Will U B My Fwiend? - Chanel

Yeah, happy summer. I head into the scorching oven we call the Mission, feeling overdressed just because I'm wearing shoes, and wonder how the rest of the country puts up with this for weeks at a time. Everyone I pass is holding an iced coffee drink or colorful smoothie of some sort. Usually I'm disdainful of these sugar laden child drink snacks for adults, but today they look tempting.

But I can cool off at Maddie's. There's a fair amount of activity there – ominous pounding from the medical facility being constructed, boxes being dragged and loud laughter from a big downstairs room being set up for some sort of dog award ceremony.

Not many cat shoppers though. And that's ok with the nervous types, the majority of our cats, if trying for the more outgoing kitties. Little Hillary is one of the latter. Frisky, hyper, dancing around rubbing, meowing, purring, batting at things… and she's young and pretty to boot, a thin tabby and white mix. She'll get adopted fast.

She's in one of the condos with a TV, presumably to help keep her outgoing nature occupied. Only instead of the usual bird video, they've got it tuned to PBS – and there's Barney. I've not seen the Barney show before, though I'm familiar with the concept and there's no mistaking this large purple dinosaur. Also, the volume is off and closed captioning is on, so I'm treated to song lyrics scrolling across the screen along with the vivid colors, frequent camera jumps and rollicking dancing.

Let's just say I'm glad this wasn't available for viewing in my, er,partying days. OMG – in just ten minutes they cover a visit to the doctor (your friend), grandparents (who love you because that's what they do), and the playground (where you must share with your friends because you love them). Then with a trippy fluttering away of gigantic pink hearts, the full cast sings and dances about friendship.

Whoa. No wonder so many young people have a gnat-sized attention span and crave constant reassurance. Hey, who am I to judge; my favorite pre-school show was Batman (bam! pow! kicking evil's butt in the pursuit of righteousness!) followed by the original Star Trek, and look where that's gotten baby boomers.

Ok, I really need to go to a different condo. On to hallway 2, where I visit Coco and Chanel. (Don't look at me, I'm a Volunteer, not name developer.) Talk about best friends forever. These two are so sweetly bonded they make Barney's pals look like casual bar buddies. Coco is the outgoing one, an attention seeking missile of a calico, cute and clumsy by turn. Chanel is the quiet beauty, a smaller torbi. She's sweet and likes attention too, but I worry that she's so retiring, spending most of her time in the same half hidden spot.

They have each other, and that's a big plus. But they really need some dedicated human friends too.