like. i dont think make me special?? but most of my loved ones i babble to, when i mention them, will look surprised and be all "damn, that's clever. that's an issue i never thought about, but yeah, i can see how thatd help others/myself. ill have to remember that"

so. this post is all JUST IN CASE it helps someone, even just one person, then the effort will have been entirely worth it. bc sometimes living life is hard and sometimes you just need to hear someone say "oh, what about this possible solution?" to help you out by applying such to your routines or use that suggestion as foundational inspiration for something more customized to your own life or whatever else— just to make living life that little bit easier. and if me sepcifically needing a lot of "oddball" solutions and pre-cautions helps others??? that makes me feel awesome (and less alone), so hell yeah, ill do my best to remember as many tips as i have and be consistent about posting them within this thread. just in case and all that jazz ✌️

(and, even tho this likely DOES NOT need to be said out loud, ill say it anyway as my own proverbial "Bill of Rights" style just-have-it-written-down-in-case-the-worst-happens-in-the-future (but hope for the best) PSA: if these dont apply to you?? or if you think "wtf, people need help with this?? our generation/the next generation is doomed"??? maYHAPS THIS POST ISN'T FOR YOU. this is applicable only to people with lifestyles and/or brains that are similar to me and my loved ones. if you arent of that lifestyle or brain-typage, then thats that lol of course you cant relate. it's an "apples and oranges" thing, y'know. not better/worse or special/normal; just different. it's not something you need, and that's super okay. just don't be rude about the difference. if youd like to be kind and reblog anyway in case any followers or loved ones of yours could be helped by any of this?? that's so fantastic. some of this stuff has some really bad internalized shame about it, or else people have been conditioned to just "keep that to themself; don't talk about it", and either way some of these topics (not all, but still) have people who are hiding their struggle from others as best they can. you don't know what you don't know; and you don't know what people don't tell you. so it's very generous of you, as someone who cant relate to some/all of this stuff, to reblog just in case one of those silent strugglers follow you and/or are a part of your inner-circle. thank you so much for sympathizing with struggles you know your life as is doesn't share and thank you for being kind ♡)

i dont expect this to be helpful to EVERYBODY, and def feel free to just screenshot what is valuable to you and abandon this actual post (just pls dont crop my name out, esp if you end up re-posting your copy to your own blog or on different social-media elsewhere. bc credit is nice lol) bc i assume this will become a long/repetitive post as i update on/off. and most people dont like long posts lmao rip so you dont gotta reblog it if you hate long/repetitive posts or are worried about your followers disliking any long/repetitive post (besides: ill sometimes make one-offs not attached to this post, probably. esp since im forgetful and tumblr is broken/i lose things easily. but ill try to reblog this one for most of them, since thats easier organization for my brain 🫶 lmao)

(but yeah i only have three ideas i wanna do today, but ill come back to this whenever i remember another one ive done thats been helpful to me and/or that i created alongside a loved one that helped them lol)

also pls note that i am dyslexic and do not plan on editing any of this too seriously. so forgive me for mispellings, for forgetting an entire word, and so on. this is me being very casual, so ill inevitably miss some mistakes i make and whatnot

hugs and kisses xoxo best wishes see you later babe

one of the things about having (reluctantly. very, very reluctantly) gotten gradually more used to seeing doctors regularly (a... a lot more regularly. ugh) is learning new tips from other, (oftentimes more experienced, but even newbies can come up with some really innovated ideas) spoonies. and a common one that's advised to practice making into a habit is:

"hey, when shit gets bad? write it in your calendar so you can tell your doctor (and then also take a minute to write down recent events (like i was super fatigued and light-headed yesterday; so i rested all day and therefore know i should note i didn't over-exert yesterday. by writing that down, my doctor knows Today's Bullshit wasn't likely "a consequence of Whatever I Did The Day Before") and also to jot down recent life-changes like, uh, my new ADHD meds, i started those yesterday. so im writing it down. even tho i doubt the my switch from regular Adderal (wasn't working on me, at all) into Adderal-XR-or-whatever-letters-are-at-the-end-of-it caused knee-muscle inflammation that makes it SO MUCH HARDER TO WALK WTF. it's more likely the pill-change caused yesterday's nonsense with being sick and light-headed. but idk health shit, thats my doctors job) and know the exact dates of it all to better help your doctor do their job in helping you out"

but it's not all bad! its kinda nice to get to do lil spiteful thingy about it. thats nice

it's like i get to momentarily do the iconic "just wait until mom the doctor sees this! *blows raspberry at you and runs away with the evidence that'll get you in trouble*" sneer, like im an A+ representative of that specific "antagonistic sibling throughout the 70s - 90s' campy movies" trope lmao ♡