Echoes of the Garage

Fragments of life in Los Angeles — art, film, street stories, and the quiet rebuilding of a man. Start here: Best Of • About • Subscribe.


“Live. Die. Repeat.”

Follow me on X: @punisherpapi · IG: @punisherpapi

I’ve been stacking cash on my Apple Card —

not the credit card, the gift card you can load money into.

Why?

Because my orange-fur homie, Simba, was due for his annual checkup.

Every year this shit gives me nerves.

Not because of the cat —

but because I already know what’s coming:

Blood test. X-ray. Panel. Surprise fee.

Vet mumbo-jumbo.

My wallet melting like a snowman under a blowtorch.

I swear annual checkups should be called

annual bleed-outs.

So on the drive there, all I’m thinking is: $$$.

Simba’s had respiratory issues for YEARS.

And every year it’s the same dance:

“Let’s test him again.”

“Let’s run another panel.”

“Let’s do another x-ray.”

And nothing ever gets solved.

So today I said:

No more.

Not out loud with profanity —

but with the calmness of someone who finally sees the game.

And surprise, surprise…

They actually listened.

They finally gave me the right medication —

the one Simba needed YEARS ago.

Now he’s knocked out, snoring in his cardboard box,

while I type this in the quiet of my studio.

And you know what?

I realized I’ve been doing Simba wrong.

Not because I didn’t care —

but because I kept trusting the wrong people.

Today, I trusted my gut instead.

And my gut said:

Stop paying for the same problem

and ask for the damn solution.

Live.

Die.

Repeat.

Then finally —

wake up.



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