No, you can't adopt all cats, but it sure sounds like this one is in a
precarious position. You can certainly act as a foster (although, your cats
would probably get on with it eventually). I will be very curious, if you
are persistant in asking and polite about it, if she won't give in, because
she certainly does not sound like she really wants this cat. You may even
have to offer a bit of monetary trade for the cat. Let us know.

I seem to remember after the whole Monica Lewinski things that some laws were
changed such that not only could unauthorized recordings not be used as part
of prosecution, but recording people without their consent was also a crime.
I may be wrong, but it's best to check this sort of thing out before
proceeding.  This may just have been in the DC area.

I have a bad boss at work, so I have been carrying a recorder now for
about 6 months. It fits in my apron pocket, down out of view. It has a
small mike on a wire, and I have the mike attached to the top of my
poket, just inside. It makes no sound, and it can record up to 8 hours
without having to worry about flipping or changing a tape. When I get
something important, such as my boss making a flippant comment about
another coworker, talking about breaking rules, or when I was called
into a meeting; I just record it off onto a regular cassette tape for
longterm storage.

I was called into the office 2 days after I bought the recorder. I had
reported several heath violations, and I knew I would be in for an
unhappy meeting. I was in the office for over an hour with my
department manager and the store manager. The department manager is
the main problem, but she is the store manager's favorite employee,
brought over from his old store. So, he backs her up on everything. I
was so glad I had a digital recorder. It recorded the whole thing,
over an hour and a half.

I may never use it for anything, but I do have a record of everything
said, just in case I ever need it. A year before, in a similar
meeting, I was threatened with morning shifts I complained. I am a
severe night owl, and I had worked evening shifts for the past 14
years. If only I had recorded that meeting, I could have taken it to
the union and actually proved a case of harrassment and threats.

Also, I was able to listen to it again that night, and frankly, I was
shocked at how brave and outspoken I was. I am usually very quiet when
trapped alone like that, but I brought up a lot of issues, and held my
ground well. I played it for my coworker friend, who has been
harrassed even more than me, and we laughed ourselves silly. You could
hear my boss when she was angry and sputtering for words. And the
store manager actually agreed with me on a couple issues.

I just wish I had remembered to change the batteries yesterday. The
safety coordinator was in, and one of our big issues is wearing teh
safety gloves when using a knife or cleaning a slicer. My manager
asked me where the lady was, and I told her she had left. Her response
was, "good, I don't want to wear the gloves." She then proceeded to
clean the slicer without the gloves.That would have been a great
comment to have recorded. By itself, no big deal, but a bunch of
those, well documented, and I would have something worthwhile to
present.

Document your case as best you can. Write down the dates and times,
and a review of the conversation. Record anything you can in the
future, and keep it all documented. The tape won't hold up in court,
though the written reports should be good. But the tapes will prove to
the investigators that the case is worth going after. It proves that
you are telling teh truth and not just making something up.